Following two days of testimony, Orange County jurors heard the words, “The State rests,” meaning the defense will now have an opportunity to make its arguments.

Jaylen Edgar, 18, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.

Edgar was arrested when he was 17, which means he is ineligible for the death penalty.

After excusing the jury for the weekend, Judge Keith Carsten entertained arguments by the defense for a judgment of acquittal on seven of the nine counts.

[WATCH: Prosecutors outline arguments in Orlando Halloween mass shooting trial]

Defense attorney Junior Barrett conceded that there was sufficient evidence to suggest the killing of Tyrek Hill, 25, was premeditated, as well as the attempted murder of Anthony Berry. He argued, however, that Edgar did not intend to kill Timothy Schmidt, Jr., 19, who died after being shot in the chest, or six others who survived their gunshot wounds.

“For some of these individuals who were shot, I think the location of the injury itself would suggest that it was not the intent to kill,” Barrett argued.

Assistant state attorney Brittney Havens pushed back on that argument.

“This is a mass shooting,” Havens said. “The defendant does not get rewarded for missing a vital organ in shooting a hand or a wrist or the back of somebody as he’s running and clearly aiming backwards.”

After hearing arguments from both sides, Carsten denied the request for an acquittal on the seven counts.

“It can be inferred that firing directly at a crowd of people closely packed together is an intent to kill,” Carsten said.

What will the defense do Monday?

After ruling on Barrett’s request for a judgment of acquittal, the judge spoke directly to Edgar about Edgar’s right to testify on his own behalf.

“Ultimately the decision is yours,” Carsten advised. “Whether you decide to testify or whether you decide to exercise your right to remain silent.”

Carsten suggested that Edgar take the weekend to consider his options and consult with his family and attorney.

Earlier in the week, Barrett declined to deliver an opening statement in the trial and suggested that he and Edgar had not yet determined whether Edgar will take the witness stand.

Barrett also signaled that Edgar had previously expressed interest in invoking a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.

Edgar wrote a letter to Carsten last month, in which he took “full responsibility” for the shooting, but claimed he had been suffering from “extreme mental or emotional disturbance” at the time.

Jaylen Edgar’s interrogation played in court

The last witness who testified for the state was Joshua McNutt, who in 2024 was a homicide detective with the Orlando Police Department.

McNutt interviewed Edgar shortly after Edgar’s arrest.

Most of McNutt’s testimony Friday included the presentation of the recorded interview that McNutt and another law enforcement official conducted with Edgar.

When McNutt and the official are seen walking into the room, it appears Edgar had been asleep. McNutt tries to prod Edgar awake, and for the first several minutes of the interview, Edgar’s answers are soft and at times unintelligible.

As the interview progresses, however, the video shows that Edgar appears to be more alert and engaged in the interview. McNutt and Edgar talk about family, friends, school, and sports.

McNutt told prosecutors Friday that he wanted to establish a rapport with Edgar.

Edgar can be heard in the interview telling McNutt that he has experienced a lot of loss, telling the detective at one point that he can think of 19 family members who have died.

“I give myself a round of applause,” Edgar said, remarking on how he has dealt with hardship.

Eventually, the conversation turns to the night of Oct. 31 into Nov. 1.

Edgar tells McNutt that downtown Orlando “was packed,” and he had tripped a few times trying to get through the crowds.

At no point in the video does he appear to confess to the shooting.

“Why am I being detained right now?” Edgar tells McNutt of what was going through his head when he was arrested.

Edgar does concede in the interview that he had a gun on him at the time of his arrest.

After McNutt and other officials inform him of the charges he’s facing, Edgar appears to ask, “How many counts?”

Moments later, Edgar is alone in the room again. He can be seen standing up and walking around. He dances for a few seconds and sits back down.

It will be DeRozan's fifth team in his 18th season for a six-time All-Star looking for his first championship. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement hasn't been announced.

The addition of DeRozan gives the Nuggets a veteran backcourt presence after sending young, versatile wing Peyton Watson to Cleveland as part of a four-team trade. The 23-year-old Watson started a career-high 40 games last season and averaged career bests in points (14.6), rebounds (4.9) and assists (2.1). He missed the first-round series with a hamstring injury as the Nuggets were eliminated by Minnesota. Aaron Gordon also was hampered by calf tightness in the series.

Bringing in a veteran like DeRozan may go a long way in showing All-NBA center Nikola Jokic the team is committed to staying competitive. Last month, Jokic reiterated his desire to remain with Denver. He held off signing his contract extension until next summer when he can sign a five-year supermax contract that would be worth around $350 million.

The Nuggets won their first NBA title in 2023, but have been eliminated early in the last three postseasons. They signed forward/center Marvin Bagley III this summer and brought back forward Spencer Jones by matching the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offer sheet.

It's a deal that pushed Denver into the second apron. Crossing into that territory makes roster construction increasingly difficult.

DeRozan, the ninth overall pick by Toronto in 2009, spent his first nine seasons with the Raptors, only to get traded to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard as his former team won the title in Leonard's only season in 2018-19.

The 37-year-old DeRozan spent three seasons with the Spurs and three with Chicago before joining Sacramento the past two seasons. He was part of sign-and-trade deals in the moves to the Bulls and Kings.

DeRozan averaged 18.4 points last season, ending a 12-year run of averaging at least 20 points per game. He has had just two winning seasons since going to the playoffs his last five years with the Raptors. DeRozan made the postseason once with Chicago.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Michael Fultz, who was named Brevard County’s Deputy of the Year about a month after the traffic stop, could have been arrested under Florida’s Dangerous Excessive Speeding Act, more commonly known as the “Super Speeder” law.

Instead, the FHP trooper who stopped Fultz issued him a civil traffic citation for driving nine miles per hour over the speed limit. Fultz later paid a $255 fine and was not required to appear in court, records show.

[WATCH: Brevard Deputy of the Year caught speeding 11 mph not arrested under ‘Super Speeder’ law]

When Trooper Joshua Provencher first spotted Fultz’s motorcycle driving at a high rate of speed on U.S. 192 near Melbourne on February 9, it appears the trooper believed a crime was being committed.

“He’s going to jail,” Provencher can be heard saying to himself as he began following the motorcycle, according to video from the trooper’s patrol car obtained by News 6.

After Fultz identified himself as a fellow law enforcement officer, the trooper called his supervisor.

“I know this guy. He is a deputy,” Provencher told the FHP sergeant.

After noting that Fultz was “not weaving” but there was a “decent amount of traffic”, the trooper expressed his desire not to arrest the deputy.

Under Florida’s Dangerous Excessive Speeding Act, law enforcement can arrest motorists who drive 100 mph or more in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property.

First time offenders can face up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor.

“If I can avoid the 10-15, I don’t want to ruin his job,” Provencher told his supervisor, according to the recording.

10-15 is police terminology for “prisoner in custody”.

“I’m not going to take you to jail, Fultz,” Provencher told the deputy, the video recording shows. “Obviously you and I are buddies. I’m not trying to show favoritism, either.”

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office launched an administrative investigation into Fultz on March 14, the day after the agency named him Deputy of the Year.

Records show Fultz’s ex-girlfriend had sent an email to the sheriff’s office detailing several troubling allegations against Fultz. She later told investigators about the traffic stop, which Fultz allegedly failed to report to his supervisor.

An investigator with the sheriff’s office later interviewed the trooper and the deputy.

“Trooper Provencher was aware that Deputy Fultz’s speed, along with the traffic conditions which made his speed a danger to other drivers, met the statutory criminal requirements for the new ‘super speeder law’,” sheriff’s investigators wrote. “Deputy Fultz admitted the speeds at which he was traveling did violate the ‘super speeder’ law.”

Fultz resigned from the sheriff’s office on May 27 in lieu of termination after the sheriff concluded he had engaged in “egregious misconduct” that included performing a sex act with an agency handgun and misuse of the Flock camera license plate reader system, records show.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is touting a financial campaign against Tehran, promising an “economic D-Day” against Iran. Trump announced this week that the U.S. would impose an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran.

The Latest:

Karoline Leavitt says South Carolina trip is her last as White House press secretary

Leavitt is leaving the White House at the end of August to devote more time to her young family.

She told reporters accompanying Trump aboard Air Force One that she’ll be back on the plane soon for Trump’s trip to Dallas in September to attend the Republican Party’s midterm convention.

She said she’ll spend some time back in her native New Hampshire before she returns to Washington.

Asked if she’ll work for MAGA Inc., Trump’s political action committee, Leavitt said she would. She didn’t say in what capacity.

Sen. Graham warms up crowd before it’s Trump’s turn

Darline Graham pumped her fist and danced a little bit as she walked on stage to music, then outlined her record serving South Carolinians as the head of a state agency.

She responded to those who argue she doesn’t have enough experience to serve in the U.S. Senate.

“Now, the critics say I shouldn’t run for the Senate. They say I’m not a politician. You know what I say? Guilty as charged,” Graham said.

She drew parallels with Trump, who has endorsed her, saying he was never elected to any office before he became president

“I think he’s done a damn good job,” she said.

Graham urged people to vote for her in Tuesday’s runoff election against Rep. Ralph Norman “and take 10 friends with you.”

Darline Graham pumped her fist and danced a little bit as she walked on stage to music, then outlined her record serving South Carolinians as the head of a state agency.

She responded to those who argue she doesn’t have enough experience to serve in the U.S. Senate.

“Now, the critics say I shouldn’t run for the Senate. They say I’m not a politician. You know what I say? Guilty as charged,” Graham said.

She drew parallels with Trump, who has endorsed her, saying he was never elected to any office before he became president “and I think he’s done a damn good job.”

Graham urged people to vote for her in Tuesday’s runoff election against Rep. Ralph Norman “and take 10 friends with you.”

US to pay more than $800M of owed dues to the United Nations ahead of annual UN General Assembly

The Trump administration has notified Congress of its plans to pay more than $800 million of the several billions it owes to the United Nations, making it the largest payment the U.S. has made to the world body since it demanded sweeping reforms in exchange for continued support as its largest donor.

That’s according to notifications sent to lawmakers this month and obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

In them, the State Department laid out its plans to transfer $725 million as part of its dues to the regular U.N. budget and $125 million toward U.N. peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Trump and his allies have spent the last year and a half demanding drastic changes across the U.N., alarming many humanitarian workers and leading to severe reductions in programs and services.

Trump says he’s had many applicants seeking to be White House press secretary

The president told reporters that with Karoline Leavitt’s announced departure at the end of the month, “I have never had so many job applications in my life. They all want that job.”

Trump also had a favorable review of CNN’s conservative commentator Scott Jennings, whose name has been among those suggested as a possible replacement.

“Scott Jennings is good,” Trump said.

Trump says he’ll name companies that donated money to build the ballroom

“I’ll name the companies probably over the next couple of weeks, but I want to ask if they mind, but, and really, most of them have said, ‘You could use my name’ gladly,” Trump said. “So that’s all money, no taxpayer money for the ballroom at all.”

His claim of only private funding for the ballroom is incorrect. Public funds are being used for security aspects of the building. He was asked if he could guarantee that no taxpayer money would pay for construction.

“We’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the ballroom, and it’s all from people like me and great companies that are putting it up,” Trump said. “It’s going to be close to $400 million dollars, and it’s all paid for by patriots and patriotic companies, big companies.”

On data centers, Trump says Republican candidates can ‘do what they want’ but he supports building them

As the rapid expansion of data centers fueling the artificial intelligence boom has sparked bipartisan outcry around the country, Trump insists the subject is actually “pretty simple.”

He said you had to “pick the right location” but “what it means for a community is jobs and lots of money and lower taxes.”

The president added that his administration is mandating that data centers supply their own power sources, helping reduce strain on local electric grids and keeping utility rates from rising too sharply.

Asked about the issue becoming a liability for some Republicans in key midterm races, Trump said of his fellow party members: “I want them to do what they want.”

“Some people feel differently,” he said. “If a Republican’s against a data center that’s OK with me.”

Trump says growth will solve $40 trillion national debt

The president told reporters that the record milestone the U.S. passed this week “has been a problem for 35 years” but that “the way you take care of debt is growth.”

Trump’s prescription comes as the U.S. is facing growing costs for the Iran war, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest payments on the deficit.

Experts say the debt has already started impacting Americans’ finances, raising costs for borrowing and goods and lowering wages.

Trump responds to cattle producers’ concerns over his imported beef deal

The deal, which would allow 300,000 metric tons of beef to be imported for 90 days at a lower cost, incurred backlash from some rural-state Republicans and cattle producers. When asked about criticism, Trump said the proposal would bring beef prices down “a little bit,” which is “what people want.”

“The ranchers are great; they’re my people. I love the ranchers. They’ve done a fantastic job,” he told reporters. “But they admit that we need a little help, and in order to get the prices down, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Critics of the deal, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, have said it will harm the industry in the long term as it slowly recovers from a low cattle herd.

When asked what countries were involved in the agreement, Trump said he didn’t want to say but that “there are a few countries” and that they will “be sending the highest quality beef.”

Trump says Darline Graham ‘was being honest’ when she said she lacked foreign policy expertise

As he boarded the plane to head to Myrtle Beach to rally for Sen. Darline Graham, Trump gave his first public reaction to his chosen South Carolina GOP Senate runoff candidate’s flub earlier in the week.

Trump told reporters Graham “was being honest” when she said Tuesday during a debate that she wasn’t up to speed on national security issues.

“She’s surrounded by very good people, and she said that she’s totally for the military,” Trump said, adding he looked forward to seeing “a very big crowd” in South Carolina.

Graham says she entered the special primary to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham at Trump’s urging. Friday’s rally comes just four days before her runoff against U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman.

Trump says he has $850M political war chest to spend ‘on candidates that I think are good’

Asked about the unprecedented amount of money raised as part of his MAGA, Inc. Super PAC, the president said, “I’ll be spending a lot of that” as well as his own funds on “Republican candidates that I think are good.”

“You add the $850 million, all of the other money that we’ve raised,” he said, “We’re in very good shape.”

Trump’s mountain of money could be enough to lift Republicans during November’s midterm elections, but the president has remained tight-lipped on if and how he’ll spend it before Election Day.

Gov. Henry McMaster says he’s endorsing Sen. Darline Graham in Senate runoff

The South Carolina Republican had so far stayed out of the special Senate primary to replace Lindsey Graham.

But just ahead of a scheduled appearance at Trump’s rally in Myrtle Beach, McMaster — also a Trump ally — posted on social media that the interim senator had “stood for the values that South Carolinians live by, continued Lindsey Graham’s work, and stood firmly with President Trump to advance his America First agenda.”

“I am proud to give my full endorsement to Darline Graham,” McMaster concluded.

Voters choose Tuesday between Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman. Three days of early voting just wrapped up.

Trump gratified by court decision on ballroom

The president says he is “grateful” for a temporary order by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to continue construction on the $400 million White House ballroom project.

“The Military/Ballroom Complex being built on the hallowed grounds of the White House, which is so vital for National Security, will be THE GREATEST OF ITS KIND!” he posted on Truth Social on Friday.

The temporary order came hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt to aboveground construction of the project because Trump didn’t get congressional approval.

Trump will travel to Houston to award the Artemis II astronauts after historic spaceflight

The president will be bearing the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for the Artemis II crew, who flew farther than any human has from the Earth and hung a U-turn around the moon, laying the first eyes on the rocky orb’s far side in April.

It was NASA’s first lunar trip since the Apollo era, and a step toward again putting a human back on the moon in just two years. The crew of three Americans and one Canadian flew in NASA’s Orion capsule a maximum distance of 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth.

Trump is set to honor them next week at the Johnson Space Center, said White House spokesperson Liz Huston, who added that “America is leading the world in space exploration.”

Stars and Stripes editor says he has been fired for insubordination

The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, as well as its publisher and a reporter, the editor said. He said he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to any potential censorship by the U.S. military.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon but has a long legacy of editorial independence, told The Associated Press that he and the others had received notices of separation.

Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” He said he stands by the principle “that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent.”

Earlier this week, publisher Max Lederer announced his retirement effective at the end of September. He too received a separation notice, according to Slavin, as did the Middle East reporter Lara Korte.

▶ Read more

Key White House ally leaving to help with midterms

Trump says Ed Martin, a key ally who has pushed the president’s claims of election fraud, is leaving his administration to help with this November’s midterms and the 2028 election.

“Ed Martin has been with me from the very beginning, and done an incredible job as an Attorney, Director of the Weaponization Working Group, and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Ed is now leaving to go outside to fight Legal Battles,” Trump said in a Truth Social posting. “I know he will do an outstanding job, ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights. Good luck Ed! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Martin has been a leading figure in — and cheerleader for — Trump’s campaign to use the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies, including former FBI director James Comey.

MAHA activists urge Trump to oppose coal power for AI

Nearly 200 activists in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement are criticizing Trump’s promotion of coal to fuel the rise of artificial intelligence data centers, according to a letter sent Friday.

The letter, signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign, marks the first major MAHA movement mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest in a series of rifts between the diverse group of activists and the Trump administration over environmental policy.

The letter to Trump, Kennedy and various other Cabinet officials, first obtained by The Associated Press, laments a 2025 executive order that aimed to boost coal to power data centers over pollution concerns and asks the administration to consider renewable options, including solar and geothermal energy.

“We understand the importance of American leadership in artificial intelligence, national security, innovation, and economic growth,” the letter reads. “But American AI leadership should not come at the cost of a more toxic burden for American children.”

▶ Read more

Supreme Court allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now

Chief Justice Roberts signed a temporary order on Friday allowing work to continue while the court considers an emergency appeal from the Trump administration.

Lower courts had ordered a halt to the project, finding that it must have congressional approval. That ruling was set to take effect on Friday. Roberts signed the order because he oversees appeals of Washington-based cases.

The case comes before the nation’s highest court as Trump, a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image.

The Trump administration has scored a series of victories on the high court’s emergency docket, though the justices have ruled against some of the president’s signature policies after fuller review.

The administration has argued that the president has total authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings as he sees fit and that the ballroom project must be completed due to national security concerns.

▶ Read more

Vance attacks Democrats for supporting foreign workers

Vice President JD Vance said he and Trump are fighting for American-born workers, while Democrats prefer foreigners.

The Republican vice president outlined a fiery midterm message during an appearance at the Middletown, Ohio, steel plant where his grandfather used to work. Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate and governor joined steelworkers in the crowd.

“Every step of the way, these Democrats have voted for foreign workers and fraudsters over American citizens and hard-paying taxpayers,” Vance said. “Who do these Democrats put first? Everyone else. You know who the Trump administration puts first? Americans.”

Vance noted that he served in the Senate alongside former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is locked in a tight race against Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

“He was a friendly enough guy, but he was a man who claimed to represent this state, but never once raised his voice against Joe Biden’s border crisis or against the inflation that was brought on by Joe Biden underinvesting and trying to destroy American industry,” Vance said.

Ohio Sen. Ber

nie Moreno pledges he will serve only one more term

“I’m going to serve for one more term, and then I’m going to go home because these shouldn’t be jobs forever,” Moreno said at an event in Middletown, Ohio, on Friday before Vance was scheduled to speak.

Moreno, a Republican and Ohio’s first Latino senator, was elected in 2024, when he defeated incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown.

Moreno is up for reelection in 2030. If he abides by his pledge Friday to serve only one more term, he’d be in office until early 2037.

Moreno’s remark follows an intense period of scrutiny involving his daughter Emily’s former marriage to U.S. Rep. Max Miller. Moreno publicly called Miller unfit to serve.

Spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said Moreno had always said he would serve only two terms.

Brazil’s Lula calls Trump, urges for tariff negotiations

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Trump had an 80-minute phone call on Friday amid pressure from Washington ahead of Brazil’s October elections.

Lula’s presidency said in a statement that the two leaders discussed trade, organized crime and global conflicts. Brazil’s president, who has insisted he has a friendly relationship with Trump, has blamed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for several recent sanctions against his country, including the revocation of the visa held by Brazil’s ambassador to the U.S.

Lula’s rival in the elections is Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose family has long been allied with Trump.

Brazil’s presidency says the two leaders agreed to keep negotiations on tariffs open. The U.S. has imposed new tariffs on Brazilian exports that could add up to 37.5% in some products.

Lula has said that move was politically motivated to help Flávio Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Mark Sanford says he’s backing Rep. Ralph Norman in Senate runoff

The former South Carolina governor and congressman said on social media Friday that Norman “holds the best shot at holding the line on government spending, our debt and its accompanying deficits,” all of which are Sanford’s signature issues.

Sanford was the fourth place finisher in the Aug. 11 primary. He applauded Norman’s “experience in legislative circles, matched by a conservative voting record and conservative stands.”

Norman and Sen. Darline Graham face voters in a GOP primary runoff Tuesday to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Trump announces plan aimed at lowering beef prices

In a social media post Friday, the president said his administration will allow more beef to be imported into the U.S. without triggering a higher tariff rate that would otherwise go into effect.

The agreement, Trump said, allows up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be brought into the U.S. for the next 90 days without activating an “out of quota” tariff.

The president said he had a commitment that the beef would be sold at 25% below current market rates, making beef cheaper for American consumers.

Trump did not say who the deal was with or what countries the beef will be imported from. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

An out-of-quota tariff is a higher tax that goes into effect once a certain quantity of that product enters the U.S.

Trump said the agreement would help rebuild the U.S. beef herd and ultimately help American ranchers. But the American cattle industry has in the past balked at Trump’s plans to import more foreign beef, such as his effort last year to bring in more beef from Argentina.

Trump to stump for Sen. Darline Graham days ahead of South Carolina’s GOP Senate runoff

Trump is scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Friday to make a last-minute appeal for Sen. Darline Graham, his chosen candidate to replace her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, ahead of a Republican runoff next week.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman will be Republicans’ nominee on the November ballot.

The Myrtle Beach rally is the sort of campaign trail occasion that Trump hasn’t done as much of this year, compared with past midterms, making it a signal of the importance Trump is placing on a win for his pick.

It’s also an opportunity for the president to wade into friendly territory ahead of the midterm elections that leave his party’s control of Congress hanging in the balance. South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide in decades, its House delegation has only one Democrat and Trump’s own victory in the 2016 presidential primary here helped propel him toward the nomination and ultimately the White House.

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Investigators seek interviews with Trump foes related to Mar-a-Lago search, AP sources say

Justice Department investigators have sought to interview law enforcement officials related to the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a Florida-based inquiry aiming to establish a conspiracy against the Republican president, multiple people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

The requests for interviews, made in recent weeks, suggest a conspiracy investigation that had mostly appeared focused on the decade-old question of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is also examining a more contemporary event — the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago that resulted in the FBI seizing top secret documents from the president’s Palm Beach estate.

The requests for voluntary interviews were not made through subpoenas, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation with The Associated Press.

It is not clear when or if prosecutors might seek to bring charges, or for what, but investigating conduct that occurred in Florida might give the Justice Department the legal hook it needs to try to anchor a prosecution in the state.

— Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer

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World shares are mixed and US futures edge higher, while oil prices slip

World shares were mixed Friday after a retreat on Wall Street as a U.S. Treasury Department plan to boost its government debt buybacks appeared to have only limited capacity to calm markets.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term government debt, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled Thursday that the repurchase program could be larger.

The announcement temporarily brought down government bond yields, which have been elevated under concerns about high inflation partly caused by the war in Iran and rising U.S. government debt. Higher yields tend to slow the broader economy because of increased borrowing costs across the financial system and can undercut stock prices.

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Trump warns of ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran, but Tehran is well-acquainted with sanctions

Nearing the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Tehran, promising an “economic D-Day” against a country that has so far withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions.

With sparse details, Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

It reflects the dire reality Trump faces with an increasingly unpopular war he can’t seem to end just months before pivotal midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. Whether out of desperation or strategy, the president is refocusing America’s might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.

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Prosecutors then began calling rebuttal witnesses in the trial, which is likely entering its final days. Closing arguments are expected next week.

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of her children Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged from 8 months to 5 years old. They were found in the basement of the family’s home in coastal Duxbury, Massachusetts. Clancy jumped from a second-story window after strangling the children and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Prosecutors argue that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, planned the killings.

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

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Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, hasn’t disputed that she killed the children but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she had postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.

He sought to bolster that defense by having the jury hear from more of Clancy’s family members, who detailed her worsening mental health and attempts to fix it through psychiatric treatment and medications before the January 2023 killings. The jury also heard from a psychologist and a hospital chaplain who met with Clancy after the killings.

The defense's final witness also testified at the trial of Texas mom Andrea Yates

For his final witness on Friday, Reddington called Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist and expert in filicide, or the killing of a child by a parent.

Resnick testified that Clancy was “clearly psychotic” on the day she killed her children and was not in control of her actions.

“It was almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings,” said Resnick, who testified for the defense in the 2006 trial of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.

Resnick said he spent hours interviewing Clancy four months after the killings and believed she tended to minimize rather than exaggerate her symptoms. He said she suffered from severe depression, showed evidence consistent with bipolar disorder and reported hearing a voice commanding her to kill her children.

Resnick described several categories of filicide, including killings involving abuse. Others involve psychosis or what he calls “altruistic” filicide — a killing committed “out of love rather than hostility.” He said he found Clancy’s case involved both of the latter categories, but he didn’t find evidence of abuse.

Resnick said Clancy had a delusional belief that if social services took the children or if she killed herself, her children would suffer without her, and believed that they would be better off dying with her and going to heaven.

“She believed that she was doing what was right for her children,” he said.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Jennifer Sprague, Resnick acknowledged that Clancy did not disclose thoughts of harming her children to medical providers who asked, but said that was “very common because people fear their children will be taken away.”

“So it’s better to kill them than have them taken away?” Sprague asked.

The judge struck the question.

Prosecutors say Clancy wasn't suffering from psychosis or bipolar disorder

Prosecutors argue that Clancy contrived to get her husband out of the house the day of the killings. They have attempted to show that while she was getting treatment for anxiety, insomnia and depression, she wasn't suffering from psychosis or bipolar disorder.

After the defense rested, prosecutors called forensic psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack as a rebuttal witness. Mack agreed that Clancy suffered from a major depressive episode but said he found no evidence of mania or hypomania to support a bipolar diagnosis — or of psychosis — leading up to the killings.

Mack said Clancy recounted the killings to him, saying she heard a loud male voice telling her to kill the children so she could kill herself. She recalled strangling the children and saying “go to God” as she did so, he told jurors.

Mack said Clancy was experiencing severe mental illness when she killed her children but that it was a continuation of the depression she had experienced for months in which she was able to control impulses and distinguish right from wrong.

He also said, “There’s no reason that psychosis in and of itself inhibits a person’s ability to know right from wrong.”

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Clancy’s first name was misspelled in the headline of an earlier version of this story. It has been corrected to Lindsay, instead of Lindsey.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman will be the Republican nominee on the November ballot.

The Myrtle Beach rally is the sort of campaign trail occasion that Trump hasn’t done as much of this year, compared with past midterms, making it a signal of the importance he is placing on a win for his pick.

It's also an opportunity for the president to wade into friendly territory ahead of the midterm elections that leave his party’s control of Congress hanging in the balance. South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide in decades, its House delegation has only one Democrat and Trump’s own victory in the 2016 presidential primary here helped propel him toward the nomination and ultimately the White House.

Shortly before Trump arrived, Darline Graham sought to distinguish herself from Norman as she appealed to the crowd of thousands in the convention center by sharing that she and her brother had a hardscrabble upbringing living and working in the store where their parents worked. She also talked about her work leading a state agency.

“I am many things: a problem solver, a mother, a leader, but I am not a career politician," Darline Graham said. "I will take the South Carolina conservative values I learned in the back of that liquor store, and bring them with me to Washington. South Carolina needs a fighter.”

In the scramble of a special Republican primary election that was called after Lindsey Graham's sudden death last month, Darline Graham was picked by Gov. Henry McMaster — also a Trump ally — to serve as interim senator and entered the special primary at Trump's urging. The president had said he told McMaster that appointing her would be a “fabulous tribute to Lindsey,” although the governor pointed out that he asked Graham to serve “in the wee hours” after her brother's death, adding that Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick.

Hours before the rally, McMaster officially endorsed Graham. When he appointed her Graham last month, a person familiar with McMaster’s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly about it said the governor had never contemplated that she would run for the seat herself.

The president pressed “RUN DARLINE, RUN” on social media, and gave her his “Complete and Total Endorsement” before she'd officially announced her campaign. And at every turn on the campaign trail, she's reminded voters of this anointing, as well as her commitment to advancing his priorities if elected. On the eve of the primary two weeks ago, he held a tele-rally for Graham.

Trump also considered Lindsey Graham a close ally and friend, though they ran against each other in 2016 and had their ups and downs, so part of the visit is personal for Trump. He eulogized his longtime golfing partner and wartime consigliere at Washington National Cathedral last month.

Like Trump, Darline Graham has portrayed herself as a political outsider

A political newcomer, Graham has stressed that she's “not a politician,” as she's hurriedly introduced herself to voters across the state. Regularly touting her support for Trump’s policies, as well as his endorsement, she has pointed to her years heading up a state agency, as well as her weeks on the job in the U.S. Senate, as evidence of her readiness.

Saying she’s “answering President Trump’s call to serve,” she has repeatedly said she wants “to fight for President Trump’s agenda” and cited his core goals of border security and passing the SAVE Act voting bill as among her top priorities.

Graham has said she's focused on kitchen table issues like gas prices and household spending rather than international affairs. Earlier this week, after stumbling on an elemental foreign policy question related to U.S. interests in Taiwan, Graham defended herself as “not a polished politician up here.”

Speaking publicly about the gaffe for the first time Friday, before he flew to South Carolina, Trump told reporters Graham “was being honest” when she said Tuesday during a debate that she wasn’t up to speed on national security issues.

“She’s surrounded by very good people, and she said that she’s totally for the military,” Trump said, adding he looked forward to seeing “a very big crowd” in South Carolina.

Trump's rally will be in Myrtle Beach, a conservative — and growing — area

By meeting voters in Myrtle Beach, both Trump and Darline Graham are aiming to capitalize on a growing part of the state that's known to be deeply conservative, loyal to Trump and full of new residents.

It's also the home district of Rep. Russell Fry, the House ally whose name Trump had floated as an “outstanding” possible replacement for Graham after the senator's death. Elected to the House in 2022 with Trump's help, Fry ousted a five-term GOP congressman who had voted to impeach Trump a year earlier.

Running in the Senate primary, Fry touted his support for and previous backing from the president, but was hampered by the absence of it in this race. Finishing third, he swiftly endorsed Graham, a calculated move for the 41-year-old, two-term congressman, who, dating to the origins of his 2022 election, has seen the ramifications for some Republicans who have crossed Trump.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Without going into detail, the PWHL issued a statement saying the trophy “did not arrive as expected at its latest stop,” and added "we are working closely with the shipping company to locate it.”

