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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the eastern sea, South Korea's military said, staging its ownshow of forceas the rival South conducts ajoint military exercise with the United States.

South Korea Koreas Tensions

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from an area in Sunan, the site of Pyongyang's international airport, and flew about 350 kilometers (220 miles).

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the weapons landed outside the country's exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage to planes or ships.

The South's Joint Chiefs said the military has stepped up surveillance and is maintaining readiness against possible additional launches while closely sharing information with the U.S. and Japan.

The launches came as the U.S. and South Korean militaries conduct their annual springtime exercises involving thousands of troops while the Trump administration also wages anescalating war in the Middle East.

The war has raised concerns about potential security lapses in South Korea, as local media — citing security camera footage and other images — have speculated that the U.S. is relocating some missile defense assets stationed in the country to support operations against Iran.

When asked by The Associated Press this week whether U.S. Forces Korea was moving interceptor missiles from its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, orTHAAD, system in Seongju to the Middle East, South Korean PresidentLee Jae Myung'soffice said it could not confirm details about U.S. military operations.

The office said the potential relocation of U.S. military assets would not affect the allies' defense posture against nuclear-armed North Korea, while also citing South Korea's conventional military strength. It earlier gave a similar response to reports about the possible relocation of Patriot missile defense systems from South Korea.

The launches came hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Seoul's No. 2 official after Lee, met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington and expressed hope for renewed diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang. Lee seeks improved inter-Korean relations, and some of his top officials have said Trump's expected visit to China, starting March 31, may create an opening with Pyongyang.

But Saturday's launches appeared to dim such hopes, signaling defiance by Pyongyang, which in recent months hashardened its stance toward Seouland urged Washington to drop denuclearization demands as a precondition for talks.

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North Korea has long described the allies' drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.

The North in previous years has conducted numeroussalvo launchesof missiles or artillery while describing them as simulations of nuclear attacks against targets in South Korea.

The powerfulsister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Unon Tuesday criticized Washington and Seoul for proceeding with their drills at a perilous moment for global security, and warned that any challenge to the North's safety would bring "terrible consequences."

Without directly referring to the Iran war, Kim Yo Jong said the U.S.-South Korea drills undermine regional stability at a time when the global security structure is "collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues."

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has released separate statements denouncing the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and expressing support for Tehran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise, which runs through March 19, is one of two annual command post exercises conducted by the militaries of the United States and South Korea. The largely computer-simulated drills are designed to test the allies' joint operational capabilities, while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. Freedom Shield will be accompanied by a field training program called Warrior Shield.

North Korea has repeatedly rejected Washington and Seoul's calls to resume diplomacy aimed at winding down its nuclear program. Talksderailed in 2019following the collapse of Kim Jong Un's second summit with Trump during his first term.

Kim has madeRussiathe priority of his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to supportMoscow's war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology.

AP journalists Yuri Kageyama and Mayuko Ono contributed from Tokyo.

KAPIKOY BORDER CROSSING, Turkey (AP) — After bombs exploded near her home in the eastern Iranian city of Golestan, hairdresser Merve Pourkaz decided to leave.

Turkey Iran War

Pourkaz, 32, said she traveled nearly 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) to an alpine border crossing in the hopes of reaching the safety of the nearby Turkish city of Van.

"If they let me, I will stay in Van until the war ends," she told The Associated Press recently while waiting at the crossing. "If the war doesn't end, maybe I'll go back and die."

Pourkaz is one of the 3.2 million people in Iran who the U.N. refugee agency estimates have been displaced since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran started. While some are seeking shelter in safer parts of Iran or one of its neighboring countries, others are returning from abroad, heading toward the fighting to protect their families and homes.

So far, relatively few people have chosen to leave: The U.N. estimates that only about 1,300 Iranians have fled via Turkey each day since the war started, and on some days, more people return to Iran than depart. But Iran's neighbors and Europe are growing increasingly concerned about a possible migration crisis should the war drag on and are making contingency plans.

