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At 300 PM GMT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Fay was located near latitude 30.1 North, longitude 42.5 West. Fay is moving toward the west near 3 mph (6 km/h). A gradual turn to the west-southwest then southwest at a slower forward speed is expected over the next few of days.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts. Some slight strengthening is possible over the next few hours. Gradual weakening, however, is still expected through the weekend.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles (130 km) from the center.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1002 mb (29.59 inches).

Watches and Warnings

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Land Hazards

None.

At noon on CNN, viewers could see Trump and President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Xi's wife. The banner along the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a routine report from a state visit — but for the fact that CNN had not aired live video of Trump in several days.

“As of now, all systems are go,” said a person familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.

The pool consists of five major U.S. broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video. When the White House banned CNN — which belongs to the pool — from White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.

A judge temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, but his ruling didn't directly address the pool. The networks continued to refrain from covering Trump as part of the pool, even as reporters from all three outlets were allowed back in the White House.

CNN was not commenting directly on Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials.

The vast majority of the total 214 companies, which are based in 11 countries, are Israeli. Five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed in the latest update.

The blacklist, first published in 2020, was born of a vote by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, which has no ability to force companies to act. Its main goal is to name and shame businesses with ties to the settlements.

It is unclear how the inclusion on the list has affected the companies financially.

“This report is another reminder to companies that they have human rights responsibilities and are expected to conduct due diligence to ensure that they do not become involved in human rights violations or abuses,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, in a statement.

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva, which has repeatedly criticized the rights council, called the database a “political tool” used by Türk's office “to advance a smear campaign against business enterprises that committed no wrongdoing.”

The latest report comes as Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas have faced new scrutiny.

Earlier this month, Britain banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. France and Canada announced they would take similar action.

On Saturday, the Knights will debut a Walt Disney World logo on the rear bumper of their football helmets when they open conference play against TCU at Acrisure Bounce House.

“Walt Disney World is part of the fabric of Central Florida, and we are incredibly proud to feature its logo on our football helmets,” UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir said in a news release. “This relationship brings together two organizations with deep roots in our community, tremendous national reach and a shared belief in creating memorable experiences.”

The two Central Florida icons share a deep connection as thousands of UCF students and alumni have participated in Walt Disney World’s student outreach programs or gone on to work for the company — making this collaboration feel less like a sponsorship and more like a homecoming.

College Football’s Magical Sponsorship @UCF_Football 🤝 @WaltDisneyWorld

📰 https://t.co/0pK0YAoLe1 pic.twitter.com/CHjO41GRBV

— UCF Knights 🌴 (@UCFKnights) September 25, 2026

“UCF is an important part of our community, and we are proud to expand on our longstanding relationship in a way that celebrates the spirit of Central Florida,” said Sivonne Davis, Walt Disney World Resort vice president of marketing strategy.

Peak wind gusts could approach 60 to 65 mph (97 to 105 kph) on the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on Friday night and Saturday, compared with about 50 to 55 mph (80 to 89 kph) around Boston and 35 to 40 mph (56 to 64 kph) farther inland, according to Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton, Massachusetts.

“It’s definitely going to be a case of the closer to the coast you are, the more impacts from the storm you’re likely to see,” Belk said.

Belk said nor'easters are not unusual as New England moves into fall, but one concern this early in the season is that leaves remain on the trees, creating more wind resistance. That could increase the risk of downed limbs, which in turn can cause power outages and leave debris in roads, he said.

As residents braced for the storm Friday, the Red Sox announced their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs would be adjusted. The team said it was moving the Sunday afternoon game to Friday to create a split doubleheader. Separately, Ed Sheeran announced that his high-profile Friday and Saturday shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, would be canceled due to the storm.

Meanwhile, the public ferry service connecting Cape Cod with the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard was experiencing widespread cancellations Friday due to strong winds and choppy water. Over in Rhode Island, ferries were also canceled for Block Island. The disruptive ferry service was expected to also spill into Saturday.

For people who regularly travel to and from the islands, the possibility of getting stuck on one side or the other is “part of life,” said Sean Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority. Most people have backup plans in place for when boats are canceled.

“It’s a nuisance, but you know, we know what to do with this kind of stuff at this point,” he said. “This is not out of the realm of ordinary. Part of living in this region is just kind of knowing how to deal with this stuff.”

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Willingham reported from Boston.

Let's play two more.

The league is going to an 84-game regular season for the first time since 1994 — it was in place for two seasons — and just the second time in its 109-year history. Players and owners agreed to the increase from 82 for each of the 32 teams as part of the collective bargaining agreement that is in place through 2030, doubling down on more hockey for all.

How much more? A record 1,344 regular-season games because there were fewer teams in the early 1990s.

“That will power some of our growth,” Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said. “That uplift is very subtle. People aren't realizing it, but that's an organic way to grow.”

The change meant shorter training camps and fewer exhibition games, and it could have an effect on everything from goaltending tandems to stats and records.

“Eighty-four games is a long, long road,” said ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, who was a player the last two times the schedule was this long. “I’m just interested to see what the new rhythm of the season will be like.”

Early start spreads out the games

The Sept. 29 opening night is the soonest play is getting underway in North America and matches the earliest start date on the calendar worldwide from when Los Angeles and Anaheim took the ice in London in 2007. The season started Oct. 7 each of the past two years and Oct. 10 in 2023.

“I’m excited that we’re starting early,” Boston winger David Pastrnak said. “That’s probably the biggest change or thing that I’m excited about is that you don’t have to wait until Oct. 10, 11 when you’re already in the town the whole September.”

The 1,344 games are spread out over a 194-day span before every team plays its finale on April 10 ahead of the playoffs. With the exception of the holiday break for Christmas and the All-Star break in early February, there are only two days without at least one game on the schedule.

“There’s going be more time in between games,” Tampa Bay's Jake Guentzel said. “I think last year it was kind of condensed with the Olympic schedule, so I think the spread-out of games will help. ... You just got to take care of your bodies (because) it’s obviously a war of attrition.”

Pittsburgh has the most back-to-back sets with 15. Vegas and Calgary are tied for the fewest with eight each.

Less fake hockey evens out the workload

Rod Brind'Amour, coach of defending champion Carolina, made headlines by saying he'd rather go to 86 games and eliminate the preseason altogether because it lacks value for fans.

The way the NHL Players' Association sees it, limiting the exhibition schedule to two games for anyone with 100-plus games of experience more than makes up for extending the regular season.

“The thought behind it is the workload is the same, if not a little less,” said NHLPA assistant executive director Ron Hainsey, who played 17 seasons from 2002-20. “Those exhibition games sometimes are more difficult than a regular-season game. You’re out there with players, not necessarily NHL players, and things get a little haywire. Whereas, there’s a lot of reasons that if you just flip two exhibition into two regular season games, it’s a good thing."

What to watch for in an 84-game season

— Gone are the days when a goaltender would play in nearly every game. Grant Fuhr's single-season record of 79 appearances in 1996-97 is safe, and the last time a goalie surpassed 70 was Cam Talbot's 73 in 2016-17. Utah's Karel Vejmelka started 63 games last season and played in 64. The NHL has become much more of a rotation in the crease and coaches now have an extra two games to apportion the responsibilities.

— Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's career goals record of 894 in April 2025, and now Washington's longtime captain returns for a 22nd season, sitting on 929 with a couple of extra chances to put the mark further out of reach for the next player who might one day approach it.

“He knows how to score goals,” said Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, who holds the record for the most point-a-game seasons with 21. “You don’t lose that. Maybe as you get older, you might have to adjust a little bit, but his shot is his shot and that’s not going anywhere.”

— Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon have combined for the 11 highest-scoring seasons among active players. With two extra games, any of them — plus San Jose's Macklin Celebrini — could set career highs and maybe even top McDavid's 153 points that are the most since the salary cap era began in 2005. The NHL record is 215 points set by Wayne Gretzky in 1985-86.

What happened the last time the NHL had 84 games

In 1992-93, the first season with 84, there were 24 teams so there were 1,008 regular-season games in all. The following year, the NHL added two teams wo there were 1,092 games.

The idea then was to grow the game by playing real games in non-NHL cities. So every team played a pair of neutral-site games in Atlanta; Cincinnati; Dallas; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Hamilton, Ontario; Indianapolis; Miami; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Florida; Peoria, Illinois; Phoenix, Providence, Rhode Island; Richfield, Ohio; Sacramento or Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A few of those cities now have NHL teams.

In 1993-94, Gretzky led all scorers with 130 points, while Pavel Bure scored the most goals with 60. The New York Rangers had the best regular season and won the Stanley Cup, ending their 54-year drought.

Mario Lemieux's Penguins won the Presidents' Trophy in '92-93 but got knocked of the playoffs in the second round. The Montreal Canadiens hoisted the Cup that spring and remain the last team based in Canada to do so.

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See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Nolo was about 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of the Big Island on Friday morning and headed northeast, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin on land in the evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters warned eastern and southern areas of the island could see rainfall totals of 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters), with a maximum of 25 inches (64 centimeters). That was down from an earlier forecast of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 centimeters), with a maximum of 35 inches (89 centimeters). Peak winds on land were expected to hit up to 40 mph (64 kph), with gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph).

Nolo was expected to strengthen to a major hurricane on Saturday.

“This rainfall could produce catastrophic life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain," the hurricane center said.

While Nolo was not forecast to directly hit the islands, heavy rainfall also was possible on Hawaii's other islands, the hurricane center said. Maui also could see heavy rainfall and potential life-threatening flooding and mudslides, forecasters said.

The hurricane's maximum sustained winds were 85 mph (137 kph) on Friday morning and expected to increase into the weekend.

Hawaii prepares as northern edge of Nolo is expected to barrel through

Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Schools were closed for the rest of the week.

The heaviest rain from Nolo is likely to fall over the same southeastern region of the Big Island that was hit in August by Hurricane Lala and where grounds are still wet from additional precipitation.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.

Residents and tourists on the Big Island were busy preparing.

“I guess that’d be my concern — whether we’re getting out of here or not, but, you know, as far as the weather goes, it is what it is," said Daniel Compton, who was visiting from Seattle.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green requested an emergency disaster declaration for four Hawaii counties on Wednesday. The request is still pending approval from President Donald Trump. Approval would unlock federal dollars and support for immediate needs like emergency services and debris removal.

Polo is strengthening after returning to Category 5 intensity

The hurricane center said Polo gained significant force overnight into Friday morning, when maximum sustained winds were estimated at 290 kph (180 mph). It remained well off the western Mexico coast heading westward, but is expected to turn to the north and reach the Baja California Peninsula late Sunday into Monday, the center said.

No major damage or flooding was reported along the coast overnight into Friday, although some towns in Colima and Michoacán were affected by tides.

Residents stacked sandbags to fortify beachfront shops and evacuated their homes in some coastal areas on Thursday. Mexican authorities were opening shelters and clearing people from beaches, and 15,000 security personnel were deployed across the coast. Schools were closed.

In the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán, seawater had already swept through homes Thursday and left wooden planks and furniture strewn on the streets. Locals and government officials were clearing out piles of wooden planks from a number of destroyed ramadas and shoveling thick mud coating much of the town.

Alicia Contreras said the walls and roof of her restaurant had been severely damaged by 15-foot (4.5-meter) waves. As officers and family helped pick through the damaged house, Contreras worried how she would recover economically.

“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” Contreras said.

Powerful storms come during the weather phenomenon El Nino

El Niño is prompting major environmental shifts across the world, fueling drought in some areas and flooding in others. It traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, while it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific with moist air and little wind shear.

A third storm in the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys, was at Category 4 status and was still far from land, roughly 955 miles (1,537 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. It carried maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving north. It could intensify by Friday night.

Two other powerful storms were churning in the Atlantic Ocean, but were not near land.

In the northern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday. As of Friday, it was about 1,040 miles (1,674 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores, the hurricane center said.

Off Africa's western coast, Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened early Friday as it approached the Cabo Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). The center was expected to pass near or over portions of the islands later Friday and gradually weaken over the weekend.

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Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

Reports Friday said an independent panel had upheld nearly all of the 100-plus financial charges against the club in a case that was initiated more than three years ago.

City did not confirm the decision, saying its case with the Premier League was “ongoing” and yet to be completed.

City, however, would appeal a guilty decision and the process would take several months, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to respect confidentiality elements of the process.

The Athletic first reported that City has been found guilty of all but one of more than 100 charges laid by the Premier League, which accused the club in February 2023 of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18. The report said the sanctions have not been decided and all possibilities remain open.

The BBC also reported the story.

In response, City said in a statement: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.”

City added that its position “remains consistent” with previous comments about the case. The club has always denied the charges.

“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years,” City said, “on the basis that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”

City’s punishment could be a huge points deduction, and as extreme as expulsion from the Premier League.

When contacted by The Associated Press on Friday, the Premier League said it couldn’t comment on the reports.

City has always protested its innocence after supposed leaked emails and documents, likely hacked, were published starting in 2018 by German magazine Der Spiegel. The documents allegedly showed City tried to mask the source of revenue from deals tied to Abu Dhabi, whose ruling family bought the club in 2008 and has overseen the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on some of the world’s best players over the following two decades.

City has been the most dominant team in England over the last 15 years, winning eight Premier League titles since 2012 as well as the Champions League in 2023. Over the period in question — 2009-18 — City won the league three times, in 2012, 2014 and 2018.

Friday's news comes after Pep Guardiola stood down as City manager at the end of last season following an unprecedented period of success.

Guardiola always maintained the club's innocence.

“What people accuse us of we do not agree with what they say,” he said in 2023.

On Friday, former Manchester United and England player Rio Ferdinand suggested City's titles should be expunged and awarded to the runner-up for each season in question.

“Another premier league medal to be added to the cabinet,” he posted on X in reference to City’s 2012 title win over United.

The Premier League competition has had financial fair play rules designed to ensure clubs essentially spend what they earn from deals that are assessed to determine if they are at legitimate market value. City had previously been accused by UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, of overstating sponsorship revenue to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

In 2020, UEFA ruled City had committed “serious breaches” of FFP regulations from 2012-16. But a two-year ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport because allegations were either rejected or found to have happened too long ago to be investigated.

The Premier League charges came subsequently, after a four-year investigation. City was accused of more than 100 breaches including providing misleading information about its finances and failure to co-operate with the investigation.

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Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Leo raised existential concerns about scientific progress, life and human rights during his opening speech to President Emmanuel Macron and authorities at the Élysée Palace and then to diplomats and United Nations employees at the headquarters of UNESCO, the U.N. culture and education organization.

With wars plaguing Europe and the Middle East, he reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons and said the nuclear deterrence doctrine was “mistaken” since it was just fueling a new arms race.

“Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice,” he said.

Leo has an intense four days in France, where the Catholic Church has lost ground on influencing ethical issues given the strict approach to secularism that is enshrined in the French Constitution.

Yet thousands of people lined his motorcade route, waving French and Holy See flags, with some braving hours of the unseasonable heat to catch a glimpse of him. The turnout underscored the surprising level of interest in Leo’s visit, the first official state visit by a pope to France in 18 years.

Macron said Leo’s visit brings “a source of hope” to many French people.

A capstone visit as Macron’s term ends

For Macron, who is barred from seeking a third term in May elections, hosting the American pope is something of a capstone. Pope Francis had refused repeatedly to make a proper state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate and pointedly refused to join the inauguration of the rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral in 2024.

“For a president of the republic as Macron, who is at the end of his mandate, it can be important to be aside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity,” said Charles Mercier, director of history and sociology of Catholicism studies at Paris EPHE university.

With seven months left in his term, Macron’s approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s growing debt and deficit and deteriorating public services.

Smiling broadly as Leo spoke French, Macron thanked the pope for visiting, saying: “You are here with us for an extended visit, giving us your time, and that is moving.”

The Rev. Aristide Ahidote, from Ivory Coast, was among those who planned to attend the pope's vespers service in Notre Dame later Friday. “God has given us a pope with vigor and strength,” he said.

Leo calls for the French to mull lofty questions about life

Unlike Francis, who liked to travel to small Catholic communities far from Rome, Leo has been keen to emphasize and reawaken Europe’s Christian roots. He is seeking to push the church’s message about the value and dignity of human life in a country where the right to abortion was enshrined in the constitution in 2024, and where lawmakers recently gave final approval to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication.

The French Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed the measures, in keeping with Catholic teaching that human life must be protected and defended from conception until natural death.

In his speech to Macron and other government and diplomatic authorities, Leo reminded France of its “deep Christian roots” and called for the French to remember that the right to life is the “indispensable foundation of every other human right.”

His concern about the dignity of human life and humanity as a whole extended to the threats posed by artificial intelligence.

“The paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded,” he said.

From the very start of his pontificate, Leo has identified AI as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. He dedicated his first encyclical to the topic, “Magnificent Humanity,” calling for robust regulation and for AI developers to work for the common good rather than profit.

Leo also appealed to AI developers and political leaders responsible for regulating them to slow down, an appeal that several top AI companies seem to have taken to heart in recently.

“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a ‘paradise of machines’ invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment and the capacity to acknowledge the moral good,” he said.

Leo earlier told reporters that he was pleased his message was being heard and said he hoped the dialogue that the Vatican initiated with tech companies would continue.

“And I think from their perspective, many of them, they’re very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather than be a tool for human beings,” he said.

A visit to Notre Dame that Francis declined

Later Friday, Leo presided over evening prayers in Paris' soaring Notre Dame cathedral, the first pope to celebrate there since the devastating 2019 fire that consumed the cathedral’s roof and toppled its spire.

After being mobbed by a crowd of eager nuns outside, Leo walked down the central aisle to the combined thundering of the organ above and cheers from the pews below. As bells tolled, he knelt in silent prayer in the same spot where, in 2019, flames brought down scorched roof beams.

Leo marveled at the brilliance of the stained-glass windows and restored cream columns and praised the artisans who repaired them. He urged the priests and nuns gathered in the pews to be inspired by the combined effort to bring the Gothic masterpiece back to life.

Francis had refused to visit France on a proper state visit, and explicitly refused Macron’s invitation to come for the 2024 reopening of the cathedral that drew dozens of world leaders.

He did make three short trips to French cities, however, including Strasbourg in 2014 and Marseille and Corsica in 2024, a one-day visit that became his last foreign trip.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The promise of more meetings to come capped off a three-day state visit that has been criticized by some in the U.S. for being heavy on pomp and light on substance. The two leaders have made a show of working to preserve harmony, though there were no major breakthroughs this week on issues such as trade or the safety of artificial intelligence.

Xi extended an invitation for Trump and first lady Melania Trump to go to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November and noted that they could meet again a month later at the G20 summit at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida.

“We do welcome Mr. President and the first lady to visit China,” Xi said.

Trump responded, “We will, and we’ll be speaking a lot.”

Trump took Xi to the National Archives

Trump on Friday took Xi to visit the National Archives, showing off the sacred texts of U.S. democracy to the leader of the world’s most powerful communist country.

Xi is expected to depart Washington after touring the nation's vault of records, where the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are held.

Trump, a Republican, has been seeking to demonize Democrats as communists during the run-up to the November midterm elections, a message that has been muddied by the red-carpet treatment he has given Xi this week.

The visit comes as the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, and Trump said Thursday that he wanted to show Xi “some of the greatest treasures of that proud history.”

The Archives has a special exhibit marking the semiquincentennial, titled “The American Story,” which highlights the country’s accomplishments and advances, along with images depicting its darker moments.

Trump showed Xi one copy of the Declaration of Independence on Thursday — a wall-mounted copy he keeps in the Oval Office.

The U.S. president also said he wanted to show Xi artifacts about the relationship between the two countries.

“Just as our ancestors reached across the ocean centuries ago to trade, to learn, and to build a better world, our two countries do really the same thing, and we’re very proud of it,” he said.

The leaders and their spouses also had tea in the Red Room

Xi's day began at the White House, where Trump and the first lady hosted the Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for tea in the White House’s Red Room.

Their visit falls during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday when families traditionally gather to celebrate the end of harvest, sharing mooncakes, round pastries filled with a sweet paste, over tea.

Xi thanked the Trumps for the visit. "The highest courtesies, the most meticulous arrangements,” Xi said in Chinese. “This visit is very successful, and we also feel very satisfied.”

Trump grinned when an interpreter relayed what Xi had said.

“We’ve had a tremendous visit from two spectacular people, and we really enjoyed it, and I think we’ve made tremendous strides,” Trump said. “We’ve made great strides, very positive for both countries.”

Xi enjoyed a state dinner and a White House tour

The Trumps feted their guests Thursday night with a black-tie state dinner attended by technology industry titans. Earlier in the day, Trump gave Xi a personal tour of his White House flourishes, including a gallery wall of presidents and a new 100-foot-long (30-meter-long) granite helicopter landing pad — and pointed out his ballroom, still under construction. Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.

The two leaders also met behind closed doors for 90 minutes on Thursday, when they discussed issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Chinese government readout of the meeting. The White House has not provided any information about the private talks.

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This story has been corrected to show the anniversary is the semiquincentennial, not the sesquicentennial.

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AP writers Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Didi Tang and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

The court's three liberal-leaning justices publicly dissented from the decision.

The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, in their efforts to verify the eligibility of voters on their rolls.

States' use of the SAVE program is voluntary. The immediate impact on the upcoming midterms is likely limited because existing law blocks most states from systematically purging voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election, said David Becker, an election law expert who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

He said since the program is voluntary and DHS itself has admitted the data is not perfect, “states may find this to be a useful tool used along with other tools to keep their lists up-to-date.”

The court’s order puts on hold a federal judge’s June ruling that had deemed the Republican administration’s recently revamped version of SAVE illegal. U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan had blocked the use of the tool, saying it violated Americans’ privacy rights and could result in voters being wrongly removed from the rolls.

A federal appeals court let her order stand.

But the Supreme Court majority found that a 1996 law explicitly allows DHS to get information about citizenship and immigration from other federal agencies. The federal government also has “an obligation to respond” to states seeking to verify citizenship.

“The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task,” the majority wrote in the unsigned order.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. The database has long been seen to fall under federal privacy laws, she wrote, and there are real risks that legitimate voter registrations could be mistakenly revoked.

“The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take,” Jackson wrote.

The plaintiffs and counsel team in the case called the ruling “profoundly disappointing” and said it puts “millions of Americans at risk of being unlawfully targeted by the administration’s unreliable voter purge database” before the midterms.

“However, this case is not over,” their statement read. “The D.C. district court ruled that the expanded SAVE program violated multiple laws. We will be doing everything in our power to protect Americans’ voting and privacy rights by ensuring that the district court decision stands.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The SAVE program was created under an immigration law mandating that DHS help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. The Trump administration last year moved to significantly expand its search abilities. Since then, at least 67 million registrations have been scanned through the program, but critics worry it could end up purging valid voters from the rolls.

Some registrants have already been wrongly flagged. In Travis County, Texas, for example, officials said they investigated 97 voters flagged by SAVE as apparent noncitizens and found that at least 10% of them — and likely up to 21% — were U.S. citizens. The county urged the Supreme Court to reject the administration’s appeal, while the state of Texas submitted its own brief defending the database.

Even though the use of the SAVE program has been blocked for months, the administration said in court filings that DHS officials have continued using Social Security Administration data "in certain cases to verify information and help determine whether illegal voting may have occurred."

DHS in August launched its own investigation to find noncitizen voters on state rolls, according to a federal whistleblower statement that said the effort is rushed, filled with errors and potentially violates state laws. DHS has defended that investigation as being conducted “diligently and professionally.”

The effort to create a national voter list is among numerous steps Trump has taken during his second term to try to overhaul the way elections are run. Most of those steps have been blocked by various courts, in part because the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, but provides no such power to the president. In mid-September, the Supreme Court rejected a bid from Trump to restrict mail ballot procedures before the midterms.

Research shows that noncitizen voting, which is already illegal and punishable as a potential felony that could lead to deportation, is exceptionally rare. But Trump has remained fixated on the idea that massive numbers of noncitizens are voting in U.S. races.

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Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas contributed to this report.

This financial move does not affect Brightline's sister company Brightline West, which is working to build a high-speed railroad between Las Vegas and a stop outside Los Angeles in Southern California.

The deal that Brightline worked out with its creditors will allow the railroad to borrow $490 million more as it works to attract enough riders to pay all of its bills. Assured Guaranty said on Friday that the financing commitments include $350 million of new junior debt and $140 million of additional senior debt.

Assured said that Brightline Trains Florida LLC, which runs the railroad, has not filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but that certain other Brightline Florida entities did file for such protection.

“Brightline is a critical part of Florida’s transportation network that has changed the way people move around the state,” Brightline Florida CEO Patrick Goddard said in a statement. “Today’s agreement brings $490 million in new long-term capital to Brightline from the stakeholders who know this business, and it comes at a time of real momentum.”

Brightline earned the worst safety record of any railroad in the nation with more than 200 deaths along its tracks since it was founded, but Goddard said at a news conference earlier this month that the railroad has been working to improve safety with better safety measures around rail crossings.

The company has seen its ridership grow 14% for the year-to-date through August, with revenue up 17% for the same period when compared with last year.

But Tim Hynes, who is head of Global Credit Research at Debtwire, said Brightline's current ridership of about 3.5 million people a year that generates about $240 million of revenue is less than half the number of riders and one-third of the revenue the railroad predicted in 2024. He said that's why Brightline needed to rework its debt and obtain additional financing.

“The broader lesson is that intercity rail financed mainly with private high-yield debt is very hard to make work, so expect future projects to lean more on public money,” said Hynes, who also thinks investors will demand more conservative ridership forecasts.

Brightline first began running its trains between Miami and Orlando in 2023. The company began operating between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018. But it is only able to run at its maximum speed of 125 mph (202 kph) on the stretch between the Orlando airport and Cocoa, Florida, because that section is totally fenced off and doesn't have any public grade crossings.

Brightline hopes to eventually extend its service to Tampa.

• Brightline has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• The company is using Chapter 11 to restructure roughly $1.1 billion in corporate debt.
• Though several Brightline parent and affiliated companies have filed for bankruptcy, the LLC that operates the trains has not.

In a long-anticipated move, passenger rail operator Brightline formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday. The petitions hit the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark just before midnight. The case is part of a broader restructuring of Brightline’s multibillion-dollar debt load while keeping its passenger trains running on schedule.

Brightline has also reached a restructuring agreement with a group of its financial stakeholders.

For passengers from Miami to West Palm Beach to Orlando, service remains business as usual.

There’s More Than Just One Brightline

Here’s where Brightline’s bankruptcy gets complicated: the company passengers know simply as “Brightline” is actually made up of a web of separate corporate entities.

Seventeen Brightline-related companies filed individual Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in New Jersey yesterday, including Brightline Holdings LLC and Brightline East LLC. The cases are being jointly administered through a single lead bankruptcy case (FIHPNP LLC, Case No. 26-20876 before Judge Mark Edward Hall).

But there’s one very important Brightline company not among the ones that filed: Brightline Trains Florida LLC.

Brightline Trains Florida LLC is the company that operates the passenger railroad connecting Miami and Orlando. And because Brightline Trains Florida did not file for bankruptcy, train operations will continue as normal.

Several other important Brightline entities also remain outside bankruptcy, including Brightline Florida Holdings LLC and AAF Operations Holdings LLC.

Brightline’s corporate separation is a big reason passengers should see little immediate difference. Brightline can restructure debt through the companies that entered Chapter 11 while leaving the company operating the trains outside bankruptcy court.

So, What Does the Bankruptcy Actually Do?

Brightline’s bankruptcy is not an attempt to wipe away all of the roughly $5.5 billion in debt tied to the railroad and its affiliated companies.

At the center of the Chapter 11 cases is roughly $1.1 billion in corporate debt. The restructuring is instead designed to reduce debt higher up Brightline’s corporate structure while leaving much of the debt tied directly to the operating railroad in place: Brightline Trains Florida LLC – which has roughly $2.2 billion in senior secured debt – did not file for bankruptcy. The restructuring agreement also provides the operating railroad with additional money while the bankruptcy cases move through court. Brightline Trains Florida will have access to $258 million in additional funding during the restructuring, even though the operating company itself is not in bankruptcy.

Once the bankruptcy process is complete, Brightline’s financial stakeholders have committed another $490 million in long-term capital to the operating railroad – $140 million in additional senior debt and $350 million in new junior debt.

In other words, Chapter 11 is being used to restructure part of Brightline’s complicated debt stack without putting the railroad itself through bankruptcy. The goal is to emerge with less debt higher up the corporate ladder, additional money available to the operating company, and the Miami-to-Orlando trains continuing to run throughout the process.

What If the Railroad Itself Had Filed for Bankruptcy?

If Brightline Trains Florida LLC had filed for Chapter 11, the process would have looked considerably different.

Railroads are subject to special bankruptcy rules under Subchapter IV of Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code. Under Section 1163, if those provisions applied to a Brightline Trains Florida bankruptcy, the company would not simply continue operating under its existing management – instead, an independent trustee would be appointed to run the railroad. The process: the U.S. Secretary of Transportation would submit a list of five qualified, “disinterested” candidates, and the U.S. Trustee Program would then appoint one of them as a bankruptcy trustee.

That bankruptcy trustee then effectively takes control of the railroad during Chapter 11.

In other words, it would not mean the federal government suddenly owns Brightline or that the trains necessarily stop running – but Brightline’s existing management would have lost control of the company, with an independent trustee taking over while the railroad works through bankruptcy.

Railroads have been treated differently in federal bankruptcy law for nearly a century. Congress created a special railroad-reorganization process in 1933, and when the modern Bankruptcy Code was enacted in 1978, those protections became Subchapter IV of Chapter 11.

And that helps explain why the distinction between Brightline’s holding companies and its operating company matters so much: by keeping Brightline Trains Florida LLC out of Chapter 11, Brightline can attempt to restructure debt higher up the corporate ladder while leaving the railroad itself operating outside bankruptcy – and under the control of its existing management.

Packed Trains, Empty Pockets

First and foremost: Brightline’s path to bankruptcy court was not caused by empty trains. In fact, looking specifically at ridership numbers, the railroad appears to be thriving.

Between January and May of 2026, the railroad carried nearly 1.5 million riders – a 16% year-over-year surge – after posting a record 3.1 million passengers in 2025. Revenue climbed to $214 million in 2025, as Brightline added capacity and used lower fares to attract more short-distance passengers. That was up from 2.8 million riders and $187.9 million in revenue in 2024.

But record ridership doesn’t necessarily mean enough ridership.

Brightline’s financial projections anticipated roughly 6.6 million annual passengers and $485 million in annual ticket revenue – more than twice the number of passengers the railroad actually carried in 2025 and nearly three times the $173.2 million it collected in ticket revenue. In other words, the trains may be getting fuller, but the financial model was built around considerably more passengers spending considerably more money.

That gap between projected and actual ridership and revenue matters because Brightline was built on an extraordinarily expensive capital structure.

Brightline and its affiliated companies are carrying roughly $5.5 billion in debt as the railroad financed and expanded its 235-mile Miami-to-Orlando system. In June alone, Brightline faced a $117 million interest payment and a mandatory $985 million bond redemption as it negotiated with creditors over restructuring its debt. And beyond those immediate obligations, more than $2 billion of Brightline’s long-term debt is scheduled to generate more than $2.5 billion in interest payments over the coming decades.

Brightline posted an operating loss of $127 million and a net loss of $233.1 million in 2025, causing its cash reserves to plummet 52% to $139 million. And while lower fares helped fill seats, ticket revenue remained well below the levels contemplated in Brightline’s earlier financial projections.

The financial bleeding prompted outside auditor Ernst & Young to report “Substantial Doubt About the Company’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” concluding Brightline lacked the liquid funds necessary to pay its debts as they came due.

From Public Rail to Private Rail

Brightline’s origin story is deeply rooted in Florida political and economic history. The line operates along the historic Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) corridor built in the late 1800s by Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler. By laying a second track along Flagler’s existing right-of-way, Fortress Investment Group co-founder Wes Edens avoided the multi-billion-dollar expense of buying land or constructing elevated tracks.

The project also intersects with a significant chapter in Florida’s recent transportation history:

• A 2011 Rejection: As one of his first official acts in 2011, then-Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected $2.392 billion in federal high-speed rail funding awarded by the Obama administration for an Orlando-to-Tampa line, arguing the project posed too great a financial risk to Florida taxpayers. Scott later said the project would have cost Florida taxpayers $1 billion to build – the Florida Department of Transportation had put the state’s contribution at $280 million.
• A Later Investment: Years later, federal financial disclosures revealed that Scott and his wife, Ann Scott, had at least $3 million invested in a credit fund managed by Fortress Investment Group. Fortress owned Florida East Coast Industries, which owned All Aboard Florida – the company that became Brightline. Representatives for Scott and Fortress said the credit fund was separate from Brightline and did not finance the railroad. The investment generated over $165,000 in income for the Scotts.

More than a decade after Brightline began taking shape, the railroad has succeeded in doing something unique: building and operating the only privately owned intercity passenger railroad in the United States. But building the railroad and building a sustainable financial model around it have proven to be two different challenges.

Brightline’s 2026 bankruptcy does not mean Floridians stopped riding the train. Quite the opposite: the railroad carried more passengers in 2025 than in any previous year. The problem is that record ridership still fell far short of what Brightline’s financial model anticipated – while billions of dollars in debt continued coming due.

Chapter 11 gives Brightline an opportunity to change that financial equation without shutting down the railroad.

Meanwhile, the trains keep running.

Meanwhile, Trump is taking Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the National Archives on Friday, showing off the sacred texts of U.S. democracy to the leader of the world’s most powerful communist country to cap off a three-day state visit criticized for being heavy on pomp and light on substance.

Here's the latest:

Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson to meet with tech CEOs on AI next week

The White House meeting set for Tuesday is something the House speaker has encouraged the president to do, suggesting the leaders should go behind closed doors to hash out a strategy as voices sound alarms about AI technology.

Johnson has dismissed concerns about AI as overhyped but the political leaders are under growing pressure from constituents and the tech executives themselves to chart a path forward. The meeting was first reported by Axios.

Xi calls the visit ‘very successful’ and says they are ‘very satisfied’

He expressed his thanks for the treatment he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, have received so far.

Xi thanked Trump and the first lady for “everything” they did for him and his wife.

“The highest courtesies, the most meticulous arrangements,” Xi said in Chinese. “This visit is very successful, and we also feel very satisfied.”

Supreme Court lets Trump administration use revamped federal voter eligibility database for now

The Supreme Court on Friday lifted restrictions on a controversial federal voter database before November’s elections, granting President Trump a temporary win in his aggressive campaign against noncitizen voting.

