LONDON (AP) — For Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue.

Caterham, who is 115, became the world’s oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116.

“Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity.

This undated handout provided by Hallmark Care Homes shows Ethel Caterham, who on Friday, May 2, 2025 is now the world’s oldest woman according to LongeviQuest. (Hallmark Care Homes via AP)

She was born on Aug. 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings.

Travel has been in her blood, it’s clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG.

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She met her husband Norman, who was a major in the British army, at a dinner party in 1931, and they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, the GRG said. They had two daughters whom they raised in the U.K. Norman died in 1976.

Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a “115” tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived,” it said in an accompanying statement. “Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here’s to celebrating your remarkable journey!”

The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.

By JAMEY KEATEN and FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — United Nations officials have circulated proposals for a vast consolidation of U.N. operations and other sweeping reforms to root out inefficiencies, overlaps and cost overruns as the world body faces a critical funding crunch, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The proposals, which are in the early stages of discussion and are far from certain to be adopted, would amount to one of the biggest overhauls of the U.N., which has been upended by funding cuts from its biggest donor, the United States, under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The document, labeled “strictly confidential,” falls under a reform initiative known as UN80 that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched in March.

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It comes as the United Nations is set to celebrate its 80th anniversary this summer, with its ability to work on resolving conflicts, help feed and house the poor, destitute and displaced, and fight disease, along with many other of its lofty humanitarian ambitions, increasingly in doubt.

“The memo is the preliminary result of an exercise to generate ideas and thoughts from senior officials on how to achieve the secretary-general’s vision,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

He noted that it was just one way the U.N. is working on changes and that “this exercise is designed to ensure we are responsible stewards of the monies from hardworking taxpayers around the world who underwrite everything we do through member state contributions.”

The memo notes “significant overlaps, inefficiencies, and increased costs in the UN system” and a “fragmented development system” — an allusion to the work to help poorer or conflict-battered countries build and rebuild.

The document, in an apparent signal to aid cutbacks by the U.S. and other Western countries, noted that “geopolitical shifts and substantial reductions in foreign aid budgets are challenging the legitimacy and effectiveness” of the United Nations.

The U.N. proposals underscore the impact of Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. back from its position as the world’s single largest aid donor, as his administration slashes foreign assistance. But even before the Republican president took office, many donor nations had reduced humanitarian spending, and U.N. agencies struggled to reach funding goals.

Among the ideas being discussed in New York is a proposal to form a single humanitarian entity, such as by creating a “streamlined” organization that pulls together the U.N.’s aid coordinator, refugee agency and migration agency and “leveraging” the expertise of the U.N. World Food Program.

The AP reported this week that several U.N. agencies that provide aid to children, refugees and other vulnerable people around the world would be slashing jobs or cutting costs in other ways, ahead of any mandates from headquarters. Among those organizations is the World Food Program, which is expected to cut up to 30% of its staff.

The head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it would downsize its headquarters and regional offices to reduce costs by 30% and cut senior-level positions by 50%. Other agencies, including UNICEF and OCHA, also plan to make cuts.

Other ideas being discussed in New York are options for a merger of multiple organizations — possibly including the U.N. bodies for peacekeeping; drugs and crime; development assistance; and the office of the special adviser on Africa — into one peace and security entity.

Other options could include moving U.N. peace and security operations “closer to the field,” with a more regional, decentralized management, and a “comprehensive restructuring” of the political and peacekeeping operations.

More broadly, the proposed reforms would affect the U.N.’s approach to new technologies like artificial intelligence and alter the internal culture, down to the way meetings would be structured, operations funded, budgets set and new organizations created in the future.

The existence of the internal memo was first reported by Reuters.

Keaten reported from Geneva.

Most comics-derived superhero movies really wouldn’t be much of anything without buried rage, and what happens when it won’t stay buried. Their stories’ relentless emphasis on childhood trauma and the crippling psychological load carried by broken souls (heroes and villains both) — that’s the whole show.

