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The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.

Casper rejected the Republican administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be put in place. Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers.

The Constitution "does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” wrote Casper.

Among other proposed changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then, and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump's "unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections" and would continue to defend voting rights in this year's midterm elections.

“Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote, and we honor their legacy by protecting that right against anyone who tries to undermine it," said James, a Democrat.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was the lead plaintiff in the case, said the ruling reaffirmed the constitutional principle that it s up to the states and Congress to set election rules.

“While we are proud of this result, we are clear-eyed that President Trump’s attacks on voting rights and our elections show no signs of slowing down,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement. "So let me be clear: we will keep fighting back every step of the way.”

Requests for comment sent to the White House and he U.S. Department of Justice were not immediately returned.

The ruling was the latest in a series against the elections executive order Trump signed just months after taking office for his second term. The Republican president has since signed another executive order on elections that seeks to create a national voter list and limit mail balloting. That directive also faces multiple legal challenges.

Last fall, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., overseeing a separate challenge to the first election executive order by civil rights and Democratic Party-aligned groups blocked the government from taking steps to include the proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form. That judge later barred Trump's defense secretary from requiring documentary proof of citizenship when military personnel register to vote or request ballots.

In an apparent nod to the difficulty of implementing a proof-of-citizen requirement by executive order, Trump is pushing legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress to create such a mandate. The SAVE America Act has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate, leading Trump to advocate for eliminating the filibuster that is blocking the legislation.

On Wednesday, he abruptly canceled the expected signing of a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would not sign legislation until Congress passes his proof of citizenship requirement for voting.

The president and many of his Republican allies have been promoting the narrative that voting by noncitizens is a major problem, when in fact it's quite rare. The federal voter registration form already requires people to attest that they are U.S. citizens. Violating that is punishable as a felony that can lead to prison or deportation.

In another major voting case, the U.S. Supreme Court is due to issue an opinion soon on whether mail ballots must arrive by Election Day. That could immediately change the rules in 14 states that allow grace periods ranging from days to weeks if the ballots are postmarked by Election Day.

Casper, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The Colombia election result comes as Peru appears poised to elect Keiko Fujimori as president following a closely contested vote. Meanwhile, Brazil is preparing for a presidential election that could push the country back to the right if Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, defeats President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The elections raise the possibility that countries with the largest shares of the Amazon could move toward policies that place greater emphasis on economic growth, extractive industries and efforts to combat organized crime and reassert state control in remote regions.

“There’s an interesting alignment, particularly across the Andes region and the broader Amazon basin,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group, referring to a growing belief among some governments that economic development and conservation can be pursued simultaneously.

Colombia's election results showed that de la Espriella, who was endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump, defeated Iván Cepeda, a lawmaker who was endorsed by outgoing President Gustavo Petro, by 1 percentage point, or nearly 251,000 votes. Cepeda conceded on Wednesday.

The Amazon rainforest spans much of northern South America and helps slow climate change by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that warms the planet. Scientists have for years warned that continued forest loss could push parts of the Amazon toward a tipping point beyond which large areas may no longer be able to regenerate as rainforest.

Around 40% of Colombian territory sits within the Amazon basin. Under Petro, it emerged as one of the world’s most prominent advocates for rainforest protection and a transition away from fossil fuels.

Economic development and the Amazon

During his election campaign, de la Espriella — whose nickname is “The Tiger” — pledged to revive Colombia’s oil sector, supported fracking, which is a method of extracting oil and gas from underground rock formations, and argued that the country should make greater use of its natural resources to spur economic growth. Environmental advocates warn that expanding oil and gas production could undermine efforts to reduce emissions and increase pressure on environmentally sensitive areas.

De la Espriella represents a sharp contrast with Petro, who opposed new fossil fuel exploration contracts and sought to position Colombia as a leading voice internationally on climate issues.

Peru, which contains the second-largest share of the Amazon rainforest after Brazil, appears close to electing Fujimori. Like de la Espriella, Fujimori has signaled support for expanding mining and other industries as a driver of economic growth, while environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential implications for forests and Indigenous communities.

Brazil, which is home to roughly 60% of the Amazon, is preparing for a presidential race that could have major implications for forest protection. The election comes after the country experienced sharply rising deforestation under Bolsonaro, followed by declines under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as environmental enforcement was strengthened.

Brazil’s experience shows that government priorities can have a measurable impact on the Amazon, said Cristiane Mazzetti, zero deforestation lead at Greenpeace Brazil.

“The elected administration sets budgetary priorities, fills government positions and shapes regulations to either facilitate or hinder predatory exploitation and environmental crimes,” she said. “The result of this is measurable, as evidenced by the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.”

Trump’s endorsement of Colombia's de la Espriella came as the U.S. president has rolled back climate policies, promoted expanded oil and gas production and withdrawn the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Agreement, the international pact aimed at limiting global warming.

Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, said environmental concerns may increasingly compete with demands for investment, energy production and economic growth.

“Many of the concerns from environmentalists on emissions and fracking are going to take a second place to some of the economic concerns about energy self-sufficiency, investment and foreign direct investment in oil, gas and mining,” Guzmán said.

Illegal mining and Indigenous communities

Illegal gold mining has become one of the largest drivers of environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon, contaminating rivers with mercury, clearing forests and generating billions of dollars for criminal groups.

Dickinson said many governments have embraced tougher responses to illegal mining, an issue that has become increasingly central to environmental policy across the region.

“It’s very hard to disagree with the idea of going after illegal mining, one of the most detrimental industries for the Amazon basin,” she said, adding that governments have often focused on seizing equipment or removing miners from individual sites rather than dismantling the criminal and financial networks behind them.

“What we really haven’t reached is an ability to tackle the intellectual authors of these operations,” said Dickinson.

Decisions affecting Indigenous territories

Julio Cusurichi, a prominent Indigenous leader from Peru’s Amazon region, said Indigenous communities would continue organizing and advocating for a greater role in decisions affecting their territories.

“Our biodiversity, our territories, our knowledge and our wisdom can contribute greatly to addressing climate change,” he said. “In our territories, we have shown that we can provide governance not only for our peoples, but for the planet.”

Across the Amazon, Indigenous lands frequently overlap with areas targeted for mining, oil development and infrastructure projects. Indigenous organizations have long argued that governments often fail to adequately consult communities before approving projects.

Dickinson said tensions over Indigenous autonomy and extractive projects have become increasingly visible in countries including Peru and Ecuador.

Analysts say some of the clearest indicators of de la Espriella administration’s environmental approach will be how it handles Indigenous consultation processes, environmental licensing and decisions on new oil, gas and mining projects in sensitive ecosystems.

‘Allow humanity to breathe’

Guzmán said de la Espriella’s plans to increase military pressure on criminal groups and potentially resume aerial fumigation of coca crops — the plant used to produce cocaine — could also have consequences for Amazon communities.

Aerial fumigation has long been controversial in Colombia. Supporters view it as a tool to combat drug trafficking, while critics say it can damage surrounding vegetation, affect water sources and encourage coca growers to clear new areas of forest and move deeper into remote parts of the Amazon.

Others caution against assuming environmental protections will inevitably weaken.

Colombia's courts, Congress, Indigenous organizations and environmental institutions all remain influential, while advances in satellite monitoring make it increasingly difficult to hide deforestation and environmental damage, analysts said.

In Colombia’s Amazon city of Leticia, Indigenous Ticuna resident Arnaldo Rufino said many residents fear policies that encourage more extraction in the rainforest could come at the expense of the forest itself.

He said political leaders should focus on protecting biodiversity and the Amazon rather than pursuing projects that risk increasing environmental pressures.

“It means cutting down the trees that allow humanity to breathe,” Rufino said.

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

In a statement, City Manager Tom Abbate said that Lau was terminated “following a preliminary administrative review of violations of City Personnel Policy.”

The Florida Highway Patrol responded to an incident involving Lau in Brevard County on Tuesday night, wherein he was involved in a crash while operating a city vehicle, the statement reveals.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Tyler Wright will fill in as the interim chief of police, Abbate added.

Lau first began his career with the Titusville Police Department back in 1992, though he was appointed police chief in 2012.

No additional information has been provided at this time.

The charges against Frank Carone are the latest in a string of corruption allegations leveled at the former mayor — who was himself indicted on bribery and other charges that were later dismissed — and key aides. Separately, federal authorities searched the homes of current and former New York Police Department leaders Wednesday in connection with a different bribery investigation.

Adams was not accused of wrongdoing in Carone’s indictment, which alleges the ex-chief of staff exploited his position to get more than $100,000 in payoffs for steering a lucrative migrant shelter contract to a hotel that city social service officials had deemed unsuitable.

Carone’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said the indictment “epitomizes the government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime.”

Carone's brother, Anthony Carone; hotel owner Yan Po Zhu, and hotel employee Crystal Chen also were charged with crimes that carry the potential for up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted. All pleaded not guilty through their attorneys.

Zhu “is anxious to establish his innocence," lawyer Stephen Scaring said.

Frank Carone and the Sabrina Carpenter church video

Carone, a former Brooklyn Democratic Party lawyer and longtime political power broker, is widely credited as one of the architects of Adams’ political rise. He also drew attention for his role in an episode that led to a Brooklyn pastor being stripped of his duties partly for allowing pop star Sabrina Carpenter to film scenes for a provocative music video at his Roman Catholic church.

Carone played a key role in Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign and served as Adams’ chief of staff in 2022. In 2023, Carone formed a political consulting firm.

Carone “dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York,” Adams spokesperson Todd Shapiro said in a statement.

Indictment focuses on how the hotel became a shelter

Starting in 2022, the city scrambled to expand its shelter capacity amid an influx of migrants. Zhu's hotel got $6.8 million to shelter some of the new arrivals, though the city’s Social Services Department had repeatedly rejected the facility, according to prosecutors. They said the hotel was small and was in a Queens neighborhood where residents were complaining about the prevalence of shelters that were already there.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Frank Carone accepted around $120,000 in bribes from Zhu and Chen to intercede on the hotel's behalf. The money was passed through Anthony Carone’s law firm, according to the indictment.

In a September 2022 text message exchange, Zhu asked Frank Carone for help getting the hotel an immediate one-year contract, according to the indictment. It said Carone replied by asking for the address, and Zhu gave it, adding: “Thank you my big guy.”

In December 2023, Zhu texted Carone: “I asked my partners to pay you for a year,” according to the document. Carone, who is also charged with obstruction of justice, deleted the message after learning he was under investigation, prosecutors said.

Police officials' homes searched in unrelated probe

Separately Wednesday, the FBI and the NYPD executed search warrants at the homes of NYPD Chief of Manhattan South James McCarthy and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the searches. The home of Jeffrey Maddrey, the chief of department under Adams, was also searched by federal agents, the person said.

There was no immediate response to an inquiry to Maddrey's attorney. Attorney information for Sheppard and McCarthy was not immediately available.

The searches were not related to Frank Carone's arrest, according to another person familiar with the matter who also was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. There is no public indication of any arrests as part of those searches.

Once the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer, Maddrey resigned in late 2024 over allegations that he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.

Adams was indicted in 2024 on charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials and others in exchange for political favors. The case was tossed by federal Justice Department leaders who said it was distracting Adams from assisting in Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Adams has denied wrongdoing.

After skipping last year’s Democratic primary, Adams mounted but eventually abandoned an independent campaign for a second term.

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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235 points, or 0.5%, as of 3:19 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.8%.

Technology stocks started the day higher, helping to support the market's broader gains amid easing pressure from falling bond yields and lower oil prices. But the influential tech sector is now losing ground for a third consecutive day. Big Tech companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence, have pricey values that give them more sway over the market’s broader direction.

Nvidia fell 1.2%, following a 4.1% slump on Tuesday. Micron Technology, which reports its latest results later Wednesday, fell 4.1% following its 13.2% plunge on Tuesday. Microsoft fell 1.3%.

Google's parent company Alphabet fell 0.8%. The company is replacing Verizon in the Dow on Monday. The company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 means more to investors, however, because 401(k) accounts are much more likely to include an S&P 500 index fund than anything tied to the Dow.

Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 company to join the Dow. The others are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.

Technology companies, especially those with a big focus on artificial intelligence, have been behind Wall Street's record-setting run throughout the year. Analysts have warned, however, that their valuations may have become stretched.

“The next phase of the AI investment cycle is beginning to collide with market discipline," said Jason Vaillancourt, chief portfolio strategist at Columbia Threadneedle, in a research note.

Oil prices continued slipping as the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end to their war. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began. U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel.

Oil companies had some of the biggest losses. Exxon Mobil fell 2.4% and Chevron lost 2.3%.

Some of the bigger winners on Wall Street included homebuilders following approval of legislation beneficial to the industry. KB Home surged 16.7% and D.R. Horton jumped 7%.

Treasury yields mostly fell, removing some pressure from stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.40% from 4.50% late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury eased to 4.14% from 4.16%.

Treasury yields are still elevated from earlier in the year, especially the 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks anticipated action from the Federal Reserve. The central bank has signaled that it is considering raising its benchmark interest rate by the end of the year. Wall Street is forecasting at least one hike to interest rates by December, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed is worried about stubborn inflation, which had been rising throughout the year as tariffs raised the costs for a wide range of goods. A shock to energy prices because of the U.S. war with Iran worsened inflation. Gasoline prices surged and shipping costs rose. The impact is expected to linger even as oil and gasoline prices fall.

The central bank will get a fresh update on inflation Thursday, when its preferred measure for prices is released. Economists expect the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, to show that prices rose 4.1% in May. That would be the highest level in three years.

“Thursday’s PCE is set to take on greater importance for markets, especially since Federal Reserve Chair (Kevin) Warsh was emphatic in last week’s meeting about the central bank’s desire to achieve price stability,” wrote Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments, in a research note.

Gold prices fell 3.4% to settle at $4,008.80 an ounce. Earlier in the day, it briefly traded below $4,000, and hasn't settled below that level since November. Gold was above $5,000 an ounce earlier in the year. The precious metal is often seen as a barometer of the appetite for risk among investors, with more buying at times of increased anxiety and more selling as anxiety eases.

Markets were mixed in Europe and Asia.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

“Absolutely not,” Usher told The Associated Press. “He’s my brother, and he’s amazing as a performer. That’s who I see. He works hard for his fans, and his fans support him.”

Brown has remained one of R&B’s biggest stars despite years of legal troubles and controversy. Last year, he pleaded not guilty in London to charges stemming from an alleged 2023 assault at a nightclub after previously being released on bail to continue touring. He also pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony assault for attacking then-girlfriend Rihanna.

For Usher, their North American tour — which kicks off Friday in Denver — represents something much bigger than two of R&B's brightest stars sharing a stage.

The 33-date tour follows blockbuster solo runs for both artists. Fresh off headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in 2024, Usher’s “Past, Present, Future” tour sold more than 1.1 million tickets across North America, while Brown’s “Breezy Bowl XX” grossed nearly $300 million.

“It’s not about me and my brother coming together,” Usher said. “We come together in support of our fans of R&B.”

Throughout the interview, Usher repeatedly returned to one message: R&B has helped shape modern music while rarely receiving equal recognition.

“It deserves to be in a stadium,” he said. “It is not just for theaters. It is not just for arenas. We do this … too. We are major too. R&B is major too.”

Usher said the tour also honors the artists who laid the foundation for the genre, citing Buddy Bolden, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Prince, Luther Vandross, along with influential figures including Earth, Wind & Fire and Babyface.

“We’re carrying it over there for them,” he said.

Rather than viewing the tour as a competition between two of the genre’s biggest performers, Usher said rehearsals have reflected the admiration they have for one another.

“When we run through the show, I look over and I see Chris standing up doing my portion and dancing,” he said. “When it would be my time, I’d be standing up rooting him on. I love his music. I am encouraged by his music in the same way I feel like he’s been encouraged and inspired by mine.”

Usher said the partnership fulfills a vision that dates to Brown’s earliest days in the music business.

“When he first started his career, having been there as a mentor, a person to support what he did, some portion of my 25-year-old self was kind of like, ‘Man, I’m still building. Let’s someday get to the point where there’s an opportunity for us to share the stage together,’” he said.

Now, Usher believes the collaboration could inspire more artists to rethink touring together.

“There is power in numbers,” he said. “After this becomes the success that I know it’s going to be, you will see more collaborations. You will see artists beginning to understand, ‘Wait a minute. We actually serve more of our fans when we bring them together, as opposed to trying to do it all by ourselves.’”

And the 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper hasn't ruled out playing in Brazil, where fans helped him reach immediate stardom on social media.

Vozinha said in an interview with Brazilian journalist and influencer Daniel Braune that his contract with second-division Portuguese club Chaves has ended and he wants to keep playing and is keen on finding a new team following his success in the tournament in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Vozinha attracted the attention of the soccer world after an outstanding performance in Cape Verde's 0-0 draw with European champion Spain in their opener on June 15. Cape Verde then drew 2-2 with Uruguay, one of South America's soccer powerhouses.

“I ended my contract with my previous club, Deportivo Chaves, and at the moment I still don't have anything,” he said. “I'm open to everything. Let's see what comes up.”

Vozinha said he wouldn't mind playing in Brazil, the country where another influencer, Casimiro Miguel, known as Cazé, helped him go from about 50,000 Instagram followers to nearly 16 million by promoting the goalkeeper's account.

“It would be good,” Vozinha said, smiling, in the interview published in Braune’s YouTube channel. “We’ll see.”

Vozinha said he definitely wants to try to make it to Brazil, at least to visit.

“If I have the opportunity, I'd like to go, also to thank everyone for all of their support," he said. "And I think that many of my teammates want to go as well.”

Vozinha said he spent time in Brazil when his former team in Angola, Progresso do Sambizanga, did its preseason in the country.

He said his idols while growing up included Belgian goalkeeper Michel Preud'homme, Dutchman Edwin van der Sar and Gianluigi Buffon of Italy.

His dream right now is to help Cape Verde — competing in the World Cup for the first time — advance from the group stage.

A win over Saudi Arabia on Friday in Houston will be enough to secure the team a spot in the round of 32, which would spark renewed celebrations in the nation of about half a million people off Africa’s West coast.

“My dream, and the dream of all Cape Verdeans, is to reach the next round,” he said. “It's huge just to be in the World Cup, and to advance when no one thought that we could even get a point, would be extraordinary.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

The women's tournament is set to start June 24, 2027, hosted by a South American country for the first time. Brazil hosted the men's World Cup in 1950 and 2014.

“I think that the host country, it sleeps and breathes football. So, I think just the energy you’re going to see from the public, the general public, and obviously the teams touching down in Brazil, I mean, it’s such a unique, special country,” FIFA chief football officer Jill Ellis said at an event Wednesday in Miami. “I think the same energy you’re going to feel right now when you bring the world together, and you have an incredible product in women’s football, I mean, the level of quality the players is so extraordinary that I think, honestly, it will be an epic showcase of football and fandom.”

In addition to Miami, a countdown event was also held in Rio de Janeiro. Even in Vancouver, British Columbia, at Wednesday's World Cup match between Switzerland and co-host Canada, video signage flashed with ads for the upcoming women's tournament.

All eight cities that will host women's matches next year also hosted men's games in 2014: Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife and Salvador.

Qualification for the tournament has already begun. Brazil, which has an automatic spot as host, has never won the women's tournament and it remains to be seen whether Marta, the six-time FIFA world player of the year, will be on the national team. The 40-year-old Marta has never won a major international tournament.

Thirteen other teams have also qualified, including Australia, Philippines, Japan, North Korea, China, South Korea, Argentina, Colombia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Spain and Denmark.

“There is only one year left until the moment that will be marked in the history of our country. For the CBF (Brazilian soccer confederation) and for all Brazilians, it is a source of great pride to host the Women’s World Cup," federation president Samir Xaud said in a statement. “It will be an opportunity to show the world our passion for football and, above all, the strength of Brazilian women’s football. We are certain that this will be a transformative World Cup, capable of inspiring girls in all regions of Brazil and leaving a lasting legacy.”

The first Women's World Cup was hosted by China in 1991. The United States has won the most titles with four. Spain won the last title in 2023 at the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Women's soccer has experienced exponential growth in the past decade, with new leagues, increasing viewership and revenues. The Women's World Cup in Brazil will be the last with 32 teams. In 2031 the event will include 48 teams, like the men's tournament.

The 2031 World Cup is expected to be hosted by the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. The formal decision will likely be announced in November.

“I think when we went to 32 there was some noise, are we’re ready, are there going to be blowouts? We saw an incredibly competitive landscape. We saw debutantes making the knockout rounds. I think the global game is accelerating so fast that countries are closing the gap a lot faster," Ellis said. “Our job is to make sure teams come in there as prepared and ready as they can, so we have the most competitive World Cup. So I think the growth of the game is accelerating rapidly, and I think by 2031 we certainly will have a very competitive World Cup.”

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Her name is Mia, and she's a young girl from London of South Asian descent who uses a wheelchair. She glides into the spotlight in the animated movie “Snoopy Unleashed,” coming to Apple TV in 2027, helping Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang explore what being a pal is really all about.

“The story is really about what real friendship is about, and I think that continues to be something that’s relevant not only to kids, but adults,” says producer Bonnie Arnold.

“True friends love you for who you are. And that’s something that we not only have to learn as kids, but we have to remind ourselves as we become teenagers and young adults and adults and even in older age,” she added.

What's the movie about?

In the 80-minute movie, Mia makes a surprise visit to a suddenly flustered Charlie Brown, who has to live up to the curated version of himself that he has presented in his letters. His relationship with Snoopy is then strained, and the dog bolts for a nearby city. Naturally, Charlie Brown and the gang, plus Mia, give chase.

With Mia, the creators wanted to birth someone as different from Charlie Brown as possible — a girl, not from a suburb or a rural town, who moves through the world differently, without a pet, and someone with confidence.

“Charlie Brown is probably one of the most insecure human beings that we know. That’s what makes him charming. It’s how we see ourselves in him. So we felt that we wanted Mia to be more comfortable with who she is,” says director Steve Martino, adding: “A big part of her role in the movie is to be a mirror to Charlie Brown, to journey with him and to reflect some things that he couldn’t see himself.”

An urban landscape

They landed on London as Mia's home since that elevated the stakes.

“If this pen pal was going to come to visit, it would be a much stronger story if she came from much further away,” says Martino. “He has one shot to make a good impression.” (Plus, it gave Lucy the chance to believe somehow that Mia might be a royal ).

In the city, Mia is more comfortable than Charlie Brown and the gang, who are fish out of water, like encountering their first revolving door with amazement. The jazz score grows more frenzied as the children navigate honking traffic and the urban energy.

Snoopy's trip to the city also introduces another new character: a nameless, gold-haired stray mutt who becomes his opposites-attract pal, like Mia and Charlie Brown.

“Snoopy definitely is more of a human-type character. He walks on twos and not fours,” says Arnold. The stray, on the other hand, “walks on fours, he barks, he pants, he’s more doglike, but he befriends Snoopy. Even though his actions are a bit puppylike, he’s a little bit more seasoned in the ways of being on the road.”

Issues of authenticity and presentation

The script was written by Craig Schulz — “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz's son — and his own son, Bryan Schulz, along with Cornelius Uliano and Karey Kirkpatrick. To accurately portray life in a wheelchair, the creators consulted several groups, including Disability Belongs.

Lara Mehmet, a wheelchair user who lives just outside London, was picked to voice Mia after a long audition process and helped the script sound more authentic.

While viewers today are more familiar with texts, instant messages and social media posts, the moviemakers hope they'll see the same issues of authenticity and presentation in a story sparked by snail mail letters.

“On social media, we like to curate and project a life that is the very best of who we are. And I thought that is such rich story material to dig into,” says Martino. “We communicate differently today, but feelings that are universal.”

“Peanuts” ran in more than 2,600 newspapers, reaching millions of readers in 75 countries before ending in 2000. Charlie Brown and Snoopy have since thrived in the digital age with fresh specials and series.

In addition to “Snoopy Unleashed,” Apple TV has season two of “Camp Snoopy” on tap for June, a new special “Snoopy Presents: There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy” premiering at the end of July, and the “Peanuts” classics “This Is America, Charlie Brown” and “The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show” will be available on the platform in early July.

The moviemakers credit Schulz for leaving a legacy of very believable kids and an ability to tap into the human experience, with all its vulnerabilities.

“What Charles Schulz did in the comic strips so well is kind of touch on things that affect us all at all ages, right? Some universal truths about relationships,” says Arnold.

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of two of the scriptwriters’ first names. They are Bryan Schulz and Cornelius Uliano, not Brian Schulz and Neil Uliano.

Trump's decision not to sign the bill capped weeks of friction with the Republican majorities in Congress. The president made it clear that, for now at least, he’s in no mood to compromise as he pressures the Senate to move forward with the voting bill, which lacks the support to pass.

Trump called it a “great meeting” as he left the Capitol, but noted his frustration with some of the Republican lawmakers.

“We like our leader. We like everybody, really, in the room," Trump said. "I don’t like a few people but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.”

Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media that he won't sign the legislation until they send him his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis says he doesn't know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”

“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the proof-of-citizenship voting bill even though Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has repeatedly told him that neither has the votes.

Trump reverses on housing bill

Asked about Trump’s post on the housing bill, Thune told reporters, “That was his call to make.”

“What I would say is that the bill is a bill that has been worked on for a long time,” Thune said. "It’s a great piece of legislation that increases the supply of housing and the availability of credit for people to afford homes. So it’s an affordability issue and eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”

The White House did not immediately respond when asked whether Trump would veto the legislation. But his apparent reversal on the measure that Republicans have touted ahead of the election is likely to only aggravate the deepening split between the president and his Republican majorities on Capitol Hill.

At the news conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken to the president for about 20 minutes earlier on Wednesday and expected the housing bill would still be signed.

Trump and Senate Republicans have been at odds

Trump's move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.

Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend his Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame. And by rejecting a public bill signing, Trump is also indicating a level of indifference to voters' affordability concerns heading into November's midterm elections.

Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Both men lost their primaries and have since become more critical of the president.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Adding to the tension is Trump’s increasingly distant relationship with Thune. While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear.

Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it’s just not realistic.”

Trump has also demanded that they add a ban on mail-in ballots to the bill as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and prevent transgender women from playing in women’s sports.

Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.

“Those are just hard realities,” Thune said. “And I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.“

Johnson pushes a different approach on SAVE

Johnson said Wednesday that he had talked through a different approach with Trump in his call on Wednesday morning — putting the voting bill on a budget reconciliation measure that would only need a simple majority to pass. But the process is long and complicated, and Republicans are divided over how to proceed.

What Johnson has proposed is a federal grant program that would provide funding to states if they implement various SAVE Act provisions.

“We’re willing to invest heavily in that,” Johnson said.

But certain rank-and-file Republicans who want the SAVE America Act to become law panned that approach.

“I’m not saying I’m opposed,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a leader of the Freedom Caucus. “But let’s not kid ourselves that it would be full SAVE. It wouldn’t be.”

Only a handful of senators have questioned Thune's rationale that the Senate can't pass the voting bill. The most vocal in that group is Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican who has amassed a large following on X with daily posts about how they should kill the filibuster and pass the bill.

“The push to pass the SAVE America Act is not a ‘fantasy,’” Lee posted over the weekend. “It’s a plan to avoid a nightmare — one that’s coming soon unless we act.”

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Associated Press writers Steven Sloan, Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had “a clear and more consistent stance.”

Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.

The war in Gaza began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which responded with a yearslong counterattack that left more than 73,000 dead. About 1,000 have died since a ceasefire was reached in October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry that does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties.

Human rights groups and a United Nations commission have described Israel's actions as a genocide, a charge that's been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Democrats on the left — and even some conservatives — have ratcheted up pressure to suspend U.S. aid to Israel, a shift that's been shadowed by a rise in antisemitism across the political spectrum.

“The Israel question has become defining,” said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He argued that some in Mamdani’s camp have embraced “a new level of extremism,” warning that “Republicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.”

The schism over Israel, which widened during Joe Biden's presidency and undermined Kamala Harris' bid to replace him, remains an open wound. How Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party's unwieldy coalition when it's trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress and set the stage for winning the White House again.

Mamdani is unapologetic in his effort to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor’s office of the country’s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls “a status quo of immorality” in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate's victories on Tuesday night chanted “Free Palestine.”

The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats’ search for their national identity in the coming years.

“When does the race for 2028 begin?” Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. “It starts now.”

Israel-Palestinian conflict animates Democrats' left flank

Even for a party accustomed to conflicts between progressives and moderates, the divide over Israel has been especially intense. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel's right wing, led by Netanyahu, strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them.

Biden was denounced as “Genocide Joe” by pro-Palestinian supporters, who shifted their attention to Harris once she replaced him as the Democratic nominee for president two years ago.

“She was trying to do the right thing," said Jamie Harrison, who led the Democratic National Committee at the time. "It was a hard and awkward place to be in.”

Harrison said the war in Gaza helped cost Harris the state of Michigan, which has a sizable Arab American population. However, he doubts that it was a defining national issue then or now.

“It’s one thing to be in New York. But I can tell you that most places, including where I am in South Carolina, it’s not what people are talking about,” he said. “They are concerned about affording gas and groceries and housing.”

Harrison expects Democrats to look for middle ground in the future, which includes “still supporting Israel’s sovereignty” while calling for “reducing U.S. aid to Israel and changing the nature of the relationship.”

The issue puts a notable spotlight on Jewish Democrats who could become presidential contenders at the same time Mamdani wields his influence as the most prominent elected Muslim in U.S. politics.

When Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s name landed on Harris’ list of potential running mates, activists on the left cried foul over his support for Israel — potentially previewing pressures he would experience in a White House campaign.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was once a billionaire donor to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, and a national board member. He cut ties with the group after it aligned with Donald Trump, but the governor has continued to face questions about his past support.

Both Shapiro and Pritzker are seeking reelection this November before deciding on White House bids.

One primary victor blasted the ‘hug Bibi’ strategy

Finding middle ground has been difficult so far, as demonstrated by the primary in New York's 10th congressional district.

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller backed by Mamdani, successfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the race.

Both candidates are Jewish, and both have criticized the Israeli government. But Lander says the war in Gaza is a genocide, and Goldman does not.

“Our party needs to admit that Joe Biden’s ‘hug Bibi’ strategy was a catastrophic mistake," Lander said in his primary victory speech. He added, “We cannot keep paying for Netanyahu’s wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters are saying this, loud and clear.”

Ari Rassouli, a voter in the district, said the incumbent's views on Israel were “one of the many reasons that I didn’t like Dan Goldman.”

Describing the war as a genocide, she said “a candidate that is in support of that has no place in our democracy at all.”

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Lander acknowledged that Israel was among the top issues along with affordability and immigration.

“I like talking to Jewish voters who feel anxiety about the times we live in and say, ‘I have these values, I want to treat everyone like they’re equal and with dignity and created in God’s image. How do we navigate the times we’re in?’” he said.

He added with a smile, “Those are probably the longest conversations at the polls.” ___

Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.

America’s most decorated cross-country skier is part of “Protect Our Winters,” an athlete-driven environmental group that sent a coalition to Washington to meet with lawmakers Tuesday and Wednesday. The group is most concerned with how the Environmental Protection Agency has weakened key climate, water and pollution regulations since President Donald Trump returned to office.

“I don’t want to stick my head in the sand and ignore the world burning,” Diggins said in an interview. “I feel like I have a responsibility to use my voice to advocate for change. And so that’s why it’s so important to me, because I want my great-grandkids to be able to build a snowman and try cross-country skiing someday, and be able go hiking and fishing and camping in the summer, and breathe clean air. I want that for them very badly.”

Diggins retired from professional ski racing this year after earning bronze in the women’s 10‑kilometer interval start at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Many skiers expressed concern during these Olympic Games about climate change and the accelerating melt of the world’s glaciers. A warming world jeopardizes the future of their sport.

Diggins described bringing her medals to Washington as a “beautiful, full circle moment.” She said she'll consider it a success if she has productive conversations that help pave the way for bipartisan efforts to strengthen and bolster the EPA in the future. Republicans currently in control of Congress have generally supported the Trump EPA’s actions.

“We’re trying to advocate for solutions that are going to protect us long term, and training and racing through four Olympics, that was a very long-term thing, you know? It’s not quick, immediate gratification, you work and you work and you work,” Diggins said. “I think it’s a nice reminder of like, it’s OK that we are looking for solutions for the future.”

Democratic Rep. Paul Tonko, of New York, said it was an honor to meet with this group of “athletes, advocates and champions.”

“These efforts are more important than ever, with an administration and EPA that is wiping out environmental protections left and right,” he said in a statement. "I remain as committed as ever to being sound stewards of our environment and leaving behind a better planet for our next generation of torchbearers.”

Coalition includes athletes, scientists, storytellers

It's not the typical lobbying group. Professional ski mountaineer Brody Leven only owns a suit to go to Washington with Protect Our Winters. But, he said, they are the ones who can hopefully bring people together around policy solutions to climate change.

“We’re good at looking at adversity in the face and still moving forward," he said. "And we’re good at knowing something is going to be hard and trying to do it anyways.”

They met with Democrats and Republicans. Olympians Jaelin Kauf, Gus Schumacher, Bea Kim, Julia Kern and Olivia Giaccio were involved, Protect Our Winters said.

Kauf, a three-time Olympic silver medalist, said she talked with lawmakers Wednesday about seeing the effects of climate change firsthand as she travels, and about how poor snow is impacting major races. She said protecting these lands and beautiful places is “something that can bring a lot of us together.”

During the Trump administration, the EPA has revoked a scientific finding that underpinned the fight against climate change, moved to roll back limits on toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants and announced other cuts to federal limits on air and water pollution as it promotes fossil fuels. These changes clash with the agency’s historic mission to protect human health and the environment.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said the department is “ driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.” Doing so, he said, will save trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes, which in turn will make the cost of living more affordable and reignite domestic manufacturing.

Environmentalists say the EPA under Zeldin has abandoned its obligation to protect the public from dangerous greenhouse gas pollution at a time when climate change is creating greater risks of extreme weather, including stronger hurricanes, more dangerous floods and more intense wildfires. Legal challenges to a range of EPA rule changes have been filed by states, cities and public health and environmental groups.

Protect Our Winters looks beyond the Trump years

Ben Gubits, vice president of campaigns and advocacy for Protect Our Winters, said the group expects the federal government to protect the health of American citizens and the planet. POW has lobbied Congress for about a decade, including several visits in 2021 and 2022 when it advocated for passage of a landmark climate bill. President Joe Biden signed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

“We are really thinking about a long-term and positive vision for the future, and how do we rebuild these critical institutions beyond the Trump years,” Gubits said.

Stuart Nissenbaum started working at the EPA early in Biden's term and left a year ago. He's part of the coalition, too. Nissenbaum said he thinks being in Washington with Olympians will help bring attention to their message. They are masters of their craft and they wore the U.S. flag while competing, which should resonate with members of Congress, he added.

Nissenbaum said he went to Washington to convey to legislators that clean air and clean water are bipartisan, and they should adopt policies grounded in science to protect the environment.

“Clean air and clean water isn’t something that we should take for granted,” he said. “It affects every single person.”

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

Pulisic played a dynamic first half in the Americans' historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay to open their home World Cup nearly two weeks ago, but the AC Milan midfielder came off at halftime after an injury from training stiffened up.

Pulisic said he nearly played in the U.S.' 2-0 victory over Australia last Friday but was held out to get closer to full fitness for the games ahead. He has returned to practice with his teammates this week after working out on his own last week before the trip to Seattle.

“I'm hoping to play a part in (the match against Turkey), for sure,” Pulisic said before the U.S. training session Wednesday at Great Park. “I’ll discuss that with my coaches and the medical staff. Obviously not a good chance I’ll probably go and play 90 (minutes) right away after you come back and miss a game, but we’ll see.”

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino hasn't said how he will treat the final group match, which is meaningless for both teams. The Americans are locked into first place in their group, while Turkey has been eliminated from knockout-round contention.

Pulisic hopes the plan includes at least some playing time for him as the U.S. ramps up for its Round-of-32 match in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. While Pulisic's calf injury robbed him of one chance on the World Cup stage, he felt certain he wouldn't be out for long.

“I never feared anything worse,” Pulisic said. “I was pushing, and I was really close to trying to be available for the last game, for sure. I did feel a little something (against Paraguay), but I definitely was able to push through in the first half and just get me through. But yeah, it wasn’t quite ready, but it wasn’t anything where I feared anything worse than what it was.”

