Discussion

At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Depression Fay was located near latitude 24.2 North, longitude 47.3 West. The depression is moving toward the southwest near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue the next couple of days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast, and Fay is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone on Wednesday.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1010 mb (29.83 inches).

Watches and Warnings

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Land Hazards

None.

Discussion

At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Hanna was located near latitude 34.6 North, longitude 45.5 West. Hanna is moving toward the southeast near 12 mph (19 km/h) and and this motion is forecast to continue over the next day or so followed by a turn to the east-northeast.

Recent satellite wind data indicates that maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is expected during the next couple of days, and Hanna is likely to become a post-tropical cyclone by the latter part of this week.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1004 mb (29.65 inches).

Watches and Warnings

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Land Hazards

None.

María del Carmen Abascal has been hospitalized since she was carried out on a stretcher from the apartment where she had lived for seven decades on Wednesday. Her case has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in recent days and led the government to present measures to address the country’s housing crisis. It remains to be seen if they go far enough to appease protesters.

Abascal, who has become widely known as simply “Maricarmen,” accepted a deal with the company that owns her apartment in the upscale Retiro neighborhood to return home as soon as she is discharged, her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told The Associated Press.

“She is very happy,” said Duro.

The agreement limits her rent to 30% of her income, meaning she would not pay more than the 500 euros ($570) per month she paid previously.

The coalition led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists announced the new measures earlier Tuesday, after four days of intense protests centered around an encampment in Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s most iconic plaza.

New housing measure

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The government's main decree extends protection against evictions for vulnerable Spaniards until 2030, regulates room rentals, imposes a new tax on seasonal rentals and bans “speculative real estate purchases by vulture funds” until 2028, Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez told reporters at the presidential palace. It remains unclear how such funds are classified or how large the tax will be, as the decree's full text has yet to be released.

It also offers tax breaks to landlords who rent to low-income tenants, offers interest-free loans to families buying their first home, and protects public housing and promotes its construction, Rodríguez added.

“This has been thanks to the citizen movement. To Maricarmen. To the thousands of people in the streets,” Spain's Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz wrote on social media.

Rising costs and a housing shortage are pricing many Spaniards out of the housing market, despite strong economic growth in Europe’s fourth-largest economy. The protesters have been demanding stronger protections for tenants, measures to combat fraud and a ban on evictions when alternative housing is unavailable.

Parliament has 30 days to ratify the measures, and the government wants to expedite the process, calling for an extraordinary plenary session on housing for Friday. The government's coalition holds 152 of the chamber’s 350 seats, so it needs the support of smaller parties across the political spectrum to pass bills. Lack of parliamentary support in late July prevented the approval of similar measures.

Activists see a historic standoff with the government

The Madrid Tenants’ Union, the organizer of the protest, said it would remain cautious until it could review “the fine print” of the decree.

“The streets, this encampment and all the others currently across the country are engaging in a historic standoff with the government to push it to advance the right to housing through measures that had not been considered. And this continues,” said Alicia del Río, the union’s spokesperson.

The activists, who have called for more protests for the weekend across the country, will decide “in due time” whether to dismantle the encampment, a spokesperson told AP in a text message. The regional government, led by the conservative People’s Party, has asked the government delegate to clear the square within 48 hours before taking the matter to court. The protesters have remained peaceful.

“There are years when nothing happens, and weeks when history is made. This could be one of them,” the union said in a statement. “A historic window of opportunity has opened to reverse decades of the commodification of housing, and the coming days will be crucial. That is why we need to ramp up the pressure.”

Smaller encampments have sprung up in other cities, from Seville and Málaga in the south to Santiago de Compostela in the north and Palma de Mallorca in the tourist-friendly Balearic Islands, drawing international attention to a long-running issue.

Asked about the situation on Monday, Pope Leo XIV said it underscored the need for political leaders to find solutions to the housing crisis affecting many communities.

“Maybe we have to insist that political leaders, authorities find a solution to this, because it’s obviously increasing and oftentimes we only react in the moment of an emergency,” he said, after admitting that he was not familiar with the case. “But we have to try to see what the systemic cause of the problem is and how to help.”

Spain has had a housing law in place since 2023 that regulates rents and protects tenants, as well as allowing rent caps in high-demand areas at the request of local governments.

Abascal's family rented the apartment since the 1950s

Spanish media reported that Abascal’s father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a rent cap. The building changed ownership in 2018, and Abascal was offered the opportunity to buy the apartment but could not afford it, according to the union, which organized Saturday’s protest.

Urbagestión, an investment fund that later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from 500 euros to 2,650 euros. It subsequently lowered the rent to 1,650 euros, which Abascal still could not afford on her pension, the union said.

The company didn't respond to emailed and phone requests for comment from AP.

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Associated Press journalists Nicole Winfield in Rome and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he was surprised that the five young British men who were arrested Sunday on explosives and terrorism charges near the RAF Fairford base were allowed to be freed a day later.

“I wouldn’t have done that,” Trump said.

The base has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year’s war with Iran. Counterterror detectives have said they were investigating “multiple lines of inquiry,” including whether the suspects had a link to Iran. Iran has denied involvement.

The head of U.K. Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, stressed that the suspects — all British nationals in their 20s — face stringent conditions and “absolutely remain under investigation.” Taylor confirmed Tuesday that no explosives were found in three vans found near the base.

In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the case "clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” but did not name a specific country or give more details.

“I know a lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have been released on bail, as some of the people are being investigated,” he added.

Taylor, the counterterror chief, said the bailed suspects "must adhere to very strict conditions."

“Now I understand why this development was surprising to some, but I would like to reiterate that this is an investigative decision, and one which is grounded in experience and strategy," he said.

Police found no explosives in suspicious vehicles

A police cordon remained in place around three vans found close to the Fairford base on Tuesday, as armed police and counterterrorism officers continued to examine the scene.

A local farmer said she called police after seeing the vans blocking a road near the air base as she drove home in the early hours of Sunday. She said she came across a group of men, some with their faces covered, nearby, and that the men ran away when they saw her vehicle.

Earlier, army bomb-disposal experts used a robot to examine the vans. Taylor said “a quantity of petrol was recovered” from the vans, but no explosives.

Officials hint at possible Iran role

Taylor, the counterterror police chief, said lines of inquiry include whether the suspected offenses were committed by “proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.”

Investigators haven't concluded whether the incident was state-backed or what the motive was, but authorities have strongly hinted that Iran is possibly involved. They are also investigating a possible link to Russia or non-state militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.

Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the U.K. “shouldn’t be cowed by saber rattling from Iran,” adding that “the Iranian regime is one that wishes harm to our country, our allies, and the freedom and democracy that we enjoy.”

The Iranian embassy denied the country's involvement in the suspected plot.

Iran and allied militant groups have been accused of plotting or carrying out attacks on U.S., British and Jewish targets in the past, allegedly acting through local proxies while denying responsibility.

The air base houses the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing and is a forward operating location for the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command. Fairford was used during the 1990 Gulf War, the 2003 Iraq war and the U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran this year.

British officials have said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50% in the six months to December 2025.

Questions about possible security or intelligence failures

It was unclear whether the arrested men had been on the security services' radars. Local residents described seeing heightened security around RAF Fairford in recent days, with heavy vehicles parked across entrance gates.

Trump said the suspects were detained following cooperation between the U.S. and Britain, and had been “under view” for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about the suspicious vehicles near the base.

The farmer who called the police, who didn't want to be named, alleged that her call to police may have foiled the suspected plot. She added that several hours passed between her call and when police “suddenly decided to evacuate people” in the area.

“But meanwhile, those vans were right in the middle of the village next to everyone’s houses and no one did anything,” she said.

Streeting, the defense secretary, said Monday that the farmer only had a “partial picture” of the operation.

Local lawmaker Roz Savage said there was “anger and anxiety” from residents, especially those who were evacuated from their homes and still haven’t been able to return.

“I have so many questions right now, more questions than answers," she said in a video message on X. “This should not have been allowed to happen.”

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Associated Press photographer Grant reported from Fairford, England.

The journalist is a prince who had long been employed as a broadcaster and editor with Uganda Broadcasting Corp. He picked the regnal name of Edward Rukidi Nyabongo. He performed rituals overnight, was ushered into the palace and was formally unveiled to his followers on Tuesday.

Traditional kingdoms were banned in the 1960s, after Uganda's independence from British colonial rule, by a republican president who said that he wanted to unify the country. They were restored in 1993.

Traditional leaders don't wield any formal authority in this East African country and are legally barred from engaging in partisan politics. But they wield immense authority among their people as guardians of traditional culture.

The coronation ceremony in Fort Portal, a remote town in western Uganda and not far from the Congo border, was watched by thousands in person and on televised broadcasts. Speaking at the event, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urged traditional leaders to promote local languages.

In a brief speech at his coronation, Nyabongo pledged to be a unifying figure for all his people. Before his enthronement, the monarch told the local New Vision newspaper that “heritage must be matched by discipline and hard work. My family never let me treat royal descent as an entitlement; it was presented to me as a duty to prepare for.”

Nyabongo wasn't particularly high in the line of succession, but elders within the kingdom’s ruling clan, known as the Babiito, selected him from a pool of eligible princes after King Oyo Nyimba’s death from cancer at age 34 in August without a publicly known heir.

The queen mother, Best Kemigisa, disputed that decision and charged that the written will of King Oyo hadn't been followed in the selection of Nyabongo.

Kemigisa said that Oyo left behind a young son whose identity would be unveiled at the right time, casting doubt on the legitimacy of Nyabongo and the decision of the Babiito to choose him. Local media cited scenes of disagreement — including a brief squabble over custody of the king’s remains — at Oyo’s Sept. 12 funeral.

Although Oyo’s alleged son has yet to be revealed, purported photos of a “Baby Oyo” have flooded social media, giving hope to devotees of the deceased monarch. But critics say that the child, if he exists, should have been introduced to the kingdom's elders while his father was still alive.

“They have demonstrated that these are the norms of the kingdom,” Nicholas Sengoba, a prominent political analyst in Uganda, said of the Babiito's selection of Nyabongo. “Many of these positions may not be popular.”

Oyo was crowned in 1995, at the age of 3, after his father’s death. He was a curious child in colorful robes and an object of adoration for his hundreds of thousands of followers.

At his coronation, he went through a series of tribal rituals and was led into the royal cemetery to perform a coming-of-age ceremony: successfully tossing nine coffee beans into his father’s tomb.

Oyo once held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a mesmerizing figure even for world leaders introduced to him at national events, including South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was one of those who befriended the Tooro royal family as if they were part of his extended family. Gadhafi made multiple trips to Uganda and supported Oyo and Kemigisa for years before Gadhafi’s death in October 2011.

Oyo was guided by regents appointed by the kingdom until he became an adult at 18.

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AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of annual two-way trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.

The import ban “certainly won't do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,'' said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy, auto and alcoholic beverage producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15%, 25% or 50%, matching U.S. imports dollar for dollar.

To punish Canada for retaliating against his tariffs, Trump decided to ban a list of Canadian products, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

Economic impact likely to be modest

The economic impact is likely to be minimal. Childress noted that the products on the banned list were already facing Trump’s tariffs. ”For a lot of these goods, the 50% was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation from Canada into the United States uneconomical,″ he said.

Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the center-right American Action Forum think tank, calculates that the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports, based on 2025 numbers. Of that, 87% would be alcoholic beverages that the U.S. targeted because of some Canadian provinces responding to Trump’s provocations by banning U.S. booze from store shelves.

Also banned are some dairy products — including the milk byproduct whey. The two countries have long clashed over Canada’s attempts to protect its dairy industry from foreign competition by imposing hefty tariffs once dairy imports have exceeded a quota.

The ban also covers motorcycles. Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) in Quebec confirmed that its three-wheel Can-Am Spyder and Canyon motorcycles “will be excluded from importation into the U.S.’’ But BRP said the impact likely won’t be felt until next year because it has completed most production and shipments for the current season.

A distillery just across the Detroit River in Canada has stopped shipping whiskey to Michigan due to the ongoing tariff war and Trump’s ban on Canadian alcohol. “It’s really unfortunate,” said Danielle Moldovan, director of marketing at the Wolfhead Distillery in Amherstburg, Ontario. “We are a border town. The Americans are great friends of ours, and they visit our distillery on a daily basis.”

Moldovan is worried about the long-term impact on Wolfhead’s business. Buyers in Georgia were interested in importing the distillery’s Coffee Whisky. And its Michigan importer was was considering its Vanilla Almond Biscotti and Banana Caramel Vodka. But “those products are going to be put on hold right now until we have further clarification about what’s going to happen, how long this ban’s going to last,” Moldovan said.

“This marks yet another escalation in the trade war that may result in further retaliation on the Canadian side,” Jensen said. He expects Canadian exporters and U.S. importers “impacted by these bans will be highly motivated’’ to demand that trade officials on both sides find some way to reach a “resolution of this whole ordeal.’’

A threat to US goal of a powerful North American trade pact

The impasse imperils efforts to renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a North American trade pact Trump pressured America’s neighbors into accepting in his first term and which he once declared “the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country.’’

The deal allowed most goods to cross North American borders duty free. But since returning to the White House last year, Trump has announced a series of tariffs that have clouded the future of trade in the region.

Longtime ally Canada moves rapidly to find new trading partners

Trump has directed most of his ire at Canada. He is openly seeking to pull Canadian manufacturing south. And he has inflamed public opinion in Canada by repeatedly suggesting that the country become America’s 51st state.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney came to power last year on a promise to stand up to Trump. In addition to retaliating against Trump tariffs — China is the only other country to do so, with very different results — Carney has sought to reduce Canada’s reliance on the United States, which last year accounted for more than 70% of Canadian exports.

“There is now a price to be paid for access to the United States market,” Carney said earlier this month. The Canadian prime minister wants to double Canada’s non-U.S. trade over the next decade.

Carney has embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member.

And he said last week that trade negotiations with India are making “good progress” and that the two countries are aiming to conclude talks by the G20 summit in mid-December.

Carney also broke with the U.S. earlier this year, striking a deal with China to allow a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles into Canada at a sharply reduced tariff in exchange for China lowering tariffs on Canadian canola.

“We take note of the coming into force of the Administration’s previously announced trade measures," said Gabriel Brunet, a spokesman for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. "Our first priority remains on protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses from these unjustified actions. Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians.”

Trump expressed confidence that the Canadians would cave in.

“They’re gonna come in and they’re gonna say, ‘Sir, we are sorry,’” he told reporters Monday. “They’ve treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made but it’s gonna be fair.”

Trade attorney Childress said the standoff is likely to continue for months, not weeks. The import bans and the tariffs so far “probably won’t cause enough economic upheaval to force either party back to the negotiating table,’’ he said.

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Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Mike Householder, reporting from Amherstburg, Ontario, contributed to this story.

The Giants are releasing Beckham, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the move had not yet been announced.

Beckham, 33, was thrown at just once during his brief cameo back with the team that drafted him. After coach John Harbaugh last week hinted at a bigger role for Beckham, fans chanted "OBJ! OBJ! during the game against Tennessee on Sunday, to no avail.

It was not immediately clear how the team would use the roster spot.

New York on Monday acquired quarterback J.J. McCarthy from Minnesota but also released Jake Haener with the intent of bringing him back on the practice squad.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

“I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” Trump said at the unveiling of an AI chatbot, America.gov, intended to help Americans negotiate government services. “We can’t stifle it, and we’re leading by a lot.”

Top AI executives will have lunch with Trump at the White House Tuesday, including Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Elon Musk, whose X social media platform includes its own AI model, Grok.

Trump's confidence in AI is in sharp contrast to the alarms sounded by AI executives in recent days. Amodei earlier this month called for leading firms to slow down their development of the technology. On Friday, OpenAI said it would pause the training of its latest model as reports multiply of AI agents going rogue.

Also Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a television interview that the company is increasingly focused on safety.

“We are pacing our progress, which includes sometimes not training a model,” he said on CNBC. “We have to do these in a way where we can make very confident safety cases and claims, so that people don’t have a bunch of anxiety.”

The latest action by the Treasury Department is part of the administration's Operation Economic Outcast campaign, which is aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.

“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Ten individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan were sanctioned for allegedly procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran's defense ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.

U.S. officials have said they want to disrupt Iran's defense systems and further degrade the government's ability to reconstitute its weapons program. The aim of the latest sanctions includes increasing the costs for the people and companies that have assisted Iran's military procurement efforts.

In 2024, the Biden administration also targeted entities that supported Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics in their production and proliferation of missiles and drones.

The latest financial penalties come as Iran’s currency fell to a record low Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar. The rial has steadily declined since the war began on Feb. 28, hitting its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2.

While the Iranian economy has been under duress for years in the face of international sanctions, this year's U.S. naval blockade on Iranian oil and new sanctions imposed since the start of the war have sent it into unprecedented freefall.

The strategy includes increased security funding for synagogues, an increased focus on folding Jewish history into public school education, and a pledge to highlight important Jewish cultural and religious sites in the mayor's day-to-day governance of the city.

Mamdani said the overarching goal of the initiative was to “confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future," noting that Jewish people make up only 12% of the city's population but are the victims of around half the city's reported hate crimes.

“This is not only unacceptable, it's something we all have an obligation to change. And City Hall will lead the way,” he said in a video.

Mamdani, a Democrat and the city's first Muslim mayor, has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinian civil rights and has accused the Israeli government of committing a genocide in Gaza. He has said his criticism of Israel does not amount to antisemitism, though his opponents have argued his heated rhetoric around the conflict has made Jewish people feel unsafe in the city.

The plan announced Tuesday amounts to the mayor's most forceful attempt to address concerns over antisemitism, with Mamdani promising to "build a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe but celebrated.”

City Hall will increase grant funding to community organizations that focus on hate crime prevention and survivor support. It will also work with public schools to address complaints of discrimination and launch public awareness campaigns on the city's human rights law and how to report suspected discrimination.

Mamdani faced a barrage of criticism during his campaign last year after he declined to disavow the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a slogan some see as a call to violence against Jews, though he did not use the phrase and later said he would discourage others from saying it.

He has also faced questions over a decision in June to skip an annual parade honoring Israel, which has long been a must-attend event for politicians in the city.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dedicated a portion of an address at the United Nations last week to assailing Mamdani, accusing him of spreading lies about Israel and calling him “the antisemitic mayor of New York.”

Mamdani has repeatedly called for Netanyahu to be arrested under a warrant from the International Criminal Court alleging war crimes in Gaza.

Asking the site — which says it’s sourced via artificial intelligence from “official government sources” — questions about who won the 2020 election or about the name of the federal department that operates out of the Pentagon yields answers contrary to those Trump himself frequently proclaims.

As Trump was still speaking at Tuesday’s launch event, however, the site began modifying its answers. Asked again about the 2020 election, it replied that it couldn’t answer “political questions," a response it also gave to inquiries about whether Trump had been impeached or convicted of felony charges.

The Associated Press asked about:

The 2020 presidential election

“Official federal sources do not show that widespread fraud changed the 2020 presidential election outcome. Isolated election crimes did occur and have been prosecuted.”

Since Trump, a Republican, lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, he has repeatedly falsely claimed that victory was “stolen” from him and asserted that widespread fraud occurred. Repeated audits and recounts found no significant fraud in the presidential election, and Trump’s own administration said the election was clean.

Trump running for president in 2028

“The 22nd Amendment says that no person shall be elected President more than twice. Donald J. Trump has already been elected twice (2016 and 2024). I am not giving legal advice.”

Trump has frequently suggested he wants to seek a third term, posting about mounting another campaign, donning 2028 caps and discussing ways to make it happen — even as he’s acknowledged the Constitution prohibits it. He had only been back in the White House for a couple of months when he told NBC News, “There are methods which you could” use to seek a third term.

The Pentagon

“The Pentagon is the headquarters of the Department of Defense.”

Last year, Trump signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War, complaining that the Department of Defense’s name was “woke.”

Human action as cause of climate change

“Federal climate-science pages say recent warming is largely from human greenhouse-gas emissions, mainly burning fossil fuels. Earth’s climate has also changed for natural reasons over long periods.”

Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” previously issued an executive order that directed the Environmental Protection Agency to submit a report on “the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have long sought to undo what they consider overly restrictive and economically damaging rules to limit greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Presidential salaries

The chatbot said that “some presidents have declined to keep that pay,” mentioning Trump but listing George Washington, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy as refusing their salaries before Trump.

During his remarks Tuesday, Trump, a real estate mogul who took in about $1.2 billion from various crypto holdings last year, said he was the first U.S. president to forgo a salary, something that he has said before.

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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.

A federal complaint alleges Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, tried to escape Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who pulled him over after a judge issued a final removal order, according to U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

The complaint accuses him of sideswiping an officer with his drivers side car mirror and later attempting to strike an officer with his car.

If convicted Garces-Perez faces up to 20 years in prison.

An attorney for Garces-Perez declined to immediately comment on Tuesday morning.

Garces-Perez allegedly provided his drivers license, but ignored agents' requests to step out of the car. He allegedly engaged in a Spanish conversation with one of the federal officers about moving the car and parking it, and the court documents state “the conversational tone was pleasant and not aggressive.”

The court documents further allege that about a minute later, Garces-Perez “abruptly” closed the window and drove off. One of the officers, L.G. was struck in his torso with the driver’s side view mirror.

Garces-Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 using CBP One, a program begun under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to make appointments with U.S. authorities to be considered for asylum. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day in office.

Garces-Perez was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit, according to immigration lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. She said a judge issued a deportation order after Garces-Perez missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to a former address.

The hearing came as Republicans have pushed for Smith to himself be prosecuted and offered a forum for them to assail him for what they contend were politicized prosecutions that unfolded at the height of the 2024 presidential race. Democrats rallied to Smith's defense, eliciting testimony about the legal and factual basis for the criminal cases against the-then candidate and decrying the Trump administration's firing of prosecutors involved in the investigations.

Smith, for his part, defended his work in an hours-long Senate Judiciary Committee hearing — the latest congressional effort to revisit federal cases that accused Trump of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 race and of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were abandoned after Trump's 2024 election win.

“Anybody who has worked with me or knows me during the course of my career knows that I would not let politics play a role. And I would just add that if you knew the people I worked with, they would not either," Smith said. He lamented what he called an unprecedented assault on the rule of law, and sweeping terminations of his team that he said had deprived the government of crucial expertise and made the country less safe.

“That has never happened in my career. I have never seen anything remotely like it in any Republican or Democratic administration,” he said.

The testimony did nothing to appease Smith's Republican critics, who during the hearing described him as a “villain" and a "dirtbag,” worse than former President Richard Nixon. They even accused him of perjuring himself about his attendance at an out-of-town basketball game that appeared to be a misunderstanding over a team name.

The hearing focused heavily on subpoenas for lawmakers' phone records

Smith was pressed anew by Republican senators about his team’s access to the phone records of GOP lawmakers as prosecutors investigated Trump’s efforts to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Prosecutors issued subpoenas for the phone records of numerous Republican members of Congress who were contacted by Trump or his aides on Jan. 6, 2021, the day supporters of the president rioted inside the U.S. Capitol. Smith has said that such subpoenas are common practice in investigations and were necessary in this instance to understand the “scope of the conspiracy” between Trump and his Republican allies.

The subpoenas, he said Tuesday, provided powerful “corroborating evidence” that Trump and his alleged co-conspirators sought to exploit the violence of the day by invoking it to try to further delay the congressional certification of Biden's win.

“They were taking the fact that law enforcement officers had been assaulted at this institution and using that to seek to delay the proceedings further in violation of the law,” Smith said.

The data at issue are known as “toll records,” which reveal the date, length and time of phone calls between two parties but not the content of the communications.

Nonetheless, the revelation that Smith’s team secretly obtained the records has animated Republican lawmakers, who consider it proof of overreach by the Biden administration Justice Department and the hard-charging prosecutor it picked to be special counsel.

Several Republicans said the tactic was a breach of the “speech and debate” constitutional protection shielding lawmakers from prosecutorial scrutiny for their legislative acts. Smith denied that was the case and said he had received approval from the Justice Department's elite Public Integrity Section.

In July, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, referred Smith to the Justice Department for potential prosecution on allegations he lied at a previous hearing about his collection of the records — something Smith’s attorneys have vigorously disputed.

“I stand by my testimony before the House of Representatives,” Smith said Tuesday. “I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others.”

Smith faced bitingly personal criticism from Republicans

Smith was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead investigations into Trump's efforts to reverse his election loss and Trump's retention of classified documents. Smith abandoned the prosecutions after Trump's 2024 win, citing Justice Department opinions that sitting presidents cannot be federally indicted.

Smith has remained a top target of retribution for Trump and his administrations, and Republicans on the committee repeatedly confronted him in a hearing that frequently devolved into partisan sniping and name-calling. They sought to cast the prosecution as a political fishing expedition, accusing Smith of bending ordinary procedures in pursuit of Trump.

“The Smith election case ultimately wasn’t just about Trump,” said Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the committee. “It was about partisan agents and prosecutors mapping out the Republican apparatus.”

During one tense exchange, Republican Sen. John Kennedy grew exasperated as he pressed Smith on whether the Biden White House instructed the Justice Department to prosecute Trump. Smith said he had “no idea about that,” and that the decision to prosecute Trump was his own.

In an effort to show Smith was being evasive, Kennedy asked Smith whether he believed in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny. Smith said no.

“You make me want to throw up in my mouth,” Kennedy told Smith as he concluded his line of questioning.

In another notable moment, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Smith of traveling to Atlanta and attending a game for the city’s NBA team — the Hawks — in February 2024 while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was facing scrutiny for her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor in the Georgia 2020 election case.

But it appeared the Missouri senator got his teams confused. After appearing perplexed by the question and denying any travel to Georgia, Smith revealed that the contest he had actually attended was an Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball game in Maryland.

Schmitt appeared unbowed.

“You may think you’re a hero in this story, but let me tell you something: you’re the villain,” he said. “You will go down as a total dirtbag.”

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, accused Republicans of spreading “baseless conspiracy theories” about Smith’s investigations in an effort to “whitewash” the history of Trump’s election loss and the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“President Trump demonstrated a wanton disdain for the laws of the United States, the will of the people and our national security,” Durbin said. “The aspersions cast on Mr. Smith, nonstop, are petty, personal and political. They are nothing but a smoke screen to distract from the president’s own clear, unlawful conduct.”

Caleb Flynn, 40, is charged with aggravated murder, assault and tampering with evidence in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach.

Flynn, who pleaded not guilty, said in a frantic 911 call that a burglar killed her. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.

Flynn appeared on “American Idol” in 2013, telling TV viewers his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition. He did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.

Prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday that Flynn tried to mislead investigators by staging a break-in at their home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton. Flynn and the couple's two daughters were home when police arrived.

Flynn wanted out of the marriage, prosecutors said, but also didn't want to lose his daughters, his high-paying job at his wife’s family business or his position in the church.

“He wanted to keep his mistress and have his daughters all to himself,” said Matthew Joseph, an assistant Miami County prosecutor.

During the trial, a woman who said she was having an affair with Flynn testified that he said he hated his wife and had thoughts of killing her.

Flynn's attorney told the jury Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day.

“His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,” said defense attorney Patrick Mulligan. “The issue here isn't, ‘Was he a good husband?’”

Text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good, Mulligan said.

Alleigha Botner testified she met Flynn in 2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at his church and had an affair with him for more than a year. Botner read some of her text messages with Flynn.

About six months before the killing, Flynn wrote: “I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”

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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed.

“This entire case is based on speculation,” attorney Kevin Reddington said during the first hearing since Clancy's trial ended Sept. 4 with a deadlocked jury. They were split 11 to 1 in her favor.

During that trial, Reddington didn't dispute that Clancy killed the children at the family's home in 2023. Instead, the defense sought to persuade the jury that the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse was not criminally responsible because of mental disease, a rare condition called postpartum psychosis.

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

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Clancy's lawyer now says there is not enough evidence to prove she did it

But at Tuesday's hearing, Reddington sought to persuade Judge William Sullivan — the same judge who presided over the first trial — to acquit Clancy.

There is, Reddington contended, not enough evidence “that this woman killed those children.” He pointed to matters ranging from her condition when she was found, badly injured and bleeding in the yard outside her home, to her lack of memory of what happened when she woke up in a hospital. At the first trial, her now ex-husband and first responders testified that they arrived at the house and discovered she had tried to kill herself right after killing the children.

“Where is the admission? Where does she say that she did this?” Reddington asked, going on to recap his arguments that she also was psychotic and delusional at the time of the children's deaths. He didn’t offer any alternative theories or evidence about who might be responsible.

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham called his argument “laughable,” pointing to various evidence raised during the trial. In court papers filed Monday, prosecutors recapped their arguments that there was enough evidence to convict Clancy.

The prosecution maintains that Clancy knew her actions were wrong when she used exercise bands to strangle 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan Clancy. They said she contrived to get her husband out of the house that evening by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family.

It's still unknown whether Clancy will face a second trial

The judge didn’t immediately decide, and no trial date was set.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to retry Clancy, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said after the hearing. They could choose to retry her on first-degree murder charges or seek to try her only on lesser charges, including second-degree murder or manslaughter, or drop the case entirely.

“We are going to do what we can for the children,” Cruz told reporters outside the court. “That is what this case is about.”

Legal wrangling over the holdout juror is also unresolved

Clancy's attorneys have also asked the judge to dismiss the criminal case. Among other things, they have argued that the judge should have ousted the one juror who favored a murder conviction after the jury foreperson complained he was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.

The juror, Michael Desronvil, has said through his lawyer that he had no doubts about his stance. Desronvil told Fox News’ “Hannity” in a brief video statement on Monday that “the whole focus has been on me, but we want to reel everything back and put the focus on the three angels,” meaning the children.

Clancy's high-profile case is still capturing people's attention

The livestreamed trial generated intense public interest and drew attention to maternal mental health after childbirth. About a dozen Clancy supporters, most dressed in pink, stood outside court Tuesday waiting for her to arrive.

Clancy remains charged with murder and is expected to stay at a psychiatric hospital until her case is resolved.

Clancy could have been sentenced to life in prison if convicted of murder. If acquitted, the judge could have ordered her confined to a mental health facility.

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Peltz reported from New York.

City, the most successful team in England for the past 15 years and the current Premier League leader, now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the world's most popular soccer league, causing huge reputational damage to its Abu Dhabi ownership.

The explosive verdict by an independent commission — which was reported by a number of British media outlets on Friday — “details how the club systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade,” Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said in a case that was initiated by the competition more than three years ago and first arose in 2018 from leaked club emails and documents.

City said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the commission's verdict, that it was “innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League” and will be “relentless” as it pursues avenues to appeal.

