Ill-timed injuries to Daniel Jones, Patrick Mahomes and Bo Nix left their teams in the lurch. Joe Burrow, Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson had trouble staying healthy. Others once targeted and trained as franchise players were either sidetracked or discarded, as J.J. McCarthy, Kyler Murray, Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa found themselves on insecure ground.

Training camps always present a fresh start. Jones, Mahomes and Nix have been cleared for full activity, stabilizing or energizing the huddle in Indianapolis, Kansas City and Denver. Cincinnati, Washington and Baltimore are plenty happy to turn anew to Burrow, Daniels and Jackson. Murray (Minnesota) and Tagovailoa (Atlanta) flew to new places for welcomed scenery changes.

After all 32 reset buttons have been pushed, though, a handful of teams have reported with varying levels of intrigue and scrutiny surrounding the most important position on the field. Here's a closer look at the camps where there's either a legitimate competition for the season-opening starter or a measure of uncertainty:

The Browns, naturally, are auditioning QBs once again

Since Cleveland got its NFL team back in 1999, the Browns have made the playoffs just three times — and won only one postseason game. There's no arguing the connection to the perpetually shuffling depth chart at quarterback, with 42 different starters over those first 27 years.

The latest was Shedeur Sanders, who fell to the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 draft after they'd selected Dillon Gabriel in the third round. Sanders is now competing for the job with Deshaun Watson, the fallen star whose health problems and off-the-field trouble have limited him to just 19 games over the last five seasons. Watson last played on Oct. 20, 2024, before an Achilles tendon rupture and reinjury kept him sidelined in 2025. Rookie head coach Todd Monken had hoped to name a starter by the start of training camp, but the competition will last at least a few more weeks.

Falcons bring Tagovailoa into the fold with Penix recovering from knee surgery

Atlanta had a hot seat on the offseason quarterback carousel, cutting Kirk Cousins to clear salary cap space after two unfulfilling seasons and signing Tua Tagovailoa after Miami dumped him and ate a record $99 million in dead money against the cap. Cousins' status immediately got complicated when the Falcons drafted Penix eighth overall in 2024, and the situation grew murkier yet last year when Penix tore the ACL in his left knee.

Penix had not yet been cleared for full-team work when the Falcons were last on the field at minicamp, so health and experience make Tagovailoa the front-runner for the job, though new head coach Kevin Stefanski has publicly declared this an open competition.

Murray lands in a favorable spot with the Vikings after McCarthy's rocky debut

J.J. McCarthy struggled with consistency and injuries that further hindered his opportunities to learn and improve in his debut with the Vikings last season, so the club reopened the search this year and found Murray available for the veteran minimum salary.

The Vikings have not given up on McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft, and they'll split turns with the first team offense at least for the early stage of training camp. But if Murray is healthy, after spraining his foot last season and missing time between 2022-23 to recover from knee surgery, he's the clear favorite.

Willis gets big money from the Dolphins for his potential

The Dolphins didn't give $45 million guaranteed to Malik Willis for him to take turns. Their new leadership from Green Bay — general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley — became enamored with the 27-year-old over his two seasons as backup for the Packers.

With only three starts over the last three years, plus three more as a rookie with Tennessee in 2022, however, Willis is unquestionably unproven. Quinn Ewers took over for a struggling Tagovailoa and made three starts late last season, and the 2025 seventh-round draft pick performed well during spring practice sessions to present a potential alternative should the Dolphins need to consider one.

Cardinals give Brissett a pay bump and a public backing for the job

After moving on from Murray, the Cardinals landed on this short list of quarterback uncertainty — until satisfying veteran front-runner Jacoby Brissett with a new contract and formalizing his place atop the depth chart on Sunday. Fellow journeyman Gardner Minshew and third-round draft pick Carson Beck are waiting behind him in case a significant injury or costly interceptions were to give new head coach Mike LaFleur pause at some point this season.

Brissett, who's in his 11th year in the NFL, started 12 games last season after Murray's injury. He passed for a career-high 3,366 yards, but Arizona finished 3-14. After switching teams five times in five years, Brissett has stayed put for the first time since a four-season stint with Indianapolis. He was the starter for the Colts in 2017 and 2019. Minshew, who's on his sixth team in eight years in the league, was the primary starter for the Colts in 2023 after replacing then-rookie Anthony Richardson.

Raiders soft launch the Mendoza era with the comfort of Cousins

The best long-term outlook of the group clearly belongs to Las Vegas after taking Heisman Trophy and national championship winner Fernando Mendoza with the first pick in the draft. The Raiders under new head coach Klint Kubiak also brought in a sturdy bridge to that bright future by signing Cousins to help ease the rookie in.

Cousins is on top of the depth chart to start camp and the favorite to lead the Las Vegas offense in the opener, which would stop a streak of six straight quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall starting their season opener — following Cam Ward, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow and Murray. Baker Mayfield in 2018 with the Browns was the last quarterback who didn’t start his first game as the first overall pick.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

With the ceremony, Fujimori, a four-time presidential candidate and leader of Peru's largest political party, takes office as the country's ninth president in a decade. The 51-year-old is hoping to stabilize Peru's turbulent politics, reduce crime and boost economic growth.

Over the past decade, only three of Peru’s presidents have been elected by popular vote. The rest have come into office after their predecessors resigned or were removed by congress amid protests or corruption scandals.

Fujimori’s Popular Force party and its main ally, Popular Renovation, will hold half the senate seats once the new legislature is installed, making it harder for opposing legislators to attempt to remove her as president.

An incoming president with a political past and promises for the future

Fujimori centered her campaign around promises to improve security in a nation where extortion rackets have become a significant problem. She has also promised to develop infrastructure by making it easier for government agencies to form partnerships with private investors.

She is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who led the country in the 1990s and stabilized its economy while defeating terror groups, but was later imprisoned for human rights abuses committed under his rule by the Peruvian military as his government took an authoritarian turn. He was pardoned in December 2023 and died in September the following year.

During her campaign, Keiko Fujimori pledged to fight crime with an “iron fist,” implementing some policies adopted by Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, and also build a megaprison modeled after the notorious Cecot penitentiary in El Salvador.

To guarantee judges their safety, she has said she will implement reforms to enable them to hide their identities as they oversee criminal trials.

She also said on Tuesday she would reorganize social services to fight malnutrition in rural communities and announced a 15% increase in the nation's minimum wage.

Fujimori said that the nation's military will “temporarily” lead security operations in crime afflicted areas. And she also said she will focus on preparing the South American nation for the latest onset of El Niño, a weather pattern that warms ocean temperatures and often leads to flooding along Peru's coast.

“My goal is not only to administer the state,” Fujimori said. “My main objective is to narrow the enormous social deficit that affects millions of Peruvians.”

Opposition leaders remember those killed in protests

Opposition leaders have asked Fujimori’s incoming government to reverse a series of laws approved by Peru’s last legislature, which critics say weaken efforts to fight organized crime.

The laws eliminate preventive arrests and stop prosecutors from processing political parties involved in corruption under the same statutes as criminal groups. The laws also make it harder for police to confiscate the goods of criminal groups.

Opposition leaders are also asking the incoming government to create a commission to investigate the deaths of 50 civilians during anti-government protests in late 2022 and early 2023 following the removal of former President Pedro Castillo.

During Fujimori’s swearing-in ceremony, some opposition lawmakers protested outside the parliament in Lima, Peru's capital, holding photos of people killed during the protests. Relatives of the dead have said they do not recognize Fujimori as president and that they are protesting her inauguration.

Fujimori will lead a deeply polarized country

Fujimori was widely backed by voters in Peru’s capital and along the Pacific coast, but voters in the highlands, where there is a larger Indigenous population, overwhelmingly supported left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez, an ally of Castillo.

Sanchez challenged the election results, arguing there were irregularities in how votes were counted at Peruvian consulates abroad, but electoral authorities dismissed his complaints.

Despite the political friction, Peru continues to be one of the most stable economies in Latin America. Its central bank has long kept the benchmark interest rate below 5%, and the government is known for a conservative approach toward public spending.

But critics point out a growing gap in living standards between coastal areas and communities in the Andean highlands.

Fujimori's June election victory, along with those of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia and José Antonio Kast in Chile, underscored South America's shift toward the conservative wing, a stark contrast from the panorama of a few decades ago when left-wing leaders such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela or the current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emerged.

Conservatives have won seven major presidential elections in Latin America in the past few years, most of them since the January 2025 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, in a winning streak propelled by concerns over crime, immigration and slow economic growth.

The school district says 240 buses will be equipped with the stop-arm safety cameras on Monday, Aug. 10.

The school board approved the contract with American Traffic Solutions for the cameras last year. The cameras are meant to catch people who illegally pass stopped school buses in violation of state law.

Images and video taken by the camera system when the stop-arm is extended are reviewed by law enforcement before any warning notice or citation is issued.

[WATCH: Lake County Schools begins search for next superintendent as Kornegay announces retirement]

Last year, the school district said a one-day tally from bus drivers documented 215 drivers who illegally passed stopped school buses.

From Sept. 9 through Oct. 9, motorists caught by a camera will receive a warning notice.

After Oct. 9, violators will get a citation from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that will cost $225.

[WATCH: Lake county Schools to vote on adding school bus cameras to capture drivers illegally passing (from 2025)]

Revenue from the citations will be split between American Traffic Solutions and the school district.

The school district is the latest in Florida to add school bus cameras. Brevard County’s cameras went online last year.

Meanwhile, American Traffic Solutions also operates school zone camera systems and red light camera systems in several communities throughout Central Florida.

Democrats are hoping to retain control of the governor’s office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to earn full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010. But they have failed to coalesce around one candidate for the top job, spurring fears that they could miss an opportunity to win in November.

Tuesday was the first day voters could cast their absentee ballots in person ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.

Democratic socialist Hong divides early Wisconsin voters

Insurgent democratic socialist Francesca Hong has garnered strong support among the most liberal wing of the party. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who narrowly lost a 2022 U.S. Senate race, is hoping that voters in his hometown of Milwaukee help him overcome Hong, whose base is in Madison. Those two cities hold the largest number of Democratic voters in Wisconsin.

Also in the race is Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is running with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers. Crowley had dropped out of the race on July 8, but got back in on July 17, the day after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out amid a campaign finance scandal.

Ian Anderson, who cast his ballot in Madison, said he voted for Hong because “she's exactly the burst of energy we need.”

Anderson, 46, said he was “very frustrated” by Evers' late endorsement in the race.

“It's the latest example of the Democratic Party meddling,” said Anderson, who works for the state Department of Natural Resources.

Nicole Santos, 45, said Hong was the only primary candidate with the “fortitude” to stand up to President Donald Trump.

“To get back on track we need to go a little further left,” she said.

But Crowley voters on Tuesday said they backed him because they believed he had a better shot at beating Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. Tiffany, who is running with the backing of Trump in a state Trump won in 2016 and 2024, faces only nominal opposition in the primary.

It would be “tough” for Hong to beat Tiffany, said retired attorney John Hawley, 68, of Madison.

“I’d like to think I’m wrong, but north of Madison and Milwaukee I don’t think she’ll come across that well,” he said in reference to more rural parts of the state.

Erica and Mario Johnson, a married couple who are both Black and from Milwaukee, both voted for Crowley, because they see him as best positioned to beat Tiffany. Crowley and Barnes are each seeking to become the state’s first Black governor. Hong is seeking to become Wisconsin's first female governor and first Asian American governor.

Crowley has the “most executive experience,” said Mario Johnson, 63, who retired from a career in the federal government.

He worries that Hong won’t be able to defeat Tiffany, but if Hong wins the primary, “I’ll bite the bullet and vote for her.”

If Hong wins the primary, 67-year-old retired physician Steve Wiesner said he will vote for a Republican in November for the first time in his life.

“I would never support her or any (democratic socialist) candidate at this point,” Wiesner said after casting his ballot in downtown Milwaukee for longshot candidate Joel Brennan.

The five Democratic candidates are scheduled to meet for their only debate Tuesday night.

Judge hears arguments over canceling already-filed absentee ballots

And hours after polls opened for early voting, a judge heard arguments in a Democratic lawsuit seeking to allow voters who already returned their ballots to cancel those and cast a new one. As of Tuesday, nearly 108,000 ballots had already been returned by mail.

The lawsuit was filed last week with support from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. They are seeking an order from a judge to immediately allow for already-cast ballots to be canceled, a rarely used practice known as ballot spoiling.

Democrats argue it's necessary given that Rodriguez and former state economic director Missy Hughes ended their campaigns, and Crowley got back in the race, after tens of thousands of ballots had already been returned.

Hughes and Rodriguez’s names remain on the ballot.

Dane County Circuit Judge David Conway, noting the urgency of resolving the issue with the election two weeks away, said he would issue a ruling by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

In-person absentee voting, which began Tuesday, runs through Aug. 9. All absentee ballots must be received by the time polls close on election day Aug. 11 in order to be counted.

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Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. She reported for this story from Milwaukee.

The states — Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho — all have Republican governors who say they welcome the chance to help America reclaim its leadership in civilian nuclear energy.

If built, the storage sites would represent significant progress in a multi-decade effort to store more than 95,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. Plans for a permanent underground storage facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain have long been stalled because of staunch opposition from most residents and officials. Spent fuel is currently stored at nuclear plants and former nuclear sites nationwide and is piling up.

Under the non-binding agreements, the states could host Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses that would include waste sites as well as uranium enrichment, spent-fuel reprocessing and fuel fabrication. The campuses may also host advanced reactor deployment, power generation and data centers, the Energy Department said.

Nuclear campuses could boost state economies

The campuses have the potential to attract up to $50 billion in private investment and generate as much as $10 billion in state and local tax revenues, the Energy Department said in a statement. Eligible projects could access federal loans worth billions of dollars, the department said.

“These campuses will be massive generators of economic growth ... and be crucial to unleashing America’s nuclear renaissance,'' Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. He called the proposed campuses an “innovative concept” that will "get America’s nuclear industry growing again.''

Tennessee is home to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which enriched uranium during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, while Idaho hosts the Idaho National Laboratory, a key research site for nuclear energy and national security. Utah was a source of raw uranium for the Manhattan Project and a training site for crews that dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.

“As the global epicenter of nuclear energy, Tennessee is honored to be selected as a potential host for a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. "As our state answered the call during the Manhattan Project and helped shape the course of history, Tennessee stands ready once again to advance the safe, reliable energy solutions our nation depends on.”

Solution for storing waste needed to expand nuclear power

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump attempts to quadruple domestic nuclear energy production because of surging electricity demand due to a data center and artificial intelligence boom. Trump also has moved to reshape the independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission to speed up nuclear reactor development. Under Trump’s direction, the commission has proposed eliminating a foundational safety principle that for 50 years minimized the radiation people in the United States are exposed to.

The NRC proposal would abandon a philosophy to keep radiation exposure “as low as reasonably achievable,” instead setting a separate standard on maximum radiation exposure that includes several actions facilities must take depending on the potential dose of radiation to workers.

California Rep. Mike Levin said the nuclear fuel announcement was a long time coming and required bipartisan collaboration to fix difficult nuclear waste challenges. Levin, a Democrat, has pushed to allocate funding to safely remove and dispose of spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned nuclear plants, including the closed San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California.

“Today’s selection of states is a monumental step in the right direction,” Levin said in a statement. “For the first time in decades, states are raising their hands” to accept nuclear waste.

Scott Roecker, a former official at the National Nuclear Security Administration who now advises the Nuclear Scaling Initiative, a pro-nuclear group, said the campuses are a good idea, though he cautions that spent nuclear fuel should not be reprocessed there to be recycled for new fuel because of the cost and security issues.

“Getting a community to accept a long-term repository for nuclear waste has been a big challenge in the United States politically. It’s been a hard pill to swallow for certain communities,” he said in a recent interview. “The fact that they’re talking about sort of the whole fuel cycle at these centers is a positive thing. Basically, you’re getting the consent of that community for that long-term repository.”

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McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.

The Fox Cities region, which includes more than 100,000 people in the communities of Appleton, Menasha and Neenah, was left in shambles by Monday's twister, with homes leveled, cars flipped, and power lines and trees toppled.

“The depth of the tornado and its impact is incredible, devastating. We’re really still at the assessment stage,” Winnebago County Executive Gordon Hintz said at a news conference Tuesday.

Authorities said the timing — the storm blew in when most people were awake and after warnings had been issued — could be why there have been no reported deaths, though some people were injured and officers were still going door-to-door in search of possible victims.

“Everybody was at work. It was the middle of the day," Menasha Police Chief Matt Albrecht said. "Most people were not at home and at their place of employment.”

The tornado touched down around 1 p.m. and remained on the ground for more than 20 minutes, cutting a roughly 12-mile (19.3-kilometer) path of destruction, the National Weather Service reported. The area is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee.

It was classified as an EF3 tornado — the strongest tornado to strike both Outagamie and Winnebago counties since an EF4 touched down in April 1984, the weather service said.

A relatively powerful twister

Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency for the affected areas. Shelters were opened for displaced residents.

As chain saws roared in the background, Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford said a number of neighborhoods were “truly devastated.” Like elsewhere in the region, electricity lines were tangled around broken trees, making power restoration a slow, risky process.

More than 14,000 customers in Winnebago and Outagamie counties were still without power Tuesday afternoon, about 1,000 fewer than earlier in the day, according to PowerOutage.us. It could be several days before power is restored.

The twister was spun off by a large storm system that moved through the Great Lakes and was fueled by a buildup of heat and humidity, the weather service said.

“What we are seeing this summer is significant heat leading to significant severe weather,” said Chad Merrill, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “We had an EF3 tornado in Wisconsin. People need to take these warnings seriously. It can happen just about anywhere.”

Residents describe terrifying moments

Authorities said Tuesday that they didn't know exactly how many people were hurt. But ThedaCare Regional Medical Centers in Appleton and Neenah said it treated 40 people, mostly for minor storm-related injuries.

Heather Schroeder said she heard cracking and popping all around her as the twister tore apart a laundromat, bakery and tavern along a street corner in Menasha. Rescue workers pulled someone out of a building.

“There’s nothing left,” she said.

At Manderfield’s Home Bakery, a decades-old landmark, the brick frame around the door still stood, but not much more.

“This can be replaced,” owner Jerry Manderfield told WISN-TV. “We had people in the building that could possibly have died in there.”

Volunteers stepped up to try to ease the shock. Luigi’s Pizza in Menasha set up a food trailer to distribute hygiene packs and free slices after donors kicked in enough money to make at least 125 pizzas.

“Sometimes a hot pizza, a taco, and a reminder that your community cares can mean more than words,” said Duncan’s Window & Door, which chipped in for 50 pizzas.

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Associated Press reporters Christopher Keller and Scott Bauer contributed to this story.

Judge Carli Kierny found that the interview is admissible in Duane “Keffe D” Davis' trial, which is scheduled to start Aug. 10.

Davis, 63, is charged with murder in Shakur's 1996 killing and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Shakur’s death is considered one of the most notorious unsolved murders in the United States. The case went cold until Davis began making public statements about it, including in a book he co-wrote in which he said he was in the Cadillac and provided the weapon used to shoot Shakur.

Defense attorney Michael Sanft argued that a 2008 interview Davis gave law enforcement was supposed to be confidential, and that detectives explicitly told him the interview was not supposed to be used against him.

Prosecutors argued there was no basis to exclude the interview from the trial, which is expected to take about four weeks.

The interview was used in former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Greg Kading’s book “Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations.” Portions of the recording were also played in documentaries, including the recent documentary “Sean Combs: The Reckoning.”

Shakur was killed Sept. 7, 1996, in Las Vegas. He and Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight were sitting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them near the Las Vegas Strip, and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later. Knight survived with minor injuries.

Three others were with Davis in the Cadillac, including his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, but Davis is the only person still alive. None of the others faced charges in Shakur's killing before they died.

In his memoir, Davis said he obtained a handgun from an associate and tossed it into the back seat of the Cadillac but did not say who fired the fatal shots.

In the 2008 interview, Davis describes how he and his crew saw Shakur that night and pulled up beside them, and said that Anderson “popped them.” Anderson denied involvement in Shakur’s killing at the time, and died two years later in an unrelated gang shooting in Compton, California.

Police Chief Shon Barnes told a news conference that the weapon was a 9 mm gun from Polymer80 — a now-defunct company that was once a leading manufacturer of ghost gun parts.

Investigators also recovered two other weapons and 14 shell casings that had been fired by weapons of two different calibers, he said.

The shooting in the waning hours of the three-day Bite of Seattle festival left three people dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, and at least four people injured, including a toddler. Authorities say they believe the violence was gang-related, and they are reviewing any available surveillance video and interviewing victims and witnesses in an effort to identify others who may have been involved.

A potential eighth person potentially injured by gunfire checked themself into a hospital after the shooting, but checked out before investigators could conduct an interview, Barnes said. Legal obstacles have prevented them from obtaining the patient’s identity, he added.

Ghost guns are privately made — often homemade — firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them. They are often purchased without a background check. Law enforcement officials say ghost guns, including those made with 3D printers, have increasingly been used in violent crimes across the U.S.

The weapon the 15-year-old had been shooting when he surrendered to police was equipped with an extended 33-round magazine, Barnes said. The magazine still had 19 rounds in it.

At the scene Sunday night, police also recovered a 9 mm handgun that they do not believe was used in the shooting.

And on Monday, as food vendors were allowed to return to the area to clean up and collect their equipment, a third weapon was discovered: a Glock 45 model 9 mm with a switch allowing it to fire fully automatically, Barnes said. Police believe that gun was fired during the shooting. It had an extended 40-round magazine, with 21 rounds remaining in it.

In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle on Monday, police said they believed there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene and “at least one other unknown suspect.” Authorities had earlier said they believed there were two.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.

Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses. He died from a gunshot wound to his torso, while Whitehead died from a gunshot to her pelvis and Semo died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told The Associated Press. She was taken to the hospital and died in surgery, she said.

Ashley Whitehead adored her two adult daughters, and also loved nature and arts and crafts, her cousin said.

“I would consider her just a free spirit. She had the best sense of humor, the best gorgeous smile,” she said.

During a vigil Monday night at the center, Michelle Whitehead stood among dozens of others with a sign that said “Whitehead Strong” as the group held a moment of silence and raised up flashlights on their phones to honor those that had been killed. Candles and flowers were arranged around them.

The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39, all of whom were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.

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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.

The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was “positive and productive," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The White House did not immediately offer more details.

It comes as both leaders face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November.

Despite signs of tension between the two ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu was effusive afterward in a post on Instagram, noting that the meeting included Trump's “entire senior team.”

Vice President JD Vance, who has had critical words for Israel and in June warned Israeli officials that Trump was their only friend among world leaders, was among those in the meeting.

“When I say excellent, I don’t mean it in a superficial way,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. “A conversation with full partnership, with mutual support, with an understanding of the common goal of ensuring that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well. One of the best conversations I’ve had with the President of the United States, our friend Donald Trump.”

Netanyahu later joined Vance and Trump at a funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham, where the Israeli leader was seen speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with Trump earlier in the day.

Trump expresses some frustration with Netanyahu before sitdown

Trump revealed some tension with Netanyahu ahead of their meeting, complaining about reports that the Israeli leader plans to discuss intelligence on Iranian activities at Pickaxe Mountain, a potential nuclear site that the U.S. president has threatened repeatedly to bomb.

“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” He insisted that whatever Iran is doing is “not a big problem” and that “Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.”

“Why do you have to announce to the world?” Trump added, flashing his frustrations with his ally.

Trump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years, but upon his return to the White House last year, their alliance seemed stronger than ever. When they started the war together in February, it was with a united front, touting their respective militaries as acting in lockstep to take out Iran’s leadership and pave the way for a government more friendly to the West.

But as Iran fought back — sending drones and missiles slamming into U.S. bases and high-rises in cities in the Gulf, and choking off the Strait of Hormuz — Trump came under immense pressure both at home and by allies in the region to end the conflict.

Since then, Netanyahu, who wanted to continue the fighting in Iran and against its ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, has been sidelined as Trump sought a deal with Tehran. Disagreements with Trump and Vance have burst into the open over the war in Iran and more.

“The Americans are making it clear to the Israelis they are the ones who are running the war,” Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal wrote Monday in the daily newspaper, Israel Hayom. “It is clear to everyone that Israel has been put in the back seat.”

Netanyahu keeping focus on Iran's nuclear program

Netanyahu planned to share with Trump Israeli intelligence on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to a person familiar with Netanyahu’s visit, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Netanyahu said Sunday that he hoped to sit down with Trump “to hear what he has in mind” for Iran.

“Because I think, in many ways, it’s his decision” on how to move forward, Netanyahu told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?

"But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program,” he said of Iran.

The two leaders also had planned to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting.

Steps to allow other forces in Gaza and in Lebanon

Netanyahu also needs to persuade Trump that he won’t play spoiler to U.S. diplomatic and reconstruction efforts in Gaza and in Lebanon, where the president has previously complained that “too many people are being killed” by Israeli strikes.

Israel has taken recent steps in both places.

In Lebanon, where the Israeli military occupies much of the south, Israel agreed to allow the Lebanese army to deploy to some villages as part of a “pilot program” testing their ability to secure areas where Hezbollah once operated. The U.S. State Department said Monday that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place next week in Rome with a focus on expanding the program.

On Gaza, Israel’s security cabinet green-lit on Sunday a measure that would, in theory, grant entry to the first members of an international stabilization force outlined last year in a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Few countries have pledged troops for the force, however, and Israel would approve their entry into Gaza on a case-by-case basis.

The troops — including from Morocco and Uganda — would only be allowed to operate in a small, desolate area in Rafah in the south, where the plan is to vet and house some displaced Palestinians.

The Israeli military continues to carry out strikes it says target militants but that have also killed civilians.

Support for Israel has eroded

Israel has lost a significant amount of bipartisan support in the United States, particularly over its conduct in Gaza. Near the White House where the public was able to gather near fencing, a small group of protesters chanted, “Netanyahu, you’re a tyrant” and “Bibi, you’re not welcome here,” referencing the prime minister’s nickname.

An AP-NORC poll published earlier this month found a dramatic erosion of support among American adults for Israel.

“We’ve lost America. Thank you, Bibi,” wrote Ben Caspit, a political commentator for Israel's Maariv newspaper.

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Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Darlene Superville and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. Cunningham reported from Jerusalem.

Colt Gray, 16, had pleaded guilty Friday to 55 counts, including murder, in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at the school about 45 miles (73 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. Gray, who was 14 at the time, was charged as an adult.

Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm handed down the sentence after hearing from family members of those killed and victims, as well as investigators, a forensic psychologist who had evaluated Gray, a youth detention center counselor and Gray’s grandmother.

The minimum penalty for murder in Georgia is life with the possibility of parole. That left Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm with the decision of whether Gray should ever be eligible for parole. He decided the teen should never be allowed out.

Primm acknowledged that Gray was failed by his parents, his extended family and, to a certain extent, society.

“But that failure does not absolve you from who you chose to idolize, worship and become,” the judge said, alluding to Gray's fascination with mass shooters.

District Attorney Brad Smith had argued that Gray “cannot be in society.”

“We’ve seen no evidence he has any ability to develop a conscience or any ability ever to fully value human life,” Smith said.

Defense attorney W. Charlton Allen told the judge his client is “not irretrievably broken.” Giving him the possibility of parole would give him “an opportunity of hope," Allen said, adding that without hope, “that takes away the ability for him to change.”

Teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, died in the shooting. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them hit by gunfire.

Victims of the shooting and family members of those killed conveyed their anger and grief to Primm on Friday, almost all of them asking him to impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Shayna Aspinwall, the wife of math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall, described “a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind.”

Investigators say Colt Gray aspired to be a mass shooter

Investigators testified during the sentencing hearing that Gray idolized other mass shooters, talking about them online with other members of the “true crime community,” a group of young people online who are fascinated with such attacks. Gray had chatted online about gaining notoriety through a school shooting and his admiration for previous mass shooters.

Prosecutors played recordings of phone conversations Gray had with his mother, Marcee Gray, from a youth detention center in the months after the shooting. During those calls, he directed his mother to look up what people were saying about him online. When she described “fan art” drawings depicting him or comments people made about him, he asked her how much engagement those posts were getting and seemed excited when they were getting a lot.

Gray had the “mental wherewithal” to mimic details of other mass killings on the day of the shooting, Smith said. He took steps to place those “Easter eggs,” anticipating that they would be mentioned in court one day and would perpetuate his fame, the prosecutor said.

“The shooting was not the culmination of the plan. The shooting was just one of the steps of the plan. The plan was ultimate and lifelong fame inside of the TCC,” Smith said, referencing the “true crime community.”

Colt Gray's grandmother says he needed help

“Colt got less stability than he needed, which made him even more vulnerable,” Allen argued, arguing that his client got wrapped up in an online community where he found the acceptance he craved but wasn’t getting at home.

Gray’s maternal grandmother, Debbie Polhamus, testified that the teen had a troubled childhood and that his parents failed him. Her grandson had grown “highly agitated and aggressive” in the weeks before the shooting, she said, adding that she had urged his parents to get him some help but they didn’t follow through.

“I tried to help Colt because nobody else was helping him,” she said.

Polhamus said she visits her grandson once a week at a youth detention center and that he has improved enormously with treatment and medication. She said her grandson has been doing a lot of reading and wants to study to get a GED diploma.

“I’d like to see him have a chance at some point to prove himself,” Polhamus said.

Gray was put in foster care while in detention because his father was in prison and there were concerns about his mother's contact with him. Candice Broce, director of the state Division of Family & Children Services and commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Services, managed his case.

Broce testified that Gray appeared to show improvement. After Marcee Gray was barred from speaking with her son by a July 2025 no-contact order and he started taking medication, staff at the youth detention center told Broce it “changed him essentially into a different child,” she said.

The S&P 500 added 0.2%, but the modest move masked big swings underneath the surface. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 537 points, or 1%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2% after briefly dropping 9.3% below its record set last month.

The majority of the U.S. market rose after more companies delivered stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected. Coca-Cola climbed 5% after its revenue rose 7% despite what CEO Henrique Braun called “a dynamic consumer landscape.”

Sherwin-Williams rallied 8.3%, and Illinois Tool Works rose 3.6% after both likewise reported stronger earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Stock prices generally follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term, and expectations are high for this most recent round of reports with the U.S. stock market still near its all-time high.

Such expectations are weighing particularly heavily on stocks of chipmakers and other companies that have been huge winners from the boom in artificial-intelligence technology.

Micron Technology’s stock came into the day having more than tripled for the year following gangbuster growth, for example. During the three months through May 28, its revenue more than quadrupled from a year earlier.

But worries are rising about whether such growth is sustainable. Big spenders on computer memory could pull back on investments if AI does not produce as much profit or productivity as promised. Lower-cost AI models from China could also mean less demand for memory and computing power than earlier expected.

Micron dropped 8.9% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Others also helping to keep the market in check were Advanced Micro Devices, down 8.1%, and Applied Materials, down 7.8%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 15.60 points to 7,428.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 537.24 to 52,747.32, and the Nasdaq composite fell 55.17 to 24,876.91.

The losses for chip stocks were even worse earlier in the day in other markets worldwide.

Sharp drops for SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics dragged South Korea’s Kospi index down 10.8%. The market’s losses were so big that trading was temporarily halted at times in Seoul.

“We believe the market was likely spooked by the progress of China’s chipmaking equipment capabilities, and was worried that this progress would threaten the competitive position of global chipmaking and chip equipment leaders,” said equity analyst Jing Jie Yu of Morningstar.

“That said, we believe the sell-off today is largely a knee-jerk reaction and overdone,” he said. The dominant position of global chipmaking leaders is unlikely to be threatened meaningfully, he said.

Several huge spenders on AI chips and data centers are scheduled to report their latest quarterly results this week, which could offer updates on how much they’re planning to invest. Meta Platforms and Microsoft are reporting on Wednesday, while Amazon is due on Thursday.

