Clancy described feeling anxious and overwhelmed with motherhood, including her struggles to get her newborn Callan to sleep and constant worries of his being sick. She also expressed concerns about going back to work as a labor and delivery nurse, not being able to breastfeed, and feeling disconnected from her children and her then-husband.

“I’m so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to find something physically wrong with me,” she wrote in a Nov. 18, 2022, entry.

Clancy's defense says she was a loving mother who was overmastered by postpartum psychosis, a dangerous psychiatric condition that afflicts a small proportion of women after childbirth and affects their hold on reality.

Prosecutors contend that she acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged in age from 8 months to 5 years.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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Clancy’s lawyers don’t dispute that she killed the children. But in the criminal trial and a medical malpractice lawsuit, her attorneys say the 35-year-old had bipolar disorder that wasn’t fully diagnosed until after the killings.

Her attorneys say her condition seemed to worsen on an ever-shifting lineup of psychiatric prescriptions, some of them problematic for bipolar patients.

Her diary sheds light on the mental health issues at the heart of the case

In the three months before the killings, various clinicians prescribed a range of antidepressants, sleep aids, an antipsychotic and other medications while she reported increasingly profound insomnia, anxiety, despair and confusion about what was real, according to her lawsuit.

Both the prosecution and her defense attorney read pages from her journal Monday as she chronicled those difficult months.

“I want help. I want to be well,” Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington read from one journal entry.

She also wrote of feeling “incredibly sad and guilty” about not breastfeeding and was “obsessed” with Callan’s sleep and nap schedule.

“I have crazy brain fog. I feel like I can’t make a plan,” she wrote in another, undated entry. “I live moment to moment waiting for the next nap time. I’m terrified of Cal getting overtired now because I feel can’t help him.”

In separate lawsuits, Lindsay and ex-husband Patrick Clancy allege that various providers failed her, and should have recognized she was a risk to herself and the children. The providers, at least those who have responded to date, deny the allegations and dispute that she clearly told them she intended to harm the kids.

Lindsay Clancy was seeking help before the killings

When she sought care at a postpartum depression program in late December 2022, providers noted that her symptoms might be due to medication, according to her lawsuit. It says those clinicians told her to taper off the antipsychotic drug and then discharged her after a day.

Clancy checked herself into a psychiatric hospital that New Year’s Eve and spent several days there. Once home, she resumed appointments with her psychiatrist, who last saw her for 17 minutes on Jan. 23, 2023, according to her lawsuit.

The next day, she believed a commanding voice was telling her to “kill the children so you can kill yourself,” according to her lawyers.

That evening, she asked her then-husband to run some errands, a request that prosecutors cast as a ploy to get him out of the house.

Father returns home to a shocking scene

Lindsay Clancy wept at the defense table last week as Patrick Clancy and other witnesses testified.

He told jurors about returning to a horrible scene at their house: a bloodied bedroom, an open window, his wife on the ground below it, the children in the basement, throttled with exercise bands.

“She killed the kids!” he told a 911 dispatcher on a call played in court.

Lindsay Clancy remains paralyzed from the waist down because of the fall.

In the hospital two days later, when a forensic psychologist asked Clancy how she felt, she responded: “horrified.” She also asked if she had a lawyer and whether her body and legs were broken. She was intubated and could only communicate through written messages on a whiteboard, the psychologist testified.

“She then asked, can she have visitors, and where her family is,” Dr. Jhilam Biswas of Brigham and Women’s Hospital recalled.

Doctors testified Monday that 8-month-old Callan was in cardiac arrest when he arrived at a hospital in nearby Plymouth. He needed a ventilator at Boston Children’s Hospital to help him breathe, but did have a heartbeat. He died after three days.

Prosecutors will try to keep the spotlight on Clancy

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham sought in an opening statement last week to keep jurors' focus on the defendant, not her doctors.

“This is not a public debate about women’s mental health and how the medical system treats women,” Buckingham said.

If convicted of murder, Lindsay Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

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Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.

Instead, the Yankees found other ways to bolster their roster, adding outfielder Heliot Ramos in a three-player trade from the last-place San Francisco Giants a day after acquiring left-handed hitting Luis Garcia Jr. from the Washington Nationals for four pitchers.

Skubal went to the Dodgers on Sunday in a blockbuster for three prospects and Rutschman was sent to the Red Sox for a package that included three of Boston’s top prospects earlier Monday.

“We had many conversation with Baltimore but were unable to obviously meet the price,” Cashman said in a video conference after the trade deadline passed. “So they did their business elsewhere and we kept grinding through it, but ultimately in the end of the day, there was no opportunity that existed that we felt good enough about to be able to push through on.”

The Yankees had less of a need for Skubal since their rotation began Monday with a 3.46 ERA, but their catchers entered the series opener against the Cardinals hitting .188 with eight homers and 27 RBIs, 28th amongst the 30 teams.

“We talked to Detroit,” Cashman said. “They set a high price and to be honest that was not something we were unable to get them off of what they said might work, but at the same time they were communicating that it also might not even win the day and then they kind of went silent, I think after they got what they were looking for.”

Garcia was in the lineup at first base and batting third after hitting a career-high .283 in his first season as a full-time first baseman with Washington. Garcia’s average is the highest on the Yankees, who began Monday with a .232 average and hitting .219 in 53 games since losing captain Aaron Judge two months ago.

“I think it has been one of the keys to how the season has played out so far,” Garcia said Monday through a translator. “Before I used to hit the ball very well, but a lot of the times it was on the ground. So I think one of the focuses was to get the ball in the air and keep hitting it with the same intensity; but lift it up and better results have come.”

Besides the batting average, Garcia also joined the Yankees after hitting a career-high 23 homers and producing a career-best 78 RBIs. He was third in the big leagues with a .560 slugging percentage behind new teammate Ben Rice and Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez while also hitting .330 with runners in scoring position.

“As good a year as he’s having, leading the league in slugging percentage over there, we think there’s more in there potentially in our ballpark,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So it’s exciting. We needed to inject a presence in our order, and we think we’ve done that in a big way.”

Garcia appeared in 93 games at first base with the Nationals and will share time with Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt at first and as the designated hitter. He struggled defensively as a second baseman at times before moving over to first base full-time.

The 26-year-old Garcia was born in New York and said his favorite Yankees growing up were Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. His father Luis Garcia Sr. appeared in eight games with the Tigers in 1999 and spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues from 1993 to 2002.

The Yankees needed another outfielder after losing Cody Bellinger to a strained left hamstring July 25, and Ramos batted .264 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 74 games for the Giants. He also had an .835 OPS against left-handed pitching and slugged 43 homers in the previous two seasons.

“They have a lot of history,” Ramos said. “It’s obviously going to have a big place in my heart, but at the end of the day, I’m very happy to be a New York Yankee.”

The Yankees sent starting pitcher Henry LaLane and infielder Kaeden Kent to the Giants for Ramos, who is not eligible for free agency until 2030.

LaLane was recently promoted to Single-A Hudson Valley and was New York’s fifth-best prospect, according to MLB pipeline. Kent, the son of recently inducted Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, was batting .302 this season at Hudson Valley.

New York began Monday 27-26 since Judge last played May 31. The slugger is still awaiting another scan to determine when he can start baseball activities.

“It’s always possible that things don't go the way you want, but we currently are still very optimistic he’s going to return,” Cashman said about Judge.

The Yankees have been without Giancarlo Stanton since April 24 due to a strained right calf and lost Bellinger for four to six weeks when he was injured in Philadelphia.

“One of the first areas of need was to try and upgrade the offense in any way, shape or form in any way we can while waiting for important players to come back at the same time off the IL,” Cashman said.

To make room for Garcia, the Yankees optioned Max Schuemann to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. New York also recalled reliever Kervin Castro from Triple-A to take the spot of Yovanny Cruz, who was sent to Washington for Garcia.

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AP Freelance Reporter Jeff Miller contributed to this report

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The closures include the longtime downtown Orlando location, which has served customers for more than a decade, as well as restaurants in the Milk District, SoDo and at the University of Central Florida main campus.

Several customers told News 6 they were surprised to learn the restaurants had shut their doors.

“I come like every other week,” customer Zoe Wheatcroft said. “I come by myself. I come with coworkers. It’s a great spot. Tacos, burritos, whatever.”

When asked about the closure, Wheatcroft said, “It sucks. I really love their tacos.”

Another customer, Jacob Duncan, said he frequently visited the downtown location while attending college.

“I used to eat double tacos all the time,” Duncan said. “It’s sad.”

An employee at a restaurant located two doors down from the downtown Gringos Locos told News 6 she was unloading her car Sunday night to prepare for work Monday morning when she saw managers from Gringos Locos come outside crying after learning about the closure. She said the managers appeared to have no warning that the restaurant would be shutting down.

By late Monday morning, the downtown restaurant remained locked despite signage indicating it opens daily at 11 a.m. The lights and menu screens inside were off, and no employees were seen inside.

News 6 also found the Gringos Locos locations in the Milk District, SoDo and on UCF’s main campus closed.

Despite the apparent closures, the company’s website remained online Monday afternoon and still listed employment opportunities, including a posting for the UCF location.

News 6 called the corporate phone number listed on the company’s website but was unable to reach anyone. An email sent to the company Sunday morning had not received a response as of Monday afternoon.

News 6 will continue working to learn why the restaurants closed and what led to the apparent shutdowns affecting customers and employees across Central Florida.

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard early learning program. Its regulations, which stretch more than 100 pages, outline requirements on everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

Trump's Republican administration would replace those regulations with around a dozen pages of rules, leaving most of the specifics up to state and local law, said the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public and because they feared reprisal.

In a post on X, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said to expect a rule to be published this week. The administration “remains committed to strengthening Head Start by preserving federal investment in the program while advancing reforms that expand access, increase local flexibility, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and ensure services are delivered effectively to children and families in need," department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Monday in an email.

The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press. An early version of the proposal also would have barred parents who are in the United States illegally from enrolling their children, even if the children are U.S. citizens. It's unclear whether those provisions will make the final draft.

Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long enjoyed robust bipartisan support. But some prominent conservatives in recent years have called for its elimination, saying the federal government should get out of the education business at every level. Deregulating the program would deliver a win for them and aligns with the Trump administration's goals of scrapping rules it views as onerous or unnecessary.

Head Start is designed to target poverty, experts say

Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide. For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays. It also offers supports for families.

If the changes take effect, they could make Head Start unrecognizable, said Khari Garvin, who ran the Office of Head Start under Democratic President Joe Biden.

“We’d have the carcass of Head Start,” Garvin said. “You might have a program that’s called Head Start, but in substance it will not be.”

The proposed rules were originally reported in The Bulwark.

Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said the organization has yet to see the proposed rules.

“When it does come out,” Sheridan said, “we’ll be ready to fight back where we need to fight back.”

Once the proposal is made public, federal law requires the administration to give at least a month for the public to weigh in on it. If any new rules are finalized, there may be a delay before they take effect, and potential lawsuits could halt implementation.

Current rules cover dental screenings and staff-to-student ratios

Head Start was created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and targets the myriad challenges that low-income households face. It serves children and adults alike, coaching parents on reaching their goals, connecting them with services and even employing them.

Head Start operators, which include school districts and nonprofit organizations, are required to provide medical, dental and vision screenings for children and to monitor them for developmental delays. There are also curriculum frameworks and prohibitions on physical and emotional abuse of children.

Many of the features that make Head Start distinct from mainstream preschools are spelled out in 122 pages of performance standards. The Trump administration’s proposal would toss most of that rule book and replace it with a much shorter version that eliminates or loosens many requirements, the people familiar with the proposal said. The proposal also calls for some new regulations, such as requiring all instruction in English.

Requirements around staff-to-student ratios and safety standards would be erased. Operators instead would be instructed to follow local and state laws, which are often more permissive. And the new proposal also says nothing about suspensions and expulsions, the people said, making it easier for programs to kick out kids with disabilities who are difficult to educate.

Jody Smith, a lead Head Start teacher south of Seattle, said she’s seen firsthand how critical many of the requirements are, especially the ones for engaging with families and screening kids for disabilities. Smith was a high school dropout when she enrolled her first child in Head Start, where she was encouraged to go back to school and inspired to become a teacher. Later, Head Start helped diagnose her youngest child with autism.

Without Head Start, “I would have probably stayed as a poverty line,” Smith said. “And I don’t know that we would have gotten as far in life as we have.”

Head Start has faced several threats

The numerous standards are key to preparing Head Start kids for kindergarten, said Ruth Friedman, who helped Democratic President Barack Obama's administration draft the regulations now in jeopardy.

“If the administration strikes down those standards, it would set back our nation’s educational goals and our efforts to reduce poverty, and it is explicitly prohibited by the Head Start law itself,” Friedman said.

Head Start, which has enjoyed robust bipartisan support for decades, has faced several threats since Trump took office last year. Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint authored by the official who is now Trump's budget chief, called for the federal government to get rid of the program altogether. Last year, in a draft budget, the administration proposed exactly that, saying: “The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education.” After public outcry, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department oversees Head Start, told Congress the program's funding was safe.

Funding for the program was disrupted not long after Trump took office, leading some programs to have to shutter temporarily. It was once again halted after a government shutdown in October that led some centers briefly to close their doors.

Trump’s administration has chipped away at the program in other ways. The administration let go scores of federal workers who supported the program and closed half of its regional offices. It also began discouraging those seeking Head Start grants from using words like “woman” or “race” in their applications, part of an effort to root out diversity, equity or inclusion programs. Officials also set out to bar undocumented immigrants from the program. Courts put both the anti-DEI and anti-immigration efforts on hold after lawsuits.

Earlier this year, Trump officials also erased a Biden-era rule that mandated raises and greater benefits for Head Start employees. When the rule went in to effect in 2024, Head Start teachers, the majority of whom have bachelor's degrees, earned less than $40,000 a year on average.

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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed reporting.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A night before the trade deadline, Harper went from calling out Dombrowski to texting him, noting he would move from first base back to right field if it helped upgrade the lineup.

Harper is indeed now the Phillies right fielder — just for the remainder of this season — after Dombrowski swung a deal Monday for three-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants.

“I think any chance that we have an opportunity to win, I'd do anything for this organization," Harper said ahead of Monday's game against Washington. “They know that.”

Arraez is the proven bat Philadelphia’s lineup needed in its chase for a fifth straight trip to the playoffs and first World Series championship since 2008.

Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said Arraez will play second base, triggering a defensive shuffle that switched up the corner positions.

Bryson Stott will move from second base to third, and third baseman Alec Bohm will shift to first, where Harper has played since returning from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2023.

The 33-year-old Harper long-tossed in the outfield before Monday's game and conceded there would be an adjustment in the position shift.

“I think it's probably just more of the arm-care stuff,” Harper said. “Maybe a little of the bit of the legs, as well. At 33 right now, this is the best I've felt in a long time. I feel healthy, I feel strong. Obviously, may need to get my arm going a little bit more. You don't show too much arm strength at first base."

Mattingly said there was never a consideration to moving shaky shortstop Trea Turner, who has 18 errors this season, to the outfield.

Mattingly, 50-34 with the Phillies since he replaced Rob Thomson in April, also wanted assurances from Harper he was on board with leaving first base.

“He just came up to me and said, ‘Hey, are you serious?’ I said, ‘yeah,’” Harper said.

Harper, a former catcher who spent the bulk of his career in Washington and Philadelphia as an outfielder, brought his outfielder's glove with him on last week's trip to Miami, just in case it was needed. The Phillies lost eight of nine games after the All-Star break before winning two straight over the weekend in Baltimore.

In Miami, Harper was blunt on the Phillies' chances, saying “I think we need some help.”

All he had to do was change positions for the Phillies to add reinforcements.

“I don't have to do that," Harper said. “Hopefully it helps. I think it's helped us obviously get the guy that we need.”

The gesture was appreciated by Dombrowski, who added the Phillies were aware long before the deadline of Harper's openness to move back to the outfield.

“Let's seriously consider it because it really hasn't been a necessity in this situation,” Dombrowski said. “His volunteering opened the door for us to go ahead and get an infielder.”

Arraez gives the Phillies a needed contact hitter

Arraez is batting a National League-best .324 with four homers and 47 RBIs with an .801 OPS. He’s a four-time All-Star and, of importance in the free-swinging Phillies lineup, is a contact hitter who rarely strikes out.

He has struck out just 236 times over his eight-year career.

Arraez has 25 walks to 21 strikeouts this season. The Phillies .304 on-base is second worst in the majors, only ahead of the New York Mets.

Arraez is eligible for free agency at the end of the season and has played for five teams in the last five seasons. He played in the All-Star Game last month in Philadelphia.

The Phillies also acquired right-hander reliever Caleb Kilian in the trade in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair.

The Phillies struck a separate deal for Mets left-hander Brooks Raley in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Luke Gabrysh and minor league outfielder John Spikerman. They also sent out righty reliever Nolan Hoffman to Kansas City for minor league righty Manuel Colón, a move that opened a spot on the 40-man roster. They also traded righty reliever Seth Johnson to the Athletics for a minor leaguer.

Raley has a 5-5 record with a 1.96 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 45 games. His 1.96 ERA is tied for the fourth-lowest mark in the majors among left-handed relievers and 35 appearances this season have been scoreless.

Philly has a big gap to catch the Braves in the NL East

The Phillies entered Monday’s game against Washington at 59-53 and hold one of the final NL wild-card spots. They are eight games back of Atlanta in the NL East.

Arreaz led the National League in hits the past two seasons and had signed a $12 million, one-year contract this season with the Giants. He spent his first five major league seasons with the Minnesota Twins before they traded him to the Miami Marlins in January 2023. San Diego acquired him in May 2024.

Stott, who blossomed into a Gold Glove candidate, echoed Harper's comments and said he was fine with heading to third base.

“It should be not lost that our superstar first baseman, two-time MVP is willing to move,” Stott said. “When you're on a team and you see a guy like that, what we are going to say, no, we're not moving?”

Dombrowski came out swinging with deals that — while not at the level of the Dodgers trading for Tarik Skubal — showed the Phillies are serious about staying in the playoff hunt and making a World Series push in October.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

UCF is looking to become a contender in the tough Big 12 conference, and stability at quarterback is a must. Barnett shined for JMU in 2025, and possesses the ability to beat defenses with his arm and legs.

Both Barnett and Frost sounded optimistic following the first practice of fall camp.

Back in February, the social media personality — whose real identity is Braden Peters, 20 — was arrested in connection with an “incident” at an Osceola County Airbnb that Peters was renting, detectives said.

“The victim was battered by (24-year-old) Violet Lentz in a physical altercation,” deputies wrote. “Detectives determined that Braden Peters instigated the fight and posted it on social media to exploit the two women.”

[RELATED: Deputies catch alligator at Osceola County high school campus]

Deputies also said that neither Peters nor Lentz came out to speak with law enforcement when they arrived at the property.

Following an investigation, a warrant was issued for Peters’ arrest on charges including misdemeanor battery and criminal conspiracy to commit battery, and he was ultimately taken into custody, a release from the sheriff’s office shows.

But late last month, News 6 learned that no information had been filed in the case by prosecutors.

Per state records, this lack of charges is because prosecutors felt they were unable to prove the accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.

The state case against Vance Boelter had been on hold pending resolution of the federal case.

Monday's procedural state court hearing came less than two weeks after Boelter's sentencing in federal court. He pleaded guilty to the federal charges related to the killing of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, as well as critically wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Boelter, 59, agreed to plead guilty to the federal charges in June, almost a year after the Minneapolis-area attacks, so federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.

Boelter told the judge at Monday's hearing that over a span of eight years he had met with Minnesota elected officials in Washington, D.C., including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

“We have found no record of my ever meeting or speaking with this murderer who will be spending the rest of his life in prison,” Klobuchar said in an emailed statement. "This is the second time he has falsely brought me into his tormented web and no one should be giving him more attention."

“Does this court have the authority to bring her in to testify?” Boelter asked Hennepin County Judge Juan Hoyos. “Or is she above the law?”

Boelter also told the judge that his rights had been violated during the 14 months he has been in federal custody, the Star Tribune reported. The judge told Boelter that any arguments he wants to make about his case could be made at future hearings by his attorney.

If convicted of the state charges, Boelter could face mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case.

In state court, Boelter faces two counts of murder for killing the Hortmans, four counts of attempted murder, impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty. The Hortman family’s golden retriever was gravely injured in the shootings and had to be euthanized.

Hoffman and his family also filed a personal injury lawsuit against Boelter in April.

Boelter's next state court appearance is set for Sept. 2.

The General Assembly heard hours of debate and testimony on a proposed constitutional amendment intended to give Democrats greater latitude to draw congressional maps favoring their party, which already represents seven of the state's eight House districts. The legislation was expected to reach a vote on final passage Tuesday, and the proposed changes to the state constitution would have to be approved by voters before lawmakers could begin considering new district lines.

Deep blue Maryland’s move is the latest turn in the national battle over redistricting, which kicked off a year ago and has reshaped the U.S. House map ahead of this year’s midterms.

Leaders of the General Assembly — who have been vague about their future plans for redrawing districts but in recent years have attempted to craft 8-0 maps — have characterized their proposal as an attempt to make sure Maryland is well-positioned to respond to redistricting by red states and contribute to efforts to elect Democrats who could serve as a check on the Trump administration.

The state’s Republicans called the proposed amendment a blatant power grab aimed at ousting Maryland's lone GOP representative in Congress, Rep. Andy Harris.

“Gerrymandering is wrong. Whether it’s in a red state, a blue state — it's just wrong,” said state Sen. Mary Beth Carozza.

Democrats see an eventual opportunity to pick up one seat

Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, represents Maryland's 1st District, which is centered on the mostly rural Eastern Shore, part of a scenic peninsula separated from the rest of the state by the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2021, lawmakers tried to remake the maps in a way that made Harris' district more competitive for a Democrat to win, drawing in communities across the bay. But a judge struck down those districts in 2022, calling them a “product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

In light of that decision and in hopes of avoiding future adverse legal rulings, lawmakers began advancing legislation to amend the state constitution to make clear that the parameters the judge cited — including that districts be compact in form and have regard given to “natural boundaries” — apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional ones.

If approved by a three-fifths vote of both chambers, the amendment would go before voters in the Nov. 3 general election. If approved there, lawmakers could revisit the congressional maps for the 2028 election cycle under the constitution’s new guidance.

Republicans say the move sets up a gerrymander

Harris, in an interview ahead of the session, said the “gerrymandering that this constitutional amendment sets up” would break up areas of common interest into districts predominated by urban and suburban areas, disenfranchising rural voters. Such a move would “of course” face a court challenge, he said.

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore cast the move as an urgent necessity in light of Republican redistricting elsewhere. The proposal currently before lawmakers will ultimately give voters, not “party bosses,” the final say, he said.

“And if the people determine that there’s nothing to do, then there’s nothing to do. But if the people determine that we move, we move,” he said in an interview as he became chair of the National Governors Association.

Redistricting reverberates around the country

Maryland’s special session is part of a new phase in a national redistricting battle that began a year ago, when President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to help the party hold on to its slim House majority in the midterm elections. Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states — Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

Now some states, such as Maryland and New York, are taking steps to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections. New York’s Democratic-led Legislature has approved a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize mid-decade redistricting, repeal prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering and make it easier for lawmakers to bypass an independent redistricting commission in the future. The measure needs another round of legislative approval next year before it can appear on a statewide ballot.

In Maryland, the issue divided Democrats earlier this year.

Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked a different Moore-backed redistricting initiative this spring that could have put new maps in place before the fall elections, citing concerns that the move could backfire upon judicial review. But he has said his views shifted after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in late April. That decision offered new grounds for Republicans to swiftly reconfigure districts in Southern states with large minority populations that have elected Democrats, moves that Ferguson called “painful” to watch.

“It felt like the unwinding of any type of democratic norms in the blink of an eye,” Ferguson said in an interview.

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Associated Press reporters David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Steven Sloan in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

Speaking at an unrelated Oval Office event, Trump ducked questions about whether he'd fire Pirro, a former Fox News host and longtime ally he handpicked as top federal prosecutor in the nation's capital. But the president kept up his drumbeat of sharp criticism, saying he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism.

“Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” Trump said in response to a reporter's question after he signed an executive order for military spouses. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

The move to dismiss charges against David Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump’s second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.

After initially posting on social media over the weekend, “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump was still fuming two days later, insisting for several minutes that vandalism had marred the troubled project.

“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed,” the president said Monday. “She folded like an umbrella.”

Pirro seen later at the White House

Though she has not commented publicly since Trump's initial social media post criticizing her, Pirro was spotted walking into the White House on Monday evening. Also spotted was Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has been outspoken in defending the president's suggestions that vandalism was to blame.

Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said of Pirro, “All I know is, you better not go before a federal judge and make allegations you can’t back up.”

A lawyer who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kennedy added, “They are very serious about it.”

“I think he’s going to sue” or file for compensation under the Federal Tort Claims Act, Kennedy said of Hearn. “I mean, I would.”

Trump denies knowing the contractor, contradicting his own past comments

Meanwhile, charges also have been dropped against three other people charged in the same D.C. court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool, according to online court records.

Justin Carreno, Cameron Thiers and Sophie Dennison-Gibby all pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances last month. They had been accused of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000.

The president further used his Monday comments to distance himself from the troubled project, which he had touted as part of his overarching efforts to spruce up the nation's capital.

Trump said in April that he had consulted with a trio of firms that had worked on swimming pools at his properties and that the one he picked for the Reflecting Pool project had done work at his golf course in Northern Virginia. That firm was Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof its concrete floor.

“I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools,” Trump said then. “He looked at it. He called me up. He said, ‘Sir, we can do something on it.’”

But the president insisted Monday that “I didn’t know the contractor” and for the first time hinted that he wasn't pleased by the work that was done to get the Reflecting Pool ready in time for Independence Day celebrations.

“I’m not saying I was 100% thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was rushing. We wanted to get it open for July 4th,” he said.

Crews drained the Reflecting Pool weeks ago to launch a new round of repairs. The White House hasn't said when those might be finished or how much more they will cost, but the Trump administration did not seek new bids from other companies on the new round of repair work.

Trump also said Monday that the Reflecting Pool would be “fixed” and reopened in the next week and a half to two weeks — without providing further details.

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Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

The “needs spaces” were reimagined through an effort from the Addition Financial Foundation and designed to support students and families experiencing financial hardship.

On Monday, a redesigned food pantry and lounge was unveiled at Seminole High School’s 9th Grade Center — one of five schools across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia, and Lake counties to receive a makeover through the foundation’s Renovate to Educate program.

The renovations were made as an estimated 20,000 students across those five counties are currently experiencing homelessness.

[WATCH: Seminole County superintendent touts academic gains amid budget challenges]

“This is going to address food insecurity. When our kiddos need clothing, they need food, and they have a space to come, they will definitely be ready to compete academically and prepare them for the classroom,” said Dr. Jamie Washington, principal of Seminole High School’s 9th Grade Center.

Washington said the timing and accessibility of the space are critical to its success.

“You can’t say when a child is going to be hungry, so if that child is distracted from the learning process, we want to make sure they get some support,” Washington said.

The Renovate to Educate program worked alongside Seminole State College’s Interior Design Program to give each school a customized redesign based on its unique needs. Volunteers spent the summer painting, assembling furniture, decorating the spaces, and stocking shelves with food, hygiene products, clothing, and other essentials.

Cristina Lehman, executive director of the Addition Financial Foundation, said the goal was to create spaces where students feel genuinely welcome.

“We really wanted to make it a very welcoming space because we don’t know what their home lives look like. So, at least here they have a space they can call their own that they can hang out and feel very comfortable,” Lehman said.

At Seminole High School, district leaders said about 46% of students are from low-income families and there are 224 students at the school who are considered homeless.

Washington said she hopes the space fosters a deeper sense of belonging for students who may be struggling at home.

“I want them to have a sense of pride. I want them to feel like as if whatever problems they are facing at home, they’re going to be at least temporarily going away, so that while they’re here they can perform at their best,” Washington said.

For more details about the Addition Financial Foundation Renovate to Educate Program, visit foundation.additionfi.com/renovate.

[ELECTION 2026: Make sure you’re eligible to vote|How to vote by mail|Election Myths]

Florida has a closed primary system, which means only members of a political party may vote in those elections. To be eligible, a voter had to identify with that party by July 20.

July 20 was the deadline to register to vote for the Florida Statewide Primary.

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

What’s on the ballot?

Registered Democrats and Republicans will be choosing candidates to be on the ballot in the November general election. They include races for governor and other Florida cabinet seats, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Florida House and Senate, and in some counties, county commission seats that are partisan.

If you are not a Democrat or a Republican, though, there are still lots of races on the ballot for you -- school board races, judicial races, and any nonpartisan county commission seats.

[SEE WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT: The Voting Central Florida Guide]

Your county elections supervisor will send out a sample ballot ahead of the primary, so watch your mailbox. That will tell you what races will be on your particular ballot.

You can also look up your ballot on the county election supervisors’ websites below.

• BREVARD COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• FLAGLER COUNTY: View Your Sample Ballot
• LAKE COUNTY: View Your Sample Ballot
• MARION COUNTY: View Your sample ballot
• ORANGE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• OSCEOLA COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SEMINOLE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SUMTER COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• VOLUSIA COUNTY: View Your sample ballot

“Yes, the president is an important election. Yes, the governor is at the general, but they’re not the ones worrying about your potholes, your schools, your roadways, your stormwater issues,” said Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock.

Pennock was one of six election supervisors who recently joined News 6 and other members of the News Collaborative of Central Florida for a wide-ranging discussion on election issues. Central Florida Public Media hosted the discussion.

In addition, some Florida House of Representatives races will be decided in August in what are called “universal primaries,” said Osceola County Supervisor Mary Jane Arrington.

“These are races where there’s only one party running, and that selection will be made,” Arrington said. “And in the primary, House District 47, in Osceola County, will be a universal primary for every voter.”

Vote by mail

The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Aug. 6. To request a VBM ballot, go to your county supervisor of elections office website. You can find a list of the county offices in the state on the Florida Division of Elections website.

You will need the statewide request form, which you can download there, and then send it in via mail, email or fax. You will need to provide officials the following information:

• Voter’s name
• Date of birth
• Full address
• A Florida driver’s license, identification card, or the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number for verification
• You also need to provide a signature

[WATCH: Inside Seminole County’s vote-by-mail count: New system will audit every ballot]

Once the ballot is completed, it must be returned to the supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Be sure to sign the certificate envelope provided.

To learn more about voting by mail and the vote-by-mail process, go HERE.

What you need to vote in person

In Florida, voting in person is not just for Election Day — you can also vote early.

To vote, you need to be registered. When you go to your polling place, you need to bring a current and valid photo and signature ID.

The following forms of picture identification are allowed if they are current:

• Florida driver’s license
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• United States passport
• Military identification
• Student identification
• Retirement center identification
• Neighborhood association identification
• Public assistance identification

If you do not have a proper photo ID, you will be given a provisional ballot, which will allow you to vote and then later provide documents to prove your identity to the supervisor of elections office.

Also, if your ID does not have a signature on it, you may be asked to provide more forms of identification.

NOTE: The Florida Legislature passed a law that will make changes to this, but it will not take effect until January of 2027.

Have questions about voting at the polls? We have an in-depth guide to voting in the 2026 Election HERE.

Early Voting

Early voting will take place over several days in August ahead of the primary on Aug. 18.

Election supervisors set up early voting sites at libraries, recreation centers, and other community centers throughout the county. Unlike on Election Day, when you must vote in your assigned polling precinct, voters can go to any early voting site in their county and vote.

Different counties have different early voting periods. The list of dates is below by county. Click on the links to find an early voting site near you.