City was accused of a raft of financial violations from 2009-18 — a period when the northwest club, long in the shadow of great rival Manchester United, was transforming itself into a record-breaking global superpower that has won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League.

The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi, hiding payments that supplemented salaries of managers and players, and breaching financial rules established by the Premier League and UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, aiming to keep clubs financially stable by not spending beyond their means.

On top of that, City faced many other charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation between 2018-23.

"An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period,” the league said, “and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation.”

Regarding the sponsorship deals, the league said: “Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.

“The club,” the league added, “filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators.”

The purpose of City's “schemes” was found to have been to “artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules,” the league said.

The finding suggests that City’s rise to the top of the English game, fueled by investments from Abu Dhabi that delivered by its expensively assembled, star-studded squads, was achieved at lest in part by evading the league’s financial regulations.

The Premier League said sanctions will be decided in a separate hearing held by the independent commission.

Any appeal by City would have to be made by Friday, the league said.

Tuesday's verdict is set to bring chaos to English soccer in general, triggering a slew of lawsuits from rival clubs calling for compensation for having been impacted by City’s actions.

There’s also the question of whether City’s top stars, like Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, will stay at the club and what the future holds for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family who bought City in 2008 and has gone on to own a group of worldwide teams — under the City Football Group banner — including New York City FC and Melbourne City.

City has always protested its innocence in the case, saying in 2023 when the charges were laid that there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.”

Even over the weekend, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said there remained a ”confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence.”

The appeal could end up in the High Court in London if City feels the process in the case was unfair and/or impartial.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index tumbled 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, down from 88.6 in August. That’s the lowest reading in the board's survey since April 2014 and below the lowest level reached during the pandemic.

Respondents’ views of their present situation fell by 7.9 points to 109.3. Their short-term outlook also slid, falling 5.9 points to 63.6.

Americans remain flustered by the economy after five years of elevated inflation, potentially posing a risk to President Donald Trump and Republicans in the midterm elections, which are a little more than a month away.

Write-in responses to the board’s survey, collected from September 1-23, were mostly pessimistic this month, with frequent references to the high cost of gas, goods and services.

“The Consumer Confidence Index deteriorated notably in September, following two prior months of softening,” said Dana Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist, adding that consumers’ views of current business conditions became negative for the first time since September 2024.

Trump has continued to blame high prices on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, yet inflation has risen since Trump’s inauguration last year.

Earlier this month, the government reported that consumer inflation accelerated last month and gas prices spiked as fighting in the Middle East dragged on. The consumer price index rose 3.4% last month compared with a year ago, the Labor Department said Friday, just like July. But inflation quickened month to month as costs jumped 0.4% from July, quadrupling the 0.1% registered in the previous month.

The Federal Reserve two weeks ago raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2023 in an effort to quell stubbornly high inflation, and the central bank signaled another rate hike could occur later this year.

The quarter-point increase lifted the Fed’s key rate to about 3.9% and, over time, could result in higher borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.

Gasoline prices — which currently average $4.46 for a gallon of regular — are not all that is rising. Prices for appliances, car repairs, and wireless phone services also jumped in August.

The most recent measure of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index — was up 3.7% in June from a year earlier. That was down from May’s 4.1% year-over-year increase but up from 2.8% before the Iran war began on Feb. 28. It was 2.5% when Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.

The government issues its August PCE data Wednesday.

Consumers’ views of the current labor market also worsened in September, but remained in positive territory, the board said. Respondents broadly said they expected their household incomes to rise, but not as much as in previous months.

The U.S. labor market bounced back in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs, ending a summer of lackluster hiring. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.1%, but some of that can be attributed to significant numbers of people giving up on their search for employment in previous months.

Inflation has dominated conversations this year in business and households, and meager pay raises have made rising prices more painful for many. Average hourly wages rose 3.1% last month from a year earlier, the weakest year-over-year increase since May 2021.

The government issues its September jobs report on Friday.

“We are aware of the lawsuit and do not comment on pending litigation," the Tigers said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gelof was hurt in the third inning of a 4-1 loss to the Tigers on July 9 while making a sliding catch in foul territory and colliding with a metal fence. The 26-year-old infielder immediately grabbed his knee in obvious pain, a tear in his uniform pants showed where his leg made contact with the fence. He was left with a deep cut under his right knee cap, just missing the tendon, and didn’t play again until Aug. 10.

“This injury could have easily prevented through the most basic and inexpensive design," said Gelof’s attorney, Jon Marko. "It doesn’t take a stadium design expert to realize that sharp metal fencing in an area where players are required to slide and play around is a recipe for disaster like the one that occurred here.

“All they had to do was put cheap padding up like they did after Zack was injured and this entire incident could have been avoided. My son’s little league diamond is safer.”

Gelof hit .256 with 22 homers and 55 RBIs — both career highs — in 111 games during his fourth season. The A's finished the season 64-98, putting them ahead of only the Los Angeles Angels and the Colorado Rockies in the majors.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The sheriff's department and the FBI Guthrie Task Force were recently made aware of the possible ransom note as well as social media comments related to it, the statement from the sheriff's department said Monday. Investigators are working to determine its credibility.

Officials did not immediately release details on how they found the note or what was in it.

In July, authorities released two ransom notes initially sent to a Tucson television station days after the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie went missing on Feb. 1 from her home outside Tucson.

The first note, sent Feb. 2, said Nancy Guthrie was safe but scared and would be released unharmed once her captors received $4 million in cryptocurrency. The second note, sent Feb. 6, said Guthrie died shortly after she was kidnapped. Authorities have not said whether Guthrie is still alive.

No suspects have been arrested in her disappearance. The investigation is dogged by unanswered questions, such as how many people are believed to have taken part in her abduction and whether she was taken by someone who knew her.

The FBI had also released surveillance videos of a masked person who authorities said appeared to tamper with a camera on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch and block it with a plant.

Nancy Guthrie's family has shared their pleas for information in videos posted to social media.

The Sunshine Transit Advancement Resolution, known as the STAR Plan, would prioritize eight transit corridors and begin the process of developing a feasibility study.

The study would examine what the system could look like, how much it would cost and how it could be funded.

“The STAR Plan is a bus rapid transit route that will run across the entire urban core of Orange County to get people to where they need to go fast, affordable and safe,” Orange County Vice Mayor Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad said.

The plan would initially focus on bus rapid transit, with the potential to eventually expand to light rail and heavy rail.

The long-term goal is for one in three residents to live within a 15-minute walk of rapid transit, according to county leaders.

Martinez Semrad said the county needs to consider multiple funding options, including tax-increment financing districts, also known as TIFs.

“What we need to do is look at not just the tax-increment financing, but also all other financially feasible models that could work to support transit in Orange County,” she said.

The feasibility study would help determine the total cost of the proposed network and how much each potential financing model could contribute, Martinez Semrad said.

The proposal comes as Orange County continues to grow, increasing traffic and commute times and putting additional pressure on the county’s transportation system.

A recent ConsumerAffairs report ranked Orlando eighth-worst in the country for public transportation.

Commissioners are expected to vote on the STAR Plan during their meeting Tuesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% after spending most of the morning wavering. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 295 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:43 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.

Major indexes shifted lower after a quiet morning as increased pressure from the bond market outweighed much of the heavy lifting being done by several technology behemoths. Nvidia rose 0.9% and Broadcom rose 2.6%.

Stocks remain under pressure as oil prices swing sharply as the U.S. war with Iran drags on, helping to push Treasury yields to their highest levels in 24 years.

The price of Brent crude oil in the most actively traded part of the oil market fell 0.9% to $96.95 a barrel. It briefly climbed above $100 on Monday before prices eased a bit, but they are still well above the roughly $72 it cost before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Mediators continued to work with the United States and Iran on reaching a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend rejected an offer from Tehran to reopen the key waterway.

Overall, rising oil prices have been fueling a jump in Treasury yields. Higher yields threaten to slow economic growth by making borrowing more expensive for individuals and businesses. They can also hurt prices for stocks, especially those seen as expensive, including many technology companies that have soared because of the frenzy around AI technology.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.28% from 5.24% late Monday, touching its highest level since 2002, according to Tradeweb, well before the financial crisis and Great Recession sent yields toward zero.

Shares of CarMax jumped 6.1% after the used car dealership chain reported soaring second-quarter revenue and delivered profits that easily beat Wall Street expectations. The company also announced changes to its executive leadership.

Oura, the maker of wearable digital health accessories and jewelry, said Tuesday that it was postponing its initial public offering, despite strong demand, due to uncertainty in the IPO market.

Markets in Europe were mixed and markets in Asia closed mostly lower.

Wall Street will see several big economic updates this week that could help investors and the Federal Reserve get a better sense of where inflation is headed and how households and businesses are dealing with high prices.

The latest update on the jobs market Tuesday showed that U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in August. The Labor Department's monthly report said they slid to 7.08 million openings, marking a drop from July and registering below what economists had forecast. It also showed that layoffs fell and fewer people are quitting their jobs.

The jobs market has been resilient even as stubbornly high inflation squeezes businesses and households. Wall Street will get a broader update on Friday, when the U.S. releases its monthly employment report for September.

Households have been facing higher prices on everything from gasoline to clothing as the U.S. war with Iran curtails oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The latest update on consumer confidence from business group The Conference Board shows a slump in September. Consumer confidence dipped to its lowest level in 12 years.

Stubbornly high inflation has been sapping consumer confidence and pressuring the Fed, which recently raised its benchmark interest rate in an effort to cool prices. The latest update of the central bank's preferred measure of inflation will be released on Wednesday. Economists expect the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, to show that the rate of inflation rose 3.7% August, matching July's reading.

Inflation rates have remained stubbornly above 3% most of the year and that is well above the Fed's target rate of 2%. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate again at its next meeting in October.

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Associated Press business writers Chan Ho-Him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

In a Tuesday press release, Oura said it's delaying the IPO “despite strong demand.”

The IPO market had a solid start to the year but tailed off in the third quarter, according to research firm Renaissance Capital. Concerns about a possible slowdown in spending on artificial intelligence, the Federal Reserve’s resumption of rate hikes and a surge in bond yields — making borrowing more expensive — all played a factor, Renaissance said.

Oura customers use the ring to monitor their health, including sleep patterns and fitness activity. The company gets the bulk of its revenue from ring sales, with the rest coming from subscriptions.

The company approached the IPO with momentum: The introduction of the Oura Ring 5 helped boost the number of paid members to 5.7 million and the company expects revenue for the fiscal year ending Wednesday to have grown by 90%.

Oura planned to sell 50 million shares in the IPO between $40 and $44, with nearly three-quarters of them being sold by current shareholders. At the midpoint of the price range, Oura's IPO would have given it a market value of $13.5 billion.

The megahit Broadway musical “Hamilton” is bringing back its North American tour to downtown Orlando and it’s running for several weeks.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, has won 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

It also has other awards under its belt, including the Pulitzer Prize for drama, a Grammy, and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

The musical focuses on the rise of founding father, Alexander Hamilton, as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation.

The 2-hour, 45-minute show runs Tuesday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 18 at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

The Oct. 8 performance includes a special Q&A session with the cast and crew after the show. Click here for details.

SunRail is also running a special weeknight train service for “Hamilton.”

After Orlando, the musical will head to Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Naples, and Jacksonville.

Kenneth Logan, 26, appeared in court Tuesday as prosecutors sought to keep him behind bars.

The alleged victim, whom News 6 is not identifying, testified that Logan showed up to her home the night before the shooting — armed with a gun.

The following day, she went to the courthouse to file an injunction. It was there, prosecutors say, that Logan allegedly hid in the backseat of her car in the parking garage.

“He tried to kill me in a courthouse; he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. I’m scared for my safety, for my kid’s safety. He’s not going to stop,” she told the court.

“He’s not going to stop. He doesn’t have a job; there’s nowhere to track him. You give him a monitor, he’s going to cut it off.”

The lead detective told the judge the victim filed the injunction that day. Surveillance video, according to investigators, shows Logan chasing the victim after allegedly shooting at her. She said he caught up with her and hit her with a handgun and pinned her down. She told investigators she escaped while Logan reloaded his weapon. She was not hit by gunfire.

Investigators noted there is no video of the altercation inside the car or of Logan holding her down.

In its argument, the defense referenced a social media video that allegedly shows the victim with a gun, arguing Logan told investigators he feared she was going to stab him that day in the parking lot.

A gun was recovered from the victim’s car. However, investigators say it was a different caliber than the shell casings and unspent rounds found in the parking garage.

Logan’s mother and father were present in the courtroom. His parents say the two were in a troubled relationship and that Logan was trying to end it.

When asked about the victim’s testimony, Logan’s father, Kenneth Logan Sr., had a blunt response.

“Baloney,” he said.

His mother, Yvette Stamps, echoed similar skepticism.

“I’m aware something transpired, but I’m really not going for what she’s saying,” Stamps said.

Logan is facing several charges, including attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated stalking.

The judge will review evidence presented in court, as well as interviews with the victim, Logan and witnesses, before deciding whether Logan will remain jailed as the case moves forward.

Jurors on Monday deadlocked on the charge against Mississippi Capitol Police officer Michael Rhinewalt and acquitted a second Capitol police officer, Steven Frederick, who was also charged with manslaughter in the September 2022 shooting of 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis.

The case has raised questions about policing in the majority-Black city of Jackson and prompted a lawsuit from Lewis' mom. The two officers who shot Lewis are both white.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office, which prosecuted the two officers, said in a statement that it “followed the process” and will not pursue a new trial against Rhinewalt.

“In the case of a tie, the benefit of the doubt goes to our law enforcement officers,” the statement said, adding that the “men and women who wear the uniform have earned that.”

The two officers testified that they opened fire on Lewis in self-defense after he rammed a police vehicle and drove toward them.

“Both of them were in fear for their life and each other’s safety,” Merrida Coxwell, an attorney for Frederick, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. “It was horrible and it was tragic. All he had to do was stop.”

Prosecutors said Lewis and his passenger did not know they were being stopped by police. The officers were driving unmarked cars and were in plain clothes with vests.

Rhinewalt is also charged with aggravated assault in another police shooting in 2022. Sherita Harris says she was shot in the head by Rhinewalt during a pursuit after a traffic stop.

Rhinewalt and another Capitol Police officer charged in that case say Harris fled after they exited their patrol vehicle, and they heard gunshots from the car as they gave chase. Both officers have pleaded not guilty.

Rhinewalt’s lawyers did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails from the AP.

Kenneth Jerome Logan Jr. was denied bond and faces nine charges connected to the Wednesday incident.

CHARGES:

• Attempted First Degree Murder with a Firearm
• Aggravated Battery with Firearm (Domestic Violence)
• Aggravated Battery with Firearm (Domestic Violence)
• Armed Burglary of Conveyance w/ Firearm
• Burglary of Conveyance w/ Assault/Battery
• Robbery with a Firearm
• Aggravated Stalking (Domestic Violence)
• False Imprisonment (With a Weapon)
• Battery (Domestic Violence)

A pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted video on Facebook showing deputies escorting Logan to jail.

“Earlier today, a shooting inside the parking garage at the Orange County Courthouse halted court operations for several hours while our deputies investigated the attempted murder of a woman in the garage, who thankfully was not injured in the shooting. Deputies spent the afternoon searching for the known suspect, and we are pleased to tell you he was captured this afternoon,” the post said.

[WATCH: Witness interview]

The incident was reported around 11:30 a.m. Upon arrival, deputies found a woman “who was shot at by a person known to her, but not injured.”

An arrest warrant says the victim had returned to her car in the parking garage when she noticed her driver’s seat had been moved. Then she saw someone in the backseat.

Investigators say Logan got out of the car and fired his gun twice at the woman, then chased her through the garage.

A witness at the scene told News 6’s Mike Valente that the woman told him her husband was the shooter.

“She was like crying so bad. I was like, you OK? She was like, ‘My husband tried to shoot me. My husband was trying to shoot me,’” witness Fero Alhajjah told News 6. “I was like, are you fine? You OK now? And she was like, ‘no, I’m not fine.’”

[WATCH: Breaking news coverage from Wednesday afternoon]

Alhajjah said law enforcement moved quickly after speaking with the woman.

Video from an employee shows deputies with long guns combing the roof of the courthouse parking garage.

The employee was in a hearing when she said a deputy came into the room and said they couldn’t leave the room because there was an active shooting situation. The hearing was halted in the meantime.

On the ground, the sheriff’s office bloodhound teams were seen tracking along Magnolia Avenue for the suspect.

Speaking on his radio show Tuesday, Jones was asked what explanations there were for leaving enough seconds on the clock after a tying field goal for a defensive breakdown to put the Ravens in position for the winning kick.

“There is no explanation you're satisfied with. None,” Jones said. “Let's be sure that we all understand that. They (coaches) don't have one that they're satisfied with. We made mistakes during that time. There's no question about it. So there is no explanation. But there's an evaluation of how not to make the same mistakes again.”

Trailing 31-28, the Cowboys had a first down at the Baltimore 2-yard line with 23 seconds left when Dak Prescott threw incomplete into the end zone.

After a false-start penalty against tight end Luke Schoonmaker, Prescott scrambled to the Baltimore 5, and coach Brian Schottenheimer called his final timeout with 14 seconds remaining.

The coach who is also the play-caller instructed Prescott to either throw a quick out to receiver George Pickens or throw the ball away, based on the amount of time left, with no ability to stop the clock. Prescott didn't wait long to choose the throwaway, and the play lasted just four seconds.

There were seven seconds remaining after Brandon Aubrey's field goal, and the Dallas defense left a gap at just about the exact spot of the target line for a Baltimore field goal. Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers, got the timeout called with a second to go and Tyler Loop made the 56-yard field goal.

Schottenheimer is in his second season as a head coach after 25 years as an NFL assistant. Christian Parker is a 34-year-old making his debut as a defensive coordinator. Both will be under considerable scrutiny from fans and pundits going forward, and perhaps from their own front office.

“We will be better from this experience that we had with Baltimore and what happened to us at the end of the game,” Jones said. “A win would have given you another way of couching it as far as having growth and enthusiasm for having won a game like that because we did come back and we came back in an impressive way. All of that makes us realize we really are just at the beginning of what I hope is an exciting year for us.”

The Cowboys (1-2) got a break in the NFC East when two-time defending champion Philadelphia lost to Chicago and backup quarterback Case Keenum on Monday night.

Dallas visits Houston (0-3) on Sunday. The New York Giants, who will be without quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the regular season because of a knee injury, are tied with the Eagles atop the division at 2-1.

“We are very much in the hunt, and I say that principally based upon the way I feel about our team, as much or more than what’s happening with the other teams,” Jones said. “Philadelphia has things that they want to work on just as the Giants do, just as we do. It makes you see how health is a factor. Availability is a factor. And we're just getting started.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The recipients will receive $800,000 over the next five years for them to spend as they please. The prize, often called a “genius” grant, is the result of a yearslong selection process that considers a wide range of recommendations. Fellows do not apply or participate in any way. Many express shock upon learning of their selection, a recognition that often yields new opportunities on top of the monetary award.

The 2026 fellows are:

Holly Jean Buck, 45, Buffalo, New York, a University at Buffalo sociologist whose research centers local communities' role in mitigating climate change and transitioning to clean energy.

Felipe De Brigard, 47, Durham, North Carolina, a Duke University philosopher using cognitive science to investigate the relationship between memory and forgiveness, including victims of political violence in his home country of Colombia.

Ellora Derenoncourt, 39, Princeton, New Jersey, a Princeton University labor economist researching the origins of racial wealth disparities in the United States and policies to reduce the gap.

Elizabeth Ellis, 38, Princeton, New Jersey, a Princeton University historian correcting the colonial record to emphasize Indigenous tribes' alternative approaches to nationhood and the strategies Native Americans used to resist European settlement.

Kaiyu Guan, 41, Urbana, Illinois, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign environmental scientist helping farmers predict and optimize crop yields through data and machine learning.

Trajal Harrell, Zurich, a Switzerland-based choreographer and dancer who combines dance traditions into a “fictitious archive” that breaks down the barriers between different styles.

Marika Holland, 58, Boulder, Colorado, a climate scientist helping better predict changes in ice cover and understand the effects of polar climate change on marine ecosystems.

Christine Sun Kim, 46, Berlin, a Germany-based artist conveying the experiences of deaf people and exploring new ways to understand sound through drawings, large-scale murals, video and interactives.

Song Lin, 40, Stanford, California, a Stanford University organic chemist whose methods are opening pathways for safer and more sustainable synthetic organic reactions.

Layli Long Soldier, 54, Santa Fe, New Mexico, a poet manipulating historical texts to emphasize the erasure of Native Americans and accompanying her written word with visual art.

Rodney McMillian, 57, Los Angeles, an artist at the University of California, Los Angeles, working across sculpture, painting, video and performance to explore how history and socioeconomic conditions impact belonging in the American South.

Maaza Mengiste, 55, Middletown, Connecticut, a fiction writer at Wesleyan University who shows the human cost of political conflicts through historically informed novels.

Ariel Ron, 48, Dallas, a historian at Southern Methodist University exploring how Northern agriculture affected economic growth and the expansion of federal power in nineteenth-century America.

Kate Spradley, 53, San Marcos, Texas, a forensic anthropologist at Texas State University working to identify and repatriate the remains of migrants who perished along the Texas-Mexico border and addressing the complicating factors of that work through her Operation Identification initiative.

Chip Thomas, 69, Flagstaff, Arizona, a public artist transforming neglected spaces, mostly in the Navajo Nation, into public works grounded in community history.

Vincent Valdez, 49, Houston and San Antonio, a visual artist depicting historical and contemporary scenes that reflect Latino experiences in the United States.

Vincenzo Vitelli, 48, Chicago, a physicist at the University of Chicago building theoretical frameworks to describe how matter and materials with unique properties will behave.

Bryan Washington, 33, Tokyo, a fiction writer capturing modern relationships in his novels including “Memorial” and “Palaver.”

Immanuel Wilkins, 29, New York City, an alto jazz saxophone player and composer whose compositions often reflect historical narratives of injustice.

Liangfang Zhang, 46, San Diego, a chemical engineer and bioengineer at the University of California, San Diego, who is creating novel nanotechnologies for treating and preventing infectious diseases, cancers and immunological disorders.

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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 advisory is in effect while pressure tests are underway and applies to a specific area of the city. Residents should check the city’s official map to determine if their address falls within the affected zone.

Crews are on scene at the break and actively testing water pressure throughout the impacted area. The city has not yet confirmed the outcome of those tests.

The break was first reported Tuesday morning, when officials announced lower-than-normal water pressure for residents near the Sunshine plant. The city initially said it would notify residents as soon as possible on whether a boil water order or advisory would be issued.

The break is the latest in a string of water problems hitting Groveland in 2026. On Friday, a software error shut down pumps at the Sunshine plant for about 30 minutes, triggering a boil water advisory that has since been lifted.

In June, residents reported dark, rusty water. A lightning strike knocked out power at the plant in July.

The city is working on long-term fixes. In August, the Groveland City Council approved a Clean Water Facility Plan that includes a new wastewater treatment facility expected to cost more than $100 million. The project is not expected to be completed until 2031.

The Brooklyn-based saxophonist, bandleader and composer hesitated to believe they were calling to say he was part of their prestigious fellows class. He spent the last 15 minutes of his ride convincing himself they only wanted his recommendations.

“I was just outside,” said Wilkins, 29, when he finally confirmed it was the former. "Which was nice because then I could yell as loud as I wanted to and celebrate.”

The foundation unveiled its 2026 fellows class on Tuesday: 20 individuals ranging in discipline from the performing arts to the social sciences, separated in age by four decades and spread across three continents. They will each receive $800,000 over the next five years in recognition of their “exceptional creativity.” Commonly referred to as “genius grants,” the no-strings-attached awards are intended to provide the flexibility necessary for recipients to pursue their artistic or scholarly visions.

This year's class shows a particular interest in history. There's a philosopher using cognitive science to investigate the relationship between memory and forgiveness; a poet repurposing historical texts to probe colonial violence and the resilience of Native American communities; and a choreographer breaking down the barriers between difference dance styles across time and place.

They “explore the depths of our humanity; they reveal untold origins to challenges; they expand the edges of scientific inquiry and life-saving research,” Kristen Mack, the vice president of communications for fellows and partnerships at the MacArthur Foundation, said in a statement.

“They show us new ways to understand the world,” Mack said.

Take Wilkins, the youngest member. His debut album “Omega” connects the 1918 lynching of a pregnant Black woman, Mary Turner, to the 2014 fatal police shooting of a Black teenager, Michael Brown. The abstraction of music, Wilkins told The Associated Press, allows him to represent these stories without "recreating the violence of them.”

That abstraction — the rhythms of jazz music that are difficult to capture in written scores — has drawn him to visual art, too.

Jazz musicians have long debated how to notate the “swing” so central to the genre, Wilkins explained. He is exploring whether that sound could be rendered through sculptures or spectrograms in the same way it is currently represented through eighth notes or triplets.

With “RECESS" — an immersive experience recently presented in his hometown of Philadelphia — he attempted a “graphic score” by performing on an industrial jungle gym that was both bandstand and playground.

“The system of Western notation, as we know it, doesn’t have the capacity to hold the sound of Black music. Like, a lot of what makes Black music maybe sound ‘Black’ is these quantum entanglements with the time,” he said. “I’m kind of trying to radically debate: what actually is this Western system of notation holding when it comes to Black music? That opens up a wide set of possibilities for what a score could look like."

A Princeton labor economist who centers racial inequality

Awardees who spoke with AP had no concrete plans for how they'd use the sudden gift. Nor does the MacArthur Foundation expect any answer to that question.

Unlike traditional grants, the award requires no progress reports from its fellows. The program does not accept applications, instead relying on an ever-changing list of outside nominators whose recommendations are reviewed by a confidential committee.

Ellora Derenoncourt, a New Jersey-based associate professor at Princeton University's department of economics, wants to use the award's platform to translate issues of economic justice for the broader public and interested policymakers.

Racial wealth disparities may seem too entrenched to ever reverse, she said. But she finds that history explains the origins of economic inequality and highlights “watershed moments” where public policies narrowed those differences. A 2021 paper showed a drop in the Black-white earnings gap after Congress raised the minimum wage and extended its protections in industries such as agriculture, domestic services and healthcare.

Another project explained how northern cities spent less on education and recreation in the communities where the Great Migration sent millions of Black Americans escaping the southern United States' low wages and racial barriers.

As the Trump administration tosses aside requirements for workforce demographic reports and limits the availability of other official sources, she fears her field might lack the information needed to calculate today's racial inequality. Universities and researchers like herself, she said, must figure out how to maintain robust data sets.

“I hope that I can take this responsibility seriously to highlight these issues," she said. "And maybe also make some more people into history nerds. Because I think, really, we need to turn back the clock to figure out sometimes either what works or what has made things the way they are today.”

A painter seeking to counter ‘social amnesia’

It's not dissimilar from the mantle taken up by Vincent Valdez.

The contemporary painter was drawing in his studio when the MacArthur Foundation called. For once in his life, he joked, he went “deathly silent.” Most every artist is aware of the award, he said, which carries a 45-year legacy of recognizing, as he sees it, individuals “pushing boundaries."

Valdez tackles questions of American identity through representational paintings recalling murals of the southwestern United States. Murals, he learned at a young age, created an “undeniable presence” for his Mexican American community whose stories weren't reflected in dominant culture. He aims to counter what he calls “social amnesia” by helping the public remember “what we are and where we’re headed.”

His 30-foot-wide painting “The City I" depicts a modern Ku Klux Klan with hooded figures holding a smartphone, a beer and a Pikachu-toting baby. The second part of that trilogy, “Dream Baby Dream,” situates Muhammad Ali's many eulogists in boxes that imitate “The Brady Bunch” title sequence.

He's working on the final installment, called “The New Americans.” Unlike their predecessors, these colorful portraits stand vertically rather than horizontally. The images aim to highlight overlooked “pillars” of society who he considers to be “fighting the good fight" — or, he said, “the stubborn pulses in a dying heartbeat.”

From a soaring Michael Jordan to the forceful eviction of a mostly Mexican American community to build Dodger Stadium, Valdez's work often engages sports. When making such images, he said, he's reminded of San Antonio Spurs' games with his dad. He was “overwhelmed” and “mesmerized,” he recalled, at the unified effort required to pull off a vertical version of “the wave." Beginning courtside and moving up to the last-row dollar seats, he said, fans would stand and throw their hands in the air “like a tornado.”

“If we can do it for sports on any given Saturday and Sunday in this country, then we can do this as a collective people for the things that truly matter and affect our daily lives and the lives of our neighbors,” Valdez said.

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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.

Four-seam fastballs averaged 94.8 mph this year, according to MLB Statcast, up from 94.5 mph last season and 91.9 mph when tracking started in 2008. In a sign the upward trend is likely to continue, pitchers 25 or younger as of June 30 averaged 95.9 mph.

Right-handers averaged 95.3 mph, lefties 93.5 mph and relievers 95 mph.

“I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to know that getting 97 by someone is a little easier than 91,” said Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale, a 37-year-old who averaged a career-high 96.1 mph this year. “We have a lot more help. There’s more ways of finding out efficiency.”

Pittsburgh had the hardest throwers, with a 96.3 mph average, and the Chicago Cubs ranked last at 93.7 mph.

“I’m glad I got out of the game when I did,” said San Diego manager Craig Stammen, a former reliever who last pitched in 2022.

100 mph is no longer uncommon

There were a record 5,687 pitches of 100 mph or more, up from 3,701 last year and ahead of the prior mark of 3,880 in 2023. There were just 214 in 2008.

Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski alone threw 1,115 pitches 100 mph or faster, the most in a season since tracking started in 2008. He shattered the previous record of 673 by Jordan Hicks in 2018.

A 24-year-old right-hander, The Miz reached 101 mph 753 times, 102 mph on 365 pitches, 103 mph on 143 tosses and pumped at 104 mph 22 times. His high was 105.5 mph, fouled off by the Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 26.

“It's crazy, man. Everybody throws 100,” said New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon, finishing his 10th big league season. “When I was first up, you used to catch the mop-up guy throwing 90, 91. Now, if they bring a mop-up guy in, he’s got five pitches and throws 100.”

Increasing velo has become a priority in the minors, too

Four-seam velocity at Triple-A averaged 93.6 mph, up from 92.7 when tracking started in 2022. It was 93.3 mph at the eight Single-A ballparks Statcast tracks, an increase from 92 mph in 2021.

“They try to get the most guys to throw as hard as they can,” said Boston Red Sox outfielder Braiden Ward, a six-year minor league veteran who could make his big league debut in the playoffs. “If you can be accurate, you get moved up.”

Average spin rate on four-seamers in the majors dropped slightly to 2,314 revolutions per minute from a record 2,322 last year.

