Phoenix Ikner, 21, is scheduled for a case management conference on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

Until now, Ikner has appeared virtually for all previous court proceedings. He faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.

The conference comes after Ikner’s public defender filed dozens of motions in recent weeks. In one filing, the defense argued that the “overwhelming volume” of discovery material — including the defendant’s ChatGPT logs — presents “serious challenges” to its ability to meet the state’s proposed timeline.

Prosecutors are concerned that those unresolved issues could force a delay in the case. The trial is currently scheduled for October.

In the defense’s most recent motion, the judge is being asked to deny a scheduling order that would require the defense to disclose trial witnesses by June 1.

Ikner is accused of opening fire in and around the FSU Student Union during a three-minute rampage in April 2025. The state is seeking the death penalty.

This concern is understandable given so many Americans are now responsible for not only  building their retirement savings  but also deciding how much they should pay themselves annually in retirement.  It’s a problem many don’t feel adequately prepared to solve, especially when failure means a funding shortfall at the end of life.

Limit your spending, limit your lifestyle

Recent research from Morningstar’s Behavioral Insights Group finds half of retirees opt for highly simplified approaches for determining their retirement spending, such as calculating their current expenses, just spending dividends, or anchoring on required minimum distributions.

A set-it-and-forget-it approach may sound like a prudent solution to a common fear, but these simplified methods don’t account for factors such as your total wealth, life goals, or economic events like inflation. The resulting number tends to be inflexible and overly conservative.

In fact, contrary to our fears, retirees who have at least the median amount of assets  tend to underspend relative to how much they could spend safely. Indeed, across retirement, many retirees  see their wealth increase  instead of decrease. These findings hold true even when accounting for retirees who are planning to leave a bequest or who anticipate a long postretirement period.

This issue persists even among retirees who are using more complex spending strategies like a safe withdrawal rate.  “Even the retirees  who spend in line with our ‘base case,’ which in 2025 meant taking 3.9% initially and inflation-adjusting withdrawals each year thereafter, will tend to have significant remaining balances after 30 years of withdrawals,” says Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning.

What’s at stake for these retirees, then, is not becoming destitute, but rather not fully enjoying the fruits of their labor.

How do you know if you’re spending enough of your retirement savings?

If you’re a retiree, you may be underspending relative to your capacity if you:

1. Rely on simple, hands-off strategies like withdrawing only dividends and interest, basing calculations on your current lifestyle, or pulling just your RMDs.

2. Find your retirement savings portfolio barely declines or even grows year after year.

3. Defer essential or discretionary expenses that are reasonably affordable.

If this describes you, you are not alone. It’s natural to think, “The worst thing that could happen is running out of money, and I know I won’t if I just use this simple spending rule.” However, by creating a more personalized plan to determine your retirement income, you can avoid underspending and possibly generate a more comfortable and meaningful retirement lifestyle for yourself.

Goal-setting can make spending feel approachable

Our research suggests that to engage with more complex ways of determining their retirement income, many retirees may need the motivation of personal goals. When you’re working, goals help motivate you to save. In retirement, your goals can help  motivate you to spend.

To define your retirement goals, we first recommend examining which values you want to live in line with throughout your retirement. A framework like the  PERMA-V model  can help you articulate what matters to you. From there, you can build out financial goals that reflect the life you want to live.

For example, you may find that you value spending time in nature because when you hike, you feel happy and engaged in the world around you. Then, you might develop a list of the top 10 national parks you want to see and set a goal of visiting them all in the next 10 years. This new goal provides you with an exciting opportunity to spend your retirement savings in a way that feeds your values.

Armed with your new motivation, you should then begin to think about your retirement spending strategies. Do your current, simple strategies help you reach your new goals? If not, you may consider looking at some other (slightly more complicated) guidelines for retirement spending like a  safe withdrawal rate.

If engaging with more complicated strategies on your own is still intimidating, consulting a financial adviser can help you determine how to draw on your retirement savings while meeting your goals.

It can feel daunting to get more involved with determining your retirement spending, but don’t let that fear dictate whether you live the retirement you’ve dreamed of.

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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement.

Danielle Labotka, Ph.D., is a behavioral scientist for Morningstar.

RelatedLinks

3 Big Questions to Ask Your Aging Parents: https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/3-big-questions-ask-your-aging-parents

Here’s How You Can Spend More During Retirement: https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/heres-how-you-can-spend-more-during-retirement

You Just Retired (or Are About to). Now What?: https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/you-just-retired-or-are-about-now-what

The government earlier confirmed seven women and 12 children were heading home on Qatar Airways flights, less than three weeks after a group of 13 people in similar situations returned to Australia’s two largest cities.

Two women with seven children flew to Melbourne. Four women with six children landed about an hour later in Sydney, a joint police and intelligence agency statement said.

No one had been charged on arrival, but investigations into their activities in Syria were continuing, the statement said. Three of four women who returned home earlier were charged with slavery and terrorism offenses and remain behind bars.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said anyone among the 19 on their way to Australia who has committed crimes "can expect to face the full force of the law.”

“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group,” Burke said in a statement.

“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” he added.

Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and have long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor them, Burke said.

“The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier told Parliament: “I have nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy for ISIS,” referring to IS by an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The bid by general practice doctor Jamal Rifi, a community leader in Sydney’s Lebanese Muslim diaspora, to return 34 Australian women and children from Syria failed in February. Syrian authorities blocked their convoy's route to Damascus and turned them back to Roj camp, a location in northeast Syria near the Iraq border where people linked to IS have been held since IS forces in the Middle East were defeated in 2019.

Riji told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday that Syrian authorities had since been persuaded that the majority of Australians in Roj were children who had a legal right to grow up in Australia.

“These women are caring mothers,” he said of the 19 women who just landed in Australia.

“Definitely joining willingly the death cult of the un-Islamic caliphate, it’s a terrible decision. Some of these women, I believe they were tricked to go there. Some of them are victims of the death cult and others are not," Riji said.

After the departure of the latest group, at least two Australians remain in Roj camp, including a mother who was prevented from returning to Australia in February by a temporary exclusion order.

Exclusion orders were created by laws introduced in 2019 to prevent defeated IS fighters from returning to Australia for up to two years.

The woman, aged around 29, had remained at Roj with her daughter, who had been disabled by shrapnel wounds, The Australian newspaper reported. She left her Sydney home at the age of 18 in 2015 to marry an IS fighter in Syria, the newspaper reported.

Her family has engaged a Sydney lawyer to challenge the order, which bars the mother from Australia until February 2028.

The last Australian cohort returned from Syria on May 7, similarly without government help.

Kawsar Ahmed, also known Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested when they landed in Melbourne over allegations that their family had bought a female Yazidi slave.

Janai Safar, 32, was arrested at Sydney Airport when she arrived with her 9-year-old son on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and of entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have returned quietly without government assistance.

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY

Tuesday and Wednesday will look fairly typical for late May. Most coastal areas stay mainly dry, with scattered afternoon and evening storms developing farther inland, especially west of Orlando and toward Interstate 75.

Rain chances climb from Tuesday’s 40-50% to 50-60% by Wednesday afternoon as moisture slowly increases across the state.

Temperatures will remain above average, with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s, with feels-like temperatures closing in on 100 degrees.

THURSDAY-WEEKEND

By Thursday, however, the pattern begins to change noticeably.

Models continue to show a deep surge of tropical moisture moving in from the Gulf as an upper-level low sets up to the west.

That setup will support numerous showers and thunderstorms developing each afternoon and evening through the weekend, with coverage surging to 70-80%.

Unlike the isolated summertime storms we’ve seen recently, this setup could produce multiple rounds of widespread rain and storms across Central Florida throughout the day.

Some stronger storms may produce gusty winds near 50 mph and frequent lightning. But the bigger concern could become heavy rainfall and localized flooding, especially in urban and low-lying areas.

Forecast rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches look increasingly likely in many spots from late week into the weekend, with some isolated areas potentially seeing more than 5 inches.

The wetter pattern is welcome news as the majority of the Sunshine State remains under a significant drought.

WEEKEND

The unsettled weather pattern may also linger longer than usual for this time of year. Forecast models continue suggesting moisture stays locked across Florida into early next week, with rain chances remaining elevated through at least Tuesday.

That means Central Florida could be entering its wettest stretch in months just as June begins.

London recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), and Britain’s Met Office weather service said the temperature in southern England could hit 35 C (95 F) on Tuesday.

A 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a reservoir in Halifax, northern England, on Monday, police said.

In France, temperatures have broken records for the month of May, soaring well over 30 C (86 F) in many parts of the country.

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said there have been reports of at least seven deaths potentially related to high temperatures, including five drownings and two deaths in sports competitions.

Monday was the U.K.’s hottest May day on record, with the temperature hitting 34.8 C at Kew Gardens in London, smashing the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and 1944.

After a U.K. long weekend that sent people flocking to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters sweltered on Tuesday in unairconditioned subway carriages. Trains running to and from the city’s busy Waterloo station were disrupted by a report of smoke on the tracks.

Firefighters worked through the night to douse a fire that sent plumes of smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill that looms over Edinburgh.

The U.K. Health Security Agency issued an amber health alert for much of the country through Wednesday morning, warning of a potential health risk, particularly among the elderly, at the hottest times of the day. The U.K. is used to moderate temperatures, and many homes, schools and businesses do not have air conditioning.

The early heatwave has struck before the annual summer window when lifeguards watch over bathers at popular beaches, increasing risks.

On France’s Atlantic seaboard, where magnificent beaches also have powerful riptides, officials reported a rash of emergencies in the surf with two drowning deaths on Sunday at popular resorts in the Gironde region in the southwest.

The top regional administrator, Sophie Brocas, urged beachgoers “to exercise the utmost caution.”

Unpredictable and extreme weather becoming more frequent as Earth’s warming builds. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger.

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John Leicester in Paris contributed to this story.

“Get the f*** away from me!” the driver repeatedly screamed before the deputy tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him as the good Samaritan assisted, the video shows.

[WATCH: Full Bodycam Video | WARNING: Video includes disturbing language. Viewer discretion advised]

Hans Hamilton was driving up the 429 Expressway near Walt Disney World on March 30 when he noticed a car that had collided with a guardrail.

Video captured by cameras on Hamilton’s Tesla appeared to show a man staggering out of the driver’s side door and collapsing in the grass.

After Hamilton pulled over to help, video footage previously obtained by News 6 showed the man jumping on the hood and roof of the Tesla, shattering the windshield.

The driver then tackled Hamilton and repeatedly punched him, the video showed.

Hamilton, who said he suffered a brain bleed and broken ribs during the roadside assault, was able to get away from the man as other people driving by called 911.

When Orange County deputy sheriff Gregory Radiger arrived at the scene, video footage captured by his body-worn camera shows Hamilton and another bystander waiting by the Tesla.

The driver who had attacked Hamilton was sitting in the grass near his damaged car.

“What happened with the crash today?” Radiger asked the man.

“No hablo Inglés, por favor,” the man replied, indicating he spoke Spanish instead of English. “Hablo Español.”

“He’s lying!” Hamilton told the deputy. “He spoke perfect English.”

The driver then stood up and began charging towards the deputy, the video shows.

Get the f*** away from me now!” the man yelled at Radiger. “Get the f*** away from me.”

As the man appeared to shove the deputy, the video shows Radiger tackle him to the ground.

“The guy in the Signal 4 (vehicle accident) is fighting me,” the deputy called out over his agency radio. “I’m trying to cuff him right now.”

As Radiger struggled to restrain the man while retrieving his handcuffs, Hamilton and another bystander helped hold him on the ground, the video shows.

“Stop! I’m dying!” the man screamed.

“We’re trying to help you,” Hamilton replied.

Moments later, the man mentioned Hamilton’s car, which the video showed him damaging, and the vehicle manufacturer’s chief executive.

“F*** you and your Tesla,” he said. “Tesla sucks. Elon Musk is going to work for me.”

As Radiger tried putting the handcuffed driver into a patrol vehicle, the video shows the man continuing to struggle with the deputy and three other law enforcement officers.

“Get them off!” the man screamed as another deputy tackled him to the ground again. “I’m going to strike you!”

While attempting to control the man, the video indicates that one of the other deputies was struck in the groin.

“Trump, save me! Donald Trump, save me, please,” the driver yelled as deputies and paramedics strapped him to a gurney. “Call Donald Trump. He’s my friend.”

Before being loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital, the driver made several homophobic comments, the video shows.

“I hope the Lord does not kill you tomorrow,” the driver told the first responders.

Deputies later identified the driver as Daniel Coman, 44.

Prosecutors have charged Coman with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

He is also charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and criminal mischief in relation to the incident on the 429 expressway.

Separately, prosecutors have charged Coman with criminal mischief for allegedly jumping on a woman’s car and damaging it shortly before the good Samaritan attack, court records show.

Coman, who was later released from jail on bond, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His attorney did not immediately respond to an email from News 6 offering an opportunity to comment.

And the 2024 Olympics were held in July and August.

Temperatures for the opening two days of the clay-court Grand Slam have soared to 33 degrees C (91 F) — far beyond normal for late May in the French capital. And it’s forecast to stay that way for the entire first week.

Besides making it uncomfortable for fans and players alike, the sultry conditions have also created faster conditions on court — changing the pace of the game.

“It is much different. Maybe it was that hot in the Olympics but the balls were different, so I wouldn’t treat it as the same tournament,” four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek said after routing Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in the first round on Monday.

Players have been putting bags of ice around their necks on changeovers to stay cool, while fans refreshed themselves under sprinklers.

When workers water the clay courts between sets, they have taken to directing their hoses at spectators begging to be doused, too.

“I don’t remember the last time it was so hot at Roland Garros,” Russian-born Australian player Daria Kasatkina said after beating Zeynep Sonmez 6-4, 6-4. “Maybe one day. But we’re going to have it for the whole week.”

Kasatkina said the energy-sapping temperatures made for more up-and-down matches.

“You can suddenly just get out of the bench and feel that your focus dropped,” she said. “So this is a battle which you have to also win. … Whoever adapts better to today’s conditions gets it.”

A retirement and medical timeout

Canadian player Gabriel Diallo said the heat was the main reason why he retired midway through his match against James Duckworth on Sunday.

Both Andrey Rublev and opponent Ignacio Buse called for the trainer on separate occasions during the second set of their 3-hour, 39-minute match on Monday, which Rublev won in four sets.

Buse took a medical timeout and had salts and minerals added to his water bottle as a stethoscope was placed on his chest. Rublev received treatment a few games later.

Also during the same match, a weary looking ball girl had to be helped off the court and received medical attention.

Heat protocol

The French Open is usually cool compared to the heat at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

But like in Australia and New York, the French Open has adopted an extreme weather policy.

If the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) — which takes into account temperature, humidity, sun, wind and other factors — reaches 30.1 degrees C (86 F) or higher, 10-minute cooling breaks can be installed between the second and third sets for women’s matches and between the third and fourth sets for men’s matches.

If the WBGT hits 32.2 C (90 F), play is suspended. It would require an air temperature of about 38 C (100 F) for play to be suspended.

Fast-court players like the heat

Some players were embracing the hotter air.

“I’ve always preferred hot and lively conditions to chilly on a clay court, because I feel like I can bring a little bit more of my all-court tennis on this type of surface,” Australian player Alex de Minaur said after beating Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

“It’s easier to be a little bit more aggressive. The ball is jumping. I don’t necessarily have to use as much spin or heaviness, and I can let the conditions do the job for me. And it’s quite physical. I don’t mind the heat,” De Minaur added.

Same goes for American player Alex Michelsen, who eliminated Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets.

“It’s definitely good for us Americans,” Michelsen said. “Generally we’re big serve, big forehand, big ground game and like to play offense. When it’s super hot, the ball is moving through the air very fast. … I was so happy when I saw the forecast.”

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

At a May 14 city council meeting, Mayor Chris Robertson and council members defended a $60 million mixed-use development planned for downtown, arguing that expanding the commercial tax base is the best way to keep residents’ tax bills from climbing.

The development, called “St. Cloud Commons,” is being led by Atlantic Housing Partners. Plans include a 542-space parking garage with an attached four-story building featuring retail on the ground floor and apartments on the upper three levels.

A second building will include additional commercial and apartment space, bringing the total to 150 apartments and more than 17,000 square feet of commercial space, all next to City Hall.

The parking garage will be built first, with construction expected to take about six months. The full project is slated for completion within two years.

“It’s important to have (people) living downtown to support the businesses in our community,” Robertson said.

“We need commercial development. If we don’t have commercial development, this city will fail. If we don’t have commercial development, taxes will have to be raised in order to operate the city.”

Council Member Kolby Urban addressed what he called widespread misconceptions about how the project is being financed.

“This is being funded by the CRA, which is a separate entity from the city. The CRA’s specific purpose is to redevelop properties to build the tax base for our city, and that’s exactly what this project is doing. If the city were to build its own parking garage, we would pay double, probably triple, to build our own. This is really going to be a huge catalyst for our downtown, and I think great for the residents of St. Cloud,” he said.

The St. Cloud Community Redevelopment Agency is contributing $6.25 million toward the project.

“You can either have the commercial pay for the operations of the city, or the taxpayers. We want the commercial to. We want jobs,” he said. “That’s why we have a traffic situation. It’s not just because we don’t have enough roads; we don’t have the jobs here. We are trying to accomplish that by creating commercial projects.

Not all residents share the enthusiasm. Nancy Joslin expressed concern about the scale of the project and what it could mean for the community’s character.

“Because it’s kind of like a big building. [There’s] just not a lot of homes right through here,” Joslin said.

Downtown business owner Jim Thomas said his feelings are mixed.

“It might be good for the support of the town, but I don’t know if it would be good for the community,” he said.

“It’s going to take away from the small downtown atmosphere. They just spent all this money on these brick roads to make it look homey downtown, and now they’re going to bring even more growth.”

Robertson said that density is critical to the survival of downtown businesses.

“If you don’t have people within walking distance of these businesses, they will continue to fail,” he said.

The mayor also acknowledged online concerns about the apartment units being designated as affordable housing. Of the 150 apartments, 75 will be available to residents earning up to 120% of the area’s median income. The remaining 75 are divided among income tiers: 18 units for those earning 30% of the area median income, 30 units for those at 60%, and 27 units for those at 80%.

“Low-income people, high-income people, medium-income people, we’re all people in our community. This is a project that allows for all types to live in one building and enjoy what our downtown has to offer,” he said.

The council also approved the voluntary annexation of the 743-acre Whaley Platt project, slated to be built south of Kissimmee Park Road — a development already approved by Osceola County.

Robertson explained why annexation makes financial sense for the city.

“This isn’t just raw land. It’s got the entitlements; it has the rights to build, and they can build it in the county as it stands,” he said. “If we don’t annex it in, we don’t get the impact fees and we don’t get the tax base.”

He addressed social media criticism directly.

“We get hit with ‘You’re approving thousands of units every time.’ Well, no. They already have the approvals, and if we do not take them in, they get built anyway, and we lose a lot of money. If the taxpayers want their taxes to go up, then we’ll stop annexing properties,” Robertson said.

In a separate action, the council approved the annexation and commercial future land use designation for a nearly 10-acre site on the west side of South Narcoossee Road, south of Lillian Black Road, but not before adding restrictions based on resident feedback. The council prohibited certain land uses at the site, including storage facilities, tire shops, and car washes.

“We hear what you don’t want anymore… that’s why last meeting we wanted those prohibited uses added to that,” Robertson said.

“That’s another reason why this is being annexed into the city. It’s going to be commercial; that means we get a higher tax base. It’s not going to be more homes; it’s not going to be townhomes, which,dosc if it were left in the county, that’s what it would have been. That’s what we want to do. If a project is going to be built, we want to make sure the people of our community have input in it.”

You can see the plans for the St. Cloud Commons below.

In a letter sent to more than 250 companies, members of the Black Caucus urge them to condemn the redistricting efforts, which the lawmakers describe as “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some of the companies had co-signed their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.

That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, was backed by many of the country’s most valuable and influential companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.

Tuesday's letter is the latest effort by the Congressional Black Caucus and its allies to gather support for preventing more Republican-led states from redrawing their legislative maps in ways that would dilute Black political representation. Several states have moved to eliminate congressional districts represented by Black Democratic lawmakers after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that severely weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Black Caucus, said in an interview.

Clarke described the letter as “putting corporate America on notice,” but she said the caucus was not seeking an adversarial relationship with corporations. Among those receiving Tuesday's letter were companies based overseas that have a significant presence in the U.S.

The caucus last week called for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that are gerrymandering their congressional maps to eliminate districts held by Black lawmakers. The 59-member Congressional Black Caucus consists entirely of Democrats, including more than a third from Southern states.

Some lawmakers have said mass protests and federal legislation might be necessary to undo the efforts underway in Republican-led states. Any new federal voting rights law would almost certainly require Democrats to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress and win the presidency.

It is unclear how companies will respond to the demands. The Associated Press was making efforts to contact them.

“Many companies that previously issued statements after the murder of George Floyd, pledged billions toward racial equity initiatives, and spoke forcefully in defense of democracy following January 6 now face a defining test of whether those commitments were rooted in principle or convenience,” the caucus' letter states.

It also represents the latest instance of the caucus expressing frustrations with corporate America. A 2024 Black Caucus report noted that lawmakers were “troubled that some corporations that made pledges in 2020 have taken several steps in the opposite direction,” such as rolling back or failing to follow through on pledges to diversify their workforces.

“We understand who the occupant in the White House is and the reality of Republicans being in charge,” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada said of the caucus’ message. “But what corporate America also understands is that there will be a shift at some point.”

The letter calls on companies to publicly condemn the redistricting plans, meet with Black Caucus members to discuss corporate America's role in protecting voting rights and disclose their political donations to Republican politicians in states that are redistricting their congressional maps.

President Donald Trump last year kicked off the unusual mid-decade round of congressional redistricting when he pushed Texas lawmakers to redraw their maps in a way that would add Republican seats. Democratic-led California responded, but it has been mostly Republican states redrawing their lines since as the party tries to maintain its majority in the U.S. House during this year's midterm elections.

The effort was supercharged by the Supreme Court decision, which allowed even more Republican states to redraw congressional maps that previously had protected minority communities.

Horsford, who chaired the Black Caucus during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, said the caucus is demanding that companies “stand on the side of democracy, fairness and equal representation.”

“This is about power, who holds it and what it’s used for," he said. "And when you’re diluting Black economic and political power, we need to know where these companies stand in this moment, and what side of history they’re on.”

Russia on Monday urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic missions, to leave the Ukrainian capital as quickly as possible and told residents to steer clear of military and government facilities. It said that “systemic strikes” on Kyiv were being prepared.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone Monday that the U.S. should evacuate its diplomatic staff from Kyiv, a foreign ministry statement said. Rubio didn’t say whether the State Department would take that step, but expressed concern during a trip to India that the “terrible” war in Ukraine could escalate further.

The Trump administration has tried for more than a year to stop the fighting that broke out after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. But its efforts yielded no significant breakthrough and are now on ice as Washington focuses on the Iran war.

No diplomats say they are leaving Kyiv

There were no announcements of diplomatic departures from Kyiv. The European Union, French and Polish delegations publicly said that they would not leave.

The level of security threats posed by Russia to Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities “remains the same as in previous years and months,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday.

Russia has continuously launched missile and drone attacks on the capital for more than four years, it pointed out, adding that Ukraine was prepared to assist diplomatic missions seeking additional security measures.

Russia said its biggest missile attack of the year last weekend was a response to Friday’s deadly Ukrainian drone strike on what Moscow said was a college dormitory in Starobilsk, a city in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region.

But the Ukrainian General Staff said that its strike in Starobilsk hit the local headquarters of the Russian military’s special drone unit.

Ukraine remains short of air defense missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that sophisticated American-made air defense systems that Ukraine needs to stop Russian ballistic missiles are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“Unfortunately, there has been no progress for a long time with America on expanding the production of anti-ballistic capabilities,” Zelenskyy said on social media late Monday, adding that Kyiv is working with Europe to improve its own anti-ballistic capabilities in sufficient quantities.

He noted that Ukrainian battlefield gains in recent months have enabled it to “stabilize” the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, suggesting that Kyiv's forces are holding their own against Russia's bigger army.

Russia’s spring offensive is floundering as Ukraine’s midrange drone strikes disrupt its rear supply lines, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Moscow’s warning of major strikes aims to distract public attention from its “poor battlefield performance” and an economic pinch caused by war costs and international sanctions, the Washington-based think tank said late Monday.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Elise Morton in London contributed.

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

The villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked the exit, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.

The Lao organization Rescue Volunteer for People, which is working closely with the local authorities, posted on its Facebook page that Tuesday’s operation plan includes exploring air shafts above the cave in hopes of identifying possible access points. and locating the trapped people.

Rescuers from neighboring Thailand also arrived at the site over the weekend to assist the operation.

Challenging conditions hamper rescue efforts

According to rescuers, divers have navigated about 100 meters into the flooded, narrow cave. They believe the villagers may be trapped about 30 meters beyond the furthest point currently accessible. They are working to pump water out of the cave to aid the search efforts.

The site is in a remote area in Xaisomboun province's Longcheng district, which is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane. Rescuers at the scene have detailed on social media the challenging mountainous terrain and heavy rain that is hampering the operation.

Videos shared online by Thai rescuers showed that reaching the cave's entrance requires a steep hike on foot of roughly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). The entrance is also steep and rocky, and barely wide enough for a single person to climb through at a time.

Inside, rescuers must go through muddy passageways, flooded sections and narrow tunnels that forced them to crawl forward.

Villagers were reportedly mining

There has been no official confirmation on why the villagers went into the cave, although the rescuers involved said that they went in to look for gold deposits.

Bounkham Luanglath of the Lao rescue group has told The Associated Press that the cave was frequented by local residents looking for gold, although authorities had repeatedly warned them against entering the cave out of safety concerns.

The average per capita income in Laos of about $2,000-2,500 is among the lowest in Southeast Asia, and it is less still in underdeveloped rural areas.

Laos is not known as a major gold producer, but its mining industry is sizable considering the country’s developing economy. The mining sector is fueled by foreign direct investment, largely from neighboring Thailand and China. Copper is a major export, and mining for rare earth elements, needed for most modern technologies, has become more common in Laos recently.

The Laos Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it has no official information to share with the media. The Southeast Asian nation is a one-party communist state with no organized opposition and the government keeps a tight lid on information.

Cave rescues are risky business

The news quickly drew headlines in Thailand because of its resemblance to the dramatic 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand, where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than two weeks before being safely rescued in an operation that became a global sensation. A former Thai navy SEAL diver was killed during the search and rescue effort.

A new tragedy occurred earlier this month, with five Italian divers found dead after they went missing while diving into a cave in the Maldives. A Maldivian military diver who was part of the recovery team was killed during the high-risk operation to retrieve their bodies.

A major health risk of being trapped in a cave is cold conditions quickly leading to hypothermia. The body can cope for weeks without food, but clean water is necessary to prevent dehydration. A contaminated water supply could cause diarrhea, hastening dehydration.

Declining oxygen levels cause symptoms similar to altitude sickness and in the long run can damage the lungs and other organs, while carbon dioxide buildup causes exhaustion and eventual unconsciousness.

Constant darkness disrupts time perception and the body’s circadian rhythms. It also causes extreme sensitivity when the eyes have to adjust again to light.

——

Associated Press journalists Grant Peck, Anton L. Delgado and Haruka Nuga contributed to this report.

The team will still play its group stage matches in the U.S. but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, a move that Iran's soccer federation announced recently and that was formally confirmed by FIFA, the sport's governing body, on Monday.

Moving the training base comes against the backdrop of the war in Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

Sheinbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by a FIFA representative the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time outside the games on U.S. territory.

“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters. She said a FIFA representative had then asked, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?”

“And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that',” she said.

Iran's soccer team is slated to play matches in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium six days later, before facing Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.

Before the war broke out, the team was originally planned to set up its base in Tucson, Arizona. But with tensions simmering, Iran's team moved its base to Tijuana in Mexico, Sheinbaum said, confirming an announcement by the Iranian federation over the weekend. The federation said the Iranians had received approval from FIFA, which made the move official on Monday when it released the lists of all 48 base camp sites.

Teams use base camps to train before and after matches. This year’s World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The possibility of a move had simmered for months in the uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and security concerns. U.S. sanctions on Iran were likely to only make the team’s stay in the U.S. more complex.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday that President Donald Trump had made it clear the Iranian team was welcome to participate in the tournament.

The department’s statement did not address where the team might stay, or Sheinbaum's comments.

Sheinbaum said that her government was working with FIFA to hash out all the details before the competition.

___

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The 79-year-old president is scheduled to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as annual preventative medical and dental checkups. It will be Trump's fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his sway with voters.

For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander-in-chief’s health. But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn't get to see.

Trump turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president. His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, was 82 when he left office, dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns he was too old for the job.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician for more than a decade under former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

For a president of Trump’s age, a complete physical would be expected to include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, Kuhlman said.

The White House has not disclosed what the visit will entail, but expressed confidence in what it will show.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

No law requiring presidents to disclose their medical records

In the weeks leading up to his visit, Trump has been saying he feels as good as he did five decades ago — even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise regimen. Yet he’s also sensitive to perceptions about his age, noting that he takes extra caution descending the steps from Air Force One to avoid headlines about a stumble.

There is no formal law requiring presidents to publicize their health records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump’s past reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and reporting statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.

At public appearances, Trump is often seen wearing makeup to conceal bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and regular aspirin use. He has sometimes appeared drowsy during meetings and closed his eyes for long stretches, though he denies having fallen asleep.

Trump often boasts of having “aced” cognitive tests while frequently deriding Biden, who faced questions about his mental acuity. Some of Trump’s previous physicals have included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment. His physicians reported a score of 30 out of 30 for Trump at 2018 and 2025 checkups.

Yet critics have pointed to Trump’s meandering speeches and sometimes bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.

Last month, a statement from more than 30 neurologists, psychiatrists and other medical experts — who acknowledged they’ve never examined him — said Trump was mentally unfit to serve and warned of an “increasingly dangerous decline” in his behavior based on what they called “objectively observable signs of serious medical concern.″

“Any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to,” Ingle said.

Just like any other patient, presidents get to choose what’s disclosed about their health, said Sara Rosenthal, a bioethicist at the University of Kentucky who studies presidential health. Questions about transparency have become more acute as America elects aging presidents like Trump and Biden, she said.

“I think we can expect very little disclosure about the true health status of any president unless they’re in perfect health,” said Rosenthal, who has suggested an independent medical organization to review and report on the health of the president and those in the line of succession.

'Nothing should be hidden'

Trump's first medical report in his second term was released last April. In July, he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Photographs have shown the president with swollen feet, ankles, and calves, described by the White House as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency leading to “mild swelling” in his lower legs.

Following his last publicly disclosed exam, described as a routine follow-up last October, Trump’s physician issued a one-page summary saying the president was in “exceptional health” without divulging many specific results.

The frequency of Trump's medical checkups is not uncommon for someone his age, according to S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who has studied the health of past presidents. It's part of a strategy to catch problems while they’re still treatable, Olshansky said.

Olshansky says the public deserves to see more than White House medical summaries that “may be subject to editorial discretion.” Full, unredacted medical records should be made public, he said: “Nothing should be hidden.”

The White House has not said whether Trump's visit will include any procedures that may require anesthesia. Trump’s last colon exam was in 2024 and recommended a follow-up in three years.

If Trump were given anesthesia, Vice President JD Vance would be expected to assume temporary control of the office under the 25th Amendment. That last happened in 2021 when Vice President Kamala Harris was briefly sworn in while Biden had a colonoscopy. Former President George W. Bush twice turned over power to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Minutes after the Knicks finished their four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, the DJ at Radio City Music Hall played Prince's “1999.”

That was the last time the Knicks had reached the NBA Finals. And as fans sang along to, “So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999,” they could forget the more than a quarter of a century of mostly bad years since and enjoy the record-setting run the current team is on.

“There is no precedent right now as far as point differential. That’s how good this Knicks team is,” said Ari Levine, who was carrying part of a broom as the Knicks swept their second straight series.

He's right. The Knicks have outscored Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland by a combined 262 points during their playoff winning streak, the largest margin in any 11-game span in NBA history.