Because AI superstar stocks have grown so big, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than many other companies. But the broad U.S. market could hold up despite their swings if other, less-loved areas are able to keep rising. It’s a rotation that some strategists have suggested could be healthy for the overall stock market.

In the oil market, the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in October fell 4.4% to settle at $82.08.

It’s been falling since late last week, when the price for a barrel to be delivered in September briefly shot as high as $102.

Pushing up on prices have been worries that worsening fighting in the Middle East could slow the global flow of oil. On the other side, though, are hopes that the United States and Iran could still negotiate something to allow oil tankers to use the Strait of Hormuz to move crude.

Lower oil prices helped to ease Treasury yields in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.60% from 4.65% late Monday.

A weaker-than-expected reading on confidence among U.S. consumers also weighed on yields. Fewer consumers are saying they feel good about current business conditions, according to the latest survey released by the Conference Board Tuesday.

The drop in oil prices helped push traders to trim their bets that the Federal Reserve could announce a hike to interest rates following its latest meeting on Wednesday. They’re forecasting a 31.5% probability, down from more than 36% a day before, according to data from CME Group.

Higher rates could keep a lid on inflation, but they would also slow the economy by making it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow. Long-term mortgage rates have already hit their highest level in nearly a year, chilling the housing industry.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him, Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.

Highs on Wednesday will surge into the mid-to-upper 90s.

With the humidity factored in, the heat index will climb into the 108-112 ballpark.

Other than a few scattered downpours early Wednesday morning, most of Wednesday afternoon will be on the drier side.

Rain chances Wednesday will be at 40%.

Late Wednesday night, a cluster of thunderstorms is expected to approach Central Florida from the north.

Storm chances will gradually increase through Thursday morning.

Part of the Thursday morning commute could be impacted by heavy rain.

Storm chances Thursday will be at 70%, with the highest chance of rain happening before noon.

Highs will likely top out in the upper 80s.

Rain chances remain elevated, 70%, Friday as a cold front remains stalled closer to the I-10 corridor in the North Florida.

Lippman died at his home in Tucson on July 25, according to his brother, Glenn. He died from multiple system atrophy, a rare brain disease.

A gifted writer and editor, Lippman likely made his greatest contribution to journalism through the scores of young editors and reporters he recruited, mentored in his soft-spoken but enthusiastic manner and shepherded to accomplishments they would acknowledge later they hadn’t thought possible. He had the ability to become friends with practically everybody he met, including those he supervised.

He did so as chief of AP bureaus in Louisville, Indianapolis and Los Angeles.

During his time there, Lippman oversaw the so-called Trial of the Century, when football legend O.J. Simpson was charged with — and acquitted of — killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He also supervised coverage of the 1994 Northridge earthquake that killed more than 70 people and caused $20 billion in damage. And in 1992, he led coverage of the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots that destroyed a huge swath of the city after four white police officers were acquitted of charges in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King.

"If you were in a lab and charged with creating a model bureau chief, your model could well be Andy Lippman,” said retired AP President and CEO Louis D. Boccardi, who appointed Lippman to lead the Los Angeles bureau.

“He had it all," Boccardi said. "A sharp news sense, energy without limits, loyalty to, and appreciation for, his staff wherever we sent him, a passion to serve AP members that made the bond seem more like family than business, limitless enthusiasm, thoughtfulness in matters large and small. That was a hallmark of knowing Andy Lippman.”

Colleagues remembered him as a thoughtful boss

Particularly in Los Angeles, Lippman was remembered for his thoughtfulness. Even after his retirement he would surprise staffers stuck working on Thanksgiving by showing up with a full meal — turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, the works. And dessert.

“Andy was indeed like a brother to me, from the time we met in 1982 as fellow AP bureau chiefs in adjoining states — Andy in Louisville and I in Indianapolis,” said retired AP bureau chief and regional vice president Paul Stevens, who now edits AP’s Connecting newsletter for retired and former AP journalists.

“We became forever best friends," Stevens said. "One year, he invited our then-teenage daughters to join him as his guests for the Academy Awards program in Los Angeles. He came to family weddings. And we were there for each other in the tough times, including the deaths of our parents.”

Dozens of others shared similar sentiments in recent years at various gatherings, including AP’s annual dinner for retirees. At a recent farewell party in Los Angeles that Lippman was unable to attend because of illness, every one of the dozens of people in the room recorded video tributes.

He was a journalist since the early 1960s

Andy Lippman, born April 29, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to Miriam and Morton Lippman. He grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and seemed destined to become a journalist. He worked for his middle school newspaper and was editor of Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School newspaper, The Pitch, his senior year.

“Working on The Pitch really kept me focused, and particularly being an editor really gave me a sense of responsibility,” he told the newspaper in 2016.

Lippman started writing “for pay” at age 15 covering high school sports for the Washington Daily News on weekends. Later, when he arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, he made sure every reporter or editor knew how to cover a sports event, just in case they got pressed into service during an emergency.

After graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1970, Lippman landed a vacation relief job at the AP’s Phoenix bureau in 1971. A year later he became a permanent member of the Tucson, Arizona, staff before moving to AP’s sports desk in New York, then on to Cincinnati, where he was an AP correspondent. Then it was on to Louisville.

Sports-related coverage seemed to keep creeping back into his work life. In 1991, Lippman pressed his sports writers to confirm word, which they did, that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson was about to announce his retirement after contracting the AIDS virus. Lippman had reported on Johnson’s on-court rival and close friend Larry Bird during his time in Indianapolis.

He dealt with health issues but stayed in the game

In 2005, the AP honored him with the Oliver S. Gramling Spirit Award, given to staff members who display dedication, courage, and exceptional support for the news agency’s mission.

Plagued with various health issues in his later years, Lippman retired from the AP in 2009, but never lost touch with the company.

He continued to help others, teaching English to immigrants and helping about 75 holding Green Cards prepare for their tests to become U.S. citizens. In 2022, the Puente Learning Center in East Los Angeles named Lippman its Volunteer of the Year, an honor accompanied by a proclamation from the California Legislative Assembly.

Lippman never really quit journalism. For eight years, until last December, he wrote a weekly column for the South Pasadena Review, the local newspaper for the close-knit suburb just north of Los Angeles that in his final years Lippman had grown to love.

Lippman served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years beginning in 1970. His family says he will be cremated and some of his ashes placed in Ravello, Italy; Colonial Williamsburg; Indiana; and South Pasadena, California. Survivors include his sister-in-law, Nancy Newberry, his brother Glenn and an extended family that, Glenn wrote, “was composed of his many friends, colleagues, students and community connections.” Lippman also is survived by his beloved rescue dog, Scout.

The future Hall of Fame quarterback's status beyond 2026 is seemingly one of the few certainties for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where the only thing familiar about their annual pilgrimage to Saint Vincent College for training camp might be the venue.

Having a new head coach for the first time in a generation will do that.

While native son Mike McCarthy's Pittsburgh roots run deep, he also brings a career full of experiences built coaching elsewhere to a franchise that has done certain things a certain way for a long, long time.

Times are changing. Right from the jump.

The quaint spectacle of players being swarmed by cameras and microphones as they lugged their bags and personal items into Rooney Hall is no more. Most of the roster arrived quietly late Monday. Nearly all of them were on the field for a post-breakfast conditioning test on Tuesday, a glorified jog that was typically done in the late afternoon during former coach Mike Tomlin's 19-year run.

No wonder linebacker T.J. Watt likened the beginning of his 10th year in the NFL to the first day of school.

“There’s just a lot of unknown,” he said.

The next three weeks in the western Pennsylvania hills are a feeling-out process of sorts for players and coaches alike. Watt insists he is embracing the new.

Good thing, because there's plenty to go around.

The afternoon practices in the midsummer heat that Tomlin leaned into, often clad in black sweatpants and a sweatshirt, will now be held earlier in the day. Team meetings will start at 7:30 a.m., with all practices scheduled to wrap up by 1:30 p.m. at the latest, around the same time Tomlin's practices usually began.

McCarthy said he'd be fine with practicing right after breakfast if he could. And tackling? Well, that's mostly out, too.

“You try to reduce risk," said McCarthy, who said the emphasis will be on trying to make sure players correctly do all the fundamental things required for good tackling form — like footwork — so they'll be ready when the games count.

Still, McCarthy is well aware that trying to prevent all injuries is a fool's errand. If he needed a reminder, he got one when veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey tweaked a knee during minicamp, a setback that landed him on the physically unable to perform list, though McCarthy stressed the move was precautionary and that Ramsey is expected back in a couple of weeks.

A little more uncertain is the status of cornerback Joey Porter Jr. The club placed him on the PUP list on Tuesday but offered no details. The timing comes with Porter angling for a new contract as he enters the final year of the rookie deal he signed in 2023 after Pittsburgh selected him with the first pick of the second round.

Porter held himself out of certain team drills during minicamp in June in an effort to protect his health, saying at the time that he feels like he's one of the elite players at his position in the league.

While the Steelers have signed Porter's draft classmates tight end Darnell Washington and outside linebacker Nick Herbig to new contracts in recent months, general manager Omar Khan said there is nothing else “imminent.” Asked if he's concerned that the longer it takes to reach an agreement Porter, the more expensive it will get, Khan shrugged.

“It’s just the nature of the beast,” he said. “We understand where we are, and we have communication. We know how the process works. But at the end of the day, we can only go so far with certain negotiations and see where it goes.”

The one person Khan won't have to worry about negotiating with anymore is Rodgers. The four-time MVP said when he signed a one-year deal in May to return to Pittsburgh after leading the Steelers to an AFC North title last season that “this is it.”

Though wide receiver DK Metcalf tried to prop the door open for 2027 when he said he could see Rodgers running it back one more time if he had a great season, his QB quickly shut it.

“I thought last year might be it,” he said. “And then Mike got hired and I talked to the wife, and she said, ‘You can do one more year.’ So we'll see if it works out."

Rodgers likes the symmetry of ending his career with the coach he won a Super Bowl with during his long run in Green Bay. He's also one of the few people in the organization who have a sense of what — and more specifically how — McCarthy plans to build a team, though he pointed out that changes to the collective bargaining agreement that banned two-a-day practices add a bit of an unknown, even for someone who has seen just about everything.

“I’m not sure what the Mike McCarthy training camp practice will be like, but I know that the OTAs were crisp,” he said. “You guys saw them out there. It was crisp. Things were moving fast, in and out of team periods, and I expect more of the same.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The probes will determine whether the Bethel School District, about an hour south of Seattle, and Denver Public Schools violated a federal law that gives parents the right to opt out of school evaluations on topics including sex behavior or attitudes, the department said.

“Parents must be the decision-makers in matters impacting the most intimate parts of their children’s lives," Frank Miller, director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the Education Department, said in a statement.

Denver schools spokesman Scott Pribble said in a statement the district put the teacher on administrative leave and completed an investigation after students raised concerns in March 2025. The statement did not specify what prompted students' concerns.

The Board of Education fired the teacher in May, he said.

“The safety, emotional well-being, and dignity of our students are the absolute highest priorities of DPS,” the statement said. “Our actions to date have been wholly consistent with those priorities.”

Bethel School District said in a statement that the vials in a display at Graham-Kapowsin High School in June were not authorized by school administrators and were immediately removed and turned over to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.

Testosterone is prescribed for gender-affirming care. The district added that it will cooperate fully with the Education Department's investigation.

The two districts are in states headed by Democrats. President Donald Trump is a Republican.

The Trump administration has opened dozens of investigations into schools that make accommodations for transgender and LGBTQ+ students, often taking aim at districts that allow students to use bathrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identities. It accused Denver schools last year of violating Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination over such a bathroom policy.

Trump officials have also pushed against schools accused of keeping information about students’ gender identities confidential from their parents, which the department says is a violation of federal privacy laws.

The Education Department tied the new investigations to National Parents’ Day on Sunday. The agency said it will be announcing “significant actions” involving the enforcement of parental rights laws through the week.

The display at the high school in the Bethel district contained some vials with a “small amount of unknown liquid,” the district said in its statement.

Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Carly Cappetto said school administrators identified the student who brought the vials to campus. The sheriff's office would test the liquid to determine whether it was testosterone — a controlled substance — if prosecutors made that request, she said.

An email to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office was not immediately returned.

The district said in its statement it is reviewing its protocols for overseeing displays to “ensure all school materials strictly align with our educational standards and community expectations."

“Our primary focus remains on maintaining a safe, respectful, and focused learning environment for all of our students,” it added.

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Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington D.C. contributed to this report.

Graham's flag-draped casket arrived for a tribute at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years as an indefatigable dealmaker who talked and laughed and badgered his colleagues into action. Later, President Donald Trump joined foreign leaders at Washington National Cathedral, a testament to Graham's stature on the global stage.

Trump called Graham “a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon.”

In mostly prepared remarks, the president described his onetime presidential rival turned ally as “the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to fight.”

Trump told the story of how he had publicly disclosed Graham's cell phone number on the campaign trail, reciting the number in the cathedral, but said the senator had the last laugh because "Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years.”

Among those gathered were Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaders of two countries fighting separate wars, a nod to Graham's role as a foremost believer in the power of the U.S. and its military to intervene in the world's problems. Fox News' Sean Hannity, in his remarks, said Graham would have been moved that they both made the long journeys to attend.

Trump Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and current and former senators and lawmakers joined in the pews, as did Graham’s sister, now- Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by the state’s governor to fill the remainder of her brother’s term.

It's the start of two days of services, with burial Wednesday in Graham's home state of South Carolina. Joint Base Charleston will be renamed in his honor, the White House said. Graham died suddenly on July 11 at his home in Washington of a likely aortic tear, according to preliminary findings. He had just returned from a whirlwind trip to a NATO summit in Turkey, where he celebrated his birthday, and a visit to Ukraine. He was 71.

A place of honor for a ‘swashbuckling’ senator

During the morning service in the Capitol Rotunda, Vice President JD Vance described Graham as a man of “swashbuckling" stature — “who swashbuckled into the Senate” with his suit jacket open — and was impossible not to like.

“Lindsey was a towering figure,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, choking back tears during his remarks.

First elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican revolt that swept the GOP to power, Graham was part of a new era of conservatives to take their seats in the House — and among the first Republicans from his Southern state since Reconstruction.

He quickly rose to prominence as a manager in Democrat Bill Clinton's presidential impeachment, and he was elected to the Senate in the 2002 election. There, he formed an alliance with Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, in what would become the “three amigos,” globe-trotting the world focused on national security issues.

Vance recalled how he argued with Graham over the senator's staunch support for aid to Ukraine, which has divided the GOP, but praised his legacy saying Kavanaugh “would not be on the Supreme Court” were it not for Graham’s “fierce advocacy” during the confirmation hearing.

For decades, Graham had been at the center of the action — a member of virtually every bipartisan gang in Congress — with a relentless ability to adapt to political realities, particularly when it came to Trump.

One by one, many of Graham’s colleagues said their goodbyes in the Rotunda. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala, placed both hands on his casket and then placed her hand on her heart. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., saluted from her wheelchair. Former Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., bowed and delivered a brief kiss and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., gave a fist bump.

The ‘Trump whisperer’ had one last mission: Russia sanctions

Perhaps nowhere was Graham's political dexterity on display more as when he navigated his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump.

Graham had denounced Trump as a “unfit for office” during the 2016 presidential campaign, but over time he had become what senators called the “Trump whisperer,” someone even world leaders relied on to understand the president.

Days before his death, Graham had won Trump's support for a long-fought bipartisan proposal to impose sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Senators were scheduled later Tuesday to take a first procedural vote on the sanctions package, in Graham's honor. Zelenskyy is expected to be on hand and meeting with senators in the evening.

Graham's champions and potential successors

At the Washington cathedral, a roster of socially conservative and anti-abortion leaders gave readings, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Marjorie Jones Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the Reverend William Franklin Graham III.

When Hannity said how important Darline Graham and her family had been to the senator, she put her hand over her heart in response.

Lindsey Graham never married, but he helped support his younger sister after both of his parents died while he was at college and then starting law school. He became the guardian for Darline, who was then 13, and he later in life often extolled the benefits of Social Security that helped keep them financially afloat.

Darline Graham is now running in a potentially crowded primary field for the fall election. The filing period for the special primary election closes Tuesday, with voting set for Aug. 11.

Graham went on to serve as a judge advocate general in the Air Force, and remained a reserve or National Guard member for decades. In the Senate, he briefly switched back to active status to help advise the Air Force during the Iraq War and was awarded the Bronze Star medal for service in 2014 before formally retiring as a colonel in 2015.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Collin Binkley and Michelle L. Price contributed to this story.

The Kenya Wildlife Service said 10 of the pachyderms showed signs of partial paralysis before dying within two days, while the remaining five were found dead, with their carcasses partially consumed by scavengers.

Most of those affected were female elephants and their calves, with only one male among the dead. The deaths happened in the Kimana Sanctuary and Kuku Ranch areas surrounding the park, the authority said.

Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict.

Preliminary tests on samples collected from the elephants by a laboratory at the University of Nairobi detected a “potential toxic substance,” while separate analyses by the Government Chemist were negative for the toxins tested. The authority said further tests are underway.

“Environmental investigations are also being undertaken, including the analysis of water sources and other potential environmental contaminants within the affected areas, to establish whether the elephants were exposed to a common source,” the authority said in a statement.

The authorities sought to reassure the public, saying there was no evidence the condition could be transmitted to humans.

Green will sign the contract that essentially matches the deal he opted out of last month before the Warriors made an unsuccessful bid to sign LeBron James, the person said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been announced.

ESPN first reported the deal.

Green is now set to play his 15th season with the Warriors and if he plays in 51 games he will join Stephen Curry as the only players in franchise history to appear in at least 1,000 contests.

Green, Curry and coach Steve Kerr are the main remaining pieces of the team from the dynasty that delivered four championships. Golden State last won the title in 2022 and haven’t made it past the second round of the playoffs since then. The Warriors missed the playoffs this past season when they lost to Phoenix in the play-in tournament.

Golden State tried to add James earlier this offseason and Green waited to sign his deal until after James made his decision to sign with Philadelphia to give the Warriors more flexibility. Green, Curry and Jimmy Butler are all entering the final seasons of their current contracts, although Curry could sign an extension starting late next month.

Green has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA since being drafted in the second round in 2012. He has made nine all-defensive teams and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2016-17.

He has averaged 8.7 points per game in his career, along with 6.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 68 games last season for Golden State.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

It has been nearly a decade since any state carried out two executions in one day, when Arkansas had back-to-back executions in 2017.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the state's death chamber the nation’s busiest at the end of his final term, saying too many families have waited too long to see justice.

Nationwide, the use of the death penalty had been declining for two decades, but that number has ticked up behind the increased pace in Florida. Since 2025 began, Florida has carried out nearly half the state executions across the country.

James Aren Duckett, 68, was pronounced dead early Tuesday afternoon following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. The 11th inmate executed by the state this year, Duckett was convicted of raping and drowning 11-year-old Teresa McAbee while he was working as a police officer in central Florida in 1987.

Duckett declined to make a final statement, responding “no sir” when asked. About 4 minutes after the execution began, the prison's warden shook Duckett and shouted his name, but there was no response.

Afterward, the girl's family members said they had suffered for decades.

“I waited nearly 40 years to have him dead,” Dorthy Tula, the victim's mother, said before breaking down.

“This man took advantage of his badge,” said Tracy Mcfall-Buskirk, the girl's cousin.

Early Tuesday evening, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone was scheduled to become the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986.

Florida execution came after last-minute appeals

Until Tuesday, a total of 17 executions had been carried out in the U.S. so far this year, with Florida carrying out more than all other states combined.

Both men saw last-ditch appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court denied Tuesday after the Florida Supreme Court declined to intervene last week.

Duckett’s attorneys had unsuccessfully claimed his innocence and argued against the state’s handling of DNA evidence.

Occhicone’s attorneys said several age-related ailments, including kidney and prostate problems, could make his execution especially painful, constituting cruel and unusual punishment.

DeSantis hasn’t said why he scheduled two executions six hours apart. A Florida prison official said the department was confident in its readiness to carry out both. All Florida executions are by injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Record execution numbers for governor’s final two years

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, oversaw a record 19 executions last year, more in a single year than any other Florida governor since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976.

Florida now has executed 30 people since the beginning of 2025 while the rest of the U.S. states combined have carried out 35 executions over the same time frame. Another execution in Florida is set for August.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty urged DeSantis ahead of Tuesday to halt both executions.

“July 28 represents an unprecedented escalation of Florida’s use of the death penalty,” said the group’s executive director, Grace Hanna. “These are two profoundly different cases, but they point to the same troubling reality: Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want.”

Decades on death row

DeSantis has rarely commented on the pace of executions, previously saying some on death row had committed crimes as far back as the 1980s.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly," the governor said last year.

If Occhicone's execution proceeds as planned, he would be the second-oldest prisoner known to be put to death in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. was executed in Alabama in 2018 for a wave of mail bombs in 1989 that killed a federal judge and wounded a Black civil rights attorney.

Florida executions were scheduled for the same day only weeks ago

Just before Duckett was scheduled to be executed in March, the Florida Supreme Court issued a stay to allow for DNA testing of old evidence. The results were inconclusive, meaning they did not exonerate Duckett or definitively connect him to the crime. Judges have allowed the jury verdict to stand.

When Occhicone’s death warrant was signed late last month, his was the only execution scheduled for Tuesday. But after the Florida Supreme Court removed Duckett’s stay on July 8, DeSantis signed a new death warrant and added Duckett to Occhicone’s execution date. Florida Department of Corrections records show multiple executions on a single day were more common in the past, with the last being in 1964.

Investigators identified the suspect as Joseph Spector, 38, of Palm Coast. He was arrested on Saturday after deputies and Major Case Unit detectives apprehended him at a restaurant in Bunnell, the sheriff’s office said.

How the investigation began

The case started in February 2025, when the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) received a report alleging Spector inappropriately touched a minor, according to FCSO.

A DCF investigator then contacted an FCSO school resource deputy to assist with an interview at the victim’s school.

What detectives say victims reported

During the initial interview, the victim reported Spector inappropriately touched her breast during an incident in 2022, authorities said.

In a later interview with the First Coast Child Protection Team, the victim said Spector:

• showed her pornographic material
• provided her alcohol
• engaged in frequent “cuddling sessions” multiple times a week, during which she said he sexually abused her
• also abused her sister in a similar manner

The second victim confirmed the “cuddling sessions” occurred with her as well, and reported an incident where Spector masturbated next to her, the sheriff’s office said.

Covert operation and interview

In April 2025, the sheriff’s office said the Major Case Unit conducted a covert operation in which Spector stated that while he may not remember everything that occurred, “he was sorry.”

Detectives interviewed Spector back in April, and said he denied the allegations. When confronted with statements from the covert operation, Spector said he did not recall making them, adding: “I don’t remember, and if it happened, I was drunk.”

Charges and bond

Spector was arrested and now faces two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation.

He was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and held on a $150,000 bond, according to FCSO.

Sheriff’s message, reporting resources

Following Spector’s arrest, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly issued the following statement:

“I commend those two brave victims, as this investigation never would have happened without their courage to speak up and come forward with what this pervert did to them.

From there, this case showed excellent teamwork between our Major Case Unit, the school resource deputy who took the initial report, deputies who assisted in the apprehension, and our partners at the Florida Department of Children and Families during the entire investigation to put this pervert behind bars and held accountable.

I hope he goes to prison for a long time."

Anyone who is a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows someone in Flagler County who is, is urged to report it to FCSO at 386-313-4911 or to the DCF Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873, or online at reportabuse.myflfamilies.com.

The Vikings announced the punishment Tuesday as they began training camp. Alexander's suspension began Friday and will be in effect until Aug. 13, two days before their first preseason game at the New York Giants.

“I take full responsibility for the situation I put myself in and apologize for not meeting the mark,” Alexander said in a statement released by the Vikings. “I know it’s unacceptable. I understand the suspension and am committed to learning from the matter and ensuring I come back a better version of myself.”

Alexander, who was also given the title of defensive passing game coordinator, was hired in February to replace Daronte Jones, who became defensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders.

According to Hennepin County court records, Alexander pled guilty July 16 to a gross misdemeanor charge of third degree driving while impaired for refusal to submit to a chemical test. A fourth degree driving while impaired charge was dismissed. He was sentenced to 48 hours of community service, placed on two years of unsupervised probation and fined $603.

Police in Edina, a Minneapolis suburb, were called at 4:01 a.m. on April 26 for a vehicle stopped in the middle of an intersection with the driver unresponsive. An officer observed damage to the car and awoke Alexander by opening the door. His speech was slurred and his balance so poor that the one-leg stand as part of the field sobriety test was stopped to prevent injury, and a preliminary breath test showed an alcohol concentration of .169 on a weak breath, the officer reported, more than twice the legal limit. After being transported to the police station, Alexander refused an official breath test.

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said the club had been in contact with the league in the three months since the arrest and initiated the punishment once Alexander's court case was closed.

“Disappointment is the word,” O'Connell said at his regularly scheduled news conference at the start of training camp. “The expectations and the standards we have are clear, and it's important that we do those things for our players and be the examples on and off the field.”

Alexander, who has begun his 10th year of coaching in the NFL, was defensive backs coach last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also coached defensive backs for the Miami Dolphins for two years while current Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was the head coach there. Alexander played five seasons in the league as a safety after being drafted in the second round in 2007 by the Detroit Lions.

Commanders tight ends coach Ben Steele was fired Monday in the aftermath of his arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated last month. Steele had just been hired by Washington after spending the previous three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He was the assistant offensive line coach for the Vikings in 2021.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems — a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks.

Taken together, those meetings underscore how much the U.S. president, once a major skeptic of continued assistance to Kyiv, has warmed to Zelenskyy as Ukraine continues to withstand the Russian barrage more than four years after Moscow's invasion in 2022. The Ukrainian leader, whose relationship with Trump in his second term was marked by a raucous White House visit in which he was denigrated for being ungracious, has worked to court the Republican administration while relying on both likely and unlikely allies in Trump's orbit to exert their influence with the president.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has consumed much of the Trump administration's focus this year, has also become gradually entwined with Ukraine, with Ukraine firing on at least one Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend while Zelenskyy asserts that Russia has been offering satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf to Iran.

In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the “good meeting” and the Republican administration's efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war.

“The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” said Zelenskyy, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham, a close ally. “We also spoke about diplomacy — it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said both the Zelenskyy meeting and a separate, later sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were “positive and productive.”

Zelenskyy wants to bolster Ukraine's defense production

Later during his whirlwind, one-day visit to Washington, Zelenskyy posted that he met with officials from Lockheed Martin for further cooperation in both defense production and exchanging of technologies, saying, “Ukraine has a lot to share with those who help us protect lives.”

Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute, said expanding production capacity for Patriot interceptors is not only vital for Ukraine, but also for the U.S. and its Gulf allies, particularly as supply runs low during the war in Iran.

“Ukraine has shown that its defense industry is capable, innovative and creative,” Coffey said. “I have no doubt that when they’re granted the license, they will be able to produce these missiles which will hopefully mean there will be more available for the U.S.”

Trump welcomed Zelenskyy to the White House as the Ukrainian leader traveled to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other exports.

In a Fox News Channel interview Tuesday, Trump recalled Graham's hawkishness and said the Republican South Carolina senator's support for Ukraine never wavered. Trump said Graham had suggested it was time to make a deal with Iran but had no similar suggestion for the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Ukraine, he's very militant about,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends." "I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you."

The Trump administration's embrace of Zelenskyy comes as a far-right activist with the U.S. president’s ear had a recent, widely publicized change of heart on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Laura Loomer, known primarily for her incendiary social media posts and her influence with Trump, has been traveling through Ukraine, witnessing Moscow’s barrage firsthand and interviewing Zelenskyy while admitting she was “bamboozled by Russian propaganda.” Loomer said she spoke to Trump after she met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine last week and she expects to meet with the U.S. president once she returns from her trip.

Ukraine highlights ties between Iran and Russia

Ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy also warned that Russia has been aiding Iran as the war persists by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appear in Iran. The Ukrainian president also asserted that there was a “clear correlation” between Russia’s images and subsequent Iranian strikes.

Iran is a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and has helped Moscow build up its drone expertise.

But on Monday, Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran, even as he said he would raise the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.”

On the Caspian Sea attack, the foreign ministers of Iran and Ukraine spoke about the matter, according to statements posted on social media Tuesday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the conversation “frank” and said Ukraine’s focus is “solely at defending our country from Russian aggression and never intended to target civilian vessels or people.”

Iran has said at least one sailor was killed in the attack. For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is also not seeking escalation but “made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable” and “there must be restitution for losses.”

Pro-Ukraine backers pushing to advance sanctions bill

Zelenskyy has a busy itinerary during his latest visit to Washington. Besides his White House meeting, Zelenskyy will head to the Capitol to meet with senators on Tuesday evening after Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Republican leadership is hoping to advance Graham’s sanctions legislation this week, although the Senate is juggling several other priorities before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess.

The bill has dozens of backers from both major political parties and is seen as the main policy tribute to Graham, who died unexpectedly this month from a tear in his aorta. It imposes tariffs on goods from the world’s top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, including China and India.

The legislation also includes sanctions against Putin; senior Russian political and military leaders; and Russian financial institutions and energy projects.

It's been a jumbled and frenetic period during what would have otherwise been Graham's expected glide path toward a fifth term. He won his June primary outright, and no Democrat has won a statewide-elected office in South Carolina for two decades.

Graham's sudden death earlier this month at age 71 has sparked a rushed and compressed process leading to a special primary election in just two weeks.

The close of a one-week filing period for the South Carolina contest was Tuesday, the same day as the first of two funerals across Washington and Graham’s home state. The rare open Senate seat has drawn some of the state's top Republicans, longshots, familiar faces — and Graham's sister. If no candidate receives a majority vote, a runoff election will be held Aug. 25.

Darline Graham, the interim appointee, is a political unknown

For years, Darline Graham had been her older brother's political confidant, appearing in his ads, by his side at rallies and an indelible part of his biography, from their shared roughshod beginnings to his adoption of her following their parents' deaths.

In the hours after her brother died, Darline Graham stepped into Lindsey Graham's shoes in the Senate as the appointee to fulfill the remaining months of his current term, selected by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to serve until January. Now she's running for the nomination to replace him more permanently.

Darline Graham is a political unknown to the South Carolina voters who for decades returned her brother to Washington. Although she had been part of his campaigns, she's never been a political commodity in her own right, and there have been questions in South Carolina's GOP circles over whether goodwill toward her brother's memory is enough to send her to the Senate.

For now, Darline Graham is surrounded by her late brother's official and political staff. She had the support of President Donald Trump — to whom her brother was a top congressional ally — to seek the seat, as well as his endorsement before she had said publicly that she would do so.

McMaster made no reference to Darline Graham as a placeholder or symbolic appointment, although a person familiar with McMaster’s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly said the governor, in selecting her, had never contemplated that she would run for the seat herself.

Two congressmen are vying for the nomination

Fresh off an unsuccessful primary run for governor, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman entered the Senate race and has snapped up endorsements from other House members, including Rep. Nancy Mace, as well as law enforcement officials across the state. One of the most conservative members in the House, Norman is well-known across South Carolina.

Before the emergence of Darline Graham — and their Oval Office meeting after she was sworn in — Trump had previously suggested he could back a potential candidacy from Rep. Russell Fry, who officially entered the special primary shortly after.

Fry, well-known in his strongly pro-Trump, Myrtle Beach-area district, is working to elevate his name ID across other parts of the state since getting into the race and is promoting himself as a stalwart backer of Trump's policies.

Mark Sanford returns for another campaign

The former South Carolina congressman and governor whose political ascendency was stalled by a 2009 affair is making yet another attempt to return to public office.

Sanford's Senate bid comes just three months after he shuttered a bid to retake his former U.S. House seat, saying then he was quitting the race to set up a nonprofit to address the national debt, his signature issue.