The trophy was supposed to be shipped to Lethbridge, Alberta, to spend the day with Victoire forward Dara Greig, a person with knowledge of the plans told the AP on the condition of anonymity because those details were not revealed by the league. The container arrived, but without the Walter Cup inside, leading to Greig postponing her day with the trophy on Thursday, which included a public event at the city’s VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Thursday.

It’s unclear where the Walter Cup was last seen. And unlike the NHL and the Stanley Cup, the PWHL does not have a person dedicated to travel with its trophy when it goes on the road to be with players.

The missing Walter Cup in question is not the one presented to teams on the ice upon winning the championship. That one is permanently housed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The missing version is instead a close replica issued to championship-winning teams to keep for themselves.

The replica, like the original trophy, is made of sterling silver and designed by Tiffany & Co. It weighs about 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and measures about 24 inches (61 centimeters) in height and 13 inches (33 centimeters) wide.

The cup rests on two rods, resembling hockey sticks. On the cup are engraved six W’s representing the league’s six original franchises. The base of the cup represents a puck on which the championship teams are etched.

Montreal clinched the cup by defeating Ottawa in Game 4 of a best-of-five series in May to become the PWHL’s first Canadian team to win title. Minnesota won the PWHL’s first two championships.

The trophy is named after PWHL founder and primary financier Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and his wife Kimbra.

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See AP’s full women’s hockey coverage here

The Cessna's two pilots could not see the gravel airstrip and were flying solely by instruments when the plane crashed about midday Thursday, Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief, told a virtual news conference.

Regulations required that they abort their first landing attempt because of the lack of visibility, he said, and the plane crashed on its second attempt, about one-third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) from the runway. The runway is surrounded by mountainous terrain on three sides, and the Federal Aviation Administration recommends pilots use GPS and other instruments when they land there.

On board were the pilots, two employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and four contractors. Two of the contractors were employees of Calista Brice, a collection of companies that perform construction, engineering, logistics and other work in remote areas. Calista Brice is a subsidiary of Calista Corp., an Alaska Native regional corporation.

The military has not said what work they were performing at the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site, about 450 miles (725 kilometers) west of Anchorage on Alaska's southwest coast.

NTSB investigators were traveling to the scene Friday.

The radar site was built in the 1950s as part of a network designed to provide early warning of a missile attack by the Soviet Union. Today, it monitors the skies off the coast in the direction of Russia, North Korea and China.

Those on board were “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment," U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said in a statement Thursday.

“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” Davis said.

Johnson said search teams found the fragmented wreckage after the twin-engine Cessna 441, also known as a Cessna Conquest, lost contact. Its final flight path was captured by radar at the site, he said.

Weather conditions were changing Thursday as heavy fog rolled through the area. An automated observation system not far from the airport reported a low cloud ceiling, fog and visibility of about 10 miles (16 kilometers) in the minutes before the crash, but the next update about 15 minutes after it showed visibility of less than one-quarter mile (0.40 kilometers), according to Carrie Haisley, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service's Alaska sector operations center.

Mike O’Donnell, who oversaw airport safety programs and accident investigations for much of his 17 years at FAA, said it sounded as if weather conditions were bad enough that the pilots should have diverted and landed somewhere else.

The airstrip is at a private military site managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center. It’s part of a network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders, a statement from Alaskan Command said.

The outpost at Cape Newenham closed in 1983 after a new radar was installed, and now the site is visited only occasionally by civilian contractors who perform maintenance on the system.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the two employees who died were part of a “project delivery team en route to a project site in support of the U.S. Air Force.” The statement did not provide additional details about the work.

Johnson said the flight was operated by Security Aviation based in Anchorage. The charter company did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

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Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

Sacco, a longtime Massachusetts charter fishing boat captain, saw the giant fin break the surface, and at first he thought he was dealing with an enormous shark.

“Then I got a better look at it and thought, dang, that thing's pointed,” he said. “But that's too big for a marlin.”

He was wrong. Sacco and his client Walter Chapman landed what they and others believe is the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever caught off the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday. The massive billfish, more than 11 feet (335 cm) in length, weighed 1,260 pounds (571.5 kilograms) when they got it back to land in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

That was just 142 pounds (64.4 kilograms) shy of the world record for an Atlantic blue marlin, caught off Brazil in 1992, according to records kept by the International Game Fish Association.

To catch such a huge fish off New England might be even more remarkable, said Walt Golet, director of the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab and an associate professor at the university's marine sciences school. The water is too cold for them in the Northeast most of the year, making the window to catch a big one very narrow.

The fish’s head was on its way to the UMaine lab to determine its age, said Golet, who speculated that it could be in the range of 25 to 30 years.

“I don’t suspect there will be a whole lot of blue marlin caught in the Atlantic in general that are going to top 1,200 pounds for the next several years,” he said.

On the day of the catch, Sacco's charter boat, Castafari, was fishing Atlantis Canyon, an underwater canyon on the edge of the continental shelf about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off Cape Cod. The highly migratory blue marlin is a seasonal visitor to the area, Golet said.

The battle with the marlin took about three hours and was fought on rod and reel by Chapman. Sacco said his role for most of the adventure was to “drive the bus around and yell at people.” He added that the fish left a couple of holes in the boat's transom with its bill that he considers “war marks.”

Chapman, a retiree and lifelong fisherman from Plymouth, said the meat of the fish was divided among about a dozen people, and he's currently looking up recipes for what to do with it. He said the marlin is unquestionably the biggest fish he's ever fought on a line, and some of it's probably destined for fish chowder.

“I wasn't going to eat a 1,200 pound fish all by myself,” Chapman said.

When the boat returned to the docks, a crowd was waiting, and weighing the fish became a brief spectacle. Onlooker Katie Curran of Falmouth said it was spectacular.

“People fish their entire lives and never come close to a catch like this,” Curran said. “Hats off to Captain Damon Sacco and the crew on the catch of a lifetime.”

Volusia County has approved construction of a new, centralized headquarters for Volusia County Emergency Medical Services, transforming a former automotive dealership into a hub for EMS administration, training and fleet maintenance.

The Volusia County Council unanimously approved the construction phase during its Aug. 17 meeting, clearing the way for the project at 1720 Mason Ave. in Daytona Beach.

The 4.42-acre property, formerly home to Bourne Auto Sales, is currently vacant. But county leaders plan to renovate and expand the building, bringing several key EMS operations together under one roof.

The project calls for an extensive renovation of the existing building, including a significant expansion of its second floor.

Plans also include new administrative offices, training areas and dedicated space for fleet maintenance.

The building will receive a new roof and exterior improvements, along with upgraded mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection systems. The project also includes a passenger elevator, emergency standby power and enhanced safety and security features.

Work outside the building will include paving, drainage, utility and landscaping improvements.

The goal is to create a centralized facility supporting the crews and staff responsible for emergency medical response throughout Volusia County.

County officials say renovating the former dealership is significantly more cost-effective than building an entirely new EMS headquarters.

Early planning estimates put the cost of constructing a new facility at approximately $23 million.

By repurposing the existing Mason Avenue building, the estimated construction cost has been reduced to approximately $10.67 million.

The county also secured approximately $6.8 million in federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding, which will cover nearly two-thirds of the estimated construction cost.

With the construction phase now approved, the project can move forward.

Volusia County expects the new EMS headquarters to be fully operational by late 2027.

In France, a second-half double from Amine Gouiri set Marseille on its way to a 4-0 victory over Strasbourg on the first night of this season’s Ligue 1 action.

Elsewhere in Europe, Real Betis beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Spanish league while fan trouble overshadowed the first round of the German Cup.

Arsenal sweeps Coventry aside in Premier League opener

Newcomer Christos Tzolis helped set up two goals as defending champion Arsenal opened the Premier League season by dismantling promoted Coventry 3-0 to spoil the visitor’s long-awaited return to the top flight.

After ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal showed why it’s favored to repeat as champion by completely dominating Frank Lampard’s side in a game that was one-sided from start to finish.

Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored for the Gunners, who spurned chances to pad the scoreline even further.

For Coventry, it was a rude welcome back to the Premier League after a 25-year absence. Having won the second-tier Championship last season by a wide margin, Lampard’s side simply looked outmatched as it was repeatedly taken apart by the marauding Gunners.

Gouiri leads Marseille to dominant win over Strasbourg

Gouiri, who scored eight goals in 22 league matches last season, has been linked with a move to Everton in recent days, but the speculation clearly did not hinder his concentration in the Ligue 1 opener.

He slotted home from close range a minute after the break and then doubled his tally from the penalty spot midway through the second half, just minutes after Strasbourg was reduced to 10 men following Samir El Mourabet's dismissal for a bad tackle.

Keyliane Abdallah added a third in the 89th minute before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg completed the scoring in stoppage time to give new Marseille coach Bruno Génésio the perfect start to the season.

Rodrigo Riquelme gives Real Betis a winning start in Spain

Betis kicked off its La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in Seville.

Riquelme’s volleyed goal after 63 minutes separated two evenly matched teams and extended Betis’ unbeaten home run in Friday night games to 18.

The win takes the Seville club into joint second place in La Liga, one of four teams on three points, behind Alaves, which has four.

It’s a stuttering start to the league season in Spain, with some teams having played twice before others have even kicked off their campaign.

Rowdy fans and startling scoreline in the German Cup

Police had to intervene in the German Cup match between Waldhof Mannheim and Kaiserslautern as fans threw flares and other objects and some Mannheim supporters invaded the pitch. The trouble started as the game was heading into extra time with the score tied at 0-0.

The match was halted for nearly 30 minutes as officers in riot gear and mounted police pushed fans back into the stands before the players could return.

Ibrahim Kanate scored in the last minute of extra time, giving second-division Kaiserslautern a 1-0 win to advance to the second round.

Eintracht Frankfurt cruised into the second round of the competition with a staggering 11-0 win away at fifth-tier St. Tönis. Ten of the goals came before half time, three of them from Jonathan Burkardt.

Karlsruhe beat Munster 2-1 and Dženan Pejčinović scored a hattrick as VfB Stuttgart beat Hansa Rostock 4-0 away from home.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The U.S. carmaker is recalling about 2.98 million China-made and imported EVs including Model 3, Model Y, Model X and Model S over door handle safety risks, according to China’s State Administration for Market Regulation.

The recall, the largest this year according to Chinese media, comes a few months after Chinese authorities said in February that starting next year, it would be banning hidden car door handles that are commonly seen on Tesla electric vehicles and many Chinese EV models.

China has stepped up scrutiny recently on hidden, or flush, car door handles following EV accidents in the country and elsewhere, in which cars’ hidden electronic doors failed and trapped people inside.

In a notice on the Chinese regulator’s website, it cited safety risk. In extreme situations, such as a severe collision that causes an electrical system failure, the car handles could hinder car users from quickly opening the doors to escape, or prevent rescuers outside the car from gaining access, the notice said.

Some experts in the industry said the automakers should value safety over design.

Cui Dongshu, head of the China Passenger Car Association, called the recall “an inevitable step” in the development of the electric vehicle industry and said automakers were “being responsible” by moving toward a more reliable, “safety-first” approach.

“This represents, in part, the growing pains of the industry. At the same time, however, this move signifies a policy-driven safety upgrade,” said Cui.

Tesla will perform software updates on the vehicles to mitigate risks, the notice added. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Xiaomi, the Beijing-based Chinese technology giant, is recalling more than 390,000 vehicles. Hangzhou-based Leapmotor is recalling over 370,000 cars. Other Chinese carmakers, including Geely and XPENG are also recalling some vehicles.

The reasons given in each case were similar, mostly relating to issues with their car door handles.

A report published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the large-scale recall “serves as a unified safety upgrade” for existing vehicle models ahead of the 2027 implementation of the ban on hidden car door handles.

“For the rapidly evolving NEV (new energy vehicle) industry, competition should be defined not only by the pace of technological innovation but also by the high standards set for safety,” the newspaper said.

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Fu Ting reported from Washington.

Messi slapped the Union's Quinn Sullivan on the back of the neck as the two exchanged words Wednesday night. Messi scored his first goal since the death of his father, Jorge Messi, and added an assist.

Sullivan also was involved in the fracas that led to Fray's fine. After Sullivan lost his footing dribbling into the penalty area, he got tangled with Fray, who then grabbed his neck. Sullivan jumped up and tackled Fray.

Minnesota United FC defender Anthony Markanich was fined for embellishment in the second half of a 2-1 loss to Atlanta United on Wednesday.

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See AP’s full MLS coverage here

The letter gave the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress until the end of business Friday to issue the retraction or face a $5 billion lawsuit. The center declined.

The nonprofit's president and chief executive, Neera Tanden, said in a statement that the lawsuit “is a transparent attempt to silence us. We will neither cower nor bend in the face of it.”

The report, published July 13, criticized the administration for taking credit for a historic drop in violent crime at a time when that decline was already underway. The analysis concluded that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard “had no measurable effect on violent crime trends.”

Tanden said the work was based on the nonprofit's analysis of crime data and its findings were simply "inconvenient to the Trump administration.”

In the letter, sent Monday and first reported by The New York Times, Trump attorney Alejandro Brito said the center should “immediately retract the false, malicious, and defamatory statements made about President Trump.”

Brito highlighted several examples of statements in the report that drew objections from Trump. One read, “In an effort to falsely claim his policies have reduced crime, the president is exploiting the fact that violent crime and murder were already declining in the cities his administration targeted with these extreme interventions.”

Brito wrote that failure to retract the report will leave Trump no choice but to seek remedies for the “overwhelming financial and reputational harm that Defendants have caused him to suffer.” Attempts to reach Brito on Friday were unsuccessful.

The nonprofit's general counsel, Kevin Metz, said in a letter responding to the threat that the defamation allegation "is utterly absurd: truth is not and cannot be defamation. The legal standards here are clear, well-established, and speech-protective.”

Threatening lawsuits against perceived enemies or over media coverage he doesn't like is part of a well-worn playbook for Trump. At the beginning of his second term, he threatened numerous legal firms with cutting off access to the federal government unless they capitulated to his various demands, which some did.

Kevin Goldberg, a First Amendment expert at the Freedom Forum, said such threats from Trump are done “for the purpose of trying to push someone into submission rather than actually on the merits of compensating Donald Trump for any harm that might have been caused.”

The newspaper’s publisher, who announced his impending retirement days ago, was also dismissed.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon, told The Associated Press he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military. He received a notice of separation, as did publisher Max Lederer — who had just announced his upcoming retirement — and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin said.

The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been progressively combative toward the media — including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department. Trump or other parts of the executive branch have also, in policy and in the courts, grappled with The Wall Street Journal,The Associated Press and The New York Times — in addition to using the FCC to target broadcast networks.

Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” Korte participated in the same interview.

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies,” Slavin said.

Media leaders are troubled

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. called the firing of Slavin “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military” and said it should be immediately reversed.

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the U.S. military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.

Neither Lederer nor Korte immediately responded to emailed requests for comment. Korte said on X: “Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes — not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policy maker.”

Earlier this week, longtime publisher Lederer announced his retirement effective at the end of September. He made his announcement a few weeks after the Pentagon installed a new deputy publisher, an active duty service member, under him at the newspaper without his prior knowledge. Three Democratic senators on Thursday wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking why the new deputy — Navy Capt. William Urban — had been installed.

The retirement of Lederer, who had been at Stars and Stripes for three decades and publisher since 2007, comes as Hegseth’s Pentagon has moved to exert editorial control and eliminate what it asserts are “woke distractions.”

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,” Sean Parnell, Hegseth's spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”

In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job had been to safeguard editorial independence.

Lederer, the second full-time civilian in the position, wrote in a staff memo this week that it had “become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.”

Newly installed Pentagon leader outlines his plan

In a letter posted on Stars and Stripes, Urban wrote of his plans and said: “I understand that I am now part of a team, committed to editorially independent journalism that best serves our most important customer, which is our service members, their families, and our greater military community.”

“I am a media junkie who has served as a communication professional engaged in being a spokesman for some of the hardest Public Affairs assignments in the Navy and Department of War for more than 20 years,” he wrote.

It was unclear whether Urban, currently titled “military deputy to the publisher,” would now become head publisher. “I can’t comment on what my role will be in the future,” he told the AP.

In a telephone interview, Urban said Stars and Stripes has “a strong team of professional journalists that are focused on the mission of providing our military service members and their families the best possible product. That mission is going to continue. All of us in leadership will continue to advocate for … the best possible journalism going forward.”

He said he had no formal journalism experience but cited his years in public affairs and communications. He said he would be focused on expanding digital journalism at the paper, because the service members to which it caters are often young and are “digital natives.”

“I think we need to get better on the digital side,” he said, “to make sure that we are reaching as many service members as we possibly can and having the impact that we should be having.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% for just its second gain in the six days since setting its all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 517 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4%.

Ross Stores helped lead the way and rose 4.4% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Jim Conroy said it saw both an increase in new customers and more interest from existing customers, while the off-price retailer at the same time benefited from refunds on tariffs.

Most U.S. companies have reported bigger profits for the spring than analysts expected, which has helped drive stocks to records recently. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

Hopes for continued profit growth got a boost from a preliminary report by S&P Global suggesting growth for U.S. business activity hit a 52-month high. But the other big lever that helps set stock prices, interest rates, has been much shakier.

After soaring through the summer and then hesitating following this week’s surprise move by the U.S. Treasury Department to repurchase more U.S. government bonds, yields climbed further on Friday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.73% from 4.69% late Thursday. It’s back above its level from before the Treasury market made its move, which analysts said at the time would likely have only a temporary effect. The 30-year Treasury yield, which the Fed is also targeting with its bond repurchases, also rose and is near its highest level since 2007.

Contributing to Friday’s gains for bond yields was continued uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again. That caused oil prices to rise, which affects Treasury yields because they increase worries about inflation.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil settled at $92.67, up 0.8%.

Besides inflation, concerns about the fast-rising debt for the U.S. government have also been sending yields upward. Higher yields can slow the economy and undercut prices for all kinds of investments.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s move to try to get longer-term yields lower is bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies often rise when interest rates are lower and more money is flowing through the financial system. Hopes for legislation in Washington to help the crypto industry have also helped it.

Bitcoin has climbed above $77,000 from less than $63,000 a week ago. That helped stocks in the crypto industry lead Wall Street. Robinhood Markets jumped 13.7%, and Coinbase Global gained 8.2%.

The price of gold also climbed and briefly topped $4,690 per ounce from less than $4,440 a week earlier. The Treasury Department’s buyback announcement has helped weaken the U.S. dollar’s value against other currencies, which tends to give gold’s price a boost.

That helped drive stocks of miners higher. Newmont climbed 3.1%, and Freeport-McMoRan jumped 7.6%.

They helped offset a 5.2% drop for OSI Systems, which sells security screening equipment to airports and other specialized electronic systems. It reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Ajay Mehra said it was hurt by “the Middle East conflicts which shifted the timing of certain planned deliveries.”

Boston Beer sank 2.6% after the seller of Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head said its chief financial officer is leaving the company and announced an interim replacement.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 33.21 points to 7,674.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 517.80 to 53,277.01, and the Nasdaq composite added 113.29 to 26,180.45.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in much of Asia and Europe. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2%, and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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

An estimated 33% of active duty personnel who said they experienced unwanted sexual contact in fiscal year 2025 reported it, compared with 25% in fiscal year 2023, the report said. The findings are based on confidential surveys taken every two years as well as sexual assault reports made to authorities.

“In other words, about 1 in 3 Service members reported experiencing their sexual assault to a Department authority,” the report said. “This estimate is up from the 1 in 4 Service members estimated to have reported experiencing sexual assault in FY 2023.”

The Pentagon says it estimates about 20,492 service members — 9,860 active duty women and 10,632 active duty men — said in the survey that they experienced unwanted sexual contact.

The report marks another year of improving trends in the effort to tackle sexual assault in the military. The Pentagon reports from the previous two years show drops in sexual assault reports as well as the number of service members who said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact. That followed almost a decade of rising numbers of reported assaults, though many say the numbers still are too high.

The Pentagon has faced persistent criticism and pressure from both Congress and outside advocacy groups to reduce sexual assaults and harassment in the military, which also can affect recruiting and retaining troops.

The Pentagon releases this report every year on the number of sexual assaults reported by or about troops. Because sexual assault is a highly underreported crime, the department does a confidential online survey every two years to get a clearer picture of the problem.

Defense officials have long argued that an increase in reported assaults is a positive trend because so many people are reluctant to report them, both in the military and in society as a whole. Greater reporting, they say, shows there is more confidence in the reporting system and greater comfort with the support for victims.

The number of reported sexual assaults dipped last year from the previous year. The Defense Department said it received a total of 7,998 reports of sexual assault in 2025, a decrease of 197 from 8,195 reports received in 2024.

The latest confidential survey found that unwanted sexual contact among active duty women decreased from an estimated 6.8% in 2023 to 4.3% last year. For men, the prevalence fell from an estimated 1.3% to 1%.

Sexual harassment of active duty women fell from an estimated 24.7% to 17.5% during that time, while it dropped from 5.8% to 4.4% for men, according to the survey.

However, the report noted that junior enlisted men and women and those younger than 24 “remained at greater risk of unwanted sexual contact compared to men and women of higher ranks and those over the age of 25.”

It says “preventing and responding to sexual assault is ... a readiness imperative” and that the Pentagon will “continue to strengthen efforts to deter and diminish harmful behaviors, provide timely and victim-centered care, and hold substantiated offenders appropriately accountable.”

While the latest Pentagon report suggests the military is making progress on changing the culture of sexual assault and its underreporting in the military, the new figures cover only the first several months of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s time leading the Pentagon.

Since his arrival, Hegseth has not shied away from firing top female leaders and instituting policies and reviews that suggest he may be looking to diminish the role that women can play in the military.

Vance has highlighted his Rust Belt roots while trying to boost GOP candidates ahead of the November midterm elections. He has focused on promoting the Trump administration’s economic policies and efforts to try to expand U.S. manufacturing.

As he took the stage at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works facility, known as Armco Steel when his grandfather James Vance worked there for nearly 40 years, he remarked on sharing the space where the man whose name he shared once stood.

“Papaw was a welder in this place for 40 years, and today his grandson stands here as the vice president of these United States. It’s an amazing thing,” Vance said.

The Middletown event comes as Vance is expected to ramp up his travel schedule with more public events and fundraisers, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Vance says Trump is trying to reverse decades of ‘American decline’

As they've campaigned this year, Vance, more than President Donald Trump, has acknowledged Americans' cost-of-living concerns, seeking to assure voters that the administration is working to reverse high prices, though he didn't offer specifics.

The vice president said, “We’ve got a lot of work to do” and “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy or it’s all going to happen overnight,” but he said Trump was trying to reverse “40 years of American decline.” He pointed to Trump's immigration and trade policies, including his tariffs, as trying to protect jobs like those at the steel plant.

Trump's tariff policies, though, have contributed to the higher costs Americans are facing, as taxes on imports have raised the price of imported products as well as those made domestically, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

With an eye toward Ohio's competitive elections, Vance focused on portraying Democrats today as unrecognizable to the party his grandfather supported for its union associations, calling it the “party of graduate students.”

Vance said his grandfather also thought “way too many politicians were just plain old corrupt.”

“He hated the people who forgot about this town when they should have been fighting for this town,” Vance said.

Vance blamed politicians of both major political parties, saying that for 40 years they espoused policies of free trade and open immigration that led to factory jobs being shipped overseas and an eventual scourge of opioids left behind, which he blamed on “a lot of cartels” and “the fentanyl trade,” which he said came along with “some innocent people” across the border.

Vance has deep ties to the town and the steel plant

In his bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance described the steel plant as an economic savior that brought his grandparents from Kentucky's hills into the American middle class. He described how his grandfather would boast upon seeing an old Ford or Chevy that its steel was made by his company.

His grandson's election as vice president of the United States spurred pride in the Midwestern city, though Vance has faced some pushback on his portrayal of it in the book. He said kids “derisively called it ‘Middletucky’” when he was a child because it had so many transplants like his family. He said they brought problems with them from Kentucky, such as drug addiction, “Mountain Dew mouth” and problematic fathers.

In the 2024 election, Trump and Vance won about 62% of the vote in the city's precincts. His mother, Beverly Aikins, and his sister still live in Middletown.

Before he arrived at the steel plant, he first stopped by a pastry shop to buy doughnuts and remind workers there of the “no tax on tips” provision in the tax and spending law Trump signed last year, according to a video posted online by an aide.

After the event, Vance visited a Cincinnati chili restaurant where he served beers and Cincinnati chili-topped dogs with cheese to people gathered inside.

“Nice pour, JD!” someone shouted. “I’ll take a beer back here,” called another.

Ohio has lost its political bellwether status and turned red during the Trump era, but Democrats see a chance to win both the governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat from Republican hands this year as anti-Trump sentiment buoys their party.

Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to replace Vance in the Senate, is trying to hold on to his seat against a challenge from former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a longtime Ohio politician with a pro-working class message who lost his reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno two years ago.

Brown has capitalized on public opposition to artificial intelligence data centers in the campaign and aired ads calling Husted the “face of data centers in Ohio.” The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, warned in a memo this week that backlash to the centers has left Husted vulnerable.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Vance ally, is the party’s nominee for governor in a race against Democrat Amy Acton. Democrats have not won the Ohio governor’s office in two decades.

Husted and Ramaswamy both spoke before Vance on Friday, as did U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Vance, whose family still keeps a home in Cincinnati where they sometimes spend weekends, was making his first public visit since his fourth child was born in July.

As part of his plans for ramping up his travel schedule, his office announced a trip Monday to Brewer, Maine, where former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is running against Democrat Matt Dunlap, the state auditor, in a competitive House district.

___

Price reported from Washington.

The Infowars founder can only be forced to pay about $6 million, the Texas Third Court of Appeals ruled in a unanimous opinion, citing state laws that limit lawsuit damages.

The ruling does not affect a separate $1.25 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut, where he was also found liable for defaming and causing emotional distress to relatives of the 20 first-graders and six educators killed in the Newtown shooting.

The punishing financial verdicts against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, in recent years have forced him into bankruptcy, led to some of his personal property being put up for auction and led to him leaving his Infowars platform. For decades, he used the platform to push conspiracy theories about the United Nations, the federal government, gun control and more.

Sandy Hook families have yet to collect any money from Jones, who has waged lengthy appeals in state and bankruptcy courts as his company faces liquidation. He remains on air after moving onto new websites and streaming platforms.

Friday's ruling did not throw out the trial court's finding of defamation against Jones. Still, he called it "a gigantic victory for the First Amendment,” and said he will continue to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court to get the remaining damages thrown out.

“I got lawyers who are good constitutional lawyers and they are not backing down,” Jones said.

Jones has already tried to appeal the Connecticut judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court but was denied last year.

The decision by the Texas Third Court of Appeals left intact more than $4.1 million in compensatory damages awarded by a jury to Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis for defamation and emotional distress. But it slashed more than $45 million in additional punitive damages down to $1.5 million to comply with the state's $750,000 cap for each plaintiff.

The court found Heslin and Lewis did not show evidence that the harassment following Jones’ hoax claims rose to a level that would allow them to exceed the cap. It also said the trial judge improperly allowed the parents to seek higher damages after trial.

Mark Bankston, an attorney for Heslin and Lewis in the Texas lawsuit, shrugged off the appeals court ruling as “irrelevant” given that Jones still faces massive financial judgments in Connecticut.

“The families care not at all about this irrelevant ruling which affects only two of the 19 claims they all share. Jones still faces over a billion dollars of liability, so this changes absolutely nothing. All it does is highlight the absurdity of Texas law,” Bankston said.

Newtown families harassed as Jones claimed the massacre was a hoax

Heslin and Lewis’s 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among those killed in the Sandy Hook attack. Their lawsuit against Jones and the 2022 verdict marked the first time he was held financially liable for peddling lies about the massacre, claiming it was faked by the government to tighten gun laws.

Jones portrayed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights, but conceded during the trial that the shootings were “100% real” and that he was wrong to have lied about them.

At the Texas and Connecticut trials, victims’ relatives testified that Jones’ followers -- believing his claims that the shooting didn’t happen -- subjected them to death and rape threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media. Jones argued there was no proof that linked him to those actions.

Heslin and Lewis told jurors that an apology wouldn’t suffice and initially called on them to make Jones pay more than $150 million for the years of suffering he has put them and other Sandy Hook families through.

Almost immediately after the punitive damages in Texas were announced, Jones' trial attorney predicted the award would be reduced to $1.5 million on appeal.

Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit, said Friday’s ruling has no bearing on the ongoing lower court proceedings in Texas involving the liquidation of Infowars’ parent company.

The Onion steps in to mock Jones and help frustrated families

Jones and his company have filed for bankruptcy, and those legal proceedings continue. The satirical website The Onion also moved to take over Jones' Infowars platforms and turn his bullhorn of conspiracy theories into parody sites.

Jones took Infowars off the air in April and moved to a new location, switching his shows to new websites and posting them on his personal X account. The Onion, meanwhile, has set up its own Infowars webpage on its website, running videos of shows parodying Jones.

A proposed licensing deal that would give The Onion temporary authority to use Infowars’ trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property has been put on hold because the liquidation proceedings have been stayed during Jones’ appeals.

In November 2024, the Chicago-based satirical outlet was named the winner of a bankruptcy court auction of the assets of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, aimed at helping pay some of the defamation judgments. A federal judge overturned the auction results, citing problems with the process and The Onion’s bid.

___ This story has been corrected to show that Jones is still liable for $4.1 million in compensatory damages in addition to $1.5 million in punitive damages.

___ Dave Collins contributed from Hartford, Connecticut.

Saturday

With dry air in the mid levels of our atmosphere, rain chances will be spotty in nature Saturday afternoon. Rain chances will top out at 30-40% across Central Florida. Rain will start popping up after lunchtime near I-75. Storm motion will be from west to east. Only isolated to spotty showers will move through during the afternoon. The better chance for storms will be along the 95 corridor as the east coast sea breeze tries to move inland late in the afternoon and collides with our westerly breeze. Those storms will linger until early evening and dissipate around 8pm. Highs will climb into the mid 90s with “feels like” temperatures ranging 100-105ºF.

Sunday

Rain chances elevate a little bit Sunday as we start to tap into a little moisture from a weak frontal boundary to our north as it dips into the Southeast. This will allow for scattered storms along the sea breeze in the afternoon after a dry morning. Storms will once again develop near 75 and push towards 95 later in the afternoon.

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The State Department laid out its plans to transfer $725 million as part of its dues to the regular U.N. budget and $125 million toward U.N. peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to notifications sent to lawmakers this month and obtained by The Associated Press.

The U.S. is behind on about $5 billion in dues related to its U.N. membership, with more than $2 billion owed toward the regular budget and $3 billion for peacekeeping operations, the United Nations says.

In February, the Trump administration made a single payment of $160 million shortly after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the institution was facing “imminent financial collapse” unless its financial rules were overhauled or all 193 member nations paid their dues, a message clearly directed at the United States.

President Donald Trump and his allies have spent the past year and a half demanding drastic changes across the U.N., alarming many humanitarian workers and leading to severe reductions in programs and services.