They will try to continue it against Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the NBA Finals. Fans seemed to have a clear preference for Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs as they poured out of the famous Manhattan venue onto city streets, chanting “We want Wemby! We want Wemby!”

But whether it's him or the defending champion Thunder, Knicks fans believe the run will continue.

“We're taking everything! We're taking the whole thing!" rapper Fat Joe posted on Instagram from the court in Cleveland, where he was one of the Knicks' celebrity fans who made the trip.

It wasn't that long ago when fans had no reason for such confidence. The Knicks went 17-65 in 2018-19, the worst record in the league, during a stretch when they had a losing record for seven straight seasons.

“That year we won 17 games I thought we had reached rock bottom,” longtime fan Anthony Mills said at the Radio City party. "I wasn’t sure that we could ever get this back again."

He became a Knicks fan when Bernard King was playing for them in the mid-1980s, a decade removed from their second and most recent championship in 1973. The drought is now so long he believes if the Knicks end it this season, star guard Jalen Brunson would earn a spot among New York's most fabled champions.

“If Jalen Brunson wins this championship, he should be Joe Namath. And if you’re old enough, you understand what Joe Namath means," Mills said, referring to the iconic quarterback who guaranteed the New York Jets would beat the favored Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl in 1969, and then delivered.

Brunson's team, like Namath's, will be the underdog. But the Knicks sure aren't playing like one.

“This team is hungry and they know what it would mean to this city,” Mills said. “They’re going to win the championship.”

___

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

This study posits that across the Sun Belt, massive housing booms are happening in unexpected corners of states like Texas and Florida, looking at ZIP codes that saw a huge rise in housing units over the past decade.

This includes places like St. Augustine (32095), Ponte Vedra (32801) and even Daytona Beach (32124).

[RELATED: The BEST Beaches in Florida for Summer 2026?]

However, the report also touches on a trio of Central Florida communities that have been “quietly transforming” during this time: places where housing expansion is taking place alongside higher-paying jobs and a better-education population.

According to a spokesperson with RentCafé, these three communities are as follows:

• Groveland (34736)

“Not long ago, zip code 34736 in Groveland (#28 nationally) was the kind of place people drove through to arrive somewhere else. Between 2014 and 2023, its housing inventory grew 80% to more than 10,000 units, and its population rose at nearly the same pace — from roughly 14,600 to more than 26,000 residents.

What’s less obvious from the outside is the demographic shift underneath: the share of residents with a college degree climbed from 46% to nearly 64%."

RentCafé

• Winter Garden/Horizon West (34787)

“Zip code 34787 in Southwest Orange (#37 nationally) is one of the most dramatic suburban transformations in Central Florida.

Anchored by Horizon West, a master-planned community that has drawn sustained investment in schools, parks, and retail, the area’s population has nearly doubled over the past decade, from roughly 50,000 to more than 93,000 residents.

Housing inventory has also grown 73% to over 33,000 units to keep up, and the share of college-educated residents rose from 70% to 80%."

RentCafé

• Clermont (34715)

“Zip code 34715 in Clermont (#50 nationally) has always had an identity: the “Gem of the Hills.” It’s known for its rolling terrain and lakes in a state that’s mostly flat, but what’s changed is its scale.

Housing inventory rose 55% to nearly 9,000 units, the population grew 67% to more than 25,000 residents, and the share of college-educated residents climbed from 61% to nearly 67%. It’s a community that’s grown up without losing its appeal."

RentCafé

They’re not the only “up-and-coming communities” included in the study, though. The full list is as follows:

Per researchers, the study was put together using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, including factors like the number of housing units, population, occupancy rate, share of renters and homeowners, median household income, and the proportion of residents with higher education for the 2014-2023 timeframe.

The list of “up-and-coming” communities also examined the positive share change of educated people, as well as the median income increase of at least 25% between 2014 and 2023.

To read through the full report, click here.

And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in over the weekend to make his thoughts known.

That bill — HR 8870 — is dubbed the “BUILD America 250 Act,” and it was originally filed by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri) earlier this month.

HOW IT WORKS

HR 8870 includes a provision that imposes a $130 annual registration fee for a covered electric vehicle; as well as a $35 fee for covered plug-in hybrid vehicles.

According to the text, the bill’s effective date is Oct. 1 if it ends up becoming law.

But starting in 2029, the fees must increase by $5 every two years until they reach a cap of $150 and $50, respectively.

Furthermore, the proposal calls for state DMVs (handled in Florida by the FLHSMV) to collect these fees as part of the vehicle registration and renewal process.

States that fail to comply with these rules could lose out on 125% of funding otherwise due to them.

DESANTIS WEIGHS IN

After the bill’s introduction, DeSantis posted on social media, saying that the DMV provision would be unconstitutional.

He also claimed that the tax listed in the bill could potentially be extended to even gas-powered vehicles.

“No national car tax!” he wrote.

Commandeering state DMVs into federal tax collectors is not constitutional.

The proposed tax is bad on its own, but this aspect is an attempt at usurping state sovereignty.

And, yes, the tax would be extended to all cars in no time. Just say no! https://t.co/pe8vkvzov7

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) May 24, 2026

It’s not the first time that federal lawmakers have tried to push through this sort of car tax, either. Last year, an early draft of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” required even higher fees for electric and hybrid vehicles.

In response, a group of lawmakers issued a letter that in part called for these provisions to be cut, which they ultimately were in the final draft.

“While we did stop a national registration tax on gas vehicles, the House OBBB implements one on EV & Hybrid vehicles,” the letter reads. “Republicans should not create a new car tax, but at minimum, it should NOT apply to hybrids (increasingly owned by Americans.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

While HR 8870 was originally introduced in the House of Representatives on May 19, it was ordered to be amended by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure by a 62-2 vote on May 22.

However, the bill’s text has yet to be updated online as of the time of writing, so it remains to be seen whether the changes will have anything to do with the proposed car tax.

For the latest available information on the bill’s status, click here.

That’s according to the organizers behind the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference, which is scheduled for June 13 at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala.

This year marks the sixth annual rendition of the event, which organizers say will feature all of the following:

• Live Bigfoot Town Hall discussions
• Interactive exhibits and displays
• Bigfoot-themed photo opportunities
• “Skunk Ape Row” featuring vendors, artists and researchers
• Family-friendly attractions and activities

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in interest surrounding Bigfoot and unexplained phenomena over the last few years,” said Nikki Beaty of Gather Up Events. “People are traveling from all over the country to hear encounter stories, meet researchers they’ve watched on television, and experience Florida’s unique Skunk Ape culture.”

Per the event page, the conference will also host a roundtable regarding the Skunk Ape, which is the Sunshine State’s equivalent of the fabled Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

“This is not a formal lecture,” the event page reads. “It is a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ update designed to give our attendees a firsthand look at what local researchers have found over the past year.”

WHAT IS THE SKUNK APE?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that reports of the beast claim it’s always accompanied by a “foul smell” — an odor like rotten eggs, moldy cheese or feces.

An FWC spokesperson told News 6 there is no direct evidence that it exists, though its origins could stem from people mistakenly identifying wild hogs or bears.

Despite that, many have touted its existence.

According to the FWC, three of the most recent reports of Skunk Ape sightings have come from the following locations:

• July 2020: Naples, Collier County
• January 2021: Inverness, Citrus County
• February 2021: Seawall’s Point, Martin County

However, Dave Shealy — the founder of the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters in Ochopee — told News 6 that there are other locations where sightings are far more common.

In 2024, Shealy explained to News 6 that many of these occurrences happen in Myakka State Park or the Ocala National Forest, but those aren’t the only locations.

“There was a sighting in the Kissimmee area on the marshlands that lay just south of Orlando,” Shealy said. “And so, I’ve been up there quite a bit recently air boating, and that’s a really unique area. I believe that it may hold more than one Skunk Ape up there.”

Meanwhile, you can find more information on the upcoming conference by clicking here.

The attacks came even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations on ending the war were “proceeding nicely.”

In early European trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.7% to 25,214.08, while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.9% to 8,187.07. In Britain, the FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to 10,540.40.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.

Oil prices were mixed, with Brent crude rising but still trading below $100 a barrel while U.S. benchmark crude oil fell.

The U.S. military said the strikes Monday were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” It said it used restraint due to the ceasefire with Iran, which gave no official response. Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations.

With the status of peace talks with Iran unclear, markets have been swayed by various developments and comments by Trump.

“Markets are behaving as though a full Iran breakthrough already exists, even though the hardest parts of the negotiation remain unresolved,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary. “Washington continues to signal optimism, while Tehran insists no agreement is imminent.”

During Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% to 64,996.09, falling back from an all-time high close over 65,000 on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was nearly unchanged at 25,599.45, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.2% to 4,145.37.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.6% to 8,047.51, catching up after markets were closed Monday for a holiday.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia lost 0.4% to 8,657.80.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil declined $3.67 to $92.97 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained $3.03 to $96.45 a barrel after falling nearly $5 on Monday.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. On Friday, the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the Dow industrials climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%.

Global markets advanced Monday after regional officials in the Middle East said the United States was close to reaching an agreement with Iran to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. But it's not clear when or how the deal might be finalized and when its various parts will take effect.

An end to the war would ease concerns throughout a region that saw Gulf havens and travel hubs like the United Arab Emirates struck by Iranian missiles and drones.

It would allow for global shipping, including an estimated 20% of the world’s oil, to resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. It also would allow the rebuilding of energy and other infrastructure in the region.

In other dealings early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.09 Japanese yen from 158.91 yen. The euro cost $1.1636, down from $1.1645.

Chung, chairman of Shinsegae Group, which owns a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, bowed three times during a televised statement as he pleaded for forgiveness from the families of democracy activists killed by the country's former military dictatorship and from the broader public.

The coffee chain sparked public outrage when it attempted to promote a large size of tumbler it calls a “tank” by declaring May 18 to be “Tank Day.” That's the anniversary of a democratic uprising in the southern city of Gwangju that was brutally suppressed by troops, tanks and helicopters, killing or injuring hundreds.

The campaign compounded outrage by using the slogan “Thwack it on the table!,” which many read as a reference to a notorious 1987 police statement that attempted to cover up the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol. Police claimed that Park died suddenly after investigators “hit the desk with a thwack.”

The promotion was met with immediate outrage and within hours Shinsegae canceled it and fired the chief executive of Starbucks Korea. Police also opened an investigation based on complaints by families of people killed at Gwangju.

“I take it very seriously the fact that many people felt deep pain and anger because of Starbucks Korea’s inappropriate marketing campaign,” Chung said Tuesday.

He also asked people not to take out their frustration on staff at Starbucks shops, saying the responsibility lies with management. There were no immediate reports of major incidents at stores.

Chung issued his first apology on May 19, saying in a statement that the campaign caused “deep pain to the victims and bereaved families of the May 18 Democratization Movement as well as to the public.”

Jeon Sangjin, a senior Shinsegae Group executive, said the company has yet to find conclusive evidence that Starbucks Korea marketing employees intended to mock the pro-democracy movement, an accusation the employees have denied.

However, he said some employees refused management requests to hand over their smartphones during a weeklong internal review. Jeon said the company would look at results from the police inquiry and any employee found to have intended to ridicule protesters would be fired.

The anger over the campaign has triggered public calls for boycotts, amplified by government officials, including Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung, who said Starbucks products will no longer be used at government events and lamented the chain’s “anti-historical behavior.”

President Lee Jae Myung said on X last week that the campaign displayed “inhumane and disgraceful behavior by cheap profiteers who deny the values of the South Korean community, basic human rights and democracy.”

The crackdown in Gwangju came months after General Chun Doo-hwan seized power in a coup in late 1979. Government records show about 200 people died in Gwangju, but activists say the true death toll was much higher. Chun’s government also imprisoned tens of thousands, saying it was rooting out social evils.

Public anger over Chun’s dictatorship led to massive nationwide protests in 1987, forcing him to accept a constitutional revision introducing direct presidential elections, which is widely seen as the start of South Korea’s transition to democracy.

The missile fired from Jongju, a city near the North's west coast, flew about 80 kilometers (50 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea launched other kinds of projectiles, it said, but didn't elaborate.

South Korean media, citing the military, reported the other weapons systems mobilized included multiple rocket launch systems. The reports said that the simultaneous launches of different kinds of weapons were likely meant to test an ability to evade South Korean and U.S. defenses.

South Korea's military said that it closely monitors activities in North Korea. It said that South Korea, with a solid alliance with the U.S., maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea.

It was North Korea's first weapons launch event since April 19, when the country fired multiple short-range missiles in what state-media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has focused on modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In recent years, Kim has expanded ties with Russia by sending troops and conventional arms to support its war efforts against Ukraine. Kim has also pushed to cement cooperation with China, North Korea's economic pipeline.

In their summit in Beijing last week, Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed their opposition to “foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods of creating threats to the security” of North Korea, according to a statement from the the Kremlin.

Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, have previously frustrated the U.S. and others' efforts to toughen international sanctions on North Korea, despite its banned weapons tests.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to resume talks with Kim, but Pyongyang has responded that Washington must first drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

Kim has taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward South Korea, calling it his country’s most hostile enemy and taking steps to terminate all ties with its neighbor. In a meeting with military commanders last week, Kim discussed efforts to strengthen military units along the border with South Korea in line with a state objective to turn the border line into “an impregnable fortress,” according to state media.

On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for stronger efforts to advance the country’s military. In televised remarks during a regular Cabinet meeting, he emphasized artificial intelligence and drone capabilities, and the potential acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine, an issue that has been part of his diplomacy with Washington.

Lee, a liberal who espouses improved ties with North Korea, didn't specifically comment on the threats posed by the North. But he stressed the importance of South Korea demonstrating the “resolve to take responsibility for and protect our own security ourselves,” saying such a posture would also strengthen the country’s alliance with the United States.

___

Elise Morton contributed to this report from London.

The announcements by the group of nations known as the Quad came after talks in New Delhi between India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Speaking after the meeting, Rubio announced a new Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance initiative to integrate the four countries’ surveillance capabilities and strengthen real-time information sharing across the region. He said the Quad would work with Fiji to upgrade port infrastructure in the Pacific islands, marking its first joint regional infrastructure project.

The ministers also launched an Indo-Pacific energy security initiative aimed at strengthening regional fuel and energy supply chains, with the U.S. set to host a Quad fuel security forum later this year, Rubio said.

“We are deeply committed to this partnership. It is a linchpin in a cornerstone of our global strategy as a nation,” he said.

Separately, India and the U.S. signed a deal to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals as global concerns grow over reliance on China-dominated supplies.

Asked about the Quad agreements, China said that cooperation among countries should promote regional peace and stability and not target third parties.

“We do not support forming exclusive small groupings or bloc confrontation. Any cooperation should not undermine mutual trust and cooperation among regional countries," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing.

The Quad group is a key strategic partnership for cooperation on maritime security, supply chains and regional strategy as China expands its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Its members have repeatedly accused China of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea and aggressively pushing its maritime territorial claims. Beijing maintains that its military is purely defensive to protect what it says are China’s sovereign rights and calls the Quad an attempt to contain its economic growth and influence.

The Quad meeting comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump visited China, a trip closely watched in New Delhi for signs of any shift in Washington’s approach toward Beijing.

Ahead of Tuesday's talks, Rubio said that Washington wants the Quad to move beyond being a dialogue platform and take more concrete action on issues including maritime security and critical minerals. He also said officials were working toward a summit of the four leaders later this year, although no date has been announced.

The four countries had hoped to hold a leaders’ summit in India last year, but the plan was delayed because of strains in U.S.-India relations, including disagreements over tariffs.

Jaishankar described the talks as “an exercise of considerable value,” saying the ministers also discussed maritime trade, energy and fertilizer supplies, as well as critical minerals. He added that as economic activity, energy, trade and maritime commerce in the region grow, “the responsibilities of the Quad will grow commensurately, and we must prepare for that.”

The leaders also discussed the Iran war and halted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Australia's Wong said the Indo-Pacific was facing “acute economic stress” and warned that any closure of the strait would have serious consequences for regional energy security.

“We recognize the importance of maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition,” Wong said, referring to Iran’s plan to charge vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

She said the Quad reflects a shared commitment among four sovereign nations to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“There is great alignment between our interests. We all share a vision for the Indo-Pacific, a region that is free and open,” she said.

——

Associated Press journalist Eduardo Castillo in Beijing, China contributed to this report.

One is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, with no vaccine or treatment. The other is the anger and suspicion of residents who have pelted her with stones and verbal abuse in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak.

“We continue to tell them that the disease is out there. Some accept, and others don’t,” Birungi told The Associated Press on Monday as she and colleagues spoke with groups of people in a working-class neighborhood under the scorching sun.

Aid workers are especially at risk in this volatile region where residents, like Birungi, have long been under threat of armed groups that have killed thousands of people and displaced many more in recent years.

Trust is hard to find among the traumatized population that is wary of outsiders, even those trying desperately to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak that experts say was discovered weeks late. Surveillance for such diseases has been weakened by U.S. and other aid cuts.

The World Health Organization says that a family of fruit bats is believed to be the natural hosts of the viruses that cause Ebola. But some people don’t believe the virus exists, or are skeptical about its origins.

“These people should stop bothering us. They just want to get rich. Let’s not forget that Ebola is a white man’s invention,” declared Pierre Basola, a 56-year-old resident of Bunia, who added: “Stop talking to me anyway.”

Cases are nearing 1,000 but health centers are burned

Three times in the past week, healthcare facilities have been attacked. On Sunday, angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients, forcing medical staff to evacuate them as gunfire rang out.

On Saturday, a group of residents set fire to a tent for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases run by Doctors Without Borders in Mongbwalu, and more than a dozen people suspected to have the virus fled. On Thursday, a center in Rwampara was burned after relatives were barred from retrieving the body of a man suspected to have Ebola.

Anger is amplified as virus prevention practices keep loved ones from handling bodies in final rites following an illness some have described as sudden and dramatic, with vomiting and bleeding.

The Ebola virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, feces or vomit. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.

“Trust is almost as important as the health response, because if you get this massive distrust in the communities, they’re not going to go to the health centers,” said Heather Kerr, country director for the International Rescue Committee in Congo.

Armed conflict in the region poses another challenge. To travel from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, to Mongbwalu, aid groups risk potential attacks in a region more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, the outbreak now has more than 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.

“We are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic,” he said.

‘We leave everything to God’

Mado Nditamba, a 70-year-old Bunia resident, said that she has seen students running away from aid workers.

“The last time Ebola came, it was not on the scale that we see today,” Nditamba said. “But this epidemic today is worse. We go to the doctors in the hospitals, but they also die. That’s what worries us. We don’t know what to do and we leave everything to God.”

Congo has had 17 Ebola outbreaks, and WHO says the country is equipped to respond. But early tests in this outbreak were conducted for a more common type of Ebola, losing valuable time. Experts are still trying to determine when this outbreak began.

There are few places to test for this Bundibugyo type in a region where clinics can run on generators, and a major airport serving as a humanitarian hub has been in the hands of rebels for more than a year.

Health workers on the ground have told the AP that they are underprepared and underprotected. An unknown number of responders have been infected, and some have died.

A Congolese doctor was reported dead on Sunday in Rwampara, Rubens Dhedgia, coordinator of the Ebola response in the region, told the AP. In neighboring Uganda, where a far smaller number of cases has begun to spread after Congolese traveled there, at least three health workers have been infected.

And perhaps most worryingly, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says three volunteers died in Mongbwalu, after it believes they handled bodies on March 27 during work unrelated to Ebola.

If confirmed, that would significantly push back the timeline of the outbreak from the first confirmed death in late April in Bunia.

Some residents still believe Ebola is a myth

Even as at least one funeral home manager dusted off coffins for sale alongside a road in Bunia, experts reported a lack of trust among some residents of the region who don't believe the virus exists.

Action Aid, another of the international humanitarian groups responding, said that a high level of skepticism and lack of understanding remains, citing residents it questioned in mid-May in Ituri province just after the outbreak was announced.

"The only way to go, as far as this particular virus is concerned, is community engagement,” said Yakubu Mohammed Saani, country director for Action Aid in Congo.

How that will be improved, and quickly, is still not clear. Meanwhile, both WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the outbreak is larger than the cases reported so far.

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Ope Adetayo reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Jean-Yves Kamale contributed to this report from Kinshasa.

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

Brunson proved they made the right decision by leading them to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

The All-Star point guard averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists during New York's sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, earning the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP. He had 15 points and five assists Monday, when the Knicks crushed Cleveland 130-93 in Game 4.

“It's an honor to be here in this city and this organization,” Brunson said, sitting side-by-side with former Villanova University teammates Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. "I wouldn't trade it for the world.

“We're still writing our story, but I like the journey that we're on right now.”

Skepticism abounded around the league when New York extended a four-year, $104 million contract to the then-Dallas Mavericks guard in 2022. Brunson silenced many critics when he averaged 24.0 points in his first season, then added three straight All-Star selections.

After helping the Knicks reach the East finals in 2025, when they lost to the upstart Indiana Pacers, Brunson was the best player in the series from start to finish against the Cavaliers. In Game 1, his 38-point masterpiece fueled New York's comeback from a 22-point hole in the fourth quarter.

“He just puts in the work. He’s a testament of that,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He believes in that, and he showcases that every single day to all of us and it drives us to be better.”

Brunson’s work ethic instantly impressed New York coach Mike Brown when he was hired last summer, then forced him to change his sleep habits during the season as the 29-year-old went all out in morning shootarounds. It prompted Brown to compare his determination to basketball legends Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan.

“Their quiet strength, all the time, is what they all have in common,” Brown said. “Jalen's work ethic is off the chart and he makes me adjust because he goes so hard every day. When your leader is that way, it's easy to be a coach.”

The Knicks subsequently brought in Bridges and Hart via trades, and acquired Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves as the final piece of the puzzle. That core four is now just four wins away from delivering the franchise its first NBA title since 1973.

“There is no player, no other guard I'd want to be in this position with than J.B.,” Bridges said.

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Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai threw six spotless innings after walking three of the first four batters he faced Monday night. Steven Okert then got three outs before Alimber Santa made his major league debut and fired two perfect innings to complete the Astros' 17th regular-season no-hitter — four of them combined efforts — in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

“The first inning, you never thought that this was going to be the outcome of the game,” manager Joe Espada said. “Imai, he continued to compete. ... He continued to pound the zone, he fought through it. Six strong innings, and then the rest is history."

It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024. No pitcher has tossed a complete-game no-hitter since Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.

The 23-year-old Santa became the first pitcher since 1900 to participate in a no-hitter during his big league debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Yeah, there was some adrenaline,” Santa said through a translator. “I was aware of the no-hitter, but I was just trying to calm myself down from the bullpen.”

Ronel Blanco tossed the previous no-hitter for the Astros in a 10-0 victory over Toronto on April 1, 2024, which also marked Espada’s first win as manager. In fact, Houston has authored three of the past seven and five of the last 11 major league no-hitters — including one in the 2022 World Series when four pitchers combined against Philadelphia.

Okert worked the seventh after Imai got 16 outs over the last 16 batters he faced. He benefited from a double play in the first, then settled into a groove after issuing his third walk.

“During pregame, our focus was attacking the zone,” Imai said through a translator. “But in the first inning, I felt unbalanced, the timing was off. But after that inning, I was able to adjust the timing, all the rhythm and stuff.”

Santa entered in the eighth and retired all six batters he faced. His 24th pitch was a called third strike against Brandon Nimmo, ending the game with his first career strikeout. That was confirmed after an ABS challenge by Nimmo of the final pitch.

“I wasn't sure,” Santa said, but catcher Christian Vázquez was already on the mound telling him, “`Hey stud, that's a strike.'”

Texas was held without a hit for the sixth time, and third at home since moving into Globe Life Field in 2020. The previous one was Corey Kluber's no-hitter for the New York Yankees on May 19, 2021, about six weeks after San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove threw one in Texas for his hometown team on April 9.

These Rangers, hitting .232 with 201 runs through 53 games, have two of their best players on the injured list in two-time World Series MVP shortstop Corey Seager (lower back inflammation) and outfielder Wyatt Langford (right forearm strain). Plus, third baseman Josh Jung (.302 batting average) missed his second game in a row because of left shoulder soreness.

“When you get no-hit, it’s a team thing,” first-year Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “It’s not just the players who feel it, all of us feel it. ... I have to find different ways to message on the offensive side to get this team going, to get this offense going."

The Rangers struck out only four times, a night after whiffing 16 times in a 2-1 loss to the Angels.

Imai’s fourth walk was to Nimmo leading off the fourth inning, but Ezequiel Duran then grounded into a double play.

Imai (2-2) threw 57 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He struck out two.

The 28-year-old Imai, who said his only previous no-hitter came in middle school, is in his first big league season after coming over from Japan. He was 1-2 with an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts for Houston.

Imai agreed in January to a $54 million, three-year contract. He was a three-time All-Star during eight seasons in Japan, and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions.

Joc Pederson was retired on a nifty play in the third when Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña made a backhanded stop on a hard one-hopper and a twisting throw to first. Justin Foscue and Danny Jansen had deep flyouts into the left-center gap in the Texas fifth.

Okert walked Nimmo leading off the seventh before retiring the next three batters.

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They weren't ready for the Knicks or the big stage.

The lights were too bright again.

Cleveland's season ended with a resounding, demoralizing and embarrassing 130-93 loss on Monday night in Game 4 to the New York Knicks, who swept the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Playing on tired and wobbly legs after failing to put Toronto and Detroit away before seven games in the earlier rounds, the Cavs, whose fate was sealed when they blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, had no answer for anything the Knicks threw at them.

They got out-played, out-shot, out-rebounded and out-coached.

“We did this to ourselves,” said Mitchell, who scored 31 in the close-out loss. "We didn't give our team a chance because we didn't take care of business. You can't play with your food. We had an opportunity in Game 1 and we blew that.

“We had an opportunity, but give credit where credit is due.”

And now that they've fallen short, the Cavs head into what will likely be a tumultuous summer that will trigger a major roster overhaul and perhaps other moves.

This wasn't the plan. Cleveland made a blockbuster trade at the deadline in February, sending guard Darius Garland, part of its “Core Four” to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, who was supposed to take pressure off Mitchell.

It never happened.

Cleveland's top player approved the Garland swap, but other than a few games here and there, he and Harden never truly meshed as intended. The Cavs, who shot just 28.9% (48 of 166) on 3-pointers in the series, never outgrew their growing pains.

“This was the first time going through what we were going to go through,” said Harden. “Now we have to take another two steps and get even better. ... I feel like we didn't have a fair chance. We did play one quarter of Cavs basketball offensively. If you're not making shots, you're not going to beat anybody."

Harden has a $42.3 million player option for next season that he's expected to decline to re-sign with the Cavs as a free agent. But the 36-year-old didn't perform up to offensive expectations and was a virtual turnstile on defense.

Mitchell's future is more complicated. He can be offered a five-year, $350 million super-max extension by the Cavs as early as this offseason, but the team will likely wait due to several financial factors, and still must decide if the seven-time All-Star is worth the investment.

With the Knicks up by 33 in the fourth, Mitchell and Cleveland's other starters were mercifully replaced. The 29-year-old went to the bench and watched a team he once cheered for as a kid win its 11th straight playoff game.

Mitchell feels the Cavs took a significant step this season, and he's determined to get Cleveland a title.

“I love it here,” he said when asked about the extension. “I don't know how else to say it. I have no doubt these guys can get there. We have unfinished business.”

Cleveland's stunning flame-out in the conference finals is only going to fuel more speculation about coach Kenny Atkinson's future. He guided the team to a No. 1 seed in his first season a year ago before a disappointing, second-round exit against Indiana.

Atkinson helped the Cavs take a step deeper into the postseason, but it's not certain that will be enough to satisfy demanding owner Dan Gilbert, who has dropped more than $400 million on a team that hasn't delivered him a second title.

Not long after the game, Gilbert went on social media to give a brief assessment of the season.

“We took a step ahead this spring, but we are nowhere near where we need to be,” he posted. “I can’t thank the fans enough for the support this year. We will dig in all summer and do everything we possibly can to take the next step. We will grind until we get there.”

Harden and Mitchell staunchly defended Atkinson.

“We did something we haven't done since 2018,” Mitchell said. “I love Kenny. We love Kenny. We ride with Kenny. That's all that matters. We're in this together.”

New York exposed all of Cleveland's on-court flaws and may have set the stage for Gilbert to make even bolder moves. There's little doubt that seeing his team get completely overwhelmed in Game 4 — with thousands of New York fans chanting “Knicks in 4!” — stung badly.

The Cavs will closely monitor superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo's unsettled situation in Milwaukee. The Bucks have reportedly had past interest in 24-year-old Cleveland forward Evan Mobley.

And then there's LeBron James and the possibility the NBA's all-time scoring leader could bring his storied career full circle by coming back home a second time. He's a free agent, currently at odds with the Los Angeles Lakers and surveying the landscape.

At the moment, Cleveland appears to need him again.

When asked, Mitchell wouldn't even entertain the possibility of joining forces with James. His primary concern was what went wrong against the Knicks.

“We got swept,” he said. “We've got to own it.”

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Utilityman Kiké Hernández made his season debut in a 5-3 win against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. He went 2 for 2 with an RBI double down the third base line while batting ninth and starting at third base in place of injured Max Muncy in the series opener. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh, when the Dodgers rallied with four runs to pull out their 18th comeback win.

“It was good to have him back,” manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s a lot of emotion and adrenaline and anticipation. That’s probably the thing you got to guard against, but he did a good job managing those emotions.”

Hernández, 34, missed the first 53 games of the season recovering from offseason elbow surgery.

“It’s fixed and I’m feeling pretty good right now,” he said in the dugout before the game.

Hernández will see playing time at second and third base and possibly relieve an outfielder at times. He'll also be available off the bench to pinch hit. Muncy is sidelined with a right wrist injury, but could return Wednesday.

Hernández had surgery to repair a torn muscle and torn extensor tendon in his left elbow during the offseason. The operation was done to fix an injury he originally suffered during the season and subsequently worsened.

“He’s a tough competitor, tough player,” Roberts said. “I don’t think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was.”

Despite the tear, Hernández gritted through the pain and helped the Dodgers win their second consecutive World Series. He appeared in all 17 playoff games, batting .250 with nine runs, one homer and seven RBIs. However, the extended play caused the tendon to detach from the bone, forcing him to undergo corrective surgery.

“It was a rough year,” he said. “The best description that I can put on it is every time I would get in my batting stance I would feel like I had a blowtorch on.”

After the World Series, an MRI revealed a lot of swelling and Hernández was left with the option of either rehab or having surgery. Not knowing what choice to make, he left the final decision to his family and his agent.

They reminded him that he'd try to play through a core injury for three years and ended up blowing out the other side of his body, leading to multiple surgeries. They urged him to make another trip to the operating room with Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“I woke up with ElAttrache telling me, ‘This is the worst injury I’ve ever seen of this kind and I don’t know how you played,’” he said. “I told him, ‘Thank you, I take it as a compliment.’”

In a post-surgery narcotic haze, Hernández FaceTimed with Andrew Friedman and urged ElAttrache to repeat to the president of baseball operations what he had just told his patient.

Before his phone was taken away, Hernández told Friedman: "I did this for you so you better bring me back.”

Hernández signed a $4.5 million, one-year contract in February to return for his 10th season with the Dodgers.

Because of the surgery and his recovery timeline, Hernández missed the World Baseball Classic for his native Puerto Rico.

“That hurt my soul a little more than I was in pain physically last year just because I’ve been dreaming about playing in the WBC in Puerto Rico since I was 13 years old and it kind of felt like it got taken away from me," he said. ”You got to find a way to look at positives in life. I was like, it would have sucked a lot more if we’d lost the World Series and I still didn’t get to play in the WBC. It was a fair trade."

Last October, Hernández became the franchise leader in postseason appearances with his 87th game. He ranks eighth all-time in major league history with 103 postseason games.

He's the fourth player of Puerto Rican descent with 100-plus career postseason appearances, joining Jorge Posada (125), Bernie Williams (121) and Yadier Molina (104).

“Doing that as a Latino is very important, especially in the city where there’s such a big Latino community and we’re living in some rough times,” he said. “Especially in this city, the last two years there’s been a lot of weird things going on, so I take the responsibility to not only represent this organization but the Latino community, the Puerto Rican community. It’s something that’s very touching to my heart.”

