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A consortium of the nation's top architectural and historic preservation groups is targeting President Donald Trump's plans totemporarily close and extensively renovatethe Kennedy Center, filing a new lawsuit Monday that asks a federal judge to indefinitely halt the project.

The complaint filed at a federal court in Washington, DC, takes aim at the process, which bypassed approvals from Congress and key commissions and therefore violates historic preservation laws, the groups contend.

It comes just days after the arts center's board of trustees, which is stacked with Trump loyalists,unanimously approved plansfor a two-year closure that will begin in July, marking the latest effort to impose the president's style and cultural tastes in the nation's capital. A judge is already weighing aseparate challengeto Trump's plans by a Democratic congresswoman who serves as an ex-officio member of the board.

The new case was brought by eight groups, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Institute of Architects, the DC Preservation League, and the American Society of Landscape Architects. They're asking a judge to pause "any further work on the Project" until the government completes a standard review and consultation processes with Congress, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, among other entities, according to a draft of the complaint obtained by CNN.

The groups are represented by a trio of law firms that are already involved in other cases related to Trump's development in Washington: his sprawlingEast Wing ballroomaddition, his attempt topaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Buildingwhite, and his efforts to redevelop theEast Potomac Golf Links.

The Kennedy Center requires significant maintenance, as outlined in a 2021 comprehensive building plan obtained by CNN that estimated more than $250 million was required for projects such as drainage and waterproofing improvements, exterior wall repair, and roof replacement. Congress approved $257 million for the center last year as part of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."

Trump announced in February that after an extensive "one-year review," the arts institution would need to close for roughly two years for the renovations, which, he said "will produce a much faster and higher quality result."

He subsequently suggested that the projectcould be dramatic— a demolition effort short of a teardown, but one so severe that it would leave the Washington building's steel "fully exposed."

A source close to the center told CNN at the time that Trump has very specific ideas about what he wants to do to the building, and those ideas — which have not been publicly released — don't align with the complex's current state.

Documents provided to the board of trustees ahead of last week's closure vote did not provide new information on what the renovations would entail that necessitated a full closure of the center, which will have significant impact on staffing, bookings and donors. The documents obtained by CNN included that 2021 review, an eight-page report from 2022 on soffit failure on the building's exterior, and minutes from a March 2 "Buildings and Grounds" subcommittee meeting.

"Major infrastructure needs include HVAC and chilled water systems, electrical infrastructure, structural and concrete deficiencies, service tunnel conditions, waterproofing, roof and steel degradation, and life-safety systems. A full shutdown is the most efficient and cost-effective path to complete the work properly," the meeting minutes said, adding that "approximately 75 to 175 of the Center's roughly 300 employees" would be impacted.

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The plaintiffs are concerned the renovation will be much more extensive than the administration has publicly telegraphed.

"We're concerned that, as with the White House East Wing, the potential scope of planned changes is understated and will result in irreparable loss," said Carol Quillen, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is also suing Trump over his ballroom project.

Judy Chesser, chair of the Committee of 100 for the Federal City, added: "Without public input and congressional approval as required by law, the Administration's statements that its intentions are only to 'enhance' the Center are not reassuring but are cause for alarm."

'Masterwork of modern architecture'

Plans for a National Cultural Center, a public auditorium in Washington, DC, began during the Eisenhower administration, and President John F. Kennedy was instrumental in fundraising for the space. After Kennedy's assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a law renaming the project for Kennedy, and it ultimately opened in 1971. The building was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, who unveiled its plans alongside the Kennedys in a national broadcast on NBC in 1962,according tothe Library of Congress.

The Kennedy Center has been regarded as "a masterwork of modern architecture" and "one of the most significant modern buildings in the Washington, DC, area," said Liz Waytkus, the executive director of Docomomo US, a modern architecture nonprofit.

Its exterior has stayed largely the same since its 1971 opening, until last fall, when Trump oversaw the painting of its gold-bronze columns white.

"It looks so much better. Before they had the steel painted gold, and the gold was very cheap. … We got rid of the gold columns, which was always terrible — they looked cheap and they looked fake," Trump said as he convened the building's board last week.

The next major change came in December, when the board voted to rename it the "Trump Kennedy Center," installingnew signagebearing the president's name just one day later. That move is also beingchallengedin court as part of Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty's lawsuit.