Complete games are neari

ng extinction

Pitchers threw a record-low 21 complete games, down from last year's prior mark of 28. There were 104 in 2015, 209 in 2003 and 510 in the strike-shortened 1981 season.

There were just 11 complete-game shutouts, down from 13 last year. The only years with fewer were four in 1871, eight in 1873 and 10 in 1872, when there were far fewer games.

Seventeen teams did not have a starting pitcher who got an out in the ninth inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and four didn't have one who got an out in the eighth: the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, New York Mets and San Diego Padres.

Starting pitchers averaged 15.14 outs, down from 15.56 last year and the fewest since 15.07 in 2021, according to Elias, a year when the sport was coming out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The average pitches per start declined to 83.2 from 85 last year, Elias said.

Batting average dipped slightly

MLB's efforts to spark offense with defensive-shift restrictions, which began in 2023, have had little effect.

This year's batting average of .244 was down from .245 last season and just above .243 in 2024. The average in the first year of the restrictions jumped to .248 from .243.

The only seasons with averages lower than .243 were .242 in 1967, .239 in 1888 and 1908, and .237 in 1968.

Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez hit .316 to win the big league batting title, the lowest figure for the overall champion. The previous low was Dick Groat's .325 for the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Home runs level

Teams averaged 1.15 home runs per game, just a tick below last year's 1.16. The high was 1.39 in 2019.

Humidifiers to store baseballs have been used in all 30 ballparks since 2022.

“Hitting is completely different and pitching is completely different than it was 15, 20 years ago,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

Steals dropped

In the fourth year since MLB increased bases to 18-inch squares from 15, stolen bases dropped to 0.68 per team per game from 0.71 last season and 0.74 in 2024, the highest since 1992. The average jumped from 0.51 in 2022 to 0.72 in the first year of the bigger bags.

Walks rise under robo umps

In the first year of allowing ball/strike calls to be appealed to robot umpires, walks rose from 3.16 per team per game last year to 3.36 this year, the highest figure since 3.39 in the pandemic-shortened season. The figure was the highest over a non-shortened season since 3.42 in 2009.

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AP Sports Writers Charles Odum and Kristie Rieken, and AP freelance writer Bernie Wilson contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Within moments, however, the site began modifying its answers. After originally confirming that Trump’s name is in the Epstein files, that Democrat Joe Biden beat him in the 2020 election and that climate change is largely human-caused, it subsequently refused to answer the questions, saying it didn’t answer political inquiries.

Meanwhile, former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against Trump, told lawmakers Tuesday that he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before. Smith’s hearing before the Senate is expected to focus on his team’s access to GOP lawmakers’ phone records when prosecutors were investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Here's the latest:

Trump to campaign in solidly red Nebraska with midterms looming

The president has repeatedly promised to travel to competitive areas around the country, even as his approval ratings sink and Republicans increasingly scramble to try and hold control of Congress after Election Day in November.

But Trump is instead holding a rally on Monday in Grand Island, in solidly red, south-central Nebraska.

The state has a competitive congressional race in Omaha, but where Trump is going is a different, GOP-held district and media market, with an election that isn’t expected to be close.

Trump’s trip could be an effort to counter Dan Osborn, an independent candidate running for Nebraska’s Senate seat against incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

But the president hitting Grand Island comes as the midterm map is full of Senate races in other states where Democrats have far better shots of flipping GOP seats.

GOP’s Schmitt appears to mix-up teams during Smith accusation

Republicans spent much of the Senate hearing trying to trip up Smith and impeach his credibility.

In one notable moment, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Smith of traveling to Atlanta and attending a game for the city’s NBA team — the Hawks — in February 2024 while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was facing scrutiny for her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor in the Georgia 2020 election case.

But it appeared Schmitt got his teams confused. Smith said he had actually been at a game that day for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in Maryland.

America.gov changes politically thorny answers moments after launch

As it initially launched, the site’s question-and-answer function answered some political questions truthfully — noting correctly that Biden won the 2020 election and that Obama’s 2009 inaugural crowd was bigger than Trump’s in 2017.

Within moments, however, the site began modifying its answers.

After originally reporting that Biden won in 2020, it refused to answer the question subsequently, saying it didn’t answer political inquiries.

Same went for a question on crowd size at Obama’s inauguration versus Trump’s first one.

The site also offered more muddled answers on other things Trump frequently says that aren’t true — like the Strait of Hormuz being fully reopened to commercial traffic.

Trump says he’s the first US president to forgo a salary, but new AI website says otherwise

The president said Tuesday “they think no other president has ever served without receiving their salary,” adding that “they think Washington did not get a salary, but they’re not sure about that.”

The government’s new America.gov chatbot, citing official U.S. documents, debunked the claim. Asked which U.S. presidents declined a salary, the AI-powered bot listed George Washington, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy as refusing their salaries before Trump.

Tense partisan exchanges at Jack Smith’s hearing

During one heated moment, Republican Sen. John Kennedy grew exasperated as he pressed Smith on whether the Biden White House instructed the Justice Department to prosecute Trump. Smith said he had “no idea about that,” and that the decision to prosecute Trump was his own.

In an effort to show Smith was being evasive, Kennedy asked Smith whether he believed in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny. Smith said no.

“You make me want to throw up in my mouth,” Kennedy told Smith as he concluded his line of questioning.

America.gov refutes many of Trump’s pet claims

The president said the site is “glamorizing” the federal bureaucracy — but it doesn’t agree with him on many key issues.

The site’s question-and-answer function confirms that Trump’s name is in the Epstein files and that Democrat Joe Biden beat him in the 2020 election.

It says federal officials did not find widespread fraud in that election, as Trump says constantly.

The site confirms that climate change is largely from human greenhouse gas emissions, and there’s no evidence whales are harmed by offshore wind turbines. It says Barack Obama’s 2009 presidential inauguration attracted a bigger crowd than Trump’s in 2017.

The site uses Trump’s new names for Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico, but that the Defense Department uses the Pentagon — ignoring Trump’s attempts to rebrand it the Department of War.

Taiwan says US arms sales to island are unchanged, but a $14B package remains on hold

Taiwan’s defense minister said Tuesday that existing U.S. arms sales to Taiwan remain unchanged, and that Taipei remains in talks with the U.S. over individual deals. A record $14 billion arms package to the island, however, remains stalled.

The minister’s remarks come as concerns mount that Trump could halt arms sales to Taiwan. China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a May summit in Beijing between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping. The United States paused the $14 billion arms deal after that meeting.

“As for arms sales, we are in continuous discussions with the Americans on this,” Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. “We haven’t received any notice of any changes to sales or our cooperation.”

Koo said he received assurances from the U.S. side that its policy toward the island remained unchanged.

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Americans growing more pessimistic about the economy as prices for gas, other items remain elevated

Americans’ confidence in the economy deteriorated this month as prices remain elevated and wages stagnate amid the ongoing Iran war.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index tumbled 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, down from 88.6 in August.

Respondents’ views of their present situation fell by 7.9 points to 109.3. Their short-term outlook also slid, falling 5.9 points to 63.6.

Americans remain flustered by the economy after five years of elevated inflation, potentially posing a risk to President Trump and Republicans in the midterm elections, which are a little more than a month away.

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America.gov is live — and its interface looks a lot like other AI-based sites

What the Trump administration has advertised as “a new front door for the federal government” is now up and running.

And it looks a lot like other services powered by artificial intelligence.

President Trump was expected to speak at a launch event Tuesday for the site, which has been promoted as a way to simplify Americans’ access to information and services scattered across a plethora of agency websites.

America.gov doesn’t say what AI platform it uses to answer questions about government services. And asking the chatbot to explain its systems yielded an answer that it “does not publish the name of a specific AI model” and instead “uses AI to search official government sources and explain them with citations.”

The website says it’s free, has no ads and requires no log in.

Sen. Susan Collins seeks more information about taxpayer-funded TV ads

The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is grilling the Trump administration about its recent spate of taxpayer-funded TV ads.

The Maine Republican has asked the White House and the Office of Management and Budget for “a full accounting of any expenditures” used to make the ads, a committee spokesperson said Tuesday.

It remains unclear what part of the administration is funding the three ads, which glorify Trump and are nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending.

Criticism against the ads has mounted, including from Trump’s own party. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Monday said they “shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”

The White House has defended the ads, saying they are public service announcements like those of past administrations.

Jack Smith defends his criminal cases against Trump

Smith told lawmakers in his opening statement that he stands by the criminal cases he brought against Trump, saying investigators developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

Smith said his team’s actions were “based on the facts and the law” without regard to President Trump’s political beliefs.

“If asked whether to prosecute a former president today based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat,” Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Republicans have accused Smith of bending ordinary procedures in an overzealous and politically motivated pursuit of the president.

Jack Smith hearing in the Senate is underway

The prosecutor who brought criminal charges against Trump is expected to be grilled by senators about his team’s access to the phone records of GOP lawmakers, among other things.

Smith has previously defended the subpoenas as “common practice” in investigations.

According to a copy of his prepared remarks, Smith will tell senators that he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before.

From motorcycles to booze, US ban on $1 billion worth of Canadian imports goes into effect

U.S.-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.

The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of annual two-way trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.

The import ban “certainly won’t do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,″ said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

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Iran’s currency hits a new record low as war erodes the country’s economic stability

Iran’s currency fell to a new record low Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.

The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

The Iranian economy has been under duress for years in the face of international sanctions. But a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian oil and new sanctions imposed since the start of the war have sent it into freefall.

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Taxpayers have funded nearly $1.5M in pro-Trump ads. Criticism is mounting, including from the GOP

The White House has spent days fiercely defending three taxpayer-funded advertisements that glorify President Donald Trump and are nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending, calling them public service announcements like those used in past administrations.

“Don’t let the Fake News get away with their lies about our epic Public Service Announcements that have been running on tv,” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X on Sunday.

But the Republican administration’s ads attracted mounting criticism on Monday, including from members of Trump’s own party.

“It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.

Multiple legal experts consulted by The Associated Press said the ads appear to run afoul of federal statutes, including a law against congressionally appropriated funds being used for “publicity or propaganda” and a law that limits the partisan political activities of government employees.

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CNN, MS NOW and Politico ask a court to block Trump from enforcing his White House media ban

Three news outlets President Donald Trump abruptly banished from White House grounds this month asked a federal court to block the ban until the case is resolved, saying the administration has “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban” despite a judge’s restraining order — including selectively barring CNN from White House pool duties.

“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico wrote in a filing late Monday.

”Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case,” the filing said.

The filing came a day after the Trump administration made clear it was not backing down from its contention that the sudden ban, which began Sept. 19, was justified.

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The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

The Iranian economy has been under duress for years in the face of international sanctions. But a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian oil and new sanctions imposed since the start of the war have sent it into freefall.

Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat said indirect negotiations with the United States aimed at reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz have become “more serious,” while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ chief spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi on Tuesday called on Americans to take to the streets and protest the conflict.

Iran's top diplomat raises the prospect of new talks

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media late on Monday that the “current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz,” the chokepoint of the war.

Araghchi made the comments shortly before departing New York — where he attended last week’s gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly — and after meeting with Pakistani and Qatari mediators.

Araghchi said that the Qatari intermediaries were expected to soon engage with the U.S. side.

“They are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final U.S. response will be conveyed to us,” Araghchi said. “If there is a response, the Qataris will convey it to us and a decision will be made in Tehran on that basis.”

Officials, including from the U.S., have confirmed to The Associated Press that mediators are working with Iran and the U.S. on trying to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the strait.

The mediation efforts continue even after U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait in seven days if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

Iran sends a provocative message to the US public

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday made an appeal to everyday Americans to push their government to end the U.S. war against Iran, a provocative message that comes just weeks before critical midterm elections in the United States.

Mohebbi, the Guard spokesman, read a letter during a news conference in Iran's capital, Tehran, appealing to Americans to pressure their government and claiming that the only way for the war to end is for Washington to admit defeat and leave the Mideast.

Mohebbi’s remarks come as Trump’s Republican party faces fierce headwinds as it looks to maintain control of Congress. But polling shows the war has darkened the American electorate’s mood ahead of the Nov. 3 election in which elevated gasoline prices, a byproduct of the conflict, loom large.

Mohebbi also accused the U.S. of using Iran’s nuclear program as a ruse to “plunder Iran’s wealth” and to turn the country “back into a colony.”

He added that the U.S. and others failed in their belief that military and economic action would get Tehran to submit and that Washington “has no choice but to acknowledge defeat and leave the region.”

“This is how the war will end,” he said.

Trump and his top aides are insistent that Iran’s economy cannot sustain a conflict much longer and have expressed confidence that Tehran will be forced to capitulate.

The U.S. president predicted soon after launching the war that the conflict would last a matter of weeks. More recently, he’s said that the war will likely end after the November elections in the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Monday appearance on Fox News said Iran was heading toward an economic “cataclysm.” Administration officials say that a combination of new sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade aimed at preventing Iranian oil from going to market are having the intended effect.

“And so when you’re denying them money through oil sales and sanctions, you’re not just punishing them,” Rubio said. “You are preventing them from getting access to money that they will use to try and kill Americans and others around the world and their own people and build weapons and threaten the world and ultimately break out to a nuclear weapon program."

Major Saudi pipeline is once again operating

In a separate development, a crucial oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia that was shuttered by the kingdom earlier this month after coming under attack is once again operating, according to a Saudi government official.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said operations are near pre-attack levels and that the pipeline should be running at its full capacity within a few weeks.

The kingdom relies on the East-West Pipeline, which runs the breadth of the country, to move its crude from oil processing facilities on the Gulf to ports on its western, Red Sea coast. From there it can be put on tankers for export.

Saudi Arabia blamed an Iran-backed militia in Iraq for the drone attack that forced the temporary shutdown of the 1,200-kilomeer (745-mile) pipeline.

Satellite imagery indicated tankers on Sunday loaded some 12.5 million barrels of oil at the Yanbu export terminal, which is supplied by the East-West Pipeline, and the nearby terminal at Al Muajjiz, the data and analytical firm Kpler said in a report.

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AP writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed reporting.

According to the Florida Department of Transportation website, it’s all due to a major crash that happened just before 10 a.m.

Cars can be seen backed up on traffic cameras, being diverted to Epcot Center Drive as the crash is handled.

It’s unclear how many cars are involved, and if there are any injuries.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Giancarlo Stanton, out since April 24 because of strained calf muscles in both legs, was included. So was center fielder Trent Grisham.

Sidelined since Sept. 16 by a strained right calf, Judge took live batting practice on the field Monday, a day ahead of the series opener, in an effort to persuade manager Aaron Boone and the medical staff. He walked twice, hit a comebacker to the mound and took a called third strike against teammates Ryan Weathers and Elmer Rodríguez.

The three-time AL MVP had a platelet-poor plasma injection Sept. 21. The 34-year-old was sidelined by a fractured rib from May 31 to Sept. 8 and played in just seven games before the latest injury.

Judge was limited to 66 games this season. He hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.

Stanton started the season with a .256 batting average, three homers and 14 RBIs in 24 games. The 36-year-old, acquired after winning NL MVP in 2017, had 38 homers and 100 RBIs in his first season with New York but has missed 500 of 1,194 games since (41.9%).

Grisham had been sidelined since straining his right hamstring on Sept. 4. He was among New York’s 15 position players.

Boston Red Sox

Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who won last season’s WCS opener against the Yankees by allowing one run and four hits in 7 2/3 innings, will be available in the bullpen. The two-time All-Star has not pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation.

“He’s worked very hard to get everything back strong the way it needs to be, but we’re still going to be evaluating him daily to see where he’s at,” manager Chad Tracy said.

Philadelphia Phillies

Second baseman Luis Arraez, a three-time batting champion, is out for the series against Atlanta after spraining his left ankle last Thursday.

Left-hander Brooks Raley, like Arraez acquired ahead of the trade deadline, also was left off.

Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan and infielder Otto Kemp were included as the Phillies went with 14 position players.

Philadelphia did not include any players it acquired at the trade deadline.

Atlanta Braves

Infielders Rowdy Tellez and Luke Williams were included on the roster by Atlanta, which has 15 position players.

Chicago White Sox

Tommy Pham, a 38-year-old outfielder acquired from Philadelphia on Aug. 31, was among 14 position players picked by Chicago for its series at Houston in a rematch of the 2005 World Series — the Astros moved to the AL for the 2013 season.

Pham hit .429 for Arizona in the 2023 World Series against Texas.

Houston Astros

Right-hander Ethan Pecko, 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in eight starts from mid-August through the end of the regular season, is injured and was not among the Astros’ 12 pitchers. Steven Okert (hamstring) also was left off.

Houston included Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai, who struggled to a 6-4 record and 4.93 ERA in 15 starts and eight relief appearances after coming to Major League Baseball with a $54 million, three-year contract.

Infielder Reynal Delgado, who played in just three games for the Astros after July 19, was included along with outfielder Joey Loperfido, chosen over LaMonte Wade Jr.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Category 2 hurricane struck land just south of Las Barrancas, Mexico, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Cabo San Lazaro and about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Mulege with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) while moving northeast at 13 mph (20 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Mexican authorities reported Polo left no serious damage. About 700 people remained in shelters Tuesday but were expected to return to their homes, federal authorities said.

Baja California Sur Gov. Víctor Castro said during the president’s morning news briefing that the hurricane’s passage “has brought us rain, but no loss of life.”

By 8 a.m. local time, Polo was moving toward the northeast near 17 mph (28 kph), with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph (120 kph) as a Category 1 hurricane, the center said. Mexico's government discontinued several hurricane and tropical storm warnings along the coast.

The hurricane center said Polo was crossing the Gulf of California before moving inland and was expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters had predicted Polo would hit the Mexican mainland with life-threatening winds and flash floods expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

Meanwhile, the hurricane center reported Tropical Storm Rachel was moving parallel to Mexico's coast early Tuesday. The storm was about 265 miles (425 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenos and about 355 miles (570 kilometers) south of Cabo Corrientes with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph) while moving west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

Hurricane Nolo was still a Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday, but was edging away from Hawaii.

Baja California peninsula was preparing for Polo

The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “nonessential” activities, including school, sports and nonessential work in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities.

The Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by Polo. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters ready, while travel will be suspended in the area and ports across the region will be closed.

Pacific storm activity greater than normal this season

Pacific storm activity has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

The impact was expected to stretch into the U.S. Southwest. After being plagued with drought and later flooding this year, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas could receive inches of rain. Arid canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation are conducive to flash flooding and the tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Heavy rain was already drenching parts of the region Tuesday morning and causing flooding.

“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”

Floods and mudslides remain a risk in Hawaii

Hurricane Nolo on Tuesday had moved west past the Hawaiian islands and was located about 270 miles (435 kilometers) south-southeast of French Frigate Shoals with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) moving north, or 360 degrees, at 9 mph (15 kph).

Nolo drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of Hawaii's Big Island over the weekend. Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.

The hurricane was approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area, according to the hurricane center, which said the storm could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Eduardo Verdugo in Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, Julie Walker in New York, Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Eugene Garcia and Gregory Bull in Hilo, Hawaii, contributed to this report.

The alliance could be well positioned to threaten the dominance of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party over the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — but only if the first national elections in 20 years actually happen, which is very much in doubt.

Abbas has said parliamentary elections will be held Nov. 28 in Gaza and the West Bank. But he has repeatedly delayed elections, most recently in 2021, when Fatah appeared headed for defeat. When Hamas won the last elections, in 2006, Israel and Western countries boycotted its government, fueling months of unrest that led to its takeover of Gaza the following year.

Islamic Jihad deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed the formation of the electoral alliance in a rare interview with The Associated Press in Istanbul on Monday. He said it would support “a unified national list” that could be made up of independent figures rather than members of the groups.

It would include a bloc led by Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief who was exiled in 2010 after a bitter falling-out with Abbas and had previously been driven from Gaza by Hamas. Dahlan has since cultivated close ties with the UAE, where he serves as an adviser to the ruler.

The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords, and Dahlan himself has extensive contacts with U.S. and Israeli officials, making him an unlikely ally for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have fought Israel for decades. The alliance appears to be rooted in shared frustration with Abbas.

New alliance takes aim at Abbas

Abbas’ leadership of the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy over parts of the occupied West Bank, is deeply unpopular among Palestinians who see it as autocratic, corrupt and ineffective.

The 90-year-old Abbas has clung to power since his own mandate expired in 2009, while Hamas continues to control parts of Gaza three years into a brutal war with Israel.

Dimitri Diliani, spokesperson for Dahlan’s Reformist Democratic Faction, confirmed the electoral alliance in a statement that took a swipe at Abbas’ leadership, saying “the Palestinian Authority has failed Gaza and the Palestinian people everywhere.”

He said several other Palestinian groups are also part of the alliance and there are efforts to bring “all other factions and independent professionals into uniting around one national rebuilding program.”

Hamas said in August that Dahlan and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya had met in Cairo and discussed ways to “end the monopolization of national decision-making and formulate a comprehensive national strategy.”

Hamas and Fatah officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Past attempts at Palestinian unity have failed

Al-Hindi said the decision to launch the alliance came after attempts to bring together all factions in a “dialogue for internal consensus on the overall Palestinian issue” failed to bear fruit.

There have been multiple attempts over the years to bring Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization, the highest body representing the Palestinian cause internationally, but all have foundered.

A main sticking point has been the PLO’s recognition of Israel. While Hamas officials have said they are willing to accept a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war — they have stopped short of recognizing Israel, while Islamic Jihad takes a harder line.

Both are considered terrorist groups by the U.S. and other Western countries, which have voiced support for Palestinian democracy over the years while rejecting any government that includes Hamas. Fatah and Hamas are the most popular factions by far, though many Palestinians are frustrated with both.

Al-Hindi said his group — which has historically not participated in elections run by the Palestinian Authority — will not directly run any candidates but will “support a national list that is agreed upon.”

Violence is ongoing in Gaza and the West Bank

The scheduled elections come at a precarious time.

In the West Bank, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have intensified. In Gaza, a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 has halted the heaviest fighting, but the Israeli military has seized control of more of the territory and continued strikes, which it says are in response to threats.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage.

Under a U.S. plan for implementing the ceasefire, armed Palestinian groups were to give up their weapons while Israel would withdraw from the enclave. Al-Hindi said his group, along with Hamas, had agreed to the plan and blamed Israel for blocking it.

“When Israel’s obligations in the first phase (of the agreement) are achieved, we will move on to talk about the second phase, which includes the issue of weapons,” al-Hindi said.

Islamic Jihad official says Oct. 7 came as a surprise

Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7 attack and held Israeli hostages, but al-Hindi said the group was not involved in planning the attack or given forewarning by Hamas. The night before, he said, Islamic Jihad members held a commemoration of the group’s founding and many stayed up late.

“In the morning, we were surprised by the media reporting what happened, but as a resistance movement, we were quick to participate in these confrontations,” he said.

With tens of thousands dead, Gaza largely reduced to rubble, and most of its population displaced, al-Hindi acknowledged that “some voices began to express doubts and say, ’What has the resistance brought down on the Palestinian people?'”

But he insisted that the Oct. 7 attack had been necessary to prevent the plight of the Palestinians from being completely sidelined as the UAE and other Arab countries had moved to normalize relations with Israel.

He also acknowledged that Iran — long a main source of support for Palestinian militant groups — is now preoccupied by the ongoing war and a U.S. economic blockade. But al-Hindi said his group will continue with or without Iranian support.

“As long as there is no political horizon to solve the Palestinian issue and attempts continue to flee from the Palestinian cause in the region, the future will be resistance,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

The 31-year-old Bardella, who Le Pen says will be her prime minister if she wins the presidency in May, vigorously denied authorship of the comments about supposed Jewish banking monopolies and other antisemitic conspiracy theories that investigative website Mediapart attributed to him and published Monday.

It said they were written more than a decade ago. They included years when Bardella, now the National Rally president, was a teenage member of the party's predecessor, the National Front. It was founded by Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who repeatedly denied the Holocaust and was convicted multiple times of hate speech before his death in 2025.

Allegations of antisemitism touch a particular nerve at the National Rally because Le Pen has worked for years to distance herself from her father’s sulfurous legacy. To win the presidency, she must overcome obstacles that blocked his presidential ambitions. His associations with people who collaborated with France’s Nazi occupiers in World War II and his multiple convictions for antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence made him anathema to many voters.

Sitting side by side, Marine Le Pen, Bardella and their ally Eric Ciotti on Tuesday used a previously scheduled gathering of their lawmakers to demonstrate unity.

They described Mediapart's allegations as the opening salvo of a supposed effort to undermine the National Rally and Le Pen as she campaigns to succeed President Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

It's “the beginnings of an all-out war, of attempts to destabilize the presidential campaign, which — I’m telling you — will target us one after another,” Bardella said.

“We have both put on our Kevlar suits, because this is heavy stuff coming down on us,” Le Pen said. "This manipulation is about as subtle as a charcuterie convention.”

“We are not going to let them do this to us!” she added. To applause from their lawmakers, she expressed ”absolute confidence" in Bardella, who is particularly popular with young voters and has large followings on social media.

Mediapart said the comments it attributed to Bardella were drawn from private written exchanges but did not specify whether they were emails or another format. It said it independently authenticated the exchanges but did not detail how or say how it obtained them. Specializing in investigative journalism, Mediapart has become a leading news provider in France since its launch in 2008, claiming more than a quarter-million subscribers.

Bardella said he has launched a libel action against Mediapart's allegations, describing them as "a dirty-tricks operation.”

“These remarks are completely delusional. They are not mine,” he told broadcaster CNews.

At this early stage before the two-round election in April and May, Le Pen is widely regarded as a front-runner in the race to succeed Macron. Her campaign has been relatively free of major bumps since an appeals court in July cleared her path for a fourth run at the presidency, with a ruling that shortened a ban on seeking public office handed down to Le Pen for embezzling public funds.

Bardella, Le Pen's protégé, had been waiting in the wings to take her place as the party candidate if the original five-year ban had been upheld. On Tuesday, he described the antisemitism allegations as a plot that he alleged had been cooked up to thwart his chances had that scenario played out.

National Rally has courted Jewish voters by positioning itself as a bulwark against Islamic extremism in France and with Le Pen's sustained effort to dissociate herself from her father's legacy. In a process that researchers and critics of the party dubbed “de-demonization,” she expelled him in 2015 from the National Front and rebranded it in 2018.

Yonathan Arfi, who heads a French Jewish umbrella group, CRIF, said Bardella’s alleged comments, if substantiated, would represent “a stinging repudiation” of the sanitization strategy.

“How could a political figure who made such repugnant antisemitic remarks subsequently have risen to such positions of responsibility within a party that claims to have changed and to be fighting hatred of Jews?” Arfi posted on X.

MLB and the players' association have played a handful of regular-season games away from the 30 big league ballparks in recent years, including in the Iowa corn fields made famous by the movie “Field of Dreams.”

An MLB official familiar with the discussions confirmed Monday that the league approached the Trump administration about possibly hosting a game in a national park. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league hadn't authorized comment on the matter and said it was among several ideas MLB has explored.

A White House official said MLB asked the administration whether hosting a game at a national park would be possible but emphasized it was not a presidential directive and was not driven by the administration. The National Park Service has not granted any permits, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to speak on the record.

MLB's special event games have included games at Dyersville, Iowa, in 2021, 2022 and 2026, with another scheduled next August between Boston and Kansas City.

In addition, regular-season games were played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2024 and at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, in 2025, and games have been held since 2017 in conjunction with the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

MLB also has played international games in London; Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico; Seoul, South Korea; Sydney; and Tokyo; plus some in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Grand Teton includes a commercial airport — the busiest in Wyoming — and a vast expanse of Jackson Hole bottomlands with spectacular views of the Teton Range. There is no shortage of flat terrain where a temporary ballpark could be built.

The possibility of building a baseball field on national park land quickly raised a host of questions.

“It’s abhorrent,” Mike Gierau, a Democratic state senator and baseball lover who represents Jackson and nearby Grand Teton, wrote in a text message. “Baseball is the American game. The national parks are America’s greatest idea. But a national park is to be protected for its undeveloped and scenic values.”

Environmental groups also came out against the idea, first reported by The Washington Post.

“Americans want to see protections for our national parks and public lands strengthened. Bulldozing these lands for a baseball stadium does the opposite, destroying the magnificent landscapes that millions of people come to experience,” Chris Kassar, the Sierra Club's Wyoming director, said in a statement.

A message left with Grand Teton officials seeking more information wasn't immediately returned.

The ban on shock gloves will take effect next year and remain in place until 2030. It comes weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved to equip its officers with the gloves, which are designed to gain compliance from combative individuals. Last month, the agency awarded a nearly $17 million contract to buy 6,000 pairs.

“Trump has put his political interests above the health, safety and livelihood of American families,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is taking action to strengthen transparency, accountability, and oversight around immigration enforcement in our state.”

The law is the latest example of how Democratic-led states have been pushing back against President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts since he took office last year. In California, lawmakers passed at least two dozen bills this year seeking to fortify immigrants' rights, restrict cooperation with federal immigration agents and tighten regulations on immigrant detention facilities, among other things.

Nationwide, 17 states with Democratic-led legislatures have passed a total of more than 100 pro-immigrant bills this year, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill tracking software Plural. The most common purpose is to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents.

Democratic California Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins said she introduced the shock-gloves legislation to “put a pause” on law enforcement's use of the devices while the state examines their potential risks. The law requires the state's Justice Department to study their safety and report to lawmakers by 2029.

“There's a lot of unrest and a lot of uncertainty,” she said in an interview. “A lot of people are scared.”

The law will again test the state's authority to restrict federal agents amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. A federal judge earlier this year blocked the state's first-in-the-nation law barring federal officers from wearing face coverings, deeming it too selective because it applied to local and federal law enforcement but exempted state officers.

Lawmakers passed a new bill this year to make the ban apply to all officers. Newsom signed that legislation.

Kevin Johnson, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, School of Law, said courts are likely to ultimately rule that the state cannot bar federal officers from wearing shock gloves or face coverings. The laws are well-intentioned, he said, but likely conflict with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which generally sets federal law as supreme over conflicting state law.

“The state has very limited, if any, powers in dictating to the federal government how its officers are armed,” he said.

California law enforcement groups broadly opposed the ban.

Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper, a Democrat and former state lawmaker, said banning shock gloves “really makes no sense" because they are among the non-lethal tools officers can use if necessary.

“When the federal government does something, the state Legislature wants to ban it,” he said at a news conference. “They're making our job harder.”