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With its adorable little asterisk in the title, “Thunderbolts*” goes further than most Marvels in its focus on psychological torment, mental health and, more broadly, a shared search for self-worth among a half-dozen also-rans who learn what it takes to be an A-team. Their sense of shame isn’t played for laughs, though there are some. Mostly it’s sincere. And it’s more effective that way.

“A” stands for Avengers, among other things, and with the legendary Avengers AWOL for now (hence the asterisk in the title), there’s a vacuum in need of filling.  Targeted for elimination, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning for duty as U.S. intelligence weasel Valentina, the combatants of the title have their work cut out for them. Who can they trust? If not Valentina, taking a more central role this time, then who?

Joining forces are Yelena/Black Widow (top-billed Florence Pugh); her gone-to-seed father Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour); the tetchy John Walker/Captain America (Wyatt Russell); Antonia/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko); the quicksilver invisible Ava/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen); and the Winter Soldier himself, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), whose entry into the “Thunderbolts*” storyline is most welcome. Their mission: To neutralize as well as rehabilitate the all-too-human lab experiment known as Bob, aka The Sentry, aka The Void, played by Robert Pullman. He’s Valentina’s little project, more dangerous than anyone knows.

Sebastian Stan and David Harbour, foreground, with John Walker and Hannah John-Kamen, rear, in “Thunderbolts*.” (Marvel Studios)

The misfits scenario guiding “Thunderbolts*” is nothing new. “Suicide Squad” did it, “Guardians of the Galaxy” does it, and this motley crew keeps the tradition alive. It works, even when the material’s routine, because Pugh’s forceful yet subtle characterization of a heavy-hearted killing machine with an awful childhood feels like something’s at stake. She and the reliably witty Harbour work well together, and while there’s a certain generic-ness at work in the character roster — these insecure egotists are meant to be placeholders, with something to prove to themselves and the world — the actors keep the movie reasonably engaging before the effects take over.

Even those are better than usual, for the record. That sounds weird when you’re dealing with another $200 million production budget commodity. Shouldn’t they all look good, preferably in wildly different ways?

It’s a matter of simplicity and selectivity, not assault tactics. The poor, tormented newbie Bob has a superhero guise (The Sentry, fearsomely powerful, essentially all Avengers packed into one fella). but SuperBob has a dark side. When The Void takes over, it’s insidious psychological warfare, with The Void’s victims suddenly, quieting disappearing into a massive black handprint. His targets must relive the worst guilt and shame they have known, whoever they are, wherever that shadow of anguish and rage may lead them.

Sounds heavy, and it is. But at its best, the visualization of this part of “Thunderbolts*” feels like something relatively new and vivid. And there you have it. The 36th MCU movie, if you’re interested. It’s the most pretty-good one in a while.

“Thunderbolts*” — 3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references)

Running time: 2:06

How to watch: Premiered in theaters May 1

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

Anthony Edwards struggled to find any sort of rhythm in Game 5 of Minnesota’s first-round series victory against the Lakers on Wednesday. The guard went 5 for 19 from the field, lowlighted by an 0-for-11 performance from beyond the arc.

Edwards admitted postgame he would have continued to try to force his offense to find any semblance of success down the stretch of the Timberwolves’ victory had it not been for Julius Randle.

Randle was one of the few Wolves players seeing his shots fall as he took advantage of good matchups to get to his spots and score. The confident forward called for the ball down the stretch with the idea that we would close out the contest and, thus, the series.

Edwards ceded some of the creation duties to Randle, who had 11 points in the fourth to key Minnesota’s 103-96 victory and put the Wolves into the Western Conference semifinals.

“We a team,” Edwards said. “Just give him the ball, let him go to work and realize he got the matchup that we looking for.”