The president, who waselected chairman of the boardlast year, has also overseen major programmatic and leadership changes to the center, leading to slumping ticket sales and majorartists pulling outof planned appearances, which some saw as driving the desire to temporarily close.

Trump has been unhappy with some of the negative publicity around the Kennedy Center, announcing this month he planned toreplace its president, longtime allyRichard Grenell, with Matt Floca, its vice president of facilities operations.

Correction: This article has been corrected to attribute a quote to Liz Waytkus.

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an attempt by a citizen journalist to revive her civil rights claim after she was arrested for soliciting information from a police officer.

At issue in the case brought by reporter Priscilla Villarreal was whether the officials in Laredo, Texas, could claim the legal defense of "qualified immunity," which would protect them from being sued. The court's refusal to hear the case means her claim that the officials had violated the Constitution's First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, cannot go forward.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying the court made a "grave error" in declining to take up the case.

"It should be obvious that this arrest violated the First Amendment," she wrote.

In 2017, Villarreal, who has a large local following via her Facebook page, had texted a police officer to confirm the identities of a suicide victim and a car accident victim, which were not yet public. She then reported what she had learned.

Officials had Villarreal arrested for allegedly violating an obscure state law that prohibits the solicitation of information from a public employee in order to obtain a benefit. The law, if enforced widely, could apply to journalists who routinely seek information from the government and then disseminate it to subscribers.

The charges were quickly dropped, but Villarreal then filed a civil rights lawsuit claiming her free speech rights were violated.

Her lawyers argue that qualified immunity does not apply in part because officials would have known that seeking to enforce the state law was an obvious free speech violation.

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Defendants include Laredo's now-former chief of police, Claudio Trevino, and District Attorney Isidro Alaniz.

After lengthy litigation, Villarreal lost in lower courts on the qualified immunity question, prompting her to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

At an earlier stage of the case, the Supreme Court told the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take a second look at its ruling in favor of defendants, but in a decision in April last year, it again reached the same conclusion.

Qualified immunity, which protects police officers and other officials accused of violating the Constitution, has been the focus ofconsiderable criticismfrom legal groups on the right and the left for putting the thumb on the scale in favor of defendants. The doctrine was adopted by the Supreme Court, not by Congress, but the current justices have largely refrained from revisiting it despite numerous requests from litigants.

The Supreme Court on Monday, in another qualified immunity case, handed a win to a police officer in Vermont who faced an excessive force claim for manhandling a protester in the state Capitol building.

In an unsigned opinion, the court said lower courts were wrong to say the officer was not protected by qualified immunity.

Sotomayor, along with fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented in that case. Sotomayor wrote that the decision revived her concerns that the court often favors police officers in such cases.

"The majority today gives officers license to inflict gratuitous pain on a nonviolent protestor even when there is no threat to officer safety or any other reason to do so," she added.

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Ligue 1 clubMarseilleconfirmed Monday the departure of its former president Pablo Longoria, who failed to win titles and to bring back stability at the former powerhouse of French soccer with a succession of coaches.

The nine-time French champions and 1993 Champions League winners said in a statement they have reached an agreement on the terms of Longoria's departure.

Longoria arrived at the club in 2020 in a sporting director role and was appointed president less than a year later after groups of angry supportersraided the club's training complex, in protest against then-president Jacques-Henri Eyraud.

Under his presidency, Marseille reached the semifinals of the Europa Conference League in 2022 and the Europa League in 2024. But Marseille failed to perform in the Champions League and did not win a single title.

Longoria was moved aside last month after thedeparture of coach Roberto De Zerbi, with Alban Juster succeeding him on an interim basis.

Marseille thanked "Longoria's commitment, passion, and the work he has accomplished over the past six years in service of the club."

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Longoria initially enjoyed strong support from Marseille fans as he secured several major signings and appointed high-profile coaches such as Jorge Sampaoli and Gennaro Gattuso.

However, since American investor Frank McCourt bought Marseille in 2016, the southern club has struggled to achieve stability, something Longoria proved unable to deliver.

Marseille dominated domestic soccer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was the only French team to win the Champions League before PSG claimed the trophy last year. Marseille hasn't won the French league title since 2010 and has not claimed a trophy since the now-defunct League Cup in 2012.