The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, in their efforts to verify the eligibility of voters on their rolls. But because existing law blocks most states from systematically purging voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election, the immediate impact on the upcoming midterms is likely limited.

States’ use of the SAVE program is voluntary.

The court’s order puts on hold a federal judge’s June ruling that had deemed the Republican administration’s recently revamped version of SAVE illegal.

▶ Read more

After days of tirades against the press, Trump offers thanks for fair coverage

Speaking to reporters alongside Xi on Friday, Trump made a point of thanking the press.

“Thank you very much and we appreciate the fair coverage,” Trump told reporters. “It’s been very fair. We appreciate it.”

It was a hard turn from other comments Trump made throughout the week, attacking the U.S. press for what he sees as unfair coverage and attempting to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

Xi and Trump have two more opportunities to meet this year

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said he expects to meet President Trump two more times this year as he wrapped up his state visit to Washington on Friday.

Xi extended an invite for Trump and his wife, Melania, to come to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November. He noted that they could meet again a month later at the G20 summit at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida.

“I do welcome Mr. President and the first lady to visit China,” Xi said.

Trump responded, “We will, and we’ll be speaking a lot.”

White House TV pool appears to be back in operation, but CNN’s media analyst calls situation ‘fluid’

The U.S. network video pool for the White House appeared to be back in operation Friday, although the situation “remains fluid,” according to the media analyst for CNN, one of three outlets that were banned for three days.

A judge temporarily struck down the ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Thursday, but his ruling didn’t directly address the pool, which consists of five major U.S. broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video. In a show of solidarity, the other four had declined to participate in the video pool until CNN was reinstated.

CNN wasn’t commenting directly, referring instead to its editorial coverage. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X that the major networks plan to resume TV pool coverage of Trump events on Friday.

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Xi arrives at the White House for more time with Trump

The U.S. president ignored a series of questions from reporters as Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to the White House.

Trump was asked if he’d told Xi to stop buying Iranian oil. He was asked why he had chosen to try to ban some news outlets from the White House and if U.S. taxpayers should be paying for pro-Trump ads.

“Thank you very much,” was all Trump said.

Xi arrived with his wife, Peng Liyuan, and was met by Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, before entering the White House.

Iran has suggested a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 7 days

Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal in a private gathering Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute think tank, who attended, said Araghchi suggested that a speedy agreement would help President Trump ahead of November’s midterm elections.

There was no immediate comment from Iran’s U.N. mission or other Iranian officials.

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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says he urged Trump to enlist China’s help in ending Russia’s invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters Friday he hasn’t yet received feedback from the White House about Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping but expects to learn the outcome.

Zelenskyy, who’s keen to muster more international support for Ukraine’s defense, was in the United States this week on a trip coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly. He met with Trump on Tuesday.

NATO countries have called China a “decisive enabler” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

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Xi’s day will begin at the White House

There, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will host the Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for tea.

Macron says a U.S. diesel ban would inflict economic damage across the world

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with French broadcasters that the diesel ban would damage economies across the world, including the U.S.

“This decision would be bad, not just for the rest of the world, but for the American economy, too,” Macron said. “I can tell you one thing: it wouldn’t be a good decision for his country and its economy.”

The European Union has increasingly turned to the U.S. for diesel since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the outbreak of the Iran war in February. The support Trump expressed this week for banning diesel exports to drive down U.S. prices worries the bloc, which would have to find alternative sources of the fuel.

Japan’s Takaichi says her country and the U.S. are allies

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, asked about Trump’s remark during his talks with China’s Xi Jinping that their countries were “allies” during World War II, said Japan and the United States are close allies of mutual trust today.

“Japan and the United States waged war but we have since firmly reconciled, deepened our relationship and now we trust each other as strongly bonded allies,” Takaichi said.

Japan worries about closer U.S.-China ties at a time Tokyo struggles to mend worsening ties with Beijing. Takaichi’s comment last year that a potential Chinese military action against Taiwan could justify Japanese involvement outraged Beijing, spilling over to trade.

Protesters of Xi’s policies push for change in earshot of White House visit with Trump

Trump warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping with a personal airport greeting, a tour of his new helipad and a candlelit dinner. But outside the White House, protests against Xi continued almost nonstop Thursday during his state visit.

The demonstrators represented a range of causes, from calls for religious autonomy and greater freedoms in Tibet, Hong Kong and the ethnic region of Xinjiang to demands to keep China out of self-governed Taiwan.

Protests against visiting Chinese leaders are nothing new — in 2006, a woman heckled Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao at a White House welcome ceremony — but Xi has become the focus of attacks for his tough approach to tightening control over Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other regions and the Chinese military’s growing threats to Taiwan, which he says must come under Chinese rule.

Crowds gathered behind a fence along Lafayette Park, waving flags and holding signs. Loudspeakers carried their voices across the park to the White House’s North Portico, where an honor guard and a red carpet awaited guests attending the state dinner.

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Xi is wrapping his visit to Washington with a peek at the Constitution and Bill of Rights

Trump is taking Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the National Archives on Friday, showing off the sacred texts of U.S. democracy to the leader of the world’s most powerful communist country to cap off a three-day state visit criticized for being heavy on pomp and light on substance.

Xi is expected to depart Washington after touring the nation’s vault of records, where the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are held. The two leaders have made a show of working to preserve harmony between the world’s two largest economies, though there were no major breakthroughs on issues such as trade or the safety of artificial intelligence.

The visit comes as the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, and Trump said Thursday that he wanted to show Xi “some of the greatest treasures of that proud history.”

The U.S. president also said he wanted to show Xi artifacts about the relationship between the two countries.

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The cause of the explosion wasn't immediately clear, but local media said that a gas leak was suspected.

Rescue crews with a sniffer dog were searching the rubble for potentially missing people, the fire department said. Residents said that two people lived in one of the building's apartments, and there were media reports that three tourists may have been staying in a short-term rental apartment also in the building.

The fire department said that the explosion occurred in an old two-story building in the Plaka district, the historic part of Athens that lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill, Greece’s most visited ancient monument. The building collapsed, while neighboring buildings were also damaged.

Firefighters rescued two women from an adjacent building, with police saying both were being transported to a hospital. Local media and a resident said that a passerby was also slightly injured by the blast.

Video footage from the scene showed rubble strewn across the street, with parked cars smashed by falling debris.

Police cordoned off the area as rescue crews and the sniffer dog moved slowly over the rubble. The fire department said that the search and rescue operation was still ongoing several hours after the explosion.

“An elderly couple lived upstairs, on the second floor,” resident Andreas Martzaklis said, adding that he didn't know whether they had been inside at the time of the explosion or managed to get out. He said that one apartment in the building that collapsed had been operating as a short-term rental apartment, while the others were privately owned.

“Who got out of the building that is destroyed, we don’t know anything,” said Martzaklis, who lives in a nearby building and heard the blast while he was drinking his morning coffee.

The people rescued by the fire department from the adjacent building were all tourists, Martzaklis said.

The pastor of a nearby church said that this Sunday's service would be held outdoors because of damage to the church from the explosion.

“Of course we went in. It was heartbreaking. From the bottom to the top, there is no window that has not been broken,” said Giotis Kantartzis, pastor of the First Greek Evangelical Church in Athens.

The crisis could merge conflicts in several parts of Ethiopia and draw neighboring Eritrea into another war. Here are five things to know:

Fighting has returned to Tigray

Federal and Tigrayan forces accuse each other of restarting hostilities nearly four years after signing the Pretoria peace agreement.

Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Tigray this week following the seizure of Mekelle airport by Tigrayan forces. Residents told The Associated Press that roads connecting Tigray with the neighboring Afar region had been closed, although AP could not independently verify the closures.

Internet monitor NetBlocks also reported disruptions across northern Ethiopia, reviving memories of the previous war, when Tigray was largely isolated and civilians struggled to obtain food, medicine and reliable information.

Former enemies have joined forces

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front has joined six other opposition groups in an alliance that aims to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

Its members include the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army. Tigrayan and Amhara forces fought on opposing sides during the previous war.

Magnus Taylor, deputy project director for the Horn of Africa at the International Crisis Group, described the coalition as combining political opposition to Abiy with an “opportunistic military alliance.”

Effective coordination could force federal troops to fight across several regions. But it remains unclear whether groups divided by territorial disputes and deep grievances can conduct joint military operations.

The 2022 peace agreement is close to collapse

The Pretoria agreement ended major fighting in November 2022 but left disputes over territory, security and accountability unresolved.

Taylor said the agreement was “on life support.” A TPLF spokesman told the AP this week that it was no longer valid.

Laetitia Bader, a regional director at Human Rights Watch, said key provisions had been violated for years. She cited continuing abuses, including what the organization describes as the forced expulsion of ethnic Tigrayans from western Tigray. AP could not independently verify the allegations.

Eritrea could turn it into a regional war

Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal forces during the previous Tigray war. Relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have since deteriorated sharply.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting armed opponents. Eritrea has accused Abiy’s government of preparing for war as Ethiopia presses for greater access to the Red Sea.

Taylor warned that the fighting could spread across Ethiopia and draw in Eritrea. That would create another regional conflict next to Sudan, which is already experiencing a devastating war and humanitarian crisis.

Civilians again face the greatest danger

Researchers at Ghent University have estimated that the earlier war caused about 500,000 civilian deaths in Tigray alone. The estimate includes deaths from direct violence, but researchers attributed most of the toll to famine and the collapse of the region’s health system. The conflict also displaced millions of people across northern Ethiopia.

The war’s effects persisted after the ceasefire, with researchers later documenting deaths from hunger in Tigray.

Bader warned that another Ethiopian conflict could deepen the wider regional emergency. Transport and communications restrictions could quickly interrupt supplies of food and medicine while making civilian suffering harder to document.

Preventing a wider war would require an immediate halt to the fighting, renewed negotiations and sustained international pressure before Ethiopia’s separate conflicts converge.

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In New York, where the wars in Iran and Gaza have dominated the U.N. agenda, the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were scheduled to address world leaders later Friday.

Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.

Proposal to reopen strait, resume nuclear talks on the table

Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade, waives oil sanctions and observes a ceasefire that includes Lebanon, under a proposal discussed by the Iranian foreign minister at a private gathering on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute think tank, who attended the event, said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the plan to those gathered Thursday. Iranian officials haven't commented.

The proposal resembles an agreement reached in June that later collapsed.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he's in no rush to reach a deal. On the Iranian side, some question whether hard-liners who dominate the security forces will accept compromises championed by relative moderates like President Masoud Pezeshkian.

In the latest sign of diplomatic movement, Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar early Friday. Qatar has served as a key mediator, including during hours of indirect Iranian-U.S. talks at the U.N. this week.

Top religious figure urges Saudi troops to be ready to defend the kingdom

With Saudi oil facilities, cities and ships off its coast coming under escalating attacks, the kingdom's top religious authority has called on soldiers to be prepared to defend the country from Iran-backed Houthis.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan, who traditionally avoids weighing in on politics in a country that holds enormous influence among Muslims worldwide, issued the strongly worded statement. Al-Fawzan addressed his message to soldiers defending the kingdom's borders and members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, peppering it with Quranic verses and religious edicts.

“Protecting this great nation, guarding its borders, defending against aggression and punishing those who want to harm any inch of it is one of the greatest duties,” he said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.

UN Security Council demands halt to attacks by Houthi rebels

In a statement approved by its 15 members, the U.N.’s most powerful body condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The council called for “practical cooperation,” including with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, to prevent the Houthis from obtaining weapons, military material and training enabling them to carry out attacks.

It reminded all countries of their obligation to implement the U.N. arms embargo against the Houthis.

2 Israeli soldiers are killed in Gaza

Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months.

The drone exploded as the soldiers, Ofek Moalem and Nadav Kali, approached it, the military said Friday. They were evacuated to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The incident is under investigation.

Five other Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, almost daily Israeli fire has continued. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Hospitals in Yemen struggle as the country's civil war reignites

The human toll of renewed hostilities in Yemen has stretched beyond the battlefield, overwhelming a health system already battered by years of war.

More than 130,000 people have fled their homes as fighting escalates between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces. Fewer than 10% of health centers in affected areas are equipped to provide the care that wounded people need, according to the World Health Organization. Years of war have left hospitals with little capacity.

UNICEF says at least 15 children have been killed and another 14 wounded in the past three weeks. The agency’s representative in Yemen, Akhil Iyer, said Friday the conflict is also causing more children to go hungry in Yemen, where at least 2.2 million children under five were already projected to suffer from acute malnutrition before the escalation of violence.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

The ad’s cost has jumped from $14,000 to $430,000 as it runs on a variety of network TV channels in markets across the country, according to AdImpact, which tracks media spending. The actual amount spent could be significantly more, depending on whether networks classified the ad as a political ad.

The 30-second spot features clips of Trump talking about defeating communism interspersed with onscreen text promoting the “largest tax cuts in history," “reigniting American manufacturing” and a call to “defend law and order and police.” The ad's soundtrack includes a chorus singing “love me” repeatedly and ends with a message disclosing it was paid for by the U.S. government.

Politicians of both parties on Thursday questioned whether the ad was appropriate, since laws prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for “publicity or propaganda” and limit the partisan political activities of government employees. Republicans running to defend their majorities in Congress in November's midterm elections have created ads with similar messaging about communism, the economy and crime.

Several House Democrats with senior committee roles on Thursday demanded that the ad be taken off the air, calling it “the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea.” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who is not running for reelection, called the ad “inappropriate” and likened it to something he would expect from the former right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The White House defended the ad and said it is “educational and unapologetically patriotic.” It didn’t answer an inquiry about what part of the government supplied the funds.

“These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” the White House statement said.

An embassy spokesperson in Harare confirmed the decision and released remarks delivered this week by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Tremont at an event titled “Beyond assistance."

Tremont said the end of U.S.-supported health programs followed “Zimbabwe’s decision to decline a bilateral health MOU." She added that the U.S. will now shift its relations with Zimbabwe “from one largely focused on health and humanitarian assistance, to one built on broader economic, trade and investment opportunities.”

Zimbabwe is among the first countries to face the consequences of Washington’s new approach to tie health aid to bilateral country-to-country agreements.

The withdrawal casts uncertainty over programs to combat HIV and other diseases in a country where shortages often force patients to bring basic supplies such as bandages to clinics and buy their own medicines.

For decades, the U.S. has been Zimbabwe’s largest health donor, supporting HIV prevention and treatment, tuberculosis and malaria programs, clinical care, laboratory systems, health workers, medical supplies and community-based programs.

Zimbabwean officials have raised concerns over diminishing international aid, saying the country would prioritize raising funds domestically as assistance from the U.S. and other Western countries dries up. Some health advocates, however, question whether Zimbabwe’s financially troubled government can absorb the costs.

“Zimbabweans have already been suffering gravely as a result of abrupt disruptions to lifesaving malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV programs caused by the U.S. stop work orders and USAID award terminations in 2025," said Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP, an international advocacy group. “This deadly decision will trigger a public health catastrophe,” she added.

The dispute dates to February, when both countries announced the collapse of talks on a bilateral deal proposed under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign aid.

Zimbabwe government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said the proposal contained conditions the country could not accept, citing concerns over data sharing, fairness, sovereignty and Washington’s shift away from global health institutions.

According to Mangwana, the proposal was tied to “comprehensive access to Zimbabwe’s sensitive health data, including virus samples and epidemiological information from our citizens.”

Namibia also rejected a bilateral agreement with the U.S. because of concerns about provisions for sharing health data and biological specimens, local media reported. In early September, the U.S. said it would start phasing out its financial support for Namibia’s HIV response programs. The U.S. will provide Namibia with $45 million for its HIV response in fiscal 2027 before shifting to “technical cooperation,” the two governments said in September, but did not cite the health data fallout as the reason for the development.

African governments have in recent months increasingly called for “health sovereignty,” reflecting efforts to finance and manage their health systems with less reliance on foreign aid.

Africa CDC has described the continent as facing “an unprecedented financing crisis,” saying official development assistance to Africa has halved over the last five years.

Under the Trump administration’s new approach, Washington has been negotiating country-by-country health agreements that it says will reduce donor dependency and increase domestic financing. So far, 35 countries have signed such agreements, the majority in Africa, according to KFF, a U.S. health-policy research organization tracking the deals.

At least four African countries — Ghana, Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe — have publicly resisted or failed to conclude new U.S. bilateral health agreements, while Kenya’s agreement has faced a legal challenge.

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For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

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The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% after flipping between modest gains and losses earlier in the day. It's coming off a three-day losing streak marred by big swings caused by rising bond yields, but it nevertheless remains near its all-time high set last month and is on track to finish its first winning week in the last three.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 221 points, or 0.4%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Stock indexes initially rose after trading began, aided by a drop in oil prices. The most actively traded contract in the market for Brent crude, the international standard, eased 0.6 % to $99.60 per barrel.

It’s been yo-yoing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East. Prices go down when hopes rise for a possible deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, and they go up when doubts resurface.

But a report on U.S. consumer sentiment released shortly after trading began undercut that support because it helped push Treasury yields higher. The report from the University of Michigan said U.S. consumers are bracing for inflation of 4.6% in the coming year, up from their forecast of 4% the month before. It also said that overall sentiment among consumers was not as bad as economists expected, even if it was the lowest in four months.

The expectations for high inflation are potentially dangerous for the economy because they could encourage behavior that leads to a vicious cycle that makes the cost of living spiral even higher. Indeed, some consumers told the survey that buying some kinds of products now would help them avoid higher prices in the future. If they rush to make such purchases, it could encourage sellers to raise prices further.

Following the report on consumer sentiment, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.20% from 5.18% late Thursday and is near its highest level since 2007.

High yields slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments. Rising yields worldwide are rattling all kinds of financial markets, and yields are climbing not only because of worries about high inflation but also because of big government debt loads, signs of continued economic strength and other factors.

The 10-year Treasury yield was at just 3.97% before the beginning of the war with Iran.

High yields hit stocks seen as the most expensive in particular. That has pressured stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry that soared in earlier years because of the frenzy around the technology.

After the 10-year Treasury yield rose, Nvidia reversed an early gain and dipped 0.1%. A day earlier, its fall of 0.9% was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

On the winning side of Wall Street, Akamai Technologies rose 7% after the cloud company announced an $11.6 billion, multiyear agreement with Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI chatbot.

Costco Wholesale added 2.4% after the retailer reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Such strong profit reports from U.S. companies have helped the stock market remain resilient despite all the worries about high inflation and oil prices.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1%.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Breel Embolo will not join the squad in Scotland as planned, the Swiss soccer federation said Friday, due to fresh reporting in national media about his past case of obtaining forged test certificates in 2021.

“This decision aims to allow the team to remain fully focused on the next matches,” the federation said about the Atlanta United forward.

Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka agreed with team officials last weekend to withdraw from the squad because he is implicated in an investigation of a doctor issuing fake vaccination certificates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xhaka, the Swiss record holder with 152 caps, admitted getting the forged document in 2022 and accepted he made mistakes.

Switzerland starts its Nations League second-tier group Saturday at North Macedonia, plays at Scotland on Tuesday, then has home games in Lucerne against Slovenia and North Macedonia.

Embolo already was suspended for the game Saturday because of his controversial red card against Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals.

Soccer’s Zurich-based rules panel, known as IFAB, later acknowledged Embolo was mistakenly sent off in a breach of video review protocol.

On Friday, the Switzerland Today outlet reported details of Embolo’s financial sanction imposed last year for the previously known false test result documents.

At the World Cup, the 29-year-old Embolo scored in Switzerland's opening game — a 1-1 draw with Qatar — despite arriving at the tournament days later than teammates because of a visa issue with United States authorities. He also scored in a round of 32 win over Algeria.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Madison police said some of the men, who they described as pledges to the fraternity, had signs of being physically assaulted.

Police went to the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house Wednesday night after receiving an anonymous tip. Two fraternity members, both 20, were arrested on tentative misdemeanor charges of hazing and disorderly conduct, police said. No formal charges had been filed against them as of Friday morning.

The university said it was taking the incident seriously and launching its own investigation.

“UW–Madison is fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously,” the university said in a Thursday statement.

Any student found to have broken the law or university policy could be subject to sanctions ranging from a written reprimand to expulsion, the university said.

Police released a photo that shows about two dozen men, all shirtless, in the basement of the fraternity with trash and other debris littered on the ground. The faces of the people in the photo are blurred out.

Police said the thermostat was set to 81 degrees, causing hot and humid conditions in the basement where the walls appeared to be painted black. A majority of those in the basement were 18 years old, police said.

The fraternity’s status as a recognized student organization on the Madison campus was terminated in 2015 for holding events while suspended. It had been suspended in 2013 for hosting a party in which a 17-year-old and another person were taken to detox after being served alcohol at a party hosted by the fraternity, according to university records.

The termination came after a fourth incident involving either events, alcohol or both, the university said.

Since 2016, there were seven additional allegations involving the fraternity related to intramural sports, disrespectful behavior, drinking and hazing, the university said.

Because the fraternity is still recognized by its national organization, it is able to operate as a fraternity chapter unaffiliated with the university, UW-Madison said.

Jon Pierce, spokesperson for the national fraternity, said it is taking the allegations “very seriously” and will cooperate fully with investigations. Any member found to have participated will be expelled from the fraternity, he said.

“Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for,” Pierce said. “There is no place for it in AEPi. No exceptions. No excuses.”

The fraternity house is located just blocks from the heart of the UW-Madison campus, which is home to about 52,000 students.

Police said their investigation is also ongoing. The university's Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards is also investigating in accordance with its nonacademic misconduct process, UW-Madison said.

Construction is currently underway on Fire Station 32 on Old Canoe Creek Road. The city has invested $5.3 million to build the new fire station and remodel the existing logistics building.

Some residents say the investment is necessary.

“They put their lives on the line, and giving them the tools and the equipment, and the space for them actually to do their job, which is saving lives, I think it’s a priority. Health, safety and all that is part of public safety,” said Leticia Oliveira, a St. Cloud resident.

“Florida is growing so fast. And it’s a state that so many people come for their vacation. So, absolutely, we need that expansion.”

More people means more cars, and drivers are already feeling it.

“We face a lot of traffic right now. So, she works in Lake Nona. We live in St. Cloud; every day it’s tough for us because it’s taking like 45 minutes to get there,” said Denis Silva, a St. Cloud resident.

Nearly 14,000 cars travel Canoe Creek Road every day — a number that could reach 39,000 by 2045. To address that, the city and county are working together to widen a 4-mile stretch of the road, from Deer Run Road to U.S. Highway 192, from two lanes to four.

The expansion would also help fire and emergency crews respond to calls more quickly.

“I see a lot of accidents, or even, like, accessing for them to pass [is hard]. When they have to pass through for an emergency,” Oliveira said.

“We see the struggle because, of course, everything is so crowded. So, expanding the roads and making them accessible, easier for everybody, to wherever they are going makes life easier for everyone, including the fire department and paramedics and all that to reach their source of service,” Silva said.

An emergency signal is also planned for Fire Station 33, also located on Friars Cove Lane, just off Canoe Creek Road, to further improve response times.

Station 32 is expected to complete construction this fall — one of several projects St. Cloud and Osceola County have in the works to keep pace with the area’s rapid growth.

The organization, which serves people experiencing homelessness in Orange and Brevard counties, says its two campuses are now seeing more than 1,300 visits a week.

Matthew’s Hope provides food, clothing, showers, health care and other basic services. It is not a traditional overnight shelter, although it does open as one during extreme weather.

At its Winter Garden campus, Director Shannon Diaz said between 90 and 130 people can come through the food pantry on a Tuesday or Thursday.

For years, when donated food, shoes or other supplies ran low, Matthew’s Hope would use donated money to buy more.

Now, Diaz said, that is changing.

“If we don’t have it, then we just don’t have it to give out because we don’t have the funds to purchase it,” Diaz said.

Across its Orange and Brevard County locations, Matthew’s Hope says it has spent about $468,000 more than it brought in over the past six months, with much of the increased spending tied to food and fuel.

At the same time, Diaz said the organization is seeing more people experiencing homelessness for the first time.

She pointed to Brevard County, where she said one recent service day brought 22 new intakes. A more typical day in the past might have brought three or four.

Diaz said many of those newly seeking help are older adults.

“There’s a lot of first-time homelessness right now. A lot of baby boomers, first time being homeless, whether that’s loss of a spouse or rent increases,” she said.

She said some are living on fixed incomes and finding that higher rent and everyday expenses are simply becoming too much.

Those same higher prices are also affecting the people who donate.

Diaz said Matthew’s Hope has had longtime monthly donors call to say they need to stop giving for a while. Others who may once have been able to give $100 a month are now able to give closer to $25.

She said the organization’s donor base has continued to grow, but the amount some individuals can afford to give has fallen.

Matthew’s Hope is now asking the community to help fill some of those gaps directly through donation drives. Items in high demand include men’s shoes, men’s boxers, clothing, women’s sports bras and single-serving pantry items.

For Diaz, the work is personal.

She first came to Matthew’s Hope in 2019 when she was homeless herself. She went through the nonprofit’s Moving Forward program, later became a receptionist and advocate, and was eventually promoted to lead the Orange County campus.

“I’ve been on the other side of this thing,” Diaz said.

Now, she is helping run the place she once turned to for help. Want to help? Matthew’s Hope accepts one-time and recurring donations through its official website.

Donate to Matthew’s Hope by clicking here.

"As of right now, surgery is not on the table, and we haven’t discussed IR,” Peters said on 106.7 The Fan. “So it’s just a matter of how we’re going to get him back on the field. That’s still to be determined.”

Peters said Daniels returned late Thursday night and was meeting with the Commanders on Friday. Team officials have talked with medical officials around the country, and Peters called it a medical decision that Washington is working through.

Being placed on injured reserve would mean Daniels would miss a minimum of four games.

Daniels was hurt during Sunday’s loss at Dallas on a broken play at the end of the first half. He took a snap under center, and left guard Chris Paul stepped on Daniels' foot as he backed away from the line. Daniels used his non-throwing arm to brace his fall, which bent awkwardly under the pressure.

A similar thing happened last November, when Daniels used his left arm to brace himself and dislocated his elbow against Seattle. He returned just over a month later, only to aggravate the problem and miss the rest of the season.

Marcus Mariota is set to start Sunday’s home opener against Seattle.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal in a private gathering on Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute think tank, said Araghchi suggested that a speedy agreement would help U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of November's midterm elections. The arrangement would also relieve enormous economic pressure on Tehran as the U.S. piles on additional sanctions.

Iran's disruption of the strait — through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas transited before the war — has emerged as its main point of leverage. The effects have been felt far beyond the Middle East.

There was no immediate comment from Iran's U.N. mission or other Iranian officials. A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia was skeptical of the latest push for a deal.

The proposal resembles a June deal that quickly crumbled

The proposal, conveyed to the U.S. by mediators, strongly resembles the so-called Memorandum of Understanding reached in June, but with an accelerated timetable. The earlier agreement, which called for a 60-day interim period, quickly collapsed as Iran resumed attacks on shipping in the strait.

Trump has said he is in no rush to reach a deal, even as high oil prices fuel inflation. On the Iranian side, there are questions as to whether the hard-liners who dominate the security forces would accept compromises championed by moderates like President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“If Trump calculates this arrangement is worthwhile and can bring political benefit before the midterms and reduce gas prices, perhaps we'll see flexibility not seen in previous weeks,” Parsi said. But he noted “deep suspicion,” especially around the prospect of Iran merely buying time to ship out more of its oil and ease its economic pain.

There are other signs of renewed diplomacy

In the latest sign of diplomatic movement, Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar early Friday. Qatar has been a key mediator, including during hours of indirect Iran-U.S. talks at the U.N. this week.

It was not clear how long Pezeshkian and Araghchi would stay in the U.S. after Pezeshkian addressed the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders on Wednesday, ending his speech by saying Iran remained open to diplomacy.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the same day, said “if there’s an opportunity to exchange ideas and messages, we will.”

After multiple failed attempts at a deal, however, suspicion is high on both sides. The U.S. and Israel launched the war with a surprise attack on Feb. 28 while Iran was engaged in nuclear talks, killing Iran's supreme leader. Each side accuses the other of violating the June agreement.

Parsi said Iran’s current push for speed reflects Tehran’s suspicion that Washington is “using this diplomacy to make it harder for Iranians to launch pre-emptive strikes before the midterms.”

It's unclear if the proposal would include the conflict in Yemen

The proposal would include Lebanon, where Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been mostly observing a ceasefire. It's not clear, however, if it would include the revived conflict between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, which has put even more pressure on global markets.

Iran appears to think the Houthis' newly enhanced ability to threaten the Bab el-Mandeb strait on the Red Sea — another trade chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula — could push Trump to make a deal.

Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran's new supreme leader, told state television that the Americans “face a new problem called the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.”

He added: “I think the process that is unfolding is in our favor, and the Americans will be forced to accept Iran’s conditions.”

With the Houthis' latest surge in attacks, Saudi Arabia was skeptical of Araghchi’s latest push for a deal with the U.S., according to a person familiar with the matter.

The kingdom, along with other Gulf states, had advocated over the summer for a return to negotiations, saying they could live with an agreement that gave Iran a temporary role in managing the Strait of Hormuz, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.

But the Saudi calculations changed as the Houthis seized Yemen’s strategic Red Sea coast from pro-government forces and a vital Saudi pipeline came under attack.

Earlier this month, Gulf leaders planned to gather in Oman to discuss an emerging agreement between Oman and Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries. But the meeting was canceled after Saudi Arabia called for amendments, only some of which were accepted by Iran, the person said.

Iran's leadership has shown signs of divisions

Iran's leaders have sought to project unity, but some hard-liners want to continue or escalate the war to secure bigger U.S. concessions and have criticized Pezeshkian and Araghchi's diplomatic steps this week.

Firebrand lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X that merely meeting with “the aggressor enemy” showed weakness. Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a panel of Shiite clerics who appoint the supreme leader, said “there is no path other than resistance.”

The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, highlighted the U.N. speech by “the esteemed president” while focusing on Pezeshkian’s comments that Iran doesn’t fear war.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who served as chief negotiator in earlier talks with the United States, provided a rare public acknowledgment of the internal divide.

“There is a view that speaks of war but offers no prospect or mechanism for bringing it to a powerful conclusion,” he wrote on social media. “At the opposite end is a current that makes the error of underestimating national capabilities.”

He added: “The first error keeps the country in a state of permanent crisis, while the second hands national resources and dignity over to the enemy.”

The women are among the thousands of federal workers and contract employees in the Washington region whose lives were upended when the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency overhauled the federal workforce last year, cutting jobs and grants.

A new survey released Thursday by Gallup and the Greater Washington Community Foundation shows the far-reaching impact on the nation's capital.

Despite living in one of the most affluent parts of the country, many in the greater D.C. area — which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia and is referred to as the DMV — now see a bleak local job market and rising costs. Some are even considering leaving the region.

“It wasn’t just about our jobs being gone. It was really this awful ripple effect of all these lives and destinies really disrupted," Nataro said.

The District of Columbia, which official figures show accounted for a fifth of the roughly 100,000 job losses in the region and is host to an ongoing deployment of the National Guard, has been particularly impacted. According to the survey, about two-thirds of D.C. residents said their household had been directly affected by the job cuts, one of the highest percentages in the region.

Federal job cuts impacted higher-income households

More affluent households were hit especially hard by the cuts, the survey found. A majority — 58% — of those in households with an annual income of $90,000 or more said they were impacted by the reductions, compared to 48% of lower-income households.

Trumbull earned over $130,000 annually at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After DOGE came for her job, she took a deferred resignation in the second-round offering, under threat of a forthcoming USDA reorganization that wasn’t really a decent option. She only secured new, part-time employment a year later.

During that time, she had to take a forbearance on her mortgage. She applied for public assistance. She and her husband took home just $2,000 a month, she said, while amassing debt from their home ownership.

When jobs didn’t come through, she did some contract work and taught to “cobble together enough money to make sure my kids were supplied — cause you don’t get to stop buying diapers.”

“I don’t see a future where I can go back to not worrying about moving money around constantly” to cover bills, she said.

Even though lower-income residents were less likely to report any impacts, the survey suggests that hardship was still acute among this group. About 1 in 10, 14%, DMV residents say that they or someone in their household accessed social services like food banks or job placement support for the first time in the past year, which rose to about one-quarter of those in households earning less than $90,000 per year.

Many residents worry about housing payments and healthcare

About one-third of DMV residents say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about being able to pay their rent or mortgage, down from about half in 2023 following the economic troubles of the COVID pandemic. Renters, Black and Hispanic adults, and lower-income residents are particularly worried about housing payments.

Nataro, 42, and a single mom of two young children, asked her landlord for a rent reduction after she lost her job at USAID, one of DOGE's first targets. She signed up for food stamps and unemployment assistance. She found work in academia quickly but took a substantial pay cut.

“It’s very humbling, because you know before that you’re paying all your bills and struggling but you’ve got enough to cover everything,” she said. Now, she has had to ask for help.

Roughly 2 in 10 DMV residents say there were times in the past year when they couldn't pay for healthcare, according to the survey. Nataro said she has had to make tough choices on her personal healthcare needs to cut costs.

Danielle Yates, the managing director of marketing and communications at the Greater Washington Community Foundation, said the survey found that a significant number of people in the region had trouble taking care of their basic needs.

About 1 in 10 DMV residents say they couldn't provide adequate shelter or housing for their family the past year, according to the survey, and roughly 2 in 10 say there were times when they couldn't pay for food.

A Capital Area Food Bank survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago last year also found broad food insecurity. “Thirty-eight percent of our area’s residents said that they needed some support in putting food on their tables so that they could lead an active and healthy lifestyle,” said Radha Muthiah, executive director of the CAFB.

Views of the local job market have dimmed

Residents' perceptions of the local job market are much less optimistic than just a few years ago. Only about half of DMV residents rate the availability of good jobs where they live as “excellent” or “good," down from 65% in 2023.

Those who have found work say they've been left with the scars of DOGE's ruthlessness.

A job Nataro loved and felt made a difference in the world was taken away, leaving her “traumatized.”

"I haven’t taken any real personal effects to the office. We haven’t really unboxed things.”

Some consider leaving the region

Rising costs and housing also influence how DMV residents think about the region, in addition to the job cuts.

About one-third of DMV residents expect that living conditions in the Washington area will be “worse” in the next five years, while about half think they will be “about the same.” Only about 2 in 10 expect things will get better.

