MON SIX

Courage. Integrity. Commitment. Honesty. Respect.

Those are the values enshrined in Canton. But you don't need a gold jacket to live them.

Through its Award of Character, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in partnership with USA TODAY, honors teachers, nurses, coaches, firefighters, police officers and veterans whose impact on their communities rivals that of the game's greatest legends.

This month's honoree is Dr. Isaiah "Ike" McKinnon, a Michigan instructor whose life of service spans nearly five decades — and whose journey transformed personal trauma into a lifelong mission of fairness, justice and healing in Detroit.

A surprise visit and a lifetime of recognition

"What the heck?"

That was Dr. McKinnon's first reaction when Hall of Fame representatives arrived at his home.

Waiting for him were Jarrett Payton, son of Hall of Famer Walter Payton, and Hall of Fame linebacker Dave Robinson, there to deliver an unexpected honor.

"We are here on behalf of the Pro Football Hall of Fame," Payton told him. "To present you with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Award of Character, in partnership with USA TODAY."

The moment was overwhelming.

"Oh my God," McKinnon said repeatedly, visibly stunned. "You're going to give me a heart attack."

Robinson handed him the award — heavy in both weight and meaning — a symbol of values McKinnon has lived by for most of his life.

From injustice to intention

McKinnon's path to service was forged in pain.

At just 14 years old, he was beaten by Detroit police officers in 1957. The experience could have driven him away from the profession forever. Instead, it pushed him toward it.

"I made myself a promise that night," he said. "I was going to become a police officer — because I saw things that shouldn't happen to anybody."

Years later, during the 1967 Detroit uprising, that promise was tested again. While driving home in uniform, McKinnon was pulled over by fellow officers, guns drawn, who threatened his life.

"There was never an investigation," he said. "Nothing was ever done."

Still, he stayed.

Older officers, Black and white, encouraged him not to quit. And he listened.

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"There was no way I was going to leave," McKinnon said.

Earning trust, one person at a time

McKinnon devoted his life to Detroit, first as a police officer, later as chief, deputy mayor, professor and coach.

He earned degrees while working full time, eventually becoming a respected educator and mentor. He worked long hours, often 14 to 16 hours a day, determined to rebuild trust between police and the communities they served.

One moment, early in his career, stayed with him forever.

After chasing a suspect into a building, McKinnon found himself facing armed men with assault rifles. As tensions escalated, members of the surrounding community intervened.

"Let Officer Ike go," they said. "He treats us fairly."

The armed men backed away.

"That reaffirmed everything I believed," McKinnon said. "Being a good person matters."

A legacy beyond titles

McKinnon could have chosen bitterness. Few would have blamed him.

Instead, he chose grace.

"He fought against all the odds to make the world better, not just for himself, but for everyone," one colleague said. "That's an incredible leap of human dignity."

Even now, years after leaving office, McKinnon is recognized throughout Detroit. Former students, young officers and community members still stop him to say thank you.

"That's a good feeling," he said. "Detroit is a big, small town."

Words for the next generation

As Hall of Fame players do when they're enshrined, McKinnon was asked to offer advice that might live on.

His message was simple and unwavering.

"You have to stand up for what's right," he said. "And stand against what's wrong. If you don't, who's going to make that difference?"

It's a philosophy that carried him through hardship, leadership and decades of service, and one that now earns him a permanent place among the Hall of Fame's Awards of Character honorees.

This article was created in partnership with the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dr. Ike McKinnon honored with Hall of Fame character award

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 25 points and 15 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 20 points, and the surging Denver Nuggets beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors 116-93 on Sunday night.

Warriors Nuggets Basketball

Jokic finished two assists shy of his fifth straight triple-double but led Denver to its sixth consecutive win. The Nuggets (48-28) are two games ahead of Minnesota and Houston for fourth in the Western Conference.

Brandin Podziemski and Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 apiece for Golden State, which continued to be without Stephen Curry.

Curry missed his 25th game in a row with a balky right knee. The Warriors (36-39) have lost 16 of the 25 games with Curry sidelined.

Denver forward Aaron Gordon was out after experiencing calf soreness when he woke up Sunday morning. Gordon has missed 44 games this season with separate hamstring injuries.

