Federal prosecutors will begin trying to prove Monday that Sean "Diddy" Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering enterprise that forced women to satisfy his sexual desires for two decades. Testimony in Combs' New York trial could begin as soon as the afternoon, after a final phase of jury selection and opening statements from the lawyers.

Combs, wearing a white sweater and with his formerly jet-black hair now almost completely gray, entered the courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugging lawyers and giving a thumbs up to supporters seated in wooden court benches behind him. Earlier in the morning, a line to get into the courthouse stretched all the way down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children were escorted past the crowd and brought straight into the building.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges including one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Presiding is U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is the lead prosecutor. New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo is leading the defense.

Combs is a cultural icon and a criminal, prosecutor says

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson pointed at Combs as she stood before the jury.

"To the public he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Larger than life," Johnson said. "But there was another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise."

"During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up."

Those crimes, she said, included: Kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

The hip-hop icon leaned back in his chair as she spoke.

Standard instructions take added weight in this celebrity trial

The jury and alternates 12 men and 6 women are now seated in the courtroom. Openings will start after the judge finishes explaining the law as it relates to this trial, along with incidentals such as that a light breakfast will be provided to them in addition to lunch.

The jury is essentially anonymous, meaning their identities are known to the court and the prosecution and defense, but won't be made public.

"We will keep your names and identities in confidence," Subramanian told jurors.

It's a common practice in federal cases to keep juries anonymous, particularly in sensitive, high-profile matters where juror safety can be a concern. Juror names also were kept from the public in Donald Trump's criminal trial last year in state court in New York.

Subramanian tells jurors to judge the case only based on the evidence presented in court. It's a standard instruction, but carries added significance in this high-profile case, which has been the subject of intense media coverage.

"Anything you've seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence," the judge said. "It must be disregarded."

Judge rejects claim of discriminatory jury strikes

The judge rejected the defense's claim that the prosecution's strikes of potential jurors were discriminatory because seven Black individuals were struck from the jury.

The judge said Comey had given "race-neutral reasons" to explain each strike and that the defense had failed to show purposeful discrimination.

Some of the reasons why prosecutors said they excluded some potential jurors

Comey said one juror seemed favorably inclined toward 17 people she learned about by watching Combs' TV show "Making the Band," which Comey said will come up during the trial.

She said another claimed he would lose 30 percent of his income by sitting on the jury, but didn't seem bothered, which "made us worried that he had an agenda and was trying to get on the jury."

Another potential juror, she said, had difficulty speaking English, expressed doubts he could be fair and had a nephew who'd been jailed for shooting at a police officer.

Supreme Court ruled against excluding jurors solely because of their race

In the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky ruling, a Black man was convicted of robbery by an all-white jury after the prosecutor used what are known as peremptory challenges to strike all four prospective Black jurors.

During jury selection, each side is given a limited number of peremptory challenges that allows them to eliminate people from the jury pool without stating a reason.

Since the decision and subsequent rulings that have expanded its scope, the term "Batson challenge" has taken hold to describe an objection raised by one side when it appears the other could be excluding potential jurors based on demographic characteristics, such as race, gender, national origin, religion or sexual orientation.

A jury has been selected in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial

The defense announced its 10 strikes and prosecutors announced their six strikes for the creation of the main panel. Then, they struck jurors from the pool of alternates.

A defense lawyer claimed that prosecutors struck seven Black people from the jury, which he said amounts to a pattern. As a result, Comey gave reasons to explain why prosecutors struck each of the prospective jurors from the jury. She noted that at least one text message to be unveiled during the trial will describe Combs' behavior as "bi-polar or manic."

The witnesses and the evidence:

Without identifying them publicly, prosecutors have said four of Combs' accusers will testify at the trial. The prosecution will be allowed to show the jury security video of Combs beating and kicking one of his accusers, the R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. Diddy's attorneys are expected to argue at trial that the government is demonizing and distorting the sexual activity of consenting adults.

About the defense

Combs' team of seven defense attorneys is sitting in two rows, with others behind them. They're led by New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who along with his wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo is also defending Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

About the prosecution

The team has consisted of eight assistant U.S. attorneys, seven of them women.

The prosecutor who will deliver an opening statement is Emily Johnson. Leading the team is Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. She was among the prosecutors in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

The judge warned a Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the music mogul, to tame his public comments last week, saying it was "outrageous" that he referred to prosecutors during a podcast as a "six-pack of white women."

About the judge

Subramanian is a Columbia Law School graduate and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and was appointed a federal judge by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Proceedings beginning with final stage of jury selection

This is when lawyers on both sides can strike several jurors from the panel.