About 1 in 10 D.C. residents, 14%, say they are considering leaving the DMV region in the next year, with most who are thinking about departing pointing to rising costs and housing expenses.

Barbera and her husband both worked at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a place where the staff was fired twice because of court decisions. A year and a half after they were fired in March 2025, the couple are considering leaving the area because of rising costs, especially childcare for their three children. Although both have full-time jobs and do consulting work part time, they are earning half of what they did, said Barbera.

The two had worked a collective 30 years for the peace-focused organization when they were let go. She said she feels lucky because they have family support and jobs but are being forced into considering a different future.

“This is the only place they’ve lived,” Barbera said of her children. “We don’t want to leave. But we have to have the conversation.”

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This story was first published on Sept. 24, 2026. It was published again on Sept. 25, 2026, to correct Nicoletta Barbera said that she and her husband have full-time jobs and do consulting work part time, not that she and her husband have full-time jobs doing consulting work.

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The VoicesDMV analysis is based on a mail survey of U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in the Greater Washington Region using random address-based sampling. The survey of 2,801 residents was conducted Feb. 9 to April 6, 2026. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Demings, who suspended his gubernatorial campaign in June after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, now says he is cancer-free following surgery in late July. The Mayor sat down with News 6 Anchor Matt Austin to urge other men not to skip the screening.

“I had the surgery on July 28, and here we are today, cancer-free, caught it early,” Demings told News 6. “For many of the men that I talked to, some of them were not so lucky.”

Demings received his diagnosis on June 1. Four days later, immediately after delivering his final State of the County address, he told the public and announced he was stepping away from the race for Florida governor to focus on treatment.

“I made a decision to suspend my race for governor and get treated,” he said.

What makes his case notable, his doctors say, is that he had no symptoms at all. The only red flag was a number.

“Other than the numbers going up, I did not have any symptoms that I could identify as having a problem,” Demings said. “It really was the numbers.” Those numbers — his prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels — were being tracked because Demings gets screened regularly, according to Dr. Vipul Patel, the surgeon who treated him at AdventHealth Celebration.

“Because he takes good care of his health, he was being screened regularly, and that’s what led to the early diagnosis, and that’s what led to him having a very good outcome,” Patel said.

But Patel warns many men no longer get that screening. He points to a 2012 change in federal guidelines that pulled the PSA blood test from routine recommendations. “There are many men who don’t get screened, because even though it’s still the second leading cause of cancer death, it’s not part of normal screening,” Patel said.

The doctor’s message is blunt: early detection is nearly everything.

“Prostate cancer found early is highly curable, in the high 90s,” Patel said. “The key is to really get screened.” Demings echoed that, noting men too often avoid the doctor’s office altogether. “The cautionary tale that I say to men is go to the doctors, because oftentimes men won’t go to a doctor at the same frequency that women go to doctors,” he said.

As for whether the mayor could return to the political arena — perhaps another run for governor down the road — Patel didn’t hesitate when asked if Demings would be healthy enough. “He’s already healthy,” the doctor said.

Demings, who is term-limited and finishing out his time as mayor, stopped short of ruling out a political future but made clear he isn’t retiring quietly.

“I’m going to be of service. This is my home — I was born and raised here, so I will continue to find an opportunity to continue serving our community,” he said. “It may not be in an elected role or any of those things, but giving back to the community by volunteering or being of service. So you’ll continue to see me around.”

The zoo said the quintuplets — four males and one female — that were born on June 18 had faced a tough time from the start.

Their mother, Daenerys, opted to give birth in an outdoor enclosure with a period of strong storms hitting Prague soon after.

Despite her inexperience, Daenerys took “exemplary” good care of her first cubs under such weather conditions.

Daenerys protected the five from torrential rains, licking water from their fluffy fur to keep them dry, curator Pavel Brandl said.

In the wild, the cheetah’s infant mortality is high because of predators, and cheetah cubs also are vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia.

To make things worse, Daenerys suffered from an intestinal infection in August.

But despite all odds, the five looked lively and healthy on Friday.

“At this moment, everything seems fine, but it’s still a long run,” Brandl said. He said that it might take a year before it’s clear that they will survive the crucial period after their birth.

Scientists say every cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction.

Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land that can reach maximum speeds of between 70 and 75 mph (112 kph and 120 kph). It’s estimated that fewer than 7,000 of them remain in the wild.

Opening statements are expected to begin Monday for Vickie Williams, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Darryl and Sharon Getman.

Mount Dora police found the couple’s bodies inside their senior living facility apartment in December 2022.

Police in Mount Dora say security video shows Williams walking in the Waterman Village senior living complex. She also asked to use a resident’s shower and charge her cell phone.

Footage also showed the Getmans’ car, a Kia Soul, leaving the apartment complex around 2 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Detectives traced Sharon Getman’s cellphone — left inside the missing vehicle — using cellphone pings and license plate readers. That trail led to Savannah, Georgia, where Williams was arrested in January 2023.

If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

It was 1969, and he was fresh out of Illinois Wesleyan, where when not in class he had played football and baseball, and listened to Cubs and Cardinals games over the radio. Matthews had called some high school games, but when he applied for the Royals job almost on a lark, his big league experience consisted of a demo tape he'd made of a couple innings at Busch Stadium.

But the pool of applicants kept getting whittled down, from hundreds to dozens to just one.

So it was that a 26-year-old Matthews found himself in the broadcast booth at old Municipal Stadium, some 57 years ago, alongside the late Buddy Blattner, describing the action as the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 in 12 innings.

On Friday night, Matthews will describe the action for the 8,000th time when the Royals play the Cleveland Guardians.

The 83-year-old Matthews is one of only four broadcasters in major league history to be with the same team for at least 50 seasons, and only the Dodgers' Vin Scully (67) and Jaime Jarrin (64) have done it longer. Over his 58 seasons, touching base in seven different decades, Matthews has called seven division titles, four pennants and World Series titles in 1985 and 2015.

The names of exactly 1,058 different players to wear a Royals uniform have tumbled out of his raspy-yet-somehow melodic voice.

And to think: Matthews never thought he'd get the job.

“I did have the advantage when I was growing up of listening to some really, really good broadcasters out of Chicago and St. Louis,” he recalled. "I would lay in front of the radio — I was 10, 11, 12 years old — and I had my baseball cards, and I just lay there.

“You never think you're going to be a broadcasters when you're 10 years old. You want to play. Get some kids in the neighborhood and go out and play. But I didn't know at the time, listening to those guys all those summer nights, I was getting a college education in how to broadcast baseball, and I didn't have to pay tuition. I didn't have to do homework. But I was still getting a great education."

The voice of Kansas City baseball

Even after Matthews was hired by longtime Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, it was never his intent to stay. His dream was to move to Chicago or St. Louis, and call games for one of the two clubs that had such a profound impact on him as a youth.

Yet when those opportunities came along — and they did, more than once — the tug of what had become home was too strong.

“I went to Ewing Kauffman, and I sat down,” Matthews said. “I was still a little intimidated by Mr. K, but he told me, he said, ‘I’ll tell you what, young man. You're going to have decisions to make as you work your way through this business.' And he said, ‘You have to weigh them carefully, and then you’ll make a decision. But I want to tell you one thing.' He said, ‘We like the way you do games, and you can stay as long as you want.’ And I said, ‘Wow. This is just my third year. So that’s pretty strong.'”

There was never a reason to move, even when teams in New York came calling.

“If you're unhappy in your job,” Matthews said, “you're probably looking to move. I've never been unhappy in this job, period.”

So, as the game went through changes large and small, Matthews' voice over the airwaves remained a Kansas City constant. He was there to describe the first games in the career of a scrappy third baseman named George Brett, and the last. He was there when labor stoppages turned fans away, and there to welcome them back. When the pandemic hit in 2020, and few people were allowed inside the ballpark, Matthews was still behind the mic, calling games from his suburban Kansas City home.

Asked the secret to his longevity, Matthews replied: “Luck.”

“Good health,” he added. “I mean, there's a lot to that. Take care of yourself. And again, be comfortable, as they say, in your own skin, and I've always been comfortable out here, because of the people. This is a comfortable place to be.”

The historical context of a Hall of Fame career

Matthews was bestowed the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence in 2007, and he was honored alongside Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn during the induction ceremony at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

Ripken played 3,001 games during his career. Gwynn played 2,440 of them.

That puts the 8,000 that Matthews will have broadcasted after Friday night into perspective.

Better yet might be this: The price of gas was 33 cents a gallon when he drove into Kansas City for the first time. Richard Nixon was the president, “The Brady Bunch” had just debuted on TV, and exactly 103 days after Matthews called that first ballgame against the Twins, the world sat in rapt attention in front of their televisions as Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

Over his first 32 seasons, Matthews called 5,061 games while missing just 23 for various reasons. And while he began to trim back his travel starting in 2001, he's continued to be a mainstay at Royals home games, with an occasional trip to Chicago or St. Louis.

Curt Nelson, the director of the club's Hall of Fame, has saved every scorecard from every game Matthews has called, and folks within the organization knew he was nearing 8,000. One day last November, more than a dozen people showed up at Kauffman Stadium for a counting party, and they realized that he'd hit the mark the final week of this season.

On Friday night, when the Royals played the Cleveland Guardians.

Matthews has thought about calling it quits over the years. He's even talked about it with Ryan Lefebvre, who has been calling games with him since 1999. Yet the pull of the game has always been too much, and Matthews plans to keep going next season.

“We decided that the end of the season is a terrible time to be thinking about retirement,” Matthews said, “because you're probably thinking, ‘Man, I’m tired of this season. I want to get some free time.' Then it's spring training, and here we go again. There's just something about spring training. The birds are chirping outside and it's getting warming, and you think, 'Spring training. Let's go.'”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The 41-year-old James revealed scant details about the free-agency process on his “Mind the Game” podcast with co-host Steve Nash that dropped Friday. James is scheduled to meet the press for the first time as a Sixer on Monday at the team's media day in Camden, New Jersey.

Training camp opens next week.

A four-time NBA champion, James wrote on social media when he signed with the Sixers that he felt he was “done” when his 23rd NBA season ended, his last with the Los Angeles Lakers. But after time away with family, and still feeling physically and mentally strong in offseason workouts, James decided he wanted to keep playing.

James has won NBA championships with every team he's played for: the Lakers, Miami and Cleveland.

“I think I'm more in love with the pursuit of how much more can I defy the odds," James said on the podcast.

James said “Philly was not even a question” early in his decision making until the Sixers pulled the surprising deal with Boston for NBA Finals MVP and champion Jaylen Brown. James and Maxey share an agent and have been friends and workout partners since the Sixers guard broke into the league, a friendship that turned into a recruiting pitch for the NBA’s career scoring leader.

“When I became a free agent and we decided to let the Lakers know that I wouldn’t be returning, he was one of the first people that was on my line, calling me,” James said of Maxey.

James also was intrigued with trying to help the oft-injured Embiid win his first title. Embiid has won an NBA MVP, two scoring titles, and Olympic gold medal, but has yet to lead the Sixers out of the second round of the playoffs since Philadelphia selected him third overall in the 2014 draft.

“He’s done everything in our league, and the only thing he has not done is win a championship. And I want to try to help him get that first one,” James said. "He has a city on his back. He’s been ‘The Process’ for 10 years, 12 years, however long he’s been there. But I think it’s time we even get you deeper into The Process. And I hope that I can be, kind of, that final little piece that can help him get over the hump.”

The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks.

James’ résumé is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.

James’ eight seasons with the Lakers were the longest continuous stretch with a single team of his NBA career, and he helped the franchise win its 17th championship in 2020. He even became the first father to play alongside his son in league history, teaming up with guard Bronny James for the past two seasons.

James called it “humbling” to play for the Lakers and expressed disappointment he wasn't able to enjoy a championship parade because of the 2020 pandemic. James called Los Angeles home and said it would be for “the foreseeable future.”

So why not return to the Lakers? Or reunite with the Heat or Cavaliers or stay in California and sign with the Golden State Warriors?

James offered no real insight to any teams he may have talked to or how close he may have been with signing with another team. He said he wanted to bring the championship blueprint to Philadelphia and lead the Sixers to their first title since 1983. And he felt great during workouts in the summer, so why stop now?

“If you still have an opportunity to do what you love, then why just say I'm done? What is the reason? Do you have a real reason?,” James asked.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Vickie Williams was convicted Tuesday of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft in the New Year’s Eve 2022 stabbing deaths of Darryl and Sharon Getman inside their Mount Dora senior living facility apartment.

Jurors heard emotional testimony from the adult children of Darryl and Sharon Getman as they weigh whether Williams should receive the death penalty.

Brittany Getman told jurors the loss of her parents has changed everything about her daily life.

“Every day has become heavy. The way you navigate the world is forever altered. Colors are duller and perhaps most crushing, pure joy no longer exists,” she said.

Her brother, Anthony Getman, described how he still reaches out to his parents even though they are gone.

“I still send texts to their old phone numbers on birthdays and holidays… it’s just my way of trying to keep some small connection with them,” he said.

Prosecutors argue the brutality of the killings and the Getmans’ age warrant the death penalty.

Williams was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft in the stabbing deaths of the couple inside their Mount Dora senior living facility apartment. Jurors spent roughly 30 minutes deliberating before returning a guilty verdict on all three counts.

Williams’ defense attorneys argue she was suffering from untreated schizophrenia at the time of the killings, saying her severe mental illness should spare her life.

If jurors recommend death and the judge agrees, Williams would become only the second woman on Florida’s death row. There are currently 235 people on death row in Florida.

Mount Dora police found the Getmans’ bodies inside their apartment in December 2022. Police in Mount Dora say security video shows Williams walking in the Waterman Village senior living complex. She also asked to use a resident’s shower and charge her cell phone.

Footage also showed the Getmans’ car, a Kia Soul, leaving the apartment complex around 2 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Detectives tracked Sharon Getman’s cellphone — left inside the missing vehicle — using cellphone pings and license plate readers.

That trail led to Savannah, Georgia, where Williams was arrested in January 2023.

Ahead of his confirmation vote last year, Kennedy told lawmakers that he would not collect fees related to litigation he pursued before becoming a government official against the drugmakers of a cervical cancer vaccine, saying he would transfer his financial interests to his adult son.

The lawmakers say they recently learned, however, that shortly after his confirmation hearings, Kennedy quietly changed his ethics disclosures and transferred his stake to his former employer, the personal injury law firm Wisner Baum, apparently contradicting his sworn commitments to members of Congress.

In a letter sent to Kennedy on Thursday, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland said the health secretary has provided no explanation for the change.

“Your decision to withhold this information from Congress and apparent failure to report this change to agency ethics officials is deeply alarming,” the senators wrote. “These troubling findings call into question the veracity of your public ethics commitments, your transparency with Congress and the public, and potentially, your compliance with federal ethics disclosure laws and regulations.”

Emily G. Hilliard, an HHS spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that HHS had confirmed Kennedy's compliance with his ethics agreement in May 2025. “Any claim that Secretary Kennedy maintained a financial interest in this litigation after taking office is false,” she said.

Kennedy's testimony to lawmakers during his confirmation hearing has come under scrutiny before.

During the arduous confirmation process in which he needed the support of some skeptical Republican lawmakers to advance, Kennedy pledged to maintain vaccine policies that, once in office, he moved to change. He also said a 2019 trip to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines,” an account refuted by documents recently obtained by the AP. The Department of Health and Human Services has denied Kennedy lied over the Samoa trip.

Kennedy's initial ethics disclosure, filed in January 2025, allowed him to retain a 10% contingency fee in cases that he had referred to Wisner Baum. After warnings from lawmakers about the conflict of interest, Kennedy agreed to amend his ethics agreement to divest his interest to his son.

But in an Aug. 25 letter to Warren, HHS revealed Kennedy transferred those fees to Wisner Baum. Kennedy’s son Conor Kennedy is employed at the firm.

“At the time, Secretary Kennedy intended to assign those interests to a non-dependent adult family member,” said the letter. “After further consideration, Secretary Kennedy irrevocably assigned his outstanding contingency-fee interests in the Gardasil cases directly to Wisner Baum.”

The senators are now pushing Kennedy for answers on what his agreement with Wisner Baum entails, noting that if it involves any agreement about future payments, it could amount to a conflict of interest.

“If you made any kind of implicit or explicit agreement for future payment or other future rewards with Wisner Baum in exchange for assigning them this stake, it would mean that you have an ongoing conflict of interest that calls into question your integrity and the motivations for your decisions as HHS Secretary," the lawmakers' letter to Kennedy said.

On Tuesday, a jury heard closing arguments in the weeks-long trial, and then spent roughly 30 minutes on deliberations before delivering a verdict.

Mount Dora police found the Getmans’ bodies inside their apartment in December 2022. Police in Mount Dora say security video shows Williams walking in the Waterman Village senior living complex. She also asked to use a resident’s shower and charge her cell phone.

Footage also showed the Getmans’ car, a Kia Soul, leaving the apartment complex around 2 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Detectives tracked Sharon Getman’s cellphone — left inside the missing vehicle — using cellphone pings and license plate readers. That trail led to Savannah, Georgia, where Williams was arrested in January 2023.

The jury will return Thursday at 8 a.m. for the second phase of the trial, where Williams’ fate — including the possibility of the death penalty — could be determined.

The Dodgers are once again among the best teams in the big leagues, and they'll have several challengers in October, including the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. Los Angeles is rolling into the postseason and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani returned to the lineup on Wednesday after a stint on the injured list. He appears ready for playoff baseball.

It was a busy Thursday in the playoff race, with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians all clinching invites to the postseason.

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves have also previously clinched. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, a three-time AL MVP, is dealing with a right calf strain that could keep him out through at least the Wild Card Series.

While the 12-team playoff field is mostly set, the final NL wild card and AL West winner are still up for grabs.

Here's some of what to watch as the season comes to a close.

Here's who can clinch a playoff spot Friday

The Philadelphia Phillies can lock up the final NL wild card with a win over the Rays and a D-backs loss to the Padres.

AL Central and West are tight, other division winners are set

There's quite a bit of mediocrity in the AL Central and West divisions this season, which has led to some fascinating pennant races and could lead to a sub-.500 team making the postseason.

The Guardians (83-76) have a narrow advantage over the White Sox (82-77) in the AL Central, but Chicago owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. Cleveland plays at Kansas City this weekend, while the White Sox host Colorado. Both teams have already clinched at least a wild card, but the division winner will get a bye into the Division Series.

The Rangers (79-80) and Astros (79-80) are fighting for the AL West, and Houston has the tiebreaker if the season ends in a tie. Texas is playing at Minnesota this weekend, and the Astros are playing in Sacramento against the A's.

In the National League, the Padres (89-70), Cubs (88-71) and Phillies (87-72) are jockeying for position in the wild-card race. The Diamondbacks (85-74) are a longshot to sneak past the Phillies into the bracket, but they've won five straight games and are still lurking two games back. Chicago holds the head-to-head tiebreaker for home field over Philadelphia and San Diego, and the Phillies own the tiebreaker over the Padres after sweeping that season series 6-0.

Chicago's series at Boston has already been impacted by a nor'easter hitting New England this weekend. The Cubs' Sunday finale was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Friday, and they are now scheduled to conclude their season Saturday.

MVP races, stats to watch

MLB's major awards probably won't have much drama this season.

Both MVP races have strong favorites with Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong running away with the NL honor while Houston's Yordan Alvarez is the probable choice in the AL, though Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero has also had a fantastic season. Alvarez still has an outside shot at a Triple Crown. He leads the AL in batting average at .315 and his 41 homers are tied with Caminero, New York's Ben Rice and Baltimore's Pete Alonso. His 102 RBIs are eight back of Alonso.

For the Cy Young Award, Milwaukee flame thrower Jacob Misiorowski and New York ace Cam Schlittler are the favorites in the NL and AL, respectively.

The Rookie of the Year races also look set with Cincinnati's Sal Stewart and his 110-RBI season the leader in the NL and Detroit's Kevin McGonigle the favorite in the AL.

What is the MLB playoff format?

There are 12 teams that qualify for MLB’s postseason, including six teams from both the AL and NL. The three division winners in each league get seeds No. 1 through No. 3, ranked by win-loss record. Then the three wild-card teams get seeds No. 4 through No. 6, also ranked by win-loss record.

The top two teams with the best record in both the AL and NL automatically advance to the Division Series. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card Series, which is a best-of-three format beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 29. In both the AL and NL, the No. 6 seed will travel to face the No. 3 seed while the No. 5 seed goes to No. 4. The higher seed hosts all three games.

The winners then advance to the best-of-five Division Series, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and a best-of-seven World Series between the winners of the AL and NL.

What is the MLB postseason schedule?

Wild Card Series: Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (NBC/Peacock)

Division Series: Oct. 3-10 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

Championship Series: Oct. 11-20 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

World Series: Oct. 23-31 (FOX)

Who are the favorites to win the World Series?

The Dodgers (+200) are the favorites to capture a third straight World Series title while the Brewers (+550), Rays (+800) and Yankees (+850) are viewed as the top contenders.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Erdrich is this year's recipient of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. It's named for the late sisters — silent film actors Dorothy and Lillian Gish — whose will called for the establishment of an award for "an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”

Since the prize began, in 1994, winners have included Bob Dylan,Frank Gehry, Merce Cunningham and Ava DuVernay.

Erdrich, 72, is already a Pulitzer winner for her 2020 novel “The Night Watchman” and a National Book Award winner for her 2012 novel “The Round House.” In 2015, she received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. During a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press, Erdrich said that after learning of the Gish award, she researched the lives of the two actors and was impressed by how they made everyone involved in a given film feel appreciated.

“They would talk to the stage hands and anyone else who was around, the people who helped put a production together. That's something very close to my heart,” said Erdrich, citing her experience as a bookstore owner. “I love being part of the entire structure of bringing books to people.”

Like such peers as Ann Patchett and Lauren Groff, Erdrich has firsthand knowledge in both the creation and selling of books. In 2001, she helped found Birchbark Books, an independent store based in Minneapolis that champions “the power of good writing, the beauty of handmade art, the strength of Native culture, and the importance of small and intimate bookstores.” (Erdrich, whose books often center on Native lives, is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.)

In a statement released Friday, Gish selection committee member Sara Reisman praised Erdrich's writing for its “indelible effect on my understanding of Indigenous life.”

“Adjacent to her writing practice is Birchbark Books," Reisman added, “a community-based teaching bookstore with international presence that amplifies the work of Native and non-Native writers (and) celebrates that which makes each of us different.”

United Russia, the main Kremlin party, will get more than three-fourths of the seats in the State Duma, a record high, according to returns released by the Central Election Commission.

Virtually any genuine opposition parties or candidates were excluded from running in the Sept. 18-20 election. A massive state media campaign and tight control over the voting process allowed the Kremlin to strengthen its political dominance despite Russia's economic troubles and long-range Ukrainian drone attacks.

Nearly 60% of the 111 million eligible voters turned out in the three-day balloting, the most for a parliamentary election in more than a decade. Authorities had spread the voting over three days and allowed online voting in some regions to boost participation.

The parliamentary election was the first since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the first to include residents of four regions of that country that were seized and illegally annexed by Moscow later that year.

Voting also was held in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv denounced the voting in those regions as illegal.

Russia didn’t invite election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Election commission chief Ella Pamfilova said United Russia got 349 out of 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower chamber. It polled 58% of the ballot for the 225 seats apportioned by parties and also won 209 single-seat races that fill the other half of the chamber.

On Wednesday, Putin declared that the election results were a show of public support for his policies.

Several smaller parties representing the “systemic opposition” that vote in line with the Kremlin on all key issues won 97 seats, and the remaining four seats were filled by regional officials who ran without a party affiliation.

Pamfilova said 46 Ukraine war veterans were elected, including 41 from United Russia.

“The experience of our heroes is in demand; the voting results have clearly confirmed this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “They will make a maximum contribution to the shaping of various initiatives.”

The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared to publicly criticize the war, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court. It only had a few dozen candidates in the single-seat races and none of them won a seat.

Ahead of the campaign, some anti-war politicians were imprisoned or forced to flee abroad.

As the election commission announced the full results, Russian media reports said independent political analyst Alexander Kynev, who closely followed the campaign, had been arrested on drug charges, which he denied. He could face from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Earlier this year, Kynev has been designated as “foreign agent” by the Justice Ministry, a label that carries strong pejorative connotations in the country and brings additional government scrutiny.

The election took place against the backdrop of incessant Ukrainian drone attacks. Officials said air defenses downed over 1,100 Ukrainian drones, including 450 drones heading for Moscow on the final day of voting in what Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described as “the largest ever” attack on the capital. The attack, which damaged an oil refinery and a residential building, killed three people and injured 38 in the wider Moscow region, officials said.

Pamfilova said six poll workers were killed in Ukrainian attacks and 75 polling stations were damaged or destroyed by shelling.

The first session of the newly elected lower house has been set for Wednesday. Russian media reports said its speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, is expected to retain his position.

6) SeaWorld Howl-O-Scream

If you want a major Halloween event in Orlando, this one brings the big-budget scares.

• Where: SeaWorld Orlando
• When: Sept. 25 and 26 (select nights Sept. 11 through Oct. 31)
• • Gates open: 6:30 p.m.
  • Event starts: 7 p.m.
• What to know: Features five haunted houses, six scare zones, themed bars and entertainment, plus select SeaWorld rollercoasters operating during the event.
• Tickets: seaworld.com/orlando/events/howl-o-scream/

Check out my full Howl-O-Scream event guide here.

5) Nature Fest at Oakland Nature Preserve

A great daytime pick for families and anyone who wants fresh air with a side of Florida nature.

• Where: Oakland Nature Preserve, 747 Machete Trail, Oakland
• When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• What to know: Meet members of the environmental community, take part in animal interactions and guided hikes, and check out presentations celebrating Florida’s natural history, conservation and future.
• Cost: Donations are greatly appreciated.
• Full schedule: https://oaklandnaturepreserve.wildapricot.org/

4) Orlando Air Show

A bucket-list kind of day for aviation fans — and a rare chance to see multiple military demo teams in one show.

• Where: Orlando Sanford International Airport
• When: September 26 & 27
• • Gates open at 9 am on Saturday and Sunday.
  • The Flight Line Club and Corporate Chalets will open at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday
  • The aerial portion of the show runs from noon to approximately 4:00 pm.
• What to know: Headliners include the F-22 Raptor Demo Team and the U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet Demo Team, plus Navy SEALs Leap Frogs, the Racers Jet Team, and aerobatic pilots including Galen Killam and John Black.
• Tickets: Starting at $32
• Info/Tickets: https://air.show/cf-purchase-tickets/

3) SCREAM-A-GEDDON (Halloween horror park)

A road-trip-worthy haunted attraction with classic horror creatures and hangout spots.

• Where: Dade City, Florida
• When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday (running weekends through Nov. 1)
• • Park opens: 7 p.m.
• What to know: Haunted house attraction with zombies, demons and scary clowns, plus fire pits, food and drink. It’s recommended for adults and teens, but younger children may attend if parents choose to bring them.
• Tickets: Purchase online: https://screamageddon.com/

2) Chase Sanctuary animal experiences

A hands-on way to support rescue, rehabilitation and conservation — with experiences scheduled all weekend.

• Where: SE 122nd Blvd, Webster, FL 33597
• Cost: See booking pages for pricing and availability
• Details: https://www.chasesanctuary.org/

For more details and to see what it’s like at Chase Sanctuary, you can my full video here.

1) Jurassic Quest

A big, indoor, family-friendly road trip idea — one weekend only in Daytona Beach.

• Where: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach
• When: Sept. 25-27, 2026 (one weekend only)
• What to know: Three experiences included with admission: Jurassic Quest, Ancient Oceans, and the all-new Frozen Frontier. Families can see life-size dinosaurs from multiple time periods, plus live dinosaur shows, baby dinosaur encounters, dinosaur rides, fossil digs, inflatables, crafts and other kid-friendly activities.
• Tickets/Info: JurassicQuest.com

Bonus🎉

4Roots Farmers Market

If you’re staying closer to Orlando, this is an easy Saturday morning stop.

• Where: 4Roots Farm Campus
• When: Sept. 26, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• What to know: Farm-fresh produce, handcrafted goods, local vendors and artisans.

Lemesto Brand Launch Party

A crafty, community-forward night out with mini make-and-take stations — and a little sparkle encouraged.

• Where: Bookburn, 2425 E. South St., Orlando, FL 32803
• When: Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m.
• What to know: Lemesto is launching its new brand with micro-craft stations, a photobooth, giveaways and swag bags. Festive attire recommended, and spots are limited.
• Tickets: $10 (18+): https://lemesto.com/tickets/p/launchparty

Discussion

At 1100 AM CVT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Gonzalo was located near latitude 14.7 North, longitude 22.6 West. Gonzalo is moving toward the north-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h). This motion is expected to continue over the next several days, with a slower forward speed this weekend. On the forecast track, the center will pass near or over portions of the Cabo Verde Islands today and tonight.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Small intensity fluctuations are possible today, with a gradual weakening trend forecast to begin this weekend.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km) from the center. Sal International Airport recently reported a wind gust of 41 mph (66 km/h).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1002 mb (29.59 inches).

Watches and Warnings

CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

None.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for, * The Cabo Verde Islands

A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within 12 hours.

For storm information specific to your area, please monitor products issued by your national meteorological service.

Land Hazards

Key messages for Gonzalo can be found in the Tropical Cyclone Discussion under AWIPS header MIATCDAT2 and WMO header WTNT42 KNHC.

WIND: Tropical storm conditions are spreading over the Cabo Verde Islands and will continue through the day.

RAINFALL: Tropical Storm Gonzalo is expected to produce rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches (25 to 75 mm) across the eastern portions of the Cabo Verde Islands today and on Saturday with less than 1 inch anticipated for the western side of the island chain. Heavy rain along the coastal areas of Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, and Senegal will produce totals between 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm) with isolated higher amounts along the immediate coast.

SURF: Swells generated by the storm are expected to affect the Cabo Verde Islands through Saturday. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Please consult products from your local weather office.

The European Commission fined X late last year for breaches of the bloc’s landmark digital regulations, stoking tensions with Washington.

The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it had filed an application to support X's bid to have the case annulled at the European Union's General Court. It was the second time in three months that the Justice Department has intervened to defend a company owned by Musk.

In July, the Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in a civil rights lawsuit that alleges Musk’s xAI is illegally running dozens of natural gas turbines to power a $20 billion AI data center in Mississippi.

In that case, the NAACP and other groups said xAI failed to get a permit for its power plant — which is located near homes, schools and churches — creating health risks for families in North Mississippi and nearby Memphis and violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Trump and the world's richest businessman appeared to dial down a war of words that stunned Washington and Wall Street alike last year after Musk called Trump's tax breaks and spending cuts a “disgusting abomination.”

Musk on Thursday evening attended a state dinner held by Trump honoring China’s leader Xi Jinping, along with other tech titans.

The EU fine against X, which followed a two-year investigation, was the first penalty issued under the bloc's digital regulations governing online content. Regulators said X’s blue checkmarks broke the rules because they involved“deceptive design practices” and could expose users to scams and manipulation.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Friday that it is the EU’s “sovereign right” to draft legislation aimed at protecting its citizens.

“We are enforcing our legislation objectively, transparently and with a solid case,” he told reporters. “We are ready to defend our position in court. We have a lot of evidence at our disposal, and it will be for the court to decide as always.”

The commission is the top enforcer of the 27-nation EU's Digital Services Act, which requires tech companies to clean up their online platforms under threat of hefty financial penalties.

But the rulebook has become a flashpoint with the Trump administration, and U.S. officials have criticized it as amounting to online censorship.

The Justice Department warned that the fine, if upheld, “may have significant implications” for U.S. online platforms and other companies providing digital services in the EU.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in Thursday's statement that the "European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction,”

“We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth,” he said.

When asked whether the Justice Department had informed the commission that it intended to back Musk, Regnier said: “We do not need to be informed about anything.”

He said the commission doesn't expect the case to hurt broader relations between Brussels and Washington, notably in talks to mitigate the damage of Trump administration tariffs.

“From our perspective, nothing will change because of a DSA case,” he said.

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AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.

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This version corrects the day Regnier spoke to Friday instead of Thursday.

FRIDAY

Drier air continues to filter into Central Florida today, keeping rain chances lower than they have been.

Northerly winds will remain breezy, especially near the coast, with gusts up to 30 mph.

Highs will only reach the low to mid-80s, with much lower humidity helping keep heat indices mostly in the 80s.

Even more of a noticeable change comes overnight, with wake-up lows dipping into the mid-60s. This will be the first time since June that temperatures have fallen that low.

WEEKEND

The comfortable weather sticks around through the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday will feature mostly dry conditions, with rain chances staying below normal. Highs will remain in the low to mid-80s, while morning lows fall into the 60s.

Humidity will also stay noticeably lower, making for a much more comfortable weekend.

COASTAL HAZARDS

While the weather improves on land, beach conditions will remain dangerous.

A high risk of life-threatening rip currents and rough surf will continue at area beaches through the weekend. Large breaking waves of 4–8 feet and a long-period swell could also cause minor beach and dune erosion.

A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for Atlantic waters, with some areas likely remaining under the advisory through the weekend.

NEXT WEEK

Temperatures gradually return to more typical levels early next week, with highs climbing back into the mid to upper 80s.

Moisture also increases, bringing back higher rain and storm chances by Wednesday and Thursday.

The Czechs will face either Ukraine or two-time defending champion Italy in Sunday's final of the competition previously called Fed Cup.

Muchova, who lost to Noskova in the Wimbledon final, got Friday's semifinal started with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

The No. 6-ranked Noskova then defeated Cristina Bucsa 7-6 (5), 6-2 to seal the team victory for the 11-time champion Czechs.

The Italy-Ukraine semifinal is scheduled for Saturday.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

• Newly built homes are getting smaller as builders look for ways to address housing affordability.

• Smaller homes and smaller lots can reduce costs, but that doesn’t necessarily make the finished home affordable.

• First-time buyers are still struggling to find traditional starter homes at prices they can afford.

America’s new homes are shrinking.

If you haven’t noticed lately, since the pandemic, home prices have gone through the roof. In response, builders are trying to solve that affordability problem by squeezing more out of every square foot. And almost in lockstep, homeowners are increasingly treating outdoor spaces as extensions of their shrinking indoor living space.

Taken altogether, one would think reductions would make things more affordable, right?

C’mon now – this is Dollars & Sense and you know we don’t just tackle simple stories.

