CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Keaton Wagler, a standout guard for the University of Illinois, has etched his name into the history books of Illini basketball.

Wagler has made history by becoming the first freshman in the program’s history to be recognized as a Consensus All-American. He achieved this remarkable feat by being named a second-team All-American by all four major national publications that announce postseason awards.

This significant accomplishment has set the stage for the Shawnee, Kansas native to achieve the honor of having his jersey commemorated at the State Farm Center.

On Thursday, Illinois Athletics confirmed that Wagler will be inducted into the Illinois Basketball Honored Jerseys program at the State Farm Center, solidifying his place among the program’s elite.

Wagler will join the ranks of other notable players from the Brad Underwood era, including Kofi Cockburn, Ayo Dosunmu, and Terrence Shannon Jr., who have also had their jerseys raised to the rafters at the State Farm Center.

Wagler averaged 17.9 points per game in his first year of college hoops, a monumental rise after not being ranked in the top 100 in his class by major recruiting sites out of high school. He is the first Consensus All-American at Illinois since Kofi Cockburn in 2022.

Wagler, a projected NBA lottery pick by several national outlets, has not yet announced his future plans.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As tensions simmer between Israel and Hezbollah, representatives from the U.S. and Iran prepared on Friday for crucial negotiations set to commence in Islamabad. The talks aim to stabilize a fragile ceasefire and address Iran’s influence over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was ready to depart from Washington, while Iran maintained silence regarding its negotiating team. Iran appeared to leverage this uncertainty to press the U.S. to stop Israeli military actions in Lebanon. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, with connections to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, suggested that discussions would be “on hold” unless Washington complied.

In another development, Kuwait reported a drone incursion on Thursday night, attributing it to Iran and allied militias in the region. Although Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied involvement, the group has previously orchestrated unclaimed attacks across the Middle East.

Parallel to the Iran-U.S. talks, discussions between Israel and Lebanon are also anticipated to launch next week at the U.S. State Department in Washington. This could represent a significant step forward in efforts to maintain peace in the Middle East, as noted by a U.S. official and another informed source who requested anonymity due to the matter’s sensitivity.

These developments follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Thursday that he has sanctioned direct negotiations with Lebanon. The aim is to disarm Hezbollah militants backed by Iran and foster diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. Israel’s announcement of negotiations with Lebanon comes amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began Feb. 28.

The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.

The Lebanese government had not responded as of Friday morning, and it was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon. The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.

Pressure on ceasefire continues

After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the U.S. have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.

Late Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote of the trickle of ships Iran has allowed to pass through the crucial waterway.

Underlining Iran’s continued control of the strait, a Botswana-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker attempted to travel out of the Persian Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard, but suddenly turned around and headed back early Friday, ship-tracking data showed.

Saudi Arabia said recent attacks have damaged a key pipeline in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Press Agency, quoting an anonymous official, said its crucial East-West pipeline, which carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz, was damaged in the recent attacks.

Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.

Israel vows to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses.”

Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet Vance in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.

Trump said Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.

Early Friday morning, Israel’s military said it struck approximately 10 launchers in Lebanon that had fired rockets toward northern Israel on Thursday.

Threat of mines looms over the strait

Four tankers and three bulk carriers crossed through the strait Thursday, bringing the total number of ships passing through since the ceasefire to at least 12, according to the data firm Kpler.

Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war — a message that may be intended to pressure the U.S.

The chart, released by the ISNA news agency and Tasnim, showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the route ships take through the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas once passed.

The head of the United Arab Emirates’ major oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, said some 230 ships loaded with oil were waiting to get through the strait and must be allowed “to navigate this corridor without condition.”

The strait’s de facto closure has caused oil prices to skyrocket — affecting the cost of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $96 Friday, up about 35% since the war began.

HONG KONG – In a significant boost for Chinese automakers, passenger car exports from China surged in March, as reported by an industry association on Friday. This increase highlights the intensified efforts by Chinese car manufacturers to expand their presence in international markets.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, there was a remarkable 82.4% increase in passenger car exports compared to the previous year, with around 748,000 vehicles shipped in March. This is a notable rise from the 586,000 vehicles exported in February.

Exports of new energy passenger vehicles, which include battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars, experienced an even more dramatic surge. These exports jumped over 140% year-on-year in March to reach 363,000 units, marking a 31% increase from February’s figure of approximately 276,000 units.

Leading Chinese automobile companies like BYD and Geely Auto are actively expanding their sales overseas, partly by setting up production facilities outside China. This move is fueled by the expectation that the global energy crisis and rising fuel costs, exacerbated by the conflict involving Iran, might drive more consumers towards electric vehicles.

Chinese car brands have made significant advancements in recent months, especially in markets such as Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, as they seek to capture a larger share of the global automotive market.

“The impact of the Iran conflict hasn’t fully shown up in March data yet, but it can act as a trigger,” said Chris Liu, a Shanghai-based senior analyst at advisory group Omdia.

“In many markets that are structurally well suited for EVs, adoption has been slow simply because consumers lacked urgency,” he said. “A sharp rise in fuel prices changes that.”

The Chinese carmakers’ strong overseas push also came at a time when domestic vehicle sales in China have come under pressure from scaled-back government support this year to encourage drivers to switch to new energy vehicles.

Fierce competition in China among car brands and a prolonged property sector slump that has weighed on consumers’ desire for big purchases also impacted Chinese automakers.

Domestic passenger car sales fell 19.2% last month from a year earlier to nearly 1.7 million units. It was the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year declines for passenger car sales at home, based on data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

UBS auto analyst Paul Gong believes that the domestic sales weakness will not be too long lasting and that the surge in overseas sales among Chinese carmakers could help with the weaker demand at home.

“For the overall industry, the overseas market’s sales volume growth is more than enough to offset domestic decline on a full-year basis,” said Gong, head of China autos research at UBS investment bank.

Overseas passenger car sales by units for Chinese automakers might grow by 20% or more this year compared with last year, he predicted.