The Nuggets then lost Spencer Jones to hamstring tightness in the first half and Cameron Johnson went to the locker room early in the third quarter holding his left ribs.

Johnson returned to the bench with his torso wrapped. Neither played again.

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Things became chippy in the second quarter when Denver backup center Zeke Nnaji, pressed into action due to the injuries, got into an altercation with De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II after Murray and LJ Cryer exchanged shoves.

Late in the period Payton was hit with a Flagrant 1 for a hard foul on Peyton Watson.

Golden State went on a 19-2 run in the second quarter to lead by 13 and it was 53-46 at halftime, but the Nuggets rallied. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10 points in third when Denver outscored the Warriors 40-21.

Up next

Warriors: Host San Antonio on Tuesday night.

Nuggets: At Utah on Wednesday night.

AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

NEW YORK (AP) — St. John's says Hall of Fame basketball coach Rick Pitino has signed a new agreement that will keep him under contract with the school through the end of this decade.

NCAA St Johns Duke Basketball

Pitino washired in March 2023and given asix-year contractthrough 2029. Several media outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported Sunday his restructured deal includes an additional year through the 2029-30 season and a raise that will make him the second-highest paid coach in the Big East behind Dan Hurley atUConn.

"We're thrilled that Coach Pitino has signed a new agreement to remain at St. John's, a deal that will keep him in Queens through the end of the decade," athletic director Ed Kull said in a statement. "This extension reflects our strong confidence in his leadership, vision, and commitment to our student-athletes.

"Coach Pitino has changed the culture of our community and we want his presence to be felt on this campus for years to come. We look forward to more Big East championships and NCAA Tournament runs with Coach Pitino at the helm."

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In three seasons with the Red Storm, the 73-year-old Pitino has led a remarkable resurgence for the New York City program, coaching the Johnnies to consecutiveBig East regular-season and tournament championships.St. John's reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years beforelosing 80-75 to No. 1 overall seed Dukeon Friday night.

Pitino earnedhis 900th career winon the court this season and said he'd like to reach 1,000. He is 81-25 at St. John's and coming off consecutive 30-win seasons.

AP March Madness bracket:https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracketand coverage:https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — When 33-year-old Brazilian woman Emily de Souza heard about a program allowing her to shave off four days from her prison sentence by reading a book, she seized the opportunity to reconnect with a cherished habit.

Brazil Prison Books

Like tens of thousands of detainees across the country — including former PresidentJair Bolsonaro— she signed up for a sentence reduction program that encourages inmates to immerse themselves in literary works in exchange for reducing their sentences by up to 48 days per year.

The possibility of reuniting earlier with her 9-year-old autistic son, who her mother and aunt are looking after, only ramped up her motivation to participate in the project.

"One day is an eternity because it feels like it's never going to end," said de Souza, who is incarcerated at the Djanira Dolores de Oliveira Women's Prison inRio de Janeiro, which houses approximately 820 female detainees.

Reading is "a kind of escape, to get out of this environment for a bit, to think about other things: other stories, other people, not just me," she said.

Like most of her fellow inmates, de Souza was sentenced for drug-trafficking. She said she received five-year prison term for selling a cannabis-infused Brazilian chocolate treat known as "brigadeiro" in Portuguese. She arrived last November, but hopes to progress to Brazil's semiopen prison regime in August, which would allow her to leave prison during the day to work.

Brazil, which has one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in Latin America, stands out for having one of the most formalized and nationwide systems for sentence remission via reading in the world. The rapidly growing program, which was first formally regulated in 2012 and then standardized acrossBrazilin 2021, received renewed attention earlier this year after the Supreme Court authorized Bolsonaro — who is servinga 27-year sentencefor attempting a coup — to take part.

'It helps us a lot'

Andréia Oliveira, coordinator of female prisons and LGBTIQ+ inclusion in Rio state's prisons, said that access to reading programs and schools helps the individual once they have left prison — but also society. "When we encourage education, ludic activities, knowledge, we return to society someone who can reconnect, respect rules," she said.

Since 2022, literature professor Paulo Roberto Tonani has been conducting workshops in prisons so detainees in Rio can benefit from the measure.

Participants choose or are given a book in the initial kick off activity. They then discuss their book in the next encounter and finally, in a third meeting, they produce a review or a drawing that demonstrates comprehension.

