AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait, claiming the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

Trump said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

“It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” Trump said. Previously, he has appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

'Radiant' mother from Kentucky among 6 US service members who died in air crash in Iraq

A woman raising two children was among the six U.S. service members killed last week when a refueling plane involved in the war with Iran crashed in western Iraq.

Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, hailed from a large family in Bardstown, Kentucky, and was “very, very” proud of her military career, her husband Gregory Pruitt said Sunday.

“I’ll give you something brief -– in a word, radiant,” he said on a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. “If there was a light in the room, she was it.”

Survivors include the couple’s 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitt's stepson.

Most recently, she had served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Alabama. She was an assistant flight chief of operations and was an instructor in operating the boom of a KC-135.

Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday

CHICAGO (AP) — A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow and making roads impassable in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.

Hawaii continued to be affected by severe flooding.

And portions of the mid-South readied for late-day thunderstorms.

Forecasters said the storms would spread eastward by Monday, with mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes.

Successive punches of snow, wind and severe weather were set to impact the eastern half of the United States, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.

As Trump pushes deportations, immigration data becomes harder to find

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration likes to promote its immigration enforcement agenda through numbers, with ambitious goals to deport 1 million people, report zero releases at the U.S.-Mexico border and arrest thousands of alleged gang members.

For all the boasting, the administration has been releasing less reliable, carefully vetted data than its predecessors on a signature policy that has become one of the most contentious of Trump's second term.

The gap in information and a loss of figures from an office that has tracked immigration data back to the 1800s have left researchers, advocates, lawyers and journalists without important statistics to hold the Republican administration to account.

“They aren’t publishing the data,” said Mike Howell, who heads the conservative Oversight Project, an advocacy group pushing for more deportations. Instead, Howell said, the Department of Homeland Security has put out numbers in news releases “that purport to be statistics with no statistical backup and the numbers have jumped all over the place.”

With mass deportations a priority, new restrictions and increased enforcement have led to a surge in immigration arrests, detentions and deportations.

AP finds an Israeli group discreetly organized the mystery flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November.

It wasn't the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who’d signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa.

An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the strip.

At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola called the flights a “clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”

Ad Kan, an Israeli organization founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers, worked via another company to distance links to Israel and organize the flights, according to a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial statements, and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and other people involved with the trips.

US-China trade talks open in Paris, paving the way for Trump-Xi summit

BEIJING (AP) — Representatives from Beijing and Washington began their economic and trade talks in Paris on Sunday, paving the way for U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to Beijing to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in about two weeks.

The delegations, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, convened in the French capital in the morning, China's official news agency Xinhua reported. The White House has said that Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2, though Beijing has not officially confirmed it.

Bessent said on Thursday that his team will continue to deliver results that put America's farmers, workers and businesses first. The U.S. Treasury Department said Bessent will meet He on Sunday and Monday.

China’s commerce ministry said Friday the two sides are set to discuss “trade and economic issues of mutual concern.”

Trump’s visit to China will be the first for a U.S. president since he went in his first term in 2017. It will come five months after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that temporarily saw tit-for-tat tariffs soar to triple digits before the two sides climbed down.

Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Florida get top seeding for March Madness. Miami (Ohio) gets a shot

The team that went undefeated in the regular season, racked up more victories than anyone but Duke and Arizona — and fewer losses than any team at all — is anything but your run-of-the-mill basketball behemoth.

In fact, Miami (Ohio), despite that 31-1 record and maybe because of a little chip that's been placed on its shoulder, is one of those plucky underdogs that makes the NCAA Tournament what it is.

Welcome to March Madness with a twist.

While Duke (32-2) took the overall top seed on Selection Sunday, with Arizona (32-2), Michigan (31-3) and defending champion Florida (26-7) also on the top line, the RedHawks barely scratched their way into the bracket.

They are an 11 seed and have to play a First Four game against SMU on Wednesday. But after all the debate and hand-wringing that came with their single loss last week, which immediately turned them from sure thing into bubble team, they now enjoy the same privilege as the other 67 teams in the field.

The Latest: ‘One Battle After Another’ takes best picture

The 98th Academy Awards on Sunday saw “One Battle After Another” win big with six awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor and casting.

“Sinners” followed with four awards, including best actor for leading man Michael B. Jordan.

Jessie Buckley took home best actress for "Hamnet."

Comedian Conan O’Brien returned for a second year to host the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Latest at the Academy Awards:

The Latest: Selection Sunday: Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida claim No. 1 seeds in men’s bracket

The men’s March Madness bracket is set, and Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida have claimed the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament.

Duke, the No. 1 overall seed in the men’s tournament, will take on No. 16 Siena in the first round. Arizona, No. 1 in the West, will face Long Island University. Michigan and Florida will learn their opponents after the First Four, set for Mar. 17-18. Florida will play the winner of Lehigh vs. Prairie View, and Michigan will host the winner of UMBC vs. Howard.

The women’s teams still await their fate, which will be revealed during an 8 p.m. ET Selection Sunday show.

Stick around for live updates as the women’s bracket is unveiled and we continue to analyze the men’s schedule for the 2026 NCAA basketball tournaments.

Thirty schools earned NCAA Tournament berths in both the men’s and women’s brackets. That’s three more than last year.

5th member of Iranian women's soccer team gives up asylum in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A fifth member of the Iranian women’s soccer team who accepted a refugee visa to stay in Australia has left the country, the Australian government said on Monday.

The player's departure shortly before midnight on Sunday leaves two of an initial seven squad members in Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office said.

The Iranian authorities have welcomed the women's change of heart as a victory against Australia and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Iranian diaspora in Australia blame pressure from Tehran.

Burke reported on Sunday that two players and a team support staff member had left Sydney for Malaysia on Saturday.

Iran’s team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28.