With no stakes for the U.S. against Turkey, Pochettino seems likely to provide some rest to key players in his starting lineup while giving a few of his reserves possibly their only opportunity to hit the field. That sounds great to starting central defender Chris Richards, who thinks some time off wouldn't be a hindrance.

“Our trainings are pretty intense," Richards said. "I think fitness won't be an issue. I don't think sharpness will be, either. Obviously it's good to keep into some sort of rhythm, but I think these guys deserve it if they get the chance (Thursday). I think we'll be fine when it comes to the next game.”

Pulisic was visibly excited as a spectator during the Americans' win in Seattle, celebrating along with his teammates as they capably handled a second straight opponent for their team's first consecutive World Cup victories since 1930. The U.S. offensive performance without its most accomplished attacking player, particularly in the first half against Australia, pleased Pulisic greatly.

“It’s not surprising to me,” Pulisic said. “I see what this team can do. We have depth. We have really strong players in a lot of positions. I don’t need to do everything. It’s such a strong team. These guys, everyone has each other’s backs. That’s what so fun about it, and to see the way the team performance that we’ve put in, especially the way we’ve started the games, has been fun to watch.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

The U.S. State Department has said that it would “begin a phased drawdown” of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a program that has supported South Africa’s battle against HIV and AIDS for the last 20 years and is widely credited with saving more than 20 million lives over that period.

The phasing out of most programs is expected to be completed by the end of September, with critical personnel support continuing through March next year, according to the U.S. State Department.

South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV, with approximately 8 million people, or about 12.7 % of its 63 million population.

The country was singled out for the halting of financial aid in addition to broader foreign aid cuts announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in an executive order issued in January 2025.

Trump announced a halt to all financial aid to the country the following month, citing political issues which included South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment policies and widely disputed allegations of a genocide against the white minority Afrikaner community in the country.

He also cited South Africa's land expropriation laws as targeting white Afrikaners and condemned the country’s actions against Israel at the International Court of Justice, where it has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegation and has said that the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people, was itself a genocidal act.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press this week that the South African government had been informed that PEPFAR would be withdrawn if these issues weren't addressed, which included a requirement for senior government officials to “unequivocally condemn all race-based incitement to violence, including the ‘Kill the Boer’ song, more frequently.”

The anti-apartheid liberation song has been interpreted by some as calling for violence against Afrikaners.

According to the South African government, the PEPFAR funding for South Africa was equivalent to about 17% of its budget for HIV programs, but this didn't include the purchase of antiretroviral drugs, since 90% of this was self-funded and the other 10% funded by the Global Fund.

However, other HIV related programs in 27 districts around the country had been adversely affected, with some support facilities shutting down and front-line workers and volunteers losing their jobs.

“The department has long been working on a self-reliance plan to minimize the impact of funding withdrawal since the initial freeze on foreign assistance and a cancellation of USAID grants in January 2025,” South Africa health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said.

Last year, the country announced a $45 million emergency fund to address some of the gaps created by the withdrawal of PEPFAR.

According to civil society group Section27, which has assessed the impact of the funding withdrawals in three districts that have high HIV prevalence in South Africa, prevention services were hardly hit.

“As the health system started to feel the pressure, the response was to prioritize treatment continuity versus prevention,” Section27 senior legal researcher Tendai Mafuma said.

The Anova Health Institute said that it had discontinued its PEPFAR-funded programs and laid off about 3,000 health workers since last year.

“Community delivery of PrEP (preexposure prophylaxis) and prevention services has been heavily impacted,” said Dr. Kate Rees, public health medicine specialist at Anova. “Community delivery of prevention is important to reach the people that need it most.”

She said that priority populations which include children, adolescents and young people were among the most affected, along with key population which include men who have sex with men and people who use drugs, among others.

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

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

For brothers Michael and Bob Archer, that behind-the-scenes work has become a long-term career — and a family legacy.

Bob Archer joined The Walt Disney Company in August 2010 after his older brother helped open the door. “Mike got me into coming here,” Bob said. Since then, Bob has spent his entire Disney career in transportation maintenance, moving through several roles that keep guests and cast members on the move.

“I started at central shops and moved the buses,” he said. “Went to trams, vehicle maintenance. And now I’m in transportation with heavy equipment.”

Michael Archer is in his 20th year with the company. He said his path to Disney began with a backstage tour he took as a birthday gift — a visit that turned curiosity into a plan.

“They took us to central shops in a couple of different areas,” Michael said. “With my mechanical background, I looked and I said, ‘I can do that.’”

Breaking into a large company wasn’t easy, he said, so he took a job wherever he could and worked his way toward the mechanical work he wanted.

“I went to the casting department, and I said, ‘I’ll take anything you’ve got,’” he said. Michael started in merchandise, then met co-workers who helped guide him toward maintenance and transportation. Eventually, he landed at the bus garage — and later, Bob followed.

Today, Michael works at Magic Kingdom as a service manager for engineering services, a role that reflects both his experience and the scale of the operation it takes to keep a world-class destination functioning.

For the Archers, the longevity matters. Michael said his previous industry experience taught him to expect frequent job changes to advance — a mindset that shifted once he found stability at Disney.

“The industry that I came from, if you wanted to do anything, you had to leave,” he said. “So I came here with that mindset and here I am 20 years later. … It means a lot to me just to have that security.”

Bob said what kept him — even as he moved across different transportation shops — was a consistent culture that put family first.

“Early on, one of my service managers said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Take care of your family and you still have a job here,” Bob said. “And that kind of stuck with me.

Working at the same company has also helped the brothers stay connected as adults. They live about an hour apart, Bob said, so they often see each other more at work than outside of it — catching up briefly between assignments.

“At work, I’ll get a phone call or I’ll call him sometimes like, ‘Hey, where are you at?’” Bob said. “We’ll bump into each other at work more than we do at home.”

Michael agreed, saying it isn’t unusual to cross paths on property, talk for a few minutes, then head back to their respective responsibilities — small moments that reflect a shared sense of purpose.

The family connection extends beyond the two brothers. Both said other relatives have also worked mechanical roles at Disney, adding another layer to the trade they’ve built their lives around.

“My wife was a mechanic out here before we decided to start a family,” Bob said, adding that his father-in-law also worked as a mechanic.

Beyond the workplace, the Archers said one of the most meaningful parts of the job is being able to share the parks with their families — and to point out pieces of the operation they’ve helped support.

“I can bring my family here whenever we want,” Bob said, recalling moments of telling his children about what he’s worked on. “When I worked at the bus garage, I’ve worked on that bus. … It’s really neat to be able to do stuff like that.”

After years of keeping critical systems running — often far from the spotlight — the brothers say they’re proud of the impact of hands-on work that most guests never notice: the maintenance checks, the repairs, the troubleshooting and the teamwork that keep the experience moving.

At the end of the day, Bob said, the people around them matter as much as the machines.

“Families are important,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have family, who do you got?”

The NCAA will now allow athletes five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first. The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions be considered for athletes who are injured.

Athletes whose eligibility expired by spring 2026 under the traditional model — four years of competition over five years — will not be allowed a fifth year of competition under the new rules that go into effect this fall.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cincinnati (Hamilton County) seeks temporary and permanent injunctive relief that would allow a fifth year of competition for athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and began their college sports careers that fall and never redshirted.

The new eligibility rule “unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through use of their name, image, and likeness (‘NIL’) connected to their work as Division I athletes,” attorneys Ryan Downton and Charles Rittgers wrote in the complaint.

Similar lawsuits are expected to be filed in other states. A message seeking comment was left with an NCAA spokesperson.

Nine of the plaintiffs have played or planned to play next season at Ohio schools. The rest, according to the complaint, have played multiple games in the state.

The complaint said class of 2022 athletes competed for playing time against older athletes who had eligibility extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also noted the NCAA allowed 2022 high school graduates to play a full professional season before enrolling in 2023 and that they are not excluded from playing in 2026-27.

“NCAA athletes have a reasonable expectation that they will be treated fairly by the NCAA and that NCAA rules will be applied consistently, regardless of the athlete’s background before they attend an NCAA school and regardless of the year in which they graduated from high school,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit points out that the plaintiffs don't challenge the concept of a defined eligibility period or the five-for-five rule itself.

“Rather, they challenge the NCAA’s application of the rule” that allows players they competed against from the high school class of 2017-20 and 2023-25 an additional year of competition while denying plaintiffs the same opportunity," the attorneys wrote. “The NCAA then compounded the problem by allowing former professional players to compete in their fifth year following high school graduation regardless of the number of professional games they had played, while denying plaintiffs the same opportunity for a fifth year of competition.”

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

The operation was part of Ukraine’s aerial campaign targeting energy facilities and military industries that has intensified as Kyiv builds bigger and better long-range weapons to ward off Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.

In response, Moscow has ordered the redeployment of some air defense systems from Russian regions to the capital and to Crimea’s Kerch Bridge, a crucial link for supplying Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The bridge connects the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“It is important that as many Russians as possible come to understand that it is the Russian leadership’s rejection of diplomacy that is prolonging the war,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused.

In northern Ukraine, meanwhile, military officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for communities and settlements in the Chernihiv region bordering Belarus starting July 1, according to Viacheslav Chaus, the head of regional military administration, in a statement on his Telegram channel.

Last month, Zelenskyy said his intelligence services had learned Moscow recently stepped up efforts to “draw Belarus much deeper into the war" and launch operations from Belarusian territory. He said he ordered the military and security agencies to prepare a response and strengthen northern defenses. Belarus and Russia denied Zelenskyy's claim.

Ukraine says the stricken gas plant was among the world's largest

The overnight attack hit the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, which is part of a complex that also houses the only helium plant in Russia, the General Staff said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. The attack set the complex on fire, it said.

Orenburg, in the southern Urals near Russia's border with Kazakhstan, is more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) behind the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The plant is one of the largest gas complexes in the world, according to the General Staff. It produces helium, used in liquid-fuel rocket engines and guidance systems, and ethane, a key component in producing solid rocket fuel and gunpowder, it added.

Overnight attacks also hit two satellite communication centers used by the Russian military, according to the General Staff.

One was the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, which it described as Russia's largest ground-based satellite communications complex, and the other was in the Vladimir region east of the capital.

It was not possible to independently verify the General Staff’s report, and Russian officials made no immediate comment.

The General Staff's statement did not say whether the military used drones or missiles in the assault, but drones have recently been used to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Ukraine keeps hammering Crimea

Ukraine has recently focused its drone and missile attacks on Crimea, aiming to cut off the vital Russian-held peninsula, and overnight drone strikes knocked out power in Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Moscow-installed governor, said Wednesday.

Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, sits in a strategic location on the Black Sea. It has naval bases and also provides an important supply line to Moscow's forces inside Ukraine.

Ukraine recently destroyed more than 60,000 tons of Russian ammunition when it hit a Baltic Fleet arsenal near St. Petersburg, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine is trying to disrupt military supply lines in Crimea and strike the peninsula’s power grid at the height of the summer tourist season. Kyiv hopes the campaign will embarrass Putin and increase public pressure on him to end the war, according to Western analysts.

Ukraine’s Security Service said Wednesday it struck two military airfields and destroyed missile systems in Crimea.

Attacks kill at least 6 people

Two staff members of Norwegian People’s Aid were killed during a Russian attack in Ukraine, the demining organization said Wednesday, although local officials said only one person was killed.

Four other workers with the organization were injured, two of them critically, according to the head of the southern Kherson region’s military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Russian forces shot down 323 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

Two people were killed and two others wounded overnight in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, regional Gov. Gleb Nikitin said. Also, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person overnight in Russia’s Belgorod border region bordering Ukraine, local officials said.

Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 101 long-range attack drones overnight.

Russian drones attacked the city of Balakliia in northeastern Ukraine, killing a 56-year-old woman, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration. Also, a 57-year-old streetcar driver man died as a result of a Russian guided aerial bomb that hit the outskirts of Sumy, said Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration.

In addition, the death toll rose to four from Tuesday's ballistic missile strike using cluster munitions on Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, after a 62-year-old woman died from her injuries, said Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city administration, said.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have deployed the controversial munitions during the war.

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Elise Morton in London contributed.

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

McMorrow’s new ad, shared first with The Associated Press, accuses Trump of blocking the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and suggests he is doing so to benefit a major political donor, building on an anti-corruption message she has sought to make central to her campaign.

The bridge, which spans the Detroit River and connects the Motor City with Windsor, Ontario, was slated for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 12. It was abruptly postponed after officials said the U.S. and Canada were still working to resolve “outstanding issues.”

The dispute gives Democrats a rare opportunity to tie Trump directly to a project with visible economic consequences in a battleground state. For McMorrow, who is trying to gain ground in a three-person primary, it also offers a chance to distinguish herself as the first Democratic candidate to make the controversy a campaign issue. She's running against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed.

The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024. Rogers has also used the bridge in political messaging, saying that if he's sent to Washington he'll make sure the bridge is opened.

The ad claims Trump is blocking the bridge for billionaire donor

Standing in front of the bridge, McMorrow claims in the ad that it's ready to open but remains closed because “Donald Trump won’t open it.”

“I’m Mallory McMorrow and I have one message for the president: open this damn bridge,” she says.

McMorrow argues that Trump is blocking the bridge because “the billionaire family that owns the other bridge gave him a million bucks."

That claim references the Moroun family, owners of the privately held Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Federal campaign finance records show Matthew Moroun donated $1 million to Trump's super PAC earlier this year. The toll bridge charges up to $10 per automobile and $20 per axel for commercial trucks.

In February, Trump demanded in a social media post that Canada hand over at least half ownership of the new bridge to the U.S. government and accept other unspecified demands, part of his broader clashes with Canada over trade.

Canada financed the bridge’s construction. The project was negotiated by Rick Snyder, the former Republican governor of Michigan, and work has been underway since 2018 and cost close to $4.4 billion.

Named after the late Canadian hockey great Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings, the bridge is expected to be another vital economic artery between Canada and the United States.

McMorrow is taking big swings. She may need to

McMorrow is hoping to break through in a race that many in the state see increasingly as a two-candidate contest.

In an interview with AP, McMorrow acknowledged that from the start of the race she's been a “dark horse” candidate. A state senator known for a viral speech in 2022, she faces a congresswoman with large resources in Stevens. El-Sayed, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, has carved out the progressive lane with Sen. Bernie Sanders' backing.

The Gordie Howe digital ad is the second ad in a series, with an initial buy of over $400,000 on TV and digital platforms in the Detroit market. The first ad was a 30-second TV spot released Tuesday.

“Right now in this primary, my two opponents are trying to present a false binary choice,” McMorrow said.

Outside groups have also begun pouring money into the race. A PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent nearly $8 million this month boosting Stevens, while Yes Michigan Action Committee, a super PAC supporting McMorrow, has reserved nearly $6 million in advertising, according to AdImpact.

Last week, El-Sayed became the first Democratic candidate in the race to directly spend for an ad.

“We have six weeks. I mean, anything can happen,” said McMorrow. “There are so many people who are just starting to tune into this race.”

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Associated Press writer Michael Warren contributed to this report.

Trump’s push for stricter voter identification rules in federal elections has been ruffling Senate Republicans. Trump worsened tensions earlier Wednesday by abruptly canceling plans to sign a bipartisan affordable housing measure, insisting that the Senate first move his voting legislation even though it doesn’t have enough support to pass.

At a preplanned luncheon, Trump is meeting with GOP senators who have grown increasingly frustrated by his diversions from the party’s agenda and his unclear Iran war strategy. Republican senators had hoped to use the housing bill Trump abandoned to show voters they care about affordability ahead of the November midterm elections.

Trump also has a face-to-face Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, two weeks ahead of the annual summit of the military alliance, as the Pentagon reviews the U.S. military footprint in Europe.

The Latest:

In visit to Capitol, Jessie Diggins and other Olympians push for climate change solutions

Olympian Jessie Diggins visited Capitol Hill with her four medals in hand Wednesday to advocate for clean air, clean water and a healthy planet.

America’s most decorated cross-country skier is part of “Protect Our Winters,” an athlete-driven environmental group that sent a coalition to Washington to meet with lawmakers Tuesday and Wednesday. The group is most concerned with how the Environmental Protection Agency has weakened key climate, water and pollution regulations since Trump returned to office.

“I don’t want to stick my head in the sand and ignore the world burning,” Diggins said in an interview. “I feel like I have a responsibility to use my voice to advocate for change.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said the agency will save trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes, to make the cost of living more affordable and reignite domestic manufacturing.

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Trump arrives at the Capitol

The president is on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate Republicans hours after pulling back on plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill.

Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote

A federal judge has permanently barred Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections.

His order included provisions that would have required people to show documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and would have prevented mail ballots from being counted if they were received after Election Day.

The ruling on Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper effectively makes permanent a preliminary order she issued a year ago.

Casper agreed with arguments from Democratic attorneys general who filed the lawsuit that the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the president, the power to regulate elections.

GOP senators try to make sense of Trump’s move

Ahead of Trump’s arrival on Capitol Hill, Republican senators were processing his decision to cancel the signing of the housing bill.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi called the move “unexpected” and said he read the president’s message “with interest.” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Trump’s reversal “makes no sense” and would hurt Republicans in the November midterm elections.

“There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president’s doing right now,” Tillis said. “And it’s the Democrat Party.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Trump was “using everything as leverage to get the SAVE America Act passed.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the president’s closest allies in Congress, refused to talk to reporters about Wednesday’s developments.

Trump called off housing bill signing just as Republican leaders were praising it

The president’s announcement came at an awkward time for House Republican leadership, coming just as they were speaking at a press conference about the importance of the bill in addressing affordability — a key issue for voters this year.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise had just described it as “really important bill to lower housing costs.”

“Let’s show the American people what legislating looks like,” added Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill. “Let’s show the American people how you bring together and do something on a bicameral basis, and we did that.”

A reporter then asked about Trump’s cancellation as they took questions. Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken with Trump earlier Wednesday and was confident he would sign the bill.

“The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he’s going to understand that it’s a good product,” Johnson said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Trump is showing he doesn’t care about American families

The bipartisan housing bill was as close as it comes to a “Kumbaya” moment in Washington, but the Democratic senator who helped craft the measure said she couldn’t understand why Trump thought canceling the signing ceremony was a smart idea.

“This just doesn’t make any sense,” Warren said on CNBC, saying the only conclusion she could draw is that Trump has “a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families, and to genuine efforts to do something about it.”

The Massachusetts lawmaker said Trump is his own worst enemy when it comes to lowering interest rates to help make housing more affordable.

She said his tariffs, his energy policies and his Iran war have kept inflation running hotter than it should, keeping borrowing costs high.

House Democrat to Trump: ‘Stop the nonsense’

Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas said Trump refused to sign the bill “all because of political games.”

“Families are struggling to afford a home,” she posted on X. “Stop the nonsense and sign the BIPARTISAN bill.”

An analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center says the bill incorporates provisions from more than 60 measures introduced in the House, Senate, or both chambers — 36 of which had bipartisan sponsors.

America is turning 250. New polls show how they feel about it

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary, according to a new AP-NORC survey. Roughly 3 in 10 say “excited” describes their emotions.

But as the celebrations begin, many Americans also feel indifferent or conflicted. New Gallup polling shows about 8 in 10 Americans now feel the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the U.S. has turned out, a substantial increase from 25 years ago.

Laura Davis, a 44-year-old in Chicago who identifies as a progressive liberal, has struggled with what she describes as the “American declarations of grandiosity” this year, including Trump’s White House ballroom construction and the repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

That money could be better spent on Americans in need as well as international aid, she said, and she worries the country’s reputation is being damaged by the Trump administration’s actions.

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Iran says it’s closing Strait of Hormuz again as Israel and Hezbollah keep fighting in Lebanon

Testing the Iran war’s uneasy ceasefire, the announcement from Tehran follows an Israeli airstrike Wednesday that killed two people, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. It was Israel’s first airstrike on Lebanon since the latest ceasefire took effect on Saturday.

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that the U.S. had not demanded that Israel withdraw from Lebanon and maintained that Israel will remain there as long as Hezbollah poses a threat to its troops and residents. Hezbollah has refused to halt attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing.

“We are not withdrawing, and as of this moment — and this is a diplomatic achievement — there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” said minister Israel Katz.

Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting again this week in Washington. Lebanon hopes the direct negotiations will result in a plan for Israeli withdrawal.

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US says Chemours to pay $450 million to settle ‘forever chemicals’ case

The Trump administration has reached a multistate settlement with chemical giant Chemours Co. over yearslong, illegal discharges of synthetic “forever chemicals” used to make products resistant to water, grease and stains.

The settlement is the first by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims against a manufacturer of harmful chemicals known as PFAS.

Under the agreement, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million for alleged violations and spend $90 million over 15 years to mitigate PFAS discharges in three states: West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey. The company also agreed to install PFAS pollution controls and supply clean drinking water to affected communities. Combined, the penalties and relief programs are estimated to cost $450 million.

The Associated Press learned details of the settlement, which allows Chemours to continue manufacturing PFAS for commercial and military applications, ahead of an announcement expected later Wednesday.

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Trump cancels signing of bill to increase supply of housing

The president posted on social media that he would no longer be signing, as planned for Wednesday, a bipartisan measure to increase home construction.

“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump said.

Trump has been pushing the Senate to remove the filibuster in order to pass the SAVE America Act, which would introduce new voter identification requirements.

Democratic lawmakers say the measure as written would be a form of voter suppression.

Trump disses housing bill he’s about to sign as having ‘minor importance’

It turns out that Trump doesn’t care much about the bipartisan bill to spur more home construction that he plans to sign on Thursday.

Posting on social media, he dismissed the measure that his rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., helped to craft.

He said the housing measure, which aims to reduce federal regulations, expand local control and ban corporate investors from buying up single-family homes, was “of minor importance compared to lower interest rates.” Thirty-year mortgage rates are averaging around 6.5%, having spiked from 6% earlier this year with the start of the Iran war.

The president used his post to say that his SAVE America Act on voter identification was more important, even though polling shows the electorate is primarily concerned about affordability. Trump has been pushing the Senate to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass the voting measure.

More on the departing Army commander — and a new Pentagon review

A West Point graduate and a career special operations commander, Donahue commanded Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan before leading the 82nd Airborne from July 2020 to March 2022. His departure from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war was documented in an iconic photo.

Hegseth and Trump had made the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan — an operation set in motion by a treaty Trump negotiated during his first term — a regular political punching bag. But Donahue’s leadership during the evacuation drew bipartisan praise. Within the Army, he was widely seen as a top officer who could have led the service or been chosen to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hegseth ordered the new examination of the withdrawal despite there having already been multiple reviews of the operation by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress, which have involved hundreds of interviews and studies of videos, photographs and other footage and data. It’s unclear what specific new information the new review is seeking.

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US Army’s commander of land forces in Europe and Africa suddenly leaves his post

Gen. Christopher Donahue — famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 — is unexpectedly stepping down after just 18 months in the job.

An Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about sensitive discussions told The Associated Press that Donahue’s departure comes as the Army is discussing downgrading U.S. Army Europe and Africa from four-star to a three-star command amid criticism from Hegseth about European allies.

Donahue, commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement provided to The Associated Press. He’s among nearly two dozen top military leaders to either retire or depart early under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his mantra of “less generals, more GIs.”

By Konstantin Toropin

UN nuclear boss says his inspectors will visit Iran sites. Tehran says not so fast

“This is going to happen,” Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday.

The IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear enrichment sites are key component in the interim U.S.-Iran deal to reach an end to the war, but an Iranian diplomat insisted any such visit would only come after a final deal.

The U.S. and Iran have repeatedly disagreed in public about what the document they signed actually means. Their dueling narratives also involve the status of Israel’s war with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and how Tehran will spend billions of dollars once unfrozen.

Grossi’s remarks were the firmest yet from the United Nations agency viewed as key in determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

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US reopens embassy in Kuwait after shuttering during Iran war

The Trump administration has announced the limited reopening, more than three months after it was shuttered at the height of the war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a ceremonial flag-raising at the embassy compound in Kuwait City on Wednesday during the second leg of a three-nation tour of Gulf allies.

“Effective at midnight on June 24, 2026, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait resumed operations following a suspension caused by Iranian attacks,” the State Department said. “The Embassy will immediately resume emergency services for American citizens, with other services phased in gradually.”

The embassy suspended operations on March 5, amid intensifying Iranian drone and missile retaliation for U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. Ot was the only one to entirely close down, although all others in the region reduced staffing by either allowing or ordering non-emergency personnel to leave their posts.

Federal judge bars immigration arrests at US courthouses in a setback for Trump

U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts of San Francisco ordered an end to the arrests, saying in part that the reversal of longstanding policy failed to address the “chilling effect” on attendance at court hearings and resulted from “a complete lack of decision-making.”

“For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act,” wrote Pitts, referring to the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act, which demands that an agency at least provide sound reasons for following its chosen course.”

Another federal judge in May also barred arrests at immigration courts, but that order applied only in New York. This decision invalidates the policy nationwide.

James Percival, the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s general counsel, criticized Tuesday's ruling as an exercise in judicial overreach.

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Mamdani’s endorsements prove his power in New York, plus more takeaways

After two of Trump ’s picks for governor lost Republican primaries this month, he ensured it wouldn’t happen again. The president endorsed both GOP candidates in a South Carolina runoff, and one of them inevitably won.

Meanwhile New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proved his endorsement power after boosting three progressives over establishment-backed candidates in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries. All three won, all but ensuring that two self-described democratic socialists will represent their deep blue districts in Congress. The mayor said it was a question of electing “better Democrats” who would “put working people back at the heart of politics.”

The losers in New York’s House primaries included New York Assemblyman Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee who pushed sweeping state-level AI regulation; Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy; and former Republican lawyer George Conway.

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Trump turns America 250 kickoff into a campaign-style rally on the National Mall

The President sees America’s 250th anniversary as a chance to get the country excited again — about Donald Trump.

He’s hosting a rally Wednesday on the National Mall, promising a stealth bomber flyover, military bands, singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame and a speech by who else but Trump.

The president is trying to convince American voters that he’s put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz reopens amid negotiations with Tehran. The rally kicks off weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding.

After musicians including Young MC and the Commodores canceled, Trump said he’s stepping into the void as “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime.”

He said Wednesday’s event would be “the biggest rally we’ve ever had.”

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Trump says Justice Department will investigate oil companies for price gouging

Trump said on social media that gasoline prices are not matching the decline in oil prices, so he has told the Justice Department “to immediately start looking into this.”

Crude oil prices have eased with the interim deal with Iran, which has enabled more oil tankers to start passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices at the pump are averaging $3.93 a gallon, according to AAA. Gasoline costs have fallen over the past month, just not as much as Trump would like.

“In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,’” Trump posted. “I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!

Federal appeals court allows the Trump administration to resume expanded use of speedy deportations

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.

Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.

In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.

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California intends to sue Trump administration over deal to end offshore wind project

California intends to sue the Trump administration over its deal to end an offshore wind project proposed off the state’s central coast.

State officials said they are combating the administration’s attacks on their offshore wind industry by sending a notice of their intention to sue to the Department of the Interior on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action is focused on the administration buying back the lease for Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind project off California’s central coast.

California has made a major commitment to offshore wind because of its potential to generate vast amounts of clean electricity from strong, consistent winds off its coast. Its strategy calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply.

These energy and climate goals are now in jeopardy, and that’s why California will fight vigorously, said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild.

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Troubled Reflecting Pool faces fresh scrutiny over vandalism claims and duck deaths

The saga over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool took a turn as Trump cited six arrests over recent damage. The president’s troubled $14-million-plus rehabilitation project has become a visceral flashpoint over law enforcement, aesthetics and environmental concerns.

In a social media post, Trump claimed without supporting evidence that vandals had cause a “350-foot gash” in the paint as the administration faces a self-imposed deadline to fix the botched renovation before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration next week. He repeated that the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool ahead of the anniversary, sealing the bottom in a color he dubbed “American flag blue.” But since that effort, its water has been plagued with algae and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off.

Now the Center for Biological Diversity is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate whether the use of pool chemicals to kill the algae bloom violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act after a Mallard duckling carcass was photographed floating in the murky water and two other ducks were found dead nearby.

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Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled a day after hearing oral arguments in Manhattan, calling the government's pursuit of the most sensitive medical records of a “uniquely vulnerable group” of patients treated over a six-year period to be “most egregious” and unconstitutional.

Failla accused the Justice Department of turning to criminal probes as a way to obtain otherwise private records about those undergoing transgender care after judges across the country repeatedly rejected similar requests through civil means.

The Justice Department had sought the records as part of a probe of potential “misbranding” of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Justice Department declined comment after Failla's ruling, which concluded that the subpoenas violated Constitutional protections against government overreach in criminal probes and against improper searches and seizures.

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the ruling “a victory for the basic privacy of our clients and all families like theirs across New York City.” He added in a statement that using subpoenas to attain the identities and sensitive health information of transgender young people “should send chills down the spine of every American.”

Failla ruled in a lawsuit filed this month on behalf of minors, their parents and young adults who received medically necessary gender-affirming care in New York City.

According to the lawsuit, NYU Langone Hospitals was one of several institutions to receive a federal grand jury subpoena on May 7 from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. The records of transgender patients were to be sent electronically to a special agent of the FDA's Kansas City office of criminal investigation.

Failla said there were at least 40 individuals who received treatment at NYU Langone alone during the Jan. 1, 2020 to May 5, 2026 period covered by the subpoenas.

At a Tuesday hearing, Failla was critical of the federal government, saying executive orders addressing transgender issues contained “language some people might consider inflammatory.”

She said it seemed from an “atmospheric perspective” that the government was “rounding up” vulnerable individuals by finding out the most personal information about them and then “giving them no comfort they're not going to be ostracized or even harmed.”

“There are episodes of this in our history and they are not nice episodes,” Failla said. “Some may see it as a rounding up of people for all bad purposes.”

Most major medical groups say access to gender-affirming care is important for people with gender dysphoria. Transgender teens, parents and providers have described it as life-saving for children who are depressed or suicidal because their gender identities do not match the gender assigned them at birth.

Gender-affirming care can include counseling, medications that block puberty, hormone therapy to produce physical changes or surgeries, although those are rare for minors.

Twenty-seven states have limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2025 that they could do so under the U.S. Constitution.

President Donald Trump has aggressively sought to roll back transgender rights. During his second term, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to use its regulatory power to block gender-affirming care for minors, and the DOJ has demanded access to providers’ private records, putting pressure on hospitals that often rely on federal funding to operate.

At the outset of reading a lengthy ruling to the parties participating in an electronic proceeding, Failla noted that the “current administration” had issued orders in the first few days of its existence in which it “sought to demonize and eradicate an entire population of transgender individuals.”

Before finishing an hour later, Failla had granted class-action status to the plaintiffs and ruled that the Justice Department had violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. She set a July 8 hearing to hear additional evidence before deciding whether to impose a preliminary injunction, the next step in the legal process after Wednesday's temporary restraining order.

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Associated Press Writer Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

Threats include wind gusts up to 60mph, penny sized hail, and frequent lightning.

Central Florida is settling into a more typical summer weather pattern, with scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms expected to develop on Wednesday while temperatures continue to climb into the 90s.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY

A weak front over Northern Florida is helping to spark storms this afternoon as the east and west coast sea breezes collide across the peninsula. Unlike earlier this week, there is a little more moisture available in the atmosphere, which should allow storms to become more numerous by late day.

Rain and storm chances will be highest from the Orlando area southward during the late afternoon and evening hours. Storms will initially develop along the sea breeze boundaries before becoming more widespread as those boundaries collide inland.

A few stronger storms are possible. The primary threats will be frequent lightning, wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph, small hail, and torrential downpours.

Temperatures will once again climb into the low to mid-90s this afternoon. Combined with Florida’s humidity, it will feel more like 100 to 105 degrees in many communities.

WEEKEND

Looking ahead, storm chances will taper off a bit into the weekend, with coverage at 30-40%. With the lack of cooling rain, the heat will rage on with highs soaring into the upper 90s and heat indices into the triple digits.

Among those who received invites are “One Battle After Another” nominee Teyana Taylor, Josh O'Connor, Jenna Ortega, Jacob Elordi and Simu Liu.

If all new members accept their invitations, the film academy will number 11,319, with 10,338 voting members. In 2016, the academy numbered closer to 6,000 members.

But to diversify its ranks, the Oscars organization has swelled in recent years. In 2015, the academy was 75% male and 92% white. That year, all 20 acting nominees were white, prompting the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.

Following the induction of this year's new members, the academy will be 64% male and 75% white. One byproduct of the membership expansion has been an increase in international voters. Overseas members now account for 22% of the group.

The makeup of the new class is 42% women, 56% from underrepresented communities and 53% from countries outside the U.S.

“Membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority,” the academy said in its announcement.

After several new classes that numbered closer to 1,000, the academy has in recent years grown at a more modest pace. Last year, 534 voters were added.

As it has grown in size, the academy has also added new categories to its annual awards ceremony. Earlier this year, the first award for casting was handed out. In 2028, the first Oscar for achievement in stunt design will be given.

Other new members include Anthony Ramos, Bill Skarsgård, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, Jemaine Clement, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Stephen Fry. Among the invited filmmakers are Josh and Benny Safdie, “Weapons” director Zach Cregger and “Sirât” filmmaker Oliver Laxe.

The 99th Academy Awards will be held March 14, 2027, with Conan O'Brien returning as host for the third consecutive year.

The Cardinals also announced the promotion of Anuk Karunaratne to president of business operations as part of a restructuring following Chaim Bloom's appointment as president of baseball operations last September.

DeWitt III, 58, oversaw the opening of Busch Stadium in 2006 and the development and launch of Ballpark Village Phase I in 2014 and Phase II in 2020.

Bill DeWitt Jr. continues as chairman and principal owner and will continue his involvement in team baseball and business matters.

“This organizational evolution reflects our family’s enduring commitment to the Cardinals, our fans, and our community,” DeWitt Jr. said. “Today’s news also represents a natural progression of leadership responsibilities to steward the next generation of Cardinals baseball, both on and off the field.”

Karunaratne, joined the Cardinals in 2024 as senior vice president of business operations. He previously was the Toronto Blue Jays' executive vice president of business operations.

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

We’ve compiled a non-exhaustive list of upcoming Space Coast launches so you can know what to expect.

[RELATED: Best spots to watch a rocket launch]

Keep checking back, though, because as most space enthusiasts know, launch schedules are subject to change due to weather, technical reasons, and range restrictions.

I repeat: All launch dates and times are tentative!

• Date: June 28
• Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
• Mission: SiriusXM SXM-11
• Launch Time: 10:25 p.m. - 2:21 a.m.
• Location: Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

• Date: First half of 2026
• Vehicle: Blue Origin New Glenn
• Mission: Blue Origin will launch a Blue Moon lunar lander carrying NASA payloads on a demonstration mission.
• Launch Time: TBD
• Location: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 36

• Date: TBD
• Vehicle: Boeing Starliner
• Mission: An uncrewed Boeing Starliner will deliver cargo to the International Space Station and undergo in-flight validation of a series of system upgrades.
• Launch Time: TBD
• Location: TBD

• Date: July 2026
• Vehicle: ULA Atlas V
• Mission: Amazon Project Kuiper
• Launch Time: 12:27-12:56 p.m.
• Location: Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

• Date: Q4 2026
• Vehicle: ULA Vulcan
• Mission: Sierra Space will launch its uncrewed Dream Chaser space plane atop a ULA Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Launch Time: TBD
• Location: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 41

Camp Mystic has been under increasing pressure since the July 4 disaster. Owners had planned to reopen the Texas Hill Country camp this summer for its 100th anniversary but reversed course in April amid outrage from victims’ families and lawmakers. Victims' families filed lawsuits accusing the camp of failing to protect the girls as the powerful floodwaters approached.

Camp Mystic’s owner, Richard Eastland, also died in the flood.

The camp listed its debt at more than $10 million, according to the filing made in federal bankruptcy court in Houston. An attorney for Camp Mystic has not responded to an email and a phone message seeking comment.

“Bankruptcy will not stop all responsible parties from being held accountable,” Paul Yetter, a lawyer who represents multiple families of campers and counselors who died at Camp Mystic, said in a statement. “These innocent girls deserve justice.”