As builders cut back, shrinking both the homes and the lots they sit on, the final price of a new home is still out of reach for many Americans. And if that new home is supposed to be a starter home, can it still be called one if “starters” can’t afford it?

The incredible shrinking American home

For decades, the American home tended to get bigger. The trend peaked in the years following the Great Recession, when the typical newly built home grew to more than 2,400 square feet, but as of late, builders have started moving in the opposite direction.

The typical new single-family home held steady at about 2,300 square feet from 2019 through 2022. By 2025, it had shrunk to 2,155 square feet. That may not sound like a dramatic difference until you see what builders are up against.

In that same period from 2019 to 2025, the median household income has risen by 24% (good news), but median home prices have skyrocketed, up by 53% (not so good news). Those rising prices are also changing who gets to buy that first home – and when. In 1981, first-time buyers made up 44% of the market and their median age was 29. In 2025, first-time buyers accounted for just 21% of the market and their median age had climbed to a record 40 years old.

And it’s not just the house that’s shrinking – so is the land it’s built on.

In 2025, the median lot for a newly built single-family detached home was 8,543 square feet – less than one-fifth of an acre, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of new detached homes built on lots smaller than 9,000 square feet. Rewind roughly a quarter century to 1999, and only 46% of new homes were built on lots that small.

So, smaller lots, smaller homes, smaller prices?

Nope. And part of the reason is the simple economics of supply and demand. Buildable lots remain in short supply, and in 2025, 64% of single-family builders reported that the supply of lots in their markets was low or very low.

Smaller homes don’t cost that much less to build

When it comes to construction, not every square foot costs the same amount.

Let’s compare two homes that each have 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms: one is 1,700 square feet and the other 2,200 square feet. On paper, the difference in size is almost 23%. But just because one home is 23% smaller, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be 23% cheaper to build.

Both homes need a kitchen. Both also need plumbing, electrical service, HVAC, bathrooms, permits, utility connections, a driveway, etc. Removing 500 square feet doesn’t remove 23% of those costs – in fact, some of the most expensive rooms in a home are the ones you can’t easily eliminate. Kitchens and bathrooms require plumbing, electrical work, fixtures, cabinets, countertops, and appliances while a bedroom, hallway, or extra living space is comparatively simple: walls, flooring, electrical outlets, and perhaps a few windows.

In other words, builders can take square footage out of a house without taking an equivalent amount of cost out of it. Cutting 23% of the square footage doesn’t cut 23% of the construction cost.

Then there are costs that may have little or nothing to do with the size of the house. The land still has to be purchased. Utilities still have to be connected. Permits and impact fees still have to be paid. The land doesn’t care whether a 2,200-square-foot house or a 1,700-square-foot house sits on it. Same thing with utilities – both homes still need a water hookup, electrical service, and a sewer or septic connection. As for permits and impact fees, depending on where you build and the type of fee, some may decline as the house gets smaller while others are assessed per home.

Furthermore, the builder still has financing, insurance, overhead, marketing costs, and ultimately needs to make a profit.

So, shrinking a 2,200-square-foot home to 1,700 square feet may reduce the cost of building it – but don’t expect the construction cost to shrink by the same 23%. In fact, though the smaller house may be cheaper to build overall, it isn’t necessarily cheaper to build by the square foot.

Tall & skinny

There’s another way builders can squeeze more out of smaller lots: building up instead of out.

More than half of new single-family homes started in 2025 had at least two stories. In the South Atlantic region, which includes Florida, that number was 54%. The logic is pretty simple: spread 2,000 square feet across one floor and, ignoring the garage and other features, you’re looking at a footprint approaching 2,000 square feet. But stack the same amount of living space across two similarly sized floors and that footprint can be closer to 1,000 square feet.

Same amount of living space – much less ground underneath it.

That can allow builders to put homes on narrower lots, potentially fit more homes into a development, and spread the cost of expensive land across more houses. In the South Atlantic region, the median lot value for a single-family spec home started in 2025 was $50,000.

Building vertically can also create efficiencies in the house itself.

A 2,000-square-foot one-story home may require something approaching 2,000 square feet of foundation and roof coverage. Stack that living space across two floors and considerably less foundation and roof may be needed. But there are tradeoffs: a second story brings costs of its own. There are stairs, additional structural requirements, and more complicated construction, so taller doesn’t automatically mean cheaper.

And one last thing: Americans are living longer, and not everybody wants to grow old climbing stairs.

There’s a housing mismatch here, too. Many empty nesters are sitting in the larger homes where they raised their families and would like to downsize – but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want an apartment or a tiny house. They may still want a garage, a yard, room for visitors, and enough space to be comfortable. What they don’t necessarily need is all of the house they have now – or the stairs that come with it.

The problem: the smaller, reasonably priced, single-story homes those buyers might move into can be difficult to find. And here in the South Atlantic region, including Florida, most new single-family homes are still being built with two or more stories.

Whatever happened to the starter home?

When it comes to housing, there’s an important distinction between price and affordability. A builder can make a house less expensive than it otherwise would have been by shrinking it – without making the finished house affordable to a first-time buyer.

Because less expensive doesn’t necessarily mean affordable.

That’s where the traditional starter home is supposed to come in. It was never necessarily the biggest house, the newest house, or the house where you planned to spend the rest of your life. The starter home has always been the affordable way to get your foot in the door of homeownership.

As of late, that door has gotten considerably more expensive to open.

According to Realtor.com, the typical starter home now costs about $344,000, up from $256,000 in 2019. And there are roughly 300,000 fewer homes priced below $350,000 on the market than there were before the pandemic. Another sign of the times: in 2019, more than half of active listings – 55% – were below that price. Today, it’s about 38%.

But remember, price and affordability aren’t the same thing.

When you factor in today’s mortgage rates, that same Realtor.com article estimates a household needs an income of about $78,000 to afford the typical starter home. Seven years ago, that income was just $43,000. That’s an increase of more than 80%, while median household income increased about 28% over the same period.

There is a silver lining.

In certain regions, the starter-home market has actually improved since its 2022 low. The Realtor.com article notes the South has added nearly 170,000 sub-$350,000 listings since the trough, helped by construction in Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas. And believe it or not, prices are down. The regional starter-home threshold has fallen from about $323,000 in 2022 to $311,000 in 2026.

Told you it wasn’t all doom-and-gloom.

There’s also one more nugget buried in the Realtor.com article that’s particularly interesting when we’re talking about shrinking homes: since 2019, prices for two-bedroom homes rose 44.5% and three-bedroom homes rose 41%. That’s faster than the increases for four-bedroom homes (36.9%) and homes with five or more bedrooms (34%).

In other words, some of the smaller homes that would seem like natural starter homes have actually seen some of the biggest price increases. So, what happened to those smaller starter homes? They didn’t disappear the economics associated with those smaller homes changed.

Shop for the payment, not the square footage

So, we’ve given you the layout of how homes are shrinking, why smaller doesn’t necessarily mean affordable, and how the economics of starter homes have changed. At this point, if you are looking for that starter home, how do you find the one that’ll fit?

Dollars & Sense has you covered. If you’re a first-time buyer, here are some things to consider:

• Don’t automatically rule out new construction. Builders currently have substantial inventory and are using price cuts and incentives. In June, new-home supply was 9.4 months – firmly buyer-friendly territory. In fact, in June, the national median new-home sale price was about $398,300, versus $440,600 for existing homes.

• But shop existing homes, too. An older home may offer more house or more land for the money in a particular neighborhood, but you have to account for repairs, insurance, energy costs, and maintenance. The sticker price alone doesn’t tell you which is cheaper to own.

• Compare the monthly cost, not just the purchase price. Mortgage rate, insurance, property taxes, HOA/COA/CDD fees, maintenance, and builder incentives can completely change the equation. That’s particularly important now because Realtor.com’s starter-home analysis says the principal barrier for entry-level buyers is increasingly qualifying for the purchase, even where inventory has improved.

To wrap this up, decide what you can comfortably afford before deciding how much house you want. Why? Because builders have figured out plenty of ways to shrink the American house, but your mortgage payment isn’t necessarily one of them.

Just after 7 p.m. Thursday, deputies received a 911 call reporting a child found unresponsive in a pool on Tropical Palms Circle.

When deputies arrived, they immediately began performing CPR on the boy.

The child was transported to a local hospital before being airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando and is currently listed in critical condition.

The family, who were visiting from out of state, was at the location at the time of the incident, deputies said.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Leo spoke to reporters Friday on his way to France for a four-day visit. Asked by a CNN reporter about the Trump administration’s attempt to bar CNN and other reporters, Leo said the media was welcome on his plane.

“I am very happy that here, you are all welcome,” he said. Good media coverage is important, he said, and equally important "that we have it all the way around, for everyone”

CNN, MS NOW and Politico were back at the White House on Thursday after a judge handed them a reprieve from President Donald Trump's ban, but the extraordinary showdown between him and outlets whose coverage he dislikes continued.

On a high-profile day when Chinese leader Xi Jinping was visiting Washington and attending a state dinner, no major American network was airing live coverage, and both CNN and MS NOW said their journalists were denied access to Xi’s state dinner arrival.

The American pope has long affirmed the need for free and independent press, a point he made in one of his first audiences as pope. Speaking to journalists who covered the 2025 conclave that elected him, Leo called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press.”

That said, since the COVID-19 pandemic, independent media have been prevented from covering photo opportunities inside the pope's private studio when heads of state visit. Additionally, many of the pope's private audiences with other groups and individuals are closed to non-Vatican press.

Leo had opposed Trump on the war

Leo's airborne comments about Trump followed his April back-and-forth over the American president's criticism of his opposition to the Iran war. Leo's position won him points with some Parisans opposed to Trump's policies who came out in droves to celebrate the first official state visit by a pope in 18 years.

“He dared, at his level, to oppose the American president,” said retiree Thierry Marien, who lined up hours early to grab a spot on the popemobile route to Notre Dame cathedral, where Leo was to celebrate vespers later Friday. “Not because he is opposed to the American president but because he’s opposed to countries where we can see there’s a risk of their political systems becoming a bit more dictatorial and there are already enough of those in the world.”

“I appreciated that he did that. He could quite easily have said to himself, ‘In my situation, I won’t criticize any heads of state,'” he said.

Leo took further distance from the Trump administration policies later Friday by making a lengthy visit to UNESCO, the U.N. cultural and educational agency, from which the U.S. has withdrawn as part of its retreat from the international organization.

Leo, who has championed multilateral diplomacy, toured the UNESCO grounds inside and out, greeted its employees and received a guided tour of some of its art collections. He then delivered a speech on the values UNESCO espouses to promote peace through culture and education.

Leo apologizes to reporters

Also on the flight Friday, Leo also apologized for missing an opportunity to speak with the press the last time he traveled internationally, when his Iberia charter broke down in Spain's Canary Islands and he returned home solo on the king's private jet, skipping his traditional airborne press conference.

More than 70 reporters and the Vatican delegation waited for several hours at the airport for a replacement plane to arrive. Leo addressed the media's disappointment when he came to the back of the plane to greet reporters.

“A special mention I would like to make for those of you who were traveling with me when we returned to Rome from Spain,” he said. “I want to apologize personally for an incident, that I had nothing to do with, but which I know left a number of you unhappy with the fact that we couldn’t have the flight back together back to Rome.”

In other comments to reporters, Leo said he believed his alma mater Villanova would be the fan favorite when the Augustinian university plays the Catholic University of Notre Dame's basketball team in Rome on Nov. 1.

“They tell me that the people coming to the match, 90% are Villanova and 10% Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side,” Leo said.

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Associated Press writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

With his teammate Antonelli out of the running, Russell showed why Mercedes is such a big favorite at the Baku track as he went nearly a second faster than anyone else.

“When I crossed the line and I saw the gap. I was shocked. I knew the lap was was great,” Russell said.

Still, he added “you can't discount Kimi” for Saturday's race after Antonelli won from 19th on the grid at his home Italian Grand Prix this month. The 20-year-old Antonelli leads Russell by 81 points.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was .837 of a second off the pace in second and Oscar Piastri was third-fastest for McLaren, .001 further back. That was a big turnaround for Piastri after McLaren even resorted to using cable ties to hold together parts of the car's bodywork in a chaotic Friday practice.

“It’s been a little bit of a tricky one for us, but it’s not the first time this year," the Australian said. "I feel like we get to qualifying, we take all the fuel out and the car just comes alive more.”

Isack Hadjar was fourth for Red Bull on his return from injury and no one else got within a second of Russell on a disappointing day for McLaren's Lando Norris in fifth, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in sixth and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in eighth.

It's the first pole for Russell since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, which was also his last win. The long straight at Baku favors Mercedes' engine and car design.

Antonelli is set to start Saturday's race in 16th place on the grid after he clipped the wall and damaged a wheel and suspension in the first part of qualifying. He tried to get back to the pits but the team told him to stop because there was too much damage.

The Mercedes driver's previous lap time was enough to reach the second part of qualifying but he was unable to continue.

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The nine-city iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour will visit: Dallas/Fort Worth; Los Angeles; Chicago; Detroit; New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and, for the first time, Nashville, Tennessee. The lineup will change depending on the city.

The tour will kick off at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 1 with Katseye, Raye, Ludacris, Myles Smith, Tove Lo, Kylie Cantrall, The Beaches and JYT.

Los Angeles is next with Rodrigo's only appearance on this tour Dec. 4; then Chicago led by Raye on Dec. 7; Detroit led by Warren on Dec. 8; Boston with Duff and Sombr on Dec. 13; Washington, D.C., with Jonas Brothers and Sombr on Dec. 14; Philadelphia with Puth and Sombr on Dec. 15; and Nashville with Duff and Warren on Dec. 17.

The Jingle Ball concert was first introduced in 1996 at Madison Square Garden by New York radio station Z100 and has since become a multicity tour and an annual tradition.

This year, the Dec. 11 Madison Square Garden concert will feature Duff, Sombr, Warren, Puth, Swims, Spiro, Tomorrow X Together & Yeonjun, Stella Lefty and Freya Skye with special guest performances from Bella Kay and The Beaches.

A presale for Capital One cardholders will begin Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. local time and end Oct. 1 or while supplies last. Tickets for the general public from Ticketmaster will go on sale Oct. 2.

The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour stops will be part of a nationwide television special as well, airing on ABC in December. It will be available on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.

Egler, now 18, was 16 when police say she killed Kelley McCollom, 38, and Matthew Szejnrok, 22, along Benchor Road.

Egler called 911 just after midnight, acting hysterical and claiming an intruder had broken into the home, police said. Officers arrived to find McCollom and Szejnrok dead.

Investigators said the crime scene quickly raised questions about Egler’s story. Inside the home, detectives found bloody footprints matching Egler’s shoes, among other evidence inconsistent with her initial account.

Police said Egler told officers she had hidden in her room with her dog while an unidentified burglar ransacked the home.

After being read her Miranda rights, Egler confessed, according to the arrest report.

Investigators said Egler broke into McCollom’s bedroom while her mother was away, then waited for the victims to return home. When they arrived in the kitchen, Egler greeted them with a gun in her hand and a knife in her pocket, police said.

According to the arrest report, Egler told police she said “Welcome home” before opening fire, shooting both victims multiple times. She then stabbed Szejnrok after running out of ammunition, the report states.

Police said Egler used a .38-caliber revolver and a chef’s knife — both taken from her mother’s bedroom.

Investigators said the motive involved ongoing conflicts with her mother, including McCollom’s disapproval of Egler’s gender transition and Egler’s own disapproval of her mother’s relationship with the 22-year-old Szejnrok, police said.

The case drew national attention, in part, because of Egler’s interrogation video, which was released publicly.

The defense argued detectives improperly persuaded the teenager to waive her rights by telling her she would not face the same consequences in juvenile court.

Former public defender Katie Rallo weighed in on the release of the interrogation footage.

“Absolutely, these videos, I don’t personally think should have been released, at all,” Rallo said.

Defense attorneys asked the judge to consider dismissing the case, prosecuting Egler as a juvenile, or keeping the interrogation videos away from the jury. A Brevard County grand jury indicted Egler on two counts of first-degree murder.

Rather than face trial, Egler is expected to enter a plea agreement on Friday.

Zelenskyy told reporters he has not yet received feedback from the White House about Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping but expects to learn the outcome.

Zelenskyy, who is keen to muster more international support for Ukraine’s defense, was in the United States this week on a trip coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly. He met with Trump on Tuesday.

NATO countries have called China a “decisive enabler” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Zelenskyy shared more details of his U.S. trip in voice messages to a group of journalists.

Here’s what Zelenskyy also said:

Zelenskyy says the US wants initial technical talks

Washington is pushing for a three-way meeting involving delegations from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia, with officials holding technical talks in that format without the countries' leaders, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine is waiting for the U.S. to propose a date for those meetings, he said, adding that American officials suggested the United Arab Emirates as the location for these talks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Putin and Trump during their call earlier this month discussed holding such a meeting in the near future. “As of now, I can’t give you any specifics,” Peskov said.

Representatives from the three countries held three rounds of trilateral negotiations early this year, twice in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and once in Geneva, but the talks achieved no significant breakthroughs.

US passed hefty sanctions on Russia

Zelenskyy met with U.S. senators and Congress members during his U.S. trip and said he thanked them for their bipartisan support in passing a powerful sanctions bill aimed at Moscow last month. Trump signed the bill into law last week but hasn’t enacted the measures yet.

Sanctions are key in forcing Putin to the negotiating table, Zelenskyy said, adding that he hoped Trump would implement the measures.

“The sanctions are indeed strong ... all of this is now in the hands of the president of the United States. He can use this tool to pressure the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy says he got Trump's OK for Patriot licenses

The Ukrainian leader said Trump confirmed he had made a final decision that Kyiv would get licenses to produce Patriot air defense systems.

Ukraine is desperate for more of the American-made air defense systems that are needed to stop Russia’s ballistic missiles, but they have been in short supply since the war in Iran started on Feb. 28.

Trump had said in July that he would allow Ukraine to make its own Patriots but later appeared to be reconsidering the move.

Countries urge free flow of food through Black Sea

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food that developing nations rely on. However, wartime attacks on cargo vessels in the Black Sea have choked that supply route, raising fears of shortages.

Zelenskyy said he held separate talks in the U.S. with the leaders of India, Turkey, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, that want unimpeded Black Sea shipping routes. He added that these leaders were also due to speak to Russian officials.

Kyiv wants Moscow to accept a Black Sea ceasefire that would allow full deliveries to resume, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine needs more money

Zelenskyy said he also spoke in the U.S. with the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission about plugging Ukraine’s budget deficit as its finances are strained by wartime expenses and drops in production. Russia's economy is also hurting.

The European Union will extend its financial aid for Ukraine, and the IMF will continue its financial support programs, he said.

Most of the funding gap relates specifically to weapons purchases, Zelenskyy said, and future financing for Ukraine could come in the form of deals for sharing technology and joint drone production. Ukraine is a world leader in military drones.

A boy is killed in a Kyiv strike as Russia also reports civilian casualties

Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine overnight and into Friday killed five people and wounded 11, officials said, while Russian authorities reported one dead and 21 wounded in Ukrainian long-range strikes.

Zelenskyy said eight Ukrainian regions came under attack. Russia kept up its relentless round-the-clock attacks on the Ukrainian capital, hitting an office block where four people were killed, Zelenskyy said. A 14-year-old boy was also killed in a Kyiv apartment building strike and at least seven residents were injured, according to officials.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces hit a missile engine depot near Kyiv, among other targets.

Ukraine hit two refineries as part of its sustained campaign to damage Russia’s economy, Zelenskyy said.

Unconfirmed Russian media reports said Ukrainian drones also struck a Russian military electronics plant and a synthetic rubber producer.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Katalyst Space Technologies announced the demise of its three-armed spacecraft named Link. It reentered the atmosphere overnight, bringing the $30 million, NASA-sponsored salvage effort of the Swift Observatory to a close.

Swift is expected to follow in early November as its orbit steadily sinks.

“While we’ll be sad to see Swift’s mission come to a close, we knew this boost effort would be worthwhile either way,” NASA’s Shawn Domagal-Goldman said in a statement.

It provided valuable practice for future satellite-rescue missions and pushed teams to rush against the clock like never before, Domagal-Goldman added.

Thrown together in under a year, Link was supposed to capture the 22-year-old Swift and then boost it to a higher, longer-lasting orbit so it could keep observing some of the biggest explosions in the universe. The sun’s intense flare-ups had put the telescope on a downward spiral faster than engineers anticipated.

To buy time, NASA suspended observations early this year and repositioned Swift to minimize the atmosphere’s downward drag. Otherwise, the telescope would have come down before help could arrive, according to managers.

Link launched on July 3, but quickly ran into electronic problems that took out two of the three reaction wheels needed to turn the spacecraft. Then a bad valve sent the satellite into a fast spin that disrupted communication. Engineers regained control, but Link didn’t have enough fuel left to carry out its job and the rescue effort was called off in August.

Katalyst used the few weeks remaining to practice moving Link’s robot arms, each about 3 feet (1 meter) in length with a handlike gripper on the end. Flight controllers even managed to guide the spacecraft to within 7 miles to 9 miles (12 kilometers to 15 kilometers) of Swift, close enough to snap pictures.

“We knew from the beginning that this was an ambitious mission on an aggressive timeline,” Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said in a statement.

Lee said the company will carry all the lessons learned to its future satellite-recovery endeavors. “This is a foundation we can build on," he added.

Swift is back to scanning the universe in the month or so that it has left.

Launched in 2004, the $364 million observatory is designed to pivot quickly — as its name suggests — to capture gamma ray bursts, exploding stars and other fast-breaking cosmic action. That ability allows Swift to serve as a lookout or first responder for other telescopes that can follow its lead. NASA is scrambling to see how it now will fill that gap.

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

Some told The Associated Press that internet service was disrupted across parts of northern Ethiopia, and roads connecting the northernmost region of Tigray with the neighboring region of Afar had been closed to civilian traffic.

“There is an atmosphere of fear,” said Selam Fantay, who sells garlic in the market in the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle. “People are deeply concerned that the suspension of transport services signals the outbreak of renewed conflict.”

The AP could not independently verify the reported closures.

Hailay Meles, a businessman in Mekelle, said he was worried that the disruption of transport links could increase the cost of essential goods. “As long as this conflict persists, it will continue to drive up the prices of basic commodities,” Meles said.

Valerie Browning, a co-founder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, a humanitarian group, said many people were fleeing Tigray into Afar. She said explosions were heard overnight.

She said that “too many people are being displaced. Our vehicles, including our ambulances are being taken from us by the government for use (in) the war.”

Federal troops and opposition fighters trade blame for violating peace deal

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war in Tigray, the epicenter of renewed hostilities between federal troops and fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

The TPLF is an armed political group based in Tigray, and for years it was the dominant party in a coalition that ruled Ethiopia between 1991 and 2018. It has been outlawed by Abiy's government.

After the November 2022 peace agreement between the TPLF and federal authorities, a caretaker administration reporting to Abiy took charge in Mekelle. But tensions remained, and in May caretaker leader Tadesse Werede was removed and replaced with a TPLF leader who led Tigrayans in the 2020-2022 war.

Both sides accuse each other of violating the peace agreement. In recent months, Ethiopian federal authorities accused the TPLF of seeking to build an alliance with neighboring Eritrea to destabilize Ethiopia. The TPLF accused Ethiopian authorities of conducting drone attacks in Tigray.

Neighboring Eritrea, whose soldiers fought alongside Ethiopian troops in the previous Tigray conflict, said it was alarmed by Abiy’s repeated assertions of his wish for sovereign access to the Red Sea via Eritrea.

Ethiopia’s military said Thursday that dozens of TPLF fighters had been killed in ongoing operations. It said other fighters were detained and that federal forces have seized weapons.

Opposition groups have joined hands to try to remove prime minister

Air travel into the region was suspended this week after fighters loyal to the TPLF seized Mekelle’s airport from federal police. Ethiopian Airlines canceled flights to and from the region.

Fighting erupted days after seven opposition groups said they were banding together in a coalition in a bid to remove the recently reelected Prosperity Party government of Abiy.

Magnus Taylor, an analyst with International Crisis Group, said the new alliance combines political opposition to Abiy with military coordination among armed groups operating in different parts of Ethiopia.

The alliance “is a combination of a political alliance based around mutual antipathy to Abiy Ahmed’s government and also a kind of opportunistic military alliance intended to threaten the Ethiopian military in the areas where the groups operate,” Taylor said.

In addition to the TPLF, the coalition’s other prominent members include the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army.

Taylor pointed out that coordinated campaigns could open several fronts against the federal government.

“I think there is a real risk that the fighting could spread around the country,” he said, adding that the opposition alliance meant different armed groups can coordinate to “develop campaigns against the federal government in parallel to each other.”

___ Associated Press journalist Desmond Tiro contributed from Nairobi, Kenya.

His time was just 1.30 seconds off the world record held by Lukas Martens of Germany (3:39.98).

Zhang also won the 1,500, 800 and 200 free and added gold in three relays.

He celebrated at poolside by sitting on the lane divider and counting the golds with his fingers.

China claims a record gold haul in the meet

The Chinese won a record 30 gold medals — and 54 overall — during the six days of swimming at these Asian Games and surpassed the 28 gold medals they won three years ago in Hangzhou.

Japan was right there in many races, winning seven gold and 37 medals overall — also better than their totals three years ago.

Japan's 17-year-old Shin Ohashi set the only world record of the games, taking the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday in 2:04.83. Ohashi obliterated the old mark of 2:05.48 set by China’s Qin Haiyang in 2023 at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

China's 13-year-old Yu Zidi was the most talked about swimmer heading into the Asian Games. She did not disappoint, winning the 200 butterfly, and the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

Her time in the 200 IM was 2:06.10, just off the world mark held by Canadian Summer McIntosh (2:05.70).

Yu’s times are still a bit off McIntosh’s standard in all three events. But she is a legitimate threat at next year’s world championships and the 2028 Olympics where, of course, other swim powers like Australia and United States will be present.

China won gold medals in five of the seven races on Friday, just as dominant as it was all week.

Zhang Yufei won the women's 50 fly in 25.41 with teammate Wu Qingfeng taking silver. China's Qin Haiyang took the 50 breaststroke (26.68) with Ohashi — the record-setter on Thursday — settling for bronze.

Other Chinese winners were Li Bingjie in the 800 free (8:24.02), Zhang Zhanshuo in the 400 free (3:41.28), and the women's 4x100 medley relay (3:54.55).

Japan's Kodai Nishiono won the men's 200 backstroke (1:56.42), and Taiwan's Wang Kuan-hung claimed the 200 fly (1:55.05).

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See full AP coverage of Asian sports here

Israel wants the agency known as UNRWA out of Gaza and has repeatedly accused it of being infiltrated by Hamas militants, allegations the International Court of Justice says have not been substantiated. And yet UNRWA remains the territory’s largest aid provider, playing a key role in health and education.

Philippe Lazzarini, who led UNRWA until earlier this year, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview — his first since stepping down — that members of the Palestinian technocratic committee want to work with the agency. Another U.N. official shared minutes from meetings where UNRWA and the committee discussed collaborating on plans for Gaza.

A Board of Peace official confirmed that board members had met multiple times with UNRWA officials.

And while the agency’s days are over, its programs “may persist if they are serving Gazans well,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Israel's Foreign Ministry did not comment.

UNRWA has more workers in Gaza than anyone else

There’s been no reconstruction in Gaza, almost a year since the ceasefire. Israel still prevents the entry of the Palestinian committee chosen by the Board of Peace to eventually govern the strip, saying Hamas must first disarm. The committee says it needs to be inside the strip to activate Gaza plans.

That's left UNRWA on the ground in Gaza, with far more workers than any other U.N. agency or nongovernmental organization. While Israel’s attacks on the agency neutered its role coordinating aid entry and distribution in Gaza, UNRWA’s core programs have remained.

“They want to get rid of the agency, but on the other hand they know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further ... devastating impact on the population,” Lazzarini said.

UNRWA props up about half of Gaza’s public health system, said Lazzarini, whose last working day was March 31.

It still has around 11,000 Palestinian employees in Gaza. They conduct about 14,000 medical appointments daily, maintain water and waste management systems for over a million Palestinians, run digital literacy and math programs for over 280,000 children and staff temporary learning spaces for 60,000 more, UNRWA says.

UNRWA makes sure aid reaches people, Lazzarini said. “If you want the vaccine to end up in the mouths of the children, you still need the workforce, the presence of an agency like ours.”

UNRWA was told it's vital in planning Gaza's future

Publicly, the agency has not been included in the Board of Peace’s planning for Gaza. At the board's briefing to the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, officials named various U.N. agencies as partners, but not UNRWA.

However, behind the scenes, the Palestinian committee that will eventually govern Gaza acknowledged that UNRWA is necessary for planning, Lazzarini said.

Two senior U.N. officials and the board official told the AP the board had met multiple times with UNRWA since the ceasefire was signed.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, confirmed at least three meetings between UNRWA officials and the Palestinian committee this year, most recently this month. Two took place during Lazzarini’s tenure.

Shortly before the end of his tenure, Lazzarini said, he spoke to Ali Shaath, who leads the Palestinian committee.

“Basically, he said, ‘I don’t know how I can succeed without you’,” Lazzarini said. Shaath and a spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

An internal U.N. description of a Jan. 26 meeting in Cairo, held without UNRWA, said Shaath praised the agency, showed a clear intention to see it back on track and said the Palestinian committee's system would largely build on its work.

The Tony Blair Institute, a Board of Peace partner, also asked for UNRWA’s help and spoke to UNRWA personnel, one senior U.N. official said. In response, the institute said it works with multiple U.N. agencies and NGOs in Gaza "to understand the situation on the ground, the needs of the population and the practical requirements for improving conditions.”

At a pledging conference for UNRWA on June 30, the agency's current acting chief, Christian Saunders, called it “vital” to efforts by the board to move forward with the ceasefire.

But the Board of Peace official painted a different picture, saying the meetings focused on determining how UNRWA’s operations work in order to develop programs that are “far more efficient and accountable.”

“UNRWA’s days are over,” the official said. Still, its employees ”will remain if they pass vetting and are delivering on their mandate and not advancing ideology or Hamas interests.”

Lazzarini said it's an “absurd contradiction" — the Board of Peace says UNRWA is not wanted while U.N. member countries “expect it to deliver.”

“We continue to emphasize that UNRWA is indispensable,” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told journalists Thursday, after over 50 countries attended a ministerial meeting on the agency at U.N. headquarters.

Lazzarini says he has faced personal attacks

UNRWA was established to help Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.

In January 2024, Israel claimed, without providing evidence, that hundreds of Palestinian militants worked for the agency and over a dozen employees took part in the Oct. 7 attack.

Lazzarini said that he was never given written evidence to back up the allegations despite asking Israel and UN member states, but that he doesn't regret his decision to fire the employees accused of taking part in the attack.

“I did because it was in the best interest of the agency and the population we were helping," Lazzarini said, adding that he has faced “extraordinary vicious, heinous attacks on social media” as well as being accosted in the streets, "in Geneva and in New York” and shouted at by "pro-Israeli groups.”

In his two-hour interview with the AP, he shared recollections from the Gaza war.

He remembered how Palestinians released from Israeli detention told his staff they'd worn diapers in detention and had spent days sitting in their own excrement. He remembered how a displaced father — staying in a school courtyard with four kids — slept with shoes at his head, in case they needed to evacuate from bombardment.

His book, “A Witness to Gaza: What Cannot Be Erased,” will be published in French in October, with an English version to follow.

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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s inaction on the mFlusiva vaccine marks a break in longstanding practice. It’s also an example of how the agency’s vaccine review-and-recommendation process has been blown up in the past year, grinding decision-making to a halt.

Efforts by vaccine-wary officials in President Donald Trump's administration to scale back shot recommendations have been put on hold. Federal guidance on new vaccines has stopped. And public discussion of vaccine policy questions that might cross political divides — including whether there’s solid evidence to justify giving fewer shots to kids — has diminished.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s crusade to upend vaccine policy and the legal action opposing it have disrupted longstanding systems that deliver crucial health guidance to Americans, affecting whether people are getting the best available protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.

“We find ourselves at a point where even if credible evidence (for a new vaccine policy) has reached a tipping point, we don’t have an obvious mechanism that can formalize that change,” said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher who studies government health agencies.

Many in the medical field praised a court ruling that halted Kennedy’s changes

For 60 years, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices guided the CDC’s vaccine recommendations. The committee met publicly, reviewed vaccine data and sought input from various health groups. The panel voted on recommendations that went to the CDC director, who almost always adopted them as the government’s guidance, leading public and private insurers to pay for the shots.

Trump, a Republican, appointed Kennedy to oversee federal health agencies, including the CDC. Kennedy last year dismissed the committee and replaced it with a group that included several anti-vaccine voices. Controversial decisions followed, leading to a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups.

In March, a federal judge said Kennedy likely violated federal procedures, stopped Kennedy’s panel from holding further meetings and suspended Kennedy’s decision to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children.

Many in the medical and public health communities celebrated the decision and took the order as a respite from what they saw as the Trump administration’s assault on vaccines.

Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians, said he hoped “it will mean a return to a transparent and evidence-driven process that safeguards the health of all communities and the best interests of our patients.”

In reality, the process stalled and splintered

With Kennedy’s committee shut down by the court order, doctors’ groups that used to collaborate with the ACIP have gone their own way. Working with a University of Minnesota researcher, they have debated — not publicly — the kind of medical evidence formerly presented at ACIP meetings and issued their own recommendations.

The trade association for private health insurers decided to heed the medical societies’ choices, and the insurers have continued to pay for shots recommended by those organizations.

Many of the groups’ recommendations match prior ones made by ACIP and the CDC before Kennedy’s arrival. But they also made their own updates.

For example, ACIP previously recommended that a new shot be given to women late in pregnancy: a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which can be dangerous to newborns. The government panel recommended that the vaccine be given between September and January in most of the U.S., to coincide with the time of year when RSV infections are most common.

But RSV season sometimes remains active longer. For that reason, the medical groups recently said the shot should be offered to those women through the beginning of March.

“We all recognized this needs to evolve,” Chris Regal, director of clinical innovation at America’s Health Insurance Plans, the health insurance trade association, said in a recent webinar.

The official CDC guidance remains unchanged.

Unanswered vaccine issues are piling up

The mFlusiva flu shot is another example of the unusual way vaccine policy updates have stalled.

The shot is the first flu vaccine made with the mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy has criticized mRNA vaccines and last year canceled contracts for the development of new ones. The shots also took a tortuous path through the FDA, which finally granted full approval in people ages 50 to 64.

