Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints.

The men — who do not appear to be connected — are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and “revenge porn.” The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump.

Under the new law, the men now face up to two years in prison.

Attorneys for Shannon and Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Joseph Nocella, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the men had ”used cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated” dozens of women. “This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime,” he added.

Shannon, a resident of New Jersey, published at least 240 albums of AI-generated pornography featuring female politicians, musicians and singers, according to the complaint.

The deepfakes published by Hernandez, of Texas, included both celebrities as well as private women, including recent high school graduates, prosecutors said.

The arrests come as increasingly sophisticated generative AI tools have raised alarm about the online spread of sexually explicit fakes, often depicting minors.

Last month, an Ohio man became the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act after pleading guilty to using AI to generate child sexual abuse material.

In March, two teenage boys received probation for creating explicit AI images of their classmates at an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania.

And in a separate case filed earlier this year, three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk’s xAI, claiming the company’s Grok tools morphed their real photos into explicitly sexual images.

The high school students are seeking class-action status to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of people who were similarly victimized as minors.

Mullin arrives in the capital for a two-day visit following tensions in recent weeks over the deaths of two CIA agents at Mexico’s northern border and U.S. drug trafficking indictments against 10 Mexican officials.

Sheinbaum's administration, which took office in October 2024, has toed a fine line with the Trump administration as it has emphasized bilateral cooperation, while also maintaining Mexico's sovereignty in the face of threats of U.S. military intervention.

“What we want is for us to continue working within the framework of that (security) understanding,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference, referring to past dialogues with the Trump administration.

Mullin, who assumed the position in March after Kristi Noem’s departure, is also scheduled to meet with Mexico’s Security Cabinet.

Sheinbaum said Thursday that she would also speak with Mullin about the 15 Mexican migrants who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since 2025, which prompted diplomatic protests from her government. Sheinbaum has instructed consulates to make daily visits to the detention centers, and Mexico announced in March that it would bring the cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The Mexican president ruled out discussing the cases of the 10 indicted officials, some of whom belong to the governing Morena party, during her meeting with Mullin.

In late April, the New York Attorney General’s office indicted Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha, Culiacan mayor Juan de Dios Gámez, and eight other active and retired officials on charges including drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.

Rocha and Gámez temporarily stepped down from their posts to facilitate the investigation opened by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, while the former Sinaloa government officials, Gerardo Mérida and Enrique Díaz, surrendered to U.S. authorities last week.

Bilateral relations became strained after the deaths of two CIA agents on April 19, along with two officials from the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, when the vehicle they were traveling in plunged into a ravine in the mountains between Chihuahua — which borders Texas — and the state of Sinaloa, where a clandestine synthetic drug lab had been dismantled.

The incident prompted a formal protest from the Sheinbaum administration to Washington that it hadn't been informed of the presence of the two U.S. agents in Mexico, or of their activities in the opposition-governed state of Chihuahua.

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Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

It’s the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the country's General Security agency and the other from the military intelligence, both of them accused of providing Hezbollah with “illicit support” and intelligence during the ongoing conflict.

The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Beirut to take more decisive action in disarming the group.

Included in Thursday's sanctions are former cabinet minister and senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish, senior Hezbollah parliamentarians Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi and Hussein Hajj Hassan. All have pushed against efforts for disarmament.

Mohammad Reza Sheibani, the Iranian Ambassador designate to Lebanon — who was ordered to leave Beirut by Lebanon's foreign ministry — was also hit with sanctions.

Treasury accuses the men of undermining Lebanon's ability to disarm the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization.

The announcement comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials continue holding low-level talks in Washington in a bid to end the monthslong war between Israel and Hezbollah. Military officials from both sides are expected to hold their first direct talks in the Pentagon on May 29 as Israel mounts pressure on Lebanon to disarm the powerful group, and Beirut urges Israel to end its daily airstrikes and to withdraw its troops from large swaths of southern Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Hezbollah has dismissed the ongoing talks, instead backing Iran’s talks with the U.S. mediated by Pakistan. It rejects calls, both locally and internationally, for its disarmament. Lebanon’s president and prime minister in early 2025 came to power on a reformist platform vowing to disarm all non-state groups, including Hezbollah. Washington and Israel have been critical of the slow process, but the authorities fear a more confrontational approach could risk armed conflict in the tiny Mediterranean country.

The sanctions announced Thursday deny the parties access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. Its unclear what kind of ties they have with the U.S. financial system.

Hezbollah has been designated a “foreign terrorist organization" under the authority of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act since 1997.

“Treasury will continue to take action against officials who have infiltrated the Lebanese government," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, adding that Hezbollah has waged a "senseless campaign of violence against the Lebanese people.”

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut.

The transformation is the work of JR, the street artist known as the “French Banksy,” who this week began inflating a giant artificial “cave” over the Pont Neuf, turning the 17th-century bridge that has carried Parisians across the Seine for more than 400 years into a rocky illusion rising over the river.

JR has said the idea of La Caverne du Pont Neuf is to bring “mineral and nature” back to the heart of the city. He says he is not covering the bridge so much as revealing the stone taken from limestone quarries from which Paris itself was cut.

A jagged mass of gray rock now seems to rise over its arches. From downstream, the landmark appears to have vanished beneath a prehistoric cliff, its stone openings transformed into dark cave mouths above the water.

“I thought, ‘Where has the bridge gone?’” said Marie Leclerc, 62, who stopped on the quay on her way to work. “It’s strange because you know it’s fabric and air, but from here it really looks like stone. Paris feels suddenly ancient again.”

Making Parisians stop – and be amazed

The inflation, carried out overnight after being delayed by bad weather, is the most dramatic stage yet of a project more than a year in the making.

“It’s a gigantic puzzle that has just been finished,” JR told The Associated Press at the bridge as his team prepared to pump in the air. “We’re going to send air inside, and all these rocks will rise into the Paris sky, almost 18 meters high. Once they’re inflated, they stay.”

One of the most ambitious public artworks Paris has seen in decades — funded by the sale of JR’s work and a handful of corporate partners — it does not open to the public until June 6.

The transformation has been documented by the AP since March with time-lapse cameras, including one fixed on a rooftop terrace high above the river, watching the bridge slowly disappear day by day.

From the outside, the installation looks like a rocky mass that “literally” breaks the landscape, said JR, who is famous for pasting enormous photographs on buildings, walls and rooftops around the world. He is often compared to the British street artist Banksy for the style of his work.

“Usually everyone crosses here without looking,” said Julien Moreau, 34, taking photos from near the Seine River. “This morning everyone was standing still. That’s already the artwork.”

JR said he wanted Parisians to do something unusual on their most famous bridge: stop.

“We’re all a bit stressed. We want it to work,” he said, as workers in harnesses readied the structure. “But that’s the beauty of a project like this — its fragility, the fact of working in the street, exposing yourself to everyone.”

Some passersby, he added, “will walk by without even realizing it’s rising. Others will be completely amazed.”

A tribute to a legend and a nod to Plato's allegory

The structure is 120 meters (393 feet) long and 18 meters (59 feet) tall — as high as a six-story building.

Yet it is built almost entirely from air — 80 fabric arches filled with 20,000 cubic meters of it — and weighs only about five tons.

JR’s engineers spent weeks testing the structure in a hangar at Orly airport, simulating a cut to the air supply to be sure the inflatable rock would hold its shape.

The fabric was hand-stitched by 25 artisans in a village in Brittany.

Visitors will be able to walk for free through a long, dark tunnel that lets in no daylight. “You enter into the darkness,” JR said, “and emerge into the light on the other side.”

He described it as a journey each person is free to take in their own way: “Many people will pass through this cave and let their imagination dictate what they feel.”

The artwork is a tribute to a Parisian artistic legend.

In 1985, artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, wrapped the same bridge in pale golden fabric — 13 kilometers (8 miles) of rope, a decade of arguing with city hall and three million visitors in two weeks.

The act helped invent the idea of monumental art in modern cities. A square beside the bridge now carries their names — and it is from there that visitors will step into the dark.

“It’s pretty hard to go after them,” JR said.

The cave is also a warning. JR built it as a nod to Plato’s allegory, in which prisoners mistake shadows on a wall for the real world.

“What are our caves today? Our phones,” he said. “Because we believe that our algorithm on social media is the reality.”

Then he walks straight into the contradiction: to enter his cave about screens, visitors raise their phones.

The tech company Snap has built an augmented-reality layer that shows what the eye cannot.

The sound is a low, mineral hum from Thomas Bangalter, formerly of Daft Punk — who was 10 the year Christo wrapped the bridge.

The cave will be open around the clock from June 6-28, closing the bridge to traffic and visible from the quays, from passing boats, even from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

It will coincide with Paris Fashion Week, World Music Day and the all-night Nuit Blanche arts festival.

When it comes down, the fabric will be reused or recycled.

Then, like the golden wrapping over 40 years before, the cave will be gone — and the Pont Neuf, older than the republic and older than the revolution, will reappear exactly as it was.

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Associated Press journalist Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris.

Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw him “wincing and groaning” while officials attempted to find a vein, calling it “horrible” to watch.

DeLiberato was addressing reporters when the reprieve was announced and began crying.

“That’s amazing!” she said. “I’m so grateful!”

In a written statement, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line as required by the state’s execution protocol. Efforts to insert a central line also failed, and officials called off the execution.

Carruthers' lawyers asked a federal court and the Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday to put his execution on hold, saying continuous attempts to access a vein constitute “cruel and unusual punishment.”

States have repeatedly had to call off executions because of such challenges. In Idaho in 2024, medical team members tried eight times to establish an IV line to execute Thomas Creech, one of the nation’s longest-serving death row inmates, before calling it off; Idaho Gov. Brad Little subsequently signed a law making firing squad the state’s primary method of execution.

In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions for several months after officials called off the lethal injection of Kenneth Eugene Smith in 2022 — the third time since 2018 Alabama had been unable to conduct executions due to problems with IV lines.

Carruthers convicted of killing 3 in Memphis

Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker. He was forced to represent himself at trial after repeatedly complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm several of them.

There was no physical evidence tying Carruthers to the killings, and he was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from people who claimed to have heard him confess to or discuss the crimes.

They include a man who was later revealed to be a police informant and told media he was paid for his testimony. A co-defendant, James Montgomery, was originally sentenced to death along with Carruthers but was later resentenced and released from prison in 2015, according to court filings.

Authorities said Marcellos Anderson was a drug dealer, and Carruthers was trying to take over the illegal drug trade in their Memphis neighborhood. Carruthers' attorneys have said their client's “paranoia and delusions” prevented him from being able to cooperate with court-appointed counsel, but the judge viewed this behavior as willful.

The Tennessee Supreme Court said on appeal that Carruthers’ actions before the trial jury were offensive and self-destructive but the situation in which he found himself was one of his own making.

Carruthers' attorneys have tried to show that he is incompetent to be executed. They claim in court filings that Carruthers believes the government is bluffing about executing him in order to coerce him into accepting a plea deal that exists only in his mind. That way, Carruthers believes, the government can avoid paying him what he thinks are millions of dollars it owes him. He is convinced that his own attorneys are part of a conspiracy against him and refuses to even speak with them, according to court filings.

Executions surged last year

The number of executions in the U.S. surged from 25 in 2024 to 47 last year, driven by a sharp increase in Florida. That state carried out 19 executions in 2025, up from one the previous year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. So far this year, four states have executed 13 people, and 11 other executions are scheduled including one Thursday evening in Florida.

It’s not unusual to see several executions over a short period of time. Last year, four people were executed over three days in March in Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona. Another five people were executed over a week in October in Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida and Indiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Tennessee began a new round of executions last year after a three-year pause following the discovery that the state was not properly testing lethal injection drugs for purity and potency.

An independent review later found that none of the drugs prepared for the seven inmates executed in Tennessee since 2018 had been fully tested. The state attorney general’s office also conceded in court that two of the people most responsible for overseeing Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “ incorrectly testified ” under oath that officials were testing the chemicals as required.

The indictment announced Wednesday emerged as the Trump administration continues its pressure campaign to topple the island's socialist government. The charges accuse Castro and the military pilots of conspiring to terrorize, intimidate and retaliate against Cubans and the country's exile community by shooting down the aircraft flown by the Brothers to the Rescue group.

Castro, now 94, was defense minister when MiG fighters targeted the group's planes.

Authorities allege that Castro’s five co-conspirators, all part of the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, engaged in training missions around February 1996 “to find, track, pursue and intercept" aircraft off the Cuban coast in anticipation of flights by Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment states that they underwent training at Castro’s “command and with direction from” a co-conspirator who was not indicted.

Here is what is known about the five pilots, who were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco and Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez

The indictment alleges that Pérez-Pérez and a pilot who was not charged shot down two planes on Feb. 24, 1996, in international airspace, killing four Americans.

Pérez-Pérez told Cuban state television days after the shooting that he intercepted the first aircraft and warned it based on orders from controllers. He said the plane ignored his warnings.

“We tried to dissuade their crew members, but they continued to dangerously approach the Cuban coast, and then we received the order to interrupt the flight of the first aircraft,” Pérez-Pérez said at the time. “Afterward, we conducted the same operation with the second plane, which also refused to change its direction.”

Castro is accused in the indictment of authorizing the use of deadly force after Brothers to the Rescue flew planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996. U.S. prosecutors said Castro and his older brother, Fidel Castro, who was president at the time, were the final decision-makers on orders to kill.

Pérez-Pérez was previously indicted in the U.S. in August 2003 and accused of murder, aircraft destruction and conspiracy.

Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez

The indictment alleges that on the same day of the deadly attacks, Gual Barzaga, Simanca Cárdenas and González-Pardo Rodríguez followed but did not destroy a third plane.

González-Pardo Rodríguez, 65, is the only defendant in U.S. custody. He was indicted in November for allegedly making false statements in an immigration document.

The U.S. Department of Justice at the time said that he falsely stated he never received any weapons or military training, never participated in any group that used weapons or threatened to use weapons, and never served in a military or police unit. In reality, prosecutors said, "he received such training and served in the Cuban military as part of the Air Defense Force.”

He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty in February.

The five pilots and Castro face one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. Castro and Pérez-Pérez were also indicted on counts of murder and destruction of aircraft.

Three other pilots

Little is known about Gual Barzaga, Palacio Blanco and Simanca Cárdenas.

The indictment alleges that Pérez-Pérez and Palacio Blanco took off from the San Antonio de los Baños airfield, near Havana, in separate jets. Pérez-Pérez requested authorization to shoot down the civilian aircraft some 20 minutes later.

While Pérez-Pérez attacked the two planes, according to the indictment, Gual Barzaga and Simanca Cárdenas sat together in a third fighter jet, and González-Pardo Rodríguez was in a fourth one ready to deploy. Authorities allege the waiting pilots listened to Pérez-Pérez's radio requests for authorization to attack the planes, and they eventually joined him in the pursuit of the third civilian aircraft.

The federal indictment includes an undated photo of González-Pardo Rodríguez and Pérez-Pérez looking at a document next to a fighter jet.

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Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Trump said at a White House ceremony that the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Republican administration before pivotal elections in November to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living.

It is not clear how much or how quickly grocery prices could be impacted. Industry groups said it could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The regulation from the Democratic Biden administration was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. He said the EPA action would protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

The greenhouse gases are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

Trump once supported limits on refrigerant pollutant

It is a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs.

The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that the agency's administrator, Lee Zeldin, has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The law pushed industry toward less harmful alternatives

The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.

The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.

The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the EPA action.

The earlier rule “imposed significant costs and unrealistic compliance requirements and timelines that threatened to drive up grocery prices and create substantial implementation challenges for food retailers,'' said Leslie Sarasin, the group's president and CEO.

New rule ensures an ‘orderly transition,’ grocer says

Kroger CEO Greg Foran, whose company operates 2,700 U.S. stores, told Trump the EPA action ensures “an orderly transition” that allows the company to update its equipment “in a way which keeps the price of groceries down. And that’s something that we’re desperately focusing on, Mr. President.”

Kevin McDaniel, whose company operates 14 Piggly Wiggly stores in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, said the Biden-era rule would have forced many independent grocers out of business.

“It was thrown together too fast,'' he said. ”The technology is not there yet. It’s just way too fast. That’s the problem. Good idea but it’s terrible."

David Doniger, a senior strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, called Trump's action “a lose-lose for the environment and the economy. It will harm consumers and the climate and reduce American competitiveness in the global markets emerging for environmentally-safer refrigerants.”

Rather than address affordability, Trump is imposing “thinly veiled environmental rollbacks that leave the United States stuck with outdated technologies of the past,” Doniger said.

Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect.

“The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said.

The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges issued in a grand jury indictment were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

“We had hoped the community would have had the opportunity to weigh in through the full judicial process,” Hampton commonwealth's attorney Anton A. Bell said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the Court has now concluded the matter as it deemed appropriate under the law. Our office remains committed to pursuing justice with integrity, transparency, and fairness, while continuing to honor the role that citizens play in our criminal justice system.”

Defense attorney Curtis Rogers told the judge in making his motion that Parker’s decision on the day of the shooting “wasn’t an act of neglect.”

“Her actions in no way indicated that she believed there was a firearm in the possession” of the child, Rogers said.

Another defense attorney, Stephen Teague, said outside court that “we believe that the right outcome was reached and we’re thrilled for Dr. Parker. It was a great relief for her and we’re just happy that we were part of her journey.”

Parker was not called to testify during the trial. On Wednesday, a video interview of Parker conducted three days after the shooting by a school district human resources officer was played in the courtroom for the jury.

Parker said she was told about reports that the student had a gun in his backpack, but said she could not leave her office due to ongoing testing. A reading specialist who first reported the concerns then searched the backpack, but no gun was found, Parker said.

Parker then said the student’s mother would arrive to pick him up and go through the rest of his belongings.

Zwerner testified earlier in the trial that during recess on the school playground, the student wore an oversized jacket and kept both of his hands in his pockets the entire time. Zwerner said she sent a text message with that observation to the reading specialist, who had been tipped off earlier by students about the gun and reported it to Parker.

After recess, the student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot at a reading table. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

Criminal charges against school officials after a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.

A jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner in a civil trial last November, where Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

Republicans were already expected to abandon $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. But then questions about the settlement fund added to some of the senator's concerns. They are questioning who would get the money.

Republican senators met with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday as they worked to finalize the bill's text and whether to put parameters on the settlement, which was designed to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they have been politically persecuted. Thune told reporters that senators had questions and wanted to know “how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.”

But senators who emerged from the meeting were tight-lipped and indicated that lawmakers would not hold a vote on the package before leaving Washington for a Memorial Day break, risking failure to meet Trump’s June 1 deadline.

Asked about a vote this week, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, responded, “I don’t even know.” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was more blunt: “We’re going home," he said.

The last-minute scramble comes as Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump’s ballroom when voters are concerned about basic affordability issues — and as some GOP lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump. Several GOP senators have spoken out against the settlement, which was announced this week, and many were upset by the president’s endorsement Tuesday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the party primary runoff next week against Sen. John Cornyn.

Asked Thursday at the White House if he was losing control of the Senate, Trump replied: “I don’t know, I really don’t know. I can tell you — I only do what’s right.”

Possible parameters on Trump's settlement fund

The “anti-weaponization” fund, part of a settlement that resolves Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, unexpectedly became one of the main complications in the bill. Democrats said they would force votes to block it or place restrictions on it.

Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the immigration enforcement bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Democrats are considering multiple amendments, potentially to block that new fund outright or to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Presenting a united front, Democrats from both the House and Senate rallied on the Capitol steps Thursday to show their opposition. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the amendment process “will give Republicans countless chances to do the right thing.”

He added that if they declined to make changes, it would show voters that “Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump."

Those amendments, along with others, could pass as a growing number of Republicans have voiced reservations about the fund. So Republicans are now discussing their own last-minute additions to head that off, potentially placing some parameters on the settlement and who could receive compensation, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.

It was unclear how any Senate changes would be received in the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that the House will pass the bill “whatever form it takes.”

Tensions rise between Senate and White House

As Republicans challenged the settlement and parts of his agenda, Trump unloaded on the Senate in a social media post on Wednesday.

He urged Republicans to fire the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who said over the weekend that parts of the $1 billion security proposal cannot remain in the ICE and Border Patrol bill. Trump also renewed his long-standing calls for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require all voters to prove U.S. citizenship, and to end the Senate filibuster.

Republicans need to “get smart and tough,” Trump said, or “you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”

While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls — even in his first term — to kill the filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Hanging over the growing GOP rift is Trump’s surprise endorsement of Paxton. That intervention has Republican senators privately fuming that it could cost them their majority in November as they view the incumbent, Cornyn, as the better candidate in the November general election.

Secret Service request falters

Under the Secret Service’s request, about $220 million would fund security improvements related to the ballroom. The rest would go for a new screening center for visitors, training and other security measures.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea.” The bill should not have included the other security improvements, he said, “because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion-dollar ballroom.'”

Several other Republicans in the House and Senate have questioned the request, and senators left a briefing with the director of the Secret Service last week saying they needed a lot more information.

People “can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” asked Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection in his GOP primary on Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents.

Left in the bill is the money for ICE and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration's immigration enforcement crackdown.

Democrats demanded changes for the agencies, but negotiations with the White House yielded little progress. So Republicans are using the complicated budget maneuver called reconciliation — the same process that allowed them to pass Trump's tax and spending cuts bill last year — to fund the agencies through the end of Trump's term with a simple majority and no Democratic votes.

Still, passage requires sign-off from the parliamentarian and unity from Republicans.

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Associated Press writers Collin Binkley, Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the settlement fund is $1.8 billion, not $1.8 trillion

His family posted the news on social media and said he is currently undergoing treatment.

“We ask for understanding and privacy as our family navigates this situation,” the statement continued.

During a Cup Series race on May 10 at Watkins Glen, Busch radioed in to his crew requesting medical aid from Dr. Bill Heisel and a “shot” after the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the Upstate New York road course.

Busch continued to race and finished eighth.

Busch ranks 24th in the Cup Series standings, with two top-10 finishes in 12 races this season. The 41-year-old driver and Las Vegas native won championships in 2015 and 2019. Busch is in his fourth season at Richard Childress Racing after winning titles with Joe Gibbs Racing.

His last win came in 2023, his first with RCR.

One of NASCAR's most polarizing personalities, Busch has won 234 races across the sport's three national series, more than any driver in history.

He has won 63 Cup Series races, including the 2018 Coca-Cola 600.

This will be the first time in more than a decade that Busch has missed a Cup Series race.

In 2015, he missed the first 11 races of the season while recovering from a compound leg fracture and broken foot following a crash during the Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Austin Hill will replace Busch in the Coca-Cola 600.

“Kyle Busch’s health is our utmost priority and he and his family have the full resources of RCR behind them,” RCR said in a statement. “Kyle is an integral part of our organization and we wish him a safe and speedy recovery. His No. 8 Chevrolet will be ready and waiting for him. We’re thankful to Austin Hill for stepping in to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend. Please keep Kyle and the Busch family in your prayers, and help us respect the family’s privacy at this time.”

Busch has struggled to find consistency since leaving for RCR.

His lack of success led to a spat with former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who appeared to criticize Busch on the Actions Detrimental podcast. Hamlin said, “If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves.”

While Hamlin later said he meant no harm by the comments and was just making an observation, Busch took exception and said he could make Hamlin’s life “hell” on the racetrack.

While several laps down at last month’s race at Kansas, Busch raced Hamlin hard instead of allowing the race leader to pass. That decision held up Hamlin during a crucial stage of the race.

Tyler Reddick wound up winning the race after Hamlin faded late, finishing fourth despite a race-leading 131 laps.

After winning the Trucks race at Dover last week and showing an uptick in speed, Busch seemed to make a veiled jab at Hamlin, saying “I guess I just remembered how to drive.”

The two appear to have made amends since with Hamlin saying Busch is on the “Mount Rushmore” of racing.

After earning his 69th career Trucks Series race win at Dover, Busch was asked how many races he wants to win in his career before he stops racing.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Richard Knight, 47, was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Knight was sentenced to death after being convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2006 for the deaths of Odessia Stephens and her child, Hanessia Mullings.

This would be Florida’s seventh execution so far this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was eight executions carried out in 2014.

According to court records, Knight had been living in Coral Springs, near Fort Lauderdale, with his cousin, his cousin's girlfriend and their daughter in June 2000. Knight and Stephens frequently argued about Knight living there. One evening while Knight's cousin was at work, Stephens told Knight that he would need to move out the next morning. Knight became angry and stabbed Stephens multiple times and then attacked the 4-year-old girl, officials said.

While being held at the Broward County Jail following his arrest, Knight confessed the killings to another inmate, who testified against Knight during his trial.

The Florida Supreme Court denied Knight's appeals last Friday. It rejected his claim of newly discovered evidence, pointing out that an unidentified fingerprint found on a knife at the murder scene was known about and addressed during Knight's original trial. The court also rejected other claims based on Florida's execution protocols and warrant process.

On Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.

Elsewhere, the planned execution of Tennessee inmate Tony Carruthers was called off Thursday after officials struggled to find a vein for an hour, a lawyer present said. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw him “wincing and groaning” while officials tried to find a vein. Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1994 kidnappings and killings pf three people in Memphis.

Meanwhile, another execution is planned in Florida on June 2. Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, was convicted of fatally beating of his girlfriend's infant daughter in 1996.

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

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and inched closer to its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 299 points, or 0.6%, as of 2 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.

All three measures of U.S. stocks erased early drops following the latest 180-degree swing for oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly climbed above $109 in the morning, threatening to worsen the world's already high inflation, before it quickly erased all its gains in midday trading and then fell 2.1% to $102.81.

Oil prices have been yo-yoing because of uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut. The closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude to customers worldwide, driving up oil's price.

As oil prices eased Thursday, so did pressure on Wall Street that's been building from the bond market.

Yields have climbed so high recently that they've cranked up the pressure on financial markets worldwide. They've already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have been supporting the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly got near 4.63% in the morning before falling back to 4.55% following the midday reversal for oil prices. That's down from 4.57% late Wednesday and from 4.67% the day before.

Some of the biggest benefits of lower yields can go to the smallest companies, many of which need to borrow money to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 0.9%, more than the rest of the market.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills also rose because of the easing of oil prices. Southwest Airlines climbed 2.4%, and Delta Air Lines added 1.6%.

Ralph Lauren jumped 14.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They helped offset a 1% drop for Nvidia, which is one of Wall Street's most influential stocks because of its immense size.

The chip company reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, while also forecasting revenue for the current quarter that cleared analysts’ estimates. “The buildout of AI factories — the largest infrastructure expansion in human history — is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” CEO Jensen Huang said.

But such performances and such talk have become routine, and Nvidia's stock swiveled between losses and gains before falling.

Some analysts said the weakness may have simply been because investors were locking in profits after Nvidia’s stock had soared nearly 70% over the prior year, more than double the S&P 500’s 27% jump. The broad AI industry is also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular as Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that drive Nvidia’s revenue.

Walmart also fell, 6.8%, following its profit report. The retailer delivered another quarter of impressive revenue but offered up weaker forecasts for upcoming profit than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi Kospi soared 8.4% thanks to strength for technology stocks. Samsung Electronics jumped 8.5% after its labor union and management reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a strike. SK Hynix, a chip company partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1%, while indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Now, we are taking the story a step further.

What happens after the mold is found and removed? Experts say for some people, the health effects can linger long after the cleanup is over.

Radar looks like a police dog searching for a suspect.

But her target is something that can impact your health and often cannot be seen.

Trained to detect mold, Radar can pinpoint it hidden inside walls, flooring, cabinets and even HVAC systems.

While that may sound impressive, experts say finding mold is only the beginning.

Ariana Thacker says some of the most common symptoms linked to mold exposure include fatigue, brain fog and gastrointestinal issues.

Symptoms that can easily be dismissed, misunderstood or even misinterpreted.

When asked about brain fog and fatigue, and how many people simply assume they are exhausted from everyday life, Thacker said one major warning sign is when symptoms begin after moving into a building or flare up in an environment with known mold.

In other words, your body may be giving you clues based on where you are.

In humid states like Florida, mold can spread quickly after storms and water damage. Experts say it only takes 24 to 48 hours for mold growth to begin.

For Thacker, this issue is personal.

She says hidden mold in a Miami apartment left her struggling with severe fatigue and brain fog before she finally found answers.

Mold was found in her HVAC system.

She moved and began to feel better but symptoms lingered.

At first, she says doctors believed her symptoms were caused by stress or anxiety.

That experience led her to create MoldCo, a virtual clinic focused on mold-related illness.

The company offers at-home lab testing, virtual doctor visits, and treatment plans that can all be done remotely.

But Thacker says no matter what treatment someone receives, addressing the source of the mold is critical.

She says getting out of the environment is one of the most important steps.

And even after the mold is discovered, the health effects may not disappear overnight.

Some people, she says, still struggle to feel like themselves every day.

Her message is simple. Do not ignore what your body may be trying to tell you.

Thacker says, “You’re not alone. Many patients are impacted. And there are solutions.”

The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges of health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus by using stringent measures that might clash with local customs, such as burial rites. The disease has been spreading for weeks in a region lacking in health facilities and where many people are on the move to escape armed conflicts.

The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities because the bodies of those who die from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals.

That policy can be extremely unpopular with victims' families and friends, who aren't given the chance to bury their loved ones.

Fear and anger grow

The center in Rwampara was burned by local youths who became angry while trying to retrieve the body of a friend who had apparently died of Ebola, according to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”

An AP journalist saw people break into the center and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim.

“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear," Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”

Hama Amadou, field coordinator for the humanitarian organization ALIMA, which had teams working at the center, said later that calm had been restored and that aid teams were continuing their work at the center.

The flash of anger underlined the complications faced by both Congolese authorities and an array of aid agencies trying to stem an outbreak that the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

The outbreak is bigger than official figures show, WHO says

There are 148 suspected deaths and nearly 600 suspected cases, according to the U.N., with two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda. But the head of the WHO has said the outbreak is almost certainly much larger and has also expressed concern over the speed of the spread.

“We are still in the phase where we are intensifying the investigation, searching for cases," said Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous.”

The risk of the outbreak spreading globally is low, the WHO has said, but high regionally with the Ituri Province at the center of the outbreak bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Health workers and aid groups have said they are in dire need of more supplies and staff to respond. Also, there is no available vaccine or medicine for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.

An expert said this week it would be at least six to nine months before one would be available.

“The priority now is to act quickly and work closely with communities, as the coming days are critical,” said Ariel Kestens, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads in people through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, feces or semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

Ebola disease is caused by a group of viruses. Three of them are known to cause large outbreaks: Ebola virus, Sudan virus and Bundibugyo virus, according to the WHO.