Starting the season on the IL was a blessing in disguise. Hernández was able to spend time with his son born in February and his daughter.

When he wasn't waking up in pain anymore, he realized he could be back at the end of his IL stint.

“It didn’t feel like I had to rush, it didn’t feel like I was going to lose my spot,” he said. “That was very key.”

He played in 12 rehab games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .214 with two doubles and three RBIs.

“I had lot of fun with those guys,” he said. “Now I'm back with my guys here and I'm ready to go.”

As the Dodgers chase a third consecutive World Series championship, Hernández will have his eye on his younger teammates when he's not cracking everyone up.

“I’m in charge of checking guys,” he said. “I think guys know if I’m on them, and I’m tough on them, it means I care a lot about them.”

To clear a spot for Hernández, utilityman Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment.

The 31-year-old former All-Star hit .220 with three doubles, one home run and four RBIs in 26 games for the Dodgers.

“I'll lob a call to him in the next couple days to thank him for everything he did for us,” Roberts said. “He was fantastic. Obviously, we had a tough decision to make. We were very forthright up front about the expectations. I think he respected that.”

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“'What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?’” Allred said they ask him regularly. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”

He's challenging Rep. Julie Johnson in the Democratic runoff for a Dallas-area House seat on Tuesday, and he's one of several candidates trying to harness populist anger over congressional stock trading. Allred has denounced Johnson for trades involving companies like Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to President Donald Trump's administration.

Johnson said her trades were handled by a financial manager, and she accused Allred of being “only out for himself.” She pointed to financial disclosures that showed Allred's wealth nearly doubling during his own time in Congress, although Allred said his assets were in a blind trust and the money came from his wife's income as a partner at a law firm.

“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”

The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries. The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.

Some are tracking congressional stock trading

Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” capitalizing on Americans' disdain for the Washington establishment. Now that his family is profiting while he's back in the White House, Democrats are eager to regain the upper hand on an issue that could prove potent with voters.

“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Daniel Lobo-Lewis, a political consultant in Washington. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”

Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosta founded the Political Integrity Project last year to track stock trading and corporate donations involving members of Congress.

The organization asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress and vow not to work as a lobbyist after they leave office. So far, about 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge.

“If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine,” Lobo-Lewis said.

Congress has yet to enact a stock trading ban for its members, though insider trading is already illegal for members just like it is for anyone else. There are multiple proposals on Capitol Hill, but none have gained traction.

A bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading stalled this year despite receiving Trump’s blessing during his State of the Union. And Democrats remain divided over the number of alleged loopholes in their competing proposals.

Anti-corruption messages spread in Democratic primaries

A crowded race in a Democratic-leaning Utah congressional seat has featured attacks over candidates’ personal wealth. State Sen. Nate Blouin criticized his main rival, former Rep. Ben McAdams, for having equity in a Utah data center firm, and excoriated others in the race for past investments and jobs.

McAdams said the equity of several thousand dollars was payment for a past contract completed by his government consulting firm while he was a private citizen. His campaign defended the data center project by saying it would use no water and run on clean energy.

A spokesperson for McAdams also claimed Blouin “is currently hiding his corporate donations” by removing them from campaign disclosure reports, which McAdams' campaign claims “is not only deceitful, it breaks campaign finance law.”

In an interview, Blouin rejected the claim that he broke the law, and said that he removed the donations because he returned the money to each donor.

“It was actually quite uncomfortable to return some of those,” said Blouin, because some of the firms included local firms and clean energy companies. “But there is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”

In a New York City congressional district that includes both Wall Street and the Democratic Socialists of America’s headquarters, the city’s former comptroller, Brad Lander, has accused Rep. Dan Goldman of trying to buy another term by using his own wealth to match campaign contributions. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune, says he entered all of his assets into a blind trust after taking office in 2023.

A spokesperson for Goldman said Lander is “running a deceitful campaign based on absurd lies that Dan is beholden to special interests” and that Goldman has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.” Goldman has spent his own money on the race, the spokesperson said: “To ensure that the NY-10 voters can be sure that he is beholden only to them and his principles.”

Lander said Goldman's spending is “not illegal, but it is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman not only dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections but also solicits money from the same forces who are rigging the economy and worsening the affordability crisis.”

More candidates are fighting over stocks in California

Even representatives who support a ban on congressional stock trading are feeling the heat.

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California is facing multiple primary challengers who have criticized the congressman for holding stocks while serving in Congress. Sherman does not trade individual stocks and supports a ban on stock trading.

“I only own three individual stocks, which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”

One of Sherman's primary challengers is Jake Levine, a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden, who signed the pledge from the Political Integrity Project. But Sherman said Levine “refuses to disclose key elements of his $18 million stock portfolio, and actively bought and sold stocks while serving on the National Security Council.”

Levine said in a statement shortly after midnight on Tuesday that Sherman “knows he’s losing because voters are sick of politics as usual and ready for a new generation of leadership.”

He added: “He’s chosen to close his campaign with desperate, unfounded attacks against me rather than make a real argument of why he deserves to be reelected. We look forward to the results next week.”

In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California State Sen. Scott Wiener has critiqued his progressive opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, over his personal wealth. Chakrabarti is a former software engineer who earned millions as an early employee at the tech firm Stripe. He later served as the first chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Wiener said that Chakrabarti “has enormous investments” and “is trying to buy this seat” while “spreading bogus conspiracy theories” with his own wealth. He criticized Chakrabarti for not disclosing the last decade of his stock trades.

“If you’re making a ban on stock trades a central part of your campaign — as Saikat is doing, running around saying that everyone under the sun is corrupt — how about you tell the voters about your own stock trading history,” Wiener said.

Chakrabarti retorted that his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant to his future time in office and that he would place all of his assets into a blind trust should he be elected. He critiqued Wiener for being supported by super PACs funded by the AI firm Anthropic and other major corporations.

“This is all part of a larger problem, which is just the whole idea of corruption in our politics,” Chakrabarti said. “If you’re in Congress, you sit on committees that oversee a lot of these industries, and it’s unethical to be using that insider information, that knowledge to make stock trades. But that doesn’t apply to a private citizen.”

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This article has been updated to correct the last name of the co-founder of the Political Integrity Project. It is Agosta, not Agosto. The article was also updated to correct that Jake Levine did not say that his family manages his financial assets.

Landry Shamet scored 16 off the bench while Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson had 15 apiece for the Knicks, who became the fourth team to have an 11-game winning streak during their postseason run. The last to do it was Golden State, which had a 15-game run en route to its second title in three seasons in 2017.

All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points.

“I feel like the word ‘hope’ has been gone from the New York Knicks name for a long time and for me to be part of this team that revives hope is something special,” Towns said.

The Knicks pulled their starters with 7:47 remaining and a 35-point lead as their large contingent of fans loudly chanted “Knicks in four!” New York fans easily outnumbered Cleveland fans as die-hard celebrity fans director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, made the trip.

“Our guys played great. You’re in the conference finals and score 65 points off of offensive rebounds and fast break points. I don’t know if I’ve seen that at this point of the year. We wanted to push the pace," coach Mike Brown said.

The Knicks dominated in second-chance points, outscoring the Cavaliers 32-5. They also had a 33-9 advantage in fast break points.

New York will play the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the finals. The Western Conference finals is tied at two games apiece with Game 5 to be played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Thunder or Spurs will have homecourt advantage when the finals start on June 3 because of a better regular-season record.

This will be the Knicks third appearance in the finals since winning their last title in 1973. They lost in seven games to Houston in 1994 and in five to San Antonio in 1999.

Knicks legends Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Patrick Ewing presented the Bob Cousy Trophy to the Knicks on the court.

It is the 15th time since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 that a coach has reached the finals in his first year with a team. The Knicks hired Brown after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau after they reached the Eastern Conference finals last year, but lost in six games to Indiana.

It will be Brown's second trip to the finals as a coach. His last trip was with Cleveland in 2007.

The Knicks have won all three of their clinching games during the playoffs by at least 30 points. They routed the Atlanta Hawks by 51 in Game 6 of the first round (140-89) and then defeated the Philadelphia 76ers by 30 (144-114) in Game 4 of the second round to complete a sweep.

Brunson was named the MVP of the series after averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists.

Donovan Mitchell had 31 points for Cleveland, which was swept in a postseason series for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State.

“They’re playing better basketball. You got to give them credit. They’re on a heater. I don’t want to detract from what we’ve done, but sometimes you’ve got to give the other team credit," Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Mitchell scored the Cavaliers first eight points as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Cleveland led for most of the first six minutes before New York took control.

Evan Mobley's putback dunk gave the Cavaliers a 17-14 advantage before the Knicks scored nine straight points.

A floater by Mitchell got Cleveland within 30-26 with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter when New York went on a 20-0 run over a five-minute span. The Knicks were 8 of 14 from the field, including four 3-pointers. The bench scored 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Shamet. The seventh-year guard was 11 of 12 from beyond the arc during the series.

Cleveland was 0 for 9 from the field during its drought, including missing all three shots from beyond the arc, and committed four turnovers.

The Knicks led by as many as 29 in the first half and were up 68-49 at halftime. It was the fourth time this postseason the Knicks were up by at least 19 after 24 minutes.

Knicks already had four players in double figures in the first half. Towns had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

New York's largest lead was 45 points in the fourth quarter.

James Harden, who finished with 12 points but was 2 of 8 from the field, lamented Cleveland's missed opportunities. Besides not making open shots throughout the series, the Cavaliers blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter in Game 1 before losing 115-104 in overtime.

“Yes, it was 4-0, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance. Genuinely, I think we are the better team. but series wise we didn’t show it," he said.

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

While there's no longer a risk of a major explosion at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant in Garden Grove, there's still a chance for a smaller blast or a fire, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said during a news conference on Monday.

An overnight evaluation of the tank containing 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable, showed a reduction of pressure inside the tank thanks to a crack that was discovered Sunday. About two-thirds — roughly 34,000 — of the evacuated residents can go home as a result, Covey said.

“It’s not over yet. We still have work to do,” Covey said. “We still have to mitigate a fire and very small explosion concern, and also a spill potential.”

Officials began ordering residents of Garden Grove, near Los Angeles, to evacuate their homes on Thursday after the tank overheated, and by the weekend about 50,000 residents had been told to leave.

Officials said they needed to cool the tank to prevent a toxic leak or explosion. The tank’s interior had cooled to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C), Covey said Monday, down from 100 degrees (37.7 degrees C) a day earlier.

Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong said she wanted to reassure everyone who is returning home that they can feel safe. Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“There was no contamination. There were no fumes. There were not vapors that came from this incident,” she said at the news conference. “There was not a leak. So it should be, you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

Environmental risks remain

The tank might eventually cool enough for crews to safely stabilize and drain the remaining material without triggering a spark or ignition, said Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor who has studied environmental contamination.

Whelton cautioned there is still some risk of an explosion while the chemical inside the tank remains hot and reactive. He said temperatures need to fall closer to ambient levels — roughly 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) — before conditions are considered significantly safer.

As the interior temperature of the tank increased, methyl methacrylate — which is used to make plastics — converted from liquid to gas, ramping up the pressure and risk of explosion, Whelton said.

Some of the methyl methacrylate may already have hardened into a stable plastic similar to plexiglass, reducing the risk inside the tank, he said.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said the South Coast Air Quality Management District will be monitoring the air for several months and the EPA will be checking the sewer and storm drains.

County health officials have said the chemical is easy to smell and people may notice it over a large area without being harmed.

Relief among residents after hearing the latest update

Authorities have not defined what a catastrophic explosion might mean, but said Monday the worst-case scenario is off the table.

Kim Yen, a retiree who had to evacuate her Garden Grove home, said she has been closely following the news and is relieved to learn that the worst has passed.

“I am happy and many of us are happy but, still, we are still on our evacuation,” she said.

Yen, who lives two blocks from the plant, said she’s ready to return home but first wants to be sure it’s safe. And, she said, she’s been worried about the emergency crews.

“They are really our heroes,” Yen said.

The parking lot was full Monday at a large park in Fountain Valley, just southwest of Garden Grove, as people sought refuge in an ad hoc shelter there or pitched tents outside. Other people gathered in the park to enjoy Memorial Day.

GKN is a British company that supplies aircraft manufacturers

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which owns the plant, is a British company that makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields for military and commercial aircraft.

GKN Aerospace technical specialists and the Orange County Fire Authority removed external insulation material from the tank to help cool its contents, according to a GKN Aerospace statement released Monday.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

GKN Aerospace says on its website that it employs about 16,000 people across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries and supplies technologies and components used by major commercial and military aircraft manufacturers worldwide.

It remained unknown when the operation would reopen.

GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

Aircraft manufacturing vulnerable to supply chain disruptions

Disruptions at facilities producing specialized aircraft components can be difficult for the global aerospace industry to absorb because supply chains are highly concentrated and already strained, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory.

Aboulafia said aerospace manufacturing differs from many other industries because aircraft production rates are relatively low, leaving only a small number of suppliers for many specialized parts and systems.

“There’s just not a lot of margin in the system,” he said.

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Willingham reported from Boston. Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.

The French sports minister, Marina Ferrari, posted condolences to the loved ones of a runner who died Sunday in a Paris race. Le Parisien newspaper reported that the 53-year-old man suffered a heart attack during the run in the capital’s 20th arrondissement, and that firefighters were unable to revive him.

It wasn’t yet known if the cause of the runner's death was heat-related, but Ferrari suggested a possible link. Temperatures in Paris went as high as 32 C ( 90 F) in the afternoon.

“The events that occurred today (Sunday) during running races are a reminder that practicing sports in extreme heat requires absolute vigilance,” Ferrari said in an X post. “My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the runner who died in Paris, as well as with the people who were treated by emergency services.”

In the southeastern city of Lyon, local media Actu Lyon on Monday reported the death of a woman who suffered heat stroke there during another sports competition, also on Sunday.

The national weather service, Meteo France, said temperatures are breaking records for the month of May, soaring past 30 C (86 F) in many parts of the country and forecast to last into the week.

The United Kingdom broke its record Monday for the hottest temperature recorded in May, after a heat wave was declared in several parts of the country.

Residents and tourists sought relief at beaches, parks and searched for shade on the holiday as the temperature hit 34.8 C (94.6 F) at Kew Gardens in southwest London, breaking the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and matched again in 1944.

The U.K. Health Security Agency has issued its first amber health alert of the year, warning of a rise in deaths, particularly among the elderly, at the hottest times of the day.

Next-level weather wildness is occurring ever more frequently as Earth’s warming builds. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger.

Trump's endorsement of state Attorney General Ken Paxton over four-term Sen. John Cornyn gives the challenger a late boost and puts Cornyn at risk of becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history to seek the party's nod and lose.

That's despite Cornyn's campaign and allied groups spending roughly $90 million in advertising since last year, the vast majority of it attacking Paxton.

It's the latest GOP contest where Trump has sought to punish a Republican he sees as insufficiently loyal. This month, he has successfully backed challengers to incumbents in Louisiana, Kentucky and Indiana, a sign of his enduring influence among primary voters.

Paxton's campaign and a pro-Paxton super PAC began airing ads promoting the endorsement within 24 hours of Trump's announcement. Cornyn acknowledged Trump's move would have an impact but said he wasn't giving up.

“I know who gets to choose our senators, and it’s the people of Texas,” he said hours after the endorsement.

The winner will run in November against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Tuesday's runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party hopes to flip.

The primary has been long, bitter and costly

Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary but failed to win a majority in the three-way contest that also included U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished in a distant third.

That was after Cornyn's campaign and allied groups waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton for ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial when allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Last year, Paxton’s wife filed for divorce, citing “biblical grounds.”

The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups have continued its attack, outspending Paxton's campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary, asking the unchosen candidate to withdraw. But he didn't act until after early voting began on May 18.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him. “Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness.”

Pro-Cornyn groups lately have been airing ads criticizing the attorney general office’s handling of a Waco sex abuse case. Pro-Paxton groups had seized on Cornyn’s awkward relationship with Trump.

Trump snubs Cornyn amid retribution campaign

The negative tenor could diminish turnout in an election already complicated by coming a day after Memorial Day, Texas Republican strategist Tyler Norris said. About 2 million of Texas’ 18.7 million voters participated in the GOP primary.

The dynamic could favor Paxton, whose support draws from more of the most loyal Trump base in Texas, said Norris, who isn't affiliated with either campaign.

“The defining battle lines are based around hyper-negative messaging, which dampens turnout to begin with,” he said. “So who is going to show up is the hardest of the hard core.”

Trump in his endorsement also poked at Cornyn, as he has done with other Republicans who are not in lockstep with the president.

He blasted Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy as “a Disloyal Disaster” on May 16, before Cassidy lost a GOP primary for the office he has held since 2015. The two-term senator had voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump backed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who advanced to a runoff with John Fleming, the state treasurer. Cassidy finished well behind them.

Last week, Trump celebrated as Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a critic of the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, lost his primary to Ed Gallrein. Trump called Massie "the worst congressman in the history of our country.”

In endorsing Paxton, Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough" and that “John was very late in backing me."

Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.” He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Senate GOP leaders backed Cornyn, saying he would be stronger in the general election. Some GOP strategists have argued a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority.

Democrats also will choose US House nominees

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee and veteran Rep. Al Green are vying for the party nod in Texas' 18th District, which the Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew last year to help the GOP. The new map led to a contest between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area. Menefee was elected in a special runoff in January to the seat that had been held by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March 2025.

Menefee finished narrowly ahead of Green in the March 3 primary but didn't win a majority to avoid the runoff.

Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead is looking to return to the House.

Near San Antonio, Democratic leaders are trying to prevent Maureen Galindo, who has expressed antisemitic views, from winning the party's runoff with Johnny Garcia. While Texas lawmakers redrew the 35th District to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and don't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.

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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.

For now, she remains the sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, where she's on an increasingly urgent mission to press media companies to more forcefully combat an administration she says is cracking down on free speech.

Her immediate focus is Disney, the parent of ABC. It is the subject of investigations launched by the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally.

In an extraordinary four-page letter earlier this month to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro, Gomez outlined what she described as the FCC's “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” against the company. She noted probes touching on everything from diversity practices to ABC's moderation of a 2024 presidential debate and the guests booked on “The View” along with the administration's calls for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired.

She's particularly worried that the FCC's move for early reviews of ABC's broadcast licenses in the markets where it owns local stations is an effort to intimidate the network. She called it “the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date.”

Her message was simple: Fight back. She argued that Disney's controversial decision to pay a $15 million defamation settlement shortly before Trump returned to office did the company little good and set a bad precedent for the rest of the industry

“That settlement did not buy you peace,” she wrote in the letter, which she also posted to social media. “It only bought you time.”

D'Amaro hasn't publicly responded to Gomez. But he has signaled a new approach in a filing this month, accusing the FCC of taking actions that could “chill critical protected speech.”

In an interview from her Washington office, Gomez said she was heartened by Disney's response and encouraged other broadcasters to prepare for similar fights. She's an exceedingly rare figure in the nation's capital, one of just a few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them in a bid to bend the bureaucracy to his will.

The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of Trump's moves and could issue a decision in the coming weeks.

While that plays out, Gomez's term is slated to end June 30. But unless Trump fires her, she's likely to remain at the agency, where her presence allows for a quorum that gives Carr the opportunity to keep enacting his agenda. Given the Senate's narrow divide and dwindling calendar ahead of the midterms, it would be hard for Trump to muscle through a replacement.

Here are highlights of the interview, edited for length and clarity.

A letter to Disney ... and a warning

AP: What prompted you to write the letter to Disney?

GOMEZ: At the beginning of this administration, I was growing increasingly alarmed by what I saw as this administration’s campaign to control and censor speech. And so I embarked on a tour across the country where I was talking to journalists, local broadcasters, legal scholars, press freedom advocates. And what I came back with was more of a conviction that we really needed to do something.

Then I started watching the capitulation. We saw CBS settle its lawsuit with the president and then agree to terms that basically require an ombudsperson to oversee the content of the network in order to get its transaction approved by the FCC. We saw ABC, of course, settle its lawsuit and I grew more and more and more concerned about the fact that this capitulation breeds capitulation.

And so I wrote the letter and the letter had two goals in mind. One was to basically put on the record and call out everything that this FCC has done to try to bring Disney to heel but also to encourage it and other broadcasters to stiffen their spine. We know, based on the record of this administration, every time it gets taken to court for these violations of the First Amendment and against the freedom of the press, it loses.

AP: Is your ultimate goal to get a court to rule against the FCC?

GOMEZ: In the end, what I want is for companies to push back because if this gets to court, any entity that challenges what this FCC is doing is going to win.

Regulation in a changing media environment

AP: The media landscape has changed so dramatically from when the FCC was founded. What is the government’s role in this space now?

GOMEZ: Traditionally, the FCC has licensed the local broadcast stations, and what we license is actually their spectrum, their airwaves over which they broadcast their television, their radio. And it has done so with three basic principles in mind. Competition, because competition’s always good for consumers and for viewers and for the market. Localism, which really means serving your local market, whether that means actually airing 24 hours a day the content, but truly local content. And finally, viewpoint diversity. We want to encourage more voices, not fewer.

And that is, I think, the right role for the FCC. Being a censor is not the right role for the FCC.

Life as the FCC's sole Democrat

AP: You’ve been in and out of the FCC for decades. You’re a lawyer, some might even say a technocrat. When you look back at your career, did you think you would take such a vocal stand against the actions of the agency and ultimately an administration?

GOMEZ: No, never in my entire career did I think that I would be having to speak up this strongly for the First Amendment in our Constitution and our democracy.

As you said, I’m a bit of a technocrat. I’m used to talking about the airwaves and I’m used to talking about broadband and how important it is for everyone to have access to broadband. I'm used to talking about really boring things like how to attach to light poles. But media wasn’t something that I particularly thought I would have to really delve into. But, like I said, this administration has just been alarming me so much and so I’ve had to pivot.

AP: You and Chairman Carr have a cordial relationship even though you disagree quite intensely. Is there a secret you want to share with the rest of Washington on how to do that?

GOMEZ: You know, we do have a collegial relationship and we do work well together. He has been in my position and he understands my need to speak out and I do so freely, knowing that some day I may face the consequences for it. But we do work at maintaining a cordial relationship.

AP: You're talking about the potential of being fired by the president?

GOMEZ: Yes, especially when I saw last year when the administration was firing all the Democratic members of different independent commissions and bodies. I just checked my email every day. Literally every day I pick up my phone and I say, “Am I going to work today?” And so far, so good.

AP: Your term lasts through June 30 and you're needed for a quorum. Absent an email that you wake up to in the morning, what are your plans?

GOMEZ: I can continue serving for another year and a half-ish after my term expires as long as no one else is nominated and confirmed for my particular slot. So I intend to continue working and to continue speaking out as long as I can.

Now, the conversation has flipped. After pouring billions of dollars into laptops, tablets and learning apps, many schools are facing a digital reckoning. Classrooms have become saturated with screens, and a growing number of parents, teachers and school districts are saying it is time to scale back.

“The Chromebook is just a world of distraction,” says Soffer, who teaches 6th grade English and history. She favors pen-and-paper assignments but is required to use laptops and online apps for certain activities. “Every day, I’m battling, ’Who would you rather listen to, Ms. Soffer or Minecraft?'”

The Los Angeles Unified School District, where Soffer teaches, recently became the first major school district to say it will stop giving devices to its youngest students. It is part of a new screen-time policy taking effect in the fall across the country’s second-largest school system.

A sweeping resolution passed last month by the Los Angeles school board requires the district to eliminate devices until second grade; set daily and weekly screen limits for all higher grades; block YouTube on school devices; and ban the use of devices at lunch and recess in elementary and middle school. The district will also audit its education technology contracts, which the teachers union says amount to $1.6 billion.

The Los Angeles crackdown is adding momentum to calls for reform emerging around the country. In many cases, parents lobbied a few years ago for school cellphone bans, which have now become the norm. Realizing phones weren’t the only classroom distraction, they pivoted to a new target: school-issued devices.

The campaign for change is becoming a public policy issue. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia. The federal government issued an advisory last week warning that excessive screen use among youths is becoming a growing public health concern.

Parents say school-issued devices undermine screen limits at home

In Los Angeles, concerned parents last year formed a group, Schools Beyond Screens, and pressured the district by speaking out at school board meetings, on social media and in private talks with administrators. Many are frustrated by trying to curb screen time at home, only to have screens mandated by school.

As a mother of three, Katie Pace does everything in her power to limit screens. There is one family iPad and one television at home, no screen time during the week and no screens allowed in bedrooms. Her 8th grade daughter, Clementine, does not have a phone.

But as soon as Clementine gets on the wifi-enabled school bus, her day takes a turn for the digital.

For the 30-minute ride to school, Clementine watches YouTube videos on her school Chromebook.

In Spanish class, assignments are on the app Duolingo, but many students use Google Translate for answers, Clementine said. Often, kids are playing games on their phones, which are supposed to be locked away. In algebra, Clementine writes with her finger on a touch screen to solve equations. In history, quizzes, tests and writing assignments are on the computer.

Almost all homework is online. Until recently, Clementine would come home and read a book, her mother said, but not anymore. On her daughter’s device history Pace sees she spends hours a day streaming music, making Spotify playlists, and watching makeup tutorials and cat videos on YouTube.

“It makes me furious,” said Pace, a member of Schools Beyond Screens. “My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack.”

The pandemic supercharged student access to devices

A push to put a device in every child’s hand and close the “digital divide” started over a decade ago but it accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overnight, education shifted online in March 2020. Schools raced to get kids the devices needed to connect to school. When the 2021-2022 school year started, 96% of U.S. public schools reported they had given digital devices to students who needed them, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Many schools switched funding away from textbooks, workbooks and paper printouts to digital alternatives. Educational technology, or edtech, exploded into a multibillion dollar industry.

“During the pandemic, getting kids devices was a lifeline. Now, it’s time that we reset," said Nick Melvoin, the LAUSD school board member who drafted the new resolution.

Melvoin estimates that few Los Angeles classrooms are using screens effectively in ways that benefit learning. Too often, he said, teachers are replacing instruction with online apps and using screens “as a crutch.”

Some schools are introducing new limits

The challenge, educators say, is that technology has become so entwined with learning, especially for older students, that unplugging from screens at school is complicated.

In the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, parents launched a petition campaign for the right to opt their children out of digital devices during school, citing questions about edtech’s benefits. The district has said that opting out is not possible.

“If there’s really no evidence that it helps, and in fact there’s evidence that it’s harmful, what are we doing? Test scores are at their lowest point,” said Alex Bird Becker, one of the founders of the group PA Unplugged.

Other schools are finding that it makes financial sense to stop sending a device home with every child.

Fresno Unified School District, the third-largest in California, is spending $4 million a year to repair and replace laptops. Partly to cut costs, the district has told its 40,000 elementary school students to return their take-home laptops and will shift computer access to in-class only in the fall, spokesperson AJ Kato said.

The Simi Valley Unified School District, near Los Angeles, stopped sending devices home for its younger students this year partly because of costly repairs, but also because they were being used for “inappropriate Google searches” and video games, according to a memo to parents. The district now stores the devices in carts at school.

A group of parents in Arlington, Virginia, gathered on a recent Saturday night to share their children’s struggles with screen addictions and other side effects of school-issued devices.

“None of us are Luddites. I know that technology adds value, but I also don’t want my son on YouTube all the time,” said LuAnn Oliver, who hosted the group in her living room. Her 6th-grade son struggles to keep track of online assignments and resist the temptation the iPad offers for video games. “We get reports on websites he’s visited. He’s visiting a game site in nearly every class.”

The Arlington School District has stopped giving iPads out before first grade and is setting new limits in elementary school, but students in 6th to 12th grades will still be required to have school-issued devices.

Another mother, Jenny Sullivan, said she has noticed her 4th grade son capitalizing random letters and not getting corrected because there is so little work on paper. She also worries about social implications: Her 6th grader doesn’t want to go to the afterschool program because everyone is on their iPad. "I’d rather be home,” he tells his mother.

After a three-hour gathering, the parents made a plan to approach the school in the fall with a unified request to “opt-out of technology and opt-in to textbooks and paper.”

“Ten years from now,” said one of the mothers, Kristina Jackson, “I can’t imagine us looking back with any other reaction than: How could we have been so naive that we just handed these devices to our kids.”

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Associated Press writer Sharon Lurye contributed to this report from Philadelphia.

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

The denial of bond for many held on immigration charges has unleashed tens of thousands of lawsuits since July, alleging violations of constitutional rights against illegal confinement. The Trump administration suffered a legal setback this month when an appeals court knocked down its policy after two other appeals courts had agreed with it, setting up a likely showdown at the Supreme Court.

The practice had already played out for years in Tacoma, where immigration judges at the Northwest ICE Processing Center started denying bond early this decade. Few people noticed outside the immigration attorneys there. But when the Trump administration adopted the theory last year, it echoed the judges' reasoning.

The Tacoma judges decided Congress never authorized them to grant bond

Neil Floyd, the only one of the four Tacoma judges who agreed to talk to The Associated Press, said clerks researched the issue for about six months before the judges decided Congress never authorized them to grant bond.

“We made the decision that we were going to do it collectively because it was too big a decision for someone to step out that far on their own,” said Floyd, who became the top federal prosecutor in Seattle during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The judges took their cue from a 1996 law that states that “applicants for admission” to the United States must be detained. The law was long interpreted as affecting people recently crossing the border without legal permission. People living here for years were categorized under a different statute that allowed bond hearings.

The Tacoma judges may seem like unlikely figures to spearhead such radical change. While all four — Theresa Scala, the chief Tacoma judge at the time; John Odell; Tammy Fitting; and Floyd — started their careers as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers, they each granted asylum at rates slightly higher than the national average.

Floyd, who left Tacoma after Trump took office last year to advise the FBI on immigration law before moving to his current position, said the judges' conclusion was a matter of fairness based on the law.

“It is the right interpretation of the law, and it’s the only fair one, because if you enter the United States the right way, by coming and knocking on the door to ask for asylum at a port of entry, the law is 100% clear,” Floyd said. “And it has been from the beginning that you are detained until we decide whether or not we’re going to let you in.”

Immigration lawyers in Tacoma were stunned. They scoured the nation for anything similar and found nothing.

“It was from our perspective, a pretty blatantly prosecutorial push to keep people locked up,” said Matt Adams, an attorney for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which sued over the practice. The case has not yet been scheduled for trial.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2025, alleges that the Tacoma judges ignored decades of precedent.

The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which operates more than 70 immigration courts nationwide, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration adopted the judges’ legal theory

In July, ICE announced a major change that mirrors the Tacoma judges' view, stating that immigrants who have been in the U.S. for years are “applicants for admission” if they didn’t enter the U.S. legally and, as a result, were subject to mandatory detention.

It began arguing against all bond hearings. The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals, which sets policy for courts, agreed with ICE’s arguments in September.

The number of people in ICE custody roughly doubled last year, peaking at about 75,000 in January. ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion to increase detention to 92,300 beds by the end of November, largely by opening warehouses, or “megacenters,” that house up to 10,000 people each. Judges say massive ICE raids have compounded the strain.

Once eligible for bond consideration, some 2 million immigrants now face mandatory detention if arrested. Immigrant detainees have filed more than 40,000 lawsuits since Trump returned to office 16 months ago, according to an AP tally.

Immigrants’ lives are disrupted

Despite the Trump administration's stance, many immigrants have succeeded in the courts. Some federal judges have ordered immediate freedom, while others send cases back to immigration court for bond hearings.

Victor Cruz, a handyman in Portland, Oregon, spent 24 days in the Tacoma detention center after ICE agents arrested him without a warrant. An immigration judge granted him a bond hearing, and he was released in October. He won his immigration case in February.

Cruz, 56, has U.S. citizens in his immediate family and spends weekends playing with his grandchildren. He keeps a folder in his car with all his immigration documents, wary that immigration authorities could detain him again. He said that he met people in detention who had “been there six months, nine months.”

On a recent Friday in Tacoma, Fitting — one of the original four judges — held bond hearings under orders of a federal judge.

She denied bond for an Oregon dishwasher with a 2002 drunken-driving conviction. But she granted $14,000 bond to another immigrant with no criminal record, while saying that his pathway to legal status is tenuous.

