By JOSH FUNK

The air traffic controllers directing planes into the Newark, New Jersey, airport lost their radar Friday morning for the second time in two weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the radar at the facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday. That’s similar to what happened on April 28.

That first radar outage led to hundreds of flights being canceled or delayed at the Newark airport in the past two weeks after the FAA slowed down traffic at the airport to ensure safety. Several controllers also went on trauma leave after that outage, worsening the existing shortage.

The FAA said earlier this week that it is installing new fiber optic data lines to carry the radar signal between its facilities in Philadelphia and New York. Officials said some of the lines connecting those two facilities are outdated copper wire.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a multi-billion-dollar plan Thursday to replace the nation’s aging air traffic control system to prevent problems like this from happening and give controllers modern technology.

Officials developed the plan to upgrade the system after a deadly midair crash in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C.

But the shortcomings of the air traffic control system have been known for decades. The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined that a problem with the air traffic control system caused that crash near Reagan National Airport.

By MARCOS ALEMÁN

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador’s government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison.

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In March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them.

Since then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom.

“These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,” said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit. “We’re hoping that this case might help put pressure on El Salvador to put basic guardrails in place.”

El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country’s once-powerful street gangs.

The improvement in El Salvador’s security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals.

A spokesperson for Bukele’s office declined to comment Friday.

With the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men’s release or return to the U.S.

A judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S.

The human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases.

Some of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit.

Bukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison.

While both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone’s detention was justified — in El Salvador’s courts, none have advanced.

The groups are asking the human right commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador’s government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly.

The other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

AP journalist Christopher Sherman contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. — More than 300 previously laid-off employees will keep their jobs, Arctic Cat announced Thursday afternoon.

The news comes roughly two weeks after the Thief River Falls-based snowmobile manufacturer was taken over by Brad Darling, a former Arctic Cat executive. The company’s previous owners, Textron Specialized Vehicles, had announced in February that the Thief River Falls and St. Cloud plants would indefinitely suspend operations and that 385 workers would be laid off in May.

When Darling was named CEO and president last month, a news release said the Thief River Falls plant would continue operations as normal. Now, in the announcement Thursday, Arctic Cat unveiled a new 2026 snowmobile lineup, with plans to ramp up production at the Thief River Falls plant.

“Once we got the keys, we knew moving fast was our only option,” Darling said in a statement. “Having the ability to release a lineup of snowmobiles that offers new models and significant updates was the first step. Next, we are able to reengage the majority of our workforce of just under 500 employees, providing stability to our extended family.”

Dan Johnson, vice president of operations, said the company has been on a limited production run since the news that Arctic Cat would suspend operations at its facilities. The new 2026 lineup will create a ramp-up period for production and allow the supply base time to produce needed parts. He anticipates production activities to begin in late summer.

The Arctic Cat engine facility in St. Cloud will also expand its workforce, the news release said.

“Over 300 jobs within the Arctic Cat workforce faced immediate uncertainty,” the Thursday release said. “(The lineup provided) a huge sigh of relief to employees, family members and community about the future of the Arctic Cat brand.”

Shortly after the news broke, Thief River Falls Mayor Mike Lorenson said he was in the midst of a deluge of phone calls about the restored jobs, including from U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and state Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks. Lorenson said he himself was still digesting the news.

“From my side, I’m excited for what the new leadership has in store for Arctic Cat,” he said. “New energy, new focus, if you will, and it’s exciting this year that they have a new lineup that they’re working on right away. They’ve been very aggressive to make some changes.”

In a follow-up statement, Lorenson praised Arctic Cat’s swift action and commitment to the city.

“This is a great step forward for our city,” he said in the statement. “I look forward to seeing this hometown legacy thrive once again.”

The Herald’s Hannah Shirley contributed to this report.

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Cynical folks from about 40 other states and a handful of Canadian provinces like to poke fun at the self-proclaimed State of Hockey, noting that for all of Minnesota’s hockey talent and culture, the Stanley Cup has never been won here.

To the contrary, the NHL’s most revered trophy almost always makes a summer stop in Minnesota, when a triumphant player from Eden Prairie or White Bear Lake or Grand Rapids brings the chalice to their home rink for a day.

That will almost certainly be the case again in 2025, as there are Minnesotans sprinkled all over the rosters of the eight remaining playoff teams. But as it has been every year since the NHL first came to Minnesota in 1967, it won’t be the North Stars or the Wild taking possession of the Stanley Cup for the summer.

That leaves Wild fans, players and team management plenty to ponder between now and the September start of training camp. As they cleaned out their lockers and had exit interviews with coach John Hynes last week, here were five topics on the mind of Minnesota’s NHL club.