The Bundibugyo virus was first identified in a 2007-2008 outbreak in Uganda. This is the largest known outbreak of that species of Ebola.

It has spread to a new province

On Thursday, the M23 rebel group that controls parts of eastern Congo reported that a person had died of the disease near the city of Bukavu, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the outbreak's epicenter in Ituri Province.

It was the first case confirmed in South Kivu Province, and another case was reported there later in the day. Previously, cases had been reported only in Ituri and North Kivu provinces and in neighboring Uganda.

The virus spread undetected for weeks following the first known death in late April as Congolese health authorities tested for a different Ebola virus more commonly responsible for outbreaks in the country. Health officials have not yet found “patient zero,” according to the WHO.

The scale of the outbreak so far suggests it "started probably a couple of months ago,” said Anaïs Legand, a viral hemorrhagic fevers expert at the WHO.

The outbreak has had international repercussions

India and ​the ⁠African Union said Thursday that the ⁠India-Africa ⁠Forum Summit, scheduled to be held next week in ‌New ​Delhi, had been postponed due to ⁠the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa.”

On Wednesday, Congo’s soccer team canceled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned farewell to fans in the capital Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak.

The U.S. government has placed restrictions on any travelers who have visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, barring foreign visitors among them from entering the U.S. and requiring U.S. citizens and permanent residents to be diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport for screening.

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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal and Imray from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

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

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

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Expectations of higher oil prices and worries about big and growing debts for the U.S. government and others have pushed up long-term bond yields, causing mortgage rates to head higher.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, which was at 4.6% in midday trading Thursday on the bond market. A week ago, it was at 4.47%. It was at just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate climbed to 5.85% from 5.71% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.01%, Freddie Mac said.

When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.

As recently as late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had slipped just under 6% for the first time since late 2022. It’s hasn’t fallen below that threshold since. It’s now at its highest level since August 28, when it was 6.56%.

While average long-term mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year, their recent increase has helped dampen sales so far this spring homebuying season.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last month after declining from a year earlier in the first three months of the year, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell 2.3% last week from a week earlier to their lowest level in five weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Much of the decline was caused by a sharp drop in home purchase applications.

The elevated mortgage rates are driving more prospective homebuyers to adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. Such loans, which typically offer lower initial interest rates than traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, accounted for nearly 10% of all mortgage applications last week, the highest share since October, MBA said.

Home shoppers who are undeterred by rising mortgage rates are benefiting from buyer-friendly trends in many markets, including more properties on the market than a year ago and data showing home listing prices have started falling in many metro areas, especially in the South and Midwest.

"The spring season still offers real opportunity, though each uptick in rates narrows the pool of buyers who can make the numbers work,” said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Running more than 250 pages, the prospectus for his SpaceX stock debut shows spending at a massive scale — greater than the economic output of some countries — and about to grow much larger as he races to make good on his promise to hurl men to distant planets. Money raised in the initial public offering — reportedly $75 billion or so — will help finance those futuristic, fantastical plans.

Assuming the IPO goes off without a hitch, it will rank as the largest ever. It will also likely make Musk, a major SpaceX owner and already the world’s richest man, the first trillionaire.

The document in part reads like a script for a Hollywood sci-fi movie as he details how he hopes to use his rockets to save the human race from extinction by making it an interplanetary species.

First, he will send men to the moon, then, maybe, Mars, where he hopes to build a permanent one-million person colony.

A look at the outsized numbers behind Musk’s outsized ambitions.

$1.75 trillion-$2 trillion

The expected valuation for SpaceX after its public offering, expected to take place next month. Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable public company at around $5.4 trillion. It went public in January 1999 and first closed with a market value above $2 trillion in March 2024.

$4.9 billion

SpaceX’s loss for the full year 2025. Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company, went public in 2010 but didn’t earn an annual profit until 2020.

$839 billion

Elon Musk’s net worth as of May 20, according to Forbes. Musk is a major stockholder in SpaceX, and also stands to reap hundreds of billions of dollars from a compensation package awarded to him at Tesla, assuming he hits some ambitious financial and business metrics.

85.1%

The voting power at SpaceX controlled by Musk by virtue of his owning more than 90% of the company’s Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. He also owns a 12% stake in the Class A shares, which carry one vote.

At least 1 million

That’s how many human inhabitants Musk needs to have living in a colony on Mars for him to receive a part of his SpaceX compensation package. There are no current capabilities of transporting one human to Mars, let alone 1 million.

$7.5 trillion

That’s the top market capitalization SpaceX has to reach for Musk to receive his full compensation. He will receive it in pieces as the market capitalization rises to certain milestones along the way. By comparison, Trump’s proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2027 is $1.5 trillion.

9,600

That’s approximately how many Starlink satellites SpaceX has in orbit. By comparison UPS says it has 135,000 delivery vehicles — including motorcycles — in its fleet. Delta Air Lines has a fleet of more than 1,200 when regional airline partners are included.

366

The number of days Musk is required to hold on to his SpaceX stock before he’s able to sell or transfer it. It’s called a lock-up period and prevents insiders dumping their shares or immediately cashing out. Other top SpaceX investors have to wait 180 days.

$20.7 billion

How much the company spent in 2025 for all its units, which include rockets, satellites and artificial intelligence technology. The bulk of the spending, at just under $11.4 billion, came from its connectivity unit that includes its Starlink satellites.

$131 million

That’s how much SpaceX spent in 2025 on Cybertrucks from Musk’s other public company, Tesla. The base model of a Cybertruck costs $69,990, so $131 million gets the buyer 1,871 vehicles. Musk’s businesses often interact, which has raised speculation that Tesla and SpaceX could eventually merge.

Fendrich died Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his wife Rosanna Maietta said. He was diagnosed with cancer in February shortly after returning from Milan, where he covered his 11th Olympics.

Tennis great Roger Federer, who estimated he'd had more than 100 interactions with Fendrich over the decades, called the journalist “one of those constant and reassuring presences in the tennis world for many years.”

“He started covering tennis in 2002, right around the time I was starting to have my breakthrough in the sport, and over time he truly became part of the fabric of tennis,” Federer said. “Tennis lost a wonderful journalist and a great person.”

Fendrich is survived by his wife; his mother, Renée; his brother, Alex; and two sons, Stefano and Jordan, each of whom are pursuing careers in sports journalism – just like their dad.

“Howard was a gifted journalist who brought such skill, expertise and enthusiasm to his work,” said AP Executive Editor and Senior Vice President Julie Pace. “His stories were a joy to read, combining lively writing with insightful reporting. He was also a generous and beloved colleague whose warmth and passion touched so many across the AP.”

A veteran of AP across three decades

A graduate of Haverford College near Philadelphia, Fendrich worked at AP for 33 years, starting as an unpaid intern in Rome.

There, he became fluent in his beloved city’s language, mostly by watching Italian karaoke videos, and that helped him get a foot in the door to the news agency’s European sports coverage, focusing on soccer. That, in turn, landed him on the radar of the AP sports editor at the time, Terry R. Taylor, who helped him get back to the United States.

In the United States, Fendrich started as an editor on the AP sports desk at the New York headquarters, where he also wrote a sports media column. He moved to the Washington area in 2005 and became a steady presence on sports beats in the region where he had grown up.

But his true passion was tennis. He chronicled the careers of Venus and Serena Williams, Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and others. He covered some 70 Grand Slam tournaments over nearly a quarter century on the beat. It was at those events where his brilliance shone brightest.

Fendrich's writing honors included two Grimsley Awards for best overall body of work among AP sports writers and a handful of deadline-writing citations. One was for a piece from Andre Agassi’s last match, which came at the 2006 U.S. Open:

“Crouched alone in the silence of the locker room, a pro tennis player no more, a red-eyed Andre Agassi twisted his torso in an attempt to conquer the seemingly mundane task of pulling a white shirt over his head. Never more than at that moment did Agassi seem so vulnerable, looking far older than his 36 years.”

The passage highlighted Fendrich at his best – watching, rewatching, taking notes, going beyond the courts and painstakingly sifting through details of events that millions of people witnessed to tell them something the guy sitting right next to him might not have noticed.

Fendrich captured Federer’s heartfelt meeting with Bjorn Borg in the hallway after a history-making win at Wimbledon. He detailed the gritty realities of playing on red clay at Roland Garros, then having to wash it out of shorts and socks when the match was over.

At his last big assignment in Milan, he followed speedskater Jutta Leerdam’s famous fiancé, fighter Jake Paul, down the hallway leading to the parking lot – all just to unearth a detail, just to get a quote. He got them, then Paul proclaimed: “OK, we’re done.” Bodyguards moved in and, as Fendrich said at a dinner later: “I decided, ‘Yes, I guess we are.’”

An unerring instinct for how to get the news

He had a knack for knowing where to go, who to ask and, just as importantly, what to ask and how.

For days during the steamy Washington summer in 2011, he sat on a folding chair on a sidewalk, perched a laptop on his lap and wrote, all while waiting for principals to emerge from tense negotiations during the protracted NFL labor lockout. Though he wasn’t what would be known today as an “NFL insider,” Fendrich worked the room, the phones — and the sidewalk — and helped AP stay as competitive as anyone in delivering developments and detailing the eventual end of the standoff.

“There was that doggedness,” said Mary Byrne, the AP’s deputy sports editor at the time of the lockout. “He was annoyed by it, and by all the time he spent out there waiting for people to come out and say nothing. But that situation wasn’t going to get the best of him, and he wasn’t going to get beat on the story.”

When Washington quarterback Alex Smith broke his leg in the most gruesome of fashions in 2018, Fendrich immediately got on the phone with the one person who could understand: retired star quarterback Joe Theismann.

Sometimes, however, the phone would ring for him and, even if he was in the middle of a World Series game, Fendrich would pick up. If he started speaking Italian, it was undoubtedly Rosanna, his wife. Or sometimes the kids called and had a school question — or a story from that day’s soccer game. For them, he had endless patience and time.

Then: Straight back to work, and he didn’t miss a thing.

“Nothing got past him,” said Stephen Wilson, AP's former European sports editor, who worked with Fendrich for more than 20 years. “Every story — even a three-paragraph brief — had to be iron-clad.”

It wasn’t just the written word where Fendrich was a master. He had a snappy, razor-sharp sense of humor. No colleague could turn him down when he raised his eyebrows, motioned his head toward the door and asked them to join him in his “office” -- usually a quiet courtyard or hallway outside a press room — to hash out coverage plans for the day or compare notes about people and things seen around the courts.

Chris Lehourites, an editor at AP who guided tennis coverage in Europe for decades, spent many a long day fretting over punctuation, syntax and word choice with Fendrich, whom he called a “perfectionist when it came to his job.”

“Howard was also a friend,” Lehourites said, “whose dry humor, along with his bags of Blow Pop lollipops, made long days go by quick.”

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https://apnews.com/sports

Yet like other major retailers posting financial results this week, Walmart was cautious about the rest of the year given the current economic uncertainty. On Thursday, it issued a forecast for the current quarter that was weaker than what Wall Street had been expecting.

Shares slipped about 7% Thursday.

Walmart has resonated with many Americans who are increasingly careful about where they spend their money as inflation takes a bigger bite out of paychecks, notably gasoline which has soared since the start of the Iran war in late February. Walmart can serve as a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its stores every week, according to Walmart.

One telling shift during the quarter that captures the stress many Americans are feeling: The number of gallons that customers put in their cars during visits to U.S. Walmart and Sam’s Club gas stations fell below 10 for the first time since 2022, which was the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s an indication of stress,” said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey.

Walmart touted strong sales that were fueled by online shopping on Thursday.

Comparable sales at U.S. Walmart stores rose 4.1% during the three-month period ended April 30. Walmart’s U.S online sales rose 26%, the company said.

Walmart’s promise of lower prices, faster delivery and a refresh of its merchandise has attracted wealthier shoppers. The biggest gains in market share for Walmart are coming from households with annual income over $100,000. That shift is taking place as lower-income shoppers become more entrenched in what economists collectively call a K-shaped economy.

“We see with our customers that the high-income customer is spending with confidence into many categories, while the lower income consumer is more budget conscious and perhaps navigating financial distress,” Rainey told analysts on Thursday.

Rainey told analysts that higher fuel prices took a bite out of profits as it was forced to absorb higher transportation costs. And while the company is focused on offering low prices, Walmart may raise prices later if fuel costs remain high, he said.

U.S. retailers have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment, from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the impact of soaring gasoline prices due to the war. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline raced higher this week and did so again overnight. Gasoline prices are about 45% above where they were at this time last year.

Based on quarterly financial reports from Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's and TJX, shoppers are cautious but still spending, helped by more generous tax refunds. Yet there is a widespread belief among economists that once those refunds dry up, shoppers will pull back on spending. Consumer spending is the dominant economic engine for the U.S., and retreat would have broad implications for the U.S.

Target reported the largest jump in comparable sales in four years Wednesday, but a cautious outlook overshadowed rather convincing evidence that changes under the company’s new CEO are landing solidly with customers. Target raised its annual revenue outlook Wednesday, but it was still below the pace of its first quarter this year.

The nation’s two largest home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s reported strong sales, but both companies said that customers are putting off larger home projects.

“I think, overall, this has been the most difficult housing market that I’ve faced in this business since the financial crisis,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said this week.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas reported first-quarter earnings of $5.33 billion, or 67 cents, for the quarter ended April 30. Adjusted per-share results were 66 cents, matching the 66 cents that analysts expected, according to FactSet.

For the year-ago quarter, the company reported net income of $4.48 billion, or 56 cents per share.

Sales rose 7.3% to $177.75 billion in the fiscal first quarter, above the $174.84 billion that analysts predicted.

Walmart said higher fuel prices took a bite out of profits as it was forced to absorb higher transportation costs.

The company highlighted its speedier deliveries, which is driving more shoppers to buy more often. Rainey said that roughly 60% of U.S. online deliveries arrive at customers' homes in 30 minutes or less.

For the second quarter, Walmart expects sales to be 4% to 5% higher than the same period a year ago. It also expects per-share profit to be between 72 cents and 74 cents. Analysts had been projecting per-share earns of 75 cents on sales of $186.2 billion, according to FactSet.

Walmart stuck to the annual guidance that it issued in February.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the maneuvers in a video call with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

“The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure for ensuring the national security of our states,” Putin said.

Lukashenko earlier inspected Russian short-range nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills and declared: “I dreamed about this machine a long time ago.”

The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes. including on Moscow's suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians.

Drills involve wide array of nuclear weapons

Russia's Defense Ministry said the exercise involved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. The drills focused on the “preparation and use of nuclear forces under the threat of aggression,” it said.

The maneuvers also practice cooperation with Belarus, an ally that hosts Russian nuclear weapons. Russian arsenals in Belarus include its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.

Along with nuclear-tipped ground- and submarine-launched ICBMs, the maneuvers featured a broad assortment of short- and medium-range weapons.

Unlike the intercontinental missiles that can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons intended for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful. They include aerial bombs and warheads for short- and medium-range missiles and artillery munitions.

The Defense Ministry said the Russian armed forces test-fired Yars and Sineva ICBMs, as well as medium-range sea-launched Zircon and air-launched Kinzhal missiles, noting that all missiles hit their designated practice targets. Belarusian troops test-fired a short-range Iskander ballistic missile inside Russia.

Kremlin nuclear messaging

Putin has repeatedly reminded the world about Moscow’s nuclear arsenals after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Kyiv.

In 2024, the Kremlin adopted a revised nuclear doctrine, noting that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. That threat was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal.

The revised doctrine also placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella. Putin has said that Moscow will retain control of its nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, but would allow its ally to select the targets in case of conflict.

Drills come as Ukrainian drones spotted in the Baltics

The maneuvers are held amid an increase in drone activity in the Baltic nations. On Tuesday, a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

On Wednesday, an emergency announcement about a drone flying over Belarus prompted residents of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, including top officials and lawmakers, to take shelter and led to a brief closure of its airport.

Ukrainian drones targeting Russia's Baltic ports and energy facilities have recently crossed or come down in NATO territory on several occasions. Western officials blame apparent Russian electronic jamming of the drones.

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said Tuesday, without providing evidence, that Ukraine is preparing drone attacks against Russia from the territory of the Baltic countries and warned of retaliation It alleged Ukrainian military personnel had been deployed to Latvia and warned that the country’s membership in NATO wouldn’t protect it from “just retribution.” Latvian authorities said the allegation was not true.

Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry published a list of factories in Europe that it said were involved in producing drones and their components for Ukraine. It warned that attacks on Russia involving drones manufactured in Europe are fraught with “unpredictable consequences.”

Some commentators interpreted the bellicose statements from Moscow and this week's exercise featuring short- and medium-range nuclear weapons capable of reaching targets in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to discourage Western allies from bolstering support for Ukraine.

Asked what message the nuclear exercise was intended to send, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that “any drills are intended to send a signal,” but wouldn't elaborate.

That's because we're talking about barbecue — the “low and slow” cooking method that's a hallmark of American culture.

Obviously, meat cooked over heat can be found in great-tasting forms all over the world - roasted, baked, grilled, all the ways. Many of them are regulars on the American plate. But there's something about the way barbecue developed in the U.S., cuts of meat made falling-off-the-bone tender through hours of cooking over indirect heat or smoke at lower temperatures, often with a sauce used as a marinade or for basting or perhaps a mix of dry spices. See: Ribs. Brisket. Pork shoulder. (You're hungry, aren't you. Told you.)

The roots of what's become American barbecue go back before the U.S. officially even became a country, says Robert F. Moss, contributing barbecue editor for “Southern Living” magazine and author of “Barbecue, The History of American Institution.”

It's a mix of influences, he says, starting between the indigenous peoples already here with their own cooking methods, the colonists who came from Europe with livestock new to the Americas and the enslaved Africans with their own cultures and traditions forcibly brought over and put to work.

“A lot of visitors to the United States ... called out barbecue as being a particular American kind of thing,” Moss says. “From the very beginning, it was something distinctive to the Americas and something that Europeans recognized as being something different than the way they cooked meat.”

The development of what we think of as barbecue today had other influences over the centuries, like commercial refrigeration of the late 19th century and the subsequent popularity of the in-home version in the early decades of the 20th, which allowed people to buy and store cuts of meat in ways impossible in colonial times.

Another hallmark of American barbecue culture is how regional it is, with different sauces and cooking techniques in North Carolina vs Memphis vs Texas vs Georgia. Moss says that developed in the early part of the 20th century.

A local cook might start a restaurant and teach barbecue to his employees, who then went out on their own. “You can literally map out these barbecue mentors who sort of spun out all these other cooks, and you can see how their style sort of was handed down from one generation to the next,” Moss says. “And that’s where you start seeing all the things we think of as the iconic.”

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.

Trump said he was postponing the Oval Office event with tech industry executives because he did not like what he saw in the order’s text. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters.

The push for some kind of government action to vet the most powerful AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with Wall Street CEOs in April, warning them about the cybersecurity risks posed by Anthropic’s AI model, Claude Mythos.

The meeting, urgently assembled at the Treasury Department's headquarters, was intended to ensure that banks were aware of the risks associated with the models, Bessent said at CNBC’s “Invest in America Forum” in Washington in April. “This new Anthropic model is very powerful,” he said. “Some banks are doing a better job in cybersecurity than others, and we want to have the ability to convene them and talk about what is best practices and where they should be heading."

That led some allies of the Republican president to propose better methods for getting those AI tools in the hands of trusted cybersecurity experts.

Trump had pledged to undo the AI safety regulations set by his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump's administration has viewed the AI sector as an engine to help deliver on his pledges to expand the economy and he has promoted its major players at events at the White House and around the world. Last week, Trump had tech CEOs in tow for a summit with China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump's ambitions for the sector have collided with the fears of voters over the impact of the technology on American life, jobs and electricity bills. Republicans themselves are divided on whether to embrace the AI industry or side with voters expressing skepticism about the technology.

There are competing factions within the administration, said Serena Booth, a computer science professor at Brown University and former AI policy fellow in a Democratic-led Senate committee.

“We do see this kind of public fighting,” she said. ”‘We will release an executive order. No, we won’t. We’re going to sign it this afternoon. Oh, the signing is canceled.’ I think this whiplash is because we’re seeing these fractures.’”

Some of those divides are balancing what Booth said is a “reasonable idea” to test the most capable AI models before their public release, with a concern that government scrutiny, if it takes too long, could burden AI developers.

“It does come at a potential very large cost to innovation and speed of development,” she said. “There is, I think, a real risk here and I do see both sides.”

The White House has pushed back against state laws seeking to regulate AI, saying the measures could curb growth. A new executive order that could have been perceived as government screening of commercial AI models would have signaled a significant shift in the administration's approach.

At a White House press briefing Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance declined to discuss specifics from the order but said the administration wants to promote innovation while also addressing cybersecurity threats and data privacy.

“The president wants us to be pro-innovation. He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world,” he said. Vance added, "We also want to make sure that we’re protecting people.”

Asked about new models that could pose security risks, Vance said the administration is taking a collaborative approach with tech companies.

“It also does have some downsides,” he said, “and we’re trying to balance that safety against innovation.”

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O'Brien reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.

About 420 activists departed Israel on planes bound for Turkey, where they landed Thursday evening in Istanbul. Wearing grey sweatsuits and Arab keffiyehs, they descended stairs to the runaway flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine.” Some appeared to be limping.

All of the activists were expected to be taken for a medical checkup, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “all foreign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said one participant who holds Israeli citizenship, Zohar Regev, was released following a court hearing on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay. Regev has taken part in previous flotillas to Gaza.

Netanyahu calls for quick deportation after rebuking security minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’s national security minister for provocative videos showing the minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concerns about the treatment of flotilla activists and in protest of Ben-Gvir’s actions.

“The actions of Mr. Ben-Gvir toward the passengers of the Global Sumud flotilla, condemned even by his own colleagues in the Israeli government, are unacceptable,” French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. Turkey, Greece, Italy and Indonesia also condemned Israel for Ben-Gvir's comments and the treatment of flotilla activists.

Italian detainees describe abuses by Israeli forces

Two Italian citizens who had been detained by Israel returned home Thursday, saying they had been beaten and mistreated — allegations that were denied by Israeli prison officials

Dario Carotenuto, an Italian lawmaker, said he experienced the “longest seconds” of his life when Israeli forces pointed rifles at activists inside a detention facility.

“They kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face,” said Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian newspaper journalist.

The allegations were “false and entirely without factual basis,” said Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service.

Dozens of the activists' boats began setting sail from Spain to Gaza in April. Israel stopped 20 vessels from the group on April 30 near the southern Greek island of Crete and forced most of its activists to disembark.

Israel took two high profile activists — Spanish-Swedish citizen Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila — back to Israel where they were interrogated and detained for around a week before being deported.

The activists accused Israel of torture, claims Israel denies. Brazil and Spain condemned Israel for “kidnapping” their citizens.

Participants then regrouped and more than 50 boats departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris on May 14. Israeli forces began stopping the boats about 268 kilometers (167 miles) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website.

Israel has repeatedly blocked similar attempts

Israel's Foreign Ministry has called the flotilla “a PR stunt at the service of Hamas.” The boats carry a tiny, symbolic amount of aid.

This week, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against several European activists aboard the flotilla, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “pro-terror.”

Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar attempt involving some 500 activists.

Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.

Blockade of Gaza in place since 2007

Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli authorities intensified it after the Hamas-led militant attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.

Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment. Israel says it’s intended to prevent Hamas from arming itself.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive following the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war has killed more than 72,700 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t give a breakdown between civilians and combatants. It is staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. ___ AP journalists Andrew Wilks in Istanbul; Silvia Stellacci in Rome; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Smith, who played at Georgia, was cited for speeding and reckless driving, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

He posted bond and was released shortly after his arrest on May 15.

Smith, from Savannah, Georgia, was selected by the Eagles with the 30th pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He has 25 quarterback hits, 10.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over three seasons.

He played a crucial role in the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX run, recording five quarterback hits, four sacks and four tackles for loss during the playoffs. He famously refused to exit the Eagles' 40-22 Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs despite sustaining a torn triceps that later required surgery.

Philadelphia begins organized team activities on Tuesday. Smith has a court date scheduled for July 15, but a sheriff’s office representative said he will not need to appear if he pays his fines.

A spokesperson for the Eagles didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Smith is the latest former or current Georgia player to be arrested for driving offenses. His Eagles teammate, Jalen Carter, was given 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine in 2023 after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing related to a crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy.

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

The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.

On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."

Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him after he dropped out or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.

“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”

During a conversation with staff on Thursday, Martin announced that the report's primary author, consultant Paul Rivera, was no longer working with the DNC, according to a person on the call not authorized to speak publicly about the private discussion.

A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation. Some also raised fresh concerns about the impact on the party's next presidential nomination process, which the DNC is actively coordinating now.

"The execution, the roll out and the coverup are indicative of how Ken Martin is fundamentally not up to the task," said Amanda Litman, who leads the Democratic-allied organization Run For Something. “He will be incapable of rebuilding the trust necessary to facilitate a Democratic primary in 2027-2028.”

Report says Democrats don't ‘listen to all voters’

The postelection report calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”

Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

Were Democrats too nice?

The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”

Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.

Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.

‘The math doesn’t work'

The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its seasonal outlook for the Atlantic, giving a 55% chance of a below-average season. The agency forecasts eight to 14 named storms, with three to six of them becoming strong enough to hit hurricane status and one to three of those intensifying to major hurricanes.

A normal hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven of them becoming hurricanes and three of them reaching major hurricane level, which is more than 110 mph (177 kph).

Eighteen other groups, private and academic, have also forecasted what they think the season will be like and most of them also call for a below average summer and fall. Those other forecasts average a dozen named storms, only five becoming hurricanes and two of those being major ones. Those forecasts also call for the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, which takes into account strength and duration of storms, to be 80% of normal.

Colorado State University, which pioneered the science of hurricane seasonal forecasting in 1984, is predicting the lowest overall activity since 2015, which was the strongest El Nino in the last 75 years. And that forecast is likely to be revised to even lower numbers in June, said Colorado State's hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach.

This is after nine of the last 10 Atlantic hurricane seasons have been above normal or even hyperactive, Klotzbach said. Last year started slow, but then had a burst, producing a near-record total of three Category 5 hurricanes, including Melissa which devastated Jamaica and Cuba, said Suzana Camargo, a climate scientist and tropical weather expert at Columbia University.

Inflation-adjusted damage across the globe from tropical cyclones has increased from an average of $11.4 billion a year in the 1980s to $109.7 billion a year over the past 10 years, with three-quarters of the damage done in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, according to insurance giant Munich Re.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same weather event, with the different names being used in different parts of the world.

“We should expect a less active year than certainly what we’ve seen recently, and perhaps significantly so below average,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero. “But again, it only takes one to cause real devastation and destruction in the mainland U.S. or even in Hawaii.”

El Nino decapitates Atlantic storms

It's mostly because of “the elephant in the room” which is an El Nino, Camargo said.

An El Nino is the natural and cyclic warming of parts of the central Pacific that warps weather patterns around the globe, especially during winter. Scientists for decades have found a correlation between an El Nino and below average Atlantic hurricane activity and stronger and more storms in the central and eastern Pacific. This year many forecasts are calling for a strong, super-strong or even record setting intense El Nino. During a La Nina, the cool flip side of El Nino, the Atlantic is generally busier with stronger storms.

There's a 98% chance that there will be an El Nino this summer and an 80% chance it will be moderate or strong, NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said Thursday.

Atlantic hurricane seasons when an El Nino reaches strong or very strong status have two-thirds the named storms and half the hurricanes of the 1991-2020 average, according to an Associated Press analysis of storm and El Nino statistics.

El Ninos fight Atlantic storm formation in several ways, especially with cross winds about 1 mile to 7 miles (1.5 to 11 kilometers) above the surface “which can basically blow apart the thunderstorms that make up” a hurricane, Corbosiero said.

“A stronger than normal wind shear tends to tilt storms as they try to develop,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Brian Tang. “It pushes dry air into storms. And prevents storms from developing in the first place. And if they do develop, it also prevents them from intensifying.”

El Nino reduces the number and intensity of weaker storms, but once a storm hits hurricane status with 74 mph winds, “they can be kind of like a self-feeding entity” and are less prone to being dampened by El Nino's wind shear, said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.

Forecasts for peak hurricane season show strong wind shear from the west in the main development region for the largest and long-lasting hurricanes that come off of Africa and develop as they head west over the Atlantic, Klotzbach said. Fewer of these type storms happen during El Ninos.

In the 15 strongest El Nino years since 1950, 37 named storms, 11 hurricanes and three major hurricanes made landfall on the continental United States, but in the 15 coldest La Nina years 61 named storms, 31 hurricanes and 10 major hurricanes hit America's Gulf and Atlantic coasts, according to Klotzbach. He said El Nino shrinks the number of hits on the Atlantic coast, but has less of an influence on the number of Gulf coast landfalls.

In addition to El Nino, dry conditions in Africa and water in the Atlantic being only slightly warmer than normal contribute to the forecast of a weaker season, Rosencrans said.

Opposite effect in the Pacific

El Ninos and La Ninas have the opposite effect on storms in the central and eastern Pacific as they do in the Atlantic, so experts are expecting a busier season in those regions. Jacobs said there's a 70% chance that the eastern Pacific will have an above normal season.

NOAA forecasts 15 to 22 named storms in the Pacific with nine to 14 becoming hurricanes and five to nine of those being major hurricanes. Average is 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. Rosencrans said the main area of central Pacific storm development shifts closer to Hawaii during El Ninos.

Eastern Pacific storms near Baja Mexico tend to “go west, affect the fishies and little else,” Corbosiero said. But at times they can turn east or north and cause massive damage as in Hurricane Otis in 2023 that smashed into Mexico, or 1992's Hurricane Lester, which caused heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest, she said.

Hawaii is a small island chain in a big ocean that can be threatened. In 1992, an El Nino year when there were few Atlantic storms (though Miami was devastated by Hurricane Andrew ), Hawaii was hit by Hurricane Iniki.

Further west toward Asia and India, “your odds of any storm forming becoming a super typhoon go up significantly in El Nino,” Klotzbach said.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season started May 15 and the Atlantic season begins June 1 and both end November 30.

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The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner underwent a non-invasive procedure on his left pitching elbow on May 6 to remove a loose body. He threw his latest bullpen session prior to Detroit's home game against Cleveland.

Manager A.J. Hinch called it a “great step” but stopped short of saying when Skubal might return to action.

“There are little hurdles to clear along the way when you come back from a procedure,” Hinch said. “As much as we described it as simple, it's still a procedure.”