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Attanasio is a former Associated Press reporter.

The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. on the 1300 block of South Central Avenue, according to deputies.

Authorities say the unidentified woman was taken to the hospital, where she died from her injuries.

The sheriff’s office says it has no additional information to release at this time.

The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the U.S. military's Central Command, said in a statement.

Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations. There was no official response from Iran, which had sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar for negotiations over the possible deal with the U.S.

Qatar, which faced intense attacks from Iran during the war, holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

In Iran, the news website Tabnak, believed to be close to former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, identified four dead Guard troops it said had been killed in American strikes on boats. Iranian state television separately reported blasts around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz home to a military port and a dual-use airport.

The strikes were the latest attacks to shake the weekslong ceasefire in the war. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed, remains effectively in Iran's chokehold, disrupting global energy markets.

Trump brings up recognition of Israel

Earlier, Trump said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.

The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favor a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations.

Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020, diplomatically recognizing Israel.

He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join. Saudi Arabia in particular has for decades called on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and allow the formation of a Palestinian nation with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip also has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world as well.

Pakistan remains key mediator

Recognition of a Palestinian state also remains key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal.

The president said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.

Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how workable the proposal might be for the countries on Trump's list.

“The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether new dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favorable deal.

Still, Khan said, “the diplomatic track is still working, and I believe Pakistan is very much at the center of it, supported by regional countries.”

It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached.

The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump’s first term, which also saw Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan, join.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Zoo officials now say that period will be extended to at least 90 days to continue monitoring the surviving animals’ health.

The zoo originally placed the 13 sloths under a 30-day quarantine after taking them in from Sloth World, the now-bankrupt roadside attraction.

“We are expecting to have them all in quarantine for at least 90 days,” Central Florida Zoo CEO Richard Glover said. “We are just reaching the point where some of the food that we gave them is starting to be adjusted because their digestive system is so slow.”

Glover said the sloths are still transitioning off the diet they were fed while at Sloth World.

“So we’re in a period now where they’re still getting the last bits of what they had in Sloth World out of their system and transferring onto the diet they should be on here,” Glover said.

Of the 13 sloths originally brought to the zoo, nine remain alive.

Over the last month, Bandit, Habanero, Dumpling and the youngest sloth in the group, 3-month-old Mr. Ginger, have died because of the conditions they were in when they arrived, according to zoo officials.

However, the zoo says there are signs of improvement among the remaining sloths.

Glover said two sloths, Chewie and Dolce, are now officially out of critical condition.

“We are starting to see some personalities come out, and that’s a good sign that they’re more comfortable in their environment,” Glover said.

News 6 has been covering the closure of Sloth World and the investigation surrounding the organization for weeks.

Sloth World and the individuals once associated with it are now under investigation after reports showed 52 sloths died while under its care.

Glover told News 6 that Sloth World President Ben Agresta signed over the remaining 13 sloths to the zoo after reports about the deaths became public.

“The business doesn’t survive without the animals, but they had people feeding them the wrong thing because that’s the advice they were getting,” Glover said. “Dog and cat vets aren’t going to know what to feed a sloth.”

Meanwhile, State Representative Anna Eskamani said lawmakers are continuing to push for policy changes related to exotic animal ownership in Florida.

“They are pushing for federal policy changes as we continue on our path with not only asking FWC to make the temporary ban a permanent ban, but we are also working towards crafting policy changes for the class three license program specifically for sensitive species at the state level,” Eskamani said.

Zoo officials have also placed signs outside the entrance featuring some of the rescued sloths as community support continues growing.

Eskamani also told News 6 that $500,000 in funding has been added to the proposed state budget for the Central Florida Zoo. The state budget is expected to be approved by the end of the week.

Its new report is the latest by an international rights group accusing the wealthy Gulf monarchy of financially and militarily aiding the Rapid Support Forces that have been widely accused of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The United Arab Emirates denied the latest accusations in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Report adds to a ‘growing body of evidence’

“The recruitment of Colombian private military contractors adds to a growing body of evidence that the UAE provides military support to the Rapid Support Forces, which have repeatedly carried out heinous atrocities in Sudan,” said Mausi Segun, executive director of HRW’s Africa Division.

Sudan’s war broke out on April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the military and RSF exploded into fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the sprawling northeastern African country.

The RSF was born out of feared Arab Janjaweed militias that were notorious for atrocities in the early 2000s against people identifying as East or Central African in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

In the new report, Human Rights Watch said hundreds of Colombian mercenaries were trained by Emirati nationals at a military base in Al Dhafra region, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, and at another facility in Abu Dhabi, before being deployed to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF.

The rights group quoted an unnamed Colombian mercenary as saying he trained RSF recruits at camps around Nyala, the provincial capital of South Darfur, in April last year.

Many recruits were “young children,” the mercenary was quoted as saying. The rights group said it interviewed another Colombian mercenary and other sources, including former Colombian military officers.

A United Nations panel of experts in a report to the U.N. Security Council in September said Colombian mercenaries fought in multiple areas across Sudan, including in Khartoum, its sister city of Omdurman and the regions of Darfur and Kordofan, among other areas. The experts said the mercenaries’ combat roles included the operation of RSF drones, artillery and armored vehicles, as well as participation in direct attacks.

RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged in video comments in February that Colombian mercenaries have aided his group to operate drones.

Report urges countries to press the UAE to end RSF support

The mercenaries were hired by Abu Dhabi-based Global Security Services Group, a private security firm, Human Rights Watch said. According to the U.N. experts, the firm was chaired by Mohammed Hamdan Al-Zaabi, an Emirati national.

Human Rights Watch said Emirati authorities and the firm didn’t respond to its requests for comment. The UAE’s Foreign Ministry, however, denied the allegations in an email to the AP.

“The UAE does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan,” the ministry said.

It said any private individual or entity, Emirati or foreign, that provides support to non-state armed groups “would be doing so without state authorization, in violation of Emirati law, and would be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution.”

Human Rights Watch said it verified videos showing mercenaries, apparently Colombian, fighting alongside the RSF when it captured the Darfur city of el-Fasher in October in an offensive the U.N.-commissioned experts said bore “ the hallmarks of genocide. ” At least 6,000 people were killed in three days, according to the U.N.

The rights group called for the international community, including the European Union, to press the UAE to end its support to the RSF though suspending military cooperation and arms sales.

“Other countries need to stop accepting the UAE’s blanket denials of support to the RSF which fly in the face of the facts, and should put an end to its impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Segun said.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on many people and firms based in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, over allegedly recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to fight with the RSF. But it hasn't addressed reports of the UAE’s alleged support to RSF which it accused of repeatedly carrying out “summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, and torture throughout areas under its control” during the war.

At least 59,000 people have been killed over the three years, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, known as ACLED. The U.S.-based tracking group, however, said its toll was almost certainly an underestimate given the difficulty in reporting.

Spokesperson Terri Hinte told The Associated Press that Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York. She cited no specific cause of death, but said he had been largely housebound over the past couple of years because of various physical problems.

From his early days as a teen phenom to his more measured solo work and experimentation with free jazz, Rollins was revered for his improvisational skill. He was one of the last living greats of the bebop era and — along with John Coltrane and Charlie Parker — one of the most influential saxophonists of his time.

Rock fans got a dose of his music with the Rolling Stones’ 1981 album “Tattoo You,” which features’ Rollins’ wistful sax solo on the ballad “Waiting on a Friend," devised after watching Mick Jagger dance.

Despite his enduring success, Rollins was never quite satisfied with his art, occasionally taking lengthy hiatuses from playing and consistently adopting eclectic new styles.

He always referred to himself as “a work in progress,” saying he wasn’t one of those artists who settle into one way of playing.

While his early bebop work was the most popular with his fans, Rollins never looked back, saying he found it “excruciating” to even listen to the flaws in his older recordings.

“I don’t consider myself a musician that has learned as much as I want to learn,” he told The Associated Press in 2007.

Enduring achievements

In the 1990s and 2000s, Rollins released a string of critically acclaimed albums. He maintained a rigorous practice regimen, and continued to tour, into his 80s. Pulmonary fibrosis, a thickening and damaging of the lungs, would eventually force him into retirement. He played his last concert in 2012 and stopped playing altogether in 2014.

While he missed the adoration of crowds, he missed the actual playing more.

“I played a couple of concerts early on where I was out in the open in the afternoon,” He told the New York Times in 2020. “I was able to look up in the sky, and I felt a communication; I felt that I was part of something. Not the crowd. Something bigger.”

His 2001 album “This is What I Do,” earned him a Grammy award for best jazz instrumental album. He won again in 2006 for best jazz instrumental solo for “Why Was I Born?”

“Why Was I Born” was from the album “Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert,” a live recording from a performance in Boston just four days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Rollins, who had been evacuated from his apartment a few blocks from ground zero, had gone ahead with the concert at the urging of his wife and manager, Lucille. She died in 2004.

His survivors include a nephew, Clifton Anderson, and nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat.

Meeting the greats

Rollins had gotten his first major break in his late teens when he was invited to join Thelonious Monk’s band. He soon was jamming with Miles Davis and Bud Powell, who introduced him to the recording world even before he finished high school.

But like many jazz musicians in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Rollins’ rising star almost faded when he became hooked on heroin at the age of 19. As his addiction grew steadily worse, Rollins served two stints in jail — 10 months in 1950 and three months in 1953 — and ultimately found himself living on the streets in Chicago. In 1954, Rollins checked himself into a hospital in Lexington, Ky., to undergo drug treatment.

He left underwent a spiritual awakening as he kicked drugs.

“I began to have a deeper philosophy of what life was about,” he told the AP in 2007. “From that point on is when my consciousness awoke.”

After being discharged, he returned to Chicago and signed on as a member of the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet. In 1956 he recorded a solo album, “Saxophone Colossus.” Its stripped-down, hard bop sound announced him as one of jazz’s premier sax players and remained one of his most influential works.

In the following two years Rollins hit upon a different approach, switching to a pianoless trio on three more landmark albums: “Way Out West,” “A Night at the Village Vanguard” and “Freedom Suite.”

Then, at the peak of his popularity, Rollins went into seclusion, spending the next two years practicing alone on a solitary niche above the East River on a Williamsburg Bridge walkway.

“The thing that I am most proud of in my career is that fact that I was able to see beyond being popular and all that stuff," he told the AP in 2007, “and do what my inner self told me to do.”

During his absence, jazz moved away from the fast-paced, tightly woven sound of bebop to the more frenetic and chaotic free jazz. When Rollins chose to return to the scene in 1961, he embraced the new sound — a move that divided his fans. In the mid-’60s, Rollins toured heavily in Europe, switching back and forth between more traditional and avant garde approaches. He contributed original music to the soundtrack of “Alfie,” the 1966 British film that made Michael Caine a star.

It was during a trip to Japan when Rollins discovered Zen Buddhism, prompting another lengthy sabbatical that would last into the early 1970s.

A living legend

When he chose to record again in 1972, he was now regarded as a legend and gained mainstream acceptance. He was granted a Guggenheim fellowship that year, and was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame the next. He appeared on the “Tonight Show” and began playing in concert halls instead of nightclubs.

Theodore Walter Rollins was born into a musical household in Harlem on Sept. 7, 1930. His father, a naval petty officer, played the clarinet, his sister played the piano, and his older brother was a violinist.

When he was eight, his parents insisted he study the piano, but, as he recalled, “it didn’t take.” Instead, he said, he’d rather be outdoors playing baseball. But by age 11, Rollins became fascinated with the saxophone, and persuaded his parents to buy him one — an alto.

He had difficulty affording lessons and was largely self-taught, but Rollins quickly became an all-star, switching to tenor sax and playing the clubs at night.

He leaves behind many unreleased recordings, and said he didn't plan to leave behind instructions for what to do with them.

“After I get out of this planet I’m not going to have any say about what’s going on, so I’m not worried about that,” he told the New York Times in 2020. “And, boy, I agonize over my music; I won’t have to agonize about it anymore. Thank God.”

Photos of Avery Lynn, flowers and handwritten notes were placed near Seventh Avenue, just feet from where the Volusia Sheriff’s Office says the toddler was hit Saturday after running into a driving lane on the beach.

One note at the memorial described Avery Lynn as “her mother’s princess” and asked loved ones to leave seashells in her honor.

News 6 observed family members, including the child’s mother, visiting the memorial Monday to pay tribute.

Investigators said the driver remained at the scene following the crash. Authorities do not currently believe speed or impairment were factors.

“It’s just sad. You have to watch your kids so close,” said Tony Cook, who lives nearby and said he arrived at the beach shortly after the crash.

“It was very sad. You had tons of help that was here, but it was a very instant and spontaneous thing that happened,” Cook said.

Cook added that the beach was especially crowded Saturday.

“We are certainly overcrowded here on weekends and holidays, and that’s when you have the biggest problems,” he said.

In a statement to News 6, the Professional Firefighters of Orange City said Avery Lynn was part of their extended family.

“Our hearts are with Avery Lynn’s family and everyone impacted by this unimaginable tragedy,” the statement read. “We encourage everyone to hold their loved ones a little closer, look out for one another.”

Beachgoers visiting from across Central Florida also reacted to the tragedy.

“That’s heartbreaking. I want to pray over their family. I know this is a difficult time,” said Traevis Saint Louis, who was visiting the beach from Orlando.

Saint Louis said both drivers and pedestrians should remain alert, especially during busy holiday weekends.

“Definitely, to have those people driving on the beach to be careful,” he said.

Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton had no public campaign events scheduled for the final day of their more-than-yearlong quest for the GOP nomination. Instead, their fight for Tuesday's runoff continued as it has for months — intense and unabated — through advertising that has topped $109 million, heavily from Cornyn's side.

Cornyn hosted an annual, non-campaign event in San Antonio to recognize high school graduates attending the nation's service academies. The senator seeking a fifth term held his last public campaign event in Corpus Christi on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s voting.

Paxton headlined his last events Thursday in the Austin area and in San Antonio, content to let his campaign and a super PAC carry his primary message: that President Donald Trump endorsed him on May 19.

Trump's announcement and accompanying dismissal of Cornyn, who has had an awkward public relationship with the president, came on the second day of early voting, which ended Friday.

Though the candidates' campaigns were quiet over the weekend, Trump reaffirmed his support for Paxton on Sunday, and disparaged Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to him.

Paxton, Trump posted on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while calling Cornyn “VERY disloyal to me.” It was Trump's strongest rebuke of Cornyn, who had dismissed his 2024 comeback chances, and echoed the president's reproach of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before he lost in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.

After Trump's jabs, Cornyn still leaned into his support for the president just before Monday's event. The senator said that 99.3% of his votes aligned with Trump, that he “wants him to be successful” and then he referenced Trump’s previous comments “where he called me a good man and a friend.”

As for endorsing his opponent, “obviously the president is entitled to make his pick," he said, but “Texans are a pretty independent breed and people will be making their own choices.”

Following Trump's call for retribution, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have also chosen GOP primary challengers over incumbent GOP officeholders who have crossed the president or opposed his agenda.

For a contest that is expected to draw a fraction of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, the two candidates’ campaigns and supporting groups were continuing to bombard all Texans with advertising, though more by Cornyn's backers than Paxton's.

"It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

The combination of Cornyn's campaign and supporting super PACs has far outspent pro-Paxton groups over the past year, by almost nine-to-one. But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached. In the final week of the campaign, the combination of pro-Cornyn ad spending was less than twice that of Paxton's group.

Cornyn's network continued to air spots attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions that have shadowed him with little effect throughout the campaign. The senator's consequent argument to voters is that Paxton would struggle in the general election and threaten to flip the seat blue.

“Paxton’s flaws and the baggage he brings to the general election is going to be exploited to the fullest by James Talarico,” he told reporters, before heading into Monday's ceremony and giving a speech devoid of campaign politics to the assembled graduates.

Cornyn’s campaign also had reprised an ad noting his tendency to vote in the Senate for Trump’s priorities.

Paxton's campaign and groups supporting him transitioned midweek to all ads noting Trump's endorsement, though Paxton's primary super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, began airing one over the weekend aimed at raising questions about state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.

Misiorowski threw 57 pitches at least 100 mph — the most by any individual in a game since pitch tracking began in 2008 — while getting 12 strikeouts to match his career high Monday in a 5-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“That's what I do,” Misiorowski said. “I throw hard.”

The previous record for 100 mph pitches in a game was 47 by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene against St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2022.

Misiorowski reached 101 mph on 40 of his 96 pitches. He got to 102 mph on 22 pitches and had nine of at least 103. His top velocity was 103.4 mph, which he reached three times.

Nine of his strikeouts came on pitches that reached 100 mph, tying the record Greene set in that 2022 game against the Cardinals.

Misiorowski (5-2) allowed two hits and one walk in seven innings while improving his ERA to 1.83.

“Magnificent,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “One of the best performances I've seen in a long time.”

Yet it wasn't much different from all of the 24-year-old's other recent efforts.

In five starts this month, Misiorowski has allowed just one run and 11 hits while striking out 49 and walking six over 31 1/3 innings. When the Cardinals scored their lone run in the sixth, it snapped Misiorowski's streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 29 1/3.

That represented the third-longest streak of shutout innings in Brewers history. Teddy Higuera had 32 straight scoreless innings in 1987 and Freddy Peralta had 30 last year.

Misiorowski hasn't allowed an extra-base hit in six straight starts since giving up a double to Miami's Kyle Stowers on April 19.

“For him, I think the biggest thing is throwing strikes, and he's doing that,” Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn said. “That fastball's probably the best in the game. It's awesome to watch.”

Indeed, Misiorowski's control is one of the biggest ways in which he has improved since going 5-3 with a 4.36 ERA as a rookie last season.

Misiorowski had 87 strikeouts and 31 walks in 66 innings last year. This season, he's walked 19 in 64 innings while getting a major league-leading 100 strikeouts.

He started Monday's game by walking JJ Wetherholt on a 3-2 pitch inside before retiring the next 15 batters he faced. The Cardinals didn't get a hit until Pedro Pagés delivered a bloop single to lead off the sixth.

Misiorowski ended up allowing a run in the sixth, then came back out in the seventh and retired the side in order. He ended his day with a strikeout of Masyn Winn in which six of the seven pitches he threw exceeded 100 mph.

“It was just one of those things you go in the dugout, they tell you the inning before, ‘Hey, this is it. Go get it,’” Misiorowski said. “And kind of trust that the bullpen's going to have your back behind you.”

Misiorowski also has greater endurance from the conditioning work he did in the offseason. Murphy noted that it's about more than just arm strength.

“You can tell all those young pitchers out there, you have to have a lower half,” Murphy said. “He’s put together a great lower half.”

Misiorowski said working on his lower half was a focus in the offseason. The results are apparent in the way he's working deeper into games while maintaining his status as the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in the majors.

According to MLB.com, Misiorowski has thrown 22 career pitches of at least 103 mph as a starter, including in the postseason. No other starting pitcher has thrown more than two pitches 103 mph or faster during the pitch-tracking era.

No wonder Misiorowski said he wasn't taken aback Monday when each of his first six pitches went at least 103 mph.

“I feel like that’s how it should be every day," Misiorowski said. “I feel like that’s where I’m at. I feel like that’s just my normal.”

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

Madison Square Garden, that is.

With New York one win from sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers and earning its first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, thousands of Knicks fans — and some of their well-heeled celebrity backers — descended upon Rocket Arena on Monday night.

Based on the decibel level and “Let's Go Knicks!” chants during pregame warmups, New York fans seemed to outnumber Clevelanders, who are holding out hope that the Cavs can somehow overcome an 0-3 deficit in the series. That's never happened in the NBA as teams are a collective 164-0 when leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

Among the New York A-list celebrities on hand were actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan and rappers along with former Knicks players Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Allan Houston.

The Cavs, who hosted pop music superstar Taylor Swift and her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in Game 3, were represented by rapper Machine Gun Kelly. Cleveland also brought back beloved guard Matthew Dellavedova, a member of its 2016 championship team for some karma.

Knicks fans were boisterous during New York's win in Game 3, and Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell lamented that was mostly because Cleveland gave its towel-waving crowd nothing to cheer about.

“I’m from New York, this doesn’t shock me. They do it in every arena,” Mitchell said. “That’s how Knicks fans are. I was one back in the day.”

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

And again.

Cowser hit a walk-off home run for the second consecutive day on Monday to complete the Baltimore Orioles’ 9-7, 13-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, one he said was one of his "favorite complete team wins.”

The fifth overall selection in the 2021 draft is hitting .333 with all three of his home runs over an eight-game stretch. The third homer, Monday’s two-run shot, followed Sunday’s three-run drive to decide a 5-3 victory over Detroit to open a split doubleheader.

He became Baltimore’s first player to hit walk-off homers on consecutive days since Fred Lynn on May 10-11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“It’s one of those things where … you get to see guys who are not getting the results they want, but the work they’re putting in and the collaboration with our hitting coaches, trying to problem solve an approach or a swing adjustment, a stance, whatever it is,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “To see it come through at the biggest moment on the biggest stage, against a really good team. Yeah, I couldn’t be happier, prouder for Colton.”

Cowser also made a pivotal head-first slide in the 12th inning for the Orioles, who rallied from two down in the 11th and 13th and one down in the 12th for their first victory in four tries against the AL-leading Rays.

Originally called out by plate umpire Ryan Additon, a successful replay challenge showed Cowser’s arm snuck beneath the tag of catcher Nick Fortes as he sprinted home on Gunnar Henderson’s grounder to first.

“I didn’t know where he tagged me,” Cowser said. “I just felt contact kind of on this arm. I didn’t know what it was. It turned out it was his leg.”

Cowser homered 24 times in 2024 and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year balloting, but followed that with a .196/.289/.385 slash line in 2025. Even after his recent uptick, he's posting similar .200/.287/.316 numbers in 2026 through Monday.

But his teammates think his holiday weekend could be the start of the return to the guy they knew two seasons ago.

“I mean, we all know what he’s capable of,” said O’s starter Kyle Bradish, who allowed a run in six innings long before the drama unfolded. “And I think he’s starting to get out of whatever he was in and starting to be the player that he is.”

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

“Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), Leo’s first encyclical, has been eagerly awaited ever since history’s first U.S.-born pope announced days after his election that he considered AI to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.

In the text, Leo denounced the “culture of power” driving the AI race, especially in developing ever more sophisticated methods of remote warfare. He declared that it was “not permissible” to entrust irreversible, lethal decisions to AI systems, setting up another flash point between the American pope and the Trump administration, which has worked aggressively to deregulate AI development.

“Artificial Intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death,″ the pope told a special Vatican presentation of the encyclical, one of the most authoritative types of teaching documents a pope can issue.

Experts in the tech industry, academia and Catholic morality said the document will likely become a benchmark in the debate over AI, a point of reference for policymakers, researchers and ordinary folk alike. It comes as the near-daily developments in the technology trigger concerns over AI replacing human jobs and even human intelligence.

Taylor Black, a Microsoft AI executive and director of Catholic University of America’s AI institute, said the document would prompt people “at the forefront of these tools” to ask questions such as “What does it mean to be human?”

Pope calls out AI companies even as he hosts Anthropic

The Vatican launch also included remarks by the co-founder of Anthropic, which is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over access to its AI technology. The Vatican decided to involve Anthropic as part of its decade-long effort to engage Silicon Valley in dialogue over the human cost of AI.

And yet in his text, Leo repeatedly blasted the concentration of power and data in the hands of so few people in the private sector as a danger, especially to children and the most vulnerable, and called for external regulation of their work.

“It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,” he wrote. “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few.”

Leo appealed to AI developers and political leaders responsible for regulating them to slow down and reflect on what they are doing. He urged them to use ethical and spiritual guidelines to make the choice to work not for their own profit or power, but the betterment of humanity.

AI competitors OpenAI and Anthropic are the second- and third-most valuable U.S. private companies, each valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, more than the GDP of many nations. Both companies are heading toward near-trillion dollar IPOs.

Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah welcomed Leo's criticism and concern. He said such external checks were fundamental to the technology “going well” for humankind since there is so much at stake — “a real possibility that AI will displace human labor at a very large scale.”

“We need more of the world — religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments — to do what His Holiness has done here: to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction,” Olah said. “We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”

Experts say the text will become a benchmark

In a methodical text, the math major pope traced the history of the Catholic Church’s social teaching and applied its core concepts — justice, solidarity, the dignity of work and the universal destination of resources — to the digital revolution.

“I am convinced that this will prove to be a defining document for our era, a profound and prophetic document,” said Paolo Carozza, law professor at Notre Dame Law School and chair of the Meta Oversight Board.

“Pope Leo is offering a clear, comprehensive, and coherent voice urging us to take responsibility for constructing a world in which technology will serve humans rather than degrade them,” he said.

In its strongest chapters, Leo denounced how AI had helped accelerate the “normalization of war” by desensitizing people to its cost. He didn’t name specific conflicts, but cited “opposing imperialisms, between powers that wish to preserve their supremacy, and those that aspire to seize that supremacy.”

He demanded transparency and accountability by AI developers so that the chain of decision-making command in ordering strikes with AI weaponry is always known. He declared that the Catholic Church’s “just war” theory, which provides specific criteria for when force can be justified, was now “outdated” given the technological advances of warfare.

A text in the church’s social justice tradition

Leo signed the text May 15, the 135th anniversary of the publication of “Rerum Novarum” (Of New Things), the most important teaching document of Leo’s hero and namesake, Pope Leo XIII. That document addressed workers’ rights, the limits of capitalism, and the obligations that states and employers owed workers as the Industrial Revolution was underway.

It became the foundation of modern Catholic social thought, and the current pope cited it at the start of his pontificate in relation to the AI revolution, which he believes poses the same existential questions that the Industrial Revolution posed over a century ago. “Magnifica Humanitas” thus becomes the latest chapter in a century-long history of popes adapting “Rerum Novarum” to the social questions of their times, often dwelling on the dignity of work for human flourishing.

AI is evoking both existential fears and utopian vision amid an intensifying debate on whether it will become a catalyst that enriches humanity or a technological toxin that dulls human intelligence while wiping out millions of high-paying jobs.

“The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good,” Leo wrote.

Leo extended his concern for upholding human dignity in labor to issue the first-ever papal apology for the Holy See’s own role in legitimizing slavery by giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”

A decade-long dialogue with Silicon Valley

Vatican officials declined to say who contributed to Leo’s encyclical. But Vatican and church officials have been engaged in a dialogue with Silicon Valley tech firms for a decade.

The decision to include Anthropic at the Vatican launch was criticized by some who considered it a papal stamp of approval of the AI firm, which is currently suing the Trump administration after it ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology for its refusal to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of it.

Brian Boyd, U.S. faith liaison for the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, read the inclusion of Anthropic’s co-founder Olah as a recognition of its prominence in the field and as similar to a papal audience with a head of state: not an endorsement.

Anthropic is an “enormous corporation that is taking onto itself an enormous risk and responsibility,” Boyd said, adding that the company has “demonstrated genuine goodwill and integrity and interest in dialogue.”

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Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut, and Huamani reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in London and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

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

Larry Mull says the strike ripped apart a shed, destroyed his water pump and filter system, and left his home without running water for days.

Mull says he heard a loud boom Saturday night and discovered the damage the next morning.

“A real bright flash and a real loud boom, almost simultaneously. It shook the whole house,” Mull said.

Pieces of the damaged shed were scattered across the yard. Mull says the lightning destroyed the pump and filtration system that supplies water to his home.

“We don’t have city water here, it’s just a well,” Mull said. “It just blew everything apart on those.”

Mull says repairs are expected to cost thousands of dollars. In the meantime, he says he’s temporarily hooked into a neighbor’s water supply.

He says the timing made things even harder, with the strike happening during the holiday weekend while he tried to contact insurance and repair crews.

Mull says he also feels lucky the strike did not hit two propane tanks inside the shed.

“I consider myself very lucky because there’s two propane tanks in there and they’re both full, but nothing happened to them,” Mull said.

Despite the damage, Mull says he’s thankful nobody was hurt.

“Lightning capital of the world,” he joked.

The curtain fell on Gael Monfils just before midnight when he lost to French countryman Hugo Gaston 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0.

It was the 39-year-old Monfils' final appearance at Roland Garros. Same went for the 41-year-old Wawrinka, who earlier lost to Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on another sweltering day.

Monfils and Wawrinka are retiring at the end of the year.

They made their French Open debuts 21 years ago.

Wawrinka went on to win three Grand Slam titles, and while Monfils has not reached a major final his popularity remains high.

Monfils walked out to chants of “Ga-el! Ga-el!” on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He received loud encouragement throughout, demanding applause when he hit spectacular winners and raising his arm when he won the third set.

But he also looked tired, often hunching over with his hands on his knees. After clawing back a two-set deficit he had little energy left against an opponent 14 years younger.

Monfils was joined in an on-court ceremony by his former Davis Cup teammates Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, and also praised by his peers.

“For me you were a true inspiration. A great athlete,” two-time reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz said in video featuring several players. “But the most important thing, a great person off the court.”

Monfils thanked his wife, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, who looked tearful as she listened.

"Without her I might not be here tonight,” Monfils said. "We’ve been together for eight years, eight beautiful years ... (You) gave me the greatest gift in the world, our daughter. I love you.”

Wawrinka bows out

De Jong finished off Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion and 2017 finalist, with a whipped forehand winner, then urged the fans to applaud Wawrinka, whose face was almost as red as the baking-hot clay. Temperatures in sun-soaked Paris hit 33 degrees C (91 F).

“It’s hard, it’s hard to say goodbye to you here,” an emotional Wawrinka said. “It’s because of Roland Garros that I wanted to become a tennis player.”

He was given an ovation at Court Simonne-Mathieu, where he was scheduled to face Arthur Fils but the rising French star pulled out of the tournament with a hip issue.

Wawrinka knows it will be hard to let go — although he still has Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to come.

“For more than 20 years I experienced these emotions, you never want it to stop," Wawrinka said. "I have given everything for this sport.”

His stunning 2015 run to the title saw him defeat heavy favorite Novak Djokovic in the final after downing another all-time great, Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka stood out that year as much for his eye-catching pink-checkered shorts as for his destructive backhand.

Those shorts fed his happy-go-lucky appearance and he reinforced that image by celebrating with Champagne long into the night. But as cavalier as he sometimes seemed, Wawrinka was anything but casual and always trained fiercely hard.

He was hugged on court by tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, before sitting and watching footage of his matches down the years. He was shown video messages from Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner, reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Monfils.

At his physical peak, the barrel-chested Wawrinka had huge stamina and was one of the few who beat Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray at the Grand Slams.

Wawrinka beat Nadal in the the Australian Open final in 2014 and downed Djokovic again in the U.S. Open final in 2016, meaning all three of his majors were won against the No. 1 player. Nadal, however, dispatched him in straight sets in the 2017 French Open final.

He was an Olympic champion in doubles alongside Federer in 2008 and they won the Davis Cup for Switzerland in 2014.

“You are a legend of our sport,” said Monfils, who also lost his first-round match at the Australian Open in January.

Monfils falls short

Monfils reached the semifinals at the 2008 French Open and the quarterfinals on three other occasions.

But ultimately he fell short after being touted for a great career following junior titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2004.

He never won better than an ATP 500 among his 13 titles, and lost 22 finals — including three at Masters level. His reputation as a showman took precedence over his modest results.

“One of most likeable, fun guys out there,” Djokovic said. “There’s no one that doesn’t like you, Gaël. I think that’s your biggest victory.”

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

Cowser's 425-foot blast off Jesse Scholtens (5-3) was just his third homer of the season and punctuated a wild victory in which the Orioles rallied three times in extra innings. Cowser becomes Baltimore’s first player to hit walk-off homers on consecutive days since Fred Lynn on May 10-11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Pete Alonso and Jeremiah Jackson each singled in a run to tie it at 4-all in the 11th. Cowser scored the game-tying run to make it 5-all in the 12th on Gunnar Henderson's grounder to first, a sequence originally called an out by plate umpire Ryan Additon before a replay challenge showed the sliding Cowser snuck an arm under Nick Fortes’ tag.

Then, Leody Taveras doubled and Jackson Holliday hit a sacrifice fly to tie it a 7 in the 13th, setting up Cowser's drive that landed in the seats in right-center, mirroring his game-winning homer in Sunday's 5-3 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader.