• Brevard County: Aug. 8-15
• Flagler County: Aug. 8-15
• Lake County: Aug. 5-15
• Marion County: Aug. 8-15
• Orange County: Aug. 3-16
• Osceola County: Aug. 7-16
• Seminole County: Aug. 8-15
• Sumter County: Aug. 8-15
• Volusia County: Aug. 8-15

Voting on Election Day

The polling places will open at 7 a.m. and continue until 7 p.m. If you are in line at the polling place at 7 p.m. and have not yet voted, stay in line. The polls have to be kept open until all voters in line have voted.

To find your Central Florida Election Day polling place, use the links below.

To find information outside Central Florida, find your county supervisor of elections office HERE.

• BREVARD COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• FLAGLER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• LAKE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• MARION COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• ORANGE COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place
• OSCEOLA COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place
• SEMINOLE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• SUMTER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• VOLUSIA COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

Wildfires west of Athens jumped containment lines a day after a midair collision between two helicopters killed two crew members. A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized following the collision on Sunday.

All four were private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service.

In France, firefighters in the region around Bordeaux guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.

A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly 200 years of recordkeeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday.

All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said. The dry spell was accompanied by sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.

Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.

The Athens region remains at high risk with hundreds evacuated

Strong winds returned to southern Greece late on Monday, pushing flames into mountain home clusters, destroying farms and property, and closing a highway.

Areas surrounding the Greek capital remain at high risk through the week with temperatures set to rise further. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from around the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and other areas west of the capital — including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.

“This is a difficult fire that has troubled us,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said, adding that 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters were operating in the area Monday.

The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.

Despite improved detection methods and expanded cooperation among European Union members, Greece and other countries along Europe's Mediterranean coast suffer devastating wildfires every summer as spells of heat wave temperatures grow longer.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.

France's massive blaze is contained as evacuees return home

Thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to their holiday accommodations in France on Monday after a massive wildfire remained contained. More than 224,000 people had fled in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

The wildfire burned about 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), making it France’s largest wildfire on record. Monday's return includes Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourist hot spot along the Atlantic coast, and Le Porge, the municipality hardest hit by the fire, where 183 homes were destroyed. Campsites remain closed.

A second wildfire in Provence did not flare up overnight, but was still not contained on Monday as stronger winds were expected, firefighters and authorities said. About 1,500 firefighters, supported by water-dropping helicopters, continued reinforcing fire lines along the blaze that tore through about 18 square kilometers (7 square miles).

The European Forest Fire Information System said the risk of wildfire remains high across parts of the continent through Aug. 5, including in traditionally cooler northern countries.

Firefighters in the Netherlands were battling a large blaze on Monday in a forest in the southern province of Limburg, authorities said, as the country sweltered through another day of hot, dry summer weather. The national railway operator halted trains between two towns in the area due to the fire.

The Dutch air force sent two Chinook helicopters equipped with large water containers to help firefighters tackle the blaze. Media reported that a campsite in the area was evacuated due to poor air quality caused by a large plume of smoke.

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Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens; Thomas Adamson in Paris; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city, were among the most destructive in state history. About 700 buildings had been destroyed — a number that was expected to climb — and some 67,000 people were under evacuation orders. The cause was under investigation.

“Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers,” the state's entire congressional delegation wrote Monday in asking President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.

The fires jumped roads and rivers and had burned about 12.5 square miles (about 32 square kilometers) by Monday. The sky filled with smoke and haze. Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek.

In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.

Among those who returned were Miriam and Daniel Sim, both 76. Miriam held her hand over her mouth as she surveyed the ruins of the home where they had lived since 2005.

"It’s like a war zone,” Miriam said. “There’s nothing to save.”

“At our age, do we want to rebuild?” her husband asked.

No deaths or major injuries have been reported so far

Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14.

Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating than people who were truly missing or in danger, authorities said.

The Spokane-area wildfires were completely uncontained, said Courtney James, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

They were among dozens across the Western U.S. stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) has burned across Washington, which has contended with severe drought and a paltry snowpack.

Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.

Homes, cars, possessions lost in flames

Angela and Wayde Deatherage, both 49, evacuated shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with a son, grabbing a few bins of family photos and heirloom rings but not much else. Roughly 30 minutes later, their security camera was sending fire notifications to Angela’s phone.

Wayde Deatherage took some back roads and returned by early evening. He stopped at the end of the street and called his wife: “Our house is done.”

Deatherage, however, wasn't done with his neighborhood. He propped a hose at another house so it sprayed the property. That home survived.

The couple returned to their property Sunday.

“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage said of the home where they had lived for nearly 22 years. ”It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. ... There’s just so much loss for so many people.”

Karen Faggioli, 61, figured she would be returning to her home. She recalled how other recent fires had been brought under control. But a relative texted her the bad news: Her house and three vehicles were destroyed. A daughter lost her nearby house, too.

“Why cry? What’s crying going to do? I’ve been through so many tragedies myself,” said Faggioli, who is recovering from breast cancer. “This is nothing. Like I told my granddaughter, ‘We’re strong — and now we get all new things.’ I’m emotionally numb.”

Friends and relatives of fire victims posted online appeals for money, clothes and basic necessities.

Grassland burns in Idaho, Oregon and Utah

Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.

A lightning-caused fire that has burned over 530 square miles (about 1,370 square kilometers) of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon continued to grow Monday. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.

In central Utah, a blaze quadrupled in size over the weekend to nearly 109 square miles (282 square kilometers) by Monday afternoon. More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to law enforcement.

Heavy winds helped flames jump containment lines, but forward progression was slowed toward Fillmore, a town of about 2,600 people and the seat of Millard County, officials said. Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town's southern portion, and inmates at the county jail were transferred.

Spokane sets up shelter for impacted residents

In Spokane, about 400 people were staying at city's main convention center, which was turned into a shelter, officials said.

Spokane Public Schools opened a free emergency drop-in camp for children on Monday. Trials at the county court were pushed to Aug. 10.

Several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane.

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Johnson reported from Seattle, and White from Detroit. Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Spokane; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed.

A censure registers the House’s deep disapproval of a lawmaker's conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion.

Edwards, 65, has denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.” It also described his actions as “beyond inappropriate.”

The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.

Report found Edwards made aides ‘uncomfortable’

The Ethics panel found no evidence Edwards explicitly propositioned any person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them. But it also said he failed to adhere to “the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers.”

"Both women were uncomfortable with his behavior (which they attempted to communicate) but were put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as their boss and a Member of Congress," the Ethics Committee said in its 25-page report. “Representative Edwards was at minimum blind to that reality, and at worst, dismissive of the impact his inappropriate conduct had on the careers and well-being of two women on his staff.”

One aide worked for the congressman's office for about two-and-a-half years and the other for about three years. They no longer work there. The Ethics panel said they left due to conduct described in its report, although they provided other explanations to Edwards.

In a 15-page response to the report, Edwards' attorneys argued that the committee's findings “exonerate” the congressman, pointing to the conclusion that he did not engage in sexual activity or explicitly proposition any staff member.

His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an “extraordinarily harsh and infrequent punishment” that is based on vague standards and adherence to the spirit of House rules, “not based on a direct violation of House rules addressing sexual misconduct.”

Paul Shumaker, a spokesperson and strategist for Edwards' reelection campaign, said the Ethics Committee's staff took it upon themselves to write rules inconsistent with the written rule of law or House rules.

“Representative Edwards looks forward to having his name cleared and will work to ensure that the full light of day is brought on this process and that every member of Congress and the public can see the attempt to harm the Congressman who has brought no harm to others,” Shumaker said in a written statement.

The committee's report detailed numerous gifts that Edwards gave the two aides, calling the gifts “beyond norms of professional behavior.” The women received jewelry totaling more than $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, as well as vacations, tickets to performances, and one-on-one dinners.

There are House rules in place to protect staff

House members are prohibited from engaging in sexual harassment or making unwanted advances toward their subordinates.

The Edwards investigation came at a time of heightened scrutiny of lawmakers’ behavior toward female staffers following the resignations of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales. Both were facing calls for their expulsion before they stepped down earlier this year.

In May, House leadership designated Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., to lead a bipartisan effort to combat sexual misconduct in Congress. Their work is focused on making Capitol Hill a safer job environment for women.

The Ethics panel said Edwards cooperated with the investigation and acknowledged to them that at least some of the behavior at issue could be viewed as inappropriate. However, he has not acknowledged or taken responsibility for the harm he caused, the committee said.

In his interview with the committee, the panel said Edwards repeatedly asserted that he knows well what constitutes “sexual harassment,” and seemed to believe he had immunized himself from such a charge by avoiding inappropriate touching and sexual comments and occasionally telling the staffers that they were free to put up boundaries.

“Despite the absence of an explicit proposition, a reasonable person could interpret Representative Edwards’ intimate and effusive attentions, where he prioritized the personal over the professional, as thinly veiled advances," the committee wrote.

The House would have to approve Edwards' censure

The full House will have to vote before any censure would occur. Traditionally, a lawmaker who is censured must stand in the well of the House while the speaker or presiding officer reads the censure resolution as a form of public rebuke.

Lawmakers are back in their home districts for almost the rest of the month, so a vote on whether to censure Edwards won't occur for a few weeks at the earliest.

At the start of the new year, Berg will take over for Don Garber, who has served as the league’s commissioner since 1999.

The 60-year-old Berg, who will divest his ownership interest in LAFC, will be officially introduced on Tuesday at MLS headquarters in New York.

“I’m honored to lead Major League Soccer into its next era,” Berg said in a statement. “Thanks to the vision and commitment of so many people, Major League Soccer has achieved tremendous success, but I believe our greatest opportunities are still ahead. We have an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the quality of our competition, develop more world-class players, deepen our connection with supporters, and continue elevating Major League Soccer’s place in the global game.

“Together with our owners, clubs, players, partners, supporters, and league staff, I could not be more excited for what comes next.”

Garber will remain MLS commissioner through the end of the 2026 season before taking over as chairman of the league. MLS has grown tremendously during Garber’s tenure, and hopes to capitalize on the momentum of the 2026 World Cup.

“Having worked closely with Larry over the past decade, I’ve seen firsthand the qualities that make him an exceptional leader, and I have complete confidence he is the right person to serve as Major League Soccer’s next commissioner,” Garber said in a statement. “His integrity, judgment, collaborative leadership, and unwavering commitment to building LAFC and the league have made him an invaluable partner. I look forward to working alongside Larry during this transition and supporting him as he leads MLS into its next chapter.”

Berg previously held ownership stakes in Serie A club AS Roma, as well as Swansea City AFC in Wales. Under Berg’s ownership, LAFC won the MLS Cup in 2022, and the Supporters’ Shield in 2019.

Before he came to MLS, Garber was head of NFL International. In 1999, NFL team owners Lamar Hunt and Robert Kraft approached Garber and asked if he might be interested in serving as commissioner of the league, which was launched in 1996.

At the time Garber took over, the league was in trouble. By 2001 MLS appeared on the verge of folding, but Garber steered the league out of the crisis.

Under his watch, the league has expanded from 12 to 30 teams with the addition of San Diego FC in 2025. He introduced the league’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, encouraged the construction of soccer-specific stadiums and spurred the growth of an academy system to develop players in the United States.

Five clubs, Inter Miami, home of superstar Lionel Messi, LAFC, the LA Galaxy, Atlanta United and NYCFC are valued at over $1 billion, according to Forbes.

At the start, Berk will help guide the league as it shifts to a new calendar, with the season running from on a summer to spring schedule to more align with its international counterparts. Currently the league plays a late winter to late fall schedule.

Following the conclusion of the current season, MLS will play a shortened 14-game “sprint season” in early 2027 before the league switches to its new schedule, kicking off in July with the league championship to be played in May 2028.

Last week in an interview with The Associated Press, Garber said it in was important for his successor to share the collective vision for the league.

“The next commissioner, I hope and expect, is going to believe in the future opportunity for our league and our clubs, and what role we can play domestically and internationally to grow the game and be responsible stewards for the game, and drive value for every stakeholder, every group that cares about their local club,” Garber said.

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

The 28-year-old Rutschman is hitting .251 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs this season. He earned an All-Star nod for the third time but is currently on the injured list with left wrist inflammation. He's also dealt with an ankle injury and a concussion this year.

The deal was announced about an hour before Monday's trade deadline. Baltimore also sent catcher Jake Rogers to the Red Sox. In return, the Orioles received minor league right-handers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, minor league outfielder Enddy Azocar, catcher Carlos Narváez and a player to be named later. Eyanson, Witherspoon and Azocar were ranked among Boston's top five prospects by MLB Pipeline, with Eyanson in the top 50 in all of baseball.

In another move involving a former top 5 draft pick, Boston traded shortstop Marcelo Marcelo — the fourth overall pick in 2021 — to San Francisco for left-handed reliever Erik Miller. The Red Sox also dealt right-hander Tyler Uberstine to Atlanta for outfielder Eli White.

In Mayer’s case, it ends a short and injury-plagued run in Boston that saw the 23-year-old play in only 114 games over two seasons. His trade comes while he is currently on the injured list recuperating a stress reaction in his left forearm.

If he can return to the field soon, Rutschman is a significant addition for a Boston team that stormed back into the postseason picture with a 15-game winning streak last month. The Red Sox needed catching help, and their offense is also dealing with injuries to Triston Casas, Trevor Story, Roman Anthony and even the recently acquired Curtis Mead.

The Orioles drafted Rutschman with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, but unlike Bobby Witt Jr., the second pick that year, he hasn't signed a long-term contract. Rutschman can become a free agent after next season.

Trading him to an AL East rival is a bitter pill for some Baltimore fans. In many ways, he represented both the success and failure of the past few years for the Orioles. He made his debut in 2022 and the team took off, finishing with a winning record that year and then storming to a 101-win campaign in 2023.

Baltimore made the playoffs in 2024, but Rutschman slumped down the stretch and was unable to rebound in 2025, when the Orioles collapsed to a last-place finish. He's been better this year but has played in only 67 games. Baltimore is 54-58 and entered Monday 2 1/2 games behind the final playoff spot in the American League.

Samuel Basallo, who has 16 homers this season, now becomes Baltimore's clear No. 1 catcher. However, the 21-year-old Basallo is currently on the injured list as well.

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

Elections officials have advised voters in the affected areas to use a state website to verify whether the ballots they have cast have been received and how to obtain a replacement ballot if necessary. Voters have until 8 p.m. local time to have their ballots hand-postmarked at a U.S. Post Office or returned to a ballot drop box. One drop box in the evacuation zone will be closed once any remaining ballots are collected, according to a Spokane County advisory.

Roughly 67,000 people in the Spokane area are under evacuation orders. The state conducts elections almost entirely by mail with relatively little in-person voting.

A key U.S. House battleground this fall will be in the state's 3rd Congressional District in southwest Washington, bordering Oregon to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is running for a third term in the seat she first won narrowly in 2022. She faces eight primary challengers, including Republican state Senate Minority Leader John Braun, who has a key endorsement from President Donald Trump.

Washington state has a top-two primary system in which all candidates compete on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters regardless of party advance to the general election.

Trump received 50.3% of the vote from 3rd District voters in 2024, while Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris received 47%. Gluesenkamp Perez received 50.1% and 52% of the vote in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, respectively.

Incumbents are running for reelection in nine of the state’s 10 congressional districts. The exception is the 4th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is retiring after six terms. Newhouse was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Eleven candidates are running to replace him, including Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney and entrepreneur and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, both Republicans. Trump endorsed McKinney in January on the five-year anniversary of the insurrection. He previously endorsed Sessler’s unsuccessful bid to unseat Newhouse in 2024. Trump received 59% of the 4th District vote in the presidential election that year.

About half of Washington’s 49 state Senate seats and all 98 state House seats are up in 2026. Democrats currently control about 60% of seats in each chamber.

Three of Washington’s nine state Supreme Court justices are on Tuesday’s ballot, including Chief Justice Debra Stephens. A fourth seat is open. Although state Supreme Court seats are nonpartisan, liberals hold a majority and the ideological balance of the court is not at stake.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

In-person voting centers close at 8 p.m. PT, which is 11 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. House, state Senate, state House and state Supreme Court.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in the state’s top-two primary system.

How many voters are there?

As of July 1, there were about 5.1 million registered voters in Washington.

How many people actually vote?

About 2 million votes were cast in the 2024 all-party primary for governor. That was slightly higher than the roughly 1.9 million votes cast in the 2022 all-party U.S. Senate primary.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Washington conducts its elections almost entirely by mail, and very few voters cast their votes in person. In the 2024 state primary, about 58.5% of voters delivered their ballots to a drop box, while about 41.3% sent their ballots through the mail.

As of Friday, about 780,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

The first vote updates of the night tend to include mostly results from mail voting with relatively few results from early in-person or in-person Election Day voting. A handful of counties, including two of the more populous in the state, Spokane and Clark, often release the bulk of their absentee results in their first vote update, but most counties roll them out over the course of the night.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results at 11:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:43 p.m. ET, with about 51% of total votes counted. The vote count surpassed the 75% mark on the Thursday following the election at 7:56 p.m. ET and reached about 95% of the total vote six days after the election at 7:24 p.m. ET.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Machine recounts in Washington state are automatic if the vote margin between the top two candidates is less than 2,000 votes and less than 0.5% of the total votes cast for both candidates. Manual recounts are required for statewide contests if the margin is less than 1,000 votes and less than 0.25% of the total votes cast for both candidates. For all other races, manual recounts are required when the margin is less than 150 votes and less than 0.25% of the total votes cast for both candidates. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Pittsburgh, looking to end a decade-long playoff drought, sent 21-year-old shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura to the Mets in exchange for the 32-year-old Weaver.

The addition of Weaver signals an unusually aggressive financial push by the typically frugal Pirates. Weaver is in the first season of a $22 million, two-year contract.

The move comes with Pittsburgh's bid for a National League wild card flickering a bit following a 2-7 stretch in which the bullpen faltered repeatedly, most notably in an 8-7 loss to Cincinnati last Friday when a two-run lead in the eighth inning quickly evaporated.

The Pirates have blown 20 of 42 save opportunities this season and already released reliever Dennis Santana, who began the year splitting the closing duties with Gregory Soto.

Pittsburgh also added two more right-handed relievers — two-time All Star Kirby Yates of the Los Angeles Angels and Lake Bachar of the Miami Marlins — right before the deadline. Weaver, Yates and Bachar will join a bullpen that's undergone a significant makeover in the last week. The Pirates brought in former All-Star reliever Camilo Doval from the New York Yankees on Saturday. Doval allowed a run in one inning of work during his Pirates debut in a loss to Cincinnati on Sunday.

Weaver had been one of the few bright spots this season for the last-place Mets, going 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA and one save in 42 appearances. A converted starting pitcher, Weaver has been excellent since moving to the bullpen full-time in 2024 with the New York Yankees. He has a 13-8 record with a 2.90 ERA and 13 saves in 168 games with the Mets and Yankees over the last two-plus seasons.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly called Weaver's experience a plus for a young staff, most of whom are in a playoff race for the first time. Weaver excelled during the 2024 postseason with the Yankees, recording four saves and posting a 1.76 ERA while helping New York to the World Series.

“The demeanor and just the way he goes about things is something that has stood out to me from the other side, and how he stays poised and continues to attack the strike zone,” Kelly said. "He’s been really good against righties and has had success against left-handers as well.”

While the Pirates could use Weaver as a closer, he's more likely to see action in high-leverage situations before the ninth.

“I’m sure he’s going to close some games, and I’m sure that we’ll see him in the seventh and eighth,” Kelly said. "He’s going to pitch in big spots.”

Yates also has plenty of experience in significant moments. The 39-year-old led the National League with 41 saves in 2019 with San Diego and was an All-Star in 2024 for the Texas Rangers. He is 0-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 31 games this season with the Angels.

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AP freelance writer Rich Rovito in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

In a release, deputies said they received information back in June that the man — identified as Antoine “Tony” Delynn Latimore, 42 — was selling illegal narcotics in the area. Detectives then launched an undercover operation, the sheriff’s office said.

Undercover buys were arranged, investigators say

The sheriff’s office said that on two different dates in June, undercover detectives arranged to buy:

• 100 fentanyl pills
• 100 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills

Officials said the investigation continued into last month, when detectives said Latimore took steps toward a much larger deal.

Alleged plan to buy kilos of cocaine

In July, detectives said Latimore asked undercover investigators whether they knew anyone selling cocaine, telling them he wanted to “purchase a large amount and then sell it himself.”

According to the sheriff’s office, a purchase of 3 kilograms of cocaine was arranged for July 29.

Investigators said Latimore proposed using his 1983 Buick — which he claimed was worth more than $80,000 due to upgrades including rims, an audio system and other modifications — as collateral for the deal.

Prior federal case cited in report

Detectives also learned Latimore had been arrested in 2019 during an undercover operation involving the Lakeland FBI, Tampa DEA and Florida Highway Patrol, the sheriff’s office said, after investigators said he sold crack cocaine to a confidential source.

Officials said Latimore pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine, and was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison. The sheriff’s office said his sentence was later commuted to July 16 due to an executive clemency grant signed by President Joe Biden that took effect in January 2025.

Charges filed after July 31 arrest

Latimore was taken into custody in Winter Haven on July 31, the sheriff’s office said, and was charged with:

• Trafficking in fentanyl over 14 grams (F1)
• Trafficking in MDMA over 10 grams (F2)
• Maintaining a vehicle to traffic drugs (F2)
• Possession of drug paraphernalia (M1)

In a statement, Sheriff Grady Judd criticized Latimore and the commutation.

“Tony Latimore told our detectives that he does not sell ‘a lot of drugs’ but sells them ‘from time to time to make money.’ Well, isn’t that something — an honest drug dealer,” Judd stated. “This guy should have still been in federal prison, but thanks to President Biden, he’s back out on the street peddling dangerous drugs like fentanyl. This is why soft-on-crime policies don’t work — they endanger lives."

The 30-year-old construction worker ended up curling up with other Cubans on the city's sea wall, the Malecón, in a desperate attempt to escape the suffocating summer heat during yet another islandwide blackout.

Sunday night marked the sixth islandwide blackout since Trump administration effectively cut Cuba off from oil — its main energy source — in January. The move plunged the endemically crisis-stricken country into free-fall. While authorities on Monday said they were working to get the power back on, much of the island still had no electricity.

The energy grid collapses have left people like Ríos García with fewer options to get by as the U.S. maintains its pressure campaign against the communist-led government.

"Things are only getting worse. Tomorrow it’ll collapse again ... and we’ll be back to sleeping on the Malecón,” said Ríos García, who used a piece of yellow foam as a pillow to cushion his head from the tough concrete.

The recurring power outages combined with the stifling heat have created collective insomnia on the island as residents struggle to get through the night. While some like Ríos García have slept on the boulevard, others struggle to get some rest on balconies and front porches.

The day of the latest blackout on Sunday, the temperature hit 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 Celsius), but ended up feeling like 106 F when combined with the Caribbean's 80% humidity levels.

It marks just one of a growing number of struggles on the Caribbean island where day-to-day life has grown increasingly difficult since the U.S. threatened to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide it with oil. That was a debilitating blow after decades of U.S. economic sanctions, with the island's infrastructure crumbling and a surge in migration.

Multiple outages since March

Sunday's latest total blackout confirmed by the state-run energy company came after sweeping outages across western Cuba, including the cities of Pinar del Río, Matanzas and Havana the day before.

Energy authorities reported two nationwide grid collapses in March and three in July, along with several partial outages.

Rolling blackouts now last more than 20 hours a day. Obtaining gas and basic goods have become daylong endeavors. Cubans worry about precious food like frozen chicken rotting in their fridges without power. The island’s once bustling tourism industry has bottomed out, leaving even fewer with a source of income allowing them to get by. With little fuel, public transportation in Havana has effectively collapsed. Hospitals have been left reeling and have sought to install solar panels to keep the lights on.

Cubans have long displayed a characteristic resilience to hardship, adapting to twists and turns and unexpected shortages after decades of living under a U.S. trade embargo. But in recent months and years, a sense of hopelessness has increasingly gripped those still remaining on the island.

Among them was 30-year-old physical education teacher Elaine Delis Ramos, who curled up next to loved ones on the boardwalk on top of a thick blanket in search of a breeze.

“Just when we start hoping (the energy grid) wouldn't collapse again, there it goes again," she said. “We don’t have any solution.”

The attack Saturday at a new In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls ended when the gunman, identified by police as 24-year-old Chad Williams, shot and killed himself. On Monday, police were still trying to determine why Williams carried out the attack, which happened early in the afternoon in a busy shopping plaza in the southern Idaho city.

Many details about Williams' life were still unknown Monday, but an initial search of court records in Idaho and Arizona, where he used to live, didn't show any criminal cases matching his name and birth date.

Man who knew gunman says he was ‘pretty chill’

Elijah Moseley, who lived across the hall from Williams in a College of Southern Idaho dorm a few years ago, described him as “an introvert” and “a pretty chill guy.”

“I was never scared or weirded out by him,” he said.

Moseley said he considered Williams a relatively close friend, though they lost touch a couple of years ago.

“I’m shocked by this and sick to my stomach about this,” he said.

Detectives are confident that Williams acted alone, Police Chief Matthew Hicks said Sunday, noting that Williams’ family is cooperating fully with the investigation.

Two of the wounded victims were treated at a hospital and released, three were listed as stable, and two others were in critical condition, police said Sunday.

During the attack, an off-duty state trooper and a civilian fired on Williams and diverted him from the restaurant, the chief said. Police haven't disclosed their names or those of the victims, but some victims have been identified by friends and relatives. Twin Falls spokesperson Josh Palmer said Monday that police were still trying to identify next of kin.

A vigil is planned for Tuesday evening at Twin Falls City Park, Palmer said.

In-N-Out employee among those killed

The attack happened at an In-N-Out that opened late last month as part of the California chain’s Idaho expansion, and an employee at the burger joint was among those killed, the fast-food chain’s owner, Lynsi Snyder, said in a statement. She didn't identify the worker.

Kimberley Castaneda confirmed to The Associated Press that her brother, Christopher Claunch, was among those killed, but she declined to discuss him further.

Garren Taylor, one of Claunch's friends, said that two years ago, Claunch completed a rehab program for alcohol abuse at Renaissance Ranch Recovery Center in Rupert, Idaho, and was immediately hired there. Taylor said Claunch, known to those close to him as “Toph,” had since then dedicated his life to helping others get sober.

“He helped hundreds of people,” Taylor recalled Monday. “He was just a gift to anyone he came in contact with. It wasn’t about the paycheck, his attitude was: ‘I get to help someone today.’”

Renaissance Ranch declined to comment Monday.

Wounded man moved closer to gunfire to help

In a Facebook post, Marcus Scott said his son Austin “A.J.” Scott was critically wounded in the attack and faces a long recovery. He said his son was shot after he moved “toward the danger” when he heard gunfire in an effort to protect others.

“We are incredibly thankful that God spared his life and that his wife and friend were there to provide immediate care until he could get to the hospital," he wrote.

Marcus Scott said in a message to the AP on Monday that his son used to work as a law enforcement officer for the Twin Falls police and the Idaho State Police. He declined to comment further on his son’s actions, saying it is his son's story to tell.

Terry Dudley, a driver for North Star Taxi, was shot as he was charging one of the company’s Teslas in a parking lot next to the In-N-Out Burger, said James Palmer, who owns the taxi service and is Dudley’s friend.

Palmer said Dudley called him to tell him he was shot after he couldn’t get through to 911. He said Dudley was flown to a hospital in Boise and remained there Monday with serious injuries, he said.

“It’s a lot, man,” Palmer said. “It’s daunting, to say the least, to even try to gather the scope of all this. It’s been absolute chaos."

He said Dudley was “kind of like my right hand.”

Gunman left local college before graduating

Williams attended the College of Southern Idaho from August 2022 and December 2023, according to the school's president, L. Dean Fisher. He didn’t graduate or earn a certificate from the school, which has about 10,000 students.

Williams served in the student senate but was unanimously impeached by his fellow senators in February 2023. Moseley, who served as the senate pro-tempore at the time, said Williams was ousted because he wasn't very active or engaged in student government.

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Associated Press reporters Christopher Weber and Jamie Stengle contributed to this report.

In Detroit, El-Sayed posed for photos and participated in interviews with content creators at a backyard pool party before a final rally with supporters. On the state’s west side, Stevens appeared alongside Michigan Democratic officials.

It was a fitting final contrast in a race that has become one of the clearest tests yet of where Democratic voters want their party to go. El-Sayed, a progressive backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and other leaders on the party’s left, has run against much of the Democratic establishment. Stevens, a four-term congresswoman backed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and many of Michigan’s top Democrats, has made electability and experience central to her case.

Tens of millions of dollars have poured into the race, much of it from outside groups supporting Stevens. But the contest now comes down to which candidate can assemble enough of Michigan’s Democratic coalition to win Tuesday.

El-Sayed opted to focus in his campaign’s final days on Detroit, which he called a “spiritual home” and a place where he wanted to “demonstrate what this movement is and what it could mean.”

Stevens, meanwhile, spent time in Detroit before heading to the state's west side. She called the final push the “last word phenomenon."

“Everyone’s trying to get in their last points," she said.

Both candidates focused on Detroit-area churches and union halls Sunday

Both candidates have spent parts of the campaign’s final days in Detroit, where Black voters have long been crucial to winning Democratic primaries.

El-Sayed began Sunday by sitting alongside his wife and Black political leaders in a packed Detroit church, clapping as the congregation sang and the pastor preached. Then he stood before the room and asked for their votes.

“I believe in the kind of America where no matter where you grow up, the color of your skin, how you pray, you deserve equal rights in this country,” El-Sayed told the congregation at Kingdom Covenant Church.

“You deserve to go to a good school, you deserve to get healthcare, you deserve to graduate and get a good job,” he added.

El-Sayed was joined by Democratic Reps. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, as well as Yusef Jackson, the son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson who is president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Pastor David A. Johnson II said welcoming a political candidate was not something he typically did, but “this particular season, it’s time for us to do something different.”

For Robin Robertson, a 59-year-old Detroit resident, El-Sayed’s visit came just in time. Robertson said she had gone back and forth over whom to support, waiting until the campaign’s final days to decide.

She ultimately settled on El-Sayed, saying Stevens “had a good run.”

“His agenda seems to match more for me the things that we need right now,” Robertson said. “And then, he’s here in my little church. That was confirmation that I’m going to vote for him.”

Stevens, meanwhile, emphasized her longstanding connections to Detroit-area churches.

At a church in Pontiac on Sunday afternoon, Stevens stayed after the service to speak individually with congregants, greeting many like familiar faces.

“I come here year-round. This isn’t just a campaign thing,” Stevens said. “Our churches are places of community refuge, community connection.”

Stevens and her allies have also made a direct appeal to Black voters through advertisements highlighting her ties to former President Barack Obama and her work as chief of staff for his administration’s auto rescue effort from 2009 to 2011.

Her campaign acknowledges that a strong showing among Detroit voters will likely be necessary for her to win Tuesday.

Reggie Williams, a longtime constituent who was supporting Stevens at an Oakland County event Sunday evening in a union hall, said he continues to back her because she “has always been there for the people.”

“She is out and about in the community, always has boots on the ground,” Williams said.

Stevens, El-Sayed

focus on different parts of Michigan on final day of campaigning

After spending much of Sunday pursuing some of the same Democratic constituencies, El-Sayed and Stevens took different paths across Michigan for the final full day of the primary.

For El-Sayed, that meant leaning into a volunteer operation his campaign says has grown to 12,000 people statewide. Stevens is relying on the broader institutional support she has accumulated across the state, including endorsements from many of Michigan’s most prominent Democratic officials, such as Sen. Gary Peters and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

El-Sayed remained in Detroit, trying to turn enthusiasm in the state’s largest city into votes. Monday evening he plans to close his campaign with a voter mobilization event in Detroit, alongside other candidates running for Congress and state office.