For this trial, defense lawyers are allowed to eliminate 10 individuals and prosecutors can dismiss six to create a panel of 12 jurors. Each side is allowed to eliminate another three jurors from the group of six alternates. They don't have to explain their reasons unless the opposing lawyers claim they were striking jurors from the panel for inappropriate reasons, such as race.

This phase of jury selection usually takes less than an hour. One of Combs' lawyers claimed on Friday that it could be finished in 10 to 15 minutes. The lawyers are working from a panel of about 45 prospective jurors.

Combs gives a thumbs up

Sean "Diddy" Combs entered the courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugging his lawyers and giving a thumbs up to spectators who will sit on benches behind the well of the courtroom. The audience includes his mother and at least four of his children.

About the courthouse

Subramanian is presiding over the trial at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in lower Manhattan, blocks from City Hall and overlooking the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The courthouse, opened in the mid-1990s, is next to the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, which was built in the 1930s.

Most of the federal judges work out of the newer courthouse. The older one, which was refurbished in the early 2000s, houses the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and several district court judges have their chambers and courtrooms there as well.

The courtroom only seats about 100 people

And journalists probably get two to three dozen. So most of the people in line will end up in overflow rooms.

This courtroom is one of the larger venues in the courthouse that are used for the biggest trials, including when Donald Trump came early last year for E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. The line to get in stretched all the way down the block. One line-sitter was trying to sell his spot for $300 after holding his place overnight.

After a final phase of jury selection in the morning, federal prosecutors will begin trying to prove that Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering enterprise that forced women to satisfy his sexual desires. Combs has pleaded not guilty.

At least 10 people in the U.S. have been sickened in a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat food products, and a producer is voluntarily recalling several products, federal officials said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Saturday that federal, state and local officials are investigating the outbreak linked to foods produced by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC of San Fernando, California. The FDA says the 10 people who fell ill were in California and Nevada, and required hospitalization.

The agency said the products were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington at locations including retailers and food service points of sale, including hospitals, hotels, convenience stores, airports and by airlines.

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Listeria symptoms usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food. Mild cases can include fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhea, while more severe symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.

Federal officials said they started investigating the recent outbreak last year but didn't have enough evidence to identify a source of the infections. They said the investigation was reopened in April when FDA investigators found listeria in samples collected from Fresh & Ready Foods that matched the strain from the outbreak.

Fresh & Ready Foods said in a news release that it took immediate corrective actions, including removing equipment to address the issue.

The FDA found that six of the 10 people who got sick had been hospitalized before becoming ill with listeria. The FDA found that items made by Fresh & Ready Foods had been served in at least three of the health care facilities where the patients had been previously treated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the test samples from sick patients were collected from December 2023 to September 2024.

Fresh & Ready voluntarily recalled several products, which can be identified by "use by" dates ranging from April 22 to May 19 of this year under the brand names Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.

U.S. stocks are leaping Monday after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. They agreed to take down most of their tariffs that economists warned could start a recession and create shortages on U.S. store shelves.

The S&P 500 was 2.6% higher in early trading and back within 5.5% of its all-time high set in February. Since falling nearly 20% below that mark last month, the index has been roaring higher on hopes that President Donald Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with other countries. The index, which sits at the heart of many 401(k) accounts, is back above where it was on April 2, Trump's "Liberation Day," when he announced stiff worldwide tariffs that caused worries to spike about a potentially self-inflicted recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 957 points, or 2.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.6% higher.

It wasn't just stocks surging following what one analyst called a "best case scenario" for US-China tariff talks. Crude oil prices jumped more than 3% because a global economy less weakened by tariffs would be hungrier for fuel. The value of the dollar climbed against everything from the euro to the Japanese yen to the Swiss franc. And Treasury yields jumped on expectations that the Federal Reserve won't have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy from the damage of tariffs.

RELATED STORY | US and China step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to 90-day pause

Of course, conditions could change quickly again, as Wall Street has seen all too often in Trump's on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs. Plus, the reduction in U.S. and China tariffs will last only 90 days. That's to give the world's two largest economies time for more talks, followed last weekend's negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, that the U.S. side said had made " substantial progress."

Until then, a joint statement said the United States will cut tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% from as high as 145%. China said its tariffs on U.S. goods will fall to 10% from 125%. That follows a deal the United States announced last week with the United Kingdom that will bring down tariffs on many U.K. imports to 10%.

Big challenges remain in the negotiations between China and the United States, but the mood nevertheless was ebullient across Wall Street on Monday, and gains were widespread.

Apparel companies jumped to some of the biggest gains because much of their production is often in China and elsewhere in Asia. Lululemon leaped 10%, and Nike rose 7.3%.

Travel companies jumped on hopes that lower tariffs would encourage more customers to fly and feel comfortable enough to spend on trips. Carnival rose 8.9% and Norwegian Cruise Line rose 8%.

Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon jumped because they won't have to pass on high costs caused by tariffs to their own customers. Both rose at least 7%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across most of Europe and Asia, though often by less than the U.S. market.

India's Sensex shot up 3.7% after India and Pakistan agreed to a truce after talks to defuse their most serious military confrontation in decades. The two armies have exchanged gunfire, artillery strikes, missiles and drones that killed dozens of people.

Pakistan's KSE 100 surged more than 9% and trading was halted for one hour following a spike driven by the ceasefire and an International Monetary Fund decision Friday to disburse about $1 billion of a bailout package for its battered economy.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.45% from 4.37% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with interest rates, jumped even more. It rose to 3.99% from 3.88% as traders ratchet back expectations for how many cuts to rates the Fed may deliver this year. Many now see just two cuts this year, according to data from CME Group.

U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.

Stock markets rose sharply as the globe's two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global economy.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.

Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.

The two officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said at the news briefing after two days of talks that the high tariff levels would have amounted to a complete blockage of each side's goods, an outcome neither side wants.

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The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling, Bessent said. And what had occurred with these very high tariff ... was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade."

We want more balanced trade, he said. "And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that."

The delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at a sunbaked 17th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

At times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villas patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.

Chinas Commerce Ministry said the two sides agreed to cancel 91% in tariffs on each others goods and suspend another 24% in tariffs for 90 days, bringing the total reduction to 115 percentage points.

RELATED STORY | Trump exempts smartphones, computers from China tariffs

The ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.

This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world, a ministry statement said.

China hopes the U.S will stop the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes and work with China to safeguard the development of their economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.

The joint statement issued by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs.

China has increased export controls on rare earths including some critical to the defense industry and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.

The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension. Bessent said in an interview with CNBC that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet again in a few weeks.

But investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the worlds two biggest economies blinked, finding ways to pull back from potentially massive disruptions to world trade and their own markets.

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel and the U.S. dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.

This is a substantial de-escalation, said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire.

Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, welcomed the news but expressed caution. The tariffs only were suspended for 90 days and there is great uncertainty over what lies ahead, he said in a statement.

Businesses need predictability to maintain normal operations and make investment decisions. The chamber therefore hopes to see both sides continue to engage in dialogue to resolve differences, and avoid taking measures that will disrupt global trade and result in collateral damage for those caught in the cross-fire," Eskelund said.

Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each others products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.

The announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng index surged nearly 3% and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trumps import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.

The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.

The announcement comes shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.

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Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the U.S. administration over the past few days.

He said in a statement Hamas is ready to immediately start intensive negotiations to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.

Alexanders parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.

Every time they say Edans name, its like they didnt forget. They didnt forget hes American, and theyre working on it, Edans mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.

U.S. negotiators said Sunday that substantial progress was made and perhaps the differences weren't so large after two days of negotiations with a high-ranking Chinese delegation on ways to ease a trade war sparked by President Donald Trump's steep tariffs.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the U.S. delegation during talks in Geneva, said there was a great deal of productivity.

Im happy to report that weve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks, Bessent said.

He echoed the positive sentiment of Trump himself, who suggested on social media that GREAT PROGRESS was being made toward what he suggested could be a total reset on tariffs that have put the global economy on edge.

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The Chinese delegation did not offer an immediate assessment of what occurred, but Beijing struck a more measured tone about the negotiations' overall direction. China, in an editorial in its state-run news agency, said it would firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.

The discussions were held at a stately villa that serves as the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations, and little information was available on-site or back in Washington as they unfolded. Besseent offered few details on exactly what was discussed but said he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke to Trump on Saturday night.

U.S. officials also planned a briefing with more details on Monday morning.

Its important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as far as maybe thought, said Greer, who did not say what agreement he was referring to. Speaking to reporters near the villa, Greer and Bessent gave statement but did not take questions.

Greer also stressed that a top Trump priority means closing the U.S. trade deficit with China, which came to a record $263 billion last year.

Were confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work towards resolving that national emergency, Greer said.

The discussions could help stabilize world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get final word on tariffs.

Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries boycotting each others products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.

RELATED STORY | President Trump announces trade deal between US and UK

In its editorial, Xinhua said, Talks should never be a pretext for continued coercion or extortion, and China will firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.

Still, top members of the Trump administration were following the president's lead in insisting that a reset of U.S.-China trade relations could be in the offing.

Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who wasn't in Geneva, said on Fox News Sunday. He added that the U.S. and China have both imposed tariffs that are too high to do business, but thats why they are talking right now."

We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here," Lutnick said. So they need to do business with American and were using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters."

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures that whats going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalize things.

Were essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese. Hassett said "and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship thats great for both of us.

The talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. And though prospects for a breakthrough are slight, even a small drop in tariffs, particularly if taken simultaneously, would help restore some confidence.

Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing USChina trade war are badly needed and its a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first, Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump's import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trumps first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.

President Donald Trump is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and U.S. officials say it could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft.

The Qatari government said a final decision hadn't been made. Still, Trump defended the idea what would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government as a fiscally smart move for the country.

So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane, Trump posted on his social media site on Sunday night. Anybody can do that!

ABC News reported that Trump will use the aircraft as his presidential plane until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.

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The gift was expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar, according to ABC's report, as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term.

Before Trump's post trumpeting the idea, Ali Al-Ansari, Qatars media attach, said in a statement that the possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatars Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense."

But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made, the statement added.

Meanwhile, administration officials, anticipating ethics concerns, have prepared an analysis arguing that accepting the plane would be legal, according to ABC. The Constitutions Emoluments Clause bars anyone holding government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any King, Prince, or foreign State, without congressional consent.

One expert on government ethics, Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, accused Trump of being committed to exploiting the federal governments power, not on behalf of policy goals, but for amassing personal wealth.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poked fun at Trump's America first political slogan.

Nothing says America First like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar," the New York Democrat said in a statement. "Its not just bribery, its premium foreign influence with extra legroom.

Even some conservatives expressed dismay online, noting that an aircraft being offered by a foreign government could present security risks if used by a U.S. president.

Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist, and the president flies on both, which are more than 30 years old. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the company has lost billions of dollars on the project.

Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as president, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it. But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, according to a former U.S. official.

The official was briefed about the plane and spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.

The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.

The official told The Associated Press that it would be possible to quickly add some countermeasures and communications systems to the Qatari plane, but that it would be less capable than the existing Air Force One aircraft or long-delayed replacements.

Neither the Qatari plane nor the upcoming VC-25B aircraft will have the air-to-air refueling capabilities of the current VC-25A aircraft, which is the one the president currently flies on, the official said.

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Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called such a gift unprecedented."

The totality of gifts given to a president over their term doesnt get close to this level, Libowitz said, adding, You have to ask, if he makes foreign policy especially in regards to the Middle East how much is he being influenced by his gifts and his business deals.

ABC said the new plane is similar to a 13-year-old Boeing aircraft Trump toured in February, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport and he was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Trump faced lawsuits for violating the Emoluments Clause during his first term, but those were ended by the Supreme Court in 2021, which found the cases moot because the Republican had left office.

Trump's family business, the Trump Organization, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that countrys sovereign wealth fund.

Qatar, which is ruled by the Al Thani family, is home to the state-owned airline Qatar Airways. The country also has worked to have a close relationship to Trump after he apparently backed a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations in his first term. Trump later in his term applauded Qatar.

Administration officials have brushed off concerns about the presidents policy interests blurring with family's business profits. They note that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that a voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organization in January bars the company from striking deals directly with foreign governments.

But that same agreement allows deals with private companies abroad. That is a departure from Trumps first term, when the organization released an ethics pact prohibiting both foreign government and foreign company deals.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Friday if the president might meet with people who have ties to his familys business, said it was ridiculous to suggest Trump "is doing anything for his own benefit.

Pope Leo XIV called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff that featured some symbolic gestures suggesting a message of unity in a polarized Catholic Church.

I too address the world's great powers by repeating the ever-present call never again war, Leo said from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica to an estimated 100,000 people below.

It was the first time that Leo had returned to the loggia since he first appeared to the world on Thursday evening following his remarkable election as pope, the first from the United States. Then too he delivered a message of peace.

Leo was picking up the papal tradition of offering a Sunday blessing at noon, but with several twists. Whereas his predecessors delivered the greeting from the studio window of the Apostolic Palace, off to the side of the piazza, Leo went to the very center of the square and the heart of the church.

He also offered a novelty by singing the Regina Caeli prayer, a Latin prayer said during the Easter season which recent popes would usually just recite.

Traditionalists and conservatives, many of whom felt alienated by Pope Francis' reforms and loose liturgical style, have been looking for gestures hinting at Leo's priorities. Some have expressed cautious optimism at the very least with a return to a traditional style that Leo exhibited on Thursday night, when he wore the formal red cape of the papacy that Francis had eschewed.

On hand in the square on Sunday for Leo's first noon prayer were two of Europe's more firebrand conservatives, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini. The Italian minister has highlighted his Catholic faith in his political messaging.

On Sunday Leo wore the simple white cassock of the papacy and had reverted back to wearing his silver pectoral cross. He had worn a more ornate one that contains the relics of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, on Thursday night that had been given to him by his Augustinian religious order.