For decades, Camp Mystic was a summer staple and an institution for generations of families, who dropped off their girls at the sleepaway camp to ride horses, canoe, fish and attend Bible studies. Other summer camps in Kerr County, west of Austin, did not take on such devastating flooding and in some cases have reopened.

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Eastland family spent months determined to reopen the camp this summer, pointing to enhanced safety measures that included flood warning river monitors and putting two-way radios enabled with national weather alerts in every cabin.

By the spring, Camp Mystic's attorney said it was ready to reopen for business for nearly 900 campers.

But assurances of safety did not convince victims' families and some Texas lawmakers. State regulators found nearly two dozen deficiencies in the emergency operations plan submitted by the owners, including in proposals for flood warning evacuations and safety training.

The decision not to reopen followed weeks of testimony in court hearings and legislative investigations that laid bare the camp’s lack of detailed planning for a flood emergency and its reliance on poorly trained staff.

Families of the victims packed the hearings, some wearing “Heaven’s 27” pins with photographs of their daughters. They listened to the details of missed flood warning signs, the descriptions of the flood and the decision to leave the girls in their cabins until it was too late. Testimony included video of the raging floodwaters as a girl repeatedly screamed “help!” somewhere in the distance.

Before halting the reopening plans, Camp Mystic invited journalists and lawmakers to review safety improvements at the camp and promised that no camp activities would take place in the low-lying area that was devastated by the flood. The Eastland family also stressed that hundreds of families wanted to return.

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McCormack contributed to this report from Concord, New Hampshire.

Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement provided to The Associated Press. He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military leaders to either retire or depart their jobs early under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has undertaken an effort to thin the ranks of the military’s top brass with the mantra “less generals, more GIs.”

Donahue's deputy, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, will perform his duties in the meantime, the statement added.

A West Point graduate and a career special operations commander, Donahue commanded Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan before leading the 82nd Airborne division from July 2020 to March 2022.

It was during that period that he was brought in to restore security at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. On Aug. 30, 2021, Donahue became the last U.S. soldier to depart the country after nearly 20 years of war sparked by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The moment was documented in an iconic photo taken through night vision goggles that showed the general boarding the last C-17 cargo plane to depart the country.

Hegseth and President Donald Trump had made the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan — an operation that was set in motion by a treaty negotiated with the Taliban by the Trump administration in its first term — a regular political punching bag and the subject of a new Pentagon review.

Last May, Hegseth ordered the new examination of the withdrawal despite there having already been multiple reviews of the operation by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress, which have involved hundreds of interviews and studies of videos, photographs and other footage and data. It’s unclear what specific new information the new review is seeking.

Donahue’s leadership during the evacuation had nonetheless drawn bipartisan praise. Within the Army, he was widely seen as a top officer who could have led the service or been chosen to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

An Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk about sensitive discussions told The Associated Press that Donahue’s departure comes as the Army is discussing downgrading U.S. Army Europe and Africa from four-star to a three-star command.

This move would come as Hegseth has been criticizing European allies.

Last week, Hegseth told NATO allies he would be conducting a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that is “designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe.”

“It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors,” he added.

The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the news of Donahue's departure, which was first reported by The Atlantic.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official for Reaves, who cements his status as one of the most successful undrafted players in recent NBA history with this contract.

Reaves is declining his $14.9 million player option for the upcoming season to reach this deal with the team that signed him out of Oklahoma after the draft in 2021. The shifty guard has grown into one of the NBA's most effective scorers and playmakers, increasing his scoring average in every season of his five-year career.

The 28-year-old Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds last season despite missing two significant chunks of the year with injuries that followed him into the postseason. He has also developed a close bond with his Lakers backcourt partner, NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic.

Reaves would have been one of the NBA's top free agents on the open market this summer. Instead, he remains firmly alongside Doncic while the Lakers and LeBron James determine their next steps. Los Angeles also has been discussing the future with impending free agents Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes during the exclusive negotiating window with a team's own free agents.

After the Pacific Division champion Lakers' season ended with a second-round loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder while Doncic was sidelined by a hamstring injury, general manager Rob Pelinka made it clear Reaves likely wasn't going anywhere, saying the team and Reaves had both already essentially decided to work out an extension. Reaves grew up in Arkansas as a Lakers fan, and he is a fan favorite in Los Angeles.

“He started his journey here as a Laker, and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said. “And we feel the same way."

The Lakers also formalized their draft-night trade on Wednesday, acquiring the rights to 24th overall pick Cameron Carr in a deal with the New York Knicks. Los Angeles gave up cash considerations and the draft rights to Spain's Sergio De Larrea, who was picked by the Lakers with the 25th selection Tuesday night.

Carr, a 6-foot-5 wing who scored 18.9 points per game for Baylor last season, will wear No. 43 with the Lakers.

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

According to the Disney Parks blog, the 2026 season runs Nov. 13 through Jan. 6, bringing holiday magic to all four theme parks, Disney Springs, and resort hotels.

Below is a rundown of highlights:

Magic Kingdom

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party returns on select nights Nov. 8 through Dec. 22.

The separately ticketed event features Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, Frozen Holiday Surprise, holiday ride overlays, character meet-and-greets, and complimentary treats. The fan-favorite Jingle Cruise returns for all park guests throughout the season.

EPCOT

Included with park admission, the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays presented by AdventHealth runs Nov. 27 through Dec. 30. World Showcase Storytellers, the Candlelight Processional, Holiday Kitchens, the Holiday Cookie Stroll, and the Glimmering Greenhouses boat ride overlay all return. 

New this year: Scentsy’s Festive Fragrances: A Sensory Wonderland debuts all-new scents celebrating holidays from around the world, including Noche Buena and Diwali.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney Jollywood Nights runs select nights Nov. 7 through Jan. 5 — extending into January for the first time.

The separately ticketed event features the Glisten! skating show, Jingle Bell Jingle BAM! fireworks, Disney Holidays in Hollywood, and a Nightmare Before Christmas sing-along.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The Merry Menagerie puppet experience and the nightly Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition return, both included with park admission.

Disney Springs

The Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth, nightly snowfall, live music, and Santa Claus appearances through Dec. 24 close out the festive fun.

Under the agreement, filed in federal court in West Virginia, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million for alleged violations and spend $90 million over 15 years to mitigate PFAS discharges in three states: West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.

Chemours, a spin-off of chemical maker DuPont, also agreed to install PFAS pollution controls for and surface water discharges and air emissions at a West Virginia facility at an estimated cost of $60 million, supply clean drinking water to communities near its West Virginia and New Jersey sites at an estimated cost of $280 million; and implement controls to reduce releases of PFAS and other toxic chemicals from its facility in North Carolina, based on a pending independent assessment.

Combined, the penalties and relief programs are estimated to cost at least $450 million, the Justice Department said.

The settlement allows Chemours to continue manufacturing PFAS for commercial and military applications while preventing future contamination and protecting communities from existing pollution, said Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Justice Department says settlement protects public health

“The Trump administration recognizes the important role of Chemours for it commercial and military obligations,'' Gustafson said in an interview. “The settlement protects public health while preserving that important balance.”

The settlement against a major PFAS manufacturer “delivers on the Trump administration’s promise to make polluters pay and stop PFAS contamination at the source,” said Jeffrey Hall, assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance.

The agreement will greatly reduce PFAS contamination of water, land and air and even begin to mitigate past harm, Hall said. “This settlement brings Chemours into compliance with the law and holds it fully accountable,” he said.

In a statement Wednesday, Chemours said it has already begun planning and implementing operational improvements at its facilities and will take steps to mitigate future emissions and enhance existing programs.

"This settlement provides Chemours with greater clarity on future compliance requirements and actions to support long-term responsible manufacturing,'' spokeswoman Jess Loizeaux said.

The settlement comes as the Trump administration is expected to propose softening Biden-era limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water, while delaying but keeping tough standards for two common types of the substance.

The proposal will start the formal process of rolling back parts of the first-ever limits on PFAS in drinking water finalized during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Officials at the time found they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.

The agency is committed to addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water while following the law and ensuring that regulatory compliance is achievable for drinking water systems, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.

Chemours discharged PFAS into rivers in three states

The settlement determined that facilities Chemours operates in the three states have discharged PFAS into the Ohio River, Cape Fear River and Delaware River, respectively, in violation of permits required by the Clean Water Act and state laws. Chemours also violated legal requirements under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act at all three facilities.

As a result of the alleged violations, people living near the facilities were exposed to illegal PFAS, officials said. PFAS are widely used and found around the world, with scientific studies showing that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.

The violations continued for over a decade, the Justice Department said. The facilities were previously owned for many decades by DuPont. The settlement announced Wednesday does not resolve DuPont’s liability for past PFAS violations, officials said.

A federal judge last year ordered Chemours to stop discharging unlawful levels of cancer-causing chemicals into the Ohio River from the company’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia. The pollutants endanger the environment, aquatic life and human health, U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin wrote in the August 2025 order.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition had asked Goodwin to require the company to immediately comply with its permit limits after violating them for more than five years.

DuPont, Chemours and another company, Corteva, agreed to pay New Jersey up to $2 billion last year to settle environmental claims stemming from PFAS. The federal settlement does not affect the state case.

North Carolina AG blasts settlement

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson called the settlement “an insult to the people of eastern North Carolina.”

His state is “ground zero for GenX contamination, but this deal does practically nothing to clean up our water,” said Jackson, a Democrat. GenX is a trade name for a synthetic chemical developed by Chemours as an alternative to PFAS but which has raised significant health and environmental concerns in its own right.

“Chemours made this mess, and Chemours should clean it up," Jackson said in a statement.

The federal consent decree calls for 14 specific treatment systems to reduce PFAS in wastewater, stormwater and groundwater from the West Virginia plant. Chemours will test drinking water near the West Virginia and New Jersey sites and provide treated or alternative clean water.

Called Lakou Lakay, the name in Haitian creole means “home,” and it reflects her family’s deepening roots in their adopted homeland where her granddaughter was born two years ago, automatically making her a Mexican citizen.

Like the United States, Mexico extends citizenship to children born within its borders.

President Donald Trump insists the U.S. is the only nation to do so as he seeks to deny birthright citizenship for children whose parents are living in the country illegally or have temporary legal status.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in soon on the constitutionality of his birthright citizenship order. Trump signed it on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, amid his Republican administration’s broad immigration crackdown. The idea has faced skepticism from conservative and liberal justices alike.

In April, Trump posted on Truth Social: “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!”

In fact, about three dozen countries, mostly in the Americas, guarantee automatic citizenship to children born on their territory — among them, Canada, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and of course, Mexico.

Petit Frere fled Haiti in 2019. She traveled from Brazil and walked through the Panamanian jungle to Mexico chasing the so-called American Dream with the intention of crossing the border and settling with relatives in Florida. But she soon learned that was an illusion, while Mexico opened its doors.

Her restaurant's name symbolizes in her Haitian culture a shared space affording a sense of belonging. On the walls she has framed signs in Spanish, English and Creole that make clear it is more than an eatery offering tasty traditional Haitian dishes, such as fish with plantains, and rice and beans.

“Every dish tells a story, every detail connects cultures,” one sign says. “We aim to promote an authentic cultural exchange between two peoples with similar historical roots yet where Haitian identity proudly blossoms on Mexican soil.”

In just over five years in Tijuana, Petit Frere has established a thriving business, become fluent in Spanish and is getting a degree in social work.

And she welcomed the first generation Mexican in her family, her granddaughter, Alexca.

There are no figures on how many children born to noncitizens have received Mexican birthright citizenship. Tens of thousands of Haitians are living in Mexico. In 2021, when Mexico saw a significant increase in Haitian migration, at least 10 percent of arriving Haitian women were pregnant, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.

Citizenship and birth

In the U.S., birthright citizenship was enshrined after the Civil War through the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, in part to ensure former slaves would be citizens.

The right was expanded to immigrants' children in the late 1800s when the Supreme Court ruled nearly anyone born in the U.S. — no matter their parents’ legal status — has citizenship.

The practice, many legal historians believe, dates to the 1600s and 1700s, with European rulers encouraging migration to the expanding American colonies. Those colonists, though, wanted any of their children born overseas to retain European citizenship.

So even as the colonial boundaries shifted “you're a citizen as long as you're born within the domain of the king, of the monarch,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University. “But the legal tie between the home country in Europe and the settlers remained strong through the promise of birthright citizenship.”

Dominican Republic removed birthright citizenship

In 2007, the Dominican Electoral Council officially ordered the denial of citizenship to all children born to parents without legal status.

Six years later, a Dominican court applied it retroactively to 1929.

Over a decade later, as many as 130,000 people remained stateless despite passage of a law in 2014 to correct the court decision after it drew strong international condemnation, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. The law now impacts the next generation, which remains vulnerable to deportation.

Her growing Mexican family

Petit Frere was born in French Saint Martin, a Caribbean island that does not offer automatic birthright citizenship. She and her mom, who is Haitian, were deported to Haiti when she was 6.

Petit Frere left Haiti seeking a better life. She was dismayed to discover when her teenage daughter left Haiti to be reunited with her in Tijuana three years later, she was nearly five months pregnant. She had been a teen mother herself and had hoped for a different path for her daughter.

But Alexca, a bubbly toddler who giggles and runs about, has conquered her grandmother's heart. Petit Frere said she's grateful her granddaughter was born in Mexico rather than Haiti, where surging gang violence has left more than 1 in 10 homeless.

A Mexican passport will make travel easier, she said. Few nations allow Haitian passport holders to visit visa-free.

“As a Mexican citizen, she will have more opportunities,” Petit Frere said.

That's also true for her three nieces who were born in Brazil and were made automatic citizens there, she said.

Petit Frere said she and her daughter had permanent residency in Mexico before her granddaughter was born. But other parents in Tijuana's Haitian community did not. Mexico allows the parents of children with birthright citizenship to become permanent residents.

“There are a lot of children in Tijuana who are 6, 7, 8 years old now who are Mexican and their parents who are Haitian did not have legal status but now have become permanent residents because their children were born here,” she said.

Petit Frere started paperwork for Mexican citizenship, which would make it easier to expand her business.

Petit Frere also is a community organizer with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, advocating for the Haitian migrant community. She said she hopes to pursue another degree in international migration, possibly through a U.S. university.

“The children of immigrants are proving to be the most outstanding in the world,” she said. Efforts to limit birthright citizenship “could just be out of jealousy,” she said.

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Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Trump has long been critical of NATO, arguing the U.S. carries more than its fair share of military spending. But his grievances have been louder since the Iran war as he fumed over some member countries ignoring his call to help him restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has renewed his threats to leave the 77-year-old alliance, raising the stakes before the NATO leaders' summit in Turkey next month. But Rutte, who has become known as a Trump whisperer for his ability to charm the president, is expected to use Wednesday’s White House meeting to try to appease him.

The visit, Rutte's fifth since Trump returned to power last year, comes after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week lashed out at allies during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He announced a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe.

Hegseth echoed some of Trump’s critiques, faulting European allies for not letting the U.S. use bases in Europe to attack Iran. NATO allies were not consulted about the war before the U.S. launched it with Israel on Feb. 28, and some have been openly critical of Trump's strategy.

Trump has claimed NATO allies were not there for the U.S. and suggested leaving the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union. At the heart of their treaty is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. The only time it has been invoked was in 2001, to support the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The Pentagon’s warning that it will reduce its military presence in Europe to focus on threats elsewhere was the latest upheaval for the 32-member alliance since Trump returned to office.

The Republican leader stunned European allies last year when he threatened to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark.

Earlier Wednesday, the leaders of five big European NATO allies – Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and Poland – met in Berlin to prepare for next month's summit in Ankara, and Rutte joined them remotely.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in remarks to reporters that the Ankara summit also should send the message that “we will do our part when the conditions are in place” to support an Iran peace deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron said "we are in a moment of reconvergence between the Europeans and the Americans” and indicated that he hopes that will continue at the summit.

A chief part of Rutte’s mission these days is keeping the U.S. in NATO, and he’s proven himself deft in the past at subduing Trump’s frustrations.

Rutte frequently flatters the president, crediting him with getting NATO members to increase their defense spending. Trump last year pressured leaders to agree to invest 5% of their GDP annually on defense by 2035.

On Tuesday evening, Rutte appeared for an interview on Fox News Channel, of which Trump is known to be a dedicated viewer.

Rutte repeatedly praised Trump, emphasizing he is the leader of the NATO alliance and said of his efforts in Iran: “I’m completely behind him on this."

He said Trump's frustrations over the use of bases in Europe involved a few “isolated cases."

The lengths to which Rutte is willing to praise Trump have at times raised eyebrows, such as when he referred to the president as “daddy” during the alliance’s summit last year.

He then sent him a fawning text message that employed one of Trump’s favorite flourishes, capitalizing random words. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Rutte said.

Trump shared the private message on social media for the world to see.

He did it again in January, blasting out another Rutte message that closed with: “Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”

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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Michelle Zajko, who has been jailed in Maryland on other charges since February 2025, has been charged with murder, burglary and conspiracy charges in the deaths of Rita and Richard Zajko, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said at a news conference. The prosecutor said she did not act alone.

Rouse said that Zajko is known to have been among those who killed her parents “to the extent that if she wasn’t the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did.”

Online court records didn’t immediately indicate whether Zajko had an attorney in the Pennsylvania case as of Wednesday. An attorney representing her in Maryland did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, and the Delaware County Public Defender's office declined to comment.

The couple was shot to death in their home on New Year’s Eve after police say a neighbor’s doorbell camera captured video of a car pulling up to their home in Chester Heights, a voice shouting “Mom!” and another voice exclaiming, “Oh my God! Oh, God, God!”

Michelle Zajko has denied any involvement, and in court filings suggested her father might have killed her mother and then himself.

“I didn’t murder my parents,” she wrote in an April 2025 “ Open Letter to the World.”

Authorities, however, had long described Zajko as a person of interest in the double homicide, two of the six deaths linked to a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists who appear to share radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity and artificial intelligence.

Since 2022, members have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the Zajkos’ deaths in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left a border agent and another Zizian dead.

Zajko, who is charged with providing the gun used to kill U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in January 2025, was arrested in Maryland a few weeks later along with Daniel Blank and Jack “Ziz” LaSota, whom authorities describe as the group’s leader. Police who responded to a landowner's complaint about suspicious people parked in box trucks on his property described them as having “ties with the Zizians Cult” and said they would be questioned about crimes across the country.

All three face state charges of trespassing and illegal gun and drug possession, while LaSota faces a federal charge of illegal gun possession by a fugitive. A judge recently granted a defense request for a competency evaluation in the federal case.

In court filings, LaSota’s attorneys said their client eschews the term Zizian and denies that she and her friends have formed a cult. Zajko has claimed authorities arrested the group in Maryland to prevent them from exonerating Teresa Youngblut, who has pleaded not guilty in Vermont to murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Zajko was living in Vermont at the time of her parents’ deaths and was questioned there by police shortly after they died. A few weeks later, officers briefly took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel but released her without charges. LaSota, staying at the same hotel, was charged with obstructing the homicide investigation and disorderly conduct.

Zajko had been estranged from her parents in the year leading up to their deaths, the prosecutor said. They were killed hours after Rita Zajko texted her daughter in an attempt to reconcile. “Her mother reached out and explained that she was sorry for the rift that had grown between them,” the prosecutor said. “That text went unanswered.”

A few hours later, at least two people entered the home. “The lights go on in the home, and Richard and Rita Zajko are executed,” he said.

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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

In the petition filed this week in the San Jose division of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, Alibaba, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, argued that the designation, announced on June 8, has “no basis in fact or law" and that the Pentagon failed to reach its conclusion through any fair process.

It is the latest lawsuit by a Chinese company against the Pentagon over such national security labels.

In 2021, with some in Washington seeing China as a growing military threat, Congress asked the department to create a list of Chinese companies directly controlled by the Chinese military and security forces, as well as those it believed had contributed to the country's defense industrial base.

The current list includes 188 entities ranging from state-owned defense businesses, to private-sector tech companies like Alibaba and the robotics company Unitree. The designations have drawn protests from both the Chinese government and some of the targeted companies.

On Monday, Beijing announced sanctions on 10 American military-related companies, raising the risk of elevating tensions between the two countries at a time when Beijing and Washington are seeking to stabilize relations.

WuXi AppTec Co., a company that provides research, development and manufacturing services to hundreds of U.S. pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, has also been added to the list. According to the Pentagon, the company is “indirectly owned” by China's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The Pentagon says it's also “indirectly affiliated” with the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and the People's Liberation Army.

WuXi AppTec is challenging the decision in the federal district court in the District of Columbia. In the petition filed on June 11, the company said the label has “already caused and will continue to cause several and irreparable harms.” It called the designation “the product of political pressure and inaccurate, unsupported assertions.”

In a petition Tuesday, Alibaba said the company is losing backers in the U.S. and that the damage is significant because the company depends on the trust of its U.S. partners.

The Pentagon asserts that Alibaba not only is affiliated with the China's Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, but that it contributes to the nation's industrial defense complex through its affiliation with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Alibaba said in its petition that it is governed by an independent board and holds no military certification or license. The company has no relationship with the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, it said, and that like all companies operating in China, including U.S. companies, regulatory compliance with the ministry is mandatory.

“A regulator is not an affiliate,” reads the petition.

A U.S. judge last year ruled against DJI Technology, a Chinese drone maker, in its bid to be removed from the Pentagon's list. DJI is appealing the case.

__

AP Business Writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed

The move came as Keir Starmer, who is seeking to secure a legacy before he leaves office, faced the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament ahead of meeting with European allies in Berlin for talks on Ukraine and the Middle East.

Starmer announced his resignation on Monday and will be out of office within weeks once the governing Labour Party picks a new leader.

Starmer and his government took a roasting from Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who reeled off a list of alleged failures and said the Labour Party had betrayed and abandoned Starmer for Burnham, whom she joked was just “a pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt.”

Starmer said he was proud of his record, arguing that he had worked to reverse years of austerity under the Conservatives.

“The test for every prime minister is handing over this country in better shape than you found it,” he said. “I know I can do that.”

Jones, a Starmer ally, had been encouraged to run so that Burnham faces a test of his ideas and policies in front of Labour lawmakers and members. Others argue that a leadership contest will only focus attention on the party’s internal divisions and extend a period of political uncertainty.

Jones told Sky News that running for the leadership is “not something that I’m going to do.”

But he cautioned Burnham against veering too far to the left in economic policy, a concern of some in the business and financial worlds. Burnham is expected to choose a new Treasury chief to replace Starmer appointee Rachel Reeves. Jones said it must be someone “that can reassure the markets, reassure the trade unions and reassure the parliamentary Labour Party, and by extension the public.”

Burnham is expected to make a speech next week outlining some of his economic plans.

Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham, a former Cabinet minister who served since 2017 as mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special election last week for a seat in Parliament with the express aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party and the country.

So far, he faces no challengers. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival, says he will back Burnham.

Nominations for the Labour leadership will open on July 9 and close a week later. If Burnham is the only contender, he could be prime minister by July 17. If there is a contest, the winner should be in place by the time Parliament returns from its summer break on Sept. 1.

Starmer told the weekly meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday that he will try to oversee an “orderly transition” to his successor.

He is also keeping up a busy schedule, trying to cement a legacy for his shortened term in office. However, he is not allowed to make new major policy announcements or spending commitments during what remains of his premiership.

In Berlin, where the “E5” – Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the U.K. — held talks on European defense, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, European allies paid tribute to Starmer.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz thanked him for his help to strengthen NATO and unite Europe.

“I say that with a certain regret that you will leave office, but I am all the more thankful for the good cooperation we had in recent months,” Merz said.

Starmer, who has appeared more sure-footed working with allies to support Kyiv and deal with fallout from the Iran war than he has been on domestic issues, said he was proud of working to rebuild bonds with Europe and other global allies.

“And proud that Britain is standing up once again for decency, respect and the rule of law,” Starmer said.

The British government is expected to publish a long-awaited defense investment plan — which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8 that Starmer is likely to attend.

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Associated Press Writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

The Orlando Soccer Celebration runs now through July 19, transforming Pointe Orlando into a festival-style destination for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Organizers say the event will feature live viewings of all 104 matches, plus an immersive fan experience with live music and entertainment, global food and beverage offerings, appearances by Orlando City and Orlando Pride players, club legends and the team mascot, Kingston, along with an official pop-up store.

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The primary, “always-on” hub for match viewing will be Sports & Social – Live! at Pointe Orlando, located on the venue’s second floor. In addition, organizers say a minimum of five larger-scale events will take place in Pointe Orlando’s outdoor plazas, featuring live entertainment, interactive areas, giveaways and marquee match viewings.

Pointe Orlando, an open-air entertainment complex in the heart of Orlando’s Convention District, spans 17 acres and includes more than 20 restaurants, bars, lounges and entertainment concepts across three main plazas, with over 2,500 parking spaces on site.

Major event schedule (so far)

Event organizers say additional dates and times will be added as the tournament continues.

June 12, 3 p.m. — Orlando Soccer Celebration: Canada vs. Bosnia and USA vs. Paraguay (Pointe Orlando)

June 13, 6 p.m. — Orlando Soccer Celebration: Brazil vs. Morocco (Pointe Orlando)

June 19, 3 p.m. — Orlando Soccer Celebration: USA vs. Australia and Brazil vs. Haiti (Pointe Orlando)

Fan Zone dates

A centrally located Fan Zone between the two main viewing areas on the first floor will “come alive” on five marquee dates with interactive experiences, prizes and giveaways, according to the club:

• June 25
• June 27
• July 19 (Final)

How to get more information

For the latest schedule, RSVP information and event details, visit Orlando City’s official page: www.orlandocitysc.com/soccercelebration

Guests arrived at the Musée Nissim de Camondo as a heat wave gripped Paris. Cold towels, strawberries and parasols were offered at the door.

Inside the mansion, where Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson showed his latest Dior men’s collection, the temperature rose quickly. Some guests appeared overcome and water was in limited supply.

The front row still delivered the expected star power. LaKeith Stanfield, Little Simz, James Marsden, Drew Starkey, Mike Faist, 070 Shake, Alexander Ludwig and Sam Nivola were among those at the show.

Anderson’s collection was about formality losing its grip — tuxedos loosened, denim ripped, sequins flashing, disco-ball boots stepping through a house built on old-world taste.

Dior described the mood as “a soiree turning into a house party.” Anderson called it “something quite formal becoming undone.”

That was the show’s clearest idea: the Dior man was not arriving at the party; he had stayed until morning.

The looks

Anderson opened with tailoring, but made it lighter and less fixed. Pinstripes and houndstooth were printed onto silk chiffon rather than woven, creating a look that was formal, yet transparent.

The collection pushed Dior’s codes into rougher territory. Sequined trousers resembled jeans, while ripped denim was finished with fine silver chains. A tuxedo came in a looser fit and pink denim shorts appeared under formal coats.

Accessories included crystal sunglasses, disco-ball boots and patchworked Japanese denim shirts.

The best looks worked because they kept Dior visible while disturbing it. A scarf motif came from 1979 Dior haute couture; silver embroidery borrowed from an 18th-century gentleman’s coat.

Boots were made to look deliberately disheveled, with tiny ladybirds across them.

It was not a rejection of Dior’s past. It was a way of making it move.

The setting

The Musée Nissim de Camondo gave the show weight.

The mansion, now closed for restoration, was built around Moïse de Camondo’s collection of 18th-century decorative arts, the same century that fascinated Christian Dior.

Anderson showed a collection about loosened formality in a house also caught between preservation and repair. Dior’s own notes described that “in-between” state as part of the point: beauty in imperfection.

The history of the place is also dark. Camondo’s son died in World War I, and later members of the family were deported and killed during the Holocaust.

The mansion now stands as both a museum and a memorial to loss.

Against that background, the show’s playfulness gave the clothes some tension. Anderson took things Dior already owns — the tuxedo, the Bar shape, couture embroidery, 18th-century decoration — and shifted them into a younger, messier register.

The result was one of Anderson’s clearest Dior outings so far.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he couldn’t rule out a trip to the injured list for Soto, who exited a 9-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs after the fourth inning Tuesday night because of a tight back.

Soto, who was pictured on SNY wearing a wrap around his back in the dugout Tuesday, underwent imaging before Wednesday’s doubleheader. Mendoza said he hoped Soto could be available at some point Wednesday but acknowledged a level of concern for the superstar outfielder, who is in the second season of a 15-year, $765 million deal.

“We’ve got to wait,” Mendoza said. “Obviously not ideal when a player like him come out of a game. Those guys are tough and they know how important they are and they take pride on being in the lineup everyday and posting.

“I just didn’t like how he looked yesterday. We’ve got to wait.”

Soto’s injury may delay his reunion with Lindor, who is expected to be activated prior to Wednesday’s nightcap. The 32-year-old shortstop has been sidelined since suffering a strained left calf while running the bases against the Minnesota Twins on April 22 — the same day Soto returned from an 18-day stint on shelf due to a strained right calf.

Lindor played in his third rehab game Tuesday, when he was 2 for 5 while scoring twice for Triple-A Syracuse. He made the four-hour trip back to New York following the game, which factored into the Mets’ decision to hold off on activating him.

“Everything checked out well after the game last night but he got in late, so we told him to kind of recover this morning,” Mendoza said. “We anticipate him being in the lineup.”

Mendoza said the Mets will proceed cautiously with Lindor following the longest injured stint of his 12-year career. Lindor, who missed just 15 games the previous four years, will likely sit out Thursday’s game and will also see more time than usual at designated hitter.

Lindor and Soto have played just nine games together this season for the last-place Mets, who haven’t recovered from the 12-game losing streak they endured during Soto’s absence. New York, which hasn’t finished in last place since 2003, is seven games out of the final National League playoff spot.

“I’m just worried about Soto,” Mendoza said. “I’m not thinking about Lindor back, Soto out. It is what it is, right? Hopefully we can get those two in the lineup for a long time here for the rest of the season and we can make a run at it.”

Mendoza also announced beleaguered starter Kodai Senga has been shifted to the bullpen. Senga gave up seven runs over 3 2/3 innings Tuesday as his ERA rose to 10.08. He hasn’t earned a win since June 12, 2025, when he suffered a hamstring injury covering first base against the Washington Nationals.

Senga, a noted creature of habit, has made just one relief appearance for the Mets. He threw the final 1 2/3 innings of Game 6 of the 2024 NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We’re going to adjust his routine, he’s going to have to adjust his routine,” Mendoza said.

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

Marie Carenan, 56, and Ronald Pack, 60, both of Poinciana, were taken into custody after deputies executed six simultaneous search warrants. A total of 38 residents were removed from the homes and placed into licensed care facilities with help from the Florida Department of Children and Families, the sheriff’s office said.

The couple operated under the name Cherished Home Care, running as many as nine homes at one time with no licenses and no licensed nurses on site — even for bedridden residents.

“It only makes you sick to your stomach when you see and hear what was going on,” Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon said in a Wednesday news conference.

The investigation began when a patrol deputy responded to a 911 call at one of the Poinciana facilities and flagged the conditions. The case eventually expanded into Polk County, prompting a joint effort with the Statewide Prosecutor’s Office and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies said.

Carenan and Pack face charges including scheme to defraud, aggravated elder abuse, elder neglect, elder exploitation and welfare fraud. Additional charges are expected.

The Italian star hasn't entered any tour-level events in the buildup to the grass-court Grand Slam, which starts Monday, so his 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cam Norrie in sweltering west London will have to suffice.

“It was very warm, but physically I felt good,” Sinner told reporters.

The appearance at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic came just under a month after the Italian star struggled with dizziness in a stunning second-round loss at the French Open.

“We did some testing. We tried to understand what happened,” he said. “We came to a conclusion which is very good.”

Wednesday's match went ahead with southern England under a “ red warning ” for extreme heat issued by Britain’s national weather service.

“As Cam said, a very hot day,” Sinner said in an on-court interview. “Exhibition matches, they are good because we try out a couple of things and hopefully be as good as we can then for the next week."

The interviewer asked him what he was trying out. “I don't know," a smiling Sinner responded.

Earlier on Wednesday at the All England Club, Sinner wore a cooling vest at practice. During the match against Norrie, he didn't use ice packs like in the past.

The early afternoon temperature in Fulham, where the grass-court event was held, was 33 C (91.4 F) with a slight breeze.

The temperature at Wimbledon on Monday is expected to be a much more manageable 24 C (75 F).

In Paris, he was ahead by two sets and 5-1 in the third before losing to Juan Manuel Cerundolo 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. The temperature on Court Philippe-Chatrier rose to 32 C (90 F) during the match, and Sinner was clearly having a tough time cooling himself down as he reached for multiple ice bags.

Sinner, who has a history of problems with heat and cramps, didn't blame the heat entirely after the loss. “I think many things together caused this problem. I just need my time now to process what went wrong here,” he said at the time.

At the grass-court major a year ago, Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the final for his first Wimbledon title. Alcaraz will miss this year’s tournament because of a wrist injury.

The U.K.'s weather service said the region could see "a two to three-day period where maximum temperatures in the shade exceed 37 Celsius, perhaps rising to 38 to 40 Celsius in some places. The heat will be accompanied by high humidity, exacerbating the potential for discomfort and health impacts, with very warm and humid night times also reducing the ability for people to recover overnight.”

Heat impacts Wimbledon qualifying tournament

Because of the heat warnings, the ball boys and ball girls for Wednesday's matches at Wimbledon's qualifying tournament were kept home. Their duties were handled by “our Court Services team — who are all adults,” the All England Club said.

Also Wednesday, there was a temporary loss of power to part of the Roehampton qualifying venue “which meant that the electronic line calling system could not function,” the club added. Heat will be looked at as a possible cause for the outage.

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

The comments echoed contradictory remarks about nuclear inspections a day earlier from the U.S. and Iran. During the week since the two countries signed the deal, their leaders have repeatedly disagreed in public about what that document actually means.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi on Wednesday acknowledged the “war of words” over Iran’s nuclear program. But the dueling narratives are playing out on several fronts, including Israel’s war with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and how Tehran will spend billions of dollars once unfrozen.

Through the signing of the memorandum of understanding, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a 60-day period to iron out these and other details. Until that happens — during private talks — leaders from both countries will also continue to negotiate in public, raising the risks of derailing the shaky ceasefire in the region.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a threat to the U.S.-Iran diplomacy, flared on Wednesday. Israel launched an airstrike that killed two people in southern Lebanon, the country’s state-run news agency said. It was Israel’s first airstrike on Lebanon since the latest ceasefire took effect on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.

UN’s nuclear agency head

says inspections will happen

Since Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran in 2025, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites. The Islamic Republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons, should it choose. Iran maintains that its program is peaceful, though it is the only country in the world to have uranium enriched up to 60% purity without a weapons program.

Grossi’s remarks were the firmest yet from the United Nations agency, which is central to determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a memorandum of understanding, signed by both presidents,” he said at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The accord “says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters,” he said.

“Obviously, to do that, we will have to inspect," Grossi said. "Whether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it’s important, but not essential. This is going to happen.”

The deal calls for Iran’s uranium to be “downblended” from highly enriched levels.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, took a swipe at Grossi after his remarks, saying Tehran didn’t meet with him while in Switzerland.

“These issues will be reviewed and decided only within the framework of a final agreement and as a result of practical action by the other side to end all sanctions and other measures.” Gharibabadi wrote on X.

He added: “You cannot advance the ‘stir up and take over’ policy with media hype.”

IAEA blocked from seeing bombed sites

The IAEA has been allowed to visit other nuclear sites in Iran since the 2025 war. But without accessing the enrichment sites, the IAEA says it can't verify the status of Iran's stockpile. Both Iran and the IAEA say Tehran hasn't been enriching uranium, but nonproliferation experts worry the Islamic Republic may be moving its stockpile.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to the deal last week that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium and waives U.S.-backed sanctions on Iranian oil.

But the uneasy ceasefire already has been tested by Iran saying it closed the Strait of Hormuz again over fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday the U.S. has not demanded that Israel withdraw from Lebanon. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu later declared that “as long as I am Prime Minister, we will maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon.”

Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting this week in Washington as part of direct negotiations between the two countries, through which Lebanon hopes to reach a plan for Israeli withdrawal.

Technical-level talks between the U.S. and Iran are expected to resume early next week in Switzerland, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Pakistan has been a key mediator.

US has plan to oversee Iran’s frozen funds

The interim deal also includes a pledge to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets. U.S. President Donald Trump wants that money to go toward buying American-grown crops, but Iranian officials say they should decide how its spent.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department would have people in Qatar to oversee what happens with the funds. He said in a CNBC interview that Iran would spend “a very large percent” of its released money on “U.S. foodstuffs and medicines.”