Stevens' Monday included a stop at a soul food restaurant and bakery in Muskegon Heights, where she addressed just over 20 people and positioned herself as the only candidate who can win against Republican Mike Rogers in November.

Sharri J. Lane, who owns a jewelry business and grew up in Muskegon Heights, was in attendance and had already voted for Stevens.

“I hope that she will keep her word and will do things that will benefit so many communities like ours,” Lane, 54, said while standing next to a rack of her earrings for sale. “Sometimes we’re forgotten about, you know, after the voting ends.”

Can Michigan Democrats come back together after Tuesday?

The primary has been bruising and expensive. And after Tuesday, Michigan Democrats will have to figure out how quickly they can put it behind them.

The winner will immediately face the task of bringing together supporters of two candidates who have offered different visions for the party and whose campaigns have grown increasingly contentious in the closing weeks.

El-Sayed and his allies have sharpened their attacks on Stevens. He told Semafor in July that a pro-Israel group backing her needed to “teach her how to string together two coherent sentences.” Stevens escalated her own criticism in the campaign's final days, responding to a clip of El-Sayed on July 31 by saying, “Everyone in America understands you want to blame all of your problems on Jewish Americans.”

Michigan Democrats are hoping to begin the process of coalescing almost immediately. The party plans to bring its nominees from across the state together in the days after the primary for a general election kickoff aimed at presenting a united front heading into November.

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GaNun reported from Muskegon Heights, Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration. The department said it would not provide additional information about the deaths.

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

The CDC says the illness, called cyclosporiasis, is rarely deadly.

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

Dr. Joel Kammeyer, the division chief of infectious diseases at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center, called the deaths a “tragedy” but noted that despite thousands of cyclosporiasis cases, only two people have died.

“For someone who comes into an urgent care and cyclosporiasis is their only issue, it’s relatively easy to treat,” Kammeyer said. But for people who are struggling with other illnesses, he said, “it stands to reason that there are some patients that might not be able to withstand the dehydration that can come with severe cyclosporiasis.”

Cyclosporiasis is less common than other foodborne illnesses, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.

Previously, 2019 saw the most reported U.S. cyclosporiasis cases, with about 4,700.

The CDC said it is aware of more than 18,000 confirmed or suspected cases in the current surge. But CDC numbers can lag state reports, which suggest the number is more than 20,000 nationwide.

Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations in nine states as a source of the widespread outbreak. As of late July, the number of cases linked to the lettuce was 1,947, including at least 98 people who had to be hospitalized, according to the CDC.

The agency has said other “brands, restaurants, retailers, or distribution channels” could be tied to the outbreak as the investigation continues.

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Associated Press reporter Mike Stobbe in New York City contributed.

The teams have agreed to the trade pending medical reviews, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the move hadn't been announced by either side.

It's the latest effort by the busy Cubs to replenish an injury-depleted pitching staff as they attempt to chase down first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central and hang onto the National League's top wild-card spot.

Earlier in the day, Chicago obtained reliever Ryan Zeferjahn from the Los Angeles Angels for two minor leaguers: catcher Moisés Ballesteros and right-hander Mason McGwire — son of retired slugger Mark McGwire. The team also added left-hander Braxton Garrett from the Miami Marlins for a pair of minor leaguers: infielder Jonathon Long and right-hander Jace Beck.

Garrett was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.

Those deals came one day after the Cubs augmented their rotation by acquiring veteran starter Kevin Gausman in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Holmes appears just about ready to return from a broken right leg that has sidelined him since mid-May. He was 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA in nine starts before getting hurt.

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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick in New York contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza, held “constructive and detailed” talks with Netanyahu and his team, the Board of Peace said in a statement.

“The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the Strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance,” it said, referring to the embattled enclave.

Mladenov also pressed Netanyahu to halt Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Mladenov and his team, including senior adviser Aryeh Lightstone, are pressuring Israel to stop striking Gaza as they push ahead with the agreement to decommission the weapons held by Hamas.

In a statement Monday, Hamas said the group and various other Palestinian factions “remain committed to what was agreed regarding the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, including all parties’ obligations.”

Hamas added it was awaiting “a clear and official response” from Mladenov and the mediators regarding what was agreed upon.

Meanwhile, in Washington, members of the Board of Peace met with U.S. congressional staff on Monday to detail their ongoing efforts and to work with Congress “to advance peace, security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza,” according to a brief statement released by the board.

President Donald Trump had announced the agreement, which is part of a broader ceasefire deal reached last year, on Thursday. It calls for Israel to cease its military operations and for Hamas and its allies in Gaza to halt all militant activity. The agreement also laid out in general terms what the decommissioning process would look like.

After the text of the agreement was released, Israel said it had “serious security concerns” and that it shared those with the United States. It also ramped up its strikes in Gaza, killing 17 people overnight Saturday and into Sunday, according to local health officials. No airstrikes were reported in Gaza on Monday.

Israeli attacks have killed 1,250 people since the ceasefire deal was reached in October, an agreement that ended major fighting in the Israel-Hamas war that had raged for two years.

Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — mediators in the Gaza truce negotiations — denounced the latest Israeli strikes in a statement Monday, saying that the particular targeting of healthcare facilities, medical infrastructure and resulting civilian casualties constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

‏The mediators also called on the international community to continue to pressure Israel to fulfill its end of the deal.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but they are considered generally reliable by the United Nations and other international organizations.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

The pair of aggressive moves was a part of a hectic day of swaps, featuring dozens of deals in the hours leading up to Monday's 6 p.m. EDT deadline. Also on Monday, the Houston Astros added veteran outfielder Daulton Varsho from Toronto in exchange for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, and the Chicago Cubs got pitcher Clay Holmes from the New York Mets.

The Los Angeles Dodgers woke up already looking like the deadline’s biggest winners after adding two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to a loaded roster Sunday. The Dodgers are chasing a third straight World Series title.

Rutschman gives Red Sox young catching star

Rutschman was the No. 1 overall pick in 2019 out of Oregon State and has largely lived up to the high expectations with five quality seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.

Now he moves to the Red Sox, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade hadn't been announced.

Boston started slow this season but revitalized its playoff hopes with a franchise record-tying 15-game winning streak in July. The 28-year-old Rutschman — who is under team control for one more season in 2027 — has had a bounce-back season at the plate with a .762 OPS, which helped him earn his third All-Star nod.

Rutschman is currently on the injured list with left wrist inflammation. He’s also dealt with an ankle injury and a concussion this year.

Arraez gives Philly an elite contact hitter

Arraez comes from the San Francisco Giants, and he'll be expected to create RBI opportunities for Phillies sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

Arraez is hitting an NL-best .324 in a resurgent season after signing a $12 million, one-year deal with San Francisco early in spring training. The 29-year-old has his highest batting average since 2023, and he's played better defense at second base after questions about his glove hindered his market in free agency.

Schwarber is second in the majors with 33 home runs entering Monday yet ranks 31st with 63 RBIs, while Harper has driven in 66. The team's .304 on-base percentage is the second lowest in the majors.

Philly also got reliever Caleb Kilian back from the Giants in the trade for two minor leaguers, and it swung a separate deal for left-handed reliever Brooks Raley with the Mets.

Former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray goes to Padres

The San Diego Padres acquired veteran left-hander Robbie Ray from the Giants on Monday in a trade for two prospects.

The Padres have won eight of nine to move one game back of the final wild-card playoff position, and this latest surge in their up-and-down season apparently prompted general manager A.J. Preller to trade yet another chunk of his severely depleted farm system for another chance to win now.

San Diego gave up right-hander Miguel Mendez and 17-year-old shortstop Joniel Hernandez for the 34-year-old Ray, a former Cy Young Award winner who will be an unrestricted free agent this winter. The Padres also got cash in the deal.

Ray is 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings this season, his third with San Francisco.

Dodgers keep adding

The Dodgers added 2025 All-Star left-hander Kris Bubic from the Kansas City Royals for minor league right-hander Carlos Duran, a person familiar with the deal told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade hadn't been announced.

Bubic is on the 60-day injured list with shoulder and elbow issues, but the Royals had expected him to return in late-August, which would put him in line to pitch out of the bullpen for Los Angeles during the playoffs. He was an All-Star last season and is 3-2 with a 4.11 ERA in nine starts this season. Duran is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.

Los Angeles also traded for backup catcher Ben Rortvedt for the second year in a row. This time, the Dodgers got Rortvedt from the Mets for right-hander Chayce McDermott. The 28-year-old Rortvedt hasn’t played in the big leagues this season and wasn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster.

Varsho helps Astros

The 30-year-old Varsho has had a disappointing offensive season with a .682 OPS over 99 games with the Blue Jays, but he earned a Gold Glove award in 2024 and remains an excellent defender.

Houston came into Monday's games with a 58-55 record, which is good for first place in the AL West. The Astros took over the division lead for the first time since April after a three-game sweep of the Rangers over the weekend.

The Blue Jays received Arrighetti, who is 7-5 with a 4.60 ERA over 17 starts this season.

Other trades of note

— The Pittsburgh Pirates added veteran right-hander Luke Weaver from the Mets. Weaver is in the first season of a two-year, $22-million deal. He had been one of the few bright spots this season for the last-place Mets, going 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA with one save in 42 appearances. The Mets received minor league infielder Sammy Stafura.

— The Cubs got left-hander Braxton Garrett from Miami for two minor leaguers. Garrett — the former seventh overall draft pick who turns 29 on Wednesday and will be under club control for two more seasons after this — suffered a torn UCL midway through the 2024 season. His only two big league starts since then came in mid-May, when he struck out five while allowing seven runs over 4 1/3 innings. He has since been at Triple-A. In 67 games for the Miami Marlins since his MLB debut in 2020, he was 16-20 with a 4.16 ERA. The Cubs also added righty Ryan Zeferjahn from the Los Angeles Angels for minor league catcher Moisés Ballesteros and minor league right-handed pitcher Mason McGwire, the son of former MLB slugger Mark McGwire.

— The Seattle Mariners acquired outfielder Taylor Ward from the Orioles in exchange for minor league right-handers Alex Hoppe, Brock Moore and Harrison Kreiling. Ward, 32, is hitting .246 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs in 111 games. He adds to Seattle’s outfield depth and could make impending free agent and All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena expendable.

— The Blue Jays bolstered their rotation with an eye on 2027 by acquiring right-hander José Soriano from the Angels for three prospects. The 27-year-old is 9-6 with a 3.29 ERA and has a 3.72 ERA over four big league seasons. He's under team control through 2028. Infielder Arjun Nimmala, a 2023 first-round pick, headlined the minor leaguers going to Los Angeles, along with outfielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. and right-hander Angel Rivero.

— The Cleveland Guardians picked up a power bat and some outfield versatility by adding Jo Adell from the Angels, who received minor league catcher Jacob Cozart. The 27-year-old Adell has 16 homers and 62 RBIs this season, one year after hitting a career-best 37 homers with 98 RBIs. Adell has spent his entire career with the Angels after being the 10th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft.

— The Tampa Bay Rays added catcher Liam Hicks in a trade with the Marlins while Miami received prospects RHP Jacob Kisting, SS Adrian Santana and INF Brayden Taylor. Hicks, 27, is in his second big league season and batting .282 with 14 homers and 62 RBIs. He's under team control for the next four seasons.

— The Chicago White Sox acquired outfielder Brenton Doyle from the Colorado Rockies for a pair of prospects. Doyle, who recently came off the injured list due to a bruised oblique, is hitting .214 with a homer and nine stolen bases. He’s won two Gold Glove awards for his work in center field. The Rockies received right-hander Mason Adams and infielder Carlos Vielma.

The White Sox also added righty reliever Huascar Brazobán from the Mets for minor league right-handers Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin. The 36-year-old Brazobán is 5-2 with a 2.56 ERA over 46 games this season.

— Toronto got utility player Josh Smith and minor league right-hander Josh Stephan from Texas for rookie left-hander Adam Macko. Smith, who in 2024 won a Silver Slugger as a utility player, was at Triple-A Round Rock. He went into this season with the chance to be the Rangers’ everyday second baseman, but he hit .213 in 45 games and missed 37 games because of injuries and a bout with viral meningitis.

— The Atlanta Braves acquired veteran left-handed reliever Brent Suter from the Angels for minor league infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. The 36-year-old Suter provides some bullpen depth for the NL East leaders. He was 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA over 63 1/3 innings in 41 appearances for Los Angeles. The Braves also traded outfielder Eli White to the Red Sox, obtained right-hander Tyler Uberstine, who was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, and traded backup catcher Joey Bart to the White Sox for right-hander Duncan Davitt.

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AP Baseball Writers Jay Cohen, Mike Fitzpatrick and Noah Trister and AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken, Dave Skretta and Alanis Thames contributed to this story.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Police officers responded around 2:30 a.m. to a reported shooting Sunday at the Liberty Parking Garage on E. Pine St.

Officers quickly detained two vehicles as they tried to leave the garage. An investigation found that an altercation between two groups turned into a physical fight. During the confrontation, one person retrieved a firearm, and the weapon was discharged, police said

No one was struck by gunfire, police said.

Two firearms were seized as part of the investigation. Three individuals were arrested:

• Michael Espinoza, 20, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and reckless display of a firearm.
• Isaiah Seeraj, 20, was charged with hit-and-run with property damage.
• Charlie Lopez, 21, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted delinquent.

The investigation is ongoing.

Police say they are aware of the social media chatter and community concern surrounding the case. In response, they are increasing patrols and their physical presence throughout DeLand to help residents feel safe.

[WATCH: DeLand police investigate double homicide near Athens Theatre]

“I think the focus is more on trying to like get to the bottom of it. I think that’s what has everyone on edge — are we going to find answers today,” said Brittany Schleper, a local salon owner.

Schleper’s salon is roughly a football field away from where the two bodies were discovered. She is among the downtown DeLand business owners and residents waiting for answers.

Last Thursday, police say the bodies of Rose and Campbell were found on a vacant industrial property near the Athens Theater. The childhood friends had each been shot multiple times. One of their mothers tracked a phone and located them at the scene.

On Saturday, police served a search warrant on Loughton Street connected to the case but have not disclosed how the location relates to the investigation. Authorities say they believe the shooting was an isolated incident.

“It’s been around the clock. They’ve been in over the weekend, they’ve been in long hours, they’re hardly sleeping right now,” said Sarah Lux, a city spokesperson.

Lux says officers not actively investigating the case have been deployed to patrol the community while the investigation continues.

“Any tip you have may seem insignificant. If you saw something and think that didn’t matter — it could still be a really big deal,” Lux said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 386-626-7400.

The brothers, longtime sport fishermen who live in Massachusetts, released a juvenile tiger shark in late July after catching it from a beach. The five-foot shark is far more common in warmer, southern waters such as the Caribbean Sea, and scientists said its appearance off Falmouth, Massachusetts, is an indicator of warming seas caused by climate change.

Nate and Nelson said the late-night catch was a thrill after hours of seeking far more common brown sharks.

“And I saw those horizontal lines, indicating it was a tiger shark, which was super cool,” said Nate, who is the social media manager for On The Water magazine. “Immediately I started yelling to my brother, ‘It’s a tiger, it's a tiger shark!' And he was in disbelief.”

The Rouette brothers caught a young specimen of a shark that can grow to more than 15 feet (4.6 meters) and 1,400 pounds (635 kilograms). Tiger sharks eat a wide array of other ocean life, including fish, crustaceans and birds, and are famous for sometimes eating man-made items such as old license plates and shoes that are later found in their stomachs. The adults are also more dangerous to humans than most shark species, though unprovoked fatal bites are rare.

Juvenile tiger sharks have been spotted more often in northern waters in recent years, said John Chisholm, adjunct scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Boston. Rising temperatures of global seas appear to have made the Atlantic Ocean off New England more hospitable to them, he said.

Young tiger sharks are historically less common than adults in northern waters, which makes the brothers' discovery even more surprising, Chisholm said.

“Maybe they are coming up here because conditions are right. There's food, there's warm waters,” he said. “Maybe it's becoming a nursery -- that's one of the issues that we will investigate.”

Tiger sharks are among many kinds of sea life that have been trending north in recent years as seas have warmed, and other sharks have done the same, scientists have said. Sightings of great whites off Cape Cod have been increasingly frequent, and the big sharks have also been seen off of New Hampshire and Maine. Scientists have attributed the shift in great white sightings to factors including a higher abundance of seals, which the great whites prey on.

Other sea animals, including black sea bass, appear to be moving north because of the warming of the ocean.

For the Rouette brothers, the encounter with a tiger shark provided a thrill they won't forget. Nate said the discovery was a reminder of that warming.

“People are definitely seeing more species that indicate that,” Nate said.

Trump said a day earlier he’d called off major strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies, the latest in a pattern of threats and subsequent backpedaling from the U.S. president.

Meanwhile, 25 states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. The U.S. last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.

Here is the latest:

Sen. Chuck Grassley invites former special counsel to testify about Trump investigation

Grassley says he has invited Jack Smith to testify before his panel on Sept. 22.

In a social media post announcing the invitation, Grassley, the chairman of the Republican-led committee, said that the American people “deserve nothing less than full transparency + accountability” related to the handling of the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Grassley wants to ask Smith about records showing that his team obtained phone records of some lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well as the content of their text messages. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, last month referred Smith to the Justice Department for a possible false statement investigation related to testimony about the records.

Lawyers for Smith say he testified truthfully and did nothing wrong.

Smith conducted two investigations into Trump, including related to his retention of classified records, that resulted in indictments. Both cases were abandoned after Trump won back the White House.

Trump Board of Peace officials meet congressional leaders as questions remain over Gaza peace plan

Members of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that is seeking and end to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza met with U.S. officials and lawmakers in Washington on Monday.

The board members met with congressional staff and others to describe “current efforts to implement President Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan” and to work with Congress “to advance peace, security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza.”

No details of the meeting were disclosed in a brief statement issued by the the Board of Peace.

The meeting took place as more senior officials from the Board of Peace met with top Israeli leaders in Israel.

25 states sue over Trump administration’s latest tariffs, citing Supreme Court ruling

Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February.

The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports produced by forced labor. The new tariffs took effect just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs President Donald Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.

“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

▶ Read more

Trump Washington surge opponents file complaint

A group of activists opposing the continued law enforcement and National Guard presence in Washington submitted a letter Monday to the D.C. Superior Court chief judge asking that he assess the seriousness and racial aspect of cases being brought by prosecutors during the surge.

Frankie Seabron, of CourtWatch DC, said 100 people a day were being taken into custody for minor crimes that would not have been pursued as vigorously before.

“Judges are not defenseless,” she said, “especially when they know prosecutors are abusing their powers.”

Seabron’s organization was one of several at a protest at Superior Court led by FreeDC. Ellen Hornstein with Lawyers Defending American Democracy also announced an ethics complaint had been filed last month against Jeanine Pirro with the Attorney Grievance Committee for the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The action cited her behavior in several cases, the reflecting pool vandalism case.

Trump says Pirro ‘folded like a cheap umbrella’

The president reiterated his disappointment with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for a court filing in which her office blamed a contractor’s shoddy work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rather than vandalism.

“I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” Trump said, later adding that the former Fox News host “folded like a cheap umbrella” in moving to drop criminal charges against the former Olympian accused of deliberately damaging the pool.

Trump refused to say whether he’d move to fire Pirro. But he also acknowledged that the contractor was “rushing” to finish the project before July 4 — which didn’t ultimately happen.

And he suggested he “didn’t know” the contactor working on it, contradicting his own comments from April when he said he chose the company involved since it had performed work at his golf course in Virginia.

Trump avoids answering whether he supports MLB salary cap

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire Dec. 1 and there’s growing speculation that there could be a lockout that jeopardizes the 2027 season

The central point of contention is MLB owners push for a salary cap. Asked if he supported the owners push for a salary cap, Trump demurred.

“Well, we’re going to talk about that at a different time,” said Trump, a New York Yankees fan. “You know, it’s a complex situation, but not too complex for me.”

The president previously has suggested that he views salary caps in pro sports favorably. Trump in June told reporters that “if you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport” and suggested MLB “should have done it a long time ago.”

Trump says he looks forward to meeting DC’s new mayor

Trump said he’d welcome meeting with Janeese Lewis George, likely the next mayor of Washington, D.C., after he wrongly referred to her as a communist.

Lewis George is a self-described democratic socialist and a member of the D.C. Council who won the Democratic mayoral primary in June. In the overwhelmingly Democratic city, she is likely to take the top spot in November’s general election. She would succeed moderate Muriel Bowser, who decided to step down after three terms.

“I have not met her yet. I look forward to meeting her,” Trump said of Lewis George.

Trump says oil companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil made ‘too much money’

The U.S. president said major oil companies are earning excessive profits because of high oil prices.

“They made too much money, too much money, “ Trump said. “They ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price.”

Trump said he’s not happy with profits reported by Chevron and Exxon Mobil, even though the higher margins reflected energy prices that had increased after Trump launched a war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed to oil and natural gas tankers.

Trump’s predecessor in the White House, Democrat Joe Biden, also attacked oil companies for their profits when inflation was a major problem with voters.

Trump says he doesn’t know what was agreed to on to advance Blanche’s nomination

The president said, “I understand there’s been a sign off” but that “I don’t know what they agreed” to.

“I think Todd Blanche agreed to reconfirm things that he’s already said. And what he said was OK,” Trump added.

Two Republican Senators who had blocked the confirmation of Blanche, the acting attorney general, to lead the Justice Department said they’d reached an agreement to end the impasse.

Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis said they struck a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that could have been used to compensate Trump supporters who overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Despite saying he didn’t know the details of the deal to advance Blanche’s nomination, Trump defended the fund, saying his supporters had been “treated very unfairly.”

Trump defends his exemption from IRS audits because government was ‘weaponized’ against him

The U.S. president defended an agreement to exempt him, his sons and his business from tax audits.

The IRS had until Trump audited presidents since 1977, but the administration struck a deal to avoid audits of Trump as part of what was an initial agreement to end a lawsuit over the leaking of his tax records.

Trump said that before he ran for president in 2016 that an IRS audit of him had been settled. He said the audit was then reopened and he used it during the campaign a decade ago to justify not releasing his tax returns as other candidates have done.

“They went after me illegally and they did a lot of bad things to me like they did to other people,” Trump said. “It was weaponized against me.”

Trump says he’s leaving the Rep. Max Miller situation to the families involved

A day after telling reporters that he’d look into the allegations against the Ohio congressman, Trump said he’ll let the families “figure that out.”

“It’s a very sad thing,” Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office. “I know Max. He’s a good person.”

Miller is accused of domestic violence by his former wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who is close to Trump. Miller denies the allegations.

The senator said Sunday that his former son-in-law should not serve in Congress.

“You know, those families, I know they’re working on it. It’s a very sad thing,” Trump said. “Especially when you know somebody so well to be going through that. But it’s accusations, and I’m going to let them figure that out.”

Trump says new talks are ‘last chance’ for Iran to forge deal and avoid escalation of US strikes

President Donald Trump said Monday that newly planned talks with Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.

Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address United States’ concerns about it’s nuclear program will begin in the next day or two.

The Republican president says, “The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization.” Trump says that ”will take a little while.”

While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that is unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election.

▶ Read more

Trump signs executive order on military spouses

The order creates the “Presidential Military Spouse Commission” to address issues facing troops and their families. Jennifer Hegseth, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife, will lead it, Trump said.

The president said the new commission would “develop suggestions to address particular challenges in housing, employment, health care, education, child childcare and just about everything else you can think of.”

Many of the issues have been tackled in various forms by multiple administrations.

Jennifer Hegseth’s role mirrors that of other defense secretary spouses who have advocated for families while their husbands ran the Pentagon. Charlene Austin, Lloyd Austin’s wife, sat on the advisory boards for the Purdue Military Family Research Institute, and Military Child Education Coalition.

Trump calls Iran ‘unbelievably duplicitous’ with regard to peace talks

Trump is venting about the status of peace talks with Iran.

He criticized Iran's leadership for claiming that its meetings with Oman on Monday were focused solely on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The president previously said he held off on a massive weekend strike against Iran because there was another framework for a ceasefire and the full reopening of the strait to oil and natural gas tankers.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” Trump posted on social media Monday. “They ask for a meeting, some would say “beg,” talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”

Trump said whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking” about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Breakneck pace in immigration courts is driving up deportation orders

The Trump administration is packing immigration courtrooms with speedier hearings to clear a decades-long backlog in asylum claims. New data shows a historic rise in missed court dates and immediate deportation orders as judges struggle to keep up the pace.

Hundreds of immigrants’ cases a day are being assigned to individual judges as the number of “mega” master hearings significantly increase. More than 1,300 were held in June alone, a nearly threefold jump from the previous June, according to Mobile Pathways, a nonprofit that tracks immigration court data.

The data also shows that courts have severely cut preparation time in complex immigration proceedings, so people are missing hearings and being told they’ve abandoned their asylum claims at unprecedented rates.

Those who favor limiting immigration see this as a course-correction for a longstanding problem. But the nonprofit’s chief operating officer says cases are being closed without being heard.

▶ Read more

GOP holdouts say they will vote to advance Blanche’s nomination for attorney general

Two Republican senators who threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s bid to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will vote to advance his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate the president’s allies.

The statement from Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis came after Blanche issued an order late Sunday formally rescinding the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Cornyn and Tillis had said they would not support Blanche’s nomination without written confirmation that the fund is dead.

▶ Read more

Trump stands to profit off US policy announcements by selling fast access to his social media posts

The president knows the world hangs on his every word. Now he wants you to pay for it.

Trump’s Truth Social business began selling sneak peeks of his social media posts on Saturday, offering early access to market-moving news to Wall Street traders willing to pay up. The move raises the prospect of big profits for Trump’s company, and big questions about insider trading and using public office for private gain.

Similar fast-speed feeds are sold by other social media firms and media providers, but Truth Social doesn’t just distribute the news, it makes it as Trump announces changes on everything from war to central bank leadership to tariffs.

“If this was the CEO of a public company, this would be jail time,” said Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading.

Initial sales details may be disclosed when Truth Social’s parent company announces quarterly earnings.

▶ Read more

Democrats’ future is at stake as El-Sayed and Stevens make final push in Michigan

Tuesday’s Senate primary in Michigan between congresswoman Haley Stevens and public health official Abdul El-Sayed is one of the clearest tests yet of where Democratic voters want their party to go.

El-Sayed is a progressive backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders who’s run against much of the Democratic establishment. Stevens is backed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and has made electability and experience central to her case.

The winner faces Republican Mike Rogers in November for an open seat Democrats likely need to hold to take control of the Senate next year.

▶ Read more

Trump decries negative public polling and claims he’s never been more popular

The U.S. president said on social media that independent surveys showing low approval ratings are false — denying a clear trend of lower support for Trump because of inflation and the Iran war, among other issues.

“My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been,” Trump asserted, providing no data to back up his claim.

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump. That survey from late July also showed a drop since the start of Trump’s second term in adults who “strongly approve” of him.

Contrary to the evidence of multiple surveys, Trump said his popularity is based on his income tax cuts, his job numbers, his efforts to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and his use of American military force in Venezuela and Iran.

Trump going to Los Angeles on Tuesday and speak in Las Vegas on Wednesday

The White House said the president will go to California and Nevada to talk up the economy and border security and slam Democrats ahead of the November elections.

Trump on Tuesday will attend a Republican National Committee dinner at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, the president is slated to talk about the economy at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.

Falling oil prices help calm Wall Street’s inflation worries, while chip stocks get back to sinking

Oil prices are easing and helping to calm Wall Street’s worries that inflation could potentially get even worse. That has U.S. stock indexes rising early Monday, but several major chip stocks are falling again including Micron and AMD.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 625 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. The price of a barrel of Brent crude fell 5.1% to $83.42 after Trump said over the weekend he would hold off on ordering new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region. Treasury yields fell.

▶ Read more

Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool quality standards

The Trump administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, two people familiar with the deliberations said.

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard for early education. It has more than 100 pages of regulations that cover everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

The Republicans would replace these with around a dozen pages of rules that leave most specifics to state and local law, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is not yet public and they feared reprisal.

The draft rules would require more documentation from homeless or unemployed parents, and an early version would have barred even the U.S. citizen children of parents who are in the United States illegally.

▶ Read more

The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports produced by forced labor. The new tariffs took effect just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs President Donald Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.

“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Joining New York in the lawsuit announced Monday are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Trump, who argues that high tariffs will revive American manufacturing, last year overturned decades of U.S. policy that favored lower tariffs and ever-freer trade. Invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, he imposed double-digit tariffs on imports from almost every country, saying America’s longstanding trade deficit amounted to a national emergency.

But the Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA did not authorize tariffs. The decision forced the administration to send refunds to importers who’d paid the tariffs. Eager to make up the lost revenue, Trump turned to temporary 10% worldwide tariffs. But they expired at midnight July 24.

Now he’s tapping more durable tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the president to impose import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in unfair trade practices. Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term, and they survived court challenges.

The administration invoked Section 301 to impose the forced-labor tariffs, which range from 10% to 12.5% and hit countries that provide 99% of American imports.

“The United States is using its lawful authority to obtain the elimination of unreasonable acts, policies, and practices that burden U.S. commerce,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “A foreign country’s failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is unreasonable and burdens U.S. commerce, including American workers, and must be addressed. Section 301 tariffs have proven to be a legally durable tool since the President’s first term, and they remain so now.”

The states’ lawsuit follows two other lawsuits filed in The Court of International Trade in July by small businesses that also challenged the 301 tariffs.

Both of those lawsuits argue that the government didn’t adequately establish its case against each specific economy or spell how the tariffs will eliminate the specified practice they are being levied for, as required by Section 301.

Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School’s Center for International Law, said the challenges stem from the fact that the 301 tariffs are the third time the administration has tried to impose similar worldwide tariffs under different statutes, and their “nearly copy-pasted” nature could pose a challenge to defend in court.

However, he said while the statutes that the administration implemented tariffs under previously were novelties and hadn’t been used before for that purpose, Section 301 has been used before.

During Trump ’s first term, he cited Section 301 to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, which survived legal challenges.

“Presidents have used it for decades, and Congress built it with real guardrails: investigation, consultation, a public record,” Appleton said. "The government’s defense won’t be ‘I had no power to do this.' It will be, 'I stayed inside the lines Congress drew.' That is a real fight, not a formality, and it is the one that will decide this case.”

—-

Anderson reported from New York.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% and is just 0.1% below its record set earlier this summer. It was coming off a frenetic July, where it swung up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the war with Iran, before ultimately ending the month just about where it started.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which measures a narrower slice of the U.S. stock market, climbed 693 points, or 1.3%, to an all-time high, while the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.1%.

Stocks got a lift as the price for a barrel of Brent crude sank 4.7% to $83.77. It dropped after President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region.

Brent’s price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell about when the war with Iran would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide. The latest acquiescence by Trump helped to ease worries about the global flow of crude, and Treasury yields correspondingly fell in the bond market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.68% from 4.75% late Friday. It, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.

Higher yields threaten to undercut prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy by making borrowing more expensive for U.S. households and businesses. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already leaped to its highest level in a year.

Monday’s ease in oil prices helped airlines and other companies with big fuel bills lead the market. United Airlines flew 5.8% higher, while American Airlines climbed 5%. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings steamed 6.6% higher.

Boeing jumped 8% after U.S. regulators certified its 737 MAX-7 planes, clearing them for commercial service.

Tyson Foods rose 2.8% after the meat company reported a slightly stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. CEO Donnie King said strength is continuing in the company’s chicken business and its prepared foods, which include brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm.