Now coached by Habib Beye, Marseillelost 2-1 at home to Lilleover the weekend and sits 11 points behind leader PSG in third place.

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

The Toronto Blue Jays are showing faith in the team's braintrust coming off an appearance in the 2025 World Series. Just days before the start of the 2026 MLB season, theBlue Jays announced extensionswith both manager John Schneider and general manager Ross Atkins on Monday.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Prior to the extensions, both men were entering the final year of their contracts. Atkins was signed through 2031 and Schneiderwas signed through 2028,per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

The team did not provide financial details for either contract.

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The Blue Jays face major expectations this season after winning 94 games last season and taking the Los Angeles Dodgers to Game 7 of the World Series. Toronto pushed Los Angeles to extra innings in that contest before eventually falling 5-4.

The team enters 2026 in good position to once again contend for a championship. The Blue Jays return much of the same cast that pushed them to the World Series last season, but have also made some significant offseason additions.

Dylan Cease was the first major domino to fall, signing aseven-year, $210 milliondeal with the team in November. The team then landed arguably the best talent on the Japanese market, signing infielder Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60 million deal in January.

Those two, combined with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Alejandro Kirk, should ensure the Blue Jays are contenders once again in 2026.

With their new extensions in hand, Schneider and Atkins have the job security to go out and make the bold moves necessary to push the Blue Jays over the hump and win it all this season.

LONDON — An arson attack on several ambulances from a Jewish volunteer service is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, police in London said Monday.

Authorities are searching for three suspects who appear to be seen in CCTV footage pouring accelerant onto the vehicles before igniting them and fleeing.

The attack took place in Golders Green, a north London suburb that is home to several synagogues and dozens of Jewish schools and restaurants. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it "a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack."

It damaged four vehicles belonging to the volunteer organization Hatzola Northwest, with "multiple cylinders on the vehicles" exploding, causing windows to break in nearby buildings, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement.

The police also said they were aware of explosions linked to the gas canisters onboard the ambulances. No arrests have been made and no one was injured, police said.

Social media videos verified by NBC News showed massive flames rising from the ambulances as they burned, with the fire sending up thick plumes of smoke. Another video showed an explosion erupting as firefighters worked to douse the flames.

While it has not been declared an act of terrorism at this stage, the investigation is now being led by counter-terrorism policing, Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said.

"We are aware of an online claim from a group taking responsibility for this attack. Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority for the investigation team, but it is not something we can confirm at this point," he added, without naming the group.

The fire brigade said it received the first of 56 emergency calls around 1:40 a.m. (9:40 p.m. ET Sunday) and dispatched six fire engines and around 40 firefighters to the scene.

The fire was brought under control shortly after 3 a.m. local time, it said.

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Nearby houses have been evacuated as a precaution, but the 34 residents who have been displaced have not returned to their homes, police said.

A policing plan focused on key community locations across the area is underway, Williams said, and will continue beyond the coming days, as we move toward Passover, a major Jewish holiday, in early April.

"My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news," Starmer said in a post on X. "Antisemitism has no place in our society. Anyone with any information must come forward to the police."

Hatzola Northwest was established as a nonprofit organization in 1979 to provide free emergency medical services to residents of North London. According to itswebsite, it works closely with national emergency services and area hospitals and responds to thousands of calls a year, "from minor injuries to life-threatening conditions."

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the arson attack was "a particularly sickening assault — not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society." The Hatzola volunteer ambulance corps is "an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike," Mirvis added in a post on X.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Monday morning that four replacement ambulances will be provided until permanent replacements can be found, according to the BBC, saying the attack struck at the "heart of London's Jewish community."

Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, Sarah Sackman, called for the perpetrators of what she said was a "despicable, cowardly, antisemitic arson attack" in her area in a post on X to feel "the full force of the law."

The number of antisemitic incidents reported in Britain has surged since the Israel-Hamas war began in late 2023, including attacks on synagogues. The Community Security Trust, a British charity that works to protect the country's Jewish population,recorded3,700 incidents in 2025, compared with 1,662 in 2022.

In October, two people were killed and three seriously injured when a manrammed a car into a crowdand stabbed people at a synagogue in Manchester, England, in what police declared a terrorist attack.

About 15,000 people live in Golders Green, half of whom are Jewish, according to 2021 census data.

Yuliya Talmazan reported from London, and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.