By Kevin Liptak, CNN

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) — When President Donald Trump arrives at the deepwater port here Friday to talk about his energy agenda, the three Republicans locked in a bitter battle for Texas’ Senate seat hope he has a surprise up his sleeve: an endorsement.

Trump has so far declined to back a candidate in the hotly contested Texas Senate Republican primary, which culminates Tuesday. The president has given no indication he plans to offer the coveted prize during his event on Friday afternoon and has said he likes all three candidates.

But that didn’t stop those Republicans — incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and US Rep. Wesley Hunt — from racing to Corpus Christi in the final days of the contest to join the president, hopeful he may tip his hat in race-altering fashion. Trump, after all, has a flare for last-minute drama.

The hasty reshuffling of the men’s campaign schedules underscores how much the race has become centered on Trump, and each candidate’s perceived proximity to him.

Cornyn, an establishment conservative seeking a fifth term, will fly on Air Force One with Trump Friday. The incumbent has aired television ads broadcasting his support for the president’s agenda — looking to project total alignment with Trump, despite their sometimes cool relationship. Cornyn was initially skeptical of Trump’s comeback bid after the 2020 election.

Paxton, meanwhile, helped lead legal efforts to overturn the results of that contest after Trump lost, engendering goodwill in some corners of the president’s orbit. He earned the endorsement of Turning Point Action, an affiliate of the influential conservative non-profit Turning Point USA founded by the late political activist Charlie Kirk, who had close ties to the Trump administration.

But Paxton has been plagued by ethics questions, including adultery accusations levied by his wife Angela Paxton, a state senator and longtime political adviser. Cornyn released a scathing attack ad seizing on some of the allegations this week.

Some top Republicans worry Paxton’s political, legal and personal baggage could put the Senate seat in jeopardy if he wins the primary — and have repeatedly voiced those concerns to Trump. Some senior Republicans fear it could cost the party $200 million to defend the seat if Paxton emerges as the nominee.

Hunt was an early backer of Trump’s comeback bid and delivered a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention in 2024. But polls show him trailing the other two candidates, who have higher name recognition in Texas.

The lack of a clear winner and blurred record of loyalty has led to a rare bout of political indecisiveness for Trump, who says he’s friends with all three.

“I like all three of them, actually,” he told reporters earlier this month. “Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three.”

And Trump’s refusal to endorse in the race could contribute to further pain and uncertainty for his party. If no candidateclears the 50% benchmark, then it would head to a late May runoff between the top two finishers. That means drawing down more valuable resources that the GOP won’t have for the fall campaign.

Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

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By Abbas Al Lawati, Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN

(CNN) — “Curious to know why we do not capitulate? Because we are IRANIAN,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote after US envoy Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump was wondering why Tehran hadn’t yielded to American pressure over its nuclear program.

The remark captures much of the Islamic Republic’s proud worldview in a single line: that Iran is not just another regional state. Its leaders see the country as a historic power that deserves respect.

Whether its confidence in defying US pressure will prove misplaced remains unclear. A third round of indirect US-Iranian talks on Thursday appeared to make progress, according to Iranian officials and mediator Oman, despite Tehran’s refusal to concede on key American demands.

Much of the disagreement centers on Iran’s insistence on enriching uranium on its own soil. Uranium is a fuel used in nuclear power plants, but when enriched to very high levels, it can be used to make a nuclear weapon.

Iran argues that, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, and that it should not be singled out or denied technology that other members of the NPT possess.

The US recognizes Iran’s right to civilian nuclear power, but it doesn’t trust Tehran’s assurances that its enrichment program will remain peaceful.

Here’s what may be driving Iran’s refusal to budge:

National pride and sovereignty

For Tehran, the nuclear program is about its identity as a modern nation.

Iran is a country of 92 million people with a 2,500-year-old civilization that once rivaled the ancient Greeks and Romans. From the empire of Cyrus the Great to the Safavid and the imperial era, its historical self-image is that of a major power, not a peripheral state that can be pressured by other countries.

Despite being governed by clerics since 1979, Iran frequently deploys nationalistic symbols and invokes its pre-Islamic past alongside its revolutionary identity. State ideology blends Shiite ideology with pride in Persian scientific, cultural and imperial achievements.

What’s more, the nuclear program – which was in fact created with the help of the US – dates back decades and for much of Iran’s modern history raised little concern internationally.

Mastering nuclear technology therefore isn’t merely a technical achievement but proof of Iran’s sovereignty and advancement to the level of global powers.

Tehran’s nuclear program “now functions as a structural pillar of the Islamic Republic – particularly in demonstrating indigenous scientific and technological capability under pressure,” Danny Citrinowicz, senior researcher in the Iran and the Shiite Axis Program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel, told CNN.

“As a resul

Por Uriel Blanco y Gerardo Lemos, CNN en Español

La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, dijo este viernes que acordó con el presidente de la FIFA, Gianni Infantino, que un equipo de la federación de fútbol visite el país para revisar temas como seguridad y tránsito en las ciudades mexicanas donde se llevarán a cabo partidos del Mundial 2026.