It joined a lengthening list of big U.S. companies to deliver a bigger profit for the spring than analysts expected. That’s imperative for Wall Street because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate earnings over the long term, and worries were rising that U.S. stock prices may have broadly already shot too high.

Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver earnings per share for the spring that are 47% higher than a year before, according to FactSet, with more than half of the companies in the index having already reported. If that ends up being the case, it would be the strongest growth since the spring of 2021, when the economy was roaring out of the COVID pandemic.

Also offering encouragement for profits was a report on Monday showing that growth for U.S. manufacturing accelerated to its strongest level since 2022.

Keeping Wall Street unsettled, though, were swings for stocks of companies that make computer chips. They’ve been veering up and down for weeks on worries about whether their surging revenues because of the artificial-intelligence boom are sustainable.

If AI ends up producing less profit and productivity than hoped, Big Tech companies could curtail their spending sprees on data centers that have helped chip stocks soar to tremendous heights.

Micron Technology went from a drop of 6.4% to a gain of 1.7% through the day before ending with a gain of 0.8%, for example. It’s up roughly 190% for the year so far.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 110.78 points to 7,600.50 and finished just shy of its all-time closing high of 7,609.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 693.38 to 53,178.41, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 540.04 to 25,913.90.

The manic swings for AI stocks have been most dramatic in South Korea, where the Kospi index is dominated by just two tech titans, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Seoul’s Kospi fell 5.1% Monday, coming off Friday’s 17.9% surge that was its best day in history.

In neighboring Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% after the United States and Japan confirmed they had moved together to prop up the value of the Japanese yen against the dollar. A stronger yen would help to limit inflation in Japan, but it could also potentially hurt Japan’s exporters.

___

AP Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach, Mayuko Ono and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

Somos Votantes has started a $2 million statewide voter education push centered on door-to-door conversations and voter registration. Its affiliated political committee, Somos PAC, is preparing a $4 million advertising campaign focused on three South Texas House districts, where they aim to channel voter angst about the economy into support for Democratic candidates in Republican-leaning districts.

“We’re really hoping that we can reconsolidate support for Democrats by presenting the positive economic vision that Democratic candidates in these House districts have,” said Melissa Morales, the founder of Somos Votantes.

Texas is at the crossroads of the fight for control of the U.S. House in the November midterms, and winning back Hispanics who were drawn to President Donald Trump in 2024 will be key to Democrats' chances there.

Last fall, Republicans in the Texas Legislature, acting on pressure from Trump, redrew district boundaries in the GOP’s favor, aiming to pick up as many as five Democratic House seats. They made a bet that the decade-long shift of working-class Hispanics toward the GOP was not an aberration, though that’s far from a foregone conclusion.

Somos PAC is targeting three districts where Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024: The 15th District, where Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz is facing Tejano music star Bobby Pulido; the 23rd, which is currently vacant after Republican Rep. Tony Gonzalez resigned after admitting an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide; and the 35th, a largely new district created in the recent redistricting.

Morales said Somos PAC is targeting harder-to-win districts rather than the top-tier battlegrounds getting a flood of national attention. Those districts would make the difference between Democrats eking out a small majority and running up the score with a 20-seat majority, she said.

“If we’re going to get to that 20, we’re going to have to start investing in some of these more reach districts, and we’re going to have to do it early,” Morales said.

In Texas, that means winning back Latinos.

While Trump gained with Hispanic voters in 2024, opinions of the president have fallen among Hispanics overall since he took office, according to AP-NORC polling. Only 29% of Hispanic adults nationally approved of his performance as president in a June AP-NORC poll, an apparent drop from 41% at the start of his second term.

Latino voters have historically been largely aligned with the Democratic Party but during the 2024 election, they shifted significantly toward Trump. A majority still supported Democrat Kamala Harris for president, but Trump made big gains: 43% of Latino voters nationally voted for him, compared with 35% in the 2020 presidential election, a change attributed in part to their concerns about the economy.

But it's not enough for former Trump voters to lose faith in the president, Morales said. They need a reason to vote for Democrats, and that's where the ads come in.

“We risk people staying home because they’re disillusioned about everything,” she said.

The order signed by Sotomayor comes after the high court ruled last year in favor of the victims and their families.

The Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority said in court documents that paying the hefty judgment now could destabilize government services in the West Bank. They asked the justices to pause payment as they appeal the reinstatement of the verdict.

The lawsuit was filed by victims of attacks in Jerusalem in the early 2000s that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more. Families brought their lawsuit under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a law aimed at opening U.S. courts to victims of international terror attacks.

A federal court in New York tossed the original verdict on appeal and continued to rule in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority as Congress revised the law to allow suits to go forward. The Supreme Court revived two cases in 2025.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to reinstate the verdict in March. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said at the time that the families were pleased and relieved by the decision, saying it would allow “justice to be done” after a long legal process.

The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies shortly after he was sworn into office a second time. Trump alleges that Capital One illegally closed his accounts for political reasons, following the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

Capital One wants the lawsuit dismissed.

“The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance,” the bank said in the court filing. The term “AML” is an abbreviation for anti-money laundering.

Trump has sued Capital One, as well as JPMorgan Chase, for allegedly debanking him after he left office in 2021. Debanking occurs when banks shut down customer accounts because they believe they pose financial, legal or reputational risks to the banks.

Both banks have denied they severed their relationships with the president, his sons, and other related businesses for political reasons. The lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase is seeking damages of $5 billion. JPMorgan has said it does not close accounts for political reasons, but closes accounts “with or without cause” and also accounts that create “legal or regulatory risk.”

In July, after the original lawsuit had laid dormant for months, lawyers for the president filed an amended lawsuit that alleged the bank debanked him for political reasons. The bank says the new allegations are without merit, saying the complaint rests on “new theories are based on cherry-picked quotations."

President Trump's legal team dismissed that claim Monday, but did not address the internal findings by the bank.

“Capital One, along with other major banks, de-banked President Trump, his family, and his businesses for blatantly political reasons," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said. "President Trump’s powerful lawsuit holds Capital One accountable for its disgraceful conduct, and we look forward to seeing this matter through to a just and proper conclusion.”

Conservatives have long alleged that banks debank them and their political allies. The allegations became louder after Operation Choke Point, an initiative during the Obama Administration when regulators pressed banks to cut off financial services to the firearm industry, tobacco, and payday lenders, among others. The cryptocurrency industry alleged it was also a victim of debanking during the Biden Administration.

Trump signed an executive order in August 2025 titled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans” directing federal bank regulators to terminate examinations of banks over who they were doing business with. The Trump administration has also subpoenaed records of the biggest banks as part of an investigation into alleged debanking.

Trump had more than 300 bank accounts with Capital One before they were closed. The bank accounts were for a variety of Trump-branded businesses, ranging from a golf course to a winery. Trump had banked with Capital One for more than a decade before the accounts were closed.

In the court filing, Capital One said it had no reason to make a political statement with the closure of Trump’s accounts in 2021 and the move had everything to do with activity in the accounts being flagged by anti-money laundering experts with the bank.

“Capital One never publicized the termination decision nor its confidential internal process giving rise to the closure, and it permitted Plaintiffs several months (and granted several extensions) to find new banking services, which they did,” the bank said.

Talks between the U.S. and Iran are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving stalled cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed before the war.

Trump, who has made a habit of threatening strikes on Iran only to dangle the prospect of a last-minute diplomatic reprieve, said the negotiations would be the “last chance ” for Iran to forge a deal to reopen the strait and address his concerns about its nuclear program.

But Iran’s foreign ministry said it's negotiating with Oman, not the U.S., prompting Trump to criticize the country’s leadership, which has grown increasingly divided over the war’s endgame.

Whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking," Trump maintained.

Elsewhere, Israel bombed the Gaza Strip and the Syrian president met in Damascus with the Iraqi Kurdish regional leader over security concerns. In Iran, the government executed two men it claimed were Israeli spies.

Here is a look at the most important developments Monday in the Middle East.

Trump announces renewed talks

Trump said Sunday that he decided against carrying out major strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said a plan was in place for U.S. forces to carry out “the biggest attack since World War II,” but he decided to give diplomacy more time after hearing from key Gulf leaders and fielding requests from unnamed Iranian officials. He did not provide further details or say who would be involved in the talks.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry maintained that the country was not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei, an agency spokesperson, said Monday that ongoing talks were with Oman, the country on the other side of the strait, and were focused only on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the channel.

Nine vessels transited through the strait Sunday, most of them using an Iranian-controlled route, according to trade data and analytics platform Kpler.

Trump voiced frustration at Iran's public posturing, suggesting the country's leaders begged for the discussions, despite their claims of only wanting to deal with Oman.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” the U.S. president vented on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Iran's top delegates head to Iraq and Pakistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived Monday in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to participate in the Arbaeen commemorations, an annual pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims, his office said on social media.

Araghchi’s trip comes as Iraq has been walking a tightrope between Iran and the U.S., an act that has only grown more fraught since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February.

Meanwhile Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, Mohammad Atabak, headed Monday to Pakistan for a two-day visit expected to focus in part on ways to ease transit bottlenecks and move more Iranian containers through Pakistani ports during the U.S. naval blockade.

Syrian and Iraqi leaders discuss security concerns

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Iraq’s Kurdish regional president met Monday in Damascus to discuss ways of improving mutual cooperation and contributing to regional security.

The meeting between al-Sharaa and Nechirvan Barzani came amid regional tensions as Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups carried out multiple drone strikes targeting American interests across Iraq, including the country’s Kurdish region.

Syrian state media reported last month that authorities at the country’s border with Iraq thwarted an attempt in June to smuggle weapons believed to have been headed to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied the charges.

Iran executes 2 men it says spied for Israel

Iran’s judiciary said it executed two men Monday after convicting them of spying for Israel during both last year’s 12-day war and the ongoing conflict.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the two as Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, who were accused of providing military coordinates, images and other intelligence used in attacks on Iranian targets. The agency did not specify where the executions took place.

Last week, Iran publicly hanged two men convicted of killing four police officers during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

Gaza official urges Israel to halt attacks

A top official overseeing Gaza’s postwar transition met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, in part to press him to halt military attacks on the territory.

Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, also discussed with Netanyahu the need to decommission all weapons in the enclave, the international body established by the U.S. said in a statement.

An Israeli strike Monday evening hit a car in Gaza City, killing two men, according to Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Over the weekend, Israeli attacks left at least 17 people dead, including children, according to hospitals in Gaza.

The Israeli military said the weekend strikes targeted militants. It confirmed Monday's strike and said it would release more information later.

Days earlier, the U.S. and Hamas reached a deal to disarm the militant group, a potential step toward ending the war in Gaza.

Gaza residents swelter in tents

Soaring temperatures in Gaza this summer have turned the makeshift tents sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into suffocating ovens. Made of plastic sheets, the shelters trap heat during the day and offer little ventilation, forcing many families to spend hours outside.

The extreme weather compounds an already dire humanitarian crisis. With limited access to clean water, electricity and sanitation, residents of the overcrowded camps are at high risk of dehydration, heat-related illnesses and the spread of skin infections, diarrheal diseases and other communicable illnesses, humanitarian agencies warn.

“There is no breeze, nothing,” said Aida Abu Hadeesha, a woman displaced from the town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt. “Our kids are suffering."

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece and Boak from Washington. Associated Press reporters Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Philip Marcelo in New York also contributed to this report.

The schools announced Monday they have agreed to a four-game home-and-home series. Notre Dame will play in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2030, and the Trojans will visit South Bend, Indiana, on Aug. 30, 2031. The meetings in 2032 and 2033 will be played in the first three weeks of the season.

The teams met each non-pandemic season from 1946-2025, typically in October or November, in what became known as “the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football." The exception was the 2020 season when most schools played a conference-only schedule.

The 2030 date opened up when defending national champion Indiana canceled a home-and-home series with the Irish that was scheduled for 2030 and 2031, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.

Negotiations between Notre Dame and USC to continue the annual series became challenging after the Trojans joined the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans expressed that they did not want to play nonconference games after September. Notre Dame beat the Trojans 34-24 in South Bend last Oct. 18, and the series officially went on hiatus in December when the Irish announced they had filled the last open spot on their 2026 schedule with a game at BYU.

Notre Dame and USC first played in 1926 and the Irish lead the series 53-38-5. The series also was put on hold from 1943-45, during World War II.

The two schools have combined to win 22 national championships and produce 15 Heisman Trophy winners, and the discontinuation prompted consternation on both sides. Navy is the only team Notre Dame has played more than USC, at 98 meetings.

Notre Dame and USC play for the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition which began in 1952. The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy is presented by the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles. Notre Dame victories are marked by green-jeweled shamrocks while USC victories are marked by ruby-jeweled Trojan heads.

“USC’s historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family,” USC athletic director Jen Cohen said. “It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program. We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish.”

The Hoosiers and Irish last met in the first CFP playoff to be held at a campus site in December 2024. Notre Dame won 27-17 in South Bend and reached the national championship game before losing to Ohio State 34-23.

In 2021, Indiana and Notre Dame agreed to what was supposed to be the first regular-season game between the two in-state schools since 1991. The Irish have won seven straight in the series with Indiana's last victory coming in 1950.

But since the arrival of coach Curt Cignetti in 2024, Indiana has not played any Power Four schools, or Notre Dame, outside the conference schedule or the playoffs. The Hoosiers drew some criticism last summer when they also canceled a scheduled home-and-home series with Virginia. Indiana responded by winning its first Big Ten title since 1967, the first national championship in school history and by becoming the first 16-0 team in major college football since the 1890s.

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AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

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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 president on Monday said that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.

Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations will focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address the United States’ concerns about its nuclear program. He told reporters they would likely learn about the status of the negotiations “today or tomorrow.”

“The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization," the Republican president said. “And that will take a little while.”

While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that's unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election.

Trump said he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new massive strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said a plan was in place for U.S. forces to carry out “the biggest attack since World War II” on Sunday. But he decided to scrap the plan and give diplomacy more time to play out after hearing from key Gulf leaders — including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — as well as at the request of unnamed Iranian officials.

But Trump reiterated that he’s running out of patience with Iran.

“This the last chance for them to sign a good document,” Trump said.

Earlier Monday, Trump had criticized Iran on social media as being “unbelievably duplicitous.”

His ire was raised by Iran claiming that its meetings with Oman on Monday were focused solely on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global oil trade.

“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with Oman,” Trump grumbled.

Trump said whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking” about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Trump has threatened to escalate attacks on Iran only to edge away from his threats several times since the start of U.S. and Israel strikes on Feb. 28.

Asked by a reporter how Americans view him repeatedly making grim threats on Tehran before backing away, Trump responded that he’s showing patience out of a consideration for Iranian life.

“I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” Trump said. He added, “Hopefully, they’ll come to their senses.”

Critics see Trump reaching for a reset button as a pattern

Trump may still come to the conclusion that a massive escalation in the conflict with Iran is necessary.

But critics say his hesitation also might reflect an unspoken understanding inside the administration that U.S. military might alone may not be enough to compel Iran to back down and bring an end to a now monthslong war that Trump had earlier downplayed as a weekslong excursion.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a president who has an approach that’s just rather erratic,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on CBS News' “Face the Nation.” “At this point, he's trying to get us back to February. And I think if he could — if he had a big reset button he could hit — he would certainly take that option.”

There have been several moments over the course of the conflict when Trump has demonstrated his proclivity for the bellicose only to back off at the last minute, while declaring his threats spurred progress:

— In early April, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in an announcement that came less than two hours before a deadline Trump had set for Tehran to capitulate or face attacks on bridges and power plants — strikes he said would mean “a whole civilization will die.”

— After days of dire threats against Iran, Trump announced on May 18 he was holding off on a major planned military strike because “serious negotiations” were underway, crediting Gulf allies for persuading him to show restraint.

— Then in June, Trump threatened on social media to hit Iran “VERY HARD” and seize Iran’s energy base on Kharg Island to "assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets,” only to call off the strikes in another post after claiming that peace negotiations had progressed with high-level Iranian leaders.

Call with Saudi crown prince affected Trump's decision

With this latest episode, Trump suggested that the Saudi crown prince played a particularly important role in him turning away from escalating the fight.

The U.S. president spoke by phone with the de facto leader of the kingdom on Saturday before announcing he was halting planned strikes.

The crown prince conveyed that an escalation in fighting could have a severe impact on the global economy if Tehran responded to a new U.S. bombardment by targeting some of the United States’ Gulf allies, according to a person briefed on the call who was not authorized to comment publicly and insisted on anonymity.

Saudi officials, the person added, have underscored in their engagements with the Trump administration that the kingdom is in a good position to defend itself against further potential Iranian strikes — as are fellow energy titans Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — but that Kuwait could be more vulnerable to attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

As Trump threatens escalation, Republicans face tough polling

Trump has insisted that November’s midterm elections aren't shaping his approach to the conflict, which has spurred unease across the global economy.

But it's certainly on the minds of his fellow Republicans.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research published last week. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.

One of Trump's most outspoken allies on Capitol Hill suggested on Sunday the administration needs to modulate its approach on Iran.

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said on NBC's “Meet the Press” that the debate in Washington has lost perspective on the devastation the U.S. military has inflicted on Iran since the start of the war.

Still, the Republican lawmaker acknowledged that further escalating the conflict could lead to another surge in already elevated energy prices and “a lot of inflation for the American people.”

Kennedy made the case that tightening sanctions and targeting Iran's nuclear program — rather than escalating the conflict — might be the best bet for the moment.

“They’re all hellish choices,” Kennedy said. “But for the moment I’d maintain the status quo.”

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AP writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Josh Boak in Washington contributed reporting.

In a statement released Thursday, sheriff’s officials said an internal audit found “improper and unlawful” use of agency database systems to monitor an individual. The audit identified irregular activity tied to Detective Brandy Almany, who has been employed with the agency since 2019, the release said.

According to the sheriff’s office, a criminal investigation was opened the same day. Investigators allege Almany circumvented procedures and accessed databases including:

• CCIS (Comprehensive Case Information System)
• Flock Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR)
• DAVID (Driver and Vehicle Information Database)

Investigators said the information was sought in connection with the ex-wife of Almany’s husband, and that the searches were not tied to legitimate investigative work.

Officials also alleged Almany created electronic records that falsely indicated the searches were connected to valid sheriff’s office investigations, using unrelated case numbers and false justifications.

Almany was interviewed and “immediately suspended from duty,” the release said. The case was then presented to the Office of the State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit for review.

[Watch the Sumter County sheriff’s full statement below]

After that review, the sheriff’s office said an arrest warrant was issued on Thursday, charging Almany with:

• Official misconduct (F.S. § 838.022(1)(a))
• Offenses against computer users (F.S. § 815.06), including allegations she exceeded authorized access to:
• • sheriff’s office computer systems and software
  • the DAVID database
  • the CCIS database

Sheriff Patrick Breeden said that, upon Almany’s arrest, she was notified of her pending termination per procedure. The agency said it is awaiting additional audit results from the various databases, which could lead to more charges.

In the statement, the sheriff described the arrest as a step toward “accountability and transparency,” and said he would not tolerate conduct that does not meet the agency’s standards.

The sheriff’s office also said it has ordered a complete internal audit of all database activity, and has suspended the use of Flock in response to the case.

The Padres (58-54) have won eight of nine to move one game back of the final NL wild-card playoff position, and this latest surge in their up-and-down season prompted general manager A.J. Preller to trade yet another chunk of his severely depleted farm system for another chance to win now.

San Diego gave up right-hander Miguel Mendez and 17-year-old shortstop Joniel Hernandez for the 34-year-old Ray, a former Cy Young Award winner who will be an unrestricted free agent this winter.

The Padres, who desperately needed a veteran starter for a rotation with the majors' fourth-highest ERA, also got cash considerations to pay part of Ray's $25 million salary.

Ray is 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings this season, his third with San Francisco. He has been largely outstanding over the past two months, posting a 1.65 ERA since the start of June while allowing one earned run or fewer in nine of his past 11 starts.

Ray is the only starting pitcher to beat the Padres in the past 10 days, throwing six innings of four-hit ball at Petco Park in the Giants' 4-1 win last Thursday. Ray has won seven consecutive decisions.

Ray made his name and earned his first All-Star selection while pitching for Arizona from 2015-20. The Padres visit the Diamondbacks starting Monday night for a key four-game series between NL West rivals separated by one game in the wild-card standings.

Ray won his Cy Young with Toronto in 2021. He had Tommy John surgery in early 2023 while with Seattle, but he has returned to be a dependable starter for the Giants, earning another All-Star nod last season.

The Padres' recent success has been driven by an offense that has awoken from its first-half slumber, but their starting rotation is perilously thin due to injuries.

San Diego's only regular starting pitchers are Michael King and Walker Buehler, forcing the team to throw three bullpen games per rotation turn with Griffin Canning, Randy Vasquez and German Marquez anchoring the outings. Even after a surprisingly strong start to the season, San Diego's rotation has posted an ugly 4.66 ERA this year.

Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta has been out since April with a right elbow injury, but he is on track to return in late August. Earl season acquisition Lucas Giolito has been out since late June with elbow soreness, while veteran Joe Musgrove has not pitched this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2024. Right-hander Yu Darvish is also out for the season.

The rotation woes contributed to a midseason slide that had the Padres looking like likely deadline sellers, with hard-selling closer Mason Miller possibly on the block. Ray's acquisitioned signaled that Preller is back in buyer mode.

Mendez and Hernandez were considered to be two of the top 10 prospects remaining in Preller's system, which has been decimated by years of deadline deals to chase this franchise's first championship with a roster built around sluggers Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.

The Padres have made the playoffs in four of the past six seasons, a first in franchise history, but have reached just one NL Championship Series.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

The endorsement from GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis paves the way for the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche's nomination on Tuesday after the Justice Department and lawmakers reached a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund" proposed to settle Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Cornyn and Tillis had refused to back Blanche's bid for the permanent post without official confirmation killing the fund meant to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department. Blanche's written order, issued late Sunday, came after the days of negotiations between the Justice Department and the Republican senators who are leaving Capitol Hill when their terms end in January.

“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon," Cornyn, of Texas, and Tillis, of North Carolina, said in a statement.

DOJ order says ‘beyond any doubt’ that fund is dead

Blanche has repeatedly said that the Justice Department was scrapping plans for the fund, which sparked bipartisan outcry over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But skeptical lawmakers said they were concerned that could be revived without a commitment in writing, especially because Trump has continued to defend the idea.

In his order posted on social media late Sunday, Blanche wrote that the department was confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, “No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,” the order said. “This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed the Justice Department to limit the scope of a separate piece of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and members of his family from tax audits.

Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Cornyn and Tillis said in their statement that they were “pleased” with the concessions made by Blanche.

“From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund," they wrote.

Democrats, however, noted that the order rescinding the fund doesn't stop the Trump administration from compensating Jan. 6 rioters through a previously established process that allows people to file claims for damages if they believed they were wronged by the government.

“This supposed ‘deal’ doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future,” Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said in a social media post. Schiff added that it also “leaves in place a tax-immunity deal that could help Trump skip taxes on the $2.3 billion he made last year, and still leaves it vague who and what is covered.”

Cornyn, Tillis echo GOP colleagues' concerns as they b

locked Blanche nomination

Blanche’s nomination was thrown into doubt last week after the Judiciary Committee postponed a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday morning as Tillis and Cornyn said they needed more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.

After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche’s nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year. And on Saturday the president threatened to push forward with the fund if the two Republicans blocked Blanche's nomination.

On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol and could have benefited from the fund had “their lives destroyed.”

“This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,” Trump said. “A lot of people like it.”

Blanche, who served as Trump’s defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.

Though Blanche insisted he wasn’t auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved quickly since taking the reins of the department to promote the Trump administration’s agenda and accelerate investigations into the president’s perceived foes.

August begins the Cabo Verde season, the portion of the hurricane season where tropical waves rolling off Africa climatologically become more numerous and have a better chance of developing.

For those that don’t know the Cabo Verde islands lie just west of Africa.

Saharan dust typically loosens its grip in this region and water temperatures continue to warm.

Over the last few days there has been two subtle signals on the ensembles. The European Artificial Intelligence ensemble has been the most bullish.

This ensemble has done fairly well this season.

The Google DeepMind, while more subtle, does show two distinct areas. We are looking at the grouping of lines and Ls.

Each different L represents an individual ensemble member forecast with the line being its track.

The chance for either one of these areas to develop seems low at this point. If the one off of Africa does it will be met with wind shear, especially in the Caribbean.

The red on the map above is the insanely strong wind shear ripping through the Caribbean ready to tear up any storm that thinks about heading in that direction.

We can thank El Niño for that.

The one in the subtropics may have a slightly better chance to develop as wind shear is lower.

All signs continue to point to a quiet season even as we head toward the peak next month.

Still, always have to watch in case one comes in our direction. Looking good for now though!

Any questions feel free to hit me up at jkegges@wkmg.com

- Jonathan

Ways to stay connected this hurricane season

News 6+

If you live outside of Central Florida or don’t have cable, first of all thank you for finding the Tropics Watch newsletter! You can also watch the special on June 1st at 8 p.m. by downloading the FREE News 6+ app! You can watch all of the newscasts on here as well. You can download that on your smart T.V. or other streaming devices.

News 6 Weather App

Even if you are outside of Central Florida download this app! This is the best hurricane app on the market and its FREE. As soon as the National Hurricane Center names something, you’re going to know about. It’s a great way to follow the season if you like doing that. Search WKMG in your app store and make sure you find the hurricane one.

YouTube

If you live in Central Florida subscribe to the WKMG/Clickorlando page.

If you love the weather whether you’re in Central Florida or not, subscribe to JustWeather!

Clickorlando.com/hurricane is also a great resource no matter where you live.

Alright. I have rambled on enough. Just wanted to make you aware of where you can find trustworthy and in-depth weather content this season.

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Jesse James Hill, 70, faces life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder.

Investigators say Nelson was the subject of a domestic violence injunction. The person who got the injunction was staying at Hill’s home at the time. They say Nelson showed up at Hill’s home to demand the person give back a house key.

Investigators say Hill came out of his house with a rifle and the two men got into a fight. Nelson tried to run away, but Hill shot Nelson in the head.

Hill is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8.

State Attorney Monique Worrell issued this statement regarding Hill’s conviction:

“While nothing can undo the tremendous loss suffered by Mr. Nelson’s loved ones, we hope today’s verdict brings them a measure of peace. Lionel Nelson Jr was a person with a family who loved him, and his life mattered. Every day, my office is committed to holding accountable those who bring violence into our community and to standing alongside the families left to carry that pain. I thank the jury for their careful and thoughtful deliberation, and I commend our prosecution team and law enforcement partners for their tireless work in pursuit of justice for Mr. Nelson. This verdict reflects what is possible when a community, our investigators, and our prosecutors work together in the pursuit of truth.”

The case is the latest legal action between states and the federal government over the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which like other public programs have come under scrutiny from the Trump administration as sources of potential fraud.

The coalition of states sued in federal court in Washington to stop the agency that controls the program from moving ahead with a rule that would allow it to share recipients' immigration status, Social Security numbers and additional personal information with other parts of government or potentially with private entities, according to the lawsuit.

“Instead of helping families struggling with the rising cost of living, this administration is trying to turn antipoverty programs against the people they’re supposed to serve,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

Earlier this year, a judge prevented the Trump administration from withholding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other subsidy program funding from a handful of Democratic-controlled states, after the federal government said there was “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally. A federal government lawyer later said the move was largely in response to news reports about possible fraud.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program provides more than $16 billion to states, D.C. and tribal governments in the form of grants that the local governments then have broad discretion to use to help low-income families through cash assistance, job training or other programs.

Along with New York and the District of Columbia, joining the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also signed onto the suit.

The federal Administration for Children and Families declined to comment Monday.

But a sweeping audit immunity plan conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization remains in place — given new parameters to appease the senators but still with the potential to wipe away millions of dollars of Trump’s back taxes.

In a document Blanche sent to the lawmakers Sunday, he said the audit immunity, struck as part of a deal to resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, would not protect the president from the examination of future tax filings. Instead, he noted, it “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the lawsuit’s settlement.

For the holdout GOP lawmakers who opposed both the fund and the audit deal, those assurances were enough and are expected to clear the way for Blanche’s confirmation to serve as attorney general.

But the political accommodation leaves in place a highly unusual agreement over the president’s taxes that has spurred bipartisan outrage and tested confidence in the fairness of the tax system.

The original audit deal promised broad protections for Trump

Trump’s audit immunity came as part of the controversial settlement crafted to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit filed earlier this year against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. The deal drew furor from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, largely over the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.”

According to the initial outline of the audit deal, spelled out in a one-page document signed by Blanche, the U.S. was “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting any of the plaintiffs — Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization’s — current tax filings, as well as other “related or affiliated” individuals.

The document sent to Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis Sunday limits both the time frame for investigations and the scope of people who would receive audit protection to Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Jr. and the Trump Organization.

It’s unclear how much Trump owes the federal government in back taxes, but the latest details of the deal could wipe away what could be more than $100 million in back taxes, according to previous New York Times and ProPublica reporting.

Lawmakers and legal experts questioned the lawfulness of such protections.

“The good news is that Todd Blanche confirmed in writing that the anti-weaponization slush fund is dead. The bad news is that tax immunity for the president, his sons, and his family business is still alive,” said Dan Greenberg, a senior legal fellow at the Cato Institute, calling the immunity deal ”the product of an illegal settlement.”

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled in July that Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS was filed for an “improper purpose.” Williams did not void the deal shielding Trump from tax scrutiny but said the government cannot claim in official proceedings that the agreement was the result of a legitimate legal process. Trump has appealed the ruling.

Representatives from the White House, IRS, Treasury and Trump’s personal attorneys did not immediately respond to Associated Press requests for comment.

Concerns that Blanche’s assurances aren’t enough to stop the fund

Some legal and tax experts say the immunity agreement could violate an IRS statute barring executive branch interference in taxpayer audits and investigations.

The statute says it’s against the law for the president or the president’s employees to start or stop an audit or some other investigation of a taxpayer. But the attorney general is allowed to do so, leaving the door open for Blanche to step in to halt an audit against the president, once he is confirmed. Whether he has legal authority to do so is a separate question not resolved by the statute itself.

The rule barring executive influence over directing tax audits comes after the Watergate scandal, when then-President Richard Nixon discussed using the IRS against political opponents and groups on the administration’s “enemies list.” Congress moved to tighten taxpayer privacy protections in 1976.

Nina Olson, founder of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, which has sued the Trump administration over IRS disclosures to immigration enforcement, called the settlement “the lowest point for the IRS since the 1970s.”

Concerns over the future of government payouts to Trump allies have also not been entirely eased after Blanche’s assurances.

Blanche has maintained under oath in Congress and in his latest writing to lawmakers that the Trump administration is not pursuing the fund.

However, Trump has been less clear about its demise. On Saturday he posted on his Truth Social platform that he would “push hard” for the fund if Blanche were not confirmed. “It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,” Trump wrote.

NYU Tax Law Center Policy Director Brandon DeBot questioned whether the fund was actually dead and said “it’s abundantly clear we need congressional action” to ensure it cannot be resurrected.

Democrats say Blanche’s order doesn’t go far enough to prevent the administration from reviving plans for the fund after the acting attorney general’s confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it.

The order also doesn’t stop the administration from compensating Trump allies -- including people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- through a previously established process that allows people to file claims for damages if they believed they were wronged by the government.

Greenberg said he believes Blanche’s assurances are “a way for the senators to demonstrate that they’re driving a hard bargain.

“But once you become familiar with the particulars of this situation, it doesn’t really look like they’re driving much of a bargain at all,” he said.

The Crew-13 mission will carry four crew members to the orbiting laboratory: NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.

Once aboard the station, the crew will conduct research aimed at fighting heart disease and Parkinson’s disease using human stem cell-derived tissues, study crop production for long-duration spaceflight, and test new diagnostic medical equipment.