Sanford had entered that contest on the last day of filing, when the race already was full of other Republican candidates, many of whom had spent months laying the groundwork for their campaigns.

Other GOP hopefuls include a former Graham challenger

Mark Lynch, a Greenville businessman who tried to oust Graham in the regular Republican primary last month, swiftly relaunched his campaign following Graham's death. He's expected to put much of his own money into his Senate run.

Other candidates include:

— Duke Buckner, a Walterboro attorney who is a perennial candidate. He has challenged U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's lone congressional Democrat. Buckner also is a former public school English teacher.

— Danny Ford II, a farmer from the town of Central and son of former Clemson University football coach Danny Ford. He ran unsuccessfully earlier this year for the Republican nomination for South Carolina agriculture secretary, making it to the runoff before losing to the Trump-endorsed candidate.

— Mark McBride, the former mayor of Myrtle Beach. He unsuccessfully sought federal office before, including a 2004 Senate primary loss to former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint. McBride also lost to Fry in the 2022 GOP primary for the 7th Congressional District.

— Darius Mitchell, a resident of Columbia, who calls himself a “Hip Hop Republican.” In social media posts, he has voiced support for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

— Clark Neilson, a businessman in Charlotte, North Carolina, who has said he plans to build a home on land he owns in Charleston County. He said he's in the process of becoming a South Carolina resident.

— Glenda Gail Parker, retired Air Force officer who recently moved to Myrtle Beach. She calls herself a conservative independent who leans Republican. She supports high-speed rail and a strong military.

— Sam Shepherd, a biomedical engineer and entrepreneur. He lives in Lexington County and has said he is focusing his campaign on cutting taxes and federal spending.

Who is the Democratic nominee in the Senate race?

Dr. Annie Andrews, a Charleston physician, won her party’s primary in June. Having set up her entire campaign based around challenging Graham, Andrews will soon find out her new general election opponent.

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Associated Press writer Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

The two leaders also plan to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official.

Trump also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral, which was their second sit-down this month. Sen. Lindsey Graham will be eulogized Tuesday during memorial services across Washington. Trump is expected to deliver remarks at the cathedral, alongside Fox News’ Sean Hannity and other conservative leaders.

Later, Trump joined guests and foreign leaders at Washington National Cathedral to eulogize Sen. Lindsey Graham, who rose to become one of his generation’s more influential U.S. politicians at home and abroad.

Here's the latest:

Air Force begins process to rename base after Sen. Lindsey Graham

The U.S. Air Force has begun taking steps to rename Joint Base Charleston in honor of the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, an Air Force official says.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military matters, said Air Force Secretary Troy Meink signed a memo Monday to begin the process of renaming the base to Joint Base Lindsey Graham.

The official said there was no immediate timeline on how long the process would take to rename the base, which is adjacent to Charleston International Airport. The renaming was reported earlier by the Post and Courier.

Graham served in the Air Force, the Air Force Reserves and the Air National Guard for more than 30 years as a lawyer before retiring at the rank of colonel, according to his Senate website.

He was honored at a memorial service Tuesday after he died suddenly on July 11.

—- Konstantin Toropin

Trump reflects on Graham’s loss in rare display of emotion

Speaking at the lectern during his tribute to Graham, Trump paused to note the difficulty of the moment.

“I will say, this memorial service — it’s so hard to say: memorial service for Lindsey,” Trump said before continuing.

Toward the end of his roughly 12-minute tribute, Trump looked upward and suggested Graham was “watching us” now.

“Our nation needs more men and women like that great person sitting, laying — wherever he may be,” Trump said. “I think I know where he is, and I think he’s up there. I think he’s watching us. I’m pretty sure of it.”

Trump highlights defense of Kavanaugh as perhaps Graham’s ‘finest hour’

Trump recalled the passionate defense Graham issued during the confirmation hearing in 2018 for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, during Trump's first term as president.

Christine Blasey Ford had come forward and accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when they were in high school, an allegation he denied.

Graham, who was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering the nomination, passionately defended Kavanaugh, who later was confirmed to the high court.

“His impassioned defense of a wonderful person, a great gentleman, Justice Kavanaugh, ended a disgraceful attack on this very good man and gave us one of the greatest moments the Senate has ever seen,” Trump said. “It was a truly monumental moment in Senate history. I believe it was Lindsey’s perhaps finest hour.”

Kavanaugh was among the mourners at Washington National Cathedral.

Trump eulogizes Graham, says ‘he left us much too soon’

Trump remembered Graham as someone who became a “constant fixture of American politics at the highest level, and a force to be reckoned with all over the world.”

“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it,” Trump said. “And no bill became law in the most exceptional Republican human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.”

“He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out,” Trump said.

Trump said Graham “went out at the peak of his career and the top of his game.”

Netanyahu says his talk with Trump was ‘one of the best’

In a video posted on his Instagram account, Netanyahu described his meeting with Trump on Tuesday as “excellent.”

He added that it was “a conversation with full partnership, with mutual support, with an understanding of the common goal of ensuring that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well. One of the best conversations I’ve had with the President of the United States, our friend Donald Trump.”

The Israeli Prime Minister met with Trump in the White House for about 90 minutes of talks, in a meeting that was closed to press coverage. He said that Trump’s “entire senior team” was present at the meeting, as well as “our senior team,” and that it was “an opportunity to exchange ideas and to coordinate arrangements that are important for the security and future of the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu departs White House after meeting Trump

The Israeli prime minister departed after about 90 minutes of talks.

As he was leaving, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement on X noting that Trump had concluded his meetings with Netanyahu and Zelenskyy.

She said: “Both meetings were positive and productive!”

They were closed to press coverage.

Netanyahu attended a memorial dinner for Graham, calling him a ‘dear friend’

The event was held in Washington on Monday evening and was also attended by Graham’s sister and replacement in the Senate, Darlene Graham, as well as other relatives, friends of the late senator, “senior administration officials and members of Congress,” according to a statement by Netanyahu’s office.

Speaking at the event, the Israeli leader praised Graham as “deeply committed to the security of the United States, to the security of Israel, and to the ongoing fight against anti-Semitism,“ the statement said.

Netanyahu, who is meeting with Trump at the White House, is among several foreign leaders who are expected to attend Graham’s Washington funeral held later on Tuesday.

“America has lost a great patriot. Israel has lost one of its greatest friends and supporters. And I have lost a dear friend,” Netanyahu said at the memorial dinner.

Zelenskyy reports having a ‘good meeting’ with Trump

In a social media post afterward, the Ukrainian leader said his first act was to offer his condolences to Trump on the death of Graham, who was close to Trump and a strong supporter of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says he and Trump discussed licenses for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors and “several other ideas that could help.” They also discussed diplomacy.

Zelenskyy said he expressed gratitude to the United States for “its firm support” and said their teams will arrange future communication.

The White House closed the meeting to independent journalists. Zelenskyy released photos showing him posing with Trump and that U.S. secretaries Rubio, Bessent and Hegseth attended the Oval Office meeting.

Iran’s government details damage from recent escalation

Iran says recent U.S. strikes destroyed an airport and a marine control tower, and caused damage to 12 bridges and two tunnels, among other infrastructure.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani provided the details Tuesday in an announcement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The U.S. military said it struck numerous military targets this month in response to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Arab countries hosting U.S. forces.

Both sides paused their attacks over the weekend, though tensions remain high.

Mohajerani said Bushehr International Airport, on the Persian Gulf, has been “rendered inoperable.” Both tunnels have been reopened and alternate routes have been established around the damaged bridges, she said.

She said other civilian infrastructure had also been destroyed, including a meteorological center and fishing boats. The U.S. says it targeted small boats used by Iranian forces to harass ships in the strait.

Former colleagues of Graham offer personal goodbyes as they walk up to his flag-draped casket

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., placed both hands on his casket and then placed her hand on her heart. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., saluted from her wheelchair. And Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., gave a fist bump.

Scores of former senators also traveled to the Capitol to pay their respects, including former Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who bowed and then briefly kissed the casket.

Others stood briefly before his casket and offered a short prayer and a sign of the cross.

Netanyahu now at White House for Trump meeting

The black SUV carrying the Israeli prime minister arrived on West Executive Avenue minutes after Zelenskyy departed after his own meeting with Trump.

Netanyahu stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle and buttoned his suit jacket before entering through a side entrance to the West Wing. The meeting is also closed to press coverage.

Israel’s UN envoy says `number one’ on Trump-Netanyahu agenda will be scaling down Iran war

Ambassador Danny Danon told U.N. reporters Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu definitely wants to hear from President Trump what he wants to see in the coming days or weeks.

“I cannot tell you which direction it will go. There are different options,” he said. “We are prepared for all scenarios, and we will discuss it with the president.”

Danon was responding to a question on whether Israel expects the two leaders to talk about specifics of scaling down or ending the war in Iran.

“Well, I’m sure that will be number one on the agenda in the meeting today between the prime minister and the president,” he replied.

Amid somewhat strained U.S.-Israeli relations, Danon stressed, “We fought shoulder-to-shoulder against Iran, and we are prepared to continue supporting the U.S. in pursuing peace and stability in the region.” He added that Gaza will also be on the Trump-Netanyahu agenda.

Thune hails Graham as a towering figure in the Senate and the international stage

“I traveled with Lindsey all over the world as part of the congressional delegations and I saw firsthand just how much he was respected by our allies and just how well he was able to connect with foreign leaders around the world,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.

Thune and others are honoring Graham at a tribute Tuesday in the Capitol Rotunda.

Thune and others also cited Graham’s sense of humor. He said that when lawmakers would gather for dinners in Washington, Graham was always the first call. He said no one was more capable of cracking up a room.

Choking up, he closed by telling Graham to “rest in peace my friend.”

“I look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again,” Thune said.

Americans’ confidence in US economy fell this month as Iran conflict sent gas prices back up

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June.

Consumers’ view of current business and labor market conditions fell by 3.6 points to 114.9, the third straight monthly decline.

Views about their near-term futures held steady from last month with a reading of 74.7.

Consumer attitudes had improved modestly in June as gas prices came down to around $3.70 a gallon from more than $4.50 a gallon in late April and early May. But as fighting in the Middle East escalated, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. started to rise again. On Tuesday it was $4.10, according to the auto club AAA.

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Trump and Zelenskyy are meeting

The White House says the meeting started at 9:47 a.m. It is “closed press,” meaning journalists at aren’t likely to see the leaders together in the Oval Office.

Graham’s casket arrives at the Capitol

The remains of the Republican senator have arrived at the U.S. Capitol, his flag-draped casket carried inside by an armed forces team, in recognition of his military service.

He’s being honored at a tribute in the Rotunda, the start of two days of services for the South Carolina senator.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to speak and several Cabinet officials, including former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, the Homeland Security secretary, were in attendance, as was acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who faces a rocky Senate confirmation for the job.

Iran says anyone tapping its frozen assets will be barred from the Strait of Hormuz

The threat came in response to President Trump’s post on social media last week, in which he threatened to use Iranian assets frozen abroad to pay for damage to ships from Iranian attacks in the strait.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, said Tuesday that any countries or companies that join in Trump’s “unlawful action” will be barred from using the strait. The critical waterway carried a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas before the war. His video message was carried by Iranian state TV.

Trump had said damage to ships would be “paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls.” It was unclear what legal mechanisms Trump would use to seize and spend the funds.

Zelenskyy arrives at White House to meet Trump

The Ukrainian leader’s car pulled up on West Executive Avenue, a private road within the White House complex. He stepped out of the passenger side of a black SUV and walked around the rear to enter the White House for the meeting.

Acting national intelligence chief announces more job cuts

Bill Pulte, the acting director of national intelligence, has sought to leave his mark during his interim status in the job.

With the Senate poised to confirm Jay Clayton for the role, Pulte released Tuesday on X a series of intelligence community documents from 2020 that described China’s capacity to interfere in the American political process as well as vulnerabilities in the election system.

The substance of the material was largely recycled and already known, but its disclosure is part of a broader Trump administration effort to raise concerns about the integrity of U.S. elections — most especially the 2020 presidential race he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Pulte has also presided over a downsizing of the national intelligence office, which functions as a coordinating hub for the U.S. government’s intelligence agencies.

He boasted on X that with a latest round of job cuts, the office is carrying out about a 30% staff reduction from weeks ago.

Trump urges Iran to make a deal so he won’t have to hurt the people

Trump has repeatedly retreated from threats to knock out bridges, power plants and other infrastructure but he told Fox News Channel in an interview that Iran knows he’ll “finish the job” if its leaders don’t make a deal to end the war.

He says millions of people would then struggle to get by.

Trump claimed he would need less than an hour to “take out” most of Iran’s bridges and said he could blow up their power plants “within one day” and then target desalinization plants.

“You know, if I can avoid doing that, I’d like to do that,” he said.

Trump says he doesn’t need Netanyahu’s advice on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain

The president says he’s not worried about construction activities at Iran’s potential nuclear site at Pickaxe Mountain, a complex Trump has threatened to bomb.

And Trump criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for publicly expressing concerns about the site ahead of the two leaders’ meeting Tuesday at the White House.

“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe,” Trump told “Fox & Friends,” adding that whatever Iran is doing is “not a big problem.”

On Netanyahu’s statements ahead of his visit to Washington, Trump said, “Why don’t you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce to the world.”

The bilateral huddle, on the same day that both men are attending the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral, is the first since Netanyahu and Trump launched their war in Iran five months ago.

Trump remembers Sen. Lindsey Graham both for his kindness and his hawkishness

Speaking fondly about his friend and ally, Trump said he admired Graham as a nice person who was quick to call for military action.

“He was a guy that liked war,” Trump said Tuesday in a Fox News interview. “I jokingly say, and there’s nothing funny about it, but he’s never seen a war that he didn’t like.”

Trump added that Graham was “very much a hawk on Iran” but had also told Trump it was time to make a deal to end the war. That sentiment did not extend to the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump said.

“Ukraine he’s very militant about,” Trump said. “Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you.”

Senate expected to confirm Jay Clayton as next intelligence director on Tuesday

It will ensure that a permanent director is in place as the midterm elections approach.

Clayton is expected to be confirmed along party lines after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Still, Democrats have said they have more confidence in Clayton than they do in Trump’s temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, who has no known intelligence experience and investigated the president’s perceived enemies in his previous post as a federal housing regulator.

Senators from both parties have expressed concerns about Pulte, who took over on an interim basis last month after Tulsi Gabbard resigned. Pulte was in charge when Trump delivered a speech from the White House earlier this month doubling down on his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents he said were relevant to his arguments.

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Security around the White House is tight due to Zelenskyy and Netanyahu visits

Only foot traffic is allowed on streets surrounding the complex. Vehicular traffic is blocked by city police cars and dump trucks at key intersections, like Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th St and near Lafayette Park.

Netanyahu is staying at Blair House, the U.S. government’s guest house across from the White House.

Zelenskyy has the first meeting with Trump, scheduled for 9:30 a.m., followed by Netanyahu at 11 a.m.

Zelenskyy will visit Trump at the White House before Sen. Graham’s funeral

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral, their second sit-down this month and after a far-right activist with the U.S. president’s ear had a widely publicized change of heart on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Trump is set to welcome Zelenskyy to the White House as the Ukrainian leader travels to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other exports.

Zelenskyy posted on X early Tuesday that he had arrived in the U.S. and listed the goals for his visit.

“Our schedule includes meetings with President Trump, his team, and those who can support our defense,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Our number one priority is anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with America. Peace needs to be brought closer.”

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Netanyahu’s first meeting with Trump since the Iran war began is a chance to smooth over strains

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday is the first since the two leaders launched a joint war against Iran and a chance for Netanyahu to smooth out strains in their relationship.

The meeting comes as both face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November.

The two leaders also plan to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting.

“We have a little difference,” Trump said Monday when asked by reporters if he and the Israeli prime minister were on the same page with Iran. “But pretty close, yeah.”

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The parties reached a tentative settlement in February as the case was headed to trial, but they were unable to finalize the agreement. The Steiners asked a federal judge in June to reopen the case, and a new settlement announced Tuesday resolves the litigation.

The agreement with David and Ina Steiner, founders of EcommerceBytes, a newsletter covering the e-commerce industry, includes an additional $7 million in charitable donations, including to organizations supporting First Amendment rights. Attorney Christopher Murphy said the resolution sends “a warning that attempts by big business to suppress speech and the press will not be tolerated.”

“This was not only an attack and campaign of harassment against two people; it was also an attack on free speech and freedom of the press," said Murphy, of Massachusetts-based Scalli Murphy Law.

The settlement contains no confidentiality provision, allowing the Steiners to discuss the case publicly. Murphy said his clients insisted on being able to speak openly about what happened to them.

The settlement resolves more than six years of criminal and civil proceedings stemming from the harassment campaign. In their 2021 lawsuit filed in Boston federal court, the Steiners said that the company engaged in a conspiracy to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence them” in order to “stifle their reporting on eBay.” The Natick residents, who report on the e-commerce industry in their newsletter, said they were subjected to cyberstalking, death threats and in-person surveillance by former eBay workers.

The settlement also requires eBay to issue a public statement addressing the conduct of former executives involved in the case.

When the lawsuit was filed, the company said “the misconduct of these former employees was wrong,” and that it would “do what is fair and appropriate to try to address what the Steiners went through.”

eBay reiterated its apology Tuesday, saying, “What the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.” The company also acknowledged “the unprofessional tone in internal communications” by former CEO Devin Wenig, former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer and former Senior Vice President Wendy Jones.

The company said the conduct “is not representative of eBay’s culture” and said it has since changed leadership and strengthened its policies, procedures and ethics training.

In 2020, federal prosecutors charged seven former eBay employees, alleging they carried out a coordinated harassment campaign against the couple after becoming angered by coverage in the couple’s online newsletter. Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and cyberstalking and were later sentenced to prison terms or home confinement.

In 2024, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities.

Federal prosecutors have said the harassment included anonymous deliveries of items like live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig face mask to the couple’s home. The employees also sent pornographic magazines with the husband’s name on them to a neighbor’s home and planned to break into the couple’s garage to install a GPS device on their car.

Under the settlement, the Steiners will receive $48.7 million in compensation, including $46.15 million from eBay, $2 million from former CEO Wenig, $500,000 from former executive Jones and $50,000 from former executive Wymer.

The company will fund $6 million in charitable contributions to various nonprofit organizations, with Wenig contributing an additional $1 million to a charity dedicated to protecting First Amendment rights in Ina Steiner's name.

In a statement, Murphy cited the recovery amount, personal payments by former executives, a commitment for $7 million to go to nonprofits and the absence of a confidentiality provision in a system where “wrongdoers too often hide their misdeeds by dangling compensation in front of those they victimized and trading that compensation for confidentiality or an NDA.”

Protecting journalists and publishers and deterring corporate misconduct were goals from the beginning, he said. "We believe this resolution sends a clear message that corporations and their executives cannot engage in this type of misconduct without facing significant consequences," Murphy said.

Now through Sept. 7, Baby Shark is making waves just in time for Shark Appreciation Week, July 27–Aug. 1.

Families can catch Baby Shark and Pinkfong live at Seaport Theater, where guests are invited to sing, dance and — yes — doo doo doo along with the global sensation. The interactive show is included with park admission, as are meet-and-greet opportunities with the characters.

Shark-themed bites are also on the menu, including Shark Fin PB&J Sandwiches, MacAttack Shark Bites, Baby Shark Cookie Dippin’ Dots and Shark-cuterie Boards. Guests 21 and older can also raise a glass with the limited-time Shark Margarita, available exclusively during Shark Appreciation Week.

Beyond the fun, SeaWorld’s animal care experts will host daily Aquarist Talks at Shark Shallows throughout the week, offering guests a closer look at why sharks are essential to healthy ocean ecosystems.

The park is also marking a milestone — the 10th anniversary of Mako, Orlando’s tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster.

Pass members can purchase a limited-edition Guy Harvey commemorative card for $5, with 100% of net proceeds, before taxes, benefiting the Guy Harvey Foundation’s shark conservation efforts.

Tickets to SeaWorld Orlando start at $59.99. For more information, click here.

SeaWorld Orlando’s Shark Encounter sheds light on the ocean’s top predator

Shark appreciation goes beyond the screen for Shark Week — and at SeaWorld Orlando’s Shark Encounter, the staff sees daily how sharks help the ocean.

Sharks are apex predators, meaning they keep fish populations balanced and ocean ecosystems healthy.

“They’re one of the ocean’s cleanup crews. Without sharks, there’d be dead fish washing up on the beaches constantly,” said Brett Kieslich, Shark Encounter Aquarium Supervisor. “There’d be diseased fish that would be passing on those diseases and parasites to other animals, causing even more and more death. Yeah, they basically keep the oceans healthy by making specific populations stronger."

Despite their fearsome reputation, shark bites are exceedingly rare. In fact, a person is far more likely to be struck by lightning than bitten by a shark. 

Police responded to the shooting at around 10:22 a.m. A male was taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound.

All suspects are in custody, and there is no threat to the public, according to Apopka police.

The investigation is still going on right now, and police said they are not releasing the names of the people involved right now. Stay with News 6 for updates.

The Los Angeles Chargers quarterback and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Madison Beer jointly announced their engagement in an Instagram post Tuesday. It was accompanied by a photo of Herbert on bended knee holding a ring box in front of a smiling Beer, who was crouched with her right hand on his left knee. The caption read, “Meet my fiancé."

The congratulatory responses included ones from the NFL and the Chargers, as well as singer Gracie Abrams.

The couple was first spotted together last August. Beer attended some Chargers games last season, and she and Herbert kissed on the sidelines at one game. They've also turned up at Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers games.

Herbert appeared in Beer's “lovergirl” video this spring.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has been supportive of his quarterback's relationship. When Herbert missed part of voluntary offseason workouts to travel with Beer on her tour, Harbaugh said, “Do you need a ride to the airport?”

The 28-year-old quarterback opens training camp on Wednesday in the start of his seventh season with the Chargers. The team has yet to win a playoff game during his tenure.

Beer, 27, first gained widespread notice when Justin Bieber shared a video link of her singing “At Last” to his social media followers in 2012. The following year she released her debut single and video, which featured an appearance by Bieber. She was nominated for Grammys in 2024 and 2025, when she left the show after walking the red carpet, later explaining that she has “really bad social anxiety.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a May ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols that said an injunction against the order was premature. Nichols ruled that the Democrats and voting rights groups who challenged the order couldn't seek the injunction until the Trump administration issued formal regulations governing it. The administration started releasing those directives days later.

The circuit court panel, with two judges appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama and one by Trump, found that was proper and there were no noted dissents. But the unsigned decision noted that if the administration truly tried to force such changes in the few months remaining before November's midterm election, it may well get halted by courts.

"The action the Order contemplates would involve the President, whom the Constitution vests with no express authority over the conduct of elections, undertaking a substantial and unfunded overhaul of election procedures — including the implementation of a nationwide reform to Postal Service mail-handling processes —on the threshold of the November election. Put differently, the Order 'may not prove feasible to implement in any manner whatsoever,'" said the ruling, quoting a prior legal opinion.

In a separate case filed by Democratic state officials, a federal judge in Massachusetts last month blocked the executive order from taking effect for this year’s elections because it was already forcing states, which are granted the power under the U.S. Constitution to control their own elections, to revise their procedures on the fly. That ruling was upheld on Saturday by a Boston-based appeals court and then was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday by the Trump administration.

The Postal Service did not immediately respond to questions about what action it's taking related to Trump's executive order. But the union representing postal workers, which opposes having its members implement the order, said Tuesday that its members are being directed to prepare an online portal through which voters will have to submit information to be eligible for mail ballots.

“The IT people in the background are moving forward with creating the portals to make sure that we can accomplish the task if given to us,” American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith said in a telephone interview.

Trump has repeatedly tried to unilaterally change voting procedures since he took office for the second time, only to be blocked by the courts. The push follows years of lies about vote fraud to try to explain away the president's loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

In his March executive order, Trump directed the federal government to create a list of eligible voters and the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to those on that list. Lawsuits noted that the Constitution grants states control of their elections, not the president, and that Congress can pass laws changing procedures for federal elections but has not done so.

Trump signed another executive order on elections last year, just months after taking office, that would impose a nationwide voter ID requirement and force anyone registering to vote to provide documents proving they are U.S. citizens. Trump also is pushing Congress to pass a sweeping voting bill that would impose the documentary proof of citizenship requirement, but it has stalled in the Senate as it faces opposition from Democrats and some lawmakers from his own party.

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Associated Press writer John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

The race between Cognetti, the mayor of Scranton, and Bresnahan is considered one of the Democratic Party's best opportunities to pick up a seat in the November election in its bid to take control of the U.S. House and block President Donald Trump's agenda.

Cognetti is airing the ad in a district that's been buffeted by AI data center projects and as the opposition to data centers that has upended races for local offices across the country is spreading to top-of-the-ticket contests.

Speaking to the camera, Cognetti invokes the region's industrial heritage as a coal and shale gas powerhouse, saying, “Big companies have come before, taken what they wanted and left us with their mess to clean up. Now it’s data centers.”

She then criticizes the secrecy that developers often use to veil details of projects from the public, the tax breaks developers often get from states and the rising electric bills that have hit the mid-Atlantic region to satisfy the growing energy demand of data centers, which house rows of computers for storing, processing and transmitting data.

“Big Tech needs to pay their own way. Not hide behind NDAs. No tax breaks. Don’t raise our electric bills, don’t poison our water. And hire local, union labor," Cognetti says.

If not, “then get out,” she says. “This is our home. We are not for sale.”

Trump has made data centers a top priority to help the U.S. compete against China for AI superiority.

However, communities across the U.S. have fought many of the projects, including in northeastern Pennsylvania, where complexes of data centers and new high-voltage transmission lines are planned. Fights between communities and developers have landed in court.

The 30-second ad will run on broadcast TV channels, cable and digital platforms, Cognetti's campaign said. It is costing about $200,000 for the initial run of two weeks.

Bresnahan has introduced legislation called the Local Control Protection Act, which he says would put limits on a corporation's right to sue over local zoning decisions denying an application to build a data center.

“We should never let billion-dollar corporations supersede the voices of those who live in the community,” Bresnahan said in a statement accompanying the bill's introduction in June.

The bill has yet to move out of committee or gain a cosponsor.

Republicans have made protecting Bresnahan a high priority. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance visited the district last year.

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This story has been corrected to show Cognetti said “we are,” not “we're.”

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Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.

Fresh flames erupted later Tuesday near Grand Crohot, a popular Atlantic beach on the Lège-Cap-Ferret peninsula, local authorities said. A fleet of 23 planes and helicopters — up from 18 — dropped water and fire retardant as crews fought to keep the renewed flames from spreading.

“The situation remains complicated. That’s clear. We’re not out of the woods,” Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said.

She said that about 60,000 residents who were evacuated as a precaution from Le Haillan and parts of Mérignac and Eysines outside Bordeaux’s ring road could return on Tuesday. No fires had broken out in the three areas, but residents were told to keep their mobile phones on and emergency bags packed.

The opposing movements — thousands ordered out of coastal resorts while those returning told to be on the alert — underscored how precarious the fire’s hold remained.

Across France and Spain, roughly 330,000 people have been driven from homes and vacation sites by huge wildfires. Spain braced for its fourth heat wave of the summer, with several blazes still burning out of control, including the largest in its recorded history.

Even so, Spanish authorities began lifting evacuation and stay-at-home orders for thousands of people after firefighters made progress overnight.

The Gironde fire has burned an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to evacuate. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has said it is “very likely” the largest civilian evacuation operation carried out in the country outside war.

Evacuations don't deter some vacationers

The precautionary evacuation order covered campsites, holiday villages, tourist residences and leisure parks around the resort of Lacanau, Gironde regional authorities said.

“We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told the BFMTV broadcast network Tuesday. “We will continue attacking this fire despite the forecast rise in temperatures.”

Even as nearby homes burned and authorities urged tourists to stay away, one family told Le Parisien newspaper it had gone ahead with its trip rather than forfeit a 4,000-euro ($4,558) holiday, while another group debated abandoning a vacation that had cost 650 euros ($741) each.

A fire making its own weather

At its most violent, the Gironde blaze created a gargantuan black thundercloud, electrified and lit from within. It generated lightning, violent winds and new fires beyond the original front. The phenomenon, known as a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, was the first recorded in France.

France’s national weather service placed Gironde under a yellow heat warning beginning at midday Tuesday, forecasting inland temperatures of 33 to 35 C (91 to 95 F).

More than 1,160 square kilometers (448 square miles) have burned across France this year, according to the Interior Ministry.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, with extreme heat and widespread dryness contributing to the spread and intensification of fires in France and Spain, Copernicus said.

Crews defend homes and cut firebreaks

In Le Porge alone, west of Bordeaux, the municipal government said about 150 homes were destroyed.

Officials warned that smoldering vegetation, rising temperatures and falling humidity could produce fresh outbreaks along the fire's vast perimeter.

Military engineers and forest-fire prevention crews resumed cutting firebreaks early Tuesday. Authorities said crews had completed 103 kilometers (64 miles) of firebreaks.

At least 110 firefighters have been injured, the prefecture said.

Thousands return as second fire stops advancing

In Landes, about 15,000 evacuees — roughly half of those displaced here — were allowed home after a separate wildfire stopped advancing.

“The fire is fixed, which is good news in the Landes,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday evening. Regional authorities said that meant its advance had stopped and no new outbreaks had been reported.

Those allowed back included residents of Sanguinet, Parentis-en-Born, Biscarrosse’s aviation village and a large campground. Several other neighborhoods remained inaccessible.

Authorities warned that the Landes fire was not extinguished. Residual hot spots, wind and drought could cause flare-ups, and surveillance and damping-down operations were expected to continue for days or weeks.

Thousands begin returning in Spain

Spanish firefighters made progress Tuesday, and authorities began lifting evacuation orders for at least 20,000 of the 79,000 people forced to flee over the weekend.

Francisco Martín, the central government’s representative in the Madrid region, said orders would be lifted in 10 towns, allowing about 20,000 evacuees to return home and ending stay-at-home orders for another 14,000 people.

Residents of some villages in Ávila were also being allowed home, though authorities did not specify how many. Another 6,000 people could return after a smaller fire near Toledo was brought under control, while several thousand more went home in Castellón.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by military emergency brigades and water-dropping aircraft continued battling several major wildfires.

Smoke from the fires reached Madrid in recent days. Emergency services said residents in central and eastern districts could smell smoke and ash.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said Tuesday that nonstop work through the night left him “reasonably positive,” though officials warned that crews had only a brief window before extreme heat returned.

Spain’s national weather service said the country was bracing for its fourth heat wave of the summer, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 C (104 F) in some areas.

The government declared a national emergency over the fires.

At least 13 people have died in wildfires in Spain this year, making 2026 one of the country’s deadliest fire seasons in decades.

“I’ve been living in San Martín de Valdeiglesias for 20 years and I never thought I would see this,” said Estella Costales, an evacuated resident staying at a temporary shelter in Brunete, near Madrid. “It’s unfortunate, but I never thought I would see such destruction.”

Surroundings of Madrid remain at risk

The greatest concern was two large fires that had at times come close to merging into a single blaze in wooded hills about an hour’s drive west of Madrid.

A fire in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching more than 500 square kilometers (193 square miles), the government said.

Local weather services in Ávila also shared images Tuesday of what they described as a pyrocumulonimbus cloud over the blaze. Spain has seen these fire-generated thunderstorms form at least twice during wildfires in recent years.

“Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people,” said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to deliver supplies to firefighters in Ávila.

“We are feeling a lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

Fires have burned 1,530 square kilometers (590 square miles) this year in Spain, Ecology Minister Sara Aagesen said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for a national pact to fight wildfires, saying climate change is making them worse.

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Adamson reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Iain Sullivan in Brunete, Spain, also contributed to this report.