Trump has publicly called out the world body for not living up to its potential. His administration did not pay anything to the United Nations in 2025, and it has withdrawn from U.N. organizations, including the World Health Organization and the cultural agency UNESCO, while pulling funding from dozens of others.

The notices sent Aug. 4 — first reported by Reuters — received some initial pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill who argued that the appropriations do not fully address the administration’s concerns about what it claims is bloated U.N. staffing and ideological positions that run counter to Trump’s anti-woke agenda.

In particular, a GOP congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers have not yet decided how or if to respond to the notifications, said the notifications did not appear to be strong enough on the withholding of U.S. assistance to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

___

Amiri reported from New York.

After ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal showed why it’s favored to repeat as champion by completely dominating Frank Lampard’s side in a game that was one-sided from start to finish.

Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Odegaard scored for the Gunners, who spurned chances to pad the scoreline even further.

“The perfect start,” Odegaard said.

For Coventry, it was a rude welcome back to the Premier League after a 25-year absence. Having won the second-tier Championship last season by a wide margin, Lampard’s side simply looked outmatched as it was repeatedly taken apart by a marauding Arsenal.

Tzolis was the only summer signing to start for the host but the left winger showed he could give this attack an added dimension by helping to set up both opening goals.

First he stole possession to feed defender Riccardo Calafiori, who squared the ball for Havertz to slot home in the 15th minute. The Greece international then sent a cross in from the left that goalkeeper Carl Rushworth managed to only push into the path of Saka, who scored into an empty net in the 23rd.

(asterisk)Amazing, he played a brilliant game," Odegaard said of Tzolis. "He has been brilliant all preseason. He’s so lively, it’s hard to defend him. He’s a really intelligent player, he always looks up and finds the right pass.”

Odegaard added the third shortly after the break after his scuffed shot looped in out of reach of Rushworth. The Arsenal captain gave an apologetic shrug as a celebration.

"It was not the best finish but I was there,” Odegaard said.

At the other end, the only time Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was troubled was when a speculative overhead kick from Loum Tchaouna from outside the box sailed just high of the bar in the 42nd. The visitor's only effort on target came in the 86th, when Jack Rudoni managed only a weak header straight at Raya.

Arsenal introduced its latest signing, England defender Ezri Konsa, before kickoff after he completed a move from Aston Villa earlier Friday.

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Randal Lawton, 64, pleaded no contest to kidnapping, aggravated battery, and resisting an officer without violence.

Prosecutors said Lawton lured a RaceTrac gas station clerk into the men’s bathroom in June of 2024. They say Lawton shoved her to the ground and sliced her neck and chin with a box cutter, causing her to lose a tooth. Investigators say Lawton called her “Eve,” telling her, “You are sorry for your sins, Eve.”

A customer and a co-worker called police, who busted the door down.

Two police officers later resigned for hesitating and waiting for more officers before going after Lawton.

Lawton’s public defender attempted to mount an insanity defense, with an expert saying Lawton suffered from a neurological disorder caused by years of alcohol abuse.

In addition to the prison sentence, Lawton was sentenced to two years of GPS-monitored probation. He was also required to submit to a psychological evaluation after completing the prison sentence, and to accept any follow-up treatment recommended as part of his probation.

Beef prices have climbed to record highs amid a drop in the number of U.S. cattle, consistent consumer demand and limits on cattle from Mexico, where the animals are facing a flesh-eating pest. The U.S. president has also imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter.

Trump remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November’s midterms. But ranchers, normally some of the president’s biggest supporters, are enjoying some rare profitable years and worry cheap beef imports will reduce cattle prices — and with it, the incentive to increase herd sizes.

“We all want lower grocery prices, but as I’ve said for months, we cannot do it at the expense of American producers,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a statement. “Flooding the market with foreign beef hurts our livestock industry and undermines the long-term solution: growing the U.S. cattle herd to meet demand.”

When asked by reporters Friday evening about criticism of the deal, Trump said, “I love the ranchers; they’ve done a fantastic job. But they admit that we need a little help, and, in order to get the prices down, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said in a social media post just hours after Trump announced the deal that the president's “heart is in the right place,” but importing beef will “harm our ranching families who feed the nation.”

And Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said that while he appreciates the administration's focus on grocery prices, “short term policy shifts do not equal long term solutions.”

The deal, Trump said, allows up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the U.S. for the next 90 days without activating an “out of quota” tariff, which is a tax that goes into effect once a certain quantity of that product enters the country.

The president said on social media that he had committed to ensuring the imported beef would be sold at 25% below current market rates, making it cheaper for American consumers. Trump didn't specify which countries would import the beef while speaking to reporters Friday, but said “there are a few” and that they'll send the “highest quality beef.” A White House official said the deal is with foreign beef exporters who have agreed to the discount on beef.

“You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last,” U.S. Cattlemen's Association President Justin Tupper said in a statement. “This move will weaken our markets and gamble with food safety in the process.”

The president's announcement and other market interventions sacrifice “long-term stability for short term messaging,” Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement.

Glynn Tonsor, a professor at Kansas State University who focuses on the cattle and beef industry, said he would like to see more details about the latest deal but that his immediate assessment was that it wouldn't have a big effect on prices.

That’s because 300,000 metric tons amounts to roughly 3% of what Americans eat yearly, he said. “The relative magnitude we are talking about is pretty small.”

David Anderson, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, said he was skeptical other countries could redirect so much beef to the U.S. in such a short time period.

“Is that even achievable?” he questioned in a phone interview.

The White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that has yet to be finalized, said the beef in question is lean beef trimmings that are used for ground beef production. Trump plans to sign an executive order formalizing the directive within two weeks, the official said. The administration made a push last year to buy more beef from Argentina to try to bring down prices.

The president said Friday that his plan would help grow the U.S. cattle supply, which is the smallest it's been in decades. Some ranchers and experts said the opposite effect was more likely.

“Imports have been a major contributor to the decline in the U.S. cattle inventory,” said Bill Bullard, the CEO of the R-CALF USA, which represents independent cattle producers. “Using more imports today will exacerbate that decline and will prevent herd expansion.”

___

Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Moke was located about 660 miles (1,060 kilometers) southeast of Hilo and was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). Maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph (75 kph), according to an advisory from the Miami-based hurricane center.

Like with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island is again expected to bear the brunt of the storm. It battered Hawaii last weekend without making landfall, downing trees and leaving roads covered in mud and rocks.

Rain and heavy winds from Moke are expected to hit the Big Island late Saturday, with the storm continuing to move west across the islands through early Tuesday, said Casey Oswant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

“There will still be impacts, especially to the windward and southeast sides of the Big Island, but it will probably be a little bit more limited than what we saw with Lala,” she said.

The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), according to the weather service. The resulting flooding swept dozens of homes from their foundations and damaged roads and bridges. About 11,630 customers on the Big Island remained without power Friday, according to poweroutage.us.

Rainfall predictions for this weekend for the southeast and windward sides of the Big Island were 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain, with isolated amounts up to 15 inches (38 centimeters), Oswant said. Across the rest of the island chain, 1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters) of rain was expected to fall, though parts of east Maui could see up to 4 inches (10 centimeters), she said.

There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect Friday morning, but people were urged to closely monitor the storm's progress. The rainfall has the potential to cause dangerous rip currents, life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in steep areas and places where the ground remains saturated in Lala's wake, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and other state officials held a news conference Thursday afternoon to update Lala recovery progress and urge people to prepare for the next storm.

Officials urged people low on emergency supplies to restock up to 14 days of food, medicine and other essentials and closely monitor the storm’s progress.

“There’s definitely tension in the air” at the thought of more rain in communities that floodwaters turned into rivers, said Tiffany Edwards Hunt, a teacher living in Keaau, on the east side of the Big Island. “There were some areas that were completely washed out.”

The Hawaiian Electric utility said it expects nearly all affected customers on the Big Island to have power restored, except for certain remote and severely damaged areas.

Thompson intends to sign with the Miami Heat once he clears waivers, according to a person familiar with the five-time All-Star’s plans. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because Thompson has yet to reveal that detail publicly. Assuming he is not claimed by another club, Thompson may be able to sign with the Heat as early as Sunday.

The buyout announcement comes after the Mavericks missed the playoffs in both of Thompson’s seasons, which came after Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals in 2024.

Thompson joined Dallas in a sign-and-trade with Golden State, giving the Mavericks one of the league's all-time great 3-point shooters to complement Doncic and another high-scoring guard in Kyrie Irving.

But the high hopes for that threesome imploded after the Mavericks sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for the oft-injured Anthony Davis in a deal before the trade deadline in 2025. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee a month later and hasn't played since. Davis was traded to the Washington Wizards just before the February trade deadline last season.

The Doncic trade ended up derailing the franchise, although Dallas overcame steep odds to win the draft lottery a few months later. With the No. 1 overall pick, the Mavericks selected Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg, who ended up winning Rookie of the Year and giving the franchise new hope.

The addition of Flagg helped led to Thompson coming off the bench in most games for the first time since his rookie year with Golden State.

The buyout of Thompson is the latest in a major retooling of the Dallas roster. His departure leaves just five players from opening day two years ago, along a new front office in president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz and a new coach in Dusty May, who replaced Jason Kidd.

Thompson won four NBA titles alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with the Warriors. The 36-year-old spent his first 13 seasons with Golden State, although he missed two entire seasons with knee and Achilles injuries.

The five-time All-Star averaged 12.9 points and shot 39% from 3-point range in his two years with the Mavericks. His career marks are 19.6 points per game and 41% shooting from beyond the arc.

Thompson passed Damian Lillard for fourth place on the career 3-point list in January. He has 2,899 3-pointers, trailing Curry, James Harden and Ray Allen.

Thompson missed the playoffs just twice in the 11 seasons he played for the Warriors. He matched that number in his only two seasons with Dallas.

“Klay is one of the great players and competitors of his generation, and we are grateful for everything he brought to the Mavericks organization,” Ujiri said. “We have tremendous respect for Klay and all that he has accomplished throughout his career.”

___

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this story.

___

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Work wanted by the White House was taking precedence, including repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three officials from the park service and Interior Department who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

The reflecting pool repairs and other projects tied to President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative landed on a separate list for White House priorities, the documents show. Many of the administration-backed projects have advanced, though the reflecting pool repairs were botched.

Meanwhile, almost all of about 1,500 maintenance and other projects on the low priority list as of last month are expected to go undone, the officials said. That will worsen a repair backlog at national parks that doubled over the last decade to more than $24 billion even as visitor numbers surged.

The shelved projects, many already approved, span more than 200 sites and range from roof repairs at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to computer upgrades at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and bulk purchases of toilet paper and garbage bags at Yellowstone National Park.

Because of their low priority designation and with the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, it's unknown when they will move forward unless park staff can find a workaround, two of the officials said.

Park service employees “were told to not expect anything on the low priority list to be contracted,” one of the officials said.

“The first priority was White House priorities," the official said. “Anywhere that is 250th-related they would have been diverting resources, some it probably planned but a lot of it pushed by the administration."

The Interior Department said many entries on the low priority list had been “mis-prioritized and were corrected.” It declined to say how many or which ones, or how much parks are spending on projects outside Washington. Agency officials declined to answer questions about the reflecting pool.

Congress has pushed to fix maintenance backlog

The park service has a third list for “high priority" projects that includes more than 2,000 items, many with contracts awarded or in process, the documents show.

“In any year, the National Park Service must prioritize projects most in need,” Interior spokesperson Katie Martin wrote in a statement. “The National Park Service has not only been focused on beautifying the district for the 250th celebrations in our nation’s capital but has also been working on many deferred maintenance projects throughout the country."

The 1,500 low priority projects had a combined cost estimate of more than $400 million.

Maine Independent Sen. Angus King, the ranking member of the Senate's National Parks Subcommittee, said the administration’s pursuits around Washington “are more aesthetic than strictly necessary,” even as they siphon resources from sites elsewhere in the U.S.

“I don’t object to setting priorities,” King said in an interview. “I object to the White House priority list being tacked onto the top of that pyramid.”

He added it could lead to “the deterioration of America’s gems” as things like sanitation upgrades and basic maintenance don't happen.

Congress during both Democratic and Republican presidencies has pushed to address the backlog. The bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 included $6.5 billion for maintenance and repairs through 2025. A legislative extension is pending.

Testing the park service's mission

The priority designations came from park service headquarters in Washington, according to documents obtained by AP and one of the unnamed officials.

The park service appears to be moving forward on at least $80 million in White House priorities, including $52 million awarded, the documents indicate. Much of that work was championed by Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, such as the reflecting pool repairs and the rehabilitation of other parks in the capital with an eye toward the 250th celebrations.

Trump announced his plans to paint the Reflecting Pool blue in April, aiming to address longstanding problems at the site before July 4. But the $16 million initiative faced immediate problems, including peeling sealant and a fierce return of green algae.

Not all of the administration's priorities advanced: A $70 million line item for “turf maintenance” over five years at parks in the Washington, D.C., area is among more than $80 million in work marked as “canceled” in the Interior Department data.

The park service’s mission has been tested under Trump as its employees navigate new realities. It lost at least one-quarter of its permanent workforce under Trump.

Remaining employees have been ordered to revise exhibits that Trump said advanced “improper ideology,” and demolish the East Wing of the White House, which is under park stewardship, for the creation of a ballroom. Trump also reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape public lands management.

Contracting officers in short supply

Pressure to deliver on administration demands for Freedom 250 was compounded by staffing cuts that made it harder to execute contracts, the unnamed officials said.

Prior to Trump’s second term, the parks had 275 contracting officers. They've since been consolidated into the Interior Department, which nevertheless saw its contracting workforce drop more than 20%, public records show.

About $140 million has been obligated or spent by the park service in Washington, D.C., this year, according to public data. That includes the reflecting pool work and the rehabilitation of fountains across the district.

Interior spokesperson Martin said the Trump administration is eyeing different revenue sources for maintenance including endowments and park pass sales.

Those sales rose more than $2 million, to $16.7 million, in the first quarter of 2026 compared to a year earlier, she said.

“We get to race at a lot of cool cities, but this one is by far the best that we've ever had, and I can say that very truthfully," Kyle Kirkwood said Friday. "Going by the Capitol building, the views here, all the architecture of all the buildings around here, all the museums, it's stuff that you dream of.

"It's a serious honor and privilege.”

This weekend's Freedom 250 Grand Prix is the second big sporting event staged by President Donald Trump in Washington as part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration. The first was a UFC fight card on the White House’s South Lawn in June.

IndyCar racing — an open-wheel counterpart to NASCAR — doesn’t have quite the same association with the right-wing “manosphere” or the MAGA movement, but series owner Roger Penske received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2019 and led the effort to put together this race in the District of Columbia.

For the drivers, it’s a welcome moment in the spotlight.

“What’s been the coolest part of this week? Honestly, the media covering us,” Kirkwood said. “It’s cool to see IndyCar in this light. We don’t get these opportunities very often outside of the Indy 500, and to have an event that is sought after as much as the 500 is something that’s special.”

Washington has little history with high-level motorsports. In 2002, the parking lot at RFK Stadium on the city's east side was transformed into a course for an American Le Mans Series event.

The Freedom 250 is downtown in one of D.C.'s prime tourist areas. If you're not in a race car, it's not the greatest weekend to be driving around the area given all the road closures, but if the weather holds up, the setting has the potential to be spectacular.

“As a boy from the Netherlands that just got his green card, it is really cool,” said Rinus VeeKay, who has six top-10 finishes this season. “We didn't get too much U.S. history in school ... but learning so much about it here, seeing all the monuments and museums and just how every building kind of has a special purpose here around the city, is very cool. Getting to see the White House, this is stuff you see in movies.”

The White House is not part of the D.C. course, although after Turn 1, the track does include a lengthy straightaway along Pennsylvania Avenue, heading northwest away from the Capitol. Then there's a sharp left turn between the National Archives and the main Justice Department building, followed by a couple quick 90-degree turns as the track navigates the city's grid system.

After a straightaway takes drivers across the National Mall, they turn left onto Independence Avenue, passing the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. and the Eisenhower Memorial before heading north on 3rd Street to the finish line, which is just west of the Capitol.

“I think it's more exciting when you actually get on the grounds and see what you're about to do. I mean, when is this ever going to happen again?" said Josef Newgarden, a driver for Team Penske. “I hope it's great visibility. That's probably the biggest thing that it could bring to us — is visibility to people that aren't maybe as familiar with IndyCar racing."

IndyCar practice and qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, along with an IROC race. The IndyCar race is Sunday and set for 250 miles (147 laps) — the second-longest street circuit race in IndyCar history.

The 1.7-mile track includes seven turns in all. The Air & Space Museum and National Gallery of Art are both inside the course's perimeter, with a fan zone between them. The track is shorter and has fewer turns than several others on the IndyCar schedule, but it's not much different from the 1.6-mile, nine-turn circuit used in downtown Detroit.

“It’s short and snappy, but you know what? We don't know. We haven't driven on it yet," driver Marcus Armstrong said. “We'll find out tomorrow. It might even be wet tomorrow. There's a lot of crosswalks, a lot of paint on the track, so that could be super slippery.”

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The temporary order came hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt to aboveground construction of the project because Trump didn't get congressional approval.

It will remain in place until the Supreme Court issues a more durable decision, though the one-page document does not detail Roberts' reasoning or indicate when another ruling will be handed down. Roberts signed the order because he oversees emergency appeals of cases filed in the capital.

Ballroom case tests the limits of presidential power

The case is coming before the nation’s highest court as Trump, a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image.

The administration has argued that the president has total authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings as he sees fit and that the ballroom project must be completed due to national security concerns.

When Trump first announced the plans for a new ballroom, he did not emphasize national security. He said the project would be funded by private donations, including from himself.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that Trump has no unilateral authority to undertake the work, which has included demolishing the East Wing. Lawyers for the preservation group accused the White House of trying to “outrun the courts” by accelerating construction.

A spokesperson for the trust said Friday that the order from Roberts is not a final decision and the group is awaiting further action. The full Supreme Court will likely weigh in next on whether construction can continue for the potentially long duration of the lawsuit.

Trump said his administration is grateful for Friday's decision, writing in a social media post that the project is “under budget and ahead of schedule.”

While litigation plays out, the ballroom is going up quickly

The Trump administration says 65% of the work has already been completed on the planned 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom, where the East Wing stood before the president ordered its demolition.

Crews are working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, on the project, where about $200 million in private donations has been spent or committed, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department.

The work has proceeded against the backdrop of the litigation winding through the courts.

In April, a district court judge ordered a stop to the aboveground construction of the planned ballroom. That ruling was briefly suspended, then upheld by an appeals court panel. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington allowed work to continue only belowground on bunkers and military installations. Leon was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican.

Leon's decision was upheld by an appeals court panel, as two judges appointed by Democratic presidents found the project was for Congress to decide and “not a matter for Executive self-help.” A third judge, appointed by Trump, found that the preservationist group challenging the project had no legal standing to sue.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer picked up on that argument, calling the decision halting the work “extraordinary and unlawful.” He said the completion of the project was “vitally required by national security.”

The Trump administration has scored a series of victories on the Supreme Court's emergency docket, though the justices have ruled against some of the president’s signature policies after fuller review.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Trump said in a social media post that Martin is leaving his role as the Justice Department's pardon attorney to “fight Legal Battles” surrounding this year's midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election.

“I know he will do an outstanding job, ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights,” Trump wrote.

Martin has been a controversial Trump administration figure since his appointment last year as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the dismissal of Jan. 6 cases after Trump's sweeping pardons. Trump later pulled Martin's nomination for the job over bipartisan concerns about his lack of prosecutorial experience and support for rioters who violently attacked the Capitol.

He then moved to Justice Department headquarters as pardon attorney and director of a group tasked with scrutinizing actions by President Joe Biden's administration that Republicans say unfairly targeted conservatives. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi also named him a special attorney to help conduct mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

He often raised eyebrows during his tenure. In one instance, while conducting his mortgage fraud investigation into James, he sent her a letter urging her to resign from office “as an act of good faith.” He also posed for photos outside her Brooklyn home.

The Justice Department's case against James was dismissed after the judge found that another prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed.

Martin was later sidelined amid clashes with Justice Department leadership and was removed as head of the “Weaponization Working Group,” though he kept his title as pardon attorney.

In a social media post Friday, Attorney General Todd Blanche called Martin a “patriot who loves this nation.” Martin didn't immediately respond to a message Friday, but on his X account he reposted Trump's announcement with the message: “Proud to serve. Fight Fight Fight.”

Before his nomination as D.C. U.S. attorney, Martin was a leader of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. He spoke at a rally in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and later served on the board of a nonprofit that raised money to support Capitol riot defendants and their families.

Trump’s post is the latest sign of his obsession with voting in the upcoming midterm elections, which will determine control of the U.S. House and Senate for the final two years of his presidency.

His administration has fixated on messaging around noncitizen voting, a rare problem that Trump falsely insists is a widespread source of fraud. His Department of Justice has been trying to gather detailed state voter data to hunt for noncitizens, and he has been pushing Congress to pass a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to vote in time for the November elections.

The FBI has obtained voting records or election equipment from the most populous counties in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia and Michigan without saying what it was searching for. Trump also has issued two executive orders seeking to take control of certain election operations, even though the Constitution grants states and Congress the authority to determine election rules.

Democratic state officials have been raising alarms about the possibility of the administration deploying federal immigration agents to polling places or ordering the military to voting locations or election offices, although administration officials have said they have no such plans.

Officials said there were no reports of any serious injuries.

The National Weather Service said a trained spotter reported a tornado in Dover, Delaware, during Thursday's storms. Photos and video on social media show the roof of a motel being blown off and damage to other buildings along Route 13 northeast of downtown.

In Atlantic Beach on Long Island, images posted on social media show a large funnel cloud over the water and small buildings torn apart at a beach club. The weather service confirmed a tornado touched down on the shore, saying it started as a waterspout over the Atlantic Ocean.

Weather service crews were going to view the Delaware and Long Island damage on Friday to determine the strengths and paths of the tornadoes.

Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen said a state of emergency was lifted Friday morning to allow residents and businesses to resume normal activities. Police urged residents to be patient and set aside extra time for travel.

“There is still debris throughout the city, and crews will be out working on cleanup, repairs, and restoring services. You may encounter blocked lanes, utility crews, emergency personnel, and other delays,” police said on social media.

On Long Island, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said first responders rescued people trapped in their vehicles during flooding.

In other parts of New York, flooding caused part of the Long Island Expressway in Queens to close in both directions, according to New York City Emergency Management. Photos on social media showed lines of stopped cars as emergency crews traversed the water.

In Jersey City, New Jersey, emergency crews rescued 69 people trapped in cars that were overtaken by flash flooding, said Mayor James Solomon. Emergency crews used small inflatable boats to reach people who were stranded.

The dead, whose identities are unknown, were among the more than 90 migrants who lost their lives during Spain’s deadliest border crisis three weeks ago. Fueled by misinformation, poverty and a lack of opportunities, more than 72,000 people poured into Ceuta, a Spanish territory that neighbors Morocco.

At a Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, 18 migrants were laid to rest on Friday. An Islamic cleric read prayers and chants praising God while funeral workers worked quickly to lower the white body bags and cover them with soil. More migrants are expected to be buried soon.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, a left-leaning nongovernmental organization, called for the burials in Ceuta to be halted until every effort had been made to identify the bodies and repatriate them to Morocco, the country of origin for most of the migrants who made the perilous journey.

Many of those who died drowned or were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier near a border checkpoint.

In a statement, the NGO asked Morocco's foreign ministry to ensure that “the bodies are returned to the families so they can be buried with dignity.”

It called the burials in Ceuta a “new human tragedy,” adding to the “disaster of displacement and missing persons.”

A spokesperson for Ceuta’s city government said last week the paperwork to repatriate the bodies of the deceased was complete, but that Morocco’s government hadn't accepted it.

Morocco’s foreign ministry didn't respond to questions from The Associated Press about the burials that started on Friday in Ceuta or suggestions that Morocco is blocking the repatriation of identified migrant bodies.

While most of those who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned to Morocco almost immediately, local authorities say that up to 10,000 migrants — including women and children — could still be in the small Spanish city, prolonging a humanitarian crisis as authorities and locals struggle to shelter and attend to them. Spain's national government cites a lower figure of around 5,000 people.

Moroccan and Spanish authorities have blamed social media rumors and human smuggling networks for the deadly event, while migrants cited unemployment and low wages as reasons for why they made the journey.

All of those buried on Friday were men, said Said Mohammed, the cemetery’s acting manager. The graves were marked with numbered stones in case families claim the bodies in the future, he said.

Under Islamic custom, a body is placed in a grave facing Mecca, as was the case with the migrants buried in Ceuta. Just across the sea lay mainland Europe — their desired destination.

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Suman Naishadham reported from Madrid. Akram Oubachir contributed to this report from Casablanca, Morocco.

A 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals halted, for now, a judge's order that would have granted thousands of athletes an extra season of eligibility. But it did nothing to resolve dozens of other lawsuits and court orders piling up across the country that allow players in the same situation to join teams for the upcoming season.

Virtually all these lawsuits involve players who graduated from high school in 2022, whose college eligibility ended last season and who were not included in the NCAA’s controversial new rule — less than two months old — that grants most Division I athletes five years of eligibility over five years but doesn't take effect until next season.

“There's a reason we saw so many state-court lawsuits filed" after the now-paused federal court ruling that came down July 31, said Sam Ehrlich, a former lawyer who now works at Boise State and operates the College Sports Litigation Tracker. “It was a ‘just in case.’ They did it just in case what we just saw happen actually happened.”

Among the many athletes watching this unfold and wondering where it winds up are defensive linemen Kellan Wyatt and Stephan Daley, both members of the national championship team at Indiana last season who decided to return after the lower-court decision. So are former Ole Miss starters Dae’Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris and Wydett Williams, who won a ruling from a Louisiana state court giving them another season of eligibility even though they had signed with NFL teams this summer.

While some players hope to land back at their schools, whatever the impact on the rosters, how that works isn’t at all clear in many cases. The judge in the case involving the Ole Miss players, for example, gave them a week to enter the transfer portal, which for football players is only open in January.

In appealing the state court cases, the NCAA is expected to invoke parts of Friday's ruling, which agreed with NCAA arguments that it was likely to win the case when it's heard in full — probably several months from now — and that the NCAA would suffer more harm than the players if the court didn't pause the order.

The NCAA can also take heart in an Ohio appeals court that paused a similar injunction involving Xavier basketball Filip Borovicanin and others.

But other than those two cases, Ehrlich said, judges across the country "are unanimous that the NCAA is in the wrong” on the five-year eligibility issue when it comes to the Class of 2022.

Plaintiffs' attorney Rob Shelquist issued a statement calling the appeals court ruling procedural and “not a decision on the merits of the athletes’ antitrust claims.”

“We are exploring every available option given the split in the panel’s ruling and remain committed to fighting for these college athletes whose opportunities and eligibility have been unfairly restricted,” he said.

The NCAA’s chief legal officer, Scott Bearby, sent a memo to schools telling them they would not be subject to NCAA punishment for allowing any player to compete between the time the July 31 ruling came down and Friday. But he reiterated that those players are no longer eligible.

Bearby also acknowledged that the NCAA would continue to defend lawsuits around the country — a signal that the NCAA knows Friday’s ruling offers no guarantees of an end to the roster chaos.

“If anything, I do wonder if there’s a part of the NCAA that’s, like, ‘Maybe we’d have been better off not getting the stay because, boy, there’s going to be a lot of lawsuits filed over the next couple of weeks,’” Ehrlich said.

Courts that go beyond filing emergency injunctions and take up the cases in their entirety will have to decide who suffers more harm: Is it players who can't play a fifth year and could lose educational and NIL opportunities? Or incoming freshmen who signed with the idea that they wouldn't be competing against a class of fifth-year seniors?

When the NCAA decided to have the rule kick in next year, it also grappled with that calculation, knowing it couldn't be perfectly fair.

“Fairness is in the eye of the beholder," the NCAA argued in its legal brief in the appeals case. “Countless student-athletes already on campuses, and schools who built their rosters in reliance on the rules the NCAA’s membership wrote and agreed to follow, do not believe it is fair for thousands of formerly ineligible athletes to return to competition at the start of the 2026–27 season."

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Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.

State officials announced the outbreak earlier this week, saying they documented more than three dozen cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency is aware of 55 cases nationally, including four people who have been hospitalized.

The CDC said cases are also reported in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington.

Of 34 sick people interviewed, 26 reported eating alfalfa sprouts, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Food poisoning outbreaks tend to be defined by one type of germ, but this outbreak involves people with salmonella and different strains of E. coli.

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli — or STEC — can cause stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. Infections can lead to a severe complication that involves acute kidney failure.

Salmonella poisoning can cause diarrhea, fever, severe vomiting, dehydration and stomach cramps.

Officials are linking cases to alfalfa sprouts produced by Everything Sprouts, a Minnesota grower, and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands to restaurants and grocery stores. The company has yet to issue a recall, the FDA said.

Last year, the FDA sent a warning letter to Everything Sprouts, saying inspections the year before identified several points of concern, including a leaking roof that was dropping water onto bean sprouts and workers’ smocks.

The Associated Press left messages for Everything Sprouts seeking comment.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority said Friday it is imposing a fine of 825 million euros ($964 million) because Uber violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. The EU’s data privacy rules prohibit fully automated decision-making.

The authority also said Uber failed inform drivers about its automatic decision-making. The violations took place from 2018 to 2022, the agency said.

Uber said it disagreed with the decision and the fine and will file an appeal.

"The (Data Protection Authority) examined historic policies that were discontinued years ago. We take decisions that affect drivers' ability to earn extremely seriously and we’re fully committed to fair treatment. This includes human reviews, robust safeguards, and the opportunity for drivers to appeal our decisions if they believe we made a mistake,” the company said in a written statement.

This is the fourth time the authority has imposed a fine on Uber. The largest was in 2024, when Uber was hit with a 290 million euro ($324 million) fine for allegedly transferring personal details of European drivers to the United States without adequate protection.

“A common misconception is that electricity use is only about how much you consume overall,” said Diana Medina, sustainability supervisor at OUC. “In reality, when you use electricity matters just as much.”

Understanding the difference between energy consumption and electric demand can help homeowners make more informed decisions about their daily energy habits while also supporting a more reliable and affordable electric system for the entire community.

Demand vs. consumption: What’s the difference?

Although the terms are often confused, energy consumption and electric demand measure two different things.

“Energy consumption is the total amount of electricity your home uses over time, while electric demand is how much electricity you are using at a single moment,” Medina said.

Imagine you’re preparing dinner. The oven, microwave, dishwasher and air conditioner may all be running at once, creating a high level of electric demand because your home is drawing a lot of electricity at that moment. Electric demand is measured in kilowatts (kW). By the end of the day, the total electricity used by those appliance — along with every light turned on, every load of laundry washed and every hour the air conditioner ran — makes up your home’s energy consumption, which is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh.)