Dragon Grace was recently stacked on its trunk, and a crew test drive inside the spacecraft is scheduled for Friday. The Falcon 9 booster, making its third flight, will undergo a two-week maintenance period beginning this month.

Watkins will become the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft twice. Delaney, Kutryk, and Teteryatnikov will each make their first trip to space, becoming the 296th, 297th, and 298th visitors to the station.

The theme park is adding an all-new haunted house inspired by the iconic horror franchise “I Know What You Did Last Summer” to its annual Halloween event, premiering Sept. 11.

It marks the first time the film has been brought to life at a major Halloween event.

Based on the 1997 Sony Pictures film and its latest installment, “I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch,” the haunted house pulls guests through chilling recreations of the film’s most memorable scenes — all while the franchise’s notorious villain, the Fisherman, lurks around every corner.

“We’re always looking for new ways to raise the bar on immersive entertainment, and bringing ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ to our Howl-O-Scream events is an exciting milestone,” said Marc Swanson, CEO of United Parks & Resorts.

The haunted house is one part of a Howl-O-Scream lineup that includes scare zones, live entertainment and rides in the dark.

Tickets are on sale now, with savings of up to 65% through SeaWorld Orlando’s limited-time Killer Summer Sale. Pass Members can save up to 70%.

For tickets and more information, click here.

On Monday, the Florida Sheriffs Association released a statement saying they were “significantly concerned” about Amendment 3, which if passed, would increase homestead exemptions from $50,000 to $250,000 over two years.

[WATCH: Florida Legislature OKs tweaked property tax amendment for November ballot]

They’re the latest in a wave of resistance against the measure, joining the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, Florida Professional Firefighters, the Florida Fire Chiefs Association and several prominent county sheriffs in the state, who warn the tax cut could affect funding to first responder services in Florida.

The amendment “potentially allows Tallahassee to control your local budgets, creates longer law enforcement times, limits communities’ abilities to provide road repairs and stormwater removal – these are a few of the things voters need to be aware of,” the FSA statement reads.

Ballot initiatives need 60 percent of the vote to pass in Florida. If approved, Amendment 3 will would hike the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, but the portion of property tax bills that pay for schools would be excluded from the increased exemption.

[SEE WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT: The Voting Central Florida Guide to the election]

Lawmakers passed the measure in a special session this spring after it was drafted by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. DeSantis had campaigned on the issue of slashing property taxes for more than a year, saying tax bills had spiked amid higher assessments in recent years and local governments didn’t do enough to cut revenue.

But after GOP legislative leaders amended it to exempt taxes levied to fund schools, DeSantis said that while he’ll vote for it, he won’t campaign for the measure.

Meanwhile, city and county officials across the state have warned voters local services provided to residents will suffer if the proposal passes.

Public safety is the largest budget item in 80 percent of Florida’s communities, according to the Vote No on 3 campaign.

Several county sheriffs in the state have already expressed their concerns about Amendment 3, including Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.

[WATCH: Palm Bay lowers proposed millage rate, officials warn of potential impact from property tax proposal]

Gualtieri said the property tax ballot amendment is not the proposal that DeSantis first floated to voters and questioned why there were no protections for public safety funding.

“Is Tallahassee now going to control half the budgets and have to fund the local services for medium-sized and smaller governments? What’s going to happen with that? There’s no plan,” Gualtieri told the News Service of Florida.

Gualtieri said about 85 percent of public safety budgets are salaried positions.

Judd, who also chairs the State Immigration Enforcement Council, said the tax cut could have “unintended consequences” if passed.

“In its current form, I fear the proposal will devastate counties’ and cities’ ability to deliver vital services, including emergency services, to our citizens,” he said.

In July, the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 24,000 law enforcement officers across the state, released a statement saying they opposed Amendment 3.

“Public safety should never become collateral damage with uncertain fiscal consequences,” the police union said in a statement.

The Florida Fire Chiefs Association also said it could not support the ballot amendment in its current form.

“Constitutional Amendment No. 3 creates substantial uncertainty regarding the future funding of fire protection, emergency medical services, and disaster response without identifying a sustainable replacement revenue source,” their statement said.

Two photographs published with the announcement showed Suu Kyi shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque, the ICRC’s representative to Myanmar, and meeting with him in a wood-paneled room.

The Presidential Press and Information Bureau, which released the photographs, said the meeting was held Monday morning but did not disclose the location or provide details about what was discussed.

The ICRC confirmed in a statement on Monday that one of its delegates visited Suu Kyi under its standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, and spoke with her in private, but it did not disclose details of the discussion.

The organization said it continues to engage with all relevant actors to maintain and expand its access to places of detention in Myanmar.

Two other photographs showed Suu Kyi cutting a pink birthday cake bearing the inscription, “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu,” suggesting they may have been taken during a celebration for her 81st birthday in June.

In the photos, Suu Kyi appeared relaxed and was smiling. She did not show any obvious signs of ill health, although her physical condition could not be independently assessed from the images.

The release came as calls are growing from other countries, including Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, for access to or engagement with Suu Kyi as part of efforts to resolve the country's political crisis.

Kim Aris, her younger son living in London, and Myanmar democracy activists have been waging an online campaign to demand evidence that his mother is alive and well.

In a statement sent to the AP, Aris welcomed the reported ICRC visit, saying it could mark the first positive development concerning his mother in more than five years.

“This may be a first step, but it must not be the last,” Aris said.

He thanked governments, the international community and supporters for standing with his family and backing his campaign to seek proof of his mother’s well-being, while stressing that he had not yet received independent confirmation of her condition.

He said he hoped the visit would lead to direct family contact and her eventual release together with all political prisoners.

Suu Kyi was detained Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She has not been seen publicly since then, and the last official photo of her released was in April, when she was moved from prison to house arrest and her sentence was reduced as part of a prisoner amnesty for a Buddhist holiday.

The country's military leaders, who have faced sanctions and widespread international isolation since seizing power in 2021, have sought to project a return to normalcy by holding a 2025 election and increased engagement with regional neighbors.

However, critics say the transition to a nominally elected government largely composed of former generals and holdovers from the previous military-led government has done little to change the military’s grip on power.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition National Unity Government, said the ICRC’s meeting with Suu Kyi shouldn’t be taken as a real move to address human rights or democracy issues.

“Since, from the outset, a country’s leader was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned by finding faults where there were none, she must be released without any conditions,” he said.

The United Nations welcomed the ICRC visit and reiterated its call “for the swift and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained as a fundamental step toward conditions conducive to a credible and transparent political process."

U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said Secretary-General António Guterres stresses the importance of a dialogue between all Myanmar parties and his special envoy Julie Bishop on how the U.N., the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and other key players can help peacefully resolve the current conflict.

Police who responded to the shooting found the body of the suspected gunman in an area near the restaurant, Twin Falls city public information officer Josh Palmer said. He did not know if the suspect was included in the fatality count.

Officials were still working on notifying the family members of victims and so were not yet releasing the names, ages or other details about the people hurt in the shooting, Palmer said. Some of the people injured are in critical condition, Palmer said.

Police were still trying to determine the shooter's identity and motive, Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said in a news conference earlier Saturday.

“We believe the threat to the community is over,” Hicks said. “It was a very chaotic scene.”

Palmer said investigators were still interviewing witnesses to the shooting. The restaurant is in a busy shopping plaza, and hundreds of people were in the area when it happened around 2 p.m.

Lane Koehn, 34, said he was at a stoplight near the In-N-Out when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. A man with a pistol started firing at the shooter.

He then saw someone in an In-N-Out uniform drag a person, also uniformed, bleeding from a gunshot wound in her chest across the parking lot. The employee, Koehn and the man with the pistol stayed until paramedics arrived for her.

“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know. I hope she made it,” Koehn said.

Koehn said he was told by police to evacuate because the shooting was still active.

He also said the shooter fired at least three or four rounds and it was not clear whether or not anyone in particular was targeted.

Video taken by a driver from across the street captured a shooter, who appeared to be dressed in black, walking up to a white car carrying a long rifle, opening the driver-side door and popping the trunk. The person then walked to the trunk and reached inside. At that point the driver who shot the video left quickly, fearing that the man might be getting more weapons.

Twin Falls resident Haley Dodaro, 43, and her mother went to In-N-Out for lunch Saturday afternoon. While waiting in the drive-thru line, they saw people running across the road and workers bolting out of the restaurant. At first Dodaro thought there might have been a fire, but then a man directing traffic in a reflective vest said there was a shooter.

“So that’s when we knew there was a shooting. People were running out crying and screaming. It was very scary,” Dodaro said in a text message to The Associated Press.

Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen. An employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.

“We were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,” Rodriguez said, also via text message. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”

The In-N-Out opened just about a week earlier, on July 24, as part of the company’s recent expansion to Idaho.

Police said multiple people were taken to St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center. Hospital spokesperson Taylor Marschner said in a statement that it was “working closely with law enforcement and emergency responders as they manage the situation.”

Twin Falls, a city of about 56,000 people, is about 130 miles (205 kilometers) southeast of Boise and about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of the Nevada border.

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Bellisle reported from Seattle and Raza from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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This story was first published on Aug. 1. It was updated on Aug. 3 to correct that Twin Falls is about 40 miles, not 75 miles, north of the Nevada border.

Investigators are confident that the gunman, identified as 24-year-old Chad Williams, acted alone during the shooting Saturday at an In-N-Out location in Twin Falls, Police Chief Matthew Hicks said at a news conference.

In all, four people died, including Williams, and seven others were injured at the recently opened restaurant in the southern Idaho city of about 56,000 people. Authorities said Sunday that two of the injured were treated at a hospital and released, three were listed as stable, and two were in critical condition.

Hicks said an off-duty state trooper and an armed citizen — whose identities weren't immediately disclosed — both fired back and diverted the gunman from the restaurant.

“We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties,” the chief said. “We want to take a moment and commend the actions of the off-duty officer and the citizen, and their heroic action to stop this incident.”

Hicks said detectives are working to determine Williams' motives, and said the suspect's family was cooperating fully with law enforcement. Officials asked potential witnesses or anyone with information to contact police.

The chief also warned of misinformation spreading online identifying a different man as the shooter, saying that person had “no involvement in this incident whatsoever.”

In-N-Out worker among the victims

One of those killed was an employee, the fast-food chain’s owner said.

“My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I've shed. We lost one of our beautiful Associates tonight,” In-N-Out owner Lynsi Snyder said in a statement released early Sunday on social media. “In-N-Out will be mourning with the families and praying for them as they tread through a very painful season.”

The FBI on Sunday encouraged the public to submit images and videos related to the shooting Saturday in Twin Falls that left seven other people wounded, some critically.

The In-N-Out had opened just about a week earlier, on July 24, as part of the California-based company’s recent expansion to Idaho.

Snyder did not identify the worker. Officials were still trying to notify relatives of victims and so were not yet releasing the names, ages or other details about the people hurt in the shooting, Twin Falls spokesperson Josh Palmer said Saturday.

Police who responded to the shooting found the body of the suspected gunman in an area near the restaurant, Palmer said.

Palmer said investigators were interviewing witnesses to the shooting. The restaurant is in a busy shopping plaza, and hundreds of people were in the area when it happened around 2 p.m.

Witnesses describe chaotic scene

Lane Koehn, 34, said he was at a stoplight near the In-N-Out when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. A man with a pistol started firing at the shooter.

He then saw someone in an In-N-Out uniform drag a person, also wearing a uniform, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest across the parking lot. The employee, Koehn and the man with the pistol stayed until paramedics arrived for her.

“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know. I hope she made it,” Koehn said.

He said the shooter fired at least three or four rounds and it was not clear whether or not anyone in particular was targeted.

Video taken by a driver from across the street captured a shooter, who appeared to be dressed in black, walking up to a white car carrying a long rifle, opening the driver-side door and popping the trunk. The person then walked to the trunk and reached inside. At that point the driver who shot the video left quickly, fearing that the man might be getting more weapons.

Twin Falls resident Haley Dodaro, 43, and her mother went to In-N-Out for lunch Saturday afternoon. While waiting in the drive-thru line, they saw people running across the road and workers bolting out of the restaurant. At first, Dodaro thought there might have been a fire, but then a man directing traffic in a reflective vest said there was a shooter.

“So that’s when we knew there was a shooting. People were running out crying and screaming. It was very scary,” Dodaro said in a text message to The Associated Press.

Employee told people to get down

Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen. An employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.

“We were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,” Rodriguez said, also via text message. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”

Twin Falls is about 130 miles (205 kilometers) southeast of Boise and about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of the Nevada border.

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This story was first published on Aug. 2. It was updated on Aug. 3 to correct that Twin Falls is about 40 miles, not 75 miles, north of the Nevada border.

Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis said Monday he felt Young “ascended” to a new level last season, while adding that the 25-year-old’s ceiling is still “unknown.”

After being benched early in his second season, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 responded by throwing for 3,011 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year while going 8-8 as a starter and leading the Panthers to an NFC South championship.

Still, Young appears ready to enter the season without a long-term contract in place.

He is under contract this season for slightly more than $12 million. The team can pick up the fifth-year option on Young at anytime, which would mean paying him a projected $25.9 million in 2027.

But three years in, this is normally the time when NFL teams consider locking up a quarterback they drafted high — or one they consider a franchise-type player — with a long-term deal.

“I would say he ascended last year and there is still room for him to ascend," said Tilis, who was the lead negotiator for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020 when they locked up Patrick Mahomes with a 10-year, $477 million deal. “His ceiling is currently unknown and I think that is exciting for us. He's working hard to get himself there.”

When asked if the Panthers should have a better idea of where Young's ceiling is by now, Tilis responded, "not necessarily. The team is growing, too. He's going to ascend as the team ascends, and vice versa. The team is going to get better. So it's all good."

Tilis said Young is well-positioned to continue developing this season.

“The team is better, the coaches are good — Bryce is putting in the work, too. So it's all there,” Tilis said. "We will just see how the year plays out. I think we are all really excited for what Bryce is going to show and how the team is going to do."

When asked if that's an indication the team may wait until after the season to consider a contract extension for Young, Tilis remained coy, saying those a discussions that will remain inside the organization and be discussed privately among himself, general manager Dan Morgan, head coach Dave Canales and team owner David Tepper.

“I want what is best for the organization so that is not for me (solely) to decide,” Tilis said. “It's collaborative.”

Canales: Young is playing faster, making quicker decisions

Canales said he’s “really excited” to see what Young will do entering his third year in the current offensive system after watching him at training camp.

“The special plays still show up every day, moving up the spot, pushing up in the pocket, layering balls, all the accuracy — but the part that I’ve been really impressed with this camp is just his chemistry with our receivers," Canales said.

Canales added Young is “playing so much faster” and making quicker decisions.

“It just seems like he’s eliminating things before the snap,” Canales said. “On his drop, he’s starting to eliminate and evaluate things and throwing really anticipatory throws. ... So I love where he’s headed. I love that he’s all in. He seems to be really enjoying it and so we just keep taking it a day at a time and try to challenge ourselves that way.”

Kenny Pickett to start at QB in Hall of Fame game

Young is firmly entrenched as Carolina’s starting quarterback, but he won't play in Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame game, Canales said.

Canales said most of the team's starters will sit out.

Kenny Pickett will start under center with Haynes King also expected to see action.

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

Certification of the Boeing 737 Max 7 represents a milestone in the company's work to overcome years of safety, quality and production challenges. The long-delayed Max 7 is part of Boeing’s 737 family of commercial jets, which is the company's bestseller and has been at the center of its troubles.

The FAA said it cleared the new plane after years of additional testing, design changes and an extensive review of its design and safety systems. The certification was delayed as Boeing addressed technical issues and heightened regulatory scrutiny following two crashes involving the larger Max 8 that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

Since the crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia, the FAA overhauled how it certifies Boeing aircraft. It said its oversight of the company would continue beyond the Max 7's approval.

Before signing off on the aircraft, the FAA said, it required Boeing to make several safety changes, including updating flight-control software, improving cockpit alerts for pilots and redesigning the engine anti-ice system to prevent overheating.

“Our team of dedicated engineers and test experts worked through challenges, an extended pandemic, and the transition to new certification processes,” said Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Safety inspectors will remain at Boeing production facilities to monitor manufacturing, including observing the company’s Safety Management System and overall safety culture, the agency said.

The Max 7 is expected to be used primarily on short- and medium-haul routes. Several carriers, including Southwest Airlines, have outstanding orders for the plane.

Prosecutors say new DNA evidence helped identify a suspect more than a decade after the crime.

Calvin Washington, 34, appeared before a judge on a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm. His attorney entered a not guilty plea.

Investigators said Ying Sun, 53, was working inside the China Wok restaurant on Silver Star Road near Pine Hills Road in September 2012 when a masked gunman walked in and shot her execution-style.

Washington was considered a person of interest at the time, but it took years to build a case that led to the new charge.

Authorities said DNA evidence recovered during the investigation — including from clothing, gloves and money — ultimately linked Washington to the killing and an armed robbery connected to the case.

A judge set Washington’s trial tentatively for November. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.

Washington is already serving a 30-year prison sentence in an unrelated case.

Sáenz, who produced a story collection that won the PEN/Faulkner prize and a young adult novel that received acclaim from readers and reviewers and condemnation from censors, died last week in El Paso, Texas after a lengthy illness, according to a spokesperson for Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Additional details were not immediately available.

Sáenz, born in Old Picacho, New Mexico, was an ordained Catholic priest who eventually left the order and came out as gay. His “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” the story of two Mexican American boys falling in love, was published in 2012 and received a pair of citations for outstanding LGBTQ+ literature: a Stonewall Honors Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

“Hamilton” playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, who narrated the audio edition and helped produce a 2023 film adaptation, wrote in an Instagram post that he was “heartbroken” over Sáenz's death.

“Rest easy, maestro,” Miranda wrote. The movie starred Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as the title characters and also featured Eva Longoria.

The novel's love story led to its being removed temporarily from a school district in Granbury, Texas, and to bans in Russia and in Belarus.

Saenz's other books included the sequel “Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World,” the poetry collection “The Book of What Remains” and such adult novels as “In Perfect Light” and “Names on a Map.”

He received the PEN/Faulkner award in 2013 for “Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club,” a story collection set in El Paso, and across the border in Juarez, Mexico. Starting in the 1990s, he taught for decades at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he had received a master's degree in creative writing. He served as chair of the school's creative writing department before retiring in 2016.

Next month, Simon & Schuster will publish “When the World Was Happy,” which draws in part upon the loss of his niece in 1990 in a Las Cruces, New Mexico, bowling alley shooting. He was reminded of that tragedy by the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

“That was when I decided that this was not gonna leave me alone until I wrote about it,” he wrote in an author’s note shared by the publisher. “I wanted to write a book about how people survive and live through something as senseless as this.”

Sony on Sunday projected that “Spider-Man” would net an estimated $355 million in its first weekend playing in 4,487 theaters, just barely missing the 2019 “Avengers: Endgame” record of $357 million. But the fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland had a stronger than expected Sunday and ultimately came in ahead.

Tom Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group said in a statement, “records are made to be broken, but we will take great pride in this one, for as long as we hold it.”

Before “Avengers: Endgame,” no movie had opened over $300 million domestically. The previous record holders were “Avengers: Infinity War,” which launched with $257 million in 2018, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($247 million in 2015). In December 2021, during the pandemic, the third Holland Spider-Man movie “No Way Home,” earned a place on the list with a $260 million debut on its way to $1.9 billion globally.

The high-earning combination of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey,” which share actors Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal, also propelled a record weekend overall for movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

According to Rentrak, the domestic box office overall is up over 15% from last year with over $6.2 billion in ticket sales to date.

The tragic story of a 17-year-old from Tangier is representative of the plight of many of the more than 800 minors who four days after the collective push by migrants into Ceuta face a scary present and an uncertain future.

She told an Associated Press photojournalist how she and her family joined the massive crowd that tried to swim around a border fence to reach the Spanish territory on Thursday. Like many, she said they did so seeking better opportunities. The AP is withholding her identity because she is a minor in a vulnerable situation.

She described how she saw Spanish police pull the body of her 8-year-old brother from the water.

She made it to the shore but became separated from her mother, and has spent the last four days on her own. She said some locals gave her food and some clothing, with one woman taking her into her home so she could bathe. She then went to a center for youths run by the government for some help, but found it was full.

“I saw people stepping on the dead,” she said through a translator since she doesn't speak Spanish. “Now we are children begging on the street.”

She is one of some 860 minors who remained in Ceuta on Monday after crossing over, according to local officials. AP journalists saw other minors asking for food.

Those minors now make up a large part of the 3,000-5,000 migrants who have avoided expulsion from Ceuta of the original 60,000 who came across. Spanish authorities confirmed 72 people died, mostly in the water, during the crossing. Morocco reported 11 deaths which are not included in the Spanish total, the Spanish interior ministry said.

Minors must be cared for under Spanish law

Spanish law says that adult migrants can apply for asylum. If rejected, they will face expulsion procedures. The bar is normally very high for Moroccans to be granted humanitarian protection.

Migrant minors who are unaccompanied by adults, however, are supposed to be granted protection and taken care of by Spanish authorities.

An AP journalist witnessed Spanish soldiers escorting an unaccompanied Moroccan boy who was crying and begging not to be sent back to Morocco. A few meters before reaching the border, and due to pressure from local residents who insisted he was a minor, as well as the presence of the media, a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish Army stopped the repatriation and transferred the boy to the Spanish Civil Guard.

Most of the Moroccan adults have either voluntarily gone home or were pushed back by Spanish police. Among those who remain in Ceuta are significant numbers of people from other countries, including Sudanese fleeing their war-torn country, Palestinians from Gaza and Afghans, as well as people from several African nations.

The city’s migrant center with a capacity for 600 people is completely full. Food is scarce among the migrants, according to reporting by AP journalists.

“The strategy is that hunger, thirst and exhaustion forces these people to finally decide to voluntarily return to Morocco,” said local migration activist Ramsés Mohamed Azumik of Asociación Elín.

Many migrants sleep or rest on the beach or hills surrounding the speck of Spain. In the hazy distance, mainland Europe, their ultimate goal, lies across the sea.

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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

It can play a part in helping America break the chokehold China has on processing critical minerals, but it will take up to a year and a half to build a new factory as the Trump administration pushes to expand domestic production. The company, Phoenix Tailings, recently got a $500 million loan from the Pentagon to ramp up its work, after starting out eight years ago as a backyard lab seeking a cleaner metal-refining method. It's just the latest critical minerals company the government has backed.

The task that workers carry out in heat-resistant suits and sealed face masks has become more urgent as the Iran conflict draws down key munitions such as Tomahawk cruise missiles and THAAD interceptors. While the White House is demanding military contractors speed up production, it’s also imposing stricter rules banning them from sourcing critical minerals from China.

“It will be a tall order and a challenge to replenish these stocks and scale up in the timeframe needed to meet defense demand and regulations,” said Anthony Balladon, chief commercial officer and a co-founder of Phoenix Tailings. He said the company is working hard to boost capacity.

Although the U.S. is quickening its pace to build domestic supplies of critical minerals free of control from its most formidable rival, it will likely take years for companies across the industry to build new mines and boost production of the high-powered magnets essential in many high-tech applications. Extracting some of the hard-to-pronounce elements from existing mine waste can help satisfy the growing demand in the meantime, but it will likely take several companies to do that.

Critical minerals industry has big plans, but it will take time to ramp up

Phoenix Tailings taps waste from traditional mining as well as recycled magnets and disk drives as raw materials, working to counter China in processing where it has the strongest hold on the supply chain.

The company based in the Boston-area city of Woburn, Massachusetts, plans to build a bigger facility to extract and produce critical metals needed in not only defense but also the aerospace and automotive industries.

“We call it the freedom facility because, ultimately, the purpose of this is to ensure that the entire Western Hemisphere, the United States and its allies are free of Chinese influence within the rare-earth space,” Balladon said.

On a recent afternoon, two technicians in heat-resistant hazmat suits were operating an apparatus of cylinders, tubes, funnels and control panels set up on a platform with bright yellow railings. A chemical process involving electricity removes oxygen and turns the material into a grayish metal that can be used to make the extremely strong permanent magnets used in fighter jets, missiles, radar systems and drones.

The metals that Phoenix Tailings refines and other critical minerals play “an outsized role” in defense systems, Balladon said. A $150 million weapons system won’t work if it's missing critical minerals that may be worth only $20,000 to $30,000, he said.

The defense sector is particularly reliant on the metal samarium and needs 50 to 100 tons each year, but U.S. capacity is very limited, he said.

Phoenix Tailings is among the few companies capable of producing the final metal, according to Balladon, but its capacity is only about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) a year. He said the company will scale up to about 5 tons in the next three months but that it will be next year or 2028 before it reaches its goal of 120-ton capacity.

Another US magnet maker looks to France for raw materials

Arnold Magnetic Technologies for years relied on China for samarium to produce the extremely strong, stable-in-high-temperatures magnet that goes into precision-guided missiles such as Tomahawks.

That doesn’t work anymore. For Arnold, the solution to getting the critical minerals it needs has come from a relic of Europe’s past rare-earth industry — abandoned mining dirt in the French city of La Rochelle.

Solvay, a Belgium-headquartered chemical company, stopped separating and processing rare earths from the mined dirt in the 2000s. That was when China was building up most of the world’s processing capacity with a determination to dominate the industry.

China weaponized that near-monopoly last year by choking off its flow of processed critical materials and forcing the U.S. government to back off during a trade war. Solvay then restarted work and has added other rare earths this year, including samarium.

“This ramp‑up is driven by several factors: rapidly growing demand for permanent magnets, increased geopolitical focus on supply chain security, and strong customer demand in Europe and the United States for more diversified, resilient and traceable sources of supply,” a Solvay spokesperson said.

For Arnold Magnetic Technologies, paying more to get its supply from Solvay instead of China has not been a deal-breaker, because the samarium-cobalt magnets it makes account for only a small cost in a weapon system, said Matt Blake, Arnold's CEO.

“They are not the absolute cost drivers,” he said.

Plus, the company says the surge in demand for magnets has worked in its favor.

Some concerns remain. The U.S. is dependent on imports of the critical mineral tungsten, with China controlling roughly 80% of the global mine supply and an even larger share of processing, according to Brodie Sutherland, CEO of Patriot Critical Minerals Corp.

Sutherland, whose company seeks to explore and mine tungsten in the U.S., is concerned that America will not be able to get by without China-sourced tungsten after a Pentagon-imposed deadline of Jan. 1, 2027.

Efforts to ramp up U.S. production will take years, he said, and in the meantime, the Pentagon and its defense contractors will need to rely on existing inventories, expanded recycling and limited non-China sources.

The Iran war and Trump's China order create pressure and opportunity

The need to increase production has become more urgent as renewed fighting with Iran digs into the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, including Patriots and THAADs, according to a recent analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

It also has raised concerns that the military would have diminished firepower in any potential future conflict with China. CSIS warned in May that it could take at least three years to replenish stockpiles of Tomahawks, Patriots and THAADs, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors.

At the same time, President Donald Trump has announced stricter controls on defense contractors sourcing critical materials from China.

“It is the policy of the United States that not only the finished equipment deployed by our military, but also the critical materials and components necessary to manufacture, maintain, sustain, and repair that equipment, are sourced domestically or from allied nations,” the July 20 executive order says.

Lockheed Martin, which makes THAADs and many other weapons systems, said “we continuously assess the global rare earth supply chain to ensure access to critical materials that support our customers’ missions.” Several other major U.S. defense contractors, including Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Balladon, of Phoenix Tailings, was confident in U.S. companies.

“Ultimately, with the right support and partners across the industry, we think we can make it happen,” he said.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

Persistent drought and successive extreme heat waves have deprived one of Europe's largest rivers of water, pushing the Danube's levels in Hungary's capital Budapest to around 10 centimeters (4 inches) on Monday, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters (13 inches) set in 2018.

Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast, and as a renewed extreme heat wave bears down on the region with daytime highs topping 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), electricity and water use are on the rise.

Hungary's Paks nuclear plant on brink of shutdown

The Danube's record low levels have pushed Hungary's only nuclear power plant, the Soviet-built, four-reactor plant at Paks, to the brink of powering down entirely for the first time in its 44 years in service.

The Paks plant, which uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors, on Monday was producing only 240 megawatts of power rather than the usual 2,000. In video posted to Facebook on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said engineers had managed to keep the plant’s final operating turbine temporarily running, averting an expected shutdown on the weekend.

“This is very good news, because the complete shutdown of the Paks power plant can still be avoided, at least temporarily, on one of the biggest consumption days,” he said, adding that a full power-down was likely on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Paks plant, located around 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Budapest, accounts for nearly half of Hungary’s electricity production and around a third of its consumption. Hungary has relied on regional electricity imports as well as renewable sources to try to make up for the deficit from the Paks plant.

Hungary’s government last week asked major industrial users to curb their electricity consumption and sought voluntary savings from households in order to conserve supply, particularly in peak demand hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

It also announced that electric-powered freight trains would not be permitted to run during peak hours beginning on Monday in order to conserve an estimated 70 to 90 megawatt-hours of electricity per day.

While conservation measures were initially voluntary, Magyar’s government on Saturday issued a decree allowing for them to be made mandatory for large industrial or commercial consumers.

He said Monday that the conservation push had resulted in 700 fewer megawatts of electricity being used the previous day, and thanked Hungarians for their efforts.

Serbia and Romania grapple with low Danube levels

Meanwhile, plants in neighboring countries have also seen dramatic drops in power generation, as well as disruptions to shipping and agriculture.

Romania’s military on Monday used 180 kilograms (397 pounds) of explosives to blast rock near the Danube’s Bala Canal in order to redirect water into the river’s main channel and toward the state-owned Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

The Danube's water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of its July average. Authorities have already shut down one reactor unit at the Cernavoda plant, which is operating at about half its normal capacity.

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of alert in the energy sector on Friday, and warned that the Danube’s low water levels threatened the shutdown of Cernavoda’s second reactor. He appealed to citizens to voluntarily limit electricity usage in peak evening hours.

After meeting with major industrial consumers on Monday, Bolojan said carmakers Dacia and Ford had gone into maintenance and halted auto production until Aug. 19, while other companies agreed to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.

In Serbia, record-low Danube levels have pushed the country’s key hydroelectric plant to operate with only 20% of its capacity, prompting Prime Minister Djuro Macut to preside over an emergency meeting on Monday focusing on energy problems.

Macut appealed to residents to “minimize the use of big consumers of electricity in their homes, such as air conditioners.” He described the situation in a statement late on Sunday as “serious and demanding.”

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Associated Press writers Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed to this report.

Charley Hull of England easily earned one of the two automatic spots from the Ladies European Tour points list. The other went to Esther Henseleit of Germany, who surged to No. 2 in the final two events.

Henseleit finished fourth in the Women's Scottish Open and then lost in a playoff at the Women's British Open (points are double in a major) to narrowly beat Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland for the second spot.

Henseleit's 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff with AIG Women's Open winner Shiho Kuwaki wound up costing Tamburlini a spot. Even without making it on points, Henseleit would have made her second straight team as one of the leading six players in the world ranking.

Those six spots instead fell to Solheim rookie Lottie Woad of England, Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden, Carlota Ciganda of Spain, Celine Boutier of France and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark.

Nordqvist added Maguire and rookies Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, Nastasia Nadaud of France and Mimi Rhodes of England. Rhodes is No. 91 in the world ranking. Tamburlini is at No. 109.

Missing from Team Europe is Dewi Weber of The Netherlands, who is ranked ahead of three of the captain's picks. She was ineligible, however, because the Dutch player did not realize she had to be an LET member. Weber finished third at the KPMG Women's PGA.

The 31-year-old Maguire's record is 8-3-1 in her three Solheim Cup appearances but she missed the cut in four of the five majors this year and has not won in two years.