The Eagles and Carter announced that they agreed to terms on a four-year extension through the 2031 season. The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because financial terms hadn’t been announced, said the contract includes $106 million guaranteed.

The Eagles already had picked up the fifth-year option for the 2027 season for Carter, the ninth selection in the 2023 draft. His extension is one less distraction for the Eagles as they open training camp this week.

Carter was runner-up for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2023 to Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson. He has 13 1/2 sacks in 43 career games — he missed three games last season with injuries — and was a key contributor when the Eagles won the Super Bowl for the 2024 season.

The 25-year-old Carter won two national championships in college at Georgia, where he was involved in a crash that killed a teammate and a recruiting staffer. He was given probation and a fine.

He also was fined the equivalent of his game check for Week 1 for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in 2025. He was tossed for unsportsmanlike conduct six seconds into that game.

Carter earned Pro Bowl selections for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

The Eagles have now re-signed two of their top young defensive tackles this offseason.

They agreed in March on a three-year extension with Jordan Davis for $65 million guaranteed.

Davis, a first-round pick in 2022, has been an integral part of Philadelphia’s defensive line and helped the Eagles dominate the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 to cap the 2024 season. A run-stuffer in the interior of the defensive line, Davis had a career-high 4 1/2 sacks last season with nine tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.

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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Uganda has maintained since the outset that its cases were linked to the larger outbreak in eastern Congo’s remote province of Ituri, which borders Uganda. The first cases in Uganda were Congolese who crossed the border to seek treatment for an unknown illness before it was known they had Ebola, health authorities have said.

After what health officials believe was weeks of transmission, Congo announced its outbreak on May 15, the same day that Uganda confirmed two Ebola cases — including a man who had already died.

While a total of 20 cases were reported in Uganda, health authorities say there is currently no indication of further spread within the country.

The last patient was released June 16, and Ugandan authorities have waited the World Health Organization-recommended 42 days – or two incubation cycles for Ebola – to declare the country free of the disease.

"Uganda’s 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event,” unlike previous outbreaks in the country, the Ugandan Health Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

It was now possible to declare Uganda free of Ebola after “all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission," the statement said. “Enhanced surveillance has detected no unexplained community transmission."

The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment. The region’s outbreak has been declared a global health emergency.

Ugandan health authorities have experience in acting quickly to address Ebola outbreaks. After the confirmation of Ebola cases in Uganda in May, the president urged Ugandans to “ stop shaking hands,” and ordered the postponement of an annual religious event that attracts thousands of pilgrims — from Congo and elsewhere — who converge around a Catholic shrine just outside the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in June.

Other measures included the suspension of all public transportation and flights between Uganda and Congo, where the outbreak remains worrisome.

Confirmed cases in Congo have reached 3,262, its Health Ministry said in an overnight update. Data by Congolese health authorities showed that 1,437 patients have died, in what officials have said is the fastest Ebola outbreak on record.

The Ebola case number in Congo is likely to top the previous highest toll in the country in the next few days. That outbreak lasted two years, while this one is only 10 weeks in.

Only the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa, considered the worst in history, has a higher toll, with 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

The speed of transmission in the current outbreak comes amid concerns from residents that many communities in the affected provinces are either unreachable or have been abandoned by responders in recent days over safety concerns amid attacks from angry residents and rebels.

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever.

A family of fruit bats is believed to be the natural hosts of the viruses that cause Ebola, according to the World Health Organization. Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of

Saar's death was confirmed Monday by relatives. She would have turned 100 this week.

A central figure of the 1960s Black Art Movement, Saar pioneered assemblage boxes, or sculptures made of found objects, and reclaimed Jim Crow-era memorabilia as powerful totems of Black liberation.

“Her symbolically rich body of work has evolved over time to demonstrate the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic, and historical context in which it exists,” according to Roberts Projects, the Los Angeles gallery that represents her.

Saar began her career in design and shifted to art at age 35. She continued to make art into her 90s. She grew up in Pasadena and was part of a community of Black artists in nearby Altadena; she often cited Simon Rodia's Watts Towers as an early source of inspiration.

Saar’s practice incorporated painting, printmaking, sculpture and found objects including dolls, washboards and other antiques. Boats, clocks, cages and altars recur in her practice, as well as symbols of the occult and cosmology. She often referenced her astrological sign of Leo in the form of lions, punctuating many works.

“Her appropriation of Black collectibles, heirlooms, and utilitarian objects are transformed through subversion,” the gallery said. “Among the older generation of Black American artists, Saar is without reproach.”

Made in 1969, “Black Girl’s Window,” was groundbreaking. Still, it wasn't widely celebrated until decades later, and it was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2019. “There weren’t that many galleries in Los Angeles at the time and there certainly weren’t any for Black artists,” she once said in an interview.

“The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” created in 1972, is one of her most important works. It features memorabilia she collected that denigrated Black people, included a “mammy,” or 19th century minstrel character who smiled while serving white slave owners.

In Saar's hands though, the figure is reclaimed: She smiles, but holds a rifle and has a hand grenade.

It came in response to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. Saar said King's death “triggered a rage within me, and the mystic transformed into the warrior.”

“I had a lot of hesitation about using powerful, negative images such as these — thinking about how white people saw Black people, and how that influenced the ways in which Black people saw each other,” Saar said. “What saved it was that I made Aunt Jemima into a revolutionary figure.”

After more than 130 years, Quaker Oats announced it would retire its Aunt Jemima brand in 2020, acknowledging the logo and its origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”

Saar taught and mentored generations of Black artists, including painter Kerry James Marshall.

Though Saar’s work was exhibited in a 1975 solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in the decades that followed large institutions have exhibited her work only sporadically. In 2019 though, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and MoMA mounted concurrent solo shows.

In spring 2026, Saar was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

“She had boundless energy for making art. I think she had a lot to say and was tired of the art world being dominated by white males,” said Angela Robinson Witherspoon, who produced and directed a documentary in 2023 on Saar's life. “Betye Saar: Ready to Be A Warrior” features interviews with John Legend, Tina Knowles and other prominent voices.

“She was raising her three young daughters and she wanted to be part of the Civil Rights Movement,” Robinson Witherspoon said.

“Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar,” which focuses on costume design, is currently on view at Robert Projects in Los Angeles, and there are 26 of an eventual 100 dolls on view at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan.

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This story was first published on July 27, 2026. It was updated on July 28, 2026, to correct the name of a company. It’s Quaker Oats, not Quaker Oat. Also, there are 26 of an eventual 100 dolls on view at the New-York Historical in Manhattan, not more than 100.

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Associated Press writer Anna Furman contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

Under state law, all election equipment must be publicly tested before voters head to the polls. The process, known as Logic and Accuracy Testing, is designed to verify that voting machines are tabulating votes correctly.

The Osceola County Supervisor of Elections office conducted its Logic and Accuracy Testing Tuesday and community members were welcome to observe.

“The public is invited to watch; we randomly select 10 machines out of almost 80 that we will be using in early voting and on Election Day,” Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington explained.

[WATCH: ‘layers of security’ protect Central Florida elections from interference, supervisors insist]

During the testing, staff runs sample ballots through each machine to test its accuracy.

“We have what we call a ‘deck of ballots’ that have been pre-marked, so we know the outcome. We run them through the machine, and these are the machines that will be used at polling locations or early voting sites. Then at the end, we make sure that count is right. If by chance it is not right, then that machine would be pulled and not used on Election Day,” Arrington said.

The public can observe how ballots are tabulated and how staff confirms the equipment is functioning properly.

Robert Cherny, a representative of the Osceola County Democratic Party, was among those who attended the testing. It was his second time observing the process.

“The good news is that if everything goes according to plan, it is really dull,” Cherny said.

He says that’s actually a good thing, and encourages others to see it for themselves.

“I think that more people should come out and witness these meetings. I think it helps inspire faith in the system,” Cherny said. “I strongly recommend that people that have any doubts about the system take the time, come out to the canvassing board meetings and watch them.”

Logic and Accuracy Testing is conducted before every election in Florida. Beyond equipment testing, Florida’s election rules include several additional safeguards.

The state requires paper ballots, photo identification, signature verification and regular maintenance of voter rolls.

[WATCH: Election security, voter fraud & vote by mail: Central Florida supervisors answer tough questions]

The planned injections come 18 months after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis began stepping up executions at a rate unseen in modern times in Florida. DeSantis hasn’t said why he scheduled two executions six hours apart, and Florida prison officials haven’t said whether the timing creates any logistical challenges for staff.

James Aren Duckett, 68, was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, with a time of death of 1:19 p.m. Officials say he had no last words.

Later in the day, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone is expected to be executed. He also would become the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history.

Duckett was convicted of raping and drowning an 11-year-old girl while working as a police officer in a small central Florida city in 1987, and Occhicone was convicted of the 1986 killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents.

Duckett and Occhicone would become Florida’s 11th and 12th inmates to be executed this year if their sentences are carried out.

The Florida Supreme Court denied appeals for both men last week. Duckett’s attorneys had asked for another stay, claiming that Duckett is innocent and that the state’s handling of the DNA evidence is the reason for the inconclusive results. Occhicone’s attorneys argued that several age-related ailments, including kidney and prostate problems, could make his execution especially painful, constituting cruel and unusual punishment.

Both men still had appeals pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Record numbers for governor’s final two years

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025, more in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. The previous high was eight executions set in 2014.

If Tuesday’s executions proceed, that would bring the total for DeSantis’ final two years in office up to 31 overall, compared to just nine executions during the first six years of his administration. With another execution already set for August, 2026 could also be a record-breaking year.

DeSantis initially signed a death warrant for Duckett in February, setting a March 31 execution date. But the Florida Supreme Court issued a stay just days ahead of that date to allow for DNA testing of old evidence that couldn’t be performed at the time of the original trial because of technological limitations. The results came back inconclusive, meaning they did not exonerate Duckett or definitively connect him to the crime. Judges have allowed the jury verdict to stand.

When Occhicone’s death warrant was signed late last month, his was the only execution scheduled for Tuesday. But after the Florida Supreme Court removed Duckett’s stay on July 8, DeSantis signed a new death warrant soon after and added Duckett to Occhicone’s execution date, which hadn’t been done in Florida in more than 60 years. Florida Department of Corrections records show multiple executions on a single day were more common in the past, with the last being on May 12, 1964.

Nationwide, it’s not uncommon for two different states to hold executions on the same date, but it’s less common for a single state to perform two. Before Florida, the most recent U.S. state to execute two inmates on the same day was Arkansas in April 2017. And Texas executed two convicted killers on the same day in 2000, the year it put to death 40 prisoners.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has urged DeSantis to halt both executions.

“July 28 represents an unprecedented escalation of Florida’s use of the death penalty,” the group’s executive director, Grace Hanna, said in a statement. “These are two profoundly different cases, but they point to the same troubling reality: Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want.”

Decades on death row

The governor’s office has rarely commented on executions over the past 18 months. DeSantis has previously said his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.

“Some of these crimes were committed in the ’80s,” the governor said at a November 2025 news conference. “Justice delayed is justice denied. I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly. If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger.”

Occhicone would become Florida’s oldest inmate to be executed, just weeks after two 74-year-old men briefly held that spot, the second man just a week older than the first at his time of death. Recent executions have highlighted the nation’s aging death-row population and renewed questions about the humanity of administering capital punishment to inmates who might die soon from natural causes.

Occhicone also would become the second-oldest prisoner known to be executed in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. in Alabama in 2018. Moody was condemned for a wave of mail bombs in 1989 that killed a federal judge and wounded a Black civil rights attorney.

Florida executions are all by injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Solly Fulp, ​Learfield’s head of NIL, doesn’t think the rapid surge is a coincidence.

“What we’re discovering with female student-athletes and their engagement with our brands is they’re excellent content creators and storytellers, they’re generally social media savvy and they have a genuine brand enthusiasm,” Fulp said.

Since the NCAA approved NIL compensation in July 2021, high revenue-generating sports like football and basketball have topped the list of earners. Five years later, women’s sports are beginning to close the gap, with women’s basketball ranking third in all sports and softball creeping into the top five behind baseball.

“It’s not just an emerging market now — it’s accelerating," Fulp said. “It's awesome for us to see when it comes to not just the focus being on football, men’s basketball and the revenue sports, but seeing the Olympic sports really step front and center.”

Female athlete engagement in NIL activities more than doubled in 2026, growing from 2,136 to 4,772.

Brands most frequently partnered with athletes through production shoots, social media content, ambassador programs, public appearances and autograph sessions. Restaurants led all sponsor categories, followed by financial services, health care and business and professional services.

Twenty-two national brands struck deals with college athletes over the fiscal year, including Geico, SeatGeek, State Farm, EA Sports, Uber, AT&T and Marriott. More than 260 athletes across 69 schools were featured in national campaigns.

Fulp said the return on investment is high for all parties when athletes pursue deals catered to their specific passions and interests.

“The authenticity is coming out in the content and storytelling that they provide in these campaigns ... it humanizes the partnership and provides that deeper connection," Fulp said. "The brands are definitely seeing the benefits with the engagement rates related to those campaigns.”

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Monday's decision is the latest setback for states trying to outlaw or regulate fast-growing prediction market platforms.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez in Minnesota found that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Kalshi and Polymarket were likely to succeed in their challenge to the law and that letting it take effect would cause “irreparable harm” to the operators.

The law was scheduled to take effect Saturday. It would have made it a crime to create or operate prediction markets or help administer nearly any activity connected to one. The law will remain blocked while the lawsuit proceeds.

Kalshi, Polymarket and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission want the law permanently blocked and argue that federal law gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the type of "event-contract transactions" offered by Kalshi and Polymarket.

States argue that the vast majority of the business on prediction market platforms is sports betting, which they are empowered to regulate, and that is completely different from the commodities and futures contracts that the commission has historically regulated.

In a statement Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said prediction markets are “gambling, plain and simple.”

"And Minnesota has every right to keep predatory gambling out of our communities,” Ellison said.

Ellison said his office disagrees with the court’s decision that the “proper ‘status quo’ to maintain is one that allows predatory gambling apps to proliferate.” But Ellison said the legal issues are complex and that he planned to continue defending the state’s law.

Neal Kumar, Polymarket's chief legal officer, said in a statement that the decision makes clear that prediction markets on commission-registered exchanges “are governed by federal law, not a patchwork of state rules.”

A Kalshi spokesperson, Elisabeth Diana, said in a statement that “states cannot ban things that they don’t have jurisdiction over.”

Menendez's decision follows a declaration in February by Trump's appointee atop the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the agency “will no longer sit idly by” while states aim to regulate or ban prediction markets and “undermine the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction.”

A tangle of lawsuits is growing, as states try to use their gambling laws to shut down Kalshi, Polymarket and other prediction market operators, declaring them to be unlicensed and illegal gambling operators.

In April alone, the federal government sued Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, challenging their efforts to regulate prediction market operators, while New York sued Coinbase and Gemini, two of the newest players in the prediction market industry.

The American Gaming Association, which represents commercial casinos, estimates states have lost more than $1.2 billion in tax revenue from wagers since prediction markets began offering sports event contracts.

Native American tribal leaders and gambling regulators also contend that betting on things like sporting events, elections and other outcomes is unlawful gambling.

In the meantime, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has begun a rulemaking process to consider what sorts of event contracts it would consider to be “contrary to the public interest” and bar them from being listed through a prediction market that it regulates.

___

Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.

The protests were some of the largest ever held against the Islamic Republic, which responded with a brutal crackdown in which thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands arrested. The protests had been largely stamped out when the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.

Rights groups said the execution of Abdolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amir Hossein Safari Hosseinabadi was carried out at dawn in Alikhani Square in the central city of Isfahan, the place where the police were killed.

They were among 14 people accused of killing the police, all of them sentenced to death. Two were executed earlier this month.

Public executions are not uncommon in Iran, and are often reserved for political prisoners. They are largely carried out by hanging in a public square, where cranes mounted on trucks serve as gallows.

A wave of executions since January

At least five protesters, including the two on Tuesday, have been hanged in public since March, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, which monitors human rights in Iran. The group says it has documented 29 public executions in the past five years.

Amnesty International called Tuesday's executions “a further escalation in the authorities' use of the death penalty to crush dissent.” It said at least 60 others, including three arrested as children, remain at risk of execution.

“The Iranian authorities are unleashing a horrifying wave of executions and death sentences to punish and suppress dissent and project an image of strength and absolute control,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's regional director. “The muted response from the international community emboldens the Iranian authorities to continue their deadly rampage.”

Amnesty said at least 26 people were arbitrarily executed after being convicted of offenses related to the January protests, following what it said were “torture-tainted, grossly unfair trials” by revolutionary courts. Another 26 people have been executed this year on politically motivated charges, including espionage and membership in opposition groups, it said.

The deadliest crackdown since 1979

The protests were triggered by Iran's deepening economic crisis and quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was later killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes.

The crackdown was the deadliest carried out by the Islamic Republic in its 47-year history.

HRANA, which relies on a network of contacts inside Iran, says more than 7,000 people were killed and that it is investigating thousands more cases. It said over 50,000 were arrested in just over six weeks. The government has acknowledged more than 3,000 people were killed.

At the height of the protests, Iranian authorities signaled that fast trials and executions lay ahead.

Families of prisoners express concern

HRANA said the bodies of the two men executed Tuesday have not yet been returned to their families. The families of others accused in the case have gathered outside a prison in Isfahan, expressing concern for their loved ones, HRANA said.

A website affiliated with Iran’s judiciary said the two men had also set a police station on fire and damaged public buildings.

Rights groups say political prisoners in Iran are tried in secretive courts without due process, with verdicts often based on forced confessions extracted through torture.

The violence erupted when armed, masked protesters at a sit-in opened fire on police and security personnel deployed to secure polling, the regional government and police said. There were unconfirmed reports that several protesters were killed or wounded, but officials did not immediately confirm any civilian casualties.

Voting in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both countries, began Monday and is being held in phases through Aug. 10.

The now weeks-old protest encampment has overshadowed the election, with residents reporting low voter turnout in Monday’s first phase, when polling was held for several assembly seats in the city of Mirpur.

At a news conference in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, government spokesman Mohammad Rashid Hanif alleged that the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC, sought to derail the elections. He said a “significant number” of Fitna al-Khawarij, the term Islamabad uses for members of the Pakistani Taliban, were also among the protesters.

Later on Tuesday at a news conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said the ongoing sit-in was no longer a peaceful protest, alleging that armed militants had joined the demonstrators and posed a threat to public order. They said authorities would soon take action to restore order and ensure conditions for a free, fair and peaceful vote.

The ministers urged residents to stay away from the protest, alleging that some demonstrators were armed with sophisticated weapons and were using them against security forces. They said security forces were responding in self-defense while exercising maximum restraint.

The regional government banned the JAAC recently, citing concerns over public order and security, and arrested dozens of its followers. The group, formed in 2023, demands greater political rights for the people of Kashmir and the abolition of refugee seats in the assembly on the grounds that the refugees have disproportionate influence. It is notorious for violent protests. The dispute escalated in early June after the region’s Supreme Court ruled the refugee seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment.

Hanif, the government spokesman, urged residents to distance themselves from the protesters, alleging that armed militants had infiltrated the demonstrations and were using civilians as shields. He said authorities would continue operations to disperse the protest camps and restore law and order.

Hanif showed what he said was video footage of masked gunmen firing from the roof of a building.

Sitting alongside Hanif, regional deputy Police Chief Irfan Masood Kashfi said armed men involved in the unrest were carrying weapons including Kalashnikov assault rifles and that authorities had received intelligence that snipers were also being used. He said one paramilitary officer was killed and five other security personnel, including a police officer, were wounded. He said security forces exercised restraint and responded only in self-defense.

Kashfi also said authorities arrested an armed suspect in Rawalakot and seized what he described as an assault rifle, alleging the suspect had recently arrived from abroad and received sniper training.

Officials also played video recordings of two detained men who appeared to confess to taking part in the violence. One said he had been paid and instructed to attack troops and police, while the other claimed to belong to an armed faction linked to the JAAC and described firing on security forces with an M-16 rifle.

The group did not immediately respond to the latest allegations.

Beshear made the demand in a letter after McConnell’s office said Monday that the 84-year-old senator had not yet been medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility where he has been undergoing physical therapy. The office said he would miss a major Kentucky political event and upcoming Senate votes. McConnell was hospitalized June 14 and disclosed weeks later that it was the result of a fall.

Beshear, who is widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, first urged McConnell in early July to release more information about his condition after weeks of public silence. His letter Tuesday marked a significant escalation.

“I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote to McConnell.

Beshear also sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, urging him to investigate McConnell’s condition if the senator does not demonstrate that he is capable of continuing to serve.

McConnell and Thune’s offices did not provide comment on the letter.

McConnell, who led Senate Republicans for nearly two decades, has long guarded his personal life. Since he was hospitalized last month, his office has issued major updates on July 12 and July 27, each accompanied by a single photograph.

But public scrutiny of aging elected officials has intensified after several recent health episodes and deaths in office, including the deaths of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2023 and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham earlier this month, as well as President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection after concerns about his age and health became a dominant political issue.

In the absence of regular public updates from McConnell himself, speculation about his condition has grown online.

“All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency,” Beshear wrote to Thune.

___

Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report from Washington.

“It is not FIFA’s to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “None of us are the owners of football.”

Infantino's plans to form a commercial subsidiary, which would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), running competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup was first reported by The Times of London.

FIFA said in a statement FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs "based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.”

FIFA is working with J.P. Morgan while intended investors include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The men’s World Cup that finished this month only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino, and fueled concerns about those ties including from UEFA.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA said Tuesday, responding to the reports of selling stakes in FIFA competitions.

FIFA is currently a Swiss-based not-for-profit association of its 211 national member federations worldwide.

Those members must approve any plan and would get the chance “to access up to $20 million in one-off capital,” FIFA said.

“This is about the democratization of football worldwide,” Infantino said in a FIFA statement, which added that “a consultation process has begun.”

UEFA, however, said it took reports of the project “extremely seriously. So should every national Football Association.”

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” said UEFA, which comprises 55 of the FIFA members.

FIFA's $20M offer to member federations

The outline of Tuesday’s surprise announcement was, FIFA said, detailed by Infantino to members who met in Manhattan on July 18 ahead of the World Cup final. There, Infantino promised to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has.”

FIFA’s statement Tuesday about its proposed project led on how much money each of its 211 members could get through 2038 in the “FIFA Fast-Forward Program.”

Instead of the currently promised $8 million each in development funds through the 2027-30 World Cup commercial cycle, it would be $20 million, then $22 million and $24 million in the following cycles.

FIFA banked record World Cup income of about $12 billion from the 2026 tournament which had unprecedented high prices for tickets and hospitality across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It already was unclear how that money could be matched from Spain, Portugal and Morocco co-hosting the 2030 men’s edition.

Member federations could choose if they wanted to take part in the new financial opportunities, FIFA said.

“FIFA would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions,” the soccer body said.

FIFA’s integrity standards were called into question during the World Cup, including by team coaches, Norway's soccer federation and a top European public body, the Council of Europe.

FIFA's previous attempt to privatize assets

The project announced Tuesday is the second time in Infantino’s increasingly controversial 11-year presidency he has tried to push through a multi-billion dollar deal with private backers.

In 2018, Infantino proposed a secretive $25 billion offer over 12 years with SoftBank of Japan to create new global competitions, including an expanded men’s Club World Cup, seemingly backed by Saudi Arabian money.

That ultimately failed after meeting fierce resistance from UEFA, which saw threats to its prize assets: the Champions League and the European Championship.

Infantino still built closer ties to Saudi soccer and the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup and largely funded the revamped men’s Club World Cup hosted in the U.S. last year.

Infantino’s future?

The financial success of the just-ended World Cup has looked likely to ensure Infantino is re-elected next year unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.

At his re-election by acclaim in 2023 in Rwanda, Infantino suggested any CEO delivering similar financial results would be kept in the job forever.

Speculation has swirled for years Infantino might want a different global role in soccer beyond his FIFA presidency, which is due to end when he is 61.

The Times reported Tuesday that a CEO-like commissioner role of the new FFE operation could be created for Infantino.

“This has never been discussed,” FIFA said in a statement Tuesday. “However, the FIFA president and the FIFA administration will and must have leading roles in this entity — if approved.”

There was no timetable suggested Tuesday for debate and decisions by FIFA, its ruling Council chaired by Infantino, and the 211 members.

FIFA is scheduled to hold an online congress on Nov. 23 to confirm hosts of the Women's World Cup editions in 2031 and 2035.

___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

Orlando firefighters responded Saturday afternoon to the home on East Concord Street in the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood, where crews found the two-story house fully engulfed in flames.

Everyone inside made it out safely. Orlando Fire Department officials said two people were displaced, no one was injured, and firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.

When News 6 returned to the property Sunday, a man who identified himself as an insurance fire inspector was examining the damage. An Orlando Fire Department crew also stopped by the home.

The property had already drawn attention months before the fire.

After viewers contacted the News 6 Neighborhood Network about complaints involving the home, News 6 investigated. Our reporting found the City of Orlando was seeking to foreclose on the property after code enforcement fines grew to more than $500,000. City officials alleged the owners were using the home for short-term rentals and events. The owners previously denied operating a business there, telling News 6 the gatherings were for family and friends.

Longtime neighbor John Smoger said he was among those who complained to the city and police about activity at the home over the years.

“The noise mostly was the problem,” Smoger said. “Mostly on weekends they would have events going on over there. And like I said, we’ve complained to the city. We’ve called the police on them. So it’s been an ongoing problem.”

Smoger said he was away when his wife called to tell him the neighboring home was on fire. By the time he returned, he said flames had engulfed much of the house.

“The whole first and second floor was just engulfed in flames,” he said.

Despite his frustrations with the property, Smoger said seeing the historic home burn was heartbreaking.

“It’s sad,” he said. “I knew the owner that renovated the house originally, and I know the work he put into it.”

The home is part of Orlando’s historic Lake Eola Heights neighborhood.

As for what caused the fire, officials have not released an official cause. The Orlando Fire Department said its Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.

The incident began around 6 p.m. Monday when Daytona Beach Police Department officers responded to Reena Drive following reports of a shooting. Officers arrived to find an adult female deceased inside the home, officials said.

Daytona Beach detectives identified the suspect as 54-year-old Robert Reyes Jr. and shared information about him and his vehicle with surrounding law enforcement agencies.

According to Titusville police, the city’s Flock Safety camera system alerted officers when the suspect vehicle entered Titusville. Officers were then able to quickly locate the vehicle, officials said.

But when police tried to pull the vehicle over, it fled, the department revealed.

Police said Reyes Jr. crashed the vehicle later near Sand Point Park.

However, the police department also confirmed that no law enforcement officers fired weapons during the incident.

Preliminary evidence suggests Reyes died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A handgun was also recovered from the vehicle. The Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office will make the final determination on the cause of death, police said.

Hadi Matar's lawyer told the court that the 28-year-old — who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges — wouldn't take the stand at his trial on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

“At this time, the defense rests,” attorney Nathaniel Barone said. Matar has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors also rested their case Tuesday, and closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning. Rushdie, the prize-winning author of novels including “Midnight’s Children” and the controversial “The Satanic Verses,” testified last week about the 2022 attack that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye.

Rushdie was about to give a talk — about writers' safety, no less — when his attacker climbed on stage behind him and stabbed him 15 times in front of a stunned audience at the Chautauqua Institution, an arts and intellectual retreat.

Spectators and another speaker, Henry Reese, scrambled to aid Rushdie and restrain the assailant, who was arrested by law enforcement officers assigned to the event. He initially gave authorities a fake driver's license, but Matar soon disclosed his real name to a state trooper, according the trooper's testimony and body camera video.

Prosecutors contend that Matar was acting upon a former Iranian leader's 1989 call for Rushdie's death because of “The Satanic Verses,” which ignited protests across the Muslim world. Some believers considered it blasphemous because of a dream sequence featuring Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Rushdie, who was born in India into a Muslim family and is now a U.S. citizen, went into hiding for years. He gradually emerged after Iran's government distanced itself in 1998 from the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 's fatwa, or religious order, about the writer. Khomenei died in 1989.

Prosecutors say Matar, a U.S.-born American-Lebanese citizen, acted out of loyalty to Iran and to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group. The late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in 2006 that if someone had carried out the fatwa, European newspapers wouldn't have dared publish a caricature of Muhammad that was causing an uproar in Muslim communities.

Iran’s government denied involvement in the 2022 stabbing, though its Foreign Ministry’s then-spokesperson suggested Rushdie courted trouble by insulting Islam. Nasrallah did not comment on the attack.

The U.S. government designates Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization. Matar, too, described the group in a 2016 paper as a terrorist organization, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch said Tuesday during legal arguments when jurors were out of the room.

Matar started researching Rushdie's whereabouts in 2020, eventually writing in private notes that “we need to kill him ASAP” and “become a warrior and just get it over with,” prosecutors have said.

Matar didn't testify at his 2025 state court trial, either. His lawyer has said federal prosecutors are making implications but don't have proof about the man’s intentions.

“There’s no facts. There’s no hard evidence,” Barone said in an interview outside the courthouse last week. “There could be a number of reasonable, plausible explanations as to what he was thinking.”

Barone unsuccessfully argued Tuesday that prosecutors hadn't presented enough evidence for the trial to continue. A judge declined Barone's request to dismiss the case.

Matar is currently serving a 25-year state prison sentence. If convicted in the federal case, he faces a potential life sentence.

___

Peltz reported from New York.

The drugmaker, which has been fighting talc-related lawsuits for more than a decade, said that the settlement is conditioned on at least 95% of remaining claimants participating.

A U.S. bankruptcy court judge denied a $9 billion settlement proposed by company subsidiary Red River Talc last year that would have been one of the biggest mass tort settlements in history.

Johnson & Johnson decided not to appeal that ruling and instead fight on in court.

A federal judge last week ordered plaintiffs in the case against Johnson & Johnson to show why the remaining pending talc claims should not be dismissed after their witnesses could not provide a direct link between the company's product and cancer.

“The Court’s order placed plaintiffs in an untenable position of having to present specific causation evidence to maintain their claims that does not exist," Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation, Johnson & Johnson, said in a prepared statement Monday.

As part of the settlement proposed this week, Johnson & Johnson will make an initial payment of no more than $3 billion next year. It has no additional payments due until 2028.

“While we are confident the company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, this resolution allows the company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives,” Haas said.

Johnson & Johnson said that it previously settled about 95% of filed lawsuits for mesothelioma, a cancer in the tissue surrounding organs like the lungs and heart, all state consumer protection claims, and all talc-supplier disputes.

Shares of the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company rose more than 2% before the market open on Tuesday.

Clayton is expected to be confirmed along party lines after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Still, Democrats have said they have more confidence in Clayton than they do in Trump’s temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, who has no known intelligence experience and investigated the president’s perceived enemies in his previous post as a federal housing regulator.

Senators from both parties have expressed concerns about Pulte, who took over on an interim basis last month after Tulsi Gabbard resigned. Pulte was in charge when Trump delivered a speech from the White House earlier this month doubling down on his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents that he said were relevant to his arguments.

Hours before the scheduled Senate vote on Clayton, Pulte released on X intelligence community documents from 2020 that described China’s capacity to interfere in the American political process as well as vulnerabilities in the election system.

The substance of the material was largely recycled and already known, but its disclosure is part of a broader Trump administration effort to raise concerns about the integrity of U.S. elections and in particular the 2020 race.

Pulte has also presided over a downsizing of the national intelligence office, which functions as a coordinating hub for the U.S. government’s intelligence agencies. He boasted on X that with a latest round of job cuts, the office is carrying out about a 30% staff reduction from weeks ago.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he had worked in the past with Clayton, who is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. After the hearing, Warner said he would oppose Clayton’s nomination but acknowledged that Democrats are “between a rock and a hard place” with Pulte in the job.

The Senate voted 51-43 along party lines on Monday to advance Clayton’s nomination.