Sharp-Collins said ICE's plan to use shock gloves was the catalyst for the ban. But she cited their use by other officers, including a case in which a Kentucky family alleges a man died after being tased and shocked with the gloves dozens of times while in law enforcement custody in 2024.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who wrote last year's mask ban, also authored this year's measure to expand it to state officers.

“California must use every available tool to stand up for our communities under attack from ICE’s secret police terror campaign,” he said in a statement after it passed the Legislature.

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Associated Press writer David A. Lieb contributed to this report from Jefferson City, Missouri.

The contest has raised the possibility that the nation's second most populous city could follow New York's lead, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, capping a stunning ascent for the far-left state lawmaker who promised to transform city government to restore power to the working class. Yet in LA, no celebrity swirl has gathered around Raman in her first run for citywide office.

The two Democrats are scheduled to appear at a forum co-hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles at a time when the party has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza and aid to Israel.

Bass, the first Black woman to hold the post, is fighting to keep her job after a rough first term in which she suffered sustained fallout from the deadly Palisades Fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history that ignited when she was out of the country. In June, a fire east of downtown in a massive frozen-food warehouse left neighbors to endure weeks of foul smells and frustration.

Raman, who endorsed Bass before reversing course and entering the race herself, is testing if voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and climbing rent and home prices. She's railed against “the broken status quo.”

The race earlier garnered national attention for the candidacy of Spencer Pratt, a Republican who starred on “The Hills” and had lost his home in the Palisades Fire. His campaign was lifted by videos that supporters generated with artificial intelligence, though he failed to qualify for the November election.

In a city known to shrug at local politics, the race to take charge at City Hall has been overshadowed by ongoing turmoil in Washington, the fight for Congress, two wars, anxiety over inflation and the Los Angeles Dodgers gearing up for another playoff run.

On the horizon are questions about how the financially challenged city will manage the 2028 Olympics.

After the fires, “There are a bunch of people who don’t want to vote for Karen (Bass) and they are wrestling with what to do,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. As a council member, Raman is not widely known and “the decibel level of this campaign is unbelievably low.”

With mail ballots scheduled to arrive at homes in early October, typical markers of election season — yard signs, TV ads, billboards and bumper stickers — are rarely seen. Data compiled by AdImpact shows the campaigns have spent or booked only a sprinkle of airtime and digital messaging so far through Election Day.

Bass took office in 2022 promising to contend with an out-of-control homeless crisis, but the problem remains in plain view in most neighborhoods. Figures released in July showed homelessness increased over the previous year, after taking a dip. Bass faulted the Trump administration for cuts and policies “that pushed more people onto the streets.”

During her time in office, the city has weathered federal immigration raids and witnessed a continuing exit of Hollywood jobs, while residents complain about dirty, crumbling streets and homeless encampments.

Raman, who could be the first South Asian woman in the job, says that while City Hall has favored powerful insiders, “working people pay the price in higher rents, depleted services and a city that has stopped working for them.”

Bass represents the Democratic establishment as the incumbent mayor, and she’s backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with influential labor unions. She served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022.

Raman has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for filthy streets, gridlock and an unresponsive City Hall.

One of the unknowns in the race is where Pratt's supporters will go, if they vote at all. Pratt finished with about 25% of the vote, several points behind Raman. He's continued to criticize both candidates on social media.

“Truly the Dumb and Dumber election. So sad for LA. Dark times ahead, folks,” he recently posted on X.

Deputies said Doyle went underwater while boogie boarding near A1A and Cove Road in Melbourne Beach Sunday and never resurfaced.

Video shows the scene as multiple different agencies responded, including the sheriff’s office and Brevard County Fire Rescue.

A helicopter was seen flying overhead, as other first responders were seen on shore with binoculars trying to locate the man in the water.

The search came as rough surf and dangerous rip currents continued along Florida’s Atlantic Coast.

Russia has used new jet-powered drones that fly too fast and too high for Ukrainian ground-based air defenses to shoot down.

Ukraine is scrambling to keep pace by developing faster interceptor drones in the latest example of how the war has driven military innovation, but making and deploying new weapons takes months.

Russia’s ballistic missiles have also penetrated Ukraine's defenses as the country is desperately short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptor missiles needed to stop Moscow’s ballistic attacks.

Patriot stockpiles are low, largely because of the Iran war, and Ukraine has received only small numbers of them this year despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pleading. Ukraine said its air defenses shot down two ballistic missiles overnight, which suggested that Kyiv might have recently received more Patriots.

“Russia’s terror against Ukraine is intensifying by the day,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. “This is Russia’s deliberate escalation instead of accepting Ukraine’s offers to cease fire, negotiate and end the war.”

Moscow says it wants a comprehensive peace settlement, including a Ukrainian surrender of land — a demand unacceptable to Kyiv — before agreeing to a ceasefire.

U.S. efforts to broker peace over the past year have made no significant progress. Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev was in Washington on Monday for talks with American officials about ending the war and possible U.S.-Russia energy initiatives once it's over, according to a U.S. official familiar with the visit who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly. The official described the conversation as constructive.

Air defense needs are mounting with the approach of the bitter winter months, which in the years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, have brought an escalation of strikes on Ukraine’s power grid. That strategy denies Ukrainian civilians heating and running water, among other things.

Ukraine is working to scale up production of domestic interceptor systems able to counter Russian jet-powered drones, with new systems already being tested and deployed with some combat units, Ihor Klymenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said Tuesday.

The work is urgent, as Kyiv has been under almost constant attack with more than 235 air raid alerts since Aug. 27, lasting a combined 261 hours, Klymenko said.

F-16 jets have been able to shoot down the jet-propelled drones, although at a much greater expense. Ukraine is due to receive three of the fighter jets from Belgium by the end of the year, Zelenskyy announced Tuesday.

The unrelenting attacks have disrupted everyday life in Kyiv. The National University of Kyiv is switching to remote learning for the coming weeks because of fears for the safety of staff and students.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces hit data processing centers in Kyiv that Moscow says are used by the Ukrainian military, which is increasingly deploying artificial intelligence on the battlefield.

Other Russian targets included facilities in the Ukrainian capital and the Kyiv region where drones and cruise missiles were stored, as well as an electrical substation, a drone manufacturing facility, and port infrastructure facilities in the southern Odesa region, the ministry said.

Ukrainian authorities said the barrage hit apartment buildings, houses and public transportation in Kyiv, wounding one person.

Meanwhile, in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, teachers and students evacuated from their school just before four powerful glide bombs struck during classes, Zelenskyy said. The bombs also hit a residential area where two people were killed, he said.

In southern Odesa, the attack wounded eight people overnight and damaged residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a school, an animal shelter and port infrastructure, local officials said.

In the face of the Russian blitz, Ukraine's long-range drones have targeted Russian missile and drone manufacturing plants and launch sites. Ukraine also has hit Russian oil refineries, causing fuel shortages.

The two armies are largely deadlocked on the long front line in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says Moscow intends to increase recruitment for another battlefield push.

He said late Monday that another 10,000 North Korean troops are heading to Russia, adding to the 8,000 he said are already there.

Russia and North Korea have made no secret of their military cooperation.

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Barry Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Michelle L. Price contributed to this report from Washington.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

It is the latest mishap involving Navy aircraft in the last couple of years, including two Navy jets that collided during an air show in Idaho in May as well as a fighter jet and a helicopter crashing into the South China Sea in October. Pentagon data released last year showed a spike in aviation mishaps across the U.S. military in 2024.

On Monday, the two aviators, who are assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3, successfully ejected after “a mishap occurred during aircraft recovery operations” and were rescued by search and rescue personnel, the Navy said in a short statement.

The two were returned to the ship and evaluated by medical personnel, the Navy said. Four others aboard the ship also were receiving medical care, including one who was transported to a hospital in the Norfolk, Virginia, area to be treated for injuries that were not life threatening.

The Navy did not say what type of two-seater plane was involved, what happened to the plane or what might have caused the mishap. However, the sea service has two types of two-seat carrier aircraft — the F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft — assigned to its carrier air wings. The Navy also flies the two-seat T-45 Goshawk jet as a training aircraft.

In response to a request for more details, the Navy said more information could be available later Tuesday.

The nuclear-powered Nimitz-class USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977 and recently completed extensive maintenance, repairs and modernization work at a shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. It also had conducted sea trials in April following the overhaul, according to a Navy news release.

It has been taking part in checks following those repairs, with amateur ship spotters seeing the ship leaving Naval Station Norfolk on Monday afternoon.

The Eisenhower has not played a role in the U.S. war against Iran, which has lasted seven months. But concerns have been growing that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during the conflict.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea supporting the war, during which reports emerged of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as shortages of food and hygiene products. The Lincoln’s extended deployment drew the nation’s attention and increasing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers.

As of Monday, the Lincoln was still on its way home to San Diego, according to a news release from Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California. She and other lawmakers visited the carrier and spoke to sailors and Marines, whom Jacobs said shared stories of “their struggles to wash clothes, get medicine and health care, and eat enough food.”

Jacobs said she blames President Donald Trump for the strike group's “mail delays, food and supply shortages, low morale, and mental health crises.”

___

Associated Press writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

U.S. job openings slid to 7.08 million from a revised 7.34 million in July, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Openings came in below the 7.2 million that forecasters had expected and were the lowest since they hit 6.9 million in March.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs fell and the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — retreated slightly in August. The JOLTS report's measure of gross hiring — before subtracting people who quit or lost their jobs — ticked up modestly in August but remains at low levels.

The U.S. job market is sturdy, though unspectacular, despite an energy shock from the Iran war. Hiring has rebounded from a miserable 2025. Employers — businesses, nonprofits and government agencies — have added an average 80,000 jobs a month so far this year. That is an improvement on the 9,700-a-month average last year when high interest rates and uncertainty about President Donald Trump's trade policies discouraged businesses from hiring.

Still, Americans’ confidence in the economy has sunk to the lowest level in more than a decade, according to the monthly index released Tuesday by the Conference Board.

When the Labor Department releases its next jobs report on Friday, it is expected to show that the United States added 95,000 net jobs in September, solid but down from a surprising 162,000 in August. The unemployment rate likely stayed a low 4.1% as most American workers enjoy an unusual degree of job security, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

Employers may not be laying workers off, but they aren't hiring nearly as many as they did a few years ago. Hiring remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, and the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed COVID-19 lockdowns.

Cory Stahle, senior economist at the Indeed jobs website, said the labor market is "far less dynamic than it was a few years ago. It’s a comfortable place to be if you already have a job. It’s a frustrating one if you’re trying to find one, especially for new graduates and others entering the workforce.''

A SCFD spokesperson told News 6 that the agency initially received a call about a man who was swimming at Wekiva Island but went underwater without resurfacing.

SCFD confirmed that it sent dive teams to search for the man, though he was ultimately discovered dead.

The incident appears consistent with an accidental drowning, according to investigators. Detectives found no suspicious circumstances and no indication that an alligator was involved, though the investigation remains ongoing.

The swimmer’s identity has not been released.

But he no longer claims to be an underdog.

“It would be so disingenuous to say you’re an underdog, ‘as he said from his penthouse,’" Stallone said during a recent interview, on a high floor of a luxury Manhattan hotel. "Yeah. Come on. I am a lucky dog.”

Stallone, who turned 80 in July, is among the most successful movie stars and filmmakers in history. He has generated billions of dollars through such blockbuster franchises as “Rocky,” “Rambo” and “The Expendables” and portrayed some of the most memorable film characters. And he is still working, starring as mobster Dwight “The General" Manfredi in the Paramount+ series “Tulsa King.”

By choice and otherwise, Stallone has been reliving his early years as a struggling actor-writer who somehow convinced United Artists to back his modest story of a journeyman boxer's shot at the heavyweight championship, and even allow him to play the lead despite having little acting experience. His memoir “Steps,” published Tuesday, arrives less than two months before a fictionalized and semi-authorized version of his story, Peter Farrelly's “I Play Rocky," arrives in theaters, with Anthony Ippolito in the starring role. (Farrelly spoke about the film with Stallone, who was otherwise uninvolved.)

“Rocky," which beat out “Taxi Driver” and “All the President Men's” among others to win the best picture Oscar, is one of those classic movies that only seem to benefit from the back story; Stallone's own journey from the streets of Philadelphia to the Oscars stage echoes so well his character's improbable rise.

As he writes in “Steps,” he was a hard-luck case, an unplanned and unwanted child who seemed to face endless discouragement right through the production of “Rocky," when he feared every day on the set might be his last.

Stallone was in Manhattan to promote his book, but spends much of his time at the Palm Beach, Florida estate he shares with his wife, Jennifer Flavin. Even when — especially when — he's talking about his rare fortune, Stallone speaks in a warm, rumbly, offhand manner, a kind of private street talk that suggests he doesn't believe it all.

Last year, he was a Kennedy Center honoree, his award presented to him by President Donald Trump, who had previously named Stallone, Jon Voight and Mel Gibson his “ambassadors” from an otherwise liberal Hollywood. Stallone has called Trump “the second George Washington,” but he has contributed to both Republicans and Democrats and broken with conservatives by calling for stronger gun control laws. He also condemns war, including the Iran War, as a story of sending people into a "meat grinder while the military complex is making zillions of dollars."

“I do believe that you have to defend yourself. But to go on the offensive?” he says, adding that he would prefer not to be known as a ”political figure."

“I love the common architecture of trying to just survive. That’s noble," he says. "To be a politician, that’s a different animal.”

During his interview, he also talked about fate, insecurity and why he was probably better off for his unhappy childhood.

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

AP: Why write this book?

STALLONE: I was approached a few times (over the years) and the one thing I didn’t want to write about is my life. It’s this ambivalent roller coaster ride. It's not always the most pleasurable ride. And I thought, ‘What am I known for?’ Pulling off this minor miracle in 1976, which falls under the heading of inspiration. That’s what I want to do. Because the character was an inspiration, I wanted to tell the people how it all came to be.

AP: How hard was it to relive some of those early memories?

STALLONE: It was very hard because I spent 50 years burying that stuff. And it’s like you come across a lost city, and you start to become your own spiritual archaeologist, digging down. And it’s not pretty. But I didn’t want this to be, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ Everyone has issues and a lot worse than me. I just wanted to touch on the essence because I still have this conundrum. If everything was really nice, maybe I wouldn’t be here, you know what I mean? If I didn’t have that insecurity which drives us. You know, insecurity is a great motivator.

AP: For people at your level of success, do you find they all have that sense of insecurity, that drive?

STALLONE: I think so — especially the ones that are desperate to do better and constantly pushing it. For example, I don’t have to do my dialogue for another month before we start “Tulsa King.” I'm up every morning at 5:00 o'clock, studying until literally it’s like breathing. Now, that’s probably insecurity, but that’s the way I approach it.

AP: When was the last time you actually watched “Rocky” in its entirety? Did you look at it while working on the book?

STALLONE: No, I didn't. You know what I see. You're sitting there and going through messages and somebody who's 18 has put it on the internet or on TikTok. And how would this person relate to an 80-year-old guy? They're not, though. They're not relating to me. It's that character.

AP: Young people know about Rocky.

STALLONE: In retrospect, that to me is the greatest gift. You know, you write something — I’m just trying to get some footage on myself. I'm just trying to write something really simple. I didn’t ever expect it to be in more than one or two theaters. So all this is a tsunami of good luck. It ('Rocky') tapped into something that I cannot take credit for.

AP: Writers talk a lot about how they learn how they think through the act of writing. Did you experience some of that while working on this book?

STALLONE: A lot of it, yeah.

AP: Like what?

STALLONE: I was thinking while I was working (on the book). “You were really at the end of your rope.” Nothing was working. I was 29 years old. And I had this epiphany, like in the backyard, pounding the soil, asking for spiritual help. I had always avoided it. And I had thought, you know, “To each his own.” I don’t want to rely upon some idol, god, symbol, anything. But maybe we need something that makes us believe in the invisible — faith. I had no faith. I was agnostic, and then it came literally back that night.

And that's why I pay homage in the “Rocky” movie. The first scene is, you know, at “The Resurrection” (gym). It's amazing we found that place. A boxing club called "The Resurrection."

AP: You've described how the priests in Catholic school said it was necessary to suffer for your faith, and how you turned away from that. But look at what you put yourself through to make a movie.

STALLONE: It's the way I’m built, I think. There are no free lunches. I’ve had back operations, neck surgeries, both shoulders, heart — you name it. And it’s all because ... you do it yourself. There was a necessity to feel it. You’re not going to be like the other guys. You’re going to do it, which is completely wrong (laughs).

AP: And now you have a movie about you, “I Play Rocky,” coming out.

STALLONE: How strange is this? A movie about me being in a movie.

AP: What did you think of it?

STALLONE: It’s fantastic. And the kid (Ippolito) did a great job. This is so odd. They usually do this when you’re dead and gone. It's 50 years almost to the day when it came out and if he gets nominated ... It’s so surreal. I have to give Peter Farrelly, the director (credit). I never in a million years had any confidence this would work. But he said that to the everyday person, this is kind of a fantastic journey. Rocky is fiction, this is real. And that's what people are holding on to.

Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam on Sept. 15 who is “suspected of playing a role in the hacker group ShinyHunters. The man is also suspected of attempted solicitation of two murders.”

Police said the suspicion of trying to arrange two murders was linked to information found on the suspect’s laptop but “is not related to the investigation into ShinyHunters.”

ShinyHunters last week claimed to have breached the FBI’s jobs website. The hacker group said it had stolen “very sensitive data” belonging to thousands of agents and applicants and that it had compromised the bureau’s jobs website.

FBI Director Kash Patel took to X to highlight the arrest in the Netherlands.

“This morning @FBI and our partners the Dutch National Police are announcing the arrest of one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters - a global cybercrime and threat actor group linked to cyberattacks in the United States, the Netherlands, and around the world,” he said.

“In coordination with FBI investigators the Dutch High-Tech Crime Unit arrested the suspect under Dutch law,” he added. "As we speak FBI teams are actively working with partners to obtain and execute more leads in the ongoing investigation based on this arrest.”

The Dutch police statement announcing the arrest did not mention the FBI hack or coordination with American law enforcement.

Dutch detectives seized data storage devices during their probe and were investigating their contents and said they did not rule out more arrests.

“Arresting cybercrime suspects is a key intervention in our broad-based fight against this type of crime,” said Stan Duijf, the Dutch police official responsible for tackling cybercrime. “The ShinyHunters group is responsible for a large number of victims, both in the Netherlands and abroad. It is gratifying that we have been able to arrest a suspect in the investigation into this group.”

A court in Rotterdam on Tuesday ordered the suspect held for a further 90 days.

Last Wednesday, the FBI said it was “actively and aggressively investigating” a claimed hack of the FBIJobs.gov portal. A message that circulated online from ShinyHunters claimed responsibility.

“We have compromised the FBI. We hold very sensitive data on almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job,” said the ShinyHunters message, which was directed to Patel and Brett Leatherman, the assistant director in charge of the bureau’s cyber division. The claims could not immediately be verified.

In its message, ShinyHunters said it would give the bureau one week to correct or remove what it said were false allegations contained in an FBI public advisory from May that described the organization as a “cyber criminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion.”

Eala had to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing — a mandatory WTA 1000 event — to compete at the Asian Games. She could be fined $10,000.

“It was a decision I didn’t take lightly,” Eala told SNTV after winning her second-round match at the Asian Games. “Of course it’s difficult to miss out on a 1000, especially Beijing, where I’ve heard so many great things about the tournament and I have yet to go. But I know there will be many chances to go back and I’m really excited to be here, to represent my country and to compete.”

The 18th-ranked Eala beat Patcharin Cheapchandej of Thailand 6-1, 6-0 on Monday.

Eala took bronze medals in singles and mixed doubles (with partner Francis Alcantara) at the 2023 Asian Games and is a favorite for gold this time.

“I’m as eager as anybody and maybe even a little more,” she said. “I have a lot of will to compete, a lot of will to win.”

Eala upset defending champion Iga Swiatek on Centre Court in the third round of Wimbledon this year and then earned her first WTA Tour title in Washington.

She reached the third round of the U.S. Open.

Eala next faces Joanna Garland of Taiwan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

___

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

FIVE SATURDAYS!

October 2026 starts on a Thursday, which means we get a bonus Saturday this month: October 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. More Saturdays means more fall weekends to pack in all the fun.

METEOR SHOWER

The Orionid meteor shower will light up the October sky, with the peak expected overnight October 21 into October 22. The Orionids come from debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, and under dark skies, you could see roughly 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

THE HUNTER’S MOON

October’s full moon is traditionally known as the Hunter’s Moon. The full moon occurs late October 25.

HALLOWEEN ON A SATURDAY!

This might be the biggest October bonus of all. Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31.

And there’s one more timing treat. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, November 1, when the clocks roll back one hour. That means Halloween night gets an extra hour for costumes, candy and fun.

October is shaping up to be a busy month in the sky and on the calendar. Now all we need is some cooler weather to make it feel like fall.

So while October may not deliver the classic fall weather just yet, there’s still plenty happening to make the month feel special.

From ‘Under-I’ to The Canopy

The Canopy has been more than a decade in the making. City leaders began to reimagine downtown as far back as 2014, and the idea has evolved significantly since then.

What started as a concept called the “Bridge District” later became the “Under-I Project” before taking its current form as The Canopy. The project calls for transforming the stretch beneath the elevated I-4 bridge beams — between West Church Street to the south and West Washington Street to the north — into a vibrant, immersive outdoor destination.

The vision includes a festival street and gathering space, a projection wall, artistic trees and sculptural elements, enhanced lighting, public restrooms, a bike path, streetscape improvements, a rideshare zone and parking. City officials say the goal is to turn what has long been an underutilized stretch of highway infrastructure into a thriving hub that draws residents and visitors alike.

In 2024, the city released new renderings of the project. The city council later approved a $30 million cap on construction costs and awarded a contract to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to bring the vision to life. The Canopy is expected to open in 2027.

What local businesses are saying

For business owners along Church Street, the project can’t come soon enough.

Yehya Rizeq, owner of Crepe Delicious, has been waiting years for The Canopy to become a reality — and has even extended his lease in anticipation of the foot traffic it could bring.

[WATCH: Church Street business anticipates boost from ‘The Canopy’]

“I believe it will be double and double what I’m doing now,” Rizeq told News 6.

But his patience has limits. Rizeq said the project must be completed on time or he will walk away.

“So, I have now a five-year lease but with an option. An option because if ‘The Canopy’ is not finished in two years, then I’ll just cancel my lease,” he said. “It all depends on ‘The Canopy.’ So, if in two years, ‘The Canopy’ is not finished, I’ll cancel my lease. I cannot sustain my business here.”

Rizeq also said he wants regular updates from the city and financial support for Church Street businesses if the project faces further delays.

Others who work and spend time downtown share his enthusiasm.

“Oh, yeah. Honestly, a bigger, more family-oriented type of thing [would be nice],” said Quentin Clark, who passes through the area regularly.

What’s on the agenda Monday

To move construction forward, the city must hire a firm to handle Construction, Engineering and Inspection — known as CEI — services. Because part of the project sits within Florida Department of Transportation right-of-way, state rules require an independent firm to monitor and inspect the work as it progresses.

The city issued a formal Request for Qualifications in late June 2026, inviting firms to compete for the work. Two companies were shortlisted: Mehta and Associates, Inc. and Mead & Hunt, Inc.

A five-member advisory committee — made up of city Public Works and Economic Development staff — met Aug. 19 to hear presentations and independently score both firms. After a competitive evaluation, Mehta and Associates came out on top. The city issued its Notice of Intended Action on Aug. 21, formally signaling its intent to move forward with the firm.

If the commission approves the contract Monday, the city will enter into a formal agreement with Mehta and Associates in an amount not to exceed $1.1 million, drawn from the project’s previously approved budget. The Chief Procurement Officer would be authorized to execute the agreement, subject to review and approval by the City Attorney’s Office.

Part of a bigger downtown transformation

The Canopy is just one piece of a broader effort to reshape downtown Orlando. The project is anchored in the Downtown Orlando Community Redevelopment Area Plan, which prioritizes activating vacant and underutilized areas. A 2023 amendment to that plan formalized the strategy to fund and support what has now become The Canopy.

District 5 Commissioner Shan Rose, who has been involved in downtown planning efforts for years, captured the sentiment many city leaders share about the momentum building across downtown.

“So, we’ve been talking about this for a really long time. We started in 2014 imagining downtown and where we’re going. What we’re going to do to get to this moment is really rewarding,” Rose said.

“This is our moment to show like, we have an opportunity to start moving things forward and building a better downtown Orlando, and that’s what we’re doing.”

The Olympic flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, before beginning its journey around the United States in spring 2028. The full route for the torch relay will be announced in 2027.

LA28 organizers say the relay will be one of the largest in Olympic history, passing through iconic and internationally renowned landmarks, stopping at major cultural and sporting events and hosting festival celebrations in select cities nationwide.

"Every Olympic Games begins with a single flame, and carrying that flame to Los Angeles is an honor and privilege that we’ll share with every corner of the country, as Americans in all 50 states carry the flame on its path to our Opening Ceremony,” LA28 chair and president Casey Wasserman said in a statement.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city will be proud to welcome the Olympic flame back 32 years after hosting the centennial Summer Games.

“Atlanta looks a little different. We are bigger. We are more connected to the world. So, when the flame returns to the U.S., Atlanta will be ready,” Dickens said in a statement. “Ready to welcome it from Greece. Ready to celebrate the spirit of the Games together as a community. And ready to send it forward toward Los Angeles and the next chapter of America’s Olympic story.”

The Paralympic torch relay will follow the end of the Olympics in August 2028, with the flame originating in Stoke Mandeville, England, the birthplace of the Paralympic movement. The relay's U.S. starting location will be announced later.

Both torch relays will be sponsored by Coca-Cola, JPMorganChase, Allstate and Xfinity.

___

See apnews.com/sports

“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico wrote in a filing late Monday.

”Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case,” the filing said.

It was the latest development in the back-and-forth saga of the Trump administration and the news media during the second term of his presidency. It has been a contentious relationship that has raised multiple First Amendment questions, produced sanctions and restrictions on White House and Pentagon reporters and led to several lawsuits that are winding their ways through the federal court system.

A two-week temporary restraining order on Trump's ban of the three organizations, issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly last week, restored the outlets’ White House access, but expires Oct. 8. The preliminary injunction requested in Monday’s filing would extend the White House access until the case is finally resolved.

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press immediately after the filing, the lead attorney for the three news outlets called the ban “a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process.”

“The president and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn’t like,” said the lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.

“That’s retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple,” Boutrous said. “With the district court’s temporary restraining order expiring this week, it is critical to ensure that the White House continues to be prevented from implementing this unconstitutional ban on the free press.”

On Tuesday, the ACLU of the District of Columbia filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the news outlets and suggesting the president's residence is different from a private property.

“The White House is the people’s house, not the president’s private golf club,” wrote Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel for the ACLU of D.C.

The White House still says access is a privilege, not a right

The filing came a day after the Trump administration made clear it was not backing down from its contention that the sudden ban, which began Sept. 19, was justified.

“When it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said on ABC on Sunday, invoking an argument the administration has made since the beginning. “It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there.”

Monday's 42-page filing reiterated many of the arguments that the news outlets made in their original lawsuit against Trump and the White House, filed two days after the reporters were banned.

It also added mention of the White House broadcast pool rotation, which has become a battleground in the last few days in the standoff between Trump and the media.

The White House, it said, “has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban, including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as designated television network pooler on Sept. 26 — to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public.”

When the ban was implemented, CNN was removed from its duties as part of the broadcast pool, which consists of the five main networks: CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News. In solidarity, the other networks decided to suspend the pool until CNN was allowed back in.

On Friday, CNN was allowed to cover the president with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives. But in a new setback Saturday, the White House banned the network from Air Force One, preventing it from covering Trump’s trip to a college football game in Tennessee. The rest of the pool declined to provide a replacement, in solidarity with CNN.

Blanche defended that decision, too. “The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane,” he said in the Sunday interview. He added that Trump was “sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news.” He added that news coverage he described as “misinformation” amounted to a national security issue.

“That is what is a national security problem, when you have complete misinformation coming out of the White House,” he said.

Kelly threw cold water on that argument in his ruling last week granting the temporary restraining order against the White House ban. “The court is skeptical … that defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation” for removal of access, Kelly wrote.

His ruling did not directly address the TV pool rotation. In the new filing, the plaintiffs describe the important function the pool provides and makes the case that it's an important part of the regular access to the president, and his activities, that the media has traditionally had — and must be restored.

It singles out the Air Force One case. “CNN received no official communication from the White House explaining its exclusion,” the filing says. “Because CNN was excluded and no replacement designated, no primary television network pooler accompanied the President on the trip.”

Pool access issue has presented networks with tough choices

For now, networks in the pool have decided to address the ongoing standoff on a case-by-case basis, according to a person familiar with the pool’s operation, speaking on condition of anonymity to give details of ongoing discussions.

On Sunday, Fox covered a pool event; on Monday, NBC was covering the president in the Oval Office. CNN is not in the rotation until Thursday. If the network is again barred from a pool event, the networks will decide together, presumably based on the newsworthiness of the situation, whether to provide a replacement or to refrain from coverage as they did previously.

The issues at stake are difficult. On the one hand, the networks want to take a stand on behalf of press freedom and against efforts to intimidate coverage. On the other, media outlets have an obvious purpose of providing news to their audiences.

“There are not a lot of good options,” said David A. Schulz, director of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School.

Should the White House continue to bar CNN, Schulz said, networks may choose “to exert their market power and say, ‘We’re not going to play ball with you.’”

The question, Schulz added, is: “Who’s going to back down first?”

The networks “may well feel like they’re between a rock and a hard place,” noted RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah.

“Capitulation might be perceived as abandonment of core components of press freedom,” Andersen Jones said. “But the practicalities of lengthy White House news blackouts are also complicated, and refusing to cover major news at the highest levels of government might itself feel like a failure to serve the goals of democracy.”

___

Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

First responders arrived at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday at SE Maricamp Road and SE 36th Avenue and found a dark red Dodge minivan and a black Mazda SUV involved in the crash. Two adults — a man and a woman — traveling in the black Mazda SUV were pronounced dead at the scene. Two adult men inside the minivan were transported to a local hospital, one as a trauma alert, police said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

According to Ocala police, roads are now reopened.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Note: This map depicts the general area of this crash and not necessarily an exact location.

Throughout the pages of “Behind the Castle Walls,” Chapek accuses his predecessor, Bob Iger, of undermining him after Chapek was named chief executive in February 2020.

Iger returned to Disney as CEO following Chapek’s ouster nearly 33 months later.

[RELATED: Chapek exits, Disney announces Bob Iger to return as CEO]

Chapek, who began leading Disney in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, writes in his book that he initially had a good relationship with DeSantis while working with the governor to reopen Disney’s Florida theme parks.