But the CDC this month quietly posted that it has decided to maintain its flu vaccine endorsements from last year due to “legal uncertainties and inquiries.” That means mFlusiva is not among the listed flu vaccines recommended to the public this fall.

The medical societies are recommending it as an option, however.

Another ACIP function was to vote on whether certain vaccines should be covered by Vaccines for Children, a government program that pays for shots for children who have no health insurance.

The FDA approved updated COVID-19 vaccines, but as the summer dragged on — and fall vaccination campaigns got underway — the government would not say if the VFC program will pay for those shots. It was only this week that officials confirmed orders could be placed through that program.

HPV vaccine reassessment is derailed

Another question concerns the HPV vaccine, given to preteens to prevent certain cancers.

Two HPV shots are recommended, but some recent research has suggested that perhaps one shot could be enough — at least for girls. Indeed, in 2024 the ACIP formed a working group to begin a reassessment of the recommendations.

That work was derailed when Kennedy fired the entire committee. In January, he decided on his own to order that the number of recommended doses be reduced to one as part of a dramatic contraction of the childhood vaccination schedule. His decision was suspended by the judge’s order.

Experts are trying to better understand the timing and the duration of protection from just one dose, particularly in boys. The American Academy of Pediatrics is weighing a change to its HPV vaccination recommendations and could reach a conclusion later this year, said the AAP’s Dr. James Campbell.

It’s possible that the medical societies will end up agreeing with Kennedy on just how many HPV shots make sense. But that might not necessarily clear up the current mess, Schwartz said.

“The credibility of the Trump administration, when it comes to vaccine recommendations, is so compromised in the eyes of the mainstream medical and public health communities,” he said, “that even recommendations that might align with where the public health community was trending are likely to be viewed with skepticism or distrust.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering changing the federal government's categories for vaccine recommendations, although a specific proposal has not been released and a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson did not respond to questions about what is being contemplated. Public comments were due earlier this week.

An alliance of 15 Democratic state governors said the proposed changes are likely to increase confusion and administrative complexity.

“It’s Governors and their residents who bear the brunt of any increased disease outbreaks due to confusion related to hastily made federal changes,” Angela Botticella, managing director of the Governors Public Health Alliance, said in a statement.

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The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and 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.

Officers responded just before 10 p.m. to the area of Poplar Avenue and West 10th Street, where a group had gathered in the street for a celebration of life honoring Zi’Erric Wynn, a Seminole High School senior who died in a crash 6 years earlier.

According to a heavily redacted police report, a witness told officers that multiple people got out of a car and opened fire — and that at least one person carried what was described as a “long gun.” Police arrived within minutes and secured the scene.

Of the eight victims, five have been treated and released from the hospital. Three remain hospitalized — two in critical condition and one in stable condition.

Police seek public help identifying drivers

Investigators are looking for two BMW 530I Series 4-door sedans — one black, one white — described as newer model vehicles.

Sanford Police Public Information Officer Bianca Gillette said witnesses saw both vehicles circling the gathering before the shooting.

“A number of witnesses had observed two vehicles traveling around the radius of the celebration of life gathering, on the roads, some of them were driving recklessly,” Bianca Gillette said.

Police are not asking the public to locate the vehicles — they are already in custody. Instead, investigators are asking anyone who attended the gathering to search their photos and video for images of the two BMWs.

“We’re not asking people to locate those vehicles, we have those vehicles in custody,” Bianca Gillette said. “What we are looking for are any video or picture images that were captured of these vehicles in this area prior to the incident.”

No arrests made; motive unknown

No arrests have been made. The motive for the shooting remains unknown.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sanford Police Department or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted through Crimeline’s website. All calls to Crimeline remain anonymous.

Nonprofits, foundations and corporations pack Manhattan ballrooms and closed-door meetings each September to direct some sliver of the world's attention — and funding — to their missions. Timed annually to the U.N. General Assembly's high-level meetings, the scramble is even more urgent after recent sharp declines in funding sent by some of the richest countries to poorer ones.

Across the many conferences, forums and roundtables, the week exposed the gulf between the biggest aid organizations, who have the money and connections to weather this period of public aid retrenchment, and others grappling with their role in the changing landscape for humanitarian funding.

Big movers still made big pledges. The Gates Foundation touted its $1 billion commitment to AI-powered tools for farmers, educators and health workers. Bill Clinton called on Clinton Global Initiative attendees to “step into the void created by retreating governments."

There, former USAID administrator Samantha Power highlighted the ways her coalition to end childhood lead poisoning adapted when U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration dismantled her former agency, USAID.

“Philanthropies took risks. Governments took ownership. Multilateral institutions invested and the coalition kept moving," Power, a Harvard professor, said Wednesday at CGI. "That is the story of optimism I want to leave you with today."

Other mid-sized actors described a mixed mood. Major foundations are still in “soul-searching mode,” according to Global Fund for Children co-CEO John Hecklinger. His fund serves as an intermediary between well-endowed foundations and more grassroots nonprofits. Funders, he finds, understandably can't fill every gap but are also hesitant to maintain the previous status quo.

“There’s not this forced, strategic approach. The vision is disjointed,” said Ann Lee, the co-founder and CEO of Community Organized Relief Effort. “It’s very, very sort of ad hoc.”

Nonprofits turn to new donor countries

Still, the U.N. sidelines brought out new nonprofits and funders eager for impact. Eleanor Crook Foundation CEO William Moore spent the week garnering support for his fledgling nonprofit to eradicate child deaths from acute malnutrition.

Operation End Starvation launched this summer with a $100 million, two-year commitment from the U.S. State Department. But Moore anticipates needing 17 times more every year to purchase enough therapeutic foods such as peanut butter paste and get them into starving children's mouths. On Wednesday, OES announced a $5 million grant from the Gates Foundation.

The goal is to eventually become for malnutrition what vaccines alliance Gavi is for immunizations or what The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is for the deadliest infections. His pitch: OES will pay for overhead and match one-third of government money through philanthropy if countries cover the costs of the foods and delivery.

Moore noted one lunch he had scheduled with Nigeria's health minister — part of a sector-wide shift to partner with the high-burden countries where aid organizations work.

“They've said, ‘We’re ready for this. We're ready to take on this additional responsibility. We want to own the systems that are needed to improve the livelihoods of our people,'" Moore said. "We're really excited as philanthropy also to be of service to that.”

Moore's nonprofit is among a growing number turning to Arab Gulf nations. Moore said Operation End Starvation is having good conversations with official state donor entities and the philanthropies affiliated with their royal families.

The region's leaders have recognized a need “to fund and to bridge the gap” created by aid cuts, according to Hammam bin Nasser bin Juraied, executive director of the Arab Gulf Programme for Development.

An ‘openness to collaboration’

Other aid groups are working more closely with local partners in hopes of reducing overhead costs and increasing their impact.

Education Cannot Wait Director Maysa Jalbout, whose nonprofit lost funding from the Trump administration, said they've committed to delivering at least half their funds through local organizations.

She's trying to raise $600 million to provide education for 10 million crisis-affected children by 2030. She's actually continued to see support from Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. She found herself speaking more than usual this week with philanthropies and the private sector about their “collective responsibility” to meet the increased demand for aid. That includes new partners to provide meals, water and electricity in schools.

“There is this level of, at least on our part, openness to collaboration that comes out of need that maybe we haven't seen before,” Jalbout said.

Other leaders saw a greater presence from family offices — the private advisers who manage the affluent's wealth. Agnes Dasewicz, chief investment and program officer at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, said she encountered many family office advisers at a breakfast organized by an informal network of women in climate.

Their presence underscores what Dasewicz said is a growing number of individuals who want their personal wealth to have world influence but don't want the publicity or responsibility of a major foundation. Family offices can act much more flexibly. But they can be harder to find.

“You go talk to them and it turns out they gave out $200 million in grants last year. And you’ve never heard of them,” she said. “But they’re out there. And they’re very interested really in bettering the livelihoods of people in other countries.”

An appearance from a Buffett

Even Howard G. Buffett, the eldest son of mega-billionaire investor Warren Buffett and one of three children tasked with giving away their father's fortune after his death, ditched his private family farm for Midtown Manhattan this year.

He was motivated by what he saw as lagging support for Ukraine. Howard, who recently became Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman, said Thursday at a forum hosted by the news organization Devex that “you cannot come to this week in New York without making Ukraine one of the highest priorities” of discussion.

His foundation, which doubled its spending when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, has given the country $1.4 billion. The World Bank estimates the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine at almost $588 billion — or nearly three times the country's gross domestic product — over the next decade.

From grocery stores to mail delivery, Howard said, there are needs in Ukraine that American companies should invest in. His foundation pledged to finance the rebuilding of a Kharkiv-based publishing house destroyed by Russian missiles. An attack on the maker of children's books and educational materials, he said, is “how you destroy a society.”

It's “amazing” to Howard that he hasn't been joined by more U.S. foundations focused on democracy. “Ukraine is the fight today that is telling the world whether we have the wherewithal to protect those values,” he said.

He also hinted at how his foundation might give away some of his father's hundreds of billions of dollars. They'll have to take more risks, he said, while also finding some recipients prepared to absorb $500 million donations at a time.

“I couldn’t imagine not continuing funding in Ukraine for a lot of years," he added.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The Florida Department of Health has issued a mosquito-borne illness alert or advisory for several counties. In response, Mosquito Control officials are conducting enhanced surveillance and targeted control measures to reduce the chances of spreading the illness.

While no confirmed cases of dengue fever have been reported in Seminole County, at least three cases have been announced in neighboring Orange County.

Florida has seen a surge in dengue cases this summer, particularly locally acquired cases. According to the latest Florida Arbovirus Surveillance report, which tracks mosquito-borne illnesses, the state recorded 152 locally acquired cases. The vast majority are in the Tampa Bay area, with 134 cases in Hillsborough County alone.

In Seminole County, Mosquito Control has been monitoring, treating and addressing requests from residents. As of Sept. 24, 178 service requests have been submitted and more than 32,000 acres have been fogged.

Earlier this year, Seminole County announced it adopted new technology that uses artificial intelligence to quickly identify mosquitoes and determine options for treatment. More than 20,000 mosquitoes were collected in traps last week, and crews have been fogging nightly while applying larvicide during the day.

To protect against mosquitoes, residents are urged to drain standing water around their homes and use EPA-registered mosquito repellent when outdoors. Seminole County residents who need assistance can call 407-665-5542 or submit a service request by clicking here.

Trump’s rare welcome of Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the airport, as well as the bilateral and cultural events the leaders attended were closely covered — and praised — by Chinese state media. Those who watched at home saw a China elevated in status.

“I read the news that the U.S. reception standards for President Xi are very high,” Xiang Ziyu, a postgraduate student in Beijing, told The Associated Press. “I’m quite impressed because it shows that our country has become really powerful.”

That takeaway was shared by several people interviewed by the AP as well as in comments on Chinese social media, which praised China's cooperation with the United States.

The official People’s Daily newspaper allocated the entire front page to the trip, featuring six photos of the Xi-Trump meetings.

Meanwhile, on the Chinese search engine Baidu, the three most popular search topics on Friday were the talks between Trump and Xi; the state dinner attended by Xi and Peng; and greetings extended by Xi to Chinese people on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival being celebrated on Friday.

Shen Zuohang, a Beijing resident, felt reassured by the coverage and by Trump and Xi’s seeming agreeability on topics like trade, artificial intelligence and security.

“We have no trade war and no military conflict. Even on the issue of Taiwan we are moving in a good direction instead of having heated confrontation,” Shen said.

“The two sides are handling issues in a more acquiescent way.”

According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi called on Trump to oppose the independence of Taiwan, an island democracy China claims as its own territory, and to handle the issue with caution. Trump did not immediately make comments on Taiwan, but had previously described U.S. arms sales to the island as open to negotiations with China.

Xiang, the student, said the summit overall sent a positive signal and will help improve the Chinese public’s opinion of the relations between the two countries.

“It is better than not communicating,” he said.

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Associated Press video producer Wayne Zhang in Beijing and writer Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

Dozens of people traveled by bus to the Lake County Administration Building to speak before the Lake County Public Lands and Trails Advisory Committee. Their request was clear: Use some of the $50 million approved by voters in 2024 for conservation land purchases to keep Wilson Island in its natural state.

The land sits along the Palatlakaha River and is considered by many residents to be one of Groveland’s remaining natural gems.

“I just felt like Wilson Island, it just doesn’t deserve to be destroyed,” Groveland resident Samuel Silva Fore said. “I’ve been fishing there my whole life.”

Wilson Island is already approved for 181 single-family homes, along with more than 85,000 square feet of commercial and mixed-use development. Residents who spoke at the meeting said they worry the project would permanently change the character of the land.

“It’s always important to keep natural environments out there just for the sake of the kids and grandkids coming along to experience nature,” Groveland resident Mike Archer said.

Khrystyna McCoy-Tremaine, another Groveland resident, said residents understand growth is coming but believe some places should be protected.

“We know it’s going to change,” she said. “But when you have something special, like a gem like Wilson, those are some parts you just want to remain untouched.”

Dale Ladd, who co-owns the property with his brother, said they have been working toward development for decades. He said they have held off on moving the project forward while discussions about preservation continue.

“We’ve been waiting for 28 years to do this, and we’ve stalled all our permitting process for the last five years in cooperation with Groveland and trying to get this thing preserved,” Ladd said.

After hearing from residents and leaders, the advisory committee voted to recommend that Wilson Island’s appraisal be considered as part of a potential purchase for preservation.

The next step is for the Lake County Commission to decide whether to move forward. If the county buys the land, Groveland hopes it will eventually be deeded to the city.

City records show water use at the East First Street property climbed sharply over several months before reaching 1,015,601 gallons during the latest billing period, which ran from Aug. 3 through Sept. 3.

The city-issued bill shows a total balance of $30,198.77. That does not represent one month of charges. The account carried a $20,890.49 past-due balance, while the latest billing period added $9,308.28 in current charges, including $8,462.07 for water and $846.21 in county tax.

The renter, Adam Golden, told News 6 he first realized something was wrong after the water was shut off and he logged into the account.

“We logged in to see what the situation was, and it was a $30,198 bill,” Golden said.

City records show water use climbing for months

The city’s own account history shows the increase was not limited to one billing cycle.

Water use listed in city records rose from 10,900 gallons in April to 57,262 gallons in May, then 330,144 gallons in June, 669,976 gallons in July and 860,642 gallons in August. The latest bill recorded 1,015,601 gallons.

That latest total averages to roughly 32,800 gallons per day, or about 23 gallons per minute, across the 31-day billing period.

The city says it first became aware of a “constant flow” of water in May 2026 and mailed a water-conservation notice to the property.

City Public Information Director Steven Montiero told News 6 the unusually high usage immediately stood out.

“We don’t see things like that, even with our previous water billing issues,” Montiero said. “The spike here was rather dramatic.”

The city later told News 6 it shut off water service in May, June and July. According to the city, the water was turned back on each time by either the resident or the property owner.

City officials have not said which person restored the service on each occasion.

On Sept. 23, city staff installed what officials call an Ally meter, which allows the city to control the water service remotely.

Montiero said the city can now turn the water on temporarily when needed and then shut it back off while the plumbing problem is addressed.

City says problem appears to be a slab leak

City officials visited the property Thursday after News 6 contacted the city about the account.

The city says staff first determined there was no leak on the city side of the meter. Montiero said the meter was functioning properly and officials saw signs of a possible problem on the private property.

After further inspection, the city told News 6 it now believes the problem appears to be a slab leak at the residence.

The city says this case is not connected to the previous water-meter and billing problems that affected other Apopka customers.

“This specific case is not related to any of that,” Montiero said.

Golden said city officials showed him records documenting the rise in water consumption.

“They pulled out an actual sheet showing the usage over the last two years, and then where the spike happened, and how it was just such a rapid escalation of water consumption,” he said.

Concern about where the water went

Golden said one of his biggest concerns is what that amount of water may have done beneath or around the property.

He said city staff checked several areas for signs of sinking or moisture and found only some softer spots near an oak tree.

“That’s a huge concern,” Golden said. “They went and did the jump test on a bunch of spots to see if there was any, like, sink or any moisture … and that’s what’s weird. There wasn’t.”

News 6 asked the city whether that much water could create concerns such as soil erosion, ground instability, sinkholes or foundation damage.

The city responded that “that much water can cause a multitude of issues to any property” and said the resident was instructed to contact the landlord as soon as possible to arrange appropriate inspections.

Montiero also said the location of the water was one of the city’s biggest questions when staff arrived at the home.

“Where does a million gallons of residential water go in just August?” he said.

Plumber repairs leak; more work planned

Golden later told News 6 that a plumber located and repaired the leak.

He said the plumber also plans to replumb the entire home as a precaution.

The city says once the leak is properly repaired, the resident or property owner can provide documentation of that work. The city will then review the account and determine what credit will be applied.

The city has not provided a specific credit amount.

Golden said earlier in the day that he hoped the plumbing problem could be fixed quickly and the bill could ultimately be adjusted.

“The plumber fixes the line and they average our bill back out to what it should’ve been,” he said when asked what he hoped would happen next.

For now, the city says the meter itself is working properly, the suspected leak is on the private side of the property and the final amount owed will depend on the city’s review after repair documentation is submitted.

As the war with Iran has dragged on, Trump and Netanyahu have split over how to prosecute it, straining a relationship between the two allies. Netanyahu has also faced global criticism both for Israel’s war in Gaza and settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Instead of a packed itinerary, Netanyahu, who arrived in New York on Thursday, was to meet only a handful of leaders before giving his speech.

The apparent snub underscored how badly the relationship between Trump and the prime minister has fractured. Many in Washington associate Netanyahu with the increasingly unpopular fight with Iran and Trump has labored to avoid the appearance that the Israeli leader forced him into a war that Trump said would be a “little excursion” lasting only weeks.

Netanyahu's brief visit also demonstrated how isolated he is globally, three years after launching a punishing war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. He faces reelection next month in polls widely seen as a referendum on his responsibility for the security failures surrounding the attacks and his ability to defend Israel's reputation on the world stage.

Still, Netanyahu was unfazed when scores of diplomats marched out when he took the stage on Thursday.

“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said and delivered a defiant speech lashing out at critics who accuse Israel of genocide and war crimes in Gaza.

He also accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had called for Netanyahu's arrest, of spreading lies about Israel and endangering Jewish New Yorkers.

Netanyahu is a master showman

Still, the prime minister is a master showman, often turning to props and visual aids during speeches in flawless English to drive home his message. His speech, ahead of next month's elections, appeared aimed at Israeli voters, and was repeatedly interrupted by cheers from supporters he had brought into the hall.

“He times his speech so that it is broadcast here in primetime,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who served under Netanyahu and lives in Israel.

But experts say without the usual high-profile meetings, the trip could hurt Netanyahu’s image at home.

“I think the trip is a mistake, because it exposes his weaknesses,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations and professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities.

While many Israelis view the U.N. as hostile toward Israel, he added, the fact that he could not secure a meeting with Trump only highlights how poorly Netanyahu has managed the relationship with his nation's strongest ally.

In 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden was reluctant to host Netanyahu at the White House but still made time to sit down with him on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“Israel cannot survive without the United States,” Gilboa said.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, has sharply criticized settlers attacking Palestinian communities in the West Bank. In unusual remarks for an ambassador, he referred to the attackers as “terrorists."

“It’s significant of a deeper rift,” Oren said of Netanyahu's slim itinerary.

When Trump was in New York on Tuesday, he met with an array of leaders from Arab nations, as well as from Denmark, Japan, Greenland, Ukraine and Venezuela, among others. He then quickly returned to Washington to roll out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Netanyahu has met with Trump seven times since the U.S. president's return to office in January 2025, though only once since the war with Iran began.

Not meeting the president was a “big, big miss for him at a time where he can’t afford misses,” said Natan Sachs, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

On other past trips, Netanyahu met with a slate of high-profile leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

This year, though, the prime minister's office said “many world leaders” asked to meet with Netanyahu during his brief visit, but that he was on a “tight schedule” and needed to return to Israel before the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown on Friday.

On his schedule, the statement said, were leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, Ethiopia, Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea.

The crash occurred at approximately just before 3 a.m. at the intersection of Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway and International Drive.

According to FHP, a vehicle was traveling westbound on U.S. 192 in the outside lane when a pedestrian ran across the road and into the path of the vehicle.

The right front headlight area of the vehicle struck the pedestrian. The adult male victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Following the crash, the driver fled the scene, troopers said.

Investigators recovered vehicle parts at the crash site and believe the vehicle is possibly a 2007–2010 metallic black Ford Edge.

The name of the victim has not been released

Troopers said the pedestrian was not in a marked crosswalk at the time of the crash.

The crash is under investigation.

Seminole County resident Sabrena Oldakowski, who says she has seven cats and two shelter dogs, said she worries reduced funding could ripple into the community through fewer vaccinations and services.

“When you look at the end of the vaccinations… then you’ve got the spread of rabies, the overpopulation of feral cats,” Oldakowski said.

County leaders say the measure could reduce property tax revenue by about 20%, straining budgets for multiple programs, including emergency management and animal services.

[RELATED: Florida’s Amendment 3 could change property taxes. Here’s what voters need to know]

Alan Harris, Seminole County’s director of emergency management, said tightening budgets could mean fewer services and fewer staff — and he warned that could affect the shelter’s ability to maintain no-kill operations and provide community clinics.

“If we’re gonna tighten the budget, we aren’t going to be a no-kill shelter anymore,” Harris said, adding that staffing cuts would be a major part of why services and programs would be cut.

Harris said cuts of roughly $200,000 would eliminate money for basic needs like food and veterinary services, and he expects the overall revenue loss could force more cuts in staff.

Oldakowski said she supports saving money for homeowners but not if it comes at the expense of animal services and public safety.

“I’m going to vote no,” she said.

Supporters of the homestead exemption say homeowners will keep more of their own money. County leaders say the funding impact will ultimately depend on what voters decide at the polls on Nov. 3.

“She said, ‘When I come back home, we will drink the tea made from Chinese flowers,’” said Oles Visich, Kalynychenko’s partner. He has now been waiting for news about her for a month, after she and thousands of others disappeared in catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-China border.

Her last known location was exiting China at a border post at 10:22 a.m. local time, 15 minutes before the flood.

Kalynychenko, 36, was part of a group of 56 people, mostly Ukrainians, who had traveled to Mount Kailash in Tibet for a spiritual retreat.

Their families' situation is a sign of how complex and time-consuming the process is of rescuing, recovering and identifying victims lost to the disaster. Given the number of missing, the process will likely take months.

They disappeared while heading from China to Nepal on their way home. Some relatives say they have received no information from authorities. The Chinese government has told at least two families that their relatives left Chinese territory before the flood struck, but they haven't been able to confirm whether they entered Nepal as Nepal's immigration complex and its records were destroyed in the floods.

Little information is reaching families

The floods killed more than 1,400 people and left more than 6,000 missing, most of them on the Nepali side of the border. Nepal has said that 636 foreign nationals remain missing, including 54 Ukrainians. China has reported 261 foreign nationals among the missing on its side, including one Ukrainian.

Families in Ukraine say most of them have not received any answers since realizing their relatives were among the missing.

“We only have the statistics that are being posted online — how many people have been found, how many are alive, how many are dead, and how many are still missing,” said Stanislav Solohub, whose brother and sister-in-law went missing on Aug. 25.

Nepal says it has recovered 1,451 bodies, but only 112 have been handed over to families so far.

The government said it has collected DNA samples from 2,035 relatives so far, but it has not disclosed how many victims have been identified.

Last messages were sent minutes before the floods began

The group, led by Irina Blonskaya, a spiritual teacher who often organized retreats, was returning from its journey home in China when the flood struck Aug. 26. Their plan was to travel by bus from the Tibet region to Kathmandu, where its members would board flights to their respective countries. The group’s last message was sent at 8:27 a.m. Nepal time, about 10 minutes before the mountain slope collapsed.

Many had not checked in with their loved ones that morning, owing to the time difference.

Authorities have said the floods were triggered when a section of ice and rock broke away from a Himalayan mountain slope, creating a fast-moving torrent of water, ice, mud and debris. It destroyed communities and Gyirong Port, a border crossing used by some pilgrims traveling to or returning from Mount Kailash.

‘Who is looking for them?’

Vladsylava Horlova’s mother, Elena, was traveling in the group as well. She initially found her mother’s name on the list of the missing from the Nepali government, but hasn't received any further information from the Nepali side. Later, the Chinese embassy confirmed her mother had left the country, and was not counted in China's list of missing people.

Horlova, a college student who is a refugee in Norway, worries that her mother was not recorded as being in either country, and that neither side is looking for her. There’s a stretch of road between the Nepali immigration building and the Chinese one along the border, videos from travelers show.

“You think about what if someone appeared to be in a no man’s land or that they left China, but not physically, who’s looking for them?” she asked.

Horlova has attempted to contact organizations ranging from the Ukrainian embassy in China, to Norwegian police, and even the Red Cross. She, like the others, has submitted her DNA samples to police to help the search.

On the other side of the border, China has said that when the remains of foreigners are identified, it will notify their respective embassies, but the authorities have not given any details about how many identities have been confirmed so far.

People still have hope

Though it has been a month since the original disaster, some families are still holding on to hope.

Just days before Kalynychenko left for her travels, she organized a retreat for women in Ukraine whose partners were fighting on the front lines of the war, some of whom had not heard from their partners for two years.

Visich, her partner, sees the irony of his situation, but like others in the group, has chosen to stay positive. Visich, also a psychologist, wrote a support guide for others like himself, offering tips on mental health.

“Because for my Olenka, for example, the most important thing in our connection is that each other … needs to be happy,” Visich said.

___

Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal and senior video producer Volodymr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.

“Sharia law has no place in America,” said Cruz. “We need to stand together and stop it now.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott chimed in moments later, vowing to “fully ban Sharia law in Texas.”

Muslim American civic leaders and scholars — in Texas and other states — are responding forcefully to this latest surge in anti-Sharia rhetoric that dates back more than 15 years.

They passionately defend Sharia — the way it’s practiced in the United States — as positive guidance that has elements in common with the codes of other faiths, such as the Ten Commandments and the collective body of Jewish law derived from the Torah. They rebut the claims of GOP critics that Sharia is a coercive code that threatens the U.S. Constitution and judicial system.

Though there are multiple interpretations of Sharia, its essence is to serve as a code for how Muslims should live and worship — covering such matters as prayer, pilgrimages, fasting, charitable donations and personal virtue.

Among the most energetic of Sharia’s defenders is Illinois-based Sabeel Ahmed, director of an outreach project called GainPeace. He travels widely around the U.S., with a recent focus on Texas, speaking at mosque-sponsored workshops and open houses.

“Sharia is often misunderstood,” Ahmed posted on Instagram after a midsummer visit to Plano, Texas. “Many people think Sharia is only about punishments, but in Islam it is Allah’s guidance for living with faith, justice, mercy, and responsibility.”

Ahmed attributes the durability of anti-Sharia vitriol to politicians and social-media influencers who want to rile up their voting base or their followers.

“They gain popularity by saying it,” he told The Associated Press. “It’s the job of the Muslims to educate what is the proper meaning of the word Sharia. We cannot be angry or hateful.”

Sharia's role varies significantly among Muslim nations

Among those appalled by the anti-Sharia surge in the U.S. is Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, a Sudanese-born Islamic scholar who taught for many years at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. He is a longtime critic of the relatively small number of governments in Muslim nations that coercively enforce Sharia, saying Muslims are better off in secular states where their religious observance is a matter of free choice.

An-Na’im says he and other Muslim Americans embrace Sharia willingly as a core part of their identity, even as they also embrace American values.

The demonization of their beliefs displays “a shocking ignorance of what Sharia means,” An-Na’im said. “It’s a total dehumanization of the other, the rejection of their right to be human.”

The rhetoric is similarly dramatic among Sharia’s opponents — epitomized by the two U.S. representatives from Texas, Republicans Keith Self and Chip Roy — who co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus in Congress.

“Sharia is a direct threat to our Constitution and Western values and seeks to replace our legal system and erode our basic freedoms,” Roy said earlier this year. “Our immigration system must be prepared to confront this challenge and defend our Judeo-Christian values.”

By last count, the caucus had more than 60 members. All of them are Republicans, and its members have introduced several anti-Sharia bills since the caucus was formed last December. None of those measures have been successful.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has designated the caucus as an anti-Muslim hate group.

“The bigoted rhetoric used by this caucus resembles the hatred that anti-Catholic politicians once unleashed against Irish Americans,” said CAIR research and advocacy director Corey Saylor.

“Islam is an American faith, present for over 250 years,” he added. “No one who wrote the Constitution or enforced it since has empowered these legislators to pick which religions get to exist in America.”

Texas has been a battleground for Sharia disputes

There has been substantive anti-Sharia action in Texas. In August, Attorney General Ken Paxton demanded documents from the Dallas-based Islamic Tribunal, which provides religious guidance to Muslims.

Paxton said in a news release that the investigation by his office sought to determine if the tribunal was engaged in illegal activity, such as acting as a court, applying foreign laws that conflict with Texas or federal law, or issuing rulings that imply government authority.

“This is America, and we will not be governed by sharia law,” Paxton said.

The Islamic Tribunal subsequently updated its website with a “ Clarification of Mission and Activities,” stressing that its guidance “complements, and never replaces, the legal, social, and professional services available in American society.”

“The Tribunal does not function as a court of law and does not issue legally binding judgments,” it said. “Our role is limited to mediation and religious arbitration requested by members of the Muslim community in matters related to faith, family guidance, and internal religious affairs.”

Any matters requiring legal enforcement are referred directly to the Texas judicial system, said the tribunal, which likened its work to the services provided by Jewish Beth Din courts and Catholic ecclesiastical tribunals.

Sharia defenders seek to broaden understanding of its essence

Asma Uddin, a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Law, has argued in her writings that many American politicians are depicting ordinary Muslim religious practices — such as prayer, choice of apparel, family counseling and mosque attendance — as evidence of a political danger.

In an interview with the AP, Uddin depicted the current wave of anti-Sharia rhetoric as fearmongering by politicians who view the issue as advantageous for them.

“When politicians use this, it’s giving them exactly what they’re looking for,” she said. “They’re looking for a scapegoat … and this gets people riled up.”

Sabeel Ahmed, who has made three outreach trips to Texas so far this year, plans a trip to Houston in a few weeks for another mosque open-house. He’s also working on a book to be mailed to Christian clergy across the U.S., seeking to broaden their understanding of Sharia and other Islamic practices.

“Islam is not to be feared,” Ahmed said. “People should meet a Muslim, go to the mosque, reach out to us. Let’s emphasize the commonalities we have.”

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Tarek's father carried him on foot from the southwestern city of Mokha as Iran-backed rebels swept in this month, bringing a return to civil war. The boy reached a hospital two days later in the government-held city of Aden, 270 kilometers (170 miles) away but it said it had no beds. Like others, it was overwhelmed by the wounded. They finally found a therapeutic feeding center.

The boy arrived in “acute crisis” after the delay in care, according to the center's director, Dr. Arwa Atef, and he only began walking again on Wednesday, over a week later.

“I swear to God, when I look at him, my heart breaks,” said his father, Mohammed al-Salami. “He looks almost lifeless.”

This is how the already fragile health system in the Arab world’s poorest nation is collapsing, caught in a new front of the Iran war. The Associated Press spoke with patients, medical workers and aid groups in Yemen as medicines run short and some workers flee. A few facilities have been overtaken by the fighting.

Some health centers are turning pregnant women and others in need away to focus on trauma patients. Vulnerable children are filling incubators and sharing beds. Millions of people are affected by the fighting backed by two of the Middle East’s biggest powers as Iran-backed Houthis advance against government forces supported by Saudi Arabia. Over 130,000 have fled their homes.

The feeding center where Tarek and other children are recovering is struggling to cope with a rise in patients in a country where many already were hungry, Atef said.

“We can’t keep up with the situation,” she said.

Overwhelmed hospitals focus on the wounded

Most hospitals and primary health centers affected by the escalation in fighting closed for the first 48 hours before resuming services, the United Nations said. But the Houthis have seized the Red Sea coast, including key ports for aid.

“The areas with some of the highest health needs are increasingly difficult to reach,” the World Health Organization said Friday.

Less than 10% of the affected health centers are fully equipped with the trauma services that wounded people need, WHO has said. With resources thin, a painful triage is underway.

Fewer facilities are handling the pregnancy-related emergencies that were killing three Yemeni women every day even before the escalation, said Francesco Galtieri with the United Nations Population Fund. That's one of the highest rates in the Arab world.

"Around 2,000 pregnant women are on the move,” with over 200 expected to deliver in the next week or so, he said.

Maternity wards have been converted into emergency rooms in some hospitals close to the fighting, said Hashem Osseiran, an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson, adding that many lack enough anesthesia drugs, oxygen supplies and sterile surgical gloves.

At a hospital treating mothers and children in the government-held city of Marib, Dr. Ahmed Modhesh said they are seeing more emergency maternity cases as other city hospitals focus on the wounded.

But his facility, Martyr Mohamed Hayel hospital, lacks intensive care specialists and doesn’t have enough generators to keep all departments running if the power goes out.

A midwife said the number of childbirths the hospital is handling has basically doubled to about 80. One woman with an ectopic pregnancy arrived bleeding heavily, yet the under-resourced staff were still able to perform an emergency procedure to save her life, the midwife said. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to speak with the media.

Yemen’s healthcare was in trouble before the fighting

Even before the escalation, hospitals in Yemen relied on limited government support and citizen donations. Some were not able to fully pay staff.

Now, “we are in a very dangerous situation,” said Fahd al-Nazari, manager of the health office in Taiz province, which has received most of the newly displaced. “Within a day or two, or a week at most, we might have to close down (some facilities). In fact, some hospitals are already closed.”

Three of the province’s 17 hospitals are no longer under government control. Hospitals across Taiz had received around 635 casualties, including 112 bodies, as of Thursday after the Houthis captured Mokha, al-Nazari said. They included civilians and combatants.

“We’re exhausted receiving wounded people under these circumstances,” al-Nazari said.

Medical supplies and fuel are running short after key supply routes between Mokha and Taiz were largely cut off, forcing convoys onto mountainous roads unsuitable for large trucks. Even before the escalation, public hospitals in the province had just one MRI machine available.

At the Yemeni-Swedish Maternity and Children's Hospital in Taiz, incubators were full and two or three children were sharing beds in the emergency room, general manager Sami al-Sharabi said.

