I looked at prototypes and rare materials that even Tim Cook hadn’t known about. They tell the story of America’s most iconic company.
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Women’s Final Four 2026: How UConn star Sarah Strong found her voice
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Alexa Philippou
Multiple Authors
PHOENIX — TWO DAYS before the Final Four, Sarah Strong was so nervous that she couldn’t eat.
But the UConn Huskies‘ superstar wasn’t anxious about her team’s upcoming national semifinal matchup against South Carolina or that the Huskies are two wins from an undefeated season and clinching back-to-back NCAA championships.
It had nothing to do with basketball. Strong dreads public speaking.
Strong was about to be awarded the Naismith Trophy for national player of the year. The ceremony honoring her and other award finalists was imminent. She would have to go on stage to receive her trophy and give a few remarks in front of a crowd.
In other words: a concoction of things that Strong — known for her reserved public nature, succinct news conference answers and disinterest in the spotlight — would prefer to bypass.
“It’s the weirdest thing,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said last month. “Theoretically, those two things don’t go together: ‘I want to be the best player in the country,’ but then when people say, ‘Oh, there’s Sarah Strong, she’s the best player in the country'” — Auriemma physically recoils as he imitates Strong — “she hides from it.”
If they ever existed, the days of Strong hiding in the wings are gone. Her talent made that impossible. Last April, Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley deemed her capable of being the best to come out of UConn — and she has done nothing to dissuade that notion. Leading the No. 1 Huskies in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, Strong has swept the national player of the year awards to date.
None of that matters to Strong — she might be the only person to describe winning the Naismith as a “cool side quest.” But her maturation on and off the court into the star the Huskies need her to be could be the key to the revival of a dynasty, if all goes to plan this weekend for UConn in Phoenix.
“She’s a kid that sort of wants to fit in,” said North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart, who recruited Strong while she attended high school in Durham in hopes of keeping her in-state. “I think now she realizes her version of fitting in is just being better than everybody else.
“I think she just is starting to understand the strength that is Sarah Strong.”
1:46
What makes UConn so dangerous this season?
Carolyn Peck joins “Get Up” to discuss the keys to UConn’s Final Four matchup against South Carolina.
AZZI FUDD WASN’T sure what to think about Strong when they roomed together during the Huskies’ trip to the Bahamas around Thanksgiving 2024. Despite being roommates for a week, Fudd estimates most of their conversations lasted about 30 seconds.
Other teammates have similar stories about their first encounters with Strong. For Allie Ziebell, a fellow sophomore who took her official visit to Storrs with Strong, the combination of their quiet personalities made for a tough pairing. “Honestly, I feel like every Sarah interaction I had before was so awkward,” Ziebell said, laughing.
Redshirt sophomore Jana El Alfy, meanwhile, crossed paths with Strong at a FIBA event in Hungary before they became Huskies and thought, “Either she hates me or she is just shy.”
Once on campus, Strong came out of her shell off the court. The Huskies describe her as a goofball, someone who can easily pick up new skills and excels — almost annoyingly — at everything she tries. Ziebell describes her as the first friend to check on someone when they’re having a bad day.
On the court, Strong’s versatility, IQ and smoothness were apparent right away.
“[If] you’re building a player, how could you build something any different, any better?” Auriemma said recently. But playing alongside star upperclassmen Fudd and Paige Bueckers, last year’s No. 1 WNBA draft pick, meant Strong tended to yield to others.
“Usually, as a freshman, you come in, you want to gain everybody’s respect,” Bueckers told ESPN. “You don’t want to step on toes … I wanted her to think that it was her team, to where she felt confident enough to take over a game and didn’t have to be, like, defer to Paige, defer to Azzi.”
That shift occurred last March. Strong had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the Elite Eight and 24 points and 15 rebounds in the national title game. She left Tampa, Florida, with a worthy case for Final Four most outstanding player — and with onlookers wondering how she could top her freshman season.
WITH BUECKERS OFF to the WNBA and the program readying for Fudd’s departure, a more aggressive sophomore season for Strong was a mandate. She needed to become more confident and assertive, more comfortable not just leading by example but also in using her voice.
And she needed to be OK with taking over games when the Huskies needed it — even if that felt counter to her nature as, in Banghart’s words, a person “about as egoless as there is on the planet.”