But Chapek said that changed in early 2022 as Florida lawmakers advanced legislation that would prohibit public schools from teaching or discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

“(As) CEO, I initially chose not to take a public position that would pull us into the fray,” Chapek writes in a chapter of his book titled “Don’t Say Gay — and the Tweet Heard ‘Round the World.”

Iger, however, did take a position — retweeting a statement from President Joe Biden that read, “I’m with the president on this! If passed, this bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.”

I'm with the President on this! If passed, this bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy. https://t.co/fJZBzre4yM

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) February 25, 2022

“That tweet made my job all the harder getting the Florida legislature to soften the bill,” Chapek writes. “Disney was a powerful company that had enjoyed strong working relationships with the Florida legislature. But this wasn’t about business anymore – it was about culture, power, and I believe, the future presidential aspirations of Ron DeSantis.”

Chapek originally sent an email to Disney cast members stating the company would not publicly denounce the bill.

Soon after, demonstrators began protesting outside the gates of Walt Disney World.

While Chapek claims most of the protesters were outside political groups — not Disney employees — he says public pressure ultimately forced the company to change course.

“I called Gov. DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary and transgender kids and families,” Chapek said during the company’s March 2022 annual shareholder meeting that year.

That call, according to Chapek, prompted DeSantis to label Disney a “woke corporation” and sparked legislation that stripped Disney’s control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district that provided government services at Walt Disney World.

[RELATED: Reedy Creek Fire Department officially renamed]

“It was a move designed to inflict punishment and seize on political opportunism,” Chapek writes.

According to Chapek, Iger receded into the background and remained silent as the ensuing legal battle cost Disney “tens of millions” in legal fees and “untold damage” in public relations.

The minister's remarks come as concerns mount that President Donald Trump could halt arms sales to Taiwan. China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a May summit in Beijing between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping. The United States paused the $14 billion arms deal after that meeting.

“As for arms sales, we are in continuous discussions with the Americans on this,” Taiwan's Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. “We haven’t received any notice of any changes to sales or our cooperation.”

Koo said he received assurances from the U.S. side that its policy toward the island remained unchanged.

Koo also said that 66 advanced F16-V fighter jets have reached a production stage where they’re ready to be delivered. The jets for Taiwan were supposed to be delivered in 2024, according to local media, but the project has been delayed by the pandemic and production line issues.

U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are a major source of tension between Beijing and Washington because China claims the island as its territory. While the U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwan as a country, it is the island's largest informal ally and bound by law to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself.

Taiwan says it purchases arms so that it can defend itself in case of an invasion by China. China’s People’s Liberation Army sends fighter jets and ships toward the island almost daily.

Analysts said they expect U.S. arms sales to continue, though there may be a pause in the short term.

“There are two more summits between the U.S. and China scheduled within this year, so I think neither side really wants to break things off, and the Taiwan issue will be put aside temporarily,” Tamkang University professor Ma Chun-wei said. However, he said, Taiwan remains key from a security perspective, and "arms sales to Taiwan will still be inevitable going forward.”

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AP videojournalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report from Taipei, Taiwan.

"I know what it’s like to struggle,” Berman, a nurse and first-time candidate, told The Associated Press. “Folks are really looking for someone that they can turn to and say, ‘That guy’s walked a mile in my shoes.’”

Democrats see his race as one that could break their way if the blue wave they’re working toward turns into a tsunami. And while there are signs that Republicans may be getting nervous, officials from both parties said it will be difficult for the newcomer to upset the better-known incumbent.

Berman, like other Democratic challengers across the country, is trying to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s sagging approval rating fueled by anger over the economy, increases in healthcare costs and high gas prices caused by the war in Iran.

“Everybody’s ready for a change,” said John Pintar, a 68-year-old retired heavy-machine operator from Caledonia who went to a Racine coffee shop to hear Berman make his pitch last week. “I certainly am.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced in September that it was adding Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District to its “red to blue” program that targets Republican incumbents viewed as vulnerable. The designation frees up resources and fundraising for Berman in a boost to his underdog chances.

Steil, who worked as an attorney for a plastics manufacturer before being elected to Congress, downplayed being targeted as he seeks a fifth term.

“We’ve shown time and again our ability to go out, get out above the noise, speak directly to voters,” he told the AP. "And in the end, we’ve been successful.”

No Going Back PAC, a Trump-aligned group, has spent about $90,000 on mailings in Steil’s district.

Nationwide, No Going Back PAC and another Trump-aligned group, Safety and Affordability PAC, have spent more than $84 million on advertising in House races since Sept. 1, according to an AP analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys. A third group, MAGA Inc., did not spend on House races.

The vast majority of the groups’ ad spending, 96%, has been in House districts Trump carried in 2024, which the AP determined by using precinct-level results to map to the new district boundaries some states have adopted. Only $3.5 million was spent on districts won by Democrat Kamala Harris.

The cash flow shows how Republicans have been on defense this year, but the party's deep pockets could help insulate its members.

Steil and groups supporting him have outspent Berman and his backers by a 2-1 ratio, according to AdImpact data. He had $6.3 million cash on hand entering August, compared with just under $152,000 for Berman, based on federal filings.

Peter Barca was the last Democrat to hold the seat, from 1993 to 1995, and he lost a comeback attempt against Steil in 2024. He said Berman may still succeed despite being outspent.

“When the wave’s big enough, that will save you,” Barca said.

Wisconsin district once served by Paul Ryan has deep manufacturing ties

Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District borders Illinois to the south and Lake Michigan to the east. It includes the cities of Kenosha, Janesville and Racine, where Berman was greeting voters at a downtown coffee shop this week.

The district grew more competitive under new congressional maps enacted in 2022, but it still leans Republican. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan held the seat for 20 years before Steil, his former aide, replaced him in 2019.

The area suffered thousands of manufacturing job losses as the automobile industry collapsed and jobs were sent overseas. The General Motors plant in Janesville, which had operated for 90 years and employed 7,000 people at its height, shut down in early 2009. Other manufacturers in the area, including a vehicle assembly plant in Kenosha, also shuttered around the same time.

Berman has gone after Steil for supporting Trump’s tariffs, saying despite the president’s claims that they will bring U.S. factories “roaring back,” voters in southeast Wisconsin have yet to see any evidence of it.

Steil said he's heard frustration from voters.

“We need to continue our work to make life more affordable,” Steil said, citing his votes in support of eliminating taxes on tips and overtime and other tax reforms.

“There’s also more work to be done,” Steil said.

Democrat tapping into voter anger and working-class background

Berman, 40, leans into his working-class background when talking to voters. He describes how he grew up in rural Wisconsin, attended public schools and was the first in his family to graduate from college.

He talks about holding his first union job and how cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs affecting the VA hospital where he worked as a nurse motivated him to run for Congress.

“We’re up against folks, like my opponent, who are too far removed from what you and I are up against every day,” Berman said to a cheering room of supporters at a coffee house this week.

In his first television ad released earlier this month, Berman is shown fishing with a holstered gun as he highlights his working-class roots and dings Steil for getting “millions from special interests.”

“I’m not looking to get rich,” Berman says. “I just want to hunt, take my daughters to Packers games and make life easier for families like mine.”

Retired probation agent Dave Carlson, 71, of Racine, said he wants Berman to pull off an upset, but he’s keeping his hopes in check.

“We’ve had other decent candidates on the Democratic side,” Carlson said, “but Steil pulls it out in the end.”

Steil has a nearly 100% voting record in line with Trump and has won all four of his races by at least 9 percentage points. Steil is also seen as a potential 2028 Senate candidate, if Republican Sen. Ron Johnson retires.

Steil demurred when asked if he thought it was an asset or a liability to be so closely tied to Trump.

“This is a contrast election between myself and my opponent, and I think my values align with southeast Wisconsin,” Steil said.

Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, who lives in the district, said he doesn’t think Berman can overcome Steil’s name recognition built over eight years in Congress.

“Starting from zero, building up against a popular incumbent congressman, is a really hard hill to climb no matter what the environment is like,” Vos said.

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Associated Press writers Aaron Kessler and Ashlyn Still contributed to this report in Washington.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, settlers rioted, throwing rocks, blocking roads and setting Palestinian property on fire to prevent a Palestinian man escorted by the Israeli military from returning to his home in the village of Jalud.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Full coverage is available here.

An Iranian spokesman advises Americans to reconsider their leaders

Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, held a news conference in Tehran, Iran's capital, on Tuesday and read from what he said was a “letter to the American people.”

Reading from the prepared text, he said that the only way for the war to end is for Washington to admit defeat and leave. The message was apparently meant for the U.S. public just weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections for the U.S. Senate and Congress — a vote in which Trump’s Republican Party faces fierce headwinds as it looks to maintain control of Congress.

Later, in remarks to The Associated Press, Mohebbi urged Americans to take to the streets and protest Trump's policies to denounce what he called the U.S. government’s war-mongering policies.

Mohebbi also said Americans should “revise their decision” about their leaders.

He accused the United States of using Iran’s nuclear program as a ruse to “plunder Iran’s wealth” and to turn the country “back into a colony.” The U.S. military action and economic sanctions would not get Tehran to submit.

Meanwhile, Iran’s currency fell to a new record low Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar, a sign of how the conflict has further eroded Iran's economy.

The decline came after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

Settlers block a Palestinian man from returning to his West Bank home

Over a hundred Israeli settlers scuffled with Israeli soldiers who were trying to escort a Palestinian man to his home in the West Bank village of Jalud.

The homeowner, Mahmoud Tubasi, told the AP that the soldiers initially brought him to his home but that rioting settlers forced him to leave with his family in a military vehicle. He said he still can't access the house, which settlers have besieged for two months.

Israel’s military acknowledged that the overnight mission to return the family “was not completed” and that three officers were injured by settlers who threw rocks, blocked roads and set Palestinian property on fire.

Israeli police said they arrested three settlers suspected of participating in the riot, which was condemned by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gidon Saar and President Isaac Herzog.

The Israeli military has struggled to quell the latest wave of settler violence. Rights groups have accused the military of colluding with the settlers.

Israel says strike kills Hamas commander

An Israeli strike on an apartment west of Gaza City killed two people, including a Hamas commander who the Israeli military said was involved in plotting attacks and recruiting new members for the militant group.

Al-Shifa Hospital officials said Tuesday the strike also wounded five others.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the overnight strike targeted Izz al-Din Bik, a commander in the Hamas militant group’s northern Gaza brigade.

Hamas confirmed the death of al-Bik, claiming in a statement he was one of the main overseers of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel, which killed over 1,200 and prompted the war in Gaza.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, while over 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The ministry maintains detailed records that are generally seen as reliable. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the fatalities.

Gaza refugee camp mourners hold mass funeral for dozens killed in war

A mass funeral was held Tuesday in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp for nearly 50 people killed during the war.

The remains, wrapped in white bags and draped with Palestinian flags, were recovered last week from the rubble of buildings destroyed almost three years ago.

Mass funerals have become more common in Gaza, where Israel has not allowed the heavy machinery needed to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings and recover the dead.

Earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that more than 8,000 bodies remain buried under the debris.

For some, partial remains were all they had to bury.

Areej Farajallah said two of her husband’s bones were found last week. She is also mourning her child, who was among those buried Tuesday.

Abdel-Nasser al-Tawil said his home was hit Oct. 15, 2023, in the early days of the war. He said he recovered 13 bodies Tuesday with the help of the Red Cross and Palestinian Civil Defense workers ahead of the funeral.

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

Mostly because the American gymnastics icon is still kind of wondering about it herself. So much so that there will be times when the question wakes the 29-year-old two-time Olympic all-around champion up in the middle of the night.

“I’m like 'Oh my gosh, I don’t know what the decision (is) I should make, but I don’t necessarily have to make it just yet,” Biles told The Associated Press. “But I feel like it’s kind of in the works which way I’m leaning towards.”

After trips to Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris, the lure of the opportunity to perform on the world stage at home in Los Angeles in the summer of 2028 is real. Olympic teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey are already pointing toward LA. So is Katelyn Ohashi, a former college star at UCLA who returned to elite competition in July following a staggering 13-year break from the sport's top level.

“I know (athletes) are going a lot longer, and I’m just like, what the hell? It’s going to be like a big reunion if I did,” Biles said. “It would be so much fun. But I still have to weigh the options.”

And the risks. Biles will be 31 by the time the flame is lit at the opening ceremony in the LA Coliseum and Sofi Stadium in July 2028. The sacrifices of trying to make a fourth Olympic team would be far different than what she faced in Brazil a decade ago.

Biles and her husband, Indianapolis Colts safety Jonathan Owens, would like to have a family at some point. The potential impact of training on her reproductive health is a factor. So is the likelihood that returning to competition would mean she and Owens could be separated for significant stretches.

“I am getting to the age of 30 where we start to talk about, 'What does your reproduction cycle ... what’s going on in there? What does that look like? How healthy is it? And so I think these are major things that are on the table at my age that I have to take in consideration and weigh those options and what that looks like and when we want to start a family."

Still, the FOMO (fear of missing out) when it comes to LA is only too real.

“Like a home Olympic Games, like, how could you not?” she said. “It’s absolutely incredible.”

Biles has spent the last two years since her history-making performance in Paris — when she became the third woman ever to win multiple all-around golds — taking a break and leaning into the trappings that come with being one of the most recognizable faces of the U.S. Olympic movement.

The athlete who brought the topic of mental health kicking and screaming into the white-hot Olympic spotlight when she removed herself from several competitions at the Tokyo Games in 2021 while dealing with a mental block dubbed “the twisties” also remains passionate about various causes, including foster care and ADHD.

Among the latest is participating in the “Skin to Believe In” campaign, aimed at getting the roughly 36 million Americans living with inflammatory skin conditions to talk with their health care provider about long-term, steroid-free, topical treatment options for their chronic skin diseases.

Biles was diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis on her face and scalp and eczema on her arms. The issue with her scalp became so problematic that she would scratch until she bled. She spent a long time trying to identify the cause. A relentless traveler, she wondered if it was triggered by certain environments or something internal like stress.

She now uses a steroid-free foam and cream, which not only has helped immensely but also allows her to keep her options open if she ultimately decides to give it one more shot.

There's a part of her that thinks it's doable. Biles found herself in the gym with her sister Adria recently and decided to try a double layout. You know, for fun.

“I’m like, ‘If I get lost, like, it’s over,’” Biles said. “And then I did it. And of course I was like, what the hell? That wasn’t that bad. Like, I wasn’t as scared as I thought I was going to be. And that scared me more with the decision.”

Biles joked there is one segment of the population that would be just fine if her sabbatical turned into an official retirement: others in the mix to make a potentially loaded U.S. team that will be heavy gold-medal favorites when they take the floor at the Staples Center in July 2028.

She was texting with former World Champions Centre and world championship teammate Joscelyn Roberson — now competing at Georgia after reuniting with Cecile and Laurent Landi, who served as Biles' coaches from 2017-24 — when Roberson made a suggestion.

“She’s trying to remind me, like, ‘Hey babes, you’re good. Remember, you don’t have to come back. Stay at your house and stay with your husband,'" Biles said with a laugh, later adding, “I know some of the girls would be like, ‘Oh no, Simone’s coming back.'”

And Biles very well just might, though she's well aware of the difficulty of the task she would face, physically, mentally and emotionally. She's talked to skier Lindsey Vonn — who made her own Olympic comeback this year at 41 — about the unique push/pull of the Games. Biles insists she's at peace if she never pulls on a leotard and salutes the judges again.

“I’ve experienced so much and I’d done so much, so it’s like, I also have to be doing it for the right reasons,” she said. “I feel really, really comfortable with what I've done in the sport. So I just have to sit down and be like ‘Why? Why am I doing it?’ Because there has to be a good reason.”

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

City Manager Keith Touchberry says the city has been using money carried forward from previous budgets for about 15 years, as projected expenses repeatedly exceeded recurring revenue.

Now, those reserves are essentially gone.

“This is not simply a budget gap for one year. It is evidence of a structural imbalance that must now be addressed directly,” Touchberry said.

The city’s reserves, which were once around 40% of the budget, have been depleted. Audits also found the city’s unassigned fund balance fell below the required 17% threshold.

Touchberry pushed for a higher property-tax rate to help close the gap, but the City Council rejected the proposed increase.

He warned that keeping the millage rate at the lower level would mean reductions in city services.

“You’ll see a reduction in trash pickup or slower trash pickup. The grass not getting cut as often. Maybe some delayed responses to emails and phone calls,” Touchberry said.

The city has also been cutting back on staffing.

Touchberry said the city has been forced to handle its workload with significantly fewer employees.

“15 people doing the work of 40 and those numbers have been changing since that budget hearing. We’ve accepted resignations. We’ve adjusted to those resignations,” he said.

The city has also asked the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to investigate its financial management and determine how Cape Canaveral reached its current financial condition.

The investigation will look at whether criminal conduct, employee misconduct, policy violations, failures of internal controls or other organizational issues contributed to the situation.

Touchberry said the city wants to understand what happened.

“If there was criminality, fine. If there was no criminality, fine. Was it incompetence? Was it mismanagement? What are the reasons we got to where we got to,” he said.

City leaders are expected to continue discussing ways to close the $4 million gap, including potential spending cuts and additional sources of revenue.

Some residents have questioned whether the city should look more closely at revenue from the tourism industry.

Leaders are also watching Amendment 3, which is expected to appear on the November ballot and could affect the city’s property-tax base if approved.

The city is expected to continue working through its budget options at Tuesday’s meeting.

Haskins' death was confirmed early Tuesday by his agent. Additional details were not immediately available.

“It’s a tragic loss,” his agent, Jay Schachter, said in a statement. “Everyone loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more. He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans. He always had time for them, no matter what. He was my client and dear friend for over 20 years, and I will miss him terribly. I’m heartbroken.”

“Saved by the Bell,” which ran from 1989 to 1993, centered on the antics of a group of students at the fictitious Bayside High in Southern California. Taking a page from the comedy movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the school often appeared to be run more by the teens than their hapless principal. The show was both ridiculed and embraced for its zany plots.

Lark Voorhies, who played Lisa Turtle on the show, paid tribute to Haskins in an Instagram post, saying she was heartbroken.

“Knowing Dennis Haskins for almost 40 years has been one of the truest blessings of my life, which makes losing him hurt so deeply,” she wrote. “We shared so much history together from our earliest days, and through it all, he remained a fabulous person, a loyal friend, and someone with such a kind, gentle heart.”

Haskins was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. According to a biography posted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he was active in the school's drama club and helped found a community theater group.

Before his television career, he was a music manager, agent and concert promoter, and his clients included Tom Jones and Gregg Allman, according to his biography on IMDb.

Haskins later went on to have guest roles in “The Twilight Zone” and “Magnum, P.I.” in the 1980s.

Republicans haven't abandoned the Southern battlegrounds, which Donald Trump carried narrowly in the 2024 presidential race, though they are shifting greater resources to states they see as more competitive. The party now is spending heavily to defend reliably Republican Texas, and Trump is planning to campaign for the Republican incumbent in Ohio, both places Trump won easily in 2024.

Some Republicans also have become more vocal in their complaining that Trump has squandered an opportunity to more comfortably hold off Democrats this fall. Among their grievances, they say the president failed to bring the unpopular war in Iran to a close, has dismissed the pinch of high fuel prices and engaged late in the midterm campaigns.

And though Democrats must still win several seats Republicans hold to win back the majority, the GOP is looking more at protecting seats they already hold than picking up Georgia, and they are signaling serious problems in North Carolina.

“There is a Republican turnout problem due to the administration's failure to address the economic concerns of voters,” North Carolina Republican strategist Paul Shoemaker said of the state's U.S. Senate race.

GOP Senate leaders look beyond Georgia

Republican Senate campaign leaders are looking past Georgia businessman Mike Collins' challenge of first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff to states they viewed as more competitive to focus future spending, according to two Republican Senate campaign officials familiar with Senate leadership's thinking. The campaign officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.

Ossoff has swamped the successful trucking company executive in fundraising. Collins has also struggled to broaden his support beyond Georgia's Republican base.

Despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune's two-day campaign and fundraising trip to Georgia this month, some local party leaders were publicly pessimistic.

"He just doesn’t have what it takes to beat Ossoff,” said Tim Waters, Peach County Republican Party chair. “It’s hard enough trying to beat an incumbent, and you have the president of the same party in a tough midterm, right? I don’t think he’s got much of a shot.”

Republicans had viewed Georgia early in the 2026 campaign as a potential firewall, should Democrats win in a critical number of states where Republican seats are on the ballot. Democrats must win a net of four seats to win back the majority.

But Ossoff has already spent $57 million in advertising and had $13 million reserved through the election, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And while outside groups aligned with Collins had spent more than $52 million, AdImpact shows, Collins' campaign confirmed it had no advertising time immediately reserved.

Tillis is among the NC Republicans warning about Senate race

Retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis stopped short of suggesting GOP candidate Michael Whatley's chances of holding the seat for the party had vanished, but implied it was time to take a hard look at how long to continue spending heavily against Democratic former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper.

“We've got to place our bets on the candidates that are the best run, either ahead or within striking distance,” Tillis told reporters Monday in the Capitol. “You've got to change your posture going into the last — we've got 36 days.”

Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, has been a darling of Trump, who campaigned for him this month. But enthusiasm for Trump seems to have fallen even with a number of Republicans who voted for him, said Shoemaker, a Tillis adviser. Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2024.

“The blue-collar, working-class voters that Donald Trump brought to the Republican Party is the one that's being most impacted by higher energy prices, and it's dampened their enthusiasm to turn out and vote,” Shoemaker said.

Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP's leadership super PAC, had $19.5 million in advertising booked in North Carolina, having spent $30.4 million to date.

“Do I think Roy Cooper is going to win the race? I absolutely do,” said Michele Woodhouse, former Republican chair for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District and a devout Trump supporter.

“Roy Cooper, for Republicans, is the worst Democrat candidate who could be running for this seat," Woodhouse said. “He’s never lost in a statewide race. He’s very popular.”

Senate GOP PAC spends heavily in Texas as Trump heads for Ohio

In Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate election since 1988, Republicans' Senate Leadership Fund is spending more than it is in any of the states it set out to defend early in the year. The group this month pumped more than $100 million into advertising in Texas to back up state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a race viewed as very competitive.

Trump endorsed Paxton over four-term incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary. GOP campaign leaders considered Paxton a potential drain on Republican resources because he has for years faced legal, ethical and personal questions. They include a felony indictment, impeachment charges and extramarital affairs, though Paxton was never convicted.

Senate GOP leaders had suggested Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., would carry a good portion of the advertising load after Paxton beat Cornyn in the May GOP Senate runoff. Neither the National Republican Senatorial Committee nor SLF had included spending on Texas in its midterm budget.

As of Monday, MAGA Inc. has committed more than $20 million to ads supporting Paxton so far this month, compared with the $124 million from SLF.

Should Democrats win North Carolina and Texas, they would only need to win two of the remaining competitive Republican-held seats — in Alaska, Iowa, Maine and Ohio — as well as hold competitive Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire to capture the majority.

Trump plans to visit Ohio on Saturday to support Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican tries to fend off a competitive challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. The president plans to campaign with Husted in Vandalia, near Dayton in southwest Ohio.

Senate Republican campaign leaders have complained that spiking gas prices, a result of the seven-month-long war with Iran, are among the issues weighing against candidates that Trump has exacerbated.

Campaigning with Whatley last week, Trump called higher fuel prices “a very inexpensive price to pay” for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Though gas prices are near historic highs, they are still below the nationwide record set in 2022.

It's prompted some candidates, such as Iowa's GOP Senate nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson, to speak out.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” she said last week.

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds dismissed that the Republican majority was slipping away, but suggested senators needed to act on fuel prices.

“We have to stay focused on the fact that we know that gas prices are too high, and diesel is way too high," the Republican said.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Sloan from Washington. AP reporter Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

The crash happened Tuesday near mile marker 226 in Mims.

A semi was merging onto the travel lane from a rest area when it entered the direct path of a Volvo, which was traveling in the outside lane. The front of the semi struck the rear left side of the Volvo. The impact ejected both the driver and a passenger from the vehicle, troopers said.

Both were airlifted to the hospital. The semi-truck driver was not transported and remained on the scene.

Southbound lanes remained blocked, with traffic being directed through the inside shoulder and diverted at the Deering Parkway exit.

The crash remains under investigation.

In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, high tides and pounding waves from Polo were breaching sea barriers as residents worried for their homes in the mostly empty town. Hundreds of people in the region evacuated, hunkering down in nearby shelters in schools and other facilities.

“Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,” Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman, said.

Polo barreling toward Baja California peninsula

Polo was a Category 1 storm with top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) Tuesday but is expected to weaken later on Tuesday as it moves inland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It’s expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur, and that life-threatening winds and flash floods were expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “nonessential” activities, including school, sports and nonessential work, in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities due to the incoming hurricane.

Residents in Baja California Sur were anxiously bracing themselves. Margarita Bobadilla and her family were sheltered in a local school, saying it was safer than weathering the storm in her wooden house.

“Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”

Others lingered in their mostly emptied town of Puerto San Carlos, crossing their fingers the light flooding and powerful winds would be the worst of Polo.

Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, reported that Polo would make landfall later in the afternoon. With Polo approaching Mexico, the Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the storm. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters at the ready.

At a Monday morning news briefing, Velázquez urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes are at risk. She said travel will be suspended in the area where the hurricane was expected to make landfall and that ports across the region would be closed.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Rachel was brewing over Mexico’s southwest coast. The hurricane center said Tuesday that Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and was located about 265 miles (425 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenas. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the center said Rachel is forecast to become a hurricane during the next day or so.

It’s been a busy season for Pacific storms

Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

While Polo is slated to weaken over northern Mexico, tropical weather was also supposed to deal a one-two punch to the U.S. Southwest.

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month. Now, the remnants of Polo are forecast to track east across the region, expected to douse Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas with inches of rain.

That’s a good chunk of the 8-12 inches (about 20-30 centimeters) the arid area of canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation usually gets in a year. Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning. The new tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”

In Hawaii, floods and mudslides are still a risk

Nolo, meanwhile, was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island as the weekend drew to a close. The Category 3 storm drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of the Big Island over the weekend, prompting some highway closures on Saturday evening and Sunday as rushing water and boulders blocked roadways.

Maximum sustained winds were near 115 mph (185 km/h), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said Tuesday, but the storm is forecast to weaken over the next couple of days.

Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.

Damage assessments are still underway as Nolo moves northwest. While it’s keeping its distance from the main Hawaiian Islands, it’s approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area northwest of the islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday, the center reported.

Thousands of households and businesses on Maui lost power for a time, but by Monday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all of them, according to poweroutage.us. The majority of the outages were related to storm damage, according to statements from Hawaiian Electric.

Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. Those events affected more than 1,290 homes, according to the state, and caused nearly $700 million in damage and recovery costs.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed from Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, reporter Julie Walker reported from New York, reporter Mead Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado. Videojournalist Eugene Garcia and photographer Gregory Bull contributed from Hilo, Hawaii.

Curtis Wilkie Beasley was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in a 1995 attack on Carolyn Monfort. The Florida Supreme Court last week rejected appeals that executing a man his age who is suffering from cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

Beasley, who would become Florida's seventh prisoner over the age of 70 to be executed this year, is set to receive a three-drug injection at the state prison starting at 6 p.m.

It was one of two executions scheduled this week in the U.S. Tennessee plans to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years on Wednesday by administering a lethal injection to Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of killing a classmate in a jealous rage when they were both teens.

Arrested while working under a fake name

According to court records, Beasley had been staying at Monfort’s Dundee home, south of Orlando, in August 1995 while he was pressure washing and painting nearby apartments owned by her son-in-law. Monfort's daughter went to her home after being unable to reach her for two days and found her body in a blood-splattered laundry room.

Monfort suffered multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to the head, and a bloody hammer head was found wrapped in a towel nearby, according to investigators.

Authorities began searching for Beasley after a witness reported seeing him driving what turned out to be Monfort's car. Investigators determined Beasley had traveled to Miami and later relocated to Alabama, where he was arrested while working under a fake name for an electrical company, officials said.

Beasley was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1998.

A final appeal remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida has carried out more than half of the nation's executions this year

Beasley would be the nation’s 29th execution this year, most of which have taken place in Florida.

The state is getting closer to last year's 19 executions, which was a record in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more are scheduled for this year, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has temporarily paused the next one.

William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 13 for raping and fatally beating a woman at a Florida motel in 1976. After a doctor this month determined Thompson might be suffering from dementia, DeSantis ordered a panel of three psychiatrists to examine him Thursday to determine if he is competent to be executed.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, issued similar stays in 2023 and 2025 but both executions proceeded following evaluations.

William Reaves, 77, has an Oct. 20 execution date. He was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy outside a convenience store in 1986.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule had so many problems in 2024 that its two test pilots were stuck at the International Space Station for nearly a year. NASA later reclassified the botched mission as a crew-endangering “Type A mishap,” its most severe ranking.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Monday that Boeing should be ready to launch a new and improved Starliner to the space station — with cargo but no crew — by December. Astronauts will not strap in until 2028 because of the need for further safety redesigns that will take months, if not years, to complete.

Manager Dana Weigel stressed that everyone must be confident that all of Starliner’s problems have been resolved before putting astronauts back on board.

“Bottom line: We’re on the right path,” said NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who will command the next Starliner flight.

Hoburg said Starliner’s original test pilots — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, now both retired — are “American heroes and I am deeply humbled to follow in their footsteps.”

NASA always wanted two U.S.-based means of getting astronauts to and from orbit. The space agency shelled out billions of dollars to Boeing as well as SpaceX for ferry service once the space shuttles retired.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first private business to send astronauts to orbit in 2020. His company will launch its 14th crew for NASA later this week. After struggling to carry out a pair of empty Starliner test flights, Boeing’s Starliner flew astronauts Wilmore and Williams, but they had to hitch a ride back with SpaceX nine months later.

SpaceX intends to phase out its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules in another few years and focus on its newer, larger Starship, which reached orbit for the first time Monday.

That is why NASA is so keen to redeem Boeing’s repeatedly bedeviled ride. The extra Starliner upgrades and new rocket certifications will cost NASA another $359 million, Weigel said. Among the many fixes: new valves and seals.

While the aging space station is due to be abandoned and deorbited by 2031, several private U.S. companies are working on their own orbital outposts that will need reliable taxi service. SpaceX’s Starship is way too big to dock and Musk has moon and Mars travel as the company’s overriding goals.

Why not simply bag Starliner and shop elsewhere?

“We always were committed to seeing this through with Boeing,” Isaacman said, ”and now we’re on a very good path.”

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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.