“We will be recycling the money back into U.S. products,” Bessent said.

Marco Rubio is in the Middle East

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled in the Persian Gulf for a three-nation tour, starting with a meeting in Abu Dhabi with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Department said Wednesday.

“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies,” Rubio later said while in Kuwait, where the Trump administration announced the limited reopening of the U.S. Embassy that was closed at the height of the Iran war.

Before leaving for Bahrain, Rubio said ongoing negotiations include the creation of “hundreds of specific areas” where Lebanon’s military could secure its territory. He called the discussions part of the process and said it’s not going to “happen overnight.”

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

“We basically have passed the point of doing real fundamental LLM research," Castricato said. “Now it’s just applications.”

The researcher quit his doctoral studies at Brown University and started a new company, called Overworld. Its ambition is in its name: AI that can understand and navigate a world, not just words.

There's still plenty of money to be made from AI chatbots — investors are counting on it as they commit trillions of dollars to leading developers like Anthropic and OpenAI. But a growing number of AI entrepreneurs are dedicating themselves to what they see as the next frontier: “world models” that teach AI systems, and sometimes robots, how to react in a physical environment.

They include some of the field's most prominent scientists, such as “Godmother of AI” Fei-Fei Li, who describes the concept of a world model as “one of the most important and most overloaded terms in AI today."

Scientists are applying AI in new dimensions with ‘world models’

At the heart of world model research is the idea that AI can't be truly intelligent if it can only read a book. It also needs to read the room.

“Where language models learn the statistical structure of text, world models learn the statistical structure of space and time: how light falls on a surface, how a garden looks from an angle no camera has captured, how objects respond to force and follow the laws of physics,” wrote Li, founder of the San Francisco startup World Labs, in an essay published this month.

Another proponent is AI pioneer Yann LeCun, who quit his job as Meta's chief AI scientist last year to start Paris-based Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs.

“World model is quickly becoming a buzzword,” LeCun said on a recent “Unsupervised Learning” podcast. He said he views it as something that enables an AI agent "to predict the consequences of its own actions."

There are multiple ways of defining world models, often based on the technologies someone hopes to build with it — be it robots or a more interactive video game.

Robots can't learn much from AI models trained on books

Training on all of humanity's books, news articles and visual media, as AI language models have done, has led to AI assistants that are changing the nature of office-based work and some creative fields. But some proponents see limitations in generative AI models that work by repeatedly predicting the next word or pixel to produce new dialogue, images or lines of code.

Chatbots can't pick up a coffee mug, notes Martial Hebert, dean of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.

“There’s all the geometry of the world, the dynamic of how I move my hand, the physical interaction of the contact with the cup,” Hebert said. “This is much more complex than just predicting the next word in a sentence.”

For scientists like Hebert, who has spent more than four decades researching robotics, the most useful application for world models is as a faster and cheaper path to “physical AI" — another tech industry buzzword.

“Some people may have different definitions, but physical and embodied AI are kind of the evolution of what we used to call robotics,” Hebert said in an interview. Some of the AI advances that have made chatbots so useful can also be applied to building AI with a broad enough awareness of its environment to work like a robot’s brain, he said.

“In your body and spinal cord you have a very general model of how to balance, how to walk around, and you can adapt to your knee hurting in the morning, so you now walk a little differently," he said. "You don’t need to think about that. You have a general model somewhere in your nervous system and brain that allows your body to adapt very quickly.”

Simulated worlds are drawing interest from investors

Smarter robots aren't the only end game for world models. Castricato started Overworld last year and the tiny Rhode Island-based startup is now building video game worlds where a scene, say, of a spooky forest, can adapt as a virtual character moves through it and interacts with the objects in it.

“There’s no other world model where you can just walk through doors or where you can interact with a detailed environment like this,” he said in an interview. “We optimize for interaction above anything else.”

While the near-term applications aren't as readily apparent as AI coding tools, world model makers are attracting interest from venture capitalists like Steve Jang, co-founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures.

The firm is investing in Overworld and other world model-focused companies, including Causal Labs, which is building AI models for weather prediction, and Extropic, which is building specialized computer chips suited to world models.

“I think that the future is many different types of models with many different philosophies and architectures," Jang said. "I don’t think that it’ll be one large, dense model to rule them all.”

In her recent essay, Li sought to create a “taxonomy of world models” to help sort out the confusion about the competing visions.

“A video model that produces gorgeous but physically impossible flames, a language model improvising a playable game, and a physics engine that faithfully simulates combustion all go by the same name,” she wrote.

She divided world models into three categories. The most commercially viable today are “renderers” that prioritize the visual fidelity of the virtual worlds they create but can't be trusted to teach robots much.

Then, there are “simulators” that create virtual training grounds that faithfully represent the physical structure of a world; and “planners” that try to predict what an AI agent or robot should do in an unstructured world.

“A robot that can plan is a robot that can work, and the entire industry is racing to be the one that gets there first,” she wrote.

Israel vociferously denies claims that it committed genocide during its 2 1/2 year war in Gaza.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, an investigative body that operates under the U.N. Human Rights Council, said in its report Tuesday that roughly 30% of the Palestinians killed from October 2023 to October 2025 — more than 20,000 in total — were children. More children are believed to be missing or buried in unmarked graves.

Israel has denied deliberately targeting civilians and pushed back on accusations, including from rights groups, that it committed genocide in Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the report a “libelous sham” and said the claims included hadn’t been verified. It also criticized the commission as “a fundamentally flawed mechanism whose very purpose is to single out and vilify Israel rather than seek the truth.”

The report also said the toll the conflict had taken on children in Gaza amounted to war crimes and genocide, building on accusations it first made against Israel in September.

“Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, said.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 1,027 people have been killed since a ceasefire deal was reached in October, including 258 children. On Wednesday, an Israeli drone strike killed 12-year-old Ahmed Mohsen al-Reqeb in southern Gaza, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where his body was taken.

The strike, in the sprawling tent camp Muwasi, also wounded at least seven others. The Israeli military said it struck a “Hamas terrorist,” without elaborating.

The commission's report named specific divisions within the Israeli army it said were operating in areas where children as young as infants were killed. It also identified the types of munitions used and focused, in part, on children the commission determined were killed by quadcopter drones and sniper fire, often via a single gunshot.

Doctors interviewed by the commission said autopsies in those incidents “indicate a high degree of precision in the use of force, suggesting that the shot was carefully aimed rather than incidental or the result of indiscriminate fire.”

The report also noted cases in which children have continued to be killed after a ceasefire was reached in October 2025, including some who were said to be collecting firewood in areas approaching the yellow line that delineates areas under Israeli military control.

"By maintaining that the children killed were ‘suspects,’ the Israeli security forces have deflected responsibility to Palestinian children, portraying them as ‘terrorists’ rather than casualties,” it says.

Israel has previously accused the commission of antisemitism and of acting as “Hamas proxies.”

Genocide accusations are especially sensitive in Israel, which was founded as a haven for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust.

Neither the commission nor the Human Rights Council has the authority to take action, but the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.'s International Court of Justice, which is hearing an ongoing genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa.

The ICC has already issued warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, with prosecutors accusing the two men of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including using starvation as a weapon of warfare. Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, but the warrants could restrict any international travel.

The Israel-Hamas war started with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

Mitchell, a 78-year-old veteran in Montana, plans to take a red, white and blue 1954 Chevrolet pickup that he restored and drive it in local parades for the Fourth of July. In honor of the country’s milestone anniversary, he bought a decorative eagle to mount on the back of the truck, accompanied by American flags.

“I’ll be driving my pickup,” he said, referring to his role in the parades. “Usually we freeze a whole bunch of candy, and I have a couple of kids from down the block who get in the back and throw candy out. Everybody loves it.”

Mitchell isn't the only one looking forward to this year's festivities. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country's 250th anniversary, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly 3 in 10 say “excited” describes their emotions. The milestone will be marked with events across the country, and President Donald Trump has planned several for the nation’s capital, including a fair on Washington’s National Mall.

But as the celebrations begin, many Americans also feel indifferent or conflicted about celebrating the country. Other Gallup polling shows that most Americans now feel the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the U.S. has turned out, a substantial increase from 25 years ago.

Most Republicans and older adults feel proud

Most Republicans say that “proud” or “excited” describes how they are feeling about the United States’ 250th anniversary. About 7 in 10 Republicans say pride describes their emotions, compared with about 3 in 10 independents and roughly 2 in 10 Democrats.

Older Americans — those ages 60 and older — are also mostly feeling proud, with about 6 in 10 saying this describes how they feel about the nation’s anniversary.

Mitchell, the Montana veteran, wants the country to be “celebrating it to the maximum.” As a Vietnam War veteran who was drafted into the war, he wants Americans to remember the men and women who have given their lives to protect the freedoms they have today.

“It was a sacrifice,” Mitchell said, referring to his service. “The most important thing about the celebration is understanding that freedom is not free, and it never will be free, so you need to celebrate that.”

About half of Republicans, 54%, say they feel excited about the country’s anniversary.

As the country marks 250 years of independence, most Americans believe the country has succeeded in achieving its founding ideals, according to new Gallup polling. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say that America has succeeded “a great deal” or “a fair amount” in achieving the ideals for which the country was founded. That view is shared by a majority of Democrats, independents and Republicans — though Republicans are especially likely to say the country has succeeded.

Democrats and young people feel conflicted or indifferent

More Democrats and young people say “conflicted” or “indifferent” describes their feelings about America 250.

About 4 in 10 Democrats and roughly 3 in 10 adults under 30 say “conflicted” describes their feelings “extremely” or “very” well. About 3 in 10 in each case feel “indifferent.”

Laura Davis, a 44-year-old in Chicago who identifies as a progressive liberal, has struggled with what she describes as the “American declarations of grandiosity” this year, including Trump's White House ballroom construction and the repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. She believes that money could be better spent on Americans in need, as well as international aid, and she worries the country's reputation is being damaged by the Trump administration's actions.

“It doesn't mean we can't celebrate the things that do make America a unique and in some ways exceptional place to be,” she said. “But I think it's more nuanced than that, and I hope that doesn't get lost in the celebration.”

About 8 in 10 Americans say the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the country has turned out, according to a new Gallup poll. Only about 2 in 10 say the signers would be pleased. That’s down significantly from 1999 — the first time the question was asked — when 55% believed they would be disappointed and 44% said they would be pleased.

Sydney Crispin, a 39-year-old Democrat in Maine, believes the country's “incredible” foundation is worth celebrating. Still, she is conflicted by what she sees as a decline in people's ability to have respectful discourse, something she believes is at the heart of America's identity. She hopes communities find ways to celebrate the remarkable parts of America this Fourth of July while still reflecting on its areas for improvement.

Celebrating the 250th: Spending time with friends or family tops on list

Just under half, 44%, of U.S. adults plan to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary by spending time with friends or family, according to a recent Gallup-With Honor poll. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say they plan to watch coverage of America 250 events on television or social media.

More than half of adults ages 65 and older plan to celebrate with friends or family, while nearly half plan to watch coverage of the event on television or social media. Adults under 30 are more likely to say they are not planning to celebrate at all.

The Gallup-With Honor poll found about 2 in 10 U.S. adults plan to participate in a neighborhood or community event, while approximately 1 in 10 say they will be attending an official America 250 event.

Lyle Nelson, a 67-year-old in Idaho, said he plans to maintain his tradition of watching the annual Macy’s firework show at home.

Nelson — who agrees with a lot of what Trump has done in office — remarked that even though Trump was disappointed that he did not get reelected in 2020, he might be pleased that he's the one in the White House during this historic event.

“I wonder if he’s thankful that he gets to be president during the 250th anniversary,” Nelson said. “I think he'll be excited for that.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The Gallup-With Honor poll of 3,199 adults was conducted May 12-22 using a sample drawn from Gallup's probability-based panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. The separate Gallup poll of 1,001 adults was conducted May 1-17 using a sample drawn from Gallup’s probability-based panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

“Taxpayers who required assistance from the IRS often struggled to get it," said Erin M. Collins, who leads the independent watchdog agency of the IRS.

Collins earlier this year warned that the 2026 tax filing season was likely to present challenges for taxpayers who encounter problems with filing their taxes given the exodus of IRS workers since the start of the Trump administration.

The IRS started 2025 with about 102,000 employees and finished with about 74,000 after a series of firings and layoffs brought on by the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk. Last year, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were not allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline. This year, many of those customer service workers have left.

Collins in a report released Wednesday, said that overall, the IRS performed better than she expected. “The vast majority of taxpayers filed their returns successfully and received their refunds without significant delay.”

Technology improvements and automation helped prevent a total meltdown during the tax season, according to the report.

However, the agency fell short in answering phones, the report said. Some 59% of calls on major accounts management lines were answered, but taxpayers on compliance lines got through only 34% of the time, and the line that handles identity theft victims got through only 19% of the time.

Identity theft victims overall have to wait nearly two years for help from the IRS, the report said. This is a long-standing issue at the agency.

The taxpayer advocate report says more than 500,000 identity-theft victims continue to face average case resolution times of roughly 20 months, with average processing times approaching 600 days.

Agility Robotics, based in Salem, Oregon, announced Wednesday a planned merger with an investment firm that will value the company at $2.5 billion as it becomes the first publicly traded company entirely devoted to building and selling humanoids.

Its competitors include Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk has pitched its humanoid prototype Optimus as the future of the carmaker.

Designed to pick up and move heavy bins and totes, Agility's product line, called Digit, is the “first humanoid robot employed and commercially operational in warehouse and industrial facilities,” said Michael Klein, co-founder and chairman of Churchill Capital Group, which runs the special-purpose acquisition company that intends to merge with Agility by the end of the year.

Klein said on an investor call Wednesday that the company has backing from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn. Its early customers include Toyota, industrial parts supplier Schaeffler, and Mercado Libre, the Latin American e-commerce giant.

While Agility describes its robot as a humanoid, the company's co-founder and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst told investors Wednesday that “we’ve never set out to build a machine that looks like a person.” Unlike other humanoids, like Tesla's Optimus, Digit's legs are more birdlike than human in a design that's meant to better fit the work they do. Its hands are more like grippers or claws.

Agility CEO Peggy Johnson said Digit specializes in manual labor that for humans would be repetitive, dirty and prone to injury.

“The demand here is large and increasing,” she said on an investor call. “We have companies reshoring production, older workers retiring, and younger generations just not opting for these types of menial jobs.”

While earlier generations of industrial robots are typically so large and fast-moving that they must be fenced off from human workers, Hurst said upcoming versions of Digit will be able to work alongside humans in warehouses and manufacturing facilities.

Election results showed de la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer who had never run for office, defeated Cepeda, a lawmaker, by 1 percentage point, or nearly 251,000 votes.

“We assume with serenity, responsibility, and absolute resolve — and let there be no doubt about it — the role that circumstances demand of us,” Cepeda said in an address to the nation. “We will exercise a democratic, vigilant and constructive opposition.”

The result effectively was an indictment of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s government, whose policies Cepeda had promised to continue, including a largely failed effort to establish dialogue with multiple armed groups under a plan known as “total peace.”

Electoral authorities published all but a fraction of the vote count hours after polls closed Sunday. Petro and Cepeda did not accept those results, with the latter saying he would wait for a recount to do so.

De la Espriella, 47, will begin a 4-year term Aug. 7. His campaign did not immediately comment on Cepeda's concession. He proclaimed himself the winner Sunday and asked Cepeda and Petro to accept the results.

His victory adds Colombia to a growing list of countries that have turned to political outsiders in search for solutions to complex social, security and economic challenges.

The self-proclaimed representative of “the never-before-seen” promised voters fearful of renewed internal conflict to take a heavy-handed approach to combating violent crime with strategies borrowed from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s playbook, including building mega-prisons. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

De la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, is a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party.

On Tuesday, he announced he is putting together his Cabinet. He also said he plans to add Colombia to the Trump-dubbed “Shield of the Americas,” a coalition of countries purportedly aimed at cracking down on criminal groups in Latin America.

More than 26 million people voted in the polarizing runoff, setting a historic record. Of those, over 426,000 people chose a third, no-name option on the ballot that allows voters to express dislike of both candidates. About 29,000 people cast blank ballots.

Cepeda, during his address to the nation, repeatedly expressed his intention to play an active role in the opposition once de la Espriella is sworn in, but he did not say whether he would accept a Senate seat reserved for the runner-up in the presidential election.

Cepeda, 63, is a philosopher and the son of a senator who was assassinated by military officers in 1994 during a stark moment of political violence in Colombia. The assassination led Cepeda to become a lifelong advocate for peace negotiations in the South American country, where an internal conflict has lasted decades.

“Today, we represent half of Colombia at the polls,” he said. “We are a fundamental part of the nation. We are a political, social, and cultural force present in every corner of the country.”

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Scottie Scheffler says that doesn't make it any easier, just different.

Scheffler, who won this signature event two years ago, joins U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, runner-up Sam Burns and most of the best players on the PGA Tour at rain-softened TPC River Highlands, a course that tends to produce birdies even without rain.

“I really do enjoy kind of harder tests and sometimes the battle is fun as well,” Scheffler said. "This golf course I think is interesting in a sense of you hit some different clubs off the tee, there’s some strategy involved, but you got to show up and make birdies.

“When you look at the closing stretch on this golf course, especially if you’re in contention on Sunday, you’re not going to be able to just limp in,” he said. “You got to go out there and you got to make birdies and hit some really, really great shots in order to win this tournament.”

That's what Keegan Bradley did last year when he rallied over the closing stretch to overcome Tommy Fleetwood — a two-shot swing on the final hole — to win the Travelers. It was a victory that put Bradley squarely in the conversation of whether the Ryder Cup captain should pick himself. Ultimately, he didn't.

Fleetwood was crushed making bogey on the final hole as Bradley made birdie, particularly because he had yet to win on U.S. soil. He took care of that in much more grander style two months later by winning the Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup.

“As disappointed and gutted as I was I felt like I got a lot of support from it,” Fleetwood said of the runner-up finish last year. “I’ve seen Rory (McIlroy) talk about it before, like you go through those upsets and you wait for the next day and you realize maybe it’s not as bad as you think and you have to get back to work no matter what.”

McIlroy headed back home to London instead of playing the Travelers, the third time this year he has chosen not to play a $20 million signature event.

That's not a requirement, and it won't be in 2028 when the PGA Tour embarks on a bold, new competition model that essentially divides the tour into two circuits — the Championship Series of some 24 events (including majors) and $20 million purses, and the Challenger Series for players to try to earn their way into the top tier.

Key to the change is the Championship Series will be 120 players on average, instead of 72 players that now compete at the Travelers Championship and other signature events. That appeals to Scheffler as much as anything else.

“I think what people want is to get the best players playing together more often,” Scheffler said. “I’m not sure if the smaller fields were a huge fan favorite, so getting fields back to 120-man fields, getting a cut back, I think it’s a good change.”

Eight of his 20 titles on the PGA Tour have had smaller fields, including the 64-man Match Play Championship he won in 2024 when he first rose to No. 1 in the world. That includes a pair of postseason events, and five signature events.

“I think when you look at larger fields it will be much harder to win tournaments,” Scheffler said. “It will be different than the old days on tour where you could win a tournament where there wasn’t many of the top players playing.”

Scheffler said winning any of the tournaments on the Championship Series in 2020 will be significant.

“You'll have beaten pretty much all of the best players in the world in order to do it,” he said. “So I’m excited about it.”

Scheffler is the only player to go from a major title to a signature event victory in consecutive weeks, in 2024 at the Masters and RBC Heritage. That task now falls to Clark, who is coming down from the high of winning his second U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills last week.

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

Less than a week later, the Disney Parks Blog says the castle refresh project is now complete, and Landon McReynolds’ post has offered us a glimpse behind the scenes at some of the work that went into this magical makeover.

First announced at Destination D23 last year, many Disney fans, including myself, were excited to see what this transformation would look like. And I’ll admit, I was hesitant to really buy into this decision, after really growing to love the 50th anniversary pink that shimmered for years. But now, after months of work by a team of painters, the castle has returned to a more classic look, inspired by its original 1971 debut.

The parks blog says the colors chosen for this classic look are meant to reflect the Florida sunshine in a way that makes the castle shine from every angle while emphasizing all of its iconic details.

“Presented with the opportunity to introduce a new color palette, it was important for us to consider the history and heritage of our beautiful Castle,” said Chris, Senior Creative Director with Walt Disney Imagineering. ”We took our inspiration from that classic vision of the Castle in 1971 by selecting elegant shades that lean into the element of fantasy. To highlight the architectural details of the castle, we used deep blue roofs, stonework, and graceful gold trim to celebrate the details and whimsy of our park icon."

According to the Disney Parks Blog, this project was made possible thanks to coordination across Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), Facility Asset Management (FAM), and partners in Disney Live Entertainment, Project Development, Operations and PhotoPass teams.

Nathan is an Associate Project Manager with FAM. He was an intern at Disney just a few years ago and is now helping to oversee projects like the repainting of the castle.

“Not every day you are told, ‘Hey, you’re going to change the look of one of the most iconic buildings Disney has,’” Nathan said. “That excitement hit immediately, and then very quickly, the weight of it.”

Nathan went on to say, “Probably one of the most difficult parts of this project was getting into the moat. The moat had to be completely drained so we could safely work in there.”

Before any painting began, workers had to drain hundreds of gallons of water from the castle moat. To make that happen, the parks blog post says the team had to build temporary dams. Once the moat was drained, the team could get in it and clean up so the project could proceed safely and efficiently.

After the moat was cleaned, boom lifts were lifted into the moat, which allowed painters to work on the castle each day until about noon. After that, the heavy equipment would be moved out of sight each day.

Nathan calls this a “career-defining moment.”

“Five years ago, I was not even working for Disney yet,” he shared. “Now I drive into work and get to say I helped manage the work on Cinderella Castle. That’s something I’ll carry with me forever. It’s truly a dream come true, and it gets me excited about the potential of what else I can do while working here.”

[INSERT COPY HERE]

Michelle Lynn Hancock, 41, was taken into custody on Tuesday at the intersection of Dorchester Road NW and Ixora Avenue NW in Palm Bay, where she was spotted in a red pickup with the teen.

According to the arrest affidavit, Hancock was a special education teacher at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, where the victim once attended. Investigators said the two reconnected via text message in May 2026 and engaged in sexual activity multiple times at the same Palm Bay location.

Police said Hancock admitted to driving to pick up the teen each time they planned to meet, with the intent to engage in sexual activity. Investigators also say she sent the victim explicit images of herself via text message. Both the victim’s and Hancock’s phones were collected as evidence.

Hancock faces multiple felony charges, including engaging in sexual conduct with a student by an authority figure, unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, lewd and lascivious touching of certain minors, traveling to meet a minor, unlawful use of an electronic device to solicit a minor, and transmission of material harmful to minors by electronic device.

Hancock was booked into the Brevard County Jail. She was contracted as a school employee through July 2026, according to the affidavit.

News 6 has reached out to Brevard County Public Schools for comment.

The pair passed the torch Tuesday night to former aides who won the Democratic primaries to replace them on Capitol Hill, and because both districts are overwhelmingly blue, they are all but certain to win in November and get sworn in to replace their former bosses.

Hoyer and Nadler are the latest lawmakers to successfully anoint their successors after spending decades in Congress. Among 68 members of Congress not seeking reelection this year, at least five have endorsed former staffers to replace them and more than a dozen others have, to varying degrees, worked to smooth the path to Capitol Hill for their favored replacements.

The practice can be controversial, particularly when lawmakers try to strategically time their announcement to give favored insiders the upper hand. But even at a time when voters give Congress a dismal approval rating, they're often receptive to the recommendation of their own representative.

That was the case for Natasha Greensword, 45, who backed Adrian Boafo in Maryland's Democratic primary on Tuesday in part because he was endorsed by Hoyer, who has represented the area since 1981.

“It was a plus," Greensword said. There was also a racial component that resonated for Greensword, a Jamaican immigrant. “It did help him to have a white man endorsing a Black candidate and saying he’s got our backs,” she said.

Not everyone felt the same way, particularly in the anti-incumbent environment that influenced so many prominent Democrats’ decision to step aside.

Norma James, 64, said she skipped over Boafo in part because of Hoyer’s endorsement.

“If Steny was endorsing him, he’s not the one you want,” James said.

Indeed, not every outgoing lawmaker had luck endorsing a successor on Tuesday night. Retiring Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who lost Tuesday. That race was won by Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who was endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“You might actually not want the endorsement of a departing incumbent because even if that incumbent is personally liked, the base of the party may have a lot of members who are unhappy with the establishment in general,” said Matthew Green, a politics professor at Catholic University of America. "And so they see an endorsement by an incumbent as actually a bad thing.”

Retiring legislators can tip the scales

Many departing lawmakers prefer to keep their preferences to themselves when it comes time to hang it up. Others go to great lengths to arrange things how they want.

Most infamously, Democratic Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois earned a formal reprimand from a bipartisan majority of the House for a particularly aggressive strategy to keep his seat in friendly hands.

Garcia announced his retirement plans just after the deadline to file paperwork to run for the seat. By then, his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, was the only candidate who had submitted the needed paperwork. She went on to win the primary for the Chicago-area district with 100% of the vote.

The maneuvering by Chuy Garcia and Patty Garcia, who aren't related, drove a wedge between House Democrats. Chuy Garcia dismissed allegations he was being deceptive, saying he made a last-minute decision not to run because of health and family considerations.

But Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said Garcia's actions amounted to “election subversion” and introduced the resolution to reprimand him.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Steve Daines pulled a similar move in Montana. He quietly coordinated with former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, who filed paperwork to run for the office nearly simultaneously with Daines withdrawing from the race. It all went down minutes before the filing deadline. Alme faced no serious opposition for the party's nomination and won the primary with 76% of the vote.

Daines coordinated his surprise handoff with the White House, and President Donald Trump immediately backed Alme. The last-minute shuffle avoided a potentially damaging Republican primary and caught Democrats flat-footed.

Some lawmakers prefer more subtle endorsements

Other lawmakers have taken a lighter touch to try and sway the direction of their district after they're gone, and not always successfully.

Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., made clear that state Rep. La Shawn Ford was his preferred successor after nearly three decades in Congress, but that wasn't enough to clear the field for him. Ford eked out a narrow win in a crowded primary in March.

In California, Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley made a quick endorsement of Assembly member Jacqui Irwin. She still had a contested primary, but she comfortably won a spot in the general election.

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman had better luck in South Carolina. Nobody challenged his chosen successor, state Sen. Wes Climer, who ran unopposed for the party's nomination.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't recruit a preferred replacement as San Francisco's representative in Congress, and she declined to weigh in on the contentious battle to replace her until the last minute. Days before the primary, she endorsed county Supervisor Connie Chan, helping her make it to the general election in November.

Hoyer and Nadler back former aides

Hoyer, 87, was the longtime No. 2 Democrat in House leadership. Nadler, 79, was the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and is the dean of New York's congressional delegation after 34 years in Congress.

Both decided not to run for reelection this year in the face of a Democratic base hungry to push aside their party's aging leaders in Washington.

Hoyer backed his former campaign manager, Boafo, who is now a Maryland state delegate, in a crowded field of 24 candidates.

“Y’all, I gotta give a special thanks to my mentor, to my friend, Steny Hamilton Hoyer,” Boafo said after winning the Democratic primary Tuesday night.

“Tonight, the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders," he said. "And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

Nadler endorsed state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a longtime aide to New York Democrats including Nadler, in a feisty primary for the Manhattan House seat.

Lasher hailed his ex-boss in a victory speech, saying Nadler has been a political presence throughout his life.

“When I was born, I was already Assemblyman Nadler’s constituent,” Lasher said, adding that he later “watched as Congressman Nadler led fights long before they were convenient.”

At least three other retiring lawmakers backed former aides to succeed them, including Chuy Garcia.

Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia endorsed his former chief of staff, Rob Adkerson, who lost the primary in a runoff. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., endorsed his district director, Aaron Flint, within hours of announcing his decision not to run for reelection. Flint won a four-person primary earlier this month.

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Associated Press reporter Mike Catalini contributed from Morrisville, Pa. Cooper reported from Phoenix.

The Shincheonji Church has denied the accusations against Lee Man-hee, 95, a self-proclaimed messenger of Jesus who founded the congregation in the 1980s. The church says it has about 200,000 followers.

Since January, a special team of prosecutors and police has been investigating alleged ties between religious groups such as Shincheonji and the Unification Church and politicians. The inquiry is part of broader investigations under South Korea’s current liberal government into the presidency of former conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted from office and convicted of rebellion over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Walking with a cane and assisted by a church official, Lee didn't respond to reporters’ questions as he appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday afternoon for a hearing on whether to grant prosecutors’ request for his arrest.

In issuing the arrest warrant on Wednesday night, the court cited Lee as a threat to destroy evidence. The church, which had previously expressed concern about Lee’s age and health, didn't immediately comment on his arrest.

Lee has been suspected of using the church’s regional branches to pressure more than 50,000 followers to join the People Power Party, or PPP, from 2021 to 2024 in hopes of influencing the party’s presidential and legislative primaries. Investigators suspect the campaign, which allegedly included efforts to support Yoon’s presidential bid, was aimed at winning favorable treatment for the church, including permits to expand its facilities.

Lee’s arrest came months after the arrest and indictment of Unification Church leader Hak Ja Han over allegations that she instructed church officials to bribe Yoon’s wife and a conservative lawmaker close to him in an effort to secure business favors. Han, widow of the church’s founder Sun Myung Moon, has denied the allegations.

An appeals court in April sentenced Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, to four years in prison after convicting her on various charges, including receiving luxury gifts from a Unification Church official.

Yoon was removed from office in April 2025 after being impeached over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024 following a standoff with the liberal-led legislature. Arrested in July 2025, Yoon is facing multiple trials and has appealed a life sentence for rebellion and a separate 30-year prison term over charges that he ordered drone flights over North Korea’s capital to stoke tensions and justify martial law at home.

Liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won an early presidential election last year after Yoon’s removal from office, has authorized multiple investigations into Yoon’s martial law imposition and other allegations involving his administration and wife.

Lee Man-hee established Shincheonji in 1984, using a word meaning “new heaven and new earth.” He has been accused by other Christian groups as a false prophet or a cult leader. The church describes Lee as “the Promised Pastor,” an attendant of Jesus sent to testify what he claims are the fulfilled prophecies from the Book of Revelation.

Han is the top leader of the Unification Church, officially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which her husband, Moon, founded in 1954.

Moon — a self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative family values — built the church into an international movement with millions of followers and extensive business interests. The church is widely known for mass weddings, pairing thousands of couples who often are from different countries.

Like Jalen Brunson, the guy marching through Manhattan with the Larry O'Brien Trophy in his arms last week during a joyous parade celebration. And Willis Reed, the guy who limped into Game 7 of the NBA Finals to lift the Knicks to their first championship.

So when the NBA draft resumes Wednesday night with the Knicks on the clock, every team will have hope of finding someone who can be a key piece of a title team.

The Knicks hold the No. 31 pick that was acquired via trades when teams and some players return to Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The first round, which began with Washington selecting AJ Dybantsa, finished late Tuesday night.

In a much different NBA with a different draft format, Reed was the No. 8 pick in the 1964 draft, which made him the first pick of the second round. The Hall of Famer went on to lead the Knicks to championships in 1970 and 1973 and was the NBA Finals MVP both times.

Brunson was the No. 33 pick in the 2018 draft, taken early in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks signed him as a free agent in 2022 and the franchise was on the rise ever since, culminating with their five-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month when Brunson was MVP of the series.

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

The changes come after News 6 reported last week that small businesses across Central Florida, including those in DeLand, are experiencing a sluggish summer. The story sparked significant online reaction — and business owners say that feedback has already sparked new ideas.

Christa Yates, who has owned Ms. Preppy Pants in downtown DeLand for 10 years, says the slower season is nothing new — but this year feels different.

“We’re all working together to brainstorm to showcase just how great we are and take it to more people than just our locals because we want Orlando to come, we want Palm Coast to come — take those day trips,” Yates said.

Yates says the familiar summer slowdown hits when Stetson University lets out and snowbirds head home — but tighter consumer spending has made this summer harder than most. In response, some businesses are now opening on days they were traditionally closed, while others are extending their operating hours.

“We’re working together to show where if you can’t find it in my shop, go down to another shop or I’ll show you the shops I like to go to,” Yates said.

Last week’s report also highlighted several recent high-profile vacancies in the downtown corridor. News 6 found that those closures happened for a variety of reasons. The MainStreet DeLand Association says the downtown occupancy rate has only dipped to about 96% and that it is actively working with landlords to fill the vacant spaces quickly.

City and Mainstreet Deland officials are also stepping in. Commissioner Richard Paiva says the city co-sponsors or coordinates events throughout the year specifically designed to draw foot traffic downtown.

“One of the things we do is DeLand cosponsors or coordinates 80 special events every year,” Paiva said.

MainStreet Deland concentrates some of those events, like Tropical Nights, in the summer months to give businesses a boost during the traditionally slow stretch — a move that’s being welcomed by shop owners.

“This is one of the reasons a lot of us have moved here — this community. The people here, the shops here, the walkability of our streets,” Yates said.

The crash happened just before 4 a.m. Sunday at Viera Boulevard and Independence Avenue.

According to an FHP report, a 2009 Hyundai Genesis was traveling east on Viera Boulevard when it veered onto the right shoulder and struck the teen who was riding an electric scooter in the same direction.

After hitting the teen, the driver fled the scene. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he later died, troopers said.

Investigators found a passenger-side mirror at the crash scene, which was identified as belonging to a black 2009-2010 Hyundai Genesis. A search led troopers to a vehicle approximately 1.5 miles south of the crash scene with damage consistent with the collision.

Investigators took possession of the vehicle and are processing it for evidence. The case remains an active criminal investigation.

“I cannot wait to dance with the ball,” Ronaldinho said. “Football has always been joyful for me, and I’m excited to bring that spirit to Ravenna. Let the magic begin!”

The Ravenna club is run by Ignazio Cipriani of the Cipriani restaurant brand.

“(Ronaldinho) was my idol growing up,” Cipriani said at a presentation in Miami. “I hope his involvement inspires a new generation of supporters to fall in love with Ravenna.”

Ronaldinho last played professionally for Fluminense in 2015. It will mark his second spell in Italy after featuring for AC Milan from 2008-11. He won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or in 2005.

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

Rip currents are one of the coast’s greatest dangers and account for the most beach rescues every year. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association. And more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

Already this year, there have been at least 21 people killed from rip currents in U.S. waters, according to the National Weather Service.

Here are some things to know about rip currents:

Rip currents can be hard to spot

Rip currents are narrow columns of water flowing rapidly away from the beach. They don't pull swimmers under water, but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

“A rip current is like a river that pulls out to sea,” said San Diego Lifeguard Marine Safety Lt. Charlie Knight. “So when the waves come into the beach, it needs somewhere to go. And so it takes these little channels out that we call rip currents to put all that water back into the ocean.”

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because the surface water often appears calm.

The current can flow as fast as 8 feet (3.2 meters) per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It's nearly impossible to fight rip currents

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to “'flip, float and follow.” Flipping over to float makes it easier to stay calm, conserves energy and keeps the airways open while the swimmer is in the rip current's grip.

It’s nearly impossible to fight the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say.

“People tend to panic when they can’t get into the beach, and that’s when we have problems,” Knight said. “So if you are caught in a rip current, the biggest thing is don’t panic, stay calm, flip over onto your back, float and allow the rip current to take you out.”

Once the rip current dissipates, it might leave the swimmer out in deeper water. Lifeguards recommend raising an arm to signal for help.

Look for flags warning of rip current conditions

Flags with different colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There's also purple for dangerous sea life, such as jellyfish, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions exist that may lead to their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

What to do when swimmer is spotted in a rip current

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, officials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It's best to find a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Deputies said they responded to the Sommerset Apartments on Lee Road around 3:15 p.m., where a man in his 50s said that his brother — also in his 50s — had threatened him with a knife.

Upon hearing about the response, News 6 Community Correspondent Troy Campbell headed to the scene shortly after 7 p.m. near 1051 Lee Road.

By around 8 p.m., most of the scene had been cleared, though several patrol units and caution tape could still be spotted at the scene.

Campbell noted that it appeared as though law enforcement had smashed a window and thrown a smoke bomb inside. However, no one came out.