Skubal used his full arsenal while throwing a total of 35 pitches, taking a breather in-between to simulate a break between innings.

“His velocity was as high as it's been since his throwing started,” Hinch said. “He sat down and came back and did like a simulated second inning. That's encouraging and it's full stuff.”

Skubal will travel with the team during its weekend series in Baltimore and throw another bullpen session. The team's medical and coaching staff will determine his next step afterward.

Skubal is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts this season. He'll be a free agent after the season.

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

The court's action leaves in place lower court rulings in favor of Joseph Clifton Smith, 55, who has been on death row roughly half his life after his conviction for beating a man to death in 1997.

The Supreme Court prohibited execution of intellectually disabled people in a landmark ruling in 2002. The justices, in cases in 2014 and 2017, held that states should consider other evidence of disability in borderline cases because of the margin of error in IQ tests.

The issue in Smith’s case is what happens when a person has multiple IQ scores that are slightly above 70, which has been widely accepted as a marker of intellectual disability. Smith’s five IQ tests produced scores ranging from 72 to 78. Smith had been placed in learning-disabled classes and dropped out of school after seventh grade, his lawyers said. At the time of the crime, he performed math at a kindergarten level, spelled at a third-grade level and read at a fourth-grade level.

The justices had taken up the case to consider how courts should handle such borderline cases of intellectual disability. Arguments took place in December.

Rather than issue a decision, though, the high court dismissed the appeal, an unusuaI action that leaves the last lower-court ruling in place.

The three liberal justices along with Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett formed the majority to dismiss the case.

The other four conservative justices dissented, faulting the federal appeals court in Atlanta for improperly analyzing the case and complaining that their colleagues should have ordered the appeals court to reexamine Smith's case.

The case is Hamm v. Smith, 24-872.

Denied entry into the military as a teenager because of his extreme views, the 50-year-old Ben-Gvir nevertheless rose to become one of the most powerful people in the country after operating for decades within its far-right fringes.

His tactics drew a backlash this week, as foreign leaders — and even coalition partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — condemned his on-camera treatment of some 430 detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

In one clip, Ben-Gvir is seen waving a large Israeli flag over hunched-over detainees whose hands appear to be bound. In another, he taunts a kneeling detainee whose wrists are zip-tied, yelling “Am Yisrael Chai” at him — Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.” In another, the detainees can be seen — foreheads to the floor of an outdoor pen — as the Israeli national anthem plays and armed guards encircle them.

Here is a closer look at Ben-Gvir:

An outlaw youth

Ben-Gvir has been convicted eight times for offenses that include racism and supporting a terrorist organization.

The army banned him from compulsory military service when he was a teen, deeming his views too extreme.

Ben-Gvir gained notoriety in his youth as a follower of the late radical rabbi Meir Kahane. He first became a national figure when he broke a hood ornament off then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s car in 1995.

“We got to his car, and we’ll get to him too,” he said, just weeks before Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Two years later, Ben-Gvir took responsibility for orchestrating a campaign of protests, including death threats, that forced Irish singer Sinead O’Connor to cancel a concert for peace in Jerusalem.

Moving to the mainstream

The political rise of Ben-Gvir was the culmination of years of efforts by the media-savvy lawmaker to gain legitimacy. But it also reflected a rightward shift in the Israeli electorate that brought his religious, ultranationalist ideology into the mainstream and diminished hopes for Palestinian independence.

Ben-Gvir is trained as a lawyer and gained recognition as a successful defense attorney for extremist Jews accused of violence against Palestinians.

With a quick wit and cheerful demeanor, Ben-Gvir also became a popular fixture in the media, paving his way to enter politics. He was first elected to parliament in 2021.

Ben-Gvir has called for deporting his political opponents. In an episode in 2022, he brandished a pistol and encouraged police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood.

In his Cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversaw the country’s police force. He used his influence to encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza and recently boasted that he had blocked past efforts to reach a ceasefire.

As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a tough line against anti-government protesters.

Controversial minister

Ben-Gvir, who lives in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, secured his Cabinet post after 2022 elections that put Netanyahu and his far-right partners, including Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party, into power.

“Over the last year I’ve been on a mission to save Israel,” Ben-Gvir told reporters before that election. “Millions of citizens are waiting for a real right-wing government. The time has come to give them one.”

Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to Jewish citizens, backing Netanyahu’s contentious attempt to overhaul the country’s legal system and frequently lashing out at U.S. leaders for perceived slights against Israel.

He oversees the nation's police force, prison service and border police units that operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

During the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack, Ben-Gvir repeatedly advocated against the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory, even as experts warned of brewing famine.

In July 2025, he was one of two Israeli ministers sanctioned by Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. T he Netherlands has banned Ben-Gvir from entering the country.

He recently celebrated in Israel's parliament after the body approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a bill he spearheaded.

Resignation and return to Netanyahu's cabinet

Ben-Gvir temporarily resigned from Netanyahu's Cabinet last year to express his disapproval of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

That ceasefire ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Ben-Gvir's resignation did not stop the ceasefire, but it did weaken Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Ben-Gvir rejoined the Cabinet when Israel ended the ceasefire and returned to active combat in Gaza in March 2025. He remained in Netanyahu's Cabinet through the current Gaza ceasefire.

Whether you want to dive under the sea with mermaids, celebrate World Turtle Day, dance at a glow-filled water park party, experience live music, or explore one of the nation’s biggest collectibles conventions, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

From family-friendly adventures to adults-only nightlife and live entertainment, here’s a look at some of the biggest events happening around Central Florida this weekend.

🧜‍♀️ Mermaid Dives at SEA LIFE Orlando

📅 Dates: Select weekends throughout May and Memorial Day Weekend📍 Location: SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium at ICON Park, International Drive, Orlando

Dive into an underwater fairytale during Mermaid Dives at SEA LIFE Orlando. This limited-time experience features professional mermaids swimming alongside sharks, stingrays, rescued sea turtles, and eels inside the aquarium’s massive Atlantic Ocean habitat. Guests can watch the performers free-dive through the 360-degree ocean tunnel and enjoy interactive Mermaid Meet & Greets inside the Enchanted Grotto, where families can hear ocean stories, take photos, and meet the mermaids up close. The event is included with regular aquarium admission and is perfect for families looking for a unique adventure.

🐢 World Turtle Day

📅 Date: May 23⏰ Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.📍 Location: Brevard Zoo

Celebrate World Turtle Day with hands-on activities and educational experiences focused on turtle conservation and care. Guests can explore veterinary exhibits, learn how turtle habitats are created, and meet resident turtles during live chats and demonstrations. Families can also create paper turtle crafts, discover how veterinarians care for injured turtles, and learn about the adaptations that help turtles survive in the wild. It’s a fun and educational event for animal lovers of all ages.

🔵 Blue Man Group Orlando

📍 Location: ICON Park, Orlando🎟️ Tickets: Starting at $62, including taxes and fees

The Blue Man Group brings its world-famous performance to Orlando with a high-energy show that combines comedy, music, technology, and audience interaction. Featuring the iconic blue-painted performers, the production delivers nonstop entertainment through drumming, theatrical effects, and immersive visuals. The family-friendly experience is known for its unique mix of humor and live performance that keeps audiences engaged from beginning to end.

🌊 Island Nights 21+ at Island H2O Water Park

📍 Location: Island H2O Water Park, Kissimmee

Island Nights transforms Island H2O Water Park into an adults-only nighttime party experience. Guests ages 21 and older can enjoy nighttime rides on water slides, float along the lazy river, and dance at glow-in-the-dark foam parties while DJs provide live entertainment throughout the evening. Specialty cocktails and themed drinks are also available, creating the ultimate summer night out atmosphere under the stars.

🎴 Collect-A-Con Orlando

📍 Location: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando

Collect-A-Con, the nation’s largest traveling trading card and pop culture convention, is bringing together collectors, anime fans, and gaming enthusiasts in Orlando. Guests can browse hundreds of vendors selling Pokémon cards, sports memorabilia, Funko Pops, comic books, vintage toys, and collectibles. The convention also features celebrity appearances, meet-and-greets, live box breaks, Q&A sessions, and on-site card grading services, making it a must-visit event for fans and collectors alike.

🎶 19th Annual Hurricane Party Music Festival

📅 Date: Saturday, May 23, 2026⏰ Time: Noon – 2 a.m.📍 Location: Historic Downtown Sanford (Centered at West End Trading Company, 202 S. Sanford Ave.)

The Hurricane Party Music Festival returns to Downtown Sanford for a full day of live ska and punk music featuring more than 30 bands across multiple stages. This year’s lineup includes Against All Authority, Mustard Plug, The Toasters, The Supervillains, and reunion performances from The Spitvalves and Skif Dank. The festival creates an energetic street-party atmosphere filled with live music, food, and entertainment throughout the day and into the night.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday. And Trump's plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.

The Latest:

Trump, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, says, ‘I don’t need money for the ballroom’

Trump, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, says ‘I don’t need money for the ballroom’

Asked about Senate Republicans dropping a proposed $1 billion for White House security and his ballroom project, Trump said, “I’m making a gift of the ballroom.”

Trump says the ballroom will be paid for by himself and donors – though much about its financing remains mysterious.

Trump drew distinctions between the ballroom and proposed White House security improvements. He said the ballroom was being built “in conjunction” with the military and the Secret Service and that “a tremendous amount” of the project “is for national security.”

The president also said that the changes were “not for me because I’ll be gone,” even though he’s repeatedly mused about remaining in office after his term.

Trump says he hopes to finish his revamp of the Reflecting Pool by Independence Day

Trump says he hopes to finish his revamp of the Reflecting Pool by Independence Day

“The key is to have it done before July 4,” the president said. “We want to see if we can have it done before July 4.”

The president has spent weeks promising to improve the Reflecting Pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. He says the project has been delayed by rain and other factors, but when completed, “It will be something special.”

In the meantime, a Washington-based nonprofit has sued, attempting to force the Trump administration to stop work on the Reflecting Pool and restore historic elements.

Trump returns to more definitive tone on controlling Iran’s uranium

Last week, Trump suggested that he might be OK with some 970 pounds of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried beneath Iranian nuclear facilities that were targeted by U.S. military strikes last year remaining entombed under those sites.

But speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump reverted to a more definitive tone about the U.S. taking control of the uranium as part of any potential peace agreement with Iran.

“We will get it. We don’t need it. We don’t want it,” Trump said. “We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it.”

Last week, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he’d “just feel better if I got” the uranium, but that “it’s more for public relations than it is for anything else.”

Trump says he didn’t like the AI executive order he was supposed to sign

President Donald Trump called off a Thursday signing ceremony for a new order on artificial intelligence because he worried it could dull America’s edge on AI technology.

Trump said he was postponing the signing because he didn’t like what he saw in the order’s text. He announced the change hours before the event was scheduled to take place in the Oval Office.

“We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters at an unrelated Oval Office event.

Trump suggests U.S. presidents have mulled intervening in Cuba for decades but ‘it looks like I’ll be the one that does it’

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters during an unrelated environmental event in the Oval Office, when asked Thursday about Cuba. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

He added that the U.S. wants to open Cuba “up to Cuban Americans, where they can go back and help.”

Trump didn’t answer questions about the aircraft carrier Nimitz having reportedly entered the southern Caribbean on Wednesday. Nor did he clarify exactly what he meant.

Still, the president’s comments deviated from Wednesday, when the president was asked about a possible U.S. escalation in Cuba and suggested one wasn’t coming.

He called Cuba a failed country and said, “They don’t have electricity. They don’t have money. They don’t have really anything,” before adding, “We’re going to help them along.”

Trump falsely accuses Maryland of election fraud

Trump claimed that Maryland “got caught with 500,000 mail-in ballots that were corrupt,” an allegation he has repeated multiple times in recent days.

That’s not true. The Maryland State Board of Elections said some voters received a primary ballot for the wrong party ahead of the state’s 2026 gubernatorial primary due to a vendor error.

Voters who may have been affected will receive a replacement ballot and any original ballots already sent to election offices will be voided. Voters have been instructed to destroy their original ballots if they have not yet returned them. Safeguards such as unique identifiers on ballot envelopes ensure that each voter can only vote once.

Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director at Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology, said the error isn’t expected to have much impact given how quickly it was discovered.

Trump begins Oval Office event as he loosens federal rules on grocery store cooling equipment

The president gathered leaders of grocery store chains and retail companies as he moved to loosen a federal rule requiring grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment.

Trump said terminating regulations from former President Joe Biden’s administration will “lower costs for consumers, protect hundreds of thousands of jobs, and save Americans well over $2 billion a year.”

Rubio says Trump’s preference is a diplomatic solution with Cuba, but US must preserve its interests

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration is keen to find a diplomatic solution to its differences with the Cuban government, but is not particularly optimistic that one can be achieved.

His comments leave open the option of military action against Cuba, particularly after the indictment this week of former President Raúl Castro on terrorism charges.

“The president’s preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful,” Rubio told reporters before leaving Miami for a trip to Sweden and India. “That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba. I’m just being honest with you. You know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high.”

He added that “our preference in Cuba and anywhere in the world is a negotiated diplomatic settlement.”

US Commission of Fine Arts approves Trump’s Washington arch design

The commissioners, all appointed by Trump, approved the triumphal arch design despite overwhelming opposition from the public.

It is one of several projects Trump is pursuing, along with a huge new White House ballroom, to leave his imprint on Washington. The arch itself would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top, flanked by two eagles, all gilded. A proposal for gilded lions to guard the base was dropped.

The vast majority of people submitting public comment complained about the design. The arch would dwarf the nearby Lincoln Memorial.

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UN council is urged ‘to use every means at its disposal’ to press Hamas to disarm

Nickolay Mladenov, who is overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, warned the Security Council Thursday that every act of violence there risks “unraveling” the ceasefire. He said Hamas must accept the roadmap to peace and Israel must uphold its obligations.

The high representative for the Board of Peace said the choice before Hamas and Israel is “a deteriorating status quo” or a new beginning for two million Palestinians, now waiting “in desperate conditions.”

“There is no third option,” Mladenov stressed. “There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend there is.”

He went through the 15 points in the roadmap, stressing that the board is not a substitute for Palestinian governance of Gaza.

Rubio says despite ‘good signs’ in Iran talks, ‘other options’ remain on the table

Being careful not to sound overtly optimistic, Rubio told reporters Thursday that while Pakistan and other regional allies are hard at work to bring a diplomatic resolution on Iran, with some officials traveling to Tehran today, Washington remains ready with alternative plans.

“The president’s preference is to do a good deal. That’s his preference. It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great,” he said. “But if we can’t get a good deal, the president’s been clear he has other options.”

Rubio says Iran’s plan to toll Strait of Hormuz would make deal ‘unfeasible’

Talking to reporters on the tarmac in Florida, Rubio once again blasted Tehran’s effort to financially benefit from its chokehold on the critical waterway.

“No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would be unacceptable,” he said. “It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that.”

But the secretary of state added that there were “good signs” in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran despite weeks of back-and-forth on a sustainable end to the war between the longtime adversaries.

“I don’t want to get ahead of it ... I think we’ve made some progress,” Rubio said. “But obviously we’re dealing with a system that itself is a little fractured.”

GOP senators huddling with Blanche on Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Republican senators have some questions for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as they finalize the text of a $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. The Trump administration wants it to include a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as part of a settlement that also absolves Trump and his family from any potential tax law violations.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before their meeting with Blanche began Thursday that his fellow Republicans want to make sure the fund is “fenced in appropriately.”

Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Among other things, Democrats want to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

▶ Read more:

Rubio says Cuba has ‘always’ been a national security threat

The U.S. secretary of state says Cuba has “always” been a national security threat to the United States.

“Cuba hosts a Russia and Chinese intelligence presence in their country,” Marco Rubio told reporters before leaving Miami for a trip to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden and then India.

Rubio would not discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, which has led many to believe that military action against the island is potentially imminent, after similar charges against former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro were invoked to justify his ouster in a military operation in January.

Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases post-election autopsy

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s performance in the 2024 campaign on Thursday after frustrated party operatives publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy.

The 192-page report was concluded last December and authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera. It calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

Martin is confronting a crisis of confidence among party officials amid increasing concerns about the health of their political machine. “Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote in response.

▶ Read more

Democrats rally at Capitol against GOP funding bill

House and Senate Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps in opposition to Republicans’ funding bill for immigration enforcement.

Democrats are trying to draw a sharp contrast with the upcoming votes by highlighting how the White House has proposed including $1 billion for security for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom. Republicans are abandoning that proposal, but Democrats said Congress should be focused instead on making life affordable for everyday Americans.

“Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “The American people are watching and in November, they will be watching.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, for his part, said “immigration enforcement in this country should be fair. It should be just, and it should be humane.”

▶ Read more

Cuban government points to US airstrikes on boats in Latin American waters

Cuba is accusing the Trump administration of hypocrisy for indicting former President Raul Castro in the downing of civilian planes near its coast 30 years ago, noting that the U.S. president is responsible for many more killings of civilians in international waters this year.

“It is highly cynical that this accusation is made by the same government that has murdered nearly 200 people and destroyed 57 vessels in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, far from the territory of the United States,” the Cuban government response said, adding that the killings “qualify as extrajudicial executions, in accordance with International Law, and murders, according to US laws.”

Trump has justified the attacks as necessary to stem the flow of drugs, while offering little evidence that “narcoterrorists” are in the boats.

The Pentagon inspector general announced a review of whether the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats followed an established targeting framework, but said it would not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny.

▶ Read more:

Trump will ease refrigerant rule in effort to address surging grocery costs

The Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said American families will see lower grocery prices as a result. Trump is scheduled to be joined by executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains for Thursday’s announcement.

Just how much or how quickly loosening the refrigerant rule might ease grocery prices is unclear. The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

▶ Read more:

Timeline of relations between the US and Cuba

Trump has been escalating talk about regime change in Cuba ever since he sent the U.S. military to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Now a federal indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro is raising questions about whether Trump might try something similar in Havana.

Here’s a timeline of U.S. relations with the communist-run island, including repeated meetings with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Castro known as “Raúlito.”

China opposes US sanctions and pressure on Cuba

“China always firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and have no authorization from the United Nations Security Council and the abuse of judicial measures, and we also oppose external forces exerting pressure on Cuba under any pretext,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiankun said Thursday.

The U.S. should “stop wielding the stick of sanctions and judicial measures” against the country, Guo added. “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference.”

Trump’s proposed Washington arch gets another review

Trump’s plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.

The proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington. Critics of the project, including an overwhelming number of people who submitted public comment in April, said the arch would be taller than any other monument in the capital city and dominate the skyline.

He has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump, approved the concept for the arch at its monthly meeting in April. Commissioners are set to consider and possibly vote on updated plans when they meet again on Thursday.

▶ Read more

Young Republicans wrestle with their disappointment in Trump and their party

The more than a dozen young Republicans who gathered with beers and brightly colored cocktails at a bar called dEcORa in Kentucky this week were picking apart the presidential administration they welcomed with high hopes last year.

By now, their enthusiasm for Trump had curdled into frustration. What poured out at the bar was a sense that the Republican establishment — which they initially applauded Trump for disrupting, but which some now see him sustaining — had forsaken them.

That festering feeling has widened a generational gap between younger and older conservatives as the party slowly begins to consider a future without Trump in charge.

The Republican primary defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie — who had earned a younger and anti-establishment following while feuding with Trump — cost them one of their strongest allies in Congress.

▶ Read more

Postcards emblazoned with “Greetings from” a state, city or tourist attraction advertise more than just the tiny scenes squeezed into 3D letters. They also reflect American innovation and idealism in both their production and popularity.

So-called large-letter postcards weren’t new when a German immigrant named Curt Teich began producing colorful linen-textured versions in the early 1930s, but he “was kind of a genius,” said Will Hansen, curator of Americana at the Newberry Library in Chicago, home to largest public collection of Teich postcards in the United States.

Just as Henry Ford revolutionized automobile production, Teich’s company perfected a system of mass producing large-letter postcards based on the idea that no town was too small to include.

“Nobody had really pulled together the idea that we should just do these for everywhere, and that’s kind of a quintessentially American thing,” Hansen said. “You take an idea, and you perfect it and you replicate it.”

The postcards’ popularity in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was fueled by an obsession with the automobile and the adventure of road travel. Teich and his imitators used saturated colors and simplified scenes to paint an enticing view of mid-20th-century America.

“They’re very optimistic-looking,” Hansen said. “That is sort of in tandem with how Americans are thinking about America at that time — that this is a country on an upward trajectory, that we have more money to spend, that we’re able to travel freely in ways we couldn’t before.”

Peter Meggison, a 76-year-old retired community college professor in Westport, Massachusetts, has 10,000 large-letter postcards in his private collection. His favorites include cards depicting his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and one from Saugatuck, Michigan, that features a vibrant artist’s palette as the background.

“I think it’s the graphics that appeal to a lot of people, and they really do represent mid-20th century America, which is really quite nice,” he said.

For non-collectors, sending the postcards to friends and family was an inexpensive way to show off their travel. Today, travelers pose in front of murals around the country that mimic the vintage postcards and share photos on social media. Last year, the Newberry helped The Eagles create a background of gigantic postcard images at the Sphere in Las Vegas for the classic rock band’s performance of “Take it Easy.”

Says Hansen: “Even if folks in that crowd weren’t alive at the time when these were being distributed, everybody knows them."

___

Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.

“I’m not going to back down. I’m certainly not going to sit in my house and cry every day all day about it,” said LaChance. “Something needs to happen.”

LaChance may have lost her son but she’s hoping to prevent this tragedy from happening to others.

“I have an idea - I’m not ready to share it with the public yet, but there is something big coming and I’m excited about it, and I think it’s really going to resonate with kids,” said LaChance.

On May 10, her teenage son Colton Remsburg was riding his e-bike on Moss Park Road when he was hit by a pickup truck. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, he was not wearing a helmet and not in a marked crosswalk when he entered the direct path of the truck.

[WATCH: Orange County commissioners debate strict new e-bike rules]

Since Dec. 1, there have been 41 incidents in Orange County involving e-bikes and scooters that have resulted in injuries. Now leaders are calling for change.

“Wear bright clothing, wear protective gear, wear the correct protective gear,” said William Farhat, the Division Chief with Orange County Fire Rescue.

“The most important thing we can give out right now immediately is wear a helmet,” said City of Orlando Commissioner Tom Keen.

The Orange County Commission spoke on e-bike safety concerns earlier this week, pressing to get an ordinance in place that could include speed limits for e-bikes, banning e-bikes from sidewalks and ticketing parents if their children repeatedly break the rules.

“Our ultimate goal is to make our community safer,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

The state recently passed its own set of e-bike rules, capping things like speed and right-of-way.

Many say there is more that cities and counties can do to further protect kids.

Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood announced Wednesday that “Sinners”, the Academy Award-winning supernatural horror film from writer-director Ryan Coogler, will haunt both parks for Halloween Horror Nights.

“It’s been incredible to see audiences connect with Sinners in such a powerful way," said Coogler alongside fellow producers Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian in a joint statement. “Now, partnering with Halloween Horror Nights gives fans the chance to step even deeper into the world of the film — to feel the music, the atmosphere and the tension all around them.”

According to a news release, guests will find themselves inside Club Juke, set in Clarksdale, Mississippi, circa 1932 — where the blues is playing, the night is young and the vampires are already at the door.

Just as Sammie’s gift as a griot tears open the veil between the living and the dead in the film, the house promises to weaponize atmosphere and music to blur the line between spectator and survivor. Red-eyed vampires Remmick, Bert and Joan lurk at every turn, and the only way out is to last until sunrise.

Running Aug. 27 through Nov. 1, Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights is celebrating its 35th year with 10 all-new haunted houses, outrageous entertainment, terrifying scare zones and street experiences.

Right now, guests can buy:

• • Single-night tickets (valid on any one night)
  • Halloween Horror Nights Universal Express Passes (allows you to skip the line)
  • R.I.P Tour (provides a number of premium benefits)
  • Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour (a special behind-the-scenes look)
  • A number of package savings

Tickets for a limited-capacity event are also on sale. Those nights are Thursday, Aug. 27, and Monday, Oct. 19.

For ticket information, click here.

On Thursday, Jonny Santiago, 22, changed his plea to charges connected to the July 2022 chase and crash into a Mount Dora synagogue where he opened fire.

As part of an agreement with the state attorney’s office, Santiago pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder of law enforcement, fleeing or attempting to elude, and discharging a firearm in public.

“My concern, our concern, his family’s concern was to make sure that he does not spend the rest of his life in prison,” defense attorney Brian Pakett said.

Santiago still faces a second-degree murder charge connected to the shooting death of his father, Juan Santiago, at his Deltona home.

The change of plea decision came after Pakett said he consulted Santiago’s family members, who were in court for the sentencing.

“Obviously, it’s a very difficult situation for them because he’s alleged to have taken the life of her husband, a brother, father, but they very much support Jonny, and they have his back,” Pakett said.

Santiago was previously declared incompetent to stand trial, and his attorney said he plans to seek an insanity defense in the second-degree murder case.

“He’s a young kid. He’s got a lot of life left. Mental health should not define him, and mental illness will not define him and keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” Pakett said.

A pre-trial conference in the second-degree murder case has been scheduled for June 9 in Volusia County, and a trial date was scheduled for July 6.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

The Associated Press sent text messages and emails to media representatives for the tribe and left a voicemail at the tribe's headquarters. They didn't immediately respond Thursday.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer each welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

But the mother of three is getting more daring as gas prices and other travel costs make vacations more expensive. Her family has traded pricier trips, such as long summer stays in Florida and an annual Disney World visit around her birthday, for local beaches, bike rides and hiking trails near their home in coastal Rhode Island.

“I’ve been trying to do more of that because one, it’s quality time. Two, it’s fresh air. And three, we’re not spending an arm and a leg,” Bernaba, 47, said.

That kind of calibration is shaping the summer travel season, which gets its traditional start in the U.S. with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures are making most forms of travel costlier as people in many parts of the world form their plans.

The U.S. Travel Association expects annual travel spending to grow by a modest 1% this year, powered largely by domestic leisure travel despite the FIFA World Cup giving soccer fans from other countries a reason to visit the U.S. Airfares have climbed around the world along with the price of jet fuel as the war constrains global oil supplies.

Sticking closer to home may not cushion the sticker shock. The nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated Americans would collectively spend an extra $3.5 billion on gasoline over the holiday weekend. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $4.56 on Thursday compared to $3.18 a year ago, according to motor club AAA.

Other travel expenses have gone up too. The latest consumer price index showed airfares were 20.7% higher in April from a year earlier, the cost of intracity transit such as buses and subways rose 5.6%, lodging cost 4.3% more, and eating out got 3.6% pricier.

Changing travel patterns

Despite elevated prices, industry forecasts suggest Americans still want to get away, even if it means replacing long trips with long weekends, choosing destinations closer to home and finding ways to cut costs by cooking meals or using buses and trains instead of driving.

AAA predicted that 45 million U.S. residents would travel at least 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) from home between Thursday and Monday for the holiday. The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to screen 18.3 million passengers from Thursday to next Wednesday.

Many households are planning summer vacations but making tradeoffs such as shorter trips or cheaper lodging, according to Bank of America analysts. Mastercard said in a recent report that consumers appeared increasingly focused on value and were adjusting their destinations and timing instead of not going away at all.

“Generally, it’s certainly more of a demand reshuffling than a demand softening,” David Tinsley, a senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said.

For the Bernaba family, that has meant trading a big vacation for a shorter trip nearby this summer. Their scaled-back itinerary still is pricey: more than $400 for a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for their car and passengers, and about $800 a night for each of the two hotel rooms the family of five needs.

Another family that had planned to join them backed out after seeing the price tag.

“The pinch is being felt all the way around,” Bernaba said.

Analysts have increasingly described travel spending as “K-shaped,” with higher-income households continuing to spend while lower-income families pull back or opt out entirely. Bank of America said lower-income households were significantly more likely to report having no summer travel plans this year.

New polling of registered U.S. voters by Quinnipiac University found that 48% have cut back on vacation spending, 54% have reduced what they spend on dining out, and 36% have curbed their driving.

Travelers are confronting other stressors besides cost.

Airlines around the world have canceled flights and trimmed routes to save on fuel and operating costs, leaving passengers with fewer options. The conflict in the Middle East has complicated getting there and rerouted flights to and from Asia, adding another layer of concern on top of broader geopolitical tensions and the declining value of the dollar for people considering trips abroad.

Recent U.S. government shutdowns, which caused major flight disruptions and long security lines, also are likely still fresh in travelers’ minds.

The various factors impacting travel right now has made planning trips more mentally taxing and may be pushing people toward simpler and more accessible vacations that feel easier to manage, said Marta Soligo, a tourism sociologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“The key word here is unpredictability,” Soligo said. “Tourists don’t like unpredictability.”

Quality over quantity

Jim Wang, a personal finance blogger who lives in Maryland with his wife and four children, said his family’s original plan to travel to Spain to see a full solar eclipse in August began to unravel once they looked at the logistics.

Beyond thousands of dollars in airfare, the trip would have required multiple connecting flights, plus a car rental to reach northern Spain, where the path of totality is expected to pass.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I want to see the eclipse that much,’” Wang said.

Instead, Wang’s family plans to head this summer to the Lake Tahoe area straddling California and Nevada, where they can stay at a relative’s cabin for free, hike and enjoy a slower pace with limited cellphone service. His wife’s parents and sister expect to join them.

“We’re still going to travel. It’ll just be different,” Wang said. “The vacations are no longer as grand for the adults. But for our kids, it’s still exciting.”

Nancy McGehee, a Virginia Tech hospitality professor who studies consumer behavior, said travelers are increasingly focusing more on the “why than the where” when it comes to vacations.

“What we’re seeing is people are saying, ‘Alright, we can’t do that big splashy trip we wanted to do, but what else can we do?’” McGehee said. “It’s more quality over quantity that we’re seeing people go for.”

Back in Rhode Island, Bernaba has accepted that travel may look different for her family for a while.

“I think that’s probably why my mind has gone to doing more nature-y things,” she said. “Let’s learn how to use the earth to enjoy ourselves because that’s not going to cost as much money.”

I chatted with Officer Ortiz, who’s part of the department’s traffic unit. In a time when traffic enforcement can sometimes be overlooked, seeing an officer with only two years on the department already choosing to specialize in traffic safety says a lot about his passion for the job.