For example, running the dishwasher, oven and clothes dryer all at once while you’re preparing dinner creates a much higher electric demand than delaying the dishwasher until later in the evening. Although the total energy used by those appliances is about the same, staggering when they run reduces your home’s peak electric demand.

Why peak demand matters

In Central Florida, electric demand often peaks during the summer between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., when people return home from work or school, while air conditioners are already working hard to combat the heat.

While a single household might only experience a temporary spike, those moments add up when thousands of homes are doing the same thing at once.

“Looking at the bigger picture, the electric grid can only supply a certain amount of power at any given moment,” Medina said. “When many people use large amounts of electricity at the same time, demand can spike significantly.”

When communities are collectively mindful of their electric demand, especially during peak usage periods, it helps reduce strain on the grid and can delay or reduce the need for infrastructure upgrades.

“Keeping demand lower and more evenly distributed helps utilities operate more efficiently, which can help keep electricity costs more affordable for everyone.”

Which appliances create the biggest demand?

Not every appliance affects electric demand equally.

For many households, the HVAC system is the largest contributor, particularly during Florida’s hottest months. But clothes dryers, ovens, stovetops, pool pumps and electric vehicle chargers can also create significant demand.

The biggest factor, however, isn’t usually a single appliance — it’s running several high energy appliances at the same time.

Small changes can have a big impact

Reducing electric demand doesn’t necessarily mean using less electricity. Often, it’s simply about being more intentional about when electricity is used.

Simple ways to reduce demand include:

• Running major appliances at different times rather than simultaneously
• Charging electric vehicles overnight
• Scheduling pool pumps to operate overnight
• Using delayed-start features on dishwashers and washing machines
• Setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher when practical
• Replacing aging appliances with energy-efficient models
• Changing HVAC filters regularly and scheduling routine maintenance

While each adjustment may seem small, widespread participation can make a meaningful difference.

“The point is that small, everyday decisions add up,” Medina said. “When many people make simple adjustments, it smooths out demand across the day, and that collective impact is what keeps the system more efficient and affordable for everyone.”

Tools that help customers understand their energy use

Many homeowners don’t realize when their home’s highest-demand moments occur. OUC offers several online tools that help customers better understand both their energy consumption and electric demand.

The Usage Dashboard, available through myOUC accounts, allows customers to view their electricity use in hourly and 15-minute intervals, making it easier to identify when demand spikes occur.

The Appliance Calculator estimates how much demand common household appliances create when they’re running at the same time, helping customers understand which combinations of appliances may be contributing to higher demand.

“Together, these tools turn energy use from a monthly surprise into something customers can understand and manage every day,” Medina said.

To learn more about electric demand and OUC’s usage tools, visit ouc.com/demand.

The shopping mall strikes, plus two other separate Russian attacks in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, left a total of 21 people dead across Ukraine on Friday, authorities said.

Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who described the attack as a double-tap strike, in which an initial wave of drones hit the area, followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded.

“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. In a video address several hours later, he said Ukraine would respond to the shopping mall attack.

Oleksandr Hanzha, who heads the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said Friday evening that the attack on the mall killed at least 15 people and injured 130, including 23 children.

Kryvyi Rih has been hit multiple times during the more than 4-year-old war, with one of the deadliest occurring in April 2025, when 20 people, including nine children, were killed.

Russia exploits Ukraine’s shortage of defensive systems

Earlier on Friday, a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed two women, aged 73 and 66, and wounded two others, said regional head Oleh Syniehubov.

Another Russian attack on Friday evening killed four people, including three children, in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region, emergency services said.

Ukraine shot down or suppressed 107 out of 135 drones launched by Russia overnight, according to a statement from Ukraine’s air force on Telegram.

Friday’s attacks came just 24 hours after Russia pounded the capital of Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime aerial attack that killed 16 people.

Large-scale Russian strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer. Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, and nine were killed in the city two days before that. The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.

Moscow’s forces have recently intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine’s chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.

Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil refinery

A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and wounded four others when a car was struck Friday in Russia’s Belgorod region near the village of Razumnoye, local officials said, adding that two of the injured were in serious condition.

Earlier, Zelenskyy said a separate Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil refinery in Perm, more than 1,600 kilometers (about 995 miles) from his country’s border. Also struck was the Marinovka military airfield in Russia’s Volgograd region, he said.

The Russian online news outlet Astra reported that the Ukrainian drone had set ablaze a Lukoil-operated oil refinery in Perm. Local officials said damage was recorded at an unidentified “industrial facility.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 325 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, as well as Crimea. The peninsula was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Later Friday, it said its defenses shot down another 211 drones.

Long-range strikes between Russia and Ukraine have escalated as troops continually fail to make significant battlefield progress, analysts say. Troop movements along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine are severely restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots that threaten infantry and vehicles.

In the past year, Ukraine has devised and deployed domestically produced long-range drones for strikes deep inside Russia, capturing the attention of governments and defense manufacturers around the world.

Officials in Kyiv aim to make the Russian public feel the war’s consequences and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace settlement. Putin has so far shown no sign he intends to stop the invasion.

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

Greetings! It’s Haley, voice of In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops.

Halloween season is ramping up in Central Florida, and SeaWorld Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream is leaning hard into 90s nostalgia this year.

Cindi Miller, vice president of Entertainment for SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica, said the 90s theme is front and center for this year’s event, headlined by a haunt inspired by “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

You can read all about this year’s Howl-O-Scream highlights by clicking here.

Universal Orlando

35 years screaming 🤡

Halloween Horror Nights 35 is just days away. I did some perusing around Universal Studios Florida recently to get a lay of the land.

From Pinhead’s hellish domain and Vecna’s final chapter to clown-filled streets and vampire-overrun juke joints, Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights 35 is unleashing 10 all-new haunted houses, six scare zones, and a sinister carnival of chaos

Click here for a guide to it all.

Dark days 💀🐍

Darkness is descending on Universal Orlando Resort.

The fan-favorite projection show returns to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Universal Islands of Adventure, unleashing Dementors, Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort’s forces on Hogwarts Castle for the first time since 2022.

And if that’s not enough, Halloween Horror Nights also means it’s Death Eater season, with Death Eaters roaming the shadows of Knockturn Alley at Universal Studios Florida.

Gatorland

Triple G returns 🐊

One of the most original Halloween experiences in Central Florida is back.

Gatorland Orlando’s Gators, Ghosts and Goblins returns for its eighth year, bringing cryptid creatures, spooky fun and candy-filled weekends in October.

Walt Disney World

Indy’s face and snakes 🐍

D23 is in the books, and Disney fans now have a much clearer picture of what’s coming to Magic Kingdom, with both Piston Peak and Villains Land each boasting two confirmed rides.

One announcement that has me buzzing is that for the first time at any Disney park worldwide, Harrison Ford’s likeness will serve as the model for the Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronics figure in Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

It’s a detail that feels long overdue — especially considering the character has appeared in Disney attractions for decades without Ford’s iconic face.

I put together a wrap of the D23 Walt Disney World announcements, which includes photos of upcoming attraction showcases.

Fun Spot America

Early purchase, early play 🎢

Sixteen months of roller coasters, go-karts and family memories — all for under $105.

Fun Spot America Theme Parks is making it happen with its first-ever Early Access Season Pass sale underway now.

During my Universal Studios visit, I checked out the construction of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.

As always, keep me in the loop through my email or reach out to me on X or Instagram.

See you next week!

- Haley

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has leverage in the talks even as his province weighs restoring U.S. alcohol sales at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s urging to help secure a deal that would avert threatened 50% U.S. tariffs.

“Everybody knows the American president by now, he’s erratic, he’s irresponsible, and he’s not to be trusted. And this is the person that we were supposed to make a deal with, and we’re going to make additional concessions for it. That’s why I say you can't make a good deal with a bad person, because who’s to say it’s not going to be undone?" Kinew said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Kinew’s remarks.

Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said the two countries were close to finalizing an agreement after he returned to Washington to meet again with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“We’re very close. We continue to make progress,” he said, adding that Canadian officials would remain in Washington to keep working on the deal. Trump has called the emerging agreement “very fair” to both sides, while tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports have been postponed until 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Neither side has released the full terms.

Despite his criticism of Trump, Kinew said Manitoba may go along with Carney’s request as part of a “Team Canada” approach. But he urged consumers to keep buying Canadian even if U.S. products return to provincial liquor stores. Other provincial leaders, including the premiers of Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, have publicly backed the direction of Carney’s negotiation.

"I think we should fight. I think Donald Trump is very weak. I think America is weaker around the world today than it was a year ago. He’s about to get slaughtered in the midterms and the cost of living is the number one issue and he’s completely out of touch with the cost of living of Americans,” Kinew said.

Restoring alcohol sales a sticking point

Kinew said he understood Carney’s request to mean that restoring U.S. alcohol sales was effectively necessary to complete the deal. The provincial bans on U.S. alcohol have been a particular irritant for the Trump administration, which has pressed Canada to remove restrictions that sharply reduced American liquor sales.

Provincial governments do not have a veto over the overall Canada-U.S. agreement, but they control measures such as liquor sales and some procurement rules that have become part of the negotiations.

Eight of Canada’s 10 provinces restrict or ban U.S. alcohol — measures imposed in retaliation for Trump’s previous tariffs on Canadian goods and amid anger over his repeated talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Kinew said Carney strongly pressed premiers to restore U.S. alcohol sales while other details of the agreement were still being finalized. “I wouldn’t say that he was begging us, but what is the step before begging?” Kinew said.

Kinew also said Manitoba could agree to remove formal restrictions on U.S. companies and products, including procurement preferences, while continuing to favor Canadian suppliers in its own purchasing.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, meanwhile, said Carney had answered many of her questions about the emerging agreement but stopped short of endorsing it while the province assesses the economic impact. She said Quebec could restore U.S. alcohol to shelves at the SAQ, the Quebec government corporation that controls most wine and spirits sales in the province, but stressed that the decision would be Quebec’s.

Robert Bothwell, a professor emeritus of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said Kinew’s criticism reflects a broader Canadian view of Trump. “Kinew speaks for Canada,” Bothwell said.

The limited-time offer runs through Nov. 12 and is available online or at admissions booths at both the Orlando and Kissimmee locations.

A 2027 Season Pass is priced at $104.95, while a 2027 Ultimate Season Pass runs $249.95.

“The 2027 Early Access Season Pass sale provides so much more time for families to have fun together, and we are excited to bring our guests this HUGE deal,” said John Arie Jr., owner and CEO of Fun Spot America. “It’s the perfect opportunity for families and thrill-seekers to lock in up to 16 months of fun at a fantastic price.”

Season passes include unlimited access to roller coasters, go-karts and family-friendly attractions across both Central Florida parks.

Click here for more information.

Khan isn't being held under a government order, but as a “convicted prisoner” serving sentences imposed by courts following judicial proceedings, the Ministry of Information said in a written response to The Associated Press.

The government’s response came hours after Khan’s family and opposition party accused authorities of violating a Supreme Court order by taking him to a government hospital for a medical examination instead of a private hospital designated by the court.

Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, told a news conference that she was at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, a government-run hospital in Islamabad, when her brother was brought there overnight.

Khan’s sister said that during a meeting with her, Khan complained that he had been kept in solitary confinement, which she said amounted to mental torture for him. Suhail Afridi, a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, also accused the government of violating the order by taking Khan to the public hospital.

Khan’s personal physician, Dr. Faisal Sultan, said that he had been escorted to Shifa International Hospital, where he waited for Khan until early Friday. Sultan said he was eventually told that Khan had been returned to Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said earlier Friday that Khan had been returned to prison after doctors examined him and found him medically fit.

The ministry also rejected allegations that Khan was being held in solitary confinement or denied meaningful contact with his family. It said that Khan had received more than 900 visits from family members, lawyers, doctors, political representatives and other approved visitors since his imprisonment in 2023. It said that he also has been allowed weekly meetings with his wife, and telephone, landline and WhatsApp contact with relatives in Pakistan and abroad.

According to the ministry, Khan’s most recent recorded telephone conversation with one of his sons was on March 21. It said that Khan’s sisters had met him as recently as Aug. 18 and 19.

The government said Khan has access to reading material and television, and is allowed home-cooked food and exercise equipment and “maintains a healthy diet.” It said, however, that access to Khan couldn't be used to send political messages from prison.

The ministry rejected allegations of medical neglect, saying Khan had undergone about 30 examinations by specialists and medical boards from institutions including PIMS, Shifa International Hospital, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, in addition to regular examinations by the prison doctor.

The ministry said Uzma Khan had herself acknowledged at Friday’s news conference that her brother was “100% fit,” with blood pressure of 120/80 and his eye condition almost completely healed.

It also disputed descriptions of Khan’s detention conditions, saying he was being held in a seven-cell compound with sleeping, sanitation and exercise facilities, and was provided separately prepared meals that included meat, chicken, fruit, milk, nuts, juices and bottled water.

The government insists that authorities took Khan to the public hospital because of security concerns involving supporters of Khan’s PTI party who had gathered outside Shifa International Hospital or were heading there. He said that Khan was found to be in good health.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Khan be examined at Shifa International Hospital by a medical board that included specialists and one of his personal physicians.

Concerns about Khan’s health intensified in late January, after his family said that he had lost about 85% of the vision in his right eye, which the government disputed. Authorities later said that his condition was improving.

The former cricket star turned politician was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has been imprisoned since 2023 after being convicted in multiple cases.

The letter, signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign, marks the first major MAHA movement mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest in a series of rifts between the diverse group of activists and the Trump administration over environmental policy.

The letter to Trump, Kennedy and various other Cabinet officials, first obtained by The Associated Press, laments a 2025 executive order that aimed to boost coal to power data centers over pollution concerns and asks the administration to consider renewable options, including solar and geothermal energy.

“We understand the importance of American leadership in artificial intelligence, national security, innovation, and economic growth,” the letter reads. “But American AI leadership should not come at the cost of a more toxic burden for American children.”

In response, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers noted that greenhouse gas emissions dropped to a 30-year low during Trump's first term and said Trump “was given a mandate to roll back the radical climate policies that are burning a hole through taxpayers' wallets.”

The agencies receiving the letter didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Prominent MAHA figures behind the letter include Zen Honeycutt, a former Kennedy campaign staffer and founder of the advocacy group Moms Across America, and Charles Eisenstein, a former speechwriter on Kennedy's campaign. Honeycutt said she asked the Kennedy-aligned political action committee MAHA Action to sign onto the letter but did not receive a reply.

Although it may not reflect the views of all MAHA activists, the new line of criticism against one of the administration’s signature policies less than three months before November’s midterm elections could present another challenge for Republicans as they seek to win over the voting bloc in key races.

As health secretary, Kennedy has carried out several policy changes that cater to the MAHA movement, including attempting to scale back childhood vaccine recommendations, a central priority for some activists. He also has sought to remove artificial dyes from food and encouraged Americans to have healthy diets free of ultraprocessed foods.

But many in the MAHA movement, which Trump credits with helping him win back the White House two years ago, say they have grown frustrated with the administration over its embrace of pesticides such as glyphosate and its deregulatory environmental agenda. Some have said they plan to vote on issues over party this fall, raising the political stakes of their increasingly public tensions with the Republican administration.

As president, Trump has enthusiastically embraced what he calls “big, beautiful coal” despite outcry from environmentalists about planet-warming greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals released by coal-fired power plants.

His administration has moved to reverse tighter Biden-era standards on greenhouse gas emissions, which, in addition to their climate impacts, can harm brain development in children and increase rates of heart attacks in adults.

He also has been a vocal advocate for data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, framing them as a necessary component of winning the AI race against China.

“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center,” Trump said this week, “I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.”

Data centers have become a political flashpoint in this year's elections. Voters across the political spectrum have criticized them for jacking up electricity bills, draining water supplies, and creating unhealthy amounts of air and noise pollution.

Friday's letter asks the administration to require transparent review of data center location and power sourcing decisions, and respect existing environmental review requirements in the permitting process.

Honeycutt said that after Trump's executive order last year, she researched the impact of coal ash on communities and was disturbed by what she found. She said she was also concerned about other aspects of data centers, including their land use and their effects on the people living near them.

“The data center push has been an overwhelmingly negative impact on our communities, and there are many in the MAHA movement that are extremely disappointed about that,” she said. “We vote for those who put health and safety first.”

____

Associated Press writer Michael Phillis in Washington contributed to this report.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under a China-imposed national security law that has effectively crushed the city’s previously thriving pro-democracy movement. They face a maximum prison term of 10 years. The alliance was also found guilty.

The three judges ruled that the alliance’s call to “end one-party dictatorship” aimed to end the ruling Communist Party’s leadership status under the constitution, and that the “end” in the phrase carried the meaning of “overthrowing” and “undermining.”

In the verdict, they wrote that the defendants persisted in the call after the law's introduction, neglecting that it was in breach of the constitution, which states the party's leadership is a defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. That falls within “other unlawful means” under the security law, the judges said.

The defendants “intentionally encouraged supporters of the alliance to wait for the right time to carry out the goal to ‘end one-party dictatorship’ by unlawful means,” they said.

“They did not genuinely believe their words and deeds had not violated the national security law. They just refused to pull back from the brink,” wrote the judges, who insisted they weren't tried because of political views.

Lee and Chow smiled and waved at the public gallery before they left the courtroom. They are expected to be sentenced at a later date. They will plead for lesser sentences next week, one of the judges said.

Trial a barometer for Hong Kong’s civil rights, observers say

The verdict is among the latest involving Hong Kong’s once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, which has largely been dismantled after the security law's introduction in 2020.

For decades, Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigil was the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown in China, drawing tens of thousands of people annually. The crackdown remains a political taboo on the mainland, where authorities tightly censor discussion and prohibit public commemorations.

Hong Kong’s greater political freedoms, granted under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” governing framework, allowed the vigil to occur until authorities banned it during the coronavirus pandemic.

Observers said that their trial symbolized the erosion of freedom of expression in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said that every actor in Hong Kong civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working within the law would be fine has to revise that assumption.

“Moderation of method offers no protection if the objective itself is held to be unconstitutional,” he said.

During the trial, Lee told the court that their call wasn't about ending the party’s leadership, but about moving toward democracy, letting the people decide who leads them, and that the Communist Party shouldn't enforce “dictatorship.”

In a Patreon post on Thursday, Chow recalled being shackled in handcuffs, and in waist and ankle chains, for trips to court from prison, saying she was walked by correctional service officers “like a dog.”

“Justice lives in the hearts of the people,” she said. “One verdict doesn’t matter much.”

When the trial began in January, codefendant Albert Ho pleaded guilty, which typically could result in a reduced sentence. He will also plead for a lesser sentence next week.

Supporters cast doubt on allegations

After the conviction, Lee’s wife, Elizabeth Tang, told reporters that she was disappointed and angry about the result.

“I feel it's unfair. I feel the judges did not consider our lawyers' opinions and materials,” she said, and that they would decide whether to appeal later.

Chow's mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, said that she hoped the “environment can be a little healthier” and “flowers and plants of all colors can bloom.”

Dozens of people lined up outside the court under drizzle before the hearing.

Tang Ngok-kwan, a former alliance member, said that police wouldn't let him join the line, if he insisted on bringing along “sensitive” materials, including bookmarks printed with “vindicate June 4.” The date is the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. He decided not to go into the court.

Former vigil goer Margaret Chan, who joined the line at 6 a.m., said that the alliance’s name carried the word “patriotic.”

“Everyone is patriotic. How to incite? Incite others to be patriotic?” she said.

Hong Kong authorities defend the verdict

Hong Kong leader John Lee said that the alliance has long deliberately planted seeds of hatred against the party and the central government in society, and their acts endangered national security.

Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police's national security department, said the case would help with future law enforcement.

“It also lets the public know that it is not that one cannot criticize,” he said. “It is simply that there must be no incitement, and no subversion of state power.”

But others disagreed

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres “has always believed that people should be allowed to speak and protest and demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest or prosecution,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told U.N. reporters when asked for Guterres' reaction to the convictions.

Riley Barnes, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said on X that the U.S. condemns the guilty verdict, saying the peaceful vigils sought only to remember the past and honor the lives lost in that assault.

Rosie Winterton, the minister for the Indo-Pacific region at the U.K. Foreign Office, said that the verdict is a further demonstration that even peaceful acts of remembrance in Hong Kong are now treated by the authorities as threats to national security. The European Union said the convictions confirmed the ongoing deterioration of the city's freedom of expression.

Hundreds of people, possibly thousands, were killed in the 1989 crackdown as military tanks rolled into the center of Beijing. The Tiananmen Square crackdown was a pivotal moment in China’s modern history, showing that the market reform that transformed the country into the world’s second-largest economy wouldn't be coupled with political liberalization.

After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the former vigil site in Hong Kong was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups.

Beijing said the security law was necessary for the city’s stability. Many leading activists have been jailed under the same law, including pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Under the drastic political changes, the alliance was among dozens of civil society groups dissolved.

Gators, Ghosts and Goblins returns for its eighth year starting Oct. 10. The daytime event runs on the weekends until Oct. 25.

The annual spooky season festival combines traditional Halloween fun with some creepy American traditions inside the Alligator Capital of the World.

Activities include:

• Swamp Ghost’s Museum, where guests can learn about vampires and mummies
• Seek out hidden creatures like Moth Man, Chupacabra and the Jersey Devil on the Cryptids Express
• Meet the Skunk Ape and his cousin, Eddie the Yeti
• Check out the Gatorland Graveyard
• Get a drink at Frank N’ Steins Oktoberfest

Plus a costume parade, candy giveaways, photo ops, games, Halloween vendors, and more meet-and-greet opportunities.

Gators, Ghosts and Goblins is included with park admission and takes place on Oct. 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25.

All guests are welcome to wear costumes, but the park says nothing scary or gory.

For more information and to buy tickets, go to the Gatorland website.

Officers responded to the scene on the 700 block of School Street just before noon on Friday, where they found the victim with a gunshot wound. Officers immediately began life-saving measures alongside medical personnel upon arrival. Despite the efforts, the victim died from their injuries, police said.

Detectives are actively investigating the incident. Police are asking community members to avoid the area while the investigation continues.

No additional information has been released.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The person spoke Friday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the agreement — the second sale in the NBA this month — were not being publicized.

The Los Angeles Lakers were flipped by Mark Walter to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation in a deal struck last week.

Lore, a New York e-commerce entrepreneur, and partner Alex Rodriguez, the former Major League Baseball star, bought the NBA and WNBA clubs from Minnesota businessman Glen Taylor. That complicated and contentious process lasted more than four years until the $1.5 billion sale got league approval in June 2025.

Lore will retain a limited share and essentially swap roles with Stad, who is the founder of Dragoneer Investment group, a California-based firm focused on technology companies. Rodriguez will remain as a co-owner and continue as the most publicly visible owner of the pro basketball franchises.

Lore's decision to sell his majority stake stems from his focus on his food delivery startup Wonder, according to a second person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AP because those details were not being made public. Lore has started the process of taking Wonder public.

Lore, Rodriguez and Stad issued a joint statement Friday expressing their commitment to the current leadership in the organization including chief executive officer Matt Caldwell, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, and Lynx president of basketball operations and head coach Cheryl Reeve.

“We have been working together for years with a shared goal of building the Timberwolves and Lynx into the best organization in basketball on and off the floor. Our priority is and always will be championships,” the owners said. “Our new agreement, pending league approval, is an evolution of the partnership we have built together and strengthening of our commitment to our team and our culture.”

The two teams currently play at Target Center, which opened in 1990 for the second season of the Timberwolves after they were granted an expansion franchise. Lore and Rodriguez have previously pledged a desire to keeping the teams in downtown Minneapolis, eventually in a new arena.

The Lynx were added to the WNBA as an expansion club in 1999 and have won four championships, with a healthy lead on the rest of the league this season behind star Napheesa Collier and rookie Olivia Miles.

The Timberwolves have never won a title or reached the NBA Finals, with an eight-year run of making the playoffs behind star forward Kevin Garnett their only period of sustained success until recently.

Since drafting Anthony Edwards with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, hiring Finch in 2021 and Connelly in 2022, the Timberwolves have grown into one of the league's best teams. They reached the Western Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025 and were ousted in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs last season. They acquired point guard LaMelo Ball in one of the NBA's biggest summer trades.

___

An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Marc Stad's last name.

___

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.

___

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Here’s everything you need to know:

Howl-O-Scream

SeaWorld Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream previewed its sixth annual Howl-O-Scream event at a ’90s-themed “Scream and Sweat” showcase, teasing new scare zones, new bars, new haunted houses, and its first-ever IP house based on the 1997 horror film “I Know What You Did Last Summer”.

It marks the first time the film has been brought to life at a major Halloween event. Based on the 1997 Sony Pictures film and its latest installment, “I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch,” the haunted house pulls guests through chilling recreations of the franchise’s most memorable scenes — all while the notorious villain, the Fisherman, lurks around every corner.

Cindi Miller, SeaWorld Orlando’s vice president of entertainment, said a ’90s theme was a natural fit.

“It gave us the opportunity to also embrace the ’90s and really bring back an entire new level of nostalgia,” Miller said. “Bring back all of the fashion of the ’90s, the music, the experiences, all of the sights and sounds that we may have forgotten — but we’ll be reminding you of.”

This year’s event features five haunted houses, six scare zones and two roaming hordes stalking the park’s walkways throughout the night. Guests can also take on four thrill rides operating after dark, visit five themed bars and catch live entertainment scattered throughout the event.

The event runs select nights starting Sept. 11.

For ticket information, click here.

Halloween Spooktacular

For families looking for something a little less scary, SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular runs on select dates Aug. 29 through Nov. 1 — and this year, it’s checking in some very famous monsters.

Characters from Sony Pictures Animation’s “Hotel Transylvania” are making their debut at the event. Drac and Mavis have transformed SeaWorld’s SeaFire Inn into the Monster Dread & Breakfast, a separately ticketed character dining experience featuring a breakfast buffet, meet-and-greets, dancing and immersive Hotel Transylvania-themed décor. A Hotel Transylvania Dance Party, hosted by Mavis and Johnny, rounds out the monster fun.

Halloween Spooktacular — included with park admission — is packed with additional family-friendly activities:

• Trick-or-Treat Trail — Collect treats at 12 candy stations throughout the park with a Spooktacular trick-or-treat reusable bag.
• Meet Spookley the Square Pumpkin — The beloved square pumpkin returns with his message of kindness and acceptance.
• Meet a Mermaid — Encounter SeaWorld’s Halloween mermaids in the Key West area.
• Pumpkin Garden & Storytime — Wander a whimsical garden and catch Halloween story readings throughout the day.
• Spooky Bubble Trail — Follow a bubble-filled trail with Halloween surprises and Spooktacular Pals.
• Scarecrow Halloween Dance Parade — Watch festive scarecrows dance in a kid-friendly Halloween parade near Dolphin Stadium.
• Teal Pumpkin Program — Guests with food allergies can collect teal tokens at candy stations and redeem allergy-friendly treats at Coconut Bay Traders.
• Sesame Street Halloween Parade — Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Count von Count and more march in a not-too-spooky parade.
• Storytime with Big Bird — Families gather around Big Bird’s nest for Halloween story readings.
• Seasonal Treats & Sips — New this year: the Mummy Dog, an all-beef hot dog wrapped in pretzel dough, and Trick-or-Treat Crunch Popcorn.

Costumes are welcome for guests of all ages. Note that guests 13 and older may not wear costume masks or hoods.

For tickets and more information, click here.

She died Thursday at her home in Kent, Connecticut, Robert Johnson, manager of the property, told The Associated Press. The cause of her death was not disclosed. Johnson said she will be buried next to her late husband at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

The daughter of a New York City lawyer, she met Henry Kissinger while working for New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The couple wed in 1974.

She was described by one profiler as a brainy, Blass-bedecked blonde. She was often seen at high fashion openings and was a strong presence on the New York philanthropy scene.

“Nancy Kissinger can pick up the phone and get right through to the CEO. Nobody keeps her waiting,” philanthropist Judy Peabody said after chairing a successful hospital charity event in 1989.

Michael Bloomberg — the billionaire founder of the Bloomberg financial-news empire, former New York City mayor and a friend of the Kissingers — said in a social media post that Nancy Kissinger “was a powerhouse of ideas and insights that she put to work throughout her life in government and philanthropy — and as Henry’s most valued and trusted advisor.”

He added, “She was the ultimate diplomat — as wise as she was discreet — and I know how completely Henry admired and loved her. Diana and I were fortunate to call her a dear friend, and to see their extraordinary partnership in action over the decades. We will miss her greatly.”

Nancy Kissinger made headlines in 1982 when she tried to throttle a woman who harassed her and her husband with insulting questions at Newark Airport. The couple was going to Boston, where Henry Kissinger was to undergo bypass surgery.

The woman, a leafleter for a group affiliated with politician Lyndon LaRouche, accused Nancy Kissinger of choking both her throat and her free-speech rights. Nancy Kissinger said she only wanted to protect her husband from upset.

A judge acquitted Nancy Kissinger of assault and called her behavior “a spontaneous and somewhat human reaction to an offensive question.”

The Kissingers met in the mid-1960s when he was a consultant for Rockefeller and she was on the staff of Rockefeller's Commission on Critical Choices for America.

Henry Kissinger had joined the Nixon administration and was secretary of state when he and the former Nancy Sharon Maginnes married on March 30, 1974, in a civil ceremony in Arlington, Virginia.

After leaving Washington, they returned to New York and lived in homes in Manhattan and Kent, Connecticut.

The daughter of an Episcopalian Park Avenue lawyer, Nancy Kissinger grew up with two brothers and a horse on an estate in White Plains.

She attended Good Counsel Academy, a Catholic girls school in White Plains, and the exclusive Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, from which she graduated in 1951. She returned to the school to teach history for two years after graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1955.

Graduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley followed before she went to work for Rockefeller.

Work Location: Detroit, MI

Description

The Client Experience Manager leads a high-performing team of Client Experience Account Managers and a Digital Solutions Planner to drive client satisfaction, retention, and revenue growth. The Manager is responsible for overseeing all aspects of client support, building scalable processes, and fostering a culture of excellence. This role blends leadership, customer engagement, project management, and data-driven strategy to ensure clients receive exceptional service and measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team that focuses on the client experience through advisement of result-based solutions, execution of campaigns and recommendations for optimization and future growth.
• Develop, implement, and refine workflows that streamline pre- and post-sale processes.
• Establish best practices for client deliverables, including reporting cadence, onboarding, and project management.
• Foster team growth through training on campaign strategy, optimization, and industry trends.
• Track and analyze team KPIs to measure impact and identify areas for improvement.
• Partner with Director of Digital, Digital Sales Strategist and Account Executives to develop and deliver compelling, data-driven presentations using tools like Claritas.
• Support revenue growth by building retention strategies and strengthening client relationships.
• Collaborate with leadership to align client experience strategies with organizational goals.
• Travel for market visits to support client retention and business growth.
• Design and deliver training for Account Executives on Ad Operations processes and data-driven reporting.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of account management experience, preferably within media or digital advertising.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience managing direct reports.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, both pre- and post-sale.
• Proven ability to think critically, proactively solve problems, and adapt to change.
• Strong digital acumen and understanding of marketing trends.
• Ability to train, coach, and inspire team members and sales partners.
• Detail-oriented team player with excellent interpersonal skills.