Detainees have read "Captain of the Sands" by renowned Brazilian author Jorge Amado, "Crime and Punishment" byFyodor Dostoevskyand "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.

A much-loved favorite of participants is the illustrated book "Father Francisco," by Marina Miyazaki Araujo, which tells the story of an incarcerated father from the child's perspective, said Tonani. Many detainees in Brazilian prisons are from a poor background and did not complete basic education.

Some participants in the late March workshop at the Djanira Dolores de Oliveira prison were reading "Unsubmissive Tears of Women" byBrazilian writer Conceição Evaristo— including Celina Maria de Conceição, a 50-year-old woman originally from the northern state of Pernambuco.

De Conceição, who took part in the workshops last year and signed up again, said she developed the taste for reading thanks to the project.

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"It helps us a lot because we're locked up and it gets very stressful, very noisy," she said. "We get to go to somewhere else, interact with other people and talk about good things, like the book we're studying."

Unequal access

But she said she had to put down Evaristo's book, which exploresthe impact of violenceon Black women's lives, after it upset her.

"It wasn't good for me, because it stirs up our emotions, and we're in a place where the environment is already truly heavy," she said.

Brazilian prisons are renowned for overcrowding and harsh conditions. In 2023, the Supreme Court recognized mass human rights violations in the prison system and ordered the federal government to develop a plan to resolve the situation. Called "Just Punishment," it was launched in 2025 and among other goals seeks to expand study and work opportunities.

While progress has been made, access to earning time off by reading remains unequal across Brazil, said Rodrigo Dias, head of education, culture and sport in the country's National Secretariat of Penal Policies.

In thenortheastern state of Alagoas, some prisoners were handed aKindlewith 300 literary works on them, whereas other, more conservative states have heavy bureaucracy which hinders access, Dias said.

A 2023 government report found that some 30% of Brazilian prison units do not have libraries or adequate reading spaces. But Dias pointed to the secretariat's data, which shows that the number of remission requests via reading has increased sevenfold since 2021.

Like de Conceição, once people began participating, they often want to continue. "The book gives them the possibility to dream, and often to 'talk' with other people — not those who are imprisoned or working in the facility, but with the characters in the stories," Dias said.

'More than a mistake'

While Elionaldo Fernandes Julião, co-author of the book "Sentence Remission Through Reading in Brazil: The Right to Education in Contest" and a professor at the Fluminense Federal University, underscores the importance of accessing books in prisons, he argues that oftentimes Brazil's sentence reduction programs through reading are used as a substitute for developing access to education, which is much more costly.

Julião also said that access to the policy and books often depends on local projects. "Unfortunately, these are very easy to eliminate or shut down as quickly as possible," he said.

During the recent workshop, de Souza read out loud a poem written by formerly imprisoned Argentine writer Liliana Cabrera. One of the lines affirms the narrator is "Also something more / than the letters in black / of a court case."

De Souza shared that the words resonated deeply.

"Someone knew how to explain with beautiful terms (…) that I'm a lot more than a court case, a lot more than the mistake I made, that I'm a human with my story," she said.

Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean athttps://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Even as regional leaders scramble to find diplomatic off-ramps to the war, the main players – Israel, the US and Iran – are doubling down on their positions.

President Donald Trump has claimed Iran is almost ready for a deal, even as Tehran warns it will "rain fire" on American troops if they launch a ground invasion.

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Here's what to know on Day 31.

What are the main headlines?

• Washington's demands: President Trump said Iran had agreed to "most of" the 15-point list of demands that the US conveyed to end the war. He claimed that Iran has given the US "20 boatloads of oil" that will be shipped on Monday to "prove they're serious."

• Iran's warning: Iran's parliament speaker accused the US of "secretly planning a ground invasion" while floating negotiations, and said Tehran's forces are "waiting" for US troops. The USS Tripoli — carrying 3,500 US service members — has arrived in the Middle East, after CNN reported earlier this month that a Marine Expeditionary Unit would be deployed. Such units have traditionally been used for missions that require ship-to-shore movements.

• Iran's oil: In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump raised the prospect of the US taking Iran's oil, saying that would be his "favorite thing." He also told FT he is still considering whether to seize Iran's Kharg Island, a key fuel hub, adding that US forces would likely need to remain there for an extended period.