We talked about some of the specific traffic concerns they’re dealing with around Titusville and how proactive enforcement plays a major role in keeping the community safe. From speeding complaints to seatbelt enforcement during the statewide Click It or Ticket campaign, it was a good reminder that traffic units do much more than just write tickets. A lot of the work is focused on changing dangerous driving behavior before it leads to crashes or serious injuries.

One of the coolest parts of the visit was checking out Titusville PD’s ghost-marked patrol cruiser. If you’ve never seen one up close, the graphics are intentionally subtle and harder to spot until light hits them just right. It’s a sleek setup that still gives officers visibility while helping them monitor aggressive or distracted drivers more effectively.

It was a great conversation and an awesome opportunity to highlight the men and women working traffic enforcement on the Space Coast. I hope you enjoy the conversation and get a behind-the-scenes look at the work being done to help keep Titusville’s roads safe.

For the first time in a NATO and European Union capital, Lithuanians were pictured sheltering in underground car parks in Vilnius on Wednesday, as authorities warned of unidentified drone activity.

No one has died or been injured recently, but the increasing airspace incursions have prompted some Baltic ministers to chastise Ukraine for the violations. In Latvia, officials' handling of the stray drones led to a political crisis that triggered the collapse of the government earlier this month.

Ukraine has ramped up attacks on Baltic Sea ports used for Russian energy exports in an attempt to hit Moscow’s war chest as U.S. President Donald Trump’s war in Iran has driven up the price of oil, a key revenue stream for the Kremlin.

As Ukraine’s drones have snaked up north, they have skirted the borders of NATO members Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. Some of them were not detected before they crash landed in some of the Baltic states.

Ukrainian officials apologized and said the drones were aimed at military targets inside Russia but were sent off course by Russian electronic interference.

The string of airspace violations has prompted questions about the state of air defenses on NATO’s eastern flank.

Ukraine is targeting Russian ports on the Baltic Sea

Ukraine's intensifying attacks against Russia have focused on arms factories, ports on the Baltic Sea and energy facilities as the war in Iran has boosted oil prices.

It has particularly targeted the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, close to the borders of Estonia and Finland. Russia uses the ports to load up ships taking its oil exports through the Baltic Sea.

During one attack in May, which set part of the port of Primorsk on fire, more than 60 Ukrainian drones were shot down, Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko said.

After stray Ukrainian drones entered Latvian airspace on May 7, the country’s Defense Minister Andris Spruds resigned, leading Prime Minister Evika Silina to also quit days later because she was left without a majority in the coalition government.

On May 19, a Romanian fighter jet based in Lithuania shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said it was likely aimed at targets in Russia and that he told Ukraine to send its drones “as far from NATO territory as possible.”

On Wednesday, NATO fighter jets escorted an unidentified drone which crossed into Lithuania, prompting a red alert urging citizens to take cover around the capital Vilnius, Lithuania's defense ministry said. Contact with the drone was lost and the military was searching for it, the ministry said.

Russian electronic interference sends drones off course

Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Nordic and Baltic nations have increasingly warned about electronic interference from Russia disrupting communications with planes, ships and drones.

In the Baltic region, Russia often uses jamming and spoofing to send drones off course.

Satellite communications systems — known collectively as the Global Navigation Satellite System, or GNSS — receive precise time signals from satellites around 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) away in space. A smartphone, car, marine or aircraft navigation system compares how long it takes to receive signals from several different satellites to calculate an exact location.

Jamming occurs when a receiver is overwhelmed by a strong radio signal transmitted in the same frequency range as GNSS and other satellite navigation signals, leaving the receiver unable to fix its location or time. Spoofing involves transmitting fake signals that imitate a real GNSS satellite signal, commonly known as GPS, to mislead a phone, ship, or aircraft into thinking it is in a different place.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Tuesday that Russia is “deliberately” redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace with electronic interference.

Drones have been entering Baltic airspace for many months

In September 2025, about 20 Russian drones flew into Poland, putting the spotlight on holes in NATO’s air defenses, as multimillion-dollar jets were scrambled. Those drones were not detected in advance, Estonia's defense minister said at the time.

Neither was a Ukrainian military drone, which crashed with explosives in Lithuania last week, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, chief of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said on Sunday.

While Poland and Romania responded to the drone incursions last year by deploying new anti-drone technology — the first used by the NATO alliance aimed specifically at countering drones — that system is not in place across the entire Baltic region.

Defending against drones requires solving a complex set of technological, financial and bureaucratic problems and "there is no one solution against every type of drone,” Col. Janno Märk of the Estonian Defense Forces said.

Tackling various types of drones operating at different speeds and altitudes require a layered air defense response, Märk said during military exercises in southeastern Estonia.

Budrys, the Lithuanian foreign minister, told AP in an interview Saturday that the Baltic countries are likely going to have to continue to counter incursions from Ukrainian drones as Kyiv now has the capability to reach targets “deep in Russia” as well as ports on the Baltic Sea. The way to counter those drones, he said, is actually with Ukraine's help as the most effective anti-drone systems have been developed in the country.

Ukraine denies claims it is preparing attacks from the Baltics

The presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on Thursday issued a joint statement denying Russia’s “baseless accusations” after Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine is preparing to launch drone attacks against Russia from the territory of the Baltic countries.

The SVR claimed Ukrainian military personnel had already deployed to Latvia and warned that the country’s NATO membership wouldn’t protect it from “just retribution.” It did not provide evidence for its claims.

Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said Tuesday that none of the Baltic states or Finland have ever allowed Ukraine to use their airspace for strikes against Russia.

Writing on social platform X, Budrys called the SVR claim a “transparent act of desperation” and an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a “simple reality” — that Ukraine is hitting Russia's military machine hard.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised the alliance’s reaction to the drone incidents, saying that they had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.”

“This is exactly what we planned and prepared for,” Rutte said, blaming Russia’s war on Ukraine for the incursions.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to residents of the city of more than 8 million for the most watched sporting event in the world.

“To put that into perspective, that is five lattes in New York City,” Mamdani quipped from a bar in Harlem’s Little Senegal neighborhood alongside U.S. men’s national team forward Timothy Weah.

About 150 tickets per game will be made available for seven of the eight matches played at the roughly 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium, located across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. The lone exception is the high demand July 19 final, where some seats now cost nearly $33,000.

The tickets will also include free roundtrip bus transportation to the stadium for the ticket holders, the mayor said. They will be distributed via a lottery starting May 25.

To prevent scalping, Mamdani said the city would be taking steps to ensure the ones they distribute go to New York City residents and are not resold on the secondary market.

He said the tickets will be non-transferrable and that there will be a “variety of ways” city officials will verify residency. They’ll also only be handed out directly to the fans as they board the bus on game day.

“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani said.

The Democrat, who took office in January, said the effort underscores how his administration is not simply focused on making everyday things like housing and groceries more affordable.

“It extends to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human,” he said.

During his campaign, Mamdani had called on FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to attend the games by setting aside 15% of tickets at discounted prices for residents. He'd also launched a petition calling on FIFA to reverse its plan to set ticket prices based on demand.

The $50 tickets don't come directly from FIFA, but from those allotted to New York and New Jersey’s joint host committee for the games, according to the mayor's office.

Previously, FIFA had made some $60 tickets available for every game at the tournament in North America after facing backlash for the exorbitant prices for tickets.

Those reduced price tickets, though, went to the national federations of the teams playing in the games, with those federations deciding how to distribute them to loyal fans who have attended previous games at home and on the road.

Besides the championship game, the home stadium for both the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets is set to host five group World Cup matches and two knockout stage games. Group stage matches for soccer powerhouses Brazil, France, Germany and England, along with other nations, begin June 13.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

As more social media livestreamers find that being performative with bigoted language can draw big audiences — and big bucks — the line is blurring between freedom of expression and people's right to feel safe. Even within livestreaming communities, some assert they have a right to say whatever they want to and to make money, while others support having boundaries.

Racial justice advocates worry that allowing people to profit from such videos only encourages and normalizes racist antics. As for regulation, social media can sometimes feel lawless, as it's generally left to platforms to self-regulate and hold users accountable for obscene and abusive words. But at some point, laws for offline behavior can trump online freedoms, experts say.

Dalton Eatherly, who goes by the moniker “Chud the Builder,” is facing charges including attempted murder after allegedly shooting another man last week outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, a city of about 165,000 people not far from the Kentucky border. authorities said.

Eatherly, 28, and Joshua Fox initially were involved in a verbal altercation, according to a criminal complaint.

Eatherly reached for a gun inside his right jacket pocket and the two men started to fight. Fox was struck multiple times and later underwent emergency surgery at a hospital, the complaint said.

A witness described the man who was shot as Black. Eatherly is white.

In an audio stream apparently recorded by Eatherly just after the shooting and later posted online, Eatherly said he fired in self-defense. It’s unclear if he and the wounded man exchanged words beforehand.

Eatherly, who is being held on a $1.25 million preliminary bond, has a full bond hearing scheduled Thursday. His attorney, Jacob Fendley, declined to comment on the charges when reached two days after his arrest.

Freedom of speech or hate speech?

Eatherly has defended his videos on the crowdsourcing site as “mild jokes, unfiltered thoughts.” While he has sometimes defended using a racial slur as “edgy, harmless humor,” Eatherly wrote, “I know it’s controversial, but it’s my right to speak freely.”

But legal experts say not all speech is protected.

Speaking generally about Eatherly's social media posts, David Raybin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, said although Eatherly repeatedly references free speech in the posts, his actions in them may actually be crimes under Tennessee law. Because Eatherly was known to openly carry a pistol while berating people, the combination could constitute assault, he said.

“You don’t have to touch someone,” Raybin said. Assault can be charged if you “create fear of imminent harm.”

Meanwhile, merely coming at someone with “fighting words” constitutes disorderly conduct under local Nashville ordinances.

Brandon Tucker, senior director of government affairs for civil rights organization Color of Change, said “race-baiting” content creates immediate risk for Black bystanders. There’s a “power imbalance” with a livestreamer who is attracting an audience.

“The same free speech that this individual wants to advocate for doesn’t recognize the chilling of my response to know that I cannot react in any reasonable way because my face, my safety, my family’s safety is in jeopardy and being broadcast to an audience that most likely aligns with this person’s views,” Tucker said.

These streaming platforms cannot claim neutrality if they’re essentially financially rewarding users for using racist language to agitate, he said.

Even some other livestreamers say Eatherly crosses the line.

“When you get to terrorizing and doing all this hate speech, that’s when the line gets drawn, especially when nobody is bothering you,” said James Champion, a 41-year-old Los Angeles-based livestreamer and content creator who goes by the preferred online moniker SendaRoni Sloscru. “Whatever platform is allowing him to get away with that is basically race-baiting, and I just think in this day and time you got people who are going to laugh at it or people who will beat you to death about it.”

Eatherly's arrest has led to an outpouring of support, as he raised more than $100,000 in one day for his legal assistance. It is reminiscent of an incident from a year ago in which a white Minnesota woman was captured on cellphone video admitting to calling a child a racist slur. She amassed over $800,000 on the GiveSendGo crowdfunding site and also pointed to her First Amendment rights.

Platform regulation can feel like the 'Wild West'

Eatherly was streaming on Pump.fun, a platform where users create and trade cryptocurrency tokens. Token creators have used the livestream feature to gain notice in some outrageous ways, such as by performing dangerous stunts and threatening violence. In November 2024, Pump.fun paused the feature because people were violating its terms of service by uploading abusive, obscene or dishonest messages.

“It's not clear what was done to improve that situation before it was reinstated,” said Kate Ruane, director of the free expression program at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “If you're relying on users to report and none of the users that are viewing these livestreams disagree or have a problem with what they're seeing, you might not be getting the user reports that you should."

Pump.fun did not responded to a Wednesday email seeking comment.

Brandon Golob, a criminology, law and society professor at University of California, Irvine, said the number of livestreaming platforms has grown, but self-regulation can still feel like ‘the Wild West.’

The First Amendment, however, is not a blanket shield from real-world laws against harassment, hate crimes and provocation.

“The reality is that when it involves two private individuals, state law is going to govern,” Golob said. “We just want to make sure that we’re not conflating government responsibility or government censorship with private accountability.”

SendaRoni said he’s been livestreaming for a few years and has “tens of thousands” of followers across a number of social media platforms.

“I usually talk about social issues. I speak on trending events, news,” he said, adding that a number of livestreamers addressed Eatherly’s antics following the shooting in Clarksville.

“I think he tried to find people he’d get a reaction out of,” SendaRoni said. “When you do things such as that the end results are not going to be exciting. You’re acting like no one has a reason not to be disgusted and you made a mockery of yourself.”

Leading livestream platforms such as YouTube and Twitch do have an infrastructure for content moderation — and community guidelines barring hate speech and slurs. They utilize automated detection and user reports.

Both Golob and Ruane advise people to know their rights on how to handle livestreamers who are making them uncomfortable. Ruane says it's OK “to film them right back.”

“Make sure that you're sharing a different version of the story because whatever First Amendment rights they might be exercising, you have them too,” Ruane said. “Make sure that is being published at the same time and that can serve as a form of pushback in and of itself.”

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Associated Press reporter Travis Loller contributed to this story.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is taking the beloved Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction to a galaxy far, far away from its original experience.

The experience, launching Friday, has the fan-favorite scoundrel Hondo Ohnaka back and recruiting guests to track down bounties for the New Republic — flying the most famous hunk of junk in the galaxy to locations straight out of the new Mandalorian & Grogu film.

All roles get an upgrade

Every seat on the Falcon has been enhanced. Pilots navigate through recognizable Star Wars landscapes with new branching storylines — meaning the choices made behind the controls actually change the outcome.

“Maybe if you tried to go right on Coruscant once, you should try going left next time and kind of see how that might change your bounty,” said Morgan McDowell, a senior software project manager with Walt Disney Imagineering.

Gunners still have the option to shoot manually or automatically, but what they’re targeting now depends on the mission. That could mean taking down TIE fighters or blasting through neon signs on Coruscant.

Engineers, however, are stepping into the spotlight in a big way. They choose which bounty the crew pursues, which planet the Falcon travels to, and are responsible for collecting crates along the way.

“They’re the key here for Hondo as they’re in charge of picking up crates along the way so Hondo can always end up on top in the deal,” McDowell said.

Keep an eye on Grogu

Engineers also get a special bonus: the ability to check in on Grogu throughout the mission.

“If you’re wondering what he’s doing in hyperspace or what he is doing while you’re flying through Bespin, our engineers do have the ability to call in and see what he’s been up to,” McDowell said.

Powered by Unreal Engine 5

The visuals behind the experience also received a major technical overhaul. Disney upgraded the attraction to Unreal Engine 5 (UE5)— a real-time rendering engine developed by Epic Games — unlocking a new level of visual detail across the mission.

For first-time riders, McDowell says every role is worth exploring.

“All roles are fun — find your favorite,” McDowell said. “Even for the casual Star Wars fan or our eagle-eyed Star Wars fans, there’s lots of fun little tidbits throughout the ride.”

Whether guests spot familiar ships flying through the clouds of Bespin or catch a recognizable billboard on the streets of Coruscant, there’s something new to discover on every mission.

Commissioners, all appointed by Trump, acted despite overwhelming public opposition to the 250-foot arch, one of several projects that Trump is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington.

“The building is beautiful,” the commission's chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said shortly before the vote on a design revised slightly from what was presented to the federal agency in April.

The arch would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure. The statue would be flanked on top by two gilded eagles, but the four lions envisioned as guarding the base are now gone. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the surroundings.

The commission’s vice chairman, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the arch without the figures on top, which would have reduced the arch's height by about 80 feet (24.4 meters). Critics of the project argue that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt views from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.

The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters) tall, and be close to half the height of the Washington Monument, an obelisk that is about 555 feet (169 meters) tall.

Commissioners were told at Thursday's meeting that Trump considered the suggestion to remove the statue “but elected not to pursue such an option.”

McCrery recommended doing away with the lions on the base and objected to plans for an underground tunnel for pedestrians to get to the arch, which would be built on a traffic circle. Both design elements have been removed.

Preliminary surveys and testing of the site began last week.

A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block construction on grounds that the arch would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.

The Republican president and his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, have argued that Washington is the only major Western world capital without such an arch. Burgum's department includes the National Park Service, which manages the plot where Trump wants to put the arch.

The president has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.

Trump's rehab of the Reflecting Pool is also the subject of a court challenge brought by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which said the administration’s moves to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without first undergoing relevant reviews ran afoul of federal preservation laws governing historic sites.

The nonprofit group argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the changes at the Reflecting Pool are part of Trump’s broader effort to push through dramatic renovations in Washington without proper reviews and undermine the tone of the area.

A hearing in the case was scheduled for later Thursday in federal court in Washington.

By an 8-1 vote, the justices revived claims filed by a U.S. company, Havana Docks, that operated docks in the Cuban capital. The suit targets four cruise lines that brought tourists to Cuba during the brief thaw in relations during the Obama administration.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court that the federal appeals court in Atlanta was wrong to dismiss the claims, holding that “the cruise lines used confiscated property to which Havana Docks owns the claim.”

The court's ruling is not a final decision in the suit filed by Havana Docks. But it comes amid heightened pressure on Cuba from President Donald Trump's administration, including Wednesday's indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles.

The Supreme Court case turned on a provision of the federal law known as Helms-Burton that Congress passed in response to the shootdowns. Title III of the law allows Americans to sue almost any company that engages in commercial activity or benefits from property confiscated by Cuba’s government.

Before the first Trump administration, every president had suspended the provision because of objections from U.S. allies doing business in Cuba and the effect on future negotiated settlements between the U.S. and Cuba.

In 2016, President Barack Obama used a joint news conference with Castro to announce that cruise lines could resume service to Cuba. Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises began making stops in Havana that allowed cruise travelers to go on excursions to local nightclubs, landmarks, rivers and beaches.

That changed abruptly in 2019, when Trump decided to activate the provision allowing lawsuits and then announced new restrictions on travel. The cruise lines hastily dropped Cuba stops and rerouted ships on the go.

Ruling in the lawsuit filed by Havana Docks, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami found the cruise lines liable for their use of the Havana terminal the company once controlled.

Licenses by Obama's Treasury Department to carry American passengers to Cuba did not shield the cruise lines from the lawsuit, Bloom ruled.

She awarded Havana Docks, more than $400 million in all. A federal appeals court ruled for the cruise lines, reversing the judgment.

The case now returns to the appeals court. Thomas acknowledged that the cruise lines have additional arguments that have yet to be ruled on.

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“I was a newbie,” recalls Monroe. “I’m pretty sure I spent my 21st birthday here. I was like: ‘Well isn’t that exciting, to turn 21 in a country where I could have drank in for years.’”

“It Follows,” about a sexually transmitted curse, was part of a new wave of probing, atmospheric horror films. But then, it was a small $1.3 million indie movie that had little reason to expect a Cannes launch.

“It was surreal. You never expect going into making a film that this will happen,” Monroe said in an interview on the rooftop of Cannes' Palais des Festivals. “But especially for that film. It was such a tiny, indie horror film. At that point, there really wasn’t genre at this festival.”

That has changed, though. Horror, science fiction and even slasher films have increasingly shown up in Cannes. This year, that included Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the Korean monster-sci-fi-mashup “Hope” and the gothic thriller “Victorian Psycho,” starring Monroe as an unhinged governess.

On the surface, “Victorian Psycho,” which premiered Thursday in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, appears to extend Monroe’s reputation as the preeminent “Scream Queen” of her generation. Along with “It Follows,” she’s been at the center of horror films like 2022’s “Watcher” and 2024’s “Longlegs.”

But Monroe’s range as an actor far exceeds any neat genre identification. She brought Hitchcockian depth to “Watcher” and psychological intensity to “Longlegs.” Bodies get bloody in “Victorian Psycho,” too, but Monroe’s deranged protagonist is archly hysterical. She’s a hoot.

As much as Monroe may be associated with horror, she might be even better at comedy. In the gleefully morbid “Victorian Psycho,” she finally turns the tables. After years spent fleeing serial killers and worse, Monroe is on the offensive.

“I didn’t know if I could pull it off. I decided to take the leap,” Monroe says. “Man, it was just so much fun. There’s so much freedom in this role. It will definitely be the character I’ll miss the most.”

In Zachary Wigon’s “Victorian Psycho,” which Bleecker Street will release Sept. 25 in theaters, Monroe plays Winifred Notty. In the 1850s, she arrives at the Ensor House, the grand manor of the Pounds family, to serve as the eager governess to two children.

It doesn’t take long for the children to realize she has a screw loose. But Winifred is comically chipper, even when deranged and over the top. As distant as the part might be from Monroe — a Santa Barbara, California, native here doing a British accent for the first time — it’s the first role to really capture Monroe’s natural comic energy.

“I’ve never done anything remotely close to a role like this,” Monroe says. “I’m usually more introverted and internal with my roles, and this is very outward.”

Almost always in “Victorian Psycho,” Winifred is grinning. That came from one of Monroe’s heroes.

“One of my favorite actors is Jack Nicholson. I think every project he does he’s fascinating,” Monroe says. “Of course in ‘The Shining,’ he’s pretty much smiling through the whole thing, through all the pain and the anguish. That was a huge influence.”

Monroe is also a professed fan of Olivia Colman’s. And it’s easy to see how wildly mischievous characters, like those often played by Colman or Nicholson, might be even more in Monroe’s wheelhouse than horror. It's enough to make you wonder: does she ever chafe at the term “Scream Queen?”

“Some of the films I’m most proud of are in this space of genre,” she says. “I can’t be mad at it. I’m so proud of ‘It Follows,’ ‘Longlegs,’ ‘Watcher.’ So, what can you do?”

But if a certain side of Monroe has been rarely seen on screen, “Victorian Psycho” lets it out.

“In the Victorian era, there was suppression. In this industry, I can find that I need to present a certain way or come across a certain way,” Monroe says. “You have to suppress certain things and not say certain things. That’s what was such a joy in this.”

NOAA expects eight to 14 named storms, three to six of which are predicted to become hurricanes, with one to three of those becoming major (at least Category 3 and 111 mph winds).

An average season consists of 14 named storms, seven becoming hurricanes, and three becoming major.

A strong El Niño is expected to drive the 2026 hurricane season.

Typically, El Niño lowers overall activity in the Atlantic basin during hurricane season thanks to stronger-than-normal upper-level wind shear. This helps to tear tropical systems apart.

When it comes to El Niño itself, one of the strongest on record is possible later in the summer.

It’s important to note that even in a “slow” hurricane season, it only takes one storm to make it a bad year, and it is always important to be prepared.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

The International Court of Justice was asked in 2023 by the International Labor Organization, a U.N. agency, to settle an internal dispute over whether one of the ILO's conventions gives workers the right to strike.

Advisory opinions aren't legally binding, but carry significant weight. The decision could have a worldwide impact on labor regulations, enshrining the right to strike in labor standards and international trade agreements.

Labor unions welcomed the decision.

“As any trade unionist will tell you, there is no right to organize without the right to strike!" Christy Hoffman, general-secretary of UNI Global Union, said in a statement after the opinion was announced. "The two are inseparable foundations of any functional and fair industrial relations system. Congratulations to the many advocates who argued the point so brilliantly before the ICJ."

The word “strike” never appears in the 1948 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, but the ICJ’s 14 judges found walkout actions are covered under the other guarantees.

“The protection of the right to strike is encompassed in the freedom of association,” court president Yuji Iwasawa said, reading out the ruling in the Great Hall of Justice in The Hague.

The convention has been ratified by 158 countries and is incorporated into a variety of employment guidelines and standards, including those from the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and various international trade agreements.

The United States is a member of the ILO, but hasn’t ratified the convention.

International labor law expert Paul van der Heijden said that the advisory opinion from the ICJ gives workers an important tool when their actions face legal opposition. This decision “is important when you go to court,” he told The Associated Press.

The judges were careful to note that in some cases, the right to strike may be restricted. The opinion “does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right,” Iwasawa said.

A number of U.N. agencies can ask the ICJ to weigh in on legal questions and issue advisory opinions. Last year, the court said in a landmark advisory opinion that countries could be in violation of international law, if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change.

During hearings in October, the court in The Hague heard from 18 countries and five international organizations, including the ILO, with a number of other countries submitting writing arguments.

The majority of participants favored the right to strike, a protection which is already granted in most European countries.

Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can't run again due to term limits. He told The Associated Press that it was going to be “very hard to win” as the Democrats who would have supported him are galvanizing against what's going on in Washington.

“Democrat anger against Trump and Republicans is extremely high,” Duggan said. “In 60 days there’s been a huge change in the attitudes of this country. People are feeling the pain at the pump and are angry about it.”

An independent has never served as Michigan governor and third-party candidates typically don’t fare well in elections for the state’s top seat. To Duggan, who shunned partisan fighting while choosing to run as an independent, it was clear the odds were stacking against his campaign.

“As long as I knew there was a path for victory, I was going to fight,” he said. “I don’t see a likely path to win.”

Toxic partisan politics

Since the beginning of the war with Iran in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50%. As of Thursday, the price of regular unleaded gas in Michigan averaged $4.74 per gallon, according to AAA Michigan. That's above the $4.56 national average. A year ago, the average in Michigan was $3.13. Nationally, it was $3.18.

Trump repeatedly has said gas prices will go down once the war ends without acknowledging when that might happen.

Nationally, Trump’s approval rating on the economy has dropped slightly since the start of the Iran war, according to AP-NORC polling. A recent AP-NORC poll conducted in May found that even Republicans are unhappier with Trump’s handling of the economy than they were a few months ago, even as they’re largely continuing to stand behind him. About 6 in 10 Republicans approve of how Trump is handling the economy, down from about 8 in 10 before the war began.

Duggan believed he was trailing Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican U.S. Rep. John James in the governor’s race. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson also is running as a Democrat, while millionaire businessman Perry Johnson is running as a Republican.

Michigan’s primary election will be held Aug. 4, while the general election is Nov. 3.

In December 2024, Duggan announced his pursuit of the state's top office surprising many when he also said he'd choose the independent route instead of sticking with the Democratic Party.

Duggan told The AP at that time that he wanted to offer Michigan voters “a choice.”

“It’s clear to me that there are a lot of people in this country who are tired of both parties and tired of the system,” Duggan said then. “You have a (state) legislature that’s almost evenly divided that makes the stakes of each issue become magnified. It has gotten harder and harder to address things as the partisan climate has gotten more toxic.”

His decision to run as an independent came as Michigan was one of a handful of swing states that helped Trump in November 2024 win a second term in the White House.

“I’ve done everything I know how to do for almost a year and a half,” Duggan said Thursday. “You could feel the mood of this state wanting the toxic partisanship to end. They wanted the parties to work together.”

Targeted by his former party

Duggan spent a dozen years as Detroit mayor. He first was elected in November 2013 as the city was going through its painful and historic bankruptcy while being run by a state-appointed emergency manager. The former county prosecutor and medical center executive became Detroit's first white mayor since Coleman A. Young was elected in the early 1970s as its first Black mayor.

Duggan is credited by many for leading Detroit after it emerged in December 2014 from bankruptcy to become a thriving, more vibrant city.

The city with a Black population hovering around 80% reelected Duggan twice. He announced in November 2024 that he would not seek a fourth term. He left the mayor’s office in January.

Duggan, who had been a Democrat for close to 40 years in a largely Democrat voting city, was targeted throughout the campaign by his former party, with many worried he would pull votes away from the Democratic Party's nominee.

“I was running to change politics, not to be a spoiler,” he said Thursday.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Thursday in a statement that there were “disagreements” with Duggan.

“The mayor brought crucial ideas to this race and we appreciate his commitment to bringing people together,” Hertel said. “As we look ahead, we welcome Mayor Duggan’s supporters into our growing coalition as we work to elect a Democratic governor this November who will continue to move Michigan forward.”

Following Duggan's announcement that he would run for governor, Republican and former Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said on X that Duggan checked the boxes of being a “credible, independent candidate with the ability to raise money.”

“But there are huge advantages of having a political party behind you,” Calley wrote. “And being a target of the left and the right will be intense.”

But he is the kind of person who is constantly creating, if not movies, little sketches, doodles and paintings, often while he’s in conversation with someone else (including this reporter). That’s not to say he’s not engaged and present with whomever he’s talking to — his mind is just one where it can all happen simultaneously. If he were to describe himself in film editing terms, he’d be a montage of a human being, he said.

A post-Oscar creative paralysis

That’s why it was so alarming that not too long ago, sometime after he’d won the best documentary Oscar for “Navalny,” that tap turned off. He was 29 years old, had just won filmmaking’s top honor and was paralyzed by the question of what to do next.

“There’s a pattern of young people winning and then sort of struggling to figure out what’s next,” Roher told The Associated Press. “I was really scared about that and really anxious … about the sort of specter of this film looming over me like a giant monolith for the rest of my life: ‘Oh, he’ll never top this. He’ll never do anything better than this. Like this is it, you should just retire now.’”

But somewhere in his own creative depression, as he struggled with the possibility that he couldn’t make films anymore, an idea emerged that would become the basis for “Tuner”: What if you can no longer do the thing that makes you you? Who do you become?

“It could have been a chef who can’t smell or a painter who can't hold a brush anymore,” Roher said. “But I was drawn to this auditory world of the piano tuner who maybe can’t play for whatever reason.”

A chance meeting with a piano tuner

While he was on what he called the “new boyfriend tour” with his future wife, meeting all of her friends around Los Angeles, he came into the orbit of a piano tuner. He peppered him with questions, shadowed him at work and had an epiphany about safecracking. He’d always loved films with a criminal element and stories about good people who have to do bad things. His new piano tuner friend said it wasn't far-fetched: A lot of his peers dabble in locksmith work on the side.

“It was like OK, maybe this is like a, you know, a classic movie, movie conceit that I could turn into something really fun and propulsive and musical and romantic,” Roher said.

And he was off to the races. Though he had never written a narrative screenplay or directed an actor, he was motivated again. The tap was back on.

Directing Dustin Hoffman

“Tuner,” which premiered last year at the Telluride Film Festival, is the kind of movie people like to say isn’t made anymore, blending elements of crime thriller, romantic comedy and character drama into a clever, entertaining package — the spiritual descendent of a “Good Will Hunting.”

The piano tuner at the heart of the film is Niki, played by “The White Lotus” season two breakout Leo Woodall, who is apprenticing alongside Dustin Hoffman’s veteran Harry Horowitz. During a job tuning a piano in a mansion, Niki stumbles upon a robbery and, to save his own life, helps the criminals crack the safe. He doesn’t have any intention of making it a side hustle, but then Harry ends up in the hospital and suddenly there are bills to pay. He’s also just met a beguiling pianist played by Havana Rose Liu.

