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

Ukraine cracks down on ‘traitors’ helping Russian troops

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Viktor appeared nervous as masked Ukrainian security officers in full riot gear, camouflage and weapons pushed into his cluttered apartment in the northern city of Kharkiv. His hands trembled and he tried to cover his face.

The middle-aged man came to the attention of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, after what authorities said were his social media posts praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for “fighting with the Nazis,” calling for regions to secede and labeling the national flag “a symbol of death.”

“Yes, I supported (the Russian invasion of Ukraine) a lot. I’m sorry. … I have already changed my mind,” said Viktor, his trembling voice showing clear signs of duress in the presence of the Ukrainian security officers.

“Get your things and get dressed,” an officer said before escorting him out of the apartment. The SBU did not reveal Viktor’s last name, citing their investigation.

Viktor was one of nearly 400 people in the Kharkiv region alone who have been detained under anti-collaboration laws enacted quickly by Ukraine’s parliament and signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.

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UN works to broker civilian evacuation from Mariupol

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United Nations doggedly sought to broker an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of Mariupol on Friday, while Ukraine accused Russia of showing its contempt for the world organization by bombing Kyiv when the U.N. leader was visiting the capital.

The mayor of Mariupol said the situation inside the steel plant that has become the southern port city’s last stronghold is dire, and citizens are “begging to get saved.” Mayor Vadym Boichenko added: “There, it’s not a matter of days. It’s a matter of hours.”

Ukraine’s forces, meanwhile, fought to hold off Russian attempts to advance in the south and east, where the Kremlin is seeking to capture the country’s industrial Donbas region. Artillery fire, sirens and explosions could be heard in some cities. And a senior U.S. defense official said the Russian offensive is going much slower than planned in part because of the strength of Ukrainian resistance.

In other developments:

— A former U.S. Marine was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, his family said in what would be the war’s first known death of an American in combat. The U.S. has not confirmed the report.

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Relatives: Former US Marine killed while fighting in Ukraine

A 22-year-old former U.S. Marine was killed alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia, his relatives told news outlets, in the first known death of an American citizen fighting in Ukraine.

Willy Joseph Cancel was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine, his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN. Cancel had recently worked as a corrections officer in Tennessee and previously served in the Marines from 2017 to 2021, joining the Corps the same year he graduated from high school.

Cabrera said her son had signed up to work with the private military contractor shortly before fighting began in Ukraine on Feb. 24. She told CNN he agreed to go to Ukraine.

“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” she said.

Cancel had volunteered with his local fire department in New York as a high school student, and he had a 7-month-old son, according to an online fundraising page set up by a man identifying himself as his father.

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Former Idaho lawmaker found guilty of raping intern

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A former Idaho lawmaker was convicted Friday of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern after a dramatic trial in which the young woman fled the witness stand during testimony, saying “I can’t do this.”

The intern told a Statehouse supervisor that Aaron von Ehlinger raped her at his apartment after the two had dinner at a Boise restaurant in March 2021. Von Ehlinger said the sex was consensual.

At the time, the Lewiston Republican was serving as a state representative, but he later resigned.

Von Ehlinger, 39, was found guilty Friday of rape. He was found not guilty of sexual penetration with a foreign object.

Von Ehlinger sat calmly as the verdict was read, as he has throughout the trial.

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Palestinian assailants shoot dead Israeli guard in West Bank

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian assailants shot and killed a security guard at the entrance of a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank late Friday, the Israeli military said, in a fresh attack that could further fuel Israeli-Palestinian tensions that have soared in the past two months.

The Israeli military said early Saturday that the attackers arrived at Ariel settlement entrance and shot the guard in his post before fleeing the scene. The military launched a pursuit of the suspects in the West Bank.

In a separate incident, Israeli troops shot and killed a 27-year-old Palestinian man during clashes at Azoun village near the town of Qalqilya early Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

A string of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank over the past two months have left 14 Israelis dead.

Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it.

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Dodgers’ Bauer suspended 2 seasons over alleged sex assault

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay Friday by Major League Baseball for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, a charge he denied. He vowed to overturn the discipline before an arbitrator.