Clayton won’t say Biden won the election

The Democratic pushback on Clayton comes as Trump has made revisiting 2020 a primary focus, repeatedly trying to cast doubt on that election and amplifying debunked theories about Biden’s win.

Clayton told senators that he had no involvement with Trump’s primetime speech, but he said repeatedly that the election was “certified” for Biden, declining to say outright that the Democrat won.

Warner said at the end of the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he thought Clayton’s performance was “abysmal,” and that “makes it much less likely that he will get Democratic votes.”

Republicans tried to quickly confirm Clayton

Republicans were hoping to confirm Clayton in June so he could replace Gabbard without Pulte serving as interim. But Trump delayed Clayton’s nomination before the Senate left for a two-week recess, allowing Pulte to take the job temporarily.

Clayton did not mention Pulte in the confirmation hearing. But he emphasized his own government and national security experience, attempting to assuage senators in both parties.

“I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government,” Clayton said. “If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who expressed frustration last month when the hearing was delayed, said that Clayton has a reputation for operating with “morality, decency and integrity” in his previous positions.

“Jay Clayton is a highly qualified nominee with a deep experience combating a wide range of national security threats,” Cotton said.

And quite frankly, he's not sure he ever will.

“Big losses in tough moments are things you never really get over because they stay with you for the rest of your career,” Freese told The Associated Press ahead of the Major League Soccer All-Star Game coming up Wednesday in Charlotte. “They continue to motivate you for the rest of your career."

Freese made a costly mistake in the loss when he rushed well out of his box to clear a long ball, then hesitated under pressure to kick it away.

Belgium quickly converted the miscue into a goal to take a 3-1 lead in the 57th minute, all but sealing the Americans' fate.

American soccer fans haven't let Freese forget about it.

In his first MLS match since the World Cup last week, the New York City FC goalkeeper was reportedly booed by fans every time he touched the ball during the game in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s important to not let bad things define you, but I think it's also important not to let good things define you either,” Freese said. “It's important to be a consistent presence with consistent energy.”

Freese is one of four U.S. national team players selected to the MLS All-Star Game.

Another, veteran defender Tim Ream, openly acknowledges he doesn't have a secret formula for what it'll take for the Americans to one day reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

He can only point to the one thing he knows that lends itself to success: hard work.

“You put your head down and do as much as you possibly can," Ream said. "And, at some point you will break through that barrier. It just takes work, more work and more work. ... Before you know it, you're past that."

Ream said he believes better days are ahead despite the loss.

Wing-back Max Arfsten thinks the increased fan attention on the World Cup — with the majority of games played in the United States — will only serve to inspire more athletes in the country to take up the sport.

That, he said, is a good thing.

“The next step for us is to keep growing the sport,” Arfsten said. “The more people that are playing, the better players there will be. The more competitiveness, the more players playing in the top leagues in Europe is important as well. I feel like all of those combined is going to lead to success."

Ream added that when it comes to the World Cup, two things can be true: Players can be disappointed over the way they played and “crashed out” against Belgium, but also excited about what they accomplished in the earlier games.

“You can be proud of how much it galvanized the country, the people around it and the sport — and just how much fun it was,” Ream said.

Freese agrees.

“It’s important for us to be aware of the positive outcomes that happened in the tournament as well as use that to inspire new generations to continue to get better — to get past that round of 16, to get past the quarterfinals and make it to the semis and the finals,” Freese said.

Messi won't play in the All-Star Game

Charlotte is hosting the MLS All-Star Game for the first time at Charlotte FC owner Dave Tepper's Bank of America Stadium, but the league will again be without its biggest star for the showcase event.

Messi, who helped Argentina reach the finals of the World Cup before losing to Spain, is taking advantage of some allotted time off before returning to soccer and Inter Miami CF.

He has been replaced on the roster.

Messi has 12 goals and eight assists this season in MLS play.

Getting a boost from the World Cup

Several players, including Ream, said they have noticed a big boost in fan interest in MLS games and soccer in general since the World Cup.

“We could see it while we were playing in the World Cup, but now it's like I can't leave my house,” Ream said.

He's not complaining.

"Being able to inspire more people to play is obviously secondary to what our job is, which is compete and win games, but it's such a rewarding feeling knowing that so many more people are paying attention to our sport,” Ream said.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

About three hours of audio and 117 pages of transcripts — with many redactions — were released by the Oversight Project, an arm of the Heritage Foundation, after Biden lost a prolonged legal fight to keep his conversations with his memoir ghostwriter, Mark Lewis Zwonitzer, private.

“They didn't even know I had this,” Biden told Zwonitzer in October 2016, near the end of his second term as Barack Obama's vice president, as he talked about sensitive foreign policy matters handled by the administration.

In one 2017 session, after Biden had left the West Wing and before he'd launched his own presidential campaign, he appeared to admit retaining classified information from his time as vice president.

“I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,” Biden said. “I wrote the President a handwritten 40-page memorandum arguing against deploying additional troops to Iraq -- I mean, to Afghanistan on the grounds that it wouldn’t matter, that the day we left would be like the day before we arrived.”

The potentially classified information itself is redacted in both the audio and transcripts that the Oversight Project released.

The right-wing group first sued to obtain the tapes after Special Counsel Robert Hur decided in 2024 not to charge Biden for how he handled classified information. Biden cooperated with Hur’s inquiry and told the special prosecutor during his presidency that he did not intentionally mishandle any classified material.

Hur, who obtained the tapes as part of his inquiry, said in announcing his decision that he believed a jury would find Biden a sympathetic figure because of his age and what Hur described as a “poor memory” — a statement that became a flashpoint in public debate about Biden's age and fitness for the presidency.

Biden was 74 when the interviews began. He was 81 and seeking reelection when Hur released his report in early 2024, though Biden later ended his campaign for a second term after a halting debate performance against Republican Donald Trump.

The tapes contain instances of Biden being unable to recall some dates and details of topics he was discussing with Zwonitzer. Biden also showed a command of many details, recalling meetings and details of conversations referenced in the notes he shared.

At the Oversight Project, Vice President of Litigation Jeff Clark insisted the tapes prove Biden's decline.

“The tapes have always belonged to the American People, the Oversight Project just delivered them to their rightful owner,” Clark said in a statement. “The knowledge of his deterioration was well-established.”

A Biden spokesman blasted the release as politically motivated.

“President Biden’s conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way,” said TJ Ducklo. “Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this Administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution.”

Biden initially sued to stop the Department of Justice from releasing the material, claiming the conversations were private. But he dropped his suit after a divided panel of appeals court judges rejected his bid. Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel from the circuit court found a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material.

“Always exciting,” Folk said Tuesday after reporting for his first training camp with the Atlanta Falcons. Folk, 41, and the Falcons will have their first practice on Wednesday.

“I tell everyone, there is nothing like playing on Sundays,” Folk said. “Being in front of people, being in front your fans and playing, there’s nothing like it. So training camp is just the start of that. And I’m just excited to kind of get going.”

Folk signed with the Falcons on March 9, three days before the team signed free-agent punter Jake Bailey.

The Falcons' interest in Folk was easy to explain after the team went through three kickers — Younghoe Koo, Parker Romo and Zane Gonzalez — in 2025.

Folk has enjoyed consistent success after being drafted by the Cowboys in 2007. He leads all active kickers with 431 career field goals, playing for Dallas, the New York Jets, Tampa Bay, New England and Tennessee.

Folk joins the Falcons after claiming the NFL's best field-goal accuracy in three consecutive seasons. He made 28 of 29 attempts for the Jets last year after also having only one miss in back-to-back seasons with Tennessee — 29 of 30 in 2023 and 21 of 22 in 2024.

Folk said he was drawn to the Falcons by the chance to work with their new special teams coach, Craig Aukerman, who was his coach at Tennessee. For Folk, it's also a reunion with Bailey, who was his teammate in New England.

“Craig Aukerman was a lot of it,” Folk said. “I enjoyed playing for Craig. Having Jake come as well, I played with him for four years in New England. It was just a whole bunch of things. ... To come out here, there’s a lot of positives to it. I like the way the team is going. Hopefully we can get over the top and get in the playoffs.”

The Falcons are led by a new leadership team of president of football Matt Ryan, general manager Ian Cunningham and coach Kevin Stefanski. The team has had eight consecutive losing seasons since its last playoff appearance in 2017.

Atlanta boasts a strong offense led by running back Bijan Robinson, who was named All-Pro after leading the league in yards from scrimmage last season. The offense also boasts established leaders in wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts, who each landed new contracts in the offseason.

The big question on offense will be quarterback, where Michael Penix Jr. is expected to compete with Tua Tagovailoa for the starting job. Tagovailoa led the first-team offense in 11-on-11 drills during offseason work while Penix was limited as he continued his recovery from surgery in November to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

The Falcons have not said if Penix will have full clearance for the start of training camp. Stefanski did not speak with reporters on Tuesday. The quarterbacks were not seen in the portion of the veterans' check-in process made available to media.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FDLE and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had said Juliet Arioso, 13, was abducted from her home in the Shady Road Villas community of Ocala on Monday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

At the time, detectives said she may have been in the company of Jason Castillo, 45. They were believed to be traveling in a red 2021 Hyundai.

Around 5:20 p.m., deputies found the vehicle and tried to pull it over, though the suspect driver — identified as Castillo — refused to stop and fled, according to the MCSO.

In a release, investigators reported that a PIT maneuver was used, which caused the vehicle to become disabled along U.S. Highway 441, near the intersection with County Road 25A.

“As deputies attempted to apprehend Castillo, shots were fired,” the release reads. “Castillo was transported to the hospital for treatment.”

Deputies later announced that Castillo died at the hospital. The MCSO confirmed that he was the ex-boyfriend of Arioso’s mother.

Meanwhile, an MCSO spokesperson told News 6 that Arioso was in the car during the shooting but was not injured.

On Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office credited a combination of technology, community awareness and swift deputy action for bringing Arioso home safely. Officials said their license plate reader camera system helped investigators identify and track the suspect vehicle, but it was a vigilant citizen who spotted the Amber Alert, recognized the vehicle and called 911 that ultimately allowed deputies to locate Castillo.

“This little girl is home tonight because my deputies did their job, our license plate reader cameras did exactly what they’re designed to do, and one citizen took the time to make a phone call,” Sheriff Billy Woods said. “It took all three working together to bring this little girl home.”

No additional information has been provided at this time, including what the connection — if any — Arioso and Castillo may have had.

Panthers coach Dave Canales said after practice that Evans got rolled up on and that the initial diagnosis indicates the injury is not viewed as serious.

“They (the medical staff) are pretty optimistic," Canales said. "But we’re going to do a full evaluation just to make sure there’s nothing happening in there. ... I’ll give you more information as we do the full evaluation.”

Pressed into duty last season as a rookie because of an injury to Ja’Tavion Sanders, Evans was a pleasant surprise for the Panthers, having 19 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The 2025 fifth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame is expected to compete with Tommy Tremble and Sanders for more playing time this season in what is viewed as an open tight end competition.

Evans went down midway through practice amid a pile of players. Some gathered around him before he was carted off.

Last week the Panthers lost outside linebacker Nic Scouton, another second-year player, to a torn ACL. That season-ending injury came on the first day of training camp practice.

The Panthers also are without starting offensive tackles Taylor Moton and Ickey Ekwonu at training camp. Both will miss the opener but are expected back at some point this season.

Canales said guard Damien Lewis has a calf injury. He worked on the side with trainers. Guard Robert Hunt (back) is working his way back and is expected to practice soon.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Government funding body U.K. Research and Innovation announced Monday that it will no longer fund the Lovell telescope, whose 250-foot-wide (76-meter-wide) parabolic reflecting bowl is a local landmark. It’s part of a network of seven radio telescopes across the country known as e-Merlin connected to the Jodrell Bank astrophysics center south of Manchester.

UKRI said the telescope array will not receive public funding after March 2028, following “a rigorous prioritization process to focus investment on the areas that will deliver the greatest long-term scientific capability, impact and value for the U.K.”

University of Manchester particle physicist Brian Cox called the cuts “devastating and irreversible.”

Paul Howarth, president of the Institute of Physics, said recent cuts to physics funding, including at Jodrell Bank, were “a terrible blow to the scientific community,” and urged new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reconsider.

“For the sake of U.K. physics and our national reputation as a place to do science, conduct research and innovate, we would urge the new government to review this ruinous set of decisions,” he said.

The University of Manchester, which runs e-Merlin, said it was seeking other sources of funds from business, government or charities.

“But, if we don’t find those alternative sources of funding, then there is a risk that as of the end of March 2028, the Lovell Telescope will not be an actively functioning scientific facility for radio astronomy,” said Sarah Sharples, the university’s dean of science and engineering.

Completed in 1957, the Lovell telescope has played a major role in the history of radio astronomy, which studies distant space objects through the radio waves they emit. It tracked the progress of Sputnik when the Soviet Union launched Earth’s first artificial satellite in 1957, received the first images from the moon’s surface in 1966 and has helped scientists discover distant galaxies and study black holes, quasars, pulsars and gravitational lenses.

It also served as an early-warning system for Soviet missiles during the Cold War.

Jodrell Bank’s engagement center, open to the public and visited by generations of British schoolchildren, is not affected by the cuts.

A video, which claims to show a fielder clicking his fingers to imitate the sound of a bat connecting with the ball before a player is called out, has been viewed millions of times on X.

The poster of the video described it as “about the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen in cricket.”

The video of a match involving North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League team Saltburn, has been greeted with outrage online and generated headlines around the world.

TV presenter Piers Morgan weighed in, describing the player involved as the “biggest cheat in cricket history” and wondered how many batsmen’s days “has he ruined?”

A cricket umpire could be fooled into calling a player out if they believed they heard the sound of the ball clipping the edge of a bat before being caught.

The league said in a statement on X that it had received a formal complaint regarding a game on Saturday, but did not reveal which teams were involved.

“A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made,” it said.

There was no immediate response when The Associated Press contacted the league and Saltburn for comment.

Rather than putting together a traditional preseason all-conference team, the Big Ten has a media panel select 12 players for preseason honors without regard to position. Indiana’s representatives include wide receiver Charlie Becker, linebacker Rolijah Hardy and defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker.

Ohio State, Oregon and Rutgers each had two players selected. Quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith made it for Ohio State. Oregon’s picks were quarterback Dante Moore and defensive back Koi Perich. The Rutgers honorees were wide receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond.

Other players earning preseason honors included Iowa offensive lineman Kade Pieper, Minnesota defensive lineman Anthony Smith and Southern California quarterback Jayden Maiava.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. That's essentially the same tepid range its been in since the beginning of the year. In late 2024 and early 2025 the readings were well above 100.

Consumer attitudes had improved modestly in June as gas prices came down to around $3.70 a gallon from more than $4.50 a gallon in late April and early May. But as fighting in the Middle East escalated, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. started to rise again. On Tuesday it was $4.10, according to the auto club AAA.

After being attacked by the U.S. and Israel in late February, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, causing a spike in gas prices. That accelerated inflation, causing Americans’ inflation-adjusted incomes to decline.

Americans remain soured on the economy after five years of elevated inflation, potentially posing a risk to President Donald Trump and Republicans in the midterm elections, which are now less than 100 days away.

Trump continues to blame inflation on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. Yet inflation has risen since Trump’s inauguration last year, to 3.5% from 3% in January 2025. It jumped even further after the Iran war began Feb. 28, when it was just 2.4%.

Write-in responses to the survey, which were collected from July 1 to July 22, remained pessimistic. The Board said references to gas prices were down slightly but remained elevated. Respondents' mention of food and grocery prices increased.

Government data shows that buying food to bring home has gotten 33% more expensive since the beginning of 2019. To navigate those higher prices, Americans have turned to couponing, comparison shopping and cutting back on favorite foods as they absorb the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century.

Beef epitomizes out-of-control grocery prices for many Americans. The price of a pound of ground beef reached $6.82 in June — 79% more than at the beginning of 2019, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

References to jobs and unemployment picked up slightly this month and views of the current job market fell. Expectations of how the labor market will be six months going forward improved slightly, but remained in negative territory.

U.S. employers slowed hiring last month and added only 57,000 jobs, less than half the previous month’s total. The unemployment rate declined to a low 4.2% from 4.3% in May, though the drop mostly occurred because many people out of work gave up looking and were no longer counted as unemployed.

The number of consumers who mentioned war and geopolitics decreased this month, but the Board suspects that recent escalation in fighting between Iran and the U.S. could cause those mentions to rise in the next survey.

Tropical Storm Fausto was expected to pass just north of the Hawaiian islands starting Tuesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph) and was expected to retain tropical storm strength as it skirted above the island chain.

On Tuesday morning, Fausto was 400 miles (644 kilometers) east of Honolulu and moving west at 14 mph (23 kph). Forecaster said strong currents from the tropical storm could create dangerous conditions on some Hawaii beaches.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Genevieve was slowly weakening, the hurricane center said. It was previously a Category 5 system but by Tuesday morning it was down to a Category 3. Maximum sustained winds were 125 mph (201 kph) for the major hurricane, which was about 530 miles (853 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

Swells from Genevieve were reaching Baja California and coastal southwestern Mexico. Forecasters warned of life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

On the forecast track, Genevieve was expected to continue weakening and remain far from land. Fausto was expected to continue over the open sea and downgrade to a tropical depression on Thursday.

Italian soccer federation president Giovanni Malagò announced Mancini as the new Italy coach on Tuesday, adding that Claudio Ranieri will become the new technical director after Paolo Maldini stepped down the previous day — just 16 days after being appointed.

“Time was running out … I believed the person who should become the new coach of Italy is Roberto Mancini, for a whole list of reasons,” Malagò said. “There will be a press conference tomorrow with both Claudio Ranieri and Roberto Mancini.”

The 61-year-old Mancini led the Azzurri to the European Championship title in 2021 but shockingly resigned as Italy coach in August 2023, taking over Saudi Arabia’s national team two weeks later.

“It is clear that all the necessary assessments have been made,” Malagò said when asked about Mancini's sudden departure three years ago. “I certainly took it into consideration; I am aware of his recent apologies, and obviously, everyone has made the appropriate evaluations.”

The Italian national team is in crisis after failing for a third straight time to qualify for the World Cup, prompting the resignations of FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and coach Gennaro Gattuso in April, shortly after the playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mancini's first spell

Mancini’s first spell as Italy coach came immediately after the team missed out on the 2018 World Cup, having lost to Sweden in a qualifying playoff.

He revived the Azzurri by adding flair and youth to a team that won admirers all over the continent during the year-delayed Euro 2020 — beating England at Wembley Stadium in a penalty shootout for the trophy.

Between 2018 and 2021, Mancini coached Italy to a world-record 37-match unbeaten run.

However, a 1-0 semifinal playoff loss to 67th-ranked North Macedonia at home in 2022 meant that the Azzurri again missed out on the World Cup.

Mancini nevertheless kept his position before surprisingly quitting in August 2023. He left Saudi Arabia in 2024 and was most recently coach at Al-Sadd in Qatar, before departing last month.

Mancini also previously steered Inter Milan and Manchester City to league titles.

Ranieri turned the job down last year

Luciano Spalletti replaced Mancini in 2023 but was fired two years later after Italy lost its opening World Cup qualifier to Norway last year. Ranieri, who famously led unfancied Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2016, turned down an offer to take charge of the Azzurri and Gattuso was hired instead.

Ranieri’s last job was as special adviser at Roma, having moved into the role after coaching the capital team out of a crisis. The 74-year-old left in April after a falling out with coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Pirlo, Guardiola and Ancelotti

The appointment comes the day after Andrea Pirlo was dropped as the leading candidate for the Italy job amid political concerns over a sponsorship deal with a Russian betting firm.

That led to the departures of Maldini and special adviser Leonardo by what Malagò stressed was “mutual consent.”

“Practically before we had even started, we were dealing with a unique situation,” Malagò added. “There was no conflict. With utmost respect, like in the best families, there was a calm discussion and a clear and serene consensus that it was best to go our separate ways.”

Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti had already turned down offers to coach the Azzurri. Former Italy coach Antonio Conte was also in contention.

Don't expect immediate miracles from Mancini

Italy next plays in September and October, when it will face Belgium, Turkey and France in the Nations League.

“The new coach will have two training sessions to prepare for the first game,” Malagò said. “And since the game against Bosnia, I don’t think we have given passports to Lamine Yamal, (Kylian) Mbappé and (Harry) Kane.

“Now we have to do the best with what we have, knowing that we are playing in a group with three teams that went to the World Cup, two of which finished in the last eight.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Rios, who has served Orange County for nearly 26 years, submitted his resignation to Mayor Jerry Demings effective July 31. In his resignation letter, Rios acknowledged his words fell short during a question from commissioners about the purchase of a county-assigned vehicle.

“Although the purchase complied with all county procurement policies and procedures, my response did not fully communicate the complete context and, as a result, could only be perceived as inaccurate,” Rios wrote in his letter. “As Fire Chief, I understand that intent does not diminish impact, and I accept full responsibility for my words.”

Rios was appointed fire chief on June 27, 2025. In the letter, he also expressed confidence in the department’s future and pride in what he described as a meaningful cultural transformation during his tenure.

“Orange County Fire Rescue’s greatest strength has never been its Fire Chief; it has always been its people,” Rios wrote.

Demings announced that Deputy Chief John Westmoreland will serve as acting fire chief effective immediately.

Rios’ resignation letter can be read in the media player below.

Toplum online TV founder and director Alasgar Mammadli was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the court in the capital of Baku. It gave 15-year prison terms to activists Akif Gurbanov and Ruslan Izzetli, who co-founded the outlet. Other journalists and activists associated with Toplum TV received sentences ranging from 12 to 14 years.

They were charged with illegally receiving and using Western donor funds as part of an “organized criminal group.” They denied the charges and Elchin Sadigov, a lawyer for some of the accused, told The Associated Press they would appeal the verdicts.

“This is an unlawful and political motivated court ruling that is linked to their journalist activities,” Sadigov told AP. “Not a single defense motion has been granted by the court.”

The government of President Ilham Aliyev has carried out a methodical crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech, targeting journalists, activists and independent politicians, relying on restrictive laws to muzzle critical voices. according to human rights organizations.

Toplum TV, a leading online news outlet, was one of the last remaining independent news outlets in the southern Caucasus country of 10 million. It was known for its reporting on official corruption and social problems. In March 2024, police raided its offices and arrested several members of its staff.

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) denounced what it called “the extremely harsh prison sentences” to journalists and media actors associated with Toplum TV, noting that “the court’s verdict confirms the political nature of the trial and the authorities’ desire to intimidate and repress journalists who are simply doing their job."

Anthony Bellanger, the IFJ general secretary, described the verdict as “pure and simple government repression and intimidation.”

Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, also condemned what it described as bogus trial, saying it reflected the escalating crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan and demanded their immediate release.

“This unjust decision highlights how the Azerbaijani justice system is being exploited,” RSF said in a statement. “It has been brought to heel by President Ilham Aliyev to silence the country’s last remaining independent media outlets.”

Aliyev has led Azerbaijan since 2003, when he succeeded his father, Heydar, who was its Communist Party boss and then president for a decade after the country became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

The younger Aliyev won another term in 2024 with 92% of the vote in an early election.

He took advantage of a surge in his popularity after Azerbaijani forces swiftly reclaimed the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote took place in a restrictive environment with no real political competition.

The Iran war has reignited, pushing oil and gas prices higher — a trend that will worsen inflation in the coming months. Soaring investment in the artificial intelligence buildout is raising the cost of laptops, smart phones and electricity. And price hikes from tariffs could be in the pipeline after Trump imposed new duties on dozens of U.S. trading partners.

All those trends might lead to only temporary price increases, rather than a sustained burst of inflation similar to the spike in 2021-2022. Yet inflation, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, has topped its 2% target for more than five years, making it harder for the Fed to ignore price spikes, no matter how brief. Core inflation, which excludes the volatile energy and food categories, has risen since last December and has been stuck at around 3% or higher since 2023. Without noticeable progress soon, some Fed officials have said rate hikes will be needed.

“Unfortunately, inflation does not appear to be headed sustainably back all the way to 2%,” Lorie Logan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said recently. “Modestly higher interest rates would better balance the outlook.” Logan is a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee.

Warsh's tough talk

Warsh, since taking over as chair in May, has emphasized that the Fed will get inflation back to 2% without specifying how. In his first news conference as chair last month, he made clear he wouldn't provide the kind of signals about the Fed's next steps that his predecessors, particularly Jerome Powell, did.

But in congressional testimony earlier this month Warsh said the Fed has “no tolerance” for higher inflation. And in the first statement on rates issued under his watch, the central bank pledged that it “will deliver price stability.”

Such comments, along with the resumption of the Iran war and the renewed climb of oil and gas prices, have already lifted borrowing costs. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note — which strongly influences mortgage rates — briefly topped 4.7% last Thursday, the highest in about 18 months.

But Warsh's tough talk raises expectations that he will follow through with action, current and former Fed officials say.

James Bullard, a former president of the St. Louis Fed, said Warsh's rhetoric “has been very effective" in establishing Fed credibility, “but markets are going to ask, ‘Well, what have you done for me lately?’ And they're going to demand action."

At the same time, more Fed officials appear to be growing impatient with inflation's stubbornness.

“Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option," Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s governing board, said in a July 13 speech. If core inflation keeps climbing, the Fed's rate-setting committee “will need to consider” hiking rates “in the near term,” he said.

Beth Hammack, president of the Cleveland Fed, said in a post on LinkedIn earlier this month that for the first time she is hearing business leaders call for higher rates, which is unusual since they typically support cheaper borrowing. She is also hearing from consumers “who can’t make ends meet about a growing sense of despair,” Hammack wrote.

Signs of inflation potentially improving

There is still tremendous uncertainty about what the Fed should do in the coming months, economists said. The most recent inflation report showed that core inflation cooled noticeably in June, and headline inflation fell sharply as gas prices declined almost 10%, a sign of what could happen if the Iran conflict is permanently resolved.

The cost of apartment rents, which spiked in the pandemic, is growing much more slowly than a few years ago.

John Williams, president of the New York Fed and vice chair of the Fed's rate-setting committee, said this month that "there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in the coming quarters.” He cited the decline in gas prices, before the Iran war restarted, and argued that the impact of tariffs on inflation has largely run its course. Even with new tariffs in place, they are likely to have the same limited effect of the ones they replaced.

Yet the resumption of fighting in the Middle East has pushed gas prices back above a nationwide average of $4 a gallon, from just below $3.80 around the July 4 holiday. The increase will likely push headline inflation higher, just before the Fed meets again in September. And adding to the Fed's challenge, higher interest rates can slow demand and bring down inflation, but they can't do much to restore oil and gas supplies disrupted by war.

“The Fed is looking at inflation well above goal, but mostly for reasons that it doesn’t have any influence on,” Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Dreyfus-Mellon and a former top Fed economist, said.

Warsh says Fed to keep inflation from ‘broadening’

In congressional testimony this month, Warsh suggested the Fed's job is to prevent specific price increases for things like gas or computer gear from “broadening out” to other parts of the economy.

Traditionally, the Fed would do that by hiking rates if there were signs higher prices were spreading. But Warsh may hope that his tough talk, which has pushed up some borrowing costs, will suffice in the end.

“They are hoping and intending to talk the talk without having to walk the walk,” said Stephen Douglass, chief economist at NISA Investment Advisors and former analyst at the New York Fed. He doesn't expect the Fed will raise rates this year.

Other economists say inflation won't be defeated without action by the Fed.

“There has never been a time when inflation gradually moderated without impetus from the Fed,” Joseph Lavorgna, a former top economist at the Treasury Department and chief economist at SMBC Americas, said. “In other words, core inflation is not going to magically slow.”

Embolo’s second yellow card, after a video review for simulating being fouled, changed the momentum of the game in the 72nd minute soon after Switzerland tied the score at 1-1.

Argentina won 3-1 in extra time with help from the red-card decision that fueled complaints, including from previous opponent Egypt, referees were favoring Lionel Messi’s team with decisions.

The FIFA-backed rules panel known as IFAB published a clarification Monday that VAR protocol for “mistaken identity” cases was not eligible for that type of incident at the World Cup, though it could be in future competitions.

“However, it may not be used as such until that review is concluded,” the Zurich-based IFAB said in a statement.

Embolo fell to the ground on being challenged by Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, who was shown a yellow card.

The VAR officials alerted the referee to the fact Paredes did not commit a foul and instead Embolo was shown a yellow, his second, and was sent off.

That is not how “mistaken Identity” is currently meant to be applied, which is to correct the referee when a card is shown to the wrong player who did not commit the original foul penalized.

“The referee made the wrong decision,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said after the game in Kansas City. “I know they will protect their referee but this rule destroyed our game today, and it’s very painful, and to be eliminated in that way hurts a lot.”

IFAB clarified the card “can only be reviewed to identify the player who committed the offense that was penalized; the offense itself cannot be reviewed/changed.”

Updating the VAR protocol

A review of VAR protocol has been ongoing since March and IFAB acknowledged that incidents like Embolo’s are part of it.

“The use of the mistaken identity clause to deal with simulation during the FIFA World Cup 2026 was well received,” the Zurich-based group said.

IFAB is composed of FIFA-appointed officials and the four British soccer federations. Its annual meeting is each February or March to update The Laws of the Game that take effect for major tournaments or the next season.

European soccer wants lighter touch VAR

The IFAB clarity was praised as “welcome explanations” on Tuesday by UEFA, which has hosted referee bosses from each of its 55 member federations to reset their decision-making principles for the new season.

“VAR is not meant to re-referee the game,” UEFA stressed, stating the need for shorter video reviews and a lighter touch for intervening.

FIFA's overall VAR strategy for the World Cup was praised following a frustrating season of video reviews, particularly in the Premier League.

“Lengthy, microscoping reviews are often a symptom revealing that the decision on the field was not clearly and obviously incorrect, and should therefore be limited,” UEFA said, setting a standard for intervention at “when a referee decision is blatantly incorrect or when the referee has missed a clear incident.”

UEFA also encouraged the crackdown on time-wasting in games agreed by IFAB in March and enforced by FIFA at the World Cup.

“Referees will be instructed to strictly and consistently enforce the new rules,” said UEFA.

UEFA will this season organize men's and women's club competitions including the Champions League, plus national-team games in the men's Nations League and qualifying for the 2028 European Championship, and qualifying playoffs for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

The district is holding a workshop Tuesday focused on AI implementation, giving the School Board an update on how AI is being used to support students, employees and operations.

As back-to-school season ramps up, some Osceola County educators were shopping at A Gift for Teaching of Osceola County, a free resource store for teachers available through the Education Foundation of Osceola County. But one supply you will not find on the shelves? Artificial intelligence.

District policy supports the use of certain AI programs for professional learning, helping teachers build lesson plans and track student progress. The district is also working to expand access for both students and teachers.

[PREVIOUS VIDEO: Osceola County school board weighs new rules on AI, wireless devices in classrooms]

Teacher Leyla Reyes said the technology has already proven useful.

“It does help the teachers, like if we need to look for a specific resource or things like that,” Reyes said.

District policy is clear that AI is not a substitute for human creativity, judgment or creation, and many teachers agree.

Teacher Jasmine Arevalo believes AI can play a helpful role in the classroom, but only under the right conditions.

“I think if you use it as an aid to assist, yes, but to use it as a source to do the thinking for you is where the problem lays,” Arevalo said. “Because, of course, you want children to think on their own. You want them to get out there. You want them to create.”

She also acknowledged that the technology is still evolving.

“It’s evolving and it’s going to be different in the future. But, just learning along the way and knowing that it’s not something that you want to depend on,” Arevalo said.

Academic integrity is also a key concern. In May, the district discussed revising its student code of conduct to prevent students from using AI to generate answers on tests.

Some teachers say clear boundaries are essential.

“I think probably set parameters. What is cheating and what is not,” Reyes said.

According to the workshop agenda, the School Board received an update on the district’s AI implementation plan, highlighting progress made over the past two years in establishing governance, professional learning opportunities and approved AI tools for students and staff.