As night fell, SWAT moved in — deploying a tactical robot, an armored vehicle, and making repeated loudspeaker callouts for a man identified as Gregory Jackson to come out of the unit. Jackson did not comply.

By early Wednesday morning, workers were on scene cleaning up and boarding up the window that deputies broke during the breach. Repairs to the apartment are expected to be needed.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has not yet released information on the charges Jackson is facing or any prior law enforcement history. Additional details are expected to be released.

More than 2,500 people in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties responded, with congestion ranking as the top complaint. “The traffic on the Lake Mary exit is just always atrocious,” said Kristen Johnson, a driver who said routine delays and crashes force her to leave increasingly earlier to make it to her destination on time.

Unsafe driver behavior was the second biggest concern, including distracted driving. Johnson reacted strongly to a finding that one in five respondents said it is acceptable to text and drive. “Absolutely not. Don’t do that,” she said.

The survey also pointed to transportation challenges beyond cars. About 35% of respondents said sidewalks are missing where they are needed. Nearly 59% said there are not enough bike lanes and that they do not feel safe sharing the road with drivers. Among Lynx bus riders, 42% said arrival and departure times are inconvenient.

MetroPlan Orlando officials said the survey results will help inform future regional transportation priorities and where funding is focused.

Click HERE to check out the survey.

The irony that she left her home in China and found a public platform for her LGBTQ+ artistic expression in San Francisco’s Chinatown — the country’s oldest — is not lost on her.

“Here in San Francisco Chinatown, I still continued my journey and met so many like-minded community members and friends,” Chen told The Associated Press through an interpreter. “It kind of actually encouraged me and gave me lots of strength to do what I know is my mission, my calling.”

The OUT Museum opened with a rainbow-ribbon cutting at the end of May — between Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pride Month. Situated across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, the bilingual museum is giving recognition to a demographic that has long felt invisible. It seems like an ideal fit in the progressive city at a time when some cities, states and the federal government are restricting or banning certain LGBTQ+ rights.

To start, the museum is only open on Saturdays and is one room with fewer than a dozen artworks by artists from China and the Chinese diaspora. But there is hope to expand the museum's exhibits and days of operation.

Museum allows Chinese artists to fully tell their stories

While still living in China, Chen launched a Kickstarter for a proposed museum six years ago — more than 2,000 donated on the platform. But she knew it likely wouldn't be built there. In 2022, she came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa as a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. By 2024, Chen gained attention in San Francisco for her role in an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum. That led to a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.

The organization was “proud to be the incubating space for the OUT Museum prototype,” executive director Jenny Leung said in an email.

The level of support that followed amazed Chen.

“I got so many chances to connect with the local Asian American queer community and even the Chinatown community in general,” she said.

Interest soon followed from longtime collaborators and younger artists who reached out via Instagram. They are represented in the inaugural exhibition, which includes photography, zines and an interactive installation where visitors use thread to trace their self-discovery journey with gender and sexuality.

For Hong Kong-born artist Dixon Ngai, this museum offers an outlet to tell his story as mainstream media typically overlook the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He contributed a hand-painted, Chinese porcelain wine pot inspired by the Cantonese opera “Di Nü Hua,” or “The Flower Princess.”

Ngai said the OUT Museum, unlike other exhibitions, is very specific to the experience of the Chinese queer community, allowing “more people to see our voice.”

Museum affirms evolving attitudes toward LGBTQ+ presence

Since the museum's opening, Chen has been “one hundred percent moved” by unexpected feedback from one particular demographic: Chinese immigrants, both queer and straight, who have lived in California for decades.

A 60-year-old transgender man who visited shared how he immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s for crucial gender-affirming care. There was also a mother looking to connect with her gay adult son.

“She later emailed me saying that she’s so grateful for all the events the art museum has organized,” Chen said. “Her son came out to her, and she’s very proud of her son and she wants to express gratitude.”

These reactions are proof the museum is elevating the visibility of Chinese, Chinese American and Asian American LGBTQ+ people, said author and activist Helen Zia, a museum advisory board member. It also shows how attitudes have shifted, she said, as it would have been difficult to mount even 20 years ago.

“There were Asian churches who would have demonstrations week after week with thousands of people just condemning same-sex couples,” Zia said, recalling the response from the Chinese community in 2008 when she handed out pro-gay marriage flyers in Oakland's Chinatown. “We got people yelling at us, spitting.”

Later that year, Zia and her wife were among many couples who wed after the California Supreme Court rejected a same-sex marriage ban. Even today, she says the museum's presence sends a needed message.

“See our humanity,” Zia said. “Here's the beautiful art that we create and imagine and contribute to the world.”

LGBTQ+ life in mainland China

versus the US

Being homosexual in China means living under the radar and discriminatory policies. In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association stopped listing homosexuality as a mental disorder. But LGBTQ+ couples still cannot marry or adopt. They are also limited in their right to publicly advocate. When Chen lived in Shanghai, she ran a grassroots center for lesbians. One of the reasons she left was because during the pandemic the government started cracking down on spaces for LGBTQ+ activism.

She likely could not even put on an art show, let alone a museum.

“From 2013 to 2015, that kind of art exhibition by queer artists (could) exist, but only if you don’t explicitly show or tell the audience that your work or yourself identify as queer or LGBTQ,” Chen said. “But not nowadays.”

That Shanghai center is how Zia met Chen a decade ago. Zia was doing research for a book and toured the center.

“She's been just incredibly brave in China, creating a center that attracted a lot of state attention,” Zia said.

A key difference Chen has noticed among American-born Chinese LGBTQ+ people versus those in China is they are more educated about gender and sexual identity and have more access to support.

Under the second Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat. President Donald Trump's administration has targeted gender-affirming care and sought to ban transgender people in the military. Some anti-Pride lawmakers recently proposed “Nuclear Family Month.”

San Francisco also recently dealt with shifting LGBTQ+ attitudes after Giants baseball players wrote Bible verses on Pride Night hats.

Nevertheless, the Chinese artists say the social landscape here is a breath of fresh air.

“Here in San Francisco, in California, we enjoy the air of freedom, there is equal human rights, there is security,” Ngai said. “So, we are very proud to be ourselves.”

This Sunday, Chen will proudly walk in her first San Francisco Pride Parade. She will plug the museum while dressed fittingly as a woman warrior from a Cantonese opera.

“I think completing this opening will be a start for me. It’s not the end,” Chen said. “We still have a long way to go.”

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Tang reported from Phoenix.

“Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me” is scheduled for Sept. 15, according to Image Books, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group.

Released in Italian by the Vatican Publishing House earlier this year, “Freedom from Grace” features homilies, addresses and other works by Robert Prevost, when he was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013.

“Each chapter is a window into the spiritual depth and vision of the man who would eventually become Pope Leo, with an urgent message of love and service to address the challenges of the world today,” Campbell Wharton, senior vice president and publisher of Penguin Random House Christian, said in a statement Wednesday. “It’s a book for any Catholic, but also any Christian or spiritual seeker looking for guidance and hope for living a life that transforms the world.”

The Vatican Museums on Wednesday announced the start of a five-year, $5.5 million project to clean and restore the Raphael Loggia, a 65-meter (yard) long, 4-meter (yard) wide corridor that is considered one of the highest expressions of Renaissance figurative art.

The windowed second floor corridor, which overlooks the palace’s San Damaso courtyard, is not open to the public. But lucky visitors to the pope or Secretariat of State walk along it en route to their audiences and are treated to biblical scenes, from the Old Testament and New, as well as botanical motifs in painting and stucco.

Pope Leo XIV, who moved back into the Apostolic Palace after Pope Francis famously stayed away, has his private apartments upstairs but walks along the corridor when going to audiences.

Raphael conceived of the decoration between 1517-1519 as one of his last commissions for Pope Leo X, alongside his more well-known and accessible masterpieces that are today highlights of any visit to the Vatican Museums: the recently restored Raphael Rooms and his tapestries.

Located deep within the inner sanctum of the Holy See, the passageway’s 13 arched bays are considered such a spectacular example of figurative painting that they were widely copied, including a full-scale replica at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Until 1813, the Raphael Loggia was open to the elements and suffered damage from rain and exposure, said Paolo Violini, in charge of painting restoration at the Vatican Museums. Even after windows were installed, the artworks suffered further because the windows trapped heat and humidity, leading to a particularly fragile state that requires special care.

Restorers will use hand-held lasers to clean and restore the stucco and wall paintings, using a “dry” cleaning method since the paints are water soluble and would suffer further if cleaned in a more traditional way or using chemical solvents, Violini said.

The restoration, being done in partnership with the World Monuments Fund, is being financed by the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, a New York-based philanthropy.

At a press conference Wednesday, Schwarzman said the foundation’s overall contribution to the project was more than $14 million: $5.5 million for the restoration and the rest used to digitize images of the loggia so the public can appreciate it, to fund a documentary of the renovation and to endow a training program for art restorers at a Swiss university.

Alongside the restoration, the Vatican plans to also replace the arched windows of the loggia to install special glass that filters out the sun's harmful rays.

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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.

Artificial intelligence and the data centers they require use growing amounts of energy and are water hogs — and AI companies aren't transparent about how much of those resources they use, experts said. So each time you turn to the internet and seek an AI-fueled response, it's gobbling up precious resources.

“AI is going in the opposite direction to decarbonization efforts,” said cognitive computer scientist Sasha Luccioni, co-founder and chief scientific officer of the Sustainable AI Group. “We should be thinking about where we are going towards. If you’re recycling and a vegan but then you’re using ChatGPT to do your multiplication for you, well that’s kind of against the trend.”

“It’s like one other thing among many to think about when you’re like developing these daily habits,” Luccioni said. “It is not too late. You are not obliged to use AI for everything. You can opt out, you can have a say and you can kind of just like think about how you engage with this technology.”

But she also said Big Tech companies are making it hard by “integrating generative AI into everything. ... There's like this bait-and-switch going on. I feel that nowadays you use the same tools that you used to use, but now they're generative AI.”

There are a few ways climate conscious individuals aren’t completely powerless, said several experts in water use, artificial intelligence, data center placement and environmental sustainability.

Use AI less

The advice from experts is simple: Just use AI less often.

“The cleanest form of AI use is no use,” Kaveh Madani, a water scientist and director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Canada. “So when you could avoid using AI, don't use it.”

Don't use it for simple things. Don't use it for calculations, directions, store hours, recipes or shopping lists, which are all searches people used to do without AI, but now do it with AI and waste power and water, Luccioni said.

“Yeah, it’s great. You can generate a chocolate chip cookie recipe with Claude, or you can open a damn book. Like, those still exist. You really don’t need Claude,” Luccioni said. “You really don’t need all of these generative AI technologies to do day-to-day tasks. I do agree there are some productivity gains to be had but I think that it’s a pretty small percentage of what people are currently using.”

And when you make a query, make it concise because more information translates into more computing and more energy and water used. No need to be polite. Don't give unnecessary background information, Madani and others said.

Every query means more energy use, experts said.

The power and water cost of a query

Last year, global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world, and it is expected to more than double in the next four years, according to a new report from the United Nations University. By then, it will have moved up in rankings to just behind five countries for power use.

By 2030, just the electricity that data centers use — not including the massive amounts of water needed to cool them — would require nearly 2.5 trillion gallons of water (9.3 trillion liters), which is enough drinking water for the entire world for 1.7 years, said Madani, the study's co-author.

Getting an AI text response is the equivalent to using an efficient light bulb for two and a half minutes, but that's being done 2.5 billion times a day with ChatGPT alone, according to the report and Madani. Using AI to generate a complex video is the equivalent of 42 hours of that light bulb burning and using a gallon of water (4 liters), he said.

Lack of transparency is a problem

Except for a mention in a blogpost and scant information, private AI companies aren't transparent about the energy and water costs of queries, said Luccioni and other experts who have tried to calculate those costs. That reality forces them to just make estimates based on less common open source AI.

“We have no way of knowing and getting a sense of the amount of energy,” said University of Michigan computer science professor Mosharaf Chowdhury, who tracks energy consumption of open source models.

“If there’s no transparency, we have no choice. We’re really not choosing. We are being given whatever is being given to us,” said Ana Pinheiro Privette, a former top sustainability official for Amazon Web Services, who also used to direct the University of Illinois’ water security center and was a data scientist at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “That’s the power. The power is to say ‘I actually want to understand what I’m consuming’.”

Forced into AI use but you can opt out

When you go online, many search engines, including Google, answer via AI and promote it, without users asking for machine learning to kick in. You have to opt out of AI, when you should have to opt in, Luccioni said.

“End users, you and me, we have absolutely no control other than saying ‘OK we don’t want to use any of it' and even then the companies force it onto us,” Chowdhury said.

You can opt out of AI in Google searches by putting “-ai” at the end of your search, Luccioni said. Or you can click on “Web” in search options.

There are search engines that reduce their carbon footprints by planting trees and use less energy in their AI, such as Ecosia, Luccioni said. And search engines DuckDuckGo and Startpage have no-AI options.

Consumers and neighbors have some power

“The big power I think the consumer has is the market message because I’ve seen that when I worked at Amazon,” Privette said. “They listen. They listen if everybody suddenly starts caring about not having a footprint.”

Years ago, when data centers wanted to build in an area, it was no problem. Now that they are multiplying in high population centers and people are speaking up and against them, said Privette. For example, data centers in two Virginia counties near Washington used 2.1 billion gallons (8 billion liters) of water in 2023.

Balaji Tammabattula, chief operating officer of BaRupOn which makes energy-ready data center campuses, said, “the moment you say that you’re building a data center, there’s a backlash. The data center is the new boogeyman.”

So he said companies like his have to listen and when they do, they use less water and energy.

“AI is not going anywhere,” Tammabattula said. “It has to be done. But it has to be with the help of the community, where we're understanding the concerns of the community.”

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

Kennedy family scion and political novice Jack Schlossberg lost Tuesday to New York state Assembly Member Micah Lasher, in a closely watched and crowded Democratic primary for an open congressional seat in the heart of Manhattan.

Lasher has spent his career in politics, working for officeholders including the man whose seat he hopes to win in November, Democratic longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler. Flanked by another former boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and other politicians in New York City's Democratic establishment, Lasher said in his victory speech that he aimed to “revamp and recharge the Democratic Party in Washington" and to show it has "bold new ideas to improve the lives of struggling Americans and then deliver on them."

Lasher is well positioned for November's general election — Democrats make up two-thirds of the district's registered voters.

Before the race was called, Schlossberg had made an early appearance at his evening watch party at a Manhattan concert venue to thank his campaign workers and reiterate his message that Democrats need to put forward more frank, responsive and inspiring candidates "who are willing to speak plainly about the cost of living, about corruption and fearlessly about the Constitution."

“We don’t just need younger candidates. We need different people,” he said, adding, “unless Democrats learn from the signals that are being sent all across the country, we are going to keep on losing.”

About an hour later, deflated “oohs” rippled through the room of largely young supporters as they got news of Lasher's victory.

The campaign was colorful and hotly contested, partly because of Schlossberg's star power as the social-media-savvy grandson of the late President John F. Kennedy, but also because the race became an expensive proxy fight among artificial intelligence interests.

Schlossberg got plenty of attention in the race, as a member of a famous political family who delivered his own “progressive and aggressive” message in dynamic and popular, if sometimes wacky, social media posts.

Supporters “don’t just like me because I’m a Kennedy," Schlossberg told The Associated Press earlier this year. “They like me because of my experience, my ideas, and they trust me because they see what’s going on with their very own eyes.”

But he also faced questions about his limited professional resume and his seriousness as a candidate. The 33-year-old, who holds a joint law and business degree, worked briefly at the State Department’s environmental bureau and has written political opinion pieces for Vogue. He said that family money bought him independence from political fundraising.

Money cascaded into the race as some tech and AI companies lined up against candidate Alex Bores, a former tech company engineer and a state Assembly member who wrote legislation that many in the industry opposed. But some other, more regulation-friendly AI heavyweights counterpunched by trying to help Bores.

Voters in the district were deluged with mailers and ads, particularly about Bores and rival Micah Lasher, a fellow Assembly member and former Nadler aide. Lasher emphasized his long experience working in government for Nadler and others. Bores positioned himself as a fresher face who stood up to powerful interests.

“I didn’t get in this race to make a point about AI, but some of the most powerful people on the planet, a handful of oligarchs hell-bent on preventing any regulation of their industry whatsoever … decided they wanted to make an example out of this race. This was a huge and unprecedented fight, and we did not back down,” Bores said in a concession speech.

Alongside the AI battle, the race featured competing endorsements from Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, the fellow Congress member whom he defeated in a 2022 primary after their once-neighboring districts were largely combined by redrawn maps. This year, Maloney endorsed Bores, while Nadler endorsed Lasher.

Candidate George Conway had his own political connections, though not necessarily ones he embraced — a former Republican, he was married to Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to Republican President Donald Trump before distancing himself from both of them. A veteran attorney, George Conway helped create the anti-Trump organization called The Lincoln Project.

Trump reveled in Conway's defeat, calling him “a Trump Deranged Loser” in a social media post.

Several other candidates also vied for the nomination.

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Associated Press journalist Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed.

The mayor said it was a question of electing “better Democrats” who would "put working people back at the heart of politics.” The approach consternated some in Democratic leadership, but the outcome showcased Mamdani's rising influence.

Elsewhere Tuesday, two opposing factions of the artificial intelligence industry spent millions on a House race that became a proxy fight over tech regulation.

And President Donald Trump, after two of his chosen candidates for governor lost Republican primaries this month, ensured it wouldn’t happen again. The president endorsed both candidates in a South Carolina runoff — and one of his endorsed candidates inevitably won.

Mamdani successfully flexes his political power in House races

When Mamdani took the stage in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, the crowd chanted “DSA,” the initials for the Democratic Socialists of America.

It was just the latest sign of an ascendant political movement, and two of the candidates successfully backed by Mamdani are democratic socialists.

In the primary for retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat, state Assembly Member Claire Valdez beat out Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Valdez was endorsed by Mamdani, and Reynoso was endorsed by Velázquez.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat lost his bid for reelection to Darializa Avila Chevalier, another Mamdani-backed democratic socialist. Avila Chevalier hasn’t held public office before and once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

A third candidate backed by Mamdani, former city comptroller Brad Lander, defeated U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman by running to his political left. The race partly revolved around the war in Gaza, with Lander assailing Goldman for not being critical enough of Israel.

All three victors are expected to win their blue districts, which would also place three Mamdani allies in Congress come January.

Lasher won Manhattan House primary where AI regulation was debated

One crowded Democratic primary in Manhattan had become a proxy battle between two powerful camps in the artificial intelligence industry because of one candidate: New York Assemblyman Alex Bores.

Bores, a former Palantir employee, had cited ethical concerns in leaving the company and pushed one of the more sweeping state-level AI regulation bills in the country. He pointed to that legislation, which faced some industry pushback, as a framework for how he’d approach regulation in Congress.

His entry in the race for retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat prompted a political group financed by investors in OpenAI to spend more than $7 million in ads attacking Bores — only for an opposing group connected to Anthropic to ride to his aid with more than $10 million.

Bores fell short in the primary, which was won by Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a longtime government hand backed by Democratic leaders. Lasher had criticized Bores by suggesting he would be beholden to the big tech faction who supported him.

“I have some news for the two big AI companies who’ve taken such an unusual interest in who won this congressional seat," he said Tuesday night. "I won’t be taking my cues from either of you when it comes to protecting our kids, our jobs, our environment.”

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, and former Republican lawyer George Conway rounded out the field.

Trump successfully hedges in South Carolina after endorsement record gets shakier

The president is proud of his ability to pick winners in Republican primaries, but he stumbled in governor's races earlier this month. First U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra lost to businessman Zach Lahn in Iowa, then Lt. Gov. Burt Jones fell short to billionaire Rick Jackson in Georgia.

So Trump took steps to ensure a victory for his endorsement in South Carolina on Tuesday. After initially endorsing Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette shortly before the primary, he decided to also support state Attorney General Alan Wilson in the runoff.

“I can’t hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!” he wrote in a social media post Friday. “It’s a Wealth of Riches – With either one you can’t go wrong.”

It appeared to be a prescient decision, and Wilson swiftly came out on top in the runoff.

“I was honored to receive his endorsement,” Wilson told his supporters of Trump in accepting victory Tuesday. “I think he saw the fight in our campaign, the energy in our campaign. And think he likes a fighter and I think that’s won him over. I want to thank you, Mr. President.”

In the end, Trump's endorsement was another winner on the night.

“Alan Wilson wins!” he posted on social media. “Endorsed by President Trump!”

Former US representative beats more progressive competitors in Utah's new Democratic battleground

It's unusual for Utah's Democratic primaries to draw much attention, but that's because the party hasn't had much of a shot in the staunchly red state. That is until redistricting last year created a lone Democratic island in the Salt Lake City area.

The new district had a dark enough hue of blue that primary candidates jostled for who was furthest left, a contest that former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams — who won Tuesday — worked to adapt to.

When McAdams last ran in 2018, ousting a Republican, he described himself as pro-life and fashioned himself as a moderate. Now, in the new left-leaning district, he pledged to support abortion rights and said he’s only “moderate in tone.”

The more progressive candidates who challenged him included state Sen. Nate Blouin, who has said the electorate had grown accustomed to Democrats who will “play nice” with Republicans and who won support from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Maryland Republicans sought an heir to Hogan

Republican Larry Hogan reigned as Maryland governor for eight years, standing on a more moderate conservative platform to keep his perch in the left-leaning, East Coast state.

At Hogan's departure, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore took over in 2023, and he won his party's primary Tuesday in his bid for reelection to a second term. Moore is widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

Republicans voted for Dan Cox, who leaned furthest to the right out of the nine candidates and had a photo of himself with Trump on his law practice's website. On the campaign trail, he had pledged to cut taxes and expand housing affordability programs.

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This story has been corrected to show Moore took office in 2023, not 2024.

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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas, and Lodhi from New York.

The individual, who has not been identified, returned from a humanitarian mission in one of the virus transmission zones in Congo and was taken into care at a specialized facility in France. The person is in stable condition, the ministry said.

The Congolese health ministry said Wednesday there are 1,094 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 277 confirmed deaths. The Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccines or treatment, has been the worst ever in terms of case numbers in its first month.

Officials admit there could be far more cases they don’t know about and the peak of the outbreak, which was declared May 15, could still lie ahead.

All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon their arrival in France, the health ministry said, adding that their transfer to a hospital was carried out under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.

“An in-depth epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient,” the ministry said, adding that a regional health agency will closely monitor them during a 21-day home isolation.

Hours later Tuesday, he was criticizing a major league rule that led to his ejection following an unusual play.

Chicago's series opener Monday night against the Mets in New York was postponed because of poor weather and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday at Citi Field.

Counsell and the Cubs also got washed out back home at Wrigley Field on Sunday, when they were supposed to wrap up a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. That game will be made up Aug. 6.

“Look, consecutive rainouts are, they're troublesome for pitching, for sure. And frankly, yesterday's game did not need to be rained out. It didn't rain, and for some reason we didn't play," Counsell said in the dugout late Tuesday afternoon, with a tarp covering the infield on another drizzly day in Queens.

There were a couple of heavy thunderstorms around Citi Field on Monday, in the late afternoon and after 11 p.m. It was a wet day throughout with light showers and mist — but the rain mostly stopped between about 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

First pitch had been scheduled for 7:10 p.m., but the game was called approximately 40 minutes before that. In their news release, the Mets announced the game was “postponed due to weather.”

It was the first time the Cubs had back-to-back games postponed because of weather since April 2018 — and the first time in different cities since early October 1986.

Counsell was asked if he sought any sort of explanation.

“Major League Baseball tells you the game’s canceled, and that’s it. Especially on the road. That’s all you get,” he said.

Shota Imanaga had been scheduled to start Monday for Chicago against Japanese countryman Kodai Senga, but with all the uncertainty during the evening about whether the game would be played, the Cubs ended up having Imanaga throw a bullpen and pushed his turn back to Wednesday.

"Just to give him a chance to touch the mound and be a little more in routine,” Counsell said.

Edward Cabrera started Tuesday night against Senga in the opener of a four-game series, which began following an 11-minute rain delay. Cabrera hurt his left leg in a 9-6 victory and is headed to the injured list.

"You stack a doubleheader, which affects — you’re not going to have enough starters available, so we’re either going to end up with a bullpen game or we’re going to call up (someone) later in the week,” Counsell said before the game.

Getting heated

In the seventh inning, Michael Busch drew a one-out walk for the Cubs that appeared to advance Pete Crow-Armstrong from first base to second.

Crow-Armstrong was running on the full-count pitch, however, and slid headfirst into second as Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez threw down. New York manager Carlos Mendoza challenged the play, and a replay review determined Crow-Armstrong was tagged out when he lost contact with second base at one point.

So even though Busch walked, his teammate was out at second.

“No comment. Pretty confusing stuff,” said Crow-Armstrong, who was ushered away from umpires when he attempted to argue.

Counsell got an explanation from the umps about what Mendoza was challenging. But when the call was overturned, Counsell came back onto the field and argued, waving his hand dismissively.

That's when he got ejected.

“Umpires interpret rules correctly. They don’t get that stuff wrong," Counsell said. "It’s a bad rule. It’s a terrible rule. I mean, I don’t know what else to say. Like, not a good rule.”

New arm in the 'pen

Jayden Murray reported to the Cubs and was added to their bullpen after the right-hander was acquired Saturday from the Houston Astros in a trade for minor league first baseman Cameron Sisneros.

“This is a guy that’s had a lot of success in the minor leagues. He’s pitched really well in the minor leagues. In the big leagues, he’s gotten just a limited opportunity," Counsell said. "We’ve got options, obviously, so there’s going to be some flexibility, but we like his performance right now in the minor leagues and think he’s ready to pitch big league innings.”

Murray made his Cubs debut in the ninth and gave up three runs, including Bo Bichette's homer, before getting the final out.

To open a roster spot, Chicago optioned right-hander Gavin Hollowell to Triple-A Iowa.

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

The president is hosting a rally Wednesday on the National Mall in Washington. He has said it will be replete with a military flyover by stealth bombers, military bands, singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame and a speech by Trump.

It comes as Trump works to convince Americans ahead of critical November midterm elections that he's put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen in the wake of an interim deal to end the war with Tehran.

The rally is designed to kick off weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding as part of “The Great American State Fair” on the mall, the national park that stretches from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

But Trump’s appearance onstage was only announced after several musicians — including Young MC, Martina McBride and the Commodores — canceled their concerts because of concerns the event had become politicized. The president stepped into the void as he hyped his own ability to command a crowd.

“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History,” Trump posted on social media about his plan to be the event’s headliner.

In a video posted Monday night, he said the event would be "the biggest rally we’ve ever had,” and declared: “It’s our music, our playlist. We don’t have a lot of people boring you with songs you don’t want to hear. We have the hottest people.”

Tuesday afternoon, country singer Alexis Wilkins, the longtime girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, posted on X that she would be performing at Wednesday's event.

Trump is pressing the case that he's made America better

Trump has struggled to deliver the presidency that he advertised to voters — causing his approval rating to dwell at a low 37%, according to the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling.

Democrats say his botched repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and the resulting algae outbreak are a sign that he’s spending taxpayer money on vanity projects instead of the nation's legacy.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said the Trump-affiliated group organizing the 250th anniversary was selling access to special interests and redrafting the nation's founding to the president's liking, based on documents he presented at a congressional hearing earlier this year.

“It should be about bringing us together,” Huffman said. “He's trying to make this 250th celebration all about him.”

Trump’s fondness for showmanship has not been a match for public anxiety about his presidency. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership, with favorability at 40% on immigration and 34% on Iran.

“It’s clear that Trump’s preoccupations in his second term — from Iran to the Washington reflecting pool — are not those of most members of his base, let alone other Americans,” said Daniel Treisman, a politics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “That explains his unusually low approval ratings.”

Trump's rallies can only help him so much without concrete improvements on inflation

Inflation is still higher than what Trump inherited and it has been outpacing wage growth. The budget deficit remains on a path upward that keeps interest rates high. Investments in artificial intelligence are driving growth, but they come with fears of middle-class job losses such that the construction of data centers needed for America’s tech economy have become controversial politically.

Trump has fueled dramas over tariffs, NATO, immigration, ownership of Greenland and his own renovations of iconic buildings and monuments in Washington — generating a flood of controversy that has pushed things the administration sees as accomplishments — such as the capture of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro — off the public radar.

James Snyder, a Harvard University professor, has partnered on research showing that past rallies have helped Trump turn out his supporters to vote, in the short-term. But he noted that Wednesday’s rally comes more than four months before the November midterm elections, and is unlikely to have a politically strategic benefit for Republicans.

“I would not expect that the rally would have any clear effect on the 2026 midterm elections,” Snyder said.

A moon rose overhead, stars were visible above the runway, and beneath them came the wave: a barrel built tall enough to swallow the show.

It rose from a sandy outdoor set, spraying mist into the heat and giving the evening’s surf fantasy a practical appeal.

The front row had its own stars. Jeremy Allen White, Charles Melton, Future, Missy Elliott, Lola Young, Coco Jones, Quavo, Victor Wembanyama, Jackson Wang, BamBam and Finn Bennett were among the guests.

Out of the wave walked Williams’ surfer — sun-bleached, salt-worn and tailored for somewhere between shore and city.

For Louis Vuitton’s spring-summer 2027 men’s collection, surfing supplied the wardrobe: wetsuit textures, patched outerwear, weathered denim, beaded bombers, logoed surfboards and tailoring loosened by travel.

Since arriving at Vuitton, Williams has returned often to the dandy: elegant but easy, polished but relaxed.

This season, he sent him to the beach — or at least to the kind of beach reached after the boardroom, with luggage and cashmere in tow.

A silver camper, reimagined as a glass-walled habitat and parked among dunes, framed the Vuitton man on familiar house terrain: travel. Vuitton began with trunks, after all.

Hang 10, tailored

The clothes worked best when the surf references were handled lightly.

Technical wetsuits met tailoring fabrics, including functional diving pieces marked with Vuitton’s Monogram.

Weathered jackets looked already lived in.

Hoodies came sun-faded and salt-softened, with gilded LV drawstrings.

Denim and coats had shibori-like indigo effects. Bomber jackets were weighted with dense ropes of beadwork.

Williams’ trompe l’oeil effects also returned, with surfaces made to mimic other surfaces and casual pieces revealing more handwork up close.

Several pieces leaned into the after-surf wardrobe: robe-like coats, soft jackets and easy layers with the comfort of a towel thrown over cold shoulders.

The new flat-soled skate shoe brought the collection back to Williams’ older world: skateboarding, Billionaire Boys Club, Ice Cream and Nigo.

That gave the surf theme a sharper edge, and an obvious commercial engine.

Surf’s up, spectacle down

Williams’ Vuitton has always known how to stage an event. His debut turned the Pont Neuf into a gold Damier runway.

Other shows have brought games, houses, orchestras, choirs and front rows built for the camera.

Tuesday had plenty of production: a cinematic prelude with surfers Mikey February and Julian Wilson, a soundtrack featuring Quavo, Williams and Angélique Kidjo, and live performances by L’Orchestre du Pont Neuf and the Voices of Fire choir.

But the set did not overwhelm the clothes. The wave was huge. The collection held its own.

Vuitton said it would support Coral Gardeners, with plans to help out-plant 1,000 corals and restore 250 square meters of reef habitat in French Polynesia in 2026.

Williams took his bow as the wave still towered behind him.

This time, the clothes were not swept away.

The Subaru Forester, meanwhile, gained its hybrid powertrain option for 2025 and is better for it, improving this SUV’s fuel economy, performance and refinement. Both SUVs could be appealing if you’re interested in a high-mpg SUV that can help you get out into nature on the weekends. Edmunds’ auto experts tested both to find which one is a better fit for your needs.

Fuel economy and performance

The Cherokee gets an EPA-estimated 37 mpg in combined city/highway driving. The Forester Hybrid gets a bit less at 35 mpg combined. This is a nice boost from gas-only SUVs — the regular Forester gets up to 29 mpg, for example. Other rival hybrid SUVs are capable of even better mpg, though those are often front-wheel-drive versions that get slightly better fuel economy. The Cherokee and Forester Hybrid both come standard with all-wheel drive, with no option for front-wheel drive. On the upside, however, you’ll appreciate the extra traction if you do a lot of driving on slippery roads in the wintertime.

Both SUVs have decent power for daily driving. In Edmunds’ testing, the Cherokee accelerated from zero to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds. The Forester Hybrid needed 8.8 seconds. Edmunds’ drivers did notice that the Cherokee’s hybrid powertrain does a better job of keeping noise and vibration out of the cabin, resulting in a quieter driving experience.

Winner: Jeep Cherokee

Comfort and utility

Edmunds’ editors found that the Forester has a smoother ride over bumps and ruts than the Cherokee. It also has more comfortable front seats that are easier to get in and out of. For long road trips, you’ll probably prefer the Forester. The back seats are pretty similar in these SUVs, though. Both are comfortable for adults and have enough space to install child seats easily.

Edmunds found the Subaru Forester’s boxy cargo area ideal for hauling your stuff, whether it be luggage, groceries or outdoor recreational gear. The Cherokee’s cargo area isn’t quite as roomy, but it is still quite useful.

Winner: Subaru Forester

Technology features

The Subaru Forester Hybrid may have a big portrait-oriented screen, but it’s often frustratingly slow to boot up and respond to your presses on the on-screen buttons. Feature content is good, but again, execution matters. For example, the Forester’s available wireless phone charging pad is made of hard plastic and isn’t grippy enough to keep a phone consistently in place if you take a sudden turn.

A similar situation exists with the Forester’s driver assistance features. The Forester comes with a lot of them, but the way they work isn’t great. For example, the adaptive cruise control can be slow to respond to changes in traffic, and the constant warning beeps to remind you to keep your hands on the steering wheel can get annoying. The Jeep’s driver assist features are more sophisticated and enjoyable to use.

Response time can also be an issue for the Jeep’s 12.3-inch landscape-oriented touchscreen, but the graphics look more modern. We also like that its available wireless phone charger grips onto a phone with tenacity and doesn’t take up much space.

Winner: Jeep Cherokee

On-road and off-road driving

Despite Jeep’s off-roading reputation, the Cherokee has less ground clearance than the Forester, and it lacks the sort of robust all-wheel-drive systems and off-road drive modes found in other Jeep models. A more rugged Cherokee variant, the Trailhawk, will debut for 2027, but for now, the specialized Forester Wilderness trim is the better bet for tackling a dirt road or trail.

Not surprisingly, then, the Cherokee is more at home on pavement. Its handling and steering are merely average, though, and suffers from an overly thick octagonal-like steering wheel that’s awkward to hold. The Subaru is also substantially easier to see out of.

Winner: Subaru Forester

Price and value

The 2026 Jeep Cherokee starts at $36,995, including destination, for its base trim. That’s a bit more than the Forester Hybrid that starts at $36,180 for its starter Premium trim. Broadly, the Forester Hybrid comes with more features for your money as well. For example, the Forester has standard heated front seats and a standard power-adjustable driver’s seat, while on the Cherokee you’ll have to get the next-step-up Laredo to get those features. It’s a similar story at the top of the lineup, where a fully loaded Cherokee will cost you about two grand more than the Forester.

Winner: Forester

Edmunds says

It’s a close call between these two small SUVs. They both get good mpg and can serve you well as a daily driver. Overall, however, Edmunds recommends the Forester Hybrid. Its slight advantages in comfort, utility and value make it the better pick.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. James Riswick is a contributor at Edmunds.

Li also said the country’s heavy state subsidies were not the main reason for the rapid rise of its high-tech industries, at a time when Western officials have complained that China’s state support for industries from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles has provided an unfair competitive edge.

China’s No. 2 leader made the remarks in his speech at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as the “Summer Davos,” held this week in the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Dalian.

He acknowledged there have been growing global concerns about China’s technological innovations, with some pointing to the term “China Shock 2.0,” as they see the nation's high-tech boom as a threat to many advanced economies.

Instead, that should be seen as “China Opportunity 2.0,” he said.

“From the global development perspective, ‘China Opportunity 2.0’ means there’ll be broader access to advanced technologies and more widely shared benefits,” Li said.

“China’s emerging technologies and products are bringing to the world not shocks, but opportunities,” he added. “Not threats, but empowerment.”

China’s tech advancements and growing exports of EVs, solar panels, chips, batteries, AI and robotics have offered affordable options to global markets, but have also raised criticisms among governments concerned about issues such as oversupply. Some are taking protectionist measures.

Li also dismissed claims that the rise of China’s high-tech sectors was because of massive government subsidies.

U.S. and European policymakers have raised concerns over Chinese state subsidies creating unfairness to their industries, while a June report by the 38-country Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said huge state subsidies, including those in China, can distort global markets and create unfair competitive advantages.

“There are some people who say that Chinese products are competitive mainly because the Chinese government's subsidies,” Li said in his speech. “That’s not true. The Chinese government is not that wealthy.”

China’s large domestic market, which allows the mass and fast deployment of new technologies among its population of 1.4 billion, and huge corporate investments are among the key factors in its robust tech advancements, he said.

Li also name-checked Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has faced Western restrictions, and robotics company Unitree, both of which have risen quickly in size and market share, as examples of China’s innovation success.

Beijing earlier voiced its opposition to an expansion this month of the Pentagon's list of Chinese military-linked companies to Unitree and other tech firms, preventing them from landing U.S. defense contracts. The list also includes Huawei.

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Associated Press video producer Wayne Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.

This time, Queiroz’s team earned a point that could end up being enough for a spot in the round of 32.

England dominated possession on Tuesday but came up empty on several late scoring opportunities in a rain-filled 0-0 draw.

“Our plan was to block and frustrate them from the first minute,” Queiroz said. “We did it.”

Four years ago at the World Cup in Qatar, Queiroz was coaching Iran when his team faced England and lost 6-2.

England, which has not lost to an African country at the World Cup in nine meetings, outshot Ghana 19-1 but failed capitalize on multiple chances in the closing minutes.

“Frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up,” England midfielder Jude Bellingham said. “They got exactly out of the game what they played for. Couldn’t quite break them down, even with all corners, all the possession, all the shots on goal from distance.”

Both teams won their opening matches at this year's tournament, with Ghana beating Panama 1-0 and England defeating Croatia 4-2. Now both still have work to do in Group L before securing a spot in the knockout round at the first 48-team World Cup.

England ended up losing to France in the quarterfinals at the 2022 tournament. Ghana hasn’t made it to the knockout round since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

But with the expanded tournament this year, the best eight third-place teams will advance, giving both teams a good chance heading into their final group matches.

England will next play Panama on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Ghana will take on Croatia at the same time in Philadelphia.

The Three Lions had a chance to take the lead in the 86th minute when Nico O’Reilly’s header hit the crossbar. Harry Kane gathered the rebound but couldn’t get enough on it with his left foot and shot high.

Ghana’s best chance came in the 78th when Abdul Fatawu outfought England midfielder Eberechi Eze for the ball and raced down the sideline. He fed the ball to Prince Adu, but he was challenged from behind by Ezri Konsa before he could get off a shot. Adu wanted a penalty but didn’t get it.

“It was a clear penalty, if not a red card,” Queiroz said. “We have no doubts about that.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel said they were a bit surprised with how Ghana was aligned, defending in a 4-5-1 formation. He called Ghana's efforts one of the most physical that he's seen in the tournament.

“They defended with a lot of determination. A lot of discipline,” Tuchel said.

Tuchel added he doesn’t believe England was too dependent on Kane, the striker who won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“He was not involved as much as we would like to, but it was so narrow,” Tuchel said. “It was difficult to find space. The little moments that he had were just so unlucky.”

In the first half, England had 60% of the possession but only five attempts on goal, with Kane missing inside the box just before the end of the half.

Ghana picked up the pace in the second half, getting a chance in the 50th when Marvin Senaya got a touch in the box, but couldn’t quite get much behind a header as it was blocked by the England defense.

Ghana goalkeeper Benjamin Asare earned a clean sheet in his first World Cup start.

“I think we did our best to get the best possible result that we were hoping for,” Ghana midfielder Kwasi Sibo said. “It’s just the plan of the coach and we did follow the coach.”

(corrects previous story which said Ghana plays Panama)

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

That means the floor-spacing guard will join Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas and North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar on the list of top talents still available entering Wednesday night's second round.

Evans had a seat in the green room — an honor designated for likely first-round picks — and was shown on the ESPN broadcast at a table featuring a gold basketball sporting his name. He wore a dark double-breasted suit featuring millions of dollars in diamonds between a broach and a chain, according to the New York Post.

He was considered a first-round prospect before he elevated his game last year, averaging 15 points while shooting 38% on 3s in two seasons. He had a highlight moment with a clutch final-minute winner to beat reigning national champion Florida, and the most pressing concern was a need to add strength to a 6-foot-6, 186-pound frame to handle physical play.

Unfortunately, Evans was left waiting.

Here’s a look at other top prospects available when the two-day draft resumes with the NBA champion New York Knicks on the clock:

Meleek Thomas, Arkansas

Thomas was the No. 2 scorer (15.6) for the Razorbacks as wingman to eventual No. 7 overall pick Darius Acuff Jr.

Notably, the 6-3, 190-pound freshman guard shook off a slow start from outside to shoot 47.9% from 3-point range (56 of 117) after Christmas, a 25-game stretch spanning the Razorbacks’ run to the SEC Tournament title and the Sweet 16.

Henri Veesaar, North Carolina

The fourth-year junior from Estonia had a breakout year (17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds) for the Tar Heels after transferring from Arizona.

Veesaar has a desired skillset by NBA execs: a big man (6-11, 227) with range. He shot 42.6% on 3s (40 of 94) at UNC, coming after shooting just 31.6% (19 of 60) from behind the arc in two seasons at Arizona. He earned “Excellent” rating from Synergy for his catch-and-shoot jumper and runs the floor well.

Richie Saunders, BYU

The 6-5, 205-pound senior wing is known for his outside shot after shooting 37.6% on 3s last year and 43.2% as a junior. Synergy rates his jumper as “Excellent” (89th percentile), with spot-ups accounting for 35.2% of his possessions last year.

The most pressing concern for Saunders has been his recovery from a knee injury (torn ACL) suffered in February.

Baba Miller, Cincinnati

The senior forward from Spain has intriguing length with a 6-11, 208-pound frame featuring a nearly 7-2 wingspan. He was one of eight combine players with a standing reach of 9-3 or better.

Miller played at Florida State and Florida Atlantic before averaging 13.0 points and ranking ninth nationally in rebounding (10.3) with the Bearcats.

Emanuel Sharp, Houston

The 6-3, 208-pound redshirt senior thrived in a system built around defense and toughness under veteran coach Kelvin Sampson. The guard averaged a career-best 15.5 points and made the Big 12’s all-defensive team last year.

He also shot 38.1% on 3s over the past three seasons as a full-time starter.

Jack Kayil, Alba Berlin (Germany)

The 6-5, 185-pound combo guard is an international prospect who originally signed with Gonzaga.

He averaged 12.5 points and 3.4 assists in Germany’s Bundesliga top league last season. He worked as the ballhandler in pick-and-rolls on 33.9% of his possessions last season, according to Synergy.

Braden Smith, Purdue

The senior is an elite playmaker who was a second-team AP All-American and broke the Division I career assists record held by former Duke star Bobby Hurley since 1993.

Smith ranked second nationally in assists as a sophomore (7.5), junior (8.7) and senior (8.8). And he's a career 38.5% 3-point shooter. The major concern with Smith is size; he was the shortest (5-10) and lightest (167) player measured at the combine.

Others of note:

— Ryan Conwell: The 6-4, 215-pound senior guard averaged 17.3 points over his last three seasons, including a career-best scoring average (18.8) last year as a second-team AP all-ACC pick at Louisville. He has 347 career 3-pointers made.

— Bruce Thornton: The 6-0, 223-pound senior guard is Ohio State's all-time scoring leader. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 55.4% last year, and he shot 41.2% on 3s over the last two seasons.

— Felix Okpara: The 6-10, 237-pound senior from Tennessee projects as a rim-running lob threat and defender. He was named to the SEC's all-defensive team, has a 7-2 wingspan and ranked fourth at the combine for standing reach (9-4).

— Trevon Brazile: The 6-10, 226-pound fifth-year senior from Arkansas also projects as a rim runner and lob threat. He averaged 13.0 points, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals last year. He also ranked third at the combine in standing vertical leap (36.0 inches) and tied for fifth in max vertical (41.5) to go with a nearly 7-4 wingspan.

— Ugonna Onyenso: The 6-11, 237-pound senior center from Virginia could be worth a flier as an elite rim protector with a nearly 7-5 wingspan. Notably, he hounded top pro prospect Cameron Boozer of Duke to 13 points on 3-for-17 shooting while blocking four of his shots in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title game.

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

These records show that the reported eateries experienced violations like rodent droppings, roaches, and storage issues, among others.

That said, most of the eateries were allowed to reopen after meeting inspection standards.

The full list of Central Florida eateries required to close last week is as follows:

FLAGLER BEACH

• Funky Pelican — 215 S. Ocean Shore Blvd.
• • Closed on June 18
  • • Around 10 rodent droppings found on sticky traps behind bread stands and freezer
    • Four small, flying insects found on premises
    • Raw shell eggs stored over coleslaw in reach-in cooler
  • Met inspection standards on June 19

MELBOURNE

• The Apollo Diner — 201 W. Hibiscus Blvd.
• • Closed on June 18
  • • Three small, flying insects found on premises
    • Nearly 100 rodent droppings found on premises
    • Raw chicken kept over raw dough in upright freezer, removed from original packaging
    • Time/temperature violations for soup, hash browns, sausage, shelled eggs, butter, sliced tomatoes, diced ham, and mixed leafy greens
    • Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength
    • Employee made guest’s toast with bare hands
  • Met inspection standards on June 19

ORLANDO

• Ayiti Breeze Bar & Grill — 701 W. Lancaster Road
• • Closed on June 15
  • • Three dead roaches found on premises
    • Ten live roaches found under steam table in kitchen
    • No water in entire establishment due to water being turned off through municipality
  • Met inspection standards on June 16
• Dya Ice Food Service — 4880 Distribution Court
• • Closed on June 15
  • • Four dead roaches found on premises
    • Ten live roaches found on premises
    • Nearly 30 rodent droppings found on premises
    • Insect control device installed over drinks in large storage area
    • Twenty small, flying insects found in cooking areas
    • Chlorine sanitizer too weak for manual warewashing
    • Clorox sanitizer stored next to rice bags in dry storage
  • Follow-up inspection required as of June 16
• Meng’s Kitchen — 2415 E. Colonial Drive
• • Closed on June 18
  • • Over a dozen dead roaches found on premises
    • Three live roaches found on premises
    • Two egg sacs found on countertop by oven in back prep area
  • Met inspection standards on June 19

ST. PETERSBURG

• Tijuana Flats — 2117 66th Street N.
• • Closed on June 19
  • • Establishment operating without a license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants
    • Over a dozen flies found on premises
    • Raw shrimp stored over cooked rice in walk-in cooler
    • Stop sale issued over fried cookie dough setup due to two flies landing on tortilla
  • Met inspection standards on June 20

Experts from the Moesgaard Museum said this week that the sprawling 100,000-square-meter (more than 1 million-square-foot) site features an area for processing flax as well as more than 80 pit houses — semi-buried huts that were used as workshops and dwellings in Viking times.

It's located in Søften, 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Denmark’s second-largest city, Aarhus, on the Jutland peninsula. The site dates back to the late Iron Age and early Viking Age, sometime between A.D. 600 and 950.

Archaeologist Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, who led the 10-month dig, said that “we have a clear focus on textile production, which makes this settlement different from other kinds of settlements of this period.”

“We have spindle whorls, we have weight looms; that tells us about what has been going on in the pit houses,” said Reher-Langberg, adding that archaeologists had also discovered silver coins, glass beads and pottery.

Experts found separate areas for production and crafts, plus a single residential home, which suggests work was overseen by a powerful individual with control over resources and production.

Reher-Langberg said that, over the last three decades, people with metal detectors had unearthed several silver coins in the area. A trial excavation 1½ years ago, before the start of construction work on a new road and industrial area, then piqued archaeologists’ interest.

“We could see in the trenches that it just keeps on going, with these houses and pit houses and textile production features,” Reher-Langberg said.

Moesgaard Museum historian Kasper Andersen said that the discovery at Søften is “another piece in the puzzle” to understanding the local economic, cultural and political structure at the time.

During the Viking era, Aarhus — then known as Aros — functioned as a center for royalty and international trade. And last year, archaeologists discovered another Viking site in Lisbjerg, just 4 kilometers (2½ miles) away, that was likely home to members of the nobility.

Goods and resources were likely brought from the countryside and settlements like Søften, before entering an extensive international trade network, Andersen said.

“When you have a production site of this scale, it cannot be only because of the local area. It needs to be understood as part of a greater network, a much bigger international perspective,” Andersen said.

Reher-Langberg hopes future carbon dating and pollen analysis might answer some lingering questions, for instance about what kind of textile production went on at the site.

During the Viking Age, considered to run from A.D. 793 to 1066, Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonization, conquest and trade throughout Europe, even reaching North America.

Andersen said that the discovery at Søften shows that Vikings were “not just simple, uncivilized, barbaric hordes, rambling about Europe.”

“To have a place like Søften, you need a very well-organized society with a production line, and you also need a market to have the production,” he said. “The textiles from Søften go into a market that’s much bigger than just the local area.”

The drone attacks added to the woes on the Black Sea peninsula, where Russian authorities have had to suspend gasoline sales to civilians as Ukraine has intensified its recent campaign to disrupt supply lines and the electrical grid at the height of the summer tourist season.

The peninsula was seized by force and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine's increasing use of long-range strikes has highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and put added pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt, Western analysts and officials say.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week that his forces are “isolating Crimea with drones.”

“It looks like in the nearest time, Crimea will become an island. This could lead to some very unexpected consequences for Russians,” Fedorov said on a blogger's YouTube channel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had been warned that Ukraine aimed to disrupt energy supplies and Russia’s tourism industry. He didn’t say who gave the warning.

Ukrainian drones “coming in a huge stream” seek to “destabilize” Russian society, Putin said.

Russia's ​Deputy Prime Minister ​Alexander Novak told Putin on Tuesday that officials were considering suspending diesel fuel exports to protect the country's motorists, adding to ongoing bans on the export of jet fuel and gasoline, according to the Tass news agency. Novak also said scheduled maintenance at refineries had been postponed.

Ukraine also has hit targets near to the Kremlin in Moscow and in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city this month.

Parts of Crimea are without power

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said drones struck an oil storage depot at the Kerch thermal power plant in eastern Crimea, an electrical substation in the west, and a liquefied natural gas distribution station in Simferopol, the peninsula’s second-biggest city.

In addition, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said their units, working with what they said was the resistance movement in Crimea, destroyed a rail bridge over the North Crimean Canal near the village of Rozdolne.

The military described the span as a key logistics route used to supply Russian forces in southern Ukraine and said drones began hitting the structure late Sunday to Monday, collapsing part of it. A second strike early Tuesday targeted railway repair equipment deployed at the bridge and its remaining sections, it said on Telegram.

It was not possible to independently verify the Ukrainian claims, and Russian officials made no immediate comment.

Parts of Crimea were without power Tuesday, the area’s energy supplier said. But it attributed the outages to “technical malfunctions” in local electrical grids and said it expected power to be restored within 24 hours.

The diamond-shaped peninsula is important because of its naval bases and beaches, as well as its strategic location in the Black Sea. Russia has spent centuries fighting for it.

Russian-appointed officials in Crimea have appeared reluctant to discuss attacks on the peninsula, but new security measures suggest deepening tension.

Its Ministry of Sport on Tuesday canceled all sporting events, competitions, and training sessions for children through Sept. 1. It described the measures as “aimed solely at ensuring the safety of our children, athletes, and anyone who is involved with sport.”

On Monday, Gov. Sergei Aksyonov said that for security reasons, all summer camps in the region had stopped accepting children and new bookings until Sept. 1.

Successes against Russia boost Ukrainian morale

On the front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s war of attrition has made slow and costly advances since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has deployed cutting-edge drone technology to keep the enemy pinned down.

Meanwhile, its medium-range drones have also disrupted Russia’s supply lines to the front, and its long-range strikes have increasingly damaged Russian oil facilities that provide vital revenue for the Kremlin’s war effort.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Monday its forces have hit more than 800,000 enemy targets with drones since the beginning of the year and that 95% of drones used by the armed forces are domestically produced.

The successes have boosted Ukrainian confidence, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says sustained foreign support is locked in to help stop Russia.

Officials have shown renewed vigor in talking about the war.

Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Andrii Melnyk said Monday that Kyiv remained ready for direct talks with Russia to achieve a “just and lasting peace” based on the U.N. Charter, but warned that Ukraine’s willingness to compromise was not open-ended.

Melnyk said at a U.N. Security Council meeting that a ceasefire along the current front line already represented a major concession and urged Russia to withdraw from occupied Ukrainian territory.

He also said recent Ukrainian strikes had altered the dynamics of the war, adding: “This is just the beginning.”

Russia's top diplomat says Moscow will defend Belarus

Meanwhile, the Kremlin is ready to “ensure the security” of its neighbor and ally Belarus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday, days after Zelenskyy demanded that Belarus remove relay equipment on its territory that Kyiv said aided Russian drone attacks.

The relay stations are used for signal transmissions to Russian drones attacking Ukraine, according to Zelenskyy.

Lavrov told the Russian news agency Interfax that Kyiv was trying to drag Belarus into the conflict. Moscow, in fact, had used Belarus' territory to launch its invasion of Ukraine.

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

The Taong Putik, or Mud People, festival is held annually in this village in Asia’s largest Catholic nation as devotees thank the local patron saint for miracles and fulfill vows made in prayer.

Melencio Nenuda, a 39-year-old construction worker, said the mud-covered parishioners frightened him as a child and he used to hide when they passed by. But that changed when when he fell seriously ill in the sixth grade and his mother prayed to St. John the Baptist, vowing that he would join the tradition if he recovered.

“I will continue to go back to this tradition because it gives me a good future,” said Nenuda, adding that his wife and son also participate.

Village residents link the festival to faith and survival

Devotees prepare for the observance before dawn.

Heading into nearby fields around 4 a.m., they search for soft mud and smear it over their bodies before wrapping themselves in dried banana leaves.

Once ready, they walk barefoot to St. John the Baptist Church carrying only cellphones and lighted candles. As they wait for Mass to begin, hymns are sung near a small fire formed by the candle offerings.

Local church leaders say the practice began in the 1800s, when farmers smeared themselves with mud as an expression of humility, and covered themselves with the leaves to conceal their identities due to discrimination against the poor during that time.

According to the Rev. Elmer Villamayor, who led the parish between 2014 and 2021, devotion to St. John the Baptist grew after a group of local men escaped execution during the Japanese occupation in World War II.

Villamayor said residents say the men were spared after a sudden rainstorm interrupted the proceedings, an event many interpreted as divine intervention.

Participants trace their devotion to personal blessings

While no official attendance records are kept, Villamayor estimates that up to 3,000 people take part in the festival.

Rickmar Castilio, 43, has participated for the last two decades. This year, his 11-year-old son Nathan joined him for the first time.

“There are a lot more devotees now,” Castilio said. “Maybe they have experienced miracles or they have seen good things and that is why there is an increasing number of people who believe in St. John.”

His family has its own blessing to be thankful for, Castilio said. After his first child died, he vowed to continue honoring St. John the Baptist through the annual ritual if a future child survived. He has returned every year since his prayers were answered.

“(I bring my child so) that he will get closer to St. John,” Castilio said. “The youth now are starting that path.”

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Hernández reported from Beijing.

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.

Gelof flied out to right as the leadoff hitter in the Athletics’ 3-1 loss to San Francisco. In the second inning, the Giants’ Matt Chapman hit a liner off the left-field wall to bring home Willy Adames and give San Francisco a 2-0 lead.

Chapman tried for a double, but the throw from Tyler Soderstrom in left field to Gelof was in time to nail Chapman. But Chapman inadvertently stepped on Gelof’s right hand as the second baseman was applying the tag with his glove hand.

Gelof quickly left the field in obvious pain — ending his night and his streak.

He was unavailable for comment after the game, but manager Mark Kotsay said X-rays were negative and Gelof did not need stitches.

Gelof’s hitting streak matched the longest in the majors in the past two seasons, joining Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas. It’s also the seventh longest in Athletics franchise history and the second longest since the club moved to California in 1968. Jason Giambi had a 25-game hitting streak in 1997.

Gelof also had his on-base streak of 27 games end, along with a streak of scoring in 13 consecutive games.

The Athletics selected Gelof from the University of Virginia in the second round of the 2021 draft. He had a strong rookie season in 2023, batting .267 with 14 homers in 69 games. He struggled the next two seasons, hitting .211 with 188 strikeouts in 2024 and batting .174 last year, when injuries limited him to 30 games.

Gelof is hitting .282 this season. Before Tuesday’s game, Kotsay said one reason for Gelof’s resurgence was a change in his bat-angle approach to the baseball.

“We’re seeing a player that resembles the guy that came up and really excited us about (his) future,” Kotsay said. “The confidence that he has continues to grow and you see it out there on the baseball field.”

Also on Tuesday, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, ending a 22-game on-base streak.

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

The Trump administration's reversal of long-standing policy against arrests at immigration court resulted “not from merely unreasoned decision-making but a complete lack of decision-making,” wrote U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts of San Francisco. Authorities failed to address the “chilling effect” of arrests on whether people attend court hearings.

“For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act,” wrote Pitts, referring to the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law that requires federal agencies to justify its actions. That law, he wrote, "does not require an agency to make the choice that a reviewing court might deem preferable. But it demands that an agency at least provide sound reasons for following its chosen course."

The ruling is the second setback for courthouse arrests since May when a federal judge in New York barred them at immigration courts. That order applied only in New York, while the latest decision invalidated the policy nationwide.

James Percival, the U.S. Homeland Security Department's general counsel, criticized the ruling as an exercise in judicial overreach.

“When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen. A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda,” Percival wrote online.

After Trump took office, hearings across the country often ended with cases being dismissed by the government, setting the stage for plainclothes agents to make arrests in hallways in coordination with attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security.

Pitts, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, faulted the administration for carrying out the arrests and for holding people in nearby cells for longer than a prescribed 12-hour limit.

Now the Bucks face the onerous challenge of retooling without the player who carried the team on his broad shoulders for over a decade.

The Bucks agreed on the eve of Tuesday’s draft to send Antetokounmpo along with forward Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had yet to receive the required league approval.

Milwaukee also got the No. 13 selection in Tuesday’s draft - they used it on Tennessee forward Nate Ament - along with a first-round pick swap in 2030, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and a second-rounder in 2033, the person said.

The move leaves the Bucks without one of the most beloved figures in Wisconsin sports history. Milwaukee fans watched in awe as Antetokounmpo spent the last 13 seasons maturing from a skinny teenager into one of the top players on the planet.

Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins understood this was a possibility when he accepted the job in April following the departure of Doc Rivers.

“Naturally, we did talk about Giannis, the entire roster, developmental pathways for everyone you know, moving forward,” Jenkins said during his introductory news conference last month. “Because from the coaching lens, I've got to start formulating that, what we’re going to do, not just this offseason, but when we hit the ground running, you know, at the start of training camp. So naturally, (we) talked about that. Had great dialogue, full transparency.”

Replacing a beloved superstar

Antetokounmpo had spent his entire career with the Bucks, who selected the 18-year-old from Greece with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. The nine-time all-NBA forward leads the Bucks in virtually every career statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, games and minutes.

He won MVP awards in 2019 and 2020. Antetokounmpo came back from a knee hyperextension in the 2021 playoffs to earn NBA Finals MVP honors while scoring 50 points in the title-clinching Game 6 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Antetokounmpo, 31, had signed multiple contract extensions to stay in Milwaukee and play in one of the NBA’s smallest markets. He was so appreciated for his loyalty that a mural of him — 53½ feet high and 56½ feet wide — appears on the side of a three-story building in downtown Milwaukee.

Plenty of fans stopped by that mural Tuesday to pay homage to Milwaukee’s departing superstar. Some left mementoes, including a Sports Illustrated commemorating the Bucks’ 2021 title that included this message: “Thanks for everything, big fella! 34 forever — Milwaukee.”

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Danny Nelson of Delafield, Wisconsin. “I still don’t think it’s real. He was everything to the city. It doesn’t feel real that he’s gone.”

Those fans generally harbored no hard feelings toward Antetokounmpo regarding the trade. They instead wanted to offer thanks.

“I want what’s best for him,” Isabelle Branger of Milwaukee said. “He’s done a lot for us here.”

Facing possibility of a long rebuild

The Bucks made plenty of high-risk, high-reward moves in an attempt to keep Antetokounmpo happy and remain in contention. But the Bucks never got beyond the second round of the playoffs after winning that 2021 title due in part to injuries to Antetokounmpo and other key players. They're coming off a 32-50 season that snapped a string of nine straight playoff appearances.

Those big swings they took to stay competitive with Antetokounmpo will make it tougher to rebuild without him.

Even after making this blockbuster deal to recoup draft capital, Milwaukee doesn’t have any first-round picks in 2027 or 2029.

The Bucks gave up multiple first-round picks in the 2020 trade that brought Jrue Holiday to Milwaukee and the 2023 deal in which they acquired Damian Lillard. Holiday played a key role in the Bucks’ 2021 title before leaving Milwaukee in the Lillard trade. Lillard was waived after tearing his Achilles in a 2025 first-round playoff loss to Indiana, a move that enabled the Bucks to sign former Pacers center Myles Turner.

That made it imperative that the Bucks find assets with their two lottery picks Tuesday, as they picked Arizona guard Brayden Burries at No. 10 overall before taking Ament at No. 13. That No. 10 pick represents their earliest selection since 2016, when they also went 10th and took Thon Maker.

Although he couldn't comment directly on Antetokounmpo's exit because the trade isn't official, Bucks general manager Jon Horst spoke generally about the path forward Tuesday night in a press conference following the first round.

“I’m just really excited to continue to build and kind of add on piece and piece and create, again, an identity, a style of play, a roster full of character and versatility and size,” Horst said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s a good start.”

The Bucks have one potential building block in guard Ryan Rollins, who turns 24 next month. Perhaps a new staff gets more from Turner, whose production dipped his first year in Milwaukee.

This trade gives Milwaukee an infusion of youth as it begins a new chapter.

Herro is a Milwaukee-area native and 2025 All-Star who has scored at least 20 points per game each of the last four seasons, though injuries limited the 26-year-old to 33 games in 2025-26.

Jaquez, 25, scored 15.4 points per game in a bench role this season. Ware is a 22-year-old, 7-footer. Jakucionis, 20, was the 20th pick in last year’s draft.

But this still represents a major transition for a team that had considered itself a legitimate contender as long as it had a healthy Antetokounmpo, who finished fourth or higher in the MVP balloting every year from 2019-25 before injuries limited him to a career-low 36 games this season.

This franchise has been through lean years before. The Bucks reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2001 but didn’t win another playoff series until returning to the East finals in 2019.

Longtime Bucks fans know the challenges that come after a superstar’s departure.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to a 1971 title when he was known as Lew Alcindor and got them another conference championship in 1974 before requesting a trade. The Bucks sent Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 1975, and they wouldn’t get back to the NBA Finals until that 2021 championship season.

Now the guy most responsible for that 2021 celebration also is leaving town.

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

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

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is in his fifth term, was defeated by Mamdani’s most polarizing pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a two-term incumbent, was beaten by the Mamdani-backed former city Comptroller Brad Lander, a fixture among New York progressives who has often shown sympathy to the democratic socialist movement. And another Mamdani ally, democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, defeated the handpicked successor of retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

Tuesday's primaries represented a major political gamble for the 34-year-old mayor, whose strength is surging, and a potential headache for Democratic leaders, who fear that Mamdani and his loyalists may push the party too far left ahead of November's midterm elections — when voters across the nation will decide which party controls Congress for the last two years of Trump’s final term.

The sweep also sends an undeniable message to establishment Democrats in Washington, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who campaigned against Mamdani’s candidates and lost. Mamdani and his slate were openly fighting for dramatic change on key issues, Israel's war in Gaza and affordability chief among them.

The mayor ping ponged across the city to celebrate his allies’ victories, declaring that his election had helped ignite a new era.

“A year ago, it was not the end of a political movement. It was the beginning,” a smiling Mamdani charged at Valdez's celebration party in Brooklyn, reflecting on his mayoral victory last year, as the crowd chanted, “DSA! DSA!”

Later, at Avila Chevalier's celebration in Manhattan, he added: “We are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country."

In Washington, Jeffries downplayed the influence of the Mamdani-backed candidates before polls closed on Tuesday.

“We have agreed to strongly disagree,” Jeffries said of Mamdani on Capitol Hill. “There are 215 members of the House Democratic caucus. A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other, in a given state or two, aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.”

Meanwhile, Democrat Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, failed in his bid to write his own chapter in Camelot lore as he competed in a crowded field for a seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler. Mamdani made no endorsement in that hotly contested race.

Establishment Democrats celebrated the victory of state Assembly member Micah Lasher, a longtime government hand backed by Democratic leaders, who prevailed in a field that also included anti-Trump activist George Conway and assembly member Alex Bores, whose proposals to regulate artificial intelligence triggered tech industry blowback.

Mamdani's insurgents sweep to victory

Mamdani, whose first six months in office have drawn praise from establishment Democrats and even President Donald Trump, had made a big push to promote the three congressional candidates who challenged Democrats supported by the party's leadership.

Two of Mamdani’s congressional slate identify as democratic socialists, while Lander has allied himself with the movement in the past.

In his celebration speech on Tuesday, Lander vowed to abolish the federal bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, described Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide” and referred to “Trump’s fascism.” He has been especially outspoken against Trump’s immigration crackdown and was acquitted earlier this month on charges related to a protest inside a building housing an immigration court .

All three of Mamdani’s candidates have promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to “tax the rich” if elected.

Avila Chevalier, 32, was in her first race for political office in facing a longtime member of the House. Espaillat, 71, was the first Dominican American elected to Congress and has been representing his district in upper Manhattan and the Bronx for nearly a decade.

Avila Chevalier cast herself as an outsider. Espaillat’s allies called Avila Chevalier unfit for office, pointing out a history of inflammatory and profane social media posts when she was in her 20s.

Around an hour before polls closed, she was standing on a street corner in Harlem campaigning with controversial streamer Hasan Piker. Later, with Mamdani at her side at her Manhattan celebration, said slammed the “Democratic machine” for discounting her supporters.

“Today we make it clear -- the politics of the past ends today,” she said. “No longer will we accept a politics that throws scraps at us and acts as if we should be grateful for them.”

In East Harlem, 47-year-old voter Sara Hyler said she flip-flopped several times between Avila Chevalier and Espaillat in the lead up to Election Day, but eventually cast her ballot for Avila Chevalier after learning about heavy support for the incumbent by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“It was the breaking point, my last straw,” she said of the donations to Espaillat by the lobbying group, also known as AIPAC.

Hyler said it was important to elect a new crop of progressive Democrats who aren’t beholden to AIPAC and the Israeli government. “As much as I support Israel, I don’t think we should be paying for them,” Hyler said.

The war in Gaza was a dividing line between Goldman and Lander, both of whom are Jewish. Lander assailed Goldman for not being tough enough on Israel over its military action against Palestinians. Goldman has consistently criticized Israel's government and condemned settler violence but has stopped short of describing the conflict as a genocide, which Lander has done.

Mamdani had backed Valdez over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, in the race to succeed Velazquez in a district covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Though Reynoso won Velazquez's endorsement, he failed to earn the mayor's backing.

A Trump acolyte triumphs in upstate New York

In northern New York state, a Trump acolyte with no previous political experience prevailed over a conservative state lawmaker in the Republican primary for a seat soon to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Anthony Constantino, head of the custom sticker company Sticker Mule, won the GOP nod in New York's 21st Congressional District, overcoming New York state Assembly Member Robert Smullen for the nomination.

Constantino had showcased his enthusiasm for the president by putting a massive “Vote For Trump” sign atop one of his company buildings. He also released a hip-hop album titled “Thank You President Trump," and commissioned a statue of Trump and gave it to the president in Florida. Trump has endorsed him.

Smullen, who had strong support from local Republicans, had argued that Constantino's antics, which include regular bashing of the state GOP, make him unfit to serve in the House.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Jake Offenhartz and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.

Now, AJ Dybantsa's arrival represents a potential turning point for a franchise that could really use one.

“He is a special person,” general manager Will Dawkins said. “I can't wait for the city to really embrace him. He's already started his own foundation giving back to people back in Massachusetts, Jamaica, Africa. He really is about where he wants to be.”

The Wizards took Dybantsa with the first overall pick in Tuesday night's NBA draft. The 6-foot-9 freshman averaged 25.5 points at BYU last season. Born in Boston, Dybantsa played at Utah Prep in high school before staying in state for his one year in college. When Washington won the draft lottery, there was speculation the Utah Jazz might try to trade up from No. 2 to take Dybantsa, but ultimately the Wizards kept the pick and selected him.

“I was just super confident. I've been betting on myself for a while now,” Dybantsa said. “Since about ninth grade I've been No. 1, so I didn't really plan on dropping in the draft.”

Dybantsa’s full name is Anicet Francois Dybantsa Jr. He wore flag pins Tuesday for Jamaica and the Republic of Congo, where his mother and father are from. Dybantsa had the commissioner announce him as Anicet in honor of his father.

“We're definitely getting a difference maker on the basketball court. There's no doubt about that,” Dawkins said. “What I would want our fans to know night one is that he is a worker. He is a passionate person who loves basketball and will continue to work and get better."

Dybantsa has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, his favorite player. That’s fitting, because Durant has been a white whale of sorts for Wizards fans, since he’s from D.C. but hasn’t played there while in college or the pros.

The process of scouting Dybantsa began long before Washington found out it would pick first. He's been on the radar for a while.

“He’s just a competitor,” Dawkins said. “He sees a challenge and he attacks it. I’ve seen that from a very young age to where he is now. He has a humility about him that he knows how good he is, but he wants to keep working so he can reach the highest level.”

The Wizards won an NBA title in 1978, back when they were called the Bullets. But they have not won 50 games since 1979, and that was also the last time they so much as reached the conference finals. In between periods of total futility, they've occasionally had entertaining players and interesting teams. But a true superstar capable of delivering a championship? That's been for other franchises.

Washington blew the top pick in 2001, taking Kwame Brown. The Wizards fared better in 2010 with John Wall at No. 1 overall, and he at least helped them get past the first round of the postseason.

That era eventually ran its course, and not even a brief visit from Russell Westbrook in 2020-21 could make Washington particularly relevant. Recently, the Wizards have embarked on a significant rebuild that yielded a record of 50-196 over the past three seasons.

Washington drafted big man Alex Sarr at No. 2 overall in 2024, and the roster also includes recent first-round picks Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Will Riley and Cam Whitmore. Even before they won this year's lottery, there were signs the Wizards would be a lot more interesting in 2026-27. They traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis last season, and although Davis didn't play at all for Washington and Young barely did, Dybantsa is joining a team that has some intriguing talent around him.

“Obviously they have a great young core, and the potential is there,” Dybantsa said. “Them adding me, I think I can help them a little bit. Them re-signing Trae Young, them having A.D. and having good vets along with our young core. I think we can do big things.”

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

The midterm elections in November will determine control of both chambers of Congress and will also see the election of dozens of governors and other state and local offices. Before then, voters must choose nominees for each of these offices, making their picks in primary elections throughout the spring and summer in all 50 states.

New York: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reshaping the city’s congressional delegation through a series of successful endorsements in Democratic primaries in districts 10, 13 and 7.

Maryland: All eight of the state’s congressional districts held contested primaries. In a state that typically leans left (only one district is led by a Republican), the primaries often determine the general election winners. Gov. Wes Moore secured the Democratic nomination for a second term.

South Carolina: State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the Republican nomination for governor after President Donald Trump, who initially endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for the job, said on Friday that either contender would be a good pick.

Utah: Voters cast ballots to nominate congressional candidates using a new map that created a Democratic-friendly district in Salt Lake City. Ben McAdams, a former Utah congressman who has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate, won the Democratic primary in that redrawn district.

Here's the latest:

Avila Chevalier says her victory vanquishes ‘the politics of the past’

Darializa Avila Chevalier, the first-time candidate who ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat in a Democratic primary, portrayed him as unresponsive to constituents’ calls and out of touch with such key issues as housing affordability in the district in upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx.

“Today we make it clear — the politics of the past ends today,” the democratic socialist said at her victory party, adding that “the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over.”

“No longer will we accept a politics that throws scraps at us and acts as if we should be grateful for them,” she said.

Mamdani’s picks sweep New York City’s congressional primaries

All three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries, knocking off incumbents Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th District and Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District and winning the Democratic nomination for the open seat in the 7th District.

Opposing views over Israel were at the center of the clash between incumbents and their Mamdani-backed challengers. Brad Landers, who ran against Mamdani in the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, criticized AIPAC’s support of Goldman and promised to sponsor legislation that would put restrictions on military aid to Israel.

McAdams supporter says his campaign gave her hope

Donna Gunn says it’s “beautiful” to see former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams win and to have an opportunity to send a fierce ally for LGBTQ+ rights back to Washington.

The longtime Special Olympics volunteer says she has been deterred from engaging in politics ever since Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election. But McAdams’ victory in the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District has given her hope, Gunn says.

“We are so happy and so lucky to get Ben, who’s going to stand up to that bully in the White House,” she said.

Democratic US Rep. April McClain Delaney advances in Maryland primary to defend her seat

McClain Delaney won her Democratic primary, fending off competitors in what became one of the state’s most expensive races.

Among her challengers was David Trone, the wealthy founder of Total Wine & More, who previously held the seat before stepping aside to make an unsuccessful Senate run in 2024. Trone lent some $25 million of his own money to his campaign.

McClain Delaney represents the 6th District, which stretches from the westernmost part of the state to the Washington suburbs.

She loaned her campaign more than $7 million.

Boafo gives a special thanks to Hoyer, his former boss

“Y’all, I gotta give a special thanks to my mentor, to my friend, Steny Hamilton Hoyer,” Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo said after winning the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 5th District, which Hoyer has represented for decades.

“He’s been our Danish knight in shining armor, our rock,” Boafo said.

“Tonight, the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders. And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

Valdez says democratic socialist victories in New York send a message

Speaking to supporters in Brooklyn after her Democratic primary victory, Claire Valdez said they hadn’t just won an election.

“We have declared that this movement is durable, that it is growing, and that it will not stop” until working people are not just offered a seat at the table, but “run the table.”

Valdez said that back when she was bagging groceries for work, “I couldn’t dream of running for office — I could barely dream of a day off.”

Utah Democrat says progressives will keep organizing after defeat

State Sen. Nate Blouin says the progressive movement “still has a long way to go” after former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams prevailed in the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District. McAdams was considered a more moderate candidate than Blouin and the other two Democrats in the race, former Meta and TikTok employee Liban Mohamed and tax attorney Michael Farrell.

“This isn’t the end,” Blouin said in a statement. “It’s the beginning of a new era of organizing in Utah, one focused on progressive values that strengthen our communities instead of billionaire donors and special interests.”

A spokesperson for Blouin declined to immediately answer when asked by text if the lawmaker will get behind McAdams’ campaign.

Trump relishes in downfall of Democratic foes in New York primaries

The president delighted in the defeat of two of his Democratic foes in Tuesday’s congressional primaries in New York.

He slammed Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel for Trump’s first impeachment, after Goldman lost his primary for a seat in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“Weak and pathetic Congressman Dan Goldman just lost, BIG! I guess people didn’t like him illegally targeting President TRUMP,” the president wrote on his social media platform. “In any event, this jerk is finally GONE!”

And he took aim at George Conway, who lost his bid to succeed outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler in a crowded race in Manhattan, calling Conway a “Trump Deranged Loser at the highest level.”

McAdams reminds supporters he voted to impeach Trump

Democratic primary winner Ben McAdams in Utah’s 1st Congressional District outlined his previous work in Congress to expand healthcare, invest in public lands and secure protections for LGBTQ+ communities.

But McAdams told supporters that his defining vote was to impeach Donald Trump, which was met with loud applause.

“I would do it again,” he said. “Character matters, courage matters and right now talk is cheap. Utahans deserve someone who has already shown the courage to stand up and speak with conviction when the pressure is real.”

Mamdani speaks in Brooklyn

The mayor celebrated all three of the candidates he endorsed winning their primaries on Tuesday.

“A year ago, it was not the end of a political movement,” he said. “It was the beginning!”

The crowd chanted “DSA! DSA!” after Mamdani took the stage, the initials for the Democratic Socialists of America.

“The old politics that got us to this crisis is not the politics that is going to get us out of this crisis,” Mamdani said.

Defeated Democrat says party will unite behind McAdams in Utah

Candidate Michael Farrell says he’s looking forward to working with Democratic primary winner Ben McAdams in Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

Farrell, a tax attorney, added that he isn’t worried about whether party members would rally behind McAdams following the highly competitive primary.

“Given the results, clearly folks are supportive of Ben pushing forward, so I don’t see an issue with that,” Farrell said.

Lasher hails the congressman — and ex-boss — he aims to succeed

After winning the Democratic nomination for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat in the heart of Manhattan, state Assemblymember Micah Lasher said Nadler has been a political presence throughout his life.

“When I was born, I was already Assemblyman Nadler’s constituent,” Lasher said, adding that he later “watched as Congressman Nadler led fights long before they were convenient.”

Lasher, who has also worked for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, says he wants to “revamp and recharge the Democratic Party” and to “show that Democrats in Congress shave bold new ideas to improve the lives of struggling Americans and then deliver on them.”

McAdams thanks supporters

Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams credited his supporters at his election party following what appeared to be a decisive victory in a crowded Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

“Thank you, Utah Democrats, thank you from the bottom of my heart,” McAdams said. “Tonight this victory belongs to every volunteer who showed up on a hot June afternoon and knocked door after door.”

He also asked for their continued support for the November general election: “You ran hard. You ran with conviction, and this party and this state are better for it. The energy and the passion your campaigns brought to this race is exactly what we need headed into November.”

McAdams voters cheer his victory

Supporters of former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams broke out in cheers as word of his victory spread at the Democrat’s election watch party in Salt Lake City.

People moved toward a podium surrounded by orange, blue and white balloons, where McAdams was getting ready to speak.

He prevailed in a highly competitive Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District and enters the general election as the favorite in the newly drawn district.

Espaillat concedes New York’s 13th District Democratic primary

“Tonight wasn’t our night but I love you anyway,” he told supporters.

The New York congressman was up against Avila Chevalier, backed by Mamdani.

“When i came to this nation as a young immigrant boy, I could have never imagined that I would be a member of Congress,” Espaillat said. “That is the privilege of my life, to serve you the community, and I will continue to love and serve this community in the best way that I can.”

Mamdani-backed community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier defeats Rep. Adriano Espaillat

Avila Chevalier scored an upset in the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District.

The race pitted the community organizer backed by the city’s democratic socialist mayor against a five-term congressman.

Espaillat was the first person who had been an undocumented immigrant elected to Congress.

Avila Chevalier is currently a doctoral student at the City University of New York. Her victory underscores the influence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political movement as he builds allies in Washington.

Trump-backed US Rep. Celeste Maloy wins GOP primary for redrawn House seat in Utah

Maloy defeated former state lawmaker Phil Lyman, who embraced false claims of fraud following the 2020 presidential election.

The district, spanning most of southern and eastern Utah, emerged last fall from a legal battle over the state’s previous congressional map, dramatically altering its makeup. The shakeup left Maloy vulnerable to a primary challenge.

Under the new map, Democrats are expected to pick up one of Utah’s four Republican-held House seats in the Salt Lake City area this fall.

Maloy will face off against Democratic nominee Kent Udell, an engineer, in the November general election. The GOP candidate is heavily favored to win in the deep-red district.

Alex Bores concedes in Democratic primary for Manhattan-based House seat after candidacy dominated by AI

The New York Assembly member lost the Democratic primary in the state’s 12th Congressional District to Micah Lasher, who previously worked as an aide for the seat’s current holder, Rep. Jerry Nadler.

“I didn’t get in this race to make a point about AI,” he said, but said “some of the most powerful people on the planet” lined up against him.

“They set out to make people afraid of them,” Bores said. “Instead, they learned just how ready the people are to push back.”

Anthony Constantino wins GOP primary for an upstate New York district after Trump endorsement

The brash, Trump-backed MAGA disciple who owns a custom sticker business in upstate New York defeated state Assembly Member Robert Smullen in the Republican primary to replace outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Constantino, who drew national attention after he put a massive “Vote For Trump” sign on the roof of his company’s building, is expected to cruise to victory this fall in the heavily Republican district, which stretches across most of New York’s northern tip.

Smullen had heavy support from the state’s Republican Party but it was not enough to overcome the president’s still-strong hold over voters.

Stefanik late last year said she would not seek reelection to the House and that she was suspending her campaign for governor to spend more time with her family.

Goldman concedes to Lander in Democratic primary for New York’s 10th District

US Rep. Dan Goldman said it was a privilege to serve in Washington, adding that there was a silver lining to his loss to Mamdani-backed Brad Lander.

“I can’t wait to be a much more present father,” he said. Goldman has five children.

Former US Rep. Ben McAdams wins Democratic primary for redrawn House district in Utah

Ben McAdams, a former Utah congressman who has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate, has won the Democratic primary in a redrawn U.S. House district that Democrats are strongly favored to win this fall.

McAdams defeated several candidates to his political left, including a state senator and a former employee of TikTok and Meta who had insisted McAdams is too conservative to represent a deep blue district.

The seat in the Salt Lake City area is among the few anticipated Democratic pickups following a national redistricting fight started by Trump to try to help Republicans maintain their majority in the U.S. House.

The 1st Congressional District race could be crucial for Democrats, who need to gain only a few House seats in November to take control of the narrowly divided chamber.

McAdams is strongly favored to defeat Republican Riley Owen, an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve who was chosen during the state GOP’s spring convention.

Republican Dan Cox will again face Democrat Wes Moore in Maryland governor’s race

Cox beat a crowded field of competitors to clinch the Republican nomination.

The 51-year-old ultraconservative former member of the state House of Delegates unsuccessfully ran against Moore four years ago.

Cox has promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen and organized buses to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

He has pledged to slash taxes and beef up housing affordability programs if elected.

Nate Blouin not getting his hopes up in Utah House race

The Democratic state senator said just before polls closed that he was feeling calm, “because I think I know what’s going to happen.”

Blouin, a progressive Democrat, said he thinks the progressive vote will be divided, and former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, a moderate, will prevail.

Blouin had urged another progressive candidate, Liban Mohamed, to drop out of the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

Polls have closed in Utah

In-person election day voting concluded in Utah at 8 p.m. local time, which is 10 p.m. EDT. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In the 2024 state primary, The Associated Press first reported results at 10:03 p.m. EDT, or three minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 2:07 a.m. EDT with about 74% of total votes counted. The tally surpassed 90% of the vote counted by June 27 at 6:32 p.m. EDT, two days after election day.

Micah Lasher wins the Democratic nomination for a Manhattan-based US House seat

Lasher is running to replace his former boss Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Lasher has worked as an aide for a wide range of New York political figures like Nadler, Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He won a bruising primary battle for one of the richest and most Democratic House seats in the country. The large field included Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg and former GOP lawyer George Conway.

Schlossberg calls for ‘different people’ in fight against corruption

Jack Schlossberg took the stage in Manhattan after polls closed in New York’s Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District.

The grandson of President John F. Kennedy was the first of the candidates in the race to speak, but neither conceded nor suggested he had won. Instead, he repeated his message of a need for the Democratic Party to put forward more vigorous candidates.

“No matter what, if we win tonight, or if we don’t, we’re still in the midst of a corruption crisis,” he said. “We need to do things differently. We don’t just need younger candidates. We need different people, people who are willing to speak plainly about the cost of living, about corruption and fearlessly about the Constitution.”

Army veteran Cait Conley wins Democratic House primary in key New York swing district

Conley will face Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the general election for New York’s 17th District.

Lawler, a two-term congressman, is considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable Republicans. Democrat Kamala Harris carried the Hudson Valley swing district in the last presidential race.

Conley earned the backing of national groups, including the American Federation of Teachers, VoteVets and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

The 40-year-old Democrat topped a field that featured Beth Davidson, a county legislator who raised questions about Conley’s ties to companies involved with Trump’s immigration crackdown. Conley denied any connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Conley emphasized her military background, having deployed six times as an Army officer to combat zones including Iraq and Afghanistan. She later served in the Biden administration as the director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council.

Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo wins Democratic primary in race to succeed Rep. Steny Hoyer

In choosing Boafo over nearly two dozen competitors, voters in the 5th District opted for a continuation of Hoyer’s pragmatic style of politics rather than a more progressive, antiestablishment approach promised by some other candidates.

Boafo, 32, is endorsed by Hoyer — his former boss — along with Gov. Wes Moore and other prominent Democrats. He also secured donations from tech firms and the cryptocurrency industry. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC also spent more than $1 million backing him.

Boafo worked as a field director and campaign manager for Hoyer before becoming a lobbyist and state delegate.

Mamdani-backed candidate Claire Valdez wins Democratic primary in New York’s 7th District

New York state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso with the backing of Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Both endorsed Valdez in hopes of giving the progressive left a greater foothold over the Democratic establishment in New York’s congressional delegation.

The primary victory also leaves Valdez in strong position for November in the heavily Democratic district that covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens. It also marked a stinging setback for Reynoso, who had the endorsement of the district’s retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

Lots of voters in Salt Lake City despite wildfire smoke

Voters in the state’s most populous city were turning out in large numbers even as smoke from wildfires burning across Utah turned the skies hazy and produced some of the worst air quality on the planet.

Some voters at the Salt Lake County Government Center said they had been waiting for close to an hour as polls got busier later in the day. Some walked briskly to their vehicles after casting ballots, while others pulled up to drop boxes to avoid the lines and hazy air.

Seven large fires were burning across Utah, including a blaze that started over the weekend in the dry, grassy foothills just outside Salt Lake City. It had the 12th-worst air quality of any city globally on Tuesday, according to IQAir’s live ranking.

There's no easy answer. Algorithmic division is certainly a factor in why there isn't an obvious pick this year. Where have the songs like “Despacito” in 2017 or “Old Town Road” in 2019 gone? Last year, some even wondered if Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” — a ballad, not a banger — qualified, a departure from the usual up-tempo, feel-good hits.

Whatever your summer mood or flavor, The Associated Press has found a song to soundtrack the season, collected in a Spotify playlist.

Biggest song of the year and therefore the default song of the summer: “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

Ella Langley broke out just last year with the throwback, spoken-word track “You Look Like You Love Me,” featuring Riley Green, but it’s her breakup banger “Choosin’ Texas” that has made her a crossover country star. Not only has it spent more time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 than any other song this year, it also has some of the most distinctive lyrics of the year. “He always loved ‘Amarillo By Morning,’” she sings in a particularly melancholic verse, referencing the George Strait classic. “I should’ve taken that as a warnin’.” Indeed.

Past champion: “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA (2025)

Song of the summer for when you lose the beef but still have fight left in ya: “Janice STFU,” Drake

For the better part of 2025, Drake mostly made headlines for his feud with Kendrick Lamar. It’s safe to say he lost that war, but he’s clearly not going anywhere; he's still one of the most streamed artists of all time. “Janice STFU” is the undeniable hit off May's “Iceman,” with its familiar Lykke Li interpolation and moody production.

Past champion: “Nokia,” Drake (2025)

Song of the summer that shares a title with a film: “Midnight Sun (Girls Trip),” Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress

It's the title of a 2018 romantic drama starring Bella Thorne and a term used to describe regions around the Arctic Circle. But in 2026, the phrase “Midnight Sun” belongs to Swedish pop star Zara Larsson. It’s the title of her last album and lead single, the inescapable Eurodance-pop “Midnight Sun,” with an elastic vocal performance. Last month, she released “Midnight Sun: Girls Trip,” a collection of remixes featuring everyone from Shakira and Robyn to Kehlani and rapper JT and, of course, PinkPantheress.

Past champion: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Deep Blue Something (1995)

Song of the summer for high-energy It Girls: “DANCE…,” Slayyyter

She’s the “Wor$t Girl in America,” if her cheeky album title is to be believed, but also one of pop’s great new provocateurs. At the album's center is her buzzy electro-pop opus “DANCE…,” perfect for those who’ve been patiently awaiting her mainstream rise — and those who need a good excuse to hit the dance floor.

Past champion: “Bad Girls,” Donna Summer (1979)

Song of the summer for the throwback crowd: “I Just Might,” Bruno Mars

Earlier this year, hitmaker Bruno Mars returned with his first new album in 10 years, anchored by the feel-good, disco-pop-soul single “I Just Might.” The throwback tune is a funky reprieve from slow or boring days — and one that will be heard on wedding dance floors for the foreseeable future.

Past champion: “Red Red Wine,” UB40 (1983)

Song of the summer that arrived at the beginning of the year: “Dracula (Jennie Remix)”, Tame Impala and Jennie

There’s a long tradition of the song of the summer arriving at the top of the year — looking at you, “drivers license” and “Boy’s a Liar PT. 2.” This year, the title goes to Tame Impala’s “Dracula” — particularly the remix with Blackpink’s Jennie. “Run from the sunlight, Dracula,” they harmonize, in a vocal melody inescapable on TikTok and in the real world.

Past champion: “NUEVAYoL,” Bad Bunny (2025)

Song of the summer for those looking for a club classic: “Chévere (premium_remix),” by Aria Vega and Ryan Castro

A club-ready contender for song of the summer should be easy, breezy and amorous. Such is the case of Aria Vega and Ryan Castro's “Chévere (premium_remix),” where reimagined, romantic reggaeton is perfect for a house party or finding the love of your life. Ideally both.

Past champion: “Break My Soul,” Beyoncé (2022)

Song of the summer for people who know the power of a good bridge: “The Cure,” Olivia Rodrigo

In the lead up to her career-best album, “You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” Olivia Rodrigo released “The Cure.” It marked a giant step forward for the young songwriter, with dreamy guitars, orchestral strings and most impactful of all: its explosive bridge.

Past champion: “Hollaback Girl,” Gwen Stefani (2005)

Song of the summer for people who love music, fashion and film in equal measure: “SS26,” Charli xcx

So long, “BRAT.” The contemporary pop landscape’s preeminent party girl is in for a bummer of a summer. “SS26,” one of the first tracks released from Charli xcx’s forthcoming “Music, Fashion, Film,” is shockingly minimalistic, with little more than distorted guitar riffs and production that sounds like a simple Casio keyboard preset. It’s rock music, as she’s promised — but done her own way.

Past champion: “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell (1975)

Song for people who live like it's summer year-round: “E85,” Don Toliver

“On the highway with my significant lover (I love),” the singer-songwriter-rapper Don Toliver declares with ease in the chorus of “E85.” “High octane, more fuel for your consumption.” If there is an image more primed for the hot summer months than rolling down the freeway on a trip with a loved one, we have yet to see it.

Past champion: “Mi Gente,” J Balvin and Willy William (2017)

Song of the summer for seaside dreamers: “Swim,” BTS

The game-changing K-pop boy band BTS returned after a nearly four-year musical hiatus with “ARIRANG.” The comeback was led by “Swim,” a reserved, alt-pop track that brings a kind of intimacy to their stadium-sized output. The “Swim” here is metaphorical — as is the “dive” in its chorus — of having a crush, but the aquatic language works in conjuring dreamy, poolside imagery, too.

Past champion: “Waterfalls,” TLC (1995)

Song of the summer for the yearners: “Raindance,” Dave ft. Tems

British rapper Dave and Nigerian singer Tems team up for the Afroswing single “Raindance,” a sweet, sexy song about wanting to lock things down. “Hold me close, don’t tell me goodnight / Are you down to get me?” the pair dreamily duet on the second verse. “Tell me when you’re ready, I’m ready.”

Past champion: “Nineteen,” Tegan and Sara (2007)

Song of the summer for the sports crowd: “Dai Dai,” Shakira and Burna Boy

This summer is all about soccer, so, of course, we had to include one of the official songs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup: “Dai Dai.” The Colombian superstar Shakira and Afrobeats icon Burna Boy team up on an energetic, undeniably global pop track. It exists at the intersection of all their strengths: Afrobeats and Latin rhythms, separate, complementary verses and a strong chorus about unity.

Past champion: “The Final Countdown,” Europe (1986)

Song of the summer for those ready to stop feuding and enjoy life again: “Horses & Divorces,” Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

Look, there’s no shortage of great songs from Kacey Musgraves’ latest album, “Middle of Nowhere.” A case could be made to include “Mexico Honey” or “Dry Spell” here, but what about a song with norteño accordions and slide guitar that doubles as a cheeky punchline to a fight? The capital-c country “Horses & Divorces” brings musicians' feud to an end over a shared love of drinking and Willie Nelson. What could be sweeter?

Past champion: “Girl, so confusing,” Charli xcx and Lorde (2024)

Boafo, a 32-year-old state delegate, received key endorsements from Hoyer, Gov. Wes Moore and other prominent Democrats, along with donations from tech firms and the cryptocurrency industry. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC also spent more than $1 million backing him.

In a nighttime speech to supporters, Boafo gave special thanks to Hoyer, whom he called a mentor and friend.

“Tonight the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” said Boafo, 32. “And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

Also Tuesday in Maryland, rising party star Gov. Wes Moore won the Democratic primary in his bid for reelection to a second term. Republican voters hope to return the state to GOP leadership by picking a candidate they think can unseat him.

The primaries in the left-leaning East Coast state are set to have an outsize impact. In many cases they will determine who is likely to win in heavily partisan districts this fall. Seven of Maryland's eight congressional districts are represented by Democrats, and one by a Republican.

That dynamic and Hoyer’s departure attracted big spending and some familiar names to the most-watched Democratic primaries.

Among them was Harry Dunn, a former police officer who defended the U.S. Capitol from the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. He ran on a platform that included protecting democracy.

Boafo called Dunn a “brother” during his acceptance speech, saying “it takes a special level of courage and partial insanity to run for the Congress of the United States.”

Some races became proxy fights about how Democrats should behave in the current political climate. Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson won a primary challenge from a progressive who criticized his decision to block a midcycle redistricting attempt.

The lead-up to Election Day has had some hiccups. Last month the State Board of Elections had to resend mail-in ballots to some voters in the closed primary after a vendor error caused some to receive a ballot for the wrong party.

President Donald Trump seized on the issue, falsely claiming that Moore illegally sent the ballots to ensure victory for Democrats. The state administrator of elections derided him for spreading misinformation.

Two dozen candidates competed to replace a Democratic fixture

As the longest-serving House Democrat and the longtime party No. 2 in the chamber, Hoyer is nothing short of an institution.

His retirement gave voters in the 5th District a chance to reflect on that leadership, and they ultimately decided they wanted more of the same.

Natasha Greensword, 45, and her husband Rodrick Greensword, 58, both voted for Moore in the gubernatorial primary and for Boafo to be the nominee to succeed Hoyer.

“We know the governor is governed by the pillars on which his culture is built,” and he will work for the people, making moral and humane choices, Natasha Greensword said.

She said Boafo seemed to share the same values as Moore and Hoyer. She added that she thought Hoyer’s endorsement helped as well.

In all, 24 Democratic candidates were on the ballot, such as Dunn and progressive attorney Wala Blegay, proposed change. Both Dunn and Blegay, who are vocally pro-Palestinian, criticized Boafo for getting help from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC and other special interests.

The best-funded candidate in the race was Quincy Bareebe, a home healthcare CEO who funneled more than $3 million of her own money into the primary.

“I just love what she is doing in the community,” said Michelle Green, 59, who voted for Bareebe.

Boafo will face Republican Chris Chaffee, a business owner, in the November general election for the heavily Democratic district.

A freshman in Congress defeats a challenge from her predecessor

Democratic Rep. April McClain Delaney won her primary against former Rep. David Trone, who left his seat representing the sprawling 6th District in 2024 and was now trying to win it back.

The race was contentious — and expensive. Trone, the wealthy founder of Total Wine & More, lent his campaign some $25 million of his own money, while McClain Delaney lent herself over $7 million.

Trone criticized McClain Delaney on immigration. She was the only Maryland Democrat in Congress to vote for the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia student whose killing became an anti-immigrant rallying cry for Republicans.

The GOP still has no obvious heir to Hogan

Maryland used to have a moderately conservative governor in Larry Hogan. In the years since he left office in 2023, Republicans have yet to find a clear successor.

In Tuesday's GOP gubernatorial primary, Dan Cox, an attorney and former state delegate who unsuccessfully ran for governor four years ago, won the nomination.

Cox leaned the furthest right out of the nine candidates in the race. He has a photo of himself with Trump on his law practice’s website, and he pledged to slash taxes and beef up housing affordability programs if elected.

Jason Mangen, a lifelong Republican, said he backed Cox because he was concerned about the state's budget, which has seen shortfalls over the years.

“You look at the economy, and hopefully get a governor who can guide the legislature and get a good budget,” Mangen said. “I think Dan Cox is good on the budget.”

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Swenson reported from New York, and Kruesi from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Gary Fields in Bowie, Maryland, contributed.

That's not until Wednesday. Tuesday was a night for the NBA's No. 1 draft pick to party.

“Obviously this night is just a celebration of all the hard work I’ve done in the past, and so now I’m going to celebrate,” Dybantsa said.

So were a record number of one-and-done college stars who followed him, a trio of national champions from Michigan and fans of both New York teams on what sounded like an even more festive NBA draft than usual.

The Wizards started it by selecting Dybantsa, a forward who led the nation in scoring in his one season at BYU. He averaged 25.5 points, highlighted by a 43-point effort that broke BYU's freshman scoring record, and was the first of a record-tying eight straight college freshman taken to begin the draft.

That matched the record set last year. Morez Johnson Jr. at No. 9 was the first non-freshman.

“I think down the road we can continue to do this,” Dybantsa said. “They are comparing us to a certain amount of draft classes. Obviously we have to see how that plays out and how we do in the league, but if we talk it into existence, I think that would be pretty special.”

At 6-foot-9 and 217 pounds, Dybantsa has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, who happens to be his favorite player. Durant grew up in the Washington area, and Wizards fans can only hope Dybantsa can live up to the comparisons.

They certainly hope he will be better than center Kwame Brown, the pick Washington made in 2001, the first time it had the No. 1 selection after the NBA changed draft formats to eliminate territorial picks in 1966. The Wizards took John Wall in 2010 the other time, and he did turn into an All-Star.

Dybantsa — who was called by his full name, Anicet Dybantsa Jr., in tribute to his father — appeared to say a quick prayer after his name was announced, then went on stage to greet Commissioner Adam Silver and slipped on a black Wizards hat that matched nicely with his black suit.

Dybantsa beat out fellow freshman Darryn Peterson of Kansas, who was taken at the No. 2 pick by Utah. While some thought Peterson had the most talent in the class, the guard missed 11 games during the season because of injuries and illness, potentially creating some questions that Dybantsa didn't have.

“I can’t go back and change anything now,” Peterson said. “Obviously I wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but I went No. 2. So now I’m prepared to go to Utah and get to work.”

Cameron Boozer, the college player of the year in his one season at Duke, was taken at No. 3 by Memphis. Caleb Wilson, another freshman forward from rival North Carolina, went to Chicago with the next pick.

Those players were the expected top four throughout the pre-draft process, though there was certainly a case for Peterson to go first with his promise. Or for Boozer, with his body of work after he put up 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for Duke, where his father, Carlos, also played before becoming a two-time NBA All-Star.

The uncertainty was expected to begin at No. 5. The Los Angeles Clippers acquired the rights to it after a trade with the Indiana Pacers and used it on Illinois guard Keaton Wagler. The host Brooklyn Nets then went with Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr.

Michigan's men make their mark

Darius Acuff Jr. to Sacramento at No. 7 and Kingston Flemings to Atlanta at No. 8 continued the run of scoring guards before Dallas went back to the bigs — and created a reunion in the process — by taking Morez Johnson Jr. from Michigan. Johnson was congratulated by national champion Michigan teammates Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara, who were also in the green room, and then hugged his old and new coach. Dusty May left the Wolverines to coach the Mavericks on the eve of the draft.

Lendeborg and Mara didn't have to wait long for their turn. The Golden State Warriors took Lendenborg with the No. 11 pick and the Oklahoma City Thunder followed by going for the 7-3 Mara.

“We got our ultimate goal of winning the national championship and we just got drafted together, all lottery picks,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of my brothers, and I’m very excited to see what our future has for us.”

Cheers for the New Yorkers, but not for the Spurs

The draft is always a celebration, when all teams have hope, but the cheers seemed even more frequent than usual. They began when Silver opened his remarks by hailing the NBA champion Knicks and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, with a number of fans in Barclays Center wearing Knicks jerseys. Nets fans, who endured a miserable season watching the home team in the arena, applauded the selection of Brown, who had a 45-point performance to highlight his season that was cut short by a back injury.

The Nets also acquired the rights to Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson, the No. 28 pick, from Minnesota through a three-team trade agreed to Monday in which the Nets will get Julius Randle from the Timberwolves.

Beyond some brief jeers for Silver that pro sports commissioners often get at the start of their drafts, there weren't any until it was announced that the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to the Knicks in the finals, were on the clock. Loud boos broke out that continued when it was announced that the Spurs took forward Jayden Quaintance, who played in just four games for Kentucky last season because of a knee injury.

From Milwaukee to Mexico

The Milwaukee Bucks, who are losing two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, picked up two rookies. They took Arizona guard Brayden Burries with the No. 10 pick and are acquiring the rights to Tennessee forward Nate Ament, who was taken at No. 13 by Miami but is part of the package the Heat are sending to Milwaukee in the trade for Antetokounmpo that was agreed to Monday.

Karim López became the first Mexican-born player drafted in the first round. The 6-8 forward, who spent the last two seasons playing with the New Zealand Breakers, was taken by Detroit and his rights were acquired by Memphis.

The second round will be held Wednesday night.

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

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1. Washington Wizards — AJ Dybantsa, forward, 6-9, 217, BYU

Scouting report: First-team Associated Press All-American and national scoring leader (25.5) as a sturdy-framed freshman. Pressured defenses by creating his own shot and getting to the line, where he led the country in made free throws (229) and attempts (296). Synergy rated him as “Excellent” as the ballhandler in pick-and-rolls (87th percentile, 27% of possessions) and post-ups (94th, 10.9%). Averaged 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Shot 51%. Scored BYU freshman-record 43 points against Utah. Must improve his 3-point shot (33.1%).

2. Utah Jazz — Darryn Peterson, guard, 6-5, 199, Kansas

Scouting report: Scoring playmaker thrives off the dribble, in halfcourt and in transition. Freshman averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Shot 38.2% on 3-pointers, hitting six 3s in a win at Oklahoma State. Made 82.6% of free throws, logging six games with at least eight attempts. Biggest questions centered on availability. Dealt with a preseason full-body cramping issue requiring hospitalization, then missed 11 games for injury or illness. Frequently had limited minutes for uncertainty with his day-to-day status.

3. Memphis Grizzlies — Cameron Boozer, forward/center, 6-8, 253, Duke

Scouting report: Fifth freshman named AP men’s national player of the year. Averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds. Shot 55.6%, routinely finishing through contact and physical play. Made 39.1% of 3s. Rated “Excellent” by Synergy against man defense (94th percentile), on post-ups (86th) and spot-up shots (95th). Strong passer (4.1 assists) out of double teams or in initiating offense. Son of former Duke and NBA player Carlos Boozer. Lacks explosive athleticism, relying more on strength and positioning than above-the-rim play.

4. Chicago Bulls — Caleb Wilson, forward, 6-9, 211, North Carolina

Scouting report: Second-team AP All-American as a freshman with explosive athleticism, go-go-go motor, 7-foot wingspan and spotlight-embracing personality. Averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds. Thrived at the rim and in transition. Stood out in marquee wins against Kansas and rival Duke. Needs to add strength and hone his 3-point shot (25.9%). Had a national-leading 66 dunks when he suffered a broken left hand in mid-February, then broke his right thumb in practice when on the verge of returning in March.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (from Indiana) — Keaton Wagler, guard, 6-5, 188, Illinois

Scouting report: Freshman four-star recruit became a second-team AP All-American in Illinois’ first Final Four run since 2005. Can play on or off the ball. Averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Shot 39.7% on 3s, hitting nine 3s in a 46-point outburst against Purdue. Rated “Excellent” by Synergy as the pick-and-roll ballhandler and with his jumper in off-the-dribble and catch-and-shoot opportunities. Lacks elite athleticism. Needs to add strength.

6. Brooklyn Nets — Mikel Brown Jr., guard, 6-5, 180, Louisville

Scouting report: Freshman offers scoring punch with combo-guard size. Averaged 18.2 points and 4.7 assists. Erupted for 45 points and 10 3-pointers in a blowout of N.C. State to break the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman scoring record set by 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Needs to add strength. Battled back issues that sidelined him for eight midseason games and then resurfaced to sideline him for the last six.

7. Sacramento Kings — Darius Acuff Jr., guard, 6-2, 186, Arkansas

Scouting report: First-team AP All-American with standout offensive skills. Freshman ranked third nationally in scoring (23.5) and 14th in assists (6.4), leading Razorbacks to first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in 26 years. Had program freshman-record 49 points in a double-overtime loss at Alabama. Thrived as the pick-and-roll ballhandler (rated “Excellent” in the 89th percentile by Synergy) and in isolation (rated “Very good” in the 74th percentile). Defense is a question.

8. Atlanta Hawks (from New Orleans) — Kingston Flemings, guard, 6-3, 183, Houston

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a freshman with potential to be disruptive defensively. Averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists. Pressured opponents in transition or off the bounce. Had program freshman-record 42 points in a loss to Texas Tech. Posted a nearly 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ranked in the top six at combine in lane-agility time, shuttle run and three-quarter-court sprint. Needs to add strength and refine shot mechanics.

9. Dallas Mavericks — Morez Johnson Jr., forward/center, 6-9, 251, Michigan

Scouting report: Versatile and physical presence as a sophomore transfer from Illinois, helping Michigan win its first NCAA title since 1989. Averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks with potential to play forward or a small-ball 5-man. Thrived as a cutter, in post-ups and in finishing at the rim. Ranked ninth at the combine with a better than 7-3 wingspan.

10. Milwaukee Bucks — Brayden Burries, guard, 6-4, 215, Arizona

Scouting report: Freshman combo guard offers potential to impact both ends of the court. Averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for 36-win Final Four team. Shot 49.1% overall, 39.1% on 3-pointers and 80.5% on free throws. Averaged 1.5 steals, including nine games with at least three. Ranked fourth at the combine in standing vertical leap (35 inches).

11. Golden State Warriors — Yaxel Lendeborg, forward, 6-9, 241, Michigan

Scouting report: First-team AP All-American for NCAA champion. Has a strong frame and better than 7-3 wingspan. Shot 37.2% on 3s at career-high volume compared to 34.9% through two seasons at UAB. Showed toughness by gritting through ankle and knee injuries in the Final Four and title game. Older prospect (23) who spent three years in junior college.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Los Angeles Clippers) — Aday Mara, center, 7-3, 260, Michigan

Scouting report: Junior from Spain projects as a defensive force after helping Michigan win the national title. Averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23.4 minutes. Ranked sixth nationally in blocks (2.6). Shot 66.8% overall. Led all combine players in standing reach (9-9) while ranking second in wingspan (7-6). Must improve at the line (56.4%).

13. Miami Heat (traded to Milwaukee) — Nate Ament, forward, 6-10, 211, Tennessee

Scouting report: Freshman offers intriguing versatility and athleticism as No. 2 scorer (16.7) for Elite Eight team. Illustrated long-term potential while averaging 22.8 points on 45.2% shooting from Jan. 10 to Feb. 20, including 39.1% on 3s. Must fill out his game with spot-up shots accounting for 18.7% of his possessions, according to Synergy. Needs strength to handle physical play.

14. Charlotte Hornets — Hannes Steinbach, forward/center, 6-10, 248, Washington

Scouting report: German freshman averaged 18.5 points and national-best 11.8 rebounds. Had a 24-rebound game against USC and five other games with at least 15 boards. Also had 10 games with at least six offensive rebounds. Shot 57.7% overall. Showed inside-out potential by hitting 18 3-pointers (34.5%). Averaged 1.2 blocks with better than 7-2 wingspan.

15. Chicago Bulls (from Portland) — Dailyn Swain, guard/forward, 6-7, 211, Texas

Scouting report: Junior transfer from Xavier averaged 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Most of his work came as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios and in transition. Showed active hands by averaging 1.6 steals. Must improve 3-point shooting after shooting 34.4% last year and 29.3% through three seasons.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (from Phoenix via Orlando, traded to Oklahoma City) — Bennett Stirtz, guard, 6-3, 186, Iowa

Scouting report: Senior point guard who climbed from Division II to Drake, then led Iowa to its first Elite Eight since 1987. Averaged 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals. Synergy rated him as “Excellent” as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios (91st percentile), working in isolation (84th) and finishing at the rim (90th).

17. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Philadelphia, traded to Detroit) — Ebuka Okorie, guard, 6-1, 186, Stanford

Scouting report: Four-star prospect who became a surprise freshman star. Ranked seventh nationally in scoring (23.2). Posted eight 30-point games, including 40 points in a win against Georgia Tech and 36 in a win against North Carolina. Showed the burst to score in transition and the halfcourt despite being undersized.

18. Charlotte Hornets (from Orlando via Phoenix) — Christian Anderson, guard, 6-1, 180, Texas Tech

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a sophomore. Averaged 18.5 points and ranked fifth nationally in assists (7.4). Projects as a scoring playmaker despite being undersized. Shot 40% on 3-pointers over two seasons. Thrived as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios (93rd percentile in Synergy) and as a spot-up shooter (90th).

19. Toronto Raptors — Allen Graves, forward, 6-8, 226, Santa Clara

Scouting report: West Coast Conference’s freshman and sixth man of the year for program that reached first NCAA Tournament since 1996. Averaged 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.6 minutes. Shot 51.2% overall. Showed range (41.3% on 3s) and defensive potential (0.9 blocks, 1.9 steals).

20. San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta) — Jayden Quaintance, center, 6-9, 253, Kentucky

Scouting report: Physical tools stand out but sophomore’s health is a question. Suffered torn ACL in right knee in February 2025 while playing for Arizona State, then played just four games at Kentucky due to lingering swelling. Ranked fourth at the combine in wingspan (better than 7-5) and has big hands (tied for combine lead with 11-inch width, tied for second with 9.5-inch length).

21. Detroit Pistons (from Minnesota, traded to Memphis) — Karim Lopez, forward, 6-8, 222, New Zealand Breakers (Australia)

Scouting report: Versatile forward with athleticism and a nearly 7-foot wingspan. Native of Mexico. Spent two seasons in Australia’s National Basketball League’s “Next Stars” developmental program that produced lottery picks LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey and Alex Sarr in recent years. Averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last year. Turned 19 in April.

22. Philadelphia 76ers (from Houston via Oklahoma City) — Labaron Philon Jr., guard, 6-3, 176, Alabama

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a sophomore after averaging 22.0 points and 5.0 assists. Made a leap in shooting efficiency at 50.1% overall (up from 45.2% as a freshman) and 39.9% on 3s (up from 31.5%). Thrived as ballhandler in pick-and-rolls (94th percentile in Synergy) and repeatedly beat man defenses in the halfcourt (90th).

23. Atlanta Hawks (from Cleveland) — Zuby Ejiofor, forward/center, 6-8, 245, St. John’s

Scouting report: Senior offered a physical presence in St. John’s Sweet 16 run, averaging 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Made 18 of 59 3s (30.5%) for some inside-out range. Has defensive potential with high motor, strong frame and 7-2 wingspan allowing him to tussle in the paint and move his feet to handle switches.

24. New York Knicks — Cameron Carr, guard, 6-5, 184, Baylor

Scouting report: Transferred from Tennessee and blossomed as a redshirt sophomore in a lead role with the Bears. Averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Shot 49.4% overall and 37.4% on 3s. Ranked among combine leaders in standing vertical leap (second at 38 inches) and max vertical leap (third at 42.5 inches).

25. Los Angeles Lakers — Sergio De Larrea, guard, 6-6, 205, Valencia Basket (Spain)

Scouting report: A 20-year-old playmaker with size and range. Posted modest numbers (4.2 points, 2.2 assists in 11.2 minutes) in 31 games of top-level EuroLeague competition, but shot 39.6% from 3-point range and had a 1.8 assist-to-turnover margin. Has a 6-9 wingspan and good passing touch.

26. Denver Nuggets — Tarris Reed Jr., center, 6-10, 260, Michigan

Scouting report: Interior force who powered UConn’s NCAA title-game run. Senior had career-high averages of 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 blocks. Had 31 points and 27 rebounds in first-round NCAA win against Furman as first player since Houston’s Elvin Hayes (1968) with a 30/25 game in March Madness. Has a better than 7-4 wingspan.

27. Boston Celtics — Chris Cenac Jr., forward/center, 6-11, 240, Houston

Scouting report: Freshman and McDonald’s All-American with rangy skills. Started 36 games and led top-10 team in rebounding (7.9). Hit 30 3-pointers. Settled into a complementary role (9.5 points) and had three or fewer baskets in 18 of 37 games. Didn’t get to the line often (58 attempts in 37 games) and shot poorly when he did (62.1%).

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit, traded to Brooklyn) — Joshua Jefferson, forward, 6-8, 246, Iowa State

Scouting report: Second-team AP All-American. Senior playmaker with a strong frame and size. Averaged 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds. Passing is a standout skill (4.8 assists) with his ability to initiate offense. Had four games with at least 10 assists. Posted a nearly 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

29. Cleveland Cavaliers (from San Antonio via Atlanta) — Alex Karaban, forward, 6-7, 225, UConn

Scouting report: Tested and versatile redshirt senior with range (career 37.4% on 3s) and 6-11 wingspan. Held career averages of 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks. UConn won two NCAA titles and played for a third with him as a full-time starter.

30. Dallas Mavericks (from Oklahoma City via Washington and Philadelphia) — Koa Peat, forward, 6-7, 245, Arizona

Scouting report: Sturdy-framed freshman who averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists for Final Four team. Scored primarily in transition, on post-ups or as the roller in pick-and-rolls. Made seven 3s with a jumper rated as “Below Average” (27th percentile) by Synergy. Tied for fifth at the combine in standing vertical leap (34.5 inches).

___

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

In a release on Tuesday, deputies said the incident happened on June 12, when the man “decided to test his luck” by fleeing from deputies in his RV.

Deputies added that the driver — identified as Louis Anthony Robles, 45 — began to weave back and forth across lines while driving recklessly and refusing to stop.

“While his getaway vehicle wasn’t exactly built for speed, that didn’t stop him from creating a dangerous situation on the roadway,” the release reads. “During his attempt to evade law enforcement, he struck two other vehicles before the pursuit came to a halt.”

Deputies said that Robles was ultimately caught, and he now faces the following charges:

• Driving while license revoked (habitual traffic offender)
• Fleeing to elude with lights and sirens
• Reckless driving
• DUI (damage to property)
• Leaving scene of an accident with injuries
• Resisting a law enforcement officer without violence
• Possession of drug paraphernalia
• Possession of a controlled substance

Video of the chase and subsequent arrest can be found at the top of this story.

Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge said gunshots and screams could be heard on a 911 call Monday evening from the Butte County Library's branch in Chico — a city of about 100,000 people about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

“From the first 911 call to having him in custody was less than four minutes,” Aldridge said, praising officers for stemming the loss of life.

The suspect shot a man at the entrance of the library in the leg and then shot him in the head before firing multiple shots inside and shooting another man in the head, said Sid Patel, special agent in charge in the FBI’s Sacramento office.

“Yesterday’s violent attack was horrific,” Patel said. “The full force of the FBI is assisting this investigation.”

Details emerge on the victims and the arrest

Authorities identified the men who died as 46-year-old Jacob Hull, who his brother said went by the name Cody, and 74-year-old Robert Johnson.

The 7-year-old daughter of Hull's girlfriend fell during the shooting and was taken to the hospital with a minor injury, Benjamin Heneberry, Hull's brother, told The Associated Press.

The suspect fled out the back of the library as officers entered, but additional law enforcement personnel behind the building took the man into custody, Aldridge said during a news conference after the arrest.

Officers recovered a shotgun from the floor of the library and two other guns from the suspect’s car. The weapons were registered to the suspect’s family, the police chief said, without providing any other information.

Heneberry said his brother had just gotten to the library with his girlfriend's daughter and was sitting on a bench just outside when he was shot. He said his girlfriend’s daughter is physically OK, but she saw everything.

“We’re just devastated and shocked," he said, explaining that a fundraiser had been set up for Hull's girlfriend and her daughter. "Nobody would imagine that this would happen to their own brother.”

Heneberry described his brother as a very smart, quiet and low-key man who loved 1990s hip-hop. He was a father figure to his girlfriend's daughter and was supporting them, Heneberry said.

Police surround the library

A video from the scene shows police patrol cars surrounding the one-story brick building and officers pointing their rifles. Another video shows a man face-down on the ground being handcuffed by a police officer who then picks him up and hands him to another officer who walks him away from the building.

Jeannie Lee Schroeder was on a city bus that stopped near the library when she noticed a lot of police. As officers carrying guns marched toward the street, the bus driver started driving away.

"I see a person in a light-colored shirt running toward the street, toward where the bus was at,” Schroeder said. “And then there was an officer behind him, and another officer coming at the side of him, and that’s when they tackled him down.”

Police later determined the suspect acted alone and identified him as Bradley Scott Sayer of Chico. Sayer had recently graduated from Chico High School, Patel said.

He was booked into the Butte County Jail on suspicion of two counts of murder. There was no indication he had any prior relationship with or connection to the victims, police said.

Officials said Tuesday that Sayer's family has retained an attorney, but didn't release the lawyer's name. A search Tuesday of Butte County court records did not show Sayer’s name.

Suspect demonstrated an affinity for Columbine shootings

At the time of the shooting, Sayer was wearing a white T-shirt inscribed with the words “natural selection,” mimicking a T-shirt with the same slogan worn by Eric Harris, one of two shooters in the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado, Patel said.

“He had been a fan, and a fan for a long time” of the Columbine shootings on social media, Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said.

Sayer is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, he said.

Joseph Vasquez had English classes with Sayer at Chico High School. He said Sayer was liked and accepted by most of his peers, but he didn’t seem to have close friends.

“He was very smart. He cared a lot about his grades,” Vasquez said. “He was kind of talkative but very anti-social.”

Vasquez said he and his friends were very surprised about the shooting.

Shooting leads to plans for library security

The shooting in Chico shocked the community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and led authorities to say they will add security personnel at each library location.

“A library should be a place of joy,” said Misty Wright, director of public libraries in Butte County. “Most of all it should be a place that feels safe. Yesterday that safety was shattered.”

Wright said that before the shooting, the libraries were visited by “mobile patrols” and that she wasn’t sure if they are armed.

All Butte County library branches were to be closed Tuesday, officials said.

There have been at least three fatal attacks at libraries in the last nine years.

A man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting a man in a library and another man in a convenience store in 2023. In 2020, a suspect was sent to a mental health facility after he pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a library security guard in Spring Valley, New York. A teenager who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting two public library employees in Clovis, New Mexico, in 2017 was also sentenced to life in prison.

___ This story has been updated to correct that two men were killed, not a man and a woman.

___

Associated Press writers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, also contributed.

Background

In March, ClickOrlando reported Delgado was arrested and charged federally and separately faced a class-action lawsuit tied to alleged investor losses.

[RELATED: Apopka man accused of running Ponzi scheme faces class-action lawsuit]

The plea agreement (what’s new)

Delgado, 34, will plead guilty to:

• Conspiracy to commit fraud
• Wire fraud
• Money laundering (illegal monetary transactions)

The agreement also states Delgado:

• Agrees the overall loss to victims was at least $250 million
• Agrees to pay full restitution to all victims

What prosecutors say happened

Federal prosecutors allege Delgado used Goliath as a Ponzi scheme from at least January 2023 - January 2026, including:

• Soliciting at least 1,000 investors
• Promising profits from cryptocurrency “liquidity pools” and other DeFi strategies
• Marketing monthly returns that were sometimes described as guaranteed

According to the factual basis attached to the plea:

• Most investor funds were not placed into the liquidity pools described in marketing materials and contracts
• Investor money largely stayed in bank accounts or crypto wallets
• Prosecutors say money was used for personal expenses and to make distributions to investors that were portrayed as returns

Assets listed for forfeiture

The plea agreement includes extensive forfeiture provisions. Items listed include:

• Multiple Central Florida properties:
• • Windermere — 5271 Isleworth Country Club Drive
  • Winter Park — 141 S. Phelps Ave.
  • Winter Garden — 17416 Bal Harbour Drive
  • Kissimmee — 222 Pawnee Trail
  • Orlando — 189 S. Orange Ave. (various units)
  • Sanford — 7333 Bella Foresta Place
  • Apopka — 746 Cavan Drive (over $77,000 was used to pay the mortgage on this property)
  • Apopka — 2142 Country Side Drive (nearly $90,000 was used to pay the mortgage on this property)
• Necklaces and bracelets, including a turquoise Pokémon box containing a silver Pikachu necklace
• Luxury vehicles, including a Lamborghini Revuelto, Rolls-Royce Ghost, and Bentley Bentayga
• Luxury luggage, purses, cases and wallets, including several Louis Vuitton products

What happens next

• The plea agreement does not set the final sentence; a federal judge will decide later
• Delgado must cooperate with investigators; prosecutors will consider whether that cooperation qualifies as “substantial assistance,” which can support a request for a reduced sentence

That said, anyone else who believes they are a victim of these offenses is urged to report their experience by clicking here.

Nori, who spent the past five seasons with the Timberwolves, has interviewed for multiple head coach vacancies, including the Chicago Bulls earlier this month, the New York Knicks last year, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.

Nori, 52, was the lead assistant under Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch when the club made the playoffs each season, won five series, and reached the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024.

During the Timberwolves' 2024 playoff run, Nori took on a greater role during games while Finch recovered from a knee injury.

“It’s a great opportunity and certainly speaks to all the success that we’ve been able to have here,” Finch said of Nori. “He’s ready for it. He’s elite in his relationship building. I know he’ll fit right in in a situation where it’s really promising. I think it’s going to be a perfect match.”

Nori, who began his NBA career in 1998 as a scout with the Toronto Raptors, has also been an assistant for the Raptors, the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, and the Detroit Pistons. His son, Dante, is a minor league player in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

"After an extensive search process, it became clear that Micah embodies the qualities we are looking for in the leader of this franchise,” Blazers general manager Joe Cronin said in a statement. “He has been a key contributor to successful organizations and brings a wealth of expertise, a proven ability to develop players and an authenticity that aligns with the culture we are building. We are excited about the future under his direction and look forward to what we can accomplish together.”

Splitter, who was hired last week as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was promoted from assistant to interim coach when then-head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested in October in a federal takedown of a sprawling gambling operation. Billups has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

The Blazers went 42-40 with a five-game loss to NBA finalist San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs, the first postseason appearance and first time they finished with a winning record in five years.

It is the first major hire for the team under the Blazers' new ownership group led by Tom Dundon. The group bought the NBA franchise from the estate of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who died in 2018. The NBA’s Board of Governors approved the sale, worth a reported $4.25 billion, in April.

“From my conversations with Tom and Joe, it was evident that there is a strong commitment to building a culture that values accountability, development and team success," Nori said. "This is a team with tremendous talent, and I’m excited to begin working with our players and staff.”

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

___

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

Operation Innocence Shield targeted online sex trafficking and related crimes across Northeast Florida. The operation resulted in drug, firearm and vehicle seizures, and netted individuals with active fugitive warrants.

“Members of our community who think they can find sex or advertise sex on the internet, you might just be talking to an undercover agent,” Staly said in a news conference on Tuesday.

According to Staly, investigators worked across three phases — arresting individuals connected to prostitution and drug offenses, targeting those seeking to buy sex through online ads and identifying suspected traffickers. A third phase remains active, with detectives investigating three suspected human sex traffickers and anticipating additional arrests.

“The first phase was an undercover operation detectives responded to internet Web sites and platforms that advertised commercial sex services,” Staley said.

The three recovered victims, all women between their early 30s and early 40s, were connected directly to support services rather than taken to jail.

“If you think you made one of those calls, it probably was,” he said. “You just didn’t show up.”

Staly said the victims were being exploited by someone who controlled them through drugs and money.

“They were victims of a dirt bag that was either drugging them up or making them go sell themselves and give that individual the money just so they can live or get their next fix,” Staley said. “They are a victim is who they are.”

While the operation does not involve children, Staley said investigators often see overlap between prostitution-related cases and crimes involving children, including child sexual abuse material. Detective First Class Joe O’Barr said he has seen an increase in cases in recent years and noted that investigations can reveal overlapping criminal behavior.

The sheriff credits the public for sharing tips and reporting suspicious activity.

Anyone who believes they or someone they know may be a victim of human trafficking can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-855-352-7233.

The sheriff was joined by members of the FCSO Cyber Crimes Unit, the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the 7th Judicial Circuit state attorney’s office, and the Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

The team will still be required to leave after Friday's match in Seattle, a department spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Iran Football Federation confirmed that the team will leave its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday for Seattle.

“This was planned on our end,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press. “We were going to look at how the first two movements went, and if they went smoothly, we would extend the extra day in light of the longer travel time.”

The policy change was first reported by NBC News and comes as officials from both countries negotiate over how to end the war in Iran.

Iran's squad has complained about the travel restrictions levied on the team, and the challenges it has faced since the outbreak of war. Iran in March sought to move its group-stage matches to Mexico, with which it has diplomatic ties. Its request to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana was granted two weeks before the team's arrival. Several team officials and members of the support staff have been barred from traveling into the U.S. with the team.

For the first two matches, near Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before. Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei repeatedly said that restriction disadvantaged the team, especially when it had less than 24 hours on the ground before its noon match Sunday.

“Right now we need recovery more than anything,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter after the 0-0 draw against Belgium. “The conditions have been extremely hard for us.”

It's not uncommon for teams to travel a day before the match, and it's in line with FIFA regulations, which state that “each team shall travel from its team base camp to the match venue one day before matchday (MD‑1) and in exceptional cases on MD‑2, and shall return to their team base camp after the match (on MD/MD+1).”

But Iran had asked for more time to acclimate to host cities and recover after matches, especially for the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) trip to Seattle. The team is scheduled to train on Thursday at the University of Washington.

“We don’t ask for much. We just ask for the same procedure as for all the other 47 teams,” Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said Sunday. “Hopefully we can bring everyone who is involved and help us with us.”

The Iran team has also said it experienced difficulties entering and exiting the U.S. each time it made the 127-mile (204-kilometer) flight between Tijuana and Los Angeles. The typically short trip took five hours the day before its first match against New Zealand, team captain Mehdi Taremi said.

Hours before Sunday's match against Belgium, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News the Iranians had “tried to get somebody in yesterday” who had direct ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. In a statement, the soccer federation vociferously pushed back, calling the claim “an outright and undeniable lie.”

Iran's players and coaches have mostly steered clear of outright commentary on the war. “We are here for football, not politics,” Ghalenoei said Saturday. But the team hasn't shied from highlighting the victims of a deadly missile strike on an elementary school at the start of the war in the Middle East, likely launched by the U.S.

Players wore gold-colored pins with the number “168” on their jackets when they disembarked in Mexico on June 7, referencing the number of people killed in the attack, mostly young girls. They left a goodbye note in the locker room at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, after their match Sunday, calling for peace “among all nations” and with the hashtags #168 and #minab, the school’s name.

At Iran's last training session Tuesday in Tijuana before departing for Seattle, four small flags had been stuck into the turf, each bearing the number 168.

It's unclear whether Iran's upcoming opponent, Egypt, will also be allowed to arrive in Seattle two days early. After its 3-1 victory against New Zealand in Vancouver Sunday, Egypt asked to fly directly to Seattle. FIFA denied that request, citing a lack of security resources to accommodate the last-minute demand. Egypt returned to its base camp in Spokane, Washington, a 45-minute flight from Seattle.

Egypt's national team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

___

AP Sports Writer John Marshall contributed reporting and AP video journalist Javier Arciga contributed reporting from Tijuana, Mexico.

___

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

It was the 10th time the Senate has tried to stop the war, and the outcome, on a vote of 50-48, was a stunning turnaround from past efforts. While the resolution is largely symbolic, and does not carry the full force of law, it reflects the growing concerns from a number of Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate over both the war and the deal Trump struck with Iran to end it. The House approved the resolution earlier this month.

Trump responded angrily Tuesday night on his Truth Social platform, calling the vote “poorly timed and meaningless” and saying it "provided aid and comfort" to Iran.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said, “Time after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Trump and his war instead of the American people.”

Schumer said Americans have paid the price for “Trump's historic blunder in Iran. It'll go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made.”

In the past, as many as four GOP senators have voted for the war powers resolutions, and they did so Tuesday — Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against.

Trump bashed the four Republicans as losers, saying, “These senators have made my job more difficult.”

On this vote, the absence of two Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital recently for an undisclosed matter, left the GOP without a full majority to halt the effort. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., also missed the vote.

The vote comes as the Pentagon is seeking $80 billion from Congress mostly for the Iran war as it backfills munitions and stockpiles.

Trump to meet senators as Republicans balk at Iran deal

Trump himself is headed to the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with GOP senators after Vice President JD Vance was overseas working to negotiate with Iran to end its nuclear ambitions — which had been among the stated rationales for the war.

The president is not pleased with the Republicans who have been critical of the deal he struck with Iran, according to one GOP senator granted anonymity to discuss the private dynamics.

The terms of the Iran deal are spelled out in a memorandum of understanding that Trump signed last week, starting a 60-day clock for the sides to reach a broader agreement over ending Iran's nuclear program.

But Republicans have particularly objected to the $300 billion fund to help Iran rebuild, which is far greater than the $1.7 billion then-President Barack Obama refunded the country under his administration's 2015 Iran deal.

"I believe President Trump is getting very poor advice on Iran," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last week on his podcast after the deal was made public.

Democrats have repeatedly forced Iran votes

Over and again, Democrats have been forcing votes on the Iran war, almost since the U.S. and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Nearly each week they're in session, the Senate Democrats have put forward war powers resolutions, but they have failed to amass the majority needed for passage in the narrowly split chamber, where Trump’s Republican Party holds the majority. Trump would almost certainly veto any measure that passed.

The House pushed its own version to passage earlier this month, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in approving the war powers resolution, over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership.

While the House- and Senate-passed resolution does not go to the president for his signature, passage stands as a powerful, if symbolic, statement from Congress and a rebuke of the administration’s military actions.

Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democrat from Virginia who has led his party’s efforts, said the pause in warfighting, as Trump’s team works to shore up a fragile ceasefire, provides the perfect time for Congress to step back and assess “what should the next chapter be.”

Hegseth seeks $80 billion from Congress for the Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on Capitol Hill this week, seeking roughly $80 billion in supplemental funding to shore up defense supplies in the aftermath of the Iran war, which is drawing scrutiny when many Americans are reeling from high gas prices and costs of living.

The Pentagon early on had estimated the war cost $11.3 billion during its first week, and senators said experts put the overall price tag of Operation Epic Fury higher, at some $100 billion.

The Defense Department's funding request is part of a broader beef-up of military money the White House wants as part of its budget request this year.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday, “We should not spend another dime of taxpayer dollars on Operation Epic Failure."

The Trump administration is seeking $1.5 trillion in defense funding this year — a nearly 50% increase — including $350 billion that it wants in a so-called budget reconciliation package. Johnson and GOP leaders are working to pass that package on their own, over the objections of Democrats, much the way they approved Trump's big tax cuts bill last year.

The 2025 tax cuts package also included a sizable increase for the military.

A severe thunderstorm warning for Brevard County expired at 8:15 p.m.

A severe thunderstorm warning means that dangerous weather conditions are happening or are expected soon.

Head indoors if you are outside and stay away from windows.

Rest Of Today And Tuesday

A few more thunderstorms are expected to bubble up southeast of I-4. While widespread severe weather is not expected, an isolated strong storm is possible.

A line of thunderstorms will also try to sneak into Flagler and Volusia counties late this evening.

Highs will be in the upper 70s.

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The business is located along Wilhelmina Court NE, off Kingswood Drive NE, west of U.S. 1.

Palm Bay Fire Rescue says the issue involves a container at the FAR Chemical research facility.

According to Assistant Fire Chief John Ringleb, there was a call from workers who said they had a release or spill from a chemical container, prompting first responders to arrive quickly at the scene.

There was a brief release of vapor into the air, but crews ultimately determined that there was no health hazards, investigators added.

Palm Bay Police initially evacuated some businesses in the area as a precaution, with a shelter-in-place order being issued. That order was lifted around 6:20 p.m.

Police also confirmed that there were no injuries reported.

Prosecutors called the crime an act of terrorism and said the eight were linked to the leftist militant group antifa. The defendants' attorneys denied any antifa ties and family members expressed shock and anger over the stiff sentences.

Benjamin Song, the Marine reservist who was convicted of opening fire during the July 4 demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, the maximum punishment. The seven others sentenced in Fort Worth courtrooms received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years.

“I am livid,” said Lydia Koza, whose wife, Autumn Hill, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. “The government wants to take her entire life away because she attended a protest. Nobody died.”

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the proceedings, said what happened wasn’t a protest but “an assault on democracy.” All but one of the eight defendants sentenced Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges.

“The need to deter this type of conduct is high,” O’Connor said.

The case drew attention beyond Texas as critics warned it could have wide-reaching impact on protests and First Amendment free-speech rights. The Justice Department called it the first sentencing of “defendants affiliated with” antifa after President Donald Trump last fall signed an executive order designating it as a domestic terrorist organization.

Prosecutors link protesters to antifa

Trump issued the order even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations. Antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that the group’s actions — including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armor — were signals of nefarious intent.

Attorneys for the defendants have said there was no planned ambush and that protesters who brought firearms only did so for their own protection. They argued the gathering was planned as a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants being held at Prairieland before gunshots broke out.

Prosecutors have said Song had yelled, “get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking a police officer who had just pulled up to the center.

Some defendants say they weren't part of the planning

Phillip Hayes, Song’s attorney, rejected characterizations that the protesters were extremists and said his client will appeal the 100-year sentence.

“This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Hayes said. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.”

Prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the judge to impose stiff penalties.

“People with that kind of extremist beliefs need extra time in prison,” Gatto said. “They believe violence is justified.”

Defendants and their family members pleaded for leniency.

Autumn Hill said the gathering “seemed more like a party to me than anything else” and that she and others who participated “didn’t expect or want any violence or destruction of property to occur.”

Hill’s attorney, Cody Cofer, told the judge that there was no evidence she had a gun, nor that she believed in violence to achieve change. He said that after fireworks were set off, she was so conscientious that she made sure to pick up the trash left behind before leaving.

Chris Tolbert, defendant Savanna Batten's attorney, has said that his client didn’t bring a firearm, spray paint or fireworks to the center, nor did she participate in the planning of the demonstration.

Hill and Batten both received 50-year sentences.

Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was not at Prairieland the night of the shooting or involved in the planning, his attorney Christopher Weinbel said. Sanchez Estrada, who is married to another of the defendants, was convicted only on charges of concealing documents.

Weinbel said his client just moved a box of his own belongings of artwork, poetry, journals and zines after the shooting. Nothing in the box was illegal, Weinbel said.

Sanchez Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Other defendants previously pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial.

Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. They claimed the demonstrators were members of antifa who conspired against the federal government to block arrests and deportations by setting up blockades around government buildings and throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles, among other actions.

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Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Kendria LaFleur contributed.

Paul Renuart was arrested on seven felony counts related to child sexual abuse. Following his arrest, News 6 began asking the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) how the alleged abuse could occur under the agency’s supervision.

“When I was in the neighborhood yesterday, several people told me that the 66-year-old suspect has been fostering children for several years,” News 6 reporter Troy Campbell said during a stand-up report. “They also said at the time of his arrest there were six children inside the home.”

News 6 has requested records from DCF related to Renuart’s foster care licensing history, including licensing renewals, home inspections, child placement reviews and annual background screenings.

According to DCF’s website, prospective foster parents are required to undergo child abuse checks and fingerprint-based criminal background screenings before being approved.

Attorney Justin Grosz, founder and partner of the law firm Justice for Kids, said cases involving alleged abuse in foster homes often point to broader failures in oversight.

“I’m not surprised,” Grosz said. “It happens far too often here in Florida and around the country.”

Grosz said he has seen instances where DCF failed to follow through on its own policies and procedures.

“There are background checks that are not done,” he said.

He added that abuse cases often involve systemic breakdowns somewhere within the process.

“Usually these cases of abuse don’t occur without a failure somewhere along the way,” Grosz said.

Grosz also pointed to staffing shortages and turnover within child welfare agencies as ongoing concerns.

“High turnover rate. They are not filling some positions,” he said. “There’s probably empty positions in a lot of these spaces in child care that need to be filled.”

Renuart remains in jail without bond.

As of Tuesday evening, DCF had not responded to News 6’s request for comment or records related to the case.

In a social media post, Trump claimed without supporting evidence that there had been a “350-foot gash” in the paint as the administration faces a self-imposed deadline to fix the botched renovation before the nation's 250th anniversary celebration next week. He has also said, including again on Tuesday, that the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool ahead of the anniversary celebrations, draining its water and having the bottom painted a color he dubbed “American flag blue.” But since the site was restored, its water has been plagued with algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

Trump, without evidence, has repeatedly blamed the peeling paint on vandalism.

“It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition,” Trump wrote Tuesday, adding that another seven people were cited for allegedly damaging the pool.

The U.S. Park Police and the Interior Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the arrests or Trump's claim of vandalism.

The Associated Press verified that one man was arrested after touching the already-peeling paint. He said he wanted to examine the new coating, touching a still-attached chunk briefly then letting go shortly after a park worker told him to.

A maintenance problem morphs into a law enforcement issue

National Guard members and Park Police have been patrolling the deck around the pool after Trump insisted over the weekend that vandals were responsible for damage to the liner, without providing evidence.

Crews were seen adding fencing near the area late Tuesday. An Interior spokeswoman said the Reflecting Pool “was always set to be fenced off ahead of the 4th of July," noting that one of the launch pads for the fireworks is near the pool.

“With the increase in vandalism by leftist activists, the fencing is going up earlier than originally planned to ensure no more damage is done to this historic site," spokeswoman Katie Martin said in an email. She did not provide evidence of her claim about the political leanings of possible vandals.

Trump said Tuesday that the Interior Department will release images of alleged vandalism at the pool. Pressed by reporters after Air Force One landed in Pennsylvania for a visit to a trucking company, Trump said Interior is “going to share” photos and videos of the alleged vandalism, which remains unverified.

The president had said on Monday that the images existed and the federal government would provide them. No photos were made public as of Tuesday afternoon.

The arrests highlighted what’s expected to be tightened security in the capital ahead of and during the 250th anniversary celebrations, which are set to draw large crowds to the National Mall and other tourist sites.

Trump also said Tuesday that “some of the water” will be drained from the pool “either immediately before or after the Fourth of July, to do the permanent repair.”

It was unclear from his post what the scale, scope or cost of the permanent repair would be.

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a contractor on the pool project, said it has identified some areas in the Reflecting Pool that require repairs. “These areas are a very small part of the massive 7-acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner,” the company said in a statement. The company said it expected to make the repairs to the pool once it is drained, as part of the warranty.

Environmental group wades in after duckling found dead

Adding to the controversy swirling around the pool, an environmental group called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate after a Mallard duckling carcass was photographed floating in the algae-filled pool, and two other ducks were found dead nearby. The Center for Biological Diversity said Tuesday that the Wildlife Service must enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds.

“Wasting taxpayer money turning the reflecting pool into a giant duck death trap just in time for America’s 250th birthday party is as Trump as it gets. Cruel, stupid and selfish,” said Tara Zuardo, a senior campaigner at the Arizona-based group.

City Wildlife, a Washington-based rescue and rehabilitation non-profit that also conducts necropsies on birds found in the city, said they could not comment on the cause of the death of the duckling because its carcass “wasn't recovered for examination.”

Renovation project plagued ahead of the 250 celebrations

Trump pitched the original improvements as intended to clean, beautify and reinforce an iconic site that he said had become dilapidated and dirty because of previous presidents’ neglect. Algae has plagued the pool for a century, and Trump insisted that the newly installed “American flag blue” coating, which he selected himself, would turn the pool into a gleaming expanse along the National Mall.

Yet within weeks of Trump declaring the rehabilitation completed in time for Independence Day, the water was plagued by a vivid green algae bloom that clouded the pool’s coating. A piece of liner, about 4 square feet, was observed on Friday, partially floating in the pool. The Associated Press saw additional pieces in the water on Monday.

Workers were seen in recent days pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool in an attempt to kill the algae. Hydrogen peroxide can act as a paint remover.

Experts say the dark lining can add to algae growth by absorbing more sunlight than lighter surfaces. That raises the surrounding water temperature, allowing algae to thrive.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this story.

Wilson defeated Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, whom Trump backed in the closing days of the primary campaign. The president later said he supported both candidates, hedging his bets in the race after his candidates for governor lost in Iowa and Georgia earlier this month.

Wilson, the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, has served as the state’s top prosecutor since 2011. His victory sets up a November general contest with state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who won the Democratic nomination outright two weeks ago.

As news spread of Wilson’s win, scattered whoops went up around the downtown Columbia ballroom, where supporters had only begun to fill in for his Election Night party. Later joined on stage by his wife, children and other relatives including his father, the newly minted nominee pledged to be a “transformational governor.”

He also reached out to Evette’s backers, calling them his “kinsmen,” for whom he promised “to fight as hard for you as you fought.”

At her election party, Evette said she was disappointed her run ended in a loss, but she threw her support behind Wilson.

“It’s OK to be disappointed," she said. “Lord knows that I am. But in just a few months, there’s going to be a general election, and the choice in that general election is going to be between conservative principles and a Democratic Party that wants the exact opposite for South Carolina.”

Trump at the center of the campaign

The Republican primary to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster, who is term-limited, largely centered around candidates’ proximity to Trump, with nearly all of the contenders expressing hope of securing his endorsement.

That achievement initially went to Evette, 58, who has served alongside McMaster for two terms, in the primary’s closing days. Long before that, Evette often featured photos and video of herself with the president in campaign ads and other materials. She also hired a campaign team that includes Trump’s longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio.

But as Wilson seemed to gain momentum heading into the runoff, Trump on Friday said he was endorsing both candidates, throwing a curveball to voters looking to the president for guidance.

Wilson, 52, also boasted support from sheriffs and solicitors across the state, law enforcement officials with whom he works often as South Carolina’s top prosecutor.

Immediately following Trump’s double endorsement on Friday, Wilson began boasting about it, too. Moments after Trump posted on social media, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said he was also supporting Wilson. A person familiar with the senator's thinking but not authorized to speak publicly said Scott had been making calls in support of Wilson, helping raise money and lobbying Trump to back him as well.

On Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz, another Wilson backer, came to South Carolina to stump for him.

Other primary candidates who failed to make the runoff, including U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, endorsed Wilson. Although Mace had fiercely feuded with Wilson, he said they had “buried the hatchet.”

Republican runoff was South Carolina primaries’ last major contest

The only runoff debate between Wilson and Evette was heated. Because each was given time to issue a rebuttal whenever their name was mentioned, the debate’s first half-hour swiftly devolved into a ping-ponging, back-and-forth over allegations of mudslinging and taxpayer-funded salary increases. The audience provided a soundtrack of thunderous jeers and hoots.

While Democrats also had multiple candidates running in some primary contests earlier this month, they’re not dealing with runoffs in the top races.

Johnson, seen a rising star among South Carolina Democrats, defeated two other hopefuls to win his party’s gubernatorial nomination outright,

And Charleston physician Annie Andrews also cleared the Democratic field in her challenge to Graham.

Winning statewide in November remains tall order for Democrats

While South Carolina Democrats hope their primary momentum helps propel them to general election wins, they have lots of ground to make up on that front.

McMaster notched double-digit victories in 2018 and 2022, defeating Democrat Joe Cunningham by nearly 18 percentage points. Democrats haven’t won a governor’s race in the state since 1998.

As for U.S. Senate seats, no Democrat has won one of those here in decades either. When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin. That contest was the most expensive in state history, and among the country’s most expensive congressional races ever.

The last time a Democrat won any statewide-elected seat in South Carolina was 2006. And in recent history, Republicans have typically taken statewide seats in the state by double-digit margins.

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Collins reported from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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