“Her biggest flaw is her unselfishness,” Bueckers said, “and I think that’s also her superpower too.”
“I think, too, [it’s about] helping reframe what being selfish is,” added Allison Feaster, Strong’s mother and a former Harvard star who for two seasons led the nation in scoring in the 1990s. “If your team needs your score, if your team needs the ball to get in your hands, the team needs you to put pressure on the other team’s defense in whatever form that may be, then doing the opposite, to me, is being selfish.”
Game by game, Strong has come into her own — and proved herself as the most dominant player in the game. Her 31 career games of scoring at least 20 points are tied with Breanna Stewart for the most by a UConn player through their first two seasons with the program over the past 25 seasons. With 26 more points, she can break Maya Moore’s UConn record for most points through a player’s first two NCAA tournaments; with 33 points, she can break Chamique Holdsclaw’s record (for any player).
“She’s much more comfortable being herself, just authentically her,” UConn junior Ashlynn Shade said. “I think that’s translated to her on the court, too, because she’s just so powerful, so strong, confident, that she’s just unstoppable.”
And when UConn has needed her most in March, Strong has delivered.
In the Sweet 16, the Huskies trailed after the first quarter for only the second time this season, their offense out of sorts against North Carolina’s stingy defense. Strong rattled off three straight baskets in the second quarter and scored 11 points in the period to swing the lead and momentum in UConn’s favor.
The Huskies were ahead 28-20 at halftime, and Strong spoke up in the locker room before Auriemma came in, telling her teammates that if they played their game, the Tar Heels couldn’t stop it. After the victory, she described that moment as perhaps the first time this season she felt comfortable speaking up in such a setting.
“I’m not going to be the one to talk and say the most things, but if I say something here and there, and it’s pretty impactful when I do,” Strong said. “I know that team looks up to me and Azzi, so we try to do a good job of leading.”
Two days later, the Huskies were in a dogfight against Notre Dame. They had trouble getting Strong touches early on. After playing 38 minutes in the previous game, her tired legs, she admitted after the game, made her more stagnant than usual.
But she recognized her team needed her to show up. And in the second half, she willed herself to 15 of UConn’s 38 points. She found her mom in the stands after securing the win, leaning over the courtside stats table in exhaustion. “You dug in, baby,” Feaster told her, as Strong wiped her brow and let out a “phew.”
“She knows that when it’s time to win games, that she has a huge responsibility,” Auriemma said. “Some players shy away from it, and she likes it “
Feaster and Auriemma don’t think she feels pressure. She just sees it, they say, as doing whatever she needs to do to win.
“I honestly don’t think it registers in her mind, the things that she’s doing individually,” Feaster said. “I don’t know how she even reflected on being a national champion in her first season. It’s not something that drives her, the individual aspect.”
Her looseness, her calmness, in turn, have become the team’s personality this season, helping the Huskies shoulder the burden of an undefeated record with a relative ease that has surprised even Auriemma.
“There is a level of confidence that Sarah has that I think she lifts them up to someplace where they wouldn’t be able to be by themselves or with maybe somebody different,” Auriemma said. “So, they play with confidence knowing they have her, and that’s probably the best compliment that I can give her.”
1:26
UConn downs Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four
UConn is heading to Phoenix for the Final Four after taking down Notre Dame.
STRONG’S TEAMMATES TAKE their phones out of their pockets and have them on standby. The official from the Naismith ceremony is about to announce the player of the year. And Strong is ready.
The Huskies stand and erupt in cheers as Strong’s name is called, and she takes the stage. They start chanting, “speech! speech! speech!”
Strong approaches the podium and stands up straight, unwavering. She had spent the past day preparing some remarks with UConn’s sports information director. Strong speaks for 45 seconds — “I don’t say a lot, but I genuinely do love you guys,” she says to her teammates as she closes — before returning to her seat with a smile.
That’s not the last of the demands for Strong. Naismith officials ask her to do a media circuit, speaking with local reporters, CBS and even an interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. There’s more the next day. She’s named the Associated Press player of the year as well as the winner of the Wade Trophy for player of the year — meaning more ceremonies, more standing ovations, more media and more acceptance speeches.
At the festivities for the Wade — less than 24 hours before the Final Four game against South Carolina — she’s asked if she wants to make any remarks.
“No,” she says, “I’ve said enough.”
She’s saving the rest for the court.
Pope Leo carries cross for all 14 stations during Good Friday procession, first pontiff to do so in decades
Pope Leo XIV carried a wooden cross for all of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carried the cross to every station.
“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”
Inside the Colosseum, Leo lifted the cross and began the rite flanked by two torchbearers, who accompanied him throughout the hourlong procession from inside the Colosseum, through the crowd outside and up steep stairs to the Palantine Hill where he gave the final blessing.
Gregorio Borgia / AP 
At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo’s first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.
“The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,” read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.
Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loudspeakers.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP 
They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.
“We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,” she said.
John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.
For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.
Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.
Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and an outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.
The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP 
“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”
At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.
On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late-night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.
On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.
Freezing temperatures in parts of New Mexico, Albuquerque Metro tonight
Freezing temperatures are likely for parts of western, northern, and central New Mexico Saturday morning. Quiet weather moves in for Easter weekend. A couple of cold fronts have been moving south into New Mexico Friday, dropping high temperatures a couple degrees to over 10° today along and north of I-40. Temperatures are warmer today in […]
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Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk
Find insight on Microsoft, Meituan, LG Electronics and more in the latest Market Talks covering technology, media and telecom.
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Luka Dončić still has path to All-NBA eligibility, but the league will make him jump through hoops to get it
Luka Dončić will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season and likely longer after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 hamstring strain on Friday. Dončić sustained the injury in the Lakers 139-96 loss Thursday night against the Thunder. The Lakers star exited the game in the third quarter, after grabbing his hamstring in pain while trying to drive to the rim. It’s a gut punch for the Lakers, who have looked dominant as of late and sit third in the Western Conference. It also puts Dončić’s eligibility for end-of-season awards in serious jeopardy.
Per the CBA, a player must participate in at least 65 regular-season games (20 minutes minimum) to be eligible for awards like Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. Dončić has only played in 64 games. With only five games left on the Lakers schedule, Dončić seemingly will not hit the threshold.
There was a possibility that Dončić would still remain eligible under a specific exception that was created alongside the rule, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll check all the boxes that way, either.
In the league’s CBA, a player could qualify for end-of-season awards by playing in at least 62 games, then suffering a season-ending injury while having played in at least 85% of the regular season games prior to suffering the injury. While Dončić checks the box of having played 62 games, he doesn’t meet the requirement of having played in 85% of his team’s games prior to the injury. He’s played in 83.1%. In order for him to meet the “season-ending injury” requirement, a physician selected by the NBA and players association would have to determine that it’s “substantially more likely than not” that Dončić would be unable to play through May 31.
Another path to awards eligibility
However, there is one way left for Dončić to still retain awards eligibility for MVP and All-NBA. In order to do so, Dončić would have to file an “extraordinary circumstances grievance,” per the league’s CBA. The Lakers star would have to prove all three things:
- Due to extraordinary circumstances, it was “impracticable” for him to play in one or more regular-season games
- He would’ve satisfied the award eligibility criteria had be played in every game that he missed due to the extraordinary circumstances
- As a result of the extraordinary circumstances, and “taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including whether the player did not play in other regular season games in which he could have played during the season,” it would be “unjust” to exclude him from award eligibility
Dončić does indeed plan to go this route, per his agent. Dončić and his agent Bill Duffy plan to point to the two games he missed on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, in which he flew to Slovenia to be present for the birth of his youngest daughter in early December. He would’ve satisfied the award eligibility criteria had he not missed those two games for extraordinary circumstances.
Dončić has to serve a written notice to the NBA by 11:59 p.m. EST on April 13, the day following the last day of the regular season. It would have to include a witness list, relevant documents and other “evidentiary materials” for the case. The decision will be made by an independent expert that the league and the player’s association jointly select. This “challenge expert” will hold a hearing no later than two days after being presented with the challenge by the player, and make a ruling on the case.
“His record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances,” Duffy said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”
It’s a complicated process, but it represents a possibility that Dončić can remain eligible for end-of-season awards, if he chooses to go down this path.
Given the season he’s had, it would be a shame for him not to be honored with an All-NBA selection. Especially when he just finished the month of March having totaled 600 points, breaking Kobe Bryant’s franchise record for most points scored in a single month. He had five 40+ point performances, as well as a 60-point outburst in a win against the Miami Heat on March 19. His case for MVP was gaining steam, and while he likely wouldn’t have won the award, you could argue he’s been the third- or fourth-best player in the NBA this season.