Jonathan Aranda hit his ninth home run in the sixth and added a sacrifice fly in the 12th for the Rays, who lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping three straight April 19-21 in their second 13-inning game — and first such loss —this season.

Victor Mesa Jr. hit his second career home run, a two-run shot in the 12th inning of his Tampa Bay debut. And, Cedric Mullins and Richie Palacios each singled in the top of the 13th off Dietrich Enns (3-0).

Mullins received an approximately 10-second standing ovation while in the on-deck circle in the second inning. It was his first game in Baltimore as visitor after playing with the Orioles from 2018-25.

Up next

Orioles right-hander Shane Baz (1-5, 4.87 ERA) face Rays RHP Griffin Jax (1-2, 3.54) on Tuesday.

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

Scattered storm chances go up slightly Tuesday with more storms firing up in the afternoon. Rain chances will be at 40% with the rain favoring west Central Florida.

Rain chances rise to 60% Wednesday. The chance for widespread rain arrives Thursday and remains through the end of the weekend.

Each day features storm chances at 70%.

Highs will hover around 90 degrees with increasing humidity through the weekend.

Judge José Antonio Núñez, in his decision, considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor's mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.

“It seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and at the same time exempt him from punishment. The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one,” explained Núñez.

The judge justified the judicial pardon as a “logical and legal reasoning.”

“Thank God for everything,” Franco expressed as he effusively embraced his mother, Nancy Aybar, and other family members who accompanied him in court.

Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

After the ruling, Franco left the courthouse alongside his lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, and briefly answered reporters’ questions, saying, “I feel calm,” and asking his fans to “continue supporting me and trusting in me.”

Franco also said he personally had not contacted the Rays but that his lawyers surely had.

“We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,” Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Franco attorney Jáquez said: “We don’t have the physical sentence in our hands, but he was exempted from punishment because the president of the court established that he was also a victim and because he is exempted from punishment through judicial pardon."

The full sentencing will be June 16.

“When we have the full sentence in hand, we will give you more details," Jáquez said. "He was exempted from punishment and we think that’s fine, but we need to have the sentence in hand.

In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Rays, but his career was upended when authorities in the Dominican Republic announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.

Six months after his arrest, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.

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

And the events of Sunday and Monday surely add at least a bit of intrigue to Argentina's plans.

Messi underwent testing on Monday — which almost certainly means an MRI exam, though the team did not divulge what procedures were involved — and was ultimately diagnosed with “an overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring" that kept him from finishing Inter Miami's match on Sunday night.

Typically, the timeframe for recovery from such issues is varied depending on the severity.

"The timeline for his return to physical activity will depend on his clinical and functional progress," Inter Miami said in a release.

Messi was subbed out of Inter Miami's match against the Philadelphia Union in the 73rd minute on Sunday. He essentially stopped playing a couple of minutes earlier and was seen grabbing at the back of his left leg at least once before he could be removed for a sub.

Messi walked off the field without any assistance and went directly to the team's locker room. Inter Miami, the defending MLS champion, won the game 6-4 and Messi had a pair of assists in the first half.

Heavy rain fell during the second half, leaving the field slippery. It was unknown if Messi took a misstep at any point during the storm or if the conditions were involved in the decision for him to leave the match. All the team said Monday was he was subbed out because of “physical discomfort.”

Argentina has a pair of friendlies scheduled in advance of the World Cup, first on June 6 in College Station, Texas, against Honduras and then on June 9 in Auburn, Alabama, against Iceland. Those games will be played in college football stadiums — the home fields of Texas A&M and Auburn — with a combined capacity of about 180,000.

Argentina is in Group J for the World Cup. Its group stage matches: Algeria, at Kansas City, on June 16; Austria, at Arlington, Texas, on June 22; and Jordan, back in Arlington, on June 27.

Messi has already appeared in five World Cups, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player twice — first in 2014, then again in 2022 when he led Argentina to the title. That award has been given out only since 1982, but he is the lone player to win it twice.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

The list of candidates capable of challenging top-ranked Jannik Sinner, who enters the French Open on a three-month-long 29-match winning streak, has been dwindling.

Enter Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who has been making waves on the ATP Tour.

Jodar continued to impress in his Roland Garros debut, dropping just five games in a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 rout of American opponent Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday despite boiling heat at the clay-court Grand Slam. The last man to concede fewer games in a French Open debut was Novak Djokovic, who allowed three to Robby Ginepri in 2005.

“I did the things very well from the start,” Jodar said. “It’s just my first year (on tour) and I’m experiencing a lot of things in these past few months.”

Mostly, Jodar has been experiencing victories: He’s won 16 of his last 19 matches, raised a trophy on clay in Morocco, reached the semifinals in Barcelona and had a run to the quarterfinals in Madrid ended by Sinner.

A year ago, Jodar was ranked No. 707 and playing challengers — tennis’ minor leagues — in the U.S. after he competed at the University of Virginia. Now he’s No. 29 and is seeded 27th in Paris.

“It was obviously another chapter of my life but I think that chapter also helped me to develop a lot and to be a better player now,” Jodar said.

Going to college also helped.

“Living there alone, it was great to develop and to do things by myself,” Jodar said. “It was a new chapter, new culture for me, actually a new life.”

Jodar appears destined to become a top-10 player and a serious contender for the biggest trophies.

And Jodar is in the bottom half of the draw in Paris — meaning he could meet Sinner only in the final.

Swiatek making no assumptions

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek eliminated 136th-ranked debutant Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in her opener.

The only real issue for the third-ranked Swiatek came when she needed a trainer to re-tape the middle finger on her tennis-playing right hand for an apparent blister after the first set.

Swiatek has not won a title on clay this season and recently made a coaching change. She hired Francisco Roig, who previously worked with 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

“Nothing comes easy,” Swiatek said. “With more titles it’s even a bit harder because everyone expects you to be ready always and play perfectly. So you need to stay humble and not take anything for granted and work your way from the beginning of the tournament.”

She improved to 28-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams.

Also advancing were Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who beat Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-2; and recent Italian Open winner Elina Svitolina, who rallied past Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

In men’s action, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka was beaten by Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to end his 21st and last French Open.

Gael Monfils also bowed out for the last time after losing to fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 just before midnight.

Eighth-seeded Alex De Minaur defeated Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and No. 15 Casper Ruud — a two-time French Open runner-up — won against Roman Safiullin 6-2, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2.

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

Or, at least, will have a highly limited MacKinnon, which was what he was after taking a puck to his right knee in Sunday night's 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

It's been that kind of series for the Avalanche, the Presidents' Trophy winners going down 3-0 in the Western Conference Final. With the possibility of being swept Tuesday night, coach Jared Bednar will take MacKinnon in any form he can get him.

“For him to be able to come back out, get some work done late in the second period and intermission and be able to come out and even help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that’s all he can do, we’ll take it," Bednar said. "It’s better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice.”

That comment could get plenty of attention in the Avalanche locker room, but as it is, the Golden Knights have Colorado's full focus.

The odds might have been in the Avalanche's favor before the series began — the team with the league's best record going against one so desperate to make the playoffs that it fired its coach with eight games remaining — but not now.

The numbers, in fact, are daunting.

This is the 50th time in the conference finals or league semifinals that a series has gone to 3-0. All previous 49 teams with that advantage went on to make the Stanley Cup Final, with 47 ending the series in six games or fewer.

Only four teams have erased 3-0 deficits in any round. Los Angeles in 2014 was the most recent team to accomplish that in eliminating San Jose in their first-round series.

And then there's the so-called Presidents' Trophy curse. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim that and the Stanley Cup in the same season. Colorado already had firsthand knowledge of the difficulty of pulling off the double, winning the Presidents' Trophy in the 2021 COVID-shortened season before going out in six games in the second round ... to the Golden Knights.

“There’s going to be a sense of urgency, but it’s got to be smart urgency,” defenseman Josh Manson said. "It’s got to be desperation. It’s got to be our best style of play the whole night. You’ve got to maintain that sense of do or die, while playing up to the edge. That’s what makes it so difficult.

“The margin of error is so thin now, and you’ve got to be able to balance that for at least 12 periods.”

It will take at least that many periods for the Avalanche to accomplish what no other team has done this deep into the playoffs. They will have to play like the team that looked like the NHL's best for six months and then the first two rounds of the playoffs when they went 8-1.

“We know where we’re at,” wing Martin Necas said. “We know it doesn’t happen very often, but we still feel confident in this group. It’s not like we’ve been outplayed every game and their team is better than ours. We had a lot of stretches this season where we won four in a row. So we just focus on the next game and take it home and anything can happen.”

Getting it back to Denver for Game 5 would be a start.

“Our team's played with more intensity and more desperation as the series (has) gone on,” Bednar said. "Hasn’t worked out for us yet. I think with the hill to climb, it’s definitely a tough one. It just doesn’t happen very often, and we’re certainly understanding of that, but I think we have a lot of pride and a lot of character in our room that displayed that time over time throughout the course of the year,

"This will be our most difficult challenge, but I believe that we will show up and we will be ready to play.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. After a long run at a convention center in suburban Maryland, the bee returns to the nation's capital this year at Constitution Hall, a few blocks from the White House.

Another change for this year: ESPN NFL analyst and recent “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champion Mina Kimes has joined the bee as its television host.

This is the 98th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s champion will be the 111th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019.

Thirty of the past 36 champions have been of Indian heritage, including last year’s winner, Faizan Zaki.

How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company.

On Tuesday, preliminary rounds will stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.

Wednesday's quarterfinals will stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and semifinals can be watched on those platforms from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tape-delayed semifinals broadcast on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Finals will broadcast Thursday on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The semifinals and finals will also air or be streamed on these Scripps-owned channels or services: ION Plus, Bounce, Grit, Laff, The Spot, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network.

What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country. In order to compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15.

Contestants must get through two preliminary rounds, where they are quizzed on words from a list provided in advance. There is one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round.

Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The words for the test, and for all subsequent rounds, are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary.

Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions.

About a dozen spellers advance to the finals. When only two remain, Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a “spell-off” to determine the champion.

Who is competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

This year's bee has 247 spellers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and five other countries: The Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The top returning finisher from 2025 is Sarv Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, who finished third last year as an 11-year-old fifth-grader. Even if he falls short this year, he has two years of eligibility left.

Other possible contenders:

— Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, who finished third in 2024. He has dominated the bee circuit in the past year, winning the South Asian Spelling Bee, the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee and the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee.

— Oliver Halkett, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Los Angeles who finished in a tie for seventh last year.

— Esha Marupudi, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Chandler, Arizona, who also tied for seventh last year.

What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion?

The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts:

— First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, a custom trophy and commemorative medal, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.

— Second place: $25,000.

— Third place: $15,000.

— Fourth place: $10,000.

— Fifth place: $5,000.

— Sixth place: $2,500.

— All other finalists: $2,000.

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Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.

A mix of sun and clouds is expected today, with only isolated to scattered afternoon showers and storms developing inland later today. Rain coverage stays fairly low, around 20 to 30 percent, so most outdoor Memorial Day ceremonies, cookouts, and beach plans should be able to go on without major weather interruptions.

High temperatures will climb into the upper 80s to around 90 degrees, with muggy conditions continuing across the region. A Moderate Heat Risk remains in place, so anyone spending long periods outdoors should stay hydrated and take breaks in the shade when possible.

Even with fewer storms around, beach conditions remain dangerous. A high risk of life-threatening rip currents continues at all Atlantic beaches. Beachgoers are urged to stay out of the rough surf and always swim near a lifeguard.

The quieter weather pattern continues Tuesday before a much wetter setup develops later this week.

We are tracking increasing tropical moisture expected to surge into Florida beginning Wednesday as the overall weather pattern becomes more unsettled. A plume of deep tropical moisture moving north from the Caribbean and Gulf will bring higher rain and storm chances through the second half of the week and into the weekend.

Wednesday through Friday, scattered to numerous afternoon storms are expected each day, with locally heavy rainfall becoming more likely. Some storms could produce wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph along with torrential downpours.

The wettest period may arrive this weekend as tropical moisture deepens even further across the state. Rain chances could climb to 60-70 percent both Saturday and Sunday, with repeated rounds of storms potentially leading to localized flooding in some neighborhoods.

Temperatures later this week will trend slightly cooler thanks to increased cloud cover and rainfall, with highs settling back into the mid-80s by the weekend.

“Just a regular Saturday. Music, all that good stuff. Our second band came on, Maiden Voyage. Rainstorm came and didn’t stop,” said Jason Kelyman, the owner of the Lake Harris Hideaway. “And next thing you know, we were flooded out.”

Kelyman said he wasn’t even inside when the worst of it hit. He and a friend were next door tending to boats for customers when the storm intensified.

“Me and my buddy were next door dealing with some boats for some customers, and we walked back over and just mayhem,” he said.

Kelyman described what happened and what the restaurant’s security cameras captured through their surveillance system.

“It came over kind of like a usual normal Florida thunderstorm. And then it just turned black. Just total blackness. Power went out, a lot of rain and a lot of water,” he said. “It happened — 3 - 5 minutes. It came in, and it was gone. Like nothing ever happened.”

The video shows the storm blowing through, the power flickering off, and water rushing across the floor. Kelyman said strong winds flipped over picnic tables too.

“Everything that’s on the floor is total loss. Besides our tables and chairs. You know, the band did a good job getting all their stuff up,” Kelyman said.

As the water rose, restaurant managers — including Kelyman’s wife — worked quickly to evacuate guests.

Kelyman said other employees helped elderly patrons reach their cars just before conditions fully deteriorated.

“Not even a minute after they left, that’s when everything broke out. They would not have gotten out of there in that amount of time,” Kelyman said.

Kelyman said nothing like this has ever happened at the restaurant — not even during hurricanes.

“Most we’ve had is a little small puddle in the corner of the parking lot. This here was a ton of water,” he said.

News 6 meteorologist Julie Broughton said some areas of northern Lake County picked up between 2 - 5 inches of rain Saturday.

“The ground is very dry, and you get all that rain coming down — some of the rainfall estimates, like I said, two to close to five inches of rain in some parts of that area — and there’s just no place for it to go,” Broughton said.

Despite the weekend weather, all of Central Florida remains under drought conditions. Broughton said the region is transitioning into rainy season, which typically brings daily sea breeze-driven showers and storms.

“We need several inches of rain to get out of the drought, but we don’t need it all at once,” she said.

Looking ahead, Broughton said a large plume of tropical moisture is expected to move into the region later in the week, raising the possibility of more heavy rain — and more flooding.

“We’re watching a broad area of low pressure that will ride to the north, and that will send a lot of rain our way. And so that means that we could be talking about some more flooding as we enter the weekend,” Broughton said.

“The rainfall, of course, beneficial, but in flood prone areas that could cause some problems.”

Despite the damage, Lake Harris Hideaway was back open by Monday, in time for the Memorial Day weekend crowd. Kelyman credited his staff and the surrounding community for making that turnaround possible.

“We’re very resilient. We have the whole entire community behind us. We do a lot in the community, and we worked through the night. In the morning, community members showed up with brooms in their hands, garbage bags — they were already picking stuff up and helping us out,” he said.

“Every day is Veterans Day. Every day is Memorial Day here. So, we had to be open for the weekend.”

The phones, he said, haven’t stopped ringing.

“We posted it, ‘Hey, we’re open, we’re ready to go, business as usual,’” Kelyman said.

“I’ll raise ya Alligator Alcatraz on that one!” one man wrote.

Another viewer asked, “Anything more wasteful than Alligator Alcatraz?”

Since he assumed office, CFO Blaise Ingoglia has barnstormed the state to sound the alarm about local governments’ spending.

Following Ingoglia’s latest visit to Orange County, News 6 reached out to his team to relay viewers’ questions as to whether Ingoglia will use his audit powers on spending for Alligator Alcatraz, the immigrant detention facility in the Everglades.

A communications director responded, but rather than answering ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ she sent the following statement:

“In order to receive a federal reimbursement via FEMA, there is an extensive application and financial review process conducted by the federal government. We have full confidence in the Trump Administration’s financial review of Alligator Alcatraz.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a $608 million federal reimbursement for Alligator Alcatraz, but according to the Florida Phoenix, the state just received its first installment this month. The payment was for $58 million.

The costs associated with Alligator Alcatraz, which is slated to close less than a year after it first opened, have reportedly amounted to nearly $1 billion.

Netanyahu's warning came as Hezbollah has been firing fiber optic drones — a weapon used widely in the war in Ukraine — at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel in recent weeks.

“We will hit them. It’s true that they are shooting drones at us, fiber optic drones. We have a special team working on that and we will solve that too,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media. “What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh.”

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that after Netanyahu's post, some residents started leaving Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah has large presence. The agency also said several airstrikes hit the eastern town of Mashghara in the Bekaa region on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said that it carried out eight attacks earlier in the day, including a drone attack on Israeli troops in Misgav Am in northern Israel.

The daily attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have been ongoing despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in place since April 17.

A U.S. State Department official said earlier on Monday that Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum. The official, who was not authorized to talk to the media and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians.

Since the ceasefire went into effect, Hezbollah has fired over a thousand drones and over 700 rockets to try and derail ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, the official said, adding that “the status quo is untenable.”

Last month, Lebanon and Israel began their first direct talks in more than three decades with meetings held in Washington. Lebanese and Israeli military officials are to meet again on Friday, at the Pentagon, to discuss the ceasefire. Israel and the United States are seeking to have Hezbollah disarmed.

The State Department official said the direct Lebanon-Israel talks and the implication that Lebanon stands to get significant support from the U.S. is a threat to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, along with a challenge to its narrative of resistance against Israel.

“A successful ceasefire led by the government of Lebanon would strip Hezbollah of their power and their narrative,” the official said.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Kfar Rumman killed four people and wounded three, the Lebanese NNA reported. It said Israeli drone strikes on other parts in the south — including one on a road near the municipality of Kfar Rumman — killed three people.

The Israel military said that throughout the day, it struck more than 70 Hezbollah infrastructure sites.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel began their attacks on Iran.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Also, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

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Lee reported from New Delhi. Associated Press journalists Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel contributed to this report.

The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 12.

"The committee believed this year's championship field was deep and very balanced from top to bottom," said NCAA selection committee chairman Michael Alford, the athletic director at Florida State. “Throughout the process we remained focused on applying the selection principles pretty consistently across all conferences and regions and I hope that is noticed. Every decision was based on a full body of work, not just single metrics."

UCLA (51-6), which swept the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles, was No. 1 by Baseball America in each of its weekly rankings since the preseason and has the most wins entering regionals since Tennessee came in with 53 in 2022.

The Bruins' ace, Logan Reddeman, and closer, Ethan Hawk, are among the best in the nation and lead a staff that has a 3.31 ERA. Shortstop Roch Cholowsky is widely projected to be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft and he, Will Gasparino and Big Ten Tournament MVP Mulivai Levu have combined for 57 homers.

Georgia Tech (48-9), which swept the Atlantic Coast Conference championships, features the nation's most prodigious offense. The Yellow Jackets lead Division I in scoring (10.8 runs per game), batting average (.358) and slugging (.636). Jarren Advincula is batting .431 to rank second nationally and Vahn Lackey is sixth at .410.

The national seeds following UCLA and Georgia Tech are Georgia (46-12), Auburn (38-19), North Carolina (45-11-1), Texas (40-13), Alabama (37-19) and Florida (39-19). Top-eight national seeds, if they win their regional, are assured of hosting a super regional.

Seeds Nos. 9 through 16: Southern Mississippi (44-15), Florida State (38-17), Oregon (40-16), Texas A&M (39-14), Nebraska (42-15), Mississippi State (40-17), Kansas (42-16) and West Virginia (39-14).

The Southeastern Conference had the most teams selected, with 12. The ACC has nine teams in the field, followed by the Big 12 with six, Sun Belt with five and Big Ten with four.

The last four teams to get at-large bids were Liberty (41-19), Kentucky (31-21), Texas State (36-24) and Troy (32-29).

The first four teams left out were Mercer (44-15), Michigan (34-24), Pittsburgh (33-24) and TCU (33-21).

LSU (30-28), the 2025 national champion, became the seventh program to win the title and not make a regional the following year since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999.

Been there, done that

Texas is in the tournament for a record 65th time and Miami for a 51st. Florida State is a regional host for a record 38th time.

Florida has the longest active streak with 18 straight appearances. Other notable consecutive streaks include Oklahoma State (13), Southern Mississippi (10), Arkansas (9) and East Carolina, North Carolina and Oregon State (8).

Vanderbilt (33-25) is missing regionals after making 19 straight appearances.

First timer

Western Athletic Conference champion Tarleton State is the only first-time participant. The Texans began their transition to Division I in 2021 and weren't eligible for the tournament when they won the WAC in 2024. Their most recent postseason appearance was in the 2018 Division II tournament.

Losing, but winning

South Dakota State takes a 24-31 record into its second regional, and first since 2013, after winning the four-team Summit League Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Holy Cross is 25-28 after winning the Patriot League Tournament and has its first back-to-back regional appearances since 1962-63.

Horizon League champion Milwaukee is 25-31 entering its first regional in 16 years.

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

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Matt Seltzer said the Intracoastal Waterway was far busier than usual, with more boat traffic than he had ever seen.

“On a normal weekend you know your locals, you know the people routinely out here and over the past three days, especially on Saturday I’ve seen more boats that I’ve never seen before,” Seltzer said.

With the added crowds came added responsibility. Seltzer said while the goal is always to ensure everyone is having a good time safely, enforcement is sometimes necessary.

“Sometimes you have to get them a boating citation and unfortunately it does hit the pocket a little bit but word starts to spread that law enforcement is out there,” he said.

Officers still found probable cause to make stops, even under Florida’s new Boater Freedom Act, which limits random safety checks. Small details — like misplaced registration decals or missing vessel numbers — were enough to prompt a closer look.

“The registration decals are different colors. A lot of times we see them on wrong sides or sometimes not even at all. Same thing with the FL numbers on that boat or on that vessel. Something as small as that could lead to something a lot bigger,” Seltzer said.

Equipment failures were among the biggest concerns of the weekend. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued seven people approximately 22 miles off the coast of New Smyrna Beach after their boat broke down. Seltzer urged boaters to check their gear before heading out.

“Is all your equipment right and properly working? There’s been several boats we’ve seen that their motors are up and they’re working on it trying to get it back working again,” Seltzer said.

The response was a true team effort. New Smyrna Beach police, Daytona Beach police and the U.S. Coast Guard all patrolled the waterways alongside the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Officials said joint training exercises held throughout the year help prepare agencies for high-traffic weekends like this one.

This year, because of pollution and warmer oceans, some scientists say there could be more stinky seaweed washing up on beaches than ever before.

There was a ton of it on Memorial Day where your Cape Canaveral Community Correspondent James Sparvero met a woman raking seaweed.

“I’m just trying to rake some seaweed up,” Jessica Kinchen said. “Get a nice little spot for our family.

Kinchen said it’s more seaweed than she’s seen in several years of visiting Harbor Heights.

“There’s probably 15, 20 feet of it all the way down the beach,” she said. “Definitely, the most I’ve ever seen.”

Last year, USF professor Dr. Brian Barnes said there was more sargassum floating in the ocean than ever recorded.

Monday, Dr. Barnes said this summer will likely be just as much or even more than last year’s record.

“It starts to smell pretty bad,” another beachgoer, James Gillis, said.

Even so, Brevard County said it doesn’t remove the seaweed because animals like birds and crabs eat the little sea creatures that live in it.

Gillis brought up another natural benefit to the environment.

“I definitely think it’s a positive impact for keeping the sand where it is, where we want it,” he said. “I would take some temporary discomfort for some long-term benefits.”

Believe it or not, there are some scientists who think you might be able to actually eat this seaweed.

You can read about the new study here.

The new records outline how investigators shifted focus from 23-year-old Lindsey Isaacs, who was originally arrested in the case, to 47-year-old Alisa Lee Montalvo, who now faces nine charges connected to the crash.

The October 2025 crash in Volusia County killed Flagler County Deputy Administrator Jorge Salinas, his wife and a motorcyclist. A fourth victim survived with serious injuries.

According to an arrest affidavit, investigators now believe Montalvo was driving a maroon Dodge Durango the night of the crash. However, witnesses initially described the SUV as black.

That detail became critical to the investigation.

FHP investigators originally focused on Isaacs because she owned a black Dodge Durango matching witness descriptions and appearing on nearby Flock cameras around the time of the crash, records show.

On Oct. 10, troopers obtained a search warrant for Isaacs’ vehicle after investigators reported finding smudges they believed were consistent with the crash. Isaacs was arrested April 16 and booked into the Volusia County Jail.

But after Isaacs’ arrest, the State Attorney’s Office requested assistance from FHP’s Specialized Investigation and Reconstruction Team, or SIRT, after identifying discrepancies in the original investigation.

According to the affidavit, the SIRT investigation determined the crash occurred on a dark stretch of I-4 with little lighting, and investigators concluded witnesses could have easily mistaken Montalvo’s maroon Dodge Durango for Isaacs’ black SUV.

The affidavit also reveals new details about the moments leading up to the crash.

Investigators say a witness told them Montalvo had been with a group of motorcycle riders and friends in Sanford before everyone eventually traveled onto Interstate 4 that night.

According to investigators, the witness said Montalvo later left alone in her maroon Dodge Durango and traveled eastbound alongside the group of motorcycles.

A 911 caller later reported seeing the maroon SUV driving recklessly and dangerously close to one of the motorcycles moments before the crash, according to the affidavit.

The caller told investigators he saw the SUV and motorcycle disappear in front of a large truck before coming upon the crash scene seconds later.

Investigators say Montalvo briefly pulled onto the shoulder after the collision before driving away.

Montalvo is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, three counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and tampering with physical evidence.

According to court records, the tampering charge stems from allegations that Montalvo attempted to repair damage to the SUV days after the crash.

Investigators say Montalvo brought the Dodge Durango to a man in Altamonte Springs for repairs. The man later provided investigators with photos of the damage, pictures of an airbag found in the backseat and receipts showing Montalvo paid for repairs, records state.

In a motion for pretrial detention, prosecutors wrote, “While this case received extensive media coverage, the Defendant failed to contact law enforcement to report the crash, and instead took steps to conceal it.”

Montalvo is being held in the Volusia County Jail without bond and is expected back in court within the next five days.

Meanwhile, prosecutors formally declined to pursue charges against Isaacs after she spent 13 days in jail.

Isaacs’ attorney, Patrick McGeehan, criticized FHP investigators and called for accountability.

“The person that should be here is Colonel Gary Helm, who’s the director of FHP,” McGeehan said. “He should be here explaining to you how this happened, how an innocent woman was put in the county jail for 13 days on a crime. She wasn’t even on the scene.”

Isaacs also spoke publicly after her release.

“I feel there’s really no way of correcting what they did to me,” Isaacs said. “It will always hurt me, my reputation, when I’m still receiving death threats and hate. It’s very hard.”

McGeehan said his team is now exploring possible legal action against FHP.

News 6 reached out to FHP asking whether investigators believe mistakes were made in Isaacs’ arrest and what changes, if any, may be implemented moving forward.

FHP did not answer those questions but said the case remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation.

In a release, deputies said they responded to the store at 3231 Vineland Road on May 19 after being alerted to the incident.

Upon arrival, they learned from the girl’s father that she’d come running up to him crying, saying that a man had exposed his penis to her, deputies added.

Afterward, the young girl reportedly pointed to the man, who was then detained by the father and another man as they waited for law enforcement, the release shows.

Deputies later identified the suspect as 22-year-old Anthony Santana.

“Mr. Santana was wearing pajama pants that appeared to be ripped in the groin area and was wearing no underwear,” the release reads. “When asked why he was detained, Mr. Santana advised it was likely to be something sexual in nature.”

Now, Santana faces a felony charge of exposure of sexual organs.

However, the sheriff’s office noted that Santana already has two previous convictions for exposure of sexual organs, for which he was found guilty back in February out of Seminole County.

“In these cases, Mr. Santana was masturbating in front of adult women in a parking lot,” the release continues.

That said, anyone else in the community who may have had interactions with Santana “of an unwanted sexual nature” is urged to contact the sheriff’s office, detectives mentioned.

Per investigators, Santana drives a red 2003 Mustang, which is the vehicle he drove during the other cases, as well.

Russia and ally Belarus held joint nuclear drills last week, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned in recent days that Belarus could provide a launchpad for Russia to open a new front in northern Ukraine. Some Russian troops entered Ukraine from Belarusian territory in Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

In a further sign of concern, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday about the war in Ukraine, their first call since the invasion began.

Russia warns of more 'systemic strikes'

Further “systemic strikes” on Kyiv are in store, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday. It urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic missions, to leave the city as quickly as possible and told residents to stay away from military and government facilities.

The ministry said Friday’s deadly Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk was “the final straw.” Ukraine said it hit only targets supporting Russia’s invasion.

The Russian army is locked in a hard and costly slog on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line that mostly snakes through eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Russia hit a dead-end on the battlefield, so it terrorizes Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centers,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said on X, after the weekend barrage that killed two people and damaged buildings across the Ukrainian capital.

With U.S.-made air defense missiles in short supply because of the Iran war, Russian missiles are harder for Ukraine to stop. Meanwhile, U.S. efforts to stop the fighting have stalled.

Countries keep a wary eye on Belarus

In his call with Lukashenko, Macron “underscored the risks for Belarus of allowing itself to be dragged into Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a presidential aide in the French leader’s office who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the presidential palace’s practices. Macron also spoke Sunday with Zelenskyy.

A terse readout released by the Belarusian presidential press service said the call with Macron took place “on the French side’s initiative” and the leaders discussed “regional issues” and Belarusian relations with the EU and France.

Belarusian opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya on her first visit to Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “Lukashenko’s regime knows well what needs to be done to improve ties with the European Union, but it isn’t happening. Instead, hybrid attacks, nuclear blackmail and threats to the entire region.

Speaking after meeting with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, Tsikhanouskaya said that “Ukraine is defending not only its independence but also the right of our peoples to live without imperial dictatorship, without violence and fear.”

"I am convinced that Ukraine’s victory will open the way to Belarus’s freedom,” she told a news conference.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who appeared alongside Tsikhanouskaya, emphasized that “Ukraine consistently differentiates between the regime that has dragged Belarus into Russian aggression and the Belarusian people," adding that "we appreciate the contribution of Belarusian volunteers, journalists, human rights advocates and activists who are fighting for freedom, both ours and yours.”

Lukashenko, who has governed his country of some 9.5 million people with an iron fist for more than three decades, relies on the Kremlin for cheap energy, loans and other support. Western countries have repeatedly slapped sanctions on Belarus, including for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory to invade Ukraine.

More recently, Lukashenko has been trying to improve ties with the West. Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners as part of deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions.

Russia fires hypersonic missile at Ukraine

Sunday’s bombardment included Russia’s powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, which can carry multiple warheads. Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted it can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound and evade air defense systems.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence services had received tipoffs from the United States and European countries that Russia was preparing to launch an Oreshnik.

In addition to the two deaths, at least 91 people were wounded in Sunday's barrage, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Administration.

Shattered glass littered sidewalks on Monday after Ukrainian authorities said the assault damaged buildings across the city, including near government offices, residential buildings, schools and a market.

Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, led ambassadors from more than 70 countries on a visit to the sites of the strikes. He urged the international community to step up pressure on Moscow and ensure Ukraine gets more air defense assets.

In other developments:

Russia’s Federal Security Service said divers found magnetic mines attached to the hull of a liquefied petroleum gas tanker in the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The tanker Arrhenius was bound for Samsun, Turkey, it said, adding that the limpet mines were made in a NATO member country. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile hit a business in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Derhachi, killing two people and wounding 19 others Monday, Kharkiv regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov said. Seventeen people were hospitalized.

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

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

After gulping the traditional swig of milk and dumping the rest over his head Sunday, the winner of the closest race in Indy 500 history started making the winner's rounds. He spent two hours answering questions in his fire suit before heading to another photo shoot. Then there was a short celebratory night before hitting the early morning television shows, enduring additional photo shoots and, yes, Monday night's annual postrace dinner where he'll find out how much money he won.

Never mind that there's another race next weekend in Detroit.

But the 34-year-old Swede who endured so much heartbreak at Indianapolis and in IndyCars wasn't about to start complaining. No, he was too busy savoring the spoils of victory.