The presentation will also preview what’s next, including employee AI training, expanded student access to approved tools, an AI Fellows Program and ongoing evaluation efforts.

“The upcoming Board workshop is a continuation of discussions between School Board members and staff to plan for the use of artificial intelligence responsibly, transparently, and in ways that best support students, employees, and operational effectiveness. It will take a look at the journey the Osceola School District has taken with AI thus far and what are our next steps for use both in the classroom for learning and on the operational side of the house,” Chief Communications Officer Dana Schafer told News 6.

The workshop is Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the school district’s headquarters in Kissimmee. You can see the agenda below.

AI Implementation Osceola County School Board Workshop - Jul 28 2026 - Agenda by Christie Zizo

Data from the Congolese health ministry showed that 1,437 patients have died out of the 3,262 cases, in what officials have said is the fastest Ebola outbreak on record, concentrated in the eastern Ituri province.

The 2018-2020 outbreak that was recorded in Congo and neighboring Uganda lasted roughly two years, with more than 3,400 reported cases, including over 2,200 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Only the 2014-2016 outbreak across West Africa, considered the worst in history, had a higher toll with 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

The speed of transmission in the current outbreak comes amid concerns from residents that many communities in the affected provinces are either unreachable or have been abandoned by responders in recent days over safety concerns amid attacks from angry residents and rebels.

“The fact that, in just 10 weeks, we have reached nearly the same number of cases recorded over an almost two-year outbreak is alarming and should stop us in our tracks," Onesphore Bangenza, Mercy Corps response team lead in Bunia, Ituri's capital, said Tuesday.

“There is no doubt that the virus is moving faster than we can contain it,” Bangenza added.

The ongoing outbreak, which was declared on May 15, is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.

Efforts to slow the transmission have been challenged by rebel violence in eastern Congo as well as health workers striking to protest the nonpayment of their wages.

The outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track despite an expanding response. A key challenge is that patient zero has yet to be identified in the outbreak while displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.

Despite distrust between communities and health workers mostly seen at the early stages of the outbreak, signs of progress have emerged.

“We can never again wage war against the Ebola teams. We have lost members of our families. As a community, we have a vested interest in fighting Ebola to return to normal life,” said Fabrice Mumbesa, a resident of Mongbwalu, a mining town at the center of the outbreak where residents previously burned down several treatment centers.

Neighboring Uganda declared its Ebola outbreak over, authorities said on Tuesday. The East African country says it is “free” of Ebola after the last patient was discharged in mid-June. It has always insisted that its cases were imported from Congo.

——

McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal

What started as tech industry-fueled springtime hype over squeezing as much AI-generated work as possible out of products like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude has shifted to a summertime backlash.

“It's very easy to create something you don't need with AI,” said Vincent Gusdorf, head of AI analytics at Moody's Ratings and author of a new report that recommends a more disciplined approach.

"Tokenmaxxing” refers to maximizing usage of tokens — the building blocks of generative AI that correspond to small pieces of text that an AI system reads or writes. Each token is about three quarters of a word. And there's typically a limit to how many you can use, with pricier versions of AI products offering higher caps.

“As bills started to pile in, people realized that those new tools are quite expensive and you need to use them wisely,” Gusdorf said.

Tech executives cast high AI usage as a badge of honor

Just a few months ago, Silicon Valley executives were promoting high token consumption as a signal of high-performing employees. The stereotypical tokenmaxxer was staying up late — perhaps ignoring their significant other — while orchestrating an army of 24-hour AI agents performing work on their behalf.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in May he was “excited to see what will happen with tokenmaxxing startups, both for how they work internally and the products they can build.”

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said “if your $500K engineer isn’t burning $250K in tokens, something is wrong.” Facebook parent Meta had an internal competition rewarding token usage.

The trend boosted revenue for leading AI large language model developers like Anthropic and OpenAI, but it fizzled as it became apparent it wasn't necessarily the best strategy for everyone else.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has admitted that tokenmaxxing can be addictive but warned in a recent blog post that customers of those models are paying twice for AI, first in spending on tokens and second by feeding all their proprietary data to them. While promoting Microsoft's own approach, Nadella's comments were unusual in the way he raised doubts about the data protection assurances of leading AI providers.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp went further, telling CNBC earlier this month that something had gone “completely wrong.” He said he was channeling the voice of American businesses privately “livid” about paying so much for tokens that create no value.

“The basic view among enterprises in this country is, 'I’m going to chillax and waste my time with tokens. I'm going to get no value and they're going to get my IP,” Karp said.

Workplaces look more for better ‘routing’ of their AI work

Bain & Company management consultant Jue Wang said many of the big businesses her firm advises have been taking a closer look at returns on their AI investments.

“The token cost for them has been doubling, almost every other month,” she said. “Let’s say $200 per developer per month. Multiply that by 20,000 developers, which is often what we’re dealing with at these companies, and that quickly gets you to a number that is not a line item that any general manager has planned for.”

Sometimes that just means not using the AI equivalent of a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

“Not everything needs a Claude Opus 4.6,” she said of one of Anthropic's more capable models suited to software engineering or deep research. “And yet you see so many companies, so many users, default to using Opus for everything, including generating emails.”

That's led to a search for tools that do AI “model routing” — in which easier queries get automatically sent to cheaper and more efficient AI systems and more complex tasks go to more powerful models.

Open-source AI models built in China offer less costly alternatives

Software developer Hassan El Mghari said companies' sticker shock over the “ridiculous amount of money” spent on subscriptions to AI products from leading U.S. companies has led many away from rewarding high usage.

“It’s better to kind of just empower employees on how to use this stuff and let them use AI when and however much they need to,” said El Mghari, who leads developer experience at the startup Together AI, which supplies developers with a variety of “open-source” AI models.

At the same time, those who favor racking up as many tokens as possible are having a field day with new open-source models from Chinese startups like Moonshot's Kimi or Zhipu's GLM, which nearly match the capabilities of top U.S. models at a fraction of the price.

“There is some validity to the theory that this could push tokenmaxxing a little bit further,” said Raffi Krikorian, the chief technology officer at Mozilla. “But if we look at the industry overall, I think it's realizing that tokenmaxxing is a dumb thing.”

It's similar, Krikorian said, to how software companies once considered how many lines of code a programmer wrote to be a good metric of productivity. That later fell out of favor.

“I think tokenmaxxing is moving through the exact same pattern,” he said. “I think this is going to be an interesting blip that we’re all going to look back to laugh at in a year.”

Judges read 163 novels to come up with the 13 semifinalists announced Tuesday for the 50,000 pound ($66,000) Booker Prize, a list described by historian Mary Beard, head of the judging panel, as literary “dynamite.”

The list includes James’ “The Disappearers,” about a group of gay men in a hostile 1980s Jamaica; Stuart’s “ John of John,” a story of father-son secrets on a remote Scottish island; and Strout’s heartfelt small-town tale “The Things We Never Say.”

James won the Booker in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings” and Stuart won in 2020 for “Shuggie Bain.” Strout’s “Oh William!” was a finalist in 2022. She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009 for “Olive Kitteridge.”

They sit alongside lesser-known names on a Booker longlist that includes authors with roots in Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey and the United States.

Three of those on the list are debut authors: Turkish-American writer Kenan Orhan for family history story “The Renovation,” British author Rebecca Perry for Medieval-to-modern tale “May We Feed the King” and Ireland’s Djamel White for “All Them Dogs,” a thriller set in the Dublin underworld.

White, at 28, is the youngest author in the running. The oldest is 81-year-old M. John Harrison, whose postapocalyptic tale “The End of Everything” is a rare science fiction novel to make the Booker list.

The other contenders are “The Shadow of the Object” by Chloe Aridjis, “Black Bag” by Luke Kennard, “The Vivisectors” by Missouri Williams, “Switzy” by Emma Cline, “Helen of Nowhere” by Makenna Goodman and Gwendoline Riley’s “The Palm House.”

Beard said the five jurors, who include Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and American novelist Patricia Lockwood, tried to look beyond the idea of a typical Booker winner – “slightly serious, about to be classic.” Instead they chose novels that are “trying to expand the boundaries of how we can think about ourselves in completely different ways,”

“Sometimes they’re using humor, sometimes it’s pathos, sometimes there’s shock value,” Beard said. “They’re risk-takers. They are dynamite. They say ‘Come on, try seeing it a different way.’”

Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers and is open to novels from any country published in the U.K. and Ireland. Last year’s winner was “Flesh” by Hungarian-British writer David Szalay.

The judges will announce six finalists on Sept. 22, and the winner will be revealed Nov. 9 at a ceremony in London.

Bryan Kohberger, 31, filed the hand-written petition on Monday from the Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary where he is serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in a rental home near campus in 2022. It's been just over one year since he pleaded guilty to the stabbing deaths that scarred the close-knit community of Moscow, Idaho.

In his request, Kohberger said his attorneys didn't adequately represent him and that his guilty plea wasn't knowingly or voluntarily entered because it “was induced by unkept promises” and threats.

He offered only a few details in elaboration, saying they failed to disclose or review evidence that might have helped his case during plea discussions, like an “unknown hair in Chapin's hand.”

He also wrote that the attorneys insisted that his plea “need not be truthful, despite petitioner's vehement denial of actual guilt,” that they promised life in prison would come with “immediate contact visits, freedom of movement, employment” and that they told him “elaborate lies of DR (death row) life.”

That’s the opposite of what Kohberger told 4th District Judge Steven Hippler on July 2, 2025, when he confirmed that he was pleading guilty “freely and voluntarily” because he was, in fact, guilty, and not because he had some other incentive. As part of that process, he had to agree to waive his rights to appeal, confirm that he understood the punishments on the table for the crimes and assure the court that he wasn’t coerced by his attorneys or anyone else to make the plea.

Those and other questions were posed to Kohberger more than once — first in a nine-page legal document that Kohberger filled out, initialed and signed, and later in direct questioning by the judge — all in an effort to ensure that his plea would hold up.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed they would not seek the death penalty, and instead would recommend that he be sentenced to four back-to-back life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years.

“Have any other promises been made to you that have influenced your decision to plead guilty?” Kohberger was asked on the plea agreement document. He checked the the box indicating “no.”

“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” Hippler asked him in court a few days later.

“Yes,” Kohberger replied.

Once a defendant has been sentenced, Idaho law requires them to show that they experienced “manifest injustice” in order to withdraw a guilty plea. That is a tough legal standard, but it can be met if a defendant convinces a judge that they made the plea involuntarily or that other serious constitutional errors were made in the case.

For Kohberger’s team of four court-appointed attorneys, the plea deal was a way to save his life. Over two years of hearings, they tried multiple times to get capital punishment off the table. They challenged the legitimacy of DNA evidence, argued that Kohberger’s autism diagnosis made him less culpable, suggested there might be another unknown suspect to be found, and said the death penalty violates international standards of decency.

But none of the arguments worked, and Kohberger's trial was just a month away when he reached the plea agreement.

The lead defense attorney on the case, Anne Taylor, is one of the most highly regarded capital defenders in the state, with nearly three decades of experience, more than half of it as a death-penalty-qualified defender. A person who answered the phone at her office on Monday immediately said “no comment” and hung up before she could be asked if it was Kohberger's case or another matter on which she was declining to comment.

“This doesn’t have a precedent,” García told The Associated Press by phone before another long day ahead.

The out-of-control fire has consumed 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) — an area five times the size of Barcelona — and forced 25,000 people to flee villages in the smoldering hills of Ávila west of Madrid, the capital.

The ferocity of Spain’s largest recorded wildfire is forcing firefighters to fundamentally change their tactics, prioritizing evacuations and property protection due to the danger posed by fast-moving walls of flames and blazes too powerful to attack directly.

“The evolution is alarming,” García said.

Before, his brigade would tackle fires in the wilderness. Now they are a last line of defense, focused on saving lives. No deaths from these fires have been reported, while 79,000 people have fled their homes from the Ávila fire, another fire nearby in the Madrid region and one in eastern Castellón.

“That gives us more work and more stress,” García said. “Now it is lives first, then homes, and after, the forest."

Climate change is fanning the flames

García works with one of Spain’s emergency wildfire brigades, which deploy to help regional firefighters when they need help. They spend 12-hour shifts hosing down burning trees and hacking away at underbrush before it becomes fuel for the flames.

His 40-man unit, based in Ávila, has been working for three days on the Ávila fire. Before that, they fought fires in Guadalajara and near Zaragoza in recent weeks. The Guadalajara fire consumed 320 square kilometers (123 square miles), making it Spain's third largest on record.

“Until last year, I had never experienced fighting one big fire after another,” the 43-year-old García said.

Large areas of Spain have always been fire-prone thanks to its hot summers and relatively dry climate. But experts and government officials say that climate change has increased the frequency of heat waves and periods of drought, extending periods of high risk for wildfires.

Once one ignites, it grows at a speed and voracity rarely seen before.

García said there used to be around 15 days of extreme fire risk each year. Now firefighters are on alert for 30 to 40 days.

Fires have burned 1,530 square kilometers (590 square miles) this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister, has said.

Meanwhile, a monster fire in neighboring France has forced over 200,000 people to flee their homes.

Fires are too powerful to tackle head-on

Raúl Guerrero, 29, has worked as a firefighter in Castilla y León, the region including Ávila, for the past decade. He said this fire can't compare with any he has battled.

He told the AP that his 40-man unit has had to retreat to safer ground on several occasions when the danger of being trapped was imminent.

He said the fire at several moments was “beyond the capacity of extinction,” which, he said, means “the fire is so virulent and has such power that no matter what you do, you can’t put it out.”

Asked how that makes him feel, Guerrero said “above all, impotent.”

Vegetation can become ‘pure gunpowder’

While fires are often started by lighting or a spark made by agricultural machinery, a decisive factor that makes wildfires harder to combat is the disappearance of the farms, orchards and local forestry industries that used to create buffer areas around villages and towns.

Vegetation now grows right up to homes, Guerrero said. He called for property owners and local authorities to work all year in clearing brush away from homes and tending to forests.

If not, Guerrero said, that vegetation will remain “pure gunpowder” for future fires.

In a report on the human rights situation, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it had documented 499 civilians killed and 1,216 wounded by the fighting between the neighbors that has defied international peace efforts.

In one case, the report said, civilians trying to rescue others from the rubble of an airstrike were hit by a second one.

The report also explores other human rights issues, including a deadly crackdown on protests in western Afghanistan over restrictions on women’s clothing, and decrees that essentially legalize child marriage.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants

Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fighting on and off for months. Tension escalated significantly in February, when Afghan forces launched a raid into Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, and Islamabad declared it was in “ open war.”

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who carry out deadly attacks that have killed thousands over the years in Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The group is allied with the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since it seized power in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the allegation.

In the deadliest attack of the fighting, a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug treatment center in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in March, killing hundreds of civilians. Rights group Amnesty International said last week the bombing should be investigated as a possible war crime.

Pakistan has not given an overall figure for civilian casualties caused by the cross-border fighting in its territory. The U.N. mission, known by its acronym UNAMA, noted it is only mandated to monitor incidents in Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies targeting civilians

In a written response to UNAMA’s report, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Afghanistan’s Taliban government “continues to maintain a permissive environment for a range of (militant) organizations.”

The response did not mention Afghan civilian casualties but said Pakistan’s military strikes "were directed exclusively at identified terrorist hideouts, sanctuaries, and support infrastructure linked to groups responsible for attacks inside Pakistan.”

The hundreds of civilian casualties listed by UNAMA include 22 — five of them children — who were killed in two successive airstrikes on a residential building in the eastern province of Paktia on June 28. At least 185 others were wounded.

Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by the second strike, when locals were trying to rescue the victims of the first one.

“International humanitarian law provides special protections for medical personnel and humanitarian workers, including first responders. Attacks against them while performing their duties are strictly prohibited," said Fiona Frazer, director of human rights at UNAMA.

Afghan women still face harsh restrictions

UNAMA’s report also highlighted problems faced by women, who are subject to draconian restrictions by Afghanistan’s Taliban government. They include a ban on education beyond primary school, a strict dress code, bans on working in nearly all professions and a requirement to be accompanied by a male relative when outside the home.

The report detailed a crackdown in the western city of Herat in June, where at least 30 women were arrested on allegations of dress code violations. At least one person was killed and several others were injured when authorities opened fire during a rare protest against the detentions.

Rules governing women’s clothing stipulate they can only go out in public when wearing full hijab — which includes a headscarf and robe covering the entire body — as well as a face covering that leaves only the eyes visible. The regulations are policed by the feared Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

However, interpretations of the rules and what constitutes wearing the hijab correctly vary and can be arbitrarily enforced.

The UNAMA report said Vice and Virtue officials visited health clinics and shops in various parts of the country to advise them to refuse entry to women not accompanied by a male relative.

The report also said new rules on separation in marriage “ implicitly sanction child marriage " by allowing for marriage contracts to be arranged for minors.

Demonstrators in the capital Tripoli, Zawiya, Misrata and other locations across western Libya have protested for several days over hourslong power outages. They demand better electrical services and have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

As part of the ongoing protests, a group stormed the General Electricity Company's Mellitah Oil & Gas complex about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Tripoli. The disruption could cause a complete blackout in multiple areas and ultimately collapse the electricity network, the company warned in a statement Tuesday.

The Mellitah complex is a strategic energy supplier. Gas from the complex is compressed and sent to Sicily through a subsea pipeline, according to Bonatti, an international contractor that provides services to global energy sectors.

The Mellitah complex sends 30 million Standard Cubic Meters of gas to Italy daily, according to Bonatti.

The closure of the lines disrupted operations and caused a severe shortage in gas and fuel supplies needed to operate power plants, pushing a number of generators out of service, the National Oil Corporation said in a statement Tuesday.

The complex’s workers union condemned the closure of the gas lines, warning that the action had created serious technical and operational risks and endangered the lives of workers. The union called for stronger security measures to protect the facility and staff and urged authorities to take legal action against those involved.

Dbeibah's Government of Unity said Tuesday that the defense ministry secured the Mellitah complex, ensuring the safety of staffers and allowing the resumption of gas supplies, which gradually restored electricity and stabilized the national grid.

Libya  plunged into chaos  after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator  Moammar Gadhafi  in 2011. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.

Dbeibah heads the internationally recognized Government of Unity in Tripoli in the west. Osama Hammad heads the administration in the east, where powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter holds sway.

“I’m excited,” he said. “The France team makes you dream. We have extraordinary players, an extraordinary team.”

Zidane coached Real Madrid until leaving in 2021. He replaces Didier Deschamps at the helm of France team he led to glory as arguably its greatest ever player.

“I’ve waited five years for this chance, so that’s why I’m a bit emotional,” said Zidane, adding that it was the happiest day of his career as coach.

“I’ve always watched this side as a fan and also as a future coach, I won’t hide it.” Zidane added. “That’s why I didn’t take a club side. I told myself that the only thing I wanted to do after Madrid was taking the France team.”

French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo announced Zidane’s appointment at the FFF headquarters in Paris on Tuesday, saying he has been given a 4-year contract.

Diallo called the hiring of Zidane “an exceptional moment,” calling Zidane “one of the legends of French soccer.”

The 54-year-old Zidane could have gone to another club after leaving Madrid in 2021. But there was no way he would.

“I had some offers during the five years I was away to take charge of a club,” he said. “I turned them all down for the France team. It was the only thing I wanted to do.”

Zidane called it “an immense joy” taking charge.

“I have so many emotions,” he said. “I am ready for the challenge.”

Zidane praised Deschamps, who won the 2018 World Cup and stepped down after the recent edition, where Les Bleus lost in the semifinals to Spain.

“I will give everything so that this team can win,” Zidane said. “I would also like to congratulate DD (Deschamps) for these remarkable years.”

Diallo said he met Zidane for talks in February, 2025 after Deschamps said he would stand down following the 2026 World Cup. Zidane said France would play differently to how it did under Deschamps.

“What motivates me is the game, I was a No. 10, I like goals,” Zidane said. “I was a leader on the field and now I want to be a leader by experience.”

His first game will be away to Turkey in the Nations League on Sept. 25, followed by a match in Belgium three days later.

Home fans need to wait until Oct. 2 for a glimpse of Zidane at Stade de France, when France plays Italy, 20 years after he was sent off against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final for headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi.

“I’ve noted all of the four matches to come,” Zidane said, tapping his forehead. “Italy is special, because I played there, because I know people, because I speak Italian. All of those things.”

After the announcement, Zidane greeted a large gathering of fans outside the federation headquarters and they cheered loudly when he arrived.

From Deschamps to Zidane

France lost the World Cup final on penalties in 2022 and lost the European Championship final on home soil in 2016. Some Deschamps critics, among them former France teammate Christophe Dugarry, said he should have won more with the players he had.

Deschamps described an “an unbreathable atmosphere” at the end of his tenure, without detailing what the tensions were.

Zidane and Deschamps were different types of midfielders, but are forever linked by glory.

The industrious Deschamps was France’s captain and the mercurial Zinedine was the creative force when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Affectionately nicknamed “Zizou” his face was beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe the night France celebrated its first World Cup triumph in ’98. An inspired Zidane scored two headers in the final in a 3-0 win against Brazil at Stade de France and later that year he won the Ballon d’Or.

Zizou’s rise

Born in Marseille to Algerian parents, Zidane grew up playing in the estate of La Castellane, which has a giant mural of Zidane on one its tower blocks. It was on the estate's concrete pitches where Zidane nurtured his incredible balance, to avoid falling on the rock-hard ground.

Zidane’s club career took him from Cannes to Bordeaux and then to two of the world’s biggest clubs: Italian giant Juventus and Madrid.

His international career began in 1994, when he scored two stunning goals against the Czech Republic after coming on as a substitute, in front of his home fans in Bordeaux.

He won league titles with Juve and Madrid and scored a brilliant volley to help Madrid win the Champions League in 2002.

With Zidane carrying an injury, France flopped at the 2002 World Cup — going out in the group stage — but reached the 2006 final after Zidane came out of international retirement.

His performance in a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the quarterfinals was Zidane at his balletic best: a hypnotic combination of drag-backs, stepovers, spins on the ball, and flicks over the shoulder.

The Brazilians were in awe and even Ronaldinho — a Ballon d'Or winner himself — seemed captivated.

His 108th and final game for France was against Italy in the final and he scored early with a deft Panenka-style penalty for his 31st, and last, international goal.

Then, with millions watching around the world, an infamous moment saw him walk back up the field and slam his forehead into Materazzi’s chest, sending the tall defender flying backward.

Zidane trudged past the gold-tinted World Cup trophy as he left the field in Berlin, his international career over.

Now he has another chance to lead Les Bleus to glory.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

According to Kissimmee police, Paola Pagan was stabbed at the Kensington Apartments in November 2022. Her family found her after she made it back inside her apartment. She later died at a hospital.

Police arrested Anas Muhammad for the killing. He was 17 at the time of the attack and was later charged as an adult with first-degree murder.

According to Kissimmee police, Muhammad — who goes by “Nas” — knew what time Pagan left for school. An arrest warrant shows he waited at the bottom of the stairs and stabbed her with a small, black pocketknife as she walked out of the breezeway.

A 911 caller told dispatch the girl had a “hole in her neck” and that “it looks like a stabbing or something.”

Police said Muhammad told investigators that if someone else had walked out of the breezeway, he would have done the same thing to them

The judge expects the trial to last a couple of days.

Many people throw away food simply because of the date printed on the label. But often it is still perfectly edible, according to experts.

With no federal regulations requiring standardized labels for dates on food except for baby formula, it’s no surprise that deciphering terms like “Best Before,” “Best By,” “Best If Used By,” “Enjoy By,” and “Sell By” can be mind-boggling.

What most people don’t realize is that those labels are more about how fresh something is — not how safe the food is to eat.

California is trying to bring some clarity with a new law that requires food manufacturers to use just two labels: one for quality and another for safety.

Here are a few tips to help you understand food date labels and keep perfectly good food out of the trash even if you don't live in California.

More than 50 different date labels are used in the US

In the United States, more than 80% of consumers discard food approaching the package date label at least occasionally, a 2019 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found.

“The date labels guarantee quality up until that point,” said Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University. “They are not about the safety of a product.”

Food date labels vary state by state and are determined by the food manufacturer. Researchers from the University of Maryland found that more than 50 different date labels are used across the United States.

“They’re based on when the manufacturer thinks that product will taste its best, when its quality will be at its peak,” said Rachel Zemser, a San Francisco Bay Area food scientist who helps food companies design, launch and market new food products.

Food packaging helps determine how long food is safe to eat

Unopened canned food like beans, tomatoes, fruit, vegetables, and any shelf-stable food package in liquid, will last for years after the date stamped on its label. The same goes for boxes of soy milk or boxes of almond milk, or any food that’s been heat-treated and sealed to stay safe without refrigeration.

Dry goods, like cookies, crackers and cereal, also have a long shelf life because the low moisture in them doesn’t allow bacteria to grow.

“People can use their best judgment by smelling and tasting the product because dry crackers and cookies, and things of that nature, may be stale but they are not going to make you sick if you eat them,” Zemser said.

But extra precautions should be taken with beef, chicken or fish. They can go bad even if it’s in your refrigerator, but wrapping them tight in plastic and freezing it before the “best by” date on its packaging could help it last longer.

“Most bacteria needs moisture and air to grow and thrive, so very dry products will last, but I wouldn’t risk it with meat,” Zemser said.

The FoodKeeper, a website and free app developed by the Department of Agriculture, Cornell University, and the Food Marketing Institute, provides guidance on how long foods stay fresh and safe to eat.

California is trying to clarify label confusion

California became the first state in the U.S. to standardize food labels by banning “sell by” dates.

The law that went into effect July 1 requires manufacturers selling food in California to use two standardized labels: a “Best If Used By” label for peak quality and a “Use By” label for product safety. “Sell by” dates are used by stores to ensure products are being displayed for a reasonable amount of time before quality declines, said Nate Rose, a spokesperson for the California Grocers Association.

“Think of it like an internal referencing system for store managers and employees,” he said.

New York state lawmakers recently passed a similar measure for labels that is awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.

Most labels are about food quality, not safety

The only product legally required by the federal government to have an expiration date is infant formula. It should not be consumed past that date because its nutrients decline over time.

“Infant formula is the sole source of nutrition for the infant, and the concern is that the child could have a nutritional deficiency” if given expired formula, Schaffner said.

In general, people should use their own judgment and look for signs like mold, strange odors and unusual colors to decide whether or not to toss out food.

And follow your taste buds.

“Practice your own food stock rotation, buy appropriate amounts of food, don’t buy giant amounts that you won’t be able to eat,” Schaffner said. “Because who wants to eat poor quality food?”

Massive capacity in a slew of Chinese industries, from automaking to solar panels, cement and steel manufacturing, among many others, has drawn increasing attention from Beijing's trading partners in recent years. Although China's own leaders have made rebalancing the economy a priority, slowing domestic demand has prompted companies to expand into markets overseas. Surging exports pushed China's trade surplus to a record of nearly $1.2 trillion last year.

China has never sought a large trade surplus, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report titled “China’s Position on the So-called Excess Capacity Issue.” It took aim at recent talk of a “China shock 2.0” due to excess capacity.

“The U.S. and other western countries have come up with the so-called ‘China shock 2.0,’ falsely accusing China’s industrial development of posing threats to western countries’ monopoly,” said the report, alluding to assertions of an earlier shock to trading partners from China's ascent as a manufacturing power.

“This is not supported by facts and totally untenable,” the report said.

Tuesday's document echoed remarks by China’s No. 2 official, Premier Li Qiang, at the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” meeting in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian. Li said that instead of a “China Shock 2.0,” recent trends should be viewed as a “China Opportunity 2.0.”

The U.S. is expected to soon announce findings of an investigation of 16 economies, including China, relating to excess capacity and production in their manufacturing sectors. The probe is widely expected to result in increased tariffs on some countries.

On Friday, the U.S. imposed higher tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 economies, including China, saying they had failed to effectively enforce a ban on goods produced with forced labor. Many countries including China protested that move.

At a press conference Tuesday, Lin Weilong, director of the Commerce Ministry's policy research office, said the U.S. has no authority to unilaterally determine whether trading partners have excess capacity and impose restrictive measures.

“The U.S. cannot narrowly define production capacity that exceeds domestic demand as excess capacity, and slap it with a surplus label,” Lin told reporters in Beijing.

Earlier this month, the European Union, struggling to rebalance its trade with China, implemented trade measures including protections for its steel industry and restrictions on imports of e-commerce small parcels.

China’s stance on the overcapacity issue will likely “fall on deaf ears,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, an expert on China at Ankura, a consultancy.

“Economic conditions in Western markets have made it politically untenable to do nothing in the face of rising Chinese imports, especially in high value added sectors that Western firms used to dominate,” he said.

The administration notified Congress late last week that it intends to spend $175.8 million to replace outdated and aging undersea telecommunications cables in the Caribbean and Central America to prevent China from moving in. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the notification on Monday.

The administration has expressed deep concern about China's activities in the Americas, pushing back on Chinese ownership of ports at either end of the Panama Canal, infrastructure projects funded by China's Belt and Road initiative in the region, and Chinese investment in the telecommunications sector.

A State Department official said China’s economic activities in the Western Hemisphere pose risks to U.S. national security and prosperity. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly to the subject and spoke on condition of anonymity, said China's offerings may seem cheaper but in the end wind up being more expensive due to cost overruns, hidden maintenance fees and poor performance.

The underseas cable funding appears to be part of a broader push to restore support for initiatives aimed at blunting Chinese influence globally that would cost many hundreds of millions of dollars more. That is even as President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping put on a show of cooperation and Xi prepares to visit the U.S. this fall.

US weighs wider spending to counter China globally

The State Department is considering spending nearly half a billion dollars more on programs aimed at China throughout the Western Hemisphere, Africa and Asia, according to an internal State Department document obtained by AP.

“The United States must respond to the CCP’s growing economic, technological, and diplomatic leverage around the world which undermines our national interests,” the document says, using the acronym for the Chinese Communist Party.

Many of those proposed programs are designed to “reclaim diplomatic leverage” through investments in areas where the U.S. had previously been spending money but stopped as the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, carried out deep cuts to government budgets and personnel last year.

Those cuts, which dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and eliminated several hundred diplomatic posts worldwide, also affected previously approved projects, including some aimed at countering China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China's cooperation with other regions “is not about wooing or rivaling anyone, but about safeguarding world peace, promoting global development, upholding international order and building a community with a shared future for humanity.”

A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss future administration plans, confirmed the Trump administration’s intent to boost funding on countering China but could not speak to specifics. The official acknowledged discussions of large-scale projects but said many were still in the discussion phase.

Congress told about undersea cable project to keep China away

The program described to Congress on Friday is called the “Countering CCP Control of Caribbean and Central America Undersea Cables project.”

It will “fund the installation of strategically selected undersea cable infrastructure” and support foreign governments in partnering with private sector undersea cable installers, according to the notification. The money will “support replacement of outdated undersea telecommunications cables in the Caribbean and Central America region with secure, U.S. and trusted alternatives,” it said.

Even as it pursues the war with Iran and peace efforts in Gaza and Lebanon, the Trump administration has put a focus on the Western Hemisphere, capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, ramping up pressure on Cuba’s socialist government in the months since and imposing severe sanctions on the government in Nicaragua.

Under the new program, funding is anticipated to be given to or in support of undersea cable projects benefiting El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Haiti, the document said. The U.S. has tenuous ties with Nicaragua and would not be working with the government there.

Lin said undersea cables benefit people globally and that China is ready to work with the rest of the world to promote their construction and protection.

“Turning it into a political or security issue will only disrupt international market rules and threaten global digital connectivity and cybersecurity, which serves no one’s interests,” he said in Beijing.

Other anti-China efforts could focus on cyber and critical minerals

At the same time, the administration has drawn up plans to spend more than $340 million for over 50 specific anti-China projects around the world, including many in the Western Hemisphere, according to the internal State Department document outlining various proposals.