As Pourkaz was entering Turkey, Leila Rabetnezhadfard was headed the other way.

Rabetnezhadfard, 45, was in Istanbul preparing to marry a German university professor when the fighting started. She postponed the ceremony and left for home in Shiraz, in southern Iran.

"How can I feel safe in Istanbul when my family is living in Iran during the war?" said Rabetnezhadfard, explaining that bringing her family to Istanbul wasn't an option because her apartment is small, her brother needs medical care, and life there is expensive.

"I will not leave Iran until the war ends," she said.

Fleeing the fighting

The U.N. has warned that continued fighting will likely push more Iranians to flee their homes.

As in the12-day conflictlast year, many Iranians are now sheltering in place, without money to flee or perhaps because ofU.S. President Donald Trump's Feb. 28 warning.

"Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere," he said.

Although large numbers of Iranians haven't fled the country yet, people have beenleaving major citiesfor the relative safety of the countryside bordering the Caspian Sea north of the capital, Tehran, according to the International Organization for Migration.

"Movement out of Iran appears limited mainly because people are prioritizing staying with their families, as well as the safety of their families and property, and due to security conditions and logistical constraints," said Salvador Gutierrez, chief of the IOM's mission in Iran.

If Iran's critical infrastructure is destroyed, that could lead to waves of people trying to cross into one of Iran's neighbors: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Iraq.

"If Tehran, a city of 10 million people, doesn't have water, they're going to go somewhere," said Alex Vatanka, a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

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Iran is already grappling with one of the world's largest refugee populations: roughly 2.5 million forcibly displaced people mostly from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Neighbors brace for impact

If the crisis deepens, aid groups say the most likely destinations for refugees are Iran's borders with Iraq and Turkey, which stretch roughly 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) through rough alpine terrain that is home to many Kurdish communities and are difficult to police.

Turkey had a so-called open-door policy that allowed millions of Syrian refugees to enter the country during their country'slong civil war. But it has abandoned that approach for various reasons.

Instead, it has prepared plans to shelter Iranian refugees in "buffer zones" along the border, or in tent cities or temporary housing inside Turkey, the country's Hurriyet newspaper quoted Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci as saying.

Iranians who have fled the war will likely not seek refugee status in Turkey because asylum claims might take years to process, if at all, said Sara Karakoyun, an aid worker at the independent Human Resource Development Foundation based near the border.

"They don't want to wait in limbo for years for a refugee status they might not get," she said.

Turkey's defense ministry said in January that Turkey had hardened its border with Iran by adding 380 kilometers of concrete walls, 203 optical towers and 43 observation posts.

Turkey will likely send troops to secure its border and tightly control the flow of people into the country while seeking European Union funds to help deal with refugees, said Riccardo Gasco, an analyst at the IstanPol Institute.

Europe taps network to prepare for the worst

The relationship between the EU and Turkey was redefined by the Syrian refugee crisis a decade ago. Nearly two-thirds of the 4.5 million Syrians fleeing the civil war ended up in Turkey. Many then made their way to Europe via small boats.

In 2016,Brussels and Ankara forged a migration dealwhere the EU offered Turkey incentives and up to 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees on its territory to persuade Ankara to stop tens of thousands of migrants from setting out for Greece.

Aid groups said that deal created open-air prisons with squalid conditions. But for the EU leadership, the deal saved people, kept many migrants from reaching EU territory, and bettered the lives of refugees in Turkey.

Renewal of that deal is up this year, butTurkish citizens have soured on Syrian refugeesand anti-immigrant right-wing partieshave surged in popularity in parts of Europe.

And another refugee crisis is already underway even closer to Europe, with fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollahdisplacing more than 800,000 peopleso far.

"We've got a situation (in the Middle East) that could have grave humanitarian consequences right at a time where humanitarian funding has been completely slashed," said Ninette Kelley, chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council, pointing to the Trump administration'sgutting of USAID. "Is the world ready for another humanitarian disaster?"