Sheinbaum comentó en su conferencia matutina que Infantino ratificó su confianza en México en una llamada telefónica el jueves, en momentos en que el tema de seguridad genera preocupaciones para la realización del Mundial tras la muerte de Nemesio Oseguera, alias el Mencho, líder del Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, en un operativo de fuerzas de seguridad mexicanas en Tapalpa (estado de Jalisco), localidad a poco más de 100 km de Guadalajara, una de las ciudades sede de la Copa del Mundo de la FIFA de este año.

“Ayer hablamos por teléfono alrededor de las 6 de la tarde y me aseguró la realización del Mundial en nuestro país. Acordamos que un equipo de la FIFA va a venir (a México) de todas maneras para revisar varios temas, estamos trabajando desde hace mucho tiempo, pero particularmente el tema por supuesto de seguridad, pero también me pidió que viéramos el tema del tráfico en las tres ciudades (Ciudad de México, Guadalajara y Monterrey) para poder garantizar la movilidad para todos los que van a asistir a los estadios”, aseguró Sheinbaum sobre su llamada con Infantino.

La presidenta agradeció a Infantino porque tuvo confianza en México “desde el principio” y recalcó que el evento deportivo más importante del mundo será seguro.

“Y ahora (le agradezco) con más razón. Va a ser un muy buen Mundial. Tenemos la certeza que se va a llevar con seguridad. Todos los equipos del mundo pueden estar seguros que en México será recibidos con los brazos abiertos. Y todos los turistas que vienen a México pueden tener la certeza que llegan a un lugar seguro, tranquilo y que van a pasar el mejor momento de su vida”, agregó Sheinbaum.

Previamente, la FIFA señaló que tiene confianza total en México para la realización del Mundial pese a la reciente ola de violencia desatada por el operativo contra el Mencho.

“Estamos analizando y monitoreando la situación en México en estos días, en estos momentos, pero quiero decir desde el principio que tenemos confianza total en México, en su presidenta (Claudia) Sheinbaum, en las autoridades, y estamos convencidos que todo va a pasar de la mejor manera posible”, dijo Infantino en una rueda de prensa.

Sin embargo, si bien el Mundial de la FIFA sigue en pie en México, la violencia en el país ya afectó otro evento deportivo de carácter internacional que se iba a realizar en territorio mexicano.

La Copa Mundial de Clavados —que estaba programada a disputarse del 5 al 8 de marzo de 2026 en Zapopan, Jalisco— quedó cancelada luego de que diversas embajadas internacionales emitieran restricciones de viaje hacia México en medio del contexto de violencia que atraviesa el estado.

La decisión fue anunciada por World Aquatics tras una evaluación conjunta con Aquatics México, la Federación Mexicana de Clavados y Clavados de Altura y el Consejo Estatal para el Fomento Deportivo (Code) Jalisco, según un comunicado.

El organi

The post UC Santa Barbara Men’s Basketball Holds Off UC Riverside to Secure 70-59 Victory appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

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By Jeremy Diamond, Oren Liebermann, CNN

(CNN) — US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told embassy staff in an email on Friday that if they want to leave the country amid the possibility of a strike on Iran they “should do so TODAY,” according to a source familiar with the message.

Huckabee told embassy staff there was “no reason to panic” and said the decision came out of “an abundance of caution.” He noted the likely high demand for flights out of Israel on Friday and urged staff to buy tickets to any destination from which they could subsequently fly to Washington.

Earlier Friday, the embassy authorized non-essential personnel to leave the country amid the possibility of a strike on Iran.

The US embassy announced on its website that the State Department had authorized non-emergency staff and family members to leave “due to safety risks.”

The embassy went on to say, “Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available.”

CNN has reached out to the State Department for more details.

The UK announced that it had temporarily withdrawn its staff from Iran and that the embassy would operate remotely.

Meanwhile France urged its nationals not to travel to Israel or the occupied West Bank due to the situation in Iran.

The warnings come the day the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group is expected to arrive in northern Israel as part of the buildup of US forces in the Middle East ahead of a potential strike on Iran.

The US also has a dozen stealth F-22 fighter jets at a base in southern Israel or en route, CNN previously reported, as well as at least nine aerial tankers on the tarmac at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport.

The US and Iran have engaged in a series of high-stakes talks to try to reached a new nuclear agreement, including the most recent meeting in Geneva on Thursday. But it’s unclear if a deal is possible in light of the significant gaps between Washington and Tehran.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner demanded the complete dismantlement of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities – Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – as part of any agreement and that restrictions on nuclear enrichment last in perpetuity. Iran, meanwhile, was expected to offer a proposal that would merely suspend enrichment for three to five years until after President Donald Trump leaves office.

On Friday, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi, who has been a key mediator during the talks, was set to brief Vice President JD Vance in Washington on the latest efforts to reach an agreement.

But even with the diplomatic effort ostensibly ongoing, the commander of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper briefed Trump on potential military options in Iran.

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