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CAIRO (AP) — The operation to tow a damaged Russian tanker that has been drifting in theMediterraneanhas failed due to harsh weather conditions, Libyan authorities said Thursday.

The Arctic Metagaz, which was damaged in a suspected sea drone attack in March, is part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet transporting fossil fuels in violation of international sanctions overMoscow's war on Ukraine.

The tanker, which is carrying liquefied natural gas, was being towed to a safe zone off the town of Zuwara on Libya's western coast in an operationlast week, according to Libya's coast guard.

However, Libya's Ports and Maritime Transport Authority said the towing operation failed at 4 a.m. local time on Thursday due to "harsh" weather conditions and strong winds that caused the tanker to drift "out of control."

"The tanker is unable to return to redo the towing operation under these dangerous weather conditions," the authority wrote in a statement, urging all vessels and naval units to maintain a distance of at least 10 nautical miles from the drifting tanker.

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The Malta Today newspaper reported that the tanker was towed to the limits of Malta's search and rescue zone.

Libya's Ports and Maritime Transport Authority is urging vessels to report any change in the tanker's status or if in case a leak or smoke was detected.

In March, the maritime authority said the Arctic Metagaz had experienced "sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire" about 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the Libyan coastal city of Sirte.

The vessel remained afloat and drifted towards Libya's coast, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, a global conservation organization.

Libya's National Oil Corp. said last month that it was collaborating with Italian energy company Eni to safely bring the damaged tanker to the shore to avert an environmental crisis.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In rain, snow and bitter cold, a steady drumbeat of small protests have been held in recent months on the Ohio State University main campus with a single goal in mind: removing billionaire retail mogul Les Wexner's name from buildings where it's emblazoned.

US Epstein Building Names

At issue — for union nurses at OSU's Wexner Medical Center, for former athletes at the Les Wexner Football Complex, and for some student leaders who may walk past the Wexner Center for the Arts near the campus oval — is Wexner'swell-documented associationwith the late sexual predatorJeffrey Epstein.

Similar cries are arising over a Wexner-named building at Harvard University and others around the country named for different Epstein associates, includingSteve Tisch,Casey Wasserman,Glenn DubinandHoward Lutnick.

It's all part of thebacklash across higher educationagainst figures with ties to Epstein, who cultivated an extensive network including powerful people in the arts, business and academia. Scrutiny has landed on university donors as well as several academics whose emails with Epstein surfaced in the latest files, including some whohave resigned.

Wexner complaints cite Epstein association

Wexner hasn't been charged with any crime in connection with Epstein, the one-time financial adviser by whom he sayshe was "duped."

But a group of former Ohio State athletes who surviveda sweeping sexual abuse scandal at the schoolargues that theretired L Brands founder's generosity to his alma mater is now tainted by the knowledge that Epstein was entangled in many of his family's spending decisions, including around the football complex's naming.

"Ohio State University cannot credibly separate itself from these facts, nor can it justify continuing to honor Les Wexner with an athletic facility," their naming removal request read. It went on, "To do so is to ignore the voices of survivors, former athletes, and the broader community who expect accountability, transparency, and moral leadership."

At Harvard, a group of students and faculty at the prestigious Kennedy School has targeted the Leslie H. Wexner Building and the Wexner-Sunshine Lobby. The renaming request submitted in March cites Wexner's "strong ties to Epstein" and argues Epstein profited off Wexner, "which enabled Epstein to use his wealth and power to traffic and abuse children and women."

Some Harvard students and alumni also want the Farkas name removed from Farkas Hall, which hosts the Hasty Pudding TheatricalsMan and Woman of the Year. The building was renamed in 2011 following a significant donation from Andrew Farkas, graduate chairman of the Hasty Pudding Institute, in honor of his father.

Farkas had a longtime personal and business relationship with Epstein, including co-owning a marina with him in the Caribbean. He also repeatedly asked Epstein to donate to Hasty Pudding. Between roughly 2013 and 2019, Epstein regularly donating $50,000 annually to secure top-tier donor status, for a total of more than $300,000.