The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner was placed on administrative leave last July 2 under the policy. The leave was originally set for seven days, was extended 13 times and was due to expire Friday.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the discipline, which covers 324 games without pay and if left in place would cost the 31-year-old pitcher just over $60 million from a $102 million, three-year contract that began last year.

Bauer vowed to challenge the suspension before Martin Scheinman, baseball’s independent arbitrator, who is faced with deciding whether Manfred had just cause for the discipline under the domestic violence policy agreed to in 2015.

A San Diego woman, whom the pitcher had met through social media, alleged that Bauer beat and sexually abused her last year. She later sought but was denied a restraining order. Los Angeles prosecutors said in February there was insufficient evidence to prove the woman’s accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Tech stocks sink again, Nasdaq has worst month since 2008

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped more than 900 points Friday as another sharp sell-off led by technology stocks added to Wall Street’s losses in April, leaving the S&P 500 with its biggest monthly skid since the start of the pandemic.

A sharp drop in Amazon weighed on the market after the internet retail giant posted its first loss since 2015. The decline knocked more than $200 billion off Amazon’s market value.

The benchmark S&P 500 fell 3.6% and finished April with an 8.8% loss, its worst monthly slide since March 2020. The Dow slumped 2.8%.

The Nasdaq composite, heavily weighted with technology stocks, bore the brunt of the damage this month, ending April with a 13.3% loss, its biggest monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

Major indexes shifted between slumps and rallies throughout the week as the latest round of corporate earnings hit the market in force. Investors have been reviewing a particularly heavy batch of financial results from big tech companies, industrial firms and retailers.

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2022 NFL Draft l Titans pick Liberty QB Malik Willis at 86

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on the NFL draft.

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Malik Willis of Liberty became the third quarterback taken in the NFL draft when the Tennessee Titans took him in the third round with the 86th overall pick.

Willis is a spectacular athlete who signed with Auburn as a blue-chip recruit out of high school. He transferred to Liberty where he thrived in coach Hugh Freeze’s offense the past two seasons. He threw 47 touchdowns passes and ran for 27 scores in the past two years.

The previous two quarterbacks taken were Kenny Pickett from Pitt by the Steelers in the first round and Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati earlier in the third round to Atlanta.

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Praise, few blemishes in file of cop who shot Patrick Lyoya

A Michigan police officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head had no complaints of excessive force against him but much praise for traffic stops that turned up drugs, guns and people wanted for crimes, according to his personnel file.

Records released Friday by Grand Rapids police show Christopher Schurr received more than a dozen letters of recognition since becoming an officer in 2015. The incidents sometimes began with a stop because of a missing brake light or a driver’s sudden swift turn.

“Your quick and professional actions resulted in another firearm being removed from the streets and two parolees taken into custody,” then-Chief David Rahinsky wrote in 2017.

It’s possible that complaints against Schurr are no longer in his file. The contract between Grand Rapids and the police union allows expungement of older records if officers complete two years without a disciplinary action.

A few past incidents that brought Schurr positive recognition turned into foot chases. A foot chase is what happened on April 4 when he stopped a car driven by Lyoya, a Black man, and said the license plate didn’t match the vehicle.

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First ‘Jeopardy!’ Gen Z super champ’s streak hits 19 games

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reigning “Jeopardy!” champion Mattea Roach represents a new generation of the quiz show’s all-star players.

As of Friday, the 23-year-old Canadian has won 19 games and amassed $469,184 in prize money, putting her among the top 10 contestants for both consecutive victories and regular-season winnings in “Jeopardy!” history.

Roach, who begins her fifth week of competition Monday, is in the company of veteran standout players including Ken Jennings, who’s currently hosting the show, and this season’s champs Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio.

“The fact that I’m now one of the best players of all time hasn’t fully sunk in yet. It doesn’t really feel real,” said Roach, the first Gen Zer to be dubbed a “super champion” by the show for achieving a double-digit string of wins. (Generation Z generally refers to those born from 1997 to 2012.)

A tutor for aspiring law school students, and perhaps one herself, she plays with a breezy confidence. Roach is relaxed enough to casually think out loud about her approach, as she did when she hit a crucial Double Jeopardy last Wednesday.