“It has what I want from a movie. It’s entertaining and it’s a simple story, well-told. And it’s plot-driven, but also very character-driven. And it’s fun and it’s quick and it is satisfying,” Woodall said. “I finished the script the first time and I was like, ‘oh, that was a perfectly packaged story.’”

When Roher and Woodall sat down for coffee for the first time, Roher asked his lead actor how he liked to be directed. It was a disarming moment for Woodall, something he’d never been asked outright before, but a gesture of trust and faith that would continue through the shoot. Hoffman, too, took to Roher immediately. There might have even been a Mike Nichols comparison or two thrown his way.

“Daniel, unlike most of us, myself included, wasn’t intimidated by Dustin. He has the most respect and love for him. But I loved, you know, if Dustin was going a little too far off piece improvising, he would go ‘Dustin, Dustin, let’s do the lines now,’” Woodall laughed. “And Dustin would respond perfectly, like ‘yes, sir.’” I was like these two are a good fit.”

A creative explosion

Roher already has several new films underway as well, including a project in Rome where he’s relocated temporarily with his wife and baby. And he's happy the creative funk is a thing of the past.

“The last few years have been an extraordinary creative renaissance, let’s say, or explosion for me, doing ‘Tuner’ simultaneously with this AI documentary,” Roher said. “Having to balance both of those films at the same time was a very profound creative challenge. And I’m really glad that I’m on the other side of it because it’s kind of overwhelming. I’m very proud of both of those films and they were really good counter programming to one another.”

The professional and personal contentedness exists in stark contrast to his worries about the state of the world over the past 18 months, but, he added: “I appreciate the fact that my own little teeny weeny pixel on the giant mosaic of existence is happy and busy and creative and fulfilled and optimistic and inspired and holding the multitudes of everything all at the same time.”

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For more coverage of this summer’s upcoming films, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/movies

News 6 got a first look at the newly reimagined attraction, getting a VIP peek at the chaos before the Electric Mayhem takes the stage at the biggest concert Hollywood has ever seen.

Guests arrive at G-Force Records — where the keys to the building have officially been passed from Aerosmith to the Muppets. Run by Scooter’s uncle, real estate tycoon J.P. Grosse, guests take part in a VIP studio tour, only to find the Electric Mayhem still in Studio C, blissfully jamming away while an entire concert crowd waits across town.

“Thanks to a little help from Muppet Labs, we’re able to get everyone across town on a very speedy limousine and get to the concert and see them perform,” David Brescia, story lead at Walt Disney Imagineering.

A visual overhaul built for Muppet fans

The mayhem doesn’t stop at the storyline. From the queue to the courtyard, Muppet color, character and chaos are crammed into every corner of the experience.

“Our approach was just trying to bring as much Muppet fun and color and character and authenticity to absolutely everything we could,” Brescia said. “You’ll see something in basically every part of the queue, every part of the building.”

Brescia said delivering on the full roster of beloved characters was a personal priority.

“Everybody has a favorite,” he said. “That’s why you see that live feed in the rotunda — all these different characters that pop up. Hopefully, you get to see your favorite character somewhere in the attraction.”

Celebrity cameos are also woven throughout, from the queue to the merchandise shop, with stars including Awkwafina, Danny Trejo, Darren Criss, John Stamos, Neil Patrick Harris, Travis Barker, Yvette Nicole Brown, Wayne Brady and “Weird Al” Yankovic making appearances.

“The Muppets have such a great history of working within the entertainment industry, the music industry, working with guest stars,” Brescia said. “We wanted to bring some of that into the attraction as well.”

A set list built to rock

At its core, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is a musical ride — and the new version leans hard into the Electric Mayhem’s rock-and-roll roots. Every track on the set list is a cover, performed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and none of the songs will be heard anywhere else until guests ride for the first time.

[RELATED: We got a taste of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets soundtrack. Here are our rock-on ratings]

The lineup features collaborations with Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson and Def Leppard, alongside Electric Mayhem performances of tracks guests may not expect to hear rocking a roller coaster.

“Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson bring incredible rock-and-roll vocals to their songs,” Brescia said. “And rocking up some songs that you may not think sound like rock songs off the bat — they just bring so much fun and so much energy.”

The drones targeted the Syzran oil refinery more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) inside Russia, Zelenskyy said on social media, where he posted a video of the aftermath.

It was impossible to verify the video or independently confirm the attack. The governor of Russia’s Samara region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said two people were killed by Ukrainian drones in Syzran, but he did not mention the refinery. Russia’s Astra news outlet said Ukrainian drones struck the Syzran refinery owned by oil and gas giant Rosneft.

Ukraine has expanded its mid- and long-range strike capabilities, deploying drone and missile technology that it has developed domestically to battle Russia’s 4-year-old invasion. Ukrainian weaponry and expertise are now sought by other countries, whereas earlier in the war Kyiv had to plead for massive foreign military aid.

Ukrainian drones hit another refinery the previous day, Zelenskyy said, as attacks on Russian oil assets that play a key part in funding the invasion have become almost daily occurrences.

“Overall, our long-range plan for May is being carried out largely in full,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post late Wednesday. “The key targets are Russian oil refineries, storage facilities, and other infrastructure tied to these oil revenues.”

The escalating attacks have hurt Moscow’s revenue at the same time as the economic pinch of international sanctions. With some attacks reaching more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) into Russia, the strikes have contributed to some Russians feeling unsafe and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine reportedly makes battlefield gains

Ukraine’s new reach has also helped it push back Russian troops along parts of the front line, with Ukrainian forces making their most significant battlefield gains since 2024, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Ukraine’s “intensified midrange strike campaign” since early 2026 "has also degraded Russian forces’ ability to conduct offensive operations across the theater and has also likely supported recent Ukrainian advances,” the Washington-based think tank said in an assessment late Wednesday.

Ukraine has slowed Russia’s battlefield advance and is gradually regaining the initiative along the front line, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, partly due to Russian forces being denied access to Starlink satellite services to steer drones toward targets.

“Russia has since not been able to find a full replacement (for Starlink), giving Ukraine a critical battlefield advantage,” Fedorov told reporters. He spoke on Saturday, but his comments were embargoed until Thursday.

Fedorov said in February that he had asked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help deny Russia use of the service in Ukraine. Starlink is a global internet network that relies on around 10,000 satellites orbiting Earth.

Fedorov said midsize drones have become a key technological advantage for Ukraine on the front line and claimed that Ukrainian forces have doubled their interception rate of Russian drones over the past four months.

In other developments, Ukraine is also preparing changes to military pay and contract terms, he said.

Drone attacks claim victims in Ukraine and Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 121 Ukrainian drones between late Wednesday and early Thursday.

In the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, eight people were wounded by Ukrainian drones, according to the regional governor, Alexander Shuvayev.

Russia has also invested heavily in drones, using them to bombard civilian areas of Ukraine throughout the war and killing more than 15,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.

Ukraine’s air force said Thursday it shot down 109 out of 116 drones that Russia launched overnight.

One civilian was killed and at least six others were wounded in the strikes in the north, south and east of the country, emergency services said.

Russia holds nuclear drills

Elsewhere, Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills. As part of the exercises, trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspected Russian short-range, nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit.

The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid the surge in Ukrainian drone strikes, which make it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine as something so distant that it does not affect Russian civilians.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

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

“Our bid is a genuine promise for future generations,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said during the 90-minute debate that preceded the vote Thursday. “We want positive development for Berlin.”

Wegner’s CDU political party received support from rival SPD members and the far-right AfD for the Berlin Olympic and Paralympic plans that he first presented in May last year in the same stadium where Jesse Owens defied Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Games.

Berlin’s state government approved the concept this month for a bid that relies mostly on existing sports facilities and envisages using city landmarks such as the city park at the former airport Tempelhof.

It estimated the cost at 4.82 billion euros ($5.6 billion), with revenue of 5.24 billion euros projected, giving a net profit of around 420 million euros, with a quarter of that going to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“If we put on a summer fairy tale for the world, then it’s a chance for the world,” Wegner said.

The plans were opposed by politicians from the Left party and Greens who referred to the financial risks of hosting the Olympics and criticized what they called “empty promises” and “castles in the air,” news agency DPA reported.

Tobias Schulze of the Left party said the last three Olympic Games were more than twice as expensive as initially planned, and he pointed out that many of the proposed venues need renovation.

The bid organizers decided not to hold a referendum in contrast to organizers of three other bids from Germany.

Bids from Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia were approved in referendums, while vote-eligible people in Hamburg will have their say on that city's proposed bid on May 31.

If Hamburg's bid survives, one of the four will be selected by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Sep. 26 for submission to the IOC.

“On behalf of the entire German sporting community, I congratulate Berlin on this decision, which was supported by a large majority,” DOSB president Thomas Weikert said.

"The bid has already garnered significant attention and sparked new enthusiasm for sport in the capital.”

However, many Berliners are against the idea of staging the Olympics at all, regardless of them potentially taking place on the 100th anniversary of the Games already hosted by the Nazis. An initiative called “ NOlympia Berlin ” is collecting signatures in an effort to force a referendum.

Germany wants to host the Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.

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

The road collapse happened on October 26 when parts of Lake County received 15 to 19 inches of rain in a matter of hours.

In the months that followed, the city deployed an emergency response that included engineering, permitting, and funding coordination for rebuilding the road.

In March, crews began work on the project, which included roadway reconstruction, installation of underdrains to improve long-term drainage performance, stormwater improvements, relocation of critical infrastructure, and sidewalk replacement.

The work also included water line upgrades and broader drainage work designed to reduce the risk of future flooding and increase resiliency for the gateway to downtown.

The city said it applied to the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Program, which could reimburse up to 80% of eligible costs, and secured a $1.3 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to fund the sidewalk replacement portion of the project.

Drivers will be able to use the reopened portion of Donnelly Street following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday at 1 p.m.

The rocket carried a batch of 29 Starlink satellites into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Shortly after liftoff, the first stage booster landed on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The booster has previously flown 28 missions, including Crew-5 to the International Space Station and 20 Starlink missions.

You may have seen an unusual “glowing jellyfish” look in the sky after liftoff, head to this article to find out why launches can cause that phenomenon.

We want to see your picture of this morning’s launch! Head on over to our PinIT page and show us what you saw!

Dylan Coghlan’s wrist shot under Scott Wedgewood’s legs ended a scoreless deadlock and helped the Vegas Golden Knights steal home ice from the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche with a 4-2 statement win Wednesday night at Ball Arena.

“Honestly, I didn't know it went in until I looked at Shea (Theodore) and he was just smiling at me,” Coghlan said.

It was Coghlan’s first career NHL playoff goal, his fist score in the league in nearly five years and just his seventh net-finder of his career. Adding to his big night, the 28-year-old defenseman made a terrific breakup of a 3-on-2 breakaway that kept the Avalanche scuffling to find the net themselves.

“Yeah, so happy for him,” winning goalie Carter Hart said. "He came in in the Anaheim series. I thought he did a tremendous job then. Stepped up tonight huge. That was a huge first goal for us tonight and I couldn't be happier for the guy."

Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev praised Coghlan's overall game, saying, “It's not just about his goal. He did a lot of things right, especially in D-zone, on breakouts.”

But, that goal ...

Coghlan hadn’t scored since Dec. 17, 2021, in a game against the New York Islanders, and half of his six career goals came on a hat trick in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on March 10, 2021.

“He's an easy guy to pull for,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said.

Coghlan had 14 goals in 62 games this season for Henderson in the American Hockey League. He was scoreless in three regular-season games for Vegas.

“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Tortorella said. “I think he’s one of our best defensemen since he’s been with us and in the lineup. ... He’s a bit unflappable.”

The Golden Knights stole home ice from the top-seeded Avalanche, who had won eight of nine games in these playoffs before their dud in the Western Conference Final opener.

Colorado defenseman Cale Makar missed Game 1 with an upper-body injury. Makar left the ice holding his right arm following a collision late in Game 5 against Minnesota last week but returned as Colorado won the game in overtime.

Makar’s absence proved a big blow for the Avalanche. This is the first time Makar has missed a playoff game for the Avalanche with an injury. The Norris Trophy finalist has four goals and an assist while averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time through the opening two rounds. Makar also is an integral part of Colorado’s special teams, which surrendered a power-play goal to Dorofeyev in the second period.

Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless game in the second period.

“There’s definitely a trickle-down effect to that,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he’s not playing. We have to find a way.”

Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because of the bonds he’d formed.

“This is probably the best I’ve felt in my whole career,” Coghlan said. “Whoever it is I’m playing with I’m very comfortable out there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty world-class players.”

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Pavel Dorofeyev’s last name.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham and AP freelancer Ashlyn Stapleton contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The government released confidential papers related to the appointment in response to legislation passed by Parliament after lawmakers accused the king’s brother of putting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the nation. The former prince was stripped of his royal titles, including Duke of York, last year and is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests,” the head of Britain’s trade body wrote to two senior cabinet ministers on Feb. 25, 2000.

The queen worried about her son

The involvement of the late queen confirms previously held beliefs that the monarch had a soft spot for her second son, which may have influenced her lack of decisiveness in dealing with allegations about his links to Epstein. Royal commentators have for years suggested that the queen should have moved quicker to remove her son from royal duties, and her failure to do so tarnished the monarchy.

Mountbatten-Windsor served as Britain’s special envoy for international trade from 2001 to 2011, when he was forced to give up the role because of concerns about his links to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.

If nothing else, the documents suggest Elizabeth worried about him, said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“It's like, in a sense, if the queen makes it clear that that’s her wish, that’s the end of the argument,'' Prescott said. "Her Majesty’s civil service, as it was then, would have to deal with it on that basis.”

Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the former prince was arrested and questioned for several hours on allegations he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.

Documents suggest Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed with little due diligence

Trade Minister Chris Bryant said in a written statement to lawmakers that “we have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken” before Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to the role of special trade envoy.

“There is also no evidence that this was considered. This is understandable since this new appointment was a continuation of the royal family’s involvement in trade and investment promotion work following the Duke of Kent’s decision to relinquish his duties as Vice-Chairman of the Overseas Trade Board,” he said.

He said that the government was cooperating with Thames Valley Police on their investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor and possible misconduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles late last year as the U.S. Justice Department prepared to release millions of pages of documents related to its investigation of Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential business owners, known collectively as “the Establishment.”

Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Officials did suggest not offering the former prince golf trips

There were hints, however, that some had misgivings about giving Mountbatten-Windsor the high-profile trade role, where his effectiveness relied on his credibility. The back and forth suggested that while officials may not have questioned his appointment, they were involved in making suggestions about what he shouldn't be allowed to do in the role.

Kathryn Colvin, head of protocol at the Foreign Office, wrote in a January 2000 memo that Andrew’s private secretary “asked that the Duke of York should not be offered golfing functions abroad. This was a private activity and if he took his clubs with him he would not play in any public sense.”

Another document, a government memo sent to U.K. trade staff around the world, warned that Mountbatten-Windsor’s “high public profile” will require “careful and sometimes strict media management.”

For Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, the music takes center stage, and News 6 experienced a first listen of the new tracks that guests will hear as they blast through the newly reimagined attraction when it opens May 26.

Every song on the set list is a cover, performed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. The songs won’t be released, previewed, or heard anywhere else until guests experience them inside the attraction.

Until then, News 6 has rated the tracks we heard on a scale of one to five, “rock on” hand signs.

• “Song 2″ 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
• “Born to be Wild” 🤘🤘🤘
• “Love Rollercoaster” – The Electric Mayhem featuring Jennifer Hudson and Questlove 
• “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” – The Electric Mayhem featuring Def Leppard 
• “Walking on Sunshine” – The Electric Mayhem featuring Kelly Clarkson 🤘🤘🤘

The Muppet makeover

G-Force Records — the legendary recording studio at the heart of what was once Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith — is now under new, Muppet management.

Scooter’s uncle, real estate tycoon J.P. Grosse, added the label to his portfolio alongside the Muppet Theatre.

Inside the studio, guests will find the Electric Mayhem band doing what they do best — laying down groovy tunes ahead of their biggest Hollywood concert ever.

The only problem? The band needs to get across town, fast.

That’s where guests come in. Armed with VIP passes, riders are swept into the chaos as Scooter scrambles to get Animal, Dr. Teeth, and the rest of the band to their increasingly restless fans.

Beyond the story, fans can expect a visual overhaul.

The attraction’s iconic oversized guitar in the courtyard will feature a vibrant, psychedelic design — inspired by a classic Muppet car paint job — while a golden key on the piano motif pays tribute to a certain far-out band leader.

In true Muppet fashion, celebrity cameos are sprinkled throughout the experience, from the queue all the way to the merchandise shop.

• Awkwafina
• Danny Trejo
• Darren Criss
• John Stamos
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Travis Barker
• Yvette Nicole Brown
• Wayne Brady
• “Weird Al” Yankovic

Sinner was on Thursday drawn a French opponent in the first round — Clement Tabur, ranked a career-high 165th. Tabur received the wild card vacated by former champion Stan Wawrinka, who gained a late automatic entry.

With two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out injured, Sinner is the overwhelming men's favorite on the red clay of Roland Garros, where play starts on Sunday.

The Italian is unbeaten in three months. He's won 29 straight matches and dropped just three sets. The French Open is the only major Sinner hasn’t won. Sinner had three match points in last year's final but Alcaraz prevailed in an epic match.

In the women's draw, Coco Gauff is trying to become just the third woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title this century after Justine Henin and Iga Swiątek. Gauff will start her campaign against fellow American Taylor Townsend, a doubles specialist.

Gauff said at the draw she was “as ready as you can be.”

“I feel I had a good tournament in Rome, similar to the preparation I had last year, so I feel really ready.”

In the absence of Alcaraz, who will also miss Wimbledon, Sinner has claimed all three clay Masters trophies in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. Sinner has the fifth longest winning run in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Novak Djokovic has the record of 43 straight wins in 2010-11.

With his historic Rome title — first homegrown men's champion in 50 years — Sinner became the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters, the biggest tournaments outside the Grand Slams.

Djokovic continues to chase an unprecedented 25th major title. But the Roland Garros champion from 2016, 2021, and 2023 is in Paris with only one match on clay this season and only three tournaments all year because of a shoulder injury. The 38-year-old will take on Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round. Djokovic couldn't meet Sinner until the final.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, still looking for his first major crown after making it to the 2024 final in Paris, will be up against another local player, Benjamin Bonzi.

Home favorite Arthur Fils, the highest-ranked French player at No. 19, opens against Wawrinka in a mouthwatering contest.

Gauff aiming for back to back

Gauff’s first Roland Garros title came with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago.

Just like last year, Gauff was the runner-up at the Italian Open, losing in the final to Elina Svitolina. She is No. 4 and seeded to meet No. 1 Sabalenka in the semifinals.

While Sabalenka remains unbeatable at times on hard courts, she is still perfecting her game on clay. She was upset by American Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost in the third round at the Italian Open to 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea.

Sabalenka appeared visibly bothered by lower back pain in Rome. Her first-round opponent is Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard ranked 51st.

Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 2 and this year’s Australian Open champion, is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Swiątek.

Rybakina has mixed results on clay. She has reached the French quarterfinals twice. She starts against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

Swiątek, the four-time French Open champion, lost to Svitolina in the Rome semifinals and is still reshaping her game under new coach Francisco Roig, who used to work with Rafael Nadal. Swiątek’s 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the semifinals last year with a loss to Sabalenka. She opens against Emerson Jones of Australia, a wild card.

Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, claimed the Rome title for her first WTA 1000 trophy in eight years — and is back in the top 10 after a maternity leave. But she’s never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and never past the quarterfinals at the French Open. Svitolina takes on Anna Bondar in the first round.

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

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

Though U.S. employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs in April, the Iran war has injected a large degree of uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy and labor market.

The Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil travels through, remains closed. Since the beginning of the war in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50% and the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. has climbed to $4.56 from less than $3. Besides hitting consumers’ pocketbooks, those higher costs can discourage businesses from hiring.

Data from the U.S. government last week revealed that inflation at the consumer level rose 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years. Food prices are also up, but may not yet fully reflect rising energy costs due to the Iran war, analysts say.

Another report last week showed that wholesale prices shot up 6% from a year ago, the highest point in more than three years. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% from March to April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation is already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. At its most recent meeting, the Fed opted to leave its benchmark rate alone, citing economic uncertainty caused by instability in the Middle East and still-elevated inflation.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to stoke inflation, leading a number of Federal Reserve policymakers to say they are willing to consider an interest rate hike this year.

On top of that, the recent artificial intelligence boom and the investment required to develop it could alter or even replace some jobs.

A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney and Walmart.

Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff rollouts, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.

Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs last year, compared with about 1.5 million in 2024, according to the data firm FactSet.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, inched down by 1,500 to 202,500.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending May 9 grew by 6,000 to 1.78 million.

While Sachs’ film, which is a competition entry at this year's Cannes Film Festival, likewise centers on a performer dying of AIDS, it’s otherwise an altogether different and dramatically more personal tale about art, love and death.

“It took me a minute to realize it was more about life,” Malek said in an interview alongside Sachs on a terrace in Cannes. “There’s a threat looming throughout, but it’s an undercurrent. Throughout the film there’s a cacophony of sound and imagery and beauty that is filling your soul.”

The film, which is for sale in Cannes, has earned Malek — an actor who has sometimes struggled to find well-suited roles since his breakout in “Mr. Robot” — some of the best reviews of his career.

Sachs, the New York indie filmmaker of “Passages” and “Love Is Strange,” knew he wanted an actor with an ineffable star quality.

“What I saw in ‘Mr. Robot’ was a very natural actor and someone who has an ability where you don’t know how they get from one word to the next.”

In “The Man I Love,” Malek plays Jimmy George, a New York performance artist who’s trying to continue performing despite his illness. His partner (Tom Sturridge) diligently cares for him while a man (Luke Ford) who moves into the same building immediately falls for Jimmy.

It’s not a movie filled with medication and hospital visits. Instead, it captures a performer desperately trying to continue on.

Sachs said he wanted “a rapturous film.”

“I wanted to make a film that contained all the things that I’ll miss when I’m gone,” said the filmmaker. “I wanted it to be suffused with emotion and pain and skin. It’s a sexy film. It has color and music. You could say it’s a list of pleasures or sins.”

Some of the movie’s most overwhelming scenes are of Jimmy rehearsing or performing. In a heartbreaking showstopper, he sings the 1970 Melanie hit “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” to his family.

“It came straight from my soul,” says Malek. “It’s a moment in the film when Jimmy has some sense of clarity as to what’s coming. There is this stubborn refusal to keep creating in the most desperate of times that emanates through this film. It imbued me with this sense of, ‘Oh, I can be dangerous. I can take things to a limit that I haven’t before.’”

The 1980s has deep importance to the 60-year-old Sachs, who began working in New York in 1984. He was inspired by the stories of performance artists like John Kelly and John Jesurun

“They’re the ones who told me about the last night that the comedian Frank Maya was on stage and he lost the ability to finish his act,” Sachs says. “John Kelly told me about Ethyl Eichelberger performing and having sweat drenching his face.”

Malek calls Sachs “a library,” whose connection to the time of “The Man I Love” fueled his curiosity.”.

“That confidence generated a performance in me that I didn’t know I was giving,” Malek says. “But I knew I was doing something unique. I didn’t know it would translate.”

“It’s horrible. Very horrible,” Roberto Rosario, who works in the area, told News 6.

Frank Rosado, another Osceola County resident who works at a nearby car dealership, agreed.

“Carroll is busy and OBT is busy,” he said. “I see a lot of accidents there.”

Jacob De La Cruz crosses the intersection daily to get to his job and is always worried about his safety.

“To be honest with you, it’s pretty bad. Nobody really stops. Nobody really pays attention to the stoplight or the crosswalk. You kind of got to run through and run between the cars,” he said.

A long-awaited project aims to change that, improving safety and traffic flow along one of the county’s most congested corridors. But years of delays have come with a steep price.

The Carroll Street Improvement Project recently completed its design phase and is expected to break ground in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The project spans the intersection of Carroll Street and Orange Blossom Trail (U.S. 441), extending east past Sample Street and west past Lehigh Avenue.

Planned improvements include widening Carroll Street to six lanes at the intersection, replacing the existing span wire traffic signal with mast arms, utility upgrades, and sidewalk enhancements to improve pedestrian connectivity and ADA accessibility compliance.

The original professional services agreement with engineering consultant CDM Smith, Inc. for Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) services was signed in 2023, but construction never got off the ground after the county received a single bid that came in significantly above estimated costs.

As the project moved forward, CEI rates and staffing were updated to reflect current market conditions, project scope and duration, adding $430,119.68 to the original agreement.

The revised scope also includes CEI services for Toho Water Authority utility installation work, adding another $228,699.87.

Earlier this month, the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners approved Amendment No. 1 to the agreement, bringing the total contract to $957,659.26, an increase of $658,819.55.

Toho Water Authority will fully reimburse the $228,699.87 portion tied to its utility work.

Residents can find project updates and more information here.

Investigators say 54-year-old Alan Chambers thought he was communicating with a 14-year-old boy using Snapchat and Telegram for months, but it was actually an undercover investigator for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

On Wednesday, a judge set bond for Chambers at $15,000 which Chambers posted.

News 6 was there as Chambers was released from jail, but he did not comment.

According to the arrest affidavit, deputies said Chambers confirmed during a traffic stop near Aloma Avenue that the accounts belonged to him and that he was communicating with a 14-year-old, but wouldn’t go into details.

Chambers is an executive for a clothing company on Park Avenue in Winter Park, and a former president of the Park Avenue District, which is Winter Park’s business association.

Chambers was also a former president of Exodus International, an Orlando-based organization that promoted conversion therapy for same-sex attraction.

In 2013, Chambers formally renounced conversion therapy and closed Exodus International, saying the move was made “after a year of dialogue and prayer about the organization’s place in a changing culture.”

The charges against Chambers include solicitation of a minor via computer, obscene material distribution of info harmful to minors, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

The Park Avenue District released the following statement following Chambers’ arrest:

"The Park Avenue District and its leadership are committed to maintaining the trust of our community, businesses, residents, and visitors. While this matter is unrelated to the organization or its work, we take situations involving allegations of this nature extremely seriously.

At this time, Mr. Chambers is no longer associated with the organization. Out of respect for the legal process, we will not comment further on the specifics of the case.

Our focus remains on continuing to support the Park Avenue community and the many businesses, events, and initiatives that make this district such a special part of Winter Park."

Park Avenue District

The gala raises money for AIDS research, and this year's extravaganza is being hosted by Geena Davis, with Robbie Williams, Lizzo and Zara Larsson expected to perform. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million (841 million euros) in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide.

The Associated Press has covered the event for more than a decade, and the AP will be offering a livestream of stars arriving for the gala Thursday beginning at 1600GMT on YouTube and APNews.com.

Here’s an insider’s look at how the evening plays out.

How stars arrive at the amfAR gala

A special car pass is required to get anywhere near the exclusive Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc hotel, and taxis and limos wind their way up narrow French roads through a one-way system to reach the venue.

They then sit in a long line waiting to drop off guests at the famous gates. Signs along the route remind any impatient guests that they must not get out and attempt to walk the last 50 meters (164 feet) to the hotel.

Once inside, wristbands are assigned with a table number attached for the exclusive dinner. Guests then queue again for their moment on the red carpet with celebrities and regular guests posing shoulder to shoulder in front of branded boards. Meanwhile, the shy and thirsty sneak around the back of the red carpet and enter without fanfare or delay.

After dodging the gantlet of elaborate dress trains and those posing for selfies, guests are ushered through to the back lawn which stretches all the way down to the sea, yachts bobbing in the distance as the sun starts to go down. Bars line the route, serving cocktails, Champagne and wines whilst servers wander with trays of canapés and the DJ pumps out some chilled tunes.

The celebrity spotting at the bars is always top notch, with Spike Lee and Adrien Brody having an animated chat over a glass of Champagne last year.

Inside the gala and its famous auction

Various works of art add to the impressive backdrop, to be admired before they are sold off at the auction later in the night.

At 8 p.m. the first announcement is made telling guests to head to the tent for dinner. These announcements continue for some time, sounding more urgent as guests continue their chitchat and pose for photos with no desire to be the first to take their seats.

Once inside guests continue to mingle. Jeff Bezos was one of last year's dinner guests who attracted attention as he moved between tables.

The dinner runs long into the night, interspersed with the auction.

This year guests can bid for a walk-on part in season 6 of the hit show “Emily in Paris,” a seven-day Arctic expedition with explorer Inge Solheim, as well as artwork by Tracey Emin and Andy Warhol.

Last year's top items for sale included a Dodge Charger driven by Vin Diesel in “Fast X" that raised 475,000 euros ($536,843.)

Guests are entertained with musical performances during the meal. Last year Ciara opened the night and Adam Lambert headlined with Duran Duran, getting guests to sing along to hits like “Notorious” and “View to a Kill.”

A fashion show is a regular feature of the auction. Last year, a James Bond-inspired collection curated by Carine Roitfeld made 450,000 euros ($508,505) for the charity.

After the meal, auction and entertainment, it's time to leave the tent and head to the after-party at the hotel's swimming pool and dance into the early hours.

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Louise Dixon has covered the amfAR gala for more than a decade. Among the most memorable items she’s seen sold at auction are a game of soccer with David Beckham and his friends, a private dinner performance from Andrea Bocelli at his family home and lunch with Robert De Niro that combined have raised more than 2 million euros.

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For more coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

“This is it,” Rodgers said Wednesday when the four-time NFL MVP was asked if this would be his final year.

The 42-year-old did not expand on why he came to that conclusion. Maybe because there was no need.

Rodgers acknowledged that he thought his time in Pittsburgh — and perhaps the league — was over when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stepped down the day after a blowout first-round playoff loss to Houston in January.

Things changed when Pittsburgh hired Mike McCarthy a few weeks later, a decision that Rodgers said he may have played a small role in when he encouraged Steelers general manager Omar Khan to talk to McCarthy. Rodgers and McCarthy spent 13 years together in Green Bay, winning a Super Bowl while becoming a playoff fixture.

McCarthy and Rodgers stayed in constant communication in recent months as Rodgers weighed whether to run it back one last time. While there was no one tipping point, the relative health of his 42-year-old body and the chance to have his career come “full circle" with a team that spent the offseason upgrading the offense in hopes of ending a lengthy playoff victory drought led to a reunion he called “surreal.”

“It is like a (bunch of) ‘pinch me’ moments that have happened in the last few days,” Rodgers said following the second day of Pittsburgh's voluntary organized team activities.

Perhaps because McCarthy hardly came back to his hometown alone.

The familiar faces from Rodgers' time in Green Bay are everywhere inside the Steelers' facility, from defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to offensive line coach James Campen. There are “getting the band back together” vibes everywhere Rodgers looks.