“I can sit here for 24 hours and do this, whatever you want,” Rosenqvist said with a smile. “It's funny, someone asked me to sign their beer bottle a minute ago and writing Indy 500 winner was like, it kind of struck me that I've done it. I still feel like it's a dream. I feel like I could wake up at any point and it's like, ‘Oh, it’s race day, we haven't run yet.' I still hope I don't wake up.”

Rosenqvist probably didn't get much shut-eye Sunday night and not just because his newborn daughter, Stella, is less than a month old.

This was the moment Rosenqvist's family dreamt about from the moment it started scraping together money for his karting career.

While he barely remembers the effervescent, guitar-playing Kenny Brack becoming the first Swede to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” back in 1999, he does remember his father telling him how great Brack was and how great a victory it was for the country.

Twenty-three years later, Marcus Ericsson replicated Brack's feat on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. Ericsson celebrated his 500 win by taking the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy on tour across his home country, which has a population of less than 11 million.

The Meyer Shank Racing driver isn't sure if that will be in the plans this time, but he was grateful for Ericsson welcoming him to the club.

“I'm pretty proud to be one of three Swedish (winners), which is a pretty small nation in the grand scheme of things, to have won the biggest race in the world,” he said. “(Marcus) came up to me when we were drinking the milk in victory circle and he said I earned it, that I deserved it. That meant a lot to me.”

Rosenqvist certainly earned his place in history with his unforgettably daring move — hurtling down the front straightaway behind David Malukas on the final lap, making a perfectly timed swing outside, catching a tow and edging his car across the yard of bricks, barely ahead of Malukas.

The victory margin of 0.0233 seconds was even smaller than Al Unser Jr.'s 0.043-second victory over Scott Goodyear in 1992, and even in the moment, Rosenqvist understood the significance of what happened.

“I thought I was second, to be honest. I was like, this is — this sucks, now we’re second in the 500,” said Rosenqvist, who made his fifth straight start in the top nine and placed fourth twice in the previous four years. “I thought I didn’t have it, and then I shifted up, and it was just kind of sucking up to David, and it was just enough to get me over the finish line, half a foot ahead of him. You can’t even dream up that stuff. It was just so cool. I’ll watch it a million times.”

But before Rosenqvist became a winner here, he was there in the shoes of Malukas and Pato O'Ward — two-time Indy runner-ups who have been unable to bask in their own milk bath. Rosenqvist's advice: Never give up.

“That's what I've done,” he said. “If you're knocking on the door, it will happen.”

This year, it did thanks in part to this first-time father understanding that there's more to life than racing. His wife, Emille, and his new daughter helped him learn that lesson heading into the biggest race of the IndyCar season, and one day, when old enough, Stella will see her father's image on the trophy and understand what he did and how she helped.

And, to Rosenqvist, that will be the sweetest victory of all.

“It's funny because if you go to our house, we don't have any pictures of racing, you wouldn't know I'm a race car driver because I tried to separate work and home,” he said. “But I think, yeah, this kind of changes that. I hope she'll be proud of it, and for her to be our little lucky charm for the rest of her life.”

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

Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are “disturbing.”

“The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran,” Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem.

Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Feb. 28 vowing to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile program, end its support for proxy militant groups across the region and end Iran’s ability to pursue a nuclear bomb. Both Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump also said they hoped to create conditions to topple Iran’s government.

According to regional officials, under the current deal being discussed Iran would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Key details on Iran’s nuclear program would then be negotiated during a 60-day period. It is unclear if the deal will address Iran’s missiles or support for regional militant groups.

Lapid expressed gratitude to Trump for launching the war with Israel, but criticized Netanyahu for allowing Washington to negotiate a potential deal with little coordination with Israel.

“The Israeli government is at an all-time low in its ability to influence decisions in Washington,” he said, noting that Trump said last week: “Netanyahu will do whatever I want him to do.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed to Trump that Israel maintains “freedom of action” against threats in any arena, according to an official familiar with Israel prime minister's conversations with Trump, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“Israel is a sovereign state, we are not a vassal state and we are not a protectorate,” Lapid said.

Lapid, head of the centrist “Yesh Atid” party, briefly served as prime minister in 2022 under a rotation agreement with Naftali Bennett, leader of a small conservative party. Their coalition government ended 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule.

They have once again merged their parties into a single faction headed by Bennett as they attempt to unseat Netanyahu in elections that will be held by the end of October.

Lapid has served as Israel’s opposition leader since Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, while Bennett took a break from politics. Their alliance is aimed at uniting a fragmented opposition with a shared hostility toward Netanyahu.

Lapid, one of a shrinking number of Israeli politicians who supports the idea of Palestinian independence, said the issue would not be on the next government’s agenda. He said the conditions are not right following the trauma of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and wars that have followed.

“There will be no two-state solution in the coming years, because Israelis now understand this will become just another failing terrorist state on our borders,” said Lapid, adding that the Palestinian Authority does not have the ability to effectively prevent attacks against Israel.

But Lapid said he would oppose unilateral steps that would make a future Palestinian state impossible and had received assurances from Bennett, a former West Bank settlement leader, that Israel will not move toward annexing the occupied territory.

Lapid also ruled out cooperation with Arab parties to build a coalition to unseat Netanyahu.

Opinion polls indicate that Bennett and Lapid might not be able to form a governing majority coalition without the support of some Arab lawmakers, as they did in their previous government. They broke a longstanding taboo in 2021 when they invited Mansour Abbas, leader of a small Arab faction, into Israel’s governing coalition for the first and only time in Israel’s history.

Lapid said his previous cooperation with Abbas was “the right government for the moment,” but that Israel is in a very different place after nearly three years of wars and that he and Bennett will not build a coalition with Abbas’ party in the next elections.

For a team with three full-time Cup drivers and only 175 employees, that's saying something.

But that doesn't mean the team is satisfied.

“Yes, we’re seeing results. Yes, we are being competitive," Suarez said. “But we’re not even close to our full potential.”

Suarez, the first Mexican-born driver to win the Coca-Cola 600, said when he arrived at Spire last October that it didn't take long to recognize just how hard everyone worked, which he said is a credit to team owner Jeff Dickerson and crew chief Ryan Sparks.

The organization's structure, he said, is well organized.

“When you have a good foundation, the house is going to be strong," Suarez said. "Spire Motorsports has an amazing foundation.”

Spire has long been considered a small Cup Series team, and any wins it has had were largely considered upsets or one-offs.

That notion may be changing under Dickerson, who admits he can be difficult to deal with on race day but refuses to apologize for setting the bar high.

“I just don’t think we’ve hit our ceiling," Dickerson said. "I don’t think we’re hitting on all cylinders. I think we’ve still got a long ways to go to.”

Carson Hocevar won earlier this season at Talladega, giving Spire its first win and the entire organization a shot in the arm. There was a sudden realization it could compete with bigger race teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, RFK Racing, 23XI Racing and Hendrick.

Suarez's win at a crown jewel event like the Coca-Cola 600 was another huge step in the right direction.

Dickerson said the goal this season is simple: Put two cars in the playoffs and win three races.

Things are looking good right now.

With 24 races left, Hocevar is ninth in the Cup Series points standings, while Suarez moved up to 10th after his third career win and first since joining Spire. The top 16 drivers in points qualify for the Chase.

“Still a long ways to go,” Dickerson said. “I don’t want to fumble it. But, man, it would be good to meet those goals.”

Sparks was the unsung hero Sunday night.

With rain on the radar, he trusted his instincts and made the call to pit and go with two new tires late in the race. It paid off big time.

Suarez was able to go from the middle of the pack to the top spot.

Shortly after the race was red-flagged for lightning, it looked like the move might backfire on Sparks after cars were sent back on the track.

But Suarez held off JGR's Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin — who had dominated most of the race, along with pole sitter Tylor Reddick — on two restarts to stay out front.

On the final restart, Suarez exploded off the line with a little push from behind from Hendrick's Kyle Larson. From there he blocked Bell and Hamlin as the JGR teammates frantically tried to pass. Just when it appeared they might catch Suarez, the sky opened up and rain poured down on the mile-and-a-half track.

With the scheduled 400-lap race already more than four hours old and the clock approaching midnight, NASCAR quickly called the race with 27 laps, declaring Suarez the winner.

He later honored his mentor, the late Kyle Busch, by imitating the NASCAR great's postrace bow in victory lane.

Suarez led only 17 laps, several of those coming with the race under caution.

“Something in the back of my mind told me to just go ahead and put two (tires) on,” Sparks said. “I kind of looked and saw what everybody had for tires on in front of me, and I figured there was going to be a good opportunity for us to be first or second. Just wanted to get that clean air and give ourselves an opportunity."

With two-thirds of the season remaining, Spire has plenty of time to build on its early success and have a record-setting season.

And continue to shock the big race teams.

“I’m just extremely happy to be part of Spire Motorsports because I believe that we haven’t even seen the full potential of this organization,” Saurez added. “And I can’t wait to continue this journey.”

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

The Dream have twice rallied from 15-point deficits this season to win, including Sunday's victory over Phoenix. No one else in the WNBA has done that once according to ESPN.

“We are resilient team, the game isn’t over till it’s over,” Atlanta guard Jordin Canada said after the Dream rallied to beat the Mercury. “We always come together in the fourth quarter, whether we have to make a run or sustain a lead. ... We battle to the very end, we get stops and try to execute down the stretch. What we’ve been doing in the fourth quarter, we got to sustain that in the first three quarters.”

Atlanta sits atop the WNBA standings at 4-1 — the only team in the league with only one loss. The Dream head out for road games at Minnesota and Portland this week.

The Dream are getting everyone's best shot so far which coach Karl Smesko feels will help them down the road.

“When teams play Atlanta it's a big game for everyone now,” he said. “We'll see everyone's best shot. ... Constantly playing against a team's best effort makes you stronger over the course of the season. They are seeing a different team than other teams see. I've noticed that so far this year. ... Happy we met the moment a few times already."

Power poll rankings

Atlanta moved up to No. 1 for the first time in the 10-year history of the rankings. The Dream were followed by Las Vegas and Minnesota. Indiana, Dallas and New York were next. Golden State and Chicago were seventh and eighth. Los Angeles and Phoenix followed the Sky. Portland, Washington and Toronto were the 11th through 13. Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.

Homecourt disadvantage

Through the first few weeks of the season, playing at home hasn't really been an advantage for teams. Only two teams have winning records on their home court — Atlanta and Indiana. As a league, teams are 16-30 through Sunday's games.

Player of the week

Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles was the AP player of the week. She averaged 27.0 points, 8.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds to help the Sparks win both their games last week. Plum had a 38-point effort in the win at Las Vegas to spoil the Aces night the champions raised their banner from last season. Other players receiving votes included Natasha Howard of Minnesota and Rhyne Howard of Atlanta.

Game of the week

Atlanta at Minnesota, Wednesday. While a lot was expected of the Dream this season, the Lynx were expected to struggle early on with star Napheesa Collier sidelined after having offseason surgery on her injured ankles in late March. The Lynx have flourished with rookie guard Olivia Miles leading the way.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Past popes have apologized for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no pope had ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologized for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”

History’s first U.S.-born pope, whose family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners, delivered the apology in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” (Magnificent Humanity), which was released Monday.

The sweeping manifesto is about safeguarding humanity in an era of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. Leo raised the slave trade in relation to what he called the new forms of slavery and colonialism that the digital revolution is fueling.

Black American Catholics, activists and scholars have long called for the Holy See to atone for its role in the colonial-era trade in human beings, beyond generic apologies for the involvement of individual Christians.

“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”

Shannen Dee Williams, historian at the University of Dayton and author of the 2022 history of American Black Catholic nuns, “Subversive Habits,” welcomed the apology as a "monumental step toward the kind of essential truth-telling and reparation that many Catholics have prayed and worked to witness.”

“The Catholic Church has never been an innocent bystander in the history of white supremacy," said Williams. “Black Catholics have waited a long time to hear the Vatican speak honestly about the church’s leading roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery--and thus by extension the enduring systems of anti-Black racism in the world today.”

Centuries of legitimizing slavery for European colonizers

The Vatican has insisted that it always upheld the dignity of all human beings as children of God. But a series of 15th-century directives from the Vatican authorized Portuguese sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere.

The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.

Nicholas V’s permissions to the Portuguese were confirmed or renewed by Pope Callixtus III in 1456, Pope Sixtus IV in 1481 and Pope Leo X in 1514, according to the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

Spanish kings received the rights for the Americas.

In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and weren't to be enslaved.

Holy See late to condemn slavery, Leo says

In his encyclical, Leo recalled that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the first pope to explicitly condemn slavery in 1888, long after many countries had abolished it. Before that, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, church institutions and even popes — Gregory the Great — had slaves, Kellerman said.

In acknowledging the 15th century papal bulls, Leo wrote in his encyclical: “Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to the requests of sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, including the enslavement of ‘infidels.’”

Leo said it wasn't possible to judge the morality of the decisions with today’s standards.

“Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” he said.

The pope said that the church has long affirmed the dignity of every human being as the basis of its doctrine, “even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized.”

“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached,” he said.

Leo said that the church must firmly condemn all forms of trafficking related to the digital technological revolution “if we want to avoid the need to ask for pardon again in the future for having failed to respect the treasure of human dignity that is required by our faith.”

Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch History Center, Oxford University, said Leo needed to acknowledge and atone for the church's complicity in historic slavery if he wanted to credibly “speak to the current issues of technological enslavement.”

“For descendants of enslaved persons, this is once again a much needed apology from the pope,” said Butler, who is Black.

Leo’s own family history and past apologies

Kellerman, the scholar, welcomed Leo’s apology but said more needs to be done to further acknowledge how the Catholic Church legitimized and expanded slavery.

“Pope Leo has strengthened the moral credibility of the church with this admission and apology today,” he told The Associated Press. “Hopefully a future document will explain in more detail the church’s involvement with slaveholding. As a scholar I have some quibbles with the wording, but this is a truly remarkable moment.”

During a 1985 visit to Cameroon, St. John Paul II asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not the popes. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, which was the largest slave-trading center in West Africa, he denounced the injustice of slavery and called it a “tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian.”

According to genealogical research published by Henry Louis Gates Jr., 17 of Leo’s American ancestors were Black, listed in census records as mulatto, Black, Creole or a free person of color. His family tree includes slaveholders and enslaved people, Gates wrote in The New York Times.

During a visit to Angola last month, Leo prayed at a Catholic shrine at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule. While at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, Leo recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, but he didn’t refer specifically to slavery.

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Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut.

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

Peter Murrell, 61, who was remanded into custody in the High Court in Edinburgh after his plea, admitted using party funds to buy a high-priced motorhome, two cars, including a Jaguar, and luxury goods, including Bremont watches and household items that included two toilet seats.

“By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country,” SNP leader John Swinney told a press conference. “I am horrified, I am betrayed.”

Swinney and Sturgeon both distanced themselves from the taint of Murrell's crimes and said they had been unaware of the theft.

Murrell's plea caps a five-year police investigation and a tumultuous period for Scotland's dominant party and the former power couple once at its helm.

Following big elections gains for the SNP in 2021, signs of internal turmoil exploded less than two years later as questions swirled about the party’s finances and dwindling membership numbers.

Sturgeon, who dominated Scottish politics for almost a decade, abruptly resigned as first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government in February 2023 after serving more than eight years in the role. Observers were bewildered by her announcement that she knew in her “head and in my heart” that it was the right time to go.

The following month, Murrell quit his job after two decades as party executive. He took responsibility for misleading the news media about the collapsing membership of the party. Three weeks later he was arrested by police at the couple's home in Glasgow.

Case casts a cloud over SNP

Police officers spent two days searching the house. They also searched SNP headquarters in Edinburgh and confiscated a luxury motorhome parked in the driveway at Murrell’s mother's home north of the capital.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said the investigation, which cost 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) in public funds, was lengthy and complex because Murrell covered his tracks over a 12-year period by making false entries in the SNP’s accounts.

“Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him,” Houston said. “He abused his privileged position with access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.”

Sentencing was scheduled for June 23.

Police Scotland's investigation into how the SNP spent more than 600,000 pounds ($810,000) designated for a Scottish independence campaign cast a cloud over the party, Sturgeon and her legacy.

Sturgeon and former party treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested and questioned. Sturgeon said at the time: “I know beyond doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing.”

Police announced in March 2025 that Sturgeon and Beattie were cleared.

Sturgeon said Monday that she never had knowledge of or suspected Murrell was siphoning funds from the party. She said she was “utterly appalled,” and “angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP.”

“To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain,” Sturgeon said on Instagram. “Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.”

When the lists of some of the items Murrell was alleged to have purchased were later published, including an expensive coffee maker and DVDS of the Danish political drama “Borgen” — which Sturgeon had told reporters she liked — she issued a statement saying she was unaware that the goods had been bought with party funds.

‘Close ranks and shut down scrutiny’

Sturgeon led her party to dominance in Scottish politics and refashioned the SNP from a largely one-issue party into a dominant governing force with liberal social positions. She guided her party during three U.K.-wide elections and two Scottish elections, and led Scotland through the coronavirus pandemic, winning praise for her clear, measured communication style.

But Sturgeon left office amid divisions in the SNP without meeting her main goal — independence from the United Kingdom for the nation of 5.5 million people.

Sturgeon announced last year that she and Murrell were divorcing after about 15 years of marriage.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said it was “inconceivable” Sturgeon knew nothing about what her husband was doing as she called on Swinney, the first minister, to explain what the party knew about the crime.

“It was Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP party machine that attempted to close ranks and shut down scrutiny when questions about the finances started to emerge, and we need to know why,” Baillie said.

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Murrell's age has been corrected in this story to 61, not 62.

The group included members of the Power Veterans Affinity Group, veterans and community volunteers. Several participants carried rucks — weighted backpacks commonly used in military training — as a symbol of the cost of freedom.

“A lot of people kind of forget what Memorial Day is about. It’s just kind of getting back to remembrance,” said Army veteran Ethan Messinger.

Navy veteran Lee Palmer said the discomfort of a ruck is part of the point. “The weight gets heavy and the walk gets long, but today that weight is symbolic. It reminds us that freedom always comes at a cost,” Palmer said.

Participants carried American flags. Families joined in, including children walking with parents, and some attendees brought dogs on leashes. Marine Corps veteran Randy Russell said Memorial Day is often misunderstood as a day to just celebrate. “It’s truly a day of remembrance,” he said.

Organizers said the walk was the event’s second year and they plan to hold one again next Memorial Day.

The incident happened around 4:30 p.m. Saturday near East Seventh Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, when the toddler ran into the traffic lane and was hit by a car.

On Memorial Day, the beach was busy with families who were aware of the tragedy that had happened two days earlier.

“Sick to my stomach. My wife and I are on this beach every day with our daughter, who’s two years old, and she runs around here all the time,” New Smyrna Beach resident Jake McGowan said.

The incident has raised a renewed debate about beach safety and driving on the sand.

“I’m 50/50 on it,” McGowan said. “I think that it needs to be limited. I think they’re letting a lot of people on the beach. There are almost too many people on the beach now.”

Volusia County Beach Safety said they were working with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office to gather additional details regarding the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.

Investigators said the driver stayed on scene, and speed and impairment do not appear to be factors.

Hun Sen, the Senate president acting as head of state in the absence of King Norodom Sihamoni, issued the pardon freeing Kem Sokha from house arrest. Sihamoni is in China on an extended stay for medical treatment.

Prime Minister Hun Manet, in a statement posted on the Telegram social media platform, described the pardon as a step in strengthening national unity. Kem Sokha made no immediate public comment. His lawyers said the action did not lift a ban on him taking part in politics or leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.

The decision is unlikely to greatly affect the political climate in Cambodia, with other opposition figures in exile and where political and social activists continue to face restrictions on freedom of speech and movement.

“Hun Sen’s decision to pardon Kem Sokha after more than eight years in arbitrary detention partially reverses a grievous injustice, but it is deplorable that Sokha remains barred from participating in politics or leaving the country,” Elaine Pearson, the regional director for Human Rights Watch, said a statement.

She added: “Cambodia’s remaining opposition politicians and parties are still under constant threat of arbitrary arrest and baseless restrictions. The government needs to ensure that political rights are respected in the country.”

Kem Sokha was convicted in 2023 following a long period of pretrial detention. He was accused of conspiring with the United States to topple the Cambodian government. He has consistently denied the charge.

The primary evidence against him was a video of him discussing political advice from U.S.-based pro-democracy groups. He told the appeals court last month that he had never conspired with any foreign country to cost the lives of Cambodian citizens or the loss of national territory.

His arrest in 2017 marked the start of a broad government crackdown on independent media and political opponents, notably Kem Sokha’s popular Cambodia National Rescue Party.

The Supreme Court dissolved the party shortly after his 2017 arrest. That allowed Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to sweep all parliamentary seats in the 2018 elections.

Hun Sen was prime minister when Kem Sokha was arrested and convicted. In 2023, Hun Sen became Senate president and his son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister.

Hun Sen, who served 38 years as Cambodia’s leader, has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. While the government insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, the courts have frequently dissolved political parties seen as potential rivals and jailed or harassed their leaders.

Critics charge that the situation has not improved much under Hun Manet.

The Phnom Penh Appeals Court had affirmed Kem Sokha’s 27-year sentence at the end of April, following a much-delayed appeals process. It added a condition barring him from leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.

Kem Sokha had visited his ailing 101-year-old mother with the court's permission earlier Monday before the pardon was announced.

He did not speak to the media, but a video posted on social media by his lawyer showed him hugging his mother and saying that if he were free, he would enter the Buddhist monkhood to honor her. He also said he would not seek revenge against those who put him in prison.

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Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Also on the ballot are primary runoffs in more than a dozen congressional districts, plus state contests for lieutenant governor, attorney general and others.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was the top vote-getter in the March 3 primary, but strong showings by two GOP challengers forced the four-term incumbent to Tuesday’s head-to-head matchup with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the second-place finisher who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement on May 19.

The contest is Trump’s next opportunity to purge the party of incumbents he views as insufficiently loyal to him and his agenda. It also sets the stage for a general election where Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances to score an upset in the heavily Republican state as they look to retake control of the U.S. Senate. Historically, voters have tended to punish the incumbent president’s party at the ballot box in midterm election years.

The winner will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the general election.

Trump seemed open to endorsing Cornyn following the primary, and he did not excoriate the incumbent in his endorsement of Paxton, as he’s done recently with Republican incumbents in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky. But he said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

Cornyn was critical of Trump ahead of the president’s 2024 campaign.

Since much of the Texas primary campaign has focused on the candidates’ loyalty to Trump, the counties where the president has the most support could play a decisive role. Although many of the counties Trump won in 2024 with 80% or more of the vote are rural and sparsely populated, collectively they made up about a fifth of the GOP primary vote. Paxton beat Cornyn in these counties, 45% to 40%, while Cornyn performed better than Paxton in the rest of the state.

In counties Trump carried with between 50% and 80% of the vote, Cornyn received about 42% of the vote, edging Paxton by a percentage point. Republican primary voters in the 12 counties Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024 preferred Cornyn, 44% to 40%. These counties made up 25% of the overall primary vote, larger than the share of Trump’s 80%-plus counties.

Only two incumbent U.S. senators from Texas have lost a primary in the last 100 years.

In 2025, Republicans redrew the state’s congressional districts at Trump’s urging as part of an effort to maintain control of the U.S. House.

Among the notable primary runoffs that resulted from the new congressional map, Democratic U.S. Reps. Christian Menefee and Al Green will face each other in the redrawn 18th Congressional District. In the new 33rd Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson faces a challenge from her predecessor, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close statewide at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET. Most polls are in Central time and close at 8 p.m. ET, while polls in the westernmost part of the state are in Mountain time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in Republican primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, railroad commissioner, Court of Criminal Appeals, state Senate and state House and in Democratic primary runoffs for U.S. House, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state Board of Education and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Voters who did not participate in a party primary on March 3 may vote in the runoff for either party. Voters who did cast a ballot in a party primary may only vote in the runoff of the same party as they did in the primary. In other words, Democratic primary voters may not vote in a Republican primary runoff or vice versa. Voters in the non-partisan primary may vote in either party’s runoff.

How many voters are there?

As of the March 3 primary, there were nearly 19 million registered voters in Texas.

How many people actually vote?

About 2.2 million Republican primary votes and about 2.3 million Democratic primary votes were cast in the March 3 Texas primary.

In the 2022 Republican primary for Texas Attorney General, turnout was about 1.9 million voters in the primary and about 932,000 in the primary runoff.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 63% of the vote in the March 3 Republican primary was cast before primary day.

As of Thursday, about 621,000 Republican primary ballots and about 262,000 Democratic primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Counties tend to release all or nearly all results from early and absentee voting in the first vote update of the night, before any in-person Election Day results are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the U.S. Senate primary in March, the AP first reported results at 8 p.m. ET just as polls closed in most of the state. By 11:39 p.m. ET, 75% of the vote had been counted. Vote results were released continuously until about 5:58 a.m. ET, with about 98% of the total vote counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Texas requires an automatic recount only in cases of a tie vote. Losing candidates may request and pay for a recount if the margin is less than 10% of the leading candidate’s vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 161 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the country, Saleh bin Saad Al-Murabba, commander of the Hajj passport forces, said Friday. The faithful have been pouring into the country for the Hajj against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related regional tensions and uncertainty.

Egyptian pilgrim Samya Abdul Moneim said she was grateful to God that she made it to the Hajj, which is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it.

“I am in a state of blessing and happiness,” she said in Mecca on Sunday. “It’s an indescribable feeling, truly. I mean, thank God, I am in a blessing.”

Typically on the first day, many pilgrims in Mecca converge on a vast tent camp in the nearby desert. Ahead of that, pilgrims have been circling the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in sweltering temperatures. For pilgrims, Hajj can be a deeply moving spiritual experience and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins. Pilgrims perform the Hajj rituals over several days.

This Hajj "is, in effect, a hard reset for me,” Youssef Chouhoud, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, said Monday from the tent city of Mina. “I pray that I emerge on the other side of this journey with a new sense of purpose and the discipline to see it through.”

Around him, many pilgrims were resting and refueling, he said via WhatsApp, noting how demanding the pilgrimage is.

“It is for many pilgrims the most difficult thing they will ever do in their lives,” he said. “But nothing this meaningful is ever going to be easy.”

He found it inspiring “to see so many who have sacrificed so much to be here ... only to compete with one another in giving charity and helping each other along the way," he said. “All this in the hope that their intentions and actions may be accepted by their Lord.”

Pilgrims brave intense heat

Many spend years hoping and praying to one day perform the Hajj or saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the trip.

As they brave the intense heat to perform religious rituals, many pilgrims have been using umbrellas for shade and carrying handheld fans. Volunteers hand out water bottles to help them stay hydrated and fans spray fine mists of water.

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran on the war, including opening the Strait of Hormuz, has been “largely negotiated” after calls with Israel and other allies in the region. He described it as a “Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE” that still must be finalized by the United States, Iran and the other countries that participated in the calls. That capped a week in which the U.S. weighed a new round of attacks on Iran.

Ahead of the trip for Hajj, some have said they were leaning on their faith as they embark on the journey amid the tensions and that they were feeling immense gratitude for the opportunity to go.

Hajj brings together large numbers of Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and economic classes, creating a sense of unity for many.

Regional tensions and Hajj travel plans

With uncertainty and global concerns high, authorities in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, have in the run-up to the Hajj season emphasized contingency planning for the pilgrimage and issued instructions to ensure that additional travel costs not be passed on to Indonesian pilgrims.

In India, home to a large Muslim minority, pilgrimage planning has proceeded largely as normal, but high fuel prices have pushed up travel costs for pilgrims.

A reopening of the strait would begin to ease a worldwide energy crisis sparked by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, which led Tehran to effectively close the waterway. Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several related products, jolting the world economy. The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports for over a month, and Trump on Sunday said the blockade “will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”

In response to the U.S.-Israeli attacks, Iran has launched retaliatory strikes and the conflict widened. A fragile ceasefire was reached in April.

In Saudi Arabia, pilgrims have been doing the ritual circuit around the Kaaba since arriving in Mecca over recent days. Pilgrims in Mina will camp there and pray and worship.

On Tuesday, in what is considered the pinnacle of the pilgrimage, the pilgrims will stand on the plain of Arafat, where they praise God, plead for forgiveness and make supplications. Many carry prayer requests from loved ones and raise their hands in worship with tears streaming down their faces.

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Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida. Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.

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

“I’ll stay in the European Parliament because it would be good for the Direct Democracy party to have a European Parliament member,” Fidias, who goes by his first name, told reporters before a proclamation ceremony.

“We could’ve done better but we’re happy with what has happened, this is a small victory.”

Fidias whipped up much speculation by being coy about his political future throughout his campaign.

It was only six months ago that Fidias, 26, founded the Direct Democracy party. He said that the party was intended to upend the established political order in Cyprus and abroad by enabling ordinary citizens to have a say in formulating party policy and declare themselves party candidates through an online application.

Direct Democracy received 5.4% of total votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election and four seats in the 56-member House. Fidias, who garnered the most votes out of all of his party’s candidates, ceded his seat to runner-up Yiannis Laouris.

Even though it’s a remarkable result for a group that eschewed the traditional way of wooing voters by outlining its policies, the result didn’t live up to Fidias’ own expectations. That’s because nearly one in five voters cast their ballots for him in the June 2024 European Parliament election, even though he took no political positions, made no promises and didn't present a program for his time in office.

“It seems now that people are hungry not for political positions, but for true people that are not lying, (but) saying the truth,” he told The Associated Press in an interview shortly after the 2024 poll.

Fidias spent years boosting his popularity with outrageous video posts of him spending wads of cash in Vietnam, living a week in an airport for free, and burying himself alive for 10 days.

His online breakthrough came after he relentlessly pursued and succeeded in getting a hug from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also became a fan.

Fidias has acknowledged that his online antics had offered many Cypriot voters — who are deeply disenchanted with the perceived corruption of a party system that has operated on a favors-for-votes basis for decades — a way to express their frustrations.

Fidias has used online media as his primary tool to communicate with his supporters the inner workings of the European Parliament, the reasoning for his voting on issues as well as to answer his growing number of detractors who consider him and his trial-by-error decision-making politically infantile.

He has also courted plenty of controversy for his perceived support for negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine, and for casting doubt on what the International Criminal Court said was the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Sunday’s parliamentary election saw the ultranationalist National Popular Front, or ELAM, party make major gains, receiving nearly 11% of the vote and eight seats — up from just under 7% and four seats in the previous poll.

Kylian Mbappé and Mohamed Salah have recovered from injuries ahead of the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Now the focus will switch to Messi, the Argentina great who left the field after reaching toward his left hamstring in a game for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer on Sunday.

Yamal, Spain's new superstar, missed the final weeks of the season for Barcelona because of a muscle injury in his left leg but should be healed in time to play at the World Cup.

Others have not been so fortunate.

France striker Hugo Ekitike sustained an Achilles injury in April that could take more than six months to heal, ruling him out of the tournament and probably the start of next season with Liverpool.

Brazil stars Rodrygo and Éder Militão are definitely out. So is Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry after injuring his adductor in training.

Players and coaches have increasingly warned about the impact of an ever-packed schedule, and the expanded World Cup comes a year after the relaunched, supersized Club World Cup. The Champions League has also been expanded in recent years.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta describes the demand on players as “an accident waiting to happen."

With the World Cup just around the corner, players are walking a tightrope to avoid injury before the tournament kicks off.

Players definitely ruled out of the World Cup

Argentina: Joaquín Panichelli (ACL)

Brazil: Éder Militão (hamstring), Rodrygo (ACL)

England: Ben White (medial ligament)

France: Hugo Ekitike (Achilles)

Germany: Serge Gnabry (adductor)

Netherlands: Xavi Simons (ACL)

United States: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles), Patrick Agyemang (Achilles)

Ones to watch

Algeria: Goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of France icon Zinedine Zidane, is a doubt after suffering a facial injury during an on-field collision last month.

Argentina: Cristian Romero has a knee injury. It has not yet been confirmed if he is out of the World Cup, with Tottenham not giving a timeframe for his recovery.