That’s the general idea of offensive basketball, create an advantage and exploit it to your benefit. But the approach requires buy-in from all involved, starting with your best player. Edwards is Minnesota’s best player.

And while Minnesota benefits from the guard being a win-first guy, the 23-year-old superstar still must be convinced that a teammate will produce before Edwards gives way. Once that trust is in place, that guard will look for you, even in the most critical spots.

The primary case of that is Jaden McDaniels, who Edwards seems to out to every time the wing is open, even when McDaniels is in the midst of a harsh shooting slump. Because Edwards believes in McDaniels.

It’s now abundantly clear that he also believes in Randle. And everyone else likely does now, too. While Randle previously had playoff questions after a few rough postseason campaigns in New York, he answered the bell against the Lakers.

Randle averaged 22.6 points per game in the series, shooting 48% from the field and 39% from distance. He tallied nearly three assists per each turnover from Games 2-5 while competing at a high level on the defensive end.

“Julius Randle was absolutely huge in this series, and another guy who’s had a lot of unfair criticism in his career,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He was outstanding on both ends of the floor. We don’t win this series without him. Julius was consistently great every night, just doing a lot of little things, timely things.”

Perhaps his time in New York proved that Randle may not be best suited as a No. 1 scorer in a playoff series. Very few are. But recent evidence suggests he slots in quite well as a No. 2. That’s not always the easiest role to step into. Partially because it means fewer shots on a nightly basis in what’s effectively a contract year for Randle, who has a $30 million player option for next season that he can either accept and play on, or decline to enter free agency.

But aside from that, the No. 2 spot on a team’s scoring ladder also creates a delicate dance, as you have to learn when you need to be aggressive for your team versus doing it at all times.

Finch noted Minnesota simply had to figure out how to best deploy Randle. He’s noted at various times that the Timberwolves erred in that early in the season. But they started to find their way midway through the season, just prior to Randle getting hurt. Finch points to Randle’s return to Madison Square Garden as a key turning point.

A month prior, Randle took eight first-quarter shots at Target Center against the Knicks. Minnesota’s offense bogged down and the Wolves were destroyed by New York. This time around, in an emotional return to New York City, Randle attempted just six shots on the night as the Wolves won convincingly.

“The offense hummed around him and through him,” Finch said. “He played defense. That had to be an incredibly emotional game, like the maturity to do that, and we were just starting to find ourselves at that point, like we weren’t an established product at that point in time. So, he could have easily gone in there and made it a revenge game, but he didn’t, and we won that game, which was a huge win for us at the time. … It kind of all snowballed from there.”

Finch said Randle realizes the talent around him in Minnesota. The Wolves sport one of the best eight-man rotations in the NBA, rivaling the likes of Boston and Oklahoma City.

“He wants those guys to succeed, as well,” Finch said. “He knows he needs to help create opportunities for them.”

Which is exactly what he has done over the past two-plus months, and Minnesota is in a great spot because of it.

“Everyone in this locker room knows who he is and what he does for us,” said Donte DiVincenzo, who’s in his second season playing with Randle. “He comes in the second half (Wednesday) and he just dominates the game on the offensive glass, getting downhill, making plays for everybody else. He would’ve had a double-double or triple-double if we made shots. His playmaking ability is very, very special for us and we’re going to ride Julius throughout the rest of the playoffs.”

Certainly, they’ll ride their Batman — Anthony Edwards — as well. But there will be nights when even Edwards can’t get it going, and the open shots of others may not be falling. At which point, as was the case in Game 5 against Los Angeles, it’s Robin to the rescue.

“When you play next to (Edwards), it made the game a lot easier,” Randle said. “Because they throw two or three people at him, so you’ve just got to be willing to move and be in the right spaces on the floor. You’ve got to be able to take advantage of that. (There’s) not a person in the world that can guard him one on one. So, teams are throwing everything at him.

“I always tell him, ‘Go be great. But if you need me, I’m right there for us.’ ”

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