Europe will try to win back the Solheim Cup after a three-point loss in Virginia two years ago. Team USA, which has yet to fill out its team, hasn't won on European soil since 2015.

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

The agency released the video on Monday, after Shakoi Donovan was taken into custody.

The incident happened just before 3 a.m. Saturday near East Quayle Avenue and South Eustis Street.

According to the case report, officers say they noticed a vehicle swerving over the dotted yellow line, which they believed was an indication of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

[WATCH: Man accused of attempted murder of a police officer in Eustis now in custody]

When the driver fled from police, other patrol cars joined the search. The driver finally stopped when it appeared to be having mechanical issues, with smoke billowing from under the hood.

The body camera video shows officers trying to get the driver to leave the car but he refused to do it. They then tried to pull him out of the car, but he resisted. The report says Donovan stepped on the gas and tried to take off with one of the officers pinned between Donovan’s body and the steering wheel. Another officer was also stuck in the vehicle and traveled 10 to 15 feet before he was able to get away from the car, tumbling across South Eustis Street.

As a third officer got in his car to follow Donovan, he says he noticed the officer who had been pinned between Donovan and the car’s steering wheel was now lying in the road. The report indicated swerving tire tracks, leading the officers to believe that Donovan had swerved hard to get the officer out of the vehicle.

No word on how Donovan was arrested.

Donovan is facing charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a LEO, fleeing to elude, and others.

He is booked into the Lake County Jail on no bond.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Around 8 p.m. Monday, deputies were called to a home on Lake Juanita Road in Seville for a well-being check after concerns were raised about the man’s mental health and the care of animals on the property. Deputies were also advised the man had been displaying strange behavior and was believed to have been on a 40-day fast, the sheriff’s office said

According to the sheriff’s office, the situation escalated when the suspect pointed a shotgun through a window at a responding deputy.

When a deputy made contact with the suspect, Austin Mowery, 28, Mowery was rambling incoherently before going back inside the house. Moments later, Mowery pointed a shotgun at the deputy from a window. The deputy fired multiple rounds and took cover, deputies said.

VSO SWAT deputies then responded to the scene and spent more than six hours making announcements and negotiating with Mowery before he surrendered at 2:30 a.m.

No deputies, nor Mowery, were injured during the incident.

The sheriff’s office has since released body camera video of the incident.

Mowery was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on a charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. He is being held without bond..

Kuwaki closed with a 1-under 70 and looked like a winner as she waited nearly 30 minutes in the scoring room. Henseleit, in the final group, holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Royal Lytham & St. Annes for a 70 to join Kuwaki at 5-under 279.

Henseleit then had the advantage in the playoff when the 23-year-old from Japan was in deep grass short of a bunker and had to lay up short of the green. Kuwaki hit wedge to 3 feet to save par and got another chance when Henseleit missed a 15-foot birdie putt for the win.

The tables turned on the second extra hole. Henseleit's tee shot on the 18th drifted far enough to the right that it was beneath a gorse bush. She did well to get that back to the fairway, and hit wedge to about 12 feet. But her par putt stayed left of the cup, and that left Kuwaki to tap in for par.

“Very happy with how I gave myself the opportunity to win today and how I handled myself. Just got a bit unlucky on the second playoff hole there,” Henseleit said. “I tried really hard and I guess it just wasn’t meant to be today.”

This is the second straight AIG Women's Open title for Japan, following Miyu Yamashita's victory last year at Royal Porthcawl. Kuwaki, often known for her fashion, becomes the fifth player from Japan to have won an LPGA major over the last three years.

“I can’t believe it,” Kuwaki said through a translator and the trophy presentation.

She had planned on going to the LPGA qualifying tournament this fall, but her victory gives her a five-year exemption.

“So I don't have to worry about that anymore,” Kuwaki said.

She had until midnight local time to accept LPGA membership. Because there are only four months left in the season, the LPGA said Kuwaki chose to defer her membership until 2027.

Tough round for Noh

The disappointment belonged to third-placed Yealimi Noh (74), the 25-year-old Californian who began the final round with a three-shot lead until it slowly went away with bogeys. She fell out of a share of the lead with a bogey on the 14th hole. Noh was one shot behind and had two reasonable looks at birdie — with Kuwaki already in the clubhouse at 279 — but failed to convert.

“It stings being one short,” said Noh, who had missed three straight cuts before this week. “I told myself this morning, no matter what happens I'm happy to be in this position again. A couple of weeks ago, I was losing a lot of motivation. This week has helped me feel so much better about my game.”

Haeran Ryu fell short in her bid to become the first player since Inbee Park to win three straight majors in one year. Ryu, who won the KPMG Women's PGA and Evian Championship, was still in the mix on the back nine. She needed birdies and instead closed with two straight bogeys for a 74 to tie for sixth.

Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women's golf and winner of the year's first two majors, started eight shots behind and closed with a 68. She was the leader in the clubhouse for the longest time at 2 under until Kuwaki finished.

Korda tied for fourth along with Jeeno Thitikul (73).

Eyes covered

Kuwaki, at No. 46 in the women's world ranking, played bogey-free over the last 13 holes as everyone around her made mistakes. She was in the scoring room after signing and stayed there, even as Henseleit and Noh had birdie chances on the final two holes to force a playoff.

Henseleit delivered with a most unlikely putt, 40 feet across the 18th green. The 27-year-old German raised her right arm as the golf ball still had a few feet to go and punched the air when it dropped for birdie.

It was only the second playoff since the Women’s British Open became a major in 2001.

Kuwaki covered her eyes when she watched the putt go in on TV, then broke into a smile. And moments later, she was in a cart and off to the 18th tee for a playoff and immediately in trouble. Her tee shot stayed short of a bunker but in the slope of thick grass. She smartly tried to get it back in play, and her wedge to 3 feet was as important a shot as any.

It gave her another chance, and the final mistake belonged to Henseleit with the tee shot on the 18th for the second playoff hole.

Kuwaki already has won twice this year and is fourth on the money list on the Japan LPGA, the tour that has produced five recent major champions, including Yamashita, Mao Saigo, Yuka Saso and Ayaka Furue. Kuwaki is now on that list.

“Just to be on a stage like this is just an honor, and every hole I was just focused shot-by-shot and just tried to enjoy it out there as much as I could,” she said.

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

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney responded to an NCAA request for clarity about her Friday ruling that granted a fifth year to athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and were not included in the new NCAA rule that allows five seasons of eligibility for Division I players.

She said the decision still stands. But the clarification said her ruling had no impact on other NCAA rules, which would include its prohibition on players signing pro contracts, then coming back to college.

The NCAA filed its intention to appeal the case later Sunday night.

The ruling, as first written, had the potential to upend the upcoming college football season, where teams are starting camp planning on the “five for five” rule to take effect beginning next fall.

Extending it to players this fall granted hundreds a chance to return to school. In the direct aftermath of the decision, some media reports were listing players on NFL and CFL rosters who were signaling they’d be open to returning to school.

But that appears to be off the table after Sweeney's clarification that said it was strictly about the players whose eligibility ended last school year. It did not extend beyond that — neither to rules regarding when athletes can enter the transfer portal nor to elements of the landmark House lawsuit settlement, which dictates how many players teams can put on rosters and how much schools can pay them.

The rulings out of U.S. District Court in Denver figures to impact sports differently. Football teams, for instance, have already started practice for this season, while baseball doesn't start for a while.

In making decisions, teams figure to factor the NCAA's appeal of Sweeney's order and whether to risk bringing back players who could then be declared ineligible if her decision is overturned.

NCAA President Charlie Baker issued a statement after Sweeney's initial ruling came out Friday, saying the ruling was potentially chaos-inducing and a reason Congress needs to pass the Protect College Sports Act. That bill, being considered in the Senate, includes lawsuit protection for the NCAA over eligibility rules, the likes of which they are defending in several courts around the country.

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

Infantino’s secretive proposal to raise $4.2 billion from investors including the New York investment firm of Joshua Kushner was dropped early Saturday, days after the revelation in media reports provoked a global furor.

UEFA led the backlash and on Thursday its 55 member federations met to agree boycotting all FIFA events and competitions while the proposal was active.

Now lawyers for UEFA have informed FIFA that the European body is “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints ... arising out of and in connection with the FFE (FIFA Forward Enterprise) plan proposed by FIFA and all related matters.”

The letter dated Friday from the legal firm Dechert in New York was seen Monday by The Associated Press.

The letter named 18 FIFA executives who it said should retain data, documents and electronic messages as potential evidence. They include Infantino, Zurich-based chief finance officer Thomas Peyer and Arsène Wenger, the coaching great who is FIFA's head of global soccer development.

“UEFA puts you on formal notice that any destruction, deletion, alteration, concealment, or loss of relevant materials following receipt of this notice — or following any earlier date on which you were, or reasonably should have been, aware that proceedings were anticipated — may constitute spoliation of evidence,” the letter said.

Europe seeks rival candidate to lead FIFA

The Swedish soccer federation confirmed Monday that UEFA is actively looking "to come up with an alternative candidate” as FIFA president. The next election is scheduled in March.

On Saturday, UEFA signaled it wants to end Infantino’s decade-long presidency, saying he had lost the confidence of world soccer and that “no option should be off the table.”

Hours earlier, Infantino had withdrawn the divisive proposal that offered FIFA’s 211 member federations one-off payments of $20 million each with a mid-September deadline to accept.

The FFE spin-off valued by FIFA at $20 billion would have taken control of the soccer body’s money-making commercial and tournament operations through at least 2038. It promised to more than double development money over that time for the 211 members who already effectively own the Zurich-based not-for-profit governing body.

It was the project of just one man, FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said in a stinging statement Friday to the AP which said staff felt deceived by their boss Infantino.

Legal proceedings are “reasonably anticipated,” UEFA’s lawyer Andrew J. Levander wrote, citing the belief of soccer stakeholders that the plan was “fundamentally incompatible with the proper governance of football.”

Opposition to Infantino

UEFA has been most outspoken against its former employee Infantino while the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, the North and Central American and Caribbean soccer body, also have made strong statements to oppose Infantino’s plan.

Infantino has most support from his traditional base in Africa, while South America’s CONMEBOL is relying on him to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams from 48. That would give more hosting games to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the home country of CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.

Infantino's path to stabilizing the presidency he has held for 10 1/2 years was unclear Monday which began in New York with a report he was seeking support from the administration of his close ally U.S. President Donald Trump, possibly in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“There are no plans for @SecRubio to speak with Infantino and there is no call this morning,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, posted on social media.

A week is a long time in politics

The private equity plan has provoked a stunning turnaround in fortunes for Infantino since it was revealed last Tuesday by The Times of London.

The 56-year-old FIFA leader left New York after the World Cup final two weeks ago seemingly a lock to be re-elected unopposed next March for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.

The spin-off operation could have created a commissioner-like role for him beyond 2031 paying much more than his current $6 million annual salary and bonus deal as president.

FIFA briefed at the World Cup that Infantino had got pledged letters of support from about 200 of the 211 member federations.

Those letters are now likely being withdrawn across Europe with the Wales federation the first to announce its reversal.

The candidate deadline is Nov. 18 for an election exactly four months later in Morocco, one of Infantino's strongest allies and a co-host of the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal.

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

The decision late Sunday marks a victory for the Trump administration as it races ahead with efforts to build a $46 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexico border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

The town of Presidio, with a population of about 3,200 people, argued the wall could cause flooding and that the administration isn’t following the law as it rushes forward with its plans. The town’s development district sued earlier this year to stop the department from going forward with construction.

But the judge said in his ruling Sunday that they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of the case.

“For the foregoing reasons, despite the understandable concerns expressed by the plaintiff regarding the harms it and the plaintiff’s residents might sustain by the potential construction of the Smart Wall, the Court is compelled to deny the plaintiff’s motion for a stay,” wrote Judge Reggie B. Walton.

DHS has been charging forward with its wall-building plan with senior administration officials saying a first layer of the structure will be done by next year. In its push, the Secretary of Homeland Security has waived numerous regulations designed to protect the environment, wildlife, archaeological and Native American sites.

But the department has been running into opposition by landowners, environmental groups, Native American tribes and others who argue that the government’s rapid construction endangers environmental and religious sites and a way of life along the border. Opponents also question the urgency to finish the wall when migrant crossings from Mexico are already at extreme lows.

Lawyers for Presidio's development district argued in a court hearing that the government’s plans could compromise the levee system protecting the town from flash flooding and that the government flouted a key act that requires it to seek permission from the Army Corps of Engineers before building on or near the levees.

“We are very disappointed that the court will allow this potentially disastrous construction to continue, but we remain committed to protecting the Big Bend area and those who rely on the threatened levees," said the town's development district in a statement Monday.

Presidio is protected by a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding.

In court documents, Presidio’s development district said Customs and Border Protection plans to “replace the earthen slope of the existing levee with a concrete wall, with 30-foot steel bollard panels installed on top.” The district said it asked the agency for more details but was told they can’t be shared due to “national security.”

The government has argued that there is no final plan for where the border wall will go or how it will be built. And the administration has maintained that it has the authority given to it by Congress to waive a vast swath of regulations to build the wall as it seeks to get the number of people crossing the border every day to zero.

In his ruling, the judge bolstered that argument, saying that it was clear "that Congress did not intend to limit the Secretary of DHS’s waiver authority."

The government is also facing another lawsuit in Texas where an environmental group and a church preservation group have teamed up to oppose DHS’s plans.

The 54-year-old Pochettino, who took over the national team in October 2024, led the U.S. to the round of 16 at this year's World Cup, where the tournament co-hosts were eliminated in a 4-1 loss to Belgium.

Still, he helped the seeded U.S. team to a pair of firsts in the expanded 48-nation tournament, clinching advancement from the group stage with a game to spare and winning three games in a single World Cup. The team captivated American fans with excited audiences in stadiums and record television viewers.

“The magic thing that happened during the World Cup, the connection with the people, of course with the whole organization and everything was a key point,” Pochettino said during a Zoom news conference from his home in Barcelona, Spain.

Since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, the U.S. has lost four round-of-16 games.

“What we learn(ed) is that we can compete, that we have the quality and we have the talent,” Pochettino said. “We were so close. That gap with the best teams in the world is not too big.”

Pochettino said there is potential to make soccer in the U.S. “grow and grow and grow and be one of the important sport(s) in America, like it is in the rest of the world.”

“We have players and organization that can compete with the best organization in the world in that sport,” he said. “We learned that the fans are amazing and when they were so excited to discover a sport that made our fans become crazy, no? The connection was amazing.”

Pochettino views the next cycle as a new start for a program lacking quality depth at goalkeeper and central defender.

“It is going to be important to provide the young kids that we really believe (in) that they have the potential to arrive in 2030, in four years,” he said.

Before taking the U.S. job, Pochettino coached Espanyol (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19), Paris Saint-Germain (2021-22) and Chelsea (2023-24).

When Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter two years ago, he signed an initial contract through the 2026 World Cup. Pochettino said ahead of the tournament that he had discussed a possible new deal with the USSF. He also said in May that his agent had spoken with AC Milan, a club that then hired Rúben Amorim.

Pochettino, who has homes in Spain and London, said he may move to the U.S. He intends to stay with the American team until 2030 but left himself an out.

“Four years time is a really long period. You never know what can happen in soccer,” he said. “Today people really love you. In eight weeks time, maybe that change(s), that feeling."

He has led the U.S. to 17 wins (including a penalty-kick victory), 13 losses and one draw. Twenty-three of 62 players to appear under Pochettino have accounted for the team’s 57 goals.

“We know we have a lot of work to do to achieve our clear ambitions, including competing to win Men’s World Cups and having soccer become the most played sport in every community,” USSF CEO JT Batson said in a statement.

Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is again the lead philanthropic funder supporting Pochettino’s contract with additional support by Scott Goodwin, Adam Freede and commercial partners. Pochettino earned just over $5 million in his first seven months as coach, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation tax return.

U.S. coaches have not been successful when they remained for a second World Cup cycle.

After leading the Americans to the 2002 quarterfinals, Bruce Arena was unable to get his team past the group stage in 2006.

Bob Bradley helped the U.S. reach the round of 16 in 2010, then was fired a year later after the team lost the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

Jurgen Klinsmann took over and in December 2013 was given an extension through the 2018 World Cup. The Americans reached the round of 16 in 2014 but Klinsmann was fired in late 2016 after the U.S. lost its first two games in the final round of qualifying. Arena returned but the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Berhalter was hired in late 2018 and led the Americans to the round of 16 in 2022. Given a new contract in 2023, he was fired a year later after the U.S. failed to advance past the group stage at Copa America.

“We are going to demand more from them," he said of the players. “We are not going to be in some situation(s) not flexible like we were because before it was (for) the benefit of players, benefit of structures that were already built. But now it’s about to start the house from zero.”

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

Meanwhile, six people were killed by Ukrainian drone debris in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a small town on Russia’s Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar region, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that 40 others were wounded.

Three other people were killed and two were wounded in Ukraine's overnight attack on the illegally annexed Crimea, said the peninsula’s Russian-installed head, Sergei Aksyonov. He gave no details.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Zelenskyy outlines Ukraine's war strategy

Ukraine’s innovative long-range drone technology developed during the war has enabled Kyiv to sign military cooperation agreements with nine countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.

Under the deals, Ukraine receives long-term funding for its defense industry while partner countries get new defense capabilities, he said, adding that agreements with 15 other countries are being negotiated.

Ukraine is using its long-range strike drones to hit targets deep inside Russia in an effort to push Russian President Vladimir Putin into seeking a peace settlement, Zelenskyy said in a speech to Ukrainian diplomats.

“We will work very hard to make that happen this fall,” he said.

Ukraine wants countries to adopt heavier international sanctions on Moscow, but existing sanctions also need tightening to prevent Russian companies from exploiting loopholes, he said.

Zelenskyy also announced he is appointing Rustem Umerov, who has been involved in U.S. diplomatic efforts to stop the war, as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Russia's glide bombs are big and hard to stop

Russia has used glide bombs against Ukrainian towns and cities since it invaded its neighbor more than four years ago. The Soviet-era bombs are retrofitted with guidance systems and can carry up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of explosives, leaving huge craters. Ukraine has no effective countermeasures.

The Sunday evening onslaught on Zaporizhzhia killed a 71-year-old woman and wounded 31 people, including a 16-year-old girl, as the glide bombs damaged 22 apartment buildings in four districts of the city, Fedorov said.

While Moscow’s forces have captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and hold other parts of the region, its capital city of the same name remains in Ukrainian hands. It is one of the four regions, along with Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk, that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 even though its forces do not completely control them.

Other large-scale damage of civilian areas has resulted from Russian ballistic missiles, and late Sunday Zelenskyy made another urgent plea for countries to send Ukraine more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.

Only Patriot interceptors can reliably stop ballistic missiles, but they are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“The United States knows what we need. Europe knows what we need. Anti-ballistic missiles must protect people — not sit in stockpiles," Zelenskyy said on social media.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week appeared to back off from his earlier commitment to give Ukraine a license to make Patriots itself. He said Friday that he hasn’t made a final decision.

Zelenskyy has suggested an alternative to Trump whereby Elon Musk allows Ukraine to use Starlink satellites to target ballistic missile launch sites inside Russia. Officials haven't publicly said whether that is being considered.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 181 long-range strike drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said air defenses jammed and intercepted 163 drones, but 14 caused damage at 13 locations.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces struck four bulk carriers carrying cargo for the Ukrainian armed forces, including three in waters of the Black Sea and one in the port of Mykolaiv, but provided no further information.

Ukraine's long-range drone strikes cause more damage

Ukrainian drones also struck another major warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online shopping company. The strike was part of a campaign that has hit more than a dozen of the retailer’s distribution hubs and severely disrupted its business.

A Wildberries warehouse in the Vladimir region east of Moscow caught fire in the latest attack, the company said Monday. Three people were injured, Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev said.

Ukrainian drones also struck the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted that refinery, and many others, since last year as it tries to choke fuel supplies to the Russian army and deny Moscow income from oil exports.

Zelenskyy said the Engels military air base near Saratov, the main base for Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, and other places inside Russia, including fuel storage tanks at the Lyudinovskaya oil depot in Russia’s Kaluga region, were targeted.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported that its air defenses overnight intercepted 131 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

For Wisconsin couple Bethany and Sean Smalley, the choice came down to priorities. Bethany had a clear vision: look good, have a beautiful backdrop, keep the guest list minimal, and above all, keep it stress-free.

“I wanted to look good, have a good background, and be with like minimal people, and no stress,” Bethany said.

Their San Diego ceremony checked every box — planned just six weeks in advance through Simply Eloped, a full-service wedding company that specializes in pop-up packages.

What is a pop-up wedding?

Pop-up weddings are small-scale, all-inclusive ceremonies where professionals handle every detail — from the officiant and makeup artist to the photographer. The “pop-up” name refers to the venues: beaches, parks, and everyday locations transformed into wedding destinations for just one day.

Wedding officiant Alan Katz offers similar packages in Los Angeles.

“They just tell us where they want to get married, give us the date and time, we get all the permits, the insurance, we set up the chairs, the arch, boom, they walk down the aisle, they’re married,” Katz said. “They don’t have to do a thing.”

The cost difference is striking

The price gap between a traditional wedding and a pop-up ceremony is hard to ignore. According to wedding planning site The Knot, the average traditional wedding costs $34,200. The average pop-up or micro-wedding maxes out at $5,000.

For Sean Smalley, that math was an easy call.

“I wasn’t looking to go into years of debt for, you know, a few hours on a special day,” he said.

The Smalleys chose a location and package that fit their budget, with only family in attendance.

A shift in what couples want

More couples are trading the extravagant to-do for a custom celebration focused on the marriage itself — not the event surrounding it. A survey by Shane Co. found that 14 percent of newlyweds say they were too stressed to fully enjoy their big day.

For the Smalleys, putting love — not logistics — at the center of their wedding made all the difference. Looking back, Sean has no regrets.

“Not yet!” he laughed.

The embassy said “Kyiv terrorists” wanted to “scare the Italians working in Russia and to show them that they too are in the crosshairs and could become the scoundrels' next victims.”

It said the Saturday night attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19, adding that its Italian chef and his staff were unhurt only thanks to a Russian security guard's “vigilance and selfless dedication to his professional duty.”

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which coordinates various security agencies, initially reported a lower death toll in a statement issued shortly after the attack. It said the bomb killed three people, including a woman who carried the explosive device into the restaurant, a guard who stopped her, and a guest inside. It said 21 others were injured when the bomb detonated near the restaurant's entrance.

The committee didn’t say who was the target or name the mastermind.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Sunday described the bombing as a “brutal terrorist act,” but did not say who was responsible for the blast at the upscale restaurant, which is located on the ground floor of a high-rise apartment building that is one of seven skyscrapers in the city that date to the era of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reposted the embassy statement without comment. It did not respond to a request for comment or explain the higher death toll.

Several Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted a Russian general who was celebrating his birthday at the restaurant. Some claimed that the general was Col.-Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital in 2022 and recently was appointed the chief of Russia's aerospace forces. The claims could not be independently verified.

The business daily Kommersant reported that the bomb, hidden in a gift box, was probably detonated remotely and the woman carrying it could have been unaware of the content. Kommersant said the bomb contained about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives and contained metal balls for lethality.

Russia blamed Ukraine for past attacks on military officials

Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a series of bombings and other attacks against senior military officials after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier this year, Russia’s Federal Security Service said authorities would tighten security around senior military and government officials following the attacks.

In February, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, ​the deputy head of the GRU ‌military ⁠intelligence service, was shot three times at a Moscow apartment building, but survived. Ukraine denied its involvement.

In December, a car bomb killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, in southern Moscow. Ukraine refrained from comment.

In April 2025, another car bomb that Moscow blamed on Kyiv killed Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in Russia’s General Staff. Ukraine didn't claim the attack but hinted at its involvement.

And in December 2024, a bomb hidden in a scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed the Russian military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, one of the few attacks Ukraine openly acknowledged.

Among other prominent victims of bombing attacks in Russia were Daria Dugina, the daughter of influential nationalist thinker Aleksandr Dugin, and Vladlen Tatarsky, a well-known pro-Kremlin military blogger. Kyiv denied involvement in the attack on Dugina, and remained coy about the attack on Tatarsky.

Nadezhdin, 63, shared a video on Telegram, showing him standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

“Good news: I'm alive and free. Unfortunately, not in Russia for the time being," he said, adding that he needs “to look around and figure out life going forward.”

In July, a Russian court fined Nadezhdin about $13 for displaying “extremist symbols," charges that he rejected as absurd. The accusations stemmed from a 2023 online video that briefly showed a picture of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, convicted of extremism in a case widely seen as politically motivated.

Earlier that month, Nadezhdin also was designated a “foreign agent" — a label that brings additional government scrutiny as well as stigmatizing connotations in Russia.

That and a fine on an extremism-related charge barred him from running in September’s parliamentary vote, which is expected to be tightly controlled by the Kremlin.

The ruling United Russia party is seeking to preserve its dominance in the lower house of parliament in a race against the Communist Party and a couple of other parties that vote in sync with the Kremlin on key issues. The campaign comes amid signs of growing public fatigue with the war in Ukraine as fuel shortages and economic pain increase, an environment that reduces the authorities' tolerance for even token opposition.

In January 2024, Nadezhdin collected thousands of signatures in his run for president as he openly called for an end to the war in Ukraine. But he was kept off the March 2024 ballot after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that more than 9,000 signatures submitted by his campaign were invalid — enough to disqualify him. Putin faced only token opposition in the election and easily gained a fifth term.

A veteran politician, Nadezhdin worked in the government in the 1990s when he was an adviser to Sergei Kiriyenko, now a top Putin aide. He also served as a lawmaker and more recently became a member of a municipal council. He was one of the few high-profile Putin critics still living in Russia.

Earlier this year, Nadezhdin declared his bid to run for the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, and vowed to continue his symbolic campaign even after the Justice Ministry branded him with the “foreign agent” designation.

Another blow came when police briefly detained Nadezhdin and charged him with displaying “extremist symbols.” The politician said he was considering a move abroad but was barred from leaving Russia. It wasn't clear from his Monday video statement whether the ban has since been lifted, or if he left the country despite it.

After the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, authorities ramped up their crackdown on dissent and free speech, relentlessly targeting rights organizations, independent media, members of civil society organizations and Kremlin critics. Hundreds of people have been jailed and thousands of others fled the country.

The congressional primaries will take place using the commonwealth’s existing district boundaries. Voters approved a more Democratic-friendly map in April, but Virginia’s highest court invalidated the new boundaries less than three weeks later.

The failed effort to enact a new Virginia map was in response to a largely successful push by President Donald Trump and state lawmakers in several Republican-controlled states like Texas and Missouri to redraw their congressional maps ahead of schedule and boost their party’s chances of maintaining their fragile U.S. House majority.

Under the current map, Virginia’s most competitive U.S. House seat is likely in the 2nd Congressional District, where a rematch may be in the works between two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans and the Democrat she unseated in 2022, former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria.

Luria is among four Democrats seeking the nomination, but the retired Navy commander and former House Select Jan. 6 Committee member dwarfs the rest of the combined field in terms of fundraising and available cash as of mid-July. Kiggans, also a former Naval officer, is unopposed in the Republican primary.

A contested primary is also underway in the neighboring 1st Congressional District, where seven Democratic hopefuls are running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman. That field includes Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, retired Navy Commander and former corporate government affairs executive Jason Knapp, and attorneys Salaam Bhatti and Mel Tull. Wittman, who is seeking a 10th full term, is unopposed for renomination.

In the 7th Congressional District, which straddles Northern and Central Virginia, freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman faces no primary challengers in his bid for a second term. In November, he’ll face the winner of a three-way primary between Republicans Philip Harding, Doug Ollivant and Rick Smithers.

The Democratic primary in the 5th Congressional District also features a comeback attempt by a former member of Congress. Tom Perriello served one term from 2009 to 2011 in the Charlottesville-area district. If he wins the three-way primary, he would likely face Republican U.S. Rep. John McGuire in a district that Trump won with about 56% of the vote.

Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has endorsed Luria, Taylor and Perriello in their congressional primaries.

At the top of the ballot, Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is unopposed in his bid for a fourth term. Running to challenge him in November are Republicans Kim Farington, Bert Mizusawa and David Williams. Warner has held the seat since 2009 and won his last reelection with 56% of the vote.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and the Arlington County Board.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary.

How many voters are there?

There were about 6,387,000 registered voters as of March 1. Virginia voters do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

About 273,000 votes were cast in the last Republican U.S. Senate primary in 2024. That year, the Democratic primaries for the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts had about 23,000 and about 29,000 total votes, respectively, while the Republican primary in the 7th Congressional District had about 36,000 total votes.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Advance voting tends to make up a larger share of the vote in Democratic primaries than in Republican primaries. In 2024, about 55% of the vote in the 1st District Democratic primary and about 47% of the 2nd District Democratic primary vote were mail or early in-person votes. In comparison, about 27% of the vote was cast early in person or by mail in the Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate and for the 7th Congressional District.

As of Friday, about 139,000 ballots had been cast in Tuesday’s election, about 84,000 from Democrats and about 55,000 from Republicans.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Virginia counties and independent cities vary in terms of how and when they release results, but the first vote updates of the night tend to include results from all vote types: early in person, mail and in person on Election Day.

Roughly a third of jurisdictions release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in their first vote update of the night, often along with results from in-person Election Day voting. Most counties and cities begin releasing at least some results from in-person Election Day voting in the first update and over the course of the night.

Nearly half the jurisdictions release no early or absentee voting results in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2025 general election for Virginia governor, the AP first reported results at 7:10 p.m. ET, or 10 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 1:52 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. Candidates may request and pay for recounts if the margin between the top two candidates is 1 percentage point or less. No payment is required if the recount results in a margin of less than 0.5 percentage points or if the outcome has changed. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Grande had been due to star alongside her “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park With George” at the Barbican theater in 2027.

Empire Street Productions said Sunday that Grande will no longer be part of the London production. A representative for Grande told People magazine that the 33-year-old singer “will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.”

“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” the statement said. A representative for Grande did not offer further comment to The Associated Press.

With Grande’s recent breakup from “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, the ongoing tour and last week’s release of the album “Petal,” attention has swelled, fueling rampant speculation online about her health and appearance. Grande has previously expressed discomfort with public discourse around her weight.

“I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she said in a 2023 TikTok video.

Late last year, while promoting “Wicked: For Good,” she reshared a 2024 interview in which she said it was uncomfortable having being picked apart for her appearance since she was a teenager. In the December social media post, she called the clip a “loving reminder to all.”

Grande found fame as a child performer on Nickelodeon before releasing her debut album, “Yours Truly,” in 2013. She has won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role as Glinda in “Wicked.”

Grande's next concert is Monday in Chicago. Her tour is due to wrap up in London on Sept. 1.

“We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support,” Empire Street Productions said. The company said “Sunday in the Park With George” will open next summer as planned, and that casting would be announced “in due course.”

Deputies say they responded to that crash on July 29th, when they got another call that a similar car had just crashed into the front yard of a Port St. John home.

As deputies, along with Florida Highway Patrol troopers, arrived, they say they found several people out front, with one holding a cloth to their neck after being stabbed by Jadarius West.

The victims told deputies they were inside when they heard a loud crash, followed by West running onto the back porch and making his way through the sliding glass door.

That’s when, deputies say, the victims told them West demanded the keys, grabbed a knife, and cut one of the victims on the hand before stabbing a second victim in the neck.

A third victim was unharmed.

All three victims made it out, while West stayed inside, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say they created a perimeter when West jumped out the window and was arrested.

West is facing multiple charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and is currently held on no bond at the Brevard County Jail.