Canada: Star left back Alphonso Davies injured his hamstring with just over a month to go before the tournament starts, after he was hurt during Bayern Munich's defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semifinals.

Croatia: Veteran midfielder Luka Modrić broke his cheekbone last month but was back playing for AC Milan well in time for the World Cup. Defender Joško Gvardiol returned to training for Manchester City in early May after four months out with a broken leg.

Morocco: Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi has been sidelined with a right thigh injury.

United States: Midfielder Johnny Cardoso sprained his right ankle five weeks before the World Cup while training with Atletico Madrid. Center back Chris Richards tore ligaments in his ankle playing for Crystal Palace.

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

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

All the cases are linked to the outbreak in neighboring Congo, which appears to have started several days or weeks before Congolese authorities declared it on May 15.

A 59-year-old Congolese man was admitted to a hospital in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, on May 11, and died three days later, before it was known he was suffering from the Ebola virus. Two other Congolese nationals who sought medical care in Uganda later tested positive for Ebola.

Ugandan health authorities on Saturday confirmed the first local infections: a driver and a health worker exposed to the Congolese patient who died on May 11. Two more health workers at a private hospital in Kampala have since tested positive, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

“Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are now receiving care,” Dr. Charles Olaro, the national director of health services, said in a statement.

President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to “ stop shaking hands ” as part of measures to avoid infection. He also ordered the postponement of an annual religious event that attracts thousands of pilgrims, from Congo and elsewhere, who converge around a Catholic basilica just outside Kampala by June 3.

Other measures include the temporary suspension of all public transportation and flights between Congo and Uganda.

In Congo, suspected Ebola cases have topped 900, mainly in eastern Ituri province where the ongoing outbreak is centered, authorities said Sunday. The response has been hampered by fear, anger and frustration among locals including attacks on treatment centers, as well as distrust of authorities in a region long plagued by armed violence.

Congo has had more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks over the decades. Health experts say international aid cuts last year by the United States and other rich nations are devastating for eastern Congo because of the region's unique problems.

Aid groups fighting this Ebola outbreak say they don’t have the equipment they need, such as face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits, and body bags and other materials needed to safely bury the bodies of victims, which can be highly contagious.

The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment. The outbreak has been declared a global health emergency.

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever.

A family of fruit bats is believed to be the natural hosts of the viruses that cause Ebola, according to the World Health Organization. Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials.

This back and forth was hardly a surprise. One byproduct of the automatic runner on second base is that extra innings are one of the few times managers can still stomach ordering up an intentional walk. It's a strategy that was beginning to fall out of favor otherwise.

In 2019, only 753 intentional walks were issued in the major leagues. That was the fewest since 1961, when there were fewer teams and fewer games.

And the number has only decreased since 2019. There were just 474 intentional walks in 2023 and 556 last year. Just as some statistically minded thinkers frown on the sacrifice bunt — don't give away outs! — it's also considered risky to give the other team an extra baserunner.

But in extra innings, the calculus changes. The inning starts with first base open, and if it's still tied in the bottom half, there's little downside to walking a good hitter intentionally and setting up a potential double play.

From 1974 to 2019 — before the automatic runner — there was an intentional walk every 140 plate appearances. In extra innings, it was one every 26.7.

Since 2020, there has been an intentional walk every 335 plate appearances overall. But in extra innings, it has been one every 16.7. In extra innings, intentional walks are actually more common than they used to be.

Some fans may enjoy the extra strategy, while others surely find it frustrating to watch the bat taken out of a player like Soto's hands. Since 2020, here are the major league leaders in extra-inning RBIs:

1. Eugénio Suarez, 22

2. Josh Naylor, 21

3. Alec Bohm, 20

4. Adolis García, 20

5. Daulton Varsho, 18

Here are the leaders in extra-inning intentional walks:

1. José Ramírez, 25

2. Aaron Judge, 19

3. Juan Soto, 16

4. Shohei Ohtani, 15

5. Bryce Harper, 15

The two intentional walks to Soto didn't stop the Mets on Monday. They scored 10 runs in the 12th inning and won 16-7. Carson Benge had two hits and three RBIs in the inning. Benge now has an MLB-best six extra-inning RBIs this season.

Trivia time

Which player hit five extra-inning home runs in the 2010 season alone? (Hint: His team reached the World Series that year.)

Performance of the week

Reid Detmers of the Los Angeles Angels struck out 14 in eight one-hit innings Sunday night. Jake Burger homered in the second. That was the only batter Detmers failed to retire.

The Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on a ninth-inning throwing error by Justin Foscue.

Comeback of the week

The Arizona Diamondbacks were down by two in the bottom of the ninth to San Francisco on Tuesday night, with two outs and one on. Adrian Del Castillo hit an RBI single and Ryan Waldschmidt reached on catcher’s interference. Then Ketel Marte's three-run homer gave Arizona a 5-3 win. San Francisco's win probability peaked at 95.4% according to Baseball Savant.

The Diamondbacks have taken advantage of a soft patch on their schedule, going 8-2 against the Giants and Rockies in their last 10 games.

Trivia answer

Nelson Cruz.

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

France's CAC 40 edged up 1.1% to 8,203.32, while the German DAX rose 1.0% to 25,148.39. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.2% to 10,466.26. Trading will be closed in the U.S. for the Memorial Day holiday.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.9% to finish at 65,158.19. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 8,692.00. The Shanghai Composite gained nearly 1% to 4,152.57. Trading was closed in South Korea and Hong Kong for holidays marking Buddha's birthday.

Trump said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner.” Meanwhile, regional officials told The Associated Press on Sunday that the United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium,

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz will help decide the direction of oil prices. Its closure due to the war has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide. Japan, for instance, imports almost all its oil, most of it through the strait.

“Markets are rapidly transitioning from pricing geopolitical fear toward pricing a potential peace dividend as Hormuz reopening expectations pressure oil and the dollar lower,” analyst Stephen Innes said in a commentary.

On Friday, the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the Dow industrials climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil declined $4.77, or more than 4%, to $91.83 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, sank $4.86 to $98.68 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 158.95 Japanese yen from 159.16 yen. The euro cost $1.1644, up from $1.1605.

Recent earnings reports from U.S. companies that topped analysts’ expectations are helping markets, though concerns over inflation have risen as the war has dragged on.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

As a quick refresher, on Memorial Day, we remember those who died while serving our country. Veterans Day is intended to honor the service of all people who have worn armed services uniforms.

So, what do you say on Memorial Day to someone who might be struggling -- a widow, a veteran or anyone who’s been affected by a military member’s death? What do you say to someone who served?

The website DiversityInc wrote about this very topic.

“This common misconception, that Memorial Day is a time to thank veterans, is not in fact what the holiday is intended for,” the site says.

Here are some ideas on what you can say instead. Try something like:

• “Enjoy your weekend, but I want you to know that I will be remembering what this holiday is about.”
• “Enjoy your weekend, and I will be thinking about those who are no longer with us.”
• “I will be taking a moment this weekend to honor those who served our nation and are no longer with us.”
• NPR simply suggests, “I hope you’re having a meaningful day.”

Those seem preferable to:

• “Thank you for your service.”
• “Happy Memorial Day.”
• “Is this a difficult weekend for you?”
• “How many friends did you lose on your deployments?”

It might be hard to approach any veterans you might know, but saying something meaningful really could make all the difference for someone having a difficult day.

Before you think this is splitting hairs, consider that what you say matters.

While it’s certainly not “wrong” to wish someone a “Happy Memorial Day,” and it’s safe to assume most people are well-intentioned, it seems as though taking a few minutes to say the right thing will mean that much more.

After all, the day is about more than backyard parties and barbecues. Let’s prove it by taking a moment to examine our words.

This story was first published in 2019. It has since been updated.

Two of the men were dead, while emergency personnel struggled in the early morning hours to revive one in an ambulance near the pile of concrete slabs, twisted iron bars and aluminum scaffoldings that was all that remained of the building in Angeles City of Pampanga Province. They eventually gave up and drove away.

The poignant scene was witnessed by a small group of journalists, including from The Associated Press, who watched hundreds of rescuers led by firefighters and police scrambling for hours to extricate the men, who were at the time alive but trapped under concrete slabs and iron bars.

Rescuers tried to provide water and medicine intravenously to one of the trapped men in a desperate effort to keep him alive in the scorching summer heat, regional police chief Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez told the AP.

“He never made it despite all the efforts,” he said.

One of the three people pulled out from the rubble on Monday was unidentified and was not on the list of the 17 missing, who were mostly construction workers, according to Angeles city information chief Jay Pelayo.

The fourth dead victim was a Malaysian tourist trapped in a budget inn that was partly hit by the avalanche of debris from the collapsed building. Another guest at the inn was injured but managed to dash out, officials said.

A day after the unfinished building collapsed with a loud crashing sound after a fierce thunderstorm, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin said rescue efforts would still not be shifted to a body retrieval operation.

“My best hope is that we can rescue more people alive,” Lazatin told the AP. “We don’t want to give the families of the trapped workers any bad news.”

Anxiety and fear among relatives of the trapped workers, who are waiting in sheds near the rubble, have deepened.

“I’m losing hope because of what I see — slow rescue work,” said Lea Mendoza Casilao, a 47-year-old sardine factory worker whose boyfriend, a mason, was among those still trapped in the rubble.

She brought a week’s supply of rice and sardines for him at the construction site, but she said they would never meet as scheduled over the weekend after the building where he was sleeping crumbled before dawn on Sunday.

Lazatin said rescuers were moving carefully because huge slabs of concrete were being held up precariously by a tangle of aluminum scaffolding and could crash down on rescuers.

Twenty-six workers were either rescued or managed to run out of the collapsing building, where they slept on pieces of plywood on the ground floor.

National police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said his force will support an “ongoing investigation to determine the cause of the incident and possible violations of safety and building regulations.”

Angeles City hosted one of the largest U.S. Air Force bases outside of the American mainland, helping turn Angeles and outlying cities and towns into entertainment and commercial hubs in the main northern Philippine region of Luzon.

Clark Air Base, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Manila, closed in the early 1990s. The former base has become a bustling industrial and tourism enclave called the Clark Freeport Zone, and is still surrounded by remnants of U.S. base-era red-light strips, bars, nightclubs, tattoo shops and budget hotels.

Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency known as ASIO, was testifying at a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism in Australia ahead of the attack at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14.

ASIO reduced Australia’s National Terrorism Threat Level from “probable” to “possible” — the second-safest level on a five-tier scale -- in November 2022, after the Islamic State group in the Middle East had been defeated and was no longer recruiting fighters.

ASIO then shifted to increase its focus on foreign interference and espionage investigations, but left the organization’s “counterterrorism mission” with sufficient resources, Burgess said.

“Because terrorism has the potential to cause people to lose their lives or get harmed, it always remained a priority for us. There was just less activity that we were investigating because the nature of the environment had changed and the number of tasks we were looking at had reduced,” Burgess said.

“At the same time, every rock we lifted up we found espionage or foreign interference that needed to be inquired and investigated and so resources were moved over there,” Burgess added.

Spy boss had sounded alarm after the Hamas Oct. 7 attack

Five days after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Burgess said he took an unprecedented step for an ASIO boss by making a public statement warning that inflamed language could lead to violence.

“Before the Israeli government responded to that horrific attack, we saw the strong emotions appear in this country where we had people celebrating the Hamas terrorist attack,” Burgess said.

ASIO saw threatening and intimidating behavior directed at Jewish Australians through the end of 2023. That behavior escalated to target Jewish businesses and places of worship in October 2024, he said.

ASIO elevated Australia’s terrorism threat level again to “probable” in August 2024. ASIO's resources became stretched as antisemitic cases mounted, Burgess said.

'We knew we were busy and had a lot on our plate, but ... at no time did we have serious matters that we knew about that we were leaving untreated," Burgess said.

Hanukkah event was given the lowest security priority

Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the highest form of inquiry in Australia, must report to the government before the first anniversary of what was the nation’s worst mass shooting since 1996.

The father and son gunmen, Sajid and Naveed Akram, were inspired by IS and brought handmade IS flags to Bondi, prosecutors allege.

Both were wounded in a gunfight with police, the father fatally, less than eight minutes after the shooting began. The son has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder. He has entered no pleas.

Richard Lancaster, who leads a team of lawyers in his role as the Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission, said only four police officers were at the event when the gunmen opened fire on a crowd of around 1,000 people.

Within 29 seconds of the start of the shooting, 10 people had been fatally shot and an 11th had been wounded, Lancaster said.

Within five minutes, 11 police officers were at the scene. Three of those officers were wounded, he said.

A Jewish security organization, the Community Security Group, had requested the New South Wales Police Force post officers at the beachfront park for the duration of the Hanukkah event, Lancaster said. Instead, officers were instructed to attend from time to time.

Police gave the Hanukkah celebration the lowest security priority on a three-tier scale, with police resources managed by a local commander, Lancaster said.

Jewish High Holy Days in September and October were top-tier events in which police resources were managed by the specialized Police Force Major Events Group in liaison with the paramilitary Police Force Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command.

“There is no evidence that any intelligence agency or law enforcement agency had any actual knowledge or specific information to suggest there might be an armed attack on the Hanukkah celebration,” Lancaster said.

“In that sense, it was a surprise attack,” he added.

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This story has been corrected to show that Burgess said the agency’s counterterrorism mission was left with sufficient resources.

Her home in the southwestern village of Potrerito sits less than 100 meters (320 feet) from the police station, which has become a frequent target for drone-dropped explosives. Authorities blame the attacks on a rebel faction that rejected a peace agreement signed a decade ago with the Colombian government.

"You have to stay alert to what is happening, because we live very close to the police station,” Marín said from her porch in this town about 470 kilometers from the capital, Bogotá.

Colombia will elect a new president and vice president on May 31 in what has been cast as a referendum on President Gustavo Petro’s policies, most notably his controversial “total peace” initiative to negotiate with the country’s remaining rebel groups.

By most accounts, violence tied to armed groups has worsened under Petro's watch.

According to Colombia's Electoral Observation Mission, 386 municipalities, or about a third of the country, are vulnerable to violence from illegal armed groups, and data from the Ideas for Peace Foundation think tank indicates that roughly 27,000 people remain under arms nationwide.

Drone attacks change the landscape of violence

In Robles, a neighboring town in the Jamundi municipality, the streets leading to the police station are blocked by improvised barricades. The police are entrenched in sentry posts, using shelters made of sandbags and black fabric to scan the sky for any approaching drones.

“You pass by the police station with this sense of dread, looking up, hoping you won’t run into a nasty surprise,” said Eucaris Zamora, who had to vacate her home after a cylinder bomb struck it in October, leaving the building partially destroyed.

Guillermo Londoño, a security official in the region of Valle del Cauca, where Jamundi is located, said illegal armed groups in the area have sought to maximize damage through simultaneous, “swarm-style” drone strikes, marking a shift from previous tactics, where attackers would launch attacks with a single drone, reload it, and then resume their assault.

Drones modified to drop explosives have altered the dynamics of Colombia’s armed conflict since 2024, posting one of the greatest threats to civilians and security forces alike, particularly along the Venezuelan border, in northern Bolivar province and in southwestern coastal areas.

Colombia's Defense Ministry reported that drone attacks hit 333 targets in 2025, up from 61 such incidents recorded in 2024. Meanwhile, the army has recorded 107 drone attacks so far this year, which have claimed the lives of two soldiers.

The problem with Petro's ‘total peace’ plan

Officials here believe their region has become a casualty of Petro's “total peace” strategy, aimed at putting an end to one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.

Petro acknowledges that the initiative has failed to achieve its hoped-for outcome of disarming illegal networks, and his approach of being open to talk to every group has hardened up a notch. He has frozen negotiations with some groups due to their continuing violence, though he has kept dialogue open with other organizations.

A clear divide has emerged between candidates. On one side are those who favor continuing dialogue with illegal groups, such as Sen. Iván Cepeda, of Petro’s political movement. On the other are those who say they would dismantle such efforts and prioritize military pressure, such as Sen. Paloma Valencia, of the opposition Democratic Center, and Abelardo de la Espriella, a self-described admirer of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele who has vowed to crack down on illegal armed groups.

Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, believes the violence could worsen if a hawkish candidate is elected.

“Right-wing candidates propose a ‘hard-line’ response that could exacerbate the violence, because the armed groups will respond to pressure from security forces with terror-style attacks, as they lack the means to respond symmetrically, army-to-army,” Dickinson said.

In December, gunmen sowed terror in the small southern town of Buenos Aires, launching an attack on the police station that left several officers injured and reduced a local bank and nearby homes to rubble.

Among the wreckage was the home of 89-year-old Celimo Enrique Aguilar.

“I haven’t lost faith that, someday, one might be able to live in peace,” he said.

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

It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt in the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the hospital’s medical director, told The Associated Press the attackers demanded that two bodies of their kin be handed over to them.

There was gunfire and the medics were trying to evacuate the patients and the staff, Lokudu said over the phone.

“Mongbwalu General Hospital is on general alert,” he added. He did not have any further details of the unfolding turmoil.

The attack — the third in a week’s time on healthcare facilities where medical workers struggle with lack of resources to treat suspected Ebola cases — underlined the challenges of the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

Bodies of those who died of Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare them for burial and gather for funerals.

In response to the outbreak, Congolese authorities have mandated that the dangerous work of burying suspected victims be managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met by protests from families and friends. On Friday, the government said funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people would be banned in northeastern Congo in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

On Saturday, a group of residents of Mongbwalu, located in Ituri province, attacked and set fire to a tent set up for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group.

During that attack, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and were now unaccounted for, Lokudu had said earlier.

On Thursday, another treatment center, in the town of Rwampara, was burned down after family members were banned from retrieving the body of a local man suspected to have died of Ebola.

WHO has said the outbreak poses a “very high” risk for Congo — up from a previous categorization of “high” — but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.

Earlier on Sunday, the Congolese Ministry of Communication said on X that there were 904 suspected cases of Ebola, mostly in northeastern Ituri Province — a significant jump from the previously announced more than 700 suspected Ebola cases.

The ministry also said the total suspected Ebola deaths stood at 119, but the numbers it released separately for each region added up to 220. Officials could not immediately be reached to explain the discrepancy.

There is no available vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola, which spread undetected for weeks in Ituri following the first reported death — in late April in the town of Bunia, the provincial capital — while authorities tested for another, more common, Ebola virus and came up negative.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday that three of its volunteers had died from the outbreak in Mongbwalu. The agency said it believed the three healthcare workers contracted the virus on March 27 while handling dead bodies as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola.

If confirmed, this would significantly push back the timeline of the outbreak.

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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal.

That made his crown jewel Cup Series victory Sunday night all the more special.

Suarez benefited from a crucial pit call, then caught a break from Mother Nature to win the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, capping an emotional day in which the racing world remembered the late Busch.

Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win the Coke 600. It was his third Cup Series win and first since 2024.

The victory was especially emotional for Suarez, who previously raced for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Kyle, he was special,” Saurez said as he teared up. “I was doing this for Kyle, for (his wife) Samatha, for (his children) Brexton and Lennix and for all of his family.”

A non-factor for most of the race, Suarez gambled and took two tires during a late pit stop, then held off Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin on restarts before the race was called when the sky opened up and rain drenched the track shortly before midnight Eastern time.

NASCAR quickly made the decision to call the race with 27 laps remaining.

Bell finished second; Hamlin was third.

The two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates had a chance to catch Suarez on the two restarts, but couldn't clear his No. 7 Chevrolet.

“It’s a bummer," Bell said, who won the rain-shortened 2024 Coca-Cola 600. "It wasn’t meant to be today. That's 2026 for us.”

Hamlin said he was “just a little unlucky.”

“The 20 car (Bell) and us were just really battling because we knew whoever could clear him (would win the race),” Hamlin said. "We were really good all day. We just didn’t get to see it through.”

The race came just three days after Busch’s death sent shockwaves throughout the motorsports world and beyond. The 41-year-old Busch died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications, according to a statement released by his family.

The two-time Cup Series champion and winner of a record 234 races across NASCAR’s three national series had become unresponsive while practicing in a Chevrolet simulator Wednesday, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no details were released by the family.

Busch's family attended the race and NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell told them they are part of the NASCAR community and “we got you.”

NASCAR and CMS honored Busch with his No. 8 and signature on the frontstretch grass and a highway billboard near the main entrance of the track. The U.S. Army Golden Knights carried a Busch flag prior to the race and each of the 39 cars in field carried a small, black No. 8 decal.

Kyle Larson won the first stage race. Hamlin won the second stage and Bell the third.

Crashing out

Defending champion Ross Chastain crashed out when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clipped his car in Turn 2 with 81 laps remaining in the race.

Connor Zilisch and Austin Cindric only made it 52 laps before getting caught up in a crash. Cindric got turned around and Zilisch came crashing in to the side of his No. 2 Ford, ending both drivers’ day.

Chase Elliott, a two-time winner this year, hit the outside wall and ping-ponged into the inside wall on Lap 90. That car was beyond repair and he finished 37th.

“I was trying to make something happen and I stepped over the line,” Elliott said.

Replacing Busch

Austin Hill, a regular driver in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series for Richard Childress Racing, took Busch's spot in the race and finished 26th. He drove the No. 33 car after RCR temporarily retired the No. 8 until Busch's 11-year-old son Brexton is ready to drive.

Austin Dillon, went behind the wall with damage to the front of his car with 56 laps to go, ending any hope of an emotional win for RCR. He finished 32nd.

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

Kerley, who predicted Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds would get “destroyed,” ran a time that would have placed him last at the Paris Olympics two years ago, where he ran 9.81 and won bronze.

The only athlete to win the $1 million bonus for going faster than the world record over the four hours of swimming, weightlifting and track in the specially built stadium on the Las Vegas Strip was Kristian Gkolomeev, who closed the night by swimming the 50-meter free in 20.81 seconds.

That record won't go into the books, however, because the Enhanced Games, true to its name, allows performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in mainstream sports.

The men’s 50-meter freestyle world record of 20.88 seconds was set two months ago in a sanctioned event by Cameron McEvoy.

Gkolomeev had also won a $1 million bonus from Enhanced last year for swimming faster than the world record during a “trial.”

“Another million, it’s not bad at all,” he said. “It’s going to change my life to the good, for sure.“

The most iconic marks in Olympic sports, though, are in track, and when Kerley called out Bolt’s 17-year-old record, it made headlines and even got Bolt involved with a short post on social media: “OK,” he said.

By the time the starting gun sounded (or maybe long before that, depending on who you ask) it was clear there wouldn't be much to worry about.

Kerley was in a line of six runners who had to be called out of the blocks three times — an energy sapper — first for a sprinter to re-tie his shoe, then twice more when the false-start signal went off, but early motion was, apparently, undetectable and nobody was disqualified.

“A lot of false starts, a lot of jumping, a lot of people who didn’t want to run their heats,” Kerley said of the less-than-full field for a basically meaningless prelim race in which he false started but wasn't DQ'd. “Got to do better than that. I’m ready to run fast.“

Kerley, who said he is not using performance enhancers, still pocketed $250,000 — the first-place prize for all the events.

Most athletes are making money they could only dream of in mainstream Olympic sports.

The real stakes, however, could be for the investors in the company that brought the world the Enhanced Games with the idea of turning it into a new-age online pharmacy that peddles performance enhancers under medical supervision.

“It's just the beginning,” CEO Max Martin said in front of a specially curated crowd of around 2,500.

Tickets were not on sale to the general public.

The women’s sprints didn’t have anywhere near the star power Kerley injected into the men’s.

What the two races did have in common were winners who claimed not to be taking drugs — results that force questions about both the effectiveness of performance enhancers and the level of the athletes who signed onto the league that began with mega investments from the likes of Peter Thiel and is now a publicly traded company.

Tristan Evelyn’s winning time of 11.25 seconds in the women's sprint was more than three-quarters of a second slower than FloJo's 38-year-old world record (10.49). It would have been .21 seconds behind the seventh-place finisher at the Paris Games two years ago.

In all, Enhanced said there were 14 personal bests set by 12 athletes, all of them swimmers and weightlifters.

Among those who made runs at world marks was Ben Proud, the British Olympic silver medalist, who finished .05 off the 50-meter fly mark of 22.27.

“I think I am,” he said when asked if he was happy after winning $250K. “But I think we all know what we came here for, and that’s a world record.”

Kerley didn’t come close to it. When it was over, he seemed to be blaming everyone but himself.

“Man, they gotta do better than that,” he said. “Gotta train a little harder, train on that (expletive) a little more.”

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

Suzuki, an honorary adviser at Seven & i Holdings, died on May 18 of heart failure at his Tokyo home, the company said Monday.

Suzuki founded the Japanese unit that operates the seemingly ubiquitous 7-Eleven “conbini” outlets, where busy people can hop in and grab sandwiches, rice balls, drinks, chips and other meals on-the-run, use ATMs, pay utility bills and copy documents.

The 7-Eleven stores, now numbering more than 80,000 worldwide, are the biggest convenience-store chain in Japan.

The business started out in Japan under a franchise agreement with the U.S. 7-Eleven in 1973. The first store opened in Japan the following year.

After The Southland Corp., which founded 7-Eleven, ran into financial difficulties the Japanese company bought a majority stake in the 1990’s. It made the American counterpart its 100% owned group company in 2005.

Several years ago, the Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard, which runs the global Circle K convenience store chain, sought to take over Seven & i Holdings. But it dropped the effort in 2024, citing frustration with negotiations that showed “a lack of constructive engagement.”

Suzuki, born in Nagano Prefecture, northern Japan, in 1932, graduated from the prestigious Chuo University in Tokyo.

Before beginning his career in the convenience store business, he worked at Ito-Yokado, a major Japanese retail chain that sells a variety of products including groceries, cosmetics and clothing, which is also owned by Seven and i Holdings.

Apart from leading 7-Eleven, Suzuki engineered the acquisition of Barney’s Japan in 2015 and added banking functions to the empire.

He said he wanted to provide customers with what he called a lifestyle shopping experience. Over the years, the retailing giant also brought under its wing the Sogo and Seibu department stores.

Suzuki became chief executive of 7-Eleven Japan in 1978. He is widely seen as having innovated how Japanese consumers shop. Convenience stores have led retailers in Japan in implementing new retail technologies.

Funeral services are being held privately with family, and messages, flowers and other condolence gifts were politely declined, according to the company. Details of a public ceremony will come later, it said.

Suzuki is survived by his wife and two children.

Vegas coach John Tortorella had his own description.

“This is a game where we showed some balls,” the man known as Torts said after the Golden Knights' latest Houdini act.

Tomas Hertl weaved his way toward the slot and broke a tie at 8:21 of the third period as the Golden Knights overcame a three-goal deficit Sunday night to beat Colorado 5-3 and move within a victory of their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years.

“It obviously feels really good right now, but we’re playing a hell of a hockey team,” Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner said. “We know that the next game is going to be even tougher now. Enjoy this for the next 10 minutes, 30 minutes, go home and then try to take care of yourself, and do what you got to do to be ready tomorrow.”

The Golden Knights go for what would be a stunning sweep over the Presidents' Trophy winners on Tuesday night. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to win the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Colorado will try to become just the fifth team to win a series after falling behind 3-0. Los Angeles in 2014 was the most recent team to accomplish that in eliminating San Jose in their first-round series.

Vegas, which trailed 3-0 after the first period, was 0-19 in the playoffs when behind that many goals. The Avalanche were 74-1 when holding such a lead.

“As low as it can get,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of the team's emotions. “It’s a big hill to climb. The next 24-to-36 hours is for … you’ve got to find a way to get over it, regroup and go again.”

Colorado has other concerns because front-line center Nathan MacKinnon might not be fully healthy going forward. MacKinnon, who has 15 points this postseason and led the league in the regular season with 53 goals, took a puck to his right knee in the second period and played through the injury.

That comes just as the Avalanche got back star defenseman Cale Makar, who missed the first two games this series because of an upper-body injury.

Vegas keeps finding aways, going this deep into the postseason despite being outshot in 11 of 15 games, including now nine in a row. The Golden Knights erased deficits the past two games against Colorado, though Game 2 was just 1-0.

“We’ve been all season long many times down,” Hertl said. “We’ve come back so many times. Even after the first when we were down 3-0 we knew we could do it.”

Hertl, Mark Stone and William Karlsson each had a goal and assist. Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden scored the other Golden Knights goals, and Mitch Marner and Kaedan Korczak each tallied two assists. Carter Hart made 32 saves.

Stone’s goal came on his first appearance since suffering a lower-body injury in Game 3 of the second-round series against Anaheim. Kolesar, who had gone 37 playoff games without a goal, picked up his first point of the postseason.

Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and Jack Drury scored for the Avalanche, and Devon Toews had two assists. Scott Wedgewood stopped 18 shots.

The Avalanche dominated the first period by taking a 3-0 lead, but the Golden Knights thought they had cut the deficit to 2-1 when Pavel Dorofeyev appeared to score a power-play goal with 7:26 left. Officials immediately waved it off and the decision was upheld on video review.

Colorado then made the Golden Knights pay when Drury found himself alone on a breakaway, deking Vegas goalie Hart to score the short-handed goal with 6:45 left for the three-goal lead.

But the Golden Knights didn't let the two-goal swing trouble them too much, with Stone's power-play goal 19 seconds into the second period sparking a three-goal answer to tie the game heading into the final period of regulation.

Then Hertl broke the deadlock — and now the Golden Knights just need to win one of four games.

“I want them to feel it for a little bit, as far as what they just did against a really good hockey club,” Tortorella said, “but then we get back to work tomorrow.”

There was a moment of silence before the game for two-time NASCAR champion driver and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. He died Thursday at 41 after severe pneumonia developed into sepsis, according to a statement from Busch's family.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

“The highlight will be when I can finally lay down because I'm so tired,” Legge said.

Legge's quest to become the first woman to complete “The Double” — racing 1,100 miles spread out over two tracks on one day — ended quickly Sunday when she crashed out in the Indianapolis 500.

She flew to North Carolina and finished in 31st at the Coca-Cola 600 and 12 laps back after losing a tire mid-race.

Legge said now it is time to regroup after what she called “a calamity of errors.”

The English driver completed just 17 of the scheduled 200 laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's iconic 2.5-mile oval before she ran into the car of Ryan Hunter-Reay, knocking both cars out of the race. Hunter-Reay started spinning in the second turn and braked hard to keep his car off the wall, and the trailing Legge steered inside to try to avoid the 2013 Indy 500 winner. But as smoke emerge from both braking cars, Legge's car hit the inside wall.

“I’m fine, just gutted more than anything,” she said after being checked and released at the track's infield medical center. “Ryan spun in front of me, I think he was battling his car for a minute, I was just chilling, trying to save fuel and he spun down the track and started coming up the track, so I tried to go low and just didn’t make it.”

Legge was the sixth driver ever to attempt “The Double." The only driver to complete it is three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart in 2001.

It's been a week full of bad luck for Legge.

Her flight from New York to Indianapolis was delayed, causing her to miss Indy's annual media day. Then she had communications trouble in Friday's final 500 practice, and after flying to Charlotte on Saturday, Coca-Cola 600 qualifying was rained out.

“Hopefully, we get all of the travel woes out of the way now before the weekend, and this weekend goes smoothly,” Legge told The Associated Press on Thursday. “My management has been speaking with Kyle’s management about how to get the logistics sorted out, how they did it and we’re trying our best to copy and paste what they had and they’re just keeping me in the loop.”

Her fortunes briefly looked like they might have changed when the speedway dodged the predicted prerace rain, allowing the race to begin on time. Then came the tangle with Hunter-Reay, who was also was checked and released by IndyCar's medical team.

“It was super tough out there,” Hunter-Reay said. “The whole time I was trying to keep it off the wall. Just super disappointing. That’s the busiest I’ve been around here in 16 years. I was trying to keep it off the wall the whole time and finally, one of those wiggles didn't come back in Turn 2.”

At the 500, crashes and bad weather have been a theme in each of the last three “Double” attempts. A rain-delayed Indy start prevented two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Larson from making it to Charlotte in time for the start in 2024, and Larson crashed out of both races last year after another rain-delayed start in Indy.

But Legge was hoping to avoid all of it.

“She’ll stay here throughout,” her father, Derek Legge, said before the first race while texting from a golf cart outside her garage. “We’re keeping an eye on the weather. It might even be delayed here an hour at a time.”