"As I've said repeatedly, I deeply regret ever having met this individual, but at no time have I conducted myself inappropriately," Farkas said in a statement.

Pressure building on campuses

Pushback against buildings named for Epstein associates is growing on some U.S. campuses.

Just last weekend, the student body at Haverford College in Pennsylvania voted to urge President Wendy Raymond to forge ahead with the renaming process for the Allison &Howard LutnickLibrary. The building is named for the U.S. commerce secretary who has facedresignation callsover his relationship with Epstein.

Raymond had said ina February open letterthat she wasn't ready to do that. In a statement to The Associated Press following Sunday's vote, Raymond said she respected the process and would respond to the resolution within the customary 30-day period.

At Ohio State, pleas against the Wexner name are making their way through a five-stepreview procedure, most of which takes place outside public view and with no set timeline. The university's new president, Ravi Bellamkonda said, "I think the process is thorough, fair, and open, and I will promise you that we will give each request a full consideration."

A spokesman for Harvard confirmed the school has received the Wexner-related name removal request but would not comment further. It would be the university's second name change, after the John Winthrop House, which bore the name of a Harvard professor and a like-named ancestor, was changed to Winthrop House in July over their connections to slavery.

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Tufts University, home to the Tisch Library and theSteve TischSports and Fitness Center, said it continues to look at the matter. The library has moved to clarify that it was not named for Steve, but, in 1992, for his father Preston Tisch, an honored alum. The sports center removed a set of Steve Tisch's handprints during spring break. The university said that was part of a planned renovation.

UCLA'sWassermanFootball Center and Stony Brook University'sDubinFamily Athletic Performance Center also are named for Epstein associates.

Namings often tied to philanthropic giving

The current clamor bears some resemblance to the controversy that surrounded the wealthySackler family's culpabilityin the deadly opioid crisis, because in both cases the institutions involved hadreceived vast sumsfrom the family.

Some major institutions — including museums in New York and Paris, Tufts and the University of Oxford in England — did remove the Sackler name, but Harvard chose not to. In a 15-page report explaining its 2024 decision, the university said the legacy of Arthur M. Sackler, whose company Purdue Pharma made the potent opioid OxyContin, was "complex, ambiguous and debatable."

The Epstein associates whose names are on campus buildings also are typically generous donors, as well as alumni.

Wexner, his wife Abigail and their charities have given Ohio State well over $200 million over the years, for example. That included $100 million to benefit the Wexner Medical Center; at least $15 million for the Wexner Center, a contemporary art museum named for Wexner's father, Harry; and $5 million split with an Epstein-run foundation toward construction of the football complex. The Wexners have given another $42 million to the Harvard Kennedy School.

A moral and financial bind for universities

Anne Bergeron, a museum consultant and author who specializes in the ethics of building naming rights in the cultural sector, said universities are serious about their gift acceptance standards while also recognizing that the conduct of individual donors may be judged differently over time.

"It's no surprise that a lot of these situations arise within the university sphere, because with students — especially the younger generation — there is virtually no tolerance for being associated with anyone who doesn't represent the best of humanity," she said

She called this "a moment of reckoning" for universities and said they have to guard against the appearance of a quid pro quo in their building namings.

Michael Oser, a Columbus-area resident, articulated the frustration of some defenders of retaining the Wexner name in a recent letter-to-the-editor of The Columbus Dispatch.

"OSU took the money. Built the buildings. Cut the ribbons. Smiled for the photos There were no formal 'morality clauses' attached back then, just gratitude and applause," he wrote. "Now, years later, some want to play moral referee while the university keeps the cash and the concrete. That's not accountability. That's convenience."

Supporters of name removal see opportunity for healing

Lauren Barnes, a student in the Kennedy School's master's program leading the effort to remove Wexner's name, said she struggles most days as a survivor of sexual abuse and the mother of a 14-year-old to walk into a building with a name linked to Epstein.

"Thinking about all the children in this world that deserve safety and also all the survivors on campus that have to walk under the Wexner name, I know what that's like to have my heart race and my hands get sweaty," she said. "I hate that anyone else has to have that feeling walking under that name and just dealing with it kind of everywhere on campus."