• Diplomatic efforts: Pakistan says it is prepared to host talks between the US and Iran "in coming days," after what it called a "very productive" meeting with leaders from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to discuss efforts to de-escalate the war.

• Iran's assertion: A senior Iranian security official told CNN that Tehran will determine when the war ends — pushing back on US assessments that the conflict could be wrapped up within weeks.

• Energy costs: Oil prices climbed after Tehran's warning against any US ground invasion, with Brent crude rising 2.47% to $107.92. Asian stocks fell on Monday.

What's happening on the ground?

• Regional strikes: An Indian worker was killed in Kuwait on Monday after a building was damaged in an Iranian attack, reported Kuwait News Agency. Meanwhile, Israel said early Monday it had intercepted two drones from Yemen, after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels waded into the conflict for the first time since it began. This comes after Israel's military carried out strikes on the Iranian capital Tehran late Sunday, claiming it is just days away from hitting all the targets in Iran that it classifies a "top priority."

• Lebanon border: Israel is pushing further into southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces are exchanging fire with Hezbollah. Israeli forces are occupying the land south of the Litani River, an area it has called on Lebanese civilians to evacuate. Human rights workers have warned that Israel's demolition of river crossings will cut off tens of thousands of Lebanese residents from "essential lifelines."

• US aircraft destroyed: An Iranian strike on an air base in Saudi Arabia appears to have destroyed a vital US Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft. Images of the wrecked aircraft began appearing on social media over the weekend, which CNN geolocated to the Prince Sultan Air Base. CNN has previously reported that an attack on the air base left at least 10 US service members injured, with no fatalities reported.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

By Jihoon Lee

SEOUL, March 30 (Reuters) - South Korea's March exports probably rose at the strongest pace in nearly five years on a ‌boom in chip demand fuelled byartificial intelligenceinvestment, although the ‌Iran war was set to drive up imports and inflation, a Reuters poll showed on ​Monday.

Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, were projected to have risen 44.9% from a year earlier, according to a median forecast of 11 economists.

That would be faster than the 28.7% rise in February and the strongest ‌since May 2021. It ⁠would also mark the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year gains.

"Semiconductor prices are continuing to rise sharply on robust demand for ⁠memory chips," said Chun Kyu-yeon, an economist at Hana Securities, expecting this year's trade surpluses at record levels.

In the first 20 days of this month, exports rose ​50.4%, as ​semiconductor sales surged 163.9%. Shipments to ​the U.S. and China rose 57.8% ‌and 69.0%, respectively, while those to the European Union were up 6.6%.

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"However, due to the impact of high oil prices, import growth will also be higher than previously projected," said Park Sang-hyun, an economist at iM Securities. "It is expected that there will be some disruption to shipments to the Middle ‌East."

In Monday's monthly survey, imports were forecast to ​have risen 18.0% in March from a ​year earlier, after growing 7.5% ​in February. That would mark the biggest jump since September ‌2022.

The median forecast for the country's ​monthly trade balance stood ​at $21.2 billion, wider than $15.4 billion in the previous month and a record high.

Consumer inflation probably accelerated in March to 2.4%, the fastest pace ​in four months. Inflation ‌was 2.0% in February.

South Korea is scheduled to report trade figures ​for March on Wednesday, April 1, at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT).

(Reporting by ​Jihoon Lee; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A group of friends in their mid-20s campaigned door to door last week in a small Hungarian city, supporting a political movement that soon could end Prime MinisterViktor Orbán's 16-year grip on power.

Hungary Youth Vote

The young men fromHungary'sLake Balaton region were volunteering for the center-right Tisza party and its leader, Péter Magyar, and campaigning to move past what they described as Orbán's broken system.

"We've lived our whole lives in this system, and we want to see what it could be like outside of it," said Florián Végh, a 25-year-old student. "I can say on behalf of my fellow university students and my friends that this system is absolutely dysfunctional."

A generational gap is widening, with Hungary's youth pushing overwhelmingly for an end toOrbán's autocratic rulewhile the oldest citizens remain loyal to the prime minister — a split that could be a decisive factor in the April 12 elections.

Orbán, 62, trails in the polls behind Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer who broke with Orbán's nationalist-populist Fidesz party over a political scandal in 2024. He has led Tisza on arapid political rise, inspiring a voting cohort that had largely avoided politics for at least two decades.