By then, Legge’s car was already on the Brickyard as the sold-out grandstands filled in and hundreds of people surrounded the cars on the track.

The English driver started from the No. 26 spot, the middle of the ninth row, at Indy, where she drove for HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing team.

The other five drivers who previously tried "The Double” had months to prepare, but Legge's teams didn't announce her attempt until last week. Since then, those behind the scenes helped Legge line up the helicopter ride she planned to take from the speedway to Indianapolis International Airport and the private jet that would take her to Charlotte.

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

The Golden Knights, instead, put the setback behind them and rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 and take a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final.

Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev appeared to score a power-play goal with 7:26 left in the first period, but officials immediately waved it off and the decision was upheld on video review. The Golden Knights immediately celebrated despite the initial call with a run through the high-five line, believing the call would be changed after officials checked the video.

Officials ruled on the ice that the puck went off Dorofeyev's glove, according to the ESPN broadcast, and found the video inconclusive.

Dorofeyev's stick also might have been above the cross bar, but it was at least even with it.

The Avalanche then made the Golden Knights pay when Jack Drury found himself alone on a breakaway, deking Vegas goalie Carter Hart to score the short-handed goal with 6:45 left for the three-goal lead.

A lead that didn't last.

“Not super ideal, obviously, but I think we got a pretty big penalty kill after that and it kind of settled us down and the period ends,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. "That’s probably the best thing that could happen to us, the period ends.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Now Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the workshop founded by the legendary creator of the Muppets, is drawing back the curtain.

This year, the company opened the doors of its Queens workshop to public tours for the first time, allowing fans to meet a puppet builder, see a puppetry demonstration and take photos and videos with beloved and iconic characters.

Jason Weber, the shop’s creative supervisor, said the tours, which cost $150 a person, are an opportunity to celebrate the unsung craftspeople that bring these famous characters to life.

“There is a level of expertise here that we’re sharing. It’s not just going to a pop-up store or something like that,” he said during a recent visit. “Things are made one-of-a-kind, made by hand with artisans who have been trained for years and decades.”

Besides Kermit, Miss Piggy and other Muppets, Henson was the creative force behind Big Bird, Cookie Monster and other famous “Sesame Street” denizens, as well as the “Fraggle Rock” characters. He died in 1990.

Henson originally founded the workshop in the 1960s in Manhattan and it has moved multiple times around the city since. It's been at its current location in Queens since 2009. The company also has a workshop in Los Angeles, though that doesn’t offer tours.

The 80-minute New York tours take place on Saturdays. Visitors start in a large room specially created for the tour that's filled with real show props and creations. It’s also the only spot on the tour where visitors are allowed to take photos and videos, as much of what’s in the actual workshop are still works in progress or proprietary.

“The Muppets" are now owned by Disney. Sesame owns the rights to Big Bird and other characters Henson created for the long-running show, which films at a nearby studio.

Among the centerpieces in that first room on the tour is an Oscar the Grouch display where the “Sesame Street” character is in his familiar trash can surrounded by heaps of fake garbage.

There’s also a menacing black throne from “The Dark Crystal,” Henson’s 1982 live-action fantasy film, and a full-sized working puppet of Junior Gorg, a giant from “Fraggle Rock,” which requires multiple performers to manipulate.

The workshop space itself is filled with fantastical creatures in various stages of assembly. There’s drawers and bins tucked into nearly every corner brimming with colorful furs, textured fabrics and ready-made puppet body parts, clothing and accessories.

“Everything we do is custom. Everything we do is bespoke,” said Melissa Creighton, the shop’s director.

On a recent visit, staff were busy preparing costumes and other pieces for a range of current projects, including a “Fraggle Rock" musical opening later this month at a theater near Times Square.

The shop’s past credits include the horror movie “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” the children’s fantasy film “Where the Wild Things Are" and the 1990s television sitcom “Dinosaurs.”

Sierra Schoening, a senior puppet builder, said working at the shop had been her “pie-in-the sky” dream job. Her favorite movie growing up was “The Labyrinth,” Henson's 1986 musical fantasy film starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

“I just really always wanted to know how those illusions were made,” Schoening said as she took a break from fashioning a set of new creations. “I know all the secret sauce, and I’m making the secret sauce now.”

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

One day might not seem like much in the grand scheme, but it was a seismic delay in plans for the unprecedented and daring invasion, which would deploy nearly 160,000 Allied troops in Normandy. Ultimately it came down to a recommendation from a shrewd Scottish meteorologist, Group Capt. James Stagg, who had to tell everyone, including Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Allied leadership, something they didn’t want to hear: The weather was going to be catastrophically bad. And no, he wasn’t certain about it.

The tense 72 hours before the invasion are brought to life in “Pressure,” in theaters May 29, on the eve of the operation’s 82nd anniversary. An adaptation of David Haig’s acclaimed stage play, the film sheds light on this bit of history that would effectively change the course of the second World War.

The very different styles of Brendan Fraser and Andrew Scott

Filmmaker Anthony Maras assembled a unique group of actors for the task at hand, calling on Brendan Fraser to play Eisenhower and Andrew Scott to play Stagg.

“I didn’t think I was an Ike Eisenhower when Anthony Maras sent me the script,” Fraser said. “I got on a Zoom call and he said, ‘You gotta do this man.’ Me? Why? ‘It’s because he’s you, he’s like you. He’s just a regular guy.’ Really? I mean, I thought Eisenhower was this, you know, stern, staunch, something on coin.”

Fraser went deep in his preparation, reading and listening to everything he could get his hands on to help him understand the man who would ultimately have to make the decision. The research even continued on set. Maras laughed that right before they shot Eisenhower’s famous “soldiers, sailors and airmen” speech, something that they’d rehearsed many, many times, he looked up and saw Fraser reading yet another biography. But he appreciated that the Oscar-winner was passionate about knowing everything he possibly could to get it right.

“He cared intensely for his troops,” Fraser said. “It was my responsibility to honor their memory and to comport myself in a way that puts a human face on the seemingly academic decisions that go into an operation as massive as this.”

Scott was the opposite in terms of how he approached his role. Yes, he read Stagg’s book and wanted to have a working understanding of the metrological jargon he’d have to be spouting. While history was important, for him, character was king. And he liked that Stagg is not the most immediately likable person, but he has integrity.

“The thing with Stagg is that he’s just not interested in charm … or being liked at all,” Scott said. “I think that’s to be admired actually, because he’s just there to do a job. So I like the fact that at the beginning of the movie, you’re like, whoa, this guy is not pleasant.”

Maras said that for Scott, it was all about the inner, emotional life of the character — which was essential for a part that would require so much internal conflict.

“With Andrew, he has a quality to him where he can seemingly be doing very little — he’s sitting down, rearranging his tie, he can be reading a phone book — and you can’t look away,” Maras said.

In the shadow of ‘Saving Private Ryan’

The actors weren’t the only ones feeling pressure of the assignment: Maras also had a behemoth looming in attempting to stage, however briefly, the D-Day invasion.

“You’ve kind of got to be crazy maybe to attempt it, given that Spielberg did it so masterfully,” Maras said.

But unlike “Saving Private Ryan,” which focused on the men storming the beach, “Pressure” is about the ones making the decisions. It’s a different perspective. Still, once they make the call to go, there would have to be at least some of the operation shown to juxtapose with the “bloody tense, wire-type atmosphere of the control room,” Maras said.

Inspired by Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old,” and the existence of dozens of hours of pristine 35 mm black and white film from the event, Maras decided that perhaps archival footage, colorized, would be the way to go. It was a different way to present D-Day that gave it immediacy, he said, as opposed to looking like history.

‘Pressure’s’ relevance to today

Ultimately, “Pressure” isn’t just a history lesson, or even a character drama with big personalities and even bigger stakes: It’s a portrait of leadership and ego clashing with facts and science. And its relevance to the present day is the reason Maras wanted to make the film in the first place.

“How do you bring your best self to the table to make the decision? How do you have the humility to acknowledge when you don’t know something? And how do you have the wisdom to determine who to trust? … Eisenhower in the end showed that he was a maestro at that,” Maras said. “What I love about the Stagg character is he’s someone who feels compelled to tell someone something that they don’t want to hear, that they violently don’t want to but they need to hear. The world needs more of that.”

Years later, John F. Kennedy, on the way to his own inauguration, asked Eisenhower what gave them the edge on D-Day. His response? “We had better meteorologists than the Germans.”

“When life or death depends on you understanding the facts, it probably has a way of like cutting up the BS and getting to it,” Maras said. “It’s a very clear example of a time where the Allied worlds’ future was at stake and they listened to someone who knew what he was talking about and they did all right.”

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For more coverage of summer films, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/movies

He had three Oklahoma City defenders in front of him. He took three dribbles. He got three points.

And he made it look easy, too.

A swished 3-pointer from the midcourt stripe to close the first half brought maybe the loudest roars of his night, but it was hardly the only moment in which Wembanyama was unstoppable in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday.

He got most of the fourth quarter off and still finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots as the Spurs beat the Thunder 103-82 to tie the West title series at two games apiece.

“The truth is that we had never been in this kind of situation before,” Wembanyama said. “It was our first deficit in a playoff series and we just responded. It was nothing amazing. It wasn't magic. We just did what we needed to do.”

In other words, he wasn't surprised. A 62-win team in the regular season — and a team that has now beaten Oklahoma City six times in nine opportunities this season — shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

It was Wembanyama who pointed the finger of blame at himself following San Antonio's loss in Game 3, saying that the Spurs were “going to see what we're made of” in Game 4 and that he had to do more to get teammates involved.

He delivered on every level.

“I saw a lot and I'm not surprised," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I think our competitive response all year has been pretty good — and he's been at the forefront of that more often than not. I think tonight, not speaking for him, he felt an obligation to set a tone for us in a variety of ways.”

Wembanyama had 11 points in the first quarter, 11 more on 10 shot attempts in the second quarter and capped all that with the beat-the-clock 3-pointer going into halftime.

And on the other end, he might have been even better.

The unanimous Defensive Player of the Year — who was announced on Sunday night as a first-team All-NBA selection for the first time — led an effort that held Oklahoma City to a season-low in points and a season-high-tying 20 turnovers.

The Thunder had at least 108 points in every game in these playoffs entering Sunday.

“We've played 12 playoff games. When you play 12 playoff games, they're not all going to be masterpieces,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “As much as you want to win, there's nights where you just don't have it for whatever reason.”

On Sunday, that reason might have been Wembanyama. The Thunder were outscored by 29 points when he was on the floor. They shot 18 of 41 inside the paint, with Wembanyama a big reason for that, so more things got forced outside — where they shot 12 of 50.

He was asked how the Spurs bottled up the Thunder so well.

“I'm not going to get into details, but in general, being more disciplined and just trusting the game plan even more,” Wembanyama said.

There's a flight for the Spurs to Oklahoma City on Monday for a game on Tuesday, and the winner of that contest will be one game away from the NBA Finals. It's clear that Wembanyama knows that even after a big win, the job only gets tougher now.

“The series is far from over,” Wembanyama said. “We've got six more wins before we can rest.”

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

De'Aaron Fox had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for San Antonio, which has not lost three consecutive games all season. Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell added 13 points each.

“You definitely don’t want to go down 3-1 going into their house,” Vassell said. “We knew we had to respond and that’s how you respond. You get stops. You don’t try and focus on the offensive end, you get stops, you get out of transition. You guard your yard and that’s what we did.”

Game 5 is Tuesday in Oklahoma City, followed by Game 6 on Thursday in San Antonio.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting for the Thunder.

Wembanyama took Oklahoma City's 123-108 victory Friday in Game 3 personally. The 7-foot-4 star from France said he needed to be better to make his teammates better. He was monumentally better Sunday night — and so was San Antonio.

“We all have high standards and I know I have a lot of responsibilities, but I’m here for it,” Wembanyama said. “Yeah, it was better today. It wasn’t perfect. But, you know, all of us, I’m talking about the whole organization, so we’re going to have to do things that we didn’t sign up for.”

The Spurs limited the Thunder to 33% shooting from the field, including 6 for 33 on 3-pointers (18%).

“I think we made a great defensive adjustment,” Vassell said. “I don’t want to say what it was. We were just able to rotate the shooters and not give them so many wide-open 3s. I feel like they had so many wide-open 3s over the past couple games and you've got to respect them, especially if they’re making them. So, we were trying to cut them out with that and just stay playing fast.”

After being outscored 76-23 in bench points in Game 3, San Antonio's reserves scored 30 points while limiting Oklahoma City to 34.

The Spurs had another hot start in Game 4 after opening the previous game on a 15-0 run. Unlike Friday’s lopsided loss, the Spurs never relinquished that lead.

“They just punched us in our face early,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s two games in a row they’ve come out the aggressor. The last game we were able to course correct. Tonight, we just didn’t do so.”

After blocking Jared McCain’s layup under the rim, Vassell tossed an alley-oop pass to Wembanyama for a dunk as part of 16-0 run that gave the Spurs a 23-8 lead with 4:19 remaining.

“I feel like with who we are, we need to start games like this,” Wembanyama said, “but it really doesn’t mean anything for the way it holds. I mean, it helps for sure, but it’s a whole 'nother type of effort to be consistent rather than just hitting first.”

San Antonio had an assist on all 10 field goals in the first quarter.

San Antonio held Oklahoma City to 38 points in the first half, tied for its second-lowest half in the past four regular and postseasons. The Thunder are 2-9 when they score less than 40 points in any half over the last five seasons.

Oklahoma City’s franchise low is 65 points in a playoff loss to Memphis on May 3, 2014, and its second-fewest points had been 85 against San Antonio on May 21, 2014.

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

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Netflix drops Season 2 of Netflix’s “Four Seasons” starring Tina Fey, Atlanta rapper Latto returns with “Big Mama” and Nicolas Cage stars in a new live-action series inspired by Spider-Man.

New movies to stream from May 25-31

— Bill Skarsgård’s aggrieved everyman takes Dacre Montgomery’s mortgage executive hostage in “Dead Man’s Wire,” streaming on Netflix on Thursday. In his review for The Associated Press, Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that, “it plays a little loose with facts but the righteous rage of “Dog Day Afternoon” is present enough in Gus Van Sant’s … thriller that’s as deeply 1970s as it is contemporary.”

— Fresh off its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, John Travolta’s “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” will be streaming on Apple TV starting Friday, May 29. The actor wrote, directed and narrates this ode to the glamorous days of 1960s air travel following an aviation obsessed 10-year-old on a cross country trip with his mother. Running at only 60 minutes, the film, which is based on a novel he wrote, has received mostly mixed reviews.

— In “Miss You, Love You,” written and directed by Jim Rash and streaming on HBO Max on May 29, Allison Janney plays a recently widowed woman who has to plan her husband's funeral with a stranger: Her estranged son’s assistant, played by Andrew Rannells. Also coming to HBO Max on May 29 is the Charli xcx movie “The Moment,” a meta mockumentary about the end of Brat summer and grappling with otherworldly success.

— Markiplier’s “Iron Lung” is also making its streaming debut, on YouTube, on May 31. The adaptation of the indie horror game was self-financed and self-released in theaters where it earned over $50 million worldwide.

— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

New music to stream from May 25-31

— Paul McCartney reflects on the “Days We Left Behind” on his 18th studio album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” out Friday. That’s a reference to a particularly nostalgic and wistful track on the new collection, which reflects on the youth of a life well lived — so, of course, it’s all soft piano and delicate harmonies. If that’s not enough to inspire a listen, perhaps this is: The album also features the first duet of Macca and Ringo Starr, a must-play for any Beatles fan. “The world around us wasn’t safe, the place was falling down/But it was my hometown/And it was home to us,” they sing. It’s enough to make someone weep, if it wasn’t such a jam.

— Atlanta rapper Latto is back with “Big Mama.” If the title feels familiar, there’s a reason for it. “Big Mama” is also the name of her 2024 Grammy-nominated single from her last album, “Sugar Honey Iced Tea.” She’s called her forthcoming record her “retirement album,” and if that’s true, she’s going out with a bang: “Somebody” is laid-back pop-trap; “GOMF” (an acronym for “Get Out My Face”) samples the buzzy ’00s Soulja Boy hit “Yahhh!” and transforms it with the swagger only Latto possesses. For the lover girls and girl bosses among us, and for everyone in between.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from May 25-31

— A Spider-Man series, but make it noir. Nicolas Cage stars in a new live-action series inspired by the Marvel character. Set against a gritty 1930s New York, Cage plays Ben Reilly, a P.I. who carries the weight of being the city’s only masked hero fighting rampant corruption. Viewers can choose between black-and-white and color versions. “Spider-Noir” drops its eight episodes on Wednesday on Prime Video.

— The wild crime comedy “Deli Boys” returns to Hulu for its second season on Thursday. Two Pakistani American brothers, played by Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh, inherit a chain of delis after their father dies and think they’re set for life until the realization that those delis were really a front for smuggling drugs. Poorna Jagannathan plays their aunt who has taken over the business.

— Netflix drops Season 2 of its “Four Seasons” on Thursday. It’s about a group of friends navigating relationships and life’s ups and downs. Tina Fey is a co-creator and stars alongside Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani and Erika Henningsen. It’s adapted from Alan Alda’s 1981 film of the same name.

— “Criminal Minds: Evolution” Season 19 premieres with two episodes Thursday on Paramount+. In the new episodes, serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) is still in prison for life but also helping the BAU track down other killers like himself. The big bad for Season 19 is a copycat killer, who is a fan of Voit. A number of actors from the original series return, including Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster. Connor Storrie of “Heated Rivalry” will also guest star.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from May 25-31

— Filmmakers are still trying to decide on the next actor to play James Bond, but gamers worldwide are ready to take on the role in “007 First Light.” Developer IO Interactive describes it as an origin story, as a 20-something Bond who is new to MI6 is sent in pursuit of a rogue agent. Expect plenty of exotic locations, cool weapons and gadgets, a slick wardrobe and, of course, a glamorous love interest. You can “go silent or go loud,” meaning you can take a stealthy approach to each mission or go in with fists and bullets flying. IO is best known for its globe-trotting “Hitman” series, so it’s well qualified to take on this franchise. Pick up your license to kill Wednesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 or PC.

— “Mina the Hollower” is a mouse who’s really good at burrowing, which comes in handy when she needs to run away from — or sneak up behind — the nastier critters roaming her spooky home. She can also fight back with her whip, and she can track down sidearms and trinkets that make her more of a threat. All this takes place in a colorful, pixelated 2D world reminiscent of 1980s classics like “The Legend of Zelda.” Developer Yacht Club Games, which gave us the retro indie smash “Shovel Knight,” promises a “bone-chilling yet heartwarming tale inspired by Victorian Gothic horror.” Dig in Friday, May 29, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch, PC or Mac.

— Lou Kesten

Messi — who almost never gets subbed out of matches — left in the 73rd minute, meaning he was long gone before Luis Suárez's third goal of the night helped lift the defending MLS champions past the last-place Philadelphia Union 6-4 on Sunday night.

No preliminary diagnosis of any issue for Messi was immediately announced. Messi has dealt with hamstring issues at least two other times during his three-year stint with Inter Miami.

In past instances of possible soft tissue injuries, the team has ordered an MRI exam relatively quickly to determine severity. There was no indication in this case from the club that any tests on Messi were scheduled; Mateo Silvetti, the Argentine who replaced Messi on Sunday night, said he had no idea what had happened.

“I tried to see how he was doing. ... I have the same doubt as everyone else,” Silvetti said in Spanish after the match.

Messi had two assists and Germán Berterame scored twice during a record-setting first half for Inter Miami. But Messi basically took himself out of play in the 71st minute and reached toward his left hamstring at least once, then didn't even venture toward the Inter Miami bench when he could be subbed out.

Messi was replaced by Silvetti, then left immediately through the tunnel connecting the field with the team’s locker room. Messi was walking under his own power, albeit slowly, and without any team medical personnel with him.

Suárez got the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute. Rodrigo De Paul, on his birthday, scored in stoppage time to seal the win for Inter Miami.

Heavy rain began falling early in the second half, causing some players to seem to slip on the turf. It wasn't clear if Messi's departure was precautionary or not, and it didn't seem like he took any major missteps during the worst of the rain.

Messi has said in the past that he would only play in the World Cup if healthy. Argentina starts group stage play on June 16.

Milan Iloski had a first-half hat trick — including two penalty kicks — and Bruno Damiani also scored for Union, which was up 2-0 only 10 minutes into the match. That start set the stage for the teams to be tied at 4-4 at the half.

The eight goals by halftime was an MLS record, the league said.

Inter Miami (9-2-4, 31 points) enters the break second in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Nashville (10-1-3, 33 points). Inter Miami is also fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings — a trophy that Philadelphia won last season.

The Union won’t be winning that this season. Not even close.

They’re at the bottom of the league, a stunning first-to-worst collapse and head into the break with seven points — at 1-10-4.

"It's beautiful, it's fun to be a part of the game, it’s fun to sing a national anthem and obviously to see Messi and all these greats so close to me, it’s an honor," said Grammy-nominated and Latin Grammy-winning singer and Miami resident Luis Fonsi, who performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” pregame. "I’m a fan and I’m enjoying every bit of it.”

He was asked what it's like to share the field with Messi.

“He’s a lot more known than me — times a million," Fonsi said.

Messi has already appeared in five World Cups, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player twice — first in 2014, then again in 2022 when he led Argentina to the title. That award has been given out only since 1982, but he is the lone player to win it twice.

Argentina is in Group J for the World Cup. Its group stage matches: Algeria, at Kansas City, on June 16; Austria, at Arlington, Texas, on June 22; and Jordan, back in Arlington, on June 27.

If Argentina wins that group — and the defending champions would be heavily favored to do so — then Messi would play a Round of 32 match in Miami Gardens on July 3. The only other way for Messi to play in South Florida during the tournament would be if Argentina is in the third-place match on July 18.

Of course, all that is contingent on whether Messi plays. And that would now seem to be in at least some question.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

The difference: He was more focused on being a dad and felt less pressure to reach victory lane.

Rosenqvist responded by making a daring, outside move in the closing yards, sling-shotting past leader David Malukas and across the yard of bricks by half a car-length in the closest race in 500 history and cap the most memorable month of his life.

The 0.023-second victory was his second in 120 career IndyCar starts, his first on an oval and came exactly 20 days after he welcomed his first child, daughter Stella.

“After we had our baby, Stella, I was like I've already won the month of May,” said Roseqvist, whose only other win came in July 2020 at Road America. “But winning was the cheery on top of an incredible month.”

Neither Rosenqvist's wife, Emille, nor his newborn daughter were at the track.

Rosenqvist jumped on top of his Meyer Shank Racing car, pumping his arms in the air before tasting the milk and then dumping it over his head. And why not savor it after what he's endured on this iconic 2.5-mile track.

Rosenqvist entered race day with five straight top nine 500 qualifying runs but no poles. He'd also finished fourth in the race twice over the past four years, including 2025, while winding up 27th in the other two.

And it looked as if this one might be slipping away, too, when the red flag came out with seven laps to go and he got passed on the ensuing restart and again when Malukas appeared to be pulling away while Rosenqvist and teammate Marcus Armstrong were racing wheel-to-wheel on the final lap.

“I was given two options: either I lift or I crash with Felix,” said Armstrong, who finished fifth. “I chose to lift. I don’t know if I could have done anything different.”

With Armstrong out of the way, Rosenqvist pulled up behind Malukas, swung his car to the outside and pushed the car as hard as he could. The momentum — and the tow — sent him past Team Penske's top finisher, relegating Malukas to runner-up status for the second straight year.

Meyer Shank earned its second 500 win and Helio Castroneves, one of four four-time 500 winners, celebrated his first as a team owner.

The victory margin was even closer than the 1992 race when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear to the finish line by 0.043 seconds. But that was little consolation to Malukas. Even moving up to second in the points standings was little consolation to the 24-year-old American.

“I just don’t know what else we could have done,” an understandably distraught Malukas said. “We were driving 150% that whole time. We had the fastest car out there, loved that whole race. It was ours to win and I knew that, so I just never pushed like that my whole life.”

Malukas seemed to be in position to win with four turns left.

He beat leader Marcus Armstrong off the final restart with one lap to go and led through each of the final four corners as Rosenqvist tried to snake his way down Indy's front straightaway and moved to the outside.

This time, Rosenqvist timed it perfectly, stayed on the high driving line and didn't think twice about going for it. He's the third Swede to win the 500, joining Kenny Brack in 1999 and Marcus Ericsson in 2022.

Rosenqvist even had to hold off his best friend in racing, Pato O'Ward of Arrow McLaren. The two-time race runner-up finished fourth — his fourth top-five finish in four years — behind Malukas' teammate Scott McLaughlin. Armstrong wound up fifth.

“I haven't seen a finish like that ever," Rosenqvist said. “So initially, I was like ‘OK, I’m second' because this never happens, you never have enough time to get that pass. But it happened and it's just incredible."

It was a wild conclusion to a strange race day that included a handful of crashes, two red flag delays — a 12-minute stoppage midway through the race because of rain and the 10-minute delay after Indy rookie Caio Collet slammed hard into the wall with eight laps to go.

But just as it appeared Rosenqvist and O'Ward might come up short again, they got another chance when Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champ Michael Schumacher, brushed the second turn wall with 3 1/2 laps left

That contact set up the final one-lap shootout and this time, Rosenqvist sensed it was going to be different.

“I think somehow this was the first time I felt less (pressure) because I had so much to come home to at night, and I’m like happy,” Rosenqvist said before telling reporters he had already spoken with his wife after the race. “It's actually kind of nice when taking more pressure off of yourself in a way when you think about the right stuff because because we all put enough pressure on these folks. I think actually it turned out to be a good point to become a dad."

Alex Palou, the pole winner and defending Indy champ, extended his lead to 37 points after leading the most laps (59) and making the most on-track passes (60). But he settled for seventh.

Palau was penalized five points after for a technical violation found in the post-race inspection, with IndyCar saying the “non-compliance was the result of an assembly error and not an intentional modification.”

Double trouble

Katherine Legge’s attempt to become the first woman to complete “The Double” ended after just 17 laps when she couldn’t avoid Ryan Hunter-Reay’s spinning car. Legge’s car skidded down the track and into the inside wall in Turn 2.

The English driver was checked at the track’s infield medical care center and was released. She was still planning to travel to Charlotte, North Carolia, for Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600. She’s scheduled to start 37th.

Up next

The series moves north for the Detroit Grand Prix next Sunday.

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

We do not know the exact details, but Casselberry police said the matter remains under active investigation and the child either fell from a vehicle and/or was run over by a vehicle being operated by a parent.

According to officials the child was pronounced dead by Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident happened Sunday on Legacy Winds Way in the Legacy Place neighborhood, according to police.

“It’s heartbreaking. You only get this life once, so it’s truly heartbreaking,” said Aaron and Justin Ray, who lives nearby.

Neighbors who live near the scene said they saw the family the day before.

“She was adorable, walking to the park. Just to hear what happened — it’s so unfortunate,” Aaron said.

Another neighbor, Marcus Lewis, said the tragedy hit close to home because he was struck by a vehicle as a child.

“Back then there weren’t any cameras or anything to see behind you,” Lewis said. “Somebody backed up over the left side of my body, and my left lung collapsed.”

Lewis said accidents can happen and urged people to be careful.

“That type of situation — you can definitely understand that accidents can happen. It’s not intentional, whether it’s family, friends, or anyone. Maybe there are more distractions around today, but we have to be careful,” Lewis said.

Casselberry police said the investigation is ongoing. News 6 has asked investigators questions, including when and how the incident happened, and will provide updates as more information is released.

Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Wayhowe Huang said that fire officials were able to evaluate the tank more closely overnight and discovered the tank had cracked.

Huang told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that it did not appear any of the highly volatile chemicals in the tank have leaked. “There’s still the danger of a possible explosion," Huang said.

Firefighters have been spraying the tank with water in an effort to cool the chemicals inside and prevent an explosion. The inside of the tank reached 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) Sunday, Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg said, an increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) since Saturday.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared a state of emergency Saturday, said in a post on X he had asked President Donald Trump to issue an emergency declaration to bolster federal support for local and state officials.

The pressurized tank overheated Thursday and began venting vapors at a company site in Garden Grove, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles, according to the Fire Authority.

No injuries have been reported. Air monitoring tests have found that air pollution around the evacuation zone is within normal limits, and specialized equipment has been deployed to ensure no gas is released from the compromised tank, state and federal environmental officials said Saturday.

The streets were empty in the area Sunday, according to aerial photos taken by the AP.

Tank crack could mitigate damage

A crack could be a welcome development, as it could mean product or pressure inside the tank is being released, reducing the chance the tank explodes, said Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University.

“Think of a soda can. If you leave it in a hot car it can explode," he said. “But if you put a hole in the can, the product is released and the can itself doesn’t explode.”

Elias Picazo, a chemistry professor at the University of Southern California, agreed that a crack could be a positive development.

“A strategic leak buys more time for the liquid within the tank to solidify as the reaction continues,” he said. “Depending on where the leak is, it can also be used to direct the unreacted liquid out of the tank in a controlled manner.”

Faisal Khan, head of the chemical engineering department at Texas A&M University, said a crack suggests an explosion could still happen -- just not in the magnitude initially feared.

“Cooling is happening on the surface of the tank while runaway reaction may be occurring deep inside the tank,” he explained. “Yes, reaction is slowed compared to what it started. However, we are not out of explosive release risk.”

Several shelters for evacuees remained open. The parking lot was full Sunday at an evacuation center at a high school in neighboring La Palma. Some people, including a family of seven, slept in cars or on mats and sleeping bags on the asphalt. The large family also had nine cats with them. They stacked up cat carriers for a makeshift table as they waited around, sipping coffee and tending to the pets.

Meanwhile, some Garden Grove residents filed a class-action lawsuit on Saturday against GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, the company that operates the facility where the tank is located.

Lawyers for residents living in the evacuation zone argued in their federal court lawsuit that regardless of what happens next, property values in the surrounding community are sure to be impacted.

Spokespersons for the company didn’t comment on the lawsuit itself, but pointed to a Saturday statement in which they apologized to residents and businesses that have been forced to evacuate.

On Sunday, the company released another statement saying it was monitoring the “condition of the affected material” and “working around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.”

Officials said the valves on the tank are broken or “gummed up,” which prevented crews from removing the chemical or relieving the pressure on the tank, said Craig Covey, Orange County Fire Authority division chief.

Firefighters’ first hope is to find a way to cool off the chemical inside the tank so it won’t leak or explode. If that is not possible, Whelton said it would be best if the tank sprang a leak so the chemical could be mostly contained. An explosion that could spread the chemical over a broad area and send shrapnel flying would be the worst-case scenario.

If the temperature inside the tank continues to increase, the pressure will continue to build as the methyl methacrylate converts from a liquid to a gas. Whelton said it’s unlikely that firefighters would consider creating a hole in the tank because of fears that could create a spark that might ignite the volatile and flammable gas.

Drones were monitoring temperatures at 10-minute intervals to watch for any spikes, Covey said on a social media post on X. Containment barriers have been set up to prevent the chemical from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean in the event of a spill, Covey said.

Exposure could lead to health problems

The damaged tank is located at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft. It holds 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 and 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, used to make plastic parts.

GKN agreed to pay state regulators more than $900,000 in 2025 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems and even render someone unconscious. It can also cause neurological problems and irritate the skin, eyes and throat, according to fact sheets about the chemical. But Orange County health officials said the chemical is easy to smell and residents may notice it over a large area without being harmed.

Whelton said the volume of chemical in the tank is much smaller than in the disastrous 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which he studied when more than 115,000 gallons (435,000 liters) of vinyl chloride was released after officials blew open five tank cars and burned the chemical.

“Many of these are acute, fast-acting effects. But the longer somebody stays in contact with it, the more potential for significant damage that occurs,” Whelton said.

If an explosion releases the chemical into the air, Whelton said, it will be crucial to conduct detailed air monitoring specifically for methyl methacrylate and not just generic tests for volatile organic compounds as officials did in East Palestine.

The weather will be an important factor in determining where a plume of chemicals would go in the event of an explosion. Officials were developing maps to predict different scenarios.

Garden Grove is next to Anaheim, home to Disneyland’s two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders. Park officials said they were monitoring the incident and supporting employees impacted by evacuations.

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Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope contributed to this report.