Additional Information:

Graham Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, GMG will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

Contact

tnguyen@grahammedia.com

Wesam Hamada said her daughter Hind Rajab’s final pleas still haunt her.

“All I remember is her voice pleading, ‘Mama, I’m scared. Mama, I’m hungry. Mama, I’m hurt,’" she said. “Her voice keeps repeating in my ears.”

The widely publicized recording of Hind's January 2024 phone call with her mother and emergency dispatchers made her one of the Israel-Hamas war’s most prominent casualties.

Israel’s military this week admitted to firing at the family’s car as it fled an Israeli invasion and firing toward an ambulance dispatched to help them.

It said it would launch a criminal investigation into its troops’ conduct. All six people in the car and two paramedics were killed. But both Rajab’s family and emergency responders from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society doubt the Israeli investigation can deliver justice.

“Why did the investigation and the acknowledgment of the shooting at Hind’s car and at the paramedics come only after more than two years?” Hamada said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s an attempt to distract from what’s happening in Gaza and improve the (Israeli) army’s image to the world. That’s it."

A call to paramedics that was heard around the world

The story of their deaths drew international outcry after the Palestinian Red Crescent Society released recordings of Hind and her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamada calling for help. It was further amplified by “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a film that excerpted the recordings and was nominated for an Oscar.

On the recordings, as audible gunfire erupts around them, Hamada asks for help and tells Red Crescent dispatchers that her family had been killed. Seconds later, more gunshots are heard, and Layan’s screaming stops.

Ambulance dispatchers called back and found Hind on the other end of the line. She told them Layan was dead and Israeli tanks were advancing. The Red Crescent sent an ambulance and stayed in contact with Hind until the call dropped.

Hind and five relatives were found dead in the family car 12 days later. The two medics sent to rescue her were also found dead nearby, their ambulance blackened and destroyed.

Israel initially said its troops were not in the area. A U.N. commission of inquiry and an investigation by the research group Forensic Architecture found evidence placing Israeli forces near the car and attributed the attack to them.

Rana Al Faqih, a dispatcher who was in contact with Hind for more than three hours, said the day remains seared in her memory. She tried to calm Hind and eventually patched her mother onto the call.

“I couldn’t physically reach Hind, embrace her or help her feel safe,” she said in an interview at the Red Crescent headquarters in Ramallah, West Bank. “All I had was my voice. My voice was with her, and it might have comforted her.”

Advocates doubt an Israeli investigation can bring accountability

The investigation is one of two criminal probes the military announced Wednesday after reviewing roughly 150 incidents.

Military investigators will now take up the probes and present their findings to military prosecutors. The military advocate general can then decide to keep investigating, indict any soldiers or decline to charge them.

Israeli officials say the country’s justice system can address any violations by its troops. But such investigations rarely lead to indictments. Just 0.17% of incidents reviewed from 2014 and 2022 led to prosecution, according to an analysis by Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

The Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation — which campaigns for the arrest of Israeli troops it accuses of war crimes — said in a statement on Wednesday that an Israeli military investigation “should not be mistaken for a genuine step toward justice.”

“Israel’s internal investigations into the criminal conduct of its own soldiers are fundamentally flawed and cannot be regarded as credible mechanisms of accountability,” it said.

A mother says her grief is not unique

The Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and abducted 251 others. More than 73,400 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive since, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children constitute about half the deaths.

Hamada said her pain since the killing of Hind — who had wanted to become a doctor — was not unique.

“The pain is like the pain of every mother who has lost her child in Gaza,” she said. “You wish she were in front of you, growing up and fulfilling your dreams and her dreams, and then you lose her in the most horrific circumstances.”

__ Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, and Haitham Hamed in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed reporting.

Also, Turkey announced it is asking for an international warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his role in stopping several boats trying to break a naval blockade of Gaza in May, and an Israeli human rights watchdog is warning that settler violence has expanded from rural to urban areas in the West Bank.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Friday. Full coverage can be found here.

Palestinian teen killed by Israeli settlers after rock-throwing incident

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and another man wounded by Israeli settler gunfire after rocks were thrown Friday in Sa’ir, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The ministry identified the teenager as Karim Sanad Raja Shalaldeh. The teenager’s father told The Associated Press at the hospital that Israeli settlers had killed his son.

The Israeli military said soldiers were dispatched to Sa’ir after Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli civilians who were in the area without prior authorization. Some Israelis were injured and a security official opened fire.

Separately, the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs informed the Health Ministry that 58-year-old Fathi Khazem was fatally shot by Israeli forces early Friday in Jenin.

An Israeli army official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules said Khazem attempted to stab an Israeli soldier during an overnight operation. No Israeli soldiers were injured.

The Israeli official said Khazem was the father of Raed Khazem, who shot and killed three people in Tel Aviv in April 2022.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in almost 1,500 attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials. Three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2026.

— By Koral Saeed in Herzliya, Israel.

Turkey seeks international warrant for Netanyahu over May blockade

Turkey is seeking an international warrant for Netanyahu's arrest over Israel’s interception of an international flotilla that attempted to break a naval blockade of Gaza.

The Interpol red notice sought against Netanyahu and one other Israeli national was tied to an Istanbul court case trying 35 defendants in absentia for alleged “genocide,” other crimes against humanity, torture, unlawful detention and hijacking, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said in a statement posted on X.

The charges stem from the Israeli navy’s interception in May of several vessels in international waters off Cyprus days after the flotilla departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris. Some detained activists reported mistreatment.

Turkey is among the most vocal critics of Israel’s government.

Netanyahu responded on social media, calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an antisemitic dictator who has “massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists and politicians who oppose him.”

“Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere,” Netanyahu said Friday.

Rights group says Israeli settler violence heads to established Palestinian cities

An Israeli group that collects information about potential human rights violations against Palestinians says reported incidents of Israeli settler violence have moved from the rural West Bank toward larger, more populated Palestinian cities and towns.

The establishment of new settlements and outposts throughout the West Bank has emboldened extremist settlers, who are now encroaching on larger communities that previously were far from the front lines of settler violence, Yesh Din said in its report released Friday titled “The Next Frontier.”

The uptick in violence corresponds with the Israeli government’s approval of new settlements and the expansion of outposts that it doesn’t authorize but often leaves in place, according to the report.

“As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence, harassment and terror follow,” Yesh Din wrote.

Some 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank alongside roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers.

Economic woes return to Lebanon

Lebanon’s economy is projected to contract 6.4% this year because the latest Israel-Hezbollah war reversed the economic recovery of the previous year, the World Bank said Friday.

The destruction from the war that started in March and related sharp drop in tourism reversed a 4.2% growth seen in 2025 in Lebanon's economy, the organization said.

The World Bank also predicts a sharp increase in inflation driven by supply disruptions, higher shipping costs, and rising oil prices, which will further reduce purchasing power.

Lebanon's economy has been in crisis since a 2019 banking collapse.

11 countries call Israeli airstrikes in Syria an extreme escalation

The foreign ministers of 11 countries are calling Israel’s airstrikes on a Syrian air base an extreme escalation.

The ministers of Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the Palestinian territories warned that attacks on Syria undermine its reconstruction efforts as well as its attempts to restore security, according to a joint statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The Israeli strikes hit the Abu Duhur base early Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties. Netanyahu’s office said Israel targeted the base because Syria was about to breach an agreed “status quo in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.

“I was at the hospital. I was there all day, hoping, praying, hoping for a turnaround,” Busch said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show on Friday.

“I said, ‘I got you man. Come on, I got you. I got you. Come on, be strong,’” an emotional Busch added, before a brief pause. “It just wasn’t fair.”

The interview marked Busch’s first comments since Kyle Busch died on May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications. Busch’s death at the age of 41 devastated the racing community and one of NASCAR’s most accomplished families. The borthers were born in Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch won Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing, and holds the record in winning 234 combined races across NASCAR’s top three national series. His older brother was a Cup champion in 2004 and inducted this year into the Hall of Fame.

In the interview, Busch outlined how his brother became increasingly ill while practicing in a simulator on May 20. Asked by his crew chief whether he was OK, Busch responded no and he was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Kyle Busch initially believed he was dealing with a sinus cold while racing at Watkins Glen, New York, on May 10. He continued competing, including winning a Truck Series race at Dover, Delaware, less than a week before he died. Kurt Busch said their father, Tom Busch, chose not to be at the hospital in order to “remember him the way he wanted to remember him.”

“There is no book, there is no outline on what we’re supposed to do right now,” Kurt Busch said, before recalling the on-track chemistry he had with his brother.

“Him and I were carbon copies of each other. We could speak on track without saying a word,” he said. “I miss the words we never spoke to each other, and the vibe that we had on track.”

Busch said he’s now mentoring his nephew, Kyle’s 11-year-old son Brexton, who has taken up racing.

“He’s a prodigy,” Busch said. “He can be a big start in the world of motorsports. He’s 11, but he’s already racing like an 18-year-old.”

As for his brother’s legacy, Busch said the achievements speak for themselves.

“It’s already there. Winningest driver in NASCAR history in all the series,” Busch said.

“The tenacity that he had. It was every day, 24-7, to help people in the latter part of his career, to be a great father like he was,” he added. “It will all shine as time puts different things in spotlights.”

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

Russell took the fight to his series-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli as he qualified on pole position for the sprint race at the Dutch Grand Prix. F1 has returned from its midseason break, two weeks after Russell announced he and his partner Carmen Montero Mundt were engaged.

After setting the fastest time Friday, Russell said over the team radio, “Nice one! Must be a bit lighter after that engagement ring.”

Russell previously revealed that “a lot of thought” went into his proposal, including designing the ring itself. “I suddenly got really nervous when I was on one knee,” he added.

Russell snatched top spot by 0.041 of a second from McLaren's Lando Norris, winner of the last race in Hungary, with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari, 0.014 further back.

Antonelli was fifth and revealed he'd been struggling with damage from a bumpy ride across a gravel trap in the first part of the session. The damage was “a couple of holes in the floor.” His closest championship challenger Lewis Hamilton could manage only seventh for Ferrari.

Pole is a long-awaited boost for Russell

Pole is especially welcome for Russell, who hasn't won since the Austrian Grand Prix in June and was one of the drivers hardest hit by software quirks in how his Mercedes uses its electrical energy.

“It was a tough end to the first half of the year and I'm really happy to come back,” said Russell, who’s 59 points off his 19-year-old teammate Antonelli after a near-stall ruined his race in Hungary last month. “The lap felt really good. It all came together nicely.”

After his joke about shedding the weight of the engagement ring, Russell said he'd also worked to lose the mental baggage of overthinking.

“Confidence level wasn’t exactly at my highest, but just trying to remember that feeling of what I needed from myself and the car and just go in and almost treat it like the first race of the season again and not overthink things,” he said. “That seems to work well for me. It’s very difficult to actually put those words into action.”

Earlier Friday, Antonelli went fastest in the single practice session on a drying, constantly changing track after rain.

The 2026 cars and their formidable electrical power have yet to be tried in serious rain as part of a race weekend. That briefly seemed like it would happen in practice as teams started on intermediate tires, but the track soon dried out. Sprint qualifying was dry.

Dutch GP is unique. Here's why it's leaving

Max Verstappen has committed to Red Bull on a new contract through 2030 but there's no sign of his Dutch home race staying beyond this year.

The 80s rock anthem “The Final Countdown” rang around the venue Thursday as organizers geared up for the sixth and final Dutch GP since returning to the F1 calendar in 2021.

The race is a privately run operation in a calendar packed with races that boast government backing. Citing “risks and responsibilities,” organizers said in 2024 they'd rather “go out on a high" with two more races and no more.

Something else makes the Dutch GP stand out, too. Almost all fans attending are barred from driving to the track because the seaside resort town puts strict rules on traffic. Instead, they must take the train from Amsterdam or — in a uniquely Dutch take on F1 — join the tens of thousands riding bikes to Zandvoort.

Lawson and Tsunoda need to learn fast

Liam Lawson learned only on Monday he was being promoted to the main Red Bull team after Isack Hadjar injured his wrist. Lawson has tried the unfamiliar car only on the simulator so far, in a hastily arranged session Wednesday.

Lawson's promotion means Yuki Tsunoda is back on the grid with Racing Bulls. He hasn't raced under the new-for-2026 regulations at all. Lawson qualified 11th and Tsunoda 12th.

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

It reflects the dire reality Trump faces with an increasingly unpopular war he can't seem to end just months before pivotal midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. Whether out of desperation or strategy, the president is refocusing America's might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.

In response to the threat, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted Friday on X the history of U.S. sanctions against Iran, saying, “We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies.”

The immediate reaction from Iran hawks has been praise and a call for patience as it plays out, while other analysts warn that Trump is refusing to learn the lessons of his predecessors.

In an interview Thursday on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a small glimpse of what may be ahead, threatening secondary sanctions on nations and companies that conduct business with Iran.

He did not reveal who would be targeted as part of this next phase of the administration’s Operation Economic Fury, which earlier had focused on entities and people who buy oil from or bank with Iran. China and India, however, are major buyers of Iranian oil.

“If you insist on doing business with them, then the U.S. Treasury and U.S. government will put its full might and force against you,” Bessent said. “It’s time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision."

Some experts see ‘uncharted waters’ that could force Iran's hand

Despite decades of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Trump administration is arguing that it’s only a matter of time and that striking the right economic target would get Tehran to its breaking point.

Richard Goldberg, who coordinated efforts to put diplomatic pressure on Iran in Trump's first term, said the consequences of U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites last year, the war this year and the American naval blockade on Iranian ports have created the perfect storm for capitulation — one that didn't previously exist.

“I think we’re watching a strategy, whether it takes a short time or a long time, that is very much about fundamentally changing the future of the world by seeing the end of this regime," said Goldberg, who is now at the hawkish Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD.

“I caution everyone — including myself, who has worked on sanctions, who’s worked on financial warfare — to have the humility to admit that we are in uncharted waters,” he said.

He said the decision this week by the United Arab Emirates — once one of Tehran's most important trading partners — to suspend trade with Iran over an alleged missile attack will only further isolate the government.

Beyond trade in domestically produced goods, the Emiratis had helped the country absorb some of the shocks caused by sanctions through its re-export hub.

Targeting allies and partners comes at a price

With nearly all of Iran's energy, financial and transportation sectors already covered by U.S. sanctions, Trump’s aim appears to be to apply secondary sanctions on countries, including allies and partners, that have not cut all ties with Iran to starve the country of any remaining income it may still be receiving.

In many ways, it is a redux of Trump’s first-term maximum-pressure campaign, which he has ramped up during his second term to include military action.

But as Trump and his allies discovered during his first administration, it can be difficult to enforce secondary sanctions without harming U.S. interests and provoking reciprocal measures. There were numerous instances of the administration granting sanctions waivers to countries, particularly those that rely on Iranian oil for their energy needs.

“Trump’s strategy now rests on targeting Tehran directly by impeding its touch points and access to the formal financial system and international economy,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the FDD’s Iran program. “This will require making the Iran issue more important in U.S. bilateral relations with countries in Europe and Asia.”

Iran doesn't see an ‘open door’ at the end of the sanctions campaign

Iranian officials and analysts have accused the Republican president of flip-flopping with his latest pivot to economic pressure against Tehran. Trump has long derided past leaders who used sanctions to limit Iran’s ability to pay for its military and nuclear development.

In a post last week on X, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, wrote that Washington's pattern of retreating to sanctions when it doesn't want to pursue diplomacy has proven to be futile.

“Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains,” he said. “The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making.”

Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, said the Trump administration's decision to take its own maximum-pressure policy to new heights with military action seems to ignore years of U.S. foreign-policy lessons that show Iran does not respond well to pressure.

If anything, he says, the latest economic campaign has only “hardened Iran's position.”

“I think (Trump's) blind spot is the fact that the only thing that the Iranian regime views as more dangerous than suffering from U.S. sanctions is surrendering to U.S. terms," Vaez said.

Plus, the past year of start-stop diplomacy has only worsened the already fragile dynamic between the longtime adversaries, Vaez says, adding that Iranian officials' lack of trust in Trump and his mediators has created an untenable foundation.

“They believe that even if they capitulate to U.S. terms under economic duress, Trump would move the goalposts and ask for more,” he said. “And this is really the fundamental problem: Pressure without an open door is an exercise in futility.”

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

Circuit Judge Brian Welke issued the order following a June 26 competency hearing, finding that although Sulpizio is mentally ill, she is able to communicate with her attorney and understands the charges and proceedings against her.

[TIMELINE: What exactly happened in Lake County ambush attack of 3 deputies]

Sulpizio is accused of luring Lake County sheriff’s deputies into an ambush by her husband and daughters at her rural Eustis home on Brookside Drive in August 2024. Master Deputy Bradley Link was fatally shot. Deputies Harold Howell and Stefano Gargano survived their injuries.

The sheriff’s office said Sulpizio’s family members later died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Sulpizio faces charges including first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The state has filed notice it intends to seek the death penalty.

In a judgment Friday, Justice Matthew Nicklin said in a written statement that the payment to Associated Newspapers Ltd. will have to be made by Aug. 28. The payment is at the upper end of expectations and marks a vindication for the journalists at the Daily Mail and a defeat for the losing claimants and their lawyers.

The claimants lost a High Court case in London last month during which they had alleged malpractice, such as the illegal hacking of phones, on the part of Associated Newspapers.

The other high-profile figures behind the case were Doreen Lawrence, the anti‑racism activist whose son Stephen was stabbed to death in 1993 as he waited for a bus; Elton John’s film producer husband David Furnish; actors Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley; and politician Simon Hughes. Lawrence’s costs are expected to be covered by the others.

In excoriating comments accompanying his award, Nicklin said “several features” were important in his decision, including the “speculative” nature of the claims and the failure of the claimants to “voluntarily” withdraw serious allegations that could no longer be backed up.

“The conduct was unreasonable to a high degree,” he said.

Claimants face additional 25-million-pound charge

The publisher has said it incurred more than 34 million pounds during the case. Should it pursue the claimants for the remainder of the costs, and get the necessary legal approval to do so, then Harry and the six others will be liable for a further 25 million pounds or so.

The claimants took out insurance for around half of that total, in line with the budget estimates provided at the outset by the lawyers working for Associated Newspapers.

Though the judge said the costs appeared “excessive,” he said he would not impose a cap that would have limited the claimants' liabilities as it would have been “too broad brushed, would risk unfairness, and would be vulnerable to the charge that it was arbitrary.”

The amount that will be paid could well be determined in the future by costs judges, specialists who assess and determine financial outcomes in civil litigation when parties cannot agree.

David Bailey-Vella, chairman of the Association of Costs Lawyers, said the ruling “could not have gone much worse” for the claimants.

He said the claimants will "surely try again before the costs judges to try and show they relied on Associated’s original budget when buying the insurance and so should not have to pay more.”

Hughes, a former member of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said he was “disappointed and surprised” that Associated Newspapers’ recoverable costs were not limited.

None of the other claimants have yet commented on the judge's decision. They have until Oct. 2 to decide whether to appeal.

Harry and the rest had failed to even win one of 97 claims

The publisher had strongly denied the claims made during the 11-week trial in London earlier this year. In his July 7 judgment, Nicklin said there had been a shortage of evidence to support the 97 claims and found there was a possibility that the reporting came from legitimate sources.

In a statement following the decision, Associated Newspapers said the judgment is a “devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives."

“The truth is that these outrageous claims should never have been brought," it said. "That they were pursued raises disturbing questions about the conduct of elements of the legal profession.”

Cost verdict comes days after Harry's bombshell UK return news

The judgment comes two days after it was made public that Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are moving back to the U.K. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are no longer working royals, decamped to California more than six years ago but will relocate back later this month to live in a nonroyal residence outside London.

Harry's defeat against Associated Newspapers brought an end to a trio of lawsuits accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics, such as phone hacking or hiring private detectives to dig up dirt on his life.

Harry won a judgment in 2023 that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking. Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid, The Sun, made an unprecedented apology for intruding on his life for years and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

Harry has said his litigation — in which he broke with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts — was a primary source of his falling out with his father, King Charles III, and brother Prince William.

His grudge with the tabloids runs deep and his legal actions are part of his larger quest to reform the news media that he says damaged his relationships and made him “ paranoid beyond belief.”

He blames the press for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris, and for attacks on his wife, Meghan, that led the couple to abandon royal life and move to the United States in 2020.

The Falcon 9 rocket carried the satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This marked the 30th flight of the first-stage booster supporting the mission. The booster previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER-B, USSF-124, BlueBird 1-5, Nusantara Lima (PSN N5), Starfall Demo, and 23 Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The ban for Paredes — who grabbed Spain's Eric Garcia by the throat and pushed Gavi to the ground — ranks with the FIFA sanctions for Uruguay forward Luis Suárez in 2014 as among the most severe in World Cup history.

Argentina defender Nahuel Molina was handed a seven-game ban while Thiago Almada was given a one-game suspension. FIFA imposed fines of $90,000 on Paredes and Molina, and $30,000 for Almada.

The ban for Paredes is effectively a one-year expulsion from the Argentina team as the FIFA calendar for national team schedules includes 10 games through June 2027.

All of those games could be friendlies with no competitive games currently scheduled.

Spain's Gavi also banned for game vs England

Gavi also was banned for one game, which is a Nations League match for Spain against England at Wembley on Sept. 26.

An Argentina coach, Roberto Ayala, also got a three-game ban and $30,000 fine.

The Argentine Football Association was fined $110,000 for a range of incidents during the World Cup including players carrying a political banner about the Falkland Islands after the semifinal win against England, and discriminatory chants by fans.

AFA also was ordered by FIFA to spend $100,000 on anti-racism projects. Argentina received $34 million in World Cup prize money from FIFA.

Argentina expected to appeal

AFA can appeal the longer sanctions and fines to FIFA, and likely after at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The AFA legal department will, in a timely manner, request from FIFA the grounds for the reviewable rulings in order to file appeals with the governing body’s appeal committee, while retaining the future option of appealing to the CAS as a final recourse,” the federation said in a statement.

Suárez and Simunic cases

In 2014, Suárez was banned from all soccer for four months, including for his new club Barcelona, and eight more competition games for Uruguay for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup group stage game in Brazil.

Paredes' 10-game ban equals that in 2013 for Josip Simunic of Croatia after winning a World Cup qualifying playoff. Simunic used a megaphone to lead fans chanting a slogan used by the country's pro-Nazi regime during World War II.

The on-field clashes at last month's final in East Rutherford, New Jersey — which were charged by FIFA as assault cases — came after Argentina lost a testy final to Spain where it was mostly outplayed and barely created a scoring chance.

Spain forward Ferran Torres scored the only goal in the second period of extra time, after Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off.

FIFA disciplinary judges also ordered Argentina to play its next home game in a stadium limited to 50% of capacity. FIFA deferred a second stadium sanction and a $100,000 for probationary periods.

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AP Sports Writers Ken Maguire in London and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed to this report

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The attack is the latest in a series of frequent and deadly aerial strikes targeting armed pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups in the country. The strikes often cause civilian casualties.

The attack occurred in Swel Le Oh village in Myaung township, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) west of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, according to Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township, or CDSOM.

Nway Oo said that 14 people, including three women, were killed and 20 others were wounded when a fighter jet dropped a bomb in the compound of the village’s monastery.

A villager who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he feared for his safety, also confirmed the death toll to The Associated Press. The villager said that the fighter jet dropped two bombs 15 minutes apart, with the second bomb damaging a house near the monastery where more than 100 people were on a weeklong retreat during Buddhist Lent.

The villager, whose mother-in-law was killed in the airstrike, said that people fled to a nearby community after cremating bodies of the victims.

BBC’s Burmese-Language service and Myanmar’s media outlets, including Myanmar Now, reported the death toll at between 10 and 14. They also posted photos and videos showing what they said was the aftermath of the strike, with images of bodies.

The military didn't immediately comment. In the past, the army has said that it only attacks legitimate targets of war, accusing the resistance forces of being terrorists.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are embroiled in conflict.

The military has increasingly used airstrikes to counter opposition forces, including the armed People’s Defense Forces in Sagaing region, a stronghold of armed resistance. The resistance has no effective defense against air attacks.

The monastery attack comes a week after the U.N.-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, or IIMM, said that it observed a notable escalation in aerial attacks by the military in the months preceding the elections held in December and January, and that they have continued unabated afterward.

Myanmar’s foreign ministry rejected the IIMM report on Sunday, saying that limited airstrikes and counterterrorism operations solely aim at military targets and were carried out in response to insurgents and terrorist groups in accordance with the rules of engagement, and that the security forces exercise maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm.

No act of Congress mandated the color, with its slight orange tint. Rather, a 1939 conference of transportation officials from all U.S. states (then 48) chose the shade for its visibility as one of the first safety standards. At their peak in the 1980s, the yellow buses took more than 60% of U.S. students to school.

The metal-bodied school bus got its start in rural America. Georgia car dealer Albert Luce designed it to carry cement workers, then marketed it to schools when the company turned it down.

It was impeccable timing as school districts replaced one-room neighborhood schoolhouses with larger ones much farther apart. That consolidation gave rise to the school bus.

“I don’t think you could’ve had one without the other,” says Matt Anderson, head transportation curator at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan, which houses Luce’s 1927 bus.

Decades later, buses helped desegregate schools, hauling Black and white children across the country’s racial divide. The controversial practice has mostly ended, and in much of the United States, schools have grown more segregated, not less.

Carl Fisher drove a metal school bus for two-thirds of its nearly 100-year history. With 66 years behind the wheel, Fisher retired in 2012 as the longest-working driver, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. His first model was a Dodge truck that his dad’s friend converted, adding benches and small stools to haul 20 children in Pleasant Hope, Missouri.

“He put windows in it and everything, really made it nice,” Fisher says.

The basics became industry standard and more safety upgrades followed, including padded seats and a flip-out stop sign.

“It’s the safest form of on-road transportation per passenger, per mile, bar none — without seat belts,” says Brad Beauchamp, who is with the electric vehicles team at Blue Bird, the yellow school bus maker Luce reputedly named after the bird his wife spotted on a fence post.

Due to driver shortages and other factors, a yellow school bus is no longeravailable to take many students to school, putting pressure on families to figure out transportation.

Jim Oppegard, who drove kids for more than two decades in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, retired at 94 as the oldest school bus driver on record. It's rewarding work, he says.

“You’re helping the kids and helping the overall society,” he says. “You’re doing an important job.”

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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.

U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury, in her Thursday decision, concluded that Michael Jeffries “clearly possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings” and is a “reasonably intelligent person and skilled communicator" following his stay at a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina.

The federal judge on Long Island, New York, said she reviewed testimony and written reports from medical experts and listened to hours of phone calls Jeffries made to his romantic partner, lawyers and others while in custody.

“His presentation and responses in evaluations following his commitment to Butner and his phone calls show that he understands the structure of the criminal legal system, courtroom procedures, the functions of the various participants, the nature and purpose of the proceedings, and key legal concepts,” Choudhury wrote.

Jeffries’ lawyer declined to comment.

“We do not comment on the Judge’s rulings," Brian Bieber wrote in an email. “The case, and all related issues, will be tried inside the courtroom – not in the media.”

Jeffries, 82, is currently free on bond. He's slated to go on trial in late October, alongside two co-defendants, his partner Matthew Smith and staffer James Jacobson. A pretrial hearing is slated for next Thursday.

Jeffries’ lawyers had argued that he required around-the-clock care to deal with the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury. They had medical experts testify in court that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency.”

That prompted Choudhury to order Jeffries to be hospitalized to see if his mental condition would improve. After spending about four months at Butner, federal prison officials in December deemed Jeffries mentally fit to stand trial.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson have pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

Prosecutors say the three used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The criminal case echoes sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and in the media in recent years.

Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades. He's credited with transforming the New York retailer, originally founded to sell wilderness gear, into a mainstay of teen mall culture in the early 2000s with its preppy youth aesthetic and sexy marketing.

The incident south of the coastal city of Cuxhaven came to an end as the animal's owner intervened to secure the animal, Cuxhaven police said in a statement.

Passersby noticed the donkey, whose name is Freddy, and a horse were running loose at a roundabout in the town of Holssel. The motorists tried to secure the donkey, which “became very aggressive” and jumped into the van.

The 33-year-old woman who tried to help required hospital treatment, while the motorists sustained minor injuries, the police statement said.

“The reason for the animal’s aggressive reaction is still unclear,” the statement said.

Those losing coverage in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, include people who don't meet the tightening requirements to participate, and, advocates say, some who qualify for the help but are rejected because they miss deadlines or don't have the needed documentation handy. It's too early to tell exactly how many fall into each group.

It's also unclear how many have lost coverage because some state agencies that run the programs are overwhelmed trying to keep up with changes. That was the case in Arizona, which saw the nation's largest enrollment drop.

Tia Fields, who analyzes social safety net policies at the advocacy group Invest in Louisiana, said the main reason she's seeing people lose coverage is not failure to meet work requirements. “A lot of it is administrative paperwork,” she said.

Proponents of welfare reform hope the roll reductions are driven by people earning too much to keep qualifying — a sign that policy changes are behaving as intended for a program they assert is riddled with fraud.

“If there are people that are leaving the welfare rolls because they're working and they're moving forward,” said Rachel Sheffield, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which pushed for stricter requirements for SNAP, “that would be a step forward.”

Arizona has had the steepest decline so far, with a 12-month drop of more than 50%, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs SNAP. The decline was more than 20% in Georgia, Louisiana and Nevada — and in Florida, where the Department of Children and Families said in a statement that the decreasing number “is reflective of the state's strong focus on advancing opportunities for Floridians and their families to achieve economic self-sufficiency.”

Eligibility requirements are tightening

SNAP helps more than 1 in 10 people in the U.S. buy food. Most of the beneficiaries have incomes below the poverty line. The monthly benefit, which is delivered on debit cards that can be used only for groceries, is $344 per household on average.

Newly released federal data found SNAP enrollment fell from 42.2 million in May 2025 to 36.6 million in May, a drop of more than 13% in a year. The May data are preliminary and could be revised.

Since 2010, the average number of monthly beneficiaries has been below 40 million for only two years — 2019 and 2020. The rolls started dropping after a recent peak of 43.3 million in October 2024. They've fallen much faster since implementation began last year for Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” which cut taxes and overhauled social safety net programs.

The expanded SNAP work requirement has now kicked in for most of the country, but it won’t begin in some places until next year.

Many adults 54 and younger without minor children have long been required to work to get SNAP benefits. The new law requires most people who previously had been exempt from requirements to either work, volunteer or go to school to get benefits. It now includes those ages 55 to 64, and those with children ages 14 to 17. Those 65 and older or with children younger than 14 remain exempt, as do those with health limitations. Some other groups that had been exempted from the requirement — including homeless people — no longer are.