In a release, FDOE officials said they are conducting a “comprehensive rewrite” of the current K-12 science standards to “ensure students learn real science — knowledge, evidence, inquiry, reason, and virtue — NOT ideology.”

According to the FDOE website, Florida’s K-12 B.E.S.T. Standards for Science focus on improving students’ problem-solving skills while incorporating Florida-specific examples, technologies, and nature resources when appropriate.

Science begins in wonder—NOT in ideology.

Florida’s new science standards will form students who will reason rigorously, observe carefully, and grow in virtue. pic.twitter.com/v9Or7RBxej

— Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL) September 28, 2026

“Students encounter connections to Florida’s environments, agricultural systems, forests, wetlands, springs, rivers, estuaries, coastal regions, fisheries, space industry, weather patterns, energy resources, and communities throughout their K-12 science experience,” the website reads. “These examples are not separate content expectations, but rather meaningful contexts that help students apply scientific knowledge to authentic situations while building understanding of Florida’s environmental, economic, and cultural significance.”

As part of the rewrite, though, FDOE is gathering public input via a “Science Standards Listening Tour” being held this week.

Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack even took to social media to encourage people to share their thoughts on how to improve the science standards.

“The book of nature is intelligible. Our students should be taught to read it,” he wrote. “Join the listening tour. Help restore the discipline.”

Florida is putting science back in its proper place in the curriculum—knowledge, evidence, inquiry, reason, and the formation of minds capable of contemplating the order of creation rather than reciting an ideology.

The book of nature is intelligible.

Our students should be… https://t.co/BUZKHesh31

— Henry Mack (@HenmackIII) September 25, 2026

The FDOE laid out the listening tour schedule as follows:

• Sept. 29 — Hillsborough County
• • Armwood High School (5 - 7 p.m. )
• Sept. 30 — Virtual Option
• • Teams Meeting Link
• Oct. 5 — Walton County
• • Walton High School (5 - 7 p.m.)

For more information about the initiative, visit the FDOE’s website here.

Miami earned a total score of 74.62, ranking first in the country for diversity, accessibility and quality. The city also tied for the most restaurants per capita and ranked highly for ice cream and frozen-yogurt shops, underscoring its reputation for varied dining and vibrant food culture.

• Miami: No. 1 overall, with the highest score in the country for diversity, accessibility and quality.
• Orlando: No. 6 overall; tied for the most restaurants per capita and ranked among the national leaders for ice cream and frozen-yogurt shops.
• Tampa: No. 7 overall and No. 8 for diversity, accessibility and restaurant quality.
• Fort Lauderdale: No. 21 overall and No. 17 for diversity, accessibility and quality.

Miami also tied for the most restaurants per capita, highlighting the city’s broad range of dining options. Orlando shared the top ranking for ice cream and frozen-yogurt shops.

WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities using 28 measures, including:

• Grocery costs
• Restaurant affordability and availability
• Food festivals per capita
• Craft breweries and wineries
• Specialty food and drink establishments

The rankings show Florida’s strength is the variety and accessibility of its dining scene, even though some cities face higher food-related costs.

Together, the results place Florida among the nation’s leading destinations for dining out, discovering new flavors and enjoying a wide range of culinary experiences.

Meanwhile, the top 50 cities on WalletHub’s ranking are as follows:

Firefighters were called to the single-family home on Snow Hill Road around 10 a.m. Monday.

Upon arrival, half of the home was engulfed in flames. The fire has since been fully extinguished.

The fire caused a partial roof collapse, leaving the house a complete loss.

NEARLY A DOZEN DOGS AFFECTED

Eleven dogs were at the home at the time of the fire, deputies said.

Of these, six were found dead, one was picked up by a neighbor, and four others were taken by animal control, though they suffered serious burns and other injuries, an arrest report shows.

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office also reported that the agency will be pursuing criminal charges related to animal cruelty.

SUSPECT ARRESTED

Deputies identified the suspect as Terrance Frederick Banks, 40, of Geneva.

“I was informed that (Banks) was being detained after he made some spontaneous comments to the responding deputies about setting the fire and asking us/law enforcement to take him to jail,” the report reads.

In the heavily redacted report, deputies noted that Banks told them he had a total of 19 dogs in the house, though investigators could only account for the 11 that were found.

The sheriff’s office later told News 6 that Banks had been taken into custody. Court records show he faces charges of arson and 11 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.

No other injuries were reported. It is not yet clear what caused the fire.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that “such actions are absolutely unacceptable” and that Russia's charge d'affaires in Tallinn was being summoned to his ministry.

A fire broke out overnight on Aug. 15 at a building in the Estonian capital used by Milrem Robotics, but was quickly brought under control, the BNS news agency reported. On Aug. 17, two Latvian suspects were detained in neighboring Latvia, and a third followed the next day. The suspects were handed over to Estonia.

Milrem has supplied THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine.

The Estonian Internal Security Service said that it has concluded that the arson attack “was a deliberate and pre-planned act commissioned by Russian security services.”

It said in a statement that “the modus operandi of the Milrem attack is consistent with other acts of sabotage carried out in Europe on behalf of Russia,” adding that it “assesses that the attack is directly attributable to the Russian Federation.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “such statements are unfounded, ill-considered, absolutely not reflecting the reality, not containing any substantiation whatsoever.”

“We cannot take such statements seriously, and we won’t,” Peskov said.

Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

The Associated Press has tracked around 200 incidents of sabotage and malign activity across Europe blamed on Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

That includes organizing plots to set fire to warehouses, launching drones and trying to kill enemies abroad as well as stealing defense technology and carrying out cyberattacks on critical European infrastructure.

In a recent case that pointed to an escalation of such activity, Germany blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in early August using a drone laden with explosives.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal wrote on X that “we will not be intimidated.”

The 21-page filing to the court in the Southern District of Florida late Monday, and seen by The Associated Press, said UEFA was wrong to suggest the FIFA president sought to profit personally from the project that provoked a furor in July and was dropped within days.

UEFA later asked for authorization of discovery with three courts — including in Manhattan, against Josh Kushner’s New York-based investment firm, and Miami, where FIFA has an office base — aiming to help prepare a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland for financial mismanagement.

“UEFA’s conduct demonstrates that its (court filing) was made in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment,” lawyers for FIFA argue in the document.

The filing also notes the Nov. 18 deadline for potential candidates to enter the FIFA presidential election contest next March in Morocco, where Infantino plans to seek a fourth and final term in office through 2031.

“This court should reject any attempt to influence FIFA’s presidential election based on these grounds,” FIFA lawyers wrote in the filing Monday.

UEFA led a global backlash to the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan and is preparing an election challenge to Infantino, who had seemed set to win unopposed until creating the biggest crisis of his near 11-year presidency.

Infantino’s plan was to create the FFE subsidiary and sell at least 20% of nonprofit FIFA’s future commercial rights for $4.2 billion to investors led by Josh Kushner, the brother of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

UEFA’s court filings one month ago claimed the value was a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit,” amid speculation he eyed a CEO-like role at the subsidiary on a higher salary than his current $6 million presidential pay package.

FIFA lawyers claimed UEFA “falsely asserts that Mr. Infantino sought to have a personal financial interest in the FFE project.”

The secretive plan was revealed July 28 by media reports and led FIFA’s now-ousted chief operating officer Kevin Lamour to criticize Infantino’s leadership. The FIFA boss’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner, also resigned in protest at the deal he said was bad for soccer.

Infantino later apologized for errors in how the sell-off plan was handled, and has since offered to open an independent external review of the soccer body’s governance.

FIFA has consistently said the commercial spinoff was intended to accelerate development of soccer worldwide, outside the wealthy power base of Europe.

Infantino open to pay members more cash from FIFA reserves

In a separate development Monday, Infantino wrote to the 211 member federations of FIFA accepting it could pay them more from cash reserves.

That follows a call this month by Infantino’s critics at UEFA, North American soccer body CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation that FIFA can afford to pay each of the 211 members a $10 million dividend from its cash reserves of about $6 billion.

Infantino had offered each member $20 million, from the intended $4.2 billion investment by Kushner and others, pending a mid-September deadline to approve the FFE project.

An Oct. 15 meeting of the 37-member FIFA Council, to be chaired by Infantino in Zurich, is set to debate proposals on finance and governance as he seeks to manage fallout from the divisive World Cup sell-off plan.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The 1,476 people being sent back are among 5,000 Myanmar nationals who will be repatriated in stages from Malaysia, where 10,388 Myanmar nationals were being held at immigration detention depots nationwide as of Aug. 15, according to Malaysia’s Home Ministry.

Buses believed to be carrying Myanmar returnees arrived at a stadium in Manjung town in Malaysia’s central Perak state early Tuesday, amid tight security. Ships believed to be from Myanmar were docked at the nearby Lumut naval base.

Home Ministry official Makhzan Mahyuddin was quoted by national Bernama news agency as saying the returnees comprised 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls, aged between eight and 60.

The ministry said they would be sent back safely on two Myanmar navy warships and a hospital ship. It is unclear if any of the returnees were minority Muslim Rohingya, who are rejected by the Myanmar government. The ministry didn't provide further details of their identities and circumstances, but stressed their return was voluntary.

“This move also sends a clear signal that the government is serious about addressing irregular migration and the issue of undocumented foreign nationals through law enforcement, repatriation and more systematic management and data collection,” the ministry said in a statement.

Many refugees in Malaysia come from Myanmar's Rohingya minority

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and rights groups slammed the repatriation, saying the security and humanitarian situation in parts of Myanmar remains volatile and returnees could face serious risks such as persecution and forced military conscription in an active war zone.

Myanmar is involved in an armed conflict and political instability following the military’s seizure of power in 2021.

Malaysia is home to about 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR, including about 126,000 Rohingya who make up one of Southeast Asia’s largest refugee communities. Despite hosting them, Malaysia is not a party to the U.N. Refugee Convention and treats refugees as undocumented migrants.

The government recently launched a system to register refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia and to build a biometric database, as it seeks to manage and regulate the population independently from the UNHCR.

Rohingya have faced growing public hostility in Malaysia due to their growing numbers, fueled by concerns over jobs, public services and security.

Malaysia says Myanmar must accept the refugees' return

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has defended the repatriation policy as a diplomatic effort to find a long-term solution, saying Malaysia cannot host refugees indefinitely and Myanmar must take responsibility for its citizens.

Anwar said he plans to invite Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing to Malaysia to discuss the long-running refugee and undocumented migrant issue that has dragged on for decades.

“I am inviting him to say that we can be friends and trade, we can accept Myanmar, but Myanmar must accept them back,” he said in a podcast posted online Sept. 16. “To me, that’s better diplomacy than just shouting angrily at Myanmar.”

Myanmar Foreign Ministry official Han Win Aung has said the plan follows repatriation operations in 2021 and 2022, when Myanmar received more than 1,100 of its nationals stranded in Malaysia.

He said the repatriation involves genuine citizens and is not about bringing back the Rohingya people, who are not recognized as an ethnic group in Myanmar and denied citizenship.

Malaysia's Home Ministry said in the statement that subsequent repatriations would proceed once identity verification, documentation, logistics and operational coordination between the two countries are finalized.

Two advocacy groups, Amnesty International and Asylum Access, in a joint statement urged the government to halt repatriations, saying the government's new system must not be used to fast-track unlawful deportations. Rights groups have also urged the government to restore the UNHCR’s access to detention centers to screen vulnerable refugees.

TUESDAY

While the moisture will gradually increase Tuesday, the atmosphere will remain stable enough to keep rain chances low (20-30%).

Highs will reach the mid to upper 80s, with increasing humidity pushing heat indices into the low 90s.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY

Rain chances increase Wednesday as deeper moisture moves in and the east coast sea breeze develops, bumping up rain chances to 60-70%.

While the threat for severe weather remains low, some storms could produce frequent lightning, torrential downpours and gusty winds.

Highs will remain in the upper 80s both days.

FRIDAY-WEEKEND

Friday could bring the highest rain chances of the week, with coverage reaching 50% to 70% as deep tropical moisture settles over Central Florida.

Rain chances then ease slightly to 30% to 50% this weekend and into early next week as some drier air works in aloft.

Temperatures remain slightly above normal, with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s and overnight lows in the 70s.

But in the Aquarium of the Pacific's frog nursery, hundreds of critically endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs and tadpoles live comfortably under the watchful eye of animal conservationists before being released into the wild. Once the most populous vertebrate in their mountain habitat, the wild population of these tiny amphibians had dwindled to fewer than 200 by 2021.

The Long Beach aquarium last month celebrated its release of 1,000 frogs since 2020, when a wildfire destroyed much of its remaining habitat. More than 650 frogs were released in August, and nearly 400 of those were raised at the aquarium. Captive rearing and breeding efforts under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began in the early 2000s.

“Although they’re pretty slow growers, given the right conditions, frogs are pretty successful, so my hope is that we can get them back,” said Erin Lundy, the aquarium’s conservation initiatives manager.

Mountain yellow-legged frogs play an important role in native ecosystems. They are a source of food for several animals and, as tadpoles, they help keep waterways clean by eating large amounts of algae and other decaying organic matter.

Fungus, invasive species and fire devastated the frog population

Their populations were first threatened in the late 1800s when nonnative trout that fed on tadpoles were introduced to their habitats for recreational fishing. In areas where the trout were removed, frog populations began to recover. They are also susceptible to chytrid fungus, which has caused the decline or extinction of hundreds of species of amphibians worldwide.

The mountain yellow-legged frog was dealt a devastating blow in fall 2020, when the Bobcat Fire destroyed about 95% of its habitat. Subsequent rainfall turned burn areas into mudslides and filled waterways with runoff. Scientists were able to salvage a handful of tadpoles from the area, which the aquarium raised and released.

The Aquarium of the Pacific oversees the tadpole-to-frog metamorphosis of hundreds of tadpoles sent from the Los Angeles and San Diego zoos, which bred them.

Lundy could barely contain her excitement when a shipment of nearly 500 tadpoles recently arrived from the San Diego Zoo. The tadpoles — some descended from frogs in the San Jacinto Mountains and others from the San Bernardino Mountains — were separated into two groups because of their slight genetic differences.

“These guys look amazing,” Lundy said. “These are really, really healthy tadpoles.”

Human care — and instinct — help ensure the frogs' survival

The tadpoles are fed four to five times a day and eat “ravenously” at this stage of development, Lundy said. Scientists spread a mixture of spirulina, fish food and calcium on small plates, allowing the tadpoles to graze as they would on algae-covered rocks in the wild.

Some of the tadpoles were already growing legs, their bodies wiggling furiously in the water as they swarmed the plate of food Lundy set down.

In another tank, a cluster of tiny frogs not yet ready to be released into the wild had stacked themselves under a heat lamp. They were only about two weeks out of water, she said.

“Hi babies!” she cooed as she lifted the lid of their enclosure to show them off.

When they have all four limbs and no more tail, they're eligible to be released. About 60% to 65% of the aquarium's tadpoles survive to this stage, which is considered high, Lundy said.

Lundy and her care team periodically change the water flow rates in the tanks so the baby frogs grow strong limbs and are accustomed to swimming in different conditions. She was feeding them live crickets and fruit flies, but threw in beetles to better emulate their diet in the wild.

Nevertheless, she used to worry they wouldn’t know what to do when they were released.

“I was like, ‘There’s no way you guys have any idea,’” Lundy said. “The good news is, I don’t always think frogs think that hard.”

During one release, she watched as one precocious mountain yellow-legged frog jumped from its container, landed on a rock and immediately ate a housefly — something it had never seen before.

It turns out, a frog just knows how to be a frog.

Bronny is still with the Los Angeles Lakers after his 41-year-old father's departure for the Philadelphia 76ers. The younger James enters his third NBA season this week still working to win a rotation role with the team that drafted him in 2024 in the family's adopted hometown.

Bronny and LeBron spent the past two seasons as the NBA's first father-son teammates, an achievement LeBron said was comparable to any of his championship rings. But the top scorer in league history decided his hunger for another title was greater than his desire to stay by Bronny's side.

In his first extensive public comments on this unusual situation Monday, Bronny confirmed he isn't the least bit angry or disappointed by his dad's departure.

He's already well aware that when your father is LeBron James, many things are bigger than you.

“Happy for him, and excited for where their season goes,” Bronny said. “I’m excited to see him on Christmas, excited to play against him on Christmas. It’s going to be good.”

The 76ers visit the Lakers on Dec. 25.

While LeBron’s enthusiasm for being an engaged father to his three children is well-documented, Bronny said he didn't have extensive discussions with his father about the move.

“We’re men of very little words when it comes to talking about business and what we’re going to do and how we feel about each other,” Bronny said with a smile. “It wasn’t really much, to be honest with you. He’s got his own path and I’ve got my own, so he knows that I want to make a name for myself and want to continue my career and keep growing as a player, and he knows I’ll want to focus on that, so he decided to (move).”

And while LeBron meets his new teammates and settles into Philadelphia this week, his son is getting back to work with the Lakers. LeBron won't be a constant presence in the locker room and on the road to dispense guidance and leadership to his son — and he won't be around for Bronny's 22nd birthday next week, either.

That's all fine for Bronny, who wasn't fazed while he went through his first Lakers media day without his father's massive presence and booming voice nearby.

“Feels like he’s not here,” Bronny said at the Lakers' training complex. “I don’t really have an opinion on that. That’s my dad. I’ve spent almost 22 years with him, so just another experience that I’m going to be a part of, and I’m excited how it’s going to feel during the season. So I’m looking forward to it.”

LeBron said this week that he left the Lakers to chase his fifth championship ring. The unspoken part of that declaration is James’ apparent belief he’s closer to a title in Philadelphia than in Los Angeles, where his Lakers won just one playoff round in the past three seasons.

But Bronny is optimistic about the Lakers' chances to build an exciting — and pointedly younger — core around NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and prolific guard Austin Reaves. New center Walker Kessler should be a sharp upgrade under the opponents' basket and on lob finishes, and he's just one of nine new players hoping to win roles with Los Angeles.

“Everyone is young, so there’s a lot of energy flowing around, and I think we feed off each other,” Bronny said. “I don’t know yet, because we haven’t played a game, but because we’re young and we’re finding a way to get close to each other, I think we can feed off each other’s energy. There’s going to be a lot of guys that can go out and give full effort, turn up the game, and we can probably play fast because of how young we are. … We have a good chance of making it far.”

LeBron ended this family partnership right when Bronny appeared to be on the verge of breaking through to a regular role. Bronny played regularly down the stretch last season and into the playoffs while Doncic and Reaves were sidelined by injury, teaming up with his father for significant minutes in the Lakers' first-round upset of the Houston Rockets.

Bronny wants to continue his growth as a secondary ballhandler and a point-of-attack defender, two roles in which he excelled for long stretches last spring. His father won't be around for tips and critiques, but Bronny is ready to figure out some things on his own — and with ample help from his teammates and coaches, of course.

“I think I did play my role pretty well in the Houston series, and that’s something I can grow off of,” Bronny said. “Showing up every day and playing my game and being relentless both sides of the floor and making sure I’m getting my teammates involved and disrupting on the defensive end of the floor.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Leo traveled to the eastern city of Metz, near the border with Luxembourg and Germany, to honor Robert Schuman, a French Catholic statesman regarded as one of the founding fathers of European unity after World War II.

Leo decided to end his four-day visit to France in Metz, at a conference center named for Schuman, to drive home his appeal. The American pope wants Europe to draw from its Christian foundations and traditions to respond to wars and other conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the challenges of migration.

“Over the past 80 years, Europe has amply demonstrated that it is possible to articulate divergent opinions, claims and interests through encounter rather than conflict,” he said.

“We need to commit ourselves to patient dialogue, to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace,” he said, without naming specific conflicts or positions.

Élysée Palace, the French presidential office, had invited all European Union heads of state and the heads of European institutions to attend the conference. But only a handful, from smaller states such as Monaco, Andorra and Luxembourg, joined President Emmanuel Macron.

Huge crowds and a military escort

Leo’s visit to the once staunchly Catholic and officially secular France has been marked by his appeal for Europe to remember its Christian heritage and apply it to today’s ethical and geopolitical challenges.

It has also been marked by huge crowds at nearly every turn — 800,000 attended Leo’s Mass on Paris’ iconic Place de la Concorde — surprising even organizers and suggesting that the Catholic Church still has a place in an overwhelmingly secular public square.

On Monday morning, Leo's Air France charter received a military escort of two French fighter jets for the flight from Lourdes to Metz in a sign of respect. Macron tweeted a photo of Leo's plane taken by one of the jets while in flight, writing “Welcome to Metz, Most Holy Father.”

Macron joined Leo on stage at the Schuman event, vowing “unfailing” European support for Ukraine and noting that the country is among those aspiring to join the EU and a “space of peace, security, democracy and prosperity.”

“War has come back to our continent and our Europe is rocked by the return of empires,” Macron said. “To guarantee real sovereignty, we must therefore act, act firstly to preserve our security and our values.”

In his final event in France, Leo celebrated Mass in the cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz, a city with a long history of conflict that was part of Nazi Germany during the war.

The cathedral, finished in 1522, is one of the greatest examples of French Gothic style, with its soaring vaults and stained-glass windows, some of which were later designed by Marc Chagall, a 20th-century Jewish artist.

In his homily, Leo said that Metz and its surroundings experienced evil, but now “bear witness to the whole world that reconciliation is only possible when one has the courage to break the chains of resentment.”

The cathedral’s stained-glass windows, designed by a Jew, are “an extraordinary symbol of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue,” where God’s light unites “different histories and cultures into a single marvelous mosaic of peace.”

“As we contemplate these stained-glass windows, we learn that Europe’s future does not lie in uniformity, but in the harmony of differences, where the wounds of the past become openings through which light shines,” he said.

The colored glass has given the cathedral the nickname the “Lanterne du Bon Dieu,” or “The Good Lord’s Lantern.”

As they did in Paris during Saturday's Mass along the Champs-Élysées, priests in Metz set up makeshift confession stands on the streets to accommodate the faithful who packed the squares around the cathedral.

The Vatican estimated that 35,000 people had turned out. Macron changed his schedule at the last minute to attend and sat in the front row.

A statesman who promoted dialogue among rivals

Schuman is best known for the Schuman Declaration of 1950, five years after World War II ended. It proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community to pool production between historic rivals France and Germany.

The idea, as Europe was emerging from the ruins of the war, was guided by the belief that intertwined economic interests would make another conflict between them “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.”

The coal and steel organization was the first among European institutions that were precursors to what eventually became the European Union.

Schuman, a resistance fighter imprisoned by the Nazis, was declared “venerable” in 2021, a step in the Catholic Church's process toward possible sainthood.

Leo praised especially Schuman's respect for international law in pursuing his idea of peaceful integration. It was an indirect reference to how Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as U.S. military incursions in Venezuela and the Iran war, have taken place outside the international legal order.

Leo said international law and multilateralism “constitute the best antidote to the desire for domination, which lies at the root of every conflict.”

He lamented that in its place, relations today between states are becoming “increasingly uncivilized.”

“The value of keeping one’s word is dismissed; instead, people boast of lies and deceit,” he said.

Asked if Leo had crossed a line and entered into the European political debate, the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said that the pope was just preaching Catholic morals.

“He spoke about morality, ethics and the principles of the Church’s moral teaching. If anyone wants to draw political conclusions, they are free to do so,” Gallagher said.

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John Leicester contributed to this report from Paris.

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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.

Hurts was sacked twice and threw an interception during Monday night's 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears. The Eagles were limited to 62 yards of offense in the second half and 248 for the game.

“We just got to take this brick by brick,” Hurts said. “So it’s an opportunity to learn from it. We have to choose to learn from it, and that was my message to everyone. Nobody’s gonna wait on us to do the things that we need to do. So we just gotta all dedicate ourselves to this cause, and keep pushing forward.”

Hurts directed Philadelphia (2-1) to two wins in the first two weeks of the season, throwing for 467 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. He tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Darius Cooper with 9 seconds left in a dramatic 24-20 victory at Tennessee last weekend.

But Hurts was held in check by Chicago, going 16 for 25 for 153 yards. He also had four carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.

Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, the Eagles drove into Bears territory. Facing a second-and-4 from the 15, Hurts absorbed a late hit by linebacker D’Marco Jackson along the sideline. Right tackle Lane Johnson was called for holding, and the down was replayed because of the offsetting penalties.

But Hurts was pulled off the field to be checked for a concussion. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni yelled at Jackson from the sideline after the big hit on his quarterback.

“I love our guys, and so the emotion of the game probably got the better of me today,” Sirianni said, “and I have to learn from that. In that particular moment, I have to be more steady in that situation. ... I didn't like how I handled that."

Andy Dalton came in and handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley for a 14-yard run that set the Eagles up with first-and-goal at the 1. But two more carries for Barkley went nowhere, and Dalton was intercepted by Dillon Thieneman in the back of the end zone on third down.

Hurts said he was waiting for clearance to go back in when Dalton turned it over.

“I was just waiting for the thumbs-up,” Hurts said. “I felt fine, we already checked it. I don’t know the extent of the process. Obviously wish we could have expedited things. I know I felt fine.”

Hurts scored on a quarterback sneak as time expired in the first half, but Chicago controlled the final two periods.

Hurts was picked off by T.J. Edwards on a fourth-and-5 play from the Chicago 46 in the final minute of the third. Edwards dropped a potential interception on third down on Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half.

“Situationally, I’ve got to play better ball,” Hurts said. "Third down is a very big down for us. I think that’s been a very big down for us in these first two games. Today, we were not good enough, and I wasn’t good enough. Fourth down, I wasn’t good enough as well. We were able to put some drives together. Situationally, I’ve got to be better and find ways to produce some points.”

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For residents, the steel barriers have become an unmistakable warning of what may follow: blocked streets, snarled traffic and long detours across Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi.

The latest deployment came ahead of a march by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanding his release. Cranes have lifted red, blue and green containers from trucks and lowered them into place along roads.

Originally scheduled for Sept. 27, the march was postponed until Oct. 4, but many of the containers remain in place. Since last week, police have positioned them along key routes leading to the Red Zone, home to Parliament, government offices and foreign embassies.

Khan, a former cricket star turned politician and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main political rival, has been imprisoned since 2023. He is serving multiple prison sentences following convictions on corruption and other charges. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party say the cases are politically motivated.

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. Sharif returned to office after lawmakers elected him prime minister following the Feb. 8, 2024, parliamentary election. Khan’s party says its mandate was stolen in that vote, an allegation the government denies.

The containers are hard to miss in the city

Now against Islamabad’s green hills and tree-lined avenues, the rows of brightly colored containers are hard to miss. Some sit beside busy roads, ready to be moved. Others are stacked two high or positioned across traffic lanes, turning broad avenues into narrow, controlled passages.

“It looks like a city of containers,” Islamabad housewife Sahiba Bibi said.

She said this time the disruption began before demonstrators had even set out for Islamabad from across the country, particularly from northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party governs.

PTI's top leadership said it delayed the march because authorities had blocked key approaches to the capital, including Attock Bridge, a major crossing for convoys traveling from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Containers and spiked metal sheets had been placed along the route that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and his supporters were expected to take, party organizers said.

Even where roads remained open, the preparations narrowed traffic lanes and created long lines of vehicles. Commuters searched for alternate routes, while shopkeepers along potential protest paths weighed whether to close their businesses, fearing damage if unrest or clashes broke out.

Authorities say they pay rent to owners of container trucks for the use of the containers. But some drivers say police stop them on highways, seize their vehicles and take their keys.

Rehmat Gul, a container-truck driver, said police stopped him and took his keys before impounding his truck. The container was later placed on a road near Rawalpindi, he said.

When the containers arrive, people know their lives will be disrupted

“Fuel prices have almost doubled because of the ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran,” said Abdul Hafeez, a government employee who commutes from Rawalpindi to Islamabad for work and also drives his children to school. “At a time when we are already struggling to keep our kitchens running, roadblocks force us to travel farther.”

“If the government does not block the roads, we have no problem with these protests,” he said.

For many residents, the containers are no longer merely a security measure. Their arrival signals that another political confrontation is approaching and that ordinary life may be disrupted.

The government, however, says the precautions are necessary.

“PTI has a track record of disruption and vandalism during protests, and its supporters would not be allowed to enter the capital,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters in Peshawar last week.

Afridi rejected the government’s characterization, saying PTI’s sole purpose was to hold a peaceful rally demanding Khan’s release.

Authorities used similar measures in November 2024, sealing roads into Islamabad as Khan’s supporters attempted to reach the capital despite a ban on rallies. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.

That experience has taught residents not to wait for a formal road-closure announcement.

Once cranes begin lowering containers into place, many start changing their routes, and some begin stocking up on food.

It turns out the third-string quarterback for the Chicago Bears is pretty good, too.

Keenum passed for two touchdowns in his first start in almost three years, and the Bears shut down Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles for a 27-7 victory on Monday night.

Stepping in for Caleb Williams, Keenum was 24 for 34 for 247 yards. He also scored his first rushing touchdown since 2019 on a 1-yard plunge with 7:19 left, capping a 13-play drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock.

“He knows where everyone is supposed to be on every single play and so he is really quick to recognize coverage,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “He knows why we’re calling the play and what we’re looking for and if we’re not getting that he’s accelerating through it really quickly. That’s what you get when you’re 15-plus years playing that position in this league.”

It was Keenum’s first action since he started for Houston in a 36-22 loss to Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2023. Williams was sidelined by a right hamstring injury, and Tyson Bagent backed up Keenum after he cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol on Sunday.

“To get a shot again like this? Yeah, you dream of it,” Keenum said. “That’s why I'm still here doing this when I get knocked down. I got knocked down my whole career. I just keep getting up, coming to work, just keep bouncing back.”

Kalif Raymond had six receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown as Chicago (2-1) rebounded from an ugly 9-3 loss to Minnesota.

Philadelphia (2-1) turned the ball over three times and failed to record a takeaway for the third consecutive game to begin the season. Hurts was 16 for 25 for 153 yards, and Saquon Barkley rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries.

“I think we all have to own that loss right there,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t think anybody coached well. I don’t think anyone played well. It was a true team loss. And when it’s a true team loss, you know I have to look at myself first.”

Down 20-7, the Eagles lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 49 with about four minutes left in the third quarter. But Hurts was unable to draw a flag for offside, and the Eagles took a delay-of-game penalty before punting it away.

Hurts was picked off by T.J. Edwards on a fourth-and-5 play from the Chicago 46 in the final minute of the third. Edwards dropped a potential interception on third down on Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half.

“I liked the decision to go for it on fourth-and-5,” Sirianni said. “Hindsight, I feel like I should have went for it on that fourth-and-1 1/2.”