McNeil reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Fay Abuelgasim in Cairo, and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

The Trump administration's attacks on universities have led to a slowdown in hiring, with international academics particularly caught in the crossfire.

Colleges are being forced to navigate boththreats to federal fundingand immigration roadblocks, a landscape that many find increasingly untenable to navigate.

The U.S. has a reputation for research that some say will survive the Trump onslaught, but the real harm could be deterring future candidates from pursuing certain fields.

The pause in hiring began last year after the administration started pulling millions of dollars from elite universities, often citing allegations of antisemitism.

The loss of money led to hiring freezes at top universities such asHarvardand thousands to belaid offat Johns Hopkins University.

While some schools have reached deals with the administration to restore funding and others won it back in the courts, restoration has not translated to a resurgence in hiring.

"It's become much more complicated in the sense that we're spending a lot more time than we used to try to make the case for new positions, to justify how a new position is going to lead to enrollment growth … I have heard a lot more kind of consternation from counterparts around just the struggle to make the case for new positions. And, in some instances, just not being able to hire new faculty," said Kevin McClure, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

While funding concerns plague hiring issues on the administrators' end, academics are also struggling with decisions over whether to even stay in their fields amid the turmoil.

Free speech concerns have hit U.S. and international academics as some states crack down on how professors can teach about certain topics such as race and gender, efforts largely supported by the White House

Even before the second Trump administration, the American Association of University Professors found in 2023 one in three academics were looking to leave Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, with 58 percent citing their state's political climate.

Recently, one professor wasfiredat the Texas A&M University for kicking out a student who challenged her teaching about more than two genders in an incident that went viral. The professor is currently suing for her job back.

In multiple red states, bans have been placed on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, and DEI programs have been outlawed.

Other U.S. academics have discussedleaving outcertain words such as "equity" from government funding proposals over fear the Trump administration would outright reject their requests.

"The quality is not at the same level in the states that are imposing different kind of restrictions on academic freedom and also diversity equity, inclusion, and so the retention of quality scholars and also the attracting of that has been not great," said Mike Gavin, president and CEO of Alliance for Higher Education.

"There have been some states where the opposite effect is taking place, where you're seeing high-quality administrators and faculty apply and get jobs in states where there are protections of the same thing. So, you're seeing a major demographic shift that aligned with the legislative posture that each state takes with regard to academic freedom, institutional autonomy and, especially, diversity, equity, inclusion," he added.

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U.S. students may also be less likely to go into certain fields afterRepublicans last year cappedhow much those going for particular degrees can borrow in federal student loans, with industries including nursing sounding the alarm on the future of their workforces.

That change could eventually impact universities' willingness to hire as they adjust their financial models,

But it could also affect universities willingness to hire as they may have to adjust their financial models, a possibility the GOP hopes will make higher education cheaper.

Foreign professors have even more perilous waters to navigate, with arecent lawsuitalleging the First Amendment rights of non-citizen academics have been violated.

The Trump administration began a policy last year to bar researchers who study fact-checking and social media due to fears the work could lead to censorship of Americans.

The policy has caused foreign-born professors and faculty to self-censor or be barred from entering the country, according to the lawsuit.

The Trump administration's introduction of a $100,000 H-1B visa fee also harms the prospects of getting international talent into American universities, with some not wanting to take on the high cost to bring these individuals in.

"There are certainly challenges attracting international academics, more broadly, some of that is driven by just concerns about U.S. politics, but a lot of its driven by the H-1B visa issue, where, if you get $100,000 to hire a person in much of academia, there are other people who could potentially have those positions who are Americans. It's more challenging in fields like engineering, where there are a lot of very well qualified international graduates," said Robert Kelchen, professor and head of the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The chaos in the U.S. higher education system has led some foreign countries to try to take advantage and attract talented academics to their schools.