“I’m scared that the conflict would reach the hospital,” he said. “Any explosive that could hit us would destroy the hospital, as some parts of the building are already weak.”

Even hospitals in Aden, where Yemen’s government is based, struggle to cope. Doctors Without Borders said more than 60 wounded people had been admitted to Al-Gamhouria hospital in a week. Many needed urgent surgery or blood transfusions.

Fighters are also seeking emergency treatment

At a private hospital treating rebels in the Houthi-held city of Sanaa, two medical officials last week said it was overwhelmed with hundreds of wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

It was not clear how many Houthi fighters have been killed or wounded overall. Few aid agencies operate in rebel-controlled areas, as the group has detained and harassed dozens of humanitarian workers. Experts say the Houthis have struggled to pay salaries to civil servants, including public sector doctors and diverted most tax revenues to their military wing.

The ICRC, one of the few global agencies still able to operate in Sanaa, last week said it delivered 22 tons of badly needed medical supplies to support “overwhelmed” hospitals.

There is also little information about casualties among government forces, though one government-allied group has said over 1,500 of its fighters were wounded.

Some medical workers have fled the conflict, making it harder to find care.

In Mokha, Doctors Without Borders said its small team was still working “despite the severe shortage of health professionals.” The charity’s deputy coordinator of operations in Yemen, Emmanuel Massart, said three other hospitals there had closed for days before resuming services.

Resupplying remains a major challenge because of closed roads, Massart said.

“We should not forget about Yemen," he said. It “remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.”

___

Khaled reported from Cairo and Anna from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Abdulnasser Alseddik in Aden and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this report.

A statement co-signed with the top leagues from Spain, Italy and Germany said soccer had “suffered one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA’s history.”

It accused FIFA's president of actively promoting “exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them.”

The Premier League is soccer's richest and most popular league. Its collaboration with Europe's other leading leagues adds to the growing pressure on Infantino, who is facing the biggest crisis in his 10 years as FIFA’s leader.

While the leagues did not follow UEFA by specifically calling for Infantino to step down, their statement was highly critical, hitting out at FIFA's “relentless expansionism.”

“Football’s longstanding foundations have, in recent years, been threatened by a fundamental governance problem,” it said. “Now is the moment to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but also how FIFA should be led.”

It is the latest rift between leagues and Infantino, whose biggest projects have been seen as attacks on domestic soccer and were successfully resisted by a backlash from European officials.

The big four leagues also are members of the European Leagues network, which filed a formal complaint against “abusive” FIFA governance standards in 2023 at the European Commission in Brussels.

Despite the backlash over his controversial plan to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary, and losing the support of many national federations, FIFA says Infantino plans to stand again in next year’s elections for a final term in office through 2031.

The leagues in England, Spain, Italy and Germany said they wanted presidential candidates to stand on a manifesto of fundamental reform.

“FIFA’s governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual. The wider question is whether FIFA’s president should simultaneously wield such regulatory, commercial and political power without effective checks and balances," they said.

Infantino's now ditched proposal to create a $20 billion company called the FIFA Forward Enterprise to run the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family, caught the soccer world by surprise when it emerged in July.

The backlash came from both within world soccer's governing body and from other federations, with some declaring they had lost faith in Infantino as a result.

While he has tried to quell anger, with FIFA apologizing for errors and committing to “ensure they do not happen again,” criticism has not gone away.

The group of four leagues provide another critical voice, just days before the influential European Football Clubs group meets in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nov. 18 is the deadline for candidates to enter the next presidential contest, exactly four months ahead of the vote in Morocco.

___

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The Thunder won 64 games and took the San Antonio Spurs to seven games in the Western Conference finals, then traded longtime starter Lu Dort and key reserves Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to shed salary needed to get below the second apron — a strict payroll threshold above the luxury tax that imposes severe roster-building and trade restrictions.

“I really do feel that by season’s end, we could have a really exceptional basketball team, if we stay healthy,” Presti said Thursday. “But, we’re gonna be different.

“There’s no way to avoid that because if you look over the last two years we’re losing about 10,000 minutes combined of those players. We’re losing about, oh, like a quarter, of our minutes played with that particular group.”

The new-look Thunder open the season Oct. 20 against the Spurs. The cupboard will be anything but bare when they head to San Antonio.

The Thunder still have plenty of firepower beginning with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the two-time reigning league MVP who averaged 31.1 points per game and shot 55.3% from the field. He will be reunited with 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams, who returns after missing 49 games in 2025-26.

Forward Chet Holmgren averaged career-highs of 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and made All-NBA for the first time and was named to the All-Defensive team for the first time as well. He also earned his first All-Star nod, plus was second in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting.

Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace are all expected to take on larger roles this season and Presti said moving Dort “is how highly we think of Cason.”

The GM said the key to the Thunder's success this season starts with adopting a “beginner's mindset.”

Presti said the Thunder “can’t come in predetermining how the year’s going to go, who’s going to play where, how we’re going to play. We kind of just have to open our minds and let ourselves kind of take ourselves where ever this team's going to take us.”

The process rarely changes for the Thunder, who will pursue progress and not outcomes, Presti added.

“We've said the same things when we were winning 23 games as we were when we were winning 68 games,” he said. “We don’t know how many games we’re going to win this year. We’re not entitled to anything.”

Presti believes the Thunder are well-positioned for long-term success, particularly with recent changes instituted by the NBA — changes he believes has the league positioned for another golden era that will coincide with the his team's 25th year in Oklahoma City — in 2033.

“I think the current initiatives of the league are putting us on the doorstep of another great era to come,” he said. “And we as an organization, quite frankly, we want to be — and have the choice to be, a part of that when that comes around.”

Those initiatives include the impact of the new NBA draft lottery rules as well as the strict payroll threshold above the luxury tax that imposes severe roster-building and trade restrictions.

Net ratings, records and player statistics are expected to decline as a result, Presti said.

“But the key for us is to not let all of these different initiatives, all these different irons in the fire, distract us from the main thing and to keep it simple," said Presti, adding that means “making the Thunder better, day to day, season to season and believe it or not, decade to decade.” ___

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

And before anyone hits me with “Joey… that animal is not from Florida,” correct. Gold star. But conservation isn’t a state-by-state program. It’s an “if we don’t do this, we lose the species” program.

$100,000 in new grants announced ahead of World Gorilla Day

Ahead of World Gorilla Day, and alongside the celebration of Bakari’s arrival at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Disney Conservation Fund announced $100,000 in new grants supporting three organizations doing critical work for gorillas in the wild:

• Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center
• Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
• Gorilla Doctors

The funding supports a range of efforts tied directly to long-term gorilla survival—conservation programs, scientific research, veterinary care, and community-based protection across Africa, including protection of the forests gorillas depend on.

As Claire Martin, Senior Manager, Biodiversity Conservation at The Walt Disney Company, put it: “Protecting gorillas takes collaboration among conservation organizations, researchers, veterinarians, educators, and local communities. We’re proud to support organizations making a meaningful difference for gorillas in the wild while helping connect our guests to the incredible work being done to ensure a future for this species.”

What these three groups do (and why it matters)

These organizations take different approaches, and that’s the point—gorilla conservation isn’t one problem with one fix.

GRACE works with Congolese communities to rehabilitate, rewild, and protect critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas, while also conserving key forest habitat.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund advances conservation in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, backed by decades of scientific research, field protection, and community engagement.

Gorilla Doctors provides life-saving veterinary care to wild mountain and Grauer’s gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—because sometimes conservation looks like a stethoscope and a field kit, not a photo op.

Disney’s support for gorilla conservation now totals more than $4.7 million

The Disney Conservation Fund says this announcement builds on a long-standing commitment to protecting gorillas in the wild, bringing Disney’s total support for gorilla conservation to more than $4.7 million.

And the bigger picture is even larger: for more than 30 years, the Disney Conservation Fund has supported wildlife conservation globally. Since 1995, the fund has directed more than $141 million to nonprofits working with communities to protect wildlife, conserve habitats, and promote environmental resilience.

Where Bakari fits in

The press release also highlights what Disney’s Animal Kingdom contributes beyond funding: it helps connect guests with animals—and with the conservation stories happening outside the park.

Bakari is a 21-year-old western lowland gorilla who joined the family troop at Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. His arrival creates new opportunities for guests to connect with gorillas and learn about the partnerships and fieldwork supporting the species in the wild.

Dr. Scott Terrell, Vice President, Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, emphasized that the commitment goes beyond the animals guests see in-park: “For years, Disney experts have partnered with GRACE, sharing their expertise to support gorilla care and advise on conservation efforts that help protect gorillas in the wild while supporting the people and communities working to save them.”

Learn more

To learn more about the Disney Conservation Fund, visit Disney.com/Conservation and follow Disney Conservation and Animals at Disney on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’re watching the video that goes with this article, keep an eye out for Bakari. He’s new, he’s iconic, and he absolutely looks like he could pick me up and relocate me to another zip code if he felt like it.

She says some incidents have happened in front of children, including her daughter, who is now having bad dreams. Sabrina Maynard, a wife and mother of three, said the situation has been going on for at least three years.

She said she has repeatedly contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, sometimes on a monthly basis, but feels little has changed.“It really hurts my feelings, and I’ve tried to ask the authorities for help,” Maynard said, fighting back tears when asked how frustrating it is that her daughter has been subjected to the behavior.

Maynard shared videos with our newsroom that she says show the same man outside near her home.

In one video, the man appears to have his pants partially down while exposing and apparently touching himself. Another video taken Thursday morning appears to show him outside in underwear.

Maynard said the man has also shouted inappropriate comments at her, including, “Show me your private area.”

Maynard said she worries not only for her own children but also for others in the neighborhood. “There are other children who have actually been exposed to his sexual organs,” she said.

She said her husband is aware of the incidents, and she is thankful he has not tried to handle the situation himself. “My husband, I’m very proud of him for not taking care of the situation in his own hands, honestly,” she said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Orange County does not have a ban on public urination.

The agency also said it does not appear the man is violating Florida law on exposure of sexual organs, adding, “We know this can be frustrating for residents, but the buttocks are not considered a sexual organ under state law.”

The sheriff’s office said a deputy submitted a request for a misdemeanor warrant for disorderly conduct, but a judge denied the warrant. “While this may not be the outcome that Brina hoped for, we encourage anyone impacted to continue documenting incidents and calling 911 when a crime occurs,” the agency said.

A man who identified himself by phone as the uncle of the man in the videos said his nephew takes medication for a mental health-related issue.

Maynard said she plans to continue documenting the incidents and calling authorities when they happen.

But county officials are also warning voters about the potential impact of Amendment 3, a statewide ballot measure that would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes, potentially lowering property taxes while reducing revenue for counties.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the lack of a public safety exemption could create challenges for counties statewide.

County officials have stated that Amendment 3 could cut $275 million from property tax revenue by 2028.

“At the end of the day, something will have to get cut, and typically the first things that we will cut are those things that we don’t have to do,” he said. “We aren’t required to necessarily provide social services and those types of things.”

Other Central Florida law enforcement leaders have also raised concerns.

Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood has come out against Amendment 3, saying his agency could lose $37 million next year alone.

Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma warned last week that his agency could face a 20 percent cut, which would mean layoffs and hundreds fewer officers patrolling the streets.

“You cannot reduce by $41 million and 300 people without a realistic expectation that some services are going to be compromised,” he said.

Orange County District 3 Commissioner Mayra Uribe told News 6 the county should first look for efficiencies internally, saying there may be room to absorb reductions before residents see significant impacts.

Another priority for the county is maintaining its commitment to building more affordable housing, with the goal of 10,000 new or preserved housing units by the end of 2028. The budget approved Tuesday includes $19.5 for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Uribe said ultimately money is not the problem for this issue.

“I have a hard time with that one not because of the funding, because of the process that internally it takes to build them,” she said. “We have the funding, we have the money set aside. But the process internally for permitting, for land use, for all of that is what tends to delay projects.”

What Amendment 3 would do:

• Raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027
• Raise it again to $250,000 in 2028
• Requires 60% voter approval to pass

County leaders say if Amendment 3 passes in November, budgets in coming years could look significantly different.

But the policy has remained in force for the past 18 months, and Poland is now urging the 27-nation bloc to allow temporary suspensions of asylum applications during episodes of “instrumentalized” mass migration elsewhere — a move that rights advocates warn could violate international law.

The border between Poland and Belarus, a non-EU country that is aligned with Russia, runs for about 400 kilometers (250 miles).

Since 2021, EU authorities have accused authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of weaponizing migration by luring people to his country to find an easier entry point into the bloc than the more dangerous routes across the Mediterranean Sea.

European Commission announces new emergency framework

The prospect of an EU-wide approach appeared to move closer on Sept. 16, when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU executive branch would soon propose a new “European emergency response framework” for cases of “engineered and weaponized” mass migration.

The new emergency framework would allow for “flexibility” in applying standard migration procedures under specific circumstances and for a limited period of time, she said.

Von der Leyen didn't specify what procedures would be made flexible. It's unclear what form this proposed framework would take, whether it would need approval from the EU Parliament and EU leaders, and how soon it might come into practice. The European Commission didn't respond to requests from The Associated Press to list those procedures.

But Poland’s deputy interior minister in charge of migration, Maciej Duszczyk, celebrated the announcement as a sign that Europe was becoming interested in what he calls “the Polish solution.”

“We are happy that what we’ve been saying for a year, or a year and a half, is now becoming mainstream in the EU,” Duszczyk told the AP in an interview.

He said that the July border crisis in Ceuta, when more than 70,000 people suddenly crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave in North Africa, “made the EU realize” that other countries can be affected by similar border crises as Poland.

Tineke Strik, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, told the AP that she fears von der Leyen’s new emergency framework is indeed poised to take the Polish model EU-wide and legitimize the curtailing of asylum.

“If you normalize it, if you make it the default policy of all EU member states, you (the Poles) are not falling outside of the framework,” Strik said. “It simply has been legalized.”

“That would of course really undermine the core of the European and international asylum law — namely that people always must have the possibility to ask for asylum before they can be returned because otherwise you don’t know what will happen to them,” she said.

Michael O’Flaherty — the human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, which is unrelated to the EU — said that the fact that the suspension of the right to asylum now appears in discussions at the EU level “worries” him because “it can very easily cross the line into a violation of international law.”

Critics say legalizing the suspension of asylum would constitute a major blow to fundamental human rights, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, which bars countries from returning people to places where they may face persecution. The principle was enshrined in the postwar refugee protection system after Jews and others fleeing Nazi persecution were refused safe haven during World War II.

‘Polish solution’ contrary to international law, rights groups say

Duszczyk said that the suspension of the right to asylum in Poland is fully compatible with international law and that people in the most vulnerable categories — pregnant women, children or those facing persecution in Belarus — can still apply for asylum even under the current system.

“Each person who appears on the border has the right to speak to the Polish border guards and explain their situation,” Duszczyk said.

But the Polish ombudsman and nongovernmental organizations assisting migrants on the border contradict the minister.

“Visibly pregnant women might stand a chance, but in the case of sick people or teenagers who are minors, their arguments are typically undermined,” said Karolina Czerwinska from the Association for Legal Intervention, a Polish NGO offering legal aid to migrants.

Duszczyk said that the world today has changed since the 1950s, when countries recovering from the traumas of World War II created a system of international law, including refugee rights, meant to protect individuals from state violence.

Czerwinska said that “we Poles located on the front lines of the war in Ukraine should really make sure human rights are respected. We may need to make use of them ourselves.”

EU's new migration pact already outdated, Poland says

Human rights groups said that von der Leyen's announcement came as a surprise, because the EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum, which took effect three months ago, already allowed countries faced with border crises to deviate from standard asylum procedures by extending deadlines for processing applications and holding migrants in detention for longer periods of time.

But Duszczyk said that von der Leyen's announcement meant that the European Commission recognized the new pact was “not enough” and that “we need a new instrument in EU law which guarantees that sometimes we can suspend normal procedures and have a sort of state of emergency.”

According to the Polish minister, the European Commission is expected to give more details about the framework during a summit of interior ministers on Oct. 1, and discussions would continue during a European Council summit later that month.

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Sam McNeil contributed to this report from Brussels.

The Green Bay Packers are off to a 1-2 start following a lackluster performance in a 35-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night in their home opener at Lambeau Field.

“It’s three games in. We’re nowhere where we need to be but there’s a lot of ball left in front of us,” LaFleur said. “It was a butt-whipping.”

Since losing Micah Parsons to a torn ACL last December, the Packers are 1-7. The only victory came last week against the New York Jets, who helped give the game away.

LaFleur’s offense has struggled without running back Josh Jacobs, who is on the commissioner’s exempt list and isn't allowed to play. Jordan Love has been inconsistent behind a poor offensive line.

On defense, the Packers made Michael Penix Jr. look like prime Michael Vick in his first game back from a torn ACL. Penix was 18 of 25 for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception and a 101.4 passer rating. They couldn’t stop Bijan Robinson, but that’s typical. Most teams can’t. Robinson had 194 yards rushing and two TDs.

LaFleur began his coaching career with three straight 13-win seasons. But his tenure has been marked by playoff failures. LaFleur’s first two seasons ended with home losses in the NFC championship game and then a home loss in the divisional round. Over the next four seasons, the Packers had double-digit wins once and went 1-3 in the playoffs.

Now, the Packers have opened the season with two losses in three games and have a tough road ahead in the NFC North.

Winning seasons and playoff appearances are expected in Green Bay. Nothing less than another Lombardi Trophy is considered a success. That means LaFleur, despite his regular-season success, hasn’t delivered.

In Tampa Bay, Bowles has been heavily criticized since the Buccaneers went 2-7 to end last season after a 6-2 start. There was surprise that management didn’t make a coaching change but Bowles signed a three-year contract extension before the 2025 season. The Bucs have opened with consecutive losses, including a 23-19 loss to the Browns last Sunday that increased the heat on Bowles.

He is 35-35 in four-plus seasons, His three division titles in a weak NFC South have resulted in a 1-3 record in the playoffs.

“I think if you lose the first two games of the year, that doesn’t determine the other 15 games,” Bowles said. “Right now, we’re 0-2 — we’re not 0-9 or 0-11. That doesn’t bother me as much from that standpoint. We’ve just got to get better and win a ballgame.”

The Buccaneers host the Minnesota Vikings (2-0) on Sunday.

“I think (there is) always pressure until you get your first win out (of) the way,” Bowles said. “You try to get it out the way at the beginning of the season so you don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s not a different kind of pressure, so to speak. It’s probably a different kind of urgency — not that you’re not playing urgent already — but you just want to get that first win on the board.”

Steichen entered the season with a directive from Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who made it clear the coach had to turn things around after Indianapolis lost seven straight games to end up 8-9 in 2025. The Colts got walloped in Week 1 by the Ravens but nearly upset the Chiefs on the road last Sunday night. Steichen was too conservative in overtime against Kansas City.

“We’re battling like crazy,” Steichen said. “That’s the message and we gotta continue to grow and learn, and we got a lot of football left. Like I said last week, we’re right there. We gotta find a way to win at the end. That was one of those games. It’s a freaking hard league and you gotta find a way to win these tight games.”

The Colts are home underdogs against Houston (0-2) on Sunday in a division matchup between two teams that came in with high expectations.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn also could end up on the hot seat at some point this season. Jim Harbaugh and DeMeco Ryans are both 0-2 but should be safe because of their success in recent seasons. Dan Quinn and the Commanders are 0-2 but expectations are low after losing Jayden Daniels.

Last season, the Titans fired Brian Callahan after a 1-5 start. The Jets fired Robert Saleh at 2-3 in 2024.

History says there’s a solid chance a coach loses his job next month.

A few wins can cool the seat.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Pressure? No problem. Getting everyone’s best shot? Bring it. Needing to stay on edge for five months? That should be relatively easy given the way last season ended.

“I don’t feel as stressed going into the season,” Golden said Thursday. “Last year, carrying the torch of the national championship into the season was a lot, and we had a new team. We had some returners, but we had a new team.”

It showed. The Gators started 5-4, fell out of the AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll and then dropped their Southeastern Conference opener. They struggled to make shots from 3-point range and didn’t find their identity and hit their stride until early January.

None of it should have been that surprising given the Gators lost arguably the best backcourt in school history, the trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard.

Now, though, no one should be shocked if they are favored in every game.

“We know we’re going to have a lot of expectations,” Golden said. “But we’re not as worried about it this year. I think we’ll collectively, myself included, be more prepared and better ready to handle that earlier in the year.”

Florida (27-8, 14-2 SEC), which lost to ninth-seeded Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Tampa, returns four starters and is counting on guard Denzel Aberdeen to get a fifth year of eligibility through the judicial system. He has a court date scheduled for Tuesday in Alachua County, with hopes of landing a temporary injunction against the NCAA.

Aberdeen's petition for a fifth season was denied before the NCAA adopted the “5-for-5 rule."

“I think Denzel has the best case, individually, of any guy that’s kind of in this situation of dealing with the NCAA’s confusing, operative system that they’re employing right now,” said Golden, pointing to Aberdeen playing just 40 minutes as a freshman.

Aberdeen, who averaged 13.5 points and 3.4 assists at Kentucky last season, was an integral part of Florida’s 2025 national title run as a junior. Florida hopes he can team with point guard Boogie Fland to upgrade the backcourt.

“A deadly combination, for sure,” Fland said. "I feel like it goes on the court the way it goes off the court, you know what I mean? The brotherhood you have off the court, it trickles into the court.”

More importantly, All-SEC big men Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh are back for their senior seasons along with seven bench players.

“We’re going to be the preseason No. 1 team,” Fland said. “It means you’ll get everybody’s best shot.”

Golden didn’t anticipate having such a loaded roster until after the season ended — and partly because of how and when it ended. The Gators had their sights set on back-to-back titles and came up short.

“Going out that way wasn’t something that we wanted to have or reminisce about,” Chinyelu said. “So it’s just going out there, taking every game out there and hunting down the games we have this year.”

Getting most everyone back started with Haugh and Condon, best friends who passed up NBA riches for another NCAA run. Chinyelu and others followed suit. Golden ended up with 81.8% of his team’s scoring back from last season’s SEC championship team, including six of eight primary rotation players and 11 guys in total.

Florida begins the season back where it ended — in Tampa – against Miami. The Gators also play Notre Dame, probably Houston, Duke and Georgia Tech in nonconference play.

The real expectations begin in March.

“Pressure is good,” Chinyelu said. “It just shows that you are in the right spot, you are doing something good.”

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Across the world, communities are dedicating Friday to honoring the beloved country singer. The day is falling on Sept. 25, a wink at Parton’s hit song “9 to 5.”

Parton, who died of cancer last month at age 80, built an impressive legacy over the decades as a singer-songwriter, actor, philanthropist and entrepreneur — leaving big and small ways to honor the icon.

So whether it’s dusting off your rhinestones, donating a book or throwing back a pink-themed cocktail, here’s how you can celebrate Dolly Parton Day.

Join a celebration

In the U.S., a growing number of state and local leaders are establishing Sept. 25 as an annual Dolly Parton Day from California to the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The proclamations highlight Parton’s successful career and stress her lifelong commitment to promoting literacy.

In Nashville — where Parton had lived since she was 18 — the city will honor the singer with pink lights and posters and give away stickers, buttons and bookmarks. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines announced that it would hold a Parton-inspired karaoke Friday for travelers and employees. Tennessee state and local officials are currently in the process of renaming the airport after Parton.

“Dolly Parton’s impact on Nashville will be felt for generations, through the music she has given us, the people she has helped and the example she continues to set,” said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell in a statement. “She has shown us that caring for a community means showing up for one another.”

Over in New Orleans, the marching group Krewe of Dolly will lead a parade through the city’s French Quarter to honor Parton.

And in San Francisco, organizers are planning a public event in the heart of the city, called “Dolly Day,” designed to be a celebration of life that will include “singing loud, dressing up, and being a little kinder than usual in her honor.”

Donate a book to Imagination Library

For those chained to their actual 9 to 5 job on Friday, sneaking away for an event may be challenging. Instead, you can channel Parton’s giving spirit.

Parton made it her mission to improve literacy through her Imagination Library book giveaway program. The program has quickly expanded, resulting in more than a million books sent out each month to children in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.

The Imagination Library is encouraging the public to give directly to their local Imagination Library Partner on Dolly Parton Day, or help establish a new program in their community.

Don’t know where to start? The Dollywood Foundation is directing people to ImaginationLibrary.com, where a ZIP code search can find nearby programs.

“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, president of The Dollywood Foundation, in a statement. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help.”

Get inspired by Parton's style and songs

The Queen of Country was known for her over-the-top style, proudly wearing sequins with big hair and plenty of fringe in her signature color pink.

Parton especially adored butterflies, singing that “love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh.”

Dig into your closet and throw on something extra flashy, shiny or sparkly. Feeling adventurous? Some tattoo artists are offering Dolly-inspired tattoos on Friday, but a butterfly clip will also work.

Of course, there's no easier way to celebrate Parton than by playing one of her many, many albums throughout the day.

Known for her hits “9 to 5,” “Jolene,” and “I Will Always Love You,” Parton's catalog runs deep, and there's room to discover new favorites.

It was Parton’s wish that her songs would have a lasting impact, and that in turn, she would be remembered for trying to make the world a better place.

“I hope that a lot of my songs may last that long. And I hope I’ll be remembered as somebody that tried to do some good in the world and left, you know, a few good things,” she told The Associated Press in 2024.

The August disaster “was not just a local tragedy. It was a warning to the world. And I ask you today: Have you really heard that warning?” Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah said at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday night. “Nearly three years ago, standing in the shadow of our Mount Everest, the secretary-general of the United Nations warned about humanity about the madness and impending climate disaster.”

“That cry from the rooftop of the world was not heard enough,” Shah said. “We in Nepal heard it. Our communities heard it. Scientists around the world heard it. They repeated it with evidence. But we, the political leaders, have been negligent to translate those warnings in action at the speed and scale that the vulnerable people require.”

International scientists have connected melting permafrost from climate — caused by burning coal, oil and gas — to the instability of the glacier, which partly collapsed and triggered a massive flood that has killed at least 1,400 people with even more still missing.

Shah said that Nepal contributed less than one-tenth of 1% of the heat-trapping gases behind climate change. About 99% of Nepal's electricity comes from hydropower, and many workers were trapped in tunnels by the flooding.

“We did not create this crisis, yet we are paying a colossal price for it,” said Shah, 36, a former rapper and engineer who is the youngest head of government to address the General Assembly this year. “Our glaciers are retreating, our mountain slopes are becoming unstable, our rivers are becoming less predictable, and every major disaster threatens to erase years of development.”

He said climate change ‘does not recognize borders’

In a black Dhaka topi, a traditional brimless Nepali hat, Shah spoke while wearing his signature dark sunglasses, which he uses for medical reasons. He said “the tragic consequences of a warming climate” tells the world that “climate change does not recognize borders. Glaciers and floods do not travel with stamps and passports.”

Subeksha Khadka, a humanitarian and former Miss Nepal International, in an online interview, praised Shah's speech and echoed the warning: "This time Nepal has been on the target, but it could be anyone. This is our story right now, and it can be anybody else’s tomorrow. So it’s time to act.”

Shah didn't ask for a specific amount in aid, but he called the international financial aid system inadequate and too bureaucratic. This included a loss and damage fund agreed upon a few years ago for poor nations hit by climate disasters not of their own making.

“Climate finance must not become another bureaucratic maze through which vulnerable countries spend years” maneuvering through when they need help. “When the house is burning, we do not ask a family to complete 50 forms. We act. This is what climate justice means.”

He exhorted the General Assembly to act on relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction — which are traditional international help concepts — but also “responsibility, reparation, resilience.” Reparation is a word and an issue that rankles industrial western nations like the United States, which is historically the world's biggest carbon emitter.

He says it's ‘not an isolated disaster’

Over the past 75 years, the United States has spewed about 1,500 times more carbon into the air than Nepal has, according to the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that track greenhouse gas emissions by countries. Historical emissions matter because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for more than a century trapping heat.

The U.S. this week announced $31 million in aid to Nepal for flood recovery, which bring America's total financial help up to $36 million. It's less than 1% of what they need.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that from recent disaster alone, Nepal has suffered loss of over $5 billion, nearly 15% of our GDP and a third of our annual budget," Shisir Khanal, Nepal's foreign minister, said Wednesday at the UN climate summit. "Thus for Nepal, this catastrophe is not merely a humanitarian emergency. It is a development emergency dismantling years of progress. It is a justice crisis exposing the inequities of global climate action and it is an existential crisis striking at the very survival of our communities and our future.”

“What happened in Nepal is not an isolated disaster but a preview of what awaits many vulnerable nations,” Khanal said.

Former United States Vice President Al Gore said in an interview that Nepal's disaster shows that the climate crisis “was getting worse much faster” than people can handle and foreshadows problems with melting glaciers that feed all of the great rivers of Asia, putting the water supply of 2 billion people at risk.

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Delgado reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report.

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

Now, they want to win a World Series for the first time, having been there twice only to lose.

Manny Machado fielded Mookie Betts' groundout to third base for the final out in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night that clinched a playoff berth, and the celebration was on.

“I was feeling nice,” Machado said in the cramped visitors' clubhouse, his bare chest soaked with a mix of beer and Champagne. “We're clinching!”

The Padres (89-70) partied inside and then came out on the Dodger Stadium field in matching black T-shirts to pose for photos. It'll be their third straight postseason as a wild-card team.

“I’ve never won a championship,” Machado said. “I know what winning looks like. It takes a whole village to do it and we’ve been showing it this year. There’s been a lot of guys contributing in so many ways. It’s awesome to see it being done.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. stole two bases for the fourth time this season and extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a walk in the fourth against the Dodgers. He was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

“Let's celebrate!” he screamed above the din in the darkened clubhouse. “We're here for a reason. We're ready to compete. We're here for the long run.”

The Padres made franchise history under rookie manager Craig Stammen, a surprise pick by general manager A.J. Preller to replace Mike Shildt, who suddenly retired less than two weeks after the Padres were eliminated by the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in the wild-card round last season.

The 42-year-old Stammen was hired less than three years after retiring as a player despite having no coaching or managerial experience at any level. He’s been with the organization since 2017 and is best known for starting the deciding Game 3 of the 2020 Wild Card Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, who at the time were managed by Shildt. He pitched 1 2/3 innings as the first of nine pitchers the Padres used in the 4-0 win, which clinched their first postseason series victory since 1998.

The Padres popped half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 18 after Michael King struck out nine and Miguel Andujar hit a solo homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a 1-0 win at Petco Park on May 18. But they lost the next night and fell behind the two-time defending World Series champions by double digits by late June.

They were 48-48 at the All-Star break and in third place in the division and have gone 41-22 since then. They came up with a “pitching chaos” game plan to get them through a difficult period with their rotation, which is still thin without Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, who have missed the whole season. Nick Pivetta only recently returned from a long stint on the IL.

Pivetta fired 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday in his eighth career start against the Dodgers, allowing four hits and striking out seven.

Perhaps the biggest pickup of the offseason was first baseman Ty France, who was signed to a minor league free agent deal and made the team out of spring training, his second stint with the Padres. He is from West Covina, California, and played for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. He’s hit a career-high 21 homers and played solid defense.

“I still felt like I had a lot left in the tank and a lot to offer to a team,” France said. “Very grateful and fortunate that it's here.”

Tatis had an unfathomable home run drought to start the season. He didn’t hit his first home run until May 30 at Washington, his 56th game. He’s now recorded his fourth 25-homer season and has 38 stolen bases.

“We're one, we're one,” he said of the team unity. “It's been that way for the whole year and we're going to keep it that way.”

Infielder Jake Cronenworth has come on strong after missing significant time after getting grazed on the jaw by a 96 mph fastball at Anaheim on April 18, and center fielder Jackson Merrill, like Tatis, is a 25-25 guy.

Stammen hasn’t been afraid to experiment with the starting lineup, including moving Tatis from right to second for several games after Cronenworth was hurt.

Back in right field, Tatis had one of the biggest games of his career on Aug. 18 at the New York Mets when he robbed Francisco Lindor of a grand slam and hit two home runs.

The Padres were 58-54 going into the trade deadline on Aug. 3 and Preller not only kept All-Star closer Mason Miller, but added starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize.

“You can never count them out,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week. “They're just too talented.”

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AP freelance writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Bijan Robinson rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons capitalized on the return of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and trounced the punchless Green Bay Packers 35-14 on Thursday night.

Atlanta (1-2) erased an early 7-0 deficit by scoring 27 straight points to take control amid a chorus of boos at Lambeau Field. The Falcons outrushed the Packers 242 yards to 17.

It was a stunning turn of events for an Atlanta offense that hadn't run a single play inside an opponent's 20-yard line during the first two weeks of the season.

“That was the weight off the shoulders — just getting back to the red zone,” Robinson said. “And we knew we had to punch it in every opportunity we get when we get down there. That was the main focus — to get the ball down there and let's put the ball in the end zone. When we scored, it was definitely something we enjoyed, and we kept on doing it.”

Penix went 18 of 25 for 256 yards with one touchdown and an interception in his first action since tearing the ACL in his left knee during a loss to Carolina on Nov. 16.

“I'm proud of him,” Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said. “It's not easy to rehab from injuries. That's a tough thing to do, that he's put himself through — the extra workouts in the weight room, the extra treatments in the training room, all those times that he's out in the field and he's running when no one's watching.”

Atlanta had struggled to produce any offense whatsoever in two games with Cooper Rush at quarterback. The Falcons became the first team since the 2008 Rams not to run any plays in the red zone through the first two weeks of a season.

That wasn’t a problem Thursday.

Robinson and Drake London became the first teammates to each compile at least 190 yards from scrimmage in a road game since Lawrence McCutcheon and Ron Jessie did it for the Rams at Miami on Oct. 3, 1976. London caught nine passes for a career-high 194 yards.

“Me and Drake, that's my real-life brother," Robinson said. "I call him my blood brother. We do everything together.”

Green Bay (1-2) lost a home opener for the first time since falling 30-22 to the San Francisco 49ers in 2012. The Packers had won 13 straight home openers from 2013-25 to share the NFL record with the Miami Dolphins, who also won 13 in a row from 1976-88.

“We’ve got a couple extra days here, and everybody’s got to take a long, hard look at themselves,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “We’ve got to find solutions and just come back ready to work.”

Green Bay's Jordan Love went 28 of 53 for 312 yards with two touchdowns — one to Christian Watson and another to Matthew Golden — and an interception. MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson combined for 17 yards on eight carries.