When Rodgers plopped into a chair for a meeting on Monday, in many ways it felt like it was 2006, when he was entering his second year in Green Bay as Brett Favre's backup and McCarthy was a first-year head coach still finding his way.

“Took me back to being a 22-year-old kid,” Rodgers said with a smile.

Only he's hardly that anymore. While the oldest player in the NFL turned back the clock enough last season to throw for 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions and guide the Steelers to the AFC North title, he also missed a game after breaking several bones in his left wrist and looked very much his age during the second half of what became a blowout loss to the Texans that ended both Pittsburgh's season and Tomlin's largely successful 19-year run as head coach.

Still, Rodgers believes he has enough left to attempt the rarest of exits for players of his stature: the ability to go out on his own terms.

McCarthy said Rodgers “can still throw it with anybody," though the time of year when Rodgers will be asked to really cut it loose is still months away. Perhaps Rodgers' most important job through OTAs, minicamp and training camp is helping the Steelers prepare for life without him.

While McCarthy and Rodgers stayed in constant communication as Rodgers hung out in Malibu, California, with his wife and weighed his options for 2026, the Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round of the draft, and McCarthy has talked up 2025 sixth-round choice Will Howard at every turn since taking over.

Allar and Howard figure to be in the mix this time next year when the Steelers restart their quest to find a long-term solution at the game's most important position, a search that's been ongoing since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement in January 2022.

Rodgers' presence offers a cheat code of sorts. He knows all the answers to the test, particularly when the test is offered by McCarthy. Allar and Howard will get to spend the next seven or so months soaking up what they can from Rodgers about what McCarthy wants and perhaps more importantly, how he wants it.

McCarthy called Rodgers “a tremendous resource” who also happens to be a future Hall of Famer, giving him a certain cachet that might make him a better conduit for what McCarthy is trying to teach than the coach himself.

“It's like parenting,” McCarthy said. “I could sit there and tell my kids something, and then, like if he’d walk in and tell my son George something, he’d jump out the window and do it.”

While Rodgers took a friendly jab at Favre — whom he sat behind during the first three years of his career — by borrowing a phrase from Favre that mentoring is “not in my job description,” the reality is it's a role he relishes.

Just not as much as the chance to win. When Rodgers signed with the Steelers a year ago, he called the decision “best for my soul.” It's much the same this time around.

He likes what the team has done by trading for wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., signing running back Rico Dowdle and drafting wideout Germie Bernard. The offensive line could be better with Troy Fautanu moving over to left tackle. The defense still has a pair of franchise icons in defensive lineman Cam Heyward and outside linebacker TJ Watt.

And now it has a quarterback eager to soak up every last bit of the final chapter of a career that will end with a gold jacket and a bust in the Hall of Fame. Just not quite yet.

“I am excited about these guys," he said. “I’m excited about the team.”

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

The Communications and Multimedia Commission said the move followed the circulation of “grossly offensive, false, menacing and insulting” content, including AI-generated videos and manipulated images linked to an account falsely claiming association with king Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.

Such matters fall within the sensitive issues of race, religion and royalty “which are highly sensitive and may undermine public order, national harmony and respect for constitutional institutions,” the regulator said in a statement.

Despite prior notifications and engagements, it said TikTok’s moderation response especially in ensuring the prompt removal of such content and preventing further dissemination was unsatisfactory.

It said TikTok — which has not publicly commented on the case — has been issued a legal notice that requires it to explain its moderation failures and undertake immediate remedial measures, including strengthening its content moderation mechanisms and improving enforcement against content that violates Malaysian laws and community standards.

The commission said social media platforms operating in Malaysia are expected to exercise greater responsibility in preventing unlawful and harmful activities on their services.

It warned it would continue to take “firm and proportionate action” to ensure digital platforms comply with their responsibilities in maintaining a safe and respectful online environment.

The move comes amid Malaysia’ s broader push to tighten oversight of digital platforms, with authorities in recent years stepping up enforcement against social media companies over harmful content, scams, online gambling and material deemed offensive or threatening to public order.

TikTok did not respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment.

The unusual sight is all because of a pre-dawn SpaceX launch.

As the rocket climbed higher into the atmosphere, it left behind a trail of exhaust that expanded and spread out in the thin upper air.

This phenomenon is sometimes called a “space jellyfish,” and it tends to happen when launches occur shortly before sunrise or just after sunset.

What causes the “space jellyfish” cloud?

The reason it looked so strange comes down to timing and sunlight.

Even though it was still dark on the ground, the sun was already shining on the upper atmosphere. When the rocket exhaust reached those high altitudes, the gases expanded and were illuminated by the sunlight, creating a glowing, bulb shaped cloud with wispy trails that resembled tentacles. From below, the effect can look almost otherworldly.

If you have photos from Wednesday’s launch, the News 6 Weather Team would love to showcase them. You can upload your photos here.

The vote is the latest effort by Democrats to rein in Trump's military campaigns by using the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Previous votes on similar resolutions have failed, but Democrats are hoping that Thursday could be a turning point.

One by one, a small but potentially crucial number of Republicans have sided with Democrats to check Trump's power to continue the conflict. On Tuesday, the Senate advanced another war powers resolution on the Iran war when four GOP senators supported the resolution and three others were absent from the vote.

A final vote on the Senate resolution could also come Thursday, though Republican leaders expect they'll be able to block it once every GOP senator is present.

Frustration with Iran war grows on Capitol Hill

On Capitol Hill, patience with the war has grown thin as the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global shipping and elevates gas prices in the U.S. Another House war powers resolution nearly passed last week, falling on a tie vote as three Republicans voted in favor.

Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, who sponsored the war powers resolution, has said he expects to have the votes this time around.

“Congress has a constitutional duty. It has a duty to act, not to cheerlead, especially not to cheerlead an open-ended war of choice,” Meeks said.

The lone Democrat who voted against the war powers resolution last week, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, has said he will vote in favor of the legislation this time. Meanwhile, leaders of both parties have been dealing with several absences that could shift the vote either way in the closely divided chamber.

Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump's efforts to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, but some are now saying that the president's legal timeline to wage a war without congressional approval has expired. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, presidents have 60 days to engage in a military conflict before Congress must either declare war or authorize the use of military force.

“We have to follow the law,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican shortly after he voted for an Iran war powers resolution for the first time last week.

The dispute over war powers

The White House argues that the requirements of the War Powers Resolution no longer apply because of the ceasefire with Iran. At the same time, Trump has said he was just an hour away from ordering another strike on Iran earlier this week, but held off because Gulf allies said they were engaged in negotiations to end the war.

Still, Trump said on social media that military leaders should “be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.” Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has so far voted against the war powers resolutions, expressed frustration with the Trump administration's stance, especially from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The current status quo, Pete Hegseth demonstrates how incompetent he is,” Tillis told reporters, adding that he would be willing to vote for an authorization for use of military force.

Meanwhile, Democratic senators rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday alongside VoteVets, a left-leaning veterans’ advocacy group. They placed signs on the Capitol lawn noting that the nationwide average price of gasoline had risen to $4.53.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who served in the Iraq War with the Air National Guard, argued that the Iran war has amounted to a strategic blunder for Trump.

“Trump started a war, and he’s made things worse than before,” Duckworth said, pointing to Iran's new leadership and the country's willingness to put a chokehold on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Republican leaders praised Trump for taking what they said was bold action to directly confront Iran, a nation that has been a U.S. adversary for decades.

“I’m an American. I don’t believe in getting hit and walking away and pretending as though it didn’t happen,” said Rep. Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

For Congress, the growing momentum to pass a war powers resolution could eventually lead to a legal showdown over who has the final authority over military conflicts.

The legislation before the House Thursday is a concurrent resolution that lawmakers say would take effect without Trump's signature if it passes both chambers of Congress.

But Trump has also argued that the 1973 law — passed by Congress during the Vietnam War era in an attempt to take back its power over foreign conflicts — is unconstitutional.

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

During Trump’s visit, China sought to stabilize ties with the United States, while Putin’s trip served to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.

Xi emphasized ceremonial hospitality during Trump’s visit, including a rare tour of Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now serves as headquarters of China’s top leadership. Beijing understood Trump valued highly visible displays of respect, said George Chen, partner for Greater China practice for The Asia Group. “Xi knows this is what Trump values: being treated like a VIP, respected in front of the cameras.”

With Putin, Chen said, Xi switched to substance. “Reaffirming the friendship treaty, signing new energy deals, and re-emphasizing their ‘no limits’ partnership,” he added.

The similarities and contrasts began with the schedule

The differences between the two visits began with their length: The U.S. president stayed in China for three days, while Putin’s visit lasted two.

Both leaders were welcomed at Tiananmen Square with ceremonial guards, a military band and children waving flags.

Both also held closed-door meetings with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, next to the square.

Trump also received a private tour of the Temple of Heaven and walked through the imperial gardens of Zhongnanhai.

Putin, instead, spent much of his time with Xi inside the Great Hall of the People, where the two presidents toured a photo exhibition on China-Russia relations and later had tea.

Last week’s trip was Trump’s second visit to China as president. For Putin, it was his 25th visit to the country.

The clearest divide came in the messaging

The main contrast between the two summits was in their messaging.

With Trump, Xi focused on the need to maintain a relatively stable relationship after months of tensions and a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. He urged the U.S. president to see China as a partner rather than a rival, and both leaders agreed to work toward what they described as “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.”

With Putin, Xi sought to reinforce and deepen a longstanding partnership that is both strategic and economically important for the two countries.

While the U.S. and China are still trying to stabilize their trade ties, Moscow and Beijing reaffirmed their relationship as essential partners. Putin said the “driving force” of the relationship was the energy sector, particularly oil and gas.

Xi signed agreements with only one of the presidents

China and Russia reached more than 40 cooperation agreements covering areas including trade, technology and media exchanges. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration describing Russia and China as “important centers of power in a multipolar world.”

Trump and Xi, by contrast, did not sign a joint declaration or oversee the signing of any agreements publicly during the visit. It was only after the U.S. president left Beijing that the two countries announced the details of several accords, with Washington saying China had agreed to buy U.S. agricultural products at an annualized rate of $17 billion and purchase 200 Boeing jets.

“China and Russia reached more agreements, and with China and the U.S., what are the agreements? Even that is not very clear,” said Claus Soong, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

But Lyle Morris, senior fellow on Chinese national security and foreign policy at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the biggest surprise from the Xi-Putin meetings was that it appears no formal deal was signed for the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline plan, which could send gas from Russia to China through Mongolia.

“This is a huge setback for Russia and Putin,” he said.

Putin and Trump have different stances on Taiwan

Moscow is closely aligned with Beijing on the issue of Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its own. Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains an intentionally ambiguous stance on the island and serves as its main informal backer and arms provider.

Xi made it clear to Trump that Taiwan is the most important issue in the bilateral relationship and warned that mishandling U.S. ties with the self-governing island could lead to confrontation between the two countries.

Trump did not publicly address Taiwan during the visit. But on his way back to the United States, he described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China, comments that stirred anxieties on the island.

With Putin, there was no sign of disagreement over the issue.

In the joint declaration signed by Xi and Putin, Russia reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence “in any form” and voiced support for what it described as China’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and achieve “national unification.”

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, both sides also raised concerns over what they called “accelerated remilitarization” of Japan, against the backdrop of strained China-Japan ties over Taiwan.

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Leung reported from Hong Kong, and Mistreanu from Bangkok.

The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures Thursday of around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in the capital, New Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope.

The weather department warned conditions will likely persist across several northern regions in the coming days, with temperatures staying well above seasonal averages. Authorities urged people to stay indoors during the hottest hours and take precautions against heat-related illnesses.

India declares a heat wave whenever temperatures are above 40 C (104 F) in the plains and 30 C (86 F) or more in its hilly regions.

Severe heat disrupts daily life

The extreme heat has disrupted daily life across several northern states.

In some parts of Uttar Pradesh state, India’s most populous, roads and markets have closed in the afternoons as people stayed indoors while some traders shifted work to early mornings. Farmers began working at night because daytime conditions became unbearable.

The heat also disrupted schools, with authorities in several areas announcing early summer vacations and suspending classes as the maximum temperature shot up to 48.2 C (118.8 F) on Tuesday in the city of Banda.

Health authorities urged people to avoid going outdoors during peak afternoon hours, stay hydrated and seek medical help if they experience symptoms such as dizziness or high fever.

Cooling shelters offer relief

In New Delhi, residents and tourists sought relief from the heat inside cooling shelters set up across the capital. The shaded space provides air coolers, fans, drinking water and oral rehydration solutions to help people deal with the extreme heat.

Inside one tent on Wednesday, people rested beside air coolers as officials distributed cups of water mixed with rehydration salts.

“We had come here for outing. But it is too hot here. The cooling system here is good for us,” said Basharat Ahmad Malla, a 25-year-old tourist.

Extreme heat tied to global warming

Climate experts say India’s rising temperatures are part of a broader global pattern linked to climate change.

India has faced more frequent and intense heat waves in recent years, with all of its warmest years on record occurring in the last decade.

“India has warmed considerably as a result of anthropogenic (human-made) climate change in the last decade compared to previous years. Northwestern India has warmed much faster than many other parts of the country,” said Anjal Prakash, author of several United Nations climate reports and professor of public policy at Pune-based Flame University.

Prakash said India is accustomed to summer heat but “climate change is loading the dice towards extreme and pervasive episodes like those we see now.”

Studies by public health experts found that up to 1,116 people have died every year between 2008 and 2019 due to heat. Public health experts say the true number of heat-related deaths is likely in the thousands, but because heat is often not listed on death certificates, many deaths are not counted in official figures.

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Associated Press journalists Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, Piyush Nagpal in New Delhi, and Sibi Arasu in Bengaluru, India, contributed to this report.

“…There is no reason to think the economy is in a recession or is at the edge of one.”

“Are we in a recession? – No, we are not.”

July 2022, March 2024, and February 2025.

Three quotes, three different years, three different moments of economic anxiety. All of these quotes point to one consistent message from one of the most powerful economic voices on the planet, former Fed Chairman Jerome Powell: the U.S. economy has not hit the tipping point of a recession.

But what exactly is that tipping point? Though the Fed Chair is the one whose words will calm (or shake) a nation, the real authority on U.S. recessions is a private, nonpartisan research organization called the National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER. And here’s the part that rarely makes the headline: by the time the NBER officially declares a recession, the country may have already been in one for months.

Powell served as Chairman of the Fed from February 2018 to May 2026. He’s overseen the nation’s economy through Trump’s first term, a global pandemic, a heated 2020 election, and a return of Donald Trump to the presidency.

Three different years. The same question. The same answer. One north star guiding a nation’s economy spread across three presidential administrations.

So why does it feel like, “Are we in a recession?” is still being asked? Are there economic indicators – outside of what government officials say – that would signal the possibility of a recession?

Funny you should ask…

Economic indicators – outside of what government officials say – that would signal the possibility of a recession

You walked right into that one.

This story isn’t about doom and gloom; it’s not a prediction, and it’s not a declaration. It’s a look at some of the more unconventional ways economists, analysts, and everyday observers have tried to read the economic tea leaves – long before official numbers come in.

Some of these indicators are rooted in real behavioral economics. Others are more folklore than formula. But all of them share one thing in common: they’re based on how regular people actually behave when money gets tight.

And sometimes, that’s more revealing than any government report.

So let’s explore several unofficial indicators of a possible impending recession:

• The Lipstick Effect

When money gets tight, people don’t stop treating themselves – they just downsize the treat.

That’s the idea behind something economists call the Lipstick Effect (or the Lipstick Index), a concept first observed by Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder after the September 11 attacks. Although Lauder’s theory was directly tied to one of the company’s products, in practice, it can be applied to all types of products.

His observation: lipstick sales go up during recessions, not down. Why? Because during hard economic times, a $12 lipstick still feels like a splurge – an affordable one, but a splurge nonetheless. The purchase scratches the itch without breaking the bank.

Economists observed Lauder’s theory during the 2008 financial crisis – and it showed up again during the recent pandemic. The broader idea is that when big indulgences – vacations, new cars, designer handbags – fall off the table, small ones take their place.

So the next time you’re in the cosmetics aisle and the shelves look a little picked over, it might be worth paying attention.

• The Parking Lot Test

While the Lipstick Effect was a nuanced observation by one business leader and has grown into a legitimate economic theory, how about another indicator that has academic research to back it up?

A 2022 study, published in the Journal of Retailing, found that parking lot traffic is a highly relevant metric for predicting retailer performance and signaling trends in consumer traffic. Aside from the peer-reviewed study, economists have long used higher parking lot occupancy as an informal gauge of consumer spending. Cars in the parking lot: customers. No cars in the parking lot: no customers.

That tracks.

It sounds almost too simple, but sometimes the simplest reads are the most honest ones. Think of it this way: before the data catches up, before the quarterly earnings reports come out, or before the economists and analysts officially call anything, regular people are already voting with their car keys. The Parking Lot Test is common sense backed up by data.

• The Lottery Ticket Paradox

Here’s a recession indicator that has a little irony baked right into it. When people get nervous about money, lottery ticket sales tend to go up – not down, up.

The logic isn’t as strange as it sounds: when conventional paths to financial security start to feel out of reach, the long shot starts to look a lot more appealing. It’s hope in a $2 scratch-off. This has shades of the Lipstick Effect (pun intended): lottery tickets from $2 to $10 aren’t so much of a splurge as they are a small bet with the possibility of a big payout.

Researchers have tracked this pattern across multiple downturns – lottery revenues historically climb when unemployment rises and consumer confidence falls. It’s not that people suddenly become reckless with their money – on the contrary: they’re looking for any reason to believe things could turn around.

And hey – somebody has to win, right?

• The Prediction Market Paradox

The Lottery Ticket Paradox has a younger, shinier cousin – and it lives on your smartphone.

Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are relatively new platforms that let anyone place a bet on real-world outcomes: Will the Fed cut interest rates? Will unemployment hit 5%? Will the U.S. enter a recession?

These aren’t casino games and they’re not true online betting – prediction markets are structured more like financial contracts, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). But make no mistake: at their core, they’re still a bet.

And people are pouring billions into prediction markets.

In 2025, total trading volume on prediction markets topped $44 billion – nearly all of it split between Kalshi and Polymarket. By April 2026, monthly trading volume had grown from $1.8 billion to $24.2 billion in just one year.

That’s not a trend – that’s a stampede.

Sound familiar? It should because at its core, the same psychological impulse that drives someone to buy a $2 scratch-off during tough economic times is the same impulse driving people to their prediction market apps.

It’s the hope that one small risk could change everything.

The difference is that prediction markets feel smarter. You’re not picking lottery numbers; you’re making an informed prediction about the economy, politics, world, or sporting events. It feels less like gambling and more like analysis. But here’s the catch: research shows that 67% of profits on Polymarket go to just 0.1% of accounts.

Kalshi has acknowledged there are 2.9 unprofitable users for every one profitable user. The people on the other side of your “informed” bet are often professional traders and algorithms making tens of thousands of trades a day.

So yes: the lottery ticket went digital, got dressed up in a suit, and started talking about macroeconomics. The impulse, though? Exactly the same. When people feel “economically anxious”, they reach for a long shot. Whether that’s a scratch-off at a gas station counter or a recession contract on a smartphone app, the psychology behind it hasn’t changed one bit.

The long shot just got a lot more sophisticated – and a lot more convenient. And though it may be too early to be recognized, more money being dumped into prediction markets could be the new 21st century economic indicator of an impending recession.

The recession before the recession

Economic indicators – official or otherwise – are ultimately about one thing: human behavior.

And human behavior during uncertain times follows patterns. People downsize their treats. They stay home instead of spending. They reach for long shots when conventional paths feel out of reach.

Jerome Powell said “no recession” three times over three years. The new Fed Chair will eventually face the same question (they always do). And the answer may well be the same.

The official verdict on a recession is always backward-looking: better understood and easier to recognize in hindsight. It tells you where you’ve been. But these indicators – imperfect as they are – also try to tell you something about where we’re heading.

While economists and officials debate the data, regular people are already voting. With their car keys, with their scratch-offs, with their smartphone apps – and with the lipstick they picked up instead of the vacation they didn’t take.

If you watch what people do when money gets tight, their actions will often tell you what the economists haven’t said yet. Before recessions show up in the data, they often show up in people.

THURSDAY

Temperatures will climb into the upper 80s and low 90s once again Thursday afternoon under a mix of sun and clouds. East to southeast winds will increase through the day as the sea breeze develops, bringing gusts up to 20 to 25 mph at times.

The best chance for rain and storms (30-40%) will develop inland in the afternoon, mainly west of I-95 where the sea breeze collision sets up. Any storms that develop could still produce gusty winds, lightning strikes and brief heavy downpours before fading later this evening.

HOLIDAY WEEEKEND

The overall forecast changes very little through Memorial Day weekend and into early next week. Expect the typical late May Florida pattern with warm afternoons, muggy nights and scattered sea breeze storms each day.

Rain chances will increase slightly this weekend as moisture levels rise, with scattered afternoon and evening storms becoming a little more common inland (40-50%).

The bigger story may be the heat and humidity. Afternoon highs remain near 90 degrees each day. But as humidity builds this weekend, heat index values could climb into the upper 90s and lower 100s during the hottest part of the afternoon.

LATE WEEK

Looking ahead to late next week, some forecast models hint at a possible wetter pattern developing, though confidence remains low this far out.

“As a net energy importer, the EU’s economy is highly susceptible to the energy shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East,” the commission said in a statement Thursday. The rising cost of fuel "means higher household bills and surging business costs that reduce profits for many industries.”

The commission’s spring forecast lowered the outlook for growth in the 21 countries that use the euro to 0.9% for this year, from 1.2% in its autumn forecast, and to 1.2% from 1.4% for 2027. Inflation is now expected to reach 3.0% for 2026, up from the earlier forecast of 1.9%.

The new inflation figure exceeds the inflation goal of 2% set by the European Central Bank, and higher inflation expectations have led to predictions the ECB will raise its interest rate benchmarks this year to combat inflation.

Oil prices rose sharply after risk of Iranian drone and speedboat attacks closed off most ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the sea passage for about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas. On top of that, news of the war has shaken consumer confidence, which fell to a 40-month low amid mounting fears of job losses and higher inflation.

Still, the commission said the economy will continue to show modest growth and avoid an outright recession.

It warned however that a downside scenario of a prolonged period of higher energy prices would push growth lower and inflation higher.

The new inflation figure exceeds the inflation goal of 2% set by the European Central Bank, and higher inflation expectations have led to predictions the ECB will raise its interest rate benchmarks this year to combat inflation.

Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the one-time prince, now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on charges related to allegations that he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.

The move followed the U.S. Justice Department’s release of millions of pages of documents related to Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential businessmen, known collectively as “the Establishment.”

During the parliamentary debate on Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein, government ministers and other lawmakers demanded more accountability from the royal family.

Trade Minister Chris Bryant said Mountbatten-Windsor was engaged in a constant “self-enriching hustle’’ during his time as a working member of the royal family.

Mountbatten-Windsor was a “rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest,” Bryant said at the time.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title last year as King Charles III tried to insulate the monarchy from the growing fallout from the Epstein scandal. The former prince served as a special envoy for international trade from 2001 to 2011, when he was forced to give up the role because of concerns about his links to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.

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This version corrects that the release is set to happen Thursday, not Wednesday.

To cement that point, the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that nearly 900,000 people moved to the Sunshine State in 2024. And this growth has been forecast to continue at a relatively steady pace through the end of the decade.

While the prospect of increased population growth is expected to help bolster the state’s GDP and job growth, it’s also sparked concerns about a rising cost of living as more people flood the state.

But even though plenty of people have decided to move to Florida, there was also a huge chunk of people who wanted to leave.

USCB data shows that just over 510,000 Florida residents went to other areas of the U.S. in 2023.

The biggest destination for outgoing Florida migrants was Georgia, likely thanks to its neighboring proximity. Close behind was Texas, which has held a similar political climate in recent years.

New York was also a large recipient of Florida’s outbound migrants, taking in just shy over 285,000 people. However, the Empire State lost far more than it gained, as over 50,000 New York residents in turn moved to Florida that same year.

Meanwhile, the full list of states where Florida residents moved to in 2024 is as follows:

The chain announced the new store on Wednesday alongside several others on its website.

Per company officials, this latest Florida location is set to open in Sarasota at 8199 S. Tamiami Trail. On its store page, the company describes the location as follows:

“At Trader Joe’s in Sarasota , we see ourselves as your neighborhood grocery store. Step inside and you’ll find unconventional and interesting products in the Trader Joe’s label like Mandarin Orange Chicken and Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate, as well as everyday basics like milk, eggs, meat, bakery items, and fresh produce.

We are a good source for great cheese, and we offer a vibrant selection of fresh flowers. Most importantly, we offer all of our delicious, quality products at the very best prices. We’re happy to be part of your community, and proud to offer you unique products and an exceptional shopping experience, every day."

Trader Joe's, 'About This Store'

However, no opening date has been provided at this time.

That said, it’s not the only new Trader Joe’s store that’s set to come to Florida.

Back in January, News 6 reported on an upcoming location that’s slated to open in the Waterford Lakes area at 1444 N. Alafaya Trail.

The storefront that Trader Joe’s will be moving into used to be a Party City, though the company closed all its stores in February 2025 after filing for bankruptcy.

Previously, former News 6 Community Correspondent Laverne McGee also reported that Trader Joe’s was also looking at opening a location in Maitland and another at The Loop in Kissimmee.

It’s all part of the Trader Joe’s continued nationwide expansion.

The company opened dozens of new stores last year, including stores in Daytona Beach and Viera.

Meanwhile, the grocer already has stores in Winter Park and in the Dr. Phillips area of Orlando.

For a full list of Trader Joe’s locations in Florida, click here.

But with all this going on, it’s important to remember that state lawmakers have already approved a new bill that would change the rules for e-bikes across the state.

The bill — SB 382 — would make a couple of changes to state statutes regarding e-bikes, including:

• Sidewalk Limits: Riders may not ride an e-bike over 10 mph on sidewalks if a pedestrian is within 50 feet.
• Local Parks: Riders on shared pathways at parks or other recreational areas must yield to pedestrians and give an “audible signal” before passing them.

Furthermore, SB 382 establishes a “Micromobility Device Safety Task Force,” responsible for recommending new rules that could help improve safety for devices like e-bikes.

Such a task force would include representatives from groups like the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida League of Cities, and the micromobility device industry, among others.

Lastly, the bill requires law enforcement in the state to maintain lists of traffic crashes that involve an e-bike, including details like the date of the crash, the class of the e-bike, and the age of the e-bike rider.

These lists will be submitted to the state later this year, and the details will be presented to lawmakers and the governor in October.

So far, SB 382 has been approved by the Legislature, meaning it now awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature.

If he signs off on it, the bill is slated to take effect immediately.

Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who heads Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible end to the war with the United States, experts say. He is believed to be part of a small clique in direct contact with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding after being reportedly wounded in the Feb. 28 Israeli strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Like everything in Iran since the war began, who ultimately controls decision-making remains uncertain. As people within the upper ranks of Iran's theocracy vie for power, they can gain or lose favor quickly. Vahidi himself hasn't been seen publicly since Feb. 8, weeks before the war began. On Thursday, Iranian media carried contradictory reports on Vahidi meeting with Pakistan's interior minister in Tehran, who carried a message regarding negotiations with the U.S. and met with other top Iranian officials.

A longtime veteran of the ruling system, Vahidi helped shape Iran’s support of militant groups across the region, is accused of a role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina, and in 2022, led domestic security forces in a bloody crackdown on protesters.

Elevated to Guard commander this year after his predecessor was killed early in the war, he leads the most powerful force in Iran, with its arsenal of ballistic missiles and its fleet of small boats threatening Persian Gulf shipping.

“Vahidi and members of his inner circle have likely consolidated control over not only Iran’s military response in the conflict but also Iran’s negotiations policy,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said.

Iran’s war strategy has been to keep a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil and gas exports and causing a global energy crisis. At the same time, it has struck hard against oil facilities, hotels and infrastructure in Gulf Arab nations.

In negotiations, it has held out against U.S. demands that it surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, betting that it can outlast the U.S. in the ongoing standoff and that President Donald Trump will be reluctant to resume outright war that could bring greater damage to America’s Gulf allies.

That likely reflects Vahidi’s confrontational style. “He comes from that mindset of unending revolution, unending resistance,” said Kenneth Katzman, a senior fellow at the The Soufan Group, a New York-based think tank. Vahidi believes “the U.S. needs to be challenged at every turn,” said Katzman, a senior Iran expert who advised the U.S. Congress for over 30 years.

Vahidi boasted in January that Iran’s defense power has developed to make it a “high risk for any military action by an enemy.”

Vahidi now a focal point in talks

Pakistan hosted talks in April between an Iranian delegation, led by parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and an American one, headed by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. But it ended without any deal.

Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned home to face criticism from inside the theocracy suggesting they were too willing to make concessions. Qalibaf had to insist publicly that the talks had the support of the supreme leader.

Since then, Vahidi has become the main point of contact for those negotiating with Iran, said a regional official with direct knowledge of the mediation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The extreme seclusion and unknown condition of the supreme leader have fueled speculation about jockeying among leaders for access to Khamenei and influence over him. In early May, President Masoud Pezeshkian, who many see as sidelined from influence by the Guard, went out of his way to say he “got to see our dear leader” and spoke to him for around two hours.

But Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said it’s likely the new supreme leader “is in lockstep with a more hard-line (Guard) — similar to his father, but in a more emboldened and uncompromising form.”

Analyst Kamran Bokhari wrote that figures like Vahidi “are not just managing war — they are actively reshaping succession, consolidating authority around a weakened supreme leader, and effectively ‘capturing’ the state through crisis governance.”

Vahidi forged by years leading Quds Force

Born Ahmad Shahcheraghi in Iran’s southern city of Shiraz in 1958, Vahidi like many young men after the 1979 revolution joined the Revolutionary Guard and fought against the invasion by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that sparked a bloody, eight-year war.

Vahidi entered the Guard’s nascent intelligence arm and soon was overseeing operations outside Iran. He gained the favor of powerful patrons, including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a later president. Rafsanjani said in his autobiography that Vahidi was involved in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, in which the Reagan administration sold weapons to Tehran in an effort to free hostages held by Iranian-backed militants in Lebanon. The U.S. later used the money from those sales to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Rafsanjani later intervened to protect Vahidi when then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sought to prosecute members of the Guard who failed to stop an incursion by armed fighters from an Iranian exile group in the late 1980s during the war.

