ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 16, 2026--
Community leaders, philanthropists, and advocates across Georgia will gather for the 12th annual St. Jude Evening of Hope Gala, presented by longtime supporter HD Supply, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the InterContinental Buckhead Hotel. The event brings together supporters to celebrate and advance the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, which is leading the way the world understands, treats, and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
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More than 450 guests are expected for this year’s “Hope Grows Here,” garden party–themed celebration, chaired by Trisha Ferguson and Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management.
Guests and sponsors will enjoy inspirational and unforgettable St. Jude mission moments, including a cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, live entertainment by The Pebblebrook Jazz Ensemble, directed by Eulas Kirtdoll, and exclusive live and silent auctions featuring luxury items and one-of-a-kind experiences. Dress is black-tie optional. A VIP reception will also be available for top-level sponsors, offering additional networking and recognition opportunities.
All proceeds help ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food — so they can focus on helping their child live. Purchase individual tickets, become a sponsor, and find more event details at: www.stjude.org/eveningofhopeatl.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ®
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children. ® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was largely considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80% in the United States, and it won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Support the St. Jude mission by donating at stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.
Photo Courtesy of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European countries on Monday sought more details about U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for the war on Iran and warned that NATO must not become involved in it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.
The cool response to Trump’s demand reflects wide caution about the U.S.-Israeli war among allies kept in the dark before, and largely since, it was launched on Feb. 28.
Trump has asked partners — including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain — to help secure the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping. He said the United States was talking to “about seven” countries, but he wouldn’t say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Britain “will not be drawn into the wider war,” and said British troops should only be sent into action that is legal and has “a proper thought-through plan.” But his country is considering other forms of help in conjunction with allies.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump also warned that “if there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that “NATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no business being involved here.” He said he hopes that NATO allies “will treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance.”
Merz agreed that “this Iranian regime must come to an end,” but he said that "based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.”
Many are keen to know when the war will end.
At a meeting in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump's demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it's important for the U.S. and Israel to define “when they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.”
“We need more clarity here,” Wadephul told reporters.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that U.S. allies in Europe want to understand Trump’s “strategic goals. What will be the plan?”
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.
“If there is a request via NATO, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully,” he said. Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.
Still, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that “it is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."
Kallas had urged the 27 member countries to expand the EU's Operation Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf. But after chairing the meeting, she said there had been “no appetite” to boost its mandate.
But Kallas said the EU would closely monitor threats to maritime security also in the Red Sea, where Aspides operates with three warships. “The risk that the Houthis get involved is real. So we must remain vigilant,” she said.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines of the war even as it has spread across the Middle East, raising questions about why, and perhaps when, the battle-hardened group might join the fight.
It was not immediately clear whether some European countries might go it alone and form a “coalition of the willing” to provide military support on an ad hoc basis.
The war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, with Brent crude up more than 40%. The conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain beyond oil, affecting things like pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that come from the Middle East.
Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.
France has said it is working with countries — French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided.
French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.
Starmer said Britain is discussing with the U.S. and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.
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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the media at Downing Street, in London, March 16, 2026. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)
Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