One protester at Ohio State, Audrey Brill, told a local ABC affiliate that it now "feels gross" thinking of women delivering babies at OSU's Wexner Medical Center "given everything that we're learning about where this money went" — and she feels removing Wexner's name could help.

Some protesters also want the name of Dr. Mark Landon, a prominent Ohio State gynecologist who received five-figure quarterly payments from Epstein between 2001 and 2005, removed from a visitor's lounge in the hospital's new $2 billion, 26-story tower. Landon have said the money was for biotech investment consulting for Wexner, not health care for Epstein or any of his victims.

Casey contributed from Boston.

King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the Royal Maundy Service on April 2, held in Wales for the first time since 1982

NEED TO KNOW

• The King distributed Maundy coins to 77 men and 77 women, matching his age, in recognition of their community service

• The Royal Maundy Service tradition dates back to 600 AD and was expanded by Queen Elizabeth to travel around the U.K.

King CharlesandQueen Camillaare gearing up for Easter in a place that's especially meaningful forPrince WilliamandKate Middleton.

On April 2, the King, 77, and Queen, 78, attended the Royal Maundy Service at St. Asaph Cathedral in north Wales. The outing marked the first time the event has been held in Wales since 1982 and only the second time in the tradition's history.

Wales is a special place for William and Kate,who were named the Prince and Princess of Wales following King Charles' accession to the thronein September 2022. The Prince of Wales is the historic title for the male heir to the throne, with William and Katepaying many impactful visits to Walessince they took on the titles. The Prince of Wales title is also poignant for King Charles, whobore the Prince of Wales title for 64 years, until his accession.

The King and Queen Camilla played a festive role at the Royal Maundy Service, which commemorates the Christian holy day on the Thursday before Easter.

There, King Charles had the honor of presenting Royal Maundy gifts to approximately 77 men and 77 women from Wales and other dioceses across the U.K., recognizing their exemplary Christian service to their communities.

The "77" number matched the monarch's age, and recipients received two purses containing the "Maundy Money." The white purse held sets of specially minted silver Maundy coins totaling 77 pennies, reflecting his number of years, while the red purse contained a £5 coin commemorating the 100th anniversary ofQueen Elizabeth's birth (later this month) and a 50p coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of The King's Trust, one of King Charles' charities.

The royal family'swebsiteoutlines that the coins are all real legal tender, though it's popular to pocket them as a keepsake, with the ordinary coinage representing the sovereign's gift for food and clothing and the Maundy coins nodding to their age.

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The church service featured specially commissioned music by Welsh composers and musicians in a celebration of a return of the Royal Maundy Service to Wales. The service also featured the processional Cross of Wales, a gift from King Charles to the Christians of Wales and cross that was used on his May 2023 coronation day. The Cross of Wales, which headed the procession for the King and Queen Camilla's crowning ceremony at Westminster Abbey almost three years ago, contains a fragment of the True Cross, a gift from the King to Pope Francis and believed to be part of the cross Jesus was crucified on.

After the service wrapped, the King and Queen joined the Royal Maundy Party for the traditional group photo outside the West Door before taking time to meet members of the cathedral community.

The Royal Maundy Service is an ancient tradition tracing back to 600 AD, honoring how Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles at the last supper. The royal family's website explains that the number of coins the monarch distributes correlates to "the number of years they have lived" and King Charles has done the honors every year of his reign,with the exclusion of 2024, shortly after it was announced that he was undergoing treatment for cancer.(The King's treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer continues, and heshared the "good news" in December 2025that his treatment would be reduced this year.)

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Queen Camillamade royal history as the first consort to helm the ceremonyand distribute coins at Worcester Cathedral.

The King has continued his late mother Queen Elizabeth's tradition of holding the Royal Maundy Service is held at different cathedrals or abbeys around the U.K.

Early during her record reign, Queen Elizabeth decided that the Maundy money celebration should not be exclusive to the people of London and began a new tradition of bringing the festivities to various houses of worship across the country. She impressively hit the road to visit every cathedral in the U.K. during her reign, according to Royal.UK.

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