Love was working behind an offensive line missing left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, who tore his patellar tendon Sunday and will miss the rest of the season. Banks was dealing with a toe injury.

Jager Burton, a rookie fifth-round pick from Kentucky, made his first career start at left guard, and 2025 second-round selection Anthony Belton started at right tackle.

The lack of discipline that hindered Green Bay in its first two games cropped up again Thursday.

Green Bay led 7-0 and had forced an apparent third-and-11 incompletion late in the first quarter when Brenton Cox Jr. was called for roughing the passer. Robinson delivered a 55-yard carry on the next play to set up his own 3-yard touchdown run.

The Packers had committed an NFL-high 26 penalties through the first two weeks of the season.

Atlanta dominated the rest of the first half and led 17-7 at the break.

Nick Folk put Atlanta ahead by hitting a 44-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the second quarter. After Atlanta’s Zach Harrison blocked Trey Smack’s 47-yard field-goal attempt, Penix threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hooper on third-and-goal with 59 seconds left in the half.

Green Bay wasted a red-zone opportunity on its first drive of the second half when Love couldn’t connect with Watson in the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 7. Atlanta poured it on from there.

“It felt great to get a win. It felt great to come out of there healthy. Just blessed, just blessed,” Penix said.

Injuries

Falcons: CB A.J. Terrell (groin) didn't play after getting placed on injured reserve this week.

Packers: LB Edgerrin Cooper was evaluated for a concussion in the second half. G Jacob Monk hurt his quadriceps late in the fourth quarter.

Up next

Falcons: At New Orleans on Monday, Oct. 5.

Packers: At Tampa Bay on Oct. 4.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The event featured a cavalcade of billionaires, Washington powerbrokers, business leaders and the type of festivities that most excite Trump, who has a reputation for reveling in hosting parties.

“President Xi and I both understand we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure, and we’ve never gotten along better,” Trump said during his toast, adding that “together, we can continue to build a relationship that promotes prosperity and security for future generations.”

Trump has done his best to impress Xi during China's leader's during Xi's three-day visit to Washington, and praised their close personal relationship — even as he has decried top Democratic candidates as “communists” ahead of the November midterm elections.

Xi and Trump discussed tensions over Taiwan, trade and artificial intelligence during business hours — even as an ongoing First Amendment fight over press access at the White House has unfolded. But Trump publicly chose to focus on showing Xi his White House updates on Thursday afternoon, including letting him tour his Marine One presidential helicopter and a new helipad he built for it — before attention quickly turned to the flashy details of the swanky meal.

Xi noted in his own toast that “President Trump has pledged to make America great again” and that “China is committed to achieving great national rejuvenation.”

“These two goals are both ambitious and can surely be mutually reinforcing,” Xi said.

Trump wore a tuxedo, and her office said first lady Melania Trump opted for a tuxedo-style outfit: a white Saint Laurent cotton poplin blouse, a black silk cummerbund and black brocade pants — both from Dolce & Gabbana — with a peony motif.

Xi chose a black suit and his wife, Peng Liyuan, wore a red gown. The East Room, where the dinner was held, featured low lighting and place settings with elegant red and gold decor.

Those in attendance included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who signed autographs upon arriving at the White House. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang opted for a tuxedo over his trademark black leather jacket. Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods company LVMH, walked through black security fencing to enter the event.

Trump says he can't help but talk up the ballroom being built

The president toasted his strong relationship with Xi and the bond between the U.S. and China, but then added, “If I could go off script just for a second, I just want to say I had to do it,” as those assembled laughed.

“I’d like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back,” Trump said, referring to the construction site of his White House ballroom on the South Lawn, which he said, “you've heard so much about.”

Trump said the project was a year from completion, and said he thought attendees “will see something that I think you will really love.”

The president said that after the dinner attendees could go see the worksite and be “the first people to step foot” on it.

“We’ll do that. Maybe after we’ve finished with the entertainment tonight,” Trump said, asking, “Anybody wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and sparkling, it’s our honor to have you do so.”

Trump has called the ballroom he’s building the “Great Hall of the United States,” and suggested it could rival the Great Hall of the People, where he dined during a state visit to Beijing in May.

The president also presented Xi with an eagle statue that he said was designed “in personal collaboration with Melania and myself.” Xi did not present Trump a public gift in return during the dinner.

Guests dined on squash and sea bass

The first lady helped craft the evening's menu, which was served on the red china from Ronald Reagan’s presidency. It featured a first course of yellow squash velouté with wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, crispy pancetta and drizzled scallion oil.

After that, guests got sesame-crusted sea bass with braised baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant and a sauce verte. Dessert was vanilla crémeux with sour cherry confit and walnut frangipane, as well as ice cream with honey from the White House.

Trump has sought to one-up Xi after Beijing

The dinner came after the president took the unusual step of personally greeting Xi and his wife on Wednesday as they arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. Normally, presidents wait for their state visit guests to arrive at the White House itself before offering a formal welcome.

Thursday's dinner was packed with technology industry titans like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman, and Dell Technologies chairman and CEO Michael Dell.

During his own visit to Beijing in May, Xi hosted Trump for a state dinner that unfolded beneath grand chandeliers in the Great Hall of the People. That event also included many tech luminaries, such as Tim Cook, formerly Apple's CEO, and Musk.

It was all a stark departure from 2015, when then-President Barack Obama was preparing to host Xi for a state visit and Trump — in the midst of his first presidential run — criticized all the hubbub.

“Just take them to McDonald’s and go back to the negotiating table,” Trump said then, during a rally in South Carolina. He later conceded on Fox News Channel that Xi might at least be worthy of getting “probably a double-size Big Mac.”

Down 10 with three minutes to go, the Valkryies went on a 14-0 run to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75 Thursday night and move into to the No. 2 seed on the final day of the regular season.

Golden State's win and Indiana's loss to Minnesota sets up a best-of-three series between the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces and the Fever.

The series beginning Sunday in Las Vegas will be a showcase between Wilson, the four-time WNBA MVP, and Clark, the 2024 rookie of the year and three-time All-Star.

The Aces, who have won three of the past four WNBA championships, beat the Phoenix Mercury 100-82, but dropped to the No. 3 seed with Golden State's win. Indiana fell to the No. 6 seed with its 86-66 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

Golden State plays the No. 7 seed Dallas Wings and star Paige Bueckers in the opening round. Minnesota clinched the top seed for the second straight season and will face eighth-seeded New York.

The Atlanta Dream are the four seed after beating New York on Wednesday night and will face No. 5 seed Washington. The Mystics beat the Chicago Sky 101-93 Thursday night and earned the fifth seed with Indiana's loss to Minnesota.

“Everybody in the playoffs are capable of winning on the road and stealing a series,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. “I definitely think it’s an advantage to have to play in front of your home crowd.”

The Minnesota-New York series will be a rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals, won by the Liberty in seven games. The Lynx played without star point guard Olivia Miles the final two games of the regular season due to a left calf injury.

“You have to have a healthy dislike for one another and I think that exists,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “But also at the same time, a lot of respect. So it makes for great cinema and hopefully some great games for us, particularly at Target Center.”

The Liberty also have two key players dealing with injuries.

Star Breanna Stewart missed Wednesday’s game with knee soreness and Jonquel Jones went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter.

“The margin for error throughout this regular season is incredibly small and you’ll see that in the playoffs,” Stewart said. “Like one through eight you don’t know who will be playing at the end of October, which is exciting. I feel like for us we’re going to get a fresh start when it comes Sunday.”

With New York finishing at 26-18, this is only the second time in league history that all the playoff teams have won at least 59% of their games. The 1998 playoffs, which only had four teams, had all four teams at 60% or better.

In the four major sports it’s rare to find the last place team in the playoffs with such a high win rate.

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

The Houthis — who have controlled Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north for over a decade — stormed down Yemen's coast this month and seized the crucial port city of Mokha and key Red Sea islands. That gives them better surveillance of ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the sea's southern end. About 12% of the world’s trade usually passes through the waterway.

The rebels have declared a blockade on Saudi shipping. While asserting there's no other threat to commercial shipping on the Red Sea, they have warned other nations not to get involved.

But the vice president of the internationally recognized government council urged world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly not to trust the Houthis' assurances — and to see a bigger picture in the strife around the strait.

“The Houthi militias' use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threatens not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy,” said the vice president, Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer.

Yemeni VP says weapons, technology should be kept from rebels' hands

Arguing that protecting the strait “is the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security and freedom of navigation,” he urged the international community to keep weapons and technology from getting into the rebels' hands.

For years, the U.N. Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis and an asset freeze and travel ban on their leaders and top officials.

Iran denies arming the Houthis, but smuggled Iranian weapons and parts have been seized from numerous shipments bound for Yemen, and a report by U.N. experts in 2024 documented extensive military ties between the Houthis, Iran and its other allies. Al Alimi-Bawzer contended Thursday that the rebels wouldn't have been able to maintain their position for a dozen years without Iranian weapons, expertise and military technologies.

The Houthis claimed Thursday to have fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jazan province. A Saudi military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said the kingdom intercepted six ballistic missiles targeting its Red Sea port of Yanbu and the southwestern city of Taif, blaming the Houthis.

His statement followed alerts by Saudi civil defense authorities, who later noted the danger had passed.

Fighting risks full-scale return to civil war

In Yemen, the latest fighting risks a full-scale return to the civil war that killed more than 150,000 people and forced millions from their homes. Already, nearly 130,000 people have been newly displaced and hundreds killed, and a humanitarian crisis is deepening in the Arab world’s poorest country.

The fighting near the crucial Red Sea shipping corridor and the Houthis' pursuit of a blockade of Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, also have worried global markets. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait has become all the more crucial since Iran has asserted control over the even busier Strait of Hormuz, off its coast, since the U.S. and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in February.

After the Houthis overran Sanaa and northern parts of Yemen in 2014, Saudi Arabia formed a military coalition to intervene on behalf of the Yemeni government. But the fighting wore on, and the Houthis endured.

A truce took hold in 2022. But after the Israel-Hamas war began the next year, the Houthis began attacking Red Sea shipping. The attacks continued until a U.S. bombing campaign in 2025.

Yemeni official thanks Saudis and US

On Thursday, Al Alimi-Bawzer thanked the Saudis and hailed the U.S. for having shown a “decisive approach.”

The Saudis have recently again sought military support from allies, but the U.S. hasn't renewed military involvement. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said repeatedly that the U.S. will fulfill its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia but has not specified how.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters at the U.N. on Thursday that his country was “continuing to work with our partners in the U.S. to address the issue of this conflict.”

Despite the Houthis’ latest advances, he suggested his country wasn’t worried about a Houthi takeover in Yemen's south. The Yemeni government, he said, “is very capable of defending the territory it controls."

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Anna reported from Jerusalem and Khaled from Cairo. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed from the United Nations.

Netanyahu addressed the plenum after days of speeches by world leaders condemning Israel's war in Gaza and accusing him of orchestrating a genocide against the Palestinian people. At times, the Israeli leader, facing a tough race for re-election next month, became emotional and indignant as he lectured his critics, among them New York's mayor.

Netanyahu, his voice rising in emphasis, said attacking Iran “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make” and denounced as “moral cowards” a mass of delegates who walked out of the hall when he took the podium to speak.

“In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.”

When Netanyahu walked to the rostrum, a mix of cheers, boos and mass walkouts erupted. Scores of delegates marched out and a majority of visible seats sat empty afterward. “Order in the hall, please,” General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said repeatedly.

“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.

A speech aimed at a domestic audience

Netanyahu's remarks — which at times sounded like a stump speech — were aimed largely at the audience at home as the country prepares for elections on Oct. 27. It was delivered during the evening prime time in Israel and filled with standard talking points used to defend policies in the occupied West Bank and treatment of the Palestinians.

Netanyahu reminded the assembly of the scale of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people.

“This is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours,” he said, or 16 times the death count of the 9/11 attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead in New York and more in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.

Netanyahu said the attack left Israel with no choice but to hit Hamas hard. Many governments have accused Israel of committing war crimes, and Netanyahu himself faces an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court accusing him of crimes against humanity.

He predicted the fall of Iran's government

While the war in Iran has been inconclusive and caused havoc on the global economy, Netanyahu insisted he had made the right decision.

He thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for taking decisive action against Iran, and predicted Iran’s theocratic government would fall. Trump made a similar assertion at the outset of the war that began nearly seven months ago, but the Iranian government appears to remain firmly in charge.

Netanyahu, known for using visual aids during his General Assembly speeches, at one point held up a pager while reminding the audience of the Sept. 17, 2024, attack in which Israel remotely detonatedthousands of pagers that had been distributed to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The pager attack wounded more than 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children.

He says reports of settler violence in the West Bank are distorted

Netanyahu dismissed incidents of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “handful of young juvenile delinquents” throwing stones, chopping down olive trees and lighting fires.

“I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism,” the prime minister said before accusing foreign leaders and the international press of distorting the scale of violence in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s government is dominated by settlers and their allies, and has made few arrests in the wave of settler violence.

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want both as part of their future state. The Palestinians and most of the international community view the settlements as illegal and as an obstacle to creating a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported more than 1,600 settler attacks this year.

At least 104 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this year, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry. Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians over the same period. This week, a settler was killed and the son of Israel's ambassador to the U.S. badly wounded in separate Palestinian attacks.

Israel is increasingly isolated on the world stage

Netanyahu also accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of spreading lies about Israel and endangering Jewish New Yorkers with his criticism of the country's military actions in Gaza.

Before the prime minister arrived in New York, Mamdani called him a “war criminal” and pushed for his arrest. The mayor has acknowledged that New York does not have the authority to execute an International Criminal Court warrant but urged federal authorities to do so.

In past years, Netanyahu has used his General Assembly speech to both denounce the United Nations as biased and make Israel's case to world leaders. His address is the cornerstone of an abbreviated trip to the United States as Israel has grown increasingly isolated throughout the war in Gaza.

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 251. At least 73,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government whose numbers are generally considered reliable by the international community.

A ceasefire agreed to by Israel and Hamas last October halted the heaviest of the fighting and led to the release of the remaining hostages yet further steps have since stalled. Israel maintains control of most of Gaza and continues to carry out airstrikes on Palestinians near military-held zones. Hamas not disarmed or relinquished power and there has been no progress toward reconstruction in the mostly destroyed territory.

Netanyahu has said no Palestinian state will be established while he is Israel’s leader and has argued that the Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace.

Netanyahu followed the Palestinian president’s remote speech

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also addressed the U.N. General Assembly earlier Thursday, delivering prerecorded remarks from his office in Ramallah after the United States denied him a visa to attend the gathering for the second year in a row.

Though world leaders have repeatedly invoked the plight of Palestinians in speeches throughout the week, Abbas urged the international community to take more tangible action against Israel.

“How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people?" Abbas said. “What, then, is the international community waiting for before it acts to protect the Palestinian people?”

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Associated Press reporters Jennifer Peltz and Edith M. Lederer contributed.

Nolo became a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday night and was expected to strengthen while turning toward the Big Island, the National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters warned that the Big Island could see rainfall totals of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 centimeters), with higher amounts possible through Saturday. The island of Maui also could be hit with life-threatening floods, the hurricane center said.

Meanwhile, heavy rains from powerful Hurricane Polo could cause torrential flooding and landslides in Mexico, according to the U.S. hurricane center. In the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas, seawater already swept through homes Thursday and left wooden planks and furniture strewn on the streets.

Polo has fluctuated between Category 4 and 5, both major-hurricane strength. It was expected to regain Category 5 status on Friday, then gradually weaken Friday night and Saturday, the hurricane center said.

After skirting Mexico's coast, Polo was expected to move farther out to sea Thursday night and Friday before hooking back toward land to the north on Saturday.

The series of powerful storms comes as the weather phenomenon El Niño prompts major environmental shifts across the world, fueling drought in some areas and flooding in others. El Niño traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, while it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific with moist air and little wind shear.

Hawaii has been battered this year by major flooding in the spring, an earthquake and two other hurricanes since mid-August.

“In my 20 years of experience here, I’ve never seen three hurricane watches for the islands in the same year,” said John Bravender of the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Polo could trigger flooding and mudslides in Mexico

Mexican authorities were opening shelters and clearing people from beaches, while coastal residents tried to protect businesses from getting swept away. People in high-risk areas were being evacuated, though authorities didn’t immediately say how many.

Much of the worry from locals comes from hurricanes in past years that devastated cities along the Pacific coast. Hurricane Otis in 2023 unexpectedly plunged Acapulco into turmoil for weeks.

“So many people said it wouldn’t happen and then it did. After that, you’re left on edge,” said Gonzalo Ramírez, a bartender in the city.

Polo posed the biggest threat to Guerrero and Michoacán, neighboring states in southwest Mexico that share a long coastline scattered with small ports, tourist towns and fishing villages. Much of the area is marked by poverty, and residents routinely complain they are left to fend for themselves during natural disasters.

Mexican authorities have deployed 15,000 security personnel across the coast and suspended schools.

In Lázaro Cárdenas, a port city in Michoacán that was hit with high surf, locals and government officials were clearing out piles of wooden planks from a number of destroyed ramadas and shoveling thick mud coating much of the town.

Alicia Contreras said the walls and roof of her restaurant had been severely damaged by 15-foot (4.5-meter) waves. As officers and family helped pick through the damaged house, Contreras worried how she would economically recover.

“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” Contreras said.

Nolo could flood parts of Hawaii still recovering from other storms

While the Big Island is expected to bear the brunt of Nolo, its full path remains uncertain, according to Bravender, the weather service's warning coordination meteorologist in Hawaii.

Most concerning, he said Thursday, is that the heaviest rain is likely to fall over the same southeastern region of the Big Island hit in August by Hurricane Lala and where grounds are still wet from additional precipitation.

“There are several communities that were isolated, flooded, roads that were washed out,” he said. “It’s that same area that is most under threat,” Bravender said.

Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Schools were closed for the rest of the week.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.

Odalys and Fay are not near land

A third storm in the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys, was centered far from land, roughly 1,110 miles (1,785 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

In the northern Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday, the U.S. hurricane center said. It was nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores.

Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed in the Atlantic Ocean late Thursday, about 190 miles (306 kilometers) southeast of the Cape Verde islands off the coast of West Africa. The U.S. hurricane center said that if it stays on its current track, the storm will pass near or over portions of the islands Friday.

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Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Jeriel Vargas Ambriz in Lázaro Cárdena, Mexico, contributed to this report.

Tropical storms have spawned in what seems like assembly-line fashion in recent weeks, as El Nino conditions that emerged in June have caused waters to grow warmer than normal, setting off a chain of unusual weather around much of the world.

“It’s ramping up to be perhaps the strongest El Nino on record,” University of Miami hurricane expert Brian McNoldy said.

The number of hurricanes in the eastern Pacific has already surpassed what occurs in a typical season. This week alone, Hurricane Polo drenched Mexico’s Pacific coast as it seesaws between Category 4 and 5. And in storm-weary Hawaii, there’s the potential for catastrophic flooding from a growing Hurricane Nolo.

During El Nino, low-level surface winds blowing from east to west across the Pacific are weakened or sometimes reversed. It causes a shift in the jet stream and drives record global heat, severe droughts, wildfires and shrinking water supplies.

El Ninos don’t follow a regular schedule, occurring every two to seven years on average. Some can be mild. Others can pack a punch. McNoldy predicted that the current El Nino will peak during the coming winter but linger into 2027.

“It doesn’t turn off right away,” he said.

While the focus is on the increased number of Pacific storms, El Ninos conversely curtail hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean: Tropical weather activity in the Atlantic has been virtually silent this year.

A turbocharged hurricane year in the Pacific

Thanks to El Nino, both the eastern Pacific and the central Pacific have seen four more tropical storms than is normal to date with more than two months left in the hurricane season, said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.

From 1991 to 2020, there was an average of 15 named storms in the eastern Pacific per season, which runs from May 15 to Nov. 30.

But surpassing the yearly average in September? “That's a different story,” Rosencrans said.

What also sets this year’s El Nino-fueled storms apart is that three Pacific hurricanes have reached Category 5 strength, tying a record set in 2002, also during an El Nino, he said.

The most active season on record in the eastern Pacific was 1992, when there were 25 named storms, Rosencrans said. For the central Pacific, it was 14 in 2015.

In 2015 there were nine major hurricanes, of Category 3 or higher, in the eastern Pacific, but no reported deaths. Due to El Nino, forecasters said the eastern Pacific storms formed farther west and tracked more westward, remaining over the open ocean throughout their cycle.

During another strong El Nino in 1997, hundreds of people died when Hurricane Pauline tore across Mexico’s Pacific coast. That same year Tropical Storm Nora gave landlocked southwestern Arizona an unusual soaking. And a December storm in Southern California caused flooding that swept cars into a storm channel and prompted evacuations of some mobile home parks.

In 1998, El Nino was blamed for flooding in China that killed 4,150 people, most along the Yangtze River.

Hawaii finds itself in the crosshairs again

Hawaii has felt the wrath of two hurricanes over the past month. Lala in August and Lowell in early September combined to destroy or damage more than 510 homes and cause $168 million in damage to public infrastructure. Lala also caused $21.5 million in damage to 38 schools.

Nolo, which strengthened to a hurricane Thursday night, is expected to make it three. Forecasters say the storm could drop rainfall amounts on Hawaii that are measured in feet, not inches.

On top of that, heavy rains in March caused the worst flooding to hit Hawaii in two decades. That was followed in May by a magnitude-6.0 earthquake, prompting Gov. Josh Green to remark that this year has been “unlike anything I can recall.”

Two hurricanes came within 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Hawaii in 1957, but that did not happen again for more than a half century. Then it occurred in 2014, 2016 and 2018 before this year's predicted trifecta.

Meteorologists often worry about “preparedness fatigue,” when communities gear up for storms that never arrive or fall short of their potential strength. But John Bravender, a weather service warning coordination meteorologist, said 2026 has yielded a different type of weariness in Hawaii.

“The fact that we’ve had these damaging impacts that keep happening, and as we’re recovering from them, we have to get ready for the next event — that’s a new one that really drains the resources and leads to this overall sense that this is a very busy hurricane season for us,” he said.

Residents understand the risks and are getting more accustomed to preparing.

“I think community members realize how dangerous the weather can be, how important it is for them to be self-sufficient, have food, water and also look out for their neighbors,” Bravender said.

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Associated Press writer Gabriela Aoun Angueira contributed to this report.

Even if a school policy was written without overt racial bias, it might unfairly hurt one group of students over another, the understanding went. The concept is known as systemic racism, and Republican and Democratic administrations agreed: Schools and universities that received federal funding had an obligation to address it.

Under President Donald Trump's administration, that's no longer the case. One by one, the administration has limited the remedies schools can use to address systemic racial injustice.

This summer, the Education Department rescinded a regulation that allowed schools to gauge potential discrimination by comparing outcomes across races, such as the racial breakdown of students in advanced classes. Then, it issued a letter to American schools, emphasizing it's illegal to consider race when crafting discipline policies — even if one particular racial group ends up suspended or expelled more often.

At the same time, Trump's Justice Department has stepped away from many school desegregation cases. In a news release Thursday, the department boasted of successfully working through the courts to close more than 50 desegregation cases since Trump took office, with motions to dismiss in the works in many other cases. Previous administrations had used these federal court cases to hold schools accountable when students of color had worse outcomes than white students — high rates of discipline, worse school facilities or reduced access to extracurriculars and advanced coursework.

While Trump's first administration deprioritized enforcing racial justice, his current administration has gone further — threatening to punish schools for any consideration of race in their policies and practices.

To the administration, the practice of examining different outcomes for particular groups of students, sometimes known as “disparate impact,” was itself a form of racial discrimination.

“The Obama and Biden Administrations weaponized disparate impact by effectively coercing schools to discipline students differently based on race in order to engineer equitable disciplinary outcomes across racial groups,” Education Department spokesperson Sabin Sidney said. "These practices unfortunately led to unsafe classrooms and undermined student learning."

Critics worry the administration's actions will make it easier to get away with racial discrimination.

“When they talk about returning it to the states and making America great again, they’re talking about returning to how it was before 1954,” when school segregation was legal, said U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.

School discipline data had offered insights on discrimination

Since Trump's return to office, the administration has set its sights on school discipline.

In May 2025, the president signed an executive order directing federal agencies to stop looking for “ disparate impact," or policies that appear neutral but result in outsized impact to one group over another. Those policies had been examined for possible discrimination, regardless of their intent.

In education, that analysis had most often been applied to school discipline — especially to removing students from the classroom, such as through suspensions, expulsions and referrals to law enforcement.

Federal and state data have long shown students of color, particularly Black students, are more likely than their peers to be pulled from the classroom for similar infractions. Research shows that students who are suspended are more likely to become disengaged from school and to have worse academic outcomes.

In 2021, the Education Department began investigating a complaint alleging Black male students with disabilities in Denver Public Schools were being disproportionately pushed out of the classroom. Progress on the case halted after Trump took office in 2025.

Advocates had also filed the complaint with state authorities, who found violations of civil rights laws and ordered the district to mandate new training. Meanwhile, families have heard nothing from the federal Education Department.

The silence gives school districts permission to continue with business as usual, said Pam Bisceglia, executive director of Advocacy Denver, which filed the complaints.

“I’d like to say that we have overcome and that marginalized communities are enjoying equal protections. We see that, in fact, that isn’t true,” she said.

Trump's administration has changed which cases are investigated

Under Trump's first administration, the Education Department continued to investigate and resolve cases of racial discrimination against minority students.

In 2018, the Education Department reached a settlement agreement with Durham Public Schools in North Carolina, after examining whether the district's discipline policies, or their effects, were racially discriminatory. The investigation found Black students were disproportionately given out-of-school suspension — especially in instances involving subjective decisions on matters like disobedience.

For a time, Jovonia Lewis, a parent and former Durham school board member, constantly received calls about her son being kicked out of the classroom. She was told he couldn’t sit still. But the federal settlement agreement helped Black parents see their children's experiences were not occurring in isolation, Lewis said.

“We knew our kids were being treated differently, but this data gave us leverage,” she said.

The investigation had a significant impact in Durham, Lewis recalled. The district adopted a new student code of conduct and created an equity affairs office.

Under the Trump administration's new guidance, federal authorities are unlikely to take up similar cases.

“The federal government has chosen to close its eyes to that way of understanding discrimination,” said Catherine Lhamon, who oversaw education civil rights under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, both Democrats.

The impact of the administration's changes will outlast Trump's presidency, said Johnathan Smith, a former attorney in the civil rights division at the Justice Department and a managing director at the National Center for Youth Law. Once the administration changes rules and regulations, future efforts to investigate civil rights could be held up in court.

“They're building an infrastructure that says, ‘Not only are we taking down these structures, but we are building in roadblocks to make it very difficult for any future administration to change course,’” Smith said.

Decades-old school desegregation cases are being closed

Across the South, the Justice Department has taken an interest in closing cases of court-mandated school desegregation, arguing the decades-old orders are outdated. But civil rights attorneys say the impact of segregation continues to be felt today.

Courts have long maintained the passage of time is not enough to rule that discrimination has passed, said Kelly Gardner, deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. To be released from a desegregation order, schools have had to show that they have removed the lingering effects of segregation to the extent possible. That can involve assessing extracurricular offerings, funding levels and the state of school facilities.

Now, the Justice Department is intervening to close cases, often without taking account of those considerations, Gardner said.

In January, a federal court granted a request from the Justice Department and the DeSoto Parish School Board in Louisiana to release the small district from its desegregation order. In the order, the district had allowed students to transfer out of racially isolated schools, with transportation provided. As recently as 2024, the order was used to ensure those students had equal access to extracurriculars in their new schools.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, praised the court decision for freeing the district from federal oversight.

“After 60 years of litigation and federal control, the elected members of the DeSoto Parish School Board now have the full powers of their office, as our Constitution has always intended,” Murrill wrote in a social media post at the time.

A few months after the order was lifted, the school district amended its policies. The district would no longer accept new applications for transfers, and students in the transfer program would have to return to their zoned schools once they finished the highest grade at their current school.

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

As of 11 p.m. Thursday, Gonzalo had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving north-northwest at 8 mph.

Gonzalo is expected to impact the Cabo Verde islands through the weekend before dissipating as it lifts north through the eastern Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fay is meandering through the Central Atlantic after regenerating Wednesday.

Fay is expected to dissipate over the weekend.

There are no other areas of interest in the Atlantic.

Hurricane season runs through November.

The demonstrators represented a range of causes, from calls for religious autonomy and greater freedoms in Tibet, Hong Kong and the ethnic region of Xinjiang to demands to keep China out of self-governed Taiwan.

Protests against visiting Chinese leaders are nothing new — in 2006, a woman heckled Xi's predecessor Hu Jintao at a White House welcome ceremony — but Xi has become the focus of attacks for his tough approach to tightening control over Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other regions and the Chinese military's growing threats to Taiwan, which he says must come under Chinese rule.

Crowds gathered behind a fence along Lafayette Park, waving flags and holding signs. Loudspeakers carried their voices across the park to the White House’s North Portico, where an honor guard and a red carpet awaited guests attending the state dinner.

The crowd chanted, “Xi Jinping has got to go” and “Shame! Shame on Xi Jinping!” The chants grew louder throughout the ceremony.

Pro-China demonstrators also turned out in Washington. Around 200 supporters of Xi gathered outside the hotel where he was staying, waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome.” They had banners reading, “A warm welcome to Chairman Xi on his visit to the U.S.” and “Hello, Uncle Xi.”

Meanwhile, protesters of the Xi's government gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in the morning before marching through the city. By late afternoon, a few hundred people gathered at a park near the White House to “unwelcome” Xi.

Many waved Tibetan flags and called for a “Free Tibet.” Others carried flags bearing the Chinese words for “freedom” and “democracy,” along with signs reading, “Keep Taiwan Free” and “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan associated with Hong Kong’s mass protests in 2019.

Anjali Tenzin Sonn, 17, joined a mostly Tibetan group calling for a free Tibet outside the U.S. Capitol. She said she felt compelled to participate after growing up hearing stories about her mother fleeing Tibet on foot and her grandfather suffering as a political prisoner. She described the protest as “inspirational.”

“I hope Emperor Xi won’t remain in power. I hope he can give Chinese people real freedom — freedom of speech and religion,” said Zhang Na, a 31-year-old warehouse worker in Los Angeles who traveled to the same protest.

Zhang said she became weary of China’s prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns and flew to Ecuador three years ago before walking to the United States through the southern border.

Yang Fan, a 39-year-old Christian, attended with his wife and daughter and held a handwritten sign calling for “freedom of religion” and an “end to dictatorship.” He said he wanted to stand up for Christians in China and hoped Xi would release those imprisoned for their religious beliefs.

“I would like to see the liberation of Hong Kong and the complete restoration of its freedoms,” said Melody Calkins, 30, who spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong.

The firm's report published Wednesday found that Dale Caldwell violated the state’s policy prohibiting discrimination in the workplace. It said he made an advance toward a staffer’s friend and when he was rebuffed, he told the staffer, “you young women are looking for young sperm.”

“The investigation found that the Lieutenant Governor engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement Thursday.

Caldwell’s lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, disputed the allegations, calling the investigation a one-sided operation that did not include necessary due process.

“The Lieutenant Governor was not provided a meaningful opportunity to address each of these anonymous allegations,” he said in a statement.

Caldwell “categorically denies” making the alleged statement about women wanting sperm, the lawyer said, adding that a state police trooper who was present at the time didn’t hear it said.

The report also accused Caldwell of breaking the state’s ethics rules by trying to get a promotion for a state employee he was dating.

In May, Caldwell emailed an unnamed official recommending his romantic partner, who he called a friend, for a promotion to a leadership position, the report said. He included her resume and a letter she sent expressing interest in a senior leadership position, according to the report.

Calcagni acknowledged that Caldwell had recommended a promotion for a woman with whom he had a personal relationship, but said he believed she was qualified for the job and hadn’t ordered anyone to promote her.

“There is a difference between failing to disclose a personal relationship when forwarding the resume of a qualified job applicant and actually using the power of public office to secure a job or financial benefit for someone,” Calcagni said.

The report also found seven ticketed events between Feb. 19 and May 23 where Caldwell reportedly brought one or more guests without paying for them. The events included one at the State Opera of New Jersey and a Rowan University Rosa Parks Scholarship Luncheon, with tickets ranging from $65 to $300, according to the report.

“Where a sponsor waives admission to an event for an official’s family member, friend, or date, the value of that admission is an impermissible benefit to the official,” the report said.

In May, Caldwell sent a message responding to accusations of ethical violations against him. He denied several claims, including that he gives out his businesses cards to women for inappropriate reasons, calling that “categorically untrue.”

“Unfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace,” Caldwell, who is Black, wrote.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said Caldwell’s “ethical lapses” continued even with multiple warnings and trainings. She called his resignation “in the best interest of New Jersey residents.”

“These violations substantiated in the investigation reflect a pattern of behavior that does not meet the standards of this Administration,” she said.

A Methodist pastor, Caldwell was president of Centenary University for two years before being elected lieutenant governor, a post that has existed in New Jersey for around 20 years.

While candidates for governor get to pick the people who will appear on the ticket as their running mate, and serve as lieutenant governor, it is an independently elected position.

New Jersey’s governor cannot fire Caldwell. She has the power to assign, or remove, him from certain responsibilities, and could effectively sideline him from playing an active role in state government. But lieutenant governors can be impeached and removed from office by the Legislature.

As lieutenant governor, Caldwell is first in line to become the governor if Sherrill were to die, be removed from office or become incapacitated. The lieutenant governor’s office, while more than ceremonial, is largely subservient to the governor.

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Golden reported from Seattle.

Sumaiya Brown was last seen Sept. 24 in the 600 block of Old England Loop, according to the Sanford Police Department. Police said her means of travel is unknown.

Sumaiya is described as 4 feet 8 inches tall and about 90 pounds. She has brown eyes and brown hair.

Police said she was last seen wearing a lilac-colored shirt, white and green pants, and a white hat with writing on it.

Anyone with information about Sumaiya’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Sanford Police Department.

Police are continuing to search for Sumaiya and are asking the public to share the information to help locate her.

Attorneys representing the 18-year-old Black college student's family have called for transparency, asking that the grand jury investigative materials and the official autopsy report be publicly released. Crump and his team discussed the contents of the cellphone analysis, but they did not release a full report of all the messages sent and received in the days leading up to and the day of Wells' death.

