PHOENIX (AP) — Bringing the heat in spring training is supposed to be about hard-throwing pitchers, not triple-digit temperatures like those that will impact Major League Baseball spring training games in Arizona for several days this week.
Because of a forecasted heat wave in the Phoenix area, at least 10 Cactus League games at six different stadiums that had been scheduled for afternoon starts between Wednesday and Friday will instead begin just after 6 p.m. local time. A game Saturday between the Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Glendale is being moved up to 11 a.m. MST.
Temperatures are expected to reach or exceed 100 degrees by Wednesday, with forecast highs of up to 106 degrees through what will be the final weekend of spring training for the 15 MLB teams there. While expected during the summer in the Phoenix area, that kind of heat is unusual in March.
The previous record for the earliest day of the year above 100 in Phoenix was on March 26, 1988, which is also the only day that has hit 100 in March.
Cactus League officials said Monday that some ballparks are adjusting game day policies to allow fans to bring in water or other drinks, and are providing hydration stations.
“Facing an unprecedented March heat wave, Cactus League ballparks are showing their flexibility in moving some day games to the evening, when the temperatures are expected to be much cooler,” Cactus League Executive Director Bridget Binsbacher said. “The Cactus League’s No. 1 priority is the health and safety of all involved.”
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Arizona Diamondbacks' Gabriel Moreno takes a drink in the team dugout prior to a spring training baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A fan talks to a player on the field prior to a spring training baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals Monday, March 2, 2026, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The spokesman for Afghanistan’s Health Ministry, Sharafat Zaman, said Monday that more than 200 people have been killed in a strike by Pakistan on a hospital for drug addicts in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Pakistan had earlier dismissed the claim it had attacked a hospital, saying its strike in Kabul and other strikes in eastern Afghanistan on Monday had not hit any civilian sites.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Monday accused Pakistan’s military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug addicts in airstrikes that killed four people and wounded several others. Pakistan dismissed the accusation, saying the strikes — which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan — did not hit any civilian sites.
The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, saying it violated Afghanistan’s territory. He said most of those killed and wounded were addicts undergoing treatment at the facility.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants in Kabul and Nangarhar, saying the facilities were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.” The ministry said Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism."
It came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, didn't name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.” The resolution also extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.
Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as to outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians across the country. Kabul denies the charge.
Earlier, Afghan officials said four people, including two children, were killed and 10 other people in southeastern Afghanistan were wounded in Monday's exchange of fire. Mortar shells fired from Pakistan overnight struck villages in Khost Province and destroyed several homes, said Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesperson for the provincial governor.
On Sunday, Pakistan said a mortar fired from Afghanistan hit a house in northwestern Bajaur district, killing four members of a family and wounding two others, including a 5-year-old. Residents and officials said the military on Monday targeted Afghan positions along the border, where Sunday’s attack originated.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which repeatedly has said its military only targets Afghan posts and militant hideouts.
Islamabad has described the situation as an “open war.” The cross-border clashes have included multiple Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan's Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.
Responding to those attacks, Pakistan’s air force over the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province, saying it was being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul said Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that sustained minor damage.
In Kabul, Afghanistan’s administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi overnight said defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens. Speaking during a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was imposed on Afghanistan.
The fighting began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Sunday that the military has killed 684 Afghan Taliban forces, a claim rejected by Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which says casualties are far lower. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and other officials have said Afghanistan has killed more than 100 Pakistani soldiers.
Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed.
People attend the funeral prayers of police officers, killed in the roadside bomb explosion, outskirts of Lakki Marwat, a district in northwest Pakistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/G.A. Marwat)
Residents inspect the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)
Residents and Taliban police gather the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)