Fidesz's declining popularity during economic stagnation and political and corruption scandals has widened the demographic divide. A recent survey by pollster 21 Research Center found that 65% of voters under 30 support Tisza, while 14% are backing Orbán.

Changing of the guard

One Tisza volunteer, 24-year-old student Levente Koltai, pointed out that Fidesz is an acronym in Hungarian for "Alliance of Young Democrats." But he believes the party no longer lives up to its name.

"Fidesz has lost the title of young, democratic and alliance," he told The Associated Press. "It's gone from young to old, from democratic to tending toward dictatorial, and from an alliance to a circle of cronies."

Andrea Szabó, a senior researcher with Eötvös Loránd University's Institute for Political Science in Budapest, said a changing of the guard was emerging in Hungary, where "a new, active political generation is beginning to unfold before our eyes."

While Orbán's political generation was defined by its fight against Hungary's Soviet-era socialist system in the 1980s and 1990s, "now, we have reached the point where after 25 years, there is a new political generation that is against the Orbán regime," Szabó said.

'Illiberal' drift toward Russia and China

Orbán's government defines itself as both Christian-national and "illiberal," and has drifted away from partners in the European Union in favor ofcloser relations with Russiaand China.

Long accused by critics of taking over Hungary's institutions,clamping down on press freedomand overseeing entrenchedpolitical corruption— charges he denies — Orbán has become an icon in the globalfar-right movement.

Admirers approve of his opposition to immigration andcurtailing of LGBTQ+ rights, and applaud benefits to young families such as abolishing income tax for mothers with multiple children and providing state-backed loans to first-time homebuyers.

Such policies, as well as a pension supplement for retirees, appeal to many older voters. Fidesz leads Tisza 50% to 19% among retirement-age Hungarians, according to the 21 Research Center Poll.

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Zsuzsanna Prépos, a retiree, said at one of Orbán's recent campaign rallies that she was "very happy" with the government's pension policies, and that she's supporting Fidesz because it "helps young people."

"When I was young ... I didn't get anything. Now young people have a lot of help," she said.

Yet such measures have not translated into youth support for Orbán. In several recent speeches, he has both scolded young people for their anti-government attitudes and pleaded with them to reconsider.

"Young people, wake up!" he said at a rally last week. "These are not times for taking risks, experimenting or trying new things. ... Believe me, today only Fidesz and my humble self can provide this country with security."

Szabó, the researcher, said while many young people view Orbán's family support policies positively, their "very strong sense of justice" is incompatible with "the authoritarian exercise of power, the corruption, the fact that they feel vulnerable and that there is insecurity in the country."

"Their lives essentially took place entirely within the Orbán regime, so they know nothing other than this kind of functioning of power," she said.

Tisza's rise

Recent events in Hungary have turned large numbers of youth against the ruling party.

Hungary was rocked by scandal in February 2024 when it was revealed that the president, a close Orbán ally, had granted a pardon to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. The revelationshocked the country, and the president and justice ministerresigned.

Days later, some of the country's best-known influencers led aprotestdemanding a political transformation. Drawing tens of thousands, it marked a turning point which "opened the door to politicization for a lot of young people," Szabó said.

In the wake of the pardon scandal, Magyar broke with Fidesz and launched Tisza. Three months later, the party won 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections.

Magyar has built his campaign on promises to end Orbán's drift toward Russia andrestore Hungary's Western orientation, and to revive the stagnating economy by recovering billions in EU funds that areblocked over rule-of-lawand corruption concerns.

That economic message has resonated with youth. Végh, the Tisza volunteer, said it's easier than ever for his internet-savvy generation to access different forms of information, and to travel to nearby countries where governments are putting public money to good use.

"In Austria, you see a much calmer, more peaceful, more educated society with better roads and better health care," he said. "You cross the border and see that you have drifted into a developed European country."

Although Tisza leads in the polls, its victory is far from assured. Orbán has a lead among older voters and in much of the countryside.

At a recent rally in Budapest that drew upward of 100,000 people, Tisza supporter Dorina Csobán said the election battle had become "pretty divisive in my family for the older people, because we younger people are saying clearly that there must be change."