The grand jury had access to that information, including 282 pages of Snapchat conversations, when it convened last week, according to the panel's report and Crump. Crump said the forensic examiner was able to track messages received and sent and tie them to the location of Wells' phone from the day before he went missing all the way up to when his family got the phone back.

“The messaging, as I said, was very telling … some of his own friends were concerned about (how) people on Horn Island can be racist,” Crump said Thursday.

Wells' family and their legal team have slammed the grand jury report and have been working to keep the investigation open and active. They've asked for federal authorities to look into the events surrounding Wells' death. His body was found two days after he went with a group of mostly white friends on a boat trip to a barrier island for a July 4 party.

The high-profile death in a Deep South state with a history of racial tension has sparked rampant speculation and suspicion. State and local officials and several of Wells' white friends who had become the target of that speculation had hoped that the grand jury report would quell critics.

Wells' parents and lawyers express suspicions

Wells’ parents and their lawyers voiced suspicions after Wells’ friends left the island without him, saying he wanted to stay behind and talk to a girl. Wells’ phone was on the boat that took him to the island, and his family and their attorneys have expressed doubt that he would choose to stay behind without his phone.

Crump said the last text message sent by Wells was July 3 around 8:30 p.m., but that was not unusual given that he and many teenagers communicate primarily on social media, including Snapchat and Instagram.

Andrew Garrett, the forensic examiner who extracted the contents of Wells' phone, said the GPS and other phone data showed that Wells had opened it with his face while it was on the boat around 2:17 p.m. It was then locked and continued to receive messages as it traveled on the boat, then by car and eventually was picked up by his family.

Garrett also said at the news conference Thursday that some snap messages had been deleted. He did not specify whether the senders deleted those messages on their own phones, but he made clear that he could not ascribe intent to those deletions. There was no evidence presented that suggested someone had unlocked Wells' phone after it left the island and before the family got it back.

The Associated Press sent a message to Crump's team seeking clarification Thursday.

A lawyer who represents some of Wells’ friends who have been the subject of speculation and online hate said it was unclear what new information the cellphone report revealed, reiterating that none of his clients were on the boat carrying Wells’ phone.

“They never had the phone,” attorney Edward Paltzik said of his clients.

The grand jury findings attempt to explicitly clear the friends who left the island without Wells from any wrongdoing, including trying to squash several online rumors.

In a statement released after Crump's Thursday news conference, District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath stood by the investigation and said: “Again, if the Crump team genuinely has new information or evidence that Nolan Wells was murdered they should stop playing games and immediately provide it to me.”

Lawyers question drowning determination

The grand jury report said the panel found Wells' death to be “consistent with drowning” and found that he had not been in a fight or altercation while on the island.

Crump and Wells' parents questioned how the panel could determine Wells likely drowned, when both the official and independent autopsies said the cause of death could not be determined.

The state's official autopsy report, which Crump's team received late Wednesday, also said Wells' airways and stomach were empty, which they said raised questions about the grand jury's finding.

“What this means is that there is no water in the stomach, there is no water in the lungs and there is no water in the throat,” Wells' family attorney Liza Park said.

Both the official and independent autopsies noted fresh bruising on Wells' head. A witness testified to the grand jury that he saw Wells slip awkwardly off the side of a boat around 3:30 p.m. on July 4, but that Wells continued to socialize after the fall and didn’t appear injured, the report said. The panel said it couldn’t determine whether the fall caused the bruising, but noted it was not a fatal injury.

Premier Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government said the package is aimed at strengthening integration through language learning and has drawn support from right-wing allies.

Opponents including some educators, unions and opposition parties warn that new rules could force students to attend schools far from their neighborhoods, while critics accuse the government of turning immigration into a political issue.

With elections possible as early as next spring, analysts say the measures allow the premier to reassert her credentials on issues central to her conservative base, even though their impact is likely to be limited and significant questions remain about how they would be enforced.

Under the plan, a limit of 30% of foreign students lacking sufficient Italian proficiency would be allowed in any individual classroom.

The government decree goes into effect immediately but needs to be endorsed within 60 days in parliament, where Meloni's coalition commands a majority.

Meloni wrote on social media that they are “common-sense measures that do not divide but help foster genuine integration, avoiding ‘ghetto’ classrooms and giving all students equal opportunities.”

The decree comes as Meloni faces mounting pressure on her right flank from a new hard-line challenger, retired army Gen. Roberto Vannacci, who has been seeking to capitalize on voter concerns over immigration and national identity.

A limited number of classrooms are affected

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said local school authorities will coordinate student placements to avoid concentrations of non-Italian-speaking pupils, while schools unable to comply would be eligible for exemptions and additional language-support funding.

The minister says it would affect around 1,000 classrooms, about 0.3% of the total nationwide, and primarily those with high concentrations of recently arrived students with little or no Italian-language proficiency.

School principals questioned how the measure could work in areas with large migrant populations.

“From an educational perspective, the issue is well-founded and valid, but it’s difficult to turn it into a practical solution,” said Antonello Giannelli, president of the National Association of Principals.

"We have situations in which there is a district, a neighborhood that is mainly inhabited by immigrants and maybe there is only one school. So, since these are children, presumably young children in primary school, it is evident that they will hardly be able to go kilometers from their home,” Giannelli added.

Teachers’ unions criticized what they called a lack of both consultation and resources for the measure. They argued that the government’s 14-million-euro ($16 million) funding package would not be enough to hire specialized language teachers and cultural mediators needed to support students.

“Differences mean opportunities, and as with every opportunity one must be able to catch it. In most cases they (foreign students) allow the class to enrich their view of the world,” said Giovanni Castagno, a 52-year-old primary school teacher in central Rome.

According to Education Ministry data, students without Italian citizenship accounted for 11.2% of Italy’s school population in the 2022-23 academic year, while classes with more than 30% foreign students represented 7.6% of the total.

Foreign students who were born in the country would be exempt from the cap, along with those who attended Italian preschool or have already progressed through the school system.

Burqas and niqabs banned from schools

The decree also bans burqas and niqabs in schools while continuing to allow hijabs.

The measure is narrower than restrictions adopted in some other European countries.

France banned full-face veils in public spaces in 2011, citing public security concerns, despite the small number of women affected. France also prohibits students from wearing conspicuous religious symbols, including Islamic headscarves, in public schools under its strict secularism doctrine.

Critics in Italy said the provision addresses a phenomenon rarely seen in Italian classrooms. Educators noted that while headscarves are common among some Muslim students, full-face veils are seldom seen in schools, and they argued that the provision risks becoming a symbolic political issue rather than an educational one.

Opposition parties also said the 30% threshold largely mirrors guidance already introduced by the Education Ministry in 2010, noting the government was repackaging an existing policy rather than investing in struggling schools. Center-left leader Elly Schlein accused the government of using schools to advance a political message on migration.

Valditara, the education minister, rejected those criticisms, saying the goal is integration through language acquisition and stronger educational support.

Parents asked to attend Italian-language courses

The decree provides additional teaching resources for schools where newly arrived foreign students exceed 20% of enrollment and additional language-learning funds for schools exceeding the 30% threshold.

It also would require some parents of foreign students to attend Italian-language courses when language barriers within families contribute to educational or behavioral difficulties.

Schools would refer eligible families to social services, which could enroll them in a tailored support program through adult education centers. Parents who fail to attend the courses could face fines ranging from 200 to 1,000 euros, although exemptions are included for those with certified age-related, medical or disability-related barriers to language learning.

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AP video journalist Paolo Santalucia in Rome contributed to this report.

Texas will be the third stop for the franchise. The team moved to Connecticut in 2003 from Orlando. The Sun made four trips to the WNBA Finals and hosted a record four All-Star Games, and Connecticut was the first team to turn a profit in the league's history. The team, which was purchased for $10 million, was sold for $300 million.

“It’s been an emotional week,” team president Jen Rizzotti told The Associated Press. “The silver lining of the chapter closing is it forces you to look at what this franchise has meant for over two decades and make sure the story is told and the legacy lasts forever.”

The franchise is moving to the home of the former Comets, who won the first four WNBA titles. Its time in Connecticut ended Thursday against Toronto in the regular-season finale. The Sun went out a winner, beating the Tempo 95-81.

Rizzotti will move to Houston with the team as president of basketball operations. She said that 75-80% of the front office staff will also make the move.

“It’s exciting to celebrate the past while also being emotional that it’s ending,” she said. “Thursday is a celebration of our fans with fan appreciation night. One game isn’t enough to show the appreciation of how much they poured into the franchise for 24 years.”

Why are the Sun moving?

The WNBA seems to have outgrown the Sun, with the new collective bargaining agreement demanding standard amenities for all teams that include state-of-the-art practice facilities.

The Mohegan Tribe, which owns the franchise, sold the team to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta for $300 million.

The Sun had an offer for $325 million from a group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca that would have moved the franchise to Boston. The WNBA basically blocked that deal by saying that “relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams.”

Now the franchise is becoming the first to relocate since San Antonio moved to Las Vegas in 2017.

“It’s sad,” former Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said in a phone interview. “I put a lot into it and to see it go is sad. It did confirm that it was a good business decision to bring it there in the first place. If I was still CEO I’d recommend we sell it for that much profit.”

Being in the smallest market in the WNBA led to difficulties for the franchise to attract top free agents. Over the past two years the team has gone from being a WNBA Finals contender to rebuilding mode.

Sun honored their past this season

Throughout the season, Connecticut honored some of the franchise's iconic players, including Jonquel Jones, Jasmine Thomas, Alyssa Thomas, Tina Charles along with coaches Curt Miller and Mike Thibault. The group joined other Connecticut standouts — Margo Dydek, Katie Douglas, Nykesha Sales, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Lindsay Whalen and Asjha Jones — in the rafters at the arena.

Thibault was the last of the group to be honored as Connecticut hosted the event after last Sunday's game against Minnesota. Whalen, Charles and McWilliams-Franklin were in attendance for that contest as well as dozens of other former employees and front office staffers.

They told stories and stayed well after the game reminiscing about the franchise. Rizzotti expected a similar celebration after Thursday's finale.

“I know we’re going really blow the game out,” she said. “Lot of things we’re giving away, postgame mingles and autograph opportunities. When everybody leaves we’ll just pop Champagne on the court for the last time. I'm proud of what we built.”

Connecticut was ‘icebreaker’ with gambling partnership

Etess remembers trying to sell NBA Commissioner David Stern on moving a franchise to the Mohegan Sun. The late commissioner was concerned about putting a team in a casino, but as it turns out, he was ahead of his time.

“There was a lot of excitement at the beginning, still a casino and a professional sports team being together wasn’t well received everywhere,” Etess recalled in a phone conversation. “David Stern took a lot of the hard questions when that was happening. In retrospect, it was an icebreaker for a lot of the gambling stuff that happened since. The tribe was proud of having the team as it was great to bring national attention to the state and casino.”

The Mohegan Tribe bought the team for $10 million and with the WNBA in CBA negotiations the franchise had a few months to get everything ready to start in 2003. Thibault remembers when he was hired as the coach in January, the franchise had literally nothing.

Thibault said he had to order basketballs, uniforms and even sports bras for his players. The franchise quickly turned into contenders, reaching the WNBA Finals in 2004 and 2005.

Building a faithful fan base

Thibault joked that when the team first started fans came to games to cheer on former UConn players when they came to town, but soon they became fans of the franchise.

“The first year, we didn’t have as good attendance as we had hoped, but that changed quickly,” Etess said. “We didn't give tickets away. After the second year we were always up there in total attendance for many, many years.”

The Sun became the first team in WNBA history to make a profit when they made it happen in 2010.

“It meant a lot to us,” Etess said. “We really focused on doing everything right, trying to run the team professionally.”

Etess is sad to see the state lose its last professional team in an area that has been a women's basketball hotbed for so long.

“It's odd that the league didn’t want the team to stay in Connecticut,” he said. “Connecticut is such a crucial part of women’s basketball. The state that loves women’s basketball isn’t going to have a pro team, doesn’t feel right to me.”

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Even as a sizable Cuban delegation was approved to come to the U.N. General Assembly this week, the State Department is now weighing “strict controls” on the officials who plan to return next month for an annual U.N. vote on the decadeslong U.S. economic embargo on Cuba.

That is according to U.S. officials and an internal document obtained by The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision on the details of what the restrictions will entail has not yet been finalized.

Potential plans to further restrict officials in New York for diplomatic work come as Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez bemoaned the “lack of progress” in negotiations between Havana and Washington. He also blasted the oil blockade that the Trump administration imposed on the Caribbean island nation in January.

“What defines the present status of the Cuba-U.S. relations is the brutal tightening of the economic and financial blockade and the total oil siege imposed on our country, which is equivalent to a naval blockade,” Rodríguez said in Spanish during an AP interview on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

His comments, made through a translator, follow President Donald Trump's wide-ranging U.N. address Tuesday, when he again called Cuba a “failed state" and said he was “seeking a fundamental ⁠change in the situation in Cuba.”

His administration has been trying to force changes to Cuba’s political system by cutting off fuel to the island, leading to massive power outages that affect basic activities such as cooking, water supply, and internet and telephone service.

“Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom ​will be coming to Cuba," Trump said at the U.N.

US-Cuba negotiations once again reach an impasse

Rodríguez, who has served as foreign minister since 2009, said that while no meetings now are scheduled with U.S. officials, “Cuba remains willing to keep these channel of contacts open.”

He refused to say when the last talks took place, noting that while past conversations have been “respectful,” the public statements and policy decisions made by U.S. officials afterward have been “extremely aggressive."

Millions of people have lost access to electricity as Cuba’s power grid has collapsed at least six times since the U.S. energy blockade began at the start of the year. The restrictions prevent Cuba from importing fuel needed to operate its thermoelectric power plants or replacement parts to maintain infrastructure that in many cases has become obsolete.

Other U.S. measures have included imposing more economic penalties on industries in the already heavily sanctioned country and broadening enforcement of laws that bar Americans who visit the island from dealings with government-owned or -affiliated businesses.

"These measures hamper some processes that could lead to discussion of things in the common interests of both nations," Rodríguez said.

Havana has recently integrated historic economic reforms, opening up the island to the private sector. Officials, including Rodríguez, have said these are not concessions to the U.S., but they are moving in the direction the Trump administration wants.

Cuban delegation could face new obstacles to visit United Nations

Rodríguez and other members of his government are planning to return to New York next month for the annual U.N. General Assembly vote on the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba — a vote that has historically condemned American policy toward the island by overwhelming margins.

Cuban officials already face heavy restrictions in New York and Washington due to their U.S. designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, with travel and commuting limited to a 25-mile radius of the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan.

But any new U.S. travel restrictions could make it more difficult or impossible for Cuban officials to attend the vote, which has been taking place for more than three decades.

Last year, Washington’s isolation on the issue was softened as countries like Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary — all closely allied with the Trump administration — rejected the Cuban-backed effort even as friction has grown in the region around American military actions there.

While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they reflect world opinion.

Rodríguez told the AP last year that the U.S. had mounted a pressure campaign to influence the vote. He said then that Havana had heard from other countries, mainly in Europe, that the State Department was encouraging them to vote against the resolution.

In response, a State Department spokesperson said last year that “the Cuban regime does not deserve the backing of America’s democratic allies.”

The administration said the ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came Wednesday just minutes before midnight, forcing the cancellation of a flight with 70 people that was headed to three countries. It said justices needed to step in to “halt that chaos” and said the flight cancellation “required a new round of diplomatic engagement with each of the three countries,” which it did not name.

Plaintiffs for immigrants sought emergency relief from the appeals court Wednesday night, saying they heard from “multiple sources” that a deportation flight was scheduled the next day from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Burundi, Rwanda and the Central African Republic.

Within hours of that request, the appeals court said it was clarifying a ruling against the policy last week and said a previous order allowing flights to continue while legal challenges play out was no longer in effect.

Administration officials reacted furiously. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the order “in the dark of night” robbed authorities of “an entirely legal and valuable tool to stem the tide of illegal immigration.”

The justices previously allowed the deportation flights to temporarily continue when the case came before them last year.

The vast majority of people deported to countries other than their own have been sent to Mexico, but under a series of often-secret agreements, the administration has deported thousands of others to more than two dozen countries, from Liberia to Guyana.

Some have found themselves in countries they’d never heard of before their arrivals and held there against their will. Some also face serious safety risks, and are left with little choice except to return to the home countries they were fleeing.

This month, lawyers for two men deported to Equatorial Guinea said they were beaten and held at gunpoint in a hotel-turned-detention center by police who covered their heads with bags.

Trump's Republican administration has said that it sends people with final deportation orders to third countries when their homelands won’t accept them or they can’t be returned there. Those governments provide assurances that people won’t be persecuted or tortured, attorneys said.

James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, said Wednesday on X that 25,000 people in the U.S. illegally have been deported to third countries, calling those deportations “an essential public safety tool.”

The lower court order doesn't completely prohibit third-country deportations, but it requires the government give people a meaningful chance to object.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to halt that decision, arguing it would force unreasonable delays and the reworking of agreements with foreign countries.

“The order below would again obstruct DHS from efficiently removing aliens ... by inordinately delaying third-country removal for any alien who voices a fear of persecution or torture in that country, no matter how frivolous or belated the claim,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote.

The appeal comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.

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Tim Sullivan contributed to this report from Minneapolis. Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Pettit's alma mater, LSU, announced Thursday that he died a day earlier. The university did not provide a cause of death.

Pettit was an All-American at LSU before going on to the NBA, where he was an All-Star for each of his 11 seasons, all with the Hawks. He led them to the 1958 championship over the mighty Boston Celtics, the Hawks’ lone title.

He was also the NBA MVP in 1959 and was the MVP of the All-Star game four times, an achievement matched only by Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant.

Pettit was a force at a time when the NBA featured the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor. But it was also before a time when the NBA was widely seen on television, and Pettit — playing in a smaller market — was denied a larger audience.

At 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds and with a deeply receding hairline, Pettit was a physical presence at power forward, before such a position became part of basketball’s vocabulary. He rarely missed a game. He also played center and was one of the first big men who did not play solely with his back to the basket.

Pettit was the Rookie of the Year in 1955, the last year the Hawks played in Milwaukee before moving to St. Louis.

He captured the MVP the next season, leading the league in scoring at 25.7 points a game. He also was the NBA’s scoring leader in 1959 at 29.2 points.

He retired after the 1964-65 season with career averages of 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds. At that time, he was the NBA’s career leader in points (20,880) and second in rebounds (12,849).

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.

“Lean, graceful, and always well-conditioned, Bob Pettit's physical build made him one of the first big men to play facing the basket,” reads Pettit’s biographical profile at the Hall of Fame. “But Pettit's resolve set him apart from his peers; he simply would not be outworked.”

Robert Lee Pettit Jr. was born on Dec. 12, 1932, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father worked in law enforcement and served as East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff. Pettit was a late bloomer in basketball, not making the Baton Rouge High School varsity until his junior season.

As a senior, he led Baton Rouge to a state championship and wound up with more than a dozen college offers. He chose to stay home and starred at LSU as a sophomore, an era when players could not join the varsity until then.

He led the Southeastern Conference in scoring all three of his seasons, with averages of 25.5 points as a sophomore, 24.9 as a junior and 31.4 as a senior.

Pettit is one of only three LSU players — Pete Maravich and Shaquille O’Neal the others — to earn a place in the Hall of Fame. Bronze statues of Pettit and O’Neal stand outside LSU’s home arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. His No. 50 is retired by LSU, his No. 9 by the Atlanta Hawks.

“We are grateful for his contributions to our franchise and to basketball history,” the Hawks said in a statement. “His retired No. 9 jersey continues to hang proudly at State Farm Arena as a lasting reminder of the impact he made on our organization. We extend our deepest condolences to Bob’s family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time. We also join those across the basketball world in celebrating a remarkable life and legacy that will never be forgotten.”

Pettit’s misfortune was that most of his career coincided with a run of Celtics championships that remains one of the most dominant runs in American pro sports history.

Pettit was two victories short of being a three-time NBA champion. Pettit’s Hawks advanced to the finals four times, all against Boston, twice losing in seven games.

The first meeting, won by Boston in 1957, came down to double overtime of Game 7. The second ended with a championship for the Hawks, interrupting Boston’s run of nine titles in 10 seasons. The Hawks also dropped NBA Finals matchups with the Celtics in 1960 (in seven games) and 1961 (in five).

Pettit retired to his native Baton Rouge after leaving basketball and worked in banking and financial consulting. He was a regular at LSU and New Orleans Pelicans games in recent years.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

“When people do go on GLP-1s they still crave our foods, but what they’re buying, the portions they are buying, changes,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said. “We are going to evolve our menu to make sure it reflects what that consumer is looking for in the future.”

What’s on the table

Bloomberg reports the new options under consideration include a crispy chicken bowl, grilled chicken snack wraps and egg bites. McDonald’s describes the effort as pursuing “portion flexible options” and “protein-led choices.”

The move comes as GLP-1 use surges. According to Gallup, the use of GLP-1s for weight loss has nearly quadrupled over the past two years.

Fast food chains feeling the shift

McDonald’s is not the only chain adapting. Chipotle is already promoting high-protein options it calls “GLP-1 friendly,” while Burger King is testing smaller Whopper bites.

The urgency is backed by data. Research shows that within six months of starting GLP-1 drugs, households with a user cut spending at fast-food chains, coffee shops and other limited-service restaurants by 8%.

David Portalatin, senior vice president at Circana — a market research firm that tracks what Americans buy and eat — says the drugs are triggering a wider shift in how people think about food.

“GLP-1 users still dine out at restaurants. They do eat a little bit differently than they once did, and so it is important to have things on the menu that are relevant to that audience,” Portalatin said.

A broader change in appetite

Portalatin says the ripple effect extends beyond GLP-1 users themselves.

“We’re seeing these things that GLP-1 users are pursuing are also being echoed more broadly even among other consumers who are not on the medications,” he said. “I think what you’re going to see is more diversity across the menu. Consumers are looking for flexibility on portion sizes.”

For a chain that once urged customers to supersize, the appetite for change may now be driving the menu.

James Fulton Engstrom carried an ornate vessel containing the relics of his namesake, the man whom the Catholic Church credits with his miraculous survival as a newborn — Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who died in 1979.

It was a highlight of a lengthy ceremony of beatification for the famed 20th century TV prelate, who will now be known as Blessed Fulton Sheen — one step away from sainthood.

Catholic devotees converged on St. Louis for the afternoon ceremony, taking place at the Dome at America’s Center after years of delays. The indoor stadium was chosen because there wasn’t a venue large enough in his home Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, to accommodate the anticipated crowd.

The ceremony comes 16 years to the month since James was born at home without a pulse and was rushed to the hospital, even as his parents and others prayed earnestly and asked Sheen to add his heavenly prayers, following the Catholic tradition of seeking the intercessions of departed holy people.

After a formal inquiry, the Catholic Church determined that James' resuscitation — when medical workers were about to declare him dead — was a miracle attributable to Sheen's prayers. To qualify for beatification, the Vatican typically requires one miracle attributed to the candidate.

James' mother, Bonnie Engstrom, said before the ceremony that she expected it would feel like a “foretaste of heaven.”

She said she’d been praying to Sheen throughout her pregnancy, and “it was just a very natural thing in the hardest hour of our life” to seek his help.

The presentation of the relics, placed on a pedestal by the altar, was a highlight of a lengthy service that began with a formal procession of hundreds of priests and scores of bishops, lasting more than half an hour and accompanied by robust organ, choral and orchestral music.

A 20th century bishop draws a new audience

About 50,000 tickets were distributed, according to organizers. The halls and exhibit areas were thronged in the morning by pilgrims — priests in cassocks, nuns in habits, families with young children in tow, elderly worshippers who recalled watching Sheen on TV. Scores of bishops, a thousand priests and hundreds of religious order members, seminarians and deacons participated.

Many thronged exhibit booths or stood in long lines to give confession. Others quietly meditated throughout the morning in a makeshift chapel in front of a Eucharist displayed on an altar, including some who knelt on the concrete floor. Bishops have been seeking to promote this traditional devotion, which Sheen practiced regularly.

The Vatican’s top evangelization official, Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, the lead celebrant for the Mass, brought greetings from Pope Leo XIV, calling him Sheen’s “fellow Illinoisan.” Tagle called Sheen a model for evangelization, or sharing the faith.

Sheen was once a regular presence in the living rooms of millions of Americans — including that of the future pontiff, who says he watched Sheen's broadcasts while growing up in Chicago.

Attendees, many too young to have seen Sheen's broadcasts, said they’ve taken inspiration from his books and online videos.

“There’s just a revival in the American church as a whole,” said Joseph Punswick, a seminarian from the Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas. “To have an American pope, to have an American beatified man, is amazing to see. Look around. You see kids, you see young families, you see college kids.”

Other attendees, such as Mary Chalupsky of Milford, Connecticut, recalled watching Sheen’s original TV programs. “He brought so many to the faith,” she said.

The service reflected the modern media era, with a livestreamed liturgy and electrical signs urging attendees to use the social media hashtag #celebratesheen.

Sheen's journey from Peoria to primetime

Sheen was a pioneering radio priest who quickly adopted the burgeoning medium of television in the 1950s, when he began hosting the Emmy-winning program, “Life is Worth Living.” Dressed in a cassock, cape and skullcap, he stood at a chalkboard and delivered moral and religious lessons without a narrow Catholic focus.

Sheen was born in 1895 in the small town of El Paso, Illinois, and raised in Peoria. After becoming a priest and earning a doctorate in philosophy, he became a professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He became known for his academic lectures and his plainspoken addresses from the pulpit and the broadcast studio. He often signed off with the benediction, “God love you.”

Sheen appeared in a Time magazine cover article, and he guided celebrities and others converting to Catholicism.

He met with popes and spoke at the reformist Second Vatican Council. He railed against communism, though he opposed the Vietnam War.

Sheen raised funds and traveled the world on behalf of Catholic missions. He served as a bishop in New York State, retiring as an archbishop. After his death at 84, he was buried at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York until his niece won a court battle in 2019 to move his body to Peoria’s Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, which now draws pilgrims to his tomb.

The Illinois teen tied to Sheen's path to sainthood

The late Pope Francis approved the beatification, attributing to Sheen the miracle of James' resuscitation.

James was born at home without a pulse in September 2010 and rushed to the hospital. Medical workers attempted to resuscitate him but were about to declare him deceased when his heart began beating normally, Engstrom and other witnesses said.

Bonnie Engstrom said she and her husband chose Sheen for James' patron after discovering the prelate's old videos, adding that Sheen's Midwestern-accented voice reminded her of her grandfather and great-grandfather. “He’s like a local boy,” she said at a news conference.

James, who just turned 16, has a devotion to Sheen, but he's largely avoiding the media spotlight. “He’s a delightful young man, but he’s still just a teenage boy, and he needs to be given the space and the grace to have his own journey of life,” his mother said.

Sheen's beatification backstory

The beatification was originally scheduled for 2019, but the Vatican delayed the ceremony. The Diocese of Rochester, which Sheen briefly led in the 1960s, requested the delay out of caution, due to legal investigations taking place then into the oversight of priests accused of sexual abuse across New York State.

Church officials later concluded that Sheen’s record gave no cause for further delay, and plans for the ceremony resumed. Pope Leo approved the beatification earlier this year.

Monsignor Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, said church investigators review records and interview witnesses before determining whether a healing qualifies as a miracle. He said there are now six more cases under investigation; a second miracle would qualify Sheen for sainthood under Vatican rules.

Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said he believes the wait for canonization will be shorter than for the beatification, especially with an Illinois-born pope who's “very much aware of who Sheen is and how he influenced his own life.”

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The sheriff’s office said on Sept. 21, a deputy was at the Target investigating a stolen bicycle when the store’s loss prevention officer called to report that a man known for shoplifting at other Target locations had entered the store. The suspect was known to use the same method — grabbing a plastic storage container, loading it with trading cards and slipping out through a side fire exit, often with a woman driving a black sedan waiting outside.

According to a press release from the Flagler county Sheriff’s office, the loss prevention officer watched as the man grabbed a shopping cart, picked up a plastic container from the home section and walked to the trading card aisle. He loaded multiple boxes of trading cards into the container, covered it with a lid and walked out of the store.

Deputies spotted the man in the parking lot, carrying the container toward a black BMW sedan with a woman behind the wheel. As deputies approached, the man dropped the container and ran toward the car. Deputies conducted a high-risk takedown and arrested both suspects according to the release.

FCSO says the man was identified as Andrew Simmons, 27, and the woman as Madeline Whaley, 35, both of Jacksonville. Inside the container Simmons dropped, deputies found 98 packs of sports trading cards worth more than $2,500.

According to authorities, as deputies removed Whaley from the vehicle, they spotted crumpled tinfoil with burnt residue near the center console. A search of the car turned up methamphetamine, fentanyl and a glass pipe with drug residue. A backpack belonging to Whaley contained a handgun that was later confirmed stolen out of Jacksonville.

Investigators also found that Simmons had four outstanding arrest warrants — one in St. Johns County for failure to appear and three in Clay County for grand theft.

Simmons was charged with grand theft, possession of methamphetamine, possession of fentanyl, possession of drug paraphernalia and four outstanding warrants. According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Jail, Simmons is being held on a $100,509.00 bond.

Whaley was charged with accessory after the fact, possession of methamphetamine, possession of fentanyl, possession of drug paraphernalia, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, grand theft of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. She is being held on a $25,000 bond.

“These two have apparently tried the same exact scheme multiple times in other areas and gotten away with it, but they’re 0-for-1 in Flagler County,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “They picked the wrong store in the wrong county at the wrong time, as unfortunately for them, deputies were literally waiting for them in the parking lot and arrested the thief and his getaway driver before they could even load their stolen trading cards into the car. And on top of that, of course, they had drugs, a gun, and were both fugitives. In this case they traded their stolen cards for a room at the Green Roof Inn.”

Both Simmons and Whaley have prior arrest histories. Simmons has previously been arrested for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, grand theft and petit theft. Whaley, a convicted felon, has prior arrests for possession of fentanyl, driving with a suspended license, trespassing and failure to appear.

But media coverage of Trump’s White House was hardly normal. On a high-profile day when Chinese leader Xi Jinping was visiting Washington and attending a state dinner, no major American network was airing live coverage.

After the White House banned CNN from a rotation of five major U.S. broadcast outlets who take turns shooting and sharing video, the other four — in a show of solidarity — were still declining to participate in the so-called video pool.

Though CNN and MS NOW were back on the White House grounds Thursday, both news outlets said their journalists were denied access to Xi's state dinner arrival. CNN wrote in a blog post that the White House said it would only allow a photojournalist and an audio technician to the event, and refused to allow a reporter and a producer entry.

MS NOW reported that journalist Laura Barrón-López was also denied entry to the arrival ceremony on the portico ahead of the state dinner. Barrón-López was one of the journalists whose press credentials were reinstated under the judge's order.

Reporters and producers from other networks were allowed in, CNN wrote.

The president posted online that TV networks “refused to cover one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years ... because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to “TRUMP.”

It was a chaotic day for the media at the White House and in court.

Initially, in the morning, CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists were denied entry. A Secret Service agent had confiscated their credentials as part of the ban. After the ruling for the outlets in the early hours Thursday, White House operations officials were notified to restore access to the affected reporters, but said they needed time to find, reactivate and deliver their entry badges. The process took over two hours, according to an administration court filing.

In his decision to provisionally lift the ban, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the three outlets’ access. He said they had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary restraining order and were likely to succeed in showing that their press passes were revoked without due process.

The ruling did not address CNN's removal from the White House video pool. The White House did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The judge's ruling issued a temporary order

Kelly — whom Trump nominated in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018 — said the government must have clear standards for conduct that would lead to revoking a press pass. He called the standard of objectionable reporting outlined in letters that the White House sent the outlets “so vague it hardly does the trick.”

The judge also made clear he did not buy the administration’s argument that the news outlets’ reporting endangered national security — and noted that Trump himself had not used that argument in the beginning, focusing solely on what he called negative coverage.

Theodore Boutrous Jr., the news outlets' attorney, said the judge’s quick ruling vindicated the freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law.

“I think we’re going to end up stronger because of this, and this tactic of just attacking the press, attacking individual journalists, is going to be discredited,” Boutrous said in an interview on MS NOW Thursday afternoon. “The law is just clearly on our side here,” he said.

The temporary restraining order — typically designed to preserve the status quo pending a closer review of the case by the court — expires in two weeks. The judge gave both sides until Oct. 5 to file their arguments over whether he should consider issuing a longer-lasting ruling called a preliminary injunction. Kelly said he “intends to rule expeditiously” on the preliminary injunction request.

Attorneys debated access to the White House and any risk to national security

Boutrous argued in the hearing that there was an urgent need for renewed access, saying that the ban caused irreparable harm to the outlets at a time of momentous news events. “We’re at war," he told the judge. "We have world leaders coming to Washington.”

Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik, in his argument, reiterated the administration’s point that the president has the right to choose who gets into the White House.

“Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” Velchik said.

In arguing that Trump was not engaging in viewpoint discrimination — the government singling out specific media outlets for the content of what they say or publish — Velchik said the president had criticized other news organizations, but not banned them. He noted, for example, that Trump had called ABC “the worst."

Major networks refrained from covering Trump for the media pool

On Wednesday, after the hearing, the major networks refused to air footage of Trump without assurances that CNN would be permitted back into the video pool.

At Joint Base Andrews, where the president formally welcomed Xi, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but not shooting video. The major networks also declined to participate in the video pool for the state dinner.

The chair of the TV press pool, Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon. Earlier this week, Boughton sent an email seen by The Associated Press that advised the TV pool would not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the president after the White House prevented CNN from taking part in the pool.

Other television outlets whose crews were present for some or both events, according to signs on their tripods and cameras, were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News and LindellTV.

The Associated Press said it provided video coverage of Trump greeting Xi to its customers, so they could decide whether to broadcast. “We did not stream the coverage on our own platforms, including APNews.com or our YouTube channel,” said an AP spokesman, Patrick Maks.

In an advisory to customers, AP said it would not have independent video coverage of meetings between Trump and Xi. It noted that a U.S. government handout live feed could be accessed on the White House website.

The AP was one of some 50 groups filing an amicus brief ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, urging the court to immediately restore the three outlets’ White House access.

Some network personalities were invited guests at the state dinner

Paramount CEO David Ellison, who is several days away from closing a multibillion-dollar merger that will give him control of CBS, CNN and various streaming platforms, was a guest at the state dinner along with his wife.

So were some Fox News employees, including anchor Bret Baier and commentators Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters.

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Golden reported from Seattle, and Kellman from London. AP reporter Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.