In February, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the new requirements and other factors would push SNAP enrollment down over the next decade, falling below 34 million by 2036. But the nonpartisan office did not expect the drop to be as fast as it's been. By May, the number of people receiving the benefits was about as low as it was forecast to go in 2030.

Experts expect another impact when states are required to pay part of the cost of benefits if their rate of payment errors — when recipients receive more or less than they should — is above 6%. Advocates for recipients say states may deny benefits to some people entirely rather than risk errors.

The cost-sharing is scheduled to start in October 2027, though Congress has considered a delay.

Changes have been hard to implement in Arizona

In Arizona, enrollment plummeted by 55% from April 2025 to April 2026 — the biggest drop in the country, with more than 400,000 fewer people getting benefits now.

The state said the drop was driven largely by the state's own struggles putting new federal requirements in place.

“Implementing the federally mandated changes triggered unprecedented call volumes and administrative hurdles, including additional verification requirements, creating real barriers for applicants,” said Brett Bezio, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

Bezio said that hiring more staff members and introducing ways for people to submit their documents online have stemmed the enrollment drop in recent months as the state has reduced the chance for people who qualify to lose benefits.

In Phoenix, LaDiamond Lopez lost her benefits in January, with officials telling her she needed more documentation about her income and household — something that's needed for officials to determine whether enrollees meet work requirements.

She’s been skipping meals and some bill payments to ensure her children have enough to eat.

In her quest to be reinstated, she had previous employers sign forms confirming she no longer worked for them and added her children — ages 3 and 9 — to her apartment lease. She expected payments to resume in August, but she doesn’t know if they’ll last.

“I was approved at the end of May, but now they’re asking me for more documents,” she said. “It’s a panic.”

Other factors could be driving down enrollment

The Heritage Foundation's Sheffield says that some of the drop in SNAP use is likely a natural decline after peaks in the coronavirus pandemic era.

Paco Velez, the president and CEO of Feeding South Florida, said the 22% one-year enrollment drop in Florida is driven partly by immigrants who are in the U.S. legally but fear being targeted by Trump's immigration crackdown if they're seeking government benefits.

Invest in Louisiana's Fields said SNAP enrollment declines have broader consequences. For instance, children in households that receive the benefit can be automatically enrolled in free school lunch programs or in the SNAP for Women, Infants and Children program for low-income mothers, young children and expectant parents if they meet the other criteria.

“What happens when that child can’t pay for lunch?” she asked.

Some food banks have ramped up donations to try to meet a demand that they say has risen as SNAP rolls have declined. But that isn't expected to bridge the gap fully.

“We’re very worried about it because we know that no other organization or program can replicate the scale and success of SNAP,” said Carolyn Vega, a policy analyst at the advocacy group Share Our Strength. “We know that schools can’t fill this gap. We know that food banks can’t fill this gap.”

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Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Sinner beat Alexander Zverev last month for his second straight title at the All England Club, but then pulled out of the hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati that serve as a warmup for the U.S. Open.

The 25-year-old Italian wrote Friday that he won't be ready when the main draw begins on Aug. 30.

“Even though I have been working hard with my team and my medical staff, we have now had to make the difficult decision that I will not be able to compete at the US Open this year,” Sinner wrote in a post on X.

“We have been back on court in Monte Carlo over the last couple of days and have realized that I still need more time to recover from my right knee issue. I’m obviously very sad and disappointed, as New York has a special place in my heart. I was very much looking forward to coming back and playing in the electric atmosphere in front of the great fans there.”

Sinner was the 2024 U.S. Open champion and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final.

Alcaraz posted on social media on Thursday that he would be ready to play in New York after he has been out of action since April because of a right wrist injury.

The rivalry between those two has dominated men's tennis in recent years, and they met in the last three Grand Slam finals in 2025. Alcaraz took the most recent one with his four-set victory in New York.

That ended Sinner's title reign after he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the 2024 final.

Sinner is 44-3 with six titles this year. He had a stunning collapse at the French Open, blowing a two-set lead while struggling in the heat in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He then sat out until Wimbledon, where his victory gave him five Grand Slam titles.

It will be the first time Sinner has missed a Grand Slam tournament since making his major debut at the U.S. Open in 2019.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Those that survived are doing well, fattening up in time not just for fall and hibernation season but … drumroll, please … the very first Fat Marmot Week.

Just like Fat Bear Week, an online contest to vote for Alaskan brown bears plumped up for winter, Fat Marmot Week — beginning Monday — is mostly just for fun, but it also has a serious side: Scientists need to drum up donations for their long-running research into the rodents to keep it going through federal funding cuts.

“In some sense, we’re going to be laughing our way down as the Titanic sinks,” said Dan Blumstein, leader of the project launched decades ago at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado. “Because what else are you going to do?”

But wait. What’s a marmot?

A marmot is a cat-sized, furry ground squirrel that lives in burrows in North America, Europe and Asia. The 15 or so species worldwide include groundhogs, which have their own special day, Feb. 2, in the U.S. and Canada.

In the Rocky Mountains, yellow-bellied marmots are plentiful. Hikers often spot these charismatic creatures perched on boulders or scurrying through wildflowers.

Marmots aren't shy near trails popular with people. Watch out: A bold one might swipe your snack.

Like people, marmots have personalities and are “flexibly social,” meaning some like to intermingle in colonies of up to 30 animals while others prefer solitude, according to Emily Renkey, a master’s program student at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We kind of understand these marmots just by looking at them sometimes, because we can kind of tell who’s who just by how they behave and how they interact with one another,” said Katie Adler, a UCLA doctoral student.

Some marmots are difficult to study because they are wary of researchers' efforts to trap them using wire boxes baited with an enticing mixture of oats and peanut butter, Renkey said.

“Others, you could trap three or four times in the same morning,” she said.

Marmots are big-time snoozers

While hibernating bears snooze in a state called torpor, allowing them to wake up — or be woken up — every now and then, marmots slip into a far deeper form of hibernation. Their body temperature drops from about that of a human to as low as 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), not much warmer than their burrows in winter.

“You pick up a hibernating marmot and it’s this fuzzy ball and it feels like a cold rock with fur. It’s completely surreal,” Blumstein said. “They breathe once a minute or two.”

To prepare for winter, the animals do a tremendous amount of fattening. They double their weight to as much as 13 pounds (6 kilograms), then lose all of that bulk during half a year or more of hibernation.

“Marmots come out of the ground really skinny, relative to what they look like now, at least,” Adler said.

A poor snowpack affects more than the ski season

Last winter, scant snowfall and warm temperatures due to global warming deprived many Colorado marmots of an insulating blanket of snow over their burrows. Researchers believe their hibernation quarters got too chilly, causing many to die of cold.

“We had over 160 animals and we ended with 60 at the start of this season,” Blumstein said. “Most of them died because of the lack of snow cover.”

This year’s snowpack was the worst on record in the Upper Colorado River Basin, which includes Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Human-caused climate change made the snow drought about 14 times more likely, a new study confirms.

Hundreds of researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory have observed changes including fewer bees and other pollinators, and sagebrush encroaching in valleys once dominated by wildflowers.

Precipitation changes, meanwhile, literally cascade downstream to where farmers and communities need water to survive.

“The snowmelt here impacts the Colorado River which impacts our drinking water," Renkey said. “What happens in these mountains doesn’t stay in these mountains. It impacts all of us.”

Mouseketeers, musketeers and marmoteers

The study in Gothic, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Aspen, is run by researchers from UCLA and the University of Ottawa in Ontario. It was launched in 1962, making it one of the world’s longest-running studies of individual mammals.

The marmot researchers affectionately call themselves “marmoteers.”

“It allows graduate students and other people to come in and suddenly capitalize on this knowledge and ask questions. Without doing all the grunt work,” Blumstein said.

Funding cuts have caused Blumstein’s UCLA department to lose one-third of its graduate students. Fat Marmot Week is one approach to attract interest — and hopefully donations — to keep the work going. Among the rodents on display: Stonehenge, who chirps at mountain bikers; and Citroen, whose mate is a leader of this matriarchal marmot motherland. Voting opens Monday.

The researchers have also been posting marmot videos to the OnlyFans adult content platform. To capitalize on the attention those posts have garnered, a "super fan" created a meme coin, a type of cryptocurrency, called $OnlyMarms, and donates transaction fees to the research program. That alone has raised around $100,000.

The team needs to bank three years of funding — over $200,000 — to ensure marmot research can continue next summer.

“People have to find funding in ways that we’ve never really thought of before,” Adler said. “Like reaching out to the broader community to get people engaged.”

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

In a release, investigators said the call was reported at 10110 Morningside Drive just before 3 p.m.

“Once our deputies arrived, they were confronted with an individual armed with a firearm whose actions forced our deputies to discharge their firearms,” the release reads. “All law enforcement personnel are safe and uninjured.”

On Friday, deputies identified the man who was shot and killed as 32-year-old Erik Leopold. The firearm referenced in the earlier quote from the press release has been confirmed to be a handgun.

[WATCH: Deputy-involved shooting breaks out in Lake County neighborhood]

Per standard procedures for deputy-involved shootings, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is set to investigate what happened.

The deputies involved in the incident will be placed on leave as the investigation continues, the sheriff’s office noted.

The Deltona City Commission is scheduled to hold a second reading Monday on a proposed ordinance that would increase fines for violations involving animal abandonment and strengthen the city’s local animal-control rules.

Under the proposed penalty structure, fines could reach:

• $2,500 for a first violation
• $5,000 for a second violation
• $7,500 for a third or subsequent violation

The proposed changes would apply to more than just dogs. The ordinance covers animal abandonment generally, meaning the tougher penalties could apply to the abandonment of any animal covered under the city’s code.

State law opened the door for higher local fines

The local changes follow Florida House Bill 559, which increased the maximum penalties that municipalities and counties can impose for certain violations of local animal-control and cruelty ordinances.

Previously, local penalties were capped at $500. The new law allows significantly higher fines, giving cities such as Deltona the ability to update their local ordinances and adopt stronger penalty structures.

The state law also includes additional animal-protection provisions, including new penalties involving animal fighting and requirements involving juveniles convicted of animal abuse.

Deltona’s proposed ordinance would bring the city’s code in line with the higher penalties now authorized under state law.

City ordinance calls abandonment a threat to animals and public safety

The proposed ordinance describes animal abandonment as a serious threat to animal welfare and says it can also create public health and safety concerns.

Abandoned animals can face injury, starvation, disease and other dangers. They can also create safety concerns for the community.

For Deltona dog owner Paul Howard, the issue is personal.

Howard owns two rescue dogs and said both had difficult beginnings.

“Well, they’re both rescues. The pit bull over there, I believe the person that had him was trying to use him as a bait dog. So we got a hold of him before anything happened. This one was locked up in a cage for the first year of her life.”

Howard supports stronger consequences for people who abandon or abuse animals.

“It’s a start. Personally, I’ve always had the opinion that if someone abuses an animal, they deserve the same treatment.”

When asked whether he considers abandonment comparable to abuse, Howard said, “Yes.”

Dog owners support tougher penalties

Beatrice Moser, another Deltona dog owner, said she supports holding people accountable for abandoning animals.

“Yes, I totally agree. I would sign it. Because my dog is precious to me, and somebody that abandons pets — any pets — should be accountable.”

Moser said she believes there may also be alternatives for owners who can no longer care for their animals.

She suggested people could reach out to others in the community before abandoning a pet.

“You can come to a park and talk with people. Over here we have two people already lost their dogs to illness. They might adopt them.”

Questions remain about enforcement

While the proposed ordinance outlines significantly higher potential fines, questions remain about how the city would enforce the new rules and identify people responsible for abandoning animals.

The City of Deltona has been asked how enforcement would work under the proposed ordinance.

The ordinance is scheduled for its second reading Monday. If approved, Deltona would join other local governments updating their animal-control rules to reflect the stronger penalties now allowed under Florida law.

In an Instagram post Thursday, the 39-year-old Simpson said she was diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a condition that triggered “dangerous heart rhythms that ultimately caused my heart to stop.”

She said the diagnosis means it would be dangerous to return to running.

“That chapter has ended,” she said. “Thankfully, my story hasn't.”

Simpson was pacing a group of girls in a mile run at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, when she collapsed. She underwent CPR at the track and an automated external defibrillator was also used before medics rushed her to the hospital.

“You might be wondering what would be the right thing to say to me after an event like this,” she wrote. “Please do not say that you're sorry or that you feel bad for me. If it is true in your heart, please tell me you're glad that I'm here. That's how I feel — so glad that I'm still here.”

For about a decade beginning in 2007, Simpson was America's most successful women's 1,500-meter runner. She won worlds in 2011, finished second there twice and won Olympic bronze in Rio in 2016.

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

In a release, deputies said that the man — identified as Luke Dudkewic, 33 — was taken into custody earlier this year after exposing himself to a minor in the fast-food drive thru.

“The victim told deputies that she was handing the customer his food and saw his exposed genitals with a blueish-green circular object, which she believed to be a sex toy, around his penis,” the sheriff’s office noted at the time.

On Wednesday, Dudkewic pleaded guilty to lewd or lascivious exhibition by an adult offender in the presence of a victim under 16 years of age.

Following the plea, a judge sentenced him to five years of sex offender probation, in addition to being declared a registered sex offender and a convicted felon, deputies said.

“This pervert is now a registered sex offender for life, and on top of that, the judge declared that he can never return to the Chick-fil-A where this incident occurred,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I guess he’ll have to like hamburgers, which won’t make the billboard cows happy!”

Staly also said that he “would have liked to see a prison sentence,” though his agency doesn’t control that part of the criminal justice system.

Crews have been working for the past several months to convert Magnolia Avenue from a one-way street into a two-way road between Livingston Street and South Street, near the Dr. Phillips Center.

The project includes restriping the roadway and adding on-street parking on both sides of the street. Commissioner Shan Rose said the changes were prompted in part by concerns from downtown businesses.

“We heard from a lot of the businesses downtown that there was an opportunity,” Rose said. “They were losing customers because an Uber driver would come in, park and get a $27 ticket while picking someone up or stopping at a business.”

[WATCH: Downtown Orlando drivers concerned over proposed two-way street conversions]

LYMMO buses will travel with regular traffic instead of using a dedicated lane. Rose said city officials studied the change and do not expect it to affect travel times or the frequency of service.

The project is intended to create a safer, more welcoming downtown while supporting small businesses, Rose said.

“This is our commitment at the city of Orlando to improving our downtown and supporting our small businesses,” he said.

The first phase is expected to be completed in October. The second phase will begin immediately afterward and will include additional lighting, as well as plans for on-street festivals and other events along Magnolia Avenue.

The second phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

But why the monikers each year? Or at all?

Humans have given names to the world around them for almost as long as language itself has existed, but formal naming practices for storms and other events of national and international importance are a relatively new phenomenon. Names of military operations (“Operation Epic Fury”), hurricanes (Hugo, Andrew, Katrina, etc.), diseases (COVID-19) and even companies need to serve purposes other than just differentiation. They need to tell stories.

“Look around in your home. Who or what has a name? Your family members, your pets. You may even have named certain objects of significance,” says Shannon Murphy, CEO of Nameistry, a firm that helps companies and entrepreneurs develop their brand identities. “If it’s got a name, it has meaning in some way, and it’s going to come up in conversation or other types of communication.”

The World Meteorological Organization, which manages the naming of tropical storms worldwide, says assigning a moniker is “proven to be the fastest way to communicate warnings and raise public awareness and preparedness,” as well as limit confusion when more than one cyclone is moving through. They can also help with research and record-keeping.

Tropical storms the world over are named on a set of pre-agreed alphabetical lists decided by five tropical cyclone regional bodies. Some of these are cyclical, returning to the same lists every few years, starting at "A" with the first storm of the given year; others start a new list every year. Those covering the Atlantic region skip names beginning with Q, U, X, Y and Z because examples are difficult to find.

Until 1979, the United States used only female names, but now it alternates. For example, Amanda’s successor in the Eastern North Pacific storm region is Boris, and residents of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic region have already seen Arthur and Bertha.

Military operation names have evolved (thanks to Churchill)

While storm names are designed to be memorable and simple, they are not necessarily trying to elicit feelings. Neither were military operation names, which functioned to maintain secrecy and to differentiate one from another until British Prime Minister Winston Churchill changed the nomenclature to suit the broader aims of the allies in World War II.

“In the Second World War, names such as Overlord, Torch or Husky were planning code-names,” says Ruben Stewart, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Churchill’s intervention in the naming of Operation Overlord,” Stewart said, referring to the Allied push that began with D-Day, “reflected a broader wartime realization that operation names mattered.”

In a 1943 memo to his wartime chief of staff discussing code words to be used during World War II, Churchill argued operation names should not imply a “boastful and overconfident sentiment” or be “frivolous.”

The prime minister added that effort should be made to identify names that “do not suggest the character of the operation or disparage it in any way and do not enable some widow or mother to say that her son was killed in an operation called ‘Bunnyhug’ or ‘Ballyhoo.’”

Subsequent conflicts morphed naming practices, with the U.S. military choosing two-word operation names and the United Kingdom sticking with one. Today, British military code names are automatically generated, but U.S. military operations remain evocative. This means joint operations can end up with different names: The military response to the 1991 Gulf War was famously dubbed “Operation Desert Storm” by the U.S. military, while the British opted for “Operation Granby."

Stewart says the post-Korea/Vietnam and post-Panama periods mattered for setting the tone in U.S. military monikers, with Operation Killer during the Korean War in 1951 causing “obvious public-affairs problems,” while the U.S. invasion of Panama being “Operation Just Cause” showed how an operation name could be "deliberately framed for legitimacy,” he said.

Recent years have brought more colorful monikers

When the U.S. war with Iran began in February, it was dubbed Operation Epic Fury, a name President Donald Trump said he selected from a list of 20. Some have criticized the rise of more bombastic names, including immigration raids titled Catahoula Crunch in Louisiana and Operation Dirtbag in Florida — and the naming of detention facilities like Florida's “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“A name can signal purpose, reassure domestic audiences, sustain coalition legitimacy, deter adversaries and give service personnel a shorthand identity for what they are doing,” Stewart says. “The best names are clear, sober, memorable, culturally safe and politically defensible.”

Getting a name's feel or connotation wrong can have huge consequences, despite it being only a sliver of an operation. The U.S. war on terror after 9/11 was originally Operation Infinite Justice, but it was changed to Operation Enduring Freedom after concerns that U.S. allies in the Middle East would be offended. Muslims believe only God can deliver the concept of infinite justice.

Not all names are designed to last. Twice in the last 25 years, the Atlantic weather region exhausted all the names on its annual list and had to resort to using the Greek alphabet to name storms. Now, Berg says, a supplementary list of names sits at the ready.

In the case of a particularly devastating storm, either by death toll or damage, names can be retired and replaced with new ones. Consideration is given to clarity.

“There have been names that are hard to pronounce, and I think people try to refrain from using those because we want them to roll off the tongue pretty easily,” said Robbie Berg, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

The practice of naming major events is continually evolving

Infamous storms with retired names include Sandy, which struck Jamaica, Cuba and the east coast of the United States in 2012, killing 182 people; and Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, killing nearly 1,400. Both caused widespread property devastation. The names won't surface again; they were replaced by Katia and Sara.

Practices also change over time. Historically, diseases and medical conditions were often named after the people who identified them or places they were identified — think of Alzheimer's disease or Ebola — but the World Health Organization now advises against this practice.

“There is a deliberate move away from terms like ‘swine flu’ or ‘Spanish flu,’ which underscores how powerful a name and its associations can be,” Murphy said. “Once it sticks, it’s hard to unstick it.”

There is scant research into the exact impacts of naming. Andrew Charlton-Perez, a meteorologist and head of the School of Mathematical, Physical & Computational Sciences at the University of Reading, called for more studies in the field as the climate brings more frequent and extreme weather events.

“As our climate becomes more extreme,” he said, “there is always the need to think about how to better communicate to avoid harm.”

One possible alternative: crowdsourcing. In Britain and Ireland, people can submit ideas for storm names and try their hand. They might get lucky — depending on which way the wind blows.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier abruptly ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise just before it began Monday. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

South Korea's military said the Ulchi Freedom Shield, a command post exercise with the U.S., ended on Friday.

This month's exercise was initially reportedly scheduled to be held in two phases for 11 days in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to the second phase.

South Korea and the U.S. had also planned to hold 14 joint field training exercises during the Ulchi Freedom Shield period. But they've agreed to halve them as well, according to South Korea's military.

North Korea shrugs off Trump's outreach

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, brushed aside Trump’s overture on Wednesday, saying that reducing the duration and size of the drills won't change their “provocative, aggressive nature.”

The next day, North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently following through with its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

The U.S. Pacific Command said the events didn't pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or its allies. The command said the U.S. remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and its allies in the region.

Kim Yo Jong's statement dampened hopes for an early resumption of talks between Trump and Kim Jong Un, whose earlier nuclear diplomacy collapsed in 2019. Kim Jong Un has used the diplomatic stalemate to increase his leverage by modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals and aligning with Russia over its war against Ukraine. Kim Jong Un suggested last year that he won't return to talks unless the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy.

Kim Yo Jong still used relatively measured language, avoided typical harsh North Korean rhetoric and touched upon what she called an “excellent” relationship between her brother and Trump. This suggests North Korea doesn't want to completely shut the door for future talks and may seek to win bigger U.S. concessions, such as international recognition as a nuclear state and broad sanctions relief.

More nuclear weapons, Russia ties give North Korea greater leverage

With its supply of ammunition and troops to Russia, North Korea is likely receiving economic and military assistance in return, and its expanding ties with Russia provides it with leverage to ask for greater support from China, its biggest trading partner.

“After this strategic play has run its course, Kim may seek further economic and reputational benefits from Washington,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “But that will probably be after the U.S. midterm elections when Trump is expected to be in a weaker domestic political position and in search of headline-grabbing foreign policies.”

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that Kim Yo Jong's statement showed North Korea's position that a personal relationship between her brother and Trump “can't be a factor that moves current North Korean-U.S. relations.” He said Kim Yo Jong likely aimed to head off speculation that Trump's move can restore diplomacy so as not to fully take the blame when it doesn't happen.

Kim Yo Jong denied Trump’s claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation. When asked by reporters Wednesday if he would be meeting with Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said that “Yeah, I will be.”

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the main military exercises conducted by the U.S. and South Korea annually to enhance their ability to cope with potential North Korean aggression. Its downsizing has caused worries about joint U.S.-South Korean readiness.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued the order on Tuesday, which suspends Caruso from his position effective immediately.

Per that order, 67-year-old Caruso is accused of sexually abusing a child, who is less than 12 years old and lives in Orange County with the rest of his family.

“During the period charged, Caruso enjoyed regular and unsupervised access to (the) victim by virtue of his position as a family member, including periods alone with the child in Orange County, in Palm Beach County, and aboard a family vacation in August 2025,” the order reads.

Investigators said that in October, the victim’s father learned from the boy that Caruso had showered and performed apparent sexual acts with him during a family cruise in August 2025.

“During the voyage, while in international waters, Caruso separated the victim from his parents under the stated pretext of taking the child to obtain ice cream,” the investigative report states. “Victim was away from his parents in Caruso’s company for at least an hour and was not taken to get ice cream.”

The victim later identified to law enforcement another occasion around Thanksgiving 2024 where Caruso had abused him, the report says.

By December, Caruso was confronted about the allegations, though he denied sexually abusing the boy. Instead, he asked whether his former spouse had interacted with the child, characterizing her as “evil” and having potentially made up the allegations “in an effort to poison the child against him,” investigators said.

Another conversation about what happened cropped up in February 2026, this time recorded at the request of law enforcement, the report says.

“Caruso asserted that the allegations were impossible because, in substance, sexual deviation is directed toward only one sex rather than two, and because he is attracted to women, he could not be a sex offender,” the report continues. “Caruso further stated, in substance: ‘If you report this to the authorities, there won’t be any of me left, I can tell you that.’”

Furthermore, the report claims that Caruso’s daughter had made previous accusations against him of “sexually inappropriate behavior,” including sexual battery.

As a result of the allegations, Caruso was arrested and now faces the following charges:

• Kidnapping
• Lewd or lascivious molestation
• Lewd or lascivious exhibition
• Luring or enticing a child
• Child abuse (mental injury)

Caruso is held in Palm Beach County, though he is expected to be transported to Orange County.

The BackBlack initiative has directed more than $12 million toward Black-led nonprofits over the past three years, according to founder Floyd Jones. A GivingTuesday -style campaign that runs in August, the appeal invites online donation platforms to center typically underfunded, Black-led nonprofits. Last year's efforts drew more than 130,000 unique donors, according to Jones, with the majority of their gifts falling under $100.

This year, for the first time, organizers are also leveraging content creators to reach a new audience: Black Gen Zers. The goal is to show that philanthropy belongs to them, too — not just the historically wealthier and predominantly white charitable institutions that tend to dominate narratives about philanthropy.

“Our people have always taken care of our people," Jones said. “I want people to feel empowered.”

The campaign could bring a boost for smaller, Black-led organizations that, according to research released earlier this year, saw no significant changes to their funding after the racial reckoning of 2020. Only a subset of larger nonprofits got temporary increases in the years that followed, according to an analysis by Candid and ABFE.

BackBlack aims to flip that narrative from one of “deficit” to one of abundance. Jones is heartened by the example of Madam C.J. Walker, a Black beauty entrepreneur widely considered America's first female self-made millionaire. She supported Black educational efforts such as Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and African American branches of the YMCA. She also contributed to the NAACP 's anti-lynching fund shortly before her death in 1919.

Jones doesn't care if today's donors have millions in their bank accounts, though. “It's about doing your best,” he said.

One of BackBlack's partnering creators pointed to the Free African Society. The nondenominational Philadelphia group, founded in 1787 by Black leaders Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, was one of the country's first mutual aid organizations.

“We've always had to pool our money and resources to help each other," said Ernest Crim III, a former schoolteacher who posts Black history videos for his 118,000 Instagram followers.

But, he added, allies must also pitch in — especially in communities that “might not have the sustainable market or income to consistently give.”

Crim is asking followers to support Black nonprofits that work on issues of youth employment. Other participating pages are focused on nonprofits providing sports access, improving health outcomes and ensuring civil rights.

Matching up to $6,000 in donations is For Good, a charitable giving platform that helps move money from more than 20,000 donor-advised funds to over a million nonprofits filtered by ZIP code. GivingTuesday manages BackBlack's data, Jones said. Other partners include online fundraising platforms GiveButter, Every.org, Bonterra and Fundraise Up.

For Good provides back end infrastructure for consumer-based campaigns including YouTube's fundraising pages and Patagonia's point-of-sale donations. The creator-driven donation strategy stemmed from the platform’s success with YouTubers who launch fundraisers for the issues they discuss in their videos.

Grassroots fundraisers face competing headwinds, according to For Good interim president Tamara Mahal. The concentration of wealth has increased the share of high net worth individuals in the donor pool. But, she said, there are more ways than ever to give locally from the bottom up.

She welcomes the BackBlack campaign's efforts to include more small-dollar givers so that nonprofits aren't overly beholden to any one individual benefactor.

“The cause is important in and of itself. Find a nonprofit that’s doing work in your community," she said. “And that will actually help us to diversify.”

Kaci Patterson is the founder of Social Good Solutions, a social impact consulting firm that works with funders to build support for Black-led organizations outside of “trend funding.” She finds that Black Philanthropy Month, celebrated in August, is a reminder that philanthropy is more than just “institutional” giving “held within the walls of wealth and power.”

It was fish fries and chicken dinners, she noted, that funded alternative transportation systems during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Growing up, her own family received groceries from their community during times of hardship.

“That was philanthropy. That was someone else looking at us and investing in us and wanting us to be whole and wanting us to be well," she said. “We've always had this kind of ‘we got us’ philanthropy. Let’s step into that role more confidently."

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The crash occurred before 1 a.m. near mile marker 71, at Central Florida Parkway in Orlando.

According to FHP, a 2023 U-Haul was stopped in the center outside lane of I-4 eastbound for unknown reasons when a 2023 pump truck, also traveling in the center outside lane, approached from behind. The pump truck driver swerved left in an attempt to avoid the U-Haul but was unable to stop in time due to the vehicle’s weight.

The front right of the pump truck struck the rear left of the U-Haul, causing the pump truck to overturn onto its left side.

The driver of the U-Haul, a 75-year-old woman from Miami, was transported to the hospital, where a Baker Act was initiated for further evaluation. The pump truck driver, a 26-year-old man from Lakeland, was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

All lanes have reopened.

The crash is still under investigation.

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

Below is a lineup of what to expect.

Haunted houses

Cybergoria

Tagline: “Immortality Comes at a Cost”

Synopsis: Thousands of years in the future, a haunted house holds a chilling secret: the machines running it have one singular goal — to keep you alive forever, no matter the cost.

Evil Dead Burn

Tagline: “Fan the Flames of Evil”

Synopsis: An infernal force has taken hold of a family home, and it’s hungry for its next victim. Dodge Deadites hell-bent on bloodshed in this haunted house based on the new film, “Evil Dead Burn”.

Hellraiser

Tagline: “Raise Some Hell”

Synopsis: Nearly 40 years after its cinematic debut, the iconic “Hellraiser” franchise makes its Halloween Horror Nights debut with its first-ever themed haunted house. Inspired by the original trilogy, guests enter a realm of pure pain, where Pinhead and his tormented Cenobites exact their hellish pleasures on all who dare cross their path.

H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!

Tagline: “Big Screams on the Small Screen”

Synopsis: The maître d’ macabre is back. WKNB’s beloved host returns for a special Halloween scare-athon, bringing with him a haunted house full of ghouls, gore and enough frights to keep audiences coming back for more.

INVASION: Alien Abduction

Tagline: “Extraterrestrial. And Extra Terrifying”

Synopsis: Visitors come face to face with horrors from worlds unknown in this haunted house, where a crew of Gray aliens has descended upon a remote homestead — and they’re not leaving without fresh test subjects.

Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control

Tagline: “The Forces of Horror Collide”

Synopsis: Horror icons aren’t born — they’re made. The unholy origins of Jack the Clown come to light as he enters Dr. Oddfellow’s universe, where chaos and control collide in a showdown decades in the making.

the circus is in town 😈

see Jack and Dr. Oddfellow’s new looks coming to Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights 35. pic.twitter.com/SYaus7WOjH

— Halloween Horror Nights (@HorrorNightsORL) August 17, 2026

MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals

Tagline: “You’re at the Bottom of the Food Chain”

Synopsis: The animals may be gone, but the danger isn’t. Visitors must fight to survive a crumbling, abandoned zoo that has fallen into the hands of deadly, warring cannibal factions.

Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness

Tagline: “Let the Madness Begin”

Synopsis: You’re in Ozzy’s world now. Bow at the throne of the Prince of Darkness in this haunted house inspired by the twisted mind of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest legends.