Beloved Ukrainian people

Leo quoted Pope Francis in denouncing the number of conflicts ravaging the globe today, saying it was a third world war in pieces.

I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people," he said. Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.

He called for the release of war prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children to their families, and welcomed the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for humanitarian relief to be provided to the exhausted civilian population and all hostages be freed.

Leo also noted that Sunday was Mothers Day in many countries and wished all mothers, including those in heaven a Happy Mothers Day.

The crowd, filled with marching bands in town for a special Jubilee weekend, erupted in cheers and music as the bells of St. Peters Basilica tolled.

Angela Gentile of Bari arrived in the square three hours early to be in place. Nonplussed that cardinals had elected yet another non-Italian pope, she said she was happy Leo came to the central balcony of the basilica, so the crowd could see him face-to-face. Whats good for the Holy Spirit works for me, she said. I have trust.

More than 50 pilgrims from Houston, Texas, were in the square too, waving three large American flags. They were in Rome on a pre-planned Holy Year pilgrimage and said they were proud to be part of this historic occasion.

Words cannot express my admiration and gratitude to God, said the Rev. Dominic Nguyen, who led the Vietnamese American group. He said he hoped the pope would be happy to see the Stars and Stripes but also Peruvian flags and all other countries, showing the universality of the church.

Leo's Peruvian roots

Leo, the former Robert Prevost, spent most of his priestly life as a missionary then bishop in Peru, an experience he recalled on Thursday night in offering a special greeting to his former diocese in Chiclayo in Spanish.

Bertha Santander of Peru had come five hours early on Sunday to unfurl her huge Peruvian flag in the piazza, recalling the emotion of that night when the piazza erupted in cheers as Leo first appeared.

Its such happiness, she said. Already when I heard the last name I started crying and when he addressed a greeting in Spanish I was a sea of tears, said the Peruvian woman who has lived in Italy for more than 40 years.

Earlier Sunday, Leo celebrated a private Mass near the tomb of St. Peter and prayed at the tombs of several past popes. Vatican Media filmed him praying before a mix of more progressive and tradition-minded popes: Pope Paul VI, who closed out the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, and Popes Pius XII and Benedict XVI, on the more conservative end of the spectrum.

He celebrated the Mass with the head of his Augustinian order, the Rev. Alejandro Moral Anton, and Leo's brother in the pews. The Mass occurred in the grottoes underneath St. Peters, the traditional burial place of St. Peter, the apostle who is considered the be the first pope.

Leo on Saturday prayed before the tomb of Francis, located across town at the St. Mary Major Basilica.

The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary was elected 267th pope on Thursday following the April 21 death of Francis.

He has a busy week of audiences before his formal installation Mass next Sunday.

A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus.

Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agencys space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station.

It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar systems hottest planet.

The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said.

RELATED STORY | Scientists find 'strongest hints yet' of life on another planet called K2-18b

Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.

Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravitys tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms).

Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty.

After following the spacecrafts downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecrafts deteriorating condition after so long in space.

After so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecrafts grave.

If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it, Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X.

As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit.

The U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials.

It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris.

RELATED STORY | Astronauts won't get overtime for their extended stay aboard the Space Station

U.S. President Donald Trump says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire after U.S.-mediated talks, but neither country has immediately confirmed a deal.

It follows weeks of hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have traded missile strikes, drone attacks and artillery fire and is their most serious confrontation in decades. Tensions have flared since a gun massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan.

Pakistans foreign minister said his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks. However, Ishaq Dar warned that if India launched any strikes, our response will follow.

Dar told Pakistans Geo News that he also conveyed this message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who contacted him after Rubio spoke to New Delhi earlier.

RELATED STORY | Pakistan says it shot down 12 Indian drones amid fears of growing conflict

We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping, Dar added.

India said it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the countrys Punjab state early Saturday.

Pakistan earlier said it intercepted most missiles and responded with retaliatory strikes on India.

Rubio spoke to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and reestablish direct communication to avoid miscalculation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Saturday, and offered U.S. support to facilitate productive discussion.

The Trump administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday.

Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed last week by labor unions and cities, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trumps efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.

The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime, Illston wrote in her order.

The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the presidents workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management.

RELATED STORY | Supreme Court blocks order to reinstate thousands of federal workers

The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing the executive order, including taking any further action.

They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already underway or poised to be underway, including at the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in Marchit will lay off 10,000 workers and centralize divisions.

Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has the authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and agencies created by Congress.

But he must do so in lawful ways, she said. He must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way.

Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE.

Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a result of Trumps government-shrinking efforts. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.