Around this time, Vahidi took over the newly formed Quds, or Jerusalem, Force. Over decades, the Quds Force helped create a network of proxy militant groups and allied governments around the Middle East. The Quds Force under Vahidi helped mastermind the 1994 bombing targeting Argentina’s largest Jewish community center, killing 85 people and wounding 300 others, prosecutors say. Iran has denied involvement.

American investigators also believe that under Vahidi, Iran organized the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. service members and wounding hundreds. Tehran has denied being involved in that attack as well.

Vahidi left the Quds Force in 1998. In 2010, while he was defense minister, the United States imposed sanctions on him over alleged involvement in Iran’s nuclear program and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

More recently, as interior minister, Vahidi oversaw police units involved in a bloody, monthslong crackdown on protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for not properly wearing the mandated headscarf to the liking of authorities.

An Iranian newspaper later published a classified document that showed Vahidi’s Interior Ministry ordered security agencies to monitor and photograph women not wearing the hijab, something he had denied was taking place.

At around that time, Vahidi said in public comments that calls to remove the hijab were a “colonial plan” by Iran’s enemies trying to undermine the Islamic Republic. “The hijab has been a big barrier against the progress of effete Western culture,” he said.

Vahidi’s role makes reaching an accord with Iran that much more difficult for the U.S. — as does the continued obscurity over Iran’s leadership.

Trump wants a single interlocutor in Iran for negotiations, but "the whole system has changed,” said Hamidreza Azizi, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute.

“It is not a one-man show. Vahidi is one alongside others," Azizi said. "Some we know and some we don’t know.”

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Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, and Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

A report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Thursday said Tonzang, near the border with India, was captured by the army on Wednesday after 10 days of operations to retake it. The paper published photos of soldiers who recaptured the town in front of the township’s administrative office and other departments.

That report came a day after Myanma Alinn reported that the army on Tuesday retook control of Mawtaung, a strategically important border town for trade with Thailand, after a two-week operation.

The army’s recapture of Tonzang in northwestern Chin state and Mawtaung in the southern Tanintharyi region come as the army has regained the upper hand in the nationwide conflict since mid-2025, after China-brokered ceasefires and a conscription-driven increase in troop numbers.

The moves also come a month after Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military-backed government, invited the country’s armed resistance groups to fresh peace talks.

Chin and Tanintharyi have seen intense conflict since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and many parts of the country are now enmeshed in civil war.

Tonzang, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the Indian border, had since May 2024 been under the control of the allied Chin ethnic militias and local resistance forces.

Mawtaung, about 630 kilometers (390 miles) southeast of Yangon, the country’s largest city, has been under the control of the Karen National Union and other local resistance groups.

After more than 207 armed engagements, the bodies of 24 members of the KNU and its allies were recovered and their ammunition supplies were captured, the newspaper report said, adding that some members of the security forces were also killed.

The KNU and other local resistance groups did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Restrictions on reporting make independent confirmation of the recaptures of the towns virtually impossible, though the army’s claim has not been challenged.

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin added the 64-year-old Orgeron to the staff as a special assistant to recruiting and defense. Orgeron worked under Kiffin at Southern California and Tennessee.

“I’m excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU,” Kiffin said in a statement. “He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana.

"Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program. I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players.”

Orgeron spent six seasons as LSU's head coach. He was fired after the 2021 season.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

While pitching and hitting in the same game for the first time in four weeks, Ohtani homered on the first pitch of the night and then threw five innings of three-hit ball in Los Angeles' 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.

After launching his eighth homer of the season and then lowering his ERA to a minuscule 0.73, Ohtani took satisfaction in doing it all even on a night when he didn't feel sharp on the mound.

But in a series-clinching victory over the rival Padres, Ohtani still did enough in both areas to carry the back-to-back World Series champions yet again.

Ohtani said through his interpreter that he had “a lot of uncertainty coming into this outing, because the feel wasn’t great. And so the results were good, but as you saw, the process wasn’t that great. ... I have a pretty high standard in terms of performance, so it didn’t really match."

Two-way superstardom is a burden unique to Ohtani, and he hasn’t been shouldering it as effortlessly as usual this season. While his pitching numbers are stellar — his ERA is now the lowest in the majors among pitchers with at least 25 innings of work — he fell into a slump at the plate in April and struggled into May, with his power production particularly languishing.

“Like we all know, he wants to win that Cy Young, and he wants to help us win games, and he wants to be a really productive offensive player,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “At this point in time, he’s doing all of the above.”

While Ohtani has snapped out of his slump at the plate with 13 hits over the past seven games, he hadn't produced offensively this season in games in which he was also pitching, so Roberts kept the bat out of his hands in his past three mound starts.

The four-time MVP wasn’t thought to be particularly happy about the decision, and Roberts only had his pitcher back in the lineup at Petco Park because the Dodgers have a day off Thursday.

Ohtani showed his approval of the return by immediately driving Randy Vásquez’s high fastball 398 feet to center field for his eighth homer of the season and his 27th career leadoff homer.

“I think that he’s very mindful of everything that’s said about him, and at times he uses that as motivation to prove people wrong, that he can do something,” Roberts said. “I think that he likes to contribute, and I know that he’s heard about (his struggles) on days that he pitches or days after he pitches. So for him to homer in that first at-bat, I think he was like, `OK, I’ve contributed on the offensive side.' And then he took some good at-bats tonight.”

Ohtani is the only player in major league history to hit a game-opening homer as a pitcher, and he has now done it twice. The first time was in one of the greatest single-game performances in baseball history — his three-homers-and-a-pitching-victory classic in the clinching Game 4 of last fall’s National League Championship Series against Milwaukee.

This time, Ohtani the pitcher gave thanks to Ohtani the hitter for the early lead.

“The goal as a pitcher is not to give up the first run, so I was glad I was able to not do that,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I was glad we were able to score first.”

And that was all the run support he needed: Ohtani has allowed just four earned runs in 49 innings this season, holding his opponents scoreless in five of his eight starts.

His pitching performance in San Diego wasn't smooth, but it was effective.

Although he retired the Padres' first nine batters, Ohtani needed 52 pitches to do it, and he eventually made his shortest mound start of the season — the first with fewer than six innings of work — along with just 88 pitches, one more than his season low. Roberts gave him a short leash because Ohtani was also in the lineup.

“It’s just another case in point that it’s good for us to be mindful of the workload and just not take that for granted,” Roberts said. “But again, he’s pretty special.”

Ohtani had to escape jams in his final two innings, but he pulled it off.

After San Diego loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on two singles and a walk, Ohtani got Fernando Tatis Jr. to ground into a double play on his final pitch.

The superstar loved it, visibly roaring while exuding a joy he rarely expresses as a hitter.

“I loved the results, but I had walked the guy before, and that wasn’t quite exactly what I wanted to do there, so just the results were good,” Ohtani said.

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

But President Donald Trump is facing his own pressure at home for shipping to resume through the vital corridor off Iran's coast. Fellow Republicans in Congress are battling political headwinds ahead of November's midterm elections as gasoline prices skyrocket and global energy markets churn.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday advanced legislation seeking to force Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, with a growing number of Republicans defying the president in the 50-47 vote.

U.S. Central Command said on social media that the M/T Celestial Sea was searched and redirected after being suspected of trying to head to an Iranian port. It’s at least the fifth commercial vessel to be boarded since the Trump administration imposed the blockade on Iranian shipping in mid-April, several days into a ceasefire, to pressure Tehran into opening the strait and accepting a deal to end the war.

The military boarded the tanker after Trump said Monday he had called off renewed military strikes on Iran in an effort to make progress in negotiations to end the war. Trump said he had planned “a very major attack” for Tuesday but put it off, saying America’s allies in the Gulf asked him to wait for two to three days because they feel they are close to a deal.

Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Before the U.S. blockade, Tehran had allowed some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging considerable fees, leading to accusations it is holding the global economy hostage.

The U.S. military recently said that 1,550 vessels, from 87 countries, are currently stranded in the Persian Gulf.

Nearly three months since the war began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28, Iran maintains a chokehold on the strait, while the U.S. military has enforced its blockade on Iran's ports as well as Iranian-linked ships that are far away from the Middle East.

Last month, U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. A couple days later, the U.S. seized another tanker associated with smuggling Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

In early May, Trump said the U.S. military would begin to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped strait. The next day, he announced that the effort to protect ships was paused to see if an agreement could be reached.

Days later, U.S. forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers after exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said the tankers were trying to breach the blockade. The day before, the military said it thwarted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in response.

Following a rain delay that lasted more than two hours, the right-handers traded zeros until the seventh inning — when Toronto loaded the bases with nobody out on an infield single, a walk and a bunt single.

Andrés Giménez then fouled off seven pitches, five with two strikes, before drawing an 11-pitch walk that scored Ernie Clement and chased Schlittler. One out later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lofted a sacrifice fly against Jake Bird to make it 2-0.

Yesavage (2-1) allowed just two hits and walked none while striking out eight over six shutout innings. The 22-year-old rookie has a 1.07 ERA in five starts after missing the first month this season due to a right shoulder impingement.

Three of his strikeouts came against three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge, who fanned all four times up.

Mason Fluharty, Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Rogers combined for six outs before the Yankees threatened against Louis Varland in the ninth. He gave up two hits and Paul Goldschmidt’s run-scoring comebacker before striking out Amed Rosario with a 99 mph fastball to earn his sixth save.

The 25-year-old Schlittler (6-2) permitted eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts as his major league-leading ERA rose to 1.50.

It was the first time Yesavage and Schlittler have squared off after both authored dominant performances as rookies in the postseason last year.

Schlittler struck out 12 over eight innings in a 4-0 win against rival Boston in the decisive game of their AL Wild Card Series to advance New York to the Division Series versus Toronto, where Yesavage tossed 5 1/3 hitless innings with 11 strikeouts in a Game 2 victory over the Yankees.

The start Wednesday night was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 11 minutes.

Blue Jays right fielder Jesús Sánchez was shaken up in the seventh after diving for Goldschmidt's bloop single. Sánchez left the game but simply had the wind knocked out of him and is day-to-day, manager John Schneider said.

Up next

LHP Carlos Rodón (0-1, 5.63 ERA) pitches for the Yankees in Thursday’s series finale. The Blue Jays hadn't announced a scheduled starter, though RHP Spencer Miles (1-0, 2.55) is expected to pitch bulk innings in some capacity.

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With star defenseman Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury, the Avalanche hardly resembled the top-seeded team that rolled through the first two rounds. They experimented with different line combinations in a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.

"There’s definitely a trickle-down effect to that,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he’s not playing. We have find a way.”

A few breakdowns led to some big plays. One of the biggest was Dylan Coghlan splitting the defense down the middle and scoring through the pads of goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

Just the way the night went as the Avalanche trailed 3-0 before making it a one-goal game with 2:21 remaining on a power-play tally from captain Gabriel Landeskog.

“They capitalized early, we fought back," said Wedgewood, who stopped 24 shots. “But just unfortunately didn’t have enough.”

Colorado relied heavily on Devon Toews, who logged 27 minutes, 32 seconds. Brett Kulak was just over 23 minutes and Sam Malinski at 20:31. Josh Manson was just over 19 minutes, Brent Burns, at 41 years old, just shy of 17 minutes and Jack Ahcan, the defenseman who filled in for Makar, was limited to 7:34.

“I think the guys that we had playing tonight, not just the D, were capable more and capable of better,” Bednar said. “It just wasn’t there for us tonight.”

The availability of Makar for Game 2 on Friday night remains unknown. Although, Bednar did say that Makar was “doing a lot better," on Wednesday after morning skate.

Makar hasn't been practicing with the team since he left the ice holding his right arm following a collision late in Game 5 against Minnesota last Wednesday. He did return in that game as Colorado won in overtime. Makar also briefly left Game 1 after taking a hit along the boards, with his right leg flying into the air before he fell to the ice.

His absence is a blow for the Avalanche. This was the first time Makar has missed a playoff game for the Avalanche with an injury. He was suspended one game for interference during a series against Seattle in 2023.

The Norris Trophy finalist has four goals and an assist while averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time through the opening two rounds. Makar also is an integral part of Colorado's special teams.

“Best defenseman in the world,” Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor said before Game 1. "He’s not going to be easily replaced. There’s not one guy that’s going to be able to do it. I think the advantage we have with the group we have in the game tonight is a lot of guys can be minute-munchers for us.

“Cale presents a dynamic ability that is super-unique in the league. No one’s going to replicate that tonight, but it’s on the D-core as a whole, and our group as a whole, to try and pick it up when we can.”

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Speaking to The Associated Press amid national festivities, President Jakov Milatovic described NATO membership as a key milestone and said he is confident the country of 623,000 people will fulfill its ambitious agenda of becoming the next member of the 27-member EU in 2028.

The motto “28 by 28” has even been inscribed on one of the planes of the national airline.

“We can achieve it,” Milatovic said from the presidential office in Podgorica, the capital. “I am optimistic about it.”

Concerts and various celebrations are being held in the capital Podgorica this week and other towns in Montenegro, which is known for its stunning Adriatic Sea coastline and towering mountains.

The first in line to join

Montenegro is considered a front-runner for EU membership among the six countries in the Western Balkans, which are at different stages of the process. Several other countries, including Ukraine, hope to join one day as well.

The EU has formed a working group to draft an accession treaty for Montenegro — a signal that membership remains within reach.

EU officials are expected to reiterate the message at a meeting in the coastal Montenegrin town of Tivat in early June with the leaders of the Western Balkan candidate nations. The others are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo.

Milatovic noted that support for the EU in Montenegro is very high, at around 80%. But the country must also finish democratic and economic reforms, and how quickly it does so, is “now is entirely up to Montenegro,” he added.

There was far less unity when the country 20 years ago chose to leave the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro — itself one of several successor states of Yugoslavia.

A new geopolitical direction

Split between the supporters of independence and those backing the union with Serbia, Montenegro held a referendum on May 21, 2006, to choose its future path after a decade of wars and NATO bombing in 1999 aimed at stopping the war in Kosovo. The result: 55.5% chose independence.

Splitting from the joint state was divisive given that Montenegro has historically close ties with Serbia and because about a third of Montenegrins consider themselves Serbs. Montenegro and Serbia share the same Orthodox Christian religion, speak similar languages and hold centuries-old alliances.

The independence drive was led by Montenegro’s longtime leader Milo Djukanovic, who steered the country into NATO and away from another historic Slavic ally — Russia.

“Twenty years ago, the citizens of Montenegro took decision-making into their own hands, and that was the basis of our development,” the president said.

“The major progress probably happened when the country became a part of NATO in 2017,” he added. “Being a part of NATO for a small country like Montenegro is very important because NATO is indeed a security guarantee for our independence and statehood.”

More work to do

A candidate since 2010, Montenegro still faces many challenges on its EU road, former European integration minister Jovana Marovic said. A key priority involves strengthening state institutions.

“What was missing in the last 14 years, we have to provide now just in six months," she said. “So it’s really demanding, but the process is going on.”

For Montenegro’s citizens, the economy and living standards are the key priorities. Along with democratic reforms, Montenegro has adopted the euro as its currency but the economy remains small and heavily dependent on tourism.

Zorana Popivoda, 28, hailed restoring Montenegro’s independence. But, she added, “then you go into a store and you see that you can buy absolutely nothing.”

President Milatovic, 39 and an economist by training, criticized the previous Montenegrin authorities for not doing more in the early years of independence to boost democratic reforms and to fight against organized crime and corruption.

“I think that over the last 20 years, we can objectively say that the country experienced progress," he said, “but also that Montenegro had a number of missed opportunities.”

Castro was charged for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro was defense minister at the time.

President Donald Trump has been escalating talk on regime change in Cuba after the military action in Venezuela early this year resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. In addition, a White House-ordered economic blockade has led to blackouts, food shortages and a collapse in economic activity across Cuba.

The indictment comes amid rising tensions between Trump's administration and Cuba’s government. Meanwhile, the U.S. is in the midst of an uneasy ceasefire in the U.S. war against Iran.

Here’s a closer look at developments over the year between Cuba and the U.S.

Jan. 4

A day after the operation in Venezuela that captured Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Cuba's government was “in a lot of trouble," as the president renewed calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland.

Jan. 11

Trump fired off a warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braced for potential unrest after Maduro was deposed. Trump called for the Cuban government “to make a deal BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded, “Those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.”

Jan. 30

Trump signed an executive order to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple the island.

Feb. 27

A day before the war in Iran began, Trumpsaid the U.S. was in talks with Havana and raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba,” though he didn't offer any details.

Trump said Rubio was in discussions with Cuban leaders “at a very high level.”

Trump didn’t clarify his comments but seemed to indicate that the situation with Cuba, among Washington’s bitterest adversaries for decades, was coming to a critical point.

Sometime in February

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Castro known as "Raúlito," secretly met with Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community summit in St. Kitts in February.

March 13

Díaz-Canelsaid Cuba and the U.S. held talks, marking the first time the Caribbean country confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration amid an energy crisis.

He said the talks “were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between our two nations. International factors facilitated these exchanges.”

March 31

A sanctioned Russian oil tanker arrived in Cuba, the first time in three months fuel reached the island.

April 9

Diaz-Canel said he would not resign.

April 10

Two senior State Department officials — Jeremy Lewin, who is in charge of all U.S. foreign assistance, and Michael Kozak, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America — led a delegation to Havana and met with Rodríguez Castro, according to one U.S. official familiar with the meetings.

April 12

Díaz-Canel said in an interview he would not step down and that the U.S. has no valid reason to carry out a military attack against the island or to attempt to depose him.

Speaking in the interview on NBC's “Meet the Press,” the president said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional security.

April 16

Díaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew hundreds of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence.

“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,” Díaz-Canel said.

April 17

News emerged that an American delegation recently met with Cuban government officials, marking a renewed diplomatic push. This was at least the third meeting with Rodríguez Castro.

A senior State Department official met with Rodríguez Castro earlier in the month, according to a department official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The official did not say who from the U.S. met with Rodríguez Castro, whose grandfather is believed to play an influential role in the Cuban government despite not holding an official post. A second U.S. official said Rubio was not part of the delegation that visited Havana.

April 23

A Cuban diplomat speaking at the United Nations said Havana will not abide by any American “ultimatums” to release political prisoners as part of new talks.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cuban Ambassador to the U.N. Ernesto Soberón Guzmán said internal issues regarding detainees “are not on the negotiating table.” The release of political prisoners was a key U.S. demand as the longtime adversaries held discussions in Cuba for the first time in a decade.

April 28

Senate Republicans rejected legislation from Democrats that would have required Trump to end the U.S. energy blockade on Cuba unless he receives approval from Congress.

The vote on the war powers resolution showed how Republicans continue to stand behind Trump as he acts unilaterally to exert American force in a range of global conflicts, including Venezuela, Iran and Cuba — one of the U.S.’s closest neighbors.

May 7

U.S. officials said the United States was not looking at imminent military action against Havana despite Trump’s repeated threats that “Cuba is next” and that American warships deployed in the Middle East for the Iran conflict could return by way of the island.

The officials involved in preliminary discussions with Cuban authorities also told the AP that they are not optimistic the communist government will accept an offer for tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, two years of free Starlink internet access for all Cubans, agricultural assistance and infrastructure support.

But they said Cuba had not yet outright refused the offer, which came with conditions that the government has long resisted, even after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Havana.

May 14

U.S. and Cuban officials said CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island.

Ratcliffe met with Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP.

May 15

The Justice Department was preparing to seek an indictment against Castro, three people familiar with the matter told the AP.

One of the people said the potential indictment was connected to Castro’s alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro was defense minister at the time.

All three people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment on the potential indictment, which was reported earlier by CBS.

May 18

The State Department imposed a new layer of sanctions on several Cuban government agencies, including the Interior Ministry and National Police and Intelligence Directorate, as the Trump administration continued to ratchet up pressure against the island.

May 20

Federal prosecutors announced a grand jury indictment against Castro in connection with the shootdown of the two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that two planes, not four, were shot down in 1996.

Except, no, he really didn't.

Yes, Wembanyama made contact with Williams. Yes, it looked like a foul. Yes, it was called that way — at first. Upon review, it was determined that Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein actually shoved Wembanyama into his teammate and caused the foul himself.

That's how physical the Thunder were with Wembanyama in Game 2. They grabbed, pushed, nudged, anything and everything they could muster against the 7-foot-4 French star who still finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.

But the Thunder won 122-113, tying the series at a game apiece.

“It's all in the scouting,” Wembanyama said. "I have to trust the scouting. We have to trust it and do our work early. It's straight effort. ... Doesn't mean it's easy. We have to work through it."

He knew what was coming, and so did the Thunder. Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault told Hartenstein on Tuesday that he would have a bigger role in Game 2.

“I'm just kind of one of those players that brings physicality to the game,” said Hartenstein, who got only 12 minutes in Game 1 and then assumed a key role in Game 2 — with 10 points and 13 rebounds. “I think that's just kind of what we needed.”

Stopping Wembanyama isn't going to happen. He's too good. The Thunder playbook in Game 2 — and going forward — will be about making life as difficult as possible for him, hoping to prevent outbursts like the 41-point, 24-rebound gem that Wembanyama put together in San Antonio's Game 1 win.

“Every good player, they have to feel the defense," Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It's tough. He’s very different to scout. You've got to try to mix things up, you've got try different things. And that’s just what we did. Coach tried something in the first game, didn’t like it, tried something else. That’s what it’s about.”

Wembanyama's debut in the conference finals is off to an elite start. He has got 62 points and 41 rebounds through the first two games; the last player with 60 points and 40 rebounds in the first two games of the conference finals was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974 — with 69 points and 40 rebounds for Milwaukee against Chicago.

But the MVP finalist and Defensive Player of the Year wasn't in the mood to hear stats. He wanted a 2-0 lead, and settling for a 1-1 tie going home for Game 3 wasn't cause for celebration. The Spurs rallied from 13 down in the fourth to make it interesting, but couldn't finish the comeback.

He was asked what the toughest part of Game 2 was.

“I would say it's spending so much energy on catching back up ... then letting it go away,” Wembanyama said.

That, to him, was the biggest hit of all.

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In 2020, he was a 21-year-old starting goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, going 9-6 in their run to the second round in the Eastern Conference during the Toronto bubble, posting a .926 save percentage and two shutouts.

After serving time in hockey exile while mired in the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal — for which he was acquitted — Hart joined the Vegas Golden Knights last December. He's sparked them in these playoffs, going 9-4 and helping the Golden Knights steal home ice with a 4-2 win at top-seeded Colorado in the opener of their Western Conference Final on Wednesday night.

“We know they’re a good team," said Hart, who has a .920 save percentage in these playoffs while allowing just 2.35 goals per game. “We know they got a lot of skill on their team and we respect that, but you can’t respect them too much. And I thought we did a good job of defending and limiting their time in space and I thought we blocked a lot of shots tonight and got in a lot of lanes and tied up some sticks.”

Hart was stellar in stopping the pucks that reached him, turning away 36 of 38 shots. The only ones he allowed to get through were a between-the-legs aberration by Valeri Nichushkin and a late goal from Gabe Landeskog when the Avs had pulled goaltender Scott Wedgewood on a power play for a two-man advantage.

“Carter Hart’s a hell of a goalie,” said Golden Knights coach John Tortorella, who took over in Vegas on March 29 and who also coached Hart in Philadelphia. "He was great in Philly for me, and we’ve got two good ones, you know. (Adin Hill)'s kind of been put off to the side a little bit, that’s a guy that just won a Stanley Cup a couple years ago.

"But Carter, I think he’s grown so strong mentally. I don’t think much bothers him. He is just zeroed in. And he’s going to have to be, because we’ve got a lot of work to do here.”

The respect is mutual.

“Yeah, I think he’s done a great job coming in here,” Hart said. “It’s never easy coming in late in the season like he did and I think he’s done a tremendous job of just rallying the group and earning the guys’ trust and I really enjoy playing for him. I enjoyed playing for him in Philly and I’m happy he’s here.”

Beginning in early 2024, Hart was placed on an indefinite leave of absence from hockey after he was charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team as part of the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal; he was acquitted of all charges last year and resumed his career with Vegas.

The league reviewed the case and agreed to allow the acquitted defendants to play starting Dec. 1, 2025. Hart was the first of those five Canada junior players to agree to an NHL deal, signing a two-year, $4 million contract before working with Vegas’ American Hockey League affiliate in Henderson, Nevada.

After he agreed to sign, Hart read a statement to reporters that, in part, said he wanted “to show the community my true character and who I am and what I’m about.”

He's also showing how much help he can be for Vegas' hopes of winning another Stanley Cup. He made 10 stops in the scoreless first period as the Golden Knights served notice that they weren't going to be like the Los Angeles Kings or Minnesota Wild, who went a combined 1-8 against Colorado in prior rounds.

“It’s huge,” Hart said. “To come out like we did, I thought we came out really good in the first period and I know this is a hard building to play in and it was huge for us just to get rolling and just start off the right way and then build off that.”

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Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Colorado made it 3-2 with 2:21 remaining on a power-play goal from Gabriel Landeskog. Nic Dowd sealed it for Vegas with an empty-net goal.

Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights, who took advantage of several defensive miscommunications by the Avalanche as they juggled their blue-line pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.

Coghlan scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 17, 2021. The 28-year-old defenseman spent most of the season in the American Hockey League. He's played the last five postseason games with the recent injury to Jeremy Lauzon.

“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “I think he's one of our best defensemen since he's been with us and in the lineup. ... He's a bit unflappable."

It was a smothering performance most of the game by the Golden Knights as they kept the pressure on goaltender Scott Wedgewood, while controlling the Avalanche's speed through the neutral zone. Vegas also had 23 blocked shots.

“We didn't play a flawless game by any means,” Tortorella said. “We have work to do.”

Valeri Nichushkin had a goal at 5:53 of the third to make it 3-1.

Hart was stellar most of the evening, making one sprawling save after another. He got some help from his post, too, when Logan O’Connor's liner clanged off it in the first period.

“We know they've got a lot of skill on their team, and we respect that,” Hart said. “But you can’t respect them too much, and I thought we did a good job of defending and limiting their time and space.”

Mitch Marner added an assist for Vegas to give him 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in this postseason. It was Dorofeyev’s NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason. The Golden Knights didn’t have injured captain Mark Stone.

“We’re trying to play our game, not worrying too much about countering off another team," Tortorella explained. "They feel very comfortable in it.”

Game 2 is Friday night in Denver.

The Avalanche dropped their first game at home after winning five straight through the first two rounds. Wedgewood made 24 saves.

“It was kind of a nothing game, and then they got a few goals,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "Really good team, obviously, but I thought we did a lot of damage to ourselves. Just guys kind of everywhere. Execution, like I said, needs to be better. Obviously, we’re capable of being a lot better than that.”

Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless game in the second period.

“There's definitely a trickle-down effect to that," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he's not playing. We have find a way.”

Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because of the bonds he'd formed.

“This is probably the best I've felt in my whole career,” said Coghlan, who played in three regular-season games for Vegas this season. “Whoever it is I'm playing with I'm very comfortable out there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty world-class players.”

The Golden Knights and Avalanche are meeting in a best-of-seven series for the second time. In 2021, Colorado won the opening two games of their second-round series before Vegas captured four straight.

“ Definitely things we can get better at,” Landeskog said. “But we knew it was (going to) be a long series.”

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

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In rambling writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, the teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego this week, killing three men and themselves, left little doubt about the models for their violence.

Chief among them: the shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

Researchers who study extremism have long noted the resonance of the Christchurch attack among far-right assailants, attributing it to the extent of the violence, the document the killer posted concerning his views and actions, and — especially — his decision to livestream the massacre. Among those who apparently modeled attacks after Christchurch was a shooter who months later killed 22 people in a Texas Walmart.

“Part of what we’re seeing in violent extremist communities online is wanting to emulate the attacks that have had the most kills — which is a disgusting thing to say, but it's the reality,” said Katherine Keneally, director of threat analysis and prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an anti-extremism organization. “There is this obsession and it’s just sort of gamifying of attacks.”

Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, stormed the Islamic Center on Monday before being driven back outside by a security guard who exchanged gunfire with them as he initiated a lockdown, helping to protect 140 children, authorities have said.

The pair killed the guard, Amin Abdullah, and two other men before taking their own lives in a vehicle nearby.

Writings heavy on hate and grievance

They left behind a 74-page document — the same length as the one written by Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant. Like Tarrant's, it cited a range of far-right ideological inspirations, including the notion that white people are being replaced by other populations, and offered self-interviews detailing their motives and goals.

And they called themselves “Sons of Tarrant.”

The writings include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and the political left and right. They indicated they were trying to accelerate the collapse of society. In his section, Vazquez wrote of having “some mental health issues” and being rejected by women.

Brian Levin, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino, noted that while white supremacist writings dating to the 1970s offered a narrative blueprint for decentralized terror attacks, neo-Nazis decades ago favored an approach sometimes called the “propaganda of the deed” — the attack on its own was supposed to inspire copycats, even without written explanations.

The internet has made it easier to spread writings by attackers, and since a far-right attacker killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 and released a 1,500-page document, it has become more common for writings to accompany such atrocities, Levin said. Frequently the writings quote from past white-supremacist texts.

“This strategy of being another chapter in a continuing chain of extremism not only telegraphs that the movement is bigger than it is, but also its resilience — that it is reoccurring with a different set of violent actors, some of whom die in the process,” Levin said.

A contagion of mass violence

The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on houses of worship. Threats and hate crimes targeting the Muslim and Jewish communities have risen since war began in the Middle East, forcing increases in security.

Keneally said she had mixed feelings about the media attention on the attacks: The public needs to understand what happened, but it also risks amplifying the killers' message and spreading the contagion of mass violence. She said she has struggled with questions she has gotten about whether such attacks are motivated by nihilistic extremism, or accelerationist, neo-Nazi, or white supremacist ideologies.

“We’re trying to put people in buckets and we’re asking the why, but we’re not going back and looking at the how," Keneally said. "How did these kids end up going down this route? How is social media playing a role in that?”

At 17 and 18, she said, healthy teenagers should be excited about graduating high school or entering young adulthood, not engaging with extremist ideologies.

Another form of inspiration

While hateful extremism inspired the teens to attack the Islamic center, it inspired the security guard, Abdullah, in another way: to defend it.

In an interview, his friend Khalid Alexander said Abdullah was increasingly concerned about negative rhetoric toward Muslims, including from politicians.

“He recognized a direct kind of correlation between the threat of the community he was protecting and the types of, really, hate that was being spewed on television in an anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-immigrant feeling,” Alexander said. “And so he was keenly aware of the dangers of his job. And that’s exactly why he chose to do it.”