All that aside, though, it shouldn’t have to take Dončić using a “break glass in case of emergency” type of rule for him to remain eligible for end-of-season awards. There’s no question that he’s been one of the 15 best players this season, regardless of the number of games he played. In no world should someone called a “challenge expert” be hired to determine if Luka Dončić should be allowed to earn an All-NBA spot. You don’t need to read the rules of the CBA and hire lawyers to figure that one out.
Unless the league and the player’s union decide to soften some of these guidelines going forward, this is the reality we’ll be living in. One where a guy who just had a historic month and has carried his team to the third-best record in the league since March 6, might not be honored in the history books because he fell short one game shy of this arbitrary rule. Adam Silver might think this rule is working, but there’s been plenty of evidence to prove it’s not.
5.8 magnitude quake hits Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing 8 in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 rattled parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan late Friday, killing at least eight people in Afghanistan, authorities said.
The region is highly seismically active, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years. Friday’s earthquake had an epicenter in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the Afghan city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesman for the Kabul governor, said eight people were killed and a child was injured when a house collapsed on the outskirts of the capital. He said all were members of the same family.
Kabul is roughly 290 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from areas closer to the epicenter. The area is remote, and it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.
With the epicenter at a depth of over 180 kilometers, the quake jolted a wide swath of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was felt in the cities and towns of Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said Kabul and provincial health authorities had been put on alert.
Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people, leveling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.
In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.
On Oct. 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.
Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Many homes in rural and outlying areas are made from mud bricks and wood, with many poorly built.
NASA releases first images of Earth taken by Artemis II astronauts
The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds.As of midmorning Friday, Wiseman and his crew were 90,000 miles from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 168,000 miles to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion’s main engine Thursday night that set them on their course.They’re the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.Video below: Passengers on flight watch Artemis II launch from Florida
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —
The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.
NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.
The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds.
As of midmorning Friday, Wiseman and his crew were 90,000 miles from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 168,000 miles to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.
The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion’s main engine Thursday night that set them on their course.
They’re the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Video below: Passengers on flight watch Artemis II launch from Florida
This Classic Country Star Murdered His Wife
The career of one of country music’s most successful early stars was derailed after he was convicted of murdering his wife.
Spade Cooley was known as the self-proclaimed King of Western Swing in the ’50s. His band was one of the most popular live acts in the country during that era.
The acclaimed fiddler scored hits including “Shame on You,” hosted an enormously popular TV show and also appeared in a number of Western movies.
Which Country Star Murdered His Wife?
Cooley’s downfall came about in 1961, shortly after he filed for divorce from his second wife, Ella Mae, with whom he had three children.
The bandleader — who, according to Shame! Shame! A Saga of Spade Cooley, King of Western Swing, was an alcoholic and also abused pills — was wildly jealous of his younger, attractive wife, accusing her of multiple affairs.
After he filed for divorce, they attempted to reconcile, and on April 3, 1961, Cooley killed Ella Mae in their home by savagely beating her to death, reportedly crushing a cigarette against her skin afterward to make sure she was dead.
The murder took place in front of the couple’s daughter, Melody, who testified against her father in a sensational trial that ended in a conviction on Aug. 19, 1961.
Cooley was sentenced to life in prison on Aug. 22, 1961, but in another strange twist, the State of California granted him parole after he served eight years.
Cooley — who had been a model prisoner — was scheduled for parole on Feb. 22, 1970, but was granted a temporary furlough to perform at a charity concert on Nov. 23, 1969.
He completed the concert to a standing ovation, and afterward was reportedly excited about the prospect of a possible comeback.
But his excitement was cut short when he suffered a massive heart attack and died backstage at the event, bringing a fittingly bizarre end to one of the strangest stories in country music history.
Once one of country’s most recognizable stars, Cooley has been virtually forgotten in the decades since his death.
Country Music’s Most Horrific Crimes
These 11 country stars were locked up for committing awful crimes. Some turned their life around while others (like No. 10) never seemed to have learned their lesson.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
Opinion | Trump and Bismarck in the Same Sentence
With his Iran war, the U.S. president is creating chaos for the world and wider options for himself.
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