ORIGINAL STORY: Payton Halloway went missing around 11 p.m. Friday from Altoona.

On Saturday, deputies traced a call the juvenile made to a neighbor’s phone before a witness reported seeing her climb into an SUV.

Deputies said they believe Payton Halloway was “actively avoiding being found,” and may have been with her boyfriend.

Deputies told News 6 earlier Saturday that Halloway has had some recent health issues, so they believed she may have been endangered.

The sheriff’s office has not said where or how Payton was found.

They have also not said if she was with her boyfriend.

“When the 2027 school year starts we will need to have a Superintendent,” one speaker said during Monday’s meeting.

District Communications Officer Sherri Owens confirmed Kornegay’s retirement announcement, telling the board, “Diane Kornegay recently announced she’s retiring.”

Kornegay has served in the role for just under a decade, and the board on Monday approved revisions to the superintendent job description. Board members said they want a candidate with deep experience in Florida schools.

They’re “looking for someone who has at least 10 years experience in Florida Schools,” including “at least five” years at a senior leadership level, a speaker said.

The board said it hopes to select a new superintendent by the end of October.

Another major topic at the meeting: updated plans for two new schools, including a proposed high school on Wellness Way.

Executive Director of Facilities and Growth Planning Kelly Randall said the district is moving forward with a required step tied to the state’s review process: “The capital plan the Board approved in September of 2025, reformatted for submittal to D.O.E.”

District leaders described Monday’s action as a “check-the-box” move for the Florida Department of Education.

Board members said the proposed Wellness Way high school could help families whose students currently travel about 15 miles to attend East Ridge High School, easing commuting stress.

For residents worried about congestion in the area surrounding the planned high school and elementary school, the board said additional road projects are expected before the schools open.

“There is a lot of road network to be built in that area. Lake County has been spearheading that,” one speaker said, adding that the high school is likely 5 - 7 years away, giving time for road improvements intended to relieve congestion.

News 6 will continue tracking this story as more details are released.

Superintendent Serita Beamon delivered her annual State of Our Schools address Monday, unveiling a new strategic plan and celebrating record academic achievements — even as the district confronts financial pressures that have already forced hundreds of job eliminations.

“I’m incredibly proud of where we are as a district, but I’m equally excited about where we’re going,” Beamon said.

A district with a strong foundation

Before addressing the challenges ahead, Beamon took time to lay out just how much ground the district has to stand on.

Seminole County Public Schools serves more than 58,000 students with nearly 6,500 employees, making it the largest employer in Seminole County. The district is the 13th largest in Florida.

For more than 20 years, the district has maintained an A rating from the Florida Department of Education — and this year, it holds a dual distinction as both A-rated and academically high performing, a designation that requires no failing schools, compliance with class size requirements and a clean financial audit.

“We are number one in Central Florida, number one of the 14 largest school districts, and number 11 out of all 67 districts in the state of Florida,” Beamon said.

Academic highlights: From third grade reading to college credit

The district posted some of its strongest academic numbers in years heading into the new school year.

This year, 95% of Seminole County schools earned an A or B grade — the highest combined total since 2011. Third grade reading proficiency climbed to 72%, up from 69% the previous year, ranking the district first in Central Florida and in the top five statewide.

Every one of the district’s 12 middle schools earned an A or B — and nearly half of all eighth graders completed Algebra 1 before entering high school, with more than 1 in 5 completing geometry.

Biology scores at the high school level jumped nine percentage points in a single year, vaulting the district from 27th in the state to ninth — and first in Central Florida.

“These efforts demonstrate exactly what happens when talented people align around a common challenge and then push,” Beamon said.

Looking ahead: AI, chronic absenteeism, new strategic plan

Beamon used the address to look forward, not just back — and she was candid about the work still ahead.

Chronic absenteeism remains a concern across the nation, and Seminole County is no exception. Beamon said the district has made progress reducing absenteeism at the elementary and middle school levels but acknowledged the challenge persists.

“Attendance remains one of the strongest predictors of academic success, and students need to be in school to benefit from the high quality instruction, meaningful relationships, and opportunities available in our classrooms each day,” she said.

On artificial intelligence, Beamon said the district has spent two years piloting AI tools, developing staff training and building policy — keeping a clear priority in mind throughout.

“We’ve worked with the knowledge that AI may be able to complement great teaching, but it will never replace it,” she said. “The heart of learning has always been, and will always be, those relationships between students and caring adults.”

Beamon also unveiled a strategic plan built around six priorities: safe and supportive environments, preparing students for a strong future, developing critical thinkers and lifelong learners, empowering staff, engaging families and community, and running an efficient, aligned district.

“This is not about changing who we are,” Beamon said. “It’s about becoming even better at what we do.”

Nearly $30M in cuts — and it’s still not enough

Despite those achievements, Seminole County Public Schools made nearly $30 million in cuts this school year — and the reductions still weren’t enough to fully balance the budget.

About 300 positions were eliminated in the process, a reality Beamon called painful but unavoidable.

“Always, always painful when we’re looking at having to reduce,” Beamon said. “But we hope that most of that cutting came through natural attrition or retirements and that sort of thing.”

School Board Chair Robin Dehlinger said the impact is felt most in the area that makes up the largest share of the district’s spending.

“The biggest proportion of our operating funds is salaries and benefits,” Dehlinger said.

The cuts have rippled beyond spreadsheets and into classrooms. News 6 previously spoke with parents at Millennium Middle School after several longtime teachers’ contracts were not renewed. The district cited budget cuts as a factor.

Beamon pointed to two forces squeezing the budget simultaneously: declining enrollment and an inadequate funding increase from the state.

“It certainly does not keep up with inflation, and it is offset for us in the ways when we’re looking at the declining enrollment and how that is impacting our system,” she said. “It simply doesn’t keep up with what we need to do here in Seminole County.”

Florida increased per-student funding by approximately 1.4% this year. Dehlinger said the broader trend is concerning.

“We are concerned about what we see as a declining support in terms of funding public schools,” she said, calling on the community to press state legislators on the issue.

Keeping schools open as enrollment falls

The district projects a decline of between 1,500 and 2,000 students in the coming school year. Because Florida schools are funded on a per-student basis, every student who leaves takes dollars with them.

Beamon cited a combination of shifting demographics, population changes and the growth of Florida’s school voucher program as factors driving the decline.

As neighboring districts have made difficult decisions — Orange County closed seven schools — Seminole County is committed to a different approach.

“We’re looking carefully at all of the ways that we can keep our schools open,” Beamon said. “One of the ways we looked at this year was doing some shared staffing models at some of our smaller schools.”

Dehlinger offered specifics: a bookkeeper shared between two elementary schools, a secretary split between campuses, or even a co-principal overseeing more than one school.

“We made a commitment that we’re not closing schools, and we’re able to make that commitment,” Dehlinger said.

Beamon said the model consolidates resources without eliminating programs or opportunities in the classroom and hopes it can be expanded if needed in future years.

Dehlinger framed the enrollment challenge in competitive terms.

“There’s a marketplace and we can be competitive in that marketplace,” she said, adding that the district is exploring outreach to help families better understand the opportunities available within Seminole County’s public schools. “We’re held to a very high standard and accountability, which many of those options are not.”

New facilities, new opportunities

Even amid budget constraints, the district is making strategic investments in its buildings and programs.

At Lake Howell High School, a new performing arts auditorium is set to open in December 2026. The second floor will house the Cyber Hawk Academy, a program designed to prepare students for careers in cybersecurity.

Lake Mary Elementary School is undergoing a full renovation, with students set to move into new, modern learning spaces after winter break in January 2027 — a project Beamon called “the perfect example of blending a school with 100 years of history and a new, modern facility.”

Transparency questions linger after Sabal Point incident

As the new school year approaches, parents have also pressed the district for accountability following an incident at Sabal Point Elementary School last fall.

A 23-year-old paraprofessional self-reported “concerning thoughts” to a school resource officer on Sept. 24. According to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the employee had thoughts about cutting a 6-year-old student’s throat with a knife when he became frustrated, and also said he had thoughts about carrying out a school shooting. He requested to be placed under a Baker Act and subsequently resigned after being placed on administrative leave.

Parents were not notified for several days, sparking outrage at a subsequent school board meeting.

Monday, our News 6 team asked the superintendent about the changes that followed ahead of a new school year. Beamon acknowledged the incident — while noting legal limits on what the district can publicly share.

“What the Sabal Point situation showed us is that when we sat down with parents, with staff, we sat down with our law enforcement partners — for the things that we can share — we looked at where do we put that in the calculus for when something is happening,” Beamon told News 6.

She said the district made procedural changes and the school board updated its policy on law enforcement partnerships following those conversations.

“We’ve listened, we’ve learned, and we are looking forward to moving forward in a real collaborative way with our parent community,” Beamon said.

School safety: SROs, weapon-detecting dogs

School safety remains a top priority. At the board’s upcoming meeting, agreements with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department and seven municipal law enforcement partners will be renewed, ensuring an SRO in every school. Also up for a vote: a new weapon-detecting dog program through the Longwood Police Department.

Beamon thanked Sheriff Lemma and law enforcement partners by name during her address, calling Seminole County’s safety model “innovative and collaborative.”

“We can all sleep better at night because of it,” she said.

E-bikes on radar, no countywide ban yet

Both Beamon and Dehlinger addressed growing concern about e-bikes among younger students when asked, a conversation gaining momentum across Central Florida. Dehlinger said she hopes the region moves toward a unified, countywide policy rather than each district acting independently.

“What other counties do will have an impact on how people think about things,” Dehlinger said.

Despite the challenges ahead, she was resolute about where things stand as the first bell approaches.

“Right now for this school year, all of our schools are open, all of our schools are staffed, and we are ready to go,” Dehlinger said.

Beamon echoed that forward-looking sentiment in her closing remarks.

“Every morning, more than 58,000 students walk through the doors of our schools — carrying hopes, dreams, talents and unlimited potential,” she said. “I truly believe that our best days are still ahead.”

The policy, which takes effect this school year with a grace period for families to adjust, prohibits students without a driver’s license or learner’s permit from bringing e-bikes or e-scooters to school. District leaders said about 11,800 students regularly use the devices to travel to and from campus, with most of those riders attending middle school.

The vote followed hours of public comment, with many families arguing the restrictions would create transportation challenges.

“If this passes tonight, I don’t know how they are getting to school,” one parent told board members.

Others urged the board to approve the changes, saying safety should take priority.

“I support the policy generally,” another parent said. “There are other ways to get to school.”

One speaker simply pleaded, “Let the kids scoot.”

Even students weighed in. A seventh grader told the board that riding an e-bike has allowed them to get to school while both parents work full-time.

“With my parents having full-time jobs, this has allowed me to get to school on time,” the student said. “I don’t believe this is the best way to keep them safe.”

Board members said the regulations were prompted by a growing number of crashes involving the devices. District leaders reported 41 incidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters that resulted in injuries between December and May.

Board member Alicia Farrant said the district hopes the policy also encourages broader action beyond Orange County.

“I do believe it will let the state know this is a problem and we really do have to have some regulations and rules in place,” Farrant said.

Among those supporting the changes was Ashley LaChance, whose 13-year-old son, Colton Remsburg, was killed after the e-scooter he was riding was struck by a pickup truck in Lake Nona. While she said education remains important, LaChance told the board immediate action is necessary.

“Families need to understand while a temporary change might be uncomfortable, this permanent change is unbearable,” she said.

LaChance says, “We are starting a nonprofit organization called Helmet On, which is developing a smart helmet that uses innovative technology to improve safety and help break through the limits of traditional helmets."

While in the meeting, several parents argued the district should focus on traffic safety education instead of restricting access to e-bikes and e-scooters. Speakers called for students to receive instruction on responsible riding, helmet use and traffic laws.

Multiple board members responded that enforcing roadway safety cannot become another responsibility for educators.

“Asking our teachers to take up traffic enforcement sets them up to failure,” one board member said.

Another added, “We do not need to be the DMV.”

Some parents questioned whether the policy would improve safety, arguing students could simply park their e-bikes off campus and continue riding to school. Other board members said families successfully transported children to school long before e-bikes became commonplace.

“Families have been getting kids to school for years without e-bikes or e-scooters,” one board member said.

The district said the new regulations will be implemented for the upcoming school year, with a grace period intended to give families time to adjust.

The district’s regulations outline requirements for where the devices can be used and stored, along with additional expectations for student riders.

The district is requesting the Osceola County Commission place a referendum question on the November ballot asking voters to approve or reject an operational millage to help fund both traditional and charter schools.

Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff said the stakes couldn’t be higher.

“We are now at a point where it’s going to be pretty catastrophic over the next four years if we don’t do something,” Shanoff said.

The proposed millage — one mill — equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. For a home with a taxable value of $200,000, that works out to $200 per year. If approved, the millage would last for four years.

“One mill, we have calculated, would generate $62.5 million. Now because about 25% of our students attend charter schools, we would need to provide the charter schools with their proportional share. So this this millage, not just benefits students in your traditional stock schools, but it also benefits the traditional charter schools as well,” Shanoff explained.

If approved, a independent citizen advisory committee would oversee how the money is spent. Shanoff tells News 6 that the money would go toward competitive pay and benefits to recruit and retain teachers and staff, maintaining safety and security personnel, and preserving academic programs including arts, music and athletics.

Here is the question voters would see on ballot:

“To provide for essential operating expenses, including competitive compensation and benefits to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and staff, maintain safety and security personnel, preserve academic programs, arts, music, athletics and student activities, shall the School District of Osceola County levy an ad valorem tax of one mill for four years, to be shared proportionately between public and charter schools, with oversight by an independent citizen advisory committee?”

District leaders say budget pressures are not new. Over the past two years alone, the district has already been forced to make significant reductions.

“Over the last two years, over $60 million we’ve had to cut out of our budget,” Shanoff said. “Osceola County schools, we only we generate the the second lowest per pupil funding in the entire state. We have the second lowest administrative overhead in the state. So when people say, ‘oh, we’ll just cut the district office,’ we’re already lean at the district office. We really can’t cut any more than we’ve already cut. So at the end of the day, it’s really important that our public knows that we’ve taken the austerity measures that we can possibly take.”

Without new revenue, Shanoff warns those cuts will continue and deepen. About 80% of the district’s total operating budget goes toward salaries and benefits, making personnel the most likely target.

“If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to be looking at further austerity because we will have to cut people,” he said. “There’s no other way to handle this than to cut people, and when we cut people, that means that we cut critical services and critical programs to our schools.”

One area of particular concern is school safety. State law mandates that schools have at least one armed security officer during the school day. Osceola County schools are currently staffed by school resource officers through a cost-sharing partnership between the district and local municipalities — including the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, St. Cloud Police Department and Kissimmee Police Department.

Shanoff said that arrangement could be jeopardized if local governments face their own budget constraints, especially as voters statewide consider Amendment 3, which would overhaul state property taxes.

“If the municipalities run short of funds, the responsibility of staffing armed security at schools comes back to the school district, and we will have to go with private armed security, different than having actual law enforcement on campus,” Shanoff said.

The millage, he says, would help cover the municipality’s share of those costs and keep sworn law enforcement officers in schools.

Beyond safety, Shanoff points to federal funding reductions as another growing threat to student programming.

“If Title 4 goes away, all of a sudden we run the risk of having to cut back on our arts and our athletics programing. If we end up doing that, all of a sudden we’ve taken away the draw for so many of our students into schools. We know that our parents want our kids involved in the arts. We know that our parents want our kids involved in athletics,” Shanoff said.

“We want to make sure that those opportunities are still available for our students, because many of them use those opportunities as a launching point to where they go next. And for many of them, that means also being able to pay for college, which is really, really important.”

Shanoff also frames the millage as a matter of regional competitiveness when it comes to hiring qualified teachers.

“Otherwise, we stand to lose really great teachers and staff members who can then go somewhere else in Central Florida that may be paying more as a result of having their operational millage already in place and approved,” he said.

As for whether the district is considering closing or consolidating schools, like other districts have recently done, Shanoff says that it is not an option right now, but he did not rule it out entirely.

“I think everything is on the table,” he said. “Especially in lean budget times and especially as costs continue to rise. I think that school districts are forced to do more with less.”

On Monday, the Osceola County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether or not to put the referendum question on the ballot. The board cannot make any changes to the question, only decide if it will go before voters.

If they pass it, voters would then be able to weigh in on the millage question on Nov. 3. For more information on the millage request, visit the school district’s website.

Scattered showers rolled in, some packing heavy rain that lingered into the evening. Rainfall totals varied across central Florida with some spots seeing over an inch of rain, while others recorded less.

Tonight’s lows will remain muggy, settling in the mid-to-upper 70s under partly cloudy skies.

As kids head back to school this week, mornings at the bus stop will start off dry but humid, so lightweight, breathable clothing is a good idea.

By late afternoon, scattered downpours are likely across the interior, meaning umbrellas and rain jackets will come in handy for the trip home. Some heavy, slow-moving storms could lead to minor flooding, much like over the weekend.

As for the tropics, the National Hurricane Center is closely monitoring Invest 97L, an area of low pressure near the Cabo Verde Islands. There’s a 60% chance of development into a tropical depression within 48 hours, and a 90% chance over the next seven days. While it may organize enough to become Tropical Depression Five or even Tropical Storm Erin by mid-week, its eventual path—and whether it impacts any land—remains uncertain.

Orange County Public Schools begins the school year with an estimated 3,000 fewer students than last year.

With the drop in enrollment, OCPS is projected to receive a $27 million reduction in state funding.

[VIDEO BELOW: Innovative school bus-tracking app]

The difference in funding has prompted the district to issue a four-year pause on the construction of relief schools.

Luminary Elementary School, which opens Monday, is Orange County’s newest campus. After opening two more schools next year, the district will halt new construction until 2031.

Superintendent Maria Vazquez attributed the drop in enrollment to declining birthrates and Florida’s school voucher program.

“I do believe we are the top choice when it comes to educating your child, but it also involves all of us listening to what it is our families need and want in their public schools, and then for us to take action on those needs,” Vazquez said.

[VIDEO BELOW: Trooper Steve on crosswalk safety]

In Seminole County, district leaders estimate a decline in enrollment of more than 1,000 students, which translates to a $13.5 million loss in state funds.

Superintendent Serita Beamon said there was a reduction in workforce at both the school level and district level to accommodate for the reduced funding.

On Monday, the district highlighted a new expansion of Seminole High School’s Health Academy as an example of specialized education programs that are offered throughout the county.

“We have more options for parents and they can fulfill all of their desires for their students’ education career right here in our public schools,” Beamon said.

The Orange County school district has hired a recruitment firm to survey families who have left the district and is attempting to increase enrollment by luring those students back.

Vazquez said the early results from the recruitment firm have been promising.

“We have some very preliminary numbers that indicate that we have recouped families that had left OCPS,” Vazquez said. “Right now, it looks like we’ve recouped a couple of hundred families to come back.”

OCPS is expected to have a better idea of enrollment numbers and recruitment efforts after the first two weeks of school.

“If schools had more students show up, they will gain allocations and dollars,” Vazquez said. “If there were schools where families did not show up or their enrollment is down, then we will adjust for that as well.”

For the third time as superintendent, Dr. Mark Rendell greeted bus drivers and students, starting at 6 a.m. at a bus depot in Titusville and then before the first bell at Pinewood Elementary in Mims.

When the bus routes started Monday, the district began a new program to protect students by penalizing drivers who go around buses as students are getting on and off their buses.

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

“If a driver drives past a stopped school bus, they’re gonna be recorded and they’re gonna be issued a ticket,” Rendell said.

After a five week grace period to start the new year, the ticket will be $250.

“The whole goal is to make sure our students can get on and off the bus, safely,” Rendell said. “The $250 ticket should get everybody’s attention.”

Brevard County community correspondent James Sparvero then turned his conversation with Rendell toward a new cell phone policy the school board is set to debate on Tuesday.

The board is considering not allowing K-12 students to use their phones at any time during the school day.

Rendell called it a strengthening of the phone policy that was enacted during debates about student discipline in recent years.

Students weren’t allowed to use their phones in class.

“The board’s taking a step to make sure that students don’t use the cell phones at all during the day,” Rendell said. “The idea is from the first bell of the day to the last bell of the day, students aren’t using their cell phones. They’re not distracted. They focus on their school work.”

Parent Rebecca Dean said she thinks it’s a bad idea.

“I just think, overall, it’s a better option for our kids to have their phones,” she said.

For parents who are concerned that their children won’t have access to their phone in case of emergency, Rendell said they will be able to.

“Students are always gonna be able to access their phones if they need to in emergency,” he said. “And also, we used to handle emergencies without cell phones years ago. So, we’ll still be able to do that.”

They are consolidating Exceptional Student Education services for children with special needs. Some parents have criticized the move that will see many ESE students in general classrooms.

“They might have an additional cognitive disability or they could have a hearing disability or a vision disability,” said Dr. Rene Clayton, Osceola County district’s deputy superintendent.

Osceola County School District’s Deputy Superintendent said they are trying to address the learning challenges of all students.

That’s why they are now putting many of their ESE students in general classrooms. They used to be in separate classes.

Clayton said this will be a good learning experience for all students.

“They will have exposure and opportunities to work together and understand each other better and be more accepting of one another,” Clayton said.

Having all different types of students in the same classes was decided a few years ago and is now being implemented.

“It is not for financial reasons at all, it is decided because we have challenges with making sure that we have enough people that are fully certified, providing the highest quality services and having the greatest outcomes for our students,” Clayton said.

There are just over 13,000 ESE students who will be affected.

However, there will be a few schools set up for those with the most severe challenges.

[WATCH: Osceola County talks driver shortage, new bus app on first day of school]

The decision Tuesday followed an emotional, hours-long meeting where more than a dozen parents, students and educators urged the board to keep the observance, which has been recognized in the district since 2019.

The observance, which takes place throughout October, is one of dozens of monthlong, weeklong, and daylong holidays listed on the OCPS school board calendar for celebrations and observances. The list also includes Hispanic Awareness Month, National Bullying Prevention Month, Florida Family Engagement Month, Black History Month, Autism Awareness Month, and Internal Audit Awareness Month.

None are listed on the regular school district calendar on the website.

[WATCH: New school opens in Orange County as district works to improve enrollment]

Board member Alicia Farrant, who introduced the proposal, called the proclamation redundant, noting that OCPS also recognizes June as Pride Month and June 12 as Pulse Remembrance Day to honor the victims of the 2016 nightclub shooting.

“Orange County Public Schools are seeing a huge decline in enrollment, and many of the families that I’ve spoken to who are leaving are doing so because the school is continuing to show that their focus is not on all the children and making sure that education is a priority, but instead focusing on smaller community groups and celebrating them,” Farrant said. “I have parents who come out and tell me that this is happening, but they’re afraid to say anything because of the retaliation.”

Other parents and educators spoke in favor of keeping the proclamation, including local advocate Judi Hayes, whose son also addressed the board.

“These are kids who are really disproportionately affected by mental health issues,” Hayes said. “And I feel like anything that we can do to help those kids feel comfortable, feel included, not singled out, is important.”

[RELATED: Florida public schools face leaner budgets, declining enrollment amid scholarship growth]

Regular public school classes let out at the end of May. Only summer school is in session in June.

OCPS said plans for how schools will mark LGBTQ+ History and Awareness Month will be determined by the individual schools.

A district spokesperson said it can include acknowledgments posted on the web or on school marquees.

This marks the second time in two years that an effort to remove the proclamation has failed.

2025-26 OCPS School Board Observations-Celebrations by Christie Zizo

According to an August survey from the National Retail Federation, 37% of people who still had half of their shopping to do were waiting to find the best deals.

News 6 went to Academy Sports where not only are qualified purchases tax free, the company is also offering other savings.

Sunil Keshwah, visiting from Georgia, said his family didn’t know about Florida’s month-long sales tax holiday and that they would benefit.

“We’re really excited,” Keshwah said. “Definitely have some stuff on our list that we can make use of getting them while we’re here.”

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

News 6 visited an Academy Sports store where managers said several items fall under the tax-free holiday, including footwear, lunchboxes, backpacks and clothing.

The company is also holding last year’s pricing on kids’ clothes and shoes and is offering a 10% discount to teachers and school staff for the month of August.

Even though they don’t live in Florida, Keshwah said promotions like this help with budgeting.

“We have to start planning a lot more, just basic groceries, like what we’re going to buy, when we’re going to buy, shopping around more, using coupons, fliers, sales ads a lot more,” Keshwah said.

Anthony Morrison, store director at Academy Sports, said the retailer aims to ease the stress of back-to-school shopping.

“We understand that convenience is key and so is price,” Morrison said. “So, if we can make a one-stop shop for everybody to come in here, it be affordable, friendly. That’s our main priority as a company right now.”

The National Retail Federation estimated total back-to-school shopping for K-12 at $39.4 billion in 2025, up slightly from $38.8 billion in 2024.

Eric Anderson told News 6 he got the first email from Walmart in early April.

“I said, ‘Oh, this is just a junk email, nothing’s going to come,’” Anderson said.

Then, the packages arrived, including duplicate car vacuums, three of the same shower curtains, three of the same women’s sweaters and two sets of toy cars.

“I have no use for any of these,” Anderson stated.

Anderson also said he was expecting a large box containing a mobility scooter he believed cost about $400, but instead found a small phone holder.

“I expect to go out and see a box this big. There’s a phone holder,” he explained.

According to Anderson, the purchases were made through his Walmart account and charged to credit cards linked to it. He reported the orders as fraudulent to Walmart and to his credit card companies immediately. In letters Anderson provided to News 6, both card companies, Bank of America and Capital One, initially sent letters stating they were investigating the charges.

A little more than a week later, both card companies sent Anderson another letter stating he was on the hook for the charges.

“After researching your case, we found insufficient evidence of fraud because information we discovered leads us to believe you or another account user benefited from the transactions,” Capital One stated in its letter.

Meantime, Bank of America told Anderson in its letter, “We made this decision because we confirmed the merchandise was shipped or services(s) was provided to an address listed on your account.”

Anderson called the situation frustrating, “The system didn’t work for me. I reached out to my credit card company, immediately, which is what you’re told to do in cases of fraud.”

Anderson told News 6 his Walmart account had been compromised and that Walmart confirmed to him that it was hacked. He said his account was suspended, preventing him from printing receipts to return the items, and he claimed repeated calls to Walmart left him getting “the runaround.”

“I actually got frustrated. I kind of gave up on it,” he said.

After News 6 contacted Walmart, the company reached out to Anderson. They marked the purchases as fraudulent and provided return shipping labels to Anderson. He said he shipped the items back and received a refund.

“I wanted to let you know that after several weeks and much correspondence with Teresa from Walmart, they finally refunded all of the money back to my credit cards,” Anderson wrote in an email to News 6, “I know this would not have happened without your involvement.”

Walmart’s website advises customers who see unauthorized charges to contact their bank or credit card company immediately. The retailer also recommends resetting passwords and deleting any saved payment information.

Some leftover moisture and the sinking provided by that clockwise spin overhead produced some patchy dense fog throughout our area Sunday morning and will do the same for our interior counties tomorrow. Confidence is high this will carryover into Tuesday as well, as we return to the grind and kids get back to school in most counties as well.

Thankfully, we aren’t tracking any significant weather players in the immediate future for your week ahead. It looks like fog and warmer afternoon temperatures will remain the talk of the town as we go through the next five days together.

We will have some twists and turns ahead though, as we look beyond the next couple of days deeper into the month of January.

Subtropical ridging takes hold of our local weather pattern starting as early as tomorrow afternoon, as our daytime high’s surge at least 3-5 degrees above the norm.

We’ll follow that stride throughout the workweek, and then weekend brings some change. This change could be rather abrupt and even dramatic if current trends continue.

A strong winter storm is slated to develop during the latter half of the week, sometime late Thursday into Friday. The storm in of itself won’t have any influence on us, however it will begin the familiar tugging on cold air from up north across the heart of the lower forty-eight.

By late Saturday and the first half of Sunday, our next cold front will be dropping by for a visit.

Rain chances are still a bit up in the air, but with warmer temps situated out ahead of the front and quality moisture being pulled in along its leading edge suggest a few of us could get some more much-needed rain.

The temperatures are the primary detail we’re monitoring. With as fast as we raced towards above average territory we could plummet right back to below average temperatures, and perhaps stay there for a little while with some fluctuating going on beyond that.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! We have a couple days of morning fog and warmer temps to get through before we can start really discussing another big-time Orlando cooldown.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited, making the race to replace her a top takeover opportunity for Republicans. Although Kansas votes reliably Republican in statewide federal contests, the state also has a 60-year streak of electing governors from the opposite party of their immediate predecessors.

The Republican primary for governor will be the latest test of President Donald Trump’s influence in Republican primaries this year. He has endorsed state Senate President Ty Masterson over former state Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, financial services executive Philip Sarnecki, state Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt and Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab.

The Democratic primary field features state Sens. Ethan Corson and Cindy Holscher and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog.

Sarnecki has outspent the rest of the field, thanks in large part to the $2.5 million he loaned his campaign. His running mate, data analytics firm founder and former Wichita school board member Joy Eakins, also has deep pockets. She loaned her own gubernatorial campaign $1 million before dropping out and joining Sarnecki’s ticket. She has since made a $50,000 contribution to the campaign.

Schwab loaned more than $2.1 million to his campaign and ranked second in overall spending. Masterson was fourth in overall campaign spending, but he outraised Sarnecki and Schwab in donor contributions, excluding candidate loans.

In the Democratic primary, Corson about doubled Holscher and Skoog's combined fundraising and spending. He also has a key endorsement from Kelly.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall seeks his party’s nomination for a second term and has Trump’s endorsement. Marshall won his 2020 primary with about 40% of the vote against former Secretary of State and current state Attorney General Kris Kobach.

He faces a quixotic primary challenge from Arch Naramore, who will appear on ballots under his middle name, Pond. Naramore challenged former U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback for the Republican nomination in 2004, receiving 13% of the vote in a head-to-head matchup.

The crowded, 11-candidate field for the Democratic nomination includes former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Christy Davis, Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, real estate developer and entrepreneur Erik Murray, state Sen. Patrick Schmidt, retired financial services executive Sandy Spidel Neumann and marketing professional and Afghanistan War veteran Noah Taylor.

Hamilton has outraised the rest of the combined Democratic field.

Republicans have won every U.S. Senate election in Kansas since 1932. No Democrat has ever been elected to the seat Marshall holds since the state first began direct elections of U.S. Senators in 1914.

Voters will also decide a statewide ballot measure that would allow the direct election of state Supreme Court justices and remove the governor's role from the process. Under the current system, a commission of mostly attorneys compiles a list of three finalists to fill a state Supreme Court vacancy, and the governor makes the final choice.

Also on the ballot are contested primaries for U.S. House, secretary of state and state Board of Education. All 125 state House seats are up for election in 2026. Republicans control 70% of seats in the chamber.

Johnson County in the Kansas City suburbs is the most populous county in the state and plays a big role in both statewide Democratic and Republican primaries, as do Wichita-based Sedgwick and Topeka-based Shawnee counties. The state’s two most heavily Democratic counties, Douglas and Wyandotte, tend to be more influential in Democratic primaries than in Republican primaries.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Polls in most of the state are in the Central time zone and close at 8 p.m. ET, but some polls are in Mountain time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, secretary of state, state Board of Education and state House, as well as for a statewide ballot measure.

Who gets to vote?

Voters registered with a political party may vote only in their own party’s primary. In other words, Democrats can’t vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary if they affiliate with that party at the polls.

How many voters are there?

As of May 1, there were about 2 million registered voters in Kansas, including about 894,000 Republicans, about 495,000 Democrats and about 588,000 voters not affiliated with any party.

How many people actually vote?