The administration notified Congress in May that it had spent several hundred million dollars in counter-China funding from the 2024 budget that was approved by the Biden administration. However, many other projects funded for 2024 and 2025 had been put on hold.

Among the plans to be resurrected are the creation of security operations centers in Argentina and Belize to monitor Chinese threats to critical infrastructure and cyber platforms throughout the region. Also coming back would be initiatives to protect Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay from alleged Chinese attempts to infiltrate port operations and illegally exploit offshore fishing and critical minerals extraction.

More broadly, the proposal, which is still under consideration, would work against Chinese influence in the selection of a successor to the Dalai Lama “by developing proprietary technology to ensure secure communications and information collection.” It also would go after international support for China’s space program and push back against Chinese firms seeking to export surveillance and censorship technology.

The document did not describe the initiatives in detail.

Trump is expected to meet with Xi in September around the time of the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York. To prepare for that meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week at a regional security conference in the Philippines.

Trump has oscillated between anger and elation with Xi, whom the U.S. leader has sought to cultivate as an ally even while China pursues goals antithetical to many of his administration's. The ultimate impact of the proposed new programs won't be known for many months or years.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed.

The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, had pleaded not guilty in the District Court of Western Australia state to six charges of rape, three charges of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of choking in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

The accuser cannot legally be named. She was 20 at the time.

Prosecutor Danielle Clarke told the court Barrientos was an “entitled man” with a “moderate degree of fame" who had been sexually violent toward an “impressionable" young woman.

“She meant nothing to him,” Clarke told the court in her closing arguments.

“What could have been and should have been consensual sex quickly escalated into sexual violence and a non-consensual nightmare,” she added.

Defense lawyer David Edwardson replied that the accuser's "evidence is riddled with inconsistencies, embellishments and outright lies.”

Edwardson will complete his statement early on Wednesday. The jury could begin considering their verdicts late Wednesday after Judge Linda Black gives them their final directions.

Barrientos testified Monday that he did not slap or choke the woman, but he agreed to the allegation that he bit her multiple times.

“In England we would call it a love bite,” Barrientos told the court.

The performer denied the woman repeatedly told him to stop and told him he was hurting her.

“There was kissing in between; I would give her a love bite and then kiss her,” Barrientos said from the witness box. “I don’t recall any blood.”

Photos of the woman with bruising and bite marks on her face and neck were shown to the court.

Barrientos met the woman at a Perth nightclub after his performance.

“The vibes were good and she had a really good energy about her,” he said.

Prosecutors previously said the woman initially agreed to have sex with Barrientos, but withdrew her consent when she started to fear for her safety.

Barrientos agreed that his bodyguard took the woman’s phone before she entered the hotel room.

But he denied the prosecutor’s accusation that the phone was removed to trap the woman.

“It is standard practice for someone in the limelight to protect privacy,” Barrientos said.

The Colombian-born entertainer had been touring Australia and had performed in Sydney and Melbourne before he encountered the woman. He was in the east coast city of Brisbane, where the tour was to end, when he was arrested several days later.

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY

A heat advisory is in effect today for the majority of Central Florida, where heat index values could reach as high as 110 degrees. High temperatures will climb into the mid to upper 90s, while much of the rest of Central Florida will experience feels-like temperatures above 100 degrees.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop after 2 p.m., with rain chances ranging from 30% to 50% and the highest coverage south of Orlando. Storms could produce frequent lightning, wind gusts up to 55 mph, and torrential rainfall.

THURSDAY-WEEKEND

Rain and storm coverage will increase Thursday through the weekend as an upper-level trough keeps deeper moisture across the region. Rain chances will climb to 60% to 80% or higher, with multiple rounds of showers and storms possible.

The Weather Prediction Center has placed much of Central Florida under a Marginal Risk for excessive rainfall Thursday and Friday, meaning locally heavy rain and isolated flooding will need to be monitored.

The increased clouds and rain should bring some relief from the most intense heat, but temperatures will still reach the lower 90s through the weekend, with heat index values remaining between 100 and 105 degrees.

• Back-to-school spending is projected to hit an all-time high this year, but families say they’re paying more for the same items – not buying more of them.

• Even as families cut back elsewhere, one category is holding steady: youth sports.

• One surprising item is taking a chunk out of family budgets – and it has nothing to do with school supplies.

There was a time when back-to-school shopping meant waiting until a week or two before classes started, grabbing the supply list, and making one big trip to the store.

Lately, inflation has had other plans for our money. In effect, it has said, “Hold my beer.”

Paired with slower economic growth, over the past few years prices haven’t just climbed, they’ve contributed to a fundamental change in how families decide what’s worth paying for in the first place, and when to pull the trigger on a purchase.

And that shift didn’t happen quietly.

It happened one budget decision at a time – delaying a purchase here, swapping a brand there. And the numbers explain why: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for educational books and supplies alone jumped 9.4% over the past year, more than triple the overall inflation rate. Daycare and preschool costs rose 5.7%. Back-to-school isn’t just caught up in inflation – in some categories, it’s outpacing it.

A record season, built on restraint

For 2026, back-to-school shopping is shaping up to be the biggest on record – but the record isn’t being set the way it used to be.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2026 survey, conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics, total K-12 spending is projected to reach $43.3 billion, with college household spending crossing $100 billion for the first time.

But that record isn’t being driven by families buying more. It’s being driven by families paying more – and shopping smarter to soften the blow. Nearly half of shoppers, 47%, say they intend to buy only what’s essential this year. Among shoppers, 23% are spreading purchases across several weeks to stay within budget, and 46% are holding out for a better deal. More than half, 54%, say they used June sales events – like Prime Day and similar retailer promotions – to get an early start.

Deloitte’s own 2026 back-to-school research found a similar pattern, with a twist. Among the most disciplined bargain-hunters – those juggling four or more cost-saving tactics at once – spending isn’t down at all. That group is projected to spend 14% more than other shoppers this season, suggesting that for them, “smart shopping” was never about spending less – it’s about spending with purpose.

That same tension – spending more while insisting it’s smarter – shows up across the board.

Sixty-one percent of consumers say they’re seeing higher prices, and 46% say they’re comparison shopping more than they used to, while 41% are turning to discount retailers. Notably, 37% say they’ll cut back in other spending areas specifically to protect what they spend on back-to-school – a preview of a tradeoff that shows up again later in a very different category.

According to KPMG’s 2026 Consumer Pulse Back-to-School survey, families expect to spend an average of $252 per child on school purchases this year, a 6% increase over 2025. Nearly 80% of parents say that increase comes down to paying more for the same items – including big-ticket purchases like laptops – not buying more of them.

The economic squeeze is also showing up well beyond the school supply aisle.

The KPMG data suggest a majority of families expect to spend more this year on groceries (83%), gas and car maintenance (77%), and prescription drugs (52%) than they did at this time last year. Those rising household costs leave less room elsewhere in many family budgets.

Protecting the one thing: sports

Despite the tighter math, one category is holding steady: youth sports. KPMG found that 7 in 10 families are planning for sports participation this school year, even as they cut back elsewhere.

Parents point to their kids’ growing interest in sports and the physical health benefits of playing as the top reasons the spending isn’t going away. Outdoor sports make up the largest share of school-related activities, at 43%, with soccer the most popular, followed closely by baseball and softball. About a third of children are also enrolled in some kind of extracurricular training or tutoring – and for most of those families, that means sports coaching.

That commitment is notable given how much more expensive youth sports have become. According to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative, the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child’s primary sport in 2024 – a 46% increase since 2019. Families with kids in more than one sport spend an average of $1,500 a year, and nationally, families spend more than $40 billion annually on youth sports. Hockey tops the list as the single most expensive sport, running families more than $2,500 a year.

That resilience may stem from sports participation being woven into a family’s routine, as they weigh tradeoffs elsewhere in the back-to-school budget. It’s not a one-time purchase: it’s cleats that get outgrown, jerseys that get replaced, gear that turns over every season. It’s recurring spending that families are less willing to cut, even as the price of staying in the game keeps climbing.

Trading restaurant nights for home-cooked routines

If sports are the category families are protecting, meals are where they’re cutting back.

A recent survey from meal-kit company HelloFresh, conducted with Wakefield Research, found 93% of Americans expect to cook as much or more over the next year as they did the year before – and among those planning to cook even more, 85% point to the economy as a driving factor. Nearly half of respondents, 49%, say they’ve felt guilty getting takeout or delivery instead of cooking at home.

That shift shows up especially sharply around back-to-school season.

The KPMG survey found half of families plan to dine out less often once school resumes, and 48% say they’ll shift to simpler weekday meals at home. Though not exactly the same as the HelloFresh data, both surveys point to the same thing: dine out less, cook at home more.

Also, according to KPMG: nearly a third expect to do more batch cooking and advance meal prep, buying more raw ingredients instead of takeout or prepared food. Forty-three percent of parents say home-cooked meals and snacks are their preferred option for their kids during the school week, compared to just 7% who prefer packaged, ready-to-eat food.

The two surveys together point to the same conclusion from different directions: cooking at home isn’t just a back-to-school habit anymore – it’s a year-round budget strategy that happens to intensify once the school bell rings.

A wellness wildcard

Well, this came out of nowhere.

There’s one more emerging expense showing up in household budgets – and unlike sports or groceries, it isn’t traditionally associated with back-to-school season: GLP-1 medications.

KPMG found nearly one in three consumers say they’re currently using or considering a GLP-1 drug (like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Trulicity), with adoption concentrated among younger generations – 30% of Millennials and 26% of Gen Z (compared to 21% of Baby Boomers and 33% of Gen X). Most of that interest, 70%, is driven by lifestyle or weight-management goals, and usage skews heavily female, at 75%.

KPMG found that within specific categories, GLP-1 users report spending more on healthy groceries, nutrition products, and even beauty and skincare, alongside pullbacks in less healthy, indulgence categories. That said, the bigger picture looks different: research out of Cornell University, linking survey data to actual household purchase records, found that households cut their overall grocery spending by an average of 5.3% within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, with steeper cuts – more than 8% – among higher-income households. Spending at fast-food restaurants and coffee shops fell by about 8% as well.

Taken together, the two findings aren’t in conflict so much as describing two sides of the same shift: total grocery bills are shrinking as appetites shrink, but within that smaller basket, users are spending more deliberately on health-focused categories – a microcosm of the same tradeoff playing out across the rest of the back-to-school budget.

Last call: settling the tab

Inflation said, “Hold my beer.” Families are saying, “Hold my receipts” and starting to make every dollar answer for itself. That’s what’s really tying sports, groceries, dinner plans, and even a wellness drug together into one back-to-school story.

None of it means families are spending less overall – the record-breaking numbers make that clear. What’s changed is the interrogation. Every purchase now has to explain itself: is this worth protecting, like a soccer season? Worth delaying, like a new laptop? Worth cutting altogether, like a Tuesday night at a restaurant?

Retail experts who track this kind of behavior year over year say the habit isn’t going anywhere – nearly 7 in 10 retail executives now consider these shopping behaviors a structural shift, not a temporary response to inflation. Comparison shopping, sale-timing, and batch-cooking don’t require high prices to keep making sense: they just require a household that’s gotten used to asking the question.

So, inflation may have bought the first round. But families are the ones settling up – and they’ve gotten a lot better at reading the tab before they pay it.

Now Romania is trying something new to stop the incursions: shooting down the drones.

Romanian pilots shot down the first of three drones in as many days from F-16 fighter jets starting Friday as Russia intensified attacks against Ukraine near the border. After determining the drones were of Russian origin, Romania summoned Moscow’s ambassador in protest and expelled a Russian diplomat on Monday.

Drones have crossed into Romanian territory multiple times from Ukraine to the north and east, including in May when a drone injured a mother and child after crashing into an apartment block in the eastern town of Galati along the Danube River.

Romanian authorities largely responded by scrambling jets, collecting debris, erecting fallout shelters near the border and frequently admonishing Moscow for its war spilling into its territory.

Romania and Poland also acquired the MEROPS system, which fires short counter-drones to take down incoming stray drones, following a spate of incursions along NATO’s eastern flank late last year.

Drones have crossed into the territories of multiple EU countries, but have been a persistent problem for Romania's leadership in the capital Bucharest. At least 19 have entered Romania’s airspace this year, while there have been 50 cases of drones or drone fragments identified on its territory since the war started in 2022, according to Romania's Ministry of National Defense.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Sunday congratulated the Romanian pilots for downing the drones and blamed Russia for the incursions.

“It is unacceptable and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romanian airspace,” he said.

Romania shifts the approach to stray drones

Despite passing legislation last year to shoot down drones in its airspace, which was strongly opposed by nationalist political parties, Romania has avoided shooting them down until now.

Romanian military analyst Radu Tudor said the May drone incident in Galati may have “changed something in the Romanian authorities’ mentality” in how to approach the issue.

“This was somehow a kind of psychological trigger, in order to say: ‘OK, enough is enough,’” Tudor said. “Until now, it probably was an Allied decision in NATO not to respond with firepower, because it was somehow a danger of escalation.”

“I think it’s not only a change of attitude of Romania, I think it’s a change of attitude in NATO,” he added.

Before the three interceptions over the past week, Romanian pilots also shot down a stray Ukrainian drone above Estonia in May. Romanian pilots and planes are based in Lithuania to provide broad strike capabilities for NATO.

“They saw so many signals that Russia is trying to provoke NATO,” Tudor said. “Romania is the only NATO country who shot down four drones on the eastern flank — three on Romania and one in Estonia.”

The message sent to Moscow mirrors a statement by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the organization's summit in Ankara, Turkey, earlier this month: “‘Don’t play with us’.”

Russian diplomat expelled

In response to the drone incursions, Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russia’s ambassador in Bucharest on Monday and presented him with fragments of a drone, saying Moscow “bears exclusive responsibility for all these grave incidents.” The ministry also expelled a member of the Russian mission, who was given five days to leave the country.

“The Russian side learned what they already knew: the drones downed on Romanian territory belong to them,” Foreign Minister Oana Toiu wrote in a post on X. “Drone fragments recovered by the Ministry of National Defence and the ongoing prosecutor investigation confirm their Russian origin beyond any doubt.”

The Russian embassy in Romania responded in a statement posted on its Facebook page, saying Russia “has never directed and does not direct combat drones” to Romanian territory and denied the allegation as “completely unfounded.”

“An unprovoked expulsion of a Russian employee will not go unanswered,” the embassy said.

Tactical shift to down errant drones

Cristian Popovici, the Romanian defense ministry’s head of public relations and a former air defense officer, said tactics have been developed to eliminate errant drones.

“We recorded more than 100 attacks with drones near our border with Ukraine, and many of them resulted in debris or even drones that penetrated our airspace,” he told The Associated Press. “Our pilots and our air force, we developed the tactics, procedures, and now we can face and we can eliminate this threat.”

The change began when Romanian pilots shot down a drone over Estonian airspace and from that point the military applied “lessons learned” and had a “100% rate success in three days with three drones,” Popovici said.

Despite the new approach to stray drones, Popovici said Romania does not plan to become entangled in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are in a peacetime, we are not involved in this fight,” he said. “If Russia wants to escalate with NATO, it’s up to them. I’m not sure it’s a wise move now.”

___

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

“i will end ur career and ur life,” she told him in a text message sent the night before her death.

Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo decided that evidence presented during a preliminary hearing provided probable cause for a trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The dark and disturbing details presented over five days brought tears, gasps and horror to the courtroom. The evidence included grisly autopsy photos, explicit descriptions and depictions of sexual abuse and a stark picture of the final texts she sent minutes before she died and her phone went permanently silent.

The ruling was a major step in the 10-month investigation and prosecution of D4vd that began when the dismembered and decomposing body of a girl was found in the trunk of his Tesla in the Hollywood Hills in September while he was on tour.

D4vd shows no emotion as decision is read, and now heads to trial

D4vd, the 21-year-old whose legal name is David Burke, showed no emotion when the judge issued her ruling, watching calmly and intently in his orange jail clothes and glasses as he had throughout the proceedings.

He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that the murder evidence was insufficient, but did not argue against the other two charges. They declined to comment outside court.

Prosecutors argued that the evidence was overwhelming.

“Based on the mountains of evidence presented,” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said, “all of the allegations have been proved way beyond the standard required.”

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside court that prosecutors presented only a “small fraction” of the evidence they have. They are still weighing whether to seek the death penalty, but Burke is eligible for it after Olmedo also found probable cause for lying in wait, killing for financial gain and killing a potential witness, special circumstances in a crime that allow for a death sentence.

Olmedo ordered that Burke continue to be held without bail. An arraignment is to be held on Aug. 31, and a trial could happen as soon as 60 days later.

The last night of Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Before the decision, prosecutors gave a moment-by-moment account of Rivas Hernandez's last night.

As she neared his Hollywood home shortly after 10 p.m. on April 23, 2025, in an Uber he had sent to pick her up, she sent her final text: “girly pop i’m almost there open ur door if ur home.”

Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed her to death when she came through the door.

The night before, the two argued via text about his relationship with a woman. She sent him an angry and profanity-riddled text saying she will tell her dad so many lies about him and that she would “end ur career and ur life.” She had sent several similar messages around the same time.

Prosecutors said that Burke met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18. A year before her death, the pair also exchanged messages about how she had become pregnant — she assured him the baby was his — and that she had an abortion.

During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors introduced photos of the two of them kissing and lying in bed. The pictures showed that she had “David” tattooed in red ink on a finger — one of two that had been cut off when her body was found.

Prosecutors said they have records showing Burke ordered chain saws and wading pools that he used to dismember her body in his garage, and that her DNA was found there on blood stains.

They said he then drove around for weeks and even months with the body in his trunk before the seemingly abandoned Tesla was towed from the Hollywood Hills.

Defense argues there's insufficient evidence for murder

The defense argued that the evidence didn't show the kind of malice that was required for murder.

“There’s no evidence that Mr. Burke harbored a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez,” said Burke's attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.

She said the communications between Burke and Rivas Hernandez showed “no threat, no evidence of a history of violence” and that he had “the opposite of homicidal malice” toward her.

She argued that a medical examiner ruling that her death was a homicide from two puncture wounds was too vague and inconclusive to be evidence of murder. The defense did not directly give an alternative theory on how she died and isn't required to.

The defense also established that she had asked seven times to come to see him in the days before her death, and he reluctantly agreed only after she demanded it, and that she had threatened to kill Burke and to mutilate him.

Silverman told the judge that “the defense tried numerous times throughout these proceedings to dirty up the victim” despite her being a child.

Farrell, the detective, also said under defense questioning that the parents of both Burke and Rivas Hernandez knew about their relationship, that he had attended church with members of her family and that her parents had given their consent for her to go to London with him for a week.

Patrick Steinfeld, an attorney for Rivas Hernandez’s family said after the hearing that they were “horrified that the defense attorneys brought up evidence to put the blame on a 14-year-old girl.”

Her parents sat in the front row through most of the hearing, but sat out some of the more graphic parts and left in the middle of the sexual testimony after her mother began crying.

D4vd's career was reaching new heights at time of killing

D4vd (pronounced “David”) became an online musical phenomenon as a teen with a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He had huge followings on TikTok, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays.

In 2024 he played the Coachella music festival and released his first full-length album, “Withered,” two days after authorities say Rivas Hernandez was killed.

It’s sometimes said that bonds are a better investment than cash because bonds have the potential for underlying capital appreciation in addition to their regular yields. But what does the historical record say about that? Do bonds appreciate over time? And if so, how much? And how has this differed historically among different types of bonds?

Strictly speaking, the underlying dollar value of most bonds won’t appreciate. With few exceptions, a bond’s price at maturity (also known as par value) will never increase; it remains fixed throughout the bond’s lifetime. Because the coupon payments and par value are contractually obligated, they don’t have any potential for growth.

The historical record underscores this lack of growth. To illustrate this, I looked at price returns (a proxy for capital appreciation) versus total returns (which include reinvested income payments) for several sets of bond indexes with returns going back to the 1970s (or early 1980 in one case). In each case, the price returns were close to zero, meaning that virtually all of their total returns were from yield.

While a bond’s par value at maturity is fixed, bond prices can increase (or decrease) during the interim in response to changes in market interest rates over shorter periods.

As market interest rates increase, a bond’s price decreases, with the magnitude of the decrease driven by duration, which estimates the change in value of an investment for a 1% change in interest rates. A bond with a 5-year duration, for example, would be expected to lose roughly 5% if interest rates were to rise by 1% and gain the same amount if interest rates were to fall. The longer the duration, the greater the sensitivity to interest rates.

In 2022, when the Federal Reserve made a series of aggressive interest rate hikes, long-term Treasuries suffered price declines of more than 30%, while other types of bonds saw price declines of 12% or more.

The same pattern works in reverse when market interest rates decrease. In 1982, for example, the Fed reduced rates by nearly 5 percentage points, leading to dramatic price gains for bonds. Prices for long-term Treasuries surged by about 26%, and other types of bonds also saw double-digit price gains.

Another factor that has an impact on bond price is credit quality, especially if there’s a concern that the bond issuer won’t meet its obligations. If buyers are less confident about a bond’s credit quality after it is first issued, they’ll typically buy the bond only if it’s priced at a discount to its par value. Buying at a lower price, in turn, means there’s a potential for the price to appreciate if worries about credit quality turn out to be overblown. On the flip side, someone who purchases a bond at close to its par value might see the price decrease if credit quality deteriorates.

At the portfolio level, a manager could buy bonds at a discount and sell after they appreciate, thereby capturing some capital appreciation over time. But even successful portfolio managers are playing a game of inches. If they’re consistently successful, they might end up adding small amounts of value versus a benchmark index—most likely less than a percentage point per year. Fidelity Investment Grade Bond  FBNDX, for example, has generated annualized returns of 2.28% for the trailing 10-year period through April 2026, compared with 1.6% for the Morningstar Category index. But overall, any capital appreciation from bonds is generally marginal.

That said, it’s true that bonds have historically outperformed cash. Since 1926, intermediate-term bonds have generated annualized returns of about 4.9%, compared with 3.3% for cash. But that performance advantage almost entirely stems from the fact that bonds usually have higher starting yields.

Where bonds really shine is their ability to generate income and moderate a portfolio’s risk level. For capital appreciation, stocks are the best place to go.

_____

This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance.

Amy C. Arnott, CFA, is a portfolio strategist for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast.

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Texas (54-52) is the only team in the division not under .500 with about one-third of the regular season remaining, and now less than a week before next Monday's trade deadline. The Rangers have a two-game lead over in-state nemesis Houston (53-55) and are 2 1/2 games in front of reigning division champion Seattle (52-55) after taking three of four against the Mariners.

“Every win matters, but I think the ones right before the deadline, there’s always a little more stress ... especially in a situation where you could go either way,” said Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson, who homered twice in the series-ending 7-3 win over Seattle on Monday. “But I think we put ourselves in a good spot, and we’ve got to continue to play like that.”

The Mariners, who last year won their first AL West title since 2001, have lost 11 of 16 games. They led for only three innings during the four games in Texas, all after a four-run seventh inning Sunday on the way to a 6-4 win, the first time in 46 games this season the Rangers lost when leading after six.

“I think we looked at the series as if we split it, it was a failure, with where the AL West is and the AL wild card is,” Texas first baseman Jake Burger said. “I think we showed what type of team we can be.”

The Rangers won their only World Series title in 2023 after getting into the playoffs as a wild card, but last won the West in 2016. They missed the playoffs the past two seasons, when only the AL West champion made the postseason — which could very well happen again this year.

Houston (53-55) won seven of the previous eight AL West titles before last season. The Astros had been in third place for a month before a four-run rally in the ninth inning Monday night gave them their sixth win in seven games, 6-4 over the last-place Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a three-game series.

Head-to-head in the West

Texas has already clinched its season series — and potential tiebreaker — against the Mariners, up 7-3 with a three-game series left at Seattle in early September.

The Mariners still have five games to play against Houston, but have that season series in hand by a 7-1 margin.

As for the Lone Star State rivals, the Astros are 6-4 against the Rangers. They wrap up their season series with three games in Houston next weekend, after Texas plays three games at AL-best Tampa Bay.

“There are guys in there that are doing whatever they can to make that second-half push, because they know what it means when you get there,” first-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Whatever we do, we’re focused on winning to try to get in. ... It’s go-time.”

Staying on top despite injuries

The Rangers have stayed in first place even with two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager missing the past 20 games because of lower back inflammation. He also was out for 19 games earlier this season because of his back, and missed another 12 following a concussion.

Third baseman Josh Jung is sidelined by a left calf strain. Both of the team's opening-day catchers, Danny Jansen (right forearm strain) and Kyle Higashioka (right flexor strain), are also on the IL.

Seager had consecutive days of live batting practice and could begin a short minor league rehab assignment Tuesday. There are also questions about whether the Rangers might consider trading the 32-year-old shortstop, who is in the fifth season of his $325 million, 10-year contract.

Veteran left-hander Jordan Montgomery, part of the Rangers’ World Series title after being a trade-deadline acquisition that summer, is close to making his season debut, maybe in the finale at Tampa Bay. He left in free agency after the 2023 season for a deal in Arizona, then missed all of 2025 after a second elbow reconstruction surgery. He re-signed with the Rangers at the start of spring training.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Researchers said that the used eight main factors to judge all 50 states: education, healthcare, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environments, and crime/corrections.

Florida finished No. 8 overall in this year’s report, placing the state in the national Top 10 in a year when Midwest and Sun Belt states posted some of the biggest gains.

Where Florida ranks

From the 2026 rankings:

• Overall: No. 8
• Education: No. 3 (behind Colorado and New Jersey)
• Healthcare: No. 20
• Economy: No. 7
• Infrastructure: No. 11
• Opportunity: No. 47
• Fiscal Stability: No. 16
• Natural Environment: No. 15
• Crime & Corrections: No. 14

While Florida managed to crack the overall Top 10 — alongside Utah (No. 1), South Dakota (No. 2) and Minnesota (No. 3) — it actually fell from its No. 6 spot last year.

Florida’s takeaway

Florida’s overall showing suggests a strong balance across the scorecard — and its Top 3 finish in Education stands out as a clear bright spot in 2026.

But again, the Sunshine State fell from its No. 1 spot last year for its Economy and Higher Education.

Who else made headlines

• Utah stayed No. 1 overall for the fourth straight year, but ranked No. 48 in Natural Environment.
• Texas jumped to No. 1 in Economy.
• North Dakota surged from No. 12 to No. 4 overall, part of a Midwest-heavy reshuffle near the top.

The full ranking is as follows:

Meanwhile, the full breakdown of factors used in the study is as follows:

• EDUCATION (15.79%)
• • Higher Education — Includes graduation rates, tuition and educational attainment
  • Pre-K-12 — Includes college readiness, graduation rates, and test scores
• HEALTHCARE (15.51%)
• • Healthcare Access — Includes insurance enrollment, medical visits, and affordability
  • Healthcare Quality — Includes quality of Medicare, nursing homes and hospitals
  • Public Health — Includes rates of mortality, obesity, smoking and suicide
• ECONOMY (12.88%)
• • Business Environment — Includes business creation rate, patent creation rate, low tax burden, and top company headquarters
  • Employment — Includes job growth, unemployment rates, and labor force participation
  • Growth — Includes net migration, GDP growth, and growth of young population
• INFRASTRUCTURE (12.74%)
• • Energy — Includes electricity price, power grid reliability, and renewable energy usage
  • Internet Access — Includes broadband subscription rate and access to gigabit internet
  • Transportation — Includes bridge quality, commute time, public transit usage, and road quality
• OPPORTUNITY (12.20%)
• • Affordability — Includes cost of living and housing affordability
  • Economic Opportunity — Includes food insecurity, household income and poverty rates
  • Equality — Includes education and income gaps by race and gender
• FISCAL STABILITY (12.19%)
• • Long-Term Fiscal Stability — Includes government credit rating and pension fund liability
  • Short-Term Fiscal Stability — Includes liquidity and budget balancing
• NATURAL ENVIRONMENT (9.69%)
• • Air and Water Quality — Includes quality of air and drinking water
  • Pollution — Includes industrial toxins and pollution health risks
• CRIME & CORRECTIONS (9.01%)
• • Corrections Outcomes — Includes equality in jailing and incarceration rates
  • Public Safety — Includes rates of violent crime and property crime

Respect for it, though, has come under strain: Some countries have denied entry to asylum seekers. Under U.S. President Donald Trump, the United States has led a policy of sending asylum seekers to third countries — upending years of U.S. policy.

More than 41 million refugees remain forcibly displaced: Nearly 70% are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The ranks could grow: The International Committee of the Red Cross counts more than 130 armed conflicts around the globe.

The convention took key steps toward defining what a refugee is, laying out their rights, and establishing standards of treatment. Nearly 150 countries are parties to the convention or its 1967 protocol. However, many nations, including many hosting large refugee populations, still aren't party to the convention, leaving millions out of its protections.

“It codified a simple but powerful principle that people forced to flee persecution, conflict or violence must be able to find safety and protection,” said Elizabeth Tan, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' director of international protection and solutions.

Its core principle is “non-refoulement,” prohibiting the return of people to a place where they would face persecution, torture or other serious harm. It all rests on the idea that no society is immune to war, persecution or sudden upheaval.

Here’s what six refugees say about their experiences and the importance of the convention.

Escaping Nicaragua's deadly crackdown

Human rights lawyer Juan Carlos Arce considers himself among millions of people whose lives have been saved by the convention: He fled Nicaragua by foot in 2018 after a bloody government crackdown against protesters killed hundreds.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, for which Arce worked, had documented the violence and was deemed a “terrorist organization” by President Daniel Ortega’s government. He fled to Costa Rica where he was granted asylum.

In Costa Rica, rights defenders and Nicaraguan opposition leaders were attacked and even assassinated, so he moved to Barcelona, Spain, last year under a resettlement program organized by UNHCR and the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.

“Feeling safe and protected, that is priceless,” he said under Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf, as tourists and residents walked by.

From refugee to Olympic basketball player

Wenyen Gabriel said his parents worked hard too. He was born in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in 1997 after his parents fled civil war in southern Sudan. They later moved to Egypt as refugees, before being resettled in New Hampshire.

Little Wenyen was 2 at the time. Big Wenyen — he’s 2.08 meters (nearly 6 feet, 10 inches) tall — earned a basketball scholarship at the University of Kentucky and played in the NBA. In 2024, he played for the young country of South Sudan at the Olympic Games in Paris.

While he at times felt “a little bit different from the people in the community” in New Hampshire, there were other refugee families around.

“We had to struggle and figure out how to become something inside of the United States,” he said at the headquarters of the refugee agency UNHCR, for which he became its newest goodwill ambassador on Monday. “It’s not easy to make something of yourself in a foreign country.”

The US was once welcoming

Hershel Greenblat was born during World War II, in 1941, inside a cave in Ukraine as his Jewish family hid from the Nazis.

After the war, his family sneaked into Austria, where they lived in U.S. Army camps for displaced persons. After initially considering moving to Israel, they opted for the U.S. after receiving approval in 1949 to immigrate there.

He recalled how his father woke him in the middle of the night as the Army transport ship approached the Statue of Liberty. The kids received welcome boxes packed by American middle-schoolers.

In Atlanta, where his family has lived for decades, Greenblat said refugees today often get a different welcome. He said he wasn’t previously familiar with the convention despite it being sparked by the displacement of WWII — but said refugees deserve protections and opportunities for work and education.

“Refugees in the ’50s worked their butts off to get what they wanted, what they needed,” said Greenblat, now 85.

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar

Sayed Alom, a humanitarian aid worker and one of the 700,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh in 2017, has been languishing in refugee camps there ever since. The Rohingya are the largest group of stateless people, according to UNHCR, and Bangladesh is not a party to either the 1951 convention or the following 1967 protocol.

Myanmar’s military forces “raped our mothers and sisters, burned down our homes, threw our children into the river and set them on fire,” he recalled in an interview in refugee camps outside Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. “We were persecuted until we could no longer live there.”