In her order, Illston gave several examples to show the impact of the downsizing. One union that represents federal workers who research health hazards faced by mineworkers said it was poised to lose 221 of 222 workers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office; a Vermont farmer didnt receive a timely inspection on his property to receive disaster aid after flooding and missed an important planting window; a reduction in Social Security Administration workers has led to longer wait times for recipients.

All the agencies impacted were created by Congress, she noted.

Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies should follow in exercising their own decision-making process.

It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to implement, Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said of the memo. It is setting out guidance.

But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies.

They are not waiting for these planning documents" to go through long processes, she said. Theyre not asking for approval, and theyre not waiting for it.

RELATED STORY | The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus

The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.

It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.

Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the U.S. Supreme Court later blocked his order.

The U.S. is on track to run out of money to pay its bills as early as August without congressional action, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Friday.

He is calling on Congress to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling by mid-July.

"A failure to suspend or increase the debt limit would wreak havoc on our financial system and diminish America's security and global leadership position," Bessent wrote in the letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson. "Prior episodes have shown that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can have serious adverse consequences for financial markets, businesses and the federal government."

Earlier this week, Bessent twice testified in front of congressional committees that the Treasury's debt ceiling is "on the warning track."

After the debt limit was reinstated in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in one of her last acts in the position said the agency would institute "extraordinary measures" intended to prevent the U.S. from reaching the debt ceiling.

Since then, the Treasury Department has stopped paying into certain accounts, including a slew of federal worker pension and disability funds, to make up for the shortfall in money. Bessent has continued to notify Congress about the use of extraordinary measures in an effort to prevent a breach of the debt ceiling. In his latest letter, Bessent attributed the August deadline, known as the "X-date," in part to receipts from the latest tax filing season.

A Bipartisan Policy Center analysis released in March estimated that the U.S. could run out of cash by mid-July if Congress did not raise or suspend the nation's debt limit.

President Donald Trump had previously demanded that a provision raising or suspending the debt limit something his own Republican Party routinely resists be included in legislation to avert the last potential government shutdown under his Democratic predecessor, President joe Biden.

"Anything else is a betrayal of our country," Trump said in a statement in December. That deal did not ultimately address the debt limit.

The letter to Johnson comes as Republicans consider a massive tax cut and border security package that includes an increase in the debt limit. Bessent's request could give GOP lawmakers greater incentive to reach an agreement.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was released after spending several hours in custody following his arrest at a new federal immigration detention center he has been protesting against.

Baraka was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility and was finally released around 8 p.m. Friday. Stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, he told waiting supporters: The reality is this: I didn't do anything wrong.

The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included.

All of us here, every last one of us, I dont care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak, Baraka said, at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.

Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration.

He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

Linda Baraka, the mayors wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.

They didnt arrest anyone else. They didnt ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor, she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him.

Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.

Habba said Baraka had chosen to disregard the law.

Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility.

Witnesses describe a heated argument

Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jerseys congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.

When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.

There was yelling and pushing, Martinez said. Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.

Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.

They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority, he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 and 4 p.m.

Watson Coleman later said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit.

Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not storm the detention center, she wrote. The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didnt even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.

Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gate

In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because you are not a congress member.

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: Theyre talking about coming back to arrest you.

Im not on their property. They cant come out on the street and arrest me, Baraka replied.

Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, Shame, Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.

Several civil rights and immigration reform advocates, as well as government officials, condemned Barakas arrest. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, whose office is defending a state law barring private immigration detention facilities, criticized the arrest during a seemingly peaceful protest and said no state or local law enforcement agencies were involved.

When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel, revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother's name was announced.

"She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it's too far from what we thought would happen," Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.

Next, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first U.S. pope.

"It's quite an honor; it's quite a once-in-a-lifetime," he said. "But I think it's quite a responsibility and I think it's going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he's doing."

RELATED STORY | Pope Leo XIV marks new beginning with American and global outlook

Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.

John Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don't have a voice. He said he expects him to be a "second Pope Francis."

"He's not going to be real far left and he's not going to be real far right," he added. "Kind of right down the middle."

At one point during the interview, John Prevost realized he had missed several calls from his brother, so he gave the new pope a call back.

RELATED STORY | 'A man of the people': Pope Leo XIV's brother, Louis, says there was always something special about him

Leo told him he wasn't interested in being part of the interview and after a brief message of congratulations and a discussion in which they talked like any two brothers about travel arrangements, they hung up.

The new pope grew up the youngest of three boys. John Prevost, who was only a year older than him, said he remembers Robert Prevost being very good in school as a kid and enjoying playing tag, Monopoly and Risk.

RELATED STORY | Who is Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first American pope?

From a young age, he said he knew his brother was going to be a priest. Although he didn't expect him to become pope, he recalled a neighbor predicting that very thing when Robert Prevost was only a first grader.

"She sensed that at 6 years old," he said. "How she did that, who knows. It took this long, but here he is, first American pope."