Keenum capped Chicago's first drive with a shovel pass to Luther Burden for an 8-yard touchdown, and he connected with a wide-open Raymond on a 41-yard TD in the second half.

On the drive that ended with his seventh career rushing touchdown, making it 27-7 with 7:19 remaining, Keenum drew an offside penalty on Moro Ojomo on a fourth-and-2 play from the Eagles 39.

“Poised, calm and honestly a guy who was having a lot of fun,” Raymond said of Keenum. “The whole week he was like, you guys having fun, because I am. That's the way he was. He loves the game.”

Trailing 7-0, Hurts drove Philadelphia deep into Chicago territory in the second quarter before he absorbed a late hit by linebacker D'Marco Jackson along the sideline. Hurts was pulled off the field to be checked for a concussion, and backup Andy Dalton was intercepted by rookie Dillon Thieneman in the back of the end zone with 6:14 left.

Hurts said he was waiting for clearance to go back in when Dalton turned it over.

“I was just waiting for the thumbs-up,” Hurts said. “I felt fine, we already checked it. I don’t know the extent of the process. Obviously wish we could have expedited things. I know I felt fine.”

Hurts scored on a quarterback sneak as time expired in the first half, but Chicago controlled the final two periods. Philadelphia gained just 62 of its 248 yards in the second half.

Chicago finished with 24 first downs and 128 yards rushing. The Bears had 28 first downs and 281 yards on the ground in a 24-15 win at Philadelphia last season.

He is back

Zach Ertz had one reception for 9 yards for Philadelphia in his first game of the season. The veteran tight end rejoined the Eagles when he was signed to the team's practice squad last week.

The 35-year-old Ertz spent his first eight-plus seasons with the Eagles, earning three Pro Bowl appearances.

Injuries

Bears: LT Braxton Jones departed with 10:22 left in the third because of a knee injury. ... Raymond was shaken up on a punt return with 3:12 remaining in the third, but he returned to the game. ... DB Cam Lewis had a hip injury.

Up next

Eagles: Host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Bears: Host the New York Jets on Sunday.

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One day after the New York Mets finished last in the NL East for the first time in 23 years, the team's embattled president of baseball operations was asked a pointed question.

Knowing what he knows now, would he have taken a full swing at re-signing Pete Alonso?

“I think that's a very fair question. The truth is in this job, I don't get mulligans,” Stearns said Monday. "I also recognize Pete had a tremendous year. And the totality of our production at first base wasn’t good enough.”

When the Mets didn't attempt to retain Alonso in free agency last fall, their homegrown franchise home run leader bolted for a $155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore as Stearns focused on improving the pitching and defense instead.

“I think I’ll retire the phrase `run prevention,’” Stearns said with a grin. “I don’t know that that one worked particularly well.”

Alonso topped the American League with 43 homers and 113 RBIs, playing in every game for the third consecutive season as the 31-year-old slugger became the first player in major league history to win an RBI crown in both leagues.

New York, meanwhile, never recovered from a 12-game losing streak in April. Despite a record $358 million opening-day payroll, the Mets struggled badly at the plate, were mediocre on the mound and finished 74-88 for their worst mark since 2017.

“This past weekend that we just experienced in Washington, where you are literally playing out the string, it’s miserable. That is a miserable experience for players, for coaches, for executives,” Stearns said during a 33-minute news conference at Citi Field to wrap up the season.

“I think we have an extraordinarily motivated organization, from ownership on down, to ensure that never happens again.”

The absence of Alonso at first base was magnified when lineup mainstays Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor were both sidelined for long stretches because of calf injuries.

Soto finished with a .908 OPS, the second-lowest of his career, while Lindor set full-season career lows with 49 RBIs, three stolen bases, a .225 batting average and a .733 OPS.

Mets first basemen had 18 homers, 77 RBIs and a .667 OPS — the third-lowest OPS at the position, ahead of only Seattle and Arizona.

Alonso received standing ovations from Mets fans before every at-bat during the Orioles’ three-game sweep at Citi Field this month. He took a rare curtain call on the road Sept. 15, when his 300th career homer tied the score for Baltimore in the ninth inning and chants of “Fire Stearns!” rang out from the crowd of 28,097.

Last week, the Mets added former Minnesota Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey to the front office when he was hired as senior adviser for baseball operations. Falvey will report directly to Stearns.

New York played better late in the season, going 27-22 after the Aug. 3 trade deadline despite a massive selloff and 40-41 overall under Andy Green, who took over as interim manager when Carlos Mendoza was fired June 26.

Green was given the full-time gig and a three-year contract last week.

Part of the improvement was fueled by rookie outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, who combined for 31 homers and 47 stolen bases while playing strong defense. Rookie pitcher Nolan McLean went 12-10 with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts.

But going into a critical offseason for Stearns, the Mets have major question marks at first base, second base, in the bullpen and the rotation.

“Over the second half of the season, last few months of the season, we saw some really encouraging signs and we saw some elements of our team take shape that gives us all great optimism for both the near- and long-term future,” Stearns said.

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These things have often been true in recent years when world leaders orate at one another during their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly, which concluded Monday. This year, though, the discourse seemed even more urgent than usual. Across the words of more than 150 speeches, two things emerged as clear: Many leaders deeply want the world body to work. And many have concluded that it isn't.

“Where are the United Nations?” Alexandra Hill Tinoco, the foreign minister of El Salvador, asked Monday. “Do we have an organization that is still relevant?”

That was the question that hung over the weeklong gathering as leader after world leader — in different words, with different details — probed at the very heart of the organization that was founded eight decades ago to prevent a conflict like World War II from ever happening again.

At the heart of the U.N. ethos sits a word that most regular people never use: “multilateralism.” The optimistic principle — that problems that cross borders, regions and oceans can be solved by cooperation and shared power — is a potent one, advocated by almost everyone (the United States under Donald Trump being a notable exception).

But that flavor of multilateralism was conceived and built in a different era, when globalized challenges like pandemics, climate change and artificial intelligence did not sit quite so front and center. Even today, those that hold the true power — the ability to veto anything that comes before the U.N. Security Council without giving a reason — are the same five nations given it at the end of World War II.

“Multilateralism is under siege," said Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioʻo, Samoa's deputy prime minister.

It's not surprising, then, that the theme of this year's leaders' meeting at the General Assembly was “restoring trust.” From the barrage of remarks about it being broken, it seemed obvious that something needs to give in order to, as Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf put it, create “a shared home rather than an organization held hostage to the dominance of power politics.”

“There are problems,” said the foreign minister of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Herath, “which no country can solve alone.”

There's a close relationship between multilateralism and trust

One sticking point that the scores of speeches revealed was the scratchiness between two vital notions — multilateralism and sovereignty. Nations from North Korea to the Marshall Islands invoked high principles to say that all must work together while simultaneously underscoring that they will never allow their sovereign rights to be violated. This produces contradictions that remain unsolved.

“We have never been so connected, yet we are increasingly unable to trust one another," said Grand Duke Guillaume, Luxembourg's head of state.

The tradition of American individualism plays a role here, as embodied by Trump's consistently aggressive tone toward the U.N. To many in the United States, multilateralism hints at dark echoes of “one world government” and the notion of giving up power — and thus liberty — to other stakeholders. This trait, while often recessive in U.N. meetings, is true of many nations that fear incursion, war and domination.

In reality, though, multilateralism is the way the world works today — economically and, arguably, politically. From AI to rising temperatures, many nations just aren't equipped to go it alone. And while cooperation on AI was a centerpiece this year, so too was the outlook that nations such as China offered — that each country must make its own decisions about the emerging technology.

“States alone cannot make progress," said Christophe Mirmand, Monaco's minister of state.

The hue and cry for multilateralism, always present when smaller nations meet larger ones, has been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, when most of the meetings were held remotely. It has been amplified further as members — particularly island nations, whose very existence is threatened by warming oceans — increasingly assert that the world is happening at them rather than with them.

If bigger countries with different interests can make all the major decisions on problems and opportunities that transcend map borders, these smaller nations say, then they will be left in the dust. The only answer, they say, is a United Nations that truly equalizes voices and has the fortitude to make that principle stick.

“The message to small nations is clear: Be as sovereign as we allow you to be," said Philip Edward Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas. "A sovereignty that requires permission is not a sovereignty.”

Fixing the imbalance of political oomph is difficult

Whenever the United Nations gathers, its origin story is always lurking in the background: World War II. Nowhere is that more evident than when talk of expanding the Security Council and its permanent members comes up.

The 15-member Security Council, which holds the U.N.'s only real authority, has five permanent members — the United States, Russia, Britain, China and France — that hold veto power. While other nations rotate in and out, their power is limited; they can neither veto nor prevent vetoes. Those five nations have held the power since the beginning (in Russia's case, as the Soviet Union). For so many other nations, that's not OK.

“The veto is a relic," said Matthew Wale, prime minister of the Solomon Islands, whose existence is threatened by climate change. Many island nations want permanent representation on the council. José Antonio Kast, Chile's president, put it more forcefully: “We simply cannot continue to play by the same rules of an order that was established in 1945 in 2026.”

The notion of permanent representation for Africa, which currently holds three rotating seats, has long been a goal of African leaders, who speak about it every year. They're getting louder, and they're getting more adamant.

“Africa can no longer remain on the sidelines of situations that shape its destiny,” said Constant-Serge Bounda, the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister. He and others want two permanent Security Council seats for Africa — with veto power. “Africa is not asking for a favor,” he said. “It is claiming its rightful place.”

Taken together, these various outcries point back to the theme of the meeting. Everyone respects the United Nations. Everyone sees potential in its optimistic, egalitarian vision of a fraternity of nations. But even as they praise the possibilities, the fact that so many leaders denounce the reality left an echo after this week that is hard to ignore: Stop talking. Start doing. Yes, let all voices be heard. But then act.

Or, as Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's minister for European and International Affairs, framed it: “The United Nations was not created to discuss international problems. It was created to solve them." To many who ascended to the rostrum this past week, that simply is not happening.

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Ted Anthony has overseen Associated Press coverage of the U.N. General Assembly's annual meeting of leaders since 2018 and has been covering international affairs since 1994.

Much of Reed's first three decades of life had been shaped by abuse and neglect: first, she says, at the hands of her biological mother, then in foster care and, when she became an adult, in a series of romantic relationships. She had lost custody of three older children a decade earlier, in part because she lacked stable housing. By March 2022, when she had finally landed an apartment in a transitional housing program, she had lost all faith in herself.

None of that was apparent this September, when she traveled to the nation's capital to tell members of Congress how her life changed when she enrolled her children in Head Start.

Reed says Head Start helped her heal from three decades of trauma and abuse. Staff connected her to job training, taught her how to be a better mother, helped her advocate for her son’s disability accommodations at his elementary school, and urged her to join the council that oversees Head Start across Spokane County, Washington. She was elected the council's president last year.

Head Start was, Reed says, “a warm blanket in a time where I constantly felt cold.”

That could be changing.

Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration proposed gutting Head Start regulations that spell out how programs must support families with financial, education or housing concerns. Many of the services now mandated would become optional.

Head Start was founded to help both kids and parents

Reed’s transformation was no fluke: Head Start’s services for low-income parents have been central to its model for decades.

“Being told that somebody believes in you and thinks you’re a good parent after so much loss — it didn’t feel real at first,” Reed said. “It took probably a year or two for me to be like, ‘OK, maybe I am. Maybe I just went through something that was really hard, but I was doing the best that I could.’”

Head Start, a six-decade-old preschool program, works to lift children and their families out of poverty. Its two-generation approach is rooted in the idea that improving caregivers' lives is as essential to a child's success as what happens in the classroom. Parents can also serve on committees that help set the direction of their kids' preschool.

“It’s always had that family connection,” said Loukisha Smart-Pennix of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, which oversees several Head Start centers. “That’s been part and parcel of what Head Start was built on.”

Smart-Pennix said she's proof the approach works. When she was in the program as a preschooler in the 1970s, Head Start connected her mother with a factory job. Two decades later, when Smart-Pennix enrolled her son, the center employed her and pushed her to go to college. By the time her daughter was old enough to enroll, she earned too much to qualify. (Generally, families qualify for Head Start if their income is at or below the federal poverty line, currently $33,000 for a family of four.)

Under current regulations, Head Start asks parents to set goals — to return to school, to buy a home — and then helps them stay on track to achieve them. Parents have described how Head Start has helped them stay sober, finish school, pay off debt or simply keep the lights on. Operators are required to give hiring preferences to current and former Head Start parents, so many end up working for the program. Some eventually run their own preschools.

The Trump administration proposal would water down many of the family support regulations. Goal-setting with families would be optional, as would hiring preferences for Head Start parents. It would also scrap requirements for an open-door policy that gives parents liberal access to their child's classroom and cancel a mandate that staff visit homes and hold parent-teacher conferences at least twice per year. Programs would no longer be required to help parents navigate Medicaid, even as the government-funded health insurance program's rules are becoming more complex.

Head Start preschools would also have the option of eliminating parent committees, formal groups that weigh in on curriculum and programming. And policy councils, which have parent members, would see their authority weakened under the proposal.

Alex Adams, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services office overseeing Head Start, said the goal of the changes is to empower local leaders and to increase efficiency, enabling programs to serve up to 236,000 more children without additional funding.

“A one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington cannot fully account for the realities facing these 1,600 grantees” that operate Head Start preschools, Adams told reporters in August. “Federal mandates can certainly hinder local decision-making, drive up costs and limit the program’s reach.”

The Department of Health and Human Services said the proposal still recognizes the importance of parents in a child's learning, “but substantially reduces hyper-specificity for how to fulfill requirements, specifically around how programs must engage parents and families in education and child development services.”

“The proposal gives programs room to make thoughtful adjustments when local circumstances call for them,” the department said in a statement.

A push to enroll more children in larger classes

Head Start backers see the proposal not as a chance for flexibility but as another effort by the Trump administration to undermine the longstanding program. Days after Trump, a Republican, took office in early 2025, some Head Start programs temporarily closed their doors due to problems accessing their federal money. Later, a White House budget draft proposed eliminating funding for Head Start. The funding was restored after widespread backlash.

Adams emphasized programs wouldn't have to use the flexibility in the proposal if they want to continue operating as they have.

“It’s not a mandate," Adams told reporters. "The opportunity for these programs to make a different decision does not necessarily mean they must make a different decision.”

But advocates are skeptical. The administration's proposal eliminates requirements for small class sizes and scraps caseload limits for family support specialists. Centers instead would abide by their state's early learning regulations, which are often more lenient.

With more kids, fewer teachers, rising costs and no material increase in funding, advocates worry programs would be forced to dilute some of Head Start’s signature offerings. The Trump administration's own projections show that to add 236,000 slots for kids, Head Start centers would have to eliminate about 25,000 teacher jobs, increase class sizes and cut three-quarters of the staff who provide in-home education for new parents.

Reed says she worries the changes could mean fewer success stories like hers.

That's how she ended up in Washington, D.C. When Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took a seat next to her, Reed grew nervous.

“Is it OK if I just read something from my phone?” she asked, shaking. Murray nodded.

She told the senator, a former preschool teacher, about the day she moved from a domestic violence shelter into transitional housing.

“At the bottom of our stairs was a Head Start center,” she said. “I had no idea how much it would change our lives.”

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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.

Fay first formed on Sep. 20. The storm nearly became the first hurricane of the season meandering in the open waters of the Central Atlantic.

That was stint number one.

The storm became a remnant low Sep. 22nd

Fay then drifted into an atmosphere that favored development and regenerated the next day.

Fay weakened into a depression over the weekend, but Monday night strengthened back into a tropical storm with winds of 40 miles per hour.

Fay is the longest-lived storm of the 2026 season so far which isn’t saying much as the basin in the midst of an historically quiet season.

Still, there are a couple of weeks left of the climatologically most active period of the season.

Hurricane season runs ends Dec. 1.

The indirect talks come as the conflict, which is entering its eighth month, has caused global economic damage and badly battered Iran. Multiple efforts to allow safe shipping on one of the world’s most crucial waterways have failed.

The officials divulged that the behind-the-scenes efforts continue even after U.S. President Donald Trump initially said he spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — who stayed in New York after last week’s gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly — will meet with Qatari mediators Monday about the latest discussions, Iranian state media reported Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying.

Despite Trump’s often bellicose rhetoric, he is open to pursuing a non-military resolution to the conflict if one can be achieved, a senior U.S. official said.

But the Trump administration will not reach a deal with Tehran until nuclear issues are addressed, another U.S. official said. Trump is willing to grant sanctions relief to Iran, along with the release of some frozen funds, for concrete progress on nuclear issues, and while Iran has indicated it is flexible on nuclear issues, the sides are far apart on timing and which side makes the first moves, the official said.

All the officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity about the behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations.

The deal would first reopen the strait and lift the US blockade

Two of the regional officials speaking to the AP confirmed that mediators are working with both sides on a proposal that would include reopening the strait and lifting the U.S. blockade, and then removing sanctions.

According to the draft text being discussed, the strait would reopen in accordance with a separate deal that Iran has been discussing with Oman, on the other side of the strait, and it would include no tolls — something Tehran has pursued. That deal seeks to temporarily manage shipping traffic on what was seen as an international waterway before the war.

One regional official said the U.S. is seeking Iranian concessions on nuclear issues that include allowing inspectors to enter the country. Under the memorandum of understanding the two sides signed in June that collapsed within days, Iran’s nuclear program was meant to be discussed over a 60-day period.

The U.S. officials say the United States is skeptical about whether Iran can be persuaded to ultimately reach Trump’s conditions for a deal and would be serious about any promises it makes, especially after it broke the interim deal by firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. officials feel their position is getting stronger as Tehran feels the impact of sanctions.

Iran's latest proposal seeks faster action

While Iran’s latest proposal echoes the June deal, a key difference is speed.

Araghchi told a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week that Tehran had pitched the deal as benefiting Trump in the midterm elections. Araghchi later told journalists that “the seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan.”

Meanwhile, Araghchi met Monday with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, whose office said he welcomed diplomatic efforts in the last week to end the conflict and urged the parties to keep talking.

Both the U.S. and Iran have been hurting economically — the U.S. from high oil prices as Iran attacks ships on the strait, and Tehran from the naval blockade and a growing number of U.S. sanctions that bottle up its oil sales. Brent crude, the international standard, is above $108.

For months, the two sides have been trying to outlast the other, while regional countries endure missile and drone attacks as Tehran claims to target U.S. military assets in the region.

Reflecting Iran's impatience, a rare statement on Monday attributed to the theocracy's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei noted the “painful blows” that enemy forces have received near the strait. “Before long, the Arabian Sea, too, will be rid of them,” the statement added.

Tehran's latest proposal again sought to end the fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon. But a new front has emerged in recent weeks as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are now perched on another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. That has further pressured global energy markets.

Iran argues that the Houthis have their own demands, and that their conflict with neighboring Saudi Arabia is separate from the U.S.-Iran war, but Iranian officials said they are willing to help in finding a settlement between the Houthis and the Saudis, one of the officials said.

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Price and Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in Washington and AP Middle East editor Victoria Eastwood contributed to this report.

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AP STANDARDS: The AP only uses anonymous sources when the information is vital to the news report and not opinion or speculation. The information must be unavailable except under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the source. The source must be reliable, in a position to have accurate information and approved by news managers.

The district recently closed seven schools and made $8.5 million in cuts, prompting some parents to question the timing and optics of a major capital project.

OCPS says the long-vacant, century-old Cherokee School would be transformed into a first-of-its-kind “launchpad for the next generation of creators.”

At this high school, which is set to be called the School of Arts & Entertainment at Cherokee, students will learn film, animation, sound and digital design.

“It’s a capital investment in an historic building that’s downtown that we think is going to bring some amazing opportunities for our students, both through the workforce and in the arts,” said Scott Howat, chief communications officer with OCPS.

According to OCPS, $51.5 million comes from capital funds, with a plan for an additional $25 million in private donor support. Dr. Phillips Charities has also committed $2.5 million to the project.

The district believes the renovations will draw students from within the district, and pull from outside as well, including charter, private and homeschool students.

Neighbors near the site say they are concerned about the school’s proposed scale and the potential impact on surrounding streets.

“It’s pretty upsetting that our tax dollars are going to a school that’s going to serve 500 students or less when there are multiple schools in the area being shut down that could potentially serve 2-3,000 students,” Adam Zywicki, who recently purchased a home across from the site, said.

Traffic is a key issue, according to residents who say neighborhood roads are too small to handle an influx of vehicles.

At Monday night’s event at Boone High School, leaders with the architecture firm Corgan, along with district officials, made a presentation and took questions from neighbors.

OCPS says current plans include 88 on-site parking spots, but locals argue that is not enough and are calling for additional traffic studies.

The district says it has already begun adjusting plans in response to feedback.

OCPS presented four traffic queuing options to the community on Monday and asked for input on how students would enter and exit campus.

OCPS also says its proposing operational changes intended to reduce congestion, including limiting the campus to 250 students at a time on alternating days, with a school day running noon to 6:30 p.m.

Howat said those changes were made “to try to address the concerns that the community has raised.”

Some parents also raised concerns about whether the district will be able to staff and operate a new program as the district faces broader budget pressures.

“If they’re not going to be able to operate it, and we’re going to get into the same issues that teachers and social workers at current schools are facing, have we just created a new problem at a very big expense to the taxpayers?” Brian Wilson, who lives nearby, said.

OCPS is expected to continue gathering community feedback as the project moves toward a planned August 2028 opening.

Howat said at least three additional public meetings similar to Monday’s are planned.

Cade Kirchner was pulled over by Oviedo police, fingerprinted and cited. His family said his bike was also towed.

According to the family, one of the citations involves operating an unregistered motor vehicle. Police described the bike as an electric motorcycle.

Cade’s parents said they acknowledge he was in the wrong, but they believe a warning would have been more appropriate.

“The whole thing is stressful,” Cade’s mother, Gina Dougherty, said.

Cade said he has been struggling with the situation and is worried about appearing in court.

“I’m feeling very scared,” he said. “I’d rather be in school instead of being at court.”

Cade’s father, Chris Kirchner, previously called the case “one of the most absurd over-reaches of justice I’ve ever seen.”

On Monday, Chris said he recently spoke with the State Attorney’s Office and was told prosecutors are pursuing charges. The office did not specify what those charges would be.

“I don’t even know what I’m scared about,” Cade said. “It’s a different environment.”

Chris said he hopes the charges are dropped and that his son can return to school without having to repeat the experience.

Cade’s court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m. News 6 will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

Klitschko, a Ukrainian former world champion boxer, has had full custody of the girl, Kaya, for most of her life, and she has lived with him in Ukraine. Kaya is Panettiere's sole heir. The filing in a Los Angeles County court cites items seized in a federal investigation of the actor’s death, unnamed and unauthorized people accessing her residence in Los Angeles, and valuables that are missing.

The petition says it is “urgent and essential” that Klitschko be granted the legal status of temporary guardian of his daughter's estate.

“Without an immediate appointment for these purposes, there is a high probability that property belonging to Hayden’s Estate may be lost, damaged or dissipated before a duly appointed personal representative can be in place to protect it,” the filing says.

Klitschko's lawyers filed the petition on Thursday, but it did not become publicly known until Monday, when it was reported by TMZ. The filing emphasizes that his intention is solely to protect his daughter's future assets until a permanent administrator can be put in place.

Panettiere, the former star of the TV series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” died Aug. 16 at age 36. A coroner's report obtained by The Associated Press said her death was from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl, and she had been in rehab just weeks before. She was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina.

The petition says that federal agents have taken Panettiere’s property in an investigation, and there is no authorized person to deal with them and assure it is returned.

The filing says that before her death, Panettiere and Klitschko hired security to protect her home because an unnamed person had gained unauthorized access. The petition says it's expected the same person will continue to try to “misappropriate” property belonging to her estate.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Oct. 8.

In her memoir released earlier this year, Panettiere acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and having postpartum depression after her daughter's birth in 2014. Kaya went to live with Klitschko full-time when she was 2. Panettiere's father told investigators that when she died she had plans to visit her daughter in Ukraine days later.

Klitschko, 50, an Olympic gold medalist, held several heavyweight titles between 2000 and 2015. He and Panettiere began dating in 2009 and got engaged in 2013.

His older brother Vitali, also a former champion boxer, is mayor of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The two brothers, sons of a Soviet major general, have worked to protect their country during its war with Russia.

The overwhelming 77-22 vote to pass the legislation is the strongest effort yet by Congress to set national regulations governing payments to college athletes for their name, image and likeness and how often they can transfer. It would give the NCAA new authority over those rules and limited antitrust protections to enforce them.

The bill is the product of years of Senate negotiations that intensified after a 2025 lawsuit settlement uprooted the college sports landscape by allowing colleges to pay their players. The legislation, which would still have to pass the House, would codify the settlement into law but also establish new guardrails around the system in an attempt to rein in the runaway costs for colleges.

“It would be nice if college sports could somehow magically fix itself, but this is a matter of law, federal law, and only Congress can fix it,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who negotiated the bill with the top Democrat on the panel, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.

President Donald Trump praised the bill in a social media post after the late night passage. “This is a really big deal,” he said. “It will not only save college sports, it will save the colleges themselves.”

The bill's backers — more than 70 senators from both parties — say it aims to curtail constant litigation and uncertainty across college sports for athletes, schools and fans. It would also give hundreds of thousands of athletes new health and labor protections.

But critics say the bill doesn't do enough to protect athletes or curtail the enormous sums of money flowing to coaches, colleges and conferences.

“This is a bill that essentially ensconces a system of exploitation, and it doesn’t fix the broader problems,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who has worked with labor and civil rights groups to rally opposition to the bill.

The bill’s future is still unclear. It could face an uphill battle in the House, which failed repeatedly over the last year to get a different version to the floor and is in recess until after the November elections.

Lawmakers will have to start over in the next Congress if the bill doesn't pass both chambers by the end of the year.

Bill addresses skyrocketing spending, unlimited transfers

College sports have been reeling in the wake of the 2025 court settlement allowing colleges to directly pay players for their name, image and likeness. The fallout has reshaped the industry and led to football roster payrolls that can exceed $40 million.

The bill would codify the court settlement, including a revenue cap that allows schools to share up to $21.5 million in revenue with their players. The legislation would more than double that amount for some schools, allowing up to an additional $27.5 million in payments through a retention fund — a change that helped win the support of the two largest conferences, the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.

To help schools raise more revenue, the bill would give schools and conferences the option of pooling their TV media rights.

The legislation also aims to stabilize the NCAA transfer portal that has led to players constantly switching teams. It would restrict player transfers to one “free” move over five years without sitting out a year, with some exceptions, and also would restrict players to five years of total eligibility.

The proposed eligibility limit comes amid backlash to schools that have increasingly pushed boundaries, including LSU's now-canceled plans to place players on the roster who had participated in NFL training camps.

“That was probably like a big lamp for some people who saw it and said, ‘Oh my God, this is so out of control,’” Cantwell said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The bill also would restrict coaches from leaving their schools during the season, force schools that want to switch conferences to spend three years as an independent and prevent conferences from growing larger than 20 programs — an effort to prevent so-called “superleagues” from taking over sports. A last-minute amendment proposed by Florida Sen. Ashley Moody raised that cap from 19 in the original legislation.

The vote was delayed several hours on Monday as senators negotiated Moody’s amendment and others that were eventually adopted, including a provision to make it easier for athletes to sue over sexual assault and a requirement to disclose foreign financing.

The Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that would have put limits on ticket prices for fans and two by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., that would have capped coaches’ salaries at $5 million a year and increased compensation for athletes who have catastrophic injuries.

Critics say it wouldn’t do enough to help athletes

The legislation includes new protections for athletes, including caps on agent fees and guarantees for health insurance and scholarships. It would also require schools to maintain a minimum number of sports and roster spots — an effort to ensure that women's and Olympic sports are not cut in favor of football, basketball and other sports that generate more revenue.

Still, some Democrats say it wouldn't do enough to limit the big money in college sports.

The legislation “places a cap on the students’ cut of the revenues, but there are no caps on coaches’ salaries or on the size of donations to athletic programs,” Murphy said last week.

Groups like the NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus and AFL-CIO have also opposed the bill, in part, because it leaves unresolved whether athletes should be considered employees with the ability to collectively bargain.

All four Black Democrats in the Senate — Booker, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland — have opposed the bill.

Booker, who played football at Stanford in the late 1980s on a scholarship, noted the “outsized role” that Black athletes play in college sports. He said it wasn't until college athletes were able to begin to win cases in court that the power started to shift, “and now the NCAA is coming here to the United States Senate, asking for sweeping powers" to exempt antitrust laws.

“We know who this bill is protecting,” Booker said.

House passage is uncertain

Despite strong bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill faces a murky path in the House.

House lawmakers won't return to Washington until mid-November, after the elections. And it's unclear what will be on Republican leaders' agenda in the chaotic last few weeks of the session.

Pressure from Trump could help push the bill to passage. But some House Republicans have insisted on language explicitly stating that athletes are not employees, which the Senate bill does not have — a key concession to Cantwell to win enough Democratic support.

After the bill's passage, Cruz said it is his hope “that we see in the House the same thing we saw in the Senate: a big bipartisan vote.”

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Pells reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

The event, “A Community Conversation: Property Taxes,” featured a studio audience and fielded questions from viewers at home about Amendment 3 — a measure that would dramatically expand Florida’s homestead exemption but could cost local governments billions in lost revenue.

Watch the full special on ClickOrlando.com : Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Meet the experts

The panel included:

• Rep. Ryan Chamberlain (R-Marion County), state legislator
• Amy Mercado, Orange County Property Appraiser
• Caroline Melear, Director of Finance and Insurance at R Street Institute, a public policy think tank
• Harold Theus, Executive Director of the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association

[WATCH: Part 1: Answers to your questions about Amendment 3]

What is Amendment 3?

Amendment 3, also known as HJR 1F, would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 — indexed to inflation after that. Right now, only the first $25,000 and a portion between $50,000 and $75,000 of a home’s assessed value are exempt from property taxes.

To become law, the measure needs at least 60% approval from voters on Nov. 3.

Under the current system, Florida homeowners receive two layers of protection:

• The first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from all property taxes
• Between $50,000 and $75,000, the value is exempt from non-school taxes
• Everything else is taxable

Amendment 3 would replace that structure — for non-school taxes only — with a much larger exemption:

• 2027: First $150,000 of assessed value exempt
• 2028: First $250,000 of assessed value exempt
• 2029 and beyond: First $250,000, adjusted for inflation

The expanded exemption applies to Florida permanent residents who are already homesteaded before Jan. 1, 2027.

New residents would receive a different, five-year exemption: the first $25,000 exempt from school taxes and the next $25,000 exempt from non-school taxes. After five years, they would qualify for the full higher exemption.