Sinners

Tagline: “You’re in for One Bluesy Bloodbath”

Synopsis: Opening night at the Smokestack Twins’ juke joint takes a terrifying turn when a hive mind of bloodthirsty vampires crashes the party. The immersive haunted house experience, inspired by the film “Sinners”, transforms a night of blues music into a blood-soaked battle for survival.

Stranger Things 5

Tagline: “The Final Chapter”

Synopsis: Join the Hawkins gang for one last adventure. Survive an army of Demogorgons, face the Mind Flayer, and defeat Vecna once and for all in this haunted house experience inspired by the final season of “Stranger Things”.

Scare zones & street experiences

Club Horror

Tagline: “Party Like Your Life Depends on It”

Synopsis: The streets of San Francisco have been transformed into Club Horror,
where the DJ is undead but the vibe is alive and well.

Downtown Clowntown

Tagline: “There’s the Wrong Side of Town… Then There’s Clowntown"

Synopsis: The city that never sleeps becomes a waking nightmare when its boroughs are overrun by murderous clownsfolk who can’t wait to tear you limb from limb. Welcome to the neighborhood! The scare zone features some of the most infamous clowns in Horror Nights history: Art the Clown and Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Fortnitemares

Tagline: “The Storm Is Coming”

Synopsis: Drop from the Battle Bus into the chaos of FORTNITEMARES. The Storm is spreading through this scare zone, bringing new horrors with it.

Infernal Carnival of Nightmares

Tagline: “Let the Nightmares Begin”

Synopsis: Jack and Dr. Oddfellow invite you to step right up and see what horrors hide in every shadow at a sinister spectacle decades in the making.

Mel’s Die-In: Zombies

Tagline: “Shake, Rattle and R.I.P.”

Synopsis: Zombie carhops have swarmed Mel’s Die-In, and they aren’t just here for the burgers.

Sideshow of Decay

Tagline: “The Past Will Haunt You”

Synopsis: In the carnival junkyard, Cindy Caine has opened a portal where decayed nightmares from Halloween Horror Nights past are back to haunt you.

Shows

A Rockin’ Stranger Things Rewind

Synopsis: The music. The monsters. The memories. In this show, tune in to a special WSQK broadcast and relive five epic seasons of “Stranger Things”.

A New Nightmare Begins

Synopsis: Embark on a dark musical journey and resist temptation as death-defying stunts lure you deeper into a vampire-ridden metropolis.

Feed your fear

Universal Orlando Resort is once again delivering its signature highly themed food and drink experience for Halloween Horror Nights.

This year’s lineup includes devilishly creative sips like the Hopper’s Recharger, Cenobite’s Kiss, Slide Guitar Smash, Black Rain and Frostbite cocktails.

On the food side, guests can sink their teeth into El’s Battery Jerky, Pleasure and Pain Brain, Annie’s Juke Joint Catfish & Grits, Lasagna Burn, Torn to Shreds Pork Sandwich, Birria Pizza Fries, Meat Grinder Red Velvet, and the Rigatoni Titual Pie.

Save room for The Prince of Darkness Cake — if you dare.

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Ticket options

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)
  • Halloween Horror Nights Scream Early Ticket
  • Halloween Horror Nights Rush of Fear Pass
  • Halloween Horror Nights Frequent Fear Pass
  • Halloween Horror Nights Frequent Fear Plus Pass
  • Halloween Horror Nights Ultimate Frequent Fear Pass

Tickets for a limited-capacity event, Halloween Horror Nights Premium Scare Night, are also on sale for Monday, Oct. 19.

For ticket information, click here.

The fires are concentrated on Borneo, the world’s third-largest island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia occupies about three-quarters of the island, where more than 5,000 hot spots were recorded by the country's Forestry Ministry.

The blazes have blanketed parts of Kalimantan in choking haze, reducing visibility to just 1 meter to 10 meters (yards) in some areas, according to local media reports. The smoke has contributed to traffic accidents and delayed several flights.

Television footage showed roads, buildings and public facilities obscured by smoke, with motorists forced to drive with headlights on during daylight hours. Residents, including schoolchildren, were seen wearing masks while walking outside.

An intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season have fueled the fires, generating dense smoke that crossed into Malaysia, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency.

Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak has been among the hardest hit. One district recorded “very unhealthy” air quality Friday, while eight others posted unhealthy readings, prompting the closure of nearly 600 schools and affecting about 200,000 students, the Sarawak government said.

On Borneo, Central Kalimantan Police Chief Iwan Kurniawan said investigators have detained 12 suspects linked to alleged arson and illegal land clearing in the past week.

“Every forest and land fire incident in Central Kalimantan is investigated,” Kurniawan said, adding that authorities were working to determine the causes of the fires and identify those responsible.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, who visited fire-hit areas near the provincial capital of Palangka Raya on Wednesday, vowed strict action against offenders.

“Whoever they are, big or small, without exception, anyone who destroys nature and forests will face strict legal action,” Antoni said.

Social media was flooded with complaints from residents describing breathing difficulties and fears of illness.

In total, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry detected 11,908 hot spots nationwide in the previous 24 hours, up from 6,352 a day earlier.

Forest-monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas said about 182,000 hectares (450,000 acres) burned in July alone, nearly double the area scorched during the first half of the year. The total area burned this year has reached about 285,000 hectares (704,000 acres).

Indonesia regularly experiences transboundary haze during severe fire seasons, particularly when peatlands on Sumatra and Kalimantan burn. Authorities say fires are often started illegally to clear land for plantations or agriculture, periodically blanketing parts of Southeast Asia in hazardous smoke.

___

Associated Press writers Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Evgenia Pamer says she, her husband and their 5-year-old son were walking near Lake Baldwin Wednesday evening when the weather suddenly changed.

“It sounded like an explosion,” Pamer said.

The family had started their walk while watching a beautiful sunset. Moments later, they heard what sounded like a tree cracking and saw sparks on the ground.

Pamer says the lightning struck no more than 20 feet away.

“My hair was all standing up. I could feel the static. I tasted iron, blood in my mouth,” she said.

Pamer says her husband experienced similar symptoms. He has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, because of a previous heart condition.

After the family reached a safe location, Pamer says her husband began feeling dizzy and nearly fainted. She says she experienced ear pain, shaking, nausea and a severe headache.

“I just didn’t feel like myself,” she said.

All three family members went to the hospital, where they had their heart rates checked. Pamer says she and her son were fine, but doctors kept a closer watch on her husband after tests showed heightened heart activity.

Pamer says the experience has left her traumatized and urges others to take storms seriously.

“Anything you do, make sure you have a plan. Have a plan A, plan B. If it rains, this is what I’m going to do. If it storms, this is what I’m going to do,” she said.

The National Weather Service advises people to move indoors when they hear thunder and never use trees as shelter.

When thunder roars, head indoors.

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

[RELATED: Best spots to watch a rocket launch]

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

I repeat: All launch dates and times are tentative!

• Date: Aug. 21
• Vehicle: Falcon 9
• Mission: Starlink
• Launch Time: 11:14 a.m. to 2:57 p.m.
• Location: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

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

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

• Date: TBD
• Vehicle: ULA Atlas V
• Mission: TBD
• Launch Time: TBD
• Location: Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

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

The crash happened near Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, approximately 450 miles (725 kilometers) west of Anchorage, Alaska.

“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said in a statement.

The radar site is managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center. It’s part of a network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders, the statement from Alaskan Command said.

The statement did not provide details on the specific work the individuals were doing. It referred to the plane involved as a “civilian-contracted aircraft.”

Davis described those on board as “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment. Our absolute priority right now is providing unwavering support to their families, friends and teammates during this devastating time. We are profoundly grateful for the swift and tireless response of our search and recovery professionals.”

Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief, said earlier Thursday evening that two pilots and six passengers were on board.

The plane, a Cessna 441, had taken off from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was headed to Cape Newenham, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The crash happened about 12:15 p.m. Thursday west of Cape Newenham.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska posted online that the flight was operated by Security Aviation, an airplane charter company based in Anchorage.

An email was sent to the company Friday morning seeking comment.

“I join Alaskans in offering condolences as we learn of the plane crash in Cape Newenham,” Murkowski posted Thursday night. “I’ve traveled extensively with Security Aviation throughout Alaska, and have met many of their experienced pilots. I appreciate the U.S. Coast Guard, NTSB, Alaska State Troopers, and the Rescue Coordination Center for responding to the site. Alaska is praying for those on board, their loved ones, and the team at Security Aviation.”

FRIDAY

Rain chances range from 30% to 50%, with storms developing this afternoon as the east coast sea breeze moves inland.

It will remain hot and humid, with highs in the low to mid-90s and heat index values between 102 and 107 degrees.

WEEKEND

The pattern changes little Saturday and Sunday, with another 30% to 50% chance of afternoon storms each day. Lightning, gusty winds and heavy downpours will remain the main concerns, with a few stronger storms possible.

Highs will stay in the low 90s, while heat index values again climb into the 102 to 107 degree range.

Geis’ remains were found by a team made up of local volunteers, according to Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. The expedition was Geis’ first attempt to climb an 8,000-meter (26,247-foot) peak in Pakistan.

Geis, 39, lived in San Antonio, Texas. She announced on social media earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to take “a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”

Her family remembered her in a statement earlier this month as “a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends.”

The recovery ended a search that began on July 31 after the expedition, led by renowned climber Nirmal Purja, was swept away by an avalanche on Broad Peak.

Purja, a Nepal-born former British Army soldier widely known as Nims Dai, climbed the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, an achievement featured in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” His record was broken in 2023.

Accidents are common on climbing expeditions in northern Pakistan because of avalanches, falling ice and rock, high altitude and rapidly changing weather.

And for years, we’ve spent money to save ourselves time.

We pay someone to cut our hair, mow the lawn, wash the car, clean the house, fix what’s broken, or bring dinner to the front door. But what happens when saving time gets too expensive?

It’s no secret that the things we buy cost more than they used to, but so does paying someone else to do things for us. Which raises a Dollars & Sense question: when did someone else’s labor become a luxury purchase? Because when the price of convenience gets too high, there’s another option.

You make do.

Cut your own grass. Wash your own car. Cook your own dinner. Maybe even watch a YouTube video and attempt that repair yourself.

You’ll save money, but how much and what will it cost you in time?

What does convenience cost?

Consider what could be called the “convenience basket” – services an ordinary household might outsource over the course of a year:

• Lawn care
• House cleaning
• Car washing
• Holiday decorating
• Meal delivery
• Grocery delivery
• Wash-and-fold laundry

Each is a job you could do yourself. Paying someone else to do it is, in part, paying to get some of your time back.

And those purchases of time can add up.

A $50 lawn service twice a month costs $1,200 over a year. A $150 house cleaning twice a month costs another $3,600. Spend $20 twice a month washing the car and that’s another $480. Those three services alone would total more than $5,000 a year.

Of course, those figures are examples rather than universal prices – the actual cost will depend on where you live, the size of your home or lawn, the service you choose, and how often you use it.

But eliminating the service doesn’t eliminate the job because someone still has to do it.

Are Americans doing more themselves?

There is some evidence that Americans are spending more time doing household work – although the trend isn’t the same for every chore.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey found that 80.9% of Americans age 15 and older performed some type of household activity on an average day in 2025. Across the entire population, Americans spent an average of one hour and 59 minutes a day on household activities.

Food preparation and cleanup stand out

In 2005, 52.2% of Americans prepared food for themselves on an average day. By 2025, that had increased to 65.2%.

Americans also spent more time doing it: the average across the entire population increased from about 31 minutes a day in 2005 to about 43 minutes in 2025.

But the same shift hasn’t happened with every job.

The percentage of Americans doing housework on an average day was 36.9% in 2005 and 36.1% in 2025. Lawn and garden care was similarly steady – 10.3% in 2005 compared with 10% in 2025.

In other words, saving money isn’t necessarily enough to convince us to take every job back.

Would you hire yourself?

This is where the math gets interesting.

Suppose paying someone to wash your car costs $20. You can do it yourself using about $5 worth of supplies. That’s $15 saved. But suppose washing the car yourself takes an hour. That’s effectively a $15 return on the hour you spent doing the job yourself.

Was it worth it? Change the numbers and the answer might change, too.

• Saving $50 by spending an hour mowing the lawn is effectively a $50 hourly return on your time.
• Spending three hours on a job to save $30 works out to just $10 an hour.

You can make the same calculation before taking almost any household job back:

• Amount saved ÷ time required = your effective hourly return

It’s not a perfect economic calculation because you might enjoy mowing the lawn or hate cleaning the house. Some jobs require equipment you don’t own, while others require expertise that makes hiring a professional the safer choice.

And an hour of free time doesn’t have a universal dollar value.

That’s the point.

The do-it-yourself Economy isn’t simply about figuring out what you can do yourself. It’s about deciding whether you’d rather spend your money or spend your time.

Because sometimes the cheapest person you can hire is yourself.

Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, in an interview this week with The Associated Press, directed his question to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the main architect of the Trump administration’s Cuba policy:

“What are you afraid of? If you are so convinced that the Cuban government is an incompetent government, why do you need to implement almost every two weeks new sanctions?”

The U.S. State Department responded to a request for comment with a quote from Rubio saying new sanctions will continue to be announced every couple of weeks to close off “escape valves that they're trying to create in every mechanism.”

Then on Thursday, the U.S. imposed more economic penalties on Cuban industries, targeting state-owned mining, metal and construction companies.

Cuba has been pushed to the brink by an oil blockade imposed by the United States in January on top of a decades-old embargo, coupled with the escalating sanctions. The moves by President Donald Trump's administration, meant to put pressure on the government by depriving it of funding, have worsened already debilitating blackouts, cut workers off from public transport, crippled infrastructure and deepened shortages in medicine and food in the Caribbean island nation.

Guzmán said the sanctions are the main obstacle to Cuba opening up its economy. He said the impact of the U.S. measures — specifically the shortage of electricity and lack of fuel to run a business or travel — has turned off investors and tourists, a major source of Cuba’s income.

Some companies have pulled out of Cuba, including the Spanish hotel chain Meliá, which relied on tourist revenue and cited “significant operational, legal, economic and financial difficulties" in explaining its decision to leave.

”Literally, the United States has done everything imaginable to try to prevent foreign investors," said William LeoGrande, a professor at American University and a leading expert on U.S.-Cuba relations. ”When they say, `Well, we want to see Cuba open up to foreign investment,’ they’re being disingenuous. ... It's not possible for them to succeed without some kind of sanctions relief.”

The goal of Trump's Republican administration, he said, is "not just to open up Cuba economically but to overthrow the Cuban government — to change the nature of the Cuban political system.”

Cuba announces major economic shift

John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said Cuba had to make changes when it lost its economic lifeline with the U.S. ouster in January of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“The result is the Cuban government in the last eight months made more commercial, economic and financial changes to the country than they have as a group since the revolution,” he said.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration keeps ratcheting up sanctions, putting more pressure on Cuba, which is responding by making more changes, Kavulich said.

“But from our standpoint, there are two parts missing: One is Cuba implementing by regulation everything that it’s announced, and secondly, the Trump administration allowing U.S. companies to have more access to the Cuban marketplace while these changes are underway,” he said.

The changes announced by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in June aim to significantly shift Cuba’s economy and industry, which have been strictly controlled by the socialist government since the 1959 revolution.

They include more space for private businesses, imports and exports without the state as an intermediary, free hiring of personnel, authorization for private banks, investment by Cubans abroad and opportunities for fast-food chains to establish themselves on the island.

Guzmán said there are opportunities for investments in real estate, solar farms and energy to help ease the country’s electricity shortage, as well as in marinas and the tourism industry.

Christopher Hernandez-Roy, acting director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recalled that the last economic opening under President Barack Obama's Democratic administration “was later throttled by the Cubans themselves, who feared that the opening went too far and appeared to threaten political control.”

Today, he said, it appears the Cubans really do want economic reforms and outside investment. Díaz-Canel’s economic reforms are not impossible, but U.S. sanctions “significantly constrain their prospects for success," Hernandez-Roy said.

He noted the irony that U.S. pressure ”is helping push the Cubans toward greater economic liberalization out of necessity, while simultaneously limiting the resources and access necessary for those reforms to actually improve the economy.”

Rubio says Cuba's leaders ‘don’t know what they're doing'

In late June, after the reforms were announced, the U.S. slapped sanctions on five state companies, three linked to a business conglomerate run by Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces. Best known as GAESA, it is believed to command nearly 40% of Cuba's gross domestic product.

Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida whose parents were born in Cuba, did not appear to be impressed by the newly announced economic changes. He last month called Cuba “a failed state” with “a bad economic model.” He said Cuba’s leaders “don’t know what they’re doing” and “don’t know how to fix their economy.”

“I think the challenge that Cuba has faced for the last 15 years is they want to somewhat improve their economy, but they’re afraid that if they improve it too much they’ll lose political control over people,” he said.

The United States is prepared “to do what we can do to effectuate a positive change in Cuba because it directly impacts our national security” since it is only 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the U.S. mainland, Rubio said. “And we want Cuba to be prosperous. We want Cuba to be free.”

The Cuban ambassador said implementing the economic changes would be far easier without the sanctions, if American companies were involved in Cuba and if trade between the two countries was possible.

He said the good news is that talks are taking place between the United States and Cuba. He declined to give details of what he called “very sensitive conversations.”

“But the point here is that even when Cuba is changing a lot," Guzmán said, “the U.S. government keeps the same policy of aggression towards the Cuban people.”

___

Follow the AP's coverage of Cuba at https://apnews.com/hub/cuba.

“The Disappearers,” Marlon James

Marlon James’ fantasy series “Dark Star” was a showcase for his extraordinary and boundless imagination. In “The Disappearers,” he returns to his native Jamaica and to the murderous reality of his Booker Prize-winning “A Brief History of Seven Killings.” The new novel, longlisted for the Booker, is framed around the horrifying beating in 1988 of eight gay men who had been rehearsing for a play. James weaves together humor, popular culture, compassion and some very hard experience. “I refuse to believe there is any lesson to be learned from suffering an atrocity,” James writes, “other than always be on guard for the ways people turn on you.” (Sept. 1)

“American Scoundrel,” Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark

Kai Bird is best known as the co-author with Martin J. Sherwin of “American Prometheus,” the biography of nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer that became the basis for Christopher Nolan’s Oscar winner “Oppenheimer.” In “American Scoundrel,” he and Susan Goldmark (his wife) trace the influence of the late political operator Roy Cohn, from his early years as the top aide to Sen. Joseph McCarthy to his mentorship of a young Donald Trump. “American Scoundrel” draws upon government documents, archival material and dozens of interviews, including, to the authors’ surprise, Trump, who “answered our cold calls on his personal cell on several occasions,” Bird writes in the acknowledgments section. Trump was “gracious, if not exactly forthcoming about his memories” and declined to meet in person, because, he told them, “I’m the president. I’m very busy. I have China calling. I have Russia calling. I cannot do it.” (Sept. 1)

“Switzy,” Emma Cline

Emma Cline has well established her mastery of inhabiting the alienated mind, of dramatizing youthful transience, aspiration and deception, most famously in her celebrated debut, “The Girls.” In “Switzy,” longlisted for the Booker Prize, Cline gives us a retired businessman with failing mental capacity, en route to an assisted dying facility in Zurich. Cline breaks up the story into brief, affectless passages as a once-“Valuable Person” reckons with his memories and concludes that “He had always stayed on the surface. His whole life.” (Sept. 8)

“Music Against the Night,” Yiyun Li

“Music Against the Night” is Yiyun Li's sixth novel, and first book since last year's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” her unsparing memoir about the suicides of her two sons. Li this time appears to have written a very different narrative — about a late 18th-century piano prodigy whose fame barely outlasted his lifetime and the orphaned wanderer-musician who makes the ill-fated decision to marry him. The novel is a story of music, but also a meditation on “the night,” death — parents, friends, children, everybody. “It is despair that one must not submit to,” Li writes late in the book, adding a dark, Shakespearean warning: “A child's death can never feel neutral to a parent; a child's death is a negation of time, which no longer has now and then, now and again, now and later, only now and now and now and now and now.” (Oct. 13)

“Promise Me, America,” former President Joe Biden

Memoirs are often presidents’ best chance to define their legacy, although readers and critics may have different priorities, whether Richard Nixon and Watergate or Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Joe Biden will understandably want to focus on his defeat of Donald Trump in 2020, the passage of landmark legislation on green energy and the appointment of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, among other achievements. But the public will likely be seeking answers to more unwanted questions, notably the state of Biden’s health while he was in the White House, the backstory to his disastrous debate against Trump and his decision soon after to call off his reelection campaign. (Nov. 17)

Former President Joe Biden’s “Promise Me, America” stands out not just as a White House memoir — presidential memoirs are events unto themselves — but as a rare high-profile political book over the next few months. Nonfiction sales have slumped in recent years and political books haven’t approached the peaks of President Donald Trump's first term.

“The energy in political books seems to be subdued. I think folks are just ranted out,” says Kristen McLean, an analyst and vice president for client insights at Circana, which tracks retail book sales.

“I think the (news) cycle is moving a bit too quickly for a lot of the very specific political books to catch on,” says Shannon DeVito, Barnes & Noble's senior director of books.

Michael Lewis' “Blockers,” a probe into Trump's second term through the eyes of government workers, may be the only new release to rival the impact of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's summer bestseller, “Regime Change.” This fall’s notable political offerings otherwise revisit the Biden years, from “Promise Me, America,” to former Middle East envoy Brett McGurk’s “Brink: Inside the Race to Free the Oct. 7 Hostages” to Akbar Shahid Ahmed’s study of Biden’s Gaza war policies, “Crossing the Red Line.”

Even Bob Woodward, who for decades released timely exposés of sitting presidents, is passing on current politics. In “Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir,” he reflects on presidents and White House sources dating back to the Nixon administration and the Watergate scandal that made him famous..

“Because he's going more into his own life, I expect he'll have a different and broader audience than for his other books,” DeVito says.

A feast of fiction

Novelists Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz, co-winners three years ago of the Pulitzer Prize, will share honors again as two of the featured authors in a busy season. Kingsolver's “Partita,” about a onetime musical prodigy drawn again to her past, is the first since “Demon Copperhead,” her Pulitzer-winning retelling of Charles Dickens' “David Copperfield.” Meanwhile, Diaz has followed his Pulitzer-winning “Trust” with the dystopian, Dickensian “Ply,” about a young thief in a chaotic future society.

Diaz says he met Kingsolver at the Pulitzer ceremony, where the two drank bourbon and bonded over literature and other common interests.

“I don't think literature is a race or a tennis tournament,” Diaz says. “I think the more good books that are out there, the richer the conversation becomes and the more readers are engaged.”

Fiction sales have been solid in 2026 and will likely remain high if only because the two most prominent romantasy authors, Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas, have new books coming. Maas is releasing “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” the sixth volume of “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” with the seventh installment scheduled for early next year. Yarros' “Threshing Day” compiles 13 stories featuring characters from her Empyrean series, and her stand-alone “Peculiar Stars” finds protagonist Callista Moran stranded on an island after a sailing accident and discovering unexpected sides to herself.

The new fiction list also features Nobel laureate Jon Fosse's latest, “Vaim Hotel,” and three contenders for the Booker Prize — Marlon James' “The Disappearers,” Emma Cline's “Switzy” and Rebecca Perry's “May We Feed the King.” The book most primed for gossip is Rachel Cusk's “Life of M,” a meta-novel about a movie star who may or may not be based on Natalie Portman. The season's longest-awaited novel is likely Chad Harbach's “The Brightness”: The parallel and intertwining lives of two close friends in their 20s is his first novel since his acclaimed 2011 debut, “The Art of Fielding.”

Min Jin Lee's “American Hagwon” is her first novel since 2017 and her celebrated “Pachinko.” Emily St. John Mandel's “Exit Party” is a story of futuristic breakdown from the author of the futuristic classic “Station Eleven.” Yiyun Li, Edwidge Danticat, Kate Atkinson, Deesha Philyaw, Diane Williams, Laleh Khadivi, R.F. Kuang and Norah Labiner also have fiction coming out.

Fans of Stephen King (and the late Peter Straub) can look forward to “Other Worlds Than These,” the final “Talisman” novel. Alice Hoffman launches a new series with “The Witches of Cambridge” and Brandon Sanderson has begun “Blightfall,” written with Janci Patterson. “The French Illusion” is John Grisham's latest thriller. S.A. Cosby's “Truth to Power” is a Marvel Crime novel featuring superhero/sleuth Luke Cage.

Celebrities share their stories

A trio of Oscar-winning superstars will tell their stories this fall: Sylvester Stallone's “The Steps,” its title a reference to the actor's iconic upward run in “Rocky”; Michael Douglas' “One Helluva Ride,” which the actor and producer has called a corrective to the blurry legends of fame; and Dustin Hoffman's “Look at Me,” promoted by publisher Simon Six as “an intimate memoir about art, ambition, family, friendship, love, aging, and the mysteries of a creative life.”

Gloria Steinem looks back on her early years in “An Unexpected Life” and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick reflects on his activism in “The Perilous Fight.” Chuck Lorre's “Sitcom” is a memoir from the creator behind “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.” Eric Dane’s “My Book of Days” comes out just months after the “Grey’s Anatomy” star died from ALS.

Poetry for all times

Ancient poetry seems new again thanks to Christopher Nolan's adaptation of “The Odyssey,” which has placed editions by Emily Wilson and the late Robert Fagles high on bestseller lists. Wilson has a new book out this fall, “Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea,” essays that cover everything from Greek tragedy to “slut-shaming” Helen of Troy to the “sly laughter” of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's “WAP.”

In “Cloud Runner,” former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo tries to express what she acknowledges may be inexpressible, the death three years ago of her daughter, Rainy Ortiz: “I have lost my girl./Some things do not belong in words,” Harjo writes. Jennifer Franklin channels the mind of James Joyce’s gifted, ill-fated daughter Lucia in the collection “A Fire in Her Brain.”

New work is also expected from Layli Long Soldier, Tina Chang, Patricia Lockwood, Dalia Taha, Avis Blackbird and Hieu Minh Nguyen. The anthology “Other Legacies” features tributes from Rae Armantrout, Edward Hirsch and other prizewinners to such lesser-known poets as Rachel Loden, Julia de Burgos and Stephen Jonas.

Making history

Another writer enriched by a Nolan movie — Kai Bird, co-author of “American Prometheus,” the biography adapted into “Oppenheimer” — has co-written “American Scoundrel,” the story of lawyer/political fixer/Trump mentor Roy Cohn. In “The Rush,” award winner Nathaniel Philbrick revisits the 19th century quest for gold. The acclaimed science writer James Gleick examines the evolution of communication in “The Telephone: A New History.”

Two books, Timothy W. Ryback's “53 Days” and Victor Sebestyen’s “Weimar Germany,” examine the fall of democracy in 1930s Germany, while other releases warning of contemporary threats include Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s “End Times Fascism” and Pulitzer winner Jill Lepore's “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.”

Public radio host Celeste Headlee's “Freedom’s Daughters” is one of many works this fall that center on race and racism. Grandmaster Flash has collaborated with Robert “Scoop” Jackson on a history of rap and hip-hop, “Birth of a Culture,” and Stephanie Phillips' music history “We Were Here” highlights artists from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Living Colour.

Pulitzer winner Alan Taylor’s “Tower Hill” offers a fresh look at the 1831 rebellion led by the enslaved Nat Turner. In “Renaissance Men,” Harriet A. Washington honors three groundbreaking and overlooked Black physicians in a narrative spanning the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, and resonating today.

Instead, the FHP trooper issued Fultz a civil traffic citation for exceeding the posted speed limit by 9 mph, records show.

“I’m not going to take you to jail, Fultz,” Trooper Joshua Provencher told the deputy, according to a video recording of the traffic stop obtained by News 6. “Obviously you and I are buddies. I’m not trying to show favoritism, either.”

Under Florida’s Dangerous Excessive Speeding Act – commonly known as the “Super Speeder” law – law enforcement can arrest motorists who drive 100 mph or more in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property.

First time offenders can face up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, which learned about the traffic stop while conducting an unrelated administrative investigation into Fultz, later interviewed the trooper and the deputy.

“Trooper Provencher was aware that Deputy Fultz’s speed, along with the traffic conditions which made his speed a danger to other drivers, met the statutory criminal requirements for the new ‘super speeder law’,” sheriff’s investigators wrote. “Deputy Fultz admitted the speeds at which he was traveling did violate the ‘super speeder’ law.”

Late Thursday, after this story had published, the Florida Highway Patrol announced that its Office of Professional Compliance was reviewing the matter.

Fultz, who was recognized as Brevard County’s Deputy of the Year during the sheriff’s annual award ceremony in late March, resigned from the agency two months later as Sheriff Wayne Ivey was poised to fire him for “egregious misconduct”, News 6 previously reported.

The FHP trooper was using speed detection radar on U.S. 192 near Melbourne on February 9 when he stopped Fultz, records show.

Cameras mounted on the FHP vehicle show a motorcycle passing the trooper in the opposite lane at a high rate of speed.

“He’s going to jail,” Provencher can be heard saying to himself as he made a U-turn and began following the motorcycle.

After the trooper activated his patrol car’s emergency lights and siren, the motorcycle pulled off the road.

“What on earth!” Provencher exclaimed as he stepped out of his vehicle and approached the motorcyclist. “111 (mph). And you were increasing. Tell me why I shouldn’t take you to jail?”

The man on the motorcycle apologized and indicated he had a driver license.

“Do I know you?” asked Provencher.

“Yeah. Fultz. Sheriff’s Office,” replied the biker.

“Dude! Bro! I didn’t recognize you!” the trooper said. “C’mon!”

Provencher returned to his patrol car and called an FHP sergeant, the video shows.

“I know this guy. He is a deputy,” the trooper said. “Just clocked him at 111 out here on 192. Any advice?”

The video recording did not capture the supervisor’s comments to the trooper.

“He was passing two other bikes. I clocked those bikes at 80-plus. They were ahead of other vehicles,” Provencher told the sergeant. “But there’s a fairly decent amount of traffic. He was not weaving. He wasn’t doing anything like that. He was in a straight line in the left lane.”

Provencher then expressed his desire not to arrest the deputy.

“If I can avoid the 10-15, I don’t want to ruin his job,” the trooper said to his supervisor.

10-15 is police terminology for “prisoner in custody”.

Besides speeding, records indicate Fultz did not have an endorsement on his driver license that is required to operate a motorcycle.

Law enforcement officers are authorized to tow and impound motorcycles when operators do not have proof of the endorsement, and violators can face up to 60 days in jail if convicted.

Provencher exited his patrol car and began speaking with Fultz again, the video shows.

“Man, you know you’re making my hands tied,” the trooper said. “I’m trying to figure out what to do because, you know, 111, it’s a horrible speed.”

Provencher informed Fultz he would not be arrested.

“I already spoke to my sergeant, and he’s giving me full leeway on it,” the trooper said. “He’s like, ‘It’s up to you.’”