When Robert Prevost graduated eighth grade, he left for seminary school, his brother said.

"There's a whole period there where we didn't really grow up together," he said. "It was just on vacations that we had contact together."

These days, the brothers talk on the phone every day, John Prevost said. Robert Prevost will call him and they'll discuss everything from politics to religion and even play the day's Wordle.

RELATED STORY | The first American pope grew up just outside Chicago

John Prevost said he's not sure how much time his brother will have to talk as the new pope and how they'll handle staying in touch in the future.

"It's already strange not having someone to talk to," he said.

Federal officials filed charges Tuesday against five people in connection to a boat carrying migrants that capsized a day earlier off San Diego's Pacific coast, killing three people, including a 14-year-old boy from India.

The boy's 10-year-old sister is still missing at sea and is presumed dead, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said in a statement. Their parents were among the four people who were injured and taken to the hospital, including the father, who is in a coma.

Nine people were initially reported missing. All but the 10-year-old girl were found late Monday by Border Patrol agents conducting operations in the San Diego area, officials said.

Two Mexican citizens were arrested at the beach near where the boat overturned. They were charged with human smuggling resulting in death, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison.

Border Patrol agents found eight migrants who managed to make it to shore. The agents also identified vehicles with drivers who were waiting to pick up the migrants as part of the smuggling scheme, according to court documents.

U.S. authorities also arrested three Mexican citizens and charged them with unlawfully transporting migrants. One had been deported in 2023 from the U.S.

It was unclear if any of the defendants had defense attorneys, and they could not be reached for comment.

RELATED STORY | 3 dead, 9 missing after boat overturns off California beach

The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business, said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths.

The search efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard stopped late Monday. Crews combed the area via helicopter and a cutter for hours after the boat flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the Mexico border. Officials described the skiff as a panga, a small wooden open-air boat used to fish but also commonly used by smugglers to bring people into the U.S. from Mexico.

Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off Californias coast. Pangas leave the Mexican coast in the dead of night.

In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog. One capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the U.S. coast.

A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off San Diegos coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen others.

India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least eight people including a child, Pakistani authorities said. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants.

The Indian army said later on Tuesday three civilians were killed in shelling by Pakistani troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It said in a statement the Pakistani army resorted to arbitrary firing, including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries, and their international border.

The Indian army was responding in a proportionate manner, it said.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since last month's massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.

Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday's airstrikes and said the deceitful enemy has carried out cowardly attacks at five locations in Pakistan and that his country would retaliate.

Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given, Sharif said.

He said his country and its armed forces know very well how to deal with the enemy.

Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Security Committee for Wednesday morning.

The missiles struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country's eastern Punjab province. One hit a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed and a woman and man were injured.

Pakistans military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, said that India launched attacks at six different locations, resulting in the martyrdom of eight people and injuries to 38 others.

RELATED STORY | Indian police say gunmen kill at least 20 tourists in Kashmir

State-run Pakistan Television, quoting security officials, said the country's air force shot down three Indian jets in retaliation but provided no additional detail. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan's claim.

Pakistans Foreign Affairs Ministry said Indian forces had launched the strikes while staying in Indian airspace. Other locations hit were near Muridke in Punjab and Kotli in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

It said the attack reportedly resulted in civilian casualties and posed a significant threat to commercial air traffic. This reckless escalation has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict, the statement said.

Indias Defense Ministry said at least nine sites were targeted where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.

Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted, the statement said, adding that India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.

We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable, the statement said.

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border and called for maximum military restraint from both countries.

The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan, the statement read.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce commented on the escalating tensions in the region on Tuesday:

"We continue to urge Pakistan and India to work towards a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability in South Asia," Bruce said. "We remain in touch with the governments of both countries at multiple levels we are not watching from afar in that regard."

State Department comments on escalating tensions in Kashmir region

In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad, said he heard several explosions and that some people were wounded in the attack. People were seen running in panic and authorities immediately cut the power, leading to a blackout.

The blasts ripped through walls. Locals inspected the damage to their homes in the aftermath of the missile attacks, rubble and other debris crunching underfoot.

People took refuge on the streets and in open areas, fearful of what might happen. We were afraid the next missile might hit our house, said Mohammad Ashraf.

Waqar Noor, the region's interior minister, said authorities have declared an emergency in the region's hospitals.

Pakistan shut schools in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab province after the missile strikes. It had already had closed religious seminaries in Kashmir in anticipation of an attack by India.

Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire between both armies.

Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will not run in the Preakness Stakes, officials announced Tuesday, meaning there won't be a Triple Crown champion for a seventh consecutive year.

We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness," said Mike Rogers, executive VP of 1/ST Racing, which operates the Preakness. We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision."