The amendment would also cut the annual non-homestead property assessment growth cap from 10% to 5%, limiting how much commercial and rental properties can be assessed each year.

[WATCH: Part 2: Answers to your questions about Amendment 3]

How local governments could spend property tax money

The amendment doesn’t just change exemptions — it also restricts how cities and counties can use property tax dollars, limiting spending to:

• Public safety (law enforcement, EMS, fire services)
• Education and public schools
• Infrastructure (roads, bridges, stormwater)
• Natural resource and flood control projects
• Bond payments and debt service
• Local government employee retirement benefits
• Operations of county officers and commissioners

[WATCH: Part 3: Answers to your questions about Amendment 3]

Cities warn of real consequences

On Monday, Orlando officials presented their proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and recommended a hiring freeze — leaving vacant positions unfilled — if Amendment 3 passes. That freeze would continue through fiscal years 2028 and 2029.

Mayor Buddy Dyer said Orlando’s property tax revenue already falls about $58 million short of what it costs to fund public safety services, and warned that planned projects could be canceled.

“Programs that residents value may be scaled back,” Dyer said. “And that is not a prediction. Not wild alarmism. It’s the reality of municipal finance. No different than your household budget.”

In Sanford, Mayor Art Woodruff said his city could lose about $15.3 million in property tax revenue over two years if the amendment passes — roughly a third of the city’s total property tax base and about 18% of its overall tax revenue.

An analysis by the Seminole County Property Appraiser projects Sanford’s taxable value would drop by $819 million in 2027 and $1.3 billion in 2028 under the new exemption structure.

“To cut 18% in two years is going to be tough,” Woodruff said. “We’ve done it before. Back in 2008, we had a huge hit on the economy. We cut — we didn’t cut staff. We cut their hours. They were paid less.”

Woodruff said public safety is the top priority to protect, but that residents would feel cuts elsewhere — starting with parks and maintenance.

“Somebody contacted me this week that they were concerned about pickleball nets at one of our parks, and they’re being held together with zip ties,” he said. “What will happen is the nets will just come down.”

Sanford commissioners are also weighing a fire assessment fee to offset potential revenue losses, though no final decision has been made.

[WATCH: Part 4: Answers to your questions about Amendment 3]

The statewide price tag

According to nonprofit research institute Florida Tax Watch, Amendment 3 is expected to reduce local property taxes statewide by more than $45 billion over five years:

[WATCH: Part 5: Answers to your questions about Amendment 3]

Orange County is projected to lose $2.82 billion over five years. Seminole County faces a projected $913.7 million loss. Miami-Dade tops the list at $5.16 billion.

Amendment 3 will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. Voters must approve the measure by at least 60% for it to take effect. Watch the full “A Community Conversation: Property Taxes” special on ClickOrlando.com : Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office will present evidence to a grand jury as he faces questions from the public about why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.

The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint Sept. 16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ivy League campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She became completely incapacitated while frat members were sexually assaulting her, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, the reopening of the investigation and Cornell’s response have sparked a flood of commentary on social media. Many people have criticized the school and the district attorney’s office in their posts, while some have expressed doubt about the lawsuit’s allegations. Some posted photos of the seven fraternity members.

The accuser is suing the men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages. Her attorney did not immediately respond Monday to messages seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision.

The woman went to campus police at the time, but Van Houten said the accuser did not make any claims of being gang-raped or drugged in her initial sworn statement to authorities. The prosecutor also said he was never contacted by the woman's attorney about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to prosecute, but he reached out to the attorney recently.

“Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” Van Houten said in a statement. “I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members. I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys.”

Cornell responds to criticism about its handling of the allegations

The university said in a statement that it supports the decision to reopen the investigation. The school said it conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

School officials on Monday declined to release more information on the sanctions, including how many students were expelled and suspended. Cornell said last week that federal privacy law barred it from disclosing specific information on individual students.

“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”

The national chapter of Chi Phi did not return phone and email messages Monday.

The school said it conducted an internal disciplinary investigation in 2024. It said a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and both the woman and the people accused had the opportunity to testify and present evidence.

Lawsuit alleges student was sexually assaulted during a night of celebrating

The woman's complaint accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and failing to properly address sexual violence on campus. It includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing the night's events.

The woman, who was a 20-year-old Cornell student at the time and a sorority member, went to campus police about three weeks later, according to the lawsuit. The fraternity and seven of its members were placed on temporary suspension that same day, the lawsuit said.

The complaint said the seven were given “the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell."

Cornell said “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement," noting the expulsions and suspensions.

Over the weekend, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned what she called a “culture of rape” that is protected at elite institutions.

“When I read what happened at Cornell, those men posted in a group chat. That means it was normal to them. That means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture,” she said Sunday at a forum packed with young people near Cornell’s campus.

“And what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces any more.”

School says it has taken additional action to address sexual violence

Cornell said a school task force on campus sexual assault, formed in 2025, made recommendations earlier this year, several of which have been implemented while others are in development.

The task force report said a 2025 school survey showed 35% of undergraduate women and 8% of undergraduate men reported experiencing sexual assault during their time at Cornell.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the prosecutor said, his office has been flooded with phone calls, voicemails and emails about the case from people seeking answers and others making insults and threats.

“The community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” Van Houten said in a statement.

Eeshaan Chaudhuri, a Cornell senior and president of the student government, said there needs to be a fresh look at the university’s initial investigation and why the district attorney's office did not do more.

There also needs to be an examination of the culture at the fraternity, he said.

“This issue poses more of a broader question, not just at Cornell,” he said. “Obviously, these things can’t be fixed overnight.”

A Utah judge ordered Douglas Stewart Carter let out on bail late Monday over objections from the victim's family. Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while he awaits a new trial in the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen.

The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter has maintained his innocence and says a signed confession was coerced.

No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene. But the jury convicted Carter, a Black man, based on the confession and the testimony of two witnesses who said he bragged about killing Olesen, who was white. Those witnesses later recanted.

A DNA analysis received Sept. 22 excluded Carter as a possible match to blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of a knife used to stab Olesen, who was also shot.

Judge Derek Pullan said those results further undermined the case against Carter, but a reasonable jury still could conclude that he killed Olesen.

Prosecutors are reconsidering the case

Carter walked out of jail late Monday, wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants, with his eyeglasses hanging from around his neck. His son pushed a cart with pillows, blankets and Carter's personal belongings beside him.

Carter smiled at times while also trying to shield his face behind papers. He didn't speak to a handful of journalists outside the jail, and got into a vehicle with his son and defense attorney. A judge ordered him not to have any contact with Olesen's family.

“This is going to be a lot for him,” Carter's son, Tyler Anger, said as he waited for his father.

Carter will be placed in an extended stay hotel near Anger, who was adopted by another family as an infant and didn’t learn about the conviction until years later, said Carter's attorney Neal Hamilton. Carter also will need therapy to deal with his extended incarceration, Hamilton said.

“If the state of Utah had their way, he would have been executed 15, 20 years ago before we discovered the misconduct,” Hamilton said. He urged prosecutors to seek dismissal of an aggravated murder charge still pending against Carter.

A two-month retrial was planned next year, but last week county prosecutors withdrew a notice that they intended to seek the death penalty.

Utah County prosecutor Erwin Petilos told the judge Monday that reassessing Carter’s bail was “necessary and fair” as the state continues to look at the remaining evidence in the case.

Carter, a Chicago native, was living with his mother in Utah when Olesen was killed on Feb. 27, 1985. Court documents indicate the investigation eventually focused on Carter, who was suspected of killing Olesen during a robbery.

By that April, Carter had fled Utah believing he was a suspect in an unrelated assault case, according to court documents. He was apprehended that June in Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a confession while under interrogation by a Provo detective.

Carter said later that he falsely confessed after police repeatedly threatened him. He was convicted and sentenced to death after a trial in which the defense called no witnesses. He was again sentenced to death after a 1992 retrial, and courts in Utah rejected numerous appeals from Carter in subsequent years.

Key witnesses say police gave them cash and gifts

A turning point came in 2011, when the two witnesses from Carter's original trial were tracked down in Mexico. They said they had been told to lie in court and had received cash and gifts from police, who told them not to disclose the payments. They also said police and prosecutors threatened them and their son with deportation if they did not implicate Carter.

More than a decade of legal wrangling followed before the Utah Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing “multiple instances of intentional misconduct” by police and a prosecutor. A DNA analysis of the evidence was conducted in response to that order, and prosecutors said the results arrived last week. They declined Monday to say whether they're using the DNA evidence to search for other suspects with matching DNA.

Victim's husband was potential suspect

Carter's defense attorneys have said witnesses saw a white man fleeing the crime scene and an investigator suppressed evidence pointing to other suspects, including the victim’s husband, Orla Olesen.

They allege that prosecutors were close to filing charges against the husband, but a Provo police lieutenant asked them not to so he could continue investigating. Carter was identified as a suspect soon after, according to court documents.

Orla Olesen, a painting contractor who died in 2009, told police he found his wife dead in their home, partially undressed and with her hands tied behind her back.

Theresa Olesen, a daughter-in-law of Eva Olesen, said during Monday's bond hearing that her family had "serious concerns" about Carter's release.

“By golly we were hoping for a concrete match,” Olesen said of the DNA analysis. “It doesn't mean he wasn't there."

“We just want justice for Eva. And if he had any part of it we want that to be known,” she added. ___ Associated Press photographer George Frey in Spanish Fork, Utah, contributed to this report.

Trooper Hayden Phillips, 30, was shot when he pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 65 in Warren County, Col. Phillip Burnett Jr., commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, said during a news conference.

The vehicle left the scene, and after a brief search, law enforcement found it and the suspect about 94 miles (151 kilometers) northeast in Jefferson County, he said. Police in Louisville caught the suspect, a 51-year-old man from Portland, Tennessee.

Kyle Bumgarner, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, described it as a “routine traffic stop" and said officials responded within minutes of the shooting.

The suspect will be transported back to Warren County and face state murder charges, he said.

“This is among, if not among, it is the most heinous crime that can be committed in our commonwealth,” Bumgarner said. "One of our own was gunned down and murdered on the side of the road.”

Officials didn’t say why the trooper pulled the man over, how the shooting unfolded and whether the suspect has a criminal record.

Phillips had been at the agency for three years and was based out of Bowling Green in south-central Kentucky. He was a husband and father of three.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Phillips “a hero who dedicated himself to protecting our commonwealth.”

The meeting between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan took place on Sunday, two people who were briefed on the Israeli leader's trip confirmed on Monday.

Meanwhile, the European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the bloc is applying for observer status in a Saudi-led maritime defense coalition formed to protect the kingdom's energy exports. The EU already has six vessels deployed to the Red Sea to protect shipping.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Full coverage is available here.

Netanyahu made a secret visit to the UAE

The Israeli prime minister held an hourlong meeting with the UAE’s president on Sunday, according to two people briefed on Netanyahu's trip, which was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 TV station.

One of them said the talks focused on a report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz earlier this month that said the Emirati leader warned Netanyahu about a looming attack by Hamas just ahead of Oct. 7, 2023.

Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny the report, according to a person said to have firsthand information about the meeting. Netanyahu’s office had previously denied the Haaretz report. The person, along with a regional official briefed on the meeting, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret trip.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, filed a complaint with Israel’s chief military censor against Channel 12 over what it called a serious censorship violation. It said the timing of the report endangered the prime minister and the operation and forces on the ground and exposed Shin Bet operational methods.

The PMO said Channel 12 reported the flight at 9:38 p.m. while the plane was still outside Israel and about an hour before it landed.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports about the meeting but stressed it maintains “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and shares “all relevant intelligence.”

The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency later confirmed the visit, saying the two leaders on Sunday discussed “bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel, as well as ways to strengthen and develop them.”

___

By Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Samy Magdy in Cairo

EU applies for observer status in a Saudi mission in the Red Sea

The European Union is applying for “observer status” in a new multinational maritime defense coalition led by Saudi Arabia formed to protect the kingdom’s energy exports.

The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas made the announcement on Monday, ahead of a Brussels meeting. The energy-hungry EU is facing record energy prices due to the war in Iran.

Kallas said she will ask for an expansion of the bloc’s own small naval force in the Red Sea dubbed ASPIDES to help escort cargo vessels through the key strategic chokepoint of the Bab el-Mandeb strait and protect them from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Kallas said the “need is bigger than it’s ever been” for more ships. It’s unclear what observer status in the Saudi-led coalition would mean operationally for either the EU or ASPIDES.

Supreme leader says Iranian troops defended the Strait of Hormuz from the enemy

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has praised his country’s fighters for allegedly preventing “enemy forces” from “roaming freely” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Khamenei said in a message carried by the state broadcaster on Monday that Iran’s enemies now “do not come” closer to the strait than the Arabian Sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean.

Soon, “the Arabian Sea too, will be rid of them,” said the message, issued to mark the two-year anniversary of the killing of the militant Hezbollah group's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Khamenei hasn't been seen or heard publicly since the opening attacks of the war on Feb. 28 that killed his father and previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Houthi-run health ministry says 4 civilians killed in strike on a home in southwestern Yemen

The Houthi-run health ministry said a strike by Saudi-backed forces on a residence in southwestern Yemen’s Taiz province killed three women and an elderly man.

The statement Monday said three others were injured in the strike in Kadhah, in western Taiz. It was not immediately clear if the strike occurred Monday.

The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims.

Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel, aired footage it said to be showing a partially destroyed bloc of rural one-floor residences.

WHO says more people have been killed or wounded in Yemen

The World Health Organization said Sunday it has documented 164 deaths and 645 injuries from the war in Yemen between Sept. 19 and Sept. 26.

This brings the overall casualties since Aug. 6 to 4,481, with 838 fatalities. The latest intense fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemeni government forces has displaced more than 180,000 people.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 1 person, wound others

A woman was killed and her husband wounded when an Israeli strike hit a Gaza City rooftop on Monday, Shifa Hospital officials said. Another person was also wounded and in critical condition.

The Israeli military later said it was aware of this strike and was looking into its results.

Later Monday, a second Israeli strike, on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, left one person critically injured, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said it targeted a “military operative,” but did not immediately provide further details or identify the individual.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago. Around half that number are women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which maintains detailed records that international organizations consider reliable.

Iranian and Emirati officials argue about ownership of Gulf islands

In the waning hours of the U.N. General Assembly, Iran and the United Arab Emirates used their final moments to jab at each other over the islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb, which are once again in the crosshairs of regional escalations.

The three small islands — which were seized in 1971 by Iran from what would later become the UAE — sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, the minister of state for the United Arab Emirates, used part of his speech earlier in the day to criticize Iran for its “occupation” of the islands.

Hours later, Nasser Asadi, a member of Iran’s U.N. mission, responded by saying that Tehran “illustrates its full sovereignty” over the islands.

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

Leo, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a press conference about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity. U.S. President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax.”

“This is a problem that, I think, we need to sit down and talk about,” the American pope told reporters returning home from France. “We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.”

Trump has been a champion of AI, often warning that the United States must remain ahead of China in the technological arms race. He has said efforts to limit the technology were part of a “conspiracy” by his political opponents.

Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give safety measures time to catch up to the fast-moving technology. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, has warned that within six to 12 months, AI could be capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet.

Trump had a late-night dinner with Amodei on Sunday, during which they discussed Americans' concerns about the technology and how to keep America dominant, the White House said.

“If someone were to ask me ‘Am I in panic mode?’ No I’m not. I sleep at night,” Leo said. “I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI should be taken seriously.”

“I don’t think that that is ‘fake news’ as some have said to try and cause whether financial or other some other kind of benefit,” Leo said.

The pope says AI is one of the biggest challenges to humanity

The pope, who called for robust regulation of AI and a slowdown of the technology in his encyclical “Magnificent Humanity,” is up to speed on developments in the field.

Despite being at the end of a grueling four-day trip to France, Leo noted a news report Monday afternoon about Nvidia introducing guardrails into AI. He also noted that the company has previously resisted outside regulation of AI development.

Leo had identified AI as one of the biggest challenges to humanity within days of his election and took the unusual step of personally launching his own encyclical alongside Anthropic's co-founder Christopher Olah at a Vatican event in May. The initiative was part of the Vatican's effort to engage Silicon Valley about the human costs of AI.

“We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organizations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road,” he said Monday.

“To simply say ‘Oh it’s not going to happen’ and close our eyes to it I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that,” he added.

It's not the first time the pope and Trump have disagreed

With his comments Monday about the legitimacy of safety concerns and AI development, Leo has confirmed another area of disagreement with Trump. The two had a back-and-forth in April over Leo’s opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and Leo has also criticized the Trump administration’s migration crackdown.

Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week in Washington and while Xi said that it was important to ensure AI is “always under human control,” Trump focused more on trying to rebrand it as “superintelligence” and dismissed calls for regulation. However, the two leaders agreed to explore a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents affecting national security.

AI has become a major election-year issue in the U.S. as some of the country’s largest companies rush to build a national network of data centers while Americans from both parties increasingly raise alarms about the impact on farmland, water supplies and electricity bills.

The pope says he's optimistic about solutions

Worries about AI are continuing to grow inside and outside the industry and reports continue to emerge about increasingly powerful systems that solve problems beyond human capacity but could also go rogue and carry out other, more harmful tasks.

The worries have grown so loud that the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said in an interview with Fortune that his company would wait until next year to start selling its stock to investors on Wall Street as it focuses on safety.

Leo noted that ever since he published his encyclical in May, the Vatican has received comments from people interested in being part of a broader conversation about AI. A Vatican commission is working to promote dialogue, study and investigation “to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point of destroying humanity or removing humanity from the conversation,” he said.

Leo said he was “relatively optimistic” that solutions could be found.

“I think there are enough people seriously interested in that and willing to look at that outside of the questions once again of power, who gets there first,” he said.

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AP writers Roberta Rampton and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.

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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 men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted in the countryside near RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year's war with Iran.

Investigators haven't concluded whether the incident was state-backed. They are investigating a possible link to Iran, Russia or non-state militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.

The five suspects, who haven't been named, were initially held over suspected explosives offenses and later also arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Police said the men are all British nationals from London and in their 20s.

Britain's national news agency, PA, reported without citing sources that police had not found viable explosives. Announcing that the suspects had been bailed, the head of U.K. Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, said that the suspects face stringent conditions and “absolutely remain under investigation."

Taylor said lines of inquiry include that the suspected offenses were committed by "proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.

Iran denied involvement. The Iranian Embassy in London said that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” about the incident.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview late Monday with Fox News host Sean Hannity that it “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor” but did not name a specific country.

Residents were evacuated from 85 homes in the village of Whelford near the base on Sunday, and army bomb-disposal experts used a robot to examine three white vans. The villagers were allowed to return home late Monday afternoon, though a cordon remained around the three vehicles, police said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency committee on Monday “to make sure we have the full picture" of the incident, he said.

The arrests came after reports of suspicious vehicles

It was unclear whether the arrested men had been on security services' radar. Local residents described seeing heightened security around RAF Fairford in recent days, with heavy vehicles parked across entrance gates.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the U.S. and Britain, and had been “under view” for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about “suspicious vehicles” near the base.

A local farmer said she called police after seeing three oddly parked vans as she drove home late Saturday night, and that nearby she came across “a large group of men,” some with their faces covered. She said they scattered when they saw her vehicle.

She declined to be identified to protect her identity because she was describing what she saw as potential security lapses.

British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the farmer “did exactly the right thing” by calling police but only had “a partial view” of the operation.

The arrests came at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British intelligence services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on U.K. soil. In March, officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50% in the six months to December 2025.

Iran has been linked to a series of attacks in Europe

Britain didn't join the U.S. and Israel in the Iran war, which began on Feb. 28, and initially denied Trump’s request to use bases in the U.K. to strike Iran. But then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed in March to let the U.S. use bases in Britain for what he called “defensive” operations against Iran’s missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf.

American B-1 and B-52 bombers have taken off from Fairford, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London, for operations during the Iran conflict.

Iran has said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

British security officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in the U.K. and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.

Several people also have been charged with plotting to commit arson in the U.K. on behalf of Russia-linked groups.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that the incident is a “reminder of the threats our country faces.”

Miliband met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations in New York last week and told him that “Britain will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on U.K. soil,” according to a U.K. readout of the conversation.

US Air Force says personnel remain vigilant

The U.S. Air Force said that its personnel on the base “remain vigilant,” but “for operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”

Rubio thanked the British authorities for their cooperation and help in breaking up the alleged plot, which he called a “very serious situation.” He said the British had been “very cooperative” but declined to comment in more detail, particularly about the fact that the suspects had been released on bail.

“I would argue that they’ve been very cooperative and very helpful on something that’s a very serious incident,” Rubio said in the Fox News interview, adding that the British response had been “appropriate.”

The U.S. Embassy in London has warned Americans in Britain to be cautious and mindful of their personal security.

Trump said that authorities had the suspects “under view for a long time and we got them.”

“It was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort. And working with the British worked out great,” he told reporters in Chicago on Sunday.

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Lawless reported from Liverpool, England. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

OpenAI’s decision to hold back the model, called GPT-6.1 Astra, comes amid a broader push within the industry to slow the development of increasingly autonomous systems until safety measures can catch up. The announcement comes a day before AI executives are set to huddle with President Donald Trump in Washington as technology companies face new pressure to be accountable for how their models can be abused.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the delay of OpenAI’s model release.

In a statement from OpenAI's head of safety systems Saachi Jain, the version “didn't quite meet the bar.” It had become more persistent in completing tasks, but OpenAI needed to balance that capability against unauthorized behavior.

Jain insisted the company was committed to ensuring the model was safe whether in the company's testing or is in the hands of users. "We have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment,” she said.

OpenAI paused training of its most advanced models last week, saying training would resume “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards.”

That was after it disclosed instances in which AI agents exceeded their instructions, including by accessing government websites without authorization.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined other industry leaders in calling for a slowdown, warning that companies do not yet have adequate safeguards to control the most capable systems. Altman was scheduled to deliver the keynote address for OpenAI's annual conference for software developers on Tuesday in San Francisco. OpenAI President Greg Brockman is expected to attend the White House's event Tuesday.

Kurt Olsen's resignation from the so-called “grand conspiracy" probe represents further turmoil in a meandering investigation that has proceeded in fits and starts since its inception as prosecutors pursue an ill-defined right-wing theory of a conspiracy against Trump. It comes just weeks after the departure of another Trump ally, Joseph diGenova, who had been leading the closely watched investigation in Florida.

The person who confirmed Olsen's resignation spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Olsen didn't immediately respond to an email on Monday.

Olsen’s prominence as an election denier elevated his profile in the Trump orbit, but his absence of experience as a Justice Department prosecutor made him an unconventional pick for such a high-profile investigation.

Investigators have focused attention on multiple major investigations of Trump, including the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and have demanded testimony from officials from both of those probes as they search for any signs of a potential conspiracy to deprive Trump of his rights.

Olsen’s role in the investigation came into focus earlier this month when an attorney for former CIA Director John Brennan revealed that he had discussed with Olsen a subpoena compelling Brennan to testify before the grand jury in Fort Pierce on Oct. 25. Wainstein said Olsen told him that Brennan also remains a “target” of a narrower false statements investigation.

It's the latest sign of upheaval in the yearlong conspiracy investigation. Last April, a lead national security prosecutor in the Brennan investigation was replaced on the team after raising questions about the strength of the case. Days later, diGenova was sworn in.

The 81-year-old diGenova served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration and for years has been a prominent Trump ally, including backing his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and publicly and repeatedly claiming that the president was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy.

DiGenova resigned earlier this month without bringing a single criminal case. It remains unclear whether any will be, or what information has been gathered to support any basis for the idea of a plot against Trump by the government officials who investigated him.

Olsen, who unsuccessfully pushed the Justice Department in 2020 to back the president’s false claims, joined the Justice Department months ago after serving in a White House post as director of election security and integrity.

Olsen helped Texas’ Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, launch a longshot bid to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win and later represented Kari Lake during her attempt to overturn her loss in the 2022 Arizona governor’s race. Arizona courts sanctioned Olsen for making false statements in that case.

The survey of 1,511 Florida homeowners found 63% said they are more concerned about insurance costs, while 36% indicated greater concern about property taxes. The gap held across party lines: while Republicans expressed higher concern over property taxes than Democrats or independents, a majority of every partisan group still ranked insurance as the greater worry.

“This is remarkable given the amount of attention that has been spent this year discussing property tax reform, especially with Amendment 3 on the ballot,” said Dr. Sean Freeder, PORL Faculty Director and Associate Professor of Political Science at UNF. “Even in a rhetorical environment that would otherwise prime Floridians to think heavily about property tax, nearly two in three still said property insurance was the greater concern. This sentiment was essentially uniform across partisanship and region of the state.”

A Market in Turmoil

The instability behind those numbers is striking. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they have switched primary insurers at least once in the past five years, and 33% said they have done so twice or more. Of those who changed insurers, 47% said they were dropped — either by a private insurer (12%), Citizens (25%), or because their previous insurer stopped operating in Florida altogether (10%). Across the full sample, 25% of respondents said they were dropped from their coverage at least once in the past five years.

“About a third of homeowners in our sample had to change at least twice over the last five years,” Freeder said. “Of those who did change at least once, nearly half had to do so because they were simply dropped by their insurer. This speaks to a persistent high degree of instability in Florida’s property insurance market.”

Sixty-one percent of respondents said their current insurer operates primarily or solely in Florida. That figure was highest among homeowners with older properties and those in coastal counties.

“The lack of availability of major national insurers in the Florida market is stunning, and a key demonstration of the problem Florida homeowners face,” Freeder said.

Premiums Climbing, Claims Denied

Among the 261 respondents who filed an insurance claim in the past five years, 45% said their claim was initially denied. Separately, 47% of all respondents said their annual premium increased by at least 50% over the past five years. Nineteen percent said their premium jumped by that amount in just the past year alone — compared to 2% nationwide, according to a 2024 national Consumer Reports survey.

Little Faith in Reform

Florida lawmakers have pushed a series of property insurance market reforms in recent years, but most homeowners aren’t buying it. When asked about the state of the market, 55% of respondents said they see no signs the homeowners insurance market is improving. Another 26% said they think it is getting worse. Only 18% believe the market is improving and rates are likely to come down.

Pessimism ran deepest among homeowners whose premiums have doubled or more in five years, with 41% of that group saying the market is getting worse.

When asked who has benefited most from insurance reforms, 69% of respondents said the insurance industry. Just 16% said consumers have benefited, and 9% pointed to trial lawyers. Even among registered Republicans, 57% said insurance companies are the top beneficiaries — though Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents (28%) to say consumers have also benefited.

“Florida homeowners are overwhelmingly negative in their assessment of not just the property insurance market, but also government efforts to overhaul it,” Freeder said. “For Republicans to break from these assumptions, and from their own party’s direct messaging, dissatisfaction with that aspect of policy must be very high, and very salient.”

A Growing Voter Issue

Concern about housing costs has surged among Florida voters in recent years. Just 2% of Florida voters identified housing costs as the most important problem facing Florida in spring 2022. By fall 2023, that figure jumped to 26%. Since early 2025, property insurance has been consistently listed among voters’ top concerns, alongside housing costs and property taxes.

About the Poll

The survey was conducted online between July 16 and July 31, 2026, using the Qualtrics platform. The final sample included 1,511 Florida homeowners with active property insurance policies. The overall margin of error is +/-3.18 percentage points. The study was commissioned by the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The amendment — HJR 1F — provides a new homestead exemption for non-school taxes for residents in the state.

Current homestead exemption rules in the state operate as follows, with two different brackets of assessed value being tax exempt:

But under HJR 1F, the exemptions would apply solely to non-school taxes, though the exempted amount would raise dramatically:

• 2027 — First $150,000 of assessed value
• 2028 — First $250,000 of assessed value
• 2029 onward — First $250,000 of assessed value, indexed to inflation

However, this only applies to homeowners who are permanent residents of Florida before the proposed amendment takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027 (if it gets approved, that is). For newcomers, the timeline is a bit different.

HJR 1F instead provides new residents with a five-year homestead exemption that comes out as follows:

After this five-year period, the new residents will then be eligible for the higher exemption.

Meanwhile, the amendment also reduces the annual non-homestead property assessment growth cap from 10% to 5%, limiting how much these sorts of properties may be assessed each year.

In addition, the plan limits how local governments may spend property tax revenue:

• Public safety, including law enforcement, EMS and fire services
• Education and public schools
• Infrastructure, including roads, bridges and stormwater controls
• Natural resource projects, including flood control measures
• Issue local bonds for approved uses or to make debt service payments
• Meet obligations and retirement benefits of local government employees
• Fund the operations and administration of county officers and commissioners

While the amendment has been approved by lawmakers, it will still need 60% approval from voters in the general election on Nov. 3.

Courts have largely rejected the administration’s previous efforts, which reflect untrue claims about widespread voting fraud and come ahead of November’s midterm elections where Democrats seek to take control of one or both chambers of Congress and check Trump’s power.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., wrote in a 24-page opinion that federal agencies didn't have the authority from Congress to add such conditions to the grants, and that the conditions didn't meet legal thresholds requiring them to relate to the underlying grant purpose.

Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor its subagency handling the grants, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, immediately responded to a request for comment. The grant conditions were the latest in a line of actions by Trump’s administration to shape how elections are run, a task that has long been the job of states.

The plaintiffs that sued were Columbus, Ohio; Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; and El Paso and Harris counties in Texas, joined by two other Texas counties, Dallas and Travis.

They declared victory and said what the Trump administration had sought was a gross abuse of power.

“The end result is exactly what we wanted,” said Tyler Chance Yarbro, the director of law for Nashville and Davidson County.

A Harris County commissioner, Lesley Briones, accused the Trump administration of using the safety and security of communities as a "bargaining chip for partisan politics."

Twenty-five state attorneys general or governors filed a similar lawsuit.

Over the summer, a FEMA antiterrorism grant announcement included a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.

The program includes more than $1 billion for states and local and tribal governments for a variety of programs aimed at preventing terror at crowded places, online, with border security — and around elections. FEMA expects to award 56 grants.

The list of items for states includes verifying the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers.

Places that use electronic voting systems that use barcodes or QR codes to count votes would have to submit plans to switch to hand-marked paper ballots. Every jurisdiction would have to show it audits results.

In the lawsuit, the cities and counties said FEMA had no authority to impose those conditions, “not under its governing statute and not under the Constitution.”

Congress authorized FEMA to help jurisdictions protect critical infrastructure from terrorism and cyberattacks, not to decide who can vote, how ballots must be counted or how states maintain voter rolls, the cities and counties wrote.

“Never before has FEMA purported to regulate how states and counties run elections,” they said in the lawsuit.

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