About 463,000 Republican primary votes and about 289,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2022 primaries for governor.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 45% of the Democratic primary vote and about 28% of the Republican primary vote in the 2024 state primaries was cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Friday, about 133,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election, roughly 62,000 from Republicans and about 60,000 from Democrats.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Kansas counties vary in how they release vote results, but about half release results from mail voting along with in-person Election Day voting over the course of the night.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2022 Democratic primary for governor, the AP first reported results at 8:24 p.m. ET, or 24 minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at about 10:02 p.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 3:31 a.m. ET with about 96% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

There are no automatic recounts in Kansas, but candidates may request and pay for one regardless of the vote margin. If the candidate requesting the recount is declared the winner, then the counties will bear the costs. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

The Slovenian rider’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team announced its lineup for the three-week race on Monday, confirming Pogačar will take part after claiming a record-equaling fifth Tour de France crown last month.

“It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” Pogačar said. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.”

Exclusive clubs

Pogačar joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders with five Tour de France titles to their names.

Unlike male riders including Hinault, Anquetil, Merckx and Jonas Vingegaard, however, Pogacar has not won the Spanish Vuelta for a hat trick of Grand Tours wins.

Pogačar, who won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 by a big margin, is also bidding to become just the fourth male rider to win the Vuelta and Tour de France in the same year after Anquetil, Hinault and Chris Froome.

Spanish Vuelta

The 81st Vuelta starts on Aug. 22 with an individual time trial in Monaco – where Pogačar lives – before making its way through France and Andorra to Spain. It concludes in Granada on Sept. 13 after nearly 3,300 kilometers of racing.

The 27-year-old Pogačar won three stages when he finished third on his last and only appearance so far at the Vuelta.

“Joining Pogačar are João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira,” UAE Team Emirates-XRG said.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was traveling from Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi. Initial reports said it was carrying 271 people, including 39 crew members, based on the ship’s manifest, when the fire broke out between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

However, by Monday officials said many more people were aboard than listed, and the number of people missing was unclear. Officials were relying on reports from families of victims and survivors in an attempt to determine the number of the missing.

It is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest. Such discrepancies can complicate search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, the search mission coordinator who also heads the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Indonesian navy ships assisted, along with a number of passing vessels, at the scene about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Sapudi island in the Sumenep regency.

The vessel was also loaded with 180 vehicles, mostly trucks.

Ahmad Abdul Karim, a survivor, said the fire appeared to have started in a truck on the lower vehicle deck.

“Fanned by the wind, the flames spread extremely quickly,” Karim said, “In less than 30 minutes, everyone had been instructed to move to the bow of the ferry.”

Another passenger, Azhari, said many passengers had just woken up when the fire erupted, apparently from the rear of the ferry.

“The fire spread quickly to the middle of the vessel,” Azhari, who goes by a single name, said in a television interview. “There was no other option for us but to jump into the sea.”

He said passengers were in the sea for about four hours before passing vessels began pulling them to safety.

Television news showed exhausted survivors disembarking from a rescue vessel at a harbor in Surabaya, while rescuers transported bodies to ambulances and grieving relatives waited for information.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the government would review the performance of the ferry’s operator, Atosim Lampung Pelayaran, after the National Transportation Safety Committee, or KNKT, completes its investigation.

“First we need to determine the cause based on KNKT’s findings,” Purwagandhi said.

The ferry was built in Japan in 1992 and was sold to Indonesia in 2015. With a length of 160 meters (525 feet), it can accommodate 689 passengers and 49 crew, along with up to 181 vehicles.

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 serves the Surabaya-Makassar route, a voyage that typically takes around 40 hours and is primarily used by domestic travelers and cargo transport between the islands of Java and Sulawesi.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.

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Associated Press journalists Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

The state is one of the nation’s most competitive electoral battlegrounds, as the last three presidential elections firmly established. In 2026, in addition to the pivotal U.S. Senate contest, Michigan will host fiercely contested races for governor, U.S. House and the state Legislature.

Progressives scored high-profile victories in the past year with the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s mayor and several U.S. House primaries where progressive candidates defeated longtime Democratic incumbents. While those contests all were waged on safe, heavily Democratic turf, the race to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters is expected to be a marquee matchup in the November general election, raising the stakes of Tuesday’s Democratic primary between U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed.

Stevens has endorsements from much of the state’s Democratic establishment, including Peters, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and state Attorney General Dana Nessel. Her notable out-of-state backers include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and South Carolina U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who recently campaigned with Stevens in heavily Democratic Detroit.

El-Sayed has endorsements from prominent progressive leaders including U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

While El-Sayed has outraised Stevens in the campaign overall, including more than doubling her fundraising haul in the first two weeks of July, the two were on roughly even footing in terms of available cash heading into the final stretch of the primary season. But Stevens has benefitted from heavy spending by outside groups, including a committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The group, the United Democracy Project, has spent more than $30 million since June in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed, according to Federal Election Commission records. AIPAC’s political operation has been active in supporting pro-Israel candidates in primaries this year, but its sizable investment in the Michigan U.S. Senate primary marks a dramatic escalation in the group’s willingness to engage in a single contest.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow’s July withdrawal from the primary has not added much clarity to the race. She has not endorsed either remaining candidate, and both campaigns are vying for her former supporters. Her name remains on the ballot.

The winner will face former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination. Rogers ran for the state’s other U.S. Senate seat in 2024 but narrowly lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

Wayne County, home to Detroit, is the state’s most populous county and is a major source of votes in statewide Democratic primaries. Oakland and Macomb counties in the Detroit suburbs and Grand Rapids-based Kent County are key state battlegrounds in both primaries and general elections. Washtenaw County, home of the college town of Ann Arbor where El-Sayed has taught, is heavily Democratic and wields more influence in Democratic primaries than in Republican ones.

In previous establishment-vs.-progressive statewide Democratic primaries, the progressive candidates tend to post their strongest numbers in Washtenaw and Kent counties, regardless of the statewide outcome. Sanders carried both counties decisively in his narrow win over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary and placed a close second in both in his 17-point primary loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

Wayne County has the state's highest share of Black residents, at about 37%, according to the U.S. Census. About 8% of Wayne County residents are of Arabic, Middle Eastern or North African descent, the highest share of any county in the nation.

In the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Wayne delivered for the establishment candidates. Sanders carried almost every county in 2016, but Clinton still almost won based largely on the strength of her showing in Wayne County.

In the race for governor, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican U.S. Rep. John James are the front-runners in their primaries. Benson faces Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, while James’ lone remaining opponent is wealthy businessman and former 2024 presidential candidate Perry Johnson.

A handful of Michigan congressional districts could decide control of the U.S. House. Among the most competitive is the 7th District which includes Lansing, the state capital. The three-way Democratic primary features former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, community organizer William Lawrence and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam. The winner will face freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett.

Competitive primaries are also underway to replace James in the 10th District and Stevens in the 11th District.

In the heavily Democratic 13th District anchored by Detroit, Shri Thanedar faces a tough primary challenge from state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who’s won endorsements from El-Sayed, Sanders, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Tlaib in the neighboring 12th Congressional District and several other of Thanedar’s progressive U.S. House colleagues.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Polls in most of the state are in the Eastern time zone and close at 8 p.m. ET, but some polls in the Upper Peninsula along the Wisconsin border are in Central time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, state Senate and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary. Michigan does not register voters by party.

How many voters are there?

As of July 6, there were about 8.3 million registered voters in Michigan.

How many people actually vote?

About 934,000 Democratic primary votes and about 880,000 Republican primary votes were cast in the 2024 U.S. Senate primaries.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 63% of the vote in the 2024 state primary was cast early in-person or by mail. Michigan adopted early voting for statewide and federal races after voters approved a 2022 ballot measure expanding voting opportunities.

As of Friday, more than 1 million ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Michigan counties vary in terms of when and how they release vote results, but the first vote updates of the night across the state tend to be a mix of results from mail, early in-person and in-person Election Day voting. The most populous counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw counties tend to release relatively few results from any vote type in the their first vote updates.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 Democratic U.S. Senate primary, the AP first reported results at 8:03 p.m. ET, or three minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at 12:03 a.m. ET. By 4:12 a.m. ET, about 95% of the vote had been counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Recounts in Michigan are automatic in statewide races if the vote margin is 0.1% or less of the total votes cast. There is no automatic recount in state legislative primaries. Under the state’s 2024 recount law, candidates may request and pay for a recount if they have a “good-faith belief” that there’s a “reasonable chance” they would have won the contest if not for a vote-counting error. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Before late last week, the dollar was trading above 163 yen, touching 40-year highs. After regulators were suspected of stepping in, it fell below 160 yen.

Early Monday, after the official announcement of the intervention, the dollar fell to nearly 155.20 yen. That’s a big drop for the exchange rate. The dollar was trading at 156.70 yen early Monday Eastern time.

Even though it has attracted millions of bargain-hunting tourists, the yen's prolonged weakness against the dollar has been a source of frustration for Tokyo. Since Japan imports so much of what it consumes, a weak currency pushes prices higher. High oil prices have amplified that problem and that's putting pressure on the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to do more to address the rising cost of living.

Joint intervention was needed to stem the yen's decline

Efforts earlier this year to raise the value of the yen against the dollar did little to budge the exchange rate.

Normally foreign exchange markets determine the relative values of currencies, but there are many factors that shape what happens in the markets.

A big gap between interest rates in the U.S. and Japan has led investors to sell yen and buy dollars to take advantage of the higher yields from dollar-denominated assets. Both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve kept their interest rates unchanged at meetings last week, maintaining that gap.

So, last week, when the dollar slipped below 160 yen and stayed there, the U.S. side was suspected of lending a hand.

Officials usually stay mum on such actions. But on Sunday, Trump confirmed that the U.S. side had helped, and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama likewise issued a statement saying the finance ministry had purchased yen in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department.

“We will not hesitate to conduct further joint intervention,” she said.

Such overt acknowledgment of market intervention is rare, said Neil Newman, managing director and head of strategy at Astris Advisory Japan. He said the last big example was when governments intervened following a massive earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan in 2011.

Why the US is helping support the yen

When asked why Washington was helping, Trump said Sunday that “We have a good relationship with Japan. We’re very strong —- very, very strong financially — and they are, you know, they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help, and we’re always there for Japan. Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”

Trump said the U.S. got “financial benefit” out of the intervention, calling it a “signal of friendship.”

“It’s also good for the world economy,” he said.

A weaker dollar makes U.S.-made goods more competitive, reducing their costs in yen terms, and might help increase American exports to Japan, Newman said.

“It’s very rare that the Americans will work with the Japanese on this, but there is an alignment of interests here basically between Japan and America,” Newman said.

It was a “low-cost” way for Washington to pay a favor to a key U.S. ally, while also protecting the stability of foreign exchange and bond markets, Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics for Oxford Economics, said in a report.

Analysts question if the intervention worked

The latest intervention appears to be having a more durable impact than earlier cases this year, and the yen may have a slightly stronger path for the rest of the year, Nagai said.

But the factors that have contributed to the yen's long-term weakness remain.

Takaichi has pushed to cut Japan's sales tax on food to 1% from 8% and to dramatically increase government spending. Such moves would tend to weaken the yen since it would increase inflation and add to Japan's already massive government debt.

The Bank of Japan has moved slowly to raise its benchmark rate from near zero to the current 1%, its highest level in 31 years but still well below the Federal Reserve' s rate of 3.5%-3.75%.

It likely will continue to slow-walk any changes as it evaluates the impact of the Iran war and other factors on the economy, Nagai said.

Meanwhile, a surge in oil prices because of the war and resulting higher inflation has kept the Fed from cutting rates.

“The yield differential remains wide, Japan’s energy-import burden remains significant, and the Bank of Japan is still moving more slowly than the market would normally require to generate a sustained currency reversal,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

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Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. AP journalist Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

If commissioners approve the proposal, the measure will appear on the November ballot, allowing voters to decide whether to permanently prohibit the construction, expansion, operation or approval of new data centers in Edgewater.

Unlike a temporary moratorium, the proposal would establish a lasting prohibition on data centers and would also prevent the city from adopting future policies that would allow them.

The proposal comes as data centers continue to expand across the country to support growing demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies, including platforms such as ChatGPT.

At a recent commission meeting, several residents voiced concerns about the potential impact large-scale data centers could have on the community.

“I haven’t seen too much positives other than the fact that it’s just ChatGPT, which I’m in college, I use,” said Edgewater resident Jack Gwen. “That’s the only positive, but because of all the negatives and how much resources used for it, I would say permanently banned because I don’t want to see any other purpose in that.”

Others pointed to concerns over infrastructure and quality of life.

“We don’t have the water resource. Our water is bad enough,” resident Robert DeVoe told commissioners. “We don’t have the grid for it. If you want to know what they sound like, go on top of Publix and then put it in your living room. It’s loud as crap.”

The local debate comes as Florida’s new data center law, SB 484, takes effect. The legislation, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, prevents utilities from passing the cost of power grid upgrades for data centers onto residential customers, gives local governments authority to reject proposed projects, and requires strict water-use permitting.

Critics of data centers argue the facilities can place significant demands on electricity and water resources while generating noise from cooling systems and backup equipment.

“I’m living in Edgewater myself,” resident Tyler Dijacklin said. “I definitely would be concerned about the prices of things going up if a data center showed up in the area.”

Edgewater is not alone in examining restrictions on data centers. Other Central Florida communities, including Lake and Seminole counties, have also considered or implemented restrictions and temporary moratoriums as officials weigh the industry’s potential economic benefits against concerns over infrastructure, utilities and neighborhood impacts.

The Edgewater City Commission is scheduled to meet Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall. If commissioners approve placing the measure on the ballot, voters will decide in November whether to make the proposed data center ban permanent.

The contest, as well as primaries for Missouri’s seven other U.S. House seats, will be the first held since Republican state lawmakers adopted a new congressional map backed by President Donald Trump that was designed to boost their party’s chances of keeping control of the chamber in November’s midterm elections.

In the St. Louis-based 1st Congressional District, freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell seeks a second term. He must first clear a strong primary challenge from his predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who was a member of the group of progressive House members known as The Squad.

Bell defeated Bush in the 2024 primary by nearly 6 percentage points with the help of about $8.6 million in outside spending from the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which promotes U.S.-Israel relations. Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel since its response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The committee spent about $3.1 million in July against Bush and in support of Bell ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

The district is heavily Democratic. Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris received about 78% of the district vote in her unsuccessful 2024 presidential run against Trump.

On the other side of the state, Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is running for a 12th term on much different turf than the compact, Kansas City-based district he’s represented for more than 20 years. The Republican-controlled state Legislature’s mid-decade redistricting plan carved up heavily Democratic Kansas City among three districts and stretched what remained of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District eastward to pick up heavily Republican areas. Cleaver is now running in a district that Trump carried with about 58% of the vote, compared with the current 5th District, which supported Harris with about 61% of the vote.

The six Republicans running to challenge Cleaver in November include former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks, state Sen. Rick Brattin and former law professor Brett Hueffmeier. Burks led the Republican field in fundraising, more than tripling Brattin in both money raised and cash in the bank as of mid-July.

Voters will also decide the fates of four statewide ballot measures, including one that would make it harder to pass citizen-driven proposals to amend the state constitution and another that would eliminate the state income tax.

Amendment 4 would change the vote threshold required to pass voter-initiated ballot measures to amend the state constitution. Currently, only a simple statewide majority is needed to approve a constitutional amendment put on the ballot by voters. If Amendment 4 passes, a voter-initiated proposal would require a vote majority in each of the state’s congressional districts.

Amendment 5 would require the state Legislature to phase out individual income taxes in Missouri and expand sales taxes.

About half of Missouri’s 34 state Senate seats and all 163 state House seats are up for election in 2026. Republicans hold roughly 2-1 ratio majorities in both chambers.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. CT, which is 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. House, state auditor, state Senate and state House, as well as in four statewide ballot measures.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary.

How many voters are there?

As of the 2024 general election, there were 4.4 million registered voters in Missouri.

How many people actually vote?

About 586,000 Republican primary votes and about 322,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2022 primaries for state auditor.

By comparison, about 698,000 Republican votes and about 379,000 Democratic votes were cast in the 2024 primaries for governor.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 12% of the vote in the 2024 state primary was cast early in person or by mail. Missouri does not have a long tradition of pre-Election Day voting. The state began allowing no-excuse early voting in the 2022 general election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Local election officials tend to release all or almost all results from mail and early in-person voting in the first vote update of the night. In roughly half of Missouri’s counties, they are released along with some results from in-person Election Day voting. But the state’s most populous jurisdictions tend to release very few in-person Election Day results in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 state primaries, the AP first reported results at 8:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at about 10:20 p.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 12:26 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Missouri does not have automatic recounts, but candidates for federal, judicial and state offices, including state Legislature, may request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of the vote. Candidates for local offices may request a recount if the margin is less than 1% of the vote. A court may also order a recount as part of an election contest proceeding. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

While the forecast follows a familiar summertime pattern, another disturbance moving west across the Atlantic could bring even more moisture and rain chances heading into the weekend.

MONDAY & TUESDAY

Rain chances remain elevated at 50 to 70 percent both Monday and Tuesday as tropical moisture lingers across the state.

Storms will develop through the afternoon, with the coverage spreading toward the east coast by late day. A few stronger storms could produce wind gusts up to 50 mph, frequent lightning, and torrential downpours.

While widespread flooding is not expected, Central Florida remains under a ‘marginal risk’ (Level 1/5) for excessive flooding, with western Marion County under a ‘slight risk’ (Level 2/5).

High temperatures will climb into the lower 90s with heat index values between 100 and 106 degrees.

MIDWEEK

By Wednesday and Thursday, winds will turn onshore, allowing the Atlantic sea breeze to become more active. That means coastal communities could see a few showers earlier in the day before the highest storm coverage shifts inland during the afternoon and evening. Coverage sits between 30-40%.

Temperatures will remain seasonably hot, with highs in the lower 90s.

WEEKEND

Looking ahead to Friday and the weekend, forecast guidance continues to suggest another disturbance may move westward across the Atlantic toward Florida.

If it holds and reaches Florida, it would bring another surge of tropical moisture, increasing rain and storm coverage once again.

It’s too early to know exactly how organized the feature will become or precisely where it will track, but the current forecast calls for higher rain chances Friday into Saturday along with the potential for locally heavy rainfall. At this point, storm chances remain at 60-70% through the weekend.

The strengthening onshore flow could also create a higher risk of dangerous rip currents at Atlantic beaches beginning late this week.

According to the police department, the warrant was served around 10:30 p.m. Saturday on Loughton Street with assistance from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force.

On Thursday, police said two teens were killed on a vacant industrial property near the historic Athens Theatre. That’s about three miles from where police say they served the search warrant on Saturday.

The victims were identified as 19-year-old Dustin Rose and 18-year-old Samson Campbell.

Police have not provided the name of a suspect.

A family member of Samson released a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses, as well as Dustin’s family and friends.

The July 2026 report from the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, known as OPPAGA, analyzed milestone inspection data from 2024 and 2025. The inspections were required under a law passed after the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, which killed 98 people.

How the inspection process works

Under Florida law, condominium and cooperative buildings that are three or more stories tall must undergo a milestone inspection by the time they reach 30 years of age — or 25 years if located near saltwater. Inspections must be repeated every 10 years.

The process begins with a visual phase one inspection by a licensed architect or engineer. If substantial structural deterioration is found, a more in-depth phase two inspection follows, which can include destructive or nondestructive testing. Building owners must begin any repairs identified in a phase two report within 365 days

Inspections completed, but gaps remain

In total, building officials across the state reported 8,736 completed phase one milestone inspections and 1,575 completed phase two milestone inspections for 2024 and 2025 combined.

Building officials also granted 1,587 extensions for initial inspection deadlines. Ninety-four percent of those extensions were issued in coastal counties and municipalities, where the bulk of eligible buildings are concentrated.

The report noted that not all jurisdictions submitted data. OPPAGA received 2024 milestone inspection data from 71% of local enforcement agency jurisdictions and 2025 data from just 64% — meaning the full picture across Florida may be larger than what the report reflects.

Dozens of buildings flagged as unsafe

Milestone inspections identified 30 buildings as unsafe or uninhabitable in 2024 and 24 more in 2025, spread across eight counties statewide. Despite those findings, building officials reported that most buildings deemed unsafe or uninhabitable were not vacated.

Of the 30 buildings flagged in 2024, officials confirmed only five were vacated. For 2025, building officials reported none of the five buildings for which responses were received had been vacated.

Osceola County provided the following statement about its buildings appearing in the report:

“The safety of our residents and visitors remains the County’s highest priority, and we take our responsibility to identify, address, and resolve building safety concerns seriously.

While the OPPAGA report identifies buildings reported to the DBPR, it does not reflect the actions taken by Osceola County or the conditions that were identified. The Office of Building Safety identified areas requiring corrective action, required immediate stabilization measures where necessary to protect occupants, and worked with property owners to obtain the permits needed to complete permanent repairs to the affected portions of the structures.

Based on those findings and corrective measures, none of the buildings were determined to require evacuation or to be uninhabitable. Had conditions warranted such action, the Office of Building Safety would have exercised its authority to restrict occupancy or order the buildings vacated until the hazards were corrected.

As of the report’s publication, six of the 10 buildings identified had been fully repaired and restored. The remaining four are progressing through the inspection process while the necessary repairs are completed to bring them into compliance with applicable building code requirements.”

Osceola County

Repair costs range from under $1,000 to $30 million

Building officials reported 903 permit applications for repairs identified through phase two inspections. Estimated values ranged from under $1,000 to $30 million, with concrete, electrical and structural repairs among the most common.

The average permit value was $337,229 in 2024 and $496,236 in 2025. Fifty-six permits in 2024 and 30 in 2025 exceeded $1 million. Ninety-three percent of 2024 permit applications and 100% of 2025 permit applications were for buildings in coastal counties and municipalities.

Data collection needs work

OPPAGA identified several limitations in how the state collected inspection data. Among the concerns: building officials used inconsistent definitions when determining whether a building was unsafe or uninhabitable, since Florida law does not define either term.

The report recommended the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, known as DBPR, provide clearer guidance to local enforcement agencies — including a webinar or guided tutorial — to improve accuracy and consistency in future reporting cycles.

DBPR Secretary Melanie Griffin acknowledged the challenges in a written response included in the report.

“This effort presented challenges because the milestone inspection process and related statewide reporting requirement are still maturing, and local building departments vary in size, staffing, resources, and familiarity with statewide data reporting,” Griffin wrote.

Griffin said the department is developing additional guidance and virtual training for the 2026 reporting cycle.

• Vacation rentals often advertise lower nightly rates but can add substantial cleaning, service, and occupancy fees.
• Many hotels have responded by eliminating or reducing some fees while adding amenities like breakfast, daily housekeeping, and loyalty rewards.
• The better value increasingly depends on the length of the stay, the size of the group, and what travelers actually need.

Americans are traveling again in big numbers.

If you’ve sat in holiday traffic, struggled to find a parking space at the airport, or searched for a hotel only to find “No Vacancy,” you’ve probably noticed.

According to a recent survey by global consulting firm Deloitte, about 53% of U.S. adults – roughly 138 million people – planned to take a leisure vacation in 2025, up from 48% the year before. Researchers say many travelers now place a higher priority on experiences than they did before the pandemic.

But while more Americans are traveling, one question has become harder to answer: where should you stay?

The emergence of vacation rentals

Vacation rentals had been growing in popularity for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated their appeal. Travelers sought private homes instead of crowded hotels, while remote work made longer stays more practical.

For many consumers, platforms like Airbnb (launched in 2008) and VRBO (launched even earlier in 1995) promised something hotels couldn’t: the feeling of living like a local. Whether it was a beach house, a downtown loft, or a mountain cabin, vacation rentals offered more space, greater privacy, and amenities such as full kitchens and laundry facilities. Just as importantly, they often cost less than a comparable hotel stay.

That value equation, however, isn’t as clear as it once was.

As nightly rates climbed and cleaning fees, service charges, and other costs became more common, travelers began questioning whether vacation rentals still offered the savings they once did. Consumers have started asking a question that would have seemed almost unthinkable a decade ago: is a hotel actually the better bargain?

Part of the answer lies in something hotels generally do well: price transparency.

The price puzzle

Vacation rentals often advertise an attractive nightly rate, but the final bill can look very different after service fees, taxes, and other charges are added (especially cleaning fees). Hotels have fees of their own – such as parking or resort fees – but many have also responded by offering perks like complimentary breakfast, regular housekeeping, discounted dining, and loyalty rewards that can change the value equation.

The result is that comparing a hotel with a vacation rental isn’t always as simple as comparing nightly rates. Travelers increasingly have to compare the total cost of the stay, and the amenities included in that price.

Vacation rentals used to primarily compete on price – today, it’s more about value.

When vacation rentals still win

Despite the changing economics, vacation rentals continue to offer significant advantages in certain situations. Years ago the pitch was, “You’ll save money.” Now the pitch is, “You’ll get more space, more privacy, a kitchen, laundry, and room for the dog.”

Consider these instances when looking at a vacation rental:

• Large groups: Renting a three-, four-, or five-bedroom home is often less expensive than booking multiple hotel rooms.
• Parking: Free driveways and garages can save travelers from nightly parking fees and provide added peace of mind.
• Kitchen: Preparing even a few meals can significantly reduce dining costs.
• Laundry: Washing clothes during your trip lets everyone pack lighter, avoid airline baggage fees, and skip expensive hotel laundry services.
• Pet-friendly: Vacation rentals often provide more options – and fewer restrictions – for travelers bringing pets. 

When hotels may be a better bet

• Short weekend trips: That shorter stay comes without the cleaning fees associated with longer stays typically associated with a vacation rental.
• Solo travelers or couples: As one person or a couple, you don’t need as much space as a large family or group. Single and double occupancy hotel rooms could be the right fit.
• Business travel: If you’re spending all day in meetings, paying extra for a full kitchen and multiple bedrooms may simply not make financial sense.
• Loyalty points: Most major hotel chains let guests earn points toward free nights and other perks. Vacation rental platforms have introduced rewards programs of their own, but they generally aren’t as extensive.
• Free breakfast: It might not sound like much, but feeding a family of four before heading to a theme park can save $50 or more every morning.
• Daily housekeeping: As I pointed out in my recent skimpflation story, it isn’t guaranteed anymore. But, unlike many vacation rentals, most hotels will still freshen your room on request, swap out towels, and make the bed.
• No checkout chores: If you’ve ever used a vacation rental you know the drill: towels in the bathroom, sheets in the laundry room, refrigerator must be clean, garbage has to be taken out. Like The Honey Badger, hotels don’t care.
• Front desk support: Though many vacation rentals have someone you can call with a problem, that person is rarely on site and at your door within minutes. Hotel front desk support can handle everything from a malfunctioning lock to heating and AC problems to a neighbor who is making too much noise at 2am.
• Easier cancellations: Hotels are built on the model that plans change and that travelers need flexibility. While you are usually locked into a room within 24 hours of check-in, vacation rentals lock you in at much longer intervals.

Vacation rentals changed the way millions of people travel by proving a vacation didn’t have to revolve around a traditional hotel room.

That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the way travelers have to shop for them.

The cheapest nightly rate doesn’t always produce the lowest vacation bill, just as the most expensive room isn’t always the worst value. The question isn’t whether hotels or vacation rentals are cheaper – the question is which one offers the better value for the trip you’re taking.

The film also made $572 million from over 73,500 screens internationally, with China contributing $121 million alone, adding up to a $927 million worldwide debut that is second only to “Endgame” ($1.2 billion).

Tom Holland’s run as the comic book webslinger has been a mighty one. “No Way Home,” his third standalone Spider-Man movie, made over $1.9 billion worldwide to become the eighth-highest earning movie of all time, not accounting for inflation. It was also the first movie since the beginning of the pandemic to cross the $1 billion mark.

But the triumph of “Brand New Day” also comes on the heels of another major movie featuring Holland and Zendaya: Christopher Nolan’s“The Odyssey,” which slid to second place in its third weekend in theaters with $51 million. Their combined might helped propel the biggest weekend of all time for North American movie theaters, with an estimated $430 million in total ticket sales, according to Rentrak.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” started strong, with a record $168 million opening day from 4,487 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, besting “Avenger: Endgame’s” $157 million Friday. The studio predicted it would lead to a $325 million opening weekend, which would still have beaten the second-place record. It takes the place of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” which opened to $260 million in December 2021. In the realm of best opening weekends in North America, they’re followed by “Avengers: Infinity War” ($257 million in 2018) and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($247 million in 2015).

Expectations were always high for “Brand New Day,” which was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and cost a reported $225 million to produce, not including marketing expenses. But there were worries it wouldn’t attract the same level of mass audience enthusiasm as its predecessor which integrated past Peter Parker actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield into the mix. In reality, interest was higher than ever. “Brand New Day” also received strong reviews from critics and audiences. It currently has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes; Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore and a five-star rating on PostTrak.

Ticket buyers were predominately male (about 61%) and many were on the younger side, with slightly more than half the audience under the age of 25, according to PostTrak exit polls. The biggest group was between the ages of 18 and 24, which made up 36% of the audience; 27% were between the ages of 25 and 34. The box office analytics company EntTelligence estimates that about 24.1 million people attended “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” this weekend.

It’s also the biggest ever opening for Sony Pictures.

Tom Rothman, the Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, praised “the incomparable Tom Holland” in a statement. Rothman famously pushed back the production of the movie to allow Holland to act in “The Odyssey” as well.

Cries about the death of the superhero movie have been looming since “Endgame” with more than a few high-profile flops in the years since, including several from the once-impenetrable Marvel Studios. Still, when they work, they really work, most notably with “No Way Home” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which made over $1.3 billion.

Marvel Studios president and ‘Spider-Man’ producer Kevin Feige said in a statement, “This debut reflects the enduring power of Marvel’s characters, and the connection they continue to have with fans around the world — and, as audiences saw, it sets up exciting things to come.”

Producer Amy Pascal added that it “reinforces that moviegoers are hungry for stories that are both spectacular and deeply human.”

This year has also seen a resurgence of moviegoing from younger audiences, who have made hits out of movies like “Obsession,” “Backrooms” and “The Drama,” which also starred Zendaya.

They’re also helping blockbusters soar, and in a business that is partly propelled by momentum, “Spider-Man” had the benefit of coming after “The Odyssey,” which fell only 43% in its third weekend. “The Odyssey” has now earned $395.5 million domestically, bringing its global total to $911.4 million. The film will soon open in South Korea (Aug. 5), China (Aug. 14) and Japan (Sept. 11). Its studio, Universal, also became the first this year to surpass $4 billion globally thanks in part to “Michael,” which it distributed internationally, and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”

A slew of animated PG-rated holdovers rounded out the top five: “Toy Story 5” was in third place with $6.3 million, followed by “Minions & Monsters” in fourth and “Moana,” in fifth. And there were bright spots further down the chart as well. In sixth place with $2 million, “Hadestown: The Musical” surpassed “Hamilton” to become the highest grossing live theater capture release ever with a running total of $18.2 million.

Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, said the “Spider-Man” effect could help the summer movie season surpass the $4 billion mark for the first time since the Barbenheimer summer of 2023, and the third-ever billion dollar August.

“This is perhaps the most important summer moviegoing season in the history of the business,” Dergarabedian said. August, he added, "could set up a home stretch of the box office year like no other and one that could push us over that $10 billion mark."

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” $355 million.

2. “The Odyssey,” $51 million.

3. “Toy Story 5,” $6.3 million.

4. “Minions & Monsters,” $5.8 million.

5. “Moana,” $5.3 million.

6. “Hadestown: The Musical,” $2 million.

7. “The Invite,” $1.2 million.

8. “I Want Your Sex,” $600,000.

9. “Young Washington,” $477,727.

10. “Obsession,” $470,000.