Alom, who expected to return home quickly, says the limbo situation has become “imaginably worse,” with kidnapping for ransom, as well as threats from nature, including extreme heat, flooding and landslides destroying the camps.

A Palestinian living for decades in Lebanon

More than seven decades after fleeing her village, 88-year-old Hussniyah Ahmad Ghozlan still remembers the journey that brought her family to Lebanon.

Ghozlan was a child when they fled during the 1948 war after their village — Yajur, southeast of Haifa, Israel — was depopulated.

“We got by because we worked, raised our children and built our lives,” she said in an alley near her home in Shatila camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut.

Asked whether she knew of the 1951 Refugee Convention, Ghozlan laughed and said she had not, explaining that she never learned to read or write. But even if she had, Lebanon is not a signatory to the treaties meant to protect her.

Swimming to refuge in Germany

Swimmers Yusra and Sarah Mardini fled war-torn Syria in 2015, joining the wave of refugees from their home country that year, in a saga that has been turned into a highly-regarded movie.

They went first to Lebanon, then Turkey, where they paid smugglers to take them by sea to Greece: They jumped out of an overloaded boat to keep it from sinking. After an arduous trek across southeast Europe, they received refuge in Germany. Yusra was named a UNHCR goodwill ambassador in 2017.

Now that Syria’s war is over, Yusra is hopeful: Some 1.3 million Syrians have returned. But after such an ordeal, change doesn’t just happen overnight. “You can’t just snap your fingers,” she said.

“I do believe that my country and its people are very strong and that I’m going to contribute in the best way possible.”

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Brito reported from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press journalists Ali Sharafeddine in Beirut; and R.J. Rico and Emilie Megnien in Atlanta contributed to this report. Freelance journalists Habi Zullah and Ro Yassin Abdumonab contributed from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Luis Arraez got the scoring started with an RBI single in the third that drove in rookie catcher Jesús Rodríguez, who opened the inning with a double.

With two outs in the fourth, Willy Adames singled and McCray sent a 406-foot shot the other way to left-center for his sixth career home run and first since a two-homer game at San Diego on Sept. 7, 2024.

The 25-year-old outfielder went 2 for 22 in 22 big league games last season and had been hitless in six at-bats this year since getting recalled July 10 from Triple-A Sacramento.

McCray started in right field for injured Jung Hoo Lee.

Mahle (3-9) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out three. He threw 54 of his 88 pitches for strikes and was lifted after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh.

Sam Hentges, Dylan Smith and Erik Miller combined to retire Milwaukee's last nine batters. Miller got three outs for his third save, finishing the three-hitter.

Brewers starter Brandon Sproat (3-6) permitted three runs and six hits in six innings. He picked off a pair of runners at first base.

San Francisco lost Casey Schmitt to an apparent leg injury, as the third baseman exited in the second after pulling up awkwardly while rounding first base. Christian Koss replaced Schmitt.

Schmitt adds to San Francisco’s growing injury list as the team was already without third baseman Matt Chapman (abdominal strain) and Lee (right elbow soreness).

Up next

Brewers RHP Logan Henderson (4-1, 3.05 ERA) opposes Giants RHP Landen Roupp (7-8, 3.93) on Tuesday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, where a 15-year-old arrested in the case waived his initial appearance Monday, police said they believe there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene and “at least one other unknown suspect.” Authorities had earlier said they believed there were two.

Nicole Powell, the Seattle Police Department's assistant chief of investigations, said at a news conference Monday afternoon that investigators believe the shooting may have been gang-related, with two groups firing at each other. The deceased shooter was 19.

A judge ordered the 15-year-old held in juvenile detention for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault. The King County prosecutor's office said it expected to receive the case from Seattle police on Wednesday for a charging decision.

The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, leaving the 19-year-old shooter and two others dead. At least four others, including a toddler, were injured. The annual three-day festival draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers to Seattle Center, a sprawling park in the shadow of the Space Needle. Many attendees rushed into campus buildings or ran from the park at the sound of the shots.

Officials provided confusing statements about the shooting

News that there were at least three suspects followed a series of confusing statements from city officials concerning the shooting.

On Sunday, the police department waited five hours to share with the public that one shooter had been arrested and that they believed another to be on the loose. Earlier, Mayor Katie Wilson had announced two people were in custody, a statement she retracted.

At a news conference before the court hearing Monday, Police Chief Shon Barnes said investigators weren’t sure if the second shooter was among the dead. Neither he nor the mayor made any reference to additional shooters. Barnes had been out of town Sunday, attending a conference of Black law enforcement executives in Dallas.

The officials defended their handling of the case, saying they were trying to ensure they provided accurate information about chaotic events.

The victims included a father of three

The King County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.

Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses. He died from a gunshot wound to his torso, while Whitehead died from a gunshot to her pelvis and Semo died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told The Associated Press. She was taken to the hospital and died in surgery, she said.

Ashley Whitehead adored her two adult daughters, and also loved nature and arts and crafts, her cousin said.

“I would consider her just a free spirit. She had the best sense of humor, the best gorgeous smile," she said.

During a vigil Monday night at the center, Michelle Whitehead stood among dozens of others with a sign that said “Whitehead Strong" as the group held a moment of silence and raised up flashlights on their phones to honor those that had been killed. Candles and flowers were arranged around them.

The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39, all of whom were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.

Vendors returned to venue to clean up

Vendors were allowed to return to the campus Monday morning to collect their equipment. Skewered squid on grills, roasted ducks in ovens and plates full of food were among the items left behind as people fled.

Near the spot of the shooting, a stain of what appeared to be blood was still visible.

Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and responded in seconds, with at least one observing a suspect firing, authorities said. Police searched an IMAX theater on the grounds where they initially believed a second shooter had fled.

Adam Lombardo, who had a Burmese food stand at the festival, described the panic of fleeing people as a “stampede.” As he gathered his equipment Monday, he described how police escorted food vendors back to the crime scene to turn off their ovens and stoves.

“They just came to enjoy a food festival with people, with friends, with new friends, and they lost their lives in just what sounds like meaningless bloodshed," he said.

A nearby resident offered shelter to people fleeing

Moises Perez, 30, was cooking in his apartment next to the Seattle Center when he spotted people running and yelling outside his window. When he opened his door, he heard gunshots and started ushering more than a dozen people, mostly women and children, inside.

“I was like, ‘OK, we need to help these people,’” said Perez, a construction worker who had attended the food festival that morning. He said losing his brother to gun violence in Mexico years ago made him determined to help the people trying to get to safety.

He and his roommate, William Large, 25, made sure the door was locked and started directing people to the bathroom and hallway, and told them they could stay as long as they needed.

“They were definitely in shock. I know that a lot of people were crying, people were screaming, people were just in complete fear," said Large, who works in social services.

About 30 minutes later, Perez walked out to see what had happened. He found a woman shot in the leg being helped by emergency officials.

The festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees, according to its website.

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Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Seattle; Annika Wolters in Bangkok; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Genevieve was briefly a Category 5 hurricane early Monday, the first in the East Pacific region in two years, the National Hurricane Center said. It was expected to stay far out to sea on a course roughly parallel with the Mexico coast.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph), according to the Miami-based hurricane center. Genevieve’s center was located about 505 miles (810 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and was headed northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said that swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and the Baja California peninsula.

Genevieve was expected to fluctuate in intensity before weakening later in the week.

Farther northwest in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a tropical storm Monday evening as it continued on a path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands. Forecasters said Fausto is expected to pass north of Hawaii, but residents should still monitor the progress of the storm for impacts

Large surf and strong currents were increasing on east-facing shores along Hawaii's islands, the hurricane center said. Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph). It was centered about 415 miles (670 kilometers) east-northeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and traveling west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).

Schmitt appeared to hurt his left leg after rounding first base following a single to right field. He showed discomfort and was grasping at his lower left leg after the play.

Schmitt was able to walk off the field on his own power, limping with a trainer at his side as he left the game. Schmitt was replaced by backup Christian Koss and the Giants went on to beat the Brewers 3-0.

“Scary moment there for him,” manager Tony Vitello said after the game. “He’s a unique personality, but he’s definitely got a level of toughness to him. And you go out there and he was really struggling just to kind of even move around there with (head trainer Dave Groeschner) checking on him.”

Schmitt will undergo an MRI and it is not yet known whether he'll be added to the injury list. Regardless, Vitello doesn’t expect Schmitt to be back right away.

“At this point, (he is) probably going to miss some significant time,” Vitello said. “But based off what we see tomorrow, be interesting what (Groeschner) has, hoping it’s as limited an amount of time as possible.”

Schmitt adds to San Francisco’s growing injury list as the team was already without third baseman Matt Chapman (abdominal strain) and outfielders Jung Hoo Lee (right elbow soreness), and Victor Bericoto (left oblique strain).

Vitello commented that with Schmitt’s injury, rather than rush starter Chapman back, they’ll look to another player to fill in at third base.

Schmitt is hitting .271 with 21 home runs and 55 RBIs, all career bests. Schmitt signed a one-year, $810,000 contract this past year.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday, a day after he got hurt running the bases during a 3-1 win at Philadelphia. He had more tests on Monday in New York that revealed the extent of the injury.

“So the good thing is he’s obviously able to move around right now,” manager Aaron Boone said before Monday night's 9-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. “So we’ll continue to do that and just allow this thing to heal and get him right.”

The loss of Bellinger is another major injury for a New York team already playing without reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who has been out since May 31 because of a fractured rib. Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton has been sidelined since April 24 because of a strained right calf.

The Yankees trail AL East-leading Tampa Bay by 2 1/2 games after topping the White Sox in the opener of a four-game series.

“We’ve had some tough injuries to some really important people,” Boone said. “But again, that is part of it. As I say, the season waits for no one.”

Max Schuemann started in left field on Monday night. Spencer Jones, who was brought up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Bellinger was placed on the IL, was in center, and Jasson Domínguez was in right.

Schuemann was checked on by Boone and a trainer after he slipped on the warning track while going after Braden Montgomery's RBI triple in the first inning. But he stayed in the game.

The MLB trade deadline is next week, but Boone downplayed the effect of Bellinger's injury on the strategy for general manager Brian Cashman and the team's front office.

“I get the sense that they have been working on this in different ways, shape and form for the last several weeks, getting ready for trade deadline stuff,” Boone said. “I expect them to try and do all they can to improve our team, but again, you never know how that’s going to shake out.”

Bellinger, 31, felt tightness in his hamstring while rounding first on a double in the eighth inning on Saturday night. He is batting .259 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs in 102 games this season.

Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees last winter for $162.5 million over five years. He was the MVP of the All-Star Game on July 14 in Philadelphia.

Judge and Stanton are with the team in Chicago, and Boone said Stanton is continuing with his running progression.

“The strength stuff, explosive stuff he’s doing in the weight room has been very good,” Boone said. “So we just got to get him up to a level obviously on the running side of things to be able to go out there.”

Left-hander Carlos Rodón and right-hander Clarke Schmidt are both expected to throw again this week, Boone said. Rodón is coming back from elbow inflammation, and Schmidt had Tommy John surgery a year ago.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

In a release, an OCSO spokesperson said that deputies responded to the Airbnb off Takeaway Way in Davenport shortly after 1 p.m. for the child, who was located at the bottom of the pool.

“Deputies began life-saving measures on the unconscious child by performing CPR until fire rescue arrived on scene,” the release reads. “The 5-year-old male child was transported to Celebration Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.”

Afterward, homicide detectives responded to the scene to investigate, the OCSO noted.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson also told News 6 that the child was with extended family and was in the pool with other children.

No additional information has been provided at this time.

In a court filing Monday, David Hearn's attorneys requested an order for the government to turn over a complete transcript of all grand jury proceedings. They also want prosecutors to disclose the legal instructions they gave to grand jurors about the elements of Hearn's alleged crime.

Hearn pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony count of property destruction and has a trial scheduled to start Sept. 28 in D.C. Superior Court. The charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years upon conviction, accuses Hearn of causing at least $1,000 in damage to the pool.

But his lawyers question whether prosecutors properly presented the grand jury with adequate evidence to support the amount of damage alleged in Hearn's indictment. A National Park Service official testified that the pool already was damaged before Hearn allegedly touched it, couldn't quantify any damage attributable to Hearn and said the same repairs would have been required regardless of his conduct, defense attorneys said.

“The witness’s testimony established that the pool had substantial preexisting damage requiring repair before any alleged conduct by Mr. Hearn," his lawyers wrote. “According to the witness, the pool was leaking more than one million gallons of water per week; its expansion joints had exceeded their service life; and the liner already contained a rip."

Hearn's attorneys are basing those arguments on their limited review of grand jury testimony. They want court-ordered access to all the proceedings.

A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office in Washington didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Hearn's arguments.

Hearn previously asked the court to dismiss the case, which stems from the troubled multimillion-dollar renovation project championed by President Donald Trump. His attorneys argued the government has failed to properly preserve important physical evidence from the Reflecting Pool.

Trump, a Republican, has claimed that vandals have damaged the pool, but administration critics attribute the problems to shoddy repair work. During a speech Monday at General Motors in Michigan, Trump claimed a “sick” person cut the liner in the pool but said the attraction is receiving treatment.

“It’s in the hospital now, but it’s going to get better very soon,” Trump said. “It’s almost ready to open.”

Hearn and his supporters claim his prosecution is a politically motivated attempt by the Trump administration to deflect blame and scapegoat others.

Hearn told The Associated Press he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish, ninth, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says on its website.

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the pool.

___ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Phillies closer Jhoan Duran (1-4) entered with a 7-5 lead before loading the bases with no outs and allowing a tying two-run single by Heriberto Hernández, who scored the winning run.

Hernández and Conine homered against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Jakob Marsee had a run-scoring double and Otto Lopez added an RBI triple for the Marlins, who hadn't won a game since July 9. The Phillies have struggled since the All-Star break, losing seven of 10.

The Marlins built a 5-2 cushion in the first two innings against Wheeler before blowing it in the sixth and rallying in the ninth on Conine's first career walk-off hit and Miami's fifth walk-off win of the season.

Bryce Harper drew a leadoff walk against reliever Cade Gibson and scored on Alec Bohm’s single to make it 5-3 in the sixth. J.T. Realmuto then hit a fly ball against Tyler Zuber that bounced over the right field wall for a double that pulled the Phillies within one. Justin Crawford singled in Bryson Stott before Realmuto was awarded the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Hernández.

Harper gave Philadelphia an early lead with his 22nd homer of the season — a 419-foot, two-run drive off starter Tyler Phillips in the first.

Wheeler was lifted after giving up six hits with six strikeouts in three innings. Manager Don Mattingly said Wheeler might have been feeling nauseous, but there appeared to be no injury concern with the veteran.

Phillips allowed three hits and two runs while walking two and striking out five. He was lifted after five innings and 76 pitches. Calvin Faucher (5-5) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

Up next

Philadelphia RHP Aaron Nola (3-8, 5.82) will start the second game of the series against Miami RHP Sandy Alcantara (10-6, 4.01).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Miami overcame two-run, ninth-inning deficit in the ninth on Monday to beat division-rival Philadelphia 8-7 and snap a 12-game losing streak — the longest such stretch in franchise history.

It was the Marlins' first win since beating Seattle at home on July 9 and ensured they would not suffer their fifth straight sweep.

“Everybody feels good," McCullough said. “It’s no lie everyone in the building has been grinding hard now for a couple of weeks and frustrated with things, but certainly it feels great to get a win and I think in the fashion that we did it'd be hard to ever question this group’s toughness and willingness to compete.”

Griffin Conine singled in the winning run against Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran, who entered in the ninth with a 7-5 lead before loading the bases with no outs.

Heriberto Hernández hit the tying single against Duran before racing home on Conine's single and jumping into his teammates' arms in celebration on the field.

“I’ve never been a part of anything like the last two weeks,” said Conine, who also homered in the first inning. “I think we handled it fine. It’s just like at a certain point, it’s the same way you feel when you’re 0-for-15 at the plate. You feel like you’re never going to get a hit again. And that’s not true. You know that deep down you will, but the way it feels is like — it felt like we were never going to win again.”

The Marlins had lost 11 straight games three times in their history. They lost 11 consecutive games twice during separate stretches in 1998 when the club lost 108 games, and again in June 2011.

Before Monday’s game, McCullough said he saw Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” on a recent day off and couldn’t help but think of his team’s misfortunes.

“I feel a bit like Odysseus,” he said. "Like I’m away from home for 10 years. At some point, I’m going to return home. I don’t know what baseball god I infuriated but it’s where we’re at, so today is an opportunity.”

The Marlins used that opportunity early.

After Bryce Harper put Philadelphia ahead with a two-run shot in the first, Miami responded by scoring five straight runs against ace Zack Wheeler.

After blowing the lead in the sixth, the Marlins scored three in the ninth, including Conine's first career walk-off hit.

“As far as what this does, pressure’s off,” Conine said. "Now we’re on a winning streak. Now we want more of it. So it’s like forget the last two weeks and move on. I think we can learn from it, and I think that we will.”

The Marlins had done plenty of winning before the All-Star break and were at 52-42 and three games behind NL East-leading Atlanta. They also had the third NL wild-card spot.

But the unraveling began in the weekend home series against Cleveland prior to the break. Outside of a 7-2 to loss against San Diego on July 25, Miami had lost the other 11 games by three runs or less, including a 5-3 collapse against San Diego on Sunday.

Miami could barely generate offense during its losing streak, going .208 with a .607 OPS during that stretch. Seven players recorded a hit on Monday — six of them had multiple hits.

“Everybody is going to leave here tonight feeling much different than we have over the last 12-odd games,” McCullough said. “We’ll come in tomorrow and look — we got Game 1 of the series. As rough as it’s been, we still need to try to get back to winning series. Winning the first game of a big divisional series like this is important.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Stafford is the reigning NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion himself, but he also spent enough seasons of his career on mediocre teams to recognize just how good he has it here in his 18th year.

“It was a blast to be out here today,” Stafford said. “I’m surrounded by so many great players, and I don’t take that for granted, both on our side of the football and on the defensive side. It’s a blessing to come out here every single day and compete against these guys and play with the guys on the offensive side. Just an exciting time.”

After sitting out of Sunday's opening practice as part of the Rams' plan to keep their franchise quarterback in top shape for the season ahead, Stafford looked remarkably sharp in his first workout of training camp. He repeatedly found All-Pro Puka Nacua and Davante Adams in solid coverage with long, precise throws that had the crowd at Loyola Marymount cheering.

The Rams made a handful of bold personnel moves in the past four months to maximize the size of their remaining championship window with their 38-year-old quarterback, but coach Sean McVay said on the opening day of camp that he won’t measure his team’s success or failure “by whether or not we win a Super Bowl."

“That’s not what I believe,” McVay added. "I’m not living that way. I’ve gotten caught up in things like that before and those are things that are way beyond our control.”

Stafford agrees with his coach's mindset, realizing the journey is more important than the destination.

Having said all that, he's still thrilled by the chance to start this trip by going against pass-rushing monster Myles Garrett and elite cornerback Trent McDuffie in practice each day.

“We can't help but make each other better, (but) pieces of paper and names on a roster, those don’t win football games,” Stafford said. “Teams and players and groups do. ... Sean said it the other night, we’ve got potentially a high ceiling, right? We’ve got great players that have done a lot in this league. What can we do to continue to raise our floor, so if I’m off a little bit, we can still go find a way to win a football game? If our defense is off a little bit, we can still find a way to go win a football game. Continuing to raise that floor is something that’s going to be a huge part of our journey this season.”

Stafford is coming off arguably the best season of his long career after throwing for 4,707 yards with 46 touchdowns and just eight interceptions for the league's most productive offense. He led the Rams to 12 wins and the NFC championship game, where he passed for 374 yards and three touchdowns without a pick — and it still wasn't enough to hold off the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks, largely because LA's defense couldn't get off the field when it mattered most.

The Rams addressed that defensive failure head-on this year, acquiring Chiefs cornerback duo McDuffie and Jaylen Watson before swinging the blockbuster trade last month for Garrett.

Los Angeles is loaded on paper — but it's also theoretically just one Stafford injury away from lining up with rookie Ty Simpson or backup Stetson Bennett running the offense.

That's why McVay and Stafford are doing everything possible to keep his sometimes-balky back in top shape along with the rest of him. The Rams’ plan for their quarterback is just the latest instance of the preseason-hating McVay’s overall determination to expose his veteran players to the least amount of wear and tear possible before Week 1.

“That's part of the plan, to be able to keep him on a pitch count,” McVay said, noting that the Rams' plan to cut Stafford's camp practices in half is the product of six years of preparation and experience. “Hey, whether it was a weird way or not, we learned a lot about how to try to be able to maximize him.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

“Usually when you look at a situation you cut from the top,” one resident said during public comment.

Some residents acknowledged long-standing infrastructure problems are impacting daily life, including neighborhood flooding, damaged roads and missing sidewalks. “Our community continues to face significant infrastructure challenges including flooding… roads, sidewalks — we have children walking to school in the ditches because the sidewalks aren’t there,” one speaker said.

The city says the proposed increase is aimed at shoring up struggling infrastructure and preparing for what could come if voters approve a property tax cut in November. But some residents questioned the city’s financial priorities, arguing other budget areas should be reduced before raising taxes.

“$300,000 salary for a Chief of Staff — let that sink in,” one resident told commissioners.

Commissioner Nadia Anderson — the lone “no” vote days earlier on a proposed 0.75% millage increase — also raised concerns about several salaries during the meeting, citing positions she said total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Anderson said she’s hearing from residents who say they can’t afford a major increase.

“Dozens of residents call me and say, ‘Listen we can’t afford to put food on our tables. We cannot afford this massive tax increase,’” she said.

Another resident, speaking emotionally, said the decision could determine whether some people can stay in their homes. “I got out of my sick bed because I wanted my voice to be heard… the choice you make today might mean me keeping my house or not,” the resident said.

City leaders said one area they are actively working to cut back is overtime. They say if plans move forward, the city could save about $3 million to bank.

Lake Mary recently knocked off a team from North Carolina to capture the Southeast regional championship in Georgia.

I caught up with this determined group of young ladies as they look to replicate what the Lake Mary Little League All-Star baseball team did two years ago...win the World Series.

The surprise move during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed U.S. opposition to giving U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France.

The U.S. walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the U.S. and Europe. These include questions over Trump's commitment to NATO, possible changes to U.S. troop deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark.

Trump has complained that Europeans, who weren't consulted, did not help the U.S. during the Iran war. Amid the tensions, Macron has taken a lead in trying to build up Europe's military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent's two nuclear powers, along with Britain.

After Monday’s brief walkout, deputy U.S. ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of feigning “moral outrage” and pretending to lecture the world about every topic, including human rights.

The United States has stood by France in every conflict where its "freedom has been imperiled” and tolerated its grandstanding “out of a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect,” he said, but no more.

What sparked the walkout was a social media post Friday from France’s U.N. Mission in Geneva criticizing U.S. opposition to a second term for the U.N. rights chief. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions in support of Türk, with the U.S. among the “no” votes.

“The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it,” the French Mission tweeted.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., in responding on X, accused France of coddling ”some of the worst human rights abusers” and voting “for someone who has been lecturing, free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.”

Türk’s job as the U.N. rights chief, by its nature, is tricky: It requires speaking out against rights violations by the governments of the countries that make up the membership of the world body.

For instance, Türk has sharply criticized Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza as well as having urged a “massive rethink” of U.S. immigration policy before the World Cup, citing issues around “racial profiling, surveillance and immigration enforcement.”

At Monday’s meeting, Negrea drilled in on France.

“Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world,” he said. “As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council.”

France’s U.N. Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont never mentioned the walkout when asked to take the floor at the end of the council meeting to respond.

Instead, he noted that France — which helped the United States gain its independence — took part in the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

“The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development,” he said. “All of that forms the spirit in which France works within the United Nations … to preserve this institution, its independence, its ability to act in service of the charter and act to serve human rights and peace.”

Paul Harris, who represents Wu, told The Associated Press early Tuesday that immigration authorities had sent a letter to his attorneys saying Wu, the former chairman of Hong Kong's once-biggest pro-democracy party, was being granted permission to remain as a visitor for six months. Wu’s family resides in the U.K.

The British authorities' decision came after Wu's entry on a seven-day immigration bail last week raised widespread concerns from rights groups and Hong Kongers living in the U.K. and the Chinese territory.

Wu was one of 47 activists charged in 2021 in Hong Kong’s biggest case under a Beijing-imposed security law that crushed a previously thriving democracy movement. He was sentenced in 2024 to four years and five months in prison for conspiracy to commit subversion over his role in an unofficial primary election.

Wu said in an AP interview Sunday that he was only allowed to stay in Britain until Wednesday as U.K. border authorities believed he might have other goals beyond just visiting, including seeking long-term residency. He worried that would cut short his plans to spend time with his family after years of separation. He also feared the immigration record could affect his future visits to his family in the U.K. again.

Wu said in a video published by online media outlet Green Bean that his heart was heavy over the past few days and he was happy that he eventually was allowed to spend more time with his family.

“I hope all Hong Kongers can live well and cherish their loved ones,” he said.

The Home Office confirmed Monday local time that Wu will not be removed on Wednesday and that he has permission to enter the U.K.

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Associated Press writer Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

The award, given annually to the top female college athlete, was celebrating its 50th annivesary Monday. The best player in every sport is invited to the ceremony each year.

“When you're a young college athlete, you don’t understand the importance of it,” said Meyers Drysdale, who starred in basketball at UCLA and won the award in its second year in 1978. “There’s so many basketball players, which is, you know, pretty exciting. But just the great athletes from all the different sports, I think that’s what I’m appreciative of the Honda Awards, that they recognize so many athletes from so many different sports.”

Out of all the individual sport winners, an overall Athlete of the Year is chosen to receive the Honda Cup. In addition to athletic performance, the award honors college athletes for their leadership, academics and community service.

“It’s great that it honors more than just what is done on the court or field,” said Jen Rizzotti, who won the award in 1996 after a successful basketball career at UConn. “They make sure that they’re well-rounded and have a balanced portfolio. They give back in the community, they’re great in the classroom.”

Delta State basketball great Lusia Harris won the first Honda Cup in 1977. UCLA's Lauren Betts became the 20th basketball player crowned as the top athlete Monday night. That's more than any other sport.

“To receive an honor like this — the highest award you could possibly receive — is pretty unbelievable," Betts said. "All the women that have come through and won this award is incredible.”

The Bruins have the most Honda Cup champions with seven.

“That's crazy when you say that,” Betts said of UCLA's success winning the award. “I think I'm representing something bigger than myself.”

Bruins’ softball star Rachel Garcia won it twice. That's only been three other times with Maya Moore, Caitlin Clark and Florida swimmer Tracy Caulkins.

“I think it’s pretty unbelievable. To receive an honor is, like, the highest award you could possibly receive. I mean, the legacy that it’s left throughout the years. I mean, it goes back 50 years now, which is pretty unbelievable,” Betts said. “And, you know, all the alumni have come through and won these awards. I mean, I just I can’t even describe how amazing it is. I’m just super grateful.”

Tennessee star Chamique Holdsclaw won the award in 1998. She loved the chance to get to know so many athletes from other sports.

“It exposed me to different things and to people playing different sports,” Holdsclaw said. “I was learning about things like women's lacrosse and growing up in New York City and playing at Tennessee we didn't have that. I think it was great that the award recognized greatness in every sport.”

The award ceremony has come a long way from the first in 1977. Missy Marlowe won the Honda Cup in 1992 after a successful gymnastics career at Utah. That came after competing in the Olympics in 1988. Marlowe remembered receiving the Honda Cup at an NCAA convention back in the day.

After a 12-year run in Los Angeles, the award ceremony moved to New York in 2024 and has been there ever since.

“It’s inspiring. It’s a really neat break from reality to remember what we used to do a long time ago,” Marlowe said. “To see this this tradition continue for 50 years is incredible because it’s easy to start something and have it go for a while and then kind of die off. So the determination and the work that’s gone into keeping this so prevalent for 50 years, and in fact, gain in importance, is amazing.”

Julie Shea was the first non-basketball winner of the Honda Cup after a stellar track career at N.C. State. She was honored to be back and see all the positive changes for women’s athletics with many players making money for their name, image and likeness.

“I sold programs and popcorn and peanuts at the football games,” Shea recalled. “I’m happy for them. But I’m like, hey, you know, I just was born in the wrong era.”

Shea was one of 20 former winners who took part in the ceremony in New York on Monday.

“That’s what’s great about the Honda Cup and what college women’s sports is all about is bringing people together,” Joyner said. “Being able to see some of the people winning and them seeing us, not even born when we were doing what we were doing.”

Joyner-Kersee won the award in 1985. She was an inspiration to Stanford volleyball player Ogonna Nnamani (2005). Nnamani, who suffered from asthma when she was an athlete, saw Joyner-Kersee succeed in the Olympics while also being afflicted with the same thing. Nnamani said that if Joyner-Kersee could do it she could too.

“I got to tell her that she inspired me because of what she was able to do,” said Nnamani, who is a doctor now.

On a visit to a coordination center for the massive firefighting effort in southwest France, Macron heard how the blaze raging since last week has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding fire storm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to flee their homes.

“We're facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron said, describing the situation as France's worst fire-related crisis since World War II.

He praised firefighting teams who stopped the inferno's progression Monday after days of spreading flames that edged toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. But with woodlands still smoldering, he and other government officials cautioned that the battle isn’t yet won, with forests turned tinder-dry by successive heat waves this year and another forecast for this week.

“The weeks ahead will be hard. We must hold firm,” Macron said.

Fire crews racing against feared next heat wave

With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, it became a race against time Monday to contain the blaze before temperatures soar, with national weather service forecasts of 35 C (95 F) and above in southwest France from Tuesday.

Authorities also are working to feed, shelter and care for evacuees who fled in staggering numbers: 250,000 in the southwest, driven away by two fires.

Macron spoke of displaced people “traumatized” by the upheaval and “who sometimes have lost everything.”

No new evacuations were announced Monday. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, authorities for the Gironde region around Bordeaux worked to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. Government ministers also urged people not to travel to the region that is popular for its Atlantic beaches, famous wines and some of France's largest expanses of forests.

Crews using earth movers tore up strips of forest and scrubland to create barren spaces, intended to block the flames that officials said had come within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of Bordeaux's outskirts. Farmers kept fire crews supplied with water, transporting it to them in tanks.

Briefing Macron, the Gironde region's fire chief explained how crews had wrestled with the blaze unlike any they'd previously tackled, extraordinarily virulent and capricious, “a fire that's going everywhere” and which generated electrical storms that sparked more flare-ups.

“The last 24 hours went well, thanks to your work” Macron told firefighters. “Doubtless, tomorrow will be more complicated than today.”

Spain is also battling fires

Around a dozen countries have provided planes, helicopters, firefighters and other assistance to both France and Spain, which is also fighting unprecedented blazes. All told, fires in the two countries have forced more than 330,000 people to flee.

In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 79,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.

In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fueled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.

“What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 500 square kilometers (193 square miles), the government said. That's five times the size of Barcelona.

“Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people," said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to run supplies to firefighters in Ávila.

"We are feeling lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

Fires have burned 1,530 square kilometers (590 square miles) this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.

The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain’s fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger. Spain’s weather agency forecast temperatures above 40 C (104 F).

Water-dropping planes combat fire in Italy

A wildfire driven by strong winds broke out on Sunday afternoon near Peschici, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, burning pine forest and scrub and forcing the evacuation of about 300 tourists from beaches and campgrounds, authorities said.

The Coast Guard evacuated tourists by sea to nearby Vieste, where authorities opened temporary shelters.

Three Canadair water-bombing planes and fire crews on the ground continued Monday to battle the blaze, which revived memories of devastating wildfires that hit the same coastal area in 2007.

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Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Iain Sullivan in El Tiemblo, Spain, and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.