Mott told Preakness officials the plan will be to enter Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the Triple Crown, on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. Mott on Sunday morning had foreshadowed skipping the Preakness in the name of long-term interests.

We want to do whats best for the horse, he told reporters at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Of course, you always think about a Triple Crown, and thats not something were not going to think about.

Sovereignty won a muddy Derby with jockey Junior Alvarado at odds of 7-1 by passing favorite Journalism down the stretch.

United Arab Emirates-based Godolphin owns Sovereignty. A call and a message sent by The Associated Press to Godolphin's U.S. director of bloodstock, Michael Banahan, were not immediately returned.

RELATED STORY | A new push to protect racehorses is leaving behind young thoroughbreds

This is the fourth time since Justify won all three races in 2018 that the Preakness will go on without a true shot at a Triple Crown. The two-week turnaround from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and changes in modern racing have sparked debate around the sport about spacing out the races.

Prominent owner Mike Repole earlier Tuesday posted on social media a proposal to move the Belmont to second in the Triple Crown order, four weeks after the Kentucky Derby and sliding the Preakness back further with the aim of keeping more of the top horses involved.

The Preakness being run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, in this new day and age in racing, shows the lack of vision and leadership needed to evolve this sport, Repole wrote. I expect the top three finishers of this years Derby to skip the Preakness and go right to the Belmont.

No decision has been made on second-place finisher Journalism or third-place Baeza for the 150th running of the Preakness, the last at Pimlico Race Course before it is knocked down and rebuilt.

A town official in upstate New York has been arrested after state police say he shot and wounded a delivery driver who got lost and approached his house seeking directions.

John Reilly, the highway superintendent in Chester, a town nearly 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Manhattan, was charged Saturday with first-degree assault and criminal possession of a firearm.

State Police say the DoorDash driver had been attempting to deliver food to a residence in Reilly's neighborhood on Friday night when he became lost and unable to navigate using the app.

They say the driver approached several homes asking for directions before arriving at Reilly's residence.

"Reilly told the victim to get off his property, before firing multiple shots at the victim as he attempted to leave in his vehicle, striking the victim once in the back, causing serious physical injuries," state police said.

The 48-year-old, who is also a federally licensed firearms dealer, was remanded to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond, according to police. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 9 in the Town of Chester Court.

No one answered Reilly's office number late Monday, and it could not be immediately determined if he has a lawyer.

The case was not yet listed on the state court's online database and spokespersons for the Orange County District Attorney's office didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge, in a statement posted on Facebook, said he and the town board were "deeply troubled" by the incident and wished the driver a "full and healthy recovery."

But he noted that the town government does not have control over Reilly's future, as he is an elected highway superintendent, and the local police department has recused itself from the investigation because it involves a town official.

A spokesperson for DoorDash wrote in an email that the company was "devastated by this senseless act of violence" and wished the driver, who has not been named publicly, a "full and speedy" recovery."

"No one should ever fear for their safety just for trying to make deliveries in their neighborhood," the statement read. "We'll continue to work closely with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic incident."

Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other popular toys, announced it would have to raise prices for some products sold in the U.S. where necessary to offset higher costs related to President Donald Trumps tariffs.

The El Segundo, California-based company said the increases are necessary even though it is speeding up its plans to diversify its manufacturing base away from China. Trump imposed a 145% tariff on most Chinese-made products.

Company executives told analysts on a conference call that China currently accounts for 40% of Mattel's global production. The company plans to move roughly 500 products this year from manufacturers in China to sources in other countries, compared to 280 products last year.

For some highly sought-after toys, Mattel said it would enlist factories in more than one country. To prevent possible shortages, the company said it was focusing on getting products to stores without interruptions.

RELATED STORY | Trump administration claims parents will choose quality over cost in toy purchases

The company said that even with price increases, it expects 40% to 50% of its toys will cost customers $20 or less.

The diversified and flexible supply chain in global commercial organizations are clear advantages to Mattel in this period of uncertainty, CEO and Chairman Ynon Kreiz told analysts.

Citing the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the presidents trade policies, however, Mattel withdrew its annual earnings forecast on Monday. The company said it would be difficult to predict consumer spending and the companys U.S. sales for the remainder of the year without more information.

RELATED STORY | Senate fails to pass resolution blocking President Trump's tariffs

Mattel reported larger-than-expected first-quarter sales but also a wider loss. Mattel said sales rose 2% to $827 million for the quarter that ended March 31.

The company's loss expanded to $40.3 million, or 12 cents per share, in the quarter. That compares with a loss of $28.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts expected a loss of 10 cents on sales of $786.1 million for the first quarter, according to FactSet.

Mattels shares were down less than 1% in after-hours trading.