High expectations for David Jiricek

When Wild general manager Bill Guerin said that he feels the team is pretty well set in goal and on defense and will focus more on forwards when free agency begins, he wasn’t just thinking about the expected emergence of Zeev Buium on the Wild blue line.

The Wild will not have a first round pick in the NHL Draft next month, as that was part of the price (along with a player and three other picks) Guerin paid to bring hulking defenseman David Jiricek to Minnesota. Jiricek played six NHL games for the Wild, and spent 27 more in Iowa before a season-ending injury in late March.

“We want to see him on this team,” Guerin said last week. “We’ll have a spot, but how much he plays, where he plays, how high up the lineup he plays, situations, that’s up to him. He’s got to earn it. But we believe in him.”

Guerin called Jiricek’s season, “crazy,” but praised the 21-year-old from Czechia for his attitude and strong personality. They expect Jiricek to spend at least part of his summer in Minnesota training and skating with the Wild.

Planting the Flower

When he said goodbye to the NHL in a lengthy press conference last week, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury talked about all his wife and three children have sacrificed following the future Hall of Fame puck-stopper from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas to Chicago and eventually to Minnesota for the end of his career.

Fleury said his first goal is to be a husband and father and fill their needs for a while. And he made it clear that their immediate plans involve staying in Minnesota, ideally with the beloved player nicknamed “Flower” in some kind of role with the Wild. Fleury said he looks forward to having that conversation with Guerin.

“I feel like I’ll have to try different things, see what he has in mind, maybe if he has something for me. I think I know goalies better, but I don’t want to be a coach,” Fleury said. “I don’t want to do media, no TV, nothing like that. I don’t know if I can help the younger guys, maybe in some ways that could be fun, too. But I think my first thing though is I wanna be home more. I want to be there for my kids’ birthday and school play and just go walk Halloween with them and stuff like that. That’s my main concern.”

Guerin not too long ago was a retiring player that got a shot in management, and has found roles in the organization for a few recently-retired NHL defensemen with Minnesota ties. While not having specifics, Guerin vowed to find a place for Fleury.

“I will have a spot for him. What that is, I’m not sure yet. We’ll see what direction he wants to go in,” Guerin said. “But just like we did with Derek Stepan and Alex Goligoski, these guys are finishing long careers. They need some time to decompress and do some dad stuff and husband stuff, and get acclimated a little bit to retirement.”

Mats Zuccarello is anti-social

In the off-season, you might see veteran Wild forward Mats Zuccarello on the golf course or fishing or vacationing with family. You will not see him on Instagram, X or TikTok anytime soon.

In his season-ending press conference, Zuccarello commented on the negativity that is out there on social media platforms, and how in too many cases it has become an avenue to attack people, such as pro athletes, who work in the spotlight.

“I think it’s a good thing in the beginning, but now it’s becoming something that is just all negative, all bad stuff, you know,” he said. “Like in the beginning of it, you have Facebook to talk with friends that you didn’t talk to. Now, you’re just making a Twitter account to talk (crap) about someone. It’s a different world out there right now.”

While hockey players generally have thick skins and can take a fair amount of punishment on the ice, Zuccarello said it gets to them when players’ families have to read negativity directed at Wild players after a tough loss.

“You know it’s a part of the job, and it’s not just in hockey. It’s in everything, if you’re a known person out there,” Zuccarello said. “I think it’s probably people taking more abuse than us hockey players in terms of all of it, but it’s just like, a common thing in the world right now. It’s scary. It’s just all negative. The world needs to smile a bit more and be more positive.”

Despite missing close to a month due to a groin injury, Zuccarello had 19 goals in 69 games, which was one of his top five NHL seasons individually. He will be 38 when the next training camp begins.

Surgery for Joel Eriksson Ek

In a season where players paraded to the training room or operating room, the Wild were relatively healthy by playoff time, although Marcus Johansson missed time in the postseason due to injury.

Veteran Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek played well for his native Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, then went on the injured list upon returning to Minnesota and was out for all of March, returning in time to score the last-minute goal that got the Wild into the playoffs in their final regular-season game.

At his exit interview with reporters, Eriksson Ek said he was likely to have surgery to repair a core muscle soon.

“I will probably have surgery on something, a little bit, hopefully next week. Nothing that’s going to be (an issue) into next season,” he said. “I mean, it’s hard I think. It’s part of it, but when it builds up like that, for sure it gets hard. Especially, I think, also mentally you get drained having those nagging things. It’s no fun. But like I said, it’s part of it. (I’m) just going to try to get healthy and feel good.”

Eriksson Ek was limited to 46 of 82 regular-season games in 2024-25, missing time with a broken nose in October. Guerin said he does not foresee offseason surgery for anyone else on the roster.

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