Spain, Denmark, China and others are offering research money, relocation assistance and other benefits to lure U.S. academics away, with some success.

"We're going to get a smaller share of the world's top talent just because of the difficulties in coming to the U.S., but I don't think we're going to lose a lot of top American talent to other countries. That's something that it just seems to be a pretty rare event, and much of the world, outside of China, doesn't provide anywhere near the level of federal support for higher education that the U.S. has, especially in research," Kelchen said.

There could also be some long-term hiring consequences in the U.S., even if academics don't try to go to another country.

"As an example, if you've got people who are completing their doctorates, they're considering an academic job, but they're doing so in an environment where there is a lot of uncertainty. There are some real questions about the financial viability of some institutions. It means that the prospect of stepping into a faculty job is a little riskier than it was in the past. In a variety of ways, it's more politically risky and maybe more financially risky," McClure said.

"We're probably going to see fewer applicants who, themselves, are coming from a lower income background, fewer applicants whose research is in an area that is important and studies underserved communities … And so, we may see less diversity in individuals that are pursuing faculty careers," he added.

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Arizona's Jaden Bradley sent the Wildcats to the Big 12 tournament championship game with his buzzer beater against Iowa State on Friday night.

Bradley hit a contested fadeaway as time expired for an 82-80 win over the Cyclones in what could have been the best game of conference tournament week. Bradley made two baskets in the final minute, as Arizona took the lead late in the second half and hung on.

Bradley's shot is the first game-winner as time expired in the Big 12 tournament since Iowa State's Monte Morris in 2015. The Wildcats will play Houston in the Big 12 title game on Saturday night.

Before the buzzer beater, Bradley put the Wildcats up three with 45 seconds to go on another jumper. But Tamin Lipsey — who was 1-of-10 from the field — buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 15.2 seconds left.

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The second half was fantastic as both teams traded baskets in the final minutes. Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic tied his career high with 28 points as he was 8-of-14 from behind the 3-point line. Three of those came in the final 1:23 of the first half as his personal 9-0 run put Iowa State up by six at the half.

Anthony Dell'Orso matched him in the second half. The Arizona senior was huge for the Wildcats in their road win over Houston in the regular season on their way to the Big 12 regular-season title. On Friday night, Dell'Orso scored 26 and was 6-of-9 from behind the arc and 10-of-14 from the field.

Iowa State jumped out to a 14-2 lead to start the game and seemingly always had an answer for Arizona when the Wildcats got closer. The dam finally broke in the second half as Arizona took the lead with 6:01 to go and extended it to five — its biggest margin of the game — with 4:09 to go.

The Cyclones didn't go away. After Arizona went up 76-71 with 2:23 to go, Iowa State kept cutting the lead back to one score before tying the game on Lipsey's basket.

The game solidified why Arizona will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and how Iowa State could be a No. 2 seed when the bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday. The teams combined to shoot 63-of-124 from the field and were 22-of-47 from behind the arc.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities were searching for a man who shot and killed two people in a drug store parking lot near the TPC Sawgrass, leading The Players Championship to delay opening gates for the third round Saturday morning.

St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said the suspect, whom he identified as Christian Barrios, shot two people multiple times about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of Walgreens in a domestic violence situation. The store is located about a mile away from the course.

He said canine units pursued Barrios onto TPC Sawgrass property. Hardwick said Barrios, who turned 32 on Saturday, at one point picked up a PGA Tour radio and later dropped it. He then stole a black BMW, and Nassau County authorities in the far northeastern tip of Florida pursued the car and forced a crash into the woods.

The suspect fled on foot and was still at large.

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The PGA cited "operational considerations" in deciding not to open the gates until 9 a.m. The first round bean at 8:15 a.m. and was not delayed. Hospitality areas were delayed opening until 11 a.m.

Hardwick said Barrios had a long criminal history and knew the victims, both of whom were shot multiple times and taken to the hospital where they died.

AP golf:https://apnews.com/hub/golf