Kaori Sakamoto takes the lead as she chases a fourth and last figure skating world title

PRAGUE (AP) — It's time to say goodbye for Kaori Sakamoto, and she's aiming to go out on a high with the world figure skating title.

Sakamoto's short-program music, “Time to Say Goodbye,” was charged with emotion as she targets a fourth world title before retirement.

Sakamoto shouted with joy and clapped as she learned her score of 79.31, a season-best which put her into first place by less than a point from her fellow Japanese skater Mone Chiba on a personal-best 78.45 in her disco-themed program.

There's a strong U.S. challenge for the medals with Amber Glenn third and Isabeau Levito fourth.

Without Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, who withdrew from the world championships amid a hectic media schedule, the focus was on whether Sakamoto could regain the title she won three times in a row from 2022 through 2024, and whether three-time U.S. champion Glenn could claim a first world medal.

Glenn came to the world championships with an Olympic team gold but missed the individual medals after a short-program error. She was back on form Wednesday, starting with a big triple axel on her way to scoring 72.65. Levito was just behind her with 72.16 for fourth in her return to form after 12th at the Olympics.

Ami Nakai's triple axel propelled her into the Olympic short-program lead — she ended up with bronze — but went missing Wednesday. The 17-year-old Japanese skater could only manage an awkward double as her opening jump and has a tough task to recover from eighth.

The championships continue with the pairs short program later Wednesday.

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Amber Glenn from the United States skates during the women¥s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Mone Chiba from Japan skates during the women¥s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Kaori Sakamoto from Japan skates during the women¥s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Kaori Sakamoto from Japan skates during the women¥s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The Trump administration has offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran, as it appears to seek an end to the war even as more troops head to the Middle East.

The plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, who have offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran, a person briefed on the contours of the plan but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, according to three people with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

Any talks between the U.S. and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve, and it’s not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority or would be willing to negotiate.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts, but Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, denied Trump’s claim of direct talks and an Iranian military spokesperson declared that the fighting would go on.

Alluding to progress in talks with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.

Here is the latest:

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Prince Mohammed, the day-to-day ruler of the kingdom, has spoken by phone to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the Iran war and Islamabad’s efforts at supporting ceasefire talks.

Sharif said Islamabad “would always stand by the kingdom and the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia, just as they had always supported Pakistan, through thick and thin.”

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said they discussed “the repercussions of the ongoing military escalation on the security and stability of the region and the world.”

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a mutual defense agreement.

An Iranian military spokesperson mocked U.S. attempts at a ceasefire deal Wednesday, insisting that the Americans were only negotiating with themselves.

Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the statement in a prerecorded video aired on state television.

“The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure,” he said. “The one claiming to be a global superpower would have already gotten out of this mess if it could. Don’t dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end.”

He added: “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”

Zolfaghari’s statement came shortly after the Trump administration sent a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan.

“Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” he said. “Not now, not ever.”

“Stability in the region is guaranteed by the strong hand of our armed forces. Stability through strength,” Zolfaghari said.

“We state this clearly: Until it is our will, nothing will go back to the way it was. That will only come about when the very thought of acting against the Iranian nation is completely wiped from your corrupt minds.”

The Trump administration has offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran, according to a person briefed on the contours of the plan but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The ceasefire plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, who have offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

The proposal comes as the U.S. military is preparing to send at least 1,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to supplement some 50,000 troops already in the region.

The New York Times reported earlier Tuesday that the 15-point plan had been delivered to Iranian officials.

The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying a pair of Marine Expeditionary Units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.

Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were taken by surprise by the U.S. administration’s submission of a ceasefire plan, the person said.

But with the U.S. taking steps to send additional soldiers and Marines to the Mideast, the move is being framed as Trump maneuvering to give himself “max flexibility” on what he will do next, the person added.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

By Aamer Madhani

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Members of the displaced Abd el-Hajj family, and two of their cousins, right, who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Smoke billows following an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)