Records show Provencher issued Fultz a traffic citation for driving 9 mph over the posted speed limit.

“I’m not going to make you go to court,” the trooper told Fultz.

Motorists cited for driving 30 mph or more above the speed limit are required to appear before a judge.

Although Fultz was cited for driving 74 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone, a narrative at the bottom of the ticket stated, “(vehicle) was clocked at 111”.

“If you weren’t doing 111 miles an hour, I wouldn’t write the damn ticket,” Provencher told Fultz. “But my hands are literally tied on me.”

Provencher did not cite Fultz for failing to have a motorcycle endorsement on his driver license, and there is no indication the trooper impounded the motorcycle.

Shortly before turning off his patrol car’s camera system, Provencher gave the deputy a warning.

“Slow it down,” the trooper said. “I don’t feel good about it.”

Fultz later paid the citation’s $155 fine and late fees, court records show.

The Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to questions from News 6 inquiring whether the state agency had conducted an internal review of the traffic stop.

FHP also did not address how it might respond to public concerns that the deputy may have received special treatment.

An investigator with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office met with the trooper in April while conducting an administrative review of Fultz.

Provencher told the investigator he knew Fultz only in a professional capacity and mentioned they were both present at a few vehicle crash scenes.

“Trooper Provencher stated he initially planned to give Deputy Fultz a verbal or written warning, as is his discretion,” a sheriff’s office report states.

But after deactivating his patrol car camera, Provencher claimed Fultz argued that he deserved a citation.

Fultz told the sheriff’s office investigator a similar story, records show, while admitting that he did not yet have his motorcycle endorsement at the time of the traffic stop.

The deputy also acknowledged FHP and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office had recently launched a campaign to curtail excessive and unlawful speeding, a report indicates.

“Slow down. Drive responsibly. And if you can’t, these gentlemen behind me are going to help you learn to drive responsibly,” Ivey said in a January Facebook post standing in front of several deputies and troopers as the agencies sought to reduce crashes on I-95.

Fultz failed to report the traffic stop to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office as required by agency policy, a report states.

“Deputy Fultz initially claimed he had informed his supervisor about the traffic stop, but later clarified the statement, advising that word of it got out, and Sargent Taylor Barrett had actually approached him about the incident,” records show.

The report does not indicate when the sergeant may have learned about the February 9 traffic stop, nor does it show any action was taken against Fultz prior to him being named Deputy of the Year on March 13.

Fultz resigned from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in May as Ivey was preparing to fire the deputy for what the agency described as ‘‘egregious misconduct” related and unrelated to the traffic stop.

“First and foremost, I want to apologize to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the men and women I served alongside, my family, and the citizens of Brevard County for the embarrassment and negative attention my actions have caused,” Fultz said in a statement to News 6. “Becoming a deputy was a dream of mine, and I will always be grateful to Sheriff Ivey and BCSO for giving me the opportunity to fulfill that dream.”

The two-time Olympic champion released “Gold” with World Athletics on Friday as the anthem of the upcoming meet that boasts a total prize fund of $10 million.

Ultimate Championship will be staged in Budapest from Sept. 11-13 showcasing Olympic, world and Diamond League champions over three evening sessions. Gold medalists in individual events will win $150,000.

The 26-year-old Duplantis has dabbled in music for several years and released his first single, “Bop,” in 2025.

Duplantis, the world-record holder, says he dreams of winning a Grammy.

“Gold” was written by Duplantis with Carl Silvergran and Oscar Chase, and was produced by Chase, the World Athletics announcement said.

“I wrote the song around representing something that’s a lot bigger than yourself,” Duplantis said in the announcement. “I think that’s what we all do when we’re on the track. We represent our family, our team, our coaches, and I love that concept. Music and sports are the two things that bring people together in the best way, and ‘Gold’ is an expression of that.”

The accompanying music video was filmed in the Hungarian capital and includes archival footage of Duplantis as a young athlete.

The Louisiana-born Duplantis told the Olympics channel last year he uses his music “as a way of therapy. I really love to have something else to be able to do, and to kind of take myself away from sports a little bit.”

At the Ultimate Championship, his new song “will be woven into the broadcast and live-event experience, connecting fans in-stadium with audiences around the world,” World Athletics said.

Duplantis is scheduled to perform “Gold” live in-stadium to close out the event.

“The Ultimate is purposefully designed to showcase the talents and passions of our sport’s biggest stars, on and off the track,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. “Mondo is one of our most recognizable and accomplished athletes, and we could not be more excited that he is the one who created the Ultimate Anthem."

The championship will be a biennial event.

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See full AP coverage of European sports here

“We have virtually given up on many things,” said Ahmad Karimi, 52, a taxi driver and father of two who has been working 15-hour days to make ends meet. “We’re cutting out fruit, we’re cutting out protein, we’ve given up leisure, we even work on weekends."

Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is taking a beating under the force of sanctions and a naval blockade that is making it extremely difficult for the country to export oil, its most valuable product.

Whether this intensifying economic pressure will translate anytime soon into military or political concessions from Iran remains to be seen — but some experts are skeptical. Since the war began, Iran has been attacking oil-rich neighbors and U.S. bases in the region, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, its biggest strategic advantage.

Iran is trying to use this retaliatory pressure — which is driving up energy prices globally — to bring the war to an end on the best terms possible. It is pressing for sanctions relief, and seeking enough control over the strait to demand payment from ships passing through to deliver energy and other goods.

The Trump administration — which is stuck fighting over a waterway in a war that was launched to curb Iran's nuclear program — is now promising to deliver even tougher sanctions to try to squeeze the Islamic Republic into submission. But experts say U.S. President Donald Trump may be underestimating how long Iran can hold out.

Iran has been subject to Western sanctions for years and has become deft at partially circumventing them. It has expanded domestic production, used informal cross-border trade networks, bought restricted goods through third countries, and used a shadow fleet to transport its oil.

“Iran’s resistance capacity not only avoids collapse, it also prevents the economic pain from translating into the political pressure and changes that the U.S. expects,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an expert on Iran’s economy at Brandeis University.

Iran's economic strains carry an ‘emotional toll’

Tehran’s sprawling Grand Bazaar is regularly packed with shoppers hoping to find more affordable staples than at the country’s grocery stores, where rice is 60% more expensive and beef is 150% more expensive than before the war.

A mother of two from northern Iran posted a photo on X this week after purchasing milk, eggs, toilet paper and a few other items, but no meat. She complained that it cost 89 million rials (about $65).

“Buying basic necessities has become our main priority, and our shopping basket has gotten smaller and more limited,” the 41-year-old told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

“The emotional toll and the pressure we’re under are another story," she said. "Every time we have to say no to our children, every time we have to go back and forth over a decision, whether it’s a class you’d love your children to take or something they really want you to buy for them, it’s genuinely exhausting.”

By the end of the year, inflation in Iran is expected to rise nearly 70%, according to the International Monetary Fund, and the country's economy — devastated by a decade of sanctions before the war — is forecast to shrink by more than 5%.

While gasoline has remained cheap thanks to government subsidies, even that might not last forever as supplies get tighter. A presidential aide told Iranian state television last week that the country is now using more gasoline each day than it produces and may need to raise prices — something that in the past has led to widespread protests.

Iranians turn some anger toward countries behind sanctions

Iran's theocratic leaders were already facing economic discontent before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28. Protests had spread across the country at the beginning of the year before they were violently put down, with thousands killed and tens of thousands believed to have been arrested.

Many Iranians have now turned at least some of their economic frustrations toward the countries behind the sanctions and the attacks that have destroyed factories and critical infrastructure and killed scores of civilians, said Hassan Golmoradi, a Tehran-based economist.

“Despite the hardships and difficulties, they have shown considerable patience in putting up with the resulting economic pressures,” Golmoradi said.

Iran’s leaders have said it is a treasonous offense — punishable by death — to take part in anti-government protests.

“They do suffer, but they do not think that by joining violent protests they can achieve something for themselves and their families,” said Mohammad Farzanegan, a professor of Middle Eastern economics at the University of Marburg in Germany.

Trump is threatening tougher sanctions

On Wednesday, Trump vowed on social media to unleash against Iran the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.” He also threatened secondary sanctions on nations and companies that continue to do business with Iran.

The United Arab Emirates, which for years had enabled Iran to circumvent sanctions and receive goods from other countries, announced this week it was suspending all trade with Tehran. Trump had called the leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the day before the announcement.

With the economic struggles, the elected government of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said it favors a negotiated end to the war. “What concerns us is people’s livelihoods and their economic situation, and we are doing everything we can to deal with it,” he told reporters last week.

But the most powerful force in Iran remains the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has only become stronger after withstanding U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that killed Iran’s top leaders during the war's opening salvos. The Guard is pressing for greater concessions from the U.S., including Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz and financial compensation for the war.

With negotiations to end the war stalled, Iran’s hard-liners believe their country can endure the conflict’s economic pressures longer than their adversaries.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, this month appointed a former Revolutionary Guard commander to head Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, a sign that he favors the hard-line approach.

A taxi driver says something has to give

Official government statistics put Iran’s unemployment rate at 9.1%, though state-affiliated media outlets have said the real figure is most likely many times higher. A Labor Ministry official said last week that by late May, just three months into the war, more than 1 million jobs had been lost.

In a sign that Iran's leaders are at least somewhat concerned about public opinion, the government has refrained from enforcing mandatory hijab regulations as harshly as it had been — a social freedom that has long been sought by many.

But these days many Iranians are focused on how their lifestyles are restricted economically.

Karimi, the taxi driver, said Iran’s leaders will need to do something soon to alleviate the financial pressures he and others are feeling.

“The people won’t be able to continue living like this,” he said. “We’re simply breathing, surviving, and trying to make it from one day to the next.”

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Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In a release, company officials said that the subs will be themed after various NFL teams, including the Miami Dolphins; Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Jacksonville Jaguars; and Atlanta Falcons.

[RELATED: Publix responds after ‘Pub Sub’ drama with News 6 anchors]

Per the Florida-native grocer, these sandwiches will be available at select locations.

“Every year, football fans gather around to celebrate the season and show off their team pride,” the release reads. “Whether you’re tailgating outside the stadium or having a watch party at home, Publix has all your game-day foodie needs covered. Head to the official supermarket of these teams and get ready to kick off your celebration.”

Below is a list of the returning Pub Subs:

• Miami Dolphins Pub Sub — Features crispy chicken tenders drizzled with sweet sriracha sauce and topped with Boar’s Head 3 Pepper Colby Jack Cheese

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pub Sub — Huddles crispy chicken tenders with bacon and cheddar cheese, then tops it off with a spicy gold sauce

• Jacksonville Jaguars Pub Sub — Stacks chicken tenders with coleslaw, bacon, cheddar cheese, and barbecue mayor for a smoky, Southern-inspired bite

• Atlanta Falcons Pub Sub — Layers crispy chicken tenders with sweet maple seasoning and bacon, then tops it off with peach preserves and sriracha mayonnaise

But one other state managed to come out on top: California.

WHAT DOES “FUN” MEAN?

WalletHub compared all 50 states using 26 indicators related to entertainment, recreation and affordability, including:

• Restaurants, amusement parks and arcades per capita
• Music festivals and nightlife options
• Marinas and shoreline access
• Movie theaters and fitness centers
• Access to national parks
• State and local spending on parks and recreation
• Variety of arts, entertainment and recreation establishments

WHY DID FLORIDA RANK SO HIGH?

Florida ranked first nationally for the number of restaurants, amusement parks, arcades and music festivals per capita. It also ranked fourth for total attractions and seventh for the variety of arts, entertainment and recreation establishments.

The state’s outdoor amenities helped strengthen its overall ranking. Florida has more marinas per capita than any other state and ranks second for shoreline mileage, giving residents and visitors numerous opportunities for boating, fishing and other water-based activities.

Florida also ranked 12th for overall weather, despite its hot summers. State government spending on parks and recreation ranked 18th nationally, while the average Floridian spends nearly $2,300 per year on recreation—also 18th-highest in the country.

CALIFORNIA TAKES NO. 1

California took the top spot overall, while Illinois, Nevada and New York rounded out the top five.

“California is the most fun state in 2026, with an especially large number of restaurants, amusement parks, movie theaters, and fitness centers per capita. It also boasts the second-most attractions per capita overall.

For those who enjoy nightlife, the Golden State has a very high number of performing-arts establishments and music festivals per capita, along with the ninth-best access to bars. And even though California is one of the most expensive states for beer, it’s the least expensive for wine – likely due to the abundance produced locally.

When it comes to the outdoors, California has the most scenic byways per capita and the sixth-longest ones in the country. It also has the best beach access in the country and the fourth-best weather (at least, when it’s not too hot to go out)."

WalletHub, "Most Fun States in America (2026)"

FULL RANKING

The 30-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, learned on Friday that prosecutors intend to try him for a second time on the charges.

Barrientos underwent an eight-day trial for the same alleged attack last month in the District Court of Western Australia state in Perth.

A jury found him guilty on two charges that he had assaulted the woman, then aged 20, occasioning bodily harm in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

The jury also found him not guilty of choking her and not guilty of three of six charges of rape.

The jury could not reach majority verdicts of at least 10 out of 12 jurors on the remaining three rape charges.

Prosecutor Danielle Clarke told Judge Linda Black that the alleged victim, who cannot be identified, was willing to testify again at a retrial.

Black was the original trial judge. She told defense and prosecution lawyers on Friday to consider whether they want a new judge to hear the retrial and whether the proceedings should be heard by a jury or by a judge alone.

The Colombian-born entertainer will be sentenced for the assault convictions after his retrial. No date for the trial has been set.

Barrientos has been free on bail since he was charged and was allowed to return to Britain for several months.

He said nothing to reporters as he left the court on Friday.

Barrientos had been touring Australia and had already performed in Sydney and Melbourne before he encountered his victim in Perth. He was arrested several days later in the east coast city of Brisbane, where the tour was to end.

Prosecutors alleged the woman initially agreed to have sex but withdrew her consent because she feared for her safety.

Orlando Health announced it will begin building a Level 2 NICU at South Lake Hospital, with work expected to be completed in 2027.

The facility will be at South Lake Hospital’s Center for Women and Babies in Clermont.

NICUs provide round-the-clock care for babies born prematurely, or those with low birth weights or other medical conditions.

Orlando Health says the facility will be 7,200 square feet in size and have 10 beds. Hospitalists and nursing leaders trained at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies will also rotate through the hospitals in the Orlando Health network.

In the past, families would have to go outside the county to get neonatal care for these newborns. Currently, the closest NICU facilities in Central Florida are located in Orange, Osceola, or Seminole counties through Orlando Health, AdventHealth, HCA, and Nemours hospitals. The next closest would be in Lakeland, Ocala, or Brooksville.

Orlando Health South Lake Hospital Center for Women and Babies currently offers a Mobile NICU, which can transport infants born at the hospital to Winnie Palmer.

It also has 24-hour emergency services, fetal medical care for high-risk pregnancies, breastfeeding support, and classes and support groups.

Reese was 9-for-9 from the field, hitting two 3-pointers, for 20 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists for her WNBA-leading 25th double-double of the season. She had 18 points in the first half.

Reese set a Dream record for field goals without a miss and became the third player in WNBA history with a 20-point double-double on 100% shooting. She's four shy of Alyssa Thomas’ WNBA double-double record of 28 set in 2023.

In addition, she had three offensive rebounds in the first half to break her own WNBA season record of 172 set in 2024.

Rhyne Howard added 26 points and five 3-pointers for Atlanta (23-13), which has won eight straight in the series with Los Angeles. Naz Hillmon had 14 points and Allisha Gray 13.

Cameron Brink scored 14 points off the bench for Los Angeles (12-24), which was eliminated from playoff contention. Rae Burrell added 12 and Nneka Ogwumike had 11.

The Dream led by 42 points and reached the 100-point mark with 8:10 left.

Play was briefly interrupted with 2:59 left in the third quarter after a sex toy was thrown on the court near where Jihyun Park was about to attempt a free throw for Los Angeles.

Up next

Dream: At Phoenix on Saturday.

Sparks: Host Connecticut on Saturday.

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Árpád Selmeci said navigating even a small fishing boat on Hungary's third-largest lake is becoming increasingly difficult as the water level has ebbed to around 20 centimeters (8 inches), well below the 150 centimeters (5 feet) optimal for August. Swimming beaches across the lake, once popular with tourists, have been closed.

Lake Velence’s decline is part of a broader water crisis confronting Hungary as increasingly prolonged droughts and climate change-driven heat waves have pummeled Europe.

“I've lived on Lake Velence since I was a child, and I've never seen the water so low," said Selmeci, 58. "It's terrible. My heart aches every single moment.”

This summer, wildfires scorched the continent from the United Kingdom to Greece, while in Hungary, drought has damaged crop yields, led to drinking water shortages and threatened to shut down the country's only nuclear power plant.

Yet the lack of rainfall linked to human-driven climate change is only part of Hungary's water problem. Experts say the country's long-standing practice of channeling water away from its landscape and draining natural wetlands has left it especially vulnerable as droughts become more frequent and severe.

A legacy of draining away water

Around 99% of Hungary’s lands are currently under severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the national meteorological service, and desertification, a process where vegetation recedes because of high heat and low rainfall, threatens much of the Great Hungarian Plain.

Yet more than a quarter of Hungary consists of low-lying land that naturally retains precipitation, and in past centuries its many rivers and streams made it rich in freshwater resources. However, a 2023 study published in the journal Nature estimated Hungary’s historical wetland loss at more than 80%.

Zsuzsanna Ujj, a biodiversity policy specialist and project coordinator with environmental group Friends of the Earth Hungary, said the country “has not been a good steward of its waters in the last 200 years.”

A major contributor is Hungary's network of more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of drainage canals — a length that exceeds the circumference of the Earth — which drain accumulated precipitation from fields, wetlands and the soil to make room for agriculture and other enterprises.

The priority on draining land rather than allowing natural flooding cycles to occur has contributed to a consistent drop in the water table and the drying out of wetlands and topsoil. With less water available to evaporate, the air dries out, further reducing the chances of localized precipitation.

Ujj said that Hungary — which is among the most drought-exposed countries in Europe and ranks 16th globally, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — “needs to realign its water management practices, shifting from a drainage-based approach to one focused on water retention.”

Disappearing lakes

The drying out of Hungary isn't limited to streams and wetlands. Lake Garancsi, a small recreational lake around 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Budapest, was once a popular destination for fishing, swimming and ice skating, and was the setting of the 2001 cult Hungarian comedy “Üvegtigris” (“Glass Tiger").

But the lake, present since the Middle Ages, has shrunk so dramatically in recent years that none of the previous recreational activities are permitted, and most of the former lake bed is now exposed, cracked and dry.

What remains of the water is so shallow and warm that all of the fish and most of the other wildlife have disappeared, and authorities have predicted no water will be left by the end of summer.

Zoltán Mettner, who runs the Glass Tiger bar on the shores of the lake, said conditions have gotten worse every year. After spending years beside the lake, he said looking at it now is “terrible, there’s no other way to put it.”

“It’s sad enough that we’ve let things get this far, and that we couldn’t have taken gradual steps to prevent this lake from being completely destroyed,” he said.

Hungary's government plans a change of course

Hungary's new government has promised to begin taking those steps.

In late June, on the same day the country set a high temperature record of 42 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit), Prime Minister Péter Magyar told lawmakers that his government would put water management policies “on new footing,” and launch a comprehensive water conservation program to mitigate the effects of drought.

"Many have said year after year that water shortage will be one of Hungary’s problems and one of the most important strategic issues to be solved. They were right,” Magyar said.

In addition to poor water retention practices, Magyar said that aging water utility infrastructure causes 20-25% of the country’s drinking water to leak out through damaged pipes, costing some 17 billion forints ($54.4 million) annually.

“For years, even the existence of the problem was denied and relativized,” Magyar said. Now, he added, “water retention will be the basic principle of Hungarian water management.”

Danube River at historic lows

Yet implementing such sweeping changes will be time consuming and costly, while Hungary's current water crisis threatens its ability to produce adequate energy.

The Danube, the European Union's longest river which runs through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has set successive records this summer for low water levels, threatening to shut down Hungary's only nuclear power plant, which uses water from the river to cool its reactors, for the first time in its 44-year history.

Hungary's government has taken emergency interventions to raise the water level at the Paks plant, including sinking two 80-meter (262-foot) barges just upriver and beginning to install a riverbed sill designed to divert more water toward the plant's pumps.

In such drought conditions, wetlands near rivers like the Danube normally act as a “natural reservoir” for retaining water when weather gets dry, said Ujj, the biodiversity specialist.

The extremely low level of the Danube — as well as the increased chances for more frequent and intense floods — are effects of human-driven climate change that can be partially mitigated through appropriate land use and restoration of wetlands and other natural habitats, she added.

“We do indeed expect water levels to fluctuate more, and we also expect precipitation patterns to become more extreme with drier summers,” she said. "However, restoring wetlands and increasing evaporation in certain areas could help boost precipitation during the summer months.”

Photos and video shared on social media show debris thrown in the air and pummeling rain as a possible tornado touched down at Atlantic Beach on Long Island’s outer barrier. It tore apart a major beach club, leaving broken beach chairs and wood beams littered across the shoreline.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths, but there had been damage to property and a search team was making sure no one was trapped in the cabanas. He declared a state of emergency.

“There are reports of people trapped in their vehicles due to flooding in the south shore, and first responders are assisting in their rescue,” he said in a statement.

The Sun and Surf Beach Club said buildings had been significantly damaged and it temporarily closed that club and nearby Silver Point.

The National Weather Service had warned of waterspouts, tornado-like hazards that happen over water, in the area but wasn’t able to immediately confirm a tornado on the beach.

Bryan Ramsey, a meteorologist for the weather service in New York, said the storm was moving East offshore Thursday evening and was expected to taper over the next several hours.

In other parts of New York, flooding caused part of the Long Island Expressway in Queens to close in both directions, according to New York City Emergency Management. Photos on social media showed lines of stopped cars as emergency crews traversed the water.

In Jersey City, New Jersey, emergency crews rescued 69 people trapped in cars that had been overtaken by flash flooding Thursday, said Mayor James Solomon. Emergency crews waded through roads with knee-high water with small inflatable boats to help those stranded.

A likely tornado touched down in Dover, Delaware, and caused significant damage across the city, the police department reported. There were no reports of serious injuries, police said.

“Dover — please take this seriously. Stay home. Stay safe,” the department said on Facebook.

Photos and video online show fallen trees, downed power lines and flooded roads.

The Delaware Electric Cooperative said more than 1,000 customers didn’t have power in the northern part of its service area, but within a few hours most of the outages had been fixed.

Until now, Mexicans deported from the United States were sent almost exclusively back to their country by air and land. Only a handful arrived in other countries.

Some civil organizations believe this change reported in recent days is a way to increase pressure on Mexico, whose government has protested the deaths of 17 Mexicans in immigration custody or during enforcement operations. This also comes as Trump has expanded agreements with allied Latin American countries to conduct joint operations in the region against criminal groups and has increased its security demands to Mexico.

Sent to Central America by plane and Mexico by bus

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed Wednesday night that, so far this year, 2,284 Mexicans deported from the U.S. have arrived in the country as part of a “transit stopover” before being taken to Mexico as part of an “arrangement” with the Mexican government, and without these individuals being under any refugee or asylum status.

“They are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is bring them in transit so that, in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities, we can return them to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival in the country,” he explained at a press conference.

The costs of these operations are covered by the Mexican government or, in some cases, by U.S. funding, he added.

Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) confirmed to The Associated Press in a brief message that Mexicans have been deported by the Trump administration to Guatemala and Honduras, primarily since April, and are then transported by bus to southern Mexico.

“The reason is that the United States wants to prevent them from crossing back into its territory,” the institution said. The INM did not provide figures or further details.

Asked about why the Mexicans were sent to Central America and not their own country, and for more details, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said in an emailed statement that the administration “is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.”

“The Mexican government has expressed its opposition to this practice to U.S. authorities and has reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It added that Mexico is coordinating with the countries involved to ensure the safe return of Mexican citizens.

Third-country deportations raise concerns for Mexican migrants

Historically, Mexico has always been willing to receive its deported citizens.

Since Trump’s first term, it has also accepted deportees from third countries, although the details of immigration agreements with Washington have usually been opaque. In 2025, Mexico received some 12,000 deported foreigners, mostly Cubans and Venezuelans, according to figures provided by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The government has not updated these figures since December although the practice has continued.

Authorities in Honduras also did not respond to requests for comment, but according to official documents from the country accessed by The Associated Press, 82 Mexicans deported from the United States arrived in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on two flights on August 13 and 15. An additional 35 arrived on Thursday.

Another 165 Mexicans were deported to Honduras between May and mid-July, according to the website Third Country Deportation Watch, run by the NGOs Human Rights First and Refugees International, which track U.S. deportation flights to third countries.

The website does not clarify the source of its nationality figures, but both organizations have expressed concern because these transfers could endanger migrants who possibly sought asylum in the U.S. or have few resources in an unknown country.

The deportation tactic “seems to be to put pressure on the Mexican government,” said Savitri Arvey of Human Rights First. “They really don’t want any Mexicans crossing the border.” Some of those deported arrived in Honduras on U.S. military flights, she added.

A recent change in the deportation pattern

At the beginning of his second term, with immigration control as one of his priorities, Trump reached agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to act as “bridge” or destination countries for migrants from third countries expelled from U.S. territory. These agreements gradually expanded to more countries, including some African ones, most recently Liberia.

Until recently, only a handful of Mexicans had been expelled from the U.S. to countries other than Mexico.

Arévalo said on Wednesday that Guatemala received 15 Mexicans in 2025. As of February 2026, Honduras had officially reported the arrival of six. Costa Rica has received 11 Mexicans since Trump’s return to the White House, and according to local immigration authorities, they remain in the country. Presumably, these individuals may have requested not to be returned to Mexico out of fear.

Immigration lawyers believe that the Trump administration is using deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers to return to Mexico when the government cannot send them there because it would violate court orders from immigration judges that recognize the dangers. Organizations and politicians both inside and outside the U.S. have also questioned the use of force by U.S. immigration authorities.

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Verza reported from Mexico City and González from Tegucigalpa.

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

Khan was taken from Adiala prison to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad after midnight and examined by doctors before being returned to the prison, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

“A team of qualified doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician, conducted a detailed examination of him and declared him medically fit,” Tarar said in a post on X.

Tarar said Khan’s sister, Azma Khan, was present throughout the examination and treatment.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, had earlier confirmed that he was transferred to the hospital following a Supreme Court order earlier this week.

Khan’s party and family had demanded that he be allowed to remain at the hospital for treatment.

Earlier, a senior Cabinet minister said the government would comply with the Supreme Court order and could consider treatment abroad if adequate care was unavailable at a government facility.

The latest development comes a day after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the government had approached the Supreme Court to seek clarification on whether the medical relief granted to Khan applied only to the former premier or could be extended to other prisoners.

Chaudhry's comments Thursday came two days after a three-judge Supreme Court panel ordered authorities to take Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a medical examination, following months of concerns from his family and personal physicians about his health and access to medical care. The court ordered that he be examined by a medical board that includes specialists and one of his personal physicians, Faisal Sultan.

Earlier Thursday, Chaudhry wrote on X that the government would fully comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and that its request for clarification was not intended to defy or delay implementation of the decision. He later said all arrangements were in place to transfer Khan from prison to the hospital.

After midnight, local media reported that Khan — who has not been seen publicly since his imprisonment in 2023 in a graft case — was being examined at the hospital.

The government maintains that under existing rules, prisoners are provided medical treatment in prison and can be transferred to government hospitals when necessary.

Concerns about Khan’s health intensified in late January after his family said he had lost about 85% of the vision in his right eye, a claim the government disputed. Authorities later said Khan had regained about 70% of his vision in the eye and that his condition was improving.

The former cricket star turned politician was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has been imprisoned since 2023 after being convicted in multiple cases.

Mendoza struggled in his second preseason game, throwing an interception that Houston returned for a touchdown before the Las Vegas Raiders rallied late for a 22-20 victory over the Texans on Thursday night.

Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who led Indiana to a national title, played the first half and went 8 of 15 for 86 yards. The performance came after he threw a touchdown pass in his preseason debut last week against Arizona playing behind Kirk Cousins.

“I came away with there’s a lot more learning to do, and although that maybe you may have had a lot of success at another level, this level is a whole step further and that the margins are so small, and that one tiny mistake can lead to catastrophe,” Mendoza said.

On Thursday, Mendoza’s third pass was overthrown and intercepted by Wade Woodaz, who returned it 80 yards for a touchdown that made it 14-0. Mendoza chased him down, but Woodaz shoved him aside near the 15 and continued to the end zone.

“That’s what we are built for is attacking the football, so when we do that it puts us in a really good position,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said.

Mendoza was sacked once and took several other hits playing against Houston’s second-string defense. He played five series and led his team to just one field goal.

“I think there’s plenty to clean up, plenty to get better at,” Las Vegas coach Klint Kubiak said. “Plenty that we can do better for him as coaches. Plenty that he can learn from.”

Though Cousins is expected to start in Week 1, Kubiak wouldn't say that after the game.

“We got another week of playing. I don’t want anyone to be comfortable in their job,” he said. “It should always be that way from all positions, so let’s keep going forward.”

C.J. Stroud led the Texans (0-2) to a touchdown on his only series in his first action of the preseason. Stroud and the offensive line were among the few Texans starters who played.

Stroud was 4 of 6 for 27 yards, and a 20-yard scoring run by Woody Marks on the drive he led made it 7-0.

“C.J. made some really good decisions,” Ryans said. “Didn’t throw it around a ton but when he did throw it, it was good decisions with the football.”

The Raiders (1-1) also rested most of their starters, including Cousins, defensive end Maxx Crosby, running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers.

A 4-yard run by Dylan Laube with about five minutes left in the third got the Raiders within 20-10.

Former Texan Dare Ogunbowale scored on a 19-yard run with less than eight minutes to go. Kansei Matsuzawa's extra point failed to make it 20-16.

Aidan O'Connell relieved Mendoza in the second half. He scored a 1-yard touchdown on a tush push with 14 seconds to go to put the Raiders ahead 22-20. Matsuzawa missed that extra point, too.

Kickers convert 3 from 50-plus

Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn made field goals of 51 and 57 yards in his first preseason action after sitting out last week. Matt Gay kicked a 52-yarder in the second quarter for the Raiders.

Clowney returns to Houston

Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, played the entire first half after sitting out last week. He rejoined the Texans on a one-year contract earlier this month after spending his first five seasons in Houston.

He had a tackle and a quarterback hurry Thursday night. Clowney spent last season with the Cowboys and had 8 1/2 sacks.

Injuries

Las Vegas linebacker Buddy Johnson left early in the third quarter with a shoulder injury but returned in the fourth. … Las Vegas CB Chigozie Anusiem was carted off the field in the third quarter with a knee injury.

Up next

Raiders: Host San Francisco next Thursday night in their final preseason game.

Texans: End the preseason with a visit to Carolina on Aug. 28.

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