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Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego and Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed.

The reason: Another hamstring problem, which the Thunder called tightness.

Williams appeared to be getting treatment on the hamstring during the first half, then left the bench area and did not play in the second quarter. Television footage showed him walking toward the locker room holding a large wrap on the back of his left leg.

Cason Wallace started the second half in Williams' place, and the Thunder announced that Williams wouldn't return not long afterward. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Williams would be evaluated on Thursday.

“He’s going to get checked out," Daigneault said after Oklahoma City's 122-113 win that evened the series at a game apiece. "I don’t deal in like hypotheticals, especially when doctors are involved. ... We'll see where he’s at. We’ll update him accordingly.”

Williams returned for Game 1 of the Spurs' series, scoring 26 points in 37 minutes on Monday night in Oklahoma City's 122-115 double-overtime loss. He had four points in seven first-quarter minutes Wednesday, including an alley-oop dunk with 2:12 left in the period.

Game 3 of the series is Friday in San Antonio.

Williams missed 55 of the Thunder’s first 91 games this season entering Wednesday, including playoffs. Of those absences, 19 were for a right wrist issue and the other 36 were related to his hamstrings — the right one costing him 30 games during the regular season, the left one costing him the most recent six during the playoffs.

“Obviously, if we don’t have him, it hurts," Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. “I still believe in this team though. We've played a bunch of games without him, won big games without him. I still think we’ll get the job done. But losing a guy ... no matter how good your team is otherwise it hurts a little bit. And for him, just like as a human being, he’s had a tough year with injuries.”

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

What is planned for the finale has not been revealed but the folks at “The Late Show” have had months to prepare for the end of the network’s 33-year franchise.

Guests in the final week have included Michael Keaton, Jon Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen, while there's been a wacky version of “It’s Raining Men” remade into “It’s Raining Fish.”

CBS announced last summer that Colbert’s show would end, citing economic reasons after 11 seasons. But Colbert is the ratings leader in late-night TV. Many — including Colbert — have expressed skepticism that President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the show wasn't a factor.

The decision to shutter the show came after parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement of Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview as Paramount awaited his administration's approval of a pending sale to Skydance Media. Colbert had called it a “big fat bribe.”

Dustin Kidd, a professor of sociology at Temple University, notes that Colbert leaves at the top of his game and as the ratings leader on late night. Canceling him can’t be explained strictly through economics, he said.

“I would argue that it’s answerable, frankly, through politics,” Kidd said. “There’s been a lot of political pressure levied against this show and a lot of political pressure at work within CBS more generally. And I think that has a lot more to offer in terms of explaining why this show, at this time.”

Colbert’s chief rivals, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” will both run reruns on Thursday night at the same time as Colbert's goodbye.

CBS will fill “The Late Show” slot with “Comics Unleashed,” in which comedians share stories. Host Byron Allen has vowed to avoid politics.

Just like that, the Spurs have some big issues to deal with in the Western Conference finals.

Fox — the Spurs' All-Star guard — tried to go through a pregame workout Wednesday but his right ankle wasn't good enough to let him play. So, the Spurs kept Dylan Harper in the starting lineup in his place, only to see him leave in the third quarter with a leg injury.

The Spurs got a split of the first two games in Oklahoma City, but it's anyone's guess who'll start in the backcourt when the series resumes in San Antonio on Friday night.

“It's a tough injury that he wouldn't be playing with in the regular season,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Fox's ankle injury, the severity of which has not been fully disclosed by the team. “He's trying to tough it out.”

Harper took two awkward falls about a minute apart in the third quarter and was ruled out not long afterward. Johnson didn't have an update on him after Game 2, which Oklahoma City won 122-113 to even the series.

The Spurs held out hope until about an hour before game time that Fox could play, and Johnson — just as he did Monday — indicated that Fox's status will be a series of game-time decisions for the rest of the season.

“It’ll be pretty status quo moving forward, I believe, regardless of if he plays in games or not,” Johnson said. “This’ll be just kind of the world we live in.”

Fox was an All-Star this season for the Spurs, averaging 18.6 points per game in the regular season — second on the team behind only Victor Wembanyama's 25 points per game.

Harper — who was named to the NBA's All-Rookie first team earlier Wednesday — was brilliant in the Spurs' Game 1 win, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a team playoff record seven steals.

He had 12 points in 25 minutes on Wednesday before heading to the locker room.

Harper, who turned 20 on March 2, is the second-youngest player to have appeared in this season's playoffs, behind only Minnesota's Joan Beringer and Phoenix's Khaman Maluach — both still just 19. Beringer and Maluach combined to score 24 points in the playoffs, matching the total that Harper had in Game 1 against the Thunder alone.

“He didn't just get this talented or this good,” Johnson said of Harper before the game. “For him to buy in to the role that was in front of him, for him to do what was asked and be held accountable and learn what it took and what we needed to win games and be a part of it — while probably suppressing some of his individual capabilities — is hard to do for a 19- to 20-year-old.

“For him to be able to do that and grow as a winning team player and then have his individual talent pop as well — it's hard to do in this league at any time. Doing it as a rookie in the playoffs is ridiculous.”

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

The Republican president’s years of false claims that his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was due to widespread fraud have shadowed many elections since in the presidential battleground. The issue is almost certain to play a role in a four-week runoff campaign as GOP voters choose nominees for governor, secretary of state and the U.S. Senate.

Among the contenders: one of Trump’s alternate electors in his attempt to overturn Biden’s win in the state, a Trump acolyte who won his first congressional race while saying Trump won in 2020 and a secretary of state hopeful who echoes Trump’s conspiracy theories as he vies to become Georgia’s top elections official.

To be clear, Georgia's presidential votes were counted three times, including once by hand, and each one affirmed Biden's victory.

The primary came amid continued legal and political wrangling over how elections are managed in Fulton County — home to heavily Democratic Atlanta. Trump's questioning of the Georgia results and longtime criticism of Fulton County elections were supercharged earlier this year when the FBI searched the county’s election office, seizing ballots and records from 2020.

The primary election's first-round results showed that siding with Trump, even on his election lies, is good politics within the GOP. Georgia candidates who opposed Trump’s efforts in 2020 got trounced. But some conservatives worry that misplaying the issue — or emphasizing it at all — could backfire with the general electorate in November.

“We’re going to look stupid,” warned Debbie Dooley, an early tea party organizer who supported Trump from the outset of his first presidential campaign. “What are you going to say — Trump won, and he was always the president? It serves no purpose.”

She said Republicans should instead focus on the economy, and that any mention of election procedures should look to “securing future elections, looking forward.”

Whether Trump sees it that way is another question. The president already has endorsed Burt Jones, one of his 2020 alternate electors, in the governor’s race. Dooley, who is backing Jones, said she wouldn't be surprised if Trump comes to Georgia to campaign — and air his 2020 grievances again.

“I don’t know if the president gets it or not,” she said.

A 2020 Trump fake elector in the governor's race

Jones was a state lawmaker in 2020 when he joined Trump’s cause to overturn Biden’s 11,779-vote margin in Georgia. He parlayed that loyalty into winning the lieutenant governor’s office in 2022 and getting Trump’s early endorsement in his bid for a promotion. On Tuesday, he won about four out of 10 Republican votes.

Trump and Jones don’t revisit the details, but Trump has praised Jones multiple times on his Truth Social platform for his loyalty while Jones has promoted “election integrity.”

Jones’ runoff rival, billionaire and political newcomer Rick Jackson, is among the Republicans who does not talk much about the 2020 election. But he spent a slice of the $83 million he invested in his own campaign on an ad attacking outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another GOP candidate for governor who resisted Trump’s urging to help find “find 11,800 votes” to reverse Biden’s victory in 2020.

In the ad, a child is shown asking his mother why she chose the name Brad. The mother replies that her second choice was “Judas” – in the New Testament account, the name of the disciple who betrays Jesus to Roman authorities. The full name “Brad ‘Judas’ Raffensperger” appeared on the screen at the end of the spot.

Raffensperger finished a distant third in this week's primary, with just 15% of the vote.

Senate primary leader said Democrats stole 2020

Rep. Mike Collins, who led the Senate GOP primary with about 40% of the vote, has never backed off his false claims that Biden’s win was rigged, an argument he featured when he first ran for Congress in 2022.

“You count the legal votes that were cast in the state of Georgia, Donald Trump won this state. Period,” he said in one ad, in which he held a long gun and bemoaned the “federal hijacking” of the 2020 election. He concluded with shooting a mock voting machine.

Collins’ runoff rival, former college football coach and political newcomer Derek Dooley, has been more circumspect. But both men are pledging fealty to Trump, with the president thus far not endorsing in the race to determine who will challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

It’s notable that Dooley’s main political benefactor is outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who like Raffensperger drew Trump’s ire in 2020 for certifying Biden’s slate of electors.

Kemp ran for and won reelection in 2022, saying Republicans should look forward instead of relitigating the 2020 election. Trump eventually made up with Kemp during the 2024 presidential campaign, and advisers to both men say Kemp has discussed the Senate contest with the president.

A conspiracy theorist in the race to succeed Raffensperger

State Rep. Tim Fleming, a former deputy secretary of state, and former state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Trump loyalist and perennial candidate, were the top vote-getters in the contest for secretary of state and will face off next month.

Jones, a former Democrat, embraced Trump's “stop the steal” movement and said during an Atlanta Press Club debate last month, “I stand with those who believe there was election fraud.”

Fleming, who worked under Kemp when the governor was secretary of state, has said there were “irregularities” in the 2020 election — a buzz word among Republicans who stop short of echoing Trump without refuting him. But Fleming said he believes the state has made great strides since then in improving elections and said he wants to focus on future elections.

Fleming and Jones far outpaced one of Raffensperger's top aides, Gabriel Sterling, who gained attention in December 2020 for urging Trump to help discourage threats of violence against election workers. Sterling got 12% of the primary vote, finishing fourth.

Heavily Democratic Fulton County remains a Trump, GOP target

Trump has long fixated on Fulton County, alleging it was the center of Georgia fraud in 2020. The FBI seized 2020 ballots and documents from the county elections offices in January, and the county remained a punching bag for Republicans through vote tabulations on Tuesday.

During voting hours, two voting precincts were closed for four hours in an Atlanta suburb after police received a call about possible gunfire and a suspicious person wearing military-style clothing. While the incident was unrelated to the primary, a judge ordered the precincts to stay open until 11 p.m. to make up for the lost time, and Fulton officials said the law prevented them from releasing any results until those precincts were closed.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican runoff candidate for lieutenant governor, tried to capitalize on the delay, despite the fact that he's seeking an office with no role over tabulating ballots or certifying elections.

“Here we are on Election Night, Georgians are anxiously awaiting the results, and which county hasn’t even started reporting? It’s always Fulton County,” Dolezal posted on social media. “It’s time for Georgia to takeover the process. We will not have another 2020 this November!”

Ask Brits what they think of their former colonies in 2026, and they note these long-held views of America and Americans. But after 250 years of independence from Britain, the country’s former rulers cannot discuss the United States without mentioning President Donald Trump, almost always before listing the many qualities they admire and appreciate in the upstart nation across the pond.

“It’s Trump’s world now, isn’t it?” says Mark Keightley, a printer technician who serves the Cambridge area, about an hour north of London.

Over the past year, The Associated Press asked Britons — from George Washington’s ancestral home near Scotland to Cambridge, Bristol and London — a neutral question: “What do you think of America now?” Virtually every answer, even from those like Keightley who support some of the president’s policies, begins with a considered pause, followed by a crisp euphemism for Trump and the Trump era.

"Your president ..." "The current state of politics …" and "He …" with no ambiguity about who, are typical. And they suggest as much about the British perception of their former colony as the commentary that tends to come next. Is it possible to talk about America now without referencing Trump, they are asked? The unanimous answer, according to these interviews: No.

“My own opinion of America is now dictated by the president and he’s not covering himself in glory as far as I’m concerned,” said Eddie Boyle of Falkirk, Scotland, as he walked across Westminster Bridge in London last week. “It’s a shame that such a long arrangement between the two countries has been tarnished."

‘The Country disappoints me’

Being British and disappointed by the reality of the United States isn't a new phenomenon.

Charles Dickens wrote to a friend that he felt just that way during his 1842 visit to the new nation, where he was feted from Boston to New York and Washington — and reportedly earned a fortune from public readings of his work. But he was horrified by the ongoing practice of slavery, which Britain abolished in 1833. And the celebrated freedom of expression that Americans had enshrined in the First Amendment, he wrote, had gone awry with “a press more mean, and paltry, and silly, and disgraceful than any country I ever knew.”

Also, he wrote in a travelogue, Americans spit in public — a “filthy custom.”

“This is not the Republic I came to see. This is not the Republic of my imagination,” he wrote to William Charles Macready on March 22, 1842. “In every respect but that of National Education, the Country disappoints me.”

Over time, the history of the U.S.-U.K. relationship unfolded in such a way that no one event or president can define it.

Several inflection points inspired Britain to take America seriously as a permanent power and not a temporary, rebellious whim. Among them, the War of 1812 — a rematch of sorts between the two nations. It ended in a draw, but the conflict boosted the sense of American independence and established the United States as a sturdy trading and military force to be reckoned with.

The new country then survived its own Civil War. Then, before a century elapsed, the United States helped Britain fend off Nazi occupation and, with the rest of the Allied powers, defeated Germany during World War II. Four decades later, the storied friendship between President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher helped drive the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“They did something great there,” Maria Miston of Suffolk, pausing recently near Big Ben, says of Thatcher and Reagan. “They actually managed to bring the Cold War to an end.” She notes that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 damaged the superpower's image around the world. And, she thinks, it hasn't gotten better. “We've just gone backwards since then.”

Trump rebrands the ‘special relationship’

During his second term, the American president first tolerated his fellow head of government, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but then dismissed him as “ not Winston Churchill ” over the premier’s refusal to involve the U.K. in the U.S. war against Iran.

Trump has suggested that he considers the king, not the prime minister, to be his peer. The president was deeply flattered by the king’s invitation for an unprecedented second state visit to England — and a dazzling royal dinner at Windsor Castle — last year as well as Charles’ recent visit to Washington. In the U.S., Charles said the four-century-long U.S.-British relationship is “more important today than it has ever been,” even as he laid in support for checks and balances — seen as an implicit criticism of Trump.

The White House posted on social media that the pair are “TWO KINGS,” — in part, perhaps, a clapback to the “No Kings” rallies that drew crowds across the U.S. during Charles’ visit. But the irony was not missed in the land of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” and more founding-era documents that rejected the rule of Charles’ five-times great-grandfather, King George III, and government by monarchy generally.

Back home, where polls showed significant opposition to the king’s visit beforehand, Charles’ performance won raves as a show of soft power. That seemed all the more noteworthy given the obvious tension between the monarch and the president over climate issues, and Trump’s threat to make Canada the 51st state, where Charles is sovereign.

“May I say, well done in the Americas,” rock star Rod Stewart told Charles at a May 11 gala within earshot of reporters. “You were superb, absolutely superb, put that little rat bag in his place.”

Polls show Britons have soured on America. Only 28% of British adults approved of U.S. leadership in a Gallup poll conducted in the late summer and early fall of 2025, while 68% disapproved. That’s broadly in line with views of U.S. leadership during Trump’s first term, and lower than approval of U.S. leadership under Democratic President Joe Biden, when around 45% of U.K. adults approved of American leadership.

The Pew Research Center’s 2025 Global Attitudes Survey, conducted in the spring of that year, found that roughly half of U.K. adults had a favorable view of the U.S. British adults had a sunnier view of America in the first two years of Biden’s presidency, when about two-thirds had a favorable view of the U.S. That fell to 54% by the spring of 2024.

U.S.-U.K. relations have been strained in recent history, The Suez Canal crisis in 1956, for example, proved a stark reminder of Britain’s waning power and American ascendancy on the world stage. A decade later, Britain resisted pressure from the U.S. to join the Vietnam War.

Watching the American experiment under Trump

Throughout the years, watching America has become something of a spectator sport in Britain, if only to gauge how well — or poorly, or amusingly — the cousins across the Atlantic are doing democracy their way.

Nowadays, Brits readily acknowledge a long list of American qualities they admire alongside those that anger or mystify them. To the good: American ambition. The country's wealth. Its military might. Its vastness. Its television, music and movies. And its resilience despite racial tensions and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In parallel runs the rest: America's gunviolence, which seems hard to fathom when viewed from Great Britain, where handguns were outlawed in 1997 after a school massacre. Immigration crackdowns in the U.S. seem puzzling to many Brits given that America was founded by immigrants. Though, like much of Europe, the U.K. has its own issues with people trying to enter the country illegally.

Topping the list of mysteries is Trump, the 47th president during the snapshot in time when the United States celebrates 250 years of independence. Talking about him is socially sensitive, Brits say, with Brexit still a raw tear through society and populist reform, led by some Trump supporters, on the rise in recent local elections.

“How can someone like that become president?” Mark Gibson asked over an ale recently at The Cross Keys pub in Washington, down the hill from the first president's ancestral home. He understands why Americans elected other men as their leaders, even if he didn't agree with them. But Trump? “I don't understand it. He's had bankruptcies and legal troubles."

"But,” Gibson adds, “I guess that's what people wanted. They elected him twice.”

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Associated Press News Editor Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington and video journalist Kwiyeon Ha in London contributed to this report.

Four people initially were found unresponsive inside the Mountainair home east of Albuquerque, New Mexico State Police said. Three died, while the forth was being treated at an Albuquerque hospital, police said. Their names weren't released.

First responders who arrived at the home were exposed to the substance and began experiencing symptoms, including nausea and dizziness, authorities said.

Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair, helped perform CPR on a woman outside the home and watched as EMTs and firefighters started coughing, vomiting and becoming dizzy at the heliport, she said. Alguire said the experience was scary, even though she didn't go inside and didn't experience any symptoms.

She wondered if first responders might have to do more to protect themselves in the future.

“It’s getting to that point where we just have to live in fear, even saving lives," she said.

Investigators are working to identify the substance. Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said he saw drugs at the scene and pointed to that as a possible factor in the deaths. He said the health issues people experienced were not related to carbon monoxide or natural gas exposure.

New Mexico State Police said there was no threat to the public.

“At this time, investigators believe the substance may be transmitted through contact and do not believe it to be airborne," said Officer Wilson Silver.

Nearly two dozen patients were assessed and decontaminated after being exposed to the substance, the University of New Mexico Hospital said. Most of those were first responders who were showing no symptoms and later were discharged, hospital officials said. Three symptomatic patients were being monitored Wednesday evening, the hospital said.

As law enforcement officers from multiple agencies remained on the scene late Wednesday afternoon, three bodies were placed onto gurneys and then loaded into a white van and driven away.

Yellow tape surrounded the home along a dirt road. A singlewide trailer could be seen in the home's backyard, with several cars, trucks and vans in the driveway.

The mayor described Mountainair as a tight-knit community of fewer than 1,000 people. Town hall will be closed Thursday because of the emotional toll on employees, he said.

“A tragedy like this is horrific,” he said.

Residents voiced frustration on social media about drug use in the community and elsewhere. New Mexico had the fourth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths of any U.S. state in 2024, with 775 deaths, according to the most recent data available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nieto said on social media that the town's law enforcement officers and first responders work daily to protect the community and respond to difficult situations.

“But the reality is that addiction and substance abuse are issues affecting communities all across our state and nation,” Nieto said. “There is no simple or immediate solution. Lasting change requires family support, accountability, education, and most importantly, individuals who are willing to accept help.”

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This story has been updated to correct that law enforcement officers remained on the scene late Wednesday afternoon, not Tuesday. It also corrects attribution to Nieto about possible factors in the deaths.

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Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a subpar series opener to score 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night in Game 2.

Chet Holmgren scored 13 points and reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished with a 57-25 edge in bench scoring, plus a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

“I thought we all played better,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I had a quiet confidence about that. I didn't know if we'd win or lose the game, but I was pretty sure after watching Game 1 and knowing our team that we were going to come out and play better tonight.”

Stephon Castle scored 25 points for the Spurs, who got 22 points from Devin Vassell and a 21-point, 17-rebound, six-assist, four-block night from Victor Wembanyama.

Game 3 is Friday in San Antonio.

“The guys brought it tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Knowing what it would have meant if we lost this one, we brought the energy from the jump.”

Isaiah Hartenstein — who barely played in Game 1 — had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 14-5 after a loss this season — and beat the Spurs for just the second time in seven meetings.

The win was not without cost for the Thunder, who lost guard Jalen Williams — who had already missed six games in these playoffs with a left hamstring strain — in the first half with a recurrence of the hamstring issue. The Thunder said it was tightness, but even that would figure to put his availability for Friday into doubt.

And the Spurs got banged up as well. Already without All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox because of ankle soreness, San Antonio lost his replacement in the starting lineup — Dylan Harper — to a right leg injury after he took a couple of awkward falls in the third quarter.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had no update on Harper after the game, though he noted that it puts “a ton” of pressure on others when his team is down two guards.

“Obviously this team is as good as anybody at turning you over, so when you’re down some of your primary creators and initiators it causes a little bit of an extra strain, whether that’s who to play, what to play, what to run, etc., etc.,” Johnson said. “We’ll just have to be sharper in that area because it’s tough fully loaded against these guys.”

San Antonio was down by 11 at the half and trailed by eight going into the fourth quarter, then got within 99-97 off a corner 3-pointer by Harrison Barnes with 9:06 left.

The next 2 1/2 minutes saved the Thunder. An 11-0 run by the defending champions — including a banked-in 3-pointer by McCain midway through the burst — pushed OKC's lead to 13.

But the Spurs — on another night when turnovers plagued them and the stretch run was played without Fox and Harper — were far from done. Wembanyama scored down low to make it 118-113 with 1:25 remaining, but Gilgeous-Alexander got one last basket to settle things down and send the series to San Antonio tied.

“We've got to help our ballhandlers more and take care of the ball,” Wembanyama said.

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

Ohtani began another remarkable two-way performance by driving Randy Vásquez’s high fastball 398 feet to center for his eighth homer of the season and his 27th career leadoff homer.

On the mound, Ohtani (4-2) struck out four with two walks while lowering his ERA to 0.73 over eight starts. Four relievers completed LA's five-hitter.

Ohtani immediately connected off Vásquez (5-2) for his 13th hit in 24 at-bats since the game before he was given a two-day break from hitting last week in a successful attempt to end a mini-slump.

Teoscar Hernández homered and drove in two runs for the Dodgers, who have won seven of eight after taking two of three at Petco Park in their first series of the season against their Southern California rivals.

Vásquez yielded six hits and three runs for the Padres, who lost the last two games after a four-game winning streak. San Diego scored just five runs in the series, getting shut out over the final 15 innings.

Ohtani retired the Padres' first nine hitters, although he needed 52 pitches to do it. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and Gavin Sheets singled, but Ohtani escaped the jam.

The Padres then loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but the scuffling Tatis grounded into a double play on the next pitch, prompting a vocal celebration from Ohtani on the conclusion of his pitching night.

Max Muncy doubled in the second and scored on Hernández’s long flyout.

Ohtani then drew a leadoff walk from Vásquez in the fifth and eventually scored on Kyle Tucker’s single.

Hernández hit his sixth homer in the ninth inning.

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill left the game in the fifth. The slumping slugger had crashed into the wall while attempting to steal Ohtani's homer in the first, but kept playing.

Up next

Both teams have Thursday off. The Dodgers return Friday in Milwaukee with Justin Wrobleski (6-1, 2.49 ERA) on the mound, while Walker Buehler (3-2, 5.01 ERA) is expected to start when the Padres face the Athletics at Petco Park.

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

“Plenty people in the area that could’ve been hurt,” said Detective Ronnie Williams with the Lady Lake Police Department.

According to police, the shooting happened in the parking lot of an Affordable Lock location. Surveillance video shows a man get out of a maroon SUV, run out of frame, and investigators believe he then fired seven shots into a nearby silver car.

The man is then seen getting back into the maroon SUV, which drives off.

Police say the shooting happened during a busy time, with multiple people nearby.

“There’s a restaurant across the street with an outside patio that had at least 15 people eating lunch,” Williams said.

Investigators said they were alerted by a tip from a nearby business, but when officers arrived, both vehicles had already left the scene. Police also say no victims have been identified.

“No one reported someone fired upon them,” Williams said.

When asked what an incident like this could indicate, Williams said it could range from a traffic dispute to something more targeted.

“It could be a road rage incident, it could be people that have prior history… it could be a random thing,” he said.

Lady Lake police have released images of the two vehicles involved and are asking anyone who recognizes them or has information to contact the Lady Lake Police Department. Police also urge the public to use caution if they encounter either vehicle.

Homeowners along Alafaya Woods Boulevard told News 6 they often receive knocks on their doors from salespeople, sometimes during dinner hours.

“A lot of times, it’s right at dinner time too, which to me makes it twice as bad,” resident Ken Luna said. “Come on, I’m trying to eat here.”

Luna said roofing companies were especially active after severe weather moved through the area last week.

“Roofers,” Luna said. “Like we had that nasty storm about a week ago. They were in here knocking on doors saying, ‘Hey, we just had this storm, can probably get you a new roof.’ And I’m like, I have a new roof. I don’t need a new roof.”

Despite reports from residents who say they saw several roofing companies going door-to-door after the storm, Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek said only one company — Power Home Remodeling — currently has a permit from the city to solicit door-to-door for roofing services.

“Aside from that one person, nobody has done the right thing yet,” Sladek said.

Under Florida law, businesses selling goods or services worth more than $25 are required to obtain a home solicitation sales permit in each county where they operate. Some cities, including Oviedo, also require an additional municipal permit.

City leaders said those permits require fingerprinting and background checks.

“We just don’t know if these are real genuine people who are able to help people,” Sladek said.

The mayor also encouraged residents to ask solicitors to show their permit before engaging with them.

“If you ask somebody to see their permit to solicit, they are supposed to carry it right there,” Sladek said. “ ‘Oh, my boss has it’ — not okay.”

There are some exemptions to solicitation permitting requirements, including nonprofit groups, schools and religious organizations.

City officials also reminded residents that solicitors are prohibited from ignoring “No Soliciting” signs, regardless of whether they have a permit.

Luna said that rule is often ignored.

“I’m a businessman. I kind of feel for these guys trying to make a living this way,” Luna said. “But still, I mean, come on. No soliciting means no soliciting.”

Sladek said residents who encounter solicitors unable to provide a permit are encouraged to report the interaction to the non-emergency line for the Oviedo Police Department at 407-971-5700. Fines start at $100 and go up to $500 in a 12 month period.

Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan also ordered the Texas-based social media giant to pay AU$100,000 ($71,000) of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s court costs within 45 days.

The ruling ends a three-year legal battle in which X had argued it was not obliged to answer eSafety’s questions.

X admitted it contravened Australia’s Online Safety Act by failing to provide a report that fully answered questions posed by eSafety in a transparency notice issued on Feb. 22, 2023, the agency’s lawyer Christopher Tran said. X had to provide the answers by March 29 that year.

X’s lawyer Perry Herzfeld told the judge eSafety did not allege that the contravening conduct continued after May 5, 2023.

“That was a period of change and transition for the company,” Herzfeld said, in a reference to Elon Musk taking over.

eSafety had sent the notice to Twitter Inc., which merged with X in March 2023.

Tran said both X and eSafety agreed the fine was appropriate.

“It’s appropriate because X Corp. is obviously a large company and a large figure is needed to ensure that a contravention is not treated as a cost of doing business,” Tran said.

In July last year, the full Federal Court ruled that X was required to respond to eSafety’s transparency notice. That ruling upheld a judge’s decision in October 2024.

Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, said meaningful transparency was critical to holding technology companies to account.

“In early 2023, we asked some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including Twitter, to report on steps they were taking to comply with the Australian Basic Online Safety Expectations in relation to the proliferation of child sexual exploitation and abuse materials on their platforms,” Inman Grant said in a statement.

“This is not only a key part of our work as Australia’s online safety regulator, it also provides the Australian public with important information about how these companies are tackling the worst-of-the-worst content on their platforms,” she added.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

A filing shows that his SpaceX lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too.

The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have put it at $75 billion or so. An offering of that size would easily surpass the current title holder, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that went public seven years ago and raised $26 billion.

SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has said the money will help finance projects to put people on the moon and Mars in its quest to make humans an intergalactic species as they face existential threats that could wipe out civilization.

“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the filing states.

The prospectus reads in part like a Hollywood fantasy version of the future, detailing in one section how part of Musk’s compensation will be granted only if he maintains “a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”

Short of that, the stock sale alone could make Musk, a major owner who founded SpaceX in 2002, the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes currently puts his net worth at $839 billion.

In addition to making reusable rockets to hurl astronauts into orbit, SpaceX has other businesses, some successful, some struggling — and with plenty of questions marks.

The document shows that Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company, is a big source of cash for the company, generating $4.4 billion in operating income last year. The business uses 10,000 satellites in low orbit to provide internet service to 10 million people in 150 countries and territories.

Among the struggling businesses are two Musk units that were recently acquired by SpaceX — his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and his artificial intelligence business, xAI. Those purchases were blasted by some SpaceX investors as bailouts because they are big money losers.

The prospectus said its AI business lost $6.4 billion in operations last year.

The original SpaceX business, making rockets and staging launches, has been helped by massive government contracts, which raises questions that could come back to haunt the company. Given Musk’s close relation to the Trump administration, government ethics lawyers and watchdogs have asked if he has gotten special treatment to win taxpayer money and whether that good luck will run out once President Donald Trump is out office.

SpaceX has won contracts worth $6 billion from NASA and the Defense Department and other government agencies in the past five years, according to USAspending.gov. The company noted in its filing that a fifth of its revenue last year was from the federal government.

Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign and is still a big backer despite their sometimes rocky relationship after his stewardship of the government cost-cutting effort called DOGE early last year.

Like many corporate CEOs, Musk’s compensation will go far beyond his annual salary, which was $54,080 in 2025 and has remained unchanged since 2019, according to the filing.

The prospectus says stock grants for him would be sliced into 15 nearly equal amounts — 67 million shares each — and would vest only as the company achieves preset market cap goals. In addition to the Martian colony, SpaceX’s stock market value would have to reach $7.5 trillion for him to receive the full award.

He would get even more stock awards if SpaceX manages to get giant data centers the size of football fields in space.

The document shows Musk will be able to exert big control over the business.

It says he and certain other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes for each share they hold. Those shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.

“This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to prospective investors.

SpaceX will be able to pitch the offering to investors — in what’s known in Wall Street parlance as a “road show” — 15 days after making its prospectus public. In this case, that works out to June 4.

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Associated Press writer Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed.