Georgia (8-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 2 CFP) dominated the opening 22 minutes with touchdown drives of 72, 96, 61 and 50 yards while Ole Miss crossed midfield once.

Stockton finished 9 of 15 passing for 186 yards, directing the Bulldogs to a 28-0 halftime lead. Georgia finished with 482 yards of offense, 298 in the first half.

The Bulldogs' impressive all-around performance could elevate them into the top spot in the AP Top 25 after No. 1 Miami lost at No. 4 Notre Dame.

Talyn Taylor had touchdown receptions of 3, 6 and 65 yards, while Ethan Barbour had a 58-yard TD catch. Taylor finished with 140 yards on four receptions.

Craig Dandridge Jr. had a 4-yard touchdown run and Stockton rushed for a 15-yard score. The Bulldogs rushed for 295 yards, led by Nate Frazier with 107 yards on 16 carries.

Ole Miss (6-3, 4-3, No. 10 CFP) had its 16-game home winning streak snapped as Georgia coach Kirby Smart won in Oxford for the first time in three tries.

The Rebels' Trinidad Chambliss went 18 of 34 passing for 170 yards but was sacked five times and threw an interception. Shekai Mills-Knight scored on an 8-yard run for the Rebels, who were held to 252 yards of offense.

It was a stark contrast to the teams' two meetings last season, when Georgia won 43-35 at home and Ole Miss beat the Bulldogs 39-34 in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl.

The takeaway

Georgia: The Bulldogs enhanced their CFP resume and strengthened their position at the top of the SEC standings. Linebacker Chris Cole led a dominant defensive performance with nine tackles, two quarterback hurries, 1 1/2 sacks and 1 1/2 tackles for loss.

Ole Miss: Despite a 3-3 record against ranked opponents, the Rebels remain in a logjam of SEC teams with similar two or three-loss resumes.

Up next

Georgia: Hosts No. 19 Missouri next Saturday.

Ole Miss: Visit Oklahoma next Saturday.

___

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Micah Gilbert caught two of those scoring passes, Jordan Faison had the other and Nolan James Jr. had a rushing score for Notre Dame (8-1, No. 11 College Football Playoff), which came into the game knowing another loss to Miami could doom its national championship hopes.

Not to worry. The Hurricanes (8-1, No. 1 CFP) started slowly on offense in their first game without injured wide receiver and Heisman Trophy hopeful Malachi Toney — and Notre Dame, which lost to Miami 27-24 last season in a game that ultimately kept the Irish out of the playoff, never trailed.

Darian Mensah threw three touchdown passes for Miami, twice getting the Hurricanes within a touchdown after they trailed 24-3 early in the third. Cooper Barkate had a pair of those scoring grabs, and Elija Lofton had the other.

Lofton nearly had a touchdown catch that would have made it 31-30 — the score of the Miami-Notre Dame game in 1988 — with 3:36 left, appearing to make a fourth-down grab in the end zone and getting his feet down.

But Notre Dame's Luke Talich — who had an interception in the third quarter — knocked the ball away, with officials ruling that Lofton hadn't completed the grab. Notre Dame took over on downs, ran the clock down to about a minute and held on from there.

With Miami falling, only two unbeaten teams remain in the Football Bowl Subdivision — Utah and UCLA, which both moved to 9-0 with wins Saturday. This is the first time since 2003 that only two teams made it through the first nine games unbeaten; TCU and Oklahoma did it that year.

On a night when 43 NFL scouts were part of a jampacked crowd at Notre Dame Stadium, where it was 40 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff and fell into the mid-30s as the night went along, the Irish stayed true to their mantra for 2026 — one born from the frustration from not making the CFP field a year ago.

They left no doubt. It got a little shaky at the end, but the Irish's CFP hopes are very much alive.

The takeaway

Miami: Miami had first-and-goal from the Notre Dame 1 in the second quarter and wound up settling for a field goal, after three runs — one by Fletcher and two keepers by Mensah — went nowhere. The Hurricanes wound up trailing 17-3 at halftime, after scoring at least 14 points and averaging 27 first-half points in their first eight contests this season.

Notre Dame: The Irish pulled out all the stops, with a slew of former stars — Joe Montana, Jerome Bettis Sr., Tony Rice, Chris Zorich, Ricky Watters, Ron Pawlus and NBA President of Basketball Operations Byron Spruell among them — for on-field tributes. Also honored was Pat Murphy, the manager of the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers and someone who won 73% of his games when he coached at Notre Dame.

No. 1 things

Miami fell to 44-7 when playing as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25, including an 0-2 mark against Notre Dame — after the top-ranked Hurricanes lost to the fourth-ranked Irish 31-30 in the “Catholics vs. Convicts” game in 1988.

Notre Dame improved to 10-17-1 against No. 1 teams, getting its first win in exactly six years. It beat No. 1 Clemson at home on Nov. 7, 2020, a game where the Tigers were without star quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Up next

Miami: Hosts Duke next Saturday.

Notre Dame: Hosts Boston College next Saturday.

___

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"This achievement will give young people from foster care an anchor of stability, a strong educational foundation and a chance to build a wonderful life,” she said at an event with LSU President Wade Rousse and some of the donors.

The $7.2 million in private donations will fund a permanent endowment for the scholarships, speakers said. MMR Group Inc., an electrical contracting company based in Baton Rouge, committed $5 million, with members of the LSU Foundation raising an additional $2.2 million, they said.

The first lady later attended a college football game between ranked regional rivals, No. 15 LSU and No. 9 Alabama, another participant in the scholarship program.

“As adults, we have a moral obligation to our children, especially those in foster care. But, as you know, we must act to truly make a difference. The foster care community doesn’t need words,” she added. She concluded her brief remarks with, "Now, let’s go and enjoy the game.”

LSU has 14 scholars under the program and Alabama has nine, she said, part of a group of 100 students supported across 26 participating colleges and universities this semester.

The first lady watched the game from an enclosed box at Tiger Stadium, and LSU players sported the logo of her “Be Best” initiative on their helmets and uniforms. Fans received commemorative white “Be Best” towels to wave during the game.

“Fostering the Future” is an offshoot of the “Be Best” child well-being initiative that was her signature platform during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Television cameras panned to Melania Trump in the box during the performance of the national anthem and later when a group of “Fostering the Future” scholars were recognized on the field. Cheers rose from the stadium when she appeared on the screen.

A B-52 and a Stealth Bomber flew over before kickoff, followed by a separate flyover featuring different aircraft at halftime.

Among those visiting with Melania Trump in the suite were Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., the LSU president and the “Fostering the Future” scholars.

The first lady's commemorative coin was flipped during the coin toss, the White House said. She left the game near the end of the fourth quarter with Alabama closing in on a 31-13 victory.

“It was a successful day, incredible game,” Melania Trump told reporters before boarding the flight back to Washington. As to meeting the scholarship recipients, “it was great to connect with them."

She also provided an updated figure for the endowment: $7.5 million “and growing.”

During the scholarship announcement, Rousse presented Melania Trump with an LSU helmet sporting the “Be Best” logo, a custom-made “Be Best” football and an LSU jersey with her first name and the number 14, representing the number of enrolled scholars.

“At LSU, we believe talent is everywhere, but we understand that opportunity is not,” Rousse said. "That is why access is one of our highest priorities. Students who have experienced foster care have already demonstrated resilience, determination and potential. Our responsibility, our responsibility is to make sure circumstances beyond their control do not stand between them and a life-changing higher educational experience.”

The first lady started to work on foster care issues after the Republican president left office in 2021 and created “Fostering the Future” to provide resources and support, including scholarships.

Earlier this year, Melania Trump was on Capitol Hill to push Congress to pass a legislative package that would broaden access to services for young people in foster care by updating a decades-old program. The measures cleared the House and are pending in the Senate.

She told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that young people in foster care face barriers to housing, transportation and other challenges outside of the classroom that affect their performance in school along with their future financial independence.

Last November, the first lady spearheaded an executive order signed by the president linking the federal government, colleges and universities, the private sector and charitable groups to create educational and employment opportunities for those in foster care.

She also created “Fostering the Future Together,” a global version of the program with more than 45 participating countries.

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.

Police say they responded to the shooting at the intersection of Goodrich Avenue and East Orange Street. Detectives say they learned an argument began inside the Fall Family Festival at Kit Land Nelson Park, and spilled outside, turning into gunfire.

Officers say a 21-year-old was shot multiple times, went to the hospital, and is currently in serious conditions.

Officers say they quickly located and detained two juveniles, eventually locating the firearm used. 17-year-old Jeremiah Daniels is facing charges of attempted first-degree homicide and a host of other charges.

The other juvenile is facing charges of resisting an officer without violence, but has not been named, police say.

The police department says the investigation is ongoing, and is asking anyone with information to reach out. You can reach the Apopka Police Department at 407-703-1757 or CrimeLine at 1-800-423-TIPS(8477)

This is a developing story, check back for the latest updates.

Sunday

We will wake up to temperatures right around average for this time of year thanks to a calm northerly wind. Temperatures will hover around 60°F along the I-4 corridor, mid-upper 50s north and west of I-4, and mid-upper 60s along the coast. We will enjoy mostly sunny skies all day long with just a few fair-weather clouds from time to time. This will allow highs to climb into the low 80s. While a bit warm, humidity will remain low. Sunday evening will be spectacular with temperatures in the low 70s around 7pm under clear skies. Overnight lows will once again drop into the low-mid 60s.

Next Week

Our weather pattern will be a near rinse and repeat to start the work week as we remain dry with low temperatures remaining in the mid 60s. Highs will slowly inch up towards the mid 80s by mid-week ahead of our next cold front that moves in on Friday. This front looks to be a strong one which will drop down our High temperatures to the 60s Friday and Saturday afternoon. Friday morning lows look to dip into the upper 50s to low 60s with Saturday morning lows possibly dropping into the 40s!

The Ducks seem to have found their stride though, while the Buckeyes' season has imploded.

Oregon rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to hammer No. 11 Ohio State 41-28 on Saturday as Dylan Raiola passed for 257 yards and Dierre Hill Jr. rushed for two touchdowns.

The Ducks (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten, No. 23 CFP) have won two straight after losing two of three following Dante Moore’s season-ending concussion at Southern California.

“I know it’s hard when you change what you think you’re going to be throughout the year, and somebody gets injured. It takes a while to kind of figure that out, and in college football, you just don’t have time,” Lanning said. “We went through some growing pains ourselves, and figuring out OK, how do we become the team that we want to be? And I feel like we saw glimpses of that.”

Oregon was down 14-0 late in the first quarter before scoring on four of their next five drives to take control of the game and deliver a stunning loss to the Buckeyes, who have dropped two straight games for the first time since 2011.

It was sweet revenge for the Ducks and Lanning after the Buckeyes dashed their hopes of a College Football Playoff title and undefeated 2024 season with a 41-21 win in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State went on to win their second CFP title.

“We were confident in our plan. We saw seams everywhere in their defense when we were game planning for them, and those first couple drives were like self-inflicted wounds, and so we never got down. We just kept stacking plays,” said Raiola, who completed 25 of 40 passes

Ohio State's season and its CFP hopes get blown up after Julian Sayin suffered an arm injury on Oct. 17 at Indiana. It is also the first time since October 1992 that Ohio State (6-3, 4-2, No. 12 CFP) has lost back-to-back games to unranked opponents.

Many of the 103,551 mostly scarlet-clad fans that packed Ohio Stadium had departed by midway through the fourth quarter after the Ducks had scored 38 straight points.

“We didn’t expect any of this to happen. I thought the way that we came out was how we thought we would play in this game. And then once the momentum swung, we weren’t able to stop that and then swing it,” said coach Ryan Day, who has lost three games for the first time in his eight seasons leading the Buckeyes.

Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had seven catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, was screaming at coaches and teammates on the sideline at the start of the fourth quarter.

Luke Fahey completed 36 of 50 passes for 360 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in his second start. However, 178 yards and both of his TD throws came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

Bo Jackson had 11 carries for 48 yards and scored touchdowns from 16 and 8 yards to give the Buckeyes a 14-0 lead.

Hill, who rushed for 75 yards on 13 carries, got the Ducks within 14-10 with 1:25 remaining in the second quarter on a 9-yard touchdown. The sophomore then extended Oregon's lead to 24-14 on the opening drive of the third quarter on a 48-yard run when he cut right and broke three tackles before reaching the end zone.

Raiola had two second-half touchdowns to put it out reach. Dakorien Moore made a one-handed, 11-yard catch in the back left corner of the end zone while being covered by Ohio State's Dominick Kelly midway through the third quarter to make it 31-14.

Running back Brandon Smith then went 15 yards on a screen pass, marking the first time since 1988 Ohio State has allowed at least 30 points in consecutive losses.

Turning point

Gage Hurych's 33-yard field goal early in the second quarter got Oregon on the scoreboard before the Ducks scored twice in the last 1:25 to go up 17-14 at halftime.

Oregon seized momentum with a fake punt. On fourth-and-9, linebacker Teitum Tuioti took the snap and found fellow linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei open near the right sideline for a 30-yard gain to the Buckeyes’ 39. Hill scored his first touchdown six plays later.

“We punted a couple times at that point. We’d seen a look, we felt confident. It certainly created some momentum, and gave us a chance to kind of settle in and even out the score a little bit there, and then get into a rhythm,” Lanning said.

The Ducks quickly got the ball back when defensive back Devin Jackson picked off Fahey at the Oregon 41. After Moore's 3-yard TD catch in the back of the end zone was overturned because he didn't have control of the ball when he hit the ground, tight end Jamari Johnson punched it in with a 2-yard run on a direct snap on the last play of the half.

“I thought getting off the field there before the fake punt would’ve been a huge stop and enable for us to get the ball on offense and eat up some more clock there in the second quarter, but it didn’t happen,” Day said.

The takeaway

Oregon: The Ducks have won three of their last four games against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are in danger of dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2011.

Up next

Oregon: Hosts Michigan next Saturday.

Ohio State: Hosts Northwestern next Saturday.

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Instead, the Buckeyes played their way out — probably permanently — with the 41-28 beatdown Oregon put on them at home Saturday. The loss was so devastating that it left them with no viable path to the playoff unless they make an improbable run to the Big Ten championship game and win it.

While Oregon was moving up in the Big Ten standings at the Horseshoe, Alabama was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, beating LSU 31-13 and clapping back at the many vocal dissenters of its No. 5 CFP ranking.

Earlier in the day, Utah and UCLA turned back challenges to stay unbeaten and Texas won its third straight game to keep its playoff hopes alive for another week.

The Week 10 main event had Miami, No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and CFP rankings, against No. 4 Notre Dame (No. 11 CFP) on the road. Georgia, No. 2 in both rankings, visited No. 12 Mississippi (No. 10 CFP).

Buckeyes bust

Ohio State and Oregon have failed to meet expectations after coming into the season ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the AP poll. Both have three losses now; the Ducks have the tiebreaker over Ohio State in the Big Ten race.

Down 14-3 early, Oregon scored 35 straight points after grabbing momentum with a fake punt that went for 30 yards.

Ohio State won five straight after its loss to Texas but dropped from No. 2 to No. 11 in the AP poll after it lost at Southern California last week. The Buckeyes opened at No. 12 in the CFP rankings Tuesday and now can expect to take big falls in both rankings.

With freshman Luke Fahey stepping in at quarterback for the injured Julian Sayin, they've lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since 2011 and consecutive games against unranked opponents for the first time since 1992.

The Big Ten would only have two teams safely in the playoff as of now: Indiana and UCLA.

Tide rolls over LSU

Two-loss Alabama was put in prove-it mode when the CFP selection committee ranked the Crimson Tide at No. 5. Tennessee, with a win over Alabama, was ranked eight spots lower.

LSU was the final ranked opponent for Alabama, which finishes with a visit to Vanderbilt and home games against Chattanooga of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Iron Bowl against Auburn.

LSU's playoff hopes dimmed and are nearly gone. Coach Lane Kiffin's Tigers must win out and get lots of help, and even that might not be enough. They finish the regular season against Texas at home and play Tennessee and Arkansas on the road.

Utah, UCLA stay unbeaten

Utah, No. 3 in both the AP and CFP rankings, held off No. 7 BYU (No. 9 CFP) 28-20 for its second Top 25 win in three weeks. The Utes can get another next week at No. 24 Arizona.

No. 5 UCLA (No. 8 CFP) was in a tie game at Minnesota until pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 34-20 win.

No. 7 Texas (No. 10 CFP) was tied with No. 19 Missouri deep into the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 34-20 road victory.

The Utes earned their highest-ranked win since they knocked off No. 4 Southern California in the 2022 Pac-12 Conference championship game.

BYU owns a head-to-head win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame three weeks ago but is paying a heavy price for a bad loss at UCF. The Cougars have no more ranked opponents on their schedule.

UCLA improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1998 with its hard-earned win at Minnesota. Ty Dieffenbach, making his first road start in place of the injured Nico Iamaleava, threw 75-yard touchdown passes to Aidan Mizell on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.

The Bruins will have a challenging finish to the regular season against Illinois, Michigan and No. 18 Southern California.

Texas is 4-0 against ranked opponents and will play another next week at LSU. Missouri has three losses and its playoff hopes are on life support, though a road win over No. 2 Georgia and home wins over No. 8 Kentucky and Oklahoma could get the Tigers back in the mix.

Kentucky (7-1) was playing at No. 16 Tennessee (6-2). The Volunteers needed this one to burnish their CFP hopes and haven't lost to Kentucky in five meetings under Josh Heupel.

___

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“Through the grace of God, it wasn’t a big injury,” said Russell, who was examined in an injury tent in the third quarter. "I knew if I had got out of this game I was going to feel really bad about myself because I didn’t think I had gave it my all ... . I wasn’t going to let an injury stop me from being who I am.”

Alabama (7-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) remained firmly in the College Football Playoff picture, while leaving LSU (6-3, 3-3) with long-shot hopes at best under first-year coach Lane Kiffin, who also dropped to 0-6 in his coaching career against Alabama (including prior stints at Mississippi and Tennessee).

Russell, whose touchdown passes went for 7 yards to Josh Ford, 25 yards to Cederian Morgan and 4 yards to Kaleb Edwards, said the Tide's performance in big road game “just gives all the boys confidence in how good we can be."

“We’re as great of a football team as anybody can say,” Russell said. "We just got to keep going. We can’t stop here and get complacent.”.

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 35 of 47 passes for 380 yards, but was intercepted for the first time in three games as the Tigers struggled to cash in on scoring chances.

LSU went 0 for 4 on fourth down, those failures combining with a missed field goal and a turnover in Tide territory to limit the Tigers to a single touchdown.

“I just felt like field goals weren’t going to win the game,” Kiffin said. “It was just a feeling that we were going to need some touchdowns.”

Kiffin also made a decision that is bound to be debated when he left his offense on the field on fourth-and-10 on the LSU 25 with eight minutes left. Leavitt was sacked and Alabama got in the end zone just three plays later.

“At the end of the game you can play to try and just keep the score low or whatever when you are on your own 20, but you have no chance to win by punting analytically,” Kiffin said. “So, you go for it.”

In the first half, Tigers kicker Scott Starzyk missed a 56-yard field goal attempt, Alabama’s Chuck McDonald III batted down Leavitt's pass on a fourth-and-4 play from the Tide 10-yard line, and the Tide's Luke Metz intercepted Leavitt on the Alabama 24.

“That’s what it always comes down to is getting off the field,” said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who improved to 7-0 after bye weeks as a Division I coach. “I thought guys were locked in on the plan all week long. You could feel the confidence growing.”

Alabama drove inside LSU's 45 just twice in the first half, resulting in Conor Talty's field goal and Ryan Coleman-Williams' 1-yard touchdown run on a misdirection play around the right end. Those scores gave the Tide a 10-3 halftime lead.

LSU surged into the lead, albeit briefly, when Dilin Jones' 5-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 90-yard drive that included a pass interference call against Alabama on a fourth-and-5 play from the Crimson Tide 37.

Alabama needed just 2:08 to answer with Ford's TD reception — a score set up by Rico Scott's 57-yard catch and run to the LSU 18 on the drive's opening play.

The takeaway

Alabama: The Crimson Tide lengthened its already long record of success at Tiger Stadium, where it has now won seven of its last eight. And by playing a clean game and making clutch stops, Alabama was able to win comfortably despite being outgained in total yards, 457-285, and running 28 fewer offensive plays than LSU.

LSU: No one can accuse Kiffin of shying away from risk. Alabama just seemed to have an answer for everything he and the LSU offense tried. The LSU offense also took a blow on the injury front when right tackle Weston Davis was helped off favoring his right leg during the third quarter.

Celebrities were in the audience

First Lady Melania Trump was among a handful of celebrities who spent the afternoon at Tiger Stadium. As LSU coach Lane Kiffin led the “Tiger Walk” from a bus down a short barricaded road to the north end of the stadium, he was flanked by actor Kevin Costner; Pittsburgh Pirates (and former LSU) pitcher Paul Skenes; WNBA (and ex-LSU) star Angel Reese; basketball hall of famer (and former LSU basketball player) Shaquille O'Neal, and former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne.

Up next

Alabama: Visits Vanderbilt next Saturday.

LSU: Hosts No. 10 Texas next Saturday.

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He's delivered variations of this ominous warning about climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels like oil and gas, in the past decade, often with increasingly hyperbolic language. Three years ago, he even said, “the era of global boiling has arrived, " referring to rising temperatures and increasing extreme weather, both results of climate change.

But this time, it will be his last global warming sermon as head of the United Nations as his second and last term expires at the end of the year. And the sense of urgency is palpable in a world with worsening killer heat waves, storms, floods and droughts amid ever higher temperatures and, on top of all of it, El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern that scrambles weather systems around the globe.

“This is a moment of truths. We can no longer wait, we can no longer have endless discussions in which everybody tries to push the responsibility to someone else. Everybody must do more, everybody must do more now,” Guterres said he will tell leaders of the U.N. climate conference, known as COP31, scheduled Nov. 9-20.

The “moment of truth” message weighs so heavily that the Secretary-General used the phrase three times in 20 minutes during a recent exclusive interview with The Associated Press from his 38th floor conference room at U.N. headquarters. He discussed his one last push in the fight against climate change and a ten-year tenure where he became one of the most visible advocates urging often recalcitrant countries to do more to reduce their emissions of heat-trapping gases.

One of the most difficult days

The gravity of global warming reality also weighs heavily as he recalled his personal climate moment of truth. It was, he said, “one of the most difficult days of my life.”

It came last year when he consulted with scientists before a major speech on climate. As he had for nine years, Guterres was going to insist that the 2015 Paris Agreement's main goal — limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times — was still alive. He was going to say the world needs to do far more to keep below that threshold, and that it was doable.

“Scientists told me you cannot say that because that's no longer true,” said Guterres, an engineer before his political career. Too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the result of burning fossil fuels, had been released into the atmosphere.

“That was an enormous shock for me,” he said. Now the U.N. is trying to limit how much past that threshold the world heads.

It felt like a failure, Guterres said.

“But it's not the world that's failed, it's the political leadership that's failed,” Guterres said. Protecting the planet, he said, requires a long-term strategic view. Yet in many political systems “there is no strategic view. And policies change frequently, not allowing the kind of constant determined investment that is necessary," Guterres said.

He pointed to his tenure as Portugal's prime minister in the late 1990s to show it's possible to invest long term in a greener future. He added that a worldwide boom in wind and solar power as cheaper alternatives to fossil fuels gives him hope.

With wars raging in Ukraine and Iran and worries about artificial intelligence — which he also tried to rally world leaders around — there are a lot of threats out there, Guterres said.

“The problem is that all these things are getting combined,” Guterres said, noting the huge electricity and water consumption and carbon emissions of AI.

War-related energy shocks show that relying on fossil fuels is a fundamental security problem, he said.

Warning of a disaster that then came

Three years ago, Guterres toured the highest peaks of Nepal, warning of a future with swollen glacier-fed lakes bursting and devastating floods and landslides.

“I am here today to cry out from the rooftop of the world: Stop the madness,” Guterres said in 2023. “The glaciers are retreating, but we cannot,” he said. “We must end the fossil fuel age.”

“Unfortunately they came sooner than what I expected,” he recalled in the interview. Floods in August killed more than 1,400 people with another 5,600 missing. Scientists said climate change played a role in the disasters.

Guterres said someone needs to pay to help the victims of climate change, who often didn't cause the problem.

“Fossil fuel companies are making huge profits and obviously those windfall profits should be taxed and those taxes should be applied in supporting the countries that are having the more dramatic impacts of climate change," Guterres said.

Talking earlier this month with a science team on a drifting platform in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, Guterres mentioned that his trip to Mount Everest and chats with researchers changed him. He said the conversations created "a sense of fury in relation to those who go on, if not denying, at least refusing to take the measures that are necessary to stop this madness.”

Praised as a climate champion despite limitations

"António Guterres has consistently been eloquent, forceful and right on target in all of his many statements and initiatives to address the climate crisis," former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said. “He’s been so active on this issue because he understands clearly that it is the greatest challenge facing humanity.”

European Climate Foundation CEO Laurence Tubiana, who presided over the negotiations that resulted in the Paris Agreement, said Guterres “has done what he could, even pushing the ball much, much farther than any other SG, to the point that he may have been represented in a very adversarial context.”

Because nations don't have to do what the U.N. or its leaders ask and superpowers have veto authority, Guterres said his position as secretary-general “has no real power. We have not much money you know. But there is one thing we have: A voice."

That's why he simply has three words of advice to whoever succeeds him: “Tell the truth.” The U.N. Security Council is still deciding on who will be the next secretary-general.

The one message Guterres said he wants the public to remember on climate change: “Take it seriously because it is an existential threat. And the first thing we need to fight is for our own lives.”

___

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Leo spent his first full day in Uruguay pointing to the church’s historic roots in the country and the work it’s doing today. He drew an estimated 100,000 people at a prayer vigil and visited a violence-ravaged neighborhood of Montevideo where church groups have built homes, provided job opportunities and run drug rehabilitation programs.

The aim, on the first stop of his three-nation South American tour, is to propose the Catholic faith as a response to today's challenges and the church a willing helper in a country where even Catholic holidays have secular names and God cannot be mentioned in oaths of office.

Leo traveled first to Paysandú, in western Uruguay on the border with Argentina, for his first Mass in South America. The Vatican said 40,000 people -- many from Uruguay but also from neighboring Argentina and Brazil – came out, despite the morning rain and blustery gray skies.

The crowd erupted in the stadium chant of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, pope, pope!” when Leo’s plane landed in Paysandú, around 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo. They cheered again, blew horns and waved yellow handkerchiefs when he arrived in his open-sided popemobile at the Mass site in a park.

Speaking to the crowd in Spanish, Leo reminded them that the Catholic faith had been “part of the life of the Uruguayan people since their earliest days, and it must be passed on to future generations with creative courage!”

Because of its accessible location on the Uruguay River, the city was chosen to host Leo’s first Mass at the start of his 12-day South American tour that was in doubt after he underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 13.

“He’s the representative of Christ but he’s human. And we weren’t sure if he could make it, but he pushed through for us,” said Soledad Sánchez, 73, who had driven to Paysandú from northern Uruguay, her eyes filling with tears. “He made it here to give us a message of peace because he knows our world needs it right now.”

A visit to try to propose the Catholic faith

Leo asked the faithful to build bridges of fraternity, recalling the nearby bridge over the Uruguay River that connects Uruguay and Argentina and over which many pilgrims crossed to attend the Mass.

He also pointed to the ritual of drinking mate, the bitter herbal tea that Uruguayans and their neighbors carry everywhere, as a poignant symbol of unity and encounter that he suggested should be applied to spreading the faith.

“It teaches us to share and to be together, strengthening the bonds that unite us as brothers and sisters,” he said. “It is a sign of welcome, integration and shared values.”

Mate, a cherished national symbol in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, is above all a sharing ritual. The leaves are steeped in a hollowed gourd and the drink is sipped through a metal straw called a bombilla, and the gourd passes from hand to hand among friends, family and sometimes strangers, refilled for hours.

Everyone drinks from the same straw, and Uruguayans drink more mate per person than people anywhere else, roughly 9 kilograms (about 20 pounds) of the dried leaf a year, according to industry estimates.

“We must reflect on these symbols that we share, which give us identity and a sense of belonging, which speak to us of our origins and point us toward the future,” Leo said.

The message landed.

“I’m not religious. I’d never go to Mass if it weren’t the pope, but he surprised me. He made it appealing, the way he talked about things we all have in common, like mate,” said Jorge Monzón, 64, from Paysandú. “I personally felt a sense of communion.”

An example of how the church is helping Uruguay

Leo pressed the message of the church's commitment to helping Uruguayans later Saturday by visiting Casavalle, a Montevideo area of small neighborhood s beset by drug trafficking and gang violence. In Borro, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish builds homes and supports addicts in their recovery, with donations including from The Papal Foundation, the U.S.-based group of wealthy Catholics who fund special papal projects.

Leo toured some of the new homes and praised the work church groups were doing, all while the crowd chanted “León, amigo, el barrio está contigo!" (Leon, my friend, the neighborhood is with you!")

He said Christians must commit themselves to the charity and closeness shown by the biblical figure of the good Samaritan, “who did not remain indifferent upon seeing misfortune, but took responsibility for his brother’s life.”

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there are children in Uruguay who do not go to school for fear of never returning home,” he said.

Uruguay has universal access to primary school and enrolls nearly all its children, but only about half of Uruguayans finish high school, one of the lowest rates in Latin America, according to the National Institute for Educational Evaluation. The graduation rate is even worse for children from the poorest households, where only one in four graduate compared to nearly nine out of 10 from the wealthiest families.

Jonathan Tropiano, 28, is one of the many in the area whose lives were transformed by the church.

He dreamed of becoming a rapper but was arrested after falling into crime and violence. Once out of prison, at the age of 20, Tropiano became closer and closer to the local church.

“My life was horrible, with so much suffering. But then I found God and that was when I started to be a better person,” he said.

Late Saturday Leo presided over an evening prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium, which hosted Pope John Paul II during the last papal visit to Uruguay in 1988. The Vatican said some 70,000 people were inside and another 30,000 outside watching on TV screens.

Leo told them that the relatively small number of Catholics in Uruguay wasn't a calculus the church considers important, recalling that Jesus was born in a small stable in Bethlehem.

“God chose Bethlehem, and that choice alone is enough to prevent us from equating smallness with insignificance,” Leo said.

Argentines flock to see Leo across the border

Saturday was Leo's only full day in Uruguay before heading Sunday afternoon to Argentina for the second leg of his trip, which was to end next week in his second homeland of Peru.

Many Argentines, though, took advantage of the Paysandú Mass to see him since it was located just across a bridge from the eastern Argentine city of Colón and was closer than any of his Argentine stops in Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba.

“Argentina is a much more religious country than Uruguay, and there’s this desire to be here to witness something historic,” said Luciana Lobato, 20, an Argentine tour agent who organized buses for 180 pilgrims from across the border.

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Ramiro Barreiro in Montevideo contributed.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The TNR program — which involves trapping feral cats, having them surgically neutered, then returning them to where they were found — has operated in the city for roughly 10 years. Until now, it had never been codified into law.

How the program works

Volunteers trap free-roaming cats and hold them through the recovery period before releasing them back to their original location. Central Florida Community Pet Clinic handles the surgical side, carefully matching each cat to its trap before and after surgery.

“We literally go out and trap… we hold them in this trap for the duration of their recovery, and then they are released back to where they came from,” said Robin McClintock, a program volunteer.

The clinic dedicates a specific recovery space — nicknamed “the Beach” by staff — to post-surgery care.

“This is where everybody gets prepped. This is the Beach. We call it the Beach. This is where they recover after surgery,” a clinic staff member said.

Why it matters

Stevenson, who approached Central Florida Community Pet Clinic about partnering on the program, says TNR does more than manage cat populations — it reduces nuisance behavior and protects public health.

“This is very important because people just want to feed the cats and help them and take care of them. And if they did that alone, they would continue to overpopulate and reproduce,” Stevenson said.

To scale the effort, Stevenson helped launch a nonprofit and grow a volunteer base.

“With the help of some friends, we started a nonprofit and we’ve gotten more volunteers, and the organization level has definitely increased. We’re able to answer calls for requests for cats very quickly,” she said.

So far this year, volunteers have trapped 160 cats or kittens, according to McClintock.

A legacy project

Stevenson terms out of the DeBary City Council in a few months. She said her involvement with the organization she helped build is far from over.

The new permit ordinance marks the program’s transition from a passion project to a permanent part of city policy.

The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.

The 25-year-old attacker drove to multiple spots in the square and opened fire at each stop with an automatic weapon, authorities said. Although they didn’t release his name, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the man holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.

"Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Hours after the attack, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said authorities found the bodies of three of the suspect's close family members — two women and a man — inside of his home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow.

“We have the next acts of this tragedy,” Tusk told reporters.

Four women and two men were killed in the Krakow attack. At least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a U.K. citizen, authorities said. Police were still trying to identify the other two people who were killed.

A total of 13 people were hospitalized in serious condition, authorities said, though that figure may include the gunman, who underwent surgery after the attack.

It’s unclear how many of the injured were shot. Two of them were treated and released within hours of the mass shooting. Two police officers were seriously injured, Kierwiński said. Five non-Poles were also injured, police commander Marek Boroń said.

People were wounded at several locations

The attacker wore military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest, and used a military-type long gun, Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said. Police found other weapons and ammunition in his car. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.

The attacker engaged in a “wild ride” around Main Square, which is why people were wounded at several locations, said Cisło, adding that the gunman appears to have acted alone.

Krakow mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city will be in official mourning until Wednesday. He vowed that Krakow will remain open to visitors despite the tragedy.

“The square will belong to us again,” Gibała said in a video posted on X.

Mass shootings are rare in Poland

Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse himself to the ground.

Photos showed a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter after it landed in the square.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the gun used in the attack or those found in the attacker’s car are legal. Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.

Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children.

The Krakow attacker's military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other “extreme right lone actors” committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague. “We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland.”

Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced increased security measures, including road barriers, along main streets in the old town in the Polish capital in the aftermath of the Krakow attack.

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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Dazio reported from Berlin.

Democrat Darren Soto is expected to win in District 9.

Republican Ryan Elijah is expected to win in District 7.

The Florida Department of State said on Saturday only District 27 in South Florida is the only Florida U.S. House district going to a recount. Florida State House District 33 in Brevard County will also go to a recount.

State law requires a machine recount when the margin is one-half of 1 percent or less of total votes cast.

Results will not be official until the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission certifies them on Nov. 17, 2026.

Darren Soto has already declared victory

Democratic incumbent Rep. Darren Soto faced a steep climb when Florida’s Republican legislature redrew congressional district, adding more traditionally Republican areas into District 9, which previously only included Osceola County and parts of Orange County and Polk County.

District 9 was redrawn this year and now stretches across 5,500 square miles, taking in parts of Orange and Osceola counties along with portions of Polk, Indian River, Okeechobee, Highlands, and Glades counties.

Soto faced Republican challenger Dan Green, a military veteran who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense during the first Trump administration.

Ryan Elijah ‘honored by people of Central Florida

TV news anchor turned politician Ryan Elijah posted on social media after the state’s announcement.

“I am honored by the faith of the people of Central Florida have placed in me and will work to maintain their trust each and every day.”

Elijah will replaced scandal plagued U.S. Congressman Cory Mills.

Last fall, a judge granted a temporary restraining order involving Mills after his former girlfriend accused him of threatening to release intimate photographs of her. Mills has denied wrongdoing in connection with the allegations.

Mills is also the subject of an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.

Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. are to meet on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. The new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, the most recent having been in Geneva in February.

Western governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved.

The Russian missiles that hit overnight across the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, damaged homes and commercial properties, triggering new power and water outages, national and city authorities said.

Kateryna Korniichuk, 64, was at home with her granddaughter when an attack hit.

“The first blast wave threw us against that wall and then against the other wall, because we were in the corridor. It’s very hard. No sleep, no peace — nothing. The children aren’t sleeping, and neither are we," she told The Associated Press. “I’m old, I can handle it, but what have the children done wrong?”

Strikes also prompted officials to close Kyiv's 816-meter-long (892-yard-long) Northern Bridge, a major route connecting the city with large residential areas on the east bank of the Dnipro River.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that work was already underway to repair the city's Northern Bridge and that water pressure in Kyiv had been stabilized. Earlier Saturday, he had described the city's energy situation as "extremely difficult, affecting the city’s heating and water supply systems.”

Zelenskyy slams Russian attacks ahead of trilateral negotiations

In a statement Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for trilateral talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.”

Later, he said that Moscow was stepping up strikes to build pressure on Ukraine ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks. “Russia perceives diplomacy in its own peculiar way – as a form of aggression,” he wrote in an online post.

The Ukrainian leader said that Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight, of which only four were shot down due to a lack of Patriot interceptors.

Zelenskyy also said that Russia had used North Korean-made ballistic missiles to strike energy facilities, citing preliminary findings from investigations at impact sites.

The barrage involved 172 drones over Kyiv and 12 other regions, wounding nine people, including a child, he said.

“When Russia tries to plunge Kyiv — a city of millions — and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left to face this alone,” Zelenskyy said. He urged greater U.S. support and attention from Congress, calling for bipartisan backing for Ukraine and stronger sanctions on Russia.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Saturday’s missile attacks damaged networks that carry electricity from nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central regions, as well as multiple other power facilities. It said outages were most widespread in the Kyiv and central Zhytomyr regions, as well as in the eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.

The outages were separate from scheduled rolling blackouts imposed to protect the grid, which remain in effect across much of Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the Northern Bridge, saying that it facilitated the transport of weaponry, military hardware and specialist equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.

It also said that it had targeted an industrial facility in the capital producing Flamingo missiles, as well as a power station, an electrical substation, and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region. It also confirmed striking an electrical substation in the Zhytomyr region.

Death toll rises to 55 after the strike on aid center in Komyshuvakha

Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, a recovery operation continued into its sixth day in the village of Komyshuvakha, devastated on Monday when multiple Russian guided bombs slammed into a former school and nearby shelter as residents waited for humanitarian aid.

Emergency services said they had recovered nine more bodies in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll early Saturday morning to 55. Dozens of people remain missing.

Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, said he was still looking for his wife but had heard no word from rescuers.

“She went to get humanitarian aid, and a three-ton bomb was dropped there. Where is she?” he said. “She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there. She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”

The village of Komyshuvakha is located near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian attack on Russia's Belgorod region kills 1 person

A Ukrainian attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region when a drone hit a private home in the town of Grayvoron, local officials said Saturday.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces shot down 411 Ukrainian drones overnight over 10 Russian regions, including Belgorod. Drones were also destroyed over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas, it said.

The head of Russia’s southwestern Saratov region, Gov. Roman Busargin, wrote on social media that a drone attack damaged “civilian infrastructure” and several residential buildings in the area. Russian media outlets later reported that the Saratov Oil Refinery had been hit and shared images of plumes of smoke over the city.

The head of Russia’s Oryol region, Gov. Andrey Klychkov, also said Saturday that a Ukrainian attack had damaged commercial warehouse and production sites in the regional capital, as cited by state media.

Russian media outlets reported that a Ukrainian attack sparked a blaze at Oryol’s Proton-Electrotex plant, which produces components for military equipment.

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Vasilisa Stepanenko in Komyshuvakha, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, 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

Trump, while he was at his golf club in Florida, posted on social media that he made the offer to “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” to become the Republican president's chief spokesperson.

White, who was in London on Saturday for a boxing event, was asked at a news conference about Trump's post and responded by saying that he planned to fly to Washington right after and meet with Trump on Monday.

When asked how he would balance the job with the current positions he has in the fighting world, White seemed confused by the question and then said, “Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already.”

He declined to say what conversations he'd had with Trump but said, “I'm sure I'll have more to talk about after that.”

Before the news conference, the UFC head shared an image of Trump’s post on Instagram, along with an image of himself standing behind the podium in the White House press briefing room with the words “On to the next chapter.”

The White House and a spokesperson for the UFC did not respond Saturday to messages inquiring about the Truth Social post.

Trump said in his post that he requested that White bring along several UFC fighters as “assistants,” adding, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”

While White didn't make it clear if he was seriously considering the position of becoming the primary spokesperson for the president of the United States, he did elsewhere in his news conference describe his ambitions to expand the Zuffa Boxing organization he also runs with Saudi Arabian backers and hold more of its events around the world.

Trump's post came as his White House is in a period of major transition and struggling with his party's deep losses in Tuesday's midterm elections. The historic wins by Democratic candidates, including in areas that Republicans had held for decades, led to the GOP losing control of both chambers of Congress.

Trump on Friday announced he was replacing his longtime adviser Susie Wiles, who was seen as something of a tempering force on the president's impulses, with aide Stephen Miller to serve as the next chief of staff. Miller is known as the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies and is among the most determined of Trump's inner circle.

The shake-up at the heart of his administration follows the brief but tumultuous week when Trump tried out a new press secretary in Katie Zacharia, who seemed uncomfortable in her sole appearance before reporters before leaving the job after five days.

The post had been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August. Trump remains without a chief spokesperson.

Trump is close friends with White and has attended several UFC events with him since returning to the White House in January 2025.

He brought White and the sport to the White House’s South Lawn in June for the celebration of America’s 250th year of its independence and the president's own 80th birthday. A wire-mesh Octagon was constructed near the executive mansion under " The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lights, sound equipment and large screens.

“It was an amazing experience, this was a one-of-one,” said White afterward.

White also spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

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Associated Press writers Daniel Gelston in Philadelphia and Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

“It’s so wonderful! It’s so wonderful to have Scott Colom as our representative,” said Maati Jone Primm, who owns Marshall’s Music & Bookstore in Jackson.

The state is still tallying ballots that could make Colom the first Black senator from this Deep South state since post-Civil War Reconstruction. The possibility of Colom defeating Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith puts many Black voters somewhere between cautious optimism and outright celebration in a state where nearly 40% of the population is Black but the top representation for generations has been white.

“I’m so glad we are at the point where we are,” said Sorie Tarawally, a 76-year-old attorney who has long known Colom’s father. He called the 43-year-old candidate “the man, our messiah, our savior.”

The contest remains too early for The Associated Press to call, and Colom’s historic bid will hinge on a tedious process playing out in elections offices across Mississippi’s 82 counties. Local officials are receiving and examining absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots, before deadlines next week. Volunteers and lawyers representing each campaign look on in anticipation of potential litigation.

“We’re going to make sure everything is followed according to the law, and I have confidence in those local officials,” Colom said. “They’re doing their jobs. Got to be patient with them.”

Colom said ballots tallied since Tuesday's election lean in his favor, and he chided Hyde-Smith for not explaining her strategy going forward.

“She’s still our senator. Where is she? Why is she not doing any interviews?” Colom asked. “Why can’t she explain what her pathway to success is?"

Hyde-Smith has not appeared publicly since election night, when she essentially declared victory despite a razor-thin margin with ballots still uncounted.

"We are not backing down," she posted Friday on social media. “This election is not over. Our team is working across Mississippi to monitor the remaining ballots and protect the integrity of the process. We will see this through to the very end!”

Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, the first Democratic senator to campaign with Colom this year, said in an interview that she came away from her trip knowing that voters “would be really energized by a candidate like Scott.” But Alsobrooks, who is her state’s first Black senator, added that “the takeaway I had when I visited Mississippi was that there was a belief problem” after years of defeats.

“They now know that their vote matters,” she said.

The precise number of outstanding ballots is not known

The pool of outstanding ballots includes absentee ballots, which can be counted in Mississippi as long as they are received by Tuesday, five business days after the election. The rest are affidavit ballots, which are cast at the polls when there's a glitch: Perhaps the person's name was not on the rolls or the person did not have proper identification, or a poll worker determined the person's identification did not precisely match the name on the list.

Citizens who had identification issues have until Tuesday to address those matters in person at their local elections office. For people who were not on a precinct’s rolls, local officials can verify a person's status using previous records and information on the affidavit that person filed when filling out a ballot. That person typically has no responsibility to come to a local elections office; ballot status can be found on the Mississippi secretary of state’s office website.

Counties have until Friday to certify complete results to the secretary of state.

Mississippi law has no provision for a statewide recount. Campaigns could seek court orders, usually county by county, seeking to examine ballots.

The seismic effect would be in Mississippi, not Washington

Democrats already have won control of the Senate, so the result in Mississippi would not change the balance of power in Washington.

But it would mark a seismic shift in the state, where white conservatives have dominated the Statehouse and congressional delegation for nearly 150 years. Through Jim Crow segregation and the Civil Rights era, those leaders were nearly all Democrats. After the Civil Rights Movement, they overwhelmingly shifted to Republicans. For Black Mississippians, the result was the same: a lack of proportional representation at the top levels of state government and in Washington.

Colom was initially viewed as a long shot, and it wasn't until late October that Senate Democrats' top campaign group started spending on advertising to support him. But the midterms revealed a broad backlash against redistricting efforts in the South that were aimed at boosting Republicans and, by extension, reducing Black representation.

Primm's bookstore, where Colom visited on Friday, opened in the 1930s and is recognized as the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the U.S.

She said the Farish Street neighborhood still represents Black Mississippians’ “first migration, from the plantation to the city.” Having Colom there as a potential senator “makes us so proud, and it gives us someone to aspire to. Our youth need to see the possibilities for their lives, and we do when we see our next senator from Mississippi.”

As he campaigned, Colom emphasized that he can represent all Mississippians, and he said President Donald Trump’s policies — the war with Iran and tariffs, especially — cut across all demographic lines. He even celebrated the extended ballot counting process as a benefit to the state's 2.95 million residents.

“I’m so glad the national press is getting to see the beauty of our state,” he said.

But Colom and his Black supporters also have never ignored the significance of his candidacy as a Black man.

“We are motivated by the gross inequalities we have seen in society and how only one side seems to benefit,” said Tarawally, who was born in Sierra Leone and arrived in the Deep South to attend law school at the University of Mississippi. “So, we want a person who speaks to our benefit.”

Colom ended his campaign with an ad set at the Jackson home of Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was gunned down in 1963 in his own driveway, dying in front of his wife and children.

“It’s a powerful reminder of the sacrifice to gain the ballot, and nobody sacrificed more than Medgar Evers and his family,” Colom said Friday.

“What was important to me about that ad is we didn’t ask people to vote for me. We just talked about the sacrifice, talked about the story,” he continued. “We just wanted that to be the closing ad because I wanted that to be the last message that the people of Mississippi heard.”

The event will show everything from Thunderbirds, to the Artemis III astronauts, and other special exhibits.

The event is taking place at the Kennedy Space Center, and agencies from NASA, to the Department of War, to the U.S. Airforce and more will all be there showing off the strength of American technology from the past, present, and even looks into the future.

Your Community Correspondent Gwyneth Falloon was there last night as President Donald Trump gave remarks ahead of the event, his first appearance since the midterm elections.

You can find everything you need to know about the event at this link.

Mauri also faces charges related to fleeing deputies and crashing into a deputy’s patrol vehicle. He is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

A DeLand mother locked herself and her children in a bedroom as a man forced his way into the home on Thursday evening, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

In a release, deputies said they responded to the 911 call around 7:30 p.m. after the man — identified as Joshua Mauri — broke into the house.

“Responding deputies were listening to a frantic call on Live911 until Mauri took the victim’s phone, smashed it, and threatened to do the same to her face.” the release reads. “Mauri fled the scene in a black Porsche SUV, nearly hitting the first deputy arriving on scene.”

The deputy began to chase Mauri, but because he could no longer hear the victim on Live911, he instead went back to the house to check on her well-being, the VSO explained.

“She was OK but afraid for her life,” the release continues.

However, Mauri returned to the scene around 1:30 a.m. while deputies were still in the area, investigators explained.

As deputies approached him, he reversed his SUV, ramming into the front of a patrol vehicle before speeding off through the yard, through a fence, and onto State Road 44 into Lake County, the release shows.

He now faces charges of domestic assault, robbery by sudden snatching, deprivation of 911, fleeing, aggravated fleeing, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, and criminal mischief.

Anyone who sees Mauri is urged to call 911.

In a press conference Saturday, Nancy Salomón, the South American nation’s chief prosecutor for corruption and economic crimes, said Peña would be investigated for the crimes of breach of trust and administration for personal gain.

Peña’s removal marks a major crisis for Paraguay, which returned to democratic rule in 1989. Since then, the nation of 6 million people has been mostly governed by the conservative Colorado Party, of which Peña was a member.

Prosecutors said the former president could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty of both crimes and have asked a judge to freeze Peña's assets and send him to prison while investigations continue.

Later on Saturday, Paraguayan Judge Humberto Otazu complied with that request and said Peña will be held at a military base as investigations continue, in order to “guarantee his compliance” with the anti-corruption probe.

On Tuesday, regulators in Paraguay intervened in Ueno Bank, freezing the accounts of nearly 3 million customers and triggering a political crisis that led to Peña's removal by Congress on Friday night.

Earlier on Saturday, Peña was questioned by prosecutors at the Attorney General's compound, in the capital Asuncion. The former president was not in handcuffs but was escorted by police.

Lawmakers accused Peña of using his political influence to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno while regulators overlooked risky insider lending. Peña has denied wrongdoing.

Paraguayan prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of Peña and former Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo as part of a criminal investigation into alleged breach of trust and other offenses tied to the collapse of Ueno Bank. Peña was transferred to a military base late Friday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside his home.

The arrest order was issued soon after the Senate removed Peña from office in a unanimous vote. He was replaced by Vice President Pedro Alliana, who began naming a new Cabinet on Saturday. The Central Bank said Saturday that 1.2 million Ueno customers had received partial or full reimbursement of their deposits. Under Paraguayan law, deposits of up to $37,000 are insured.

Peña submitted his resignation Thursday, but Congress did not accept it and pressed ahead with an impeachment trial. Opposition lawmakers insisted on his removal to prevent him from leaving office with immunity.

“He must go, but not home. He must go to a maximum-security prison,” opposition Sen. Yolanda Paredes told reporters. “The public is fed up with impunity.”

In a farewell message released shortly before he was ousted Friday, Peña expressed hope his departure would spare Paraguay further harm.

“I do not want my presence to be a cause of greater division or instability,” he wrote. “My responsibility is to put the country above my personal fate.”

Public outrage has intensified by the day. Thousands of protesters demanding access to their frozen savings and accountability for Ueno’s failure have clashed with police firing rubber bullets and pepper spray this week. Paraguay’s largest teachers’ union, which has more than 40,000 members, plans to begin an indefinite national strike Monday to press for protection of public pension funds.

On Saturday, a few dozen protesters gathered outside the Attorney General's compound hoping to express their frustration with Peña, who was driven quickly out of the building.

Some of the protesters said they also want Paraguay's new president, who was a close ally of Peña, to be investigated.

“They are all accomplices,” said Liliana Jara, a demonstrator who showed up at the site. “They are part of the same clique.”

Meanwhile, airstrikes near Yemen’s capital killed at least 27 people, according to a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry. In Israel, the president tapped opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot to form a government, in a post-election setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard lifts its missile-range limit

The comments by the spokesman of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard came days after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khomeini, warned that “any kind and level of threat” from the U.S. or Israel would face a response without geographic limits.

Asked at a Tehran news conference about the limit on missile ranges, Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said, “That restriction has been lifted for us.”

Iran is not known to have missiles that can go beyond the 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) limit. However, U.S. officials have said technology from Iran’s space program can be repurposed to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.

US military fires on commercial vessel in Gulf of Oman

U.S. Central Command said late Saturday it disabled a St. Kitts-flagged ship after it ignored multiple warnings and attempted to leave the region after visiting an Iranian port.

U.S. forces have been enforcing a naval blockade on Iran for months in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial strategic waterway for global shipping, including of oil.

Iran established a chokehold on the strait at the beginning of the war, and has claimed attacks on tankers. On Saturday night, the Iranian military said two tankers in the area had hit mines and caught fire.

The U.S. says its blockade had redirected 144 commercial vessels through the end of October. U.S. Central Command also announced Saturday a new task force focusing on hampering Iran’s transportation options through its land borders and the Caspian Sea.

Iran media report explosions on Qeshm Island

Iran state media also reported on Saturday evening the sound of two explosions on Qeshm Island in the strait, as well as several explosions in the port of Jask.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosions. U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately respond to an AP request for comment.

Houthis say airstrikes kill more than 2 dozen people near Yemen’s capital

Airstrikes in a village near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killed at least 27 people and wounded 36 others, mostly women and children, on Saturday, said Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims. The Houthi spokesman accused Saudi Arabia, whose Information Ministry did not immediately reply to an AP request for comment.

Since the summer, fighting has escalated between the Iranian-backed Houthis and their Saudi-backed opponents.

Israel's president taps opposition leader to form new government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday night that he was giving opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a new government following elections on Oct. 27.

Eisenkot, a former military chief, ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leading a bloc of parties seeking to oust Israel’s longest-serving premier. With neither his nor Netanyahu's bloc winning a majority in parliament, the task to negotiate a coalition remains challenging in the deeply divided country reeling from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the three years of wars that have followed in Gaza and beyond.

Rains mark return of winter misery for Gaza's Palestinians

In the Gaza Strip, displaced families spent a sleepless night as heavy rain flooded their fragile tents, soaking mattresses and belongings, and turning camp pathways into pools of muddy water.

The rain marks the start of another difficult winter for the more than 1.6 million Palestinians living in tents or other makeshift shelters in the territory, where nearly the entire population has lost its homes during Israel’s campaign triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks.

Midterms suggest frustration with Israel among US Democrats and Republicans

The results of the U.S. midterm elections suggest that long-standing U.S. support for Israel is on rocky ground on both sides of the aisle. Democrats, who gained control of Congress, are fiercely divided, and many Republicans are increasingly critical of Israel’s government, particularly its wartime conduct in Gaza.

On Tuesday, as Americans went to the polls, President Donald Trump suggested cutting off aid to Israel. Then, a staunch critic of Israel, Abdul El-Sayed, became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

The Democratic senator-elect from Michigan addressed U.S. Vice President JD Vance as “JD, habibi” — a common Arabic term of affection — in his victory speech. And Vance partly blamed the Republicans’ massive electoral losses across the country on U.S.-Israel relations, including the war in Iran the two countries launched jointly on Feb. 28.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Dampier hurt the Cougars with with his arm and legs, finishing with 266 yards of offense to help the Utes (9-0, 6-0 Big 12, No. 3 CFP) snap a three-game losing streak in the Holy War rivalry series. He threw two touchdown passes to Braden Pegan and ran for two more scores.

“All I know is I love him,” Utah coach Morgan Scalley said. “He’s a competitor. He’s a warrior. He wins us football games.”

Trailing by six at halftime, Utah forced three turnovers and shut out the Cougars (7-2, 4-2, No. 9 CFP) in the second half to keep alive its College Football Playoff hopes. BYU has lost two of three to dampen its CFP chances.

Bachmeier threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards, but he had two of his four interceptions in the fourth quarter — both in the end zone. He had four interceptions in BYU’s first eight games.

“That’s an incredible amount of turnovers that we had,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “If you know anything about this rivalry, that is not the way to win it."

Down 20-14 at halftime, Utah went ahead in the third quarter on Pegan’s 14-yard TD catch while its defense held BYU to 39 yards and had an interception during that stretch.

Dampier’s second TD run — this one from 3 yards out — gave Utah a 28-20 lead with 12:03 left.

Bachmeier marched BYU down to the Utah 2 but threw an interception to Trey Reynolds with 4:39 remaining. Nate Ritchie picked off another Bachmeier pass in the end zone in the final seconds after the Cougars had reached the Utah 41.

“Our team played lights out in that last quarter,” Dampier said. “That was one of our best quarters of all of us.”

Utah covered 138 yards and scored two touchdowns over its first seven plays. That helped the Utes go ahead 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.

Dampier was the catalyst for the fast start. He hit Noah Bennee for a 47-yard pass to set up his own 22-yard scoring run on Utah’s first drive. Then, Dampier hit Pegan in stride over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown on the Utes’ second drive.

“We find any way to give ourselves momentum,” Dampier said. “That’s just the mentality of our offense. Any time we get out there — let’s just spark this thing. Let’s go get in the end zone. Yeah, we start off pretty well.”

BYU erased the deficit before halftime after recovering two fumbles and forcing four punts over six second-quarter drives.

The Cougars scored their first touchdown when Bachmeier hit Legend Glasker in stride for a 75-yard pass. Then, BYU took its first lead at 20-14 midway through the second quarter when LJ Martin, back from injury, reached the end zone untouched on a 4-yard TD run.

The Cougars offense unraveled in the second half, totaling 111 yards and 4.0 yards per play.

“Going into the second half, we got too big-headed thinking the game was ours,” said Glasker, who finished with 118 yards on seven catches. "We thought we had it and we thought they were just gonna bow down to us.”

The Takeaway

BYU allowed 42 total yards in the second quarter and recovered two fumbles, opening the door for the Cougars to rally from an early double-digit deficit. Bachmeier’s three second-half interceptions doomed the comeback.

Utah has outscored opponents 103-9 in the first quarter through nine games. The Utes lead the Bowl Subdivision in first-quarter point differential (+94) and fewest points allowed in the first quarter.

Triple Threat

Turns out Dampier isn’t just a playmaking threat as a passer and a runner. He also can catch the ball.

Dampier hauled in a 29-yard catch along the sideline from receiver Creed Whittemore in the third quarter. He created separation from safety Raider Damuni and brought down the ball as he fell backward.

It was Dampier’s second career reception overall and first at Utah.

“I told Creed to throw it regardless,” said Dampier, who transferred from New Mexico in December 2024. “I don’t care if there’s two people on me. Throw it. I’m going to find a way to go catch it and I’m happy it played out like that.”

Sack Attack

BYU sacked Dampier three times for a total loss of 12 yards. Utah did not register a sack against the Cougars. It was the first time since 2003 that the Utes finished a game against BYU without a sack.

Up Next

BYU hosts Baylor on Saturday.

Utah is at No. 24 Arizona on Saturday.

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Or the lack thereof.

Two losses by a field goal apiece to a pair of unranked teams had everyone seemingly writing off Arch Manning and the Longhorns, even though they'd beaten then-No. 1 Ohio State and knocked off a ranked Tennessee bunch on the road. Texas still had some big-name foes on the schedule, and the idea of playing in the College Football Playoff appeared to be a long shot just a month ago.

Now it's very much a possibility again.

The No. 10 Longhorns got 297 yards passing and three touchdowns from Manning, a superb game from running back Raleek Brown and some big stops by their defense on Saturday, allowing them to rally for a 34-20 victory over No. 19 Missouri — their third straight win, two of those against ranked opponents.

“Like we say all the time, we're big-game hunters,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said, “and we showed up again today.”

So, the unranked Sooners and Gators weren't big enough game? OK, then.

Texas (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) certainly looked worthy of its No. 7 position in the initial CFP rankings on Saturday, especially in the second half, when it trailed Missouri (6-3, 3-3, No. 18 CFP) by a touchdown and a visiting stadium was roaring in its ear.

The Longhorns responded by scoring three unanswered touchdowns to put the game away.

The first came after a bizarre video review.

Texas was marching in search of a tying touchdown when Manning appeared to throw incomplete on third-and-10 at the Missouri 39 — except the officials called the loose ball a fumble. And despite replays that seemed to confirm that it was indeed a pass, one that went some 14 yards downfield, referee David Smith upheld the original call — one of five reviews that all went against Missouri.

Manning hit Jermaine Bishop Jr. from 25 yards out three plays later, tying the game at 20, and it was all Texas from there.

Manning followed with a touchdown pass to Brown out of the backfield to give the Longhorns the lead with 5:03 left, then their defense made the clinching play when a defender batted Austin Simmons' pass in the air and cornerback Graceson Littleton picked it off. Brown scored moments later, powering into the end zone and silencing a sellout crowd at Faurot Field.

“I think Coach Sark does a good job of preparing us for being on the road and in fun environments, and coming together, and being a fist when you have those hard times,” said Manning, who may have had one of the most complete games of his college career.

Even if he was unwilling to acknowledge it.

“I have to look at the video,” Manning said of his 28-of-38 passing performance. “I'm going to enjoy this one, enjoy the flight home with the guys, but we all know we have a big one next week.”

That's a trip to No. 14 LSU, which should mean a little more to Manning, who calls New Orleans home.

It's the only ranked opponent left on the schedule for Texas, ahead of games against Arkansas and Texas A&M, which would normally be a good thing — a relatively easy finish in a brutally difficult conference before a potential playoff berth.

Then again, the way Texas plays against ranked teams, maybe it's not such a good thing.

“I think this all goes back to our DNA. I really believe there's a toughness in our organization that is undeniable,” Sarkisian said. “Right when people want to count us out, we refuse to go away. We continue to fight. We continue to battle. We continue to practice hard.

“We're down some really good players right now,” Sarkisian said, referring to an injury list that includes running back Hollywood Smothers and left tackle Trevor Goosby, both out for the season. “This team kind of gets tighter — the more adversity we get, the tighter we get. I think that's a cultural thing. I think it's a toughness thing. I think it's a leadership thing.”

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U.S. forces have been enforcing a naval blockade on Iran for months in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial strategic waterway for global shipping, including of oil. The last confirmed U.S. strike on a cargo vessel was nearly a month ago in the Gulf of Oman.

Saturday’s disclosure comes in the wake of at least two instances in which U.S. Central Command did not announce military strikes it has taken in the region and officials at the command declined to confirm strikes when asked about local reports of explosions.

Iran state media also reported on Saturday evening the sound of explosions on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as several explosions in the port of Jask. It wasn’t immediately clear what the cause of the explosions was and the U.S. military didn't immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

The Iranian military said late Saturday that two tankers had hit mines in the Hormuz area and caught fire. It did not identify the tankers’ flags or destinations.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. military had carried out new limited strikes against Iran, targeting an Iranian air defense system. Trump described the military action to reporters as “minor.” U.S. Central Command ultimately didn’t comment on the action even after the strikes were confirmed by Trump.

For weeks now, Trump has said he was considering launching a new wave of strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, which were held on Nov. 3. The Middle East and beyond have been on edge about the prospects of the U.S. resuming full-scale operations against Iran for the first time in almost two months.

The more than 8-month-old war has rattled global markets and diplomacy to end it has stalled. October saw the most attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz since March, as Iran has tried to ramp up economic pressure on the U.S. to get it to lift its blockade.

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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed from Washington.

On Friday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office revealed the cause of death to be carbon monoxide poisoning — ruled an accident.

The medical examiner ruled the death of Jaylene Vargas-Gonzalez, 31, an accident. Her blood carboxyhemoglobin saturation — a measure of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream — was 58% at the time of her death, according to the autopsy report. Testing of the delivery van’s interior with the engine running also revealed elevated carbon monoxide levels inside the compartment. The autopsy found no evidence of traumatic injury and no signs of natural disease.

Neighbor’s Call Led Deputies to the Scene

On August 10, 2026, Deputies were called after a Fruitland Park resident noticed the Amazon truck had been parked near the end of his driveway for several hours.

Patrick Miranda said he called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency line after noticing the truck was still running but appeared to be empty.

“I see the phone is still plugged in. The backpack is there and again the car is running, but there is no one,” Miranda said. “It seemed kind of strange.”

Surveillance video from Miranda’s home shows deputies and Lake County Fire Rescue responding to the scene.

Deputy Reacted to Fumes Before Finding Woman

Miranda said a deputy first opened the passenger-side door and reacted to fumes before opening the rear doors and finding Vargas-Gonzalez unconscious in the back of the truck.

“The police officer opened the passenger side front and he had some fumes, he had to reel back from,” Miranda said. “Then he opened the back, the sliding doors, and she was lying there in the back unconscious.”

Miranda said one of the deputies also appeared lightheaded after approaching the truck. Because of concerns about potentially toxic substances, firefighters in gas masks responded and the area was secured. Miranda said Vargas-Gonzalez was sprayed with a fire hose before paramedics began life-saving measures.

“Because they were worried about toxic chemicals, I remember they did use a fire hose to rinse her off to make sure there was nothing on her clothes or person,” Miranda said. “But immediately after that, they were using life-saving measures.”

Vargas-Gonzalez was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the sheriff’s office.

[RELATED: Amazon delivery driver dies after being found unresponsive inside truck in Fruitland Park]

Amazon’s response

Detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Bureau are continuing to investigate the incident, the agency said.

Amazon released a statement in response to Vargas-Gonzalez’s death in August.

“We’re deeply saddened by this tragic incident, and our thoughts and prayers are with the driver’s loved ones during this difficult time. We’re cooperating fully with local authorities in their investigation,” the company said.

Brown added 85 yards and a clinching touchdown on the ground, while the Longhorns (7-2, 4-2 SEC, No. 7 CFP) made a series of big defensive plays in the fourth quarter to help preserve their fourth win over a top-20 opponent this season.

“Anybody can play good football when it's easy. How do you play it when it's hard?” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We had some guys go through some hard moments today, and we didn't give up on them, and they went out and competed some more.”

The biggest defensive play Texas made came as the Tigers (6-3, 3-3, No. 18 CFP) were trying to match Brown's go-ahead score.

They had taken over near midfield with about two minutes to go, and Jamal Roberts was stopped for a short gain before Austin Simmons threw incomplete. On third down, Simmons tried to find favorite target Cayden Lee, but a defender knocked the ball into the air just as it arrived and Texas cornerback Graceson Littleton hauled it down for an interception.

Brown scored moments later, powering into the end zone to put the game away.

“Adversity was going to strike and we needed to hang together,” Sarkisian said. “We needed to be mentally tough.”

Simmons finished with 252 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Tigers, though a lot of it came on a 75-yard TD pass to Naeshaun Montgomery. Roberts, the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher, was held to 66 yards on the ground.

“They made the plays when they needed to in order to win the game,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said, “and ultimately we did not, and that's what it came down to. Didn't come down to officials. Didn't come to reviews. It came down to the opportunities we had.”

It was the first meeting between the former Big 12 rivals since the Texas Bowl in 2017, when they were in different conferences. And it was the first trip to Columbia for the Longhorns since 2011, when Missouri won a Big 12 matchup by the bizarre score of 17-5.

There was plenty of bizarre in this one, too, including five video reviews that all went against the Tigers.

The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, then each added a field goal, leaving it 10-all at halftime. But both teams were left to rue early mistakes: Ryan Wingo fumbled the ball away for Texas, leading to the Tigers' field goal, while Blake Craig missed a relative chip-shot midway through the second quarter that could have given the Tigers some breathing room.

It was 13-13 in the third quarter when Missouri regained the lead. Montgomery spun loose of Longhorns cornerback Jelani McDonald, managed to tip-toe along his own sideline and ran untouched the rest of the way for a 75-yard touchdown.

Then came the strangest of the video reviews.

Texas was trying to answer when Manning threw incomplete on third-and-10 at the Missouri 39, only for the officials to rule that a ball thrown 14 yards forward was actually a fumble recovered by the Longhorns for a first down. Replays seemed to confirm that it was indeed a pass, yet referee David Smith upheld the original call — and the Longhorns took advantage.

Three plays later, Manning hit Jermaine Bishop Jr. from 25 yards out, making it 20-all as the third quarter came to a close.

“I don't get explanations. I get the same thing you all do,” Drinkwitz said. “They review it and say it's upheld or it's not.”

The Longhorns' defense suddenly stiffened, forcing the Tigers into consecutive punts, and Manning eventually made them pay.

He lofted a nifty ball down the sideline to Brown, who had come out of the backfield and run right past linebacker Dante McClellan, and the running back hauled it in for the eventual decisive touchdown with 5:03 remaining in the game.

“Like we say all the time, we're big-game hunters,” Sarkisian said, “and we showed up again today.”

The Takeaway

Texas has bounced back from consecutive losses to Oklahoma and Florida — by a field goal apiece — with three straight wins.

Missouri has lost two of its last three, likely ending any chance the Tigers had at a College Football Playoff appearance.

Up Next

Texas heads to No. 15 LSU next Saturday.

Missouri visits No. 2 Georgia next Saturday.

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As rainstorms soaked southeast and central Florida from Sunday through Tuesday, Save the Chimps' care houses were secure on high ground, CEO Ana Paula Tavares said in a statement. Some veterinarians and other employees stayed overnight on the 150-acre (61-hectare) property near Fort Pierce to ensure the animals' care.

Canals overflowed and submerged the internal roads that normally are used to deliver 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of chimp food per day via golf carts, facilities director Mark Yohannan said by phone. A high-clearance swamp buggy helped but soon broke down. And one chimp, a 38-year-old named Kaleb, had remained in an outdoor area that was cut off by water.

The organization bought a delivery drone some time ago for just such an emergency, Yohannan said. Staffers used the device to bring Kaleb food and blankets until he decided on his own to head for somewhere more accessible.

Save the Chimps captured video of Kaleb munching a banana he plucked from a drone-dropped paper bag, and later steadily picking his way across a rope that bridged some standing water.

The organization used trucks, including a maintenance worker's personal vehicle, and a tractor to deliver meals, medicine and other items to the rest of the apes.

“Chimps are getting all their food, bananas and oranges on time,” Yohannan said. “They're good. They haven’t missed a beat.”

Nor have the local alligators. A small one turned up by the sanctuary's kitchen Friday, apparently using the floodwaters to reach terrain where the reptiles don't usually tread, Yohannan said.

The water level dropped noticeably overnight Friday, and about 20% of the property's roads were clear Saturday, Yohannan said.

Widespread flooding in the area has made it difficult for employees to get to work to relieve their colleagues. But “everyone’s in excellent spirits, tired as they are,” he said.

The organization is appealing to the public for help fixing damaged buildings and equipment, and one donor has agreed to match such contributions.

Save the Chimps was founded in 1997. To date, it has cared for nearly 350 chimps from research laboratories, the pet trade and the entertainment industry.

Troopers say the crash happened around 7:50 p.m. near Technological Avenue on University Boulevard. A 2007 Honda Fit rear-ended a 2020 Honda Civic, sending that Civic into a group of teenagers walking on the sidewalk after it struck a 2025 Honda Civic.

All eight teenagers were taken to area hospitals. One was transported as a trauma alert.

8 Teens Injured, Ages Range from 15 to 18

FHP confirmed the ages of all eight victims: four 15-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, one 17-year-old, and one 18-year-old. All were walking on the sidewalk at the time of the crash.

Visible damage remained at the scene Saturday, including a metal pole bent nearly in half and pulled from the ground — a sign of the force of the impact.

Driver Abandoned Car, Fled on Foot

The driver of the Honda Fit abandoned the vehicle in a nearby hotel parking lot and took off on foot, FHP said. Witnesses at the scene gave troopers a license plate number, which helped investigators locate and impound the car as evidence.

The other two drivers involved — an 18-year-old woman driving the 2025 Honda Civic and a 21-year-old man driving the 2020 Honda Civic — both remained on scene following the crash, FHP said.

UCF student Simon Jiaclone said the crash hit close to home.

“It’s just heartbreaking that that stuff happens,” Jiaclone said. “You got to be safe and you got to take precaution — especially if you’re behind the wheel.”

He had a message for the driver still on the run.

“I hope that you just turn yourself in,” Jiaclone said. “That’s a hit and run. That’s no joke. And these are kids. That’s sad.”

FHP Asks for Public’s Help

Anyone with information about this crash or driver is asked to call FHP at *347 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS. This crash remains under investigation.

Eisenkot, a former military chief who ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now a step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving premier.

“This is the time to establish a national emergency government. I will do anything possible to prove us worthy,” Eisenkot posted on his X account just after the presidential announcement.

He has up to six weeks to form a coalition, a challenging task in a deeply divided country reeling from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the three years of wars that have followed in Gaza and beyond.

In discussions with the president this week, representatives from most of Israel’s main parties recommended Eisenkot be tasked with assembling a new government. But putting together the parliamentary majority needed remains fraught and any possible coalition would require candidates to make tough compromises that could outrage their own voters.

Netanyahu and his allies lost their majority in parliament in last month's elections. But the bloc led by Eisenkot also didn’t win a majority. That left Arab-led parties, which made historic gains, as potential but politically fraught kingmakers.

An Arab party has been part of a governing coalition just once in Israel's history. Forming such an alliance could be especially divisive for Eisenkot after more than three years of war in Gaza.

Netanyahu has been on a campaign to head off any alliance between Eisenkot and the Arab-led parties, including unsubstantiated claims that Arab parties “stole” the elections. Shortly before Herzog's announcement, he called for a “national unity government” in a video statement and warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters” – language he uses to refer to the Arab-led parties.

Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly portrayed the Arab-led parties as a threat to national security, while Eisenkot has indicated a willingness to partner with them under certain conditions, including calling Hamas a terrorist group that needs to be destroyed.

Eisenkot and Netanyahu, whose Likud is the single largest party in parliament, could seek to create a broad unity government with major Jewish parties. However, the men have deep differences over many issues that will be difficult to bridge. That includes Netanyahu's reliance on religious parties that demand draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, as well as Netanyahu's opposition to a formal investigation into the security failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attacks.

Eisenkot could also seek to create a “minority” government — shored up by external support from Arab parties that are not formal members of his coalition. However, other members of his bloc have said they would reject such an alliance.

Eisenkot’s party, Yashar, slammed the prime minister’s video with a statement posted on X and urged members of his party, Likud, to disavow their alliance with “radical parties,” in an apparent reference to the far-right parties in his religious-nationalist base.

The statement argued that Eisenkot would only include parties and parliament members who support his party's principles.

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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Julia Frankel contributed from Jerusalem.

Officials announced the news Saturday during a Kennedy Space Center air show promoting lunar exploration as well as advances in aviation and technology.

NASA’s last call for new astronauts was two years ago. More than 8,000 applied, with 10 making the final cut in September 2025.

With only 32 active astronauts, the space agency needs more recruits as it looks to expand humanity’s presence beyond low-Earth orbit as quickly as possible. April’s lunar flyaround by the Artemis II crew kicked off the lunar campaign.

“We have far more work than we have astronauts,” Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Aspiring astronauts have between now and Dec. 3 to submit their applications. NASA expects to make its final selection by late 2027, with the new candidates beginning their training by early 2028 — the same year that NASA intends to return astronauts to the lunar surface after an absence of more than half a century.

By then “we’re going to have people on the moon — so don’t delay,” Bresnik urged potential candidates.

Bresnik and his three crewmates will blast into orbit next summer to practice docking their capsule with a pair of lunar landers, one built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the other by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Their mission will stick close to Earth — no lunar flyby — and serve as a dress rehearsal for the following year’s Artemis IV mission that will attempt to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole.

The moon base will materialize as more rovers, robots, structures and power grids are launched.

Patience is essential for becoming an astronaut, noted Artemis III’s Frank Rubio, whose 371 consecutive days in space is a U.S. endurance record. Candidates must also be U.S. citizens with college degrees and professional work experience.

The two years of mandatory training can be grueling, and it could take another several years on top of that before finally rocketing into space.

“It’s important for them to realize most of that work is not going to the moon, right?” Rubio told the AP. “That will be about 1% of your experience. What you’re doing is contributing to the mission of going to the moon.”

This will be NASA’s 25th astronaut class since the original Mercury Seven in 1959.

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City coach Enzo Maresca was certainly not panicking.

After opening the campaign with seven wins in a row, City lost at struggler Nottingham Forest 3-1 to fall six points behind league leader Arsenal after the defending champion beat Hull 1-0.

“We are conceding too many goals unfortunately and we need to improve that," Maresca told the BBC.

"Use the international break to understand why and try to avoid in the future. Always concerned but we need balance — seven wins in a row then three (defeats) in a row. Need the balance. No panic. We need to understand but no panic.”

Liam Delap, a City academy graduate, netted two goals for Forest — which had yet to score at home this season coming into the match.

It was only a second win of the season for Forest, which moved two points out of the relegation zone — with Manchester United taking its place in the bottom three ahead of Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.

Forest got off to a dream start.

Jair Cunha caught City defender Josko Gvardiol in possession and he surged forward, finding a gap to slide the ball into the bottom left corner and give his team the lead in the sixth minute.

More defensive mishaps from City, which again lost the ball, allowed Delap to sprint from inside his own half and between two defenders before firing into the back of the net to double Forest’s advantage in the 18th.

City managed to get one back early in the second half. Jeremy Doku latched onto a long ball over the top on the left flank and his cross was deflected into the path of Rayan Cherki, who drove it into the top left corner.

City was pushing hard for the equalizer but Forest restored its two-goal advantage in the 74th, with Delap finishing off a rapid counterattack with a fine shot that went in off the inside of the far post.

Forest coach Oliver Glasner sprinted half the length of the field to celebrate with his players.

“One of my best running stats, I guess," Glasner told the BBC. "I will be fatigued tomorrow but I can be because it’s the international break so I can have a rest!”

Defending champ grinds out narrow win

Earlier, it seemed as if Arsenal was in for a frustrating day, with things not clicking against a well-organized Hull, before Martin Ødegaard found a way through in the 72nd minute.

Noni Madueke cut in from the right wing and Konstantinos Tzolakis managed to parry his effort but not nearly far enough and the captain was there to slam home the loose ball.

Controversy at Leeds

Substitute Noah Okafor had been on the field for only 97 seconds when he scored to send Leeds to a 1-0 victory over Tottenham in a match marked by controversy.

A throw-in was headed on by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Harry Wilson pushed the ball into Okafor’s path to drive home in the 79th.

It was Leeds’ first victory in almost two months and lifted the team into eighth, two points above Spurs — who were looking for their fourth straight win after none from their first six matches.

Tottenham will feel Leeds should have played the second half with 10 men after a nasty challenge by Jayden Bogle on Mathys Tel in the 34th. It wasn’t malicious but the late tackle saw Bogle’s studs land on the trailing ankle of Tel, leaving the Tottenham forward writhing in agony.

A long VAR check for a possible red card for Bogle ended with no action deemed necessary. Tel tried to continue but came off a few minutes later.

Newcastle drew at Fulham 1-1.

No FA Cup fairytale again for Macclesfield

There will be no repeat of Macclesfield’s heroics in the FA Cup this season as the team lost at Mansfield 3-0 in the first round.

Non-league Macclesfield pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the competition last campaign when knocking out holder Crystal Palace.

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Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas will take over play-calling duties for the Huskers (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten), who have scored just 54 points combined in four straight losses.

“Like so many of you, I am angry, I am disappointed and I am frustrated with our results this season,” coach Matt Rhule said in a statement. "As the head coach, I am ultimately responsible for every aspect of our program — including wins and losses — and it is my responsibility to make changes when they are warranted.

“While there are many areas that need improvement, our offensive plan and execution is simply not working. Earlier today, I relieved offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen of his duties. As I have recently shared, Dana has a fantastic offensive mind, he is a strong leader, and he has done great work here at Nebraska. But simply, we need a change."

Nebraska ranks 12th in the Big Ten Conference and 96th nationally in scoring in conference games, at 22.2 points per game.

Rhule defended Holgorsen on Monday, waving off calls for his job. Holgorsen was widely criticized for abandoning the running game and having Anthony Colandrea attempt 44 passes in a 17-10 loss to Washington.

“Dana Holgorsen is one of the best offensive minds of our generation,” Rhule said.

But the Huskers again were plagued by penalties, missed field goals and questionable play-calling four days later during the 24-13 loss at Illinois. Nebraska came away with points on just two of its nine possessions against the Illini. Over the last four games, the Huskers have scored on nine of 46.

The Huskers averaged 246 yards rushing against a light nonconference schedule. That has dropped to 141 yards per game against Big Ten opponents.

Anthony Colandrea has completed 61% of his passes with eight touchdowns and six interceptions in six conference games after hitting on 69% with eight TDs and one interception in three nonconference games. His total of seven interceptions is tied for last in the Big Ten.

“I will continue to evaluate our program through the season and certainly at its conclusion and make additional changes where I believe they will help us win," Rhule said. “The Nebraska fan base has high expectations and I embrace them, and I also know of their passionate support of the young men in our program. I hope they will continue to be there for our players with very important games still ahead. Our entire program is determined to finish this season strong.”

Holgorsen was in his second full season as offensive coordinator. He left his job as an offensive consultant at TCU in November 2024 to take the same job at Nebraska and was appointed OC a week later when Rhule moved Marcus Satterfield to another role.

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

Right now, roadblocks are in place all over the city, making it difficult to get into, or out of, downtown. But we want to provide you with some help when it comes to getting to where you need to go.

Streets that are blocked off include:

• Long Street from Rio Grande Avenue to Tampa Avenue
• Tampa Avenue from Orange Center Boulevard to Central Boulevard
• Norton Avenue
• Church Street from Dollins Avenue to Tampa Avenue

This also includes a special event zone near John Young Parkway, Colonial Drive, and Old Winter Garden Road from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office where traffic fines go up, and could bring other issues if you don’t follow parking or traffic laws.

But, if you’re headed downtown, there are a few ways to get around.

State Road 408 through the downtown area is open, so you can take that if you’re just trying to get through.

West Washington Street is also open, so if you’re trying to get into downtown to find a place to park, that could work for you.

One other option for festivalgoers is to park in a downtown Orlando parking garage and use the city’s free Grapefruit LYNX Line to travel closer to the stadium. This could be easier than trying to find parking closer to Camping World Stadium.

You should plan your parking arrangements ahead of time and allow extra time to reach the festival.

The City Of Orlando has this helpful map to look at where roads are closed. Check it out if you want to know the easiest way to get to the festival.

Jessie Liu, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, would examine whether officials with the Interior Department and the National Park Service and attorneys with the Department of Justice violated ethics or misled U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes during the course of the case that was initiated in February by the DC Preservation League and two golfers.

The Republican administration plans to close the East Potomac Golf Course and park on Nov. 15 with the intention of constructing a “World Class, championship-level golf course that is capable of hosting major events." An injunction issued by Reyes last month temporarily bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the course and the administration must give 10 days’ notice in writing before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” of the course while the lawsuit is active.

Reyes is giving each side a chance to be heard on her plan to name Liu as special master in the case. They must do so in writing by Friday, when the next court hearing in the dispute is scheduled.

Reyes, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, wants to know whether federal officials lied about the extent of renovation plans during months of hearings. She also wants to know if they were truthful about various steps they took, including cutting hundreds of trees early last month. She announced during a hearing Oct. 30 that she was starting a formal investigation of the government's conduct. Earlier in the case, she had rejected numerous motions from the plaintiffs to step in, saying she trusted the government attorneys.

As the city's chief federal prosecutor, Liu oversaw some of the matters referred to her office by then-special counsel Robert Mueller during his investigation into possible ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. Trump later nominated her to be associate attorney general, the third-highest ranking Justice Department job.

Liu withdrew from consideration after running into opposition on the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee because of her past membership in a lawyers’ group that has supported abortion rights. She eventually resigned from the group because, she said previously, it took left-leaning positions, and she is now part of her own law firm, Liu Shur Kravis LLP.

David Super, a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said the initiation of a formal investigation by a judge to look into the conduct of a trial's participants "can be a precursor to holding someone in contempt of court.”

Super said it also is a reflection “of the difficulty she had in determining who initiated the tree-cutting in defiance of the assurances DOJ provided. She doesn’t have the time to keep holding long, complex hearings and so wants a special master to narrow the issues.”

Reyes ordered the Oct. 30 hearing after multiple Truth Social posts by Trump indicated there were plans for the golf course and construction was expected to begin Nov. 15. Trump said the park would be closed for 15 months while work goes on.

The presidential posts, which began Oct. 18, created a tense dynamic in multiple court hearings afterward when administration officials could not confirm the existence of the plans under questioning from Reyes. She eventually asked whom she should trust. The Justice Department filed notice Oct. 28 that the plans were real.

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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.

The London startup founder was among the wave around the Trump-weary world awakening to the stunning news that Americans had sharply rejected President Donald Trump's fist-in-the-eye stewardship of the United States that had started a war with Iran, forged no peace in Ukraine or the Mideast and made gas and food so expensive.

Voters, Reeve saw online, had flipped control of both houses of Congress, handing the power to check the president to his rival Democrats. American democracy, 250 years on, had survived the Trump era.

But a deep and profound distrust of the United States had survived the vote, too. And from national leaders to aspiring American immigrants, no one seemed confident that change was afoot.

“What everybody’s learned,” Reeve, 29, the husband of a Ukrainian, said a day later in an interview, “is that America’s system does allow for these wild swings. We all know, now, that America has an ability to rotate on a dime and spit in our faces.”

Interviews by The Associated Press around the world since the vote revealed a sense that “one election alone does not restore anything,” as Kim So-jung, 49, an office worker in Yongin, South Korea, put it. “We have to see what they actually do, and see that they are doing something different to gain at least a little trust back.”

And now? ‘What happens next matters a lot more’

That 77 million Americans voted to elect Trump to a second term, along with the administration's combative conduct on his tariff war, Israel's conduct in Gaza, immigration and Iran, had already shaken trust in America around the world.

By the time Americans awakened Wednesday, global leaders and regular people from Europe to Australia had moved beyond the “wow” to a reckoning with the reality that Trump still retains enormous powers.

“Quite frankly, Trump has largely governed without Congress for the past two years. Why should that change now?" German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a few hours after voters flipped control of the House and Senate.

Trump's apparent detachment from the results and his focus on building projects in the days before and after the drubbing did little to calm speculation about how he governs. He could dissociate completely, some observers said. Or he could lean into foreign policy and become even less predictable.

"For the country's allies, the question isn't whether America is back,” Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, wrote in Think China. “It's back to what — and for how long?”

The stunning midterm elections were not enough to reverse policies that have strained economies and finances and put dreams of making it in America on hold for many across the globe.

Trump's tariff war has roiled markets and economies. He canceled humanitarian aid for millions and upended the world's postwar order. Under Trump, American immigration policy turned violent and deadly — and makes the U.S. look to many like a place better avoided.

There was no sign of Trump letting up. On Friday, he promoted longtime aide Stephen Miller, a key architect of his hard-line immigration policy, to replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff.

“I don’t think all is forgiven,” ReadtheLine.ca Editor Jen Gerson said during an online discussion Thursday. “The President’s hold on power over two terms is — and ought to remain — a warning sign to Canada and to all of America’s allies.”

America's political and economic uncertainty can affect businesses like Synetica, an Indonesian tech company, one of its business development managers said.

“For me, regaining trust means seeing America consistently respect democratic institutions, the rule of law and its international partners,” Aditya Surya, 40, of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, told the AP. “The election is a good start, but what happens next matters a lot more."

For many, reversing tariffs is a key test of restoring trust in America

Many eyes are trained on whether the Democrats can reverse Trump's costly tariff regime as the incoming majority has promised in its 100 days agenda — and whether Trump accepts or vetoes any such changes.

Hamish McIntyre, an Australian beef producer, suspects not. With a Southern Hemisphere spring harvest underway in parts of Australia, farmers are grappling with diesel prices inflated by the Iran war, contributing to what the government forecasts will be a 39% drop in large farm profits.

“The midterm result is unlikely, in itself, to fundamentally change the direction of U.S. tariff policy,” said McIntyre, president of the National Farmers' Federation agricultural advocacy group. The election, he added, does not “prevent the administration from continuing to pursue its broader trade agenda.”

Ivan Slatkine, president of the Federation of Romandie Enterprises in French-speaking Switzerland, said he's heartened that the election showed America's institutions remain robust. That's worth some confidence, he added.

But.

“Let us not be naive,” Slatkine said. "The ‘America First’ concept is not going to be abandoned anytime soon, and I doubt the new majority will reverse all the decisions made by the president.”

Hong Kong businessman Danny Lau gained some hope from the elections. More than 30% of the orders received by his aluminum-coating factory in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan come from American clients. But his business was paying a tariff of nearly 81%.

“Trump started the tariff war,” Lau said. “If he loses his influence, would that help at all on the tariff front? At the very least, hopefully he won't raise them any further.”

Michael Lu, CEO of gift-box producer Brothersbox in southern China, said he believed political tensions remain elevated, particularly after Washington's earlier trade war against China. But no matter who won the midterms, he didn't expect drastic changes in Washington's overall stance against China. The U.S. accounts for roughly 20% of Lu's company’s business.

The political shift in the U.S. doesn't change the fact that “continuing to strengthen the alliance and economic relations with the U.S. is essential for Japan,” said Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, a lobby group that represents 1,500 companies. He said he expects Trump to come out even stronger, not weaker, with the Democrats in control of Congress.

For some, the American dream is still on hold

Ambika, an Indian citizen who asked to be identified only by her last name, works in IT in America and has long yearned to make America her permanent home. But Trump's immigration crackdown and latest green card restrictions have given her pause.

“Recent visa policy changes have left me worried,” she said this week while visiting family in India. “I don't know if ... the midterm results would lead to any policy change that could benefit those of us who want to move to the U.S.”

There's no more accurate look at how America is changing than U.S. elections. And these midterms produced the biggest shift in political power since the post-Watergate election of 1974.

But what now?

“Time and again, we are presented with these chances for change, only for greed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” U.K.-based commentator Martin McSweeney wrote on his “Truth Matters” Substack at 5 a.m. the day after the election. “Will this time be different? That's up to the American people, and that makes me very nervous given past experience.”

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ian Bremmer’s organization is Eurasia Group, not Eurasian Group.

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Associated Press writers across the globe contributed to this report. They include: Kanis Leung and Thomas Chan in Hong Kong, Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva.

Officials announced the news Saturday during a Kennedy Space Center air show promoting lunar exploration as well as advances in aviation and technology.

NASA’s last call for new astronauts was two years ago. More than 8,000 applied, with 10 making the final cut in September 2025.

With only 32 active astronauts, the space agency needs more recruits as it looks to expand humanity’s presence beyond low-Earth orbit as quickly as possible. April's lunar flyaround by the Artemis II crew kicked off the lunar campaign.

“We have far more work than we have astronauts,” Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Aspiring astronauts have between now and Dec. 3 to submit their applications. NASA expects to make its final selection by late 2027, with the new candidates beginning their training by early 2028 — the same year that NASA intends to return astronauts to the lunar surface after an absence of more than half a century.

By then “we're going to have people on the moon — so don't delay," Bresnik urged potential candidates.

Bresnik and his three crewmates will blast into orbit next summer to practice docking their capsule with a pair of lunar landers, one built by Elon Musk's SpaceX and the other by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Their mission will stick close to Earth — no lunar flyby — and serve as a dress rehearsal for the following year's Artemis IV mission that will attempt to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole.

The moon base will materialize as more rovers, robots, structures and power grids are launched.

Patience is essential for becoming an astronaut, noted Artemis III's Frank Rubio, whose 371 consecutive days in space is a U.S. endurance record. Candidates must also be U.S. citizens with college degrees and professional work experience.

The two years of mandatory training can be grueling, and it could take another several years on top of that before finally rocketing into space.

“It's important for them to realize most of that work is not going to the moon, right?" Rubio told the AP. “That will be about 1% of your experience. What you're doing is contributing to the mission of going to the moon.”

This will be NASA's 25th astronaut class since the original Mercury Seven in 1959.

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

Imagine how Nathan McCurley, the coach of Gore High School in Oklahoma, must feel.

His team’s season ended around midnight on a coin flip in the parking lot of a catfish restaurant late Friday.

After the evening's action in District A-II-3, Gore, Liberty and Central Sallisaw finished in a three-way tie for the league's last two playoff spots.

The tie could not be broken using head-to-head matchups or point differential, so it ended up being a matter of heads or tails.

Moments after a representative from the state high school athletics association finished explaining the rules to the coaches standing in the parking lot, the coins flew. McCurley’s came up heads. The other two coaches’ came up tails.

McCurley took it well. After seeing he was the odd man out, he simply nodded his head and shook the other coaches' hands.

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

But the buybacks likely came to a halt recently as Berkshire's Class A stock price surged past $878,000 and topped where it was before Warren Buffett surprised investors with his plans to retire at the annual meeting in May 2025. He gave up the chairman title in September after relinquishing the CEO job to Greg Abel in January.

Berkshire's massive cash pile also returned to growing in the third quarter and reached $377.4 billion, up from $365.5 billion at the end of June.

CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said Geico is in a tough spot right now with insurance premiums declining at the same time the average cost of the claims are increasing. Berkshire underwriting profit at all its insurers fell to $1.35 billion from last year's $2.37 billion. Geico accounted for most of that by generating $982 million this year, down from $1.77 billion a year ago.

Investor Chris Ballard, who is managing director at Check Capital, said they were not disappointed in Geico's numbers because they reflect that the company is investing again in its iconic spokeslizard and trying to attract more customers. Getting more aggressive at writing new policies always tends to put pressure on an auto insurer's bottom line.

“It should be looking better. Progressive is doing better, but they were doing so well for so long. They had cut their advertising for quite a while there,” said Ballard, whose firm invested in Berkshire. “So we've been kind of expecting this on our end.”

Seifert said Berkshire's noninsurance businesses that Abel has overseen for years — such as manufacturers like Precision Castparts, the utilities and BNSF railroad — seem to be performing better than its massive insurance unit even with the lack of major hurricanes or other catastrophes this year.

“I think we’re seeing the businesses that play to Greg’s strengths do well. But the question is what about the rest of the franchise,” Seifert said.

Berkshire reported a $22.1 billion profit, or $15,502 per Class A share, on Saturday morning. That's down from $30.8 billion, or $21,413 in last year's third quarter, but those bottom-line figures always tend to obscure how the dozens of companies the conglomerate owns are performing.

The company has long recommended that investors pay more attention to operating earnings, which exclude the value of its investments that can vary widely, but those also slipped nearly 6% to $12.7 billion, or $8,907 per Class A share. That's down from $13.485 billion, or $9,376.15 per Class A share a year ago.

The four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted Berkshire would report operating earnings of $8,821.84 per Class A share.

Berkshire owns several major insurers, including Geico, a collection of big utilities, BNSF railroad and a varied assortment of manufacturing and retail companies, including Precision Castparts and See’s Candy.

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This story has been updated to correct that $1.35 billion is the total underwriting profit at all of Berkshire's insurers — not just Geico's underwriting profit.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Anees al-Asbahi said the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue and accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes on al-Shariya. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, claimed in a statement later Saturday that the group had carried out attacks against Saudi Arabia in response to the strikes on the village as well as another deadly attack Friday on a market in southwestern Yemen.

The AP could not independently verify the Houthis' claims, and Saudi Arabia’s Information Ministry did not immediately reply to AP requests for comment.

Saturday's toll reflected the rapid worsening of Yemen’s civil war, where a yearslong truce fell apart over the summer. Fighting has escalated between the Iranian-backed Houthis — who control Sanaa, the north and the west of the country — and their Saudi-backed opponents based in the south and east.

On Friday, an airstrike in a market in southern Yemen killed at least 30 people, according to Houthi officials. The Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed military each blamed the other for that strike.

Images show young children among the wounded

Footage from Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV showed hospital staff carrying limp bodies of multiple young children from ambulances after Saturday's strikes. One little girl's head had been cleaved open. Other children lay on stretchers, bloodied and bandaged as staff tended to them.

Footage from the farming village — located in Houthi-ruled territory about 15 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Sanaa — showed the rubble of destroyed houses and dust filling the air as people hid in nearby agricultural fields.

Al-Asbahi told Al-Masirah that civilians were still buried under the rubble of houses, and that subsequent strikes targeted emergency workers as they tried to pull survivors out of the wreckage. Footage showed one wounded man covered in dust and wearing a first responder's orange vest being helped out of an ambulance.

The war in Yemen is escalating, raising fears of hunger and disease

The renewed fighting has raised fears that Yemen will be dragged back into the horrors of a civil war that has lasted for more than a decade and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

The war began when the Houthis stormed out of the north in 2014 and seized the capital, driving out the internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition backing the government, waging a yearslong campaign of air bombardment that brought it international condemnation over civilian deaths.

The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to the U.N., along with widespread deaths from hunger and disease outbreaks. The lines of control in the country changed little for years, and a truce was reached in 2022.

The relative quiet, however, collapsed over the summer when the Houthis launched new offensives in response, they said, to Saudi Arabia's continued blockade of their territory. The rebels made a lightning advance capturing much of Yemen's Red Sea coast and strategic islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At the same time, they have stepped up strikes on Saudi Arabia, targeting oil and military infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition has said it has been carrying out airstrikes in Houthi-held territory, targeting the rebels' military infrastructure. The heaviest ground fighting has centered around Taiz, a strategic, government-held southern city that the Houthis have now encircled, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation among civilians. Residents are struggling to secure drinking water and food supplies as the Houthis restrict movement into the city.

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Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut.

No More Norvell

The Mike Norvell era at Florida State has come to an end. Home Turf discusses what’s gone wrong with the football program and potential head coaching replacements.

Black & Gold Breakdown + Pick 6

The UCF football team looks to rebound from its Space Game loss to Baylor with a “W” at Kansas. Home Turf breaks down the matchup with head coach Scott Frost’s thoughts on the Jayhawks. Also, the crew picks its weekend winners in Pick 6.

A Different Kind of Wrestling

Sumo Wrestling’s roots are in Japan. But the ancient sport has grown in popularity, and Central Floridians will have an opportunity to watch some of the best at a competition in Orlando later this month. A sumo wrestling champion spreads the word on Home Turf.

Social Seminole Banter & Sumrall’s thoughts

News 6’s DJ Hromowyk delves into Nole Nation’s social media takes on Norvell’s firing. Plus, Florida head football coach Jon Sumrall provides another gem of a quote on Seh What?

She now has to show she can lead.

As mayor-elect following a stunning upset, Raman will need to navigate political rifts in balkanized City Hall while taking on an array of problems that have defied her predecessors, including a long-running homeless crisis, an exodus of Hollywood jobs and boundless miles of crumbling streets and sidewalks — all with a strained budget.

Appearing before reporters Thursday for the first time as mayor-elect, Raman was succinct about her agenda.

“Homelessness, housing costs and public safety,” she said. “These will have to be the priorities that I take on in the city.”

Even after the campaign, the millennial, India-born Raman will be a new face to many Angelenos in a city that tends to shrug at local politics. But how she governs the nation's second most populous city will be closely watched nationally, especially as she prepares to welcome the world to LA for the 2028 Olympics.

Raman joins a new crop of democratic socialist mayors

When she takes office in mid-December, Raman will join the vanguard of democratic socialists in municipal government that includes Zohran Mamdani in New York and Katie Wilson in Seattle. Janeese Lewis George was elected Tuesday as mayor of Washington, D.C.

While she is expected to steer the city to the political left, she has been outspoken about her willingness to break from the Democratic Socialists of America when she believes their agenda conflicts with interests of the city. “My independence will always be paramount,” Raman said at a candidate forum in September.

At a time when the Democratic Party has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza and aid to Israel, Raman has faced questions about her interview with progressive commentator Hasan Piker last spring in which she responded “I do, yes,” when asked if she believed Israel had committed genocide. At a forum co-hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, she said she recognized genocide is “a deeply painful word” but said she was compelled to speak out after seeing images of “the targeting of hospitals, the deaths of children,” prompting murmurs in the audience.

At the same time, she faced pushback from within the DSA, where some believed her positions on Israel was not sufficiently tough.

After her surprise win, the federation called on Raman to “rebuild trust with Jewish Angelenos that was strained during the campaign.”

A win for democratic socialists without Mamdani star power

To Occidental College political scientist Caroline Heldman, Raman needs to propose concrete solutions to address the day-to-day headaches that frame life in LA, whether potholes or thousands of broken streetlights or clearing homeless encampments.

“She didn't win the election by positioning herself as being really ideologically distinct from Karen Bass,” Heldman said. “She positioned herself as the pothole politician, very similar to Zohran Mamdani. I see her taking a page out of his playbook.”

Raman, however, never had the star power known as a Mamdani trademark. The contest in LA was relatively low key and overshadowed by turmoil in Washington and the fight for control of Congress.

Mike Bonin, a former LA city council member and executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles, described Raman as philosophically progressive but temperamentally moderate.

“She got painted in this campaign as a crazy socialist idealogue or a flip-flopper with no core values,” said Bonin, who served with Raman from December 2020 to 2022. But, he said, "she wanted to work with people. She is very focused on results.”

Raman is just starting to assemble her City Hall team

She has not delivered a financially detailed plan on how she will take on some of the city's persistent maladies.

There are few issues in LA — birthplace of the car culture, where driving is part of everyday life for most residents — that prompt more grumbling than traffic and potholes. In 2013, former Mayor Eric Garcetti, campaigned on a “back to basics” platform to deal with street paving, yet little happened.

Under Bass, the city began focusing on filling potholes rather than resurfacing streets. Raman has said she will recast that policy, but how much money will go toward streets — and how quickly they can be repaved — is not yet known.

In remarks on election night, before she was declared the winner, Raman depicted a city in statis and broadly sketched her vision for what Los Angeles could be.

“LA stopped being a place where we could build things, where we could open things, where we could film things, where we could create things,” she said. Raman added that she wanted to revive “that ambitious Los Angeles, that joyful Los Angeles, that creative Los Angeles, that entrepreneurial Los Angeles.”

On the city council, the reaction to her election was somewhat muted. Council member Traci Park, who voted for Bass and said she had “concerns about the leadership and effectiveness” of both candidates, said in a statement she looked forward to working with Raman in a city with “great challenges.”

Raman won against a wounded incumbent

Raising 10-year-old twins with her TV writer and producer husband in the Silver Lake neighborhood, her unlikely rise to the mayoralty came at least in part because she was running against a wounded incumbent at a time when voters nationwide were eager for change. Bass was undone by the deadly Palisades Fire, which ignited when she was out of the country and caught the fire department unprepared.

An urban planner, educated at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Raman's background includes founding a homelessness outreach nonprofit in LA.

Mayors in LA don't have the clout of their counterparts in New York and Chicago — power is shared with the city council. Bonin described it as an accordion, which can expand or contract depending on who holds the office.

He said former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, known for his chatty personality and charm, “swung for the fences.” Bass, by nature a compromiser, was different. Raman will set her own course.

“I can’t think of a mayor who had to take office with so many problems,” Bonin said. “Everybody leaves unpopular. ... It's not a job that makes you well loved.”

The biggest tremors were felt in shares of companies tied to the boom in artificial intelligence on concerns that a Democratic Congress will put the brakes on further development of data centers.

Defense and oil companies fell on expectations Democrats would push for an end to the U.S.-Iran war, which would likely lower energy prices.

Meanwhile, hospital shares rose on the possibility that funding for several government programs could be restored or boosted, while liquor companies and others buffeted by tariffs rose on hopes for relief.

Here’s a look at how certain stocks and industries reacted to the result of the midterms.

AI stocks

The frantic construction of data centers to power the AI boom has meant big profits for a wide array of companies — chip makers, power providers, cooling system producers, cloud computing companies and more. Investors hungry for a piece of those profits dove in, pushing some stocks up by double or more. But concerns grew that AI stocks got too pricey. And then the Democrats swept the midterms to take control of Congress.

Nvidia, Lam Research and others tied to the AI boom swung wildly this week on worries that Democratic victories in statehouses across the country could mean a slowdown in further construction, particularly in Texas. Hyperscalers, or those funding the buildout, like Amazon, fared better.

Defense

Defense companies have been volatile throughout the year, rising and falling with the shifts in the U.S. war with Iran. Hopes for an end to the war increased following the Democrats’ sweep in the midterms. An end to the war could mean slimmer business for several big defense companies, though the war has also depleted stockpiles of weapons, which could result in demand for resupplies by the U.S. government.

Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, RTX and General Dynamics fell between 4% and 12% after Tuesday.

Oil and refining companies

Oil exploration and refining companies have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. war with Iran, which has stifled global supplies since February and raised the price of crude oil and gasoline. Several big energy companies lost ground following the midterms because an end to the war would lower oil prices and reduce the companies’ profits.

Companies such as Exxon Mobil and Phillips 66 are still showing solid year-to-date gains.

Elon Musk’s companies

Elon Musk spent more than $445 million in an attempt to help Republicans maintain control of Congress. Not only was his return on investment not very good, but shares of his two publicly traded companies took a drubbing on concerns a Democratic Congress will investigate Musk’s work as Trump’s cost-cutting chief in 2025. SpaceX, which houses Musk’s xAI business, and Tesla, with plans for a fleet of mostly autonomous vehicles, fell 5% and 10.1%, respectively, after the midterms.

Trump Media

The president’s social media company, Trump Media & Technology, lost 33% of its market value in the three days after the election. Trump’s stake in the company was worth nearly $5 billion in March 2025. Now, it’s worth less than $600 million. The company is hoping to improve its fortunes by merging with the nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies. Completion of the deal is pending.

Power companies

Companies focusing on wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy could see sunnier days ahead with a more industry-friendly Congress. Democrats will have overwhelming influence on funding when they take control of Congress in January, raising hopes for a wide range of green energy companies.

Those companies involved in powering the data centers at the hub of the AI buildout didn't fare as well, however, after a number of data center skeptics got elected to Congress or governorships.

Hospitals

Hospitals gained ground over hopes that funding for several government programs could be restored or boosted, including Medicaid and subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid spending was reduced under Trump. Enhanced tax credits for the ACA were allowed to expire without being renewed, resulting in a decline in enrollment for insurance coverage nationally. More funding for those programs would result in an eventual boost to healthcare providers, including hospitals.

HCA Healthcare rose 6.9%, Tenet Healthcare gained 6.2% and Universal Health Services added 10.4% after Tuesday.

Homebuilders and home improvement

The housing sector, including builders, continues to face pressure from historically high home prices and mortgage rates. The shift in power in Congress could mean a greater focus on policies that address affordability, which was a key theme for Democrats. Cutting tariffs and lowering energy costs could lower supply chain costs. That could also help home improvement retailers by relieving pressure on consumers.

Mortgage rates, though, are a trickier issue for the industry. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate again in an effort to cool inflation. That likely means that interest rates on many types of loans, including mortgages, will remain high.

D.R. Horton gained 4.9%, PulteGroup rose 4.4% and Home Depot added 2.9%.

Alcohol

Beer, wine and liquor companies could see relief from tariffs that have hurt sales both in the U.S. and globally with Democrats taking control of Congress. The hope is that they will take action to end the global tariff conflict that has raised prices. S&P 500 members Constellation Brands, which has U.S. import rights for Corona and Modelo beers, and Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniel’s and other liquors, both had gains.

Household goods

Makers and sellers of everyday consumer staples gained ground as investors moved out of riskier sectors. They were also helped by hopes that a shift in control of Congress could mean policies that help cool inflation. Eliminating or reducing tariffs could help lower costs for businesses. Ending the U.S. war with Iran could boost global oil supplies, which would lower oil prices and costs for shipping on everything from food to clothing.

After the election, Costco Wholesale added 3.4%, Procter & Gamble rose 2.1% and Dollar General rose 2.5%.

Nevada Pierre’s mother, Martasia Griffin, confirmed the Roc Nation deal to CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz. Griffin said she has a meeting scheduled with the president of Roc Nation, and the company is sending Nevada to train in Spain next month.

“Does this even make sense to you right now?” Diaz asked.

“No!” Griffin laughed.

In the days since, a GoFundMe connected to the family has gained widespread support. Griffin told News 6 the fundraiser has raised more than $40,000.

In the News 6 interview, Griffin also addressed criticism online from people questioning whether the family is trying to benefit financially from the viral moment.

[WATCH: Original interview with News 6]

“I’m not because eventually we’re going to get him overseas to play with people that appreciate his talent,” she said.

What happened at the game

Griffin says Nevada scored a goal — fast — and the game stopped. What happened next left her blindsided.

“He made his one goal that was so fast and they stopped the game and parents, director, coaches all got in one circle without me and his father,” Griffin said. When she approached the group to ask what was happening, she said she was shut out. “So when I approached them about like is this conversation about my son, or y’all stopping the game about my son, I should be included.”

After that, the league’s director called 911.

“There’s a parent here just really disruptive,” the director told the 911 dispatcher, according to audio from the call.

[Listen to 911 call]

Griffin disputes that characterization. “No, no, I’m just trying to talk to him about what can we do to fix it,” she told Diaz.

Body camera footage from the responding officers captured the director saying Nevada “scores a lot of goals, but he’s pushing the kids,” and demanding the family be removed: “I just want them out immediately out.”

Griffin had a simpler way of looking at it. “I signed my kid up for soccer,” she said in the body camera footage. “So they literally kicking him out of this place because he’s good at soccer.”

In a statement, the league said “the respectful treatment of every child and family matter deeply.”

Race and rivalry

Diaz pressed Griffin on whether race played a role in the confrontation. Griffin noted that the director is Black, and many of the other families at the game appeared to be white.

“Do you think race played a role?” Diaz asked.

“Not too much more of jealousy,” Griffin replied.

The incident sparked widespread outrage and an outpouring of support online.

A prodigy from the start

Nevada’s skills were apparent before he was even born. Griffin says he was kicking constantly in the womb. “When he was like 1, he kicked everything — he kicked a lot when I was pregnant and things like that. Non stop, non-stop.”

His father, Don, taught him the game. Nevada is three years old and already managing business calls — Griffin handles his emails and deal inquiries for several hours every day.

“Your 3-year-old has business calls?” Diaz asked.

“Yea, yea,” Griffin said.

Nevada now trains at the EJ E7 Soccer Academy, run by former U.S. Men’s National Team striker Eddie Johnson. Even Johnson — a professional — is at a loss for words.

“Literally it’s like a great, a former great player, like reincarnated into his body,” Johnson said. He added that Nevada picks up new moves after watching them only once. “He shouldn’t be dribbling and running with the ball with that type of control and with that type of coordination at that age.”

Moving forward

Griffin told CBS News the family is not suing the league. They want to move forward.

His parents say Nevada loves the game and they are not pushing him. His one-year-old brother, Vegas, is already following in his footsteps.

Early votes in the House next year are expected to focus on boosting Medicaid and restoring an enhanced tax subsidy that is designed to lower the cost of Affordable Care Act health plans for millions of enrollees.

Democrats are also promising swift action on legislation to stop the war with Iran and to reverse some of President Donald Trump'strade tariffs.

“We’re going to get out of the gate fast,” said New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who is in line to become the next House speaker.

The legislative flurry carries enormous stakes for Democrats as they seek to translate their sweeping victories in the midterms — their numbers will exceed 250 in the 435-member House — into achievements that deliver on their promises to lower the cost of living.

Obstacles abound for the Democratic agenda

Passing those bills should not be a problem with such a large Democratic House majority. Getting them signed into law most certainly could be.

A 60-vote threshold in the Senate looms for the legislation, as does a potential presidential veto. Trump on election night posted a photo on his social media site of a red hat with a simple message on it: “VETO”.

Following those early votes, Jeffries said five working groups are developing plans to put forward bills that would lower costs in areas such as housing, energy, groceries and caregiving.

Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said Democrats will at some point take up legislation dealing with artificial intelligence and data centers. He is part of a group of lawmakers working on a document that will lay out some of the priorities for Jeffries to consider.

“House Republicans last year made a conscious decision to let the AI industry run wild, and that was a bad decision politically and a bad decision on policy,” Lieu said. “Two things will change next term. We will hold public hearings on AI. We will pass legislation, reasonable guardrails on AI, and specifically data centers.”

New Congress will return to past political fights

Democrats are trying to reverse Medicaid changes that are expected to cut more than $900 billion from the program over a decade. The Republican-approved cuts helped offset some of the costs of Trump's big tax and spending cut bill that was signed into law last year. The Medicaid changes in the bill imposed new administrative requirements and added conditions for eligibility, including work requirements.

Some of the most substantial changes have yet to take effect. Still, enrollment in Medicaid has dropped by about 5 million, or about 7% since July 2025, when the bill was signed into law, according to KFF, a health policy research and news organization.

Reversing those cuts would likely require Trump and the Republicans to abandon the hard-fought changes they made to cut entitlement spending in their signature tax bill. It's an unlikely proposition.

The effort to extend enhanced tax subsidies for certain enrollees in ACA plans has also been debated and voted on in the current Congress. The measure passed the House with some Republican support but stalled in the Senate.

There also have been numerous war powers votes regarding Iran — 14 in the Senate and six in the House.

Gridlock may be on the horizon

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said going into the election that a Democratic majority in the next Congress would amount to “two years of paralysis.”

“I don’t think that’s good for anybody,” Thune said.

But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York is insisting that Democrats will push their agenda with or without the Republican president's help.

“If he vetoes it, it will show the divisions. As much as we didn’t want to shut down, when we shut down the government for a month over healthcare, people knew we were on their side,” Schumer said in an interview with The New York Times' podcast “The Daily.”

Schumer said he believes Democrats can gain some Republican votes on restoring the enhanced subsidies for ACA plans. When asked if he was hearing from Republicans expressing a willingness to work with him on legislation, he replied: “They’re never so definitive but, yes, I am getting initial signs that way on certain issues, not on every issue.”

While the prospects for getting any of the early priority bills over the finish line are uncertain, the votes in Congress will help frame the choices voters will face during a presidential election in 2028.

Tensions exist within the new Democratic majority

Progressive groups call the agenda outlined by Jeffries a good early start, but they have much greater expectations for Democrats this Congress.

“It's perfectly fine if the Senate and the House are unified and Donald Trump is standing in the way because that sets up another tidal wave election in 2028,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Democratic-aligned group that backs progressive candidates and policies.

At the same time, he said Schumer cannot be content to let bills die in the Senate because of the 60-vote threshold.

“It will require the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster,” Green said. “There's no doubt about it.”

He said there's a disparity because Republicans' top priorities — tax cuts and Supreme Court justices — can get through with simple majorities. But the Democratic Party's top priorities require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

“The only question is will the American public trust Democrats enough to keep giving us more power or will this week's gains whittle away because we do nothing? That's why the filibuster is a threshold question," Green said.

Schumer in an interview with The Associated Press this week would not say whether he would try and eliminate the filibuster.

“The focus has got to be on getting things done,” Schumer said. “That’s all I am saying.”

In a memo to fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, said Democrats also need to target what he called “powerful forces outside of government.” Examples he cited were corporations using Americans’ private data to adjust their pricing based on a consumer's personal data and AI companies that he says are putting jobs and lives at risk.

"By focusing not just on the Trump administration but also on big corporations and billionaires, we will show the American people we are not just anti-Trump but also pro-worker and pro-consumer," Casar said.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

“I would describe it as the first time that I’ve truly felt the need to vote,” said Soma, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics at North Carolina State University. He said he wanted to “kind of take a stand, if you will.”

Young voters overwhelmingly turned their backs on Republicans on Tuesday, erasing the gains Trump had made in the 2024 presidential election. Voters under age 30 moved left by double digits in nearly all the major Senate races compared with two years earlier.

It was a similar story in House campaigns across the country. The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 midterm voters, showed that about three-quarters of voters under 30 supported their local Democratic candidate, while about one-quarter voted for the Republican.

The support for Democrats outpaces even 2018, when Trump's Republican Party suffered midterm losses during his first term, and is a dramatic shift from 2024, when young voters were roughly split between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters that year.

For Soma, the tipping point was Trump's broken pledge that he would keep the U.S. out of Middle East conflicts, a sentiment that student after student echoed in interviews on the university's Raleigh campus the day after the election.

Other young voters who broke for Democrats this year said their choices were motivated by personal experiences, including working multiple jobs to get by and watching artificial intelligence data center projects advance into their communities.

“I’m trying to save money and buy a house and all that, but it’s difficult right now,” said Corey Herzog, 28, an independent-turned-Democrat in the traditionally conservative town of Celina, Ohio. Herzog works at Walmart during the day and bartends at night, all while building out a small side business selling house plants.

John Della Volpe, a pollster who regularly surveys U.S. youth for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, said the whiplash over the past two elections suggests that young voters aren’t a generation of Democrats or Republicans.

“They’re up for grabs,” he said. “Especially given the state of the economy and their concerns about the future.”

In 2024, Trump won over young men. This year, many sat out or backed Democrats

To win back the presidency two years ago, Trump courted young men who felt disillusioned by economic stagnation, interventionist foreign policy and the government's focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. He attended football games and UFC matches and appeared on podcasts with comedians who rebuffed “cancel culture."

More than half of male voters under 30 supported him in 2024, according to AP VoteCast.

But once in office, Trump started the war with Iran and rammed through tariff policies that continued to drive up inflation. He also resisted releasing documents about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and launched an immigration crackdown that faced widespread criticism.

"This was the perfect cocktail for disaster,” said Charlie Sabgir, director of the Washington-based Young Men Research Project.

Young voters' unhappiness on every major issue in the midterm election was palpable. Voters under 30 were more likely than older age groups to say the cost of living was crucial for their vote for Congress, and to say the U.S. was wrong to take military action against Iran.

About half of young voters said they were angry about the way things were going in the U.S. today, compared with only about one-third of voters 65 and older.

The anti-Trump backlash was particularly strong among young voters

Even in a year when anti-Trump backlash was one of the major themes, young voters stood out.

Only about one-quarter of voters under 30 said Trump is a strong leader or has the mental capacity to serve effectively as president, according to The AP Voter Poll. That’s a sharp contrast with 2024, when about half of voters under 30 felt Trump was a strong leader and mentally fit. The decline was larger than in any other age group.

“This cultural coalition and cultural cache that Trump had behind him going into 2024 — they’ve clearly soured on him,” Sabgir said.

About 6 in 10 voters under 30 said one reason for their House vote was to express opposition to Trump.

A national consortium of college Republican groups put out a statement making their dissatisfaction clear, writing that young Republicans “were not given what they were promised.”

“In the wake of last night's election results, the College Republican Patriot Coalition unequivocally lays the blame for the greatest Republican defeat by Democrats since 1974 at the feet of the Trump administration and the Republican Party,” the group said in a statement.

Kidus Girma, campaigns director for the left-leaning Sunrise Movement, said that while he was knocking on doors in Michigan, he met young men who may not typically turn out in a midterm election but did this time because they were disappointed by Trump.

He recalled one person who complained that he was struggling to find a job even though Trump was insisting the economy is going great.

“It’s like this deep disillusionment with the statements the president makes versus the material impacts people are facing in their everyday lives," Girma said.

Gen Z voters get their ‘millennial optimism’ moment. But to keep them, Democrats must deliver

Sarah Stull, an 18-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, thought it was funny that so many of her classmates spent Halloween dressed up as “millennial optimism,” wearing skinny jeans and infinity scarves with grins on their faces to satirize the elder generation for being unabashedly hopeful.

Stull got the joke. Like others her age, she described herself as “very sarcastic, very jaded — and do sometimes expect the worst.”

But Tuesday night, sitting in a dorm room with friends watching election results stream in, that all went out the window.

“We were freaking out, all of us were crying,” said the young Democrat, who voted for James Talarico for Senate and Gina Hinojosa for governor. “I just felt this sense of community that I had never felt before.”

She posted a video of herself and friends on TikTok, literally jumping for joy outside the Texas Capitol, captioning it “millennial optimism cause texas went blue."

Young adults like Stull — who was 7 when Trump rode down the escalator in New York’s Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his first presidential campaign — have only ever known “the Trumpification of politics,” said Katherine Haenschen, a political science and communication professor at Northeastern University. Now that era seems to be coming to a close, bringing hope for the first time to left-leaning young people.

But it’s a fragile moment.

Dakota Hall, executive director of the progressive youth political organization Alliance for Youth Action, said he thinks young voters could shift to the right again if Democrats leading Congress don’t do enough to lower the cost of living, regulate AI and address government corruption.

“Young people have a very short leash,” Hall said. “If you do not deliver, ’28 will be a rough road ahead.”

___

Rankin reported from Raleigh, N.C.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described this week's elections as an “extinction-level event” for the GOP. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz likened it to a “Watergate-level repudiation.” Former Vice President Mike Pence called it a “reckoning.”

For all the apocalyptic talk emerging from a midterm that relegated Republicans to their thinnest ranks on Capitol Hill in decades, there's little agreement on how the party should move forward.

A return to the bedrock fiscal and national security conservatism that defined Republicans under President Ronald Reagan risks alienating the more hard-line conservatives welcomed into the party under President Donald Trump under the “Make America Great Again” banner.

But leaning even further into Trump's coarse brand of politics could lead to more voter rejection.

“We have soul-searching to do," Alex Latcham, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent $810 million to support Republicans, said in an interview. “We need to first understand and honestly admit why we just endured a wipeout of this magnitude. And then we have to regroup and agree to a path forward.”

GOP faces questions about Trump's future role

As has been the case for the past decade, the central question is the role Trump will play in shaping the party's future. His insistence on loyalty reached a zenith this year as he intervened in GOP primaries and pressed voters to make the elections a referendum on his second term. He held dozens of rallies in the final weeks of the campaign for candidates, most of whom lost their races.

Since Tuesday's election, he's refused to acknowledge any responsibility, placing blame on the candidates. His public events have focused on his pet projects in Washington, which have proven unpopular with voters. On Friday, he elevated Stephen Miller, the architect of some of his most contentious policies, to White House chief of staff.

In an interview, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, said the election results were “shocking” but that Trump could still steer the conversation around issues such as immigration. The governor described the GOP's current dynamic as a natural process for a party whose leader is deep in his second term.

“It just tells you that the American people, after 10 years, they're pretty much tired of whoever's in office,” Stitt said. “I think people want a little more stability. They want people to be nice to people, to say, 'Hey, we’re all Americans.'”

Others were more blunt.

Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said the midterms marked “the end of the Trump era." John Sununu, a Republican who lost his bid for a Senate seat in New Hampshire, blamed Trump.

"It seems like he or his family is in on every transaction and deal that goes on in Washington,” Sununu told John Kasich, a former Republican congressman from Ohio, on SiriusXM. “Those two things, I think, caused people to say, ‘You know, I just can’t vote for a Republican while he’s still in office.’”

Republican infighting is likely to intensify

The GOP infighting is poised to intensify quickly.

When Republicans return to Capitol Hill next week, they'll have to choose between Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio to lead the party in the House. They may weigh whether to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. There could also be tough votes on defense spending and keeping the federal government open after Dec. 11.

Already a leadership fight is brewing at the Republican National Committee, where there are early conversations about limiting Trump’s influence in picking the next chair. KC Crosbie, currently the co-chair, circulated a letter this week calling the midterms a “serious setback” and announcing plans to run for chair at the committee’s January meeting in Arizona.

Trump announced his support Friday for the party's current chair, Joe Gruters.

That's to say nothing of the emerging contest for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. Vice President JD Vance, seen as a leading contender, will likely face a broad range of opponents if he enters the race. Stitt is among the Republicans calling for a “big open primary.”

“I don't think we should crown anybody,” he said.

There will be pressure to revive the coalition of voters, particularly Latinos, who have lifted the party to success in previous elections but swung to Democrats this week. Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said he thought Secretary of State Marco Rubio is best positioned to win Latinos.

“The two main constituencies that Republicans have to quickly regain are white suburban voters and Hispanic voters,” Curbelo said in an interview. “Vance was out on the campaign trail this year and it doesn't appear that he was able to move the needle in terms of Hispanic voters.”

A representative for Vance didn't comment on that characterization.

Broad election fallout for the GOP

Still, the fallout for the GOP is broad, according to The AP Voter Poll, an expansive survey of about 80,000 voters in all 50 states.

Younger Republican voters who supported the Republican candidate in their House race were less likely to approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and more likely to say he worsened the economy with his policies.

About two-thirds of Republican voters under 30 said they approved of how Trump was handling the presidency, compared with about 9 in 10 Republican voters age 65 and older. About one-third of younger GOP voters said Trump had worsened the country’s economic conditions, compared with about 2 in 10 older Republican voters.

The war with Iran also appeared to divide Republican voters, with about 6 in 10 Republican voters under 45 saying the U.S. made the right decision in taking military action against Iran. That rose to about 8 in 10 among Republican voters who were 45 and older.

Young Republican voters were more likely to say the U.S. support for Israel was “too strong.” Roughly half of Republican voters under 30 said the country’s backing of Israel was “too strong,” compared with about 1 in 10 voters 65 and older.

Despite rosy outlooks from top Republicans including Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in the final weeks of the campaign, Republican strategists had long seen the country's confidence in the party unraveling.

In late August, the Senate Leadership Fund convened a donor retreat in Laguna Beach, California, where Latcham told the group that Republicans had lost the confidence of voters on handling the cost of living and the economy, according to two Republican Senate campaign sources who attended the event. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.

In defeat, Republicans are trying to take a broader view, knowing that it may take several election cycles before they one day return to power.

Rep. Christopher Smith was reelected to his 24th term this week and is New Jersey's last Republican in Congress. He took a long view on the party's current struggles.

“The pendulum swings back and forth,” he told reporters. “These are cycles.”

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Kevin Freking and Linley Sanders contributed to this report.

Christopher Luxon’s National party and its minor party coalition partners, libertarian ACT and populist NZ First, were getting close to the slimmest possible return — by just one seat. It suggested that securing a second term could take lengthy negotiations and would rely on votes counted after election day, which have historically skewed left.

The leftwing bloc, led by the Labour party and Chris Hipkins, appeared to have fallen short of a majority. However, as New Zealand’s Electoral Commission unveiled the counts, it became clear the night would end without certainty about who would form the next government, a process likely to take weeks.

Luxon did not claim victory in a speech to supporters at National's headquarters in Auckland after midnight.

“National is once again the largest party in Parliament and we have a pathway to forming the next government,” Luxon said. “But I have to tell you right now it is too close to call.”

Earlier, at the Labour headquarters in Upper Hutt, outside of Wellington, a smiling Hipkins did not concede defeat.

“Tonight, New Zealand has spoken,” Hipkins told supporters. “It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you’ve said.”

Still, the unclear outcome was punishing for both National and Labour, the major political parties that have long dominated New Zealand politics. Both got under 30% of the vote, underscoring opinion polls before election day that showed little public enthusiasm for either party.

A newcomer to politics who surged in popularity is poised to enter Parliament

Voters instead bolstered power for minor parties on the ideological flanks and propelled to office a centrist political newcomer, Qiulae Wong of the Opportunity party, who has pledged a non-partisan and pragmatic agenda that draws from socially liberal, technocratic and pro-environment ideals.

It was too soon to know whether the support of 38-year-old Wong, whose party appeared set to enter Parliament for the first time, would be required for any leader seeking to form a governing majority.

New Zealanders don’t elect prime ministers. Instead they cast two votes, one for their preferred party and one to select a local representative.

Parties must either win a constituency seat, or win 5% of the preferred party vote, to enter Parliament. New entrant parties are rare and Opportunity, on current results, would be the first in more than a decade.

The magnitude of Wong’s success was still undecided, with the count Saturday showing Opportunity had just crossed the 5% threshold, allowing the party seven seats.

Wong has said that if she held the tiebreaker power, she was open to negotiating with either a conservative or a leftwing government and would deal first with whichever major party won the most votes.

The rightwing bloc might not need her, and Luxon has ruled out governing with Opportunity. Analysts say, however, that both major party leaders would likely answer the phone if Wong held the only path to power.

Early results show conservatives with a wafer-thin majority

To govern, a coalition of parties must hold more than half of parliament’s seats. The total number of seats is determined by official calculations on election night based on quirks of the country’s vote.

Saturday figures showed there could be a 130-seat Parliament, with 66 seats needed for a majority. However, parties negotiating shared governing arrangements would prefer a more comfortable margin. Results suggested a coalition of National, ACT and NZ First would hold 67 seats, a number that fluctuated as the night continued.

The 67 included 42 for National, 13 for ACT and 12 for NZ First — a drop for National and a gain for the two minor parties. The result will likely cause headaches for Luxon, whose detractors criticized his political inexperience during his tenure in a power-sharing deal with two veteran and canny politicians, David Seymour of ACT and Winston Peters of NZ First.

Both will want greater influence in any coalition on Saturday's results, and Luxon's woes won't end there.

Lawmakers from the conservative parties who spoke to news outlets Saturday night avoided declaring victory. So-called special votes cast by New Zealanders who live abroad or are travelling on election day are counted later, and historically favor the left.

In the past four elections, National lost one or two seats when the special votes were counted, while leftwing parties won between one and three additional seats.

Saturday's emerging results also suggested a shocking exit from parliament for a few of National's most senior figures, including the incumbent government's Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, Defense and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, and Attorney-General and Transport Minister Chris Bishop.

The leftwing bloc has fallen short so far

Meanwhile, the left bloc, led by Hipkins and Labour, held a combined 56 seats, though numbers there also fluctuated. The environmentally-focused Greens were celebrating a best-ever result of an apparent 16 seats in Parliament, with Labour sitting on 35 and Te Pāti Māori, an Indigenous rights group, securing five.

The disparity between Labour's 35 seats and National's 42 — despite winning similar percentages of the vote — stems from how seat allocations are calculated in New Zealand's electoral system.

Hipkins was seeking a second chance at power after a resounding defeat three years ago, but he hadn't benefited much from Luxon's slumping popularity in pre-election opinion polling.

The results showed minor parties on both the left and right winning more seats than at the 2023 election, which propelled Luxon to power.

Analysts had suggested that economic woes, including inflation, living costs and unemployment — and apathy about the premierships of either Luxon or Hipkins — would see minor parties grow in popularity, granting them greater bargaining power in forming a governing coalition and forcing the major parties to enact more of their agendas.

Voting began on Oct. 26 and ended on Saturday, with nearly 3.8 million people eligible to participate. New Zealand is a South Pacific nation that's home to 5.6 million people.

Results from 95% of ballots cast are expected by the end of Saturday night. A final, verified tally is due on Nov. 27, including the special votes.

After the final count, coalition negotiations between presumptive governing parties often take weeks, even when their majority is clear.

It still doesn’t have a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, though, when the sport will make its Olympic debut.

All of Spain’s focus now is on securing that berth and being a part of flag football's showcase event. And having the NFL in the country this week is certainly helping.

The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the NFL's second regular-season game in Spain. The games, along with the league's push to develop flag football everywhere, have helped the sport gain traction.

“The NFL has been a huge part of this, because people have started talking about this sport on the news," Spain wide receiver and defensive back Olga Sotillo told The Associated Press. "It’s been given more importance now, it’s no longer just a niche sport. If someone important or a professional league is telling you something, you’re more likely to pay attention. So I think that’s been key.”

The NFL's involvement

The NFL has been trying to develop flag football both in the U.S. and abroad for some time. On Monday, the league and TMRW Sports unveiled Premier Flag, a professional league for men and women set to launch in the summer of 2027.

In Spain, the NFL launched school programs and youth competitions to help boost the game and attract new audiences.

Sunday’s game is the seventh of nine NFL regular-season games being played this year outside the United States, a record for the league. And more are planned going forward, with the NFL saying it hopes to have each team playing at least one game abroad every year.

“It allows us to bring new fans into the sport, all the way to young people playing this sport, in our case, flag football,” said Gerrit Meier, managing director and head of NFL international. “For us, it’s part of a greater vision, part of a greater strategy. We want to be a global sports property, we want to be truly a global sport.”

Chicago Bears hold clinics

The Chicago Bears, who have Spain as one of their designated international markets through the NFL’s Global Markets Program, have promoted a series of flag football clinics in the country, some with participation by Spanish national team players.

Next Monday, Spain’s women’s team will play a friendly against Britain at the training facilities of Real Madrid, the same place where the Falcons have been practicing this week.

“Flag football, and football in general, for men and women, has become a very big thing in America and in all countries, so I just want you all to have fun doing it and go ball for everybody to see,” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said. “I know you’re going to be great because everybody in America be killing out there, so I know you'll be killing here, too.”

Spain's Olympic quest

Spain, ranked seventh in the world, missed out on its first opportunity to qualify for the Olympics during the world championship in Germany in August, when it came close to ousting world No. 1 Mexico in the quarterfinals to keep its chances alive. Spain lost 27-26, having rallied from 20-6 down to lead with about two minutes remaining. The Spaniards ultimately finished eighth.

Mexico went on to finish third and secure the second and final Olympic spot from the tournament. Canada was the other team to qualify after it reached the final against the United States. The Canadians beat the U.S., which had an automatic Olympic berth secured as host.

Spain’s second opportunity to try to qualify will begin at next year’s European championship, when the top two eligible teams will advance to the Olympic Q-Series in June 2028, which will determine the remaining three women’s berths.”

“We are really excited,” Sotillo said. “We’ve seen in the world championship what we are capable of doing, which is to compete against some of the biggest powers in the sport.”

Spain beat Oceania champion Australia 39-25 and lost 52-31 to the U.S. in the group stage of the tournament in Dusseldorf.

Spain finished sixth at the 2024 world championship, when it narrowly lost 18-14 to the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

Rules of the game

Flag football was among five sports given Olympic status for the 2028 Games back in 2023, with the game played five-on-five in two 20-minute halves, no tackling and an emphasis on speed and elusiveness. Defenders stop the ball carrier by pulling a flag from their belt.

Six women’s teams and six men’s teams, with 10-player rosters each, will participate in Los Angeles.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Temperatures under mainly sunny skies Saturday will still top out a few notches above average, low 80s, but the humidity will be lower.

Sunday will start in the low-to-mid 60s.

Sunshine continues Sunday with highs in the upper 70s and lower 80s.

Rain chances gradually rise by the middle of next work week as the next storm system approaches Central Florida.

Behind this system, a cold front, the likely coolest air of the season-to-date arrives.

Highs by next weekend may be held in the 60s with lows in the 40s!

The St. Johns River continues to rise following record flooding in Brevard county earlier in the week. Track live river levels here.

The High Court in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa issued the sentence for Pastor Paul Mackenzie. He was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.

Mackenzie is also facing terrorism and manslaughter charges for the more than 200 other victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in two other courts.

Justice Diana Kavedza said that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death.

Mackenzie was charged with the murders alongside 28 of his followers, including guards who enforced his fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves. All denied the charges, except for one person who confessed and pleaded for leniency.

On Oct. 19, the court found all 29 of them guilty of the murder of 191 people.

In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre (320-hectare) Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in mud huts, away from the scrutiny of local communities and authorities.

More than 60 bodies were positively identified and reburied by their relatives, while many others remain unidentified and unclaimed.

During the sentencing, Kavedza said that 183 victims died of starvation, defined as a complete lack of food, and the deaths of the other eight were classified as murder by direct homicide.

Kavedza said the killings were “cold and calculated” and dismissed claims by some of the accused that the loss of their own children altered the fact that they had participated in the killings of many other children.

The justice said that the perpetrators didn't show remorse and declared they were ready to fast to death as well. During the sentencing, Mackenzie often smiled and chatted with his assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, who was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

All of those who were convicted have been granted 14 days to file an appeal.

The prosecution had argued for the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices.

Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and several others who were convicted, told The Associated Press that he had already launched an appeal. He said that the decision was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable” since the sentences of between 160 and 200 years amount to life sentences.

A father of seven, Suleiman Ziro, who traveled 120 kilometers (75 miles) for the sentencing, lost six of his children and his wife to the cult in 2023. He said that the sentence wasn't enough especially because he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones, calling for the death penalty in the case.

Mackenzie's son, Dan Mackenzie, said that he felt sorry for his father over the conviction, but it was “justice served to the victims." He said that he escaped by “rebelling” against his father's teachings and was often punished for it, but was glad he survived. Two of his younger brothers and three sisters were rescued and are currently at a children's home.

Those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts serve a life sentence. Kenya’s last execution was in 1987.

Tajani made the announcement in a social media post following a string of hoax bomb threats across Europe that caused flight diversions, security threats against broadcasters as well as recent attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems and drone incursions.

“For days, cybercriminals have been spreading my personal data on the dark web and seeking other information, in fact exposing me and my family to new threats and intimidation,” Tajani said, adding that the criminals "are prepared to pay for other details on me and my loved ones.”

Meloni, is a separate statement, expressed solidarity with Tajani “following the revelations about the activities of pro-Russian hackers, and the publication on the dark web of personal data." She called attempts to sell confidential information about government officials “a matter of grave concern that must be addressed with the utmost determination.”

Tajani, who is also a vice premier in Italy's government, did not specify what kind of information had been shared, but suggested that the cyberthreat was ongoing.

“I will not allow myself to be intimidated in any way,” Tajani said. “I will continue working to defend my ministry, and Italy, and I will further strengthen the ties and cooperation to protect ourselves together.”

Tajani did not indicate who might be responsible for the cyberattack but reiterated the Italian government’s support for Ukraine.

However, DeSantis took to social media to quell those rumors — in a way.

The governor took aim at an article by The Washington Post, which claims DeSantis is planning another run for the White House.

“The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth,” DeSantis wrote. “I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks.”

The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth. I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Using anonymous sources of course! https://t.co/v9PtX6HgSj

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 6, 2026

DeSantis threw his hat in for president during the 2024 election cycle, running against President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

But his campaign faced significant hurdles from the get-go, and he ultimately bowed out to endorse Trump instead.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

- Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024

DeSantis and Trump clashed often during their roughly eight-month election standoff, with Trump nicknaming the governor “DeSanctimonious” and DeSantis responding in kind by calling Trump “juvenile.”

However, it appears their relationship has mended to some extent, as sources reportedly told CBS News that Trump is considering DeSantis to replace Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.

One source told CBS News that DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and then take the post when his term as governor expires Jan. 5.

However, neither the White House nor DeSantis have confirmed these rumors at this time.

European opponents of right-wing populism see the U.S. vote as the latest sign of its faltering advance. Since April, voters have ousted Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, ended Aleksandar Vucic’s long grip on Serbia and blocked the Bolsonaro family’s return in Brazil.

“When cracks in power become more visible, this can trigger a cascade effect,” said Péter Krekó, director of Budapest’s Political Capital Institute.

Nowhere would such a cascade matter more than in France, where nationalist Marine Le Pen is the front-runner in a presidential election six months away that could put the European Union’s only nuclear arsenal, and a U.N. Security Council veto, in far-right hands.

The populist right’s recent defeats could rattle the woman vying to become France’s first Madame la Présidente. But the anger punishing populists in power from Budapest to Belgrade could carry her to power — precisely because her National Rally party has never governed France.

Le Pen also faces a legal cliffhanger. France’s highest court aims to rule on her appeal against an embezzlement conviction by early April, just weeks before the first round of voting; if it rules against her, she could campaign and face voters wearing an electronic tag.

“She could still be barred from running, and now Americans delivered this sort of rebuke to Trump’s kind of populism,” said Carmen Artaza, 31, a Paris resident educated in the United States. “That’s bound to rattle her — unsettle her campaign.”

But in France, "the far right still has the wind in its sails,” said Sciences Po political scientist Gilles Ivaldi.

Analysts say voters who handed Democrats control of the U.S. House and Senate may have punished Trump’s record, especially on the economy, more than his “America First” ideas.

Populists are still winning some elections, too. Such candidates have taken presidencies in Poland, Chile and Colombia since mid-2025.

A string of defeats since last year

“The trend toward the far right has been the defining feature of 21st-century politics,” said Daphne Halikiopoulou, a politics professor at Britain’s University of York.

But lately, defeats for the illiberal populist camp have been piling up.

“The midterms are a very favorable result for the center left, and this could hinder the far right,” she said.

Leaders or parties espousing nationalist, anti-immigration policies have suffered at least eight national election setbacks in roughly 18 months: in Romania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Serbia, Brazil and now the United States.

And many were emphatic: Portugal elected moderate Socialist António José Seguro over hard-right populist André Ventura by two to one; Hungary ended Orbán’s 16 years in power; Serbia’s Vucic conceded defeat last month to a student-led protest movement; and Romania chose pro-European centrist Nicușor Dan over nationalist George Simion.

Last month, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly beat Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Other votes thinned the ranks of anti-immigration parties. Geert Wilders’ party lost 11 seats in the Netherlands as the centrist party surged. In Sweden, the hard-right Sweden Democrats lost 11 seats as the left-leaning opposition won a narrow majority.

The results “show clearly that far-right politics are not popular,” said Aurélien Mondon, a politics expert at Britain’s University of Bath.

Even some on the populist right see a pattern. The U.S. midterms “join the defeats of Bolsonaro and Orbán,” Markus Frohnmaier, a senior lawmaker with the far-right AfD, wrote on X.

All eyes on France

Each defeat can make the next one easier to imagine. Voters need to believe that “an increasingly authoritarian regime with vast resources can be defeated,” Krekó said. “The midterm results helped create that sense.”

The French left seized on the result, while the far right gave it a Gallic shrug.

“There is no inevitability in politics,” said Raphaël Glucksmann, the French center-left presidential candidate, calling it “a message of hope for all.”

The National Rally, which cheered Trump’s return to power last year, is now keeping him at arm’s length.

“What happens in other countries is none of my business,” party president Jordan Bardella told RTL radio.

Sébastien Chenu, who leads the far-right party’s lawmakers in the National Assembly, called the vote “a rejection of Donald Trump’s policies” in a statement to The Associated Press, blaming inflation and fuel prices driven by a war with Iran “that he himself started.”

In Germany, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel blamed “the disastrous consequences of the Iran war.”

The message from Europe’s nationalists: The defeat was Trump’s, not theirs.

After three failed bids, Le Pen has never looked stronger, according to French pollsters.

Yet the race to be her main challenger is wide open, with hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, center-right former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and Glucksmann among the contenders.

Losing votes, shaping the agenda

“Losing an election is definitely a sign of decline. But it’s not sudden death,” Halikiopoulou said. “In many cases, far-right parties are losing because their competitors are adopting their positions."

In Britain, Labour hardened its stance on immigration, especially under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to fend off Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

In France, the Senate last week approved a bill from President Emmanuel Macron’s government that could make anyone who knowingly joins a violent group pay up to 10,000 euros ($11,200) for what others destroy, and let the state dock family benefits to cover it — long a Le Pen idea.

The real danger, Mondon said, is “the failure of the mainstream elite” to counter the far right. A decade under Macron has brought “the mainstreaming of far-right talking points.”

Le Pen’s advantage: She has never governed

For Le Pen, the lesson of the midterms may be less that populists lose than that incumbents do.

Anger at incumbents has been building for years. In 2024, for the first time since records began, every governing party that faced a national election in a developed country lost vote share, according to ParlGov, a University of Bremen database.

The far right is rising where it sits in opposition and centrists rule, as in France, Austria and Germany, where the AfD took a record 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election in September.

Anger and a hunger for radical change, embodied by both Le Pen and Mélenchon, now dominate French politics, Ivaldi said.

The election will show whether there is “still a barrier against the far-right,” he said. Voters across the political spectrum rallied behind Macron to block her in 2017 and 2022.

For now, he said, France “could well experience its own ‘Trump moment,’ like the U.S. in 2016.”

Voters have shown they can turn populists out of power. France will show whether they can keep one from winning it.

Halikiopoulou put it simply: “Were the midterms a massive blow to Trump? Yes. Were they important? Absolutely. But the fact remains that Trump is still in power.”

____

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

Alcaraz was match point down in the second set at 5-3 and 5-4, saving the second with a forehand pass. He finally won 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-3.

“I tried not to let myself down in the difficult moments in the second set,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to stay strong mentally and save those break points and match points.

"I would say 3-5 serving, that game we played incredible tennis. I used the people and the energy and gave them what they really wanted to watch and I am really happy to play for one and a half hours more to entertain them. The feeling I have today is unmatched.”

Alcaraz will feature in the Paris semifinals for the first time. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been hampered by injury and fatigue this year. But he won the Vienna title last week and looks fresher than many of his rivals at this stage of the season.

Ben Shelton also reached his first Paris semifinal after winning an all-American matchup against Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Shelton, with 19 aces, converted two of four break points. It was his third win in five meetings between them.

Shelton ended Paul’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin this month. As a result, another American player, Frances Tiafoe, clinched a spot and will debut at the tournament. Fritz's loss qualified Rafael Jodar in the eighth and last spot.

The other qualifiers for the Finals are top-ranked Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz, Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Arthur Fils.

Shelton will next play local Luca Van Assche, who took almost three hours to defeat qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5. Alcaraz will take on Casper Ruud, who beat lucky loser Nuno Borges 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reverse their result last week in Basel.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

The rupture caused by Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza and the jointly launched war with Iran has shredded bipartisan U.S. support for Israel that goes back decades. Democrats are fiercely divided over Israel, and Republicans are increasingly critical of its actions.

In Israel, critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuse him of having mismanaged relations with the country’s closest ally. But the divide runs much deeper, and is likely to persist even if a new government is formed after last week’s elections.

On the left, Americans increasingly see Israel as an international pariah because of the war in Gaza and violent settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. On the right, some see Israel as having undermined Trump’s “America First” pledge, accusing it of dragging the U.S. into a costly and unnecessary war with Iran.

“Something fundamental has shifted,” said Michael Oren, a historian and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. “My working assumption is that the call to cut off military aid is just the beginning.”

The political landscape shifts on the left and right

It is still unclear if Trump’s remarks on ending some $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel, made in an interview with Fox News, represent official policy or were just a last-ditch bid to sway voters on Election Day. The White House did not respond to a request for more details.

Netanyahu has repeatedly called Trump the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House. In his first term, Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and legitimizing Jewish settlements seen as illegal by most of the international community. In his second term, he joined Israel in two wars launched against Iran.

Hours after Trump's remarks, election results poured in, showing a massive wave of Democratic victories across the country, including in the crucial swing state of Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed handily defeated his Republican rival. El-Sayed accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, allegations it vehemently denies.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, seen as a possible front-runner to succeed Trump, has sought to distance himself from the Iran war and has adopted a more critical tone toward Israel.

In a postmortem posted on social media the morning after the election, Vance said an unnamed pollster, “one of the smartest people I know in politics,” told him Republicans need to do four things to bring voters back: “1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel.”

“This clearly doesn’t bode well,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel. Vance’s call for change “does resonate with a certain part of the Republican Party, the Tucker Carlson and more right-wing, isolationist and MAGA part of the party,” he said.

Cutting off aid would be a ‘significant unilateral change’

For decades, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in aid and advanced weaponry to Israel while shielding it from criticism at the U.N. and other international forums.

Supporters portray such aid as an investment in a powerful and reliable ally in a dangerous region. Critics like El-Sayed say it has underwritten Israel’s expansion of settlements, severely undermining prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

After Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve emergency weapons sales. It paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs at the height of the war in Gaza but continued to provide military aid. Trump has also approved billions of dollars in weapons sales to Israel. An academic study last year found that the U.S. had provided $21.7 billion in aid to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said a U.S. aid cutoff would “definitely leave the Israelis scrambling, and it would be a significant unilateral change in the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

Israel would have to finance its own purchases of American-made weapons, either by borrowing money or raising taxes, said Singh, who was the senior Middle East director on the National Security Council under former U.S. President George W. Bush.

Netanyahu has said he wants to wean Israel off U.S. military aid over the next 10 years. The goal would be to transition to a more balanced partnership, in which Israel would no longer rely on American taxpayer dollars while sharing its own considerable technological and intelligence capabilities.

“The prime minister has been working with President Trump to make the correct transition out from aid towards partnership and mutual investment,” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, said in a recent interview with Fox. Netanyahu has not commented on Trump’s remarks.

A new Israeli government would face the same pressure

Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority in last week’s election, but it’s far from certain that his opponents will be able to replace him.

A new government led by Netanyahu’s main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, could take some action to help blunt the criticism, like cracking down on rampant settler violence. But it would largely continue the policies toward the Palestinians and the wider region that have angered many Americans.

The disconnect was on vivid display earlier this week when Yair Lapid, a leading member of the anti-Netanyahu coalition, said on X that a new government should send representatives to the U.S. to engage with the White House, Congress and local leaders to repair relations.

Brad Lander, a newly elected Democratic representative from New York who was briefly detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last month, said Lapid was missing the point.

“As someone who won a seat in Congress last night, and who cares about Israel: you’re not listening to what American voters — Jewish and non-Jewish — are saying. We aren’t starving for a barnstorming tour. We’re hungry to see respect for international law and human rights,” Lander wrote.

Freilich, the former Israeli security official, said that if Netanyahu ultimately remains in office, “the downward spiral will increase and maybe even get worse.”

If Eisenkot prevails, “then he can begin a process which is going to be maybe even generational. It’s certainly 10 to 20 years to undo the damage that (Netanyahu) has caused,” Freilich said.

Doncic has done all types of magic during his spectacular start to the Lakers’ season, but this epic buzzer-beater was much more than simply the most memorable moment from his 53-point performance in the Lakers’ 124-118 win Friday night.

“I think it changes the whole energy in the team and in the gym,” Doncic said. “I thought it was an important shot to make — so that’s why I decided to make it.”

A sly smile creeped onto Doncic's face with that playful boast — but after the NBA's leading scorer topped 40 points for the sixth time in seven games, after he surpassed 50 points for the second time already this season, it was clear Doncic can conjure just about anything he pleases on the court this season.

And Doncic had a very good point: His three-quarter-court shot flipped the momentum in a game that had been controlled by the Trail Blazers. Los Angeles rode that wave into a dominant third quarter — in which Doncic outscored Portland all by himself — and all the way to its eighth win in 10 games to start the season amid Doncic's historic offensive success.

“When you've got a guy that can make shots like that, it's fun basketball,” said Lakers center Walker Kessler, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds. “He's incredible to watch. He's incredible to play alongside. He's my MVP. I think it's pretty clear right now.”

Doncic is averaging 40.1 points per game through the Lakers' first 10 games while hitting 49.8% of his shots and 41.9% of his 3-point attempts.

Nobody who spends time around the Lakers is surprised when Doncic makes a shot from half-court or beyond. He’s pretty obsessed with those shots, sometimes taking dozens of them after practice at the Lakers’ training complex.

He already hit a memorable half-court shot just last month, squaring up and banking it in over trash-talking Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg in the Lakers’ season-opening victory over Golden State.

"Luka can do some things that maybe a handful (or) no one can do in basketball," Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “When he shoots it from three- quarter court, you're surprised when it doesn't at least go in and out, hit the rim.”

Doncic is scoring from everywhere else on the court lately, too.

Even with a slow start against Portland in which he missed his first five 3-point attempts, he finished 17 for 33 with only three turnovers. He had five 3-pointers, five rebounds and five assists, hitting those marks along with at least 35 points for his seventh consecutive game.

He has four 50-point performance in his 101 regular-season games with the Lakers, already tied for the fourth-most in team history. He has 11 50-point games in his nine-year career, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and tying Allen Iverson for 10th in league history.

“I’m having a lot of fun,” Doncic said. “Obviously, playing basketball, it’s a lot of fun for me. It’s more when you play like this and when you win games.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

“It was a great feeling, being able to execute it and work so hard for it,” Salgado-Medina said. “And being able to do it on a big stage like that is an amazing feeling.”

The Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) pulled to 28-26 on Noah Fifita’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Craig with 1:45 left, but their 2-point attempt failed. Arizona lined up for an onside kick, and Ian French floated the ball over the Horned Frogs' front line.

TCU's Ed Small couldn't come up with an over-the-shoulder catch on the kick and Arizona's Zuri Watson recovered at the Horned Frogs' 26. Salgado-Medina made his field goal four plays later and Tyrese Boss sealed it with an interception, keeping alive the Wildcats' Big 12 championship hopes.

Arizona has won seven straight home games, its longest streak since 1993-94.

“The players kept believing, the sideline was electric,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “It was just magic the way that thing finished.”

Fifta threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns with an interception that Hudson Hooper returned 93 yards for a touchdown.

TCU's Jaden Craig ran for two touchdowns, including a 2-yard run that put the Horned Frogs (4-5, 2-4) up 28-20 in the fourth quarter. He threw for 232 yards and hit Jordan Dwyer on a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Arizona had a crisp opening drive, capped by Isaiah Mizell's diving 20-yard touchdown catch. Salgado-Medina's 43-yard field late in the first quarter put Arizona up 10-0.

The rest of the half was a struggle.

Fifita had a hard time finding open receivers downfield and the pass protection around him broke down at times.

Arizona's defense shut down the Horned Frogs for most of the half — 123 total yards — until Craig avoided a sack and scrambled 7 yards up the middle for a touchdown.

When the Wildcats moved deep into TCU territory late in the second quarter, Fifita made a rare mistake.

Throwing a pass to the flat, Fifita didn't see Hooper, who jumped in front of the intended receiver for an interception — Fifita's fifth of the season. Hooper broke a tackle near midfield and continued on for a 93-yard touchdown return that put TCU up 14-10 at halftime.

The Horned Frogs were still ahead until late, but watched a road victory over a ranked team slip through their fingers.

“I’m disappointed for our players," TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. "It’s been a frustrating year. We’ve lost a lot of close games.”

The takeaway

TCU: The Horned Frogs had the win within their grasp, yet found a way to lose. This one stings

Arizona: The Wildcats' Big championship hopes appeared to be gone, but they somehow found a way to pull out an improbable win.

Up next

TCU: Hosts Kansas State on Nov. 14.

Arizona: Hosts No. 3 Utah on Nov. 14.

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Doncic produced his 11th career 50-point game and his fourth with Los Angeles while preserving a fourth straight win for the Lakers, whose late 12-point lead had dwindled to four before Doncic and Austin Reaves combined to score 10 points in the final seconds.

Reaves scored 25 points and Walker Kessler had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who avenged a 136-129 home loss to Portland on Oct. 27 with this NBA Cup victory.

Doncic scored 20 points in the third quarter alone to hit 40 for the sixth time in an incredible seven-game surge that includes six 40-point games — including four straight — and a 37-point performance.

The Slovenian superstar added five assists and five rebounds, giving him seven consecutive games with at least 35 points, five assists, five rebounds and five 3-pointers.

Deni Avdija had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Blazers, who lost for only the second time this season in the finale of their four-game road trip.

The Lakers trailed by 16 in the second quarter before surging to a 16-point lead of their own early in the fourth with a 32-11 run. Portland roared back and repeatedly got within four points, but no closer.

Doncic joined Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan as the only Lakers to score 40 points in four straight regular-season games. Doncic also passed Mikan for the fifth-most 40-point games in Lakers history — after just 101 regular-season games with Los Angeles.

The Lakers opened this game on their garish yellow tournament court by missing their first 15 3-point attempts into the second quarter. Doncic missed his first five 3-point attempts — but he banked in a 61-footer from the opposite free throw circle at the halftime buzzer.

Portland's big lead was erased in the third quarter when the Lakers scored 17 consecutive points. Doncic outscored the Blazers 20-15 in the third.

Up next

Trail Blazers: Host San Antonio on Saturday.

Lakers: At Detroit on Sunday.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

That was the only highlight for James, who scored in single digits for only the 10th time in 1,630 NBA regular-season games.

James was held to eight points as the Cavaliers routed the 76ers 119-95 in an NBA Cup group stage game.

The Akron, Ohio, native — who elected to sign with Philadelphia in the offseason instead of returning to Cleveland for a third stint — was 3 of 12 from the field, including 0 for 4 on 3-pointers, and committed six turnovers in 31 minutes.

“Definitely not feeling a good rhythm offensively,” said James, who came out with 3:54 remaining and the 76ers trailing by 19 points. “We didn’t look like much offensively. We had a couple spurts, but too many turnovers on my behalf.”

James received a smattering of boos from Cavaliers fans every time he touched the ball during the first half.

There was no video tribute to James, a surprising omission from recent years. Last season, the Cavaliers showed highlights of James scoring 25 straight points during Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, which prompted him to tear up.

The Cavaliers have often showed clips of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals — when Cleveland won its first championship — or when James was the first overall pick in the 2003 draft.

James spent 11 seasons over two stints with the Cavs. He left as a free agent in 2010 to join the Miami Heat, came back in 2014 and departed again in 2018 to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

“At the end of the day, nothing can get as worse as December 2, 2010, from a reception standpoint. So I’ve seen them near the depths of hell when it comes to reception here all the way to the heavens above. So anything in between, it’s easy money,” James said.

James missed his first two shots from beyond the arc before scoring on a driving layup with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.

Cleveland center Evan Mobley, who had 22 points, said a major emphasis coming into the game was protecting the paint. James was 2 of 6 in the paint.

Donovan Mitchell, who led the Cavs with 23 points along with seven rebounds and eight assists, was happy with his team's defensive mentality.

“He’s a hell of a player, but like Evan said, just trying to pack the paint and knowing that he’s trying to drive but also kick it out. He had six turnovers and you give credit where it’s due to our defense as a whole. And from there we were able to get out and get going,” Mitchell said.

James had his double-digit points streak in Cleveland snapped at 396 games. The NBA’s career scoring leader had three points on Dec. 30, 2004, against Houston.

His NBA-record run of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points ended on Dec. 4 last season in the Lakers’ victory at Toronto.

The 76ers' loss was James’ second-worst in Cleveland as a visiting player. He is 9-5, but has been on the losing end in his last three trips. Philadelphia will return to Cleveland on March 1.

The Sixers came in with the NBA's best record but fell to 8-2. Coach Nick Nurse was already looking ahead to Sunday's game at Chicago.

“We were lackluster and they were very, very good. And I think we expected them to be very good tonight considering that they had a couple tough losses in a row. They had us and New York coming to town (on Saturday). They had to dig in and they did,” Nurse said. “We were not very good. Probably once in a while that’s going to happen. Important thing is that we get over it and bounce back on Sunday.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Cold War tensions with modern parallels ripple through “The Taper Man,” a new spy thriller set in the world created by the late John le Carré, and written by his son, Nick Harkaway.

The novel sends British spymaster George Smiley to the U.S. in 1965, chasing a Soviet agent and negotiating a culture clash with “The Cousins,” le Carré’s fictionalized CIA. Its title refers to a deep-cover agent left behind after a spy ring is busted, to bide their time and await instructions.

Harkaway says writing a Cold War story in 2026 is like “writing in the mirror.”

He said the global situation is “weirdly the same in some slightly alarming ways, it’s weirdly different in some alarming ways.” And “many of the same discussions are carrying on.”

Published this week in the U.K. and Nov. 17 in the U.S. by Viking, “The Taper Man” is Harkaway’s second le Carré novel since his father’s death in 2020. “Karla’s Choice,” published in 2024, reintroduced readers to Smiley, the masterful, methodical spymaster of “The Circus,” le Carré’s version of MI6.

Smiley is second only to James Bond in the annals of iconic fictional spies, and Harkaway was made acutely aware of the risk he was running by messing with a beloved universe.

“Every review of ‘Karla’s Choice’ began with the words, ‘I really expected to hate this novel, and I didn’t,’” he told The Associated Press.

In his father’s footsteps, and his father's chair

Harkaway, whose real name is Nicholas Cornwell, is the youngest of the four sons of David Cornwell, an MI6 agent turned author who used the pen name John le Carré.

Drawn to writing but keeping a distance from his father’s world, Harkaway made his name with sci-fi thrillers, including “The Gone-Away World,” “Gnomon” and “Titanium Noir."

But perhaps he was fated to enter what he calls the “Smileyverse.” George Smiley’s voice was one of the first he ever heard as a child, when his father read aloud passages from his works in progress.

“While I was acquiring language, I was getting Smiley 90 minutes, 2 hours a day,” Harkaway said during an interview at his north London house, where he writes in a small back office, sitting in his father’s “very uncomfortable” chair.

It’s unclear whether the chair has anything to do with it, but Edward Kirke, Harkaway’s editor at Viking, said “The Taper Man” is infused with the le Carré spirit.

“It is profoundly intelligent and has this beautiful moral murkiness,” Kirke said.

George Smiley goes to America

“The Taper Man,” set two years after the events of le Carré’s breakthrough novel “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” takes Smiley to California. That lets Harkaway give the unobtrusive spy a “mouse-eye view” of Los Angeles, whose scale, landscapes and attitudes seem as alien to him as the moon.

Harkaway contrasts the watching-and-listening role of British intelligence with the aggressive ethos of The Cousins, who are “warriors in this Cold War, not shadows,” and are prepared to move fast and break things, including moral boundaries.

It’s a view that chimes with the outlook of le Carré, who became a strong critic of U.S. foreign policy in the post-9/11 “war on terror” years.

“My dad’s relationship with the U.S., and U.S. intelligence, was tempestuous, as it was with everywhere that he loved,” Harkaway said. “Obviously, inevitably, his greatest scorn is reserved for the U.K., which he adored.”

The book brings back Circus stalwarts, including the spy chief Control, and fleshes out minor characters from his father’s books, notably Roy Bland, a left-wing firebrand turned MI6 agent who appeared in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”

Harkaway says he was helped by the fact that “there are no throwaway characters” in his father’s writing. “The taxi driver, the bellhop, everybody has an interior life that you can return to.

“That was also his experience in life,” Harkaway said. “People told him secrets.

“If you traveled with my dad, you found yourself having a 25-minute conversation with the cab driver after you’d arrived at where you were supposed to be going. … And this guy would be pouring out his life story to a total stranger and a cab full of people.”

Espionage meets office politics

Many le Carré fans adore the books as an antidote to the glossy, high-octane adventures of Ian Fleming’s superspy, James Bond.

The Circus is a place of diligent work and office rivalries as well as risk and treachery. It’s a gritty, grubby view of espionage pushed even further in Mick Herron’s “Slow Horses” series about a group of damaged MI5 misfits. Herron has acknowledged his debt to le Carré.

“One of the things that my dad was always in trouble for in the U.K. was demystifying intelligence work,” Harkaway said. “Taking away the James Bond glamour and saying, these guys who try to reshape nations — they’re just us. And sometimes they’re hungover and sometimes they’re divorced, sometimes they are stupid and sometimes they’re clever. Sometimes the stupid ones overrule the clever ones, and intelligence work is a lottery, is a cock up, is a mess."

The le Carré world continues to expand. Harkaway’s brothers run a film and TV production company behind “The Night Manager” and the upcoming BBC/MGM+ series “Legacy of Spies,” in which “Succession” star Matthew Macfadyen plays Smiley.

Harkaway is writing “at least one more” Smiley book, again set in the 1960s.

Then, other writers may be invited to the party. Harkaway says there are “internal discussions” in the family about it, but no future authors have been chosen.

He says candidates would have to have “great prose” and ideally “be a little bit angry,” and he agrees with a suggestion that, in the male-dominated world of spy thrillers, it would be refreshing to have a woman take the pen.

“Much as I like to think I’m a very special boy, the world is full of talented writers,” he said. “And if one person can do it, someone else can do it.”

The lofty goals come after two years in which Democrats, while in the minority, were limited in how much they could counter Trump's supercharged and, at times, chaotic immigration enforcement. But there are clear limits to what they can achieve even after Democrats' epic win, with Trump — who rode into power in part on a promise to curb immigration — in office for another two years and wielding his veto power.

What's more, Republicans have frontloaded billions of dollars for immigration enforcement. And the key architect of the president’s hard-line immigration agenda, Stephen Miller, was elevated Friday to become Trump's chief of staff — suggesting immigration enforcement may not slow down any time soon.

Here's a look at what might come next for immigration after Election Day:

Investigating alleged corruption and ICE policies

Democrats appear ready to use the power of congressional oversight to investigate Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. That strategy will likely resonate with voters angry aboutt how enforcement operations were carried out in places like Minneapolis or ICE arrests of longtime immigrants integrated into American society.

The administration ramped up immigration enforcement during the first two years of Trump's second term, launching major operations in multiple cities and sending arrests soaring. DHS also came under criticism for alleged corruption and misuse of funds it was granted to carry out Trump's immigration agenda.

Nationally, about 6 in 10 voters said the Trump administration’s actions on immigration enforcement had “gone too far,” according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 midterm voters. A similar share disapproved of how ICE was doing its job. And about 6 in 10 voters said immigrants to the U.S. today do more to “help the country," while less than half, about 4 in 10, said they do more to “hurt the country."

Rep. Robert Garcia, a Los Angeles-area Democrat who will take over the House Oversight Committee and is a prominent critic of Trump's immigration agenda, warned the administration to “lawyer up,” adding that investigating alleged abuses at DHS was one of his priorities.

The next Congress will “address the Trump administration’s assault on the rule of law and hold those responsible accountable,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security committee.

Those investigations could delve into issues like DHS purchases of massive warehouses to hold arrested immigrants; whether ICE cut corners when hiring thousands of new deportation officers; or deaths in ICE detention facilities.

Garcia and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut held shadow hearings featuring family members of people killed during immigration enforcement operations, a whistleblower exposing problems with ICE training, and American citizens caught up in immigration enforcement operations.

No Republicans attended and Democrats couldn’t subpoena witnesses. Now they can, opening up a new level of scrutiny of the administration's actions.

Calls to put forward a Democratic vision for immigration

The last time Congress even came close to passing comprehensive immigration reform was in 2013. That proposal cleared the Senate but died in the House.

Border crossings that surged under the Biden administration further served to dampen any Democratic enthusiasm to talk about legalization for any immigrants.

Sarah Pierce, director of social policy for Third Way, a Washington, D.C., think tank, said Democrats need to show voters their own vision for immigration and border security and not just focus on oversight hearings of what happened during the last two years.

“They should lean into oversight, but I think that they also need to couple that with a proactive vision for what immigration should look like in the United States,” said Pierce.

At least one of the party's new senators is ready for the discussion. During an interview with Fox News after the election, Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas discussed the need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living and working illegally in the country for years.

In the House, Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico pointed to the Democratic gains made with Latino voters and the higher numbers of Latino lawmakers who will take office next year as reasons for Democrats to not shy away from talking about immigration issues.

He said Democrats should find ways to address immigration through a lens of affordability, a central issue for voters. For example, they could tackle staffing shortages by creating a new visa class for workers who provide care for children or the elderly.

“This cannot be a third-rail issue for Democrats,” said Vasquez. “We can actually reform our immigration system to bring costs down for all Americans and at the same time give people who are either here undocumented or want to come to this country an opportunity to have legal status.”

Democrats' power to curb Trump's immigration agenda is limited

Trump, shortly after the election, said he was prepared to work with Democrats on certain issues, highlighting immigration as one of them. But that collaborative tone may not bear out in practice.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin vowed on social media, “Deportations will continue.” A few days later, Trump promoted Miller to become his chief of staff.

Immigration and Latino activists lambasted Miller's promotion, calling it an act of defiance after voters spoke clearly at the polls and a sign the president would continue his immigration policies. California’s Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, who’s been a key critic of Trump’s immigration agenda, said Trump was choosing to double down by picking Miller and vowed, “So will we.”

It's unclear if Democrats and the White House will find a middle ground to successfully pass immigration legislation. With Trump in office for another two years, he can veto any Democratic legislation, and Republicans have the money and the personnel to pursue Trump’s immigration agenda regardless of Tuesday’s results.

Republicans during the summer of 2025 supercharged immigration enforcement with $150 billion intended to expand immigration detention capacity, finish the border wall and hire thousands more deportation officers. Earlier this year they frontloaded routine funding for ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years.

“My fear is that enforcement will get worse. And the country will also see that Congress does not have many tools to stop the executive branch because the executive branch power on immigration has grown so vast,” said Andrea Flores, who was a policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations.

Conservatives want action from lame duck Congress

Many administration supporters want this current Congress — in the little time it has left — to pass laws solidifying the gains the Trump administration says it has made on border security and immigration. Without codifying changes to asylum law or tightening requirements on employers to verify workers' immigration status, they warn, a different administration could quickly reverse the new immigration landscape Trump has shaped.

NumbersUSA, an advocacy group that seeks to restrict immigration, has a timer on its website counting down the days until this Congress is over with a warning to “make border security permanent.”

“If this Congress in the lame duck does not secure the border with lasting legislation," said the organization's co-president, Jeremy Beck, “then this Congress will have failed to meet the moment.”

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Associated Press reporter Linley Sanders contributed to this report.

It was, of course, in perfect alignment with the bad-lad image Brand cultivated that rode a thin line between outrageous and offensive, as he became one of Britain’s most famous comedians.

Brand’s convictions Thursday for rape and sexual assault have turned a spotlight back on the BBC and other media employers, renewing questions about whether bosses enabled his behavior or chose to look away. They also highlighted the ways in which his excesses were overlooked by the culture at large.

“When Brand was at his most famous, his wrongdoings were indulged or ignored by his employers and, to be fair, the public too,” Ann Olivarius, an attorney specializing in sexual misconduct, said in an email message.

The BBC apologized last year for a culture of silence that, it said, prevented staff from complaining about Brand’s behavior at its radio stations between 2006 and 2008 because they felt he was too powerful.

It reiterated that apology after his conviction.

“It was of great concern to us that some people felt unable to raise concerns about Brand’s behavior,” the BBC said Thursday in a statement. “We apologized to those impacted, for both the culture and failings at the time.”

News outlets investigating themselves brought accusations to light

Britain’s public broadcaster had launched the internal probe after The Times and Channel 4, in a joint investigation, aired accusations in 2023 from women who said they had been sexually abused and degraded by Brand.

The resulting articles and documentary brought women forward who provided the evidence that led to his conviction. But it was no secret Brand had misbehaved during his time as a shock jock at the BBC or TV host at Channel 4. He wrote in a memoir, for example, about how he had sex in radio-station handicapped bathrooms with contestant winners from the BBC station 6 Music.

“Nobody ever mistook Russell Brand for a Boy Scout,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. “His brand was R-rated from Day One."

The 51-year-old was convicted Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving multiple women. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. He faces sentencing Monday.

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police called the conviction “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them.”

“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” Furphy said. “As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement.”

Of the eight complaints the BBC investigated, only one — that Brand had urinated in a cup in front of staff — had been made formally during his time at the stations. The review found it was “not dealt with effectively.”

Brand wrote in his memoir about a tolerant BBC boss

In his second memoir, “My Booky Wook 2,” Brand spoke of how “incredibly tolerant” Lesley Douglas, the Radio 2 controller at the time, was about his behavior and that he took advantage of the “lots of room” she gave him.

He acknowledged going “too far,” though, when he claimed, on air, that he would be under the desk performing an intimate act with a female newsreader while she was reading the headlines.

The newsreader “was a bit upset,” he said.

Liz Kershaw, a longtime BBC radio DJ, wrote in The Telegraph on Thursday that she had complained since 2006 to BBC management about how Brand’s behavior was tolerated.

“Brand was a creation of some of the most powerful players in the media,” Kershaw wrote. “They were in his thrall. And he was egged on. He was their performing monkey. He made ‘great telly.’ His colleagues were collateral damage.”

In 2008, Brand finally went too far during an on-air prank and had to resign. Brand phoned actor Andrew Sachs, best known for the 1970s program, “Fawlty Towers,” and left a message claiming to have had sex (he used an expletive) with his granddaughter.

Brand resigned from Radio 2 and Britain’s broadcast regulator hit the BBC with a record fine of 150,000 pounds, the equivalent of $219,000 at the time.

While a Channel 4 documentary helped bring down Brand, the broadcaster was also connected to one of the criminal charges at trial from his days as a TV host there. Channel 4 apologized in 2024 to a former employee after an internal review found it had not investigated a serious complaint a staffer made against him in 2009.

Brand was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting a former employee while working on a project for the channel in 2009. The staffer testified that two members of Brand’s entourage had asked her to give Brand a massage and then watched and laughed as the comic put his head into her crotch.

One of Brand’s associates, Jack Bayles, did not testify but said in a statement that he did not recall the incident but was sorry for missing something at the time or failing to recognize the distress it caused.

“I was in the early stages of my career, and it was a frantic, pressured and toxic working environment,” Bayles said. “Brand was chaotic, dismissive and manipulated the people around him.”

He said he stopped working with Brand in 2010 and had not been in touch with him since.

Experts say Brand's raunchy persona may have been a ‘pre-emptive defense’

Some analysts noted that it was precisely Brand’s outrageous image that may have protected him from suspicion of criminal activity.

Adamson, the marketing consultant, noted “the sex, the drugs, the open shirt, the leer" that defined Brand. “That is exactly why the behavior never registered as a warning sign; it was him marketing his brand,” he said.

Blame goes also to the media at the time, Adamson noted. “The media did not just cover the persona — they co-authored it. When a national newspaper hands you a trophy three years running for sleeping around, you are not hiding anything. You’re building your brand."

Attorney and anti-misogyny activist Cheyenne Hunt noted that Brand’s raunchy behavior almost served as a pre-emptive defense.

Someone like Brand "is trying to create a persona such that if someone comes forward, there is this ... defense available to them, that is, ‘Well, what did you THINK was going to happen?’" Hunt said.

The role that comedy played was also key, said Hunt, who leads the group Reckoning Action, which she founded after her role in exposing sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. politicians Eric Swalwell and Graham Platner.

“I tell people to beware of the clown and beware of the jester,” Hunt said. “Because it makes their behavior appear as though they’re joking or like it’s some kind of absurdist comedy, and folks don’t take them literally. But what they’re doing is building a permission structure to do exactly what they’re telling you they’re going to do.”

"And that is very much Russell Brand’s MO, and I think he learned from many other folks who have the same playbook.”

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Noveck reported from New York.

Zelenskyy's comments in an interview aired late Thursday followed two days of discussions among allies in Brussels that focused on postwar security and reconstruction. They also came before planned three-way talks next week in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, the first trilateral peace discussions since February.

While talks on the contours of peace continue, the grim reality of war remained front and center Friday in Ukraine, with more Russian drone attacks and a rising death toll from Moscow's guided bomb strike Monday on a former school operating as a humanitarian aid distribution center.

Russian overnight drone strikes caused extensive power outages in several regions, including the Kyiv area, while Bulgarian authorities found what they identified as a Russian drone in the Black Sea.

Zelenskyy seeks security guarantees for Ukraine

Two days of talks in Brussels discussed postwar reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security guarantees backed by the Ukrainian government’s Western allies. The meetings brought together officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the European Union, along with representatives from the World Bank and the U.S. investment group BlackRock, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote in an online post.

“We separately discussed the threats from Russia to Ukraine and all of Europe, as well as joint steps to counter them,” Umerov wrote.

In his television interview, Zelenskyy said he wanted to see tangible results.

“What matters is that it’s clear on paper,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukraine’s private 1+1 television broadcast late Thursday. “The question isn’t dozens of points, but simply an understanding of the outcome: If Russia starts (attacking) again, what will happen? Who will do what, with what means, and when?”

Zelenskyy said it was important to maintain bipartisan support for Kyiv in the United States but acknowledged Democrats’ sweeping victories in this week’s midterm elections could have a positive effect on U.S. assistance, including the faster delivery of Patriot missile interceptors that Kyiv says are vital to fend off Russian airstrikes.

“I believe our chances of getting additional assistance from the United States may now grow,” he said.

A Ukrainian official says that with Democrats winning control of Congress in the midterm elections, they expect American support to surge next year.

The head of the parliamentary faction of Zelenskyy’s party went further when speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday. Davyd Arakhamia said he sees “the chances for us to get better U.S. support” financially and generally are “at least double” with the new Congress.

Trump met a Russian envoy in Washington

President Donald Trump met Thursday with Moscow envoy Kirill Dmitriev but declined to give details of what they discussed.

“There’s going to be an agreement, it’s going to be a big agreement and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” Trump said, adding that it might include all of Europe.

Trump's son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner said in a social media message that the goal of the Brussels talks was to “develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides, reduce the risk of future conflict and create a more stable and predictable security environment.”

European Union is skeptical

The European Union played down expectations for an agreement anytime soon.

“We look forward to seeing it materialize, but there’s a lot of work that needs to go into it,” European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said. The commission hosted the first day of talks Wednesday at its Brussels headquarters.

“Above all, there needs to be a willingness on the side of the one who first started the war, the one who aggressed,” she told reporters, in a reference to Russia. “There’s a very long way to go there because we haven’t seen much movement on that side.”

Moscow awaits details on possible deal flagged by Trump

The Kremlin on Friday did not comment on Trump’s remarks about a possible deal.

“There are no details,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said Russia had received no ideas from Europe on security guarantees, but added that any discussion of security between Russia and Ukraine would at some point be “impossible” without Europe’s involvement.

The Kremlin spokesperson accused the European side of “persistent indecisiveness and a lack of readiness,” adding that European leaders “haven’t even managed to decide who is authorized to speak on their behalf.”

Death toll climbs above 50 following Russian attack on aid location

The death toll from a Russian bomb attack this week on a shelter and a former school now being used as an aid distribution center rose to 53 after more bodies were recovered from the rubble, Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region’s military administration, said in an online post.

Ten powerful guided bombs destroyed the facility at Komyshuvakha, a village in southeast Ukraine. Several dozen people are still believed to be missing after what was one of the deadliest attacks in the region in nearly five years of fighting.

Relentless drone war continues

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure caused extensive power outages in seven regions of the country overnight and Friday morning, the Energy Ministry said.

The Kyiv region was hardest hit, with damage forcing continued grid restrictions and crews working on day and night shifts to restore power.

Zelenskyy said the electricity outages and resulting water cuts were worst in the Kyiv area, where “the challenges are very serious” for the capital’s residents and industry.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 227 attack drones, including 86 jet-powered ones, with strikes reported at 14 locations and falling debris at eight more. Overall, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 196 Russian drones overnight into Friday.

In Bulgaria, authorities found and destroyed a Russian Gerbera-2 drone, which was not carrying explosives, in the waters of the country's northern Black Sea coast, the Defense Ministry said Friday. Drones or drone parts have been found numerous times in the sea or on the shore in Bulgaria following the escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine this year.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Friday that it shot down 142 Ukrainian drones overnight.

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Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Elise Morton in Thessaloniki, Greece; Lorne Cook in Brussels; Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, the Pakistani astronaut would complete a short on-orbit flight and then return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, China's official news agency Xinhua reported, without specifying the launch date.

The mission would mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's manned space program, it said.

Earlier this year, Xinhua reported that two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, started their training alongside their Chinese counterparts, and the plan was that one of them would be selected as a payload specialist for a short-term spaceflight mission.

While the training focused on developing hands-on operational capabilities, it also involved “intensive Chinese language instruction,” it said.

The upcoming flight is part of an agreement signed by China and Pakistan in February 2025.

China is preparing for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. The U.S. is seen as China’s top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.

Silas Demary Jr. finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Colben Landrew added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Huskies (2-0) at TD Garden, home to the Boston Celtics.

Michigan (1-1) got within single digits in the final minute, but the Huskies closed it out at the foul line.

In last season’s title game, the Wolverines held off UConn 69-63 despite making only two 3-pointers.

This time, Michigan again struggled from beyond the arc, going 7 of 28. But the Wolverines couldn’t keep up with a Huskies team that led by 18 in the first half. UConn connected on nine 3s and shot 42% from the field overall, compared to 41% by Michigan.

Trey McKenney, a key contributor in the championship game, shot 8 of 18 from the floor and led the Wolverines with 22 points. J.P. Estrella had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 18.

Elliot Cadeau, the Most Outstanding Player of last April’s Final Four, chipped in eight points before fouling out late.

It was the first loss for Mike Boynton Jr., in his first season since being elevated from Michigan assistant to head coach. He took over after Dusty May left following last season’s NCAA title to coach the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Playing without a pair of NBA first-round draft picks that carried the Huskies during their March Madness run last season, UConn dictated most of the action in the opening 20 minutes, forcing 11 Michigan turnovers.

The Huskies were leading 32-28 with just under five minutes to go before the break when the bench was called for a technical foul.

That enraged coach Dan Hurley, who briefly walked onto the court before being pulled back by his assistants. It served as a spark for his players, who closed the period on an 11-2 run to take a 13-point lead into halftime.

Up next

Michigan hosts Marquette on Wednesday.

UConn hosts Wagner on Monday.

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The move comes days after Republicans' significant losses in the midterm elections and about a week before a scheduled hearing where a special master was slated to evaluate the accuracy of the list of alleged noncitizens. California officials have previously said the list is out of date and includes legitimate voters — a sentiment that the federal judge presiding over the case echoed in his blistering order denying the federal government's request.

The case was at the forefront of President Donald Trump's administration's effort to assert control over state-run elections across the country, which Trump has said are rife with noncitizen votin g without providing evidence. Available data indicates occurrences are exceedingly rare.

The Justice Department remains enmeshed in litigation with multiple immigrant and voting rights groups seeking to limit its use of the list of what it says are suspected noncitizens. It said in a statement Friday evening that it would continue to prosecute and litigate suspected violations of election law through other legal cases.

The department also filed a motion in support of a separate lawsuit filed in May that alleges that California violates national voting laws by failing to sufficiently remove ineligible voters from its rolls. The intervention is part of a broader effort to continue to “pursue every available civil and criminal remedy to ensure that only eligible American citizens vote in American elections,” top Los Angeles prosecutor Bill Essayli said.

California had processed roughly 9 million ballots as of early Friday, with nearly 5 million still left to be counted, according to state election officials. The motion to dismiss the lawsuit said that, by the time of the upcoming hearing, the state will have already irreparably "commingled the challenged ballots with lawful ones."

“The relief the United States sought and needed is no longer available—rendering voluntary dismissal necessary,” the motion said.

The lawsuit was filed in mid-October, when ballots had been sent to all of the state's 23 million registered voters, and after hundreds of thousands of ballots were already processed. Once a ballot is processed, it is completely anonymized.

Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels on Friday doubled down on earlier accusations that “California chose to protect illegal voters and thus refused to cooperate” with the federal request to set aside ballots, and said that “thousands of likely noncitizens remain on California’s voter rolls and voted in the 2026 elections.”

California prosecutors in recent weeks have arrested over 30 noncitizens who are accused of illegally registering to vote. Some who were arrested were also accused of voting in previous elections.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter appointed the special master in late October, shortly after allowing California to proceed with elections as planned. Carter, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, argued in his order that separating ballots at such a late stage would risk disenfranchising citizens and warned it would “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections.

The special master would have also considered whether or not California election officials did in fact have a mechanism for separating the ballots.

The dispute is playing out in federal court, where several venue owners have challenged the constitutionality of the city’s After-Midnight Alcohol Sales permit program. The National Independent Venue Association is also urging Orlando officials to suspend the fees and work with business owners on an alternative approach.

The program, established in May 2023, requires businesses in the Downtown Entertainment District that serve alcohol between midnight and 2 a.m. to obtain a permit and contribute toward additional public safety costs.

Eric Fuller, an owner of Celine Orlando, says they are paying thousands of dollars a month for the fee.

“We’re paying almost $10,000 a month for a service that’s provided to an entire district,” Fuller said.

Fuller said the expense has forced the venue to reduce staffing and postpone investments in maintenance and upgrades.

“We’ve had to let people go. We’ve had to really pull back on reinvesting into the venue,” he said.

The city program also requires participating businesses to implement security measures, including metal detectors and identification scanners.

Fuller said he believes the costs are not being distributed fairly among downtown businesses. He said 23 of roughly 60 businesses are paying fees that help support police services benefiting the broader entertainment district.

“Those have to stop,” Fuller said of the fees.

In a Nov. 4 letter, the National Independent Venue Association called on Orlando officials to suspend the program and establish a dialogue with affected businesses. The organization argues the fees have contributed to financial challenges for independent venues, some of which have closed.

The federal lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the fee structure. The case is pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Orlando officials defend the program as one part of a broader effort to improve downtown safety.

In a statement, a city spokesperson said the permit program helps offset a portion of the costs associated with downtown public safety services, while emphasizing that the city also pays for law enforcement downtown.

The city pointed to other investments, including additional off-duty Orlando police officers, improved lighting, increased code enforcement and enhanced security requirements for businesses.

The city also said it created the SAFE grant program to help eligible businesses pay for security improvements such as metal detectors, identification scanners and surveillance cameras.

Those efforts have contributed to a 20% reduction in overall downtown crime, according to the city.

Fuller said he supports efforts to make downtown safer but believes the financial responsibility should not fall on a limited number of businesses.

He said he hopes city officials will end the current fee program and work with business owners to find another way to fund public safety.

“I think the city should end the AMS as soon as they can and bring everyone to the table for dialogue,” Fuller said.

James — who elected to sign with Philadelphia in the offseason instead of returning for a third stint with Cleveland — was 3 of 12 from the field, including 0 for 4 on 3-pointers, in 31 minutes. James received a smattering of boos from Cavaliers fans every time he touched the ball during the first half and left the game with 3:54 remaining.

It was only the 10th time in his 24-year career that James has scored in single digits in the regular season. The Akron, Ohio, native's NBA-record run of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points ended on Dec. 4 last season in the Los Angeles Lakers' victory at Toronto.

Evan Mobley added 22 points for the Cavaliers, who bounced back after two losses to Oklahoma City. Mitchell also had seven rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes. James Harden scored 17.

It was a rough night for the 76ers, who lost for only the second time in 10 games this season. They shot 36.5% from the field, including 10 of 40 on 3-pointers.

Jaylen Brown led Philadelphia with 20 points, VJ Edgecombe scored 19 and Tyrese Maxey had 17. Joel Embiid missed all nine of his shots from the field but was 6 of 6 from the line.

The Cavaliers out-rebounded the 76ers by 14 despite center Jarrett Allen being sidelined because of a bruised right knee. Mario Hezonja had 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while Peyton Watson, who missed the last two games with right hamstring tightness, had nine boards.

The Cavaliers led most of the game and took a 46-30 advantage three minutes into the second quarter on an alley-oop dunk by Mobley. Their biggest lead was 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Up next

76ers: At the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.

Cavaliers: Host the New York Knicks on Saturday.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Cheryl Johnson, who lives near the festival grounds, said her family has been turning their property into a parking lot for decades.

“My mom started it, and then my brother kept it going, it was $20 at the time,” Johnson said.

Asked what the price is now, she said it is “between $40 and $50.”

Johnson said they try to keep it orderly and safe, with a steady flow of vehicles in and out each night.

“I sit out here all night until the last car has departed my property,” she said. “It’s like secure parking.”

This year, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has established its largest-ever special event zone for EDC, covering parts of Colonial Drive and John Young Parkway.

Even residents who find a way to benefit financially say the weekend comes with drawbacks, including noise that carries into surrounding neighborhoods.

“When it gets really loud, I mean literally the entire house shakes, windows, everything shakes,” said James Drayton, a resident who lives near the festival.

Drayton is retired. He said he has learned to tolerate the disruption, and has no plans to move.

“I’m OK with it because it’s a retirement income for me, additional income,” Drayton said. “And it’s profitable.”

Johnson said she believes the festival’s economic impact extends beyond individual homeowners and helps the city overall.

“It’s helping the community, it’s helping the city, it’s bringing in revenue,” Johnson said. “And some people have actually come here and decided to reside here because of the events.”

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to move through the corridor near the festival over the next several days.

The road closures and traffic changes are expected to remain in place through Monday morning at 8 A.M.

The 400 Mawozo gang sent a three-page statement to The Associated Press stressing that “dialogue is not a capitulation,” but rather an “act of patriotic responsibility to preserve human lives.”

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused 400 Mawozo of raping, killing and kidnapping people, which it has denied. On Nov. 1, gang leader Wilson Joseph told the AP that he wrote to the U.N. secretary-general and requested that the organization send a delegation to Haiti for dialogue and mediation amid fears that the presence of Salvadoran troops could further escalate violence.

The gang, which refers to itself as a rebel group, said that it plans to participate in a peaceful demonstration later this month “in order to lay the groundwork for a national dialogue and peace negotiation process.”

“Haiti’s future cannot be built solely on confrontations and military operations," it said.

Haiti’s National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration told the AP that an individual contacted them on behalf of the armed group, but that the commission works alongside the prime minister's office. “For any dialogue with armed groups, we must follow the roadmap proposed by the government,” the commission said.

The letter was shared as Haitian police and foreign forces continue to battle gangs, with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé announcing on X late Friday that a gang leader was killed, without identifying him. Haiti’s National Police said the leader of the Boston gang known as Mathias was one of those killed in a joint operation with other law enforcement forces. Mathias was a well-known gang leader that operated out of Cité Soleil, a gang-controlled slum in Port-au-Prince.

“The gangs won’t be getting any sleep!” the prime minister wrote on X.

Police said in a statement that several gang members were injured and killed in the operation as it urged Haitians to turn over their “illegal weapons” so that “they can change their lives.”

The AP reached out to a spokesperson for 400 Mawozo and asked if the gang is willing to lay down its weapons.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they don't want to be publicly identified to talk about these issues, responded that the gang is willing to engage in peace negotiations and that disarmament is a process.

When asked what 400 Mawozo seeks in exchange, the person said peace and the end of what they called “international interference.”

The gang’s announcement comes just weeks after El Salvador deployed more than 2,000 troops to Haiti following the disappearance of four Salvadoran aviation technicians who came under attack on Oct. 18 while deep in gang territory.

The United Nations has said that most of the Salvadoran personnel in Haiti are operating outside the framework of the U.N.-backed gang suppression force that is working with Haiti’s police and military as well as Vectus Global, the private security firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

The gang said it believes it would be “beneficial” if all “relevant military forces” suspend operations targeting certain areas pending the “effective opening of a dialogue on peace and stability.”

“This period should provide an opportunity for de-escalation, the protection of civilian populations, and the search for a lasting political solution,” it wrote.

In its letter, 400 Mawozo said it was worried about social media posts “targeting” the home of Joseph, best known as Lanmò Sanjou, especially comments attributed to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

On Friday, Bukele responded to a social media post in which he was tagged and allegedly showing Joseph's home. “Where is that house? Give us the exact address, and we’ll destroy it,” Bukele wrote on X.

In its letter, the gang described Joseph’s home as “a symbol of peace within the framework of its de-escalation process” and called on “all parties to respect international obligations relating to the protection of civilians and civilian property.”

The gang referenced certain articles within the Geneva Conventions as well as the Charter of the United Nations.

El Salvador's government declined to comment when reached by the AP on Friday night.

The 71-year-old pope arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, Latin America’s most secular country, after a 13 1/2-hour flight from Rome during which he acknowledged “some people” had doubted whether he could make the grueling, 12-day trip at all.

“I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward,” he told reporters aboard the papal plane.

As if to prove his point, he immediately got down to business, drawing huge crowds in Montevideo as he pulled into town in his open-sided popemobile. The Vatican estimated 30,000 people had turned out to watch him go by and attend his first event in town.

“Pope Leo, Uruguay is with you!” the crowd chanted.

Despite the long trip, the 71-year-old Leo seemed in fine form as he arrived at the Plaza Independencia for the formal welcome and speech, held outdoors on a blustery afternoon. He greeted Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi and government officials, smiling broadly as the wind whipped the Uruguayan and Holy See flags behind him.

He kept going with a second big event at the Montevideo cathedral, presiding over an evening vespers service that ended at 9 p.m. local time, or 1 a.m. Rome time.

In his remarks to Orsi, delivered in Spanish, Leo praised Uruguay's development but gently recalled its Catholic heritage in a bid to try to propose the Catholic faith to the country’s 3.5 million people to confront today’s challenges, a key aim of his three-day visit.

He insisted that the state was obliged to care for its people, young and old, a veiled reference to Uruguay’s permissive abortion policies and 2025 legalization of assisted dying, both of which run counter to Catholic teaching.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life,” Leo said, using Vatican terminology to articulate the church’s opposition to euthanasia.

A country with deep secular roots

Latin America is home to around 40% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, but Uruguay is considered its most secular country. Here, only a fraction of people who identify as Catholic actually go to Mass regularly.

Uruguay’s secularism has roots in the weakness of its colonial church. With no gold or silver to mine, Spain valued the land of cattle ranches mainly as a buffer against Portuguese Brazil and left it largely unsettled. Montevideo was founded only in the 1720s, roughly two centuries after Mexico City and Lima.

With few priests and no local bishop, the church never became the powerful institution it was elsewhere in the empire. “Uruguay was colonized late, and that made Catholicism weaker,” said Gerardo Caetano, a Uruguayan historian.

The origins of the separation between church and state can be traced back to the 19th century, particularly to the spread of liberal ideas promoted by European intellectuals, who viewed religion as a symptom of backwardness or a lack of rationality, said Luis Bahamondes, a professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Chile.

This process went so far as to include the renaming of certain holidays to reflect their secular character—such as “Family Day” and “Tourism Week”—signaling that the “inherent weight of Catholicism had no place within the state’s official framework,” Bahamondes added.

Since then, Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the second country in Latin America to decriminalize abortion, and the third country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage.

More recently, it became the first country in the region to approve assisted dying legislation over the strong opposition of the Catholic Church.

“We still don’t understand why he chose Uruguay, given that it’s a secular country, but we hope he leaves something positive behind,” said Mary Fernández while drinking a mate - Uruguay’s beloved beverage - by the river as she waited for Leo to arrive.

By the time he actually did pull into town, throngs of Uruguayans had lined his motorcade route, cheering wildly as he passed by in his popemobile. He kissed babies that were passed up to him and received the keys to the city from Montevideo's mayor, all signs of at least interest in his visit and respect for his role.

“I am very happy, and I am certain that his visit will bring us much good fortune and many blessings,” said retiree Marie Hernández, a 75-year-old Catholic. “We are a secular country, and it is truly beautiful to see the unity among all religions, whether Catholic or otherwise.”

Leo said the Catholic Church in particular was committed to caring for all those in need.

“To this common effort, the church contributes what is unique to her: a hope that does not fade when human resources reach their limits and which reminds those undergoing trials that their lives always retain meaning and value, that they are not alone, and that even in dark times they do not cease to be loved by God,” he said.

Questions about his health dominate flight comments

The trip to Latin America marks the longest and farthest of Leo’s pontificate, all being undertaken as the 71-year-old pope continues his recovery from Oct. 13 surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.

Leo told reporters traveling to Uruguay he was “very happy to be here myself” and gave thanks that he was able to make the trip. After Uruguay, Leo heads to Argentina and finally Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary bishop.

Leo credited his rebound to “Trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle.”

Asked if he felt as good as he looked, he quipped: “Maybe better."

Uruguayan church officials have marveled at the enthusiasm the visit has provoked among the faithful, especially after Leo's hospitalization, with reports that tickets to Leo’s prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium were snapped up after two days.

The last pope to visit Uruguay was St. John Paul II in 1988.

“It seems that the pope’s presence is shifting something here and is gradually breaking down this veil that has always sought to obscure and diminish the presence of the Catholic tradition that lies at the country’s foundation,” said Guzmán Carriquiry, the Uruguayan former head of the Vatican’s pontifical commission for Latin America.

Andrew Chesnut, chair of Catholic studies and an expert in the Latin American church at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he wasn’t surprised that Leo’s visit had generated enthusiasm and that he would be welcomed warmly.

“But that’s not necessarily going to translate into folks in the pews,” he said. “If the overarching goal is trying to revitalize Catholicism in the most Catholic region on Earth, Uruguay is kind of a lost cause, and it has been for decades.”

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AP reporter Ramiro Barreiro contributed from Montevideo, Uruguay.

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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.

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This story corrects a previous headline to note that Pope Leo’s visit to Latin America is a 3-nation tour, not a 3-day tour.

Meanwhile, deadly airstrikes at a popular market in a city in neighboring Yemen killed at least 30 people Friday, the health ministry run by the country's Houthi rebels said.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Read our full coverage here.

Qatar floats proposals to Iran over Tehran's nuclear program

Iran is reviewing proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the United States about Tehran’s nuclear program, two Middle East government officials said Friday.

The development is raising hopes that the two sides could be inching toward indirect talks on one of the thorniest issues that Trump says must be resolved as part of any deal meant to end the more than 8-month-old war.

But one of the officials stressed that the Iranians, at least at the moment, remain unwilling to engage in negotiations with the Trump administration over its atomic activities until the U.S. agrees to several core conditions that Iran has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement.

Both officials were not authorized to comment publicly on the delicate negotiations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump discusses de-escalation efforts with Qatar's emir

The telephone call between Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani centered on international efforts to end tensions, according to a statement from the Qatari ruler's media office. The two discussed in particular Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at reaching “a comprehensive agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and stability in the region.”

Qatar has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the war. Qatar and other U.S.-allied Gulf Arab countries came under heavy fire by Iran earlier in the U.S.-Iran war and have been anxious to avoid a new escalation that could leave them vulnerable to attacks.

During the call, Sheik Tamim “stressed the importance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomatic means to resolve disputes, sparing the region further escalation, and ensuring freedom of maritime navigation and the security of energy supplies,” according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Trump said Friday evening that the U.S. military carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting its air defense systems. In an exchange with reporters, he described the military action as “minor.”

Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.

Iran's foreign minister continues telephone diplomacy with regional counterparts

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone calls with his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts on Friday to outline diplomatic progress aimed at easing tensions in the region.

Araghchi outlined in his call with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein the Islamic Republic’s vision to resume negotiations with the U.S., according to Iraq’s News Agency.

Araghchi said Iran’s vision, which he said was presented to the U.S. before the midterm elections, includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, setting a timetable for the start of negotiations, and adding issues related to Iran’s nuclear program, Iraq's state media said.

Earlier this week, he talked with Turkey and Gulf leaders about regional developments and securing freedom of maritime navigation.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed the need to prioritize diplomatic solutions during a call Thursday with Araghchi.

Abdelatty urged all sides to display flexibility and compromise to reach a political solution and avoid further escalation, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nader Zaki said.

One of the deadliest strikes in Yemen since fighting resumed

Airstrikes hit a popular market in southwestern Yemen on Friday, killing at least 30 people, according to an official with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest attacks since fighting resumed between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces.

Yemen’s Saudi-backed military and the Houthi rebels traded accusations over responsibility for the deadly airstrike on the market. The Associated Press could not independently verify their claims.

Another eight people were wounded in the airstrikes on the market in al-Waziyah in the province of Taiz, a Houthi health ministry spokesperson, Anees Alsabahi, said on X.

Taiz is mostly controlled by the Houthis, who have besieged the provincial capital, where the Saudi-allied government and its forces are based.

Italians detained in the West Bank

Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it was seeking the release of several Italians detained by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank while assisting Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.

The ministry said the group may include four Italian activists and two Italian journalists, though officials were still verifying the number and identities of those involved.

Italy’s embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem have asked Israeli authorities for their immediate release and for consular access. The detainees are being held at a police station in the Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit and are expected to be transferred to a holding facility at Ben Gurion Airport pending deportation on the first available flights.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Trump announced plans for what he called the world’s largest air and space show at Kennedy Space Center, saying the event would bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Brevard County and generate billions of dollars in economic impact.

Trump made the announcement during remarks at the NASA MaxPower event at the space center, marking his first appearance outside Washington since Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The event, which will be called CapeWeek, is planned for the Shuttle Landing Facility, the runway where NASA’s space shuttles once returned to Earth. Trump said the 1,900-acre site would be transformed into a major venue for aviation, commercial space and aerospace industry events.

“We will have within two years the biggest air show — that means commercial stuff and space — that they give in the world by far, and one of the greatest,” Trump said.

Trump said Cape Canaveral is the right place to host the event because of its history and ongoing role in the nation’s space program.

“The Shuttle Landing Facility will be transformed into a 1,900-acre venue that will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, generate billions of dollars in economic impact, and host hundreds of billions of dollars in deals,” Trump said.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman joined Trump on stage and praised the administration’s goals for space exploration, including future missions deeper into the solar system.

“We are going to venture farther into the solar system and move closer to that next giant leap you called for in your inaugural address when American astronauts plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars,” Isaacman said.

Trump also praised Isaacman during the event, calling him “the best administrator in NASA history” and saying both are committed to keeping the United States first in space.

After the speech, Isaacman presented Trump with a plaque that he said would be placed at the runway.

Were you at Kennedy Space Center today? Take a picture or video and send it to us via PinIt! Learn how to do that HERE.

Winter also brings severe smog to parts of Pakistan and China, where warmer air can act as a lid, trapping colder air and pollution near the ground. In eastern Europe, burning coal and wood to heat homes also adds to winter pollution. Western Hemisphere countries, meanwhile, face their own seasonal air-quality problems, as summer wildfires send smoke across vast areas of the United States and Canada.

Experts say no matter where you live or when you face pollution, simple steps such as checking the air quality index, wearing a well-fitting mask and using air purifiers can reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.

An estimated 1 billion people worldwide celebrate Diwali, a holiday of Hindus and Jains with ties to ancient epics such as the Ramayana. Fireworks traditionally set off during the holiday, which starts Sunday, can make polluted air more dangerous.

As Diwali approaches, here are ways to reduce exposure to polluted air.

Check the air before heading out

Fireworks add a sharp burst of pollution to a much bigger problem. Across India, Pakistan and other parts of South Asia, traffic, factories, dust from construction and burning of crop residues and waste foul the air. Weak winds and stagnant winter air allow that pollution to build up.

“Poor air quality is our all-year-round problem in our country,” said Shweta Narayan, a public health expert at the Global Climate and Health Alliance. Narayan said firecrackers add to the problem.

India’s air quality index turns pollution measurements into a health warning. AQI readings of 201–300 mean “poor,” 301–400 “very poor” and 401–500 “severe.” Severe levels can harm even healthy people.

Check pollution levels on government or privately run websites before heading outdoors. Look for data from a nearby monitoring station and the time of its last update. A citywide average can conceal a polluted neighborhood.

The problem is especially bad in Delhi, where fine particle pollution averaged about 19 times the World Health Organization’s annual guideline last year. Air pollution monitors have reached the maximum reading they can display multiple times in recent years.

City authorities have responded with temporary construction, industrial and vehicle restrictions. Public health experts said such measures often fail to address the root causes. The city of more than 20 million people is also implementing a long-term plan to promote use of electric vehicles.

Make your mask fit

Dr. Arvind Kumar, a chest surgeon at Medanta hospital near Delhi and founder trustee of the Lung Care Foundation, recommends using properly fitted N95 or N99 masks outdoors during periods of heavy pollution. These masks are available at pharmacies, hardware stores and online retailers.

N95 filters are designed to capture at least 95% of airborne particles; N99 filters are made to capture at least 99%. The particle respirator masks do not filter harmful gases.

Cover your nose, mouth and chin. Shape the nose clip and check the seal every time. Facial hair can break that seal. The aim, Kumar said, is to ensure “all the breathing is through the mask and not around the mask.”

Replace disposable masks when dirty, damaged or hard to breathe through. Never put a mask on a child younger than 2. People with heart or lung disease should seek medical advice about mask use.

Loose surgical masks, cloth masks and scarves offer unreliable protection against fine particles.

Kumar said pollution can cause persistent coughing, inflame the airways and trigger asthma-like attacks. He also cited increased risks of pneumonia, heart attacks and strokes, while linking prolonged exposure to impaired lung development in children and lung cancer.

Kumar said people should avoid strenuous exercise outdoors during heavy pollution, including early mornings, when pollution levels can be high.

Match the purifier to the room

Using the right air purifiers indoors can help. The devices draw in air to filter out pollutants, then recirculate the cleaner air.

A purifier needs enough capacity to clean the air of the room where it runs. Look for a high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filter. Then check its clean air delivery rate, which is the volume of filtered air it supplies.

Place the purifier where you spend the most time, such as the bedroom. Keep its airflow clear and run it consistently.

HEPA filters trap particles. Substantial activated-carbon filters can remove some gases. No purifier removes every pollutant. Avoid machines that deliberately produce ozone, which irritates the lungs.

Cleaner indoor air reduces exposure, but a purifier cannot eliminate pollution’s health risks, Kumar said.

Celebrate with less smoke

Kumar said it’s important to avoid incense, mosquito coils and candles. Their particles can linger indoors for hours, especially in poorly ventilated rooms, while fireworks pollution can persist overnight, depending on the weather. When many households set off fireworks, their combined emissions can worsen air quality across neighborhoods and entire cities, exposing people who are not taking part. Electric lights can be another way to celebrate Diwali, avoiding toxic gases and smoke from firecrackers.

“If one wants to celebrate and really enjoy the festival of Diwali, avoid bursting firecrackers,” said Narayan, the public health expert.

India’s health ministry also recommends reducing smoky cooking and using a kitchen exhaust that vents outdoors. Damp-mopping floors and wiping dusty surfaces, instead of dry sweeping, can avoid stirring up particles that worsen air quality.

Personal precautions have limits. Narayan said people who earn their livelihoods outdoors cannot simply stay home. Many families also cannot afford air purifiers.

She called for sustained action on pollution sources and affordable health care for those already suffering. Masks and filters can reduce exposure, but lasting protection requires governments to clean the air.

“It’s our responsibility to hold our governments accountable,” Narayan said. “There’s no other way about it.”

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Sibi Arasu can be followed on X at @sibi123. Reach him at sarasu@ap.org.

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

All 44 senators present voted to remove Peña for misconduct in office, making him the second Paraguayan president ousted by impeachment since the end of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner’s 35-year dictatorship in 1989.

As the verdict came down, ending what had been seen as one of South America’s most stable presidencies, a roar rose from the crowds packed into the plaza outside Congress. Depositors, retirees and students in national soccer jerseys waved Paraguayan flags, sang and hugged, chanting “Dictatorship never again!”

Regulators had seized Ueno Bank just three days earlier, sending shock waves through the financial system and setting off the country’s worst political crisis in more than a decade.

An ousted president, under house arrest

Peña was ordered to remain at one of his homes in Asunción until he appears before prosecutors Saturday morning on charges of breach of trust, influence peddling and using public office for personal gain, the most serious of which carry up to 10 years in prison. Lawmakers accuse him of using his political influence to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno while regulators overlooked risky insider lending.

Peña has denied wrongdoing.

Police ringed the house Friday night as crowds gathered outside, waving flags and vowing to keep vigil until morning to make sure he didn’t escape.

Prosecutors also ordered the arrest of Carlos Carvallo, who ran the finance company that became Ueno until Peña named him central bank chief in 2023. It was not immediately clear whether Carvallo had been taken into custody.

Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president Friday to serve out the term, which ends in August 2028. “The Paraguay we receive today has urgent needs,” said Alliana, who is also under investigation in connection with the bank and inherits a government under pressure to return depositors’ money and punish those responsible.

In a farewell message before the verdict, Peña said that he did not want his “presence to be a cause of greater division or instability.”

“I say goodbye with gratitude, without ignoring the anguish of those who are waiting for answers today,” he wrote.

Public outrage has become more thunderous by the day. As senators deliberated Friday, protesters demanding their frozen savings back and accountability for Ueno’s failure marched through downtown Asunción chanting, “Santi Peña to Tacumbú!” — a reference to the capital’s main prison, where Ueno’s founder and former CEO, Miguel Vázquez, is now being held.

“This was an enormous betrayal of trust,” said Yinal López, a worker at the state electricity company, whose employee pension fund also had money at Ueno. “The president has made a mockery of the people."

Frozen accounts, rising anger

When regulators seized the bank, Ueno customers could no longer withdraw cash, access their savings or use their cards to buy anything. The digital lender had aggressively courted the poor and unbanked with generous supermarket rebates, and more than 1 million Paraguayans opened their first bank account there, according to Ueno. Even players on the national soccer team, which Ueno sponsored through its run to a World Cup upset of Germany this year, say they can’t reach their money.

The fallout has spread well beyond savers. A ride-hailing app that relied on Ueno shut down, leaving 3,000 drivers without work. The state power company says $21 million in loans from the Inter-American Development Bank and Taiwan, earmarked for public works, is trapped at the bank. Paraguay’s bonds have posted some of the worst losses in emerging markets this week, and the guaraní has slid against the dollar.

Some depositors began recovering their money Thursday, starting with those holding up to 10 million guaraníes (about $1,500). Deposits are insured up to about $35,000, which the central bank says covers 97% of Ueno’s customers. It calls the collapse an isolated case and insists the broader financial system is safe.

In a separate case against Ueno’s executives, prosecutors have charged 27 people, including Vázquez, with crimes such as breach of trust and attempted fraud. A judge has ordered six former directors, Vázquez among them, held in pretrial detention, and two others confined to their homes with electronic monitors. Authorities have seized luxury cars, a yacht and two small planes linked to Vázquez.

A bank built on public money

Ueno rose from obscurity to become one of Paraguay’s largest banks by deposits in just a few years, with more than $800 million in public money turbocharging its expansion. It signed up more than two-thirds of the country’s adults, its splashy logo appearing everywhere from the national soccer stadium to street vendors’ bank cards.

The impeachment charges cite Peña’s stake in Ueno’s holding company, which he divested under pressure last year, and his appointment of Carvallo to run the central bank that regulated it. Lawmakers also accuse him of letting the state pension fund deposit $355 million at the bank, beyond legal limits.

Analysts say those high-level connections helped shield Ueno from regulatory scrutiny even as concerns about its finances grew.

“Under Peña, the central bank began to lose credibility, lose neutrality and then relax all its control mechanisms to favor the business group that had Ueno Bank as one of its pillars," said José Tomás Sánchez, a political theory professor at the National University of Asunción.

Peña defended the bank until mere weeks before it failed, telling reporters last month that a regulatory inquiry into Ueno didn’t mean it would close and accusing the media of frightening people.

A bank collapse becomes a political reckoning

Peña’s fall, from feted Washington ally meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in late October to prisoner in his own home, came at dizzying speed.

Ueno was seized before dawn Tuesday. By Thursday afternoon, Peña had offered to resign as his conservative Colorado party turned on him, led by former President Horacio Cartes, the party chief and Peña’s longtime mentor. By Friday, he was under arrest, with impeachment denying him the immunity he would have enjoyed if the Senate had accepted his resignation.

Peña, a former International Monetary Fund economist, owed his rise to Cartes, a tobacco magnate who made him finance minister and twice backed him for president.

Once in office, though, Peña sought to escape Cartes’ shadow by quietly building his own power base, analysts say. Ueno, flush with public funds, became its linchpin.

“It’s like a Shakespearean drama. He tried to displace his mentor, his political patron,” said Miguel Carter, director of DEMOS, a Paraguayan research center. “But he did so on very fragile grounds.”

Cartes struck back. In September, senators loyal to him began publicly questioning the central bank about Ueno’s risky lending to related companies. When Ueno collapsed this week, so did Peña’s leverage, and Cartes, once sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury over alleged corruption, publicly called for the ouster of his erstwhile protégé.

“Cartes put the nail in the coffin,” said Andrew Nickson, a Paraguay expert at the University of Birmingham. “Peña had no political base to rely on, and he was left high and dry.”

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DeBre reported from Salto, Uruguay, and Batschke from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.

Trump in an exchange with reporters described the military action as “minor."

“They knocked out -- they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five," Trump told reporters shortly after arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening.

Trump did not offer further details about the target. But U.S. officials have reported that most of Iran’s air defense systems were destroyed or severely degraded during a June 2025 bombardment by Israel and in the early stages of the current conflict. U.S. officials have assessed that Iran would try to rebuild them and other military infrastructure over time.

The U.S. military also reported carrying out what it described as defensive strikes on Monday. Explosions were heard on the islands of Qeshm and Hengam in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and in the nearby mainland area of Bandar Abbas.

Friday's strikes are the first since Trump’s Republican Party was dealt a stunning repudiation in Tuesday’s midterm elections in the U.S.

The electoral setback — Republicans lost both chambers of Congress — was stoked in part by voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s execution of the conflict and elevated fuel prices, a byproduct of the war that’s affected nearly every sector of the global economy.

In the days since Republicans' shellacking at the polls, Trump has vacillated between threatening to “destroy” Iran and suggesting a resolution to the war is near.

Qatar presents new proposals to Iranian officials

Earlier Friday, two Middle East government officials said Iran was reviewing proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the United States about Tehran’s nuclear program.

But one of the officials stressed that the Iranians, at least at the moment, remain unwilling to engage in negotiations with the Trump administration over their atomic activities until the U.S. agrees to several core conditions that Iran has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement.

Differences with Iran over its nuclear program remain the thorniest issue and one that Trump insists must be resolved as part of any deal meant to end the more than 8-month-old war.

Both officials were not authorized to comment publicly on the delicate negotiations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, announced in a post on X late Friday that the United States was offering “a reward of up to $20 million and possible relocation for information about Iran’s nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community, or the movement of any of the above.”

The post included a link to the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.

Iran insists on several concessions before nuclear talks

The White House declined to comment about the Qatari-presented proposals on Iran's nuclear program, but Trump noted earlier Friday in an exchange with reporters that mediators' discussions with Iran continue.

“We are talking to Iran. We have been,” said Trump, who insists the U.S. military remains in control of the conflict with a battered Iran.

Yet, Tehran insists on several concessions from the U.S., which Trump has declined in the past. Among the core demands Iran says must be met before engaging in nuclear talks: ending the U.S. blockade on Iran’s ports, lifting sanctions, unfreezing its assets, issuing compensation for war damage and ending hostilities throughout the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon.

Qataris and Iranians discuss a bridge deal to get to nuclear talks

Mediators and Iran have discussed a potential bridge deal aimed at helping pave the way for further talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to regional officials.

They said the proposal, which was recently presented to the two sides by Qatari mediators, called for implementing trust-building measures over the course of two days.

These measures include lifting the U.S. blockade and releasing some of the billions of dollars in Iranian frozen funds seized over the years as part of a U.S. campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear program. In return, Tehran would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors at its sites bombed by the U.S. and Israel, the officials said.

On the second day, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz in line with a modified agreement that Iran and Oman have reached on the waterway but has not been approved by the United States, the officials said. That mechanism would be temporary until a permanent deal is reached on the strait in cooperation with other Gulf countries, they said.

Following the implementation of the measures, the U.S. and Iran would embark on extensive talks addressing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as well as other aspects of its program, the officials said.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Diplomatic efforts pick up following US election

A flurry of diplomatic phone calls in recent days between leaders in the Persian Gulf and beyond has been aimed at easing tensions in the region. Concerns have mounted over the possibility that Trump could still order the U.S. military to carry out new strikes against Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Friday with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, about developments, according to the Qatari government.

The Qatari government announced the call between the countries’ defense officials after confirming earlier Friday that Trump and Qatar’s emir had a separate call to discuss efforts to deescalate tensions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also held phone calls with his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts on Friday to discuss tensions in the region. Araghchi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed Tehran’s vision for resuming negotiations with the U.S., according to Iraq’s News Agency.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who held two calls with Araghchi this week, said Friday in a post on X that it was critical that both sides demonstrate “flexibility” to achieve the “compromise solutions” necessary to prevent the region from sliding into a new wave of escalation.

Egypt’s top diplomat also held a phone call with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to emphasize the importance of political negotiations to prevent another military confrontation that could fuel violence and destruction, according to a statement by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a press briefing this week in Beijing that China “is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state.” Nothing is set, but the three-leader gathering would take place this month on the sidelines of a regional summit in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

If it happens, it would be historic. Experts, however, say the three leaders are unlikely to discuss anything substantive because their interests are at odds, but they would gather for a photo, with China carefully choreographing the meeting.

“I think it will happen. The question is the format and the content,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center. “China wants the image but not the costs.”

Beijing is the host of this year’s leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a 21-member grouping that includes the U.S. and Russia.

Trump is expected to travel to Shenzhen to meet Xi for the third time this year, maintaining a fragile trade truce that is set to expire in January.

In a sign that tensions persist, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a Friday video call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged Beijing to take “concrete actions to fully implement its past commitments, particularly as they relate to agricultural purchases, rare earths, and other critical minerals,” according to a statement from Greer's office.

China's official news agency Xinhua reported Saturday that both sides had in-depth and constructive exchanges in the call, and that China expressed concerns about Washington’s restrictive economic and trade measures against Beijing.

While he’s in China, Trump has said he would be interested in meeting Xi and Putin to discuss nuclear arms controls, though Putin is focused on talking about the war in Ukraine without Kyiv at the table.

“Putin has the most to gain from a leaders’ trilateral, and the Russians are clearly behind the push for a meeting, which would be a diplomatic coup,” said Danny Russel, a former senior State Department official who served in former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Trump, with his “crush on authoritarian strongmen," would love the meeting, though he clearly has been warned by his advisers to steer clear of Ukraine as a topic of the discussions, said Russel, who is now a distinguished fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Sun of the Stimson Center said Russia would likely use the summit to nudge China and the U.S. closer to Moscow's positions on Ukraine, while “China will have to manage Russian manipulation.”

China also would not engage in talks on arms controls or discussions about Ukraine or Iran, other than its diplomatic refrain that peace is important and wars should end, Sun said.

Beijing's biggest challenge may be the perception. The summit “should not be equated to three great powers dividing up the world,” she said.

The meeting may amount to no more than a photo opportunity that would allow Putin to be seen next to U.S. and Chinese leaders, said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“But these photo opportunities have diminishing diplomatic returns,” Singleton said. “The spectacle may be historic without producing anything particularly consequential.”

In a release, SAO officials said the incident happened in July 2024, after the victim — Brandon Leo, 22, of Orlando — listed Beats wireless headphones on the OfferUp online marketplace.

Leo thought he was meeting up to deliver the headphones, but when he arrived at what turned out to be a vacant Sanford home, the two teens tried to rob him at gunpoint, firing shots as Leo tried to reverse in his pickup truck and escape, investigators said.

“The truck crashed into a nearby retention pond, where Leo was found dead from his wounds,” the release reads. “Sanford Police recovered seven shell casings and the headphones outside the vacant house.”

Those two teens were later identified as William O. Smith, 19; and Dra’Shawn D. Williams, 17.

According to officials, neighborhood security footage caught the shooting, and information from Leo’s and the teens’ cell phones and online accounts tied them to the crime.

While both Smith and Williams were underage at the time of the shooting, the SAO opted to charge them as adults due to the severity of the crime.

On Friday, the pair was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm. They now face sentences of up to life in prison.

The sentencing hearing is slated for Nov. 13.

Along the St. Johns River west of Cocoa, rising floodwaters are swallowing docks, covering parking areas and creeping toward places where people once stood comfortably above the water.

At Lone Cabbage Fish Camp along State Road 520, the transformation is difficult to miss.

Docks sit nearly level with the swollen river. Benches and tables are surrounded by dark, murky water, and portions of the parking area have disappeared beneath the flooding.

For visitors Noah and Augie Walford, who have spent years enjoying the river, the scene is unlike anything they remember.

“We’ve never seen it this bad,” one of them told News 6.

“We’ve never seen the water level like this after any storm or hurricane,” they added.

The changes are even more striking when they recall how far visitors once had to walk down toward the floating docks.

“You walk downstairs probably eight feet, nine feet, and to the floating dock where the airboats were,” one explained, pointing toward the water. “So now you’re here. The water is right here at deck level.”

The river that once required a walk down toward the boats is now approaching areas where visitors gather.

And according to the National Weather Service, it hasn’t finished rising.

Major flooding forecast for next week

In written responses provided directly to News 6 on Friday, the National Weather Service office in Melbourne said the St. Johns River near Cocoa is expected to crest at 17.1 feet around Tuesday or Wednesday, November 10–11.

That would place the river above the 17-foot threshold for major flooding.

Forecasters said their confidence in the predicted crest height has increased because multiple forecast cycles have produced similar results. However, there remains some uncertainty about exactly when the river will reach its highest point.

The National Weather Service also said it cannot yet estimate when the river will fall below major flood stage.

That’s a significant concern for homeowners and businesses hoping the water will soon recede.

At the Cocoa river gauge, flood stage begins at 16 feet. Moderate flood stage begins at 16.5 feet, and major flooding begins at 17 feet.

By 8:15 a.m. Friday, the river had already reached 16.9 feet, according to the NWS.

The projected crest of 17.1 feet would bring the river to within just 1.2 inches of another important benchmark: 17.2 feet, a level associated with water entering homes in several low-lying communities.

Those measurements represent the river’s stage at the gauge, not the depth of floodwater on neighborhood streets or inside buildings.

Businesses hoping the water stops rising

Inside Lone Cabbage Fish Camp, employees are watching the river with a mixture of concern and cautious optimism.

Carrie, who works at the business, told News 6 that the rising water is more than an unusual sight. It could directly affect the restaurant’s ability to operate.

“Just wondering if it’s going to start going down because it’s pretty high,” she said. “If it rains any more, it may go over the deck. That kind of, you know, hurts our business.”

For a business whose appeal is closely tied to the St. Johns River, the same water that attracts visitors now poses an uncertain threat.

Carrie said employees will have to respond to conditions as they develop.

“If it does get higher, you know, just I think we’ll just have to deal with that as it comes,” she said.

Visitors, meanwhile, have continued coming to the fish camp to see the unusually high water for themselves.

But what might be a remarkable sight for someone visiting the river could become a much more serious problem for families living nearby.

Which Cocoa-area neighborhoods could experience flooding?

The National Weather Service has identified several residential communities and roadways that could experience significant impacts as river levels climb.

At 17 feet, forecasters say water approaches low-lying homes in the Silver Pines subdivision of Rockledge and structures along Pluckebaum Road.

At 17.2 feet, the NWS warns that water can begin entering homes in vulnerable areas, including:

• Lake Poinsett, west of Cocoa: Homes along the St. Johns River could experience water intrusion.
• Silver Pines subdivision in Rockledge: Low-lying homes could be affected as the river rises.
• Shakespeare Park in Cocoa: Low-lying homes are also identified in the federal flood-impact forecast.

The concern extends beyond damage to homes.

At 17.2 feet, the NWS says Providence Road west of Cocoa can become impassable, potentially cutting off access to homes in the Mullet Lane and Bass Road areas.

The same federal flood-impact statement identifies flooded docks and water in the parking lot at Lone Cabbage Fish Camp.

The forecast crest currently remains below 17.2 feet, and the listed impacts are not confirmation that every location will experience flooding. However, officials caution that river forecasts can change and that vulnerable residents should closely monitor conditions.

The National Weather Service’s official St. Johns River gauge near Cocoa provides updated water-level observations, forecasts and flood-impact descriptions.

Why is the river still rising when the rain has stopped?

The explanation begins miles south of Cocoa, where extreme rainfall overwhelmed communities earlier this week.

According to preliminary storm totals released by NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center, portions of southern Brevard County received extraordinary amounts of rain during the November 2 flooding event.

A reporting location near Malabar recorded 24.69 inches, while another near Palm Bay recorded 22 inches. A location west-southwest of West Melbourne recorded nearly 18 inches.

Those figures document the intensity of the rainfall in southern Brevard, rather than the amount measured in Cocoa itself.

In its written responses to News 6, the National Weather Service explained that runoff from communities hit hardest by the rain, particularly West Melbourne and portions of Palm Bay, ultimately drains into the St. Johns River.

Unlike many rivers, the St. Johns flows north.

That means the water draining out of southern Brevard continues moving through the river system, potentially causing levels farther north to rise days after the original rainfall.

Brevard County Emergency Management has also warned residents west of Interstate 95 and along historically flood-prone portions of the St. Johns River to remain alert for flooding in yards, low-lying properties and areas near homes.

And while additional rainfall could prolong the flooding, NWS Melbourne told News 6 that its forecast did not call for additional rainfall in the affected area over the next seven days.

In other words, even without another storm, the river still has more water to move.

A flood comparable to Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 — without a tropical storm

One of the most remarkable aspects of this Florida flood event is its similarity to flooding associated with Tropical Storm Fay nearly two decades ago.

The National Weather Service told News 6 that the projected 17.1-foot crest is comparable to the 17.11-foot crest observed at Cocoa during Tropical Storm Fay in 2008.

The difference is just 0.01 feet.

But forecasters say there is an important distinction between the two events.

Unlike the flooding associated with Fay, the current St. Johns River flood was not caused by rainfall from a named tropical system.

Instead, the flooding follows an episode of extreme rainfall over southern Brevard County that continues to affect communities farther along the river.

That comparison also helps explain why some longtime visitors are so surprised by what they’re seeing at Lone Cabbage Fish Camp.

For Noah and Augie Walford, the water is now reaching areas that once offered a much greater separation between the river and the people enjoying it.

Their observations offer a ground-level perspective on a flood event that federal forecasters say could approach the severity of one associated with a historic tropical storm.

Brevard County offers help as flood recovery continues

As the river continues rising near Cocoa, other communities across Brevard County are already dealing with the damage left behind by the earlier flooding.

Brevard County Emergency Management announced that residents can now request free volunteer assistance for flood cleanup.

The program is intended to connect affected homeowners with partner organizations that may help remove mud, debris, damaged furniture, wet flooring and drywall.

The county emphasizes that assistance is not guaranteed and depends on volunteer availability and community needs.

Residents are limited to one request per household and should be prepared to provide contact information, household details and photographs of damaged areas.

Residents can request free flood-cleanup assistance through Brevard County’s official online form.

Property owners who have experienced flooding can also report damage to Brevard County. Those reports help emergency officials document impacts and evaluate the extent of the disaster.

In a Friday afternoon update, Brevard County Emergency Management said it was continuing to assess damage alongside affected cities and planned to compile the information into a disaster declaration request for the state.

The county’s announcement did not mean federal disaster assistance had already been approved.

Officials are also reminding residents that floodwater can contain sewage, chemicals and dangerous debris. They recommend avoiding contact with floodwater, never driving through flooded roads and using protective clothing when cleaning damaged property.

Residents should also be cautious of potential contractor scams during flood recovery.

What residents should watch over the coming days

For people living along the St. Johns River, the next several days will be critical.

The National Weather Service expects water levels near Cocoa to continue rising toward a projected crest Tuesday or Wednesday.

The forecast height has become more consistent, but forecasters have not established when the river will drop back below major flood stage.

That means the concern is not simply how high the water will rise, but how long it could remain elevated.

At Lone Cabbage Fish Camp, employees and visitors are already watching closely.

The docks, parking areas and nearby flood markers offer a visible reminder of how much the river has changed.

And with the forecast calling for water levels to climb even higher, those living and working along the St. Johns River are left hoping the water stops rising before it reaches the places they need to protect.

Helpful official flooding resources

• NOAA — St. Johns River near Cocoa gauge: View current river levels, flood forecasts and expected impacts.
• National Weather Service Melbourne: Find flood warnings, weather forecasts and official updates.
• Brevard County Emergency Management: County emergency updates, recovery announcements and preparedness information.
• Request free flood-cleanup assistance: Submit a request for volunteer help with eligible cleanup.
• Report flood damage to Brevard County: Submit information about damage to your property.
• National Weather Service flood safety information: Learn how to avoid dangerous floodwater and protect your family.

Residents can also text BREVARDEOC to 888777 to receive Brevard County emergency text alerts.

This article reflects the National Weather Service forecast provided directly to News 6 on Friday, November 6, 2026. River levels, crest timing and projected impacts are subject to change.

Miller, long a member of Trump’s tight inner circle, is a key architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump’s longest-serving aides, joining his long-shot 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter. He most recently has served as White House deputy chief of staff for policy and oversees a broad portfolio, though he is best known for his role in Trump’s immigration policy.

The staff shuffle signals that Trump, whose Republican Party was handed monumental defeats in Tuesday's midterm elections, is resisting a conciliatory approach to Democratic lawmakers who are eager to investigate the administration — including Miller himself as a top target. Miller, 41, is a dogged defender of Trump and has built a deep and sophisticated understanding of a president's executive power and how the federal government operates, portending a potential burst of executive actions in the final two years of Trump's presidency.

Wiles gave Trump her resignation Thursday night, a person familiar with the events told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation. Trump praised Wiles and said she’d continue to work for his political organization.

Trump on Friday night denied that he made the change because he was unhappy with his team after the deep losses his party suffered.

“Not because of the election. It’s just time," Trump said. "Sometimes you change. The election wasn’t my election. I wasn’t on the ballot.”

Wiles, the steely political operator and longtime adviser to Trump, was the first woman to ever serve in that post and the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Trump, who cycled through four of them during his first four-year term.

“Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First,” Wiles said in a social media post shortly after Trump’s announcement.

The departure also came months after Wiles indicated she no longer showed evidence of breast cancer after she underwent months of treatment for the disease, a diagnosis she went public with in March 2026.

Miller is tied to immigration policies that voters said went too far

During the midterm campaign, Miller took frequent partisan swipes at Democrats, calling them “extremists, freaks and America-hating lunatics” on social media and promoting unfounded theories about election fraud in California and Alaska.

He has been a major part of the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force targeting benefit programs and a decision to suspend Microsoft and others from a green card program. He also served as homeland security adviser at the White House, giving him a perch from which to coordinate with other agencies across the government.

He joined Trump on Friday for his trip to Florida, and the president noted to reporters that "Stephen has been with me from the beginning.

"He gets it; very good politically," Trump said as he departed the White House. "He’ll do a great job. Great manager.”

But the immigration policies that Miller is so closely associated with were a major liability for Republicans during the just-wrapped election. The midterm AP Voter Poll found that most voters, about 6 in 10, said the administration’s immigration enforcement actions had gone too far and they “somewhat” or “strongly” disapproved of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement had handled its responsibilities.

“Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency, Donald Trump is doubling down,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is set to become chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee. “Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families.”

In a statement, Garcia added, “Stephen Miller should lawyer up.”

Wiles brought order to Trump’s campaign

Trump on Friday praised Wiles, the veteran Florida operative who joined Trump’s team during his 2016 presidential bid, as having done a “very good job, great job.”

But he added, “Sometimes in life, you have to make moves.”

Wiles, 69, is the second woman to lead Trump’s presidential campaign to victory, although she never embraced the formal title of campaign manager.

She has been credited with steering the most disciplined of his three presidential bids, and Trump himself has said he was often told that Wiles led his “best-run campaign.” Often called the “ice maiden” by the president, she was seen as the no-brainer choice to serve as White House chief of staff at the start of his second term.

Wiles stuck with the job even after her breast cancer diagnosis. Deep into the midterm campaign, six months after having revealed her diagnosis, she said she was “cancer-free,” indicating she no longer showed evidence of cancer after her pathology results came back clear.

In a rare interview, Wiles told Fox News Digital last month that she hadn’t been planning on getting the mammogram that ultimately detected her cancer. Her doctor suggested she do the exam anyway, because a mammogram machine was available that day and her schedule was too busy and unpredictable.

Wiles, the daughter of the late NFL player-turned-broadcaster Pat Summerall, cut her reputation as someone who brought discipline to the president’s chaotic style and shunned the spotlight, so much so that at Trump’s 2024 election night victory party, she repeatedly shook her head and avoided the microphone as Trump tried to coax her to speak to the crowd.

In addition to Trump, Wiles also ran incumbent Sen. Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for Florida governor and briefly served as manager of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign. She spearheaded Ron DeSantis ’ successful run for Florida governor in 2018, but DeSantis would eventually urge the Trump campaign in 2020 to cut ties with Wiles, creating a rift that led to a particularly vicious effort by those in Trump’s orbit to mock DeSantis throughout his failed run for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump in 2024.

Wiles once said Trump had ‘an alcoholic’s personality'

But in December 2025, nearing the end of Trump’s first year back as president, Wiles became the headline when Vanity Fair magazine published a series of interviews with her and other top Trump administration officials conducted by the author Chris Whipple, an expert on White House chiefs of staff.

The Wiles interviews stuck out for their candor, which is unusual for a sitting White House chief of staff. She said Trump has an “alcoholic’s personality,” although the president does not drink, and said then-Attorney General Pam Bondi had “whiffed” in her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files while remarking that Vice President JD Vance has been a “conspiracy theorist for about a decade.”

Trump and other administration aides rushed to defend Wiles, who, in turn, disparaged Vanity Fair for publishing what she called a “disingenuously framed hit piece,” though she did not deny making the comments.

In the interviews, which were conducted over a period of several months, Wiles also revealed a bit of her management style, saying she was “not an enabler.”

“I try to be thoughtful about what I even engage in,” Wiles said. “I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”

___

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in West Palm Beach, Florida and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

Au’s arrest last year was the first publicly known prosecution under Macao’s national security law since it was enacted in 2009. A Macao court found him guilty of subverting state power, breaching confidentiality and establishing contact with organizations, groups or people outside Macao to commit acts endangering national security.

Critics said that his case reflected Beijing’s emphasis on security and intolerance of dissent, even though Macao’s pro-democracy movement has never been as influential as that in neighboring Hong Kong.

The 69-year-old assisted and cooperated with “hostile organizations” outside Macao for a long period of time in collecting and disseminating political views laden with ideas of subverting state power and false information, according to a court statement. They conspired to incite hatred among Macao residents against the central government, with an intent to overthrow and undermine the country's fundamental system, it said.

“Although the defendant is a first-time offender and admitted to a considerable portion of the criminal facts, he demonstrated a high degree of intent. The degree of unlawfulness and the potential consequences of his crimes are both very serious,” the statement said.

Macao is a former Portuguese colony that has operated, like Hong Kong, as a special administrative region since its return to Chinese rule in 1999.

Au's wife says it's a groundless persecution

In a public letter, Au’s wife, Virginia Cheang, wrote that she only hoped authorities would allow his family to exchange letters with Au and visit him regularly without conditions.

“From a closed-door trial to a public verdict, what kind of operation is this? It's a political trial and it's a groundless persecution to humiliate one's character,” Cheang said.

Au’s daughter in London, Au Hon I, told The Associated Press that her father is a peaceful family man who cares deeply about Macao, and the thought of him spending more time in prison without having done anything criminal was unbearable. She said that a lawyer earlier arranged by her family wasn't able to see him.

She felt that the ruling was setting boundaries of what citizens can do and what rights they have, saying “it’s a very scary chapter that they’re starting.”

“It just doesn’t feel like a safe space anymore being in Macao. And it’s very heartbreaking,” she said.

The court said that a lawyer approved by Au was appointed to act for him during the legal proceedings, and that he had exercised his right to a defense. The court also approved his family’s request to visit him regularly.

Jorge Menezes, a Portuguese lawyer who practices in Macao, said that the trial was held in secret and that specific details — which organizations were involved and what information Au had provided to them — weren't revealed. Menezes noted that the statement said that Au had acknowledged some facts, which might have led people to believe that he had confessed to the crimes.

“From what I see, he did not plead guilty. Otherwise, they would have said. So this is misleading and unfortunate,” he said. “It violates his dignity.”

Menezes said that Au's case was used to send a message to Macao residents that it was about anyone who challenges the authorities. The case could also carry a message for Hong Kong, because Macao is “a sort of laboratory” for the financial hub in situations like this, he said.

Michael Polak, Au's international counsel, urged Portugal and the European Union to demand that Au, a Portuguese citizen, be allowed to leave Macao.

“A sentence like that for someone of that age is a sentence for life,” he said. “If he was left in Macao, he could die in prison.”

The EU deplored the sentencing, saying the conviction confirmed the erosion of the city's political pluralism and freedom of speech. Au had spent almost a year in incommunicado detention after his arrest, it said.

The court found Au colluded with multiple overseas groups

Macao has its own political and legal systems and Macao is the only Chinese city where casino gambling is legal. It has resorts run by affiliates of the American gaming companies MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.

The court found that Au helped overseas organizations spread false and distorted information between 2023 and 2024 to induce foreign countries to take hostile actions against China and Macao, incite hatred against the central government and undermine the smooth running of the 2024 city leader election.

As a lawmaker in 2021, Au leaked to overseas groups confidential information obtained during closed-door committee meetings over the renewal of gaming licenses, it said.

Au’s trial was held behind closed doors in September.

The court earlier said that the judge decided against an open trial to ensure that national security interests wouldn't be undermined.

Au was seen as a mild pro-democracy activist

Au, a teacher-turned-lawmaker, served in the legislature dominated by Beijing loyalists for 20 years before stepping down in 2021. Au was also an organizer of Macao’s commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

Au said that he entered politics because he saw many social problems in daily life that required people to speak out. He said that the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in 1989 brought him and his like-minded friends together, and he later felt Macao needed people to push forward an open and democratic society.

Before his arrest, Au was a rare voice in Macao who regularly criticized government measures and political developments on Facebook and in interviews, although many considered his critiques to be mild.

But the Macao government supported the ruling, urging all sectors to respect it. It said that the government would continue to strictly enforce the security law.

Beijing's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said that the ruling demonstrated Macao's firm resolve in safeguarding national security, adding that it also reminded people to remain vigilant about the risks even in times of stability.

China's Foreign Ministry said that it firmly opposes any external forces using individual cases as a pretext to interfere in Macao's affairs.

A handful of remaining Senate and House races still to be called by The Associated Press will determine the strength of Democrats’ majority in Congress. Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate next year and as many as 56 depending on final results in Alaska and Mississippi — where contests remain narrow with votes still outstanding.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, promised in an interview with the AP that Democrats will prevent the Republican president from installing a “right-winger” on the Supreme Court or “crappy nominees” elsewhere in the federal judiciary or in Trump’s Cabinet.

The Latest:

Trump says he expects ‘very little’ staffing changes to his administration

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac after he landed in Palm Beach, Trump was asked if he expected more departures in coming months after Wiles left as chief of staff.

“Very little,” he said, adding “We have a great cabinet.”

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” taped before he left for Florida, Trump suggested at least some staff turnover, saying of his Cabinet, “I think they’re good. But I’ll do — be doin’ maybe a few changes.”

He declined to say who, while also defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth could face impeachment by the incoming Democrat-controlled Congress.

US Department of Justice drops lawsuit over 20,000 California ballots

The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to dismiss its own lawsuit that aimed to stop California from processing up to 20,000 ballots it suspected were mailed to noncitizens.

The federal government’s decision comes before a scheduled hearing next week where a special master was to evaluate the list’s accuracy. California officials and a federal judge have said the list is outdated and includes legitimate voters.

The lawsuit was part of the Trump administration’s effort to stop alleged illegal voting.

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Trump say he’s planning ‘maybe a few changes’ to his Cabinet, but defends Hegseth

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the president said, “I love my Cabinet. I think they’re good. But I’ll do — be doin’ maybe a few changes. I don’t wanna mention who.”

An excerpt released Friday night by CBS also showed Trump being asked if he has confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump responded, “I do.”

The defense secretary could face impeachment after Democrats take control of Congress in January, following their big midterm election wins on Tuesday.

The full interview is set to air during “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

Democrat Nancy Lacore wins election to US House in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District

Lacore is a former Navy vice admiral who served as chief of the Navy Reserve before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired her last year without explanation, part of a series of steps targeting military leaders during President Donald Trump’s second term.

She defeated Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt. Honeycutt is an attorney and a member of the Charleston County Council.

The winner succeeds Rep. Nancy Mace, the Republican vacating the seat after unsuccessfully running for governor. The Associated Press declared Lacore the winner at 6:51 p.m. EST.

After Democrats flip Texas House, state’s longest-serving Black lawmaker says she has support for speaker

Rep. Senfronia Thompson would be the first Black lawmaker and first woman elevated to Texas House speaker in the state’s history. The 87-year-old Democrat was first elected in 1972.

Democrats won a majority in the state House for the first time since 2002 as part of their sweeping victories in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The next House speaker will be elected by majority vote of the 150-member chamber next January. Thompson will have to hold together the coalition she claims until then.

US coordinates with Canada to target Iranian digital asset providers

The Treasury Department on Friday targeted several firms exchanging Iranian rials and other currencies for allegedly helping Tehran evade sanctions and fund its proxies.

Some of the providers dealt with Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges already sanctioned by Washington.

The latest targets were coordinated with the Canadian government as several of the individuals and entities named are based in Vancouver and Toronto.

“Anyone, anywhere in the world, who helps Tehran evade sanctions risks being held accountable,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The actions are part of the Trump administration’s economic campaign to cripple the various financial networks that help sustain Iran as the longtime adversaries struggle to find a diplomatic resolution to a more than eight-month long conflict.

Ukraine welcomes more help from Melania Trump in the future

Ukrainian officials have praised first lady Melania Trump for her role in a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged Ukrainian city of Oleshky and hope for more of her help going forward.

Davyd Arakhamia, head of the parliamentary faction of Zelenskyy’s party, and Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, spoke to reporters in Washington a day after a White House event recognizing the recent six-day truce between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky.

Lubinets says he thinks of the first lady “as a heavyweight” in negotiations, saying her office was instrumental in getting the Russians to open negotiations.

Asked about a greater role for Melania Trump in talks between Russia and Ukraine, Arakhamia said, “we would appreciate it.” He says he wants to expand the ability to get truces in other parts of the war-torn country.

Ukraine expects to see more support from US after midterms

A Ukrainian official says with Democrats winning control of Congress in the midterm elections, they expect American support to surge next year.

Davyd Arakhamia, head of the parliamentary faction of Zelenskyy’s party, told reporters in Washington that he sees “the chances for us to get better U.S. support” financially and generally is “at least double” with the new Congress.

Arakhamia said he and other Ukrainian officials know newly appointed White House chief of staff Stephen Miller “well” and were broadly optimistic about his new role.

But before the congressional changes, “we have the hardest winter ever,” Arakhamia said.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. He said the country’s supply of missile interceptors is all but depleted.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair says promoting Miller is ‘putting lipstick on a pig’

Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said Trump’s decision to name Miller the White House chief of staff “is a desperate and irresponsible cry for attention.”

He said Miller has been the architect of Trump’s immigration policies and voters have “rejected mass deportations, the targeting of Latino communities.”

To give Miller “a fancier title is just putting lipstick on a pig,” he said.

‘I wanted to make a change,’ Trump says, explaining chief of staff shakeup

Trump praised both Wiles and Miller to reporters but said it was time for a change.

“Susie has done a very good job. Great job,” Trump said as he left the White House to travel to Florida. But he said, “We’ve got to make moves sometimes.”

Trump said Miller is great.

“He gets it” and is “very good politically. And he’s a very good man. He’ll do a great job, great manager,” Trump said.

House Oversight’s Garcia warns Stephen Miller: ‘Lawyer up’

Rep. Robert Garcia, who is in line to become chairman of the Oversight Committee, said Trump is “doubling down” on the administration policies that voters just rejected in the midterm election.

“Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families,” said Garcia of California.

Garcia said the committee continues to investigate Miller “for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts.”

Wiles is the first woman to ever serve as White House chief of staff

Announcing her departure on social media, Wiles called serving Trump “the honor of a lifetime.”

“I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First,” she wrote. “More than anything, I’m grateful for the extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege of working alongside.

“While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will,” Wiles said.

Wiles steered Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. She has long been seen as a check on some of his most destructive impulses.

Who is Stephen Miller, Trump’s new chief of staff

He’s one of Trump’s most loyal and longest-serving advisers. He came aboard Trump’s longshot 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter and has remained in the president’s orbit.

Miller, 41, currently serves as White House deputy chief of staff and, though his portfolio is wide-ranging, Miller is most closely aligned with Trump’s actions and rhetoric on immigration.

He’s a former Capitol Hill staffer who worked for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was Trump’s first attorney general.

During the midterm campaign, Miller took frequent partisan swipes at Democrats, calling them “extremists, freaks and America-hating lunatics” on social media. He also promoted unfounded theories about election fraud in California and Alaska.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy discharged from hospital after stroke

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy says he will be spending several weeks at a rehabilitation center after being discharged from the hospital Friday after suffering a stroke.

Murphy said the doctors are encouraged by the progress he’s made and the time at the rehabilitation center will help him get back to work on the quickest timeline possible. He expects to miss the next several weeks of votes as he continues his recovery.

“I want to be direct with you,” Murphy said in a statement. “So here is my diagnosis. Last Saturday afternoon, I felt something was not right with my body and called 9-1-1 out of an abundance of caution, and I’m glad I did. I was diagnosed with a small bleed in the thalamus region of my brain.”

Murphy says he’s staying engaged with his colleagues and staff remotely to ensure the work of his office continues.

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Rubio will venture to France for first post-midterm global trip as questions about Trump policies swirl

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to embark on his first post-midterm foreign trip to attend a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in France next week.

He’ll likely face questions about the Trump administration’s policies, namely in Iran, after huge Republican losses in elections that gave Democrats control of Congress.

The State Department said Friday that Rubio would travel to Paris to meet his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on Monday and Tuesday.

The G7 nations will confront a number of unresolved world crises, including the Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars. They must also cope with Trump’s often antagonistic approach to allies and concerns that the election results may harden his attitude.

Rubio is often seen as presenting a gentler side to Trump’s belligerence in foreign policy. He may get questions about speculation he might leave the administration to prepare for a 2028 presidential run, which he has adamantly denied.

Susie Wiles, Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, is leaving the administration

President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections.

On his social media site, Trump praised Wiles and said she’d continue to work for his political organization.

Miller, long a key member of Trump’s inner circle, is a key architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies.

Wiles, the steely political operator and longtime adviser to Trump, was the first woman to ever serve in that post.

Wiles’ departure comes almost immediately after the GOP’s midterm thrashing on Tuesday. She will be replaced by Stephen Miller, a longtime trusted aide to Trump.

The departure also came months after Wiles indicated she no longer showed evidence of breast cancer after she underwent months of treatment for the disease, a diagnosis she went public with in March 2026.

Wiles is the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Trump, who cycled through four of them during his first four-year term.

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Democrats win the Arizona House, Senate and governor’s office for the first time since 1966

Democrats in Arizona won control of both legislative chambers and retained the governor’s office, giving the party its first trifecta in the state since 1966 as Democrats made major gains nationwide in this week’s elections and took control of both chambers of Congress.

In her first term, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had vetoed more than 540 measures passed by the Republican-led Legislature on policies including taxes, immigration and voting laws. Hobbs has said she’s looking to address water issues and affordability, and take on fraud and abuse in the state’s school voucher program.

The Associated Press called enough legislative races to confirm that both chambers flipped on Friday. The news organization calls races individually and it can take several days after voting, depending on when election officials tally the votes and how close the elections are. There have not been major disputes or disruptions this year.

In Arizona, Republicans have held the House for 60 years and the Senate since the early 1990s.

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Trump says he wants Gruters to stay on as head of RNC, despite losses

In a Truth Social post, Trump is praising “MAGA Warrior Joe Gruters” and says Gruters should continue to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“As Chairman, Joe turned the RNC into an efficient, focused, and powerful machine that will continue to empower the America First Agenda for many years to come,” Trump writes, endorsing him for a second term.

“Joe Gruters should return as Chairman of the RNC to continue to build our Party, and be a trusted partner as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and ensure Free and Fair Elections,” he says.

“Joe is 100% America First, the Grassroots LOVES him, and I know he will do an incredible job in 2028, and secure Great Success for Republicans all across our Country. Joe has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”

Beijing confirms it’s discussing a Xi-Trump-Putin summit

Beijing confirmed for the first time that it’s discussing a possible meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a regular briefing that China “is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state.”

The three-leader meeting would be historic if it happens during a regional economic summit this month in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. But experts say the trio may not agree on what to discuss when their interests are at odds.

Trump has said he wants to discuss nuclear arms control, while Putin is interested in discussing the war with Ukraine without Kyiv at the table.

If it happens, the meeting is certain to upset Europe, while China hopes to score a diplomatic win by facilitating the summit.

Amazon releases trailer for the follow-up to Melania Trump’s documentary about herself

The minute-long trailer promoting the two-part series features Melania Trump in never-before-seen moments in her roles as wife, mother and first lady.

It will be available on Nov. 20. Amazon Prime Video also produced “Melania,” the documentary, which was in theaters in January.

The first lady said in a September interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that “Melania: The Series” is different from the documentary “because it’s more conversation, one on one with me.”

She said the docuseries will have some surprises, too.

“So when I was traveling and doing all of the filming, the director was asking me questions, and there are some private questions that I will answer that people never heard before. So it’s kind of exciting,” Melania Trump said.

Houston mayor signs order to limit cooperation with ICE, says ‘elections matter’ after Democrats win

The mayor of Houston on Friday said the city would limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, heralding “a new model” of immigration enforcement after Democrats swept statewide offices in Texas.

Mayor John Whitmire said the city would go after immigrants “that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education.”

“Traffic incident will not even ... you write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way. No contact with (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over nonviolent, non-jailable offenses. It reduces the fear and anxiety.”

Details of the change were to be spelled out in an executive order but the move by the nation’s fourth-largest city is one of the first steps to curb ICE’s powers since Tuesday’s election.

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DHS says it acted lawfully in talks with Iran on deportations

Court documents Thursday showed that the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran to deport Iranians during the war.

In its first comments since the revelation, the Department of Homeland Security justified the ongoing contacts in a statement Friday, saying that it’s common practice for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work with countries to get travel documents.

It said it follows all “established protocols” to allow people to meet with consular officials from their country.

“As promised, the Trump Administration is employing all lawful options to execute the largest deportation operation in history,” the department said.

The judge in a lawsuit challenging the deportations questioned how the U.S. could send people back to a country where they could face a “serious threat of certain death.”

DHS did not respond to a question about the potential danger the deportees might face.

The shooting happened Thursday morning after deputies responded to reports of a car burglary in the area of Cumberland Circle.

According to an arrest affidavit, the suspect has been identified as Terell Johnson,17, who faces charges of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance with a mask, attempted burglary of a conveyance with a mask, and resisting an officer without violence.

[RELATED: New bodycam video released in Lake County deputy shooting]

Around 3:45 a.m. on Thursday, a resident spotted a tall, slender male dressed in all-black clothing, including a ski mask, crouching near vehicles in the neighborhood. The resident reported the suspicious activity to law enforcement via a non-emergency line.

When deputies arrived, a deputy located Johnson actively rummaging through a green BMW parked on Cumberland Circle. Johnson ran off when the deputy exited his patrol vehicle. After a brief chase in which the deputy temporarily lost sight of Johnson behind a white picket fence, the deputy repositioned his patrol vehicle and resumed the pursuit, the affidavit states.

During the second foot chase, Johnson emerged from behind the fence to retrieve items he had left behind — including a backpack and a motorcycle-style e-bike. According to the affidavit, Johnson turned on his phone’s flashlight and pointed it in the direction of the deputy.

“Believing the illuminated object was a firearm and fearing for his immediate safety,” the deputy fired his weapon, striking Johnson once in the foot, the affidavit states.

What the bodycam video shows

In the footage, the deputy can be heard asking the wounded suspect what he had in his hand at the time of the shooting.

“I thought you were holding a gun, dude. What was that in your hand?” the deputy says in the video.

The suspect responds, confirming it was his phone.

The exchange grows more intense as the suspect, who survived the shooting, expresses a desire not to live.

“I don’t want to live, bro, please,” the suspect can be heard saying repeatedly in the video.

“You’re not gonna die!” the deputy responds.

The bodycam video also captures the deputy asking the suspect whether he was aware he’d been shot.

“Did I shoot you?” the deputy asks.

“Yes, you did bro,” the suspect replies.

Johnson was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries — a single gunshot wound to the foot.

Johnson told investigators he had parked his e-bike near the white fence on Mohawk Road and admitted to burglarizing the green BMW twice — once before the deputy arrived and a second time when he was caught in the act. He told detectives he ran toward the rear of a nearby residence and jumped the white fence as he fled. He said he turned on his phone’s flashlight while searching for e-bike keys he had dropped during the chase — and ran directly into the deputy again.

The affidavit notes Johnson claimed he only burglarized the green BMW.

Detectives located Johnson’s e-bike and backpack near the white picket fence. Inside the backpack were two sets of car keys — one for a Honda vehicle and one for a Mazda. As of the report, investigators were still working to identify the owners of those vehicles.

Surveillance footage from a neighboring home also showed Johnson crouching near a black 2022 Toyota Corolla hatchback before the camera cut off. Handprints and smudges were found on the vehicle’s exterior. The car’s owners confirmed they did not give Johnson permission to enter the vehicle, the affidavit states.

The owner of the green BMW told investigators no belongings were taken and said he did not wish to pursue prosecution.

The deputy involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave while FDLE reviews the incident.

Aiyuk has submitted his paperwork to the NFL to get back, and he arrived alongside new agent Drew Rosenhaus for a meeting Friday afternoon at the team's business offices, which are near the team facility at Levi's Stadium.

“Brandon is here to meet with the team. Fortunately he’s feeling good physically. He’s healthy, he’s ready to get back to work,” Rosenhaus said. “I don’t really have any comment about where he’s going to play. We’ll keep that between us and the Niners but obviously we’re here with all the right intentions.”

A person with knowledge of the situation said the league sent Aiyuk and the NFL Players Association a letter Thursday saying that he owes the 49ers the money based on bonuses he was paid after signing a four-year, $120 million extension just before the start of the 2024 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter was not released.

Aiyuk did not address the financial issues as he arrived for the meeting.

“I’m feeling great, feeling healthy. Long recovery process, long rehab process,” Aiyuk said. “But I’m back to 100 percent and looking to get reinstated into the National Football League.”

The meeting lasted about an hour, and Rosenhaus declined to share details. “To be continued,” he said.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said he would have no role in the meeting and didn't care at all what happens, saying that he has moved on from Aiyuk and the situation isn't a distraction at all.

“It’s been over for our football team for a long time,” Shanahan said. “I don’t hear much except questions about it today. But it’s not too big of a deal for me to answer.”

The Ringer first reported that the Niners were seeking the money back from Aiyuk.

San Francisco general manager John Lynch told the team's flagship radio station KNBR on Thursday that it was a “unique” situation that the team was trying to work through.

“My job is to look out for the best interests of the 49ers, and as such, in this particular situation, we’re working with the NFL management council to navigate through kind of a different situation,” Lynch said. “It’s fluid. I’m going to kind of leave it at that because I’ve been recommended to do so, and I think it’s the right thing to do. We’ll look for a pathway for both sides here that works.”

Aiyuk hasn’t played a game in more than two years since going down with a knee injury in October 2024 and has been on the reserve/left squad list after leaving the Niners late last season.

He fired agent Ryan Williams during his long-running dispute with the 49ers and was without representation until he recently hired Rosenhaus.

Aiyuk will remain under contract with the 49ers after he is reinstated by the NFL. Lynch previously has said he doesn’t expect Aiyuk to play for the Niners again.

The 49ers previously voided $27 million guaranteed in Aiyuk’s contract for 2026 for failing to participate in meetings and other team activities last summer when he was rehabilitating his knee injury.

Aiyuk signed the big extension just before the start of the 2024 season following a lengthy contract hold-in that kept him out of training camp. He was coming off a 2023 season when he had 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns and was a second-team All-Pro.

Aiyuk had only 25 catches for 374 yards in seven games in 2024 before getting injured. The 28-year-old has 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 TDs since being drafted in the first round in 2020.

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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.

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Thomas Markle Sr. was in a wheelchair wearing handcuffs when he was transported by ambulance with federal agents, according to video posted by The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper.

Markle's arrest followed the seizure of "approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books” that contained suspected child sexual abuse images in storage in the Los Angeles area, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.

Some images appear to depict him with children, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.

“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” Essayli said.

Phone and email messages seeking comment from his court-appointed attorney were not immediately returned. After his arrest in Polk County, Markle appeared in federal court in Tampa and was released back to a senior care center with the condition that he be electronically monitored.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin also ordered a psychiatric exam, saying Markle might be unable to understand the proceedings or properly assist his lawyer.

Court hearings will eventually move to California "but likely won’t happen for several weeks at least,” the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.

Materials found overseas led to US investigation

Markle's arrest followed reports by The Sun, another British tabloid, that Meghan’s half brother found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines. That discovery led to information about two U.S. storage units in the Los Angeles area, which Markle has rented since 2008.

Essayli told The Associated Press that there's no evidence of victims in the United States, based on the seized material, but the investigation was ongoing.

Markle was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S.

The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s home in Cebu City. Markle Jr. told The Sun that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the FBI.

“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Markle Jr. said. “I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”

Meghan has distanced herself from her father

Meghan, an American citizen who starred in the U.S. television drama “Suits,” married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

She recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home. She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about him had been sent to police in London in 2019.

“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter. “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them.”

There was no immediate comment from Meghan’s representative on Friday, and Buckingham Palace is not expected to say anything about the arrest.

While Harry is the second son of King Charles III, he and Meghan are not working members of the royal family, meaning they don’t carry out public engagements on behalf of the king. They walked away from royal duties when they moved to California in 2020. After they returned to the U.K. in August, Charles issued a statement saying their status had not changed.

Thomas Markle Sr., a retired television lighting and photography director, has never established a relationship with Meghan’s in-laws. He didn’t attend the wedding after a scandal that emerged when he posed for pictures that were staged by a British tabloid newspaper. Their estrangement has continued ever since.

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This story has been corrected to show Meghan said the letter was sent to police in London in 2019, not 2018.

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Durkin Richer reported from Washington, and White from Detroit. Associated Press journalists Danica Kirka in London; Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; and Safiyah Riddle in Los Angeles contributed.

The arrest Thursday night happened after Secret Service officers approached a man “acting suspicious” in a parked car, according to a Homeland Security statement. U.S. officials say the suspect — Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos — then went on to describe voices in his head that were telling him to come to the nation's capital and kill the Republican president.

Shortly after, officers discovered the suspect's vehicle had been reported stolen and he had three different firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition. This is the latest in a series of arrests the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies have made against individuals who have threatened Trump or his family members' lives since he returned to office last year.

The statement described Chrinos as a migrant from Venezuela who is in the country illegally after entering the U.S. through Texas in March 2024. DHS said he has been charged and currently remains in U.S. Marshals Service custody.

The White House did not provide comment, instead referring to DHS and U.S.S.S.

“Thanks to our brave Secret Service officers, this illegal alien with three firearms in his vehicle was arrested near the White House before he could harm anyone,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the statement.

Or which basket was theirs.

Players from New Mexico State and Northwestern State each sank layups on the wrong end of the floor Friday — a pair of point-blank blunders in women's basketball that put their teams on the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons.

One came with New Mexico State trailing by a point with 20 seconds to go against Southern Utah. Emma Christiano of the Aggies stole an inbounds pass and coasted in for the easy score.

“Aggies lead!” the play-by-play announcer screamed after Christiano's layup went through.

Well, no.

Southern Utah led by three.

The good news: NM State's Stacy Chovino scored the game's final two baskets, including a layup into the correct basket with 2 seconds to go, to help the Aggies pull out a 64-63 win.

Another sigh of relief for Christiano: On this mixed-up day, she was not alone.

About an hour earlier, Northwestern State was trying to break the press in the first quarter of its game against Arkansas, when Karma Wynn took a bounce pass from a teammate under her own basket.

She was wide open. For good reason.

Wynn's layup into the wrong hoop put the Lady Demons behind by six in what turned out to be an 89-59 loss.

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Murphy, 53, said in a statement that doctors are “very encouraged by the progress I've made so far" and that the stay at the rehabilitation center will get him back to work on the quickest timeline possible.

Murphy said doctors diagnosed him with a small hemorrhagic stroke, which is a bleed in the brain. He said he called 911 on Oct. 31 out of an abundance of caution after feeling that “something was not right” with his body.

“This has been a scary experience for me and my family, and I appreciate the continued respect for our privacy,” he said.

The press release updating Murphy's condition included a statement from Dr. Jose Suarez, chief of neurosciences critical care at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Suarez said the senator has shown tremendous progress and “we expect that he will make a full recovery following rehabilitation.”

In the Senate, Murphy serves on the Appropriations Committee and is a leading voice on immigration and gun policy. He is considered a contender for more senior leadership positions in the Senate and among the many Democrats seen as potential 2028 candidates for the White House.

Murphy said that he has been staying engaged with his team and colleagues remotely and that his staff continues to ensure the work of his office continues uninterrupted.

“I want to extend my deepest thanks to the excellent doctors and staff at Johns Hopkins who have treated me and cared for my family,” Murphy said.

Murphy had been traveling the country in support of House and Senate candidates as his party raced for majority control, which it secured in Tuesday’s midterm elections. A day before the stroke, he posted that he had been campaigning in his home state for Gov. Ned Lamont. The week before, he posted from Minnesota campaigning with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Democratic nominee for the Senate.

Lamont won reelection Tuesday, and Flanagan won her race, becoming the first Native American female U.S. senator.

The final sprint before Election Day capped Murphy’s whirlwind trip to the Middle East at the start of October for meetings with several leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In early September, Murphy completed his annual “walk across Connecticut,” covering about 70 miles (113 kilometers) over four days, talking with residents about their concerns along the way.

Three other Senate Democrats have had strokes in recent years.

Sens. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland had strokes in 2022 and have since recovered. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman had a stroke while campaigning for his seat that year and now uses adaptive technology in the Senate, including live captioning on a phone or tablet that transcribes words as people speak to him and helps him process the conversation.

Fetterman said on social media the day after Murphy's stroke that his family was “rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery.”

Porzingis did not reveal the nature of the issue in a message posted on his X account, and the 31-year-old didn't make it clear as to whether he'll resume playing.

“I was really looking forward to running it with this group, but as I ramped up, my body didn’t respond the way I anticipated," Porzingis wrote.

“I’m doing good, but I know what it takes, and I’m not where I want to be to perform at the level I expect from myself,” he added. “At this point, I’ve made the decision to prioritize my health and step away from the game I love.”

Selected fourth overall by the New York Knicks in the 2015 draft, Porzingis was on his sixth team in 11 seasons.

The issue appears to date to last season when the Latvian missed significant time after being acquired by Golden State in a trade with Atlanta. The Warriors, however, fully anticipated Porzingis to be ready for this season after signing him to a two-year, $40 million contract in late June.

Porzingis’ status has been uncertain since late September, when the Warriors announced he would be out indefinitely with a health issue and not travel with the team to Hawaii for training camp.

On Oct. 14, the team said the Porzingis would spend time with staff and teammates in some capacity while still out indefinitely after he met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and Vice President of Player Health and Performance Dr. Rick Celebrini a day earlier.

A week later, the Warriors reversed course by saying Porzingis wasn't going to be with the team for “the immediate future,” with coach Steve Kerr failing to provide further insight ahead of the team’s season opener at the Los Angeles Lakers.

In his message, Porzingis said he intends to work with the Warriors to “find a solution that makes sense.”

He closed his message by writing: “I’m thankful to my family and close ones for always being there. Much appreciation to all of you for the support. Onwards and upwards.”

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Coach Sean McVay announced Garrett's likely availability, barring a late setback, on Friday before practice. The Rams (4-4) acquired Garrett in a trade with Cleveland over the summer, but the two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year has played in just one game for his new team.

“I’m just grateful that he’s back and that he’s feeling really good,” McVay said.

Garrett hasn't played since the Rams' season opener, when he made no tackles in their blowout loss to the 49ers in Australia. Afterward, Garrett revealed he wasn't fully fit due to a knee injury that limited him throughout training camp.

Garrett underwent surgery after the Rams returned from Melbourne, and he was sidelined until he returned to practice this week. Those seven weeks were the longest injury absence of his 10-year NFL career.

“It was very difficult, (because) this is what I love to do,” Garrett said. “I love being around my teammates, being able to help the whole group shine. Seeing them going out there and having fun, it's like I want to be there in those moments and share in their success. Not being able to do what I feel like I was put here to do, it hurt me for a while. But I've got a good team around me. I've got a great family. Blessed to be in a great place with great weather, so I'm happy to be back.”

After months of anticipation, Rams fans should finally get to see Garrett playing alongside Aaron Donald against the Commanders. A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Donald was tempted out of his 2 1/2-year retirement by the Rams’ acquisition of Garrett, but he didn’t make the trip to Australia while ramping up his fitness.

“I think offenses really have to pick their poison,” Garrett said with a smile. “Who’s going to be freed up on this play? And I think either of us are pretty good at winning one-on-ones, so we’re going to have some fun.”

Garrett said his knee injury didn't happen on a single event or play, but instead “cascaded” late in training camp before getting even worse in Melbourne.

“There were just some hitches in my gait,” Garrett said. “There were just things I was dealing with mechanically that just only continued to evolve, or I guess worsen, as I played more throughout that game.”

McVay acknowledged that the Rams will examine whether Garrett should have had his surgery earlier in the year, but they're busy looking forward to what they can do with Garrett and Donald leading the way.

“You always want to reflect back on what we would do differently,” McVay said.

The Rams' pass rush hasn't been great in Garrett's absence. Although Los Angeles is pressuring quarterbacks at a reasonable clip, the team is tied for 26th in the league with just 12 sacks, leading to frustration.

“We keep attacking, but we're not finishing off all the plays,” said edge rusher Byron Young, who leads the Rams with 4 1/2 sacks. “I think we've been getting good pressure, but not getting the quarterback down and finishing games ... Having MG back will help that for sure.”

Terrance Ferguson also had been expected to return to the Rams' lineup against Washington after missing the past five games with an ankle sprain, but the second-year tight end was ruled out Friday afternoon after apparently injuring his hamstring during their final practice.

While Garrett likely returns to the defense's front line, the Rams' secondary is hurting.

Jaylen Watson is out for the season with a shoulder injury, and fellow starting cornerback Trent McDuffie missed the entire week of practice with a back injury. McDuffie is questionable for Sunday, as is starting safety Kam Curl, who has a foot injury.

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Federal prosecutors say Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore, 23, and tried to stage her death as a suicide on Feb. 1, 2021, after learning she was pregnant with what he thought was his child. At the time, Farwell was a married detective with the Stoughton Police Department, where Birchmore had participated in a youth program as a child.

“You know on Feb. 1 Matthew Farwell didn’t go to Sandra Birchmore’s apartment for a clean break,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fogarty told the jury in closing arguments. “He went to clean up the mess he created for himself years earlier, a mess that could bring serious charges and destroy his life. He cleaned up the mess by taking Sandra's life.”

Lawyers for Farwell, who is now 40, acknowledge he had an extramarital relationship with Birchmore. But they say he didn't kill her and didn't have sex with her until she was old enough to consent under Massachusetts law. They said Birchmore had threatened suicide before and that she was devastated when Farwell came to her apartment to break up with her that February.

“When all is lost and all hope is gone and you’re alone in the world, are you going to pick your phone up? Or did she sit down and take that strap and make the pain stop?” Farwell’s attorney, Kimberly Stevens, told the jury.

Jurors deliberated for a little more than three hours Friday before going home for the weekend.

The nearly monthlong trial — with about 50 witnesses and 500 exhibits — unfolded in federal court in Boston, partly because local prosecutors never brought criminal charges.

Massachusetts State Police officers and investigators, some with personal connections to Farwell, quickly concluded Birchmore’s death was a suicide after she was found slumped on her apartment floor with a strap around her neck. One investigator, Fogarty said, saw nothing suspicious in Birchmore’s apartment and concluded this was a “troubled girl who killed herself.”

The state’s medical examiner, relying partly on information from police, initially ruled Birchmore died by suicide. The office has since changed the official manner of death to “undetermined.”

Birchmore's friends and family never believed the teacher's aide had killed herself.

She had told dozens of friends about her pregnancy and, according to prosecutors, was thrilled to start her next chapter as a single mom. A stroller, still in the box, was found in her apartment along with an ultrasound photo pinned to her refrigerator.

The FBI began looking into Birchmore’s death in 2023, partly at the urging of a former deputy chief at the Stoughton Police Department who had led an internal affairs investigation into Farwell.

Federal investigators concluded the local probe was rushed and compromised. Farwell was interviewed for just 15 minutes in a parking lot, they said. Investigators didn’t take notes, examine him for injuries or sample his DNA. Police looked at Farwell’s phone only after he had deleted texts with Birchmore.

The FBI investigation uncovered about 40,000 texts between Farwell and Birchmore, including some in which they reminisced about having sex when he was 27 and she was 15 — too young to consent under Massachusetts law.

The texts also showed how their relationship grew contentious as Birchmore pressed Farwell to get her pregnant and threatened to tell his wife about their relationship.

Prosecutors argued that Farwell also feared Birchmore would contact law enforcement about his crimes. He became more controlling, prosecutors said, tracking her phone and ordering her to delete compromising communications.

Texts in late 2020, after she was pregnant, showed they argued over what role, if any, Farwell would play in the child's life. A paternity test after Birchmore's death revealed a different man was the father.

Twelve days before she died, a friend of Birchmore had called the Stoughton Police Department to report their affair.

A digital forensics expert testified that on the night of Birchmore’s death, her phone stopped moving three minutes before the lobby security camera recorded Farwell leaving her building.

An expert hired by prosecutors, Dr. William Smock, testified that Birchmore’s injuries indicated she was strangled with a duffel bag strap and that she struggled before dying. He noted that her glasses were not near her body and a pair of flip-flops were overturned.

A defense expert, Dr. Thomas Andrew, the former chief medical examiner in New Hampshire, dismissed Smock's determination that it was a homicide.

The long-time special teams ace was in his first season with a new team and he’s experienced some rough times in an 11-year career that included five years in Detroit and five in Pittsburgh.

“I didn’t know what I was going to come to work and see. Was the building going to be on fire? Were guys going to be pointing fingers? I’ve seen these things before,” Killebrew said on the AP’s “Football Unfiltered” podcast. “I was blown away by the fact that that did not happen. Actually, just the complete opposite. It was just a hey: ‘We know that we’re a good team. We’re gonna keep doing the things that we’ve been doing and the results will come.’ It was an awesome sense of just calmness and I’m talking about from leadership on down and I am not surprised that we are in this position now that we are starting to see some success because guys just keep showing up. And I appreciate it. That’s how I’m wired, so I know I’m in the right place.”

The Buccaneers (3-5) began their turnaround with a 24-16 victory at Dallas on Oct. 8. After blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter at home against Pittsburgh, they responded with a 43-13 rout in Carolina.

Last week, the Bucs beat Atlanta 16-0 in a game in which Baker Mayfield didn’t even complete a pass. Mayfield was 0 for 3 but Bucky Irving ran for 170 yards, Kenny Gainwell had 140 yards and the team set a franchise record with 324 yards on the ground.

“It was electric,” Killebrew said. “It’s so exciting watching offensive linemen have a field day. … It was fun watching them put on a clinic.”

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It could happen.

A rarity awaits on Saturday night, when No. 1 Miami (8-0, No. 1 College Football Playoff ranking) visits No. 4 Notre Dame (7-1, No. 11 CFP). The Fighting Irish are more than a touchdown favorite at most sportsbooks after the injury to star Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney in what could mark the first time in 12 years that the AP No. 1 was that large of an underdog.

The most recent instance of an AP No. 1-ranked team being an underdog in a regular-season game by at least seven points is believed to have come in 2014, when Mississippi State (which featured quarterback Dak Prescott, now of the Dallas Cowboys) was a touchdown underdog to then-No. 4 Alabama (which featured running back Derrick Henry, now of the Baltimore Ravens). Mississippi State lost that game, 25-20.

Clemson was ranked No. 1 for the national title game against Alabama on Jan. 11, 2016, but a 6.5-point underdog.

“Toney’s a big part of the offense," DraftKings Director of Sports Operations Johnny Avello said Friday. "You want to look at the offensive production and for that team, he’s half of it. He's a big deal. From a betting perspective, sometimes these injuries happen and the team rallies around that. ... And sometimes, the line gets a little more carried away than it should.”

Avello said he wouldn't be shocked if the line dipped below seven points by kickoff Saturday night.

“I don’t think the general public is going to just say, ‘OK, this is a gimme for Notre Dame,’" Avello said.

It's hardly unprecedented for a No. 1 team to be an underdog; it has happened twice already this season. Ohio State was a 2.5-point underdog when it lost to Texas, and Georgia — which originally was favored — ended up as a 2.5-point underdog when it beat Alabama. Both of those games were on the road, like this one is for No. 1 Miami.

What makes this one different is the actual size of the point spread. Miami could end up as the biggest top-ranked underdog in nearly 14 years — going back to when No. 1 Notre Dame was a 10-point underdog to Alabama in the national championship game on Jan. 7, 2013.

Alabama wound up winning that game, 42-14.

Joey Feazel, head of football at Caesars Sportsbook, also thinks the line could dip below seven points by game time. As of Friday afternoon, Caesars had 58% of bettors taking the Notre Dame moneyline, but 73% of bettors taking Miami with the spread.

“I think it’s a little high on Notre Dame right now,” Feazel said.

Toney's injury also affected the betting lines in the Heisman Trophy race. He was one of the favorites before the injury; now with him expected to be out until December, Toney is off most Heisman boards — with Miami quarterback Darian Mensah (+175) a slight underdog to Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith (+160) according to Caesars.

“If Mensah is able to get this win, in really the best game Miami has on its schedule, it's going to be really hard to kind of take that Heisman Trophy away from him,” Feazel said.

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As families scramble to repair their homes and replace what they’ve lost, Brevard County Emergency Management issued an urgent warning Friday about another potential threat: predatory contractors looking to take advantage of disaster victims.

For 62-year-old Katherine Soroka, the concern hits close to home.

Floodwaters rushed into her house earlier this week, damaging furniture, appliances and irreplaceable belongings. She said sewage also backed up into her bathrooms, forcing her and her sister to spend days cleaning and disinfecting.

“I’ve been staying with my sister, thank God I have her because my house really isn’t livable at this point,” Soroka said.

With fans running throughout the house and baseboards removed because of water damage, Soroka is trying to salvage as much as she can.

[WATCH: Palm Bay flood victims seek answers on insurance, cleanup costs]

She said she simply cannot afford to hire professional contractors.

But that hasn’t stopped people from showing up offering their services.

“I have everybody rushing at my door,” Soroka said.

She described contractors approaching her while she worked in her garage, offering extensive repairs, including removing cabinets, flooring and bathroom fixtures. One contractor, she said, discussed work costing between $10,000 and $20,000.

“I could not afford it. I could not. I barely stay above water as it,” she said.

Soroka has relied on her sister and neighbors to help remove water, clean damaged areas and begin putting her home back together.

While she acknowledges that many legitimate businesses are helping families recover, she worries about neighbors who may not know how to distinguish trustworthy contractors from people trying to take advantage of them.

“Most of my neighbors. I’m 62. Most of my neighbors in here are in their 80s,” she said.

Many, she explained, don’t have relatives nearby who can help them navigate expensive home repairs.

“So how are you to know the difference between someone genuinely trying to help them, and someone that’s just trying to help themselves?” Soroka asked.

Emergency officials warn about contractor scams

On Friday, Brevard County Emergency Management urged flood victims to be cautious about unsolicited offers, high-pressure sales tactics and contractors demanding large payments before work begins.

The Better Business Bureau has issued similar guidance about so-called “storm chasers,” contractors who travel to disaster-stricken communities seeking repair work.

Not all out-of-town contractors or door-to-door solicitors are fraudulent, but officials say homeowners should take steps to protect themselves before hiring anyone.

The county and BBB recommend:

Verify licenses and insurance. Check whether a contractor is properly licensed for the work being performed through MyFloridaLicense.com .

Get three written estimates. Compare itemized quotes before agreeing to repairs.

Watch for pressure tactics. Be suspicious of anyone demanding an immediate decision or offering a deal that expires if you don’t sign right away.

Avoid paying in full upfront. Be cautious about cash-only demands and arrange payments based on completed work.

Protect insurance benefits. Don’t sign blank contracts, sign over insurance checks or give away control of insurance claims.

Check references and permits. Research contractors, ask neighbors for recommendations and ensure required building permits are obtained.

Brevard County also encourages anyone who suspects a scam to report it to the Florida Attorney General’s Office at 1-866-966-7226 or MyFloridaLegal.com .

For homeowners struggling to afford repairs, Brevard County has also established a program connecting flood victims with volunteer organizations that may be able to assist with cleanup.

Residents can apply by completing this online form.

The free services may include removing mud, damaged furniture, flooring and wet drywall.

Assistance is not guaranteed and depends on volunteer availability. Households can submit one request through the county’s flood cleanup assistance form.

For Soroka, the message to her neighbors is simple: Don’t let the desperation of recovering from a disaster lead to another loss.

“Please, please, please take your time in making a decision. Please don’t rush into anything.”

In one neighborhood, storm-damaged furniture, family photos and personal belongings now line the curb as residents gut their homes and search for anything that can be saved.

Julie Angulo said her mother, Judith Vega, lost nearly everything when water poured into the home where she has lived for more than 30 years.

“She worked hard to provide us a home,” Angulo said. “It feels like it’s gone. I’m grateful she’s here, but it’s hard to see anything else right now for her.”

Vega said she got out just in time as the water began rushing inside.

“The water got so strong, so heavy,” Vega said. “Anything that was on the floor was floating around inside the house.”

Three days later, the damage is still visible. Floors remain wet, fans are running to dry out the home, and water is still pooling in the back of Vega’s car.

Angulo said the loss is difficult to process as her mother’s belongings sit outside with other debris.

“There’s just trinkets, there’s pictures. There’s just so much stuff,” Angulo said. “Nothing is salvageable.”

Despite the devastation, neighbors have been helping each other clean up and find support. A veterinarian has helped board family pets, and city garbage crews have begun moving through affected areas.

Still, piles of flood-damaged debris continue to grow as families work to figure out what can be saved and what comes next.

Assistance portal opening

Brevard County is opening a request portal for residents who need help with flood clean-up efforts.

The program connects homeowners with volunteer organizations that can help remove mud, ruined furniture, wet flooring and damp drywall.

All services are free of charge, but assistance is not guaranteed.

Residents are asked to submit only one request per household and to provide the following information:

• Name and contact information
• Household details
• Photos of damaged areas

Residents can apply by completing this online form.

Palm Bay hosting flood recovery info sessions

The City of Palm Bay is hosting two flood recovery information sessions Friday for residents impacted by the flooding.

The first session runs from 9 to 11 a.m. at Palm Bay City Hall, and a second session is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Tony Rosa Community Center. Officials say further discussions about long-term recovery efforts are expected in the coming weeks.

Ruling in the case Wisne vs. NCAA, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver reversed a lower-court decision that had granted players across the country who graduated high school in 2022 a fifth year of eligibility.

The lower-court ruling in July went against the NCAA's new rule that granted five years of eligibility, but only starting with athletes from the next year's class. It essentially made all those Class of '22 players eligible, leading to nationwide chaos, with teams looking to sign players who had been relegated to the sideline.

But in August, when this same appeals court first put the ruling on hold, many of those players still found their way onto rosters thanks to favorable rulings in state courts.

The decision Friday doesn't resolve some 200 state cases that involve as many as 850 athletes. The NCAA applauded it nonetheless, with chief legal officer Scott Bearby calling it “consistent with the approach taken by every federal court of appeals” in cases like these.

“The decision also acknowledges the NCAA’s concern that retroactively changing eligibility rules can destabilize rosters and disrupt the settled expectations of student-athletes regarding roster spots and playing time,” Bearby wrote in a memo to NCAA members.

Much of that damage has already been done, as football's regular season heads into its final month with some players — for instance, Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos — toggling on and off rosters depending on the latest court ruling. Basketball season started this week under similar uncertainty.

The decision hinged over what judges said was the plaintiffs' inability to define the market for players — a key point in determining how those players are being harmed by being declared ineligible.

In the decision penned by Judge Carolyn McHugh, the three-judge panel knocked down the plaintiff argument that all Division I players, regardless of sport, formed a single market.

“Obviously, a football player looking for a Division I roster spot would not view the 101 schools without a football program as reasonably good substitutes,” McHugh wrote.

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Sanders steps in for Deshaun Watson, who's in the concussion protocol. Watson was on the field for Friday's practice, but did not do any team reps. There is a chance Watson could be cleared on Saturday after being listed as questionable on the injury report.

Coach Todd Monken said that Watson not being able to practice with the team this week made it any easy decision to go with Sanders.

“I liked his confidence and the way he operated. He looked very comfortable in terms of getting our guys in and out of the huddle and I thought he threw the ball extremely well,” Monken said about Sanders.

Sanders was in for four plays last week against Pittsburgh after Watson took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker. The second-year quarterback and son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders completed both of his passes for 2 yards.

Watson went back into the game after being cleared by the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant. The 10-year veteran began experiencing concussion symptoms Monday night and was placed in the protocol.

Sanders started the final seven games of his rookie season last year, going 3-4 with seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He showed steady improvement throughout the offseason, but was unable to beat out Watson for the starting spot.

“It was valuable, just tapping back into that memory bank, having those reps and everything,” Sanders said. “That’s why I’m thankful for this whole offseason and everything and just being out there with the guys each and every day, being able to still get some throws in with them. So I don’t think we lost a step.”

Sunday’s game will be a matchup of quarterbacks from the 2025 NFL draft class. The Saints bypassed Sanders and took Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick. The Browns ended up trading up in the fifth round to select Sanders.

Sanders will face a Saints defense that is 28th in the league overall and 23rd against the pass.

“The offense is going to remain mostly the same but some elements with the quarterback run game that might be different,” New Orleans defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said. “Shedeur has done the same thing. You're seeing a player that has experience.”

Cleveland (5-3) is looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season while New Orleans (2-5) is coming off its bye week.

Browns defensive tackle Maliek Collins, second on the team with 3 1/2 sacks, will miss Sunday's game due to an elbow injury.

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The resolution passed 75-50, with five faculty senators abstaining and five others not voting, according to an email sent to Faculty Senate members on Friday afternoon.

The vote followed weeks of debate among professors over whether Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and other administrators handled the woman’s allegations properly and have done enough to curtail sexual misconduct at the prestigious university.

While the faculty body has no power over the university's top leaders, backers of the resolution had said they hoped it would pressure Cornell's trustees to address longstanding institutional failures they identified.

Board of Trustees Chair Anne Smalling said in a statement the faculty vote “reflects the deep anger across our campus” and sent a clear signal that what happened to the woman was unacceptable, but added that Kotlikoff and his administration were the right leaders to “thoughtfully and comprehensively” address the issue.

Thomas Giuffra, an attorney for the woman who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement Friday that “we are hopeful that this will be yet another step forward to educate and support the Cornell community by addressing the longstanding scourge of sexual assault on campus.”

Lawsuit sparked outrage on campus

The Cornell community has been distressed since mid-September, when a former student, identified only by the pseudonym Jane Doe in court documents, filed a lawsuit against the university and seven former members of the Chi Phi fraternity, saying she was given ketamine and raped at a fraternity house in October 2024.

All of the men have denied her allegations, saying the sex was consensual or that they weren’t involved. The local district attorney initially decided the woman had consented to the encounter and that no crime had been committed, but the investigation has since been reopened and handed to New York’s attorney general.

Cornell disciplined several of the accused students following a monthslong Title IX investigation. Two were expelled, two received suspensions and probation, and two were required to write “reflection” papers and complete bystander training. A seventh man had already graduated and was barred from campus, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

Kotlikoff also convened a task force to study the problem of sexual misconduct on campus, which released certain recommendations.

Some faculty members have criticized Kotlikoff for not acting more forcefully to strengthen the school's disciplinary process, push for criminal investigations and change campus party culture.

Paul Ortiz, a labor history professor who co-sponsored the no-confidence resolution, said last week that hundreds of students, staff, alumni and faculty approached the resolution’s sponsors to emphasize that “the Jane Doe case is but a tip of the iceberg” and that “a veritable fortress of silence has been breached” around sexual violence since the resolution’s introduction.

Cornell's president defended his leadership

Speaking to Faculty Senate members on the first day that they debated the no-confidence resolution, Kotlikoff pledged to make the university a leader in addressing sexual assault and asked for more time to make changes.

Kotlikoff defended his leadership, arguing that replacing him would do little to solve complex problems and could damage Cornell’s reputation. He acknowledged he had not read the campus police report, explaining that university policy barred top administrators from interfering in criminal investigations. He also rejected suggestions he had been indifferent to the woman’s case, though he acknowledged only recently learning she had left Cornell.

Kotlikoff said the university needed to determine whether fraternities could operate safely and left open the possibility of sweeping restrictions on Greek life. He argued that decisions should be based on research and evidence rather than emotion.

Some professors had said faculty should wait to vote until the release of an independent investigation by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, whom the university hired to examine how Cornell responded to the woman's initial rape report in 2024 and its overall procedures for handling similar reports from other students.

Yasmeen Masoud, a Cornell junior who spoke Friday at a news conference organized by the resolution’s sponsors, called the vote encouraging for students frustrated with the university’s response.

“We should not have to beg for answers, demand basic transparency or generate media attention just to get our concerns acknowledged,” she said. “It reminds us that there are people across this university who care deeply about its future and are willing to stand together to demand a better Cornell.”

Iris Packman, a co-sponsor of the no-confidence resolution, said Friday that the vote was “only the beginning” and that faculty would push for sweeping reforms.

The no-confidence resolution did not call for Kotlikoff’s resignation.

Allan Filgueiras, a pilot who helped teach Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras to fly, said he marveled at how “she's tough” even as the plane plunged straight toward the ground Sunday.

“I wanted to be by her side. Inside the plane, to help,” he said at a news conference, often holding back tears.

“She showed me what it is to be a hero,” he said, “because once you see that coming, a lot of the big boys — military or whatever — they can’t handle. And she was the one over there to the last minute fighting.”

Nathalia Filgueiras can first be heard calmly telling air traffic control about ice buildup on the plane as it flew into a thunderstorm. Turbulence tossed it up and down by 700 feet (200 meters), but the situation quickly escalated as the aircraft fell at breathtaking speed. “Declare an emergency 722-Bravo-Delta. We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute!” she said.

Her father and aviation safety experts have praised her composure as she called out updates while knowing the plane's fate was sealed. The captain, 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, is believed to have been at the controls.

“For the family — it’s like having the heart torn from my chest,” Allan Filgueiras said in Spanish. “I have to find a way to go on living.”

Young co-pilot's family and instructor say she earned her job on merit

The family has challenged online criticism questioning whether she had enough experience to be in the cockpit of a high-performance business jet. She had more than 1,300 hours of experience and completed extensive training to earn her commercial pilot’s license and Learjet certification.

Her father's attorney, Stuart Grossman, said the news conference aimed to “preserve not just her memory, but her reputation.”

“She was at the top of her class in everything that she did, and she was perfectly qualified to be the co-pilot on this flight, despite her tender years,” Grossman said, noting there were no immediate plans for any lawsuit.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined what caused the crash. The Learjet accelerated beyond its design limits as it fell, and pieces of its tail were found miles away from the crash site, which is a deep crater on the edge of a road. Investigators were still searching the area Friday after finding part of an engine a day earlier. The cockpit recorder remains missing.

Allan Filgueiras said he helped teach her how to fly after taking her aloft for the first time at age 12. Once she got a job as a pilot, she told him she couldn’t believe she was getting paid to do something she loved.

“It was her happiest moment, to fly,” he said.

Mentor says her professionalism showed in final calls

Her mentor and instructor, Chris Kirk, said she earned her position through dedication and perseverance by putting in hard work and long hours.

During her Learjet 60 check ride in March, the examiner was so impressed he thought she had more than 5,000 hours of experience — nearly four times the amount of flight time she had logged.

Kirk said her professionalism was evident in those final radio transmissions, which gave the NTSB important information. Many members of the military special forces who Kirk worked with probably couldn't keep their wits in a similar situation.

“This was an incredible human being,” Kirk said, “who did a job that very few people would have been able to do under a duress that’s unimaginable.”

Retired airline pilot John Cox said earlier this week that his career began similarly to Nathalia Filgueiras', as he started flying professionally at age 19. He said she had done well to earn a Learjet co-pilot's seat.

“To be in the right seat of a Lear 60, she had to impress somebody, because that’s a good ride. I mean, that’s great. I know she loved it,” said Cox, who now runs Safety Operating Systems, an aviation consulting company.

The other crash victims included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson; his wife, Helen Sharp; and their two young children, relatives said. The family’s nanny, Ana María Ramírez Cetina, was also killed. The other two victims were Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, who owned the Arca Boutique Hotel in Honduras.

CEO Elon Musk announced the model’s demise Friday with a curt post on X, his social media site, simply noting production of the vehicle “will be winding down” around the middle of 2027 at its facility outside Austin, Texas. Musk said the move was to allow increased production of its Cybercab robotaxi.

For the Cybertruck, a pet project of Musk who insisted it was Tesla’s best product, it marks an unceremonious end to one of the auto industry’s most ballyhooed debuts.

“Few vehicles in history have generated as much attention,” said Armen Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers autos. “The Cybertruck became a cultural symbol – loved, mocked and impossible to ignore.”

The Cybertruck rolled onto the scene in a dramatic unveiling in 2019, when a Tesla designer hurled a metal ball at the vehicle to demonstrate its supposedly unbreakable glass, only to see it shatter. He repeated the stunt on another window of the truck only to shatter that one, too.

Even as some critics scoffed, Musk was steadfast.

“I just wanted to make a futuristic battle tank — something that looks like it could come out of ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Aliens’ or something like that but was also highly functional,” he told Automotive News. He called it “a better sports car than a Porsche 911” and “a better truck than an F-150.”

It struck some as the perfect vehicular reflection of the brash, convention-busting Musk.

“A really controversial vehicle unveiled by a controversial individual into a market where none of the electric trucks have been able to really capture demand,” said Spencer Penn, a former Tesla executive who left the company before the Cybertruck’s launch and now heads procurement software firm LightSource.

Penn remembered watching the unveiling and feeling initially revolted by the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance “madness.” But the more he looked at it, the more his opinion changed. He signed up for a pre-sale reservation, though ended up not getting a Cybertruck when Musk’s promises of a price tag under $40,000 went unmet and the first trucks sold for double or more. Penn called the Cybertruck part of Tesla’s adventurous spirit that drives innovation.

“Some of these bets work and some of these bets don’t,” he said.

While the decision to end Cybertruck production may be driven by sales realities, it's also a reflection of Tesla’s shift to autonomous vehicles, on which Musk is betting the company’s future.

Musk once forecast he’d make 250,000 Cybertrucks a year. Kelley Blue Book estimated Tesla sold just 20,237 of the vehicles last year, down about half from the year prior. Sales through the end of September this year were down another 28%, according to Kelley Blue Book.

If the imposing, sharp-angled, dystopian appearance of the Cybertruck weren’t enough to turn many potential buyers away, Musk did so himself by allying with a panoply of right-wing figures, most notably U.S. President Donald Trump. He alienated some customers as his image morphed from eccentric innovator to polarizing force trading his billions for political influence.

Once-passionate Tesla drivers rushed to sell off their cars, or slapped stickers on the bumper declaring, “I bought this before Elon went crazy.” Organizers staged demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms and urged investors to dump shares of the company’s stock. Anger spilled into violence, with Molotov cocktails hurled at Tesla vehicles, charging stations set ablaze, and dealerships covered in graffiti.

Lovers of the Cybertruck became targets, too, subjected to shouts of “Nazi!” and extended middle fingers.

Ross Blankenship is one of them. When he first laid eyes on the Cybertruck, he felt transported to a world from his childhood, when he would play “Halo,” the sci-fi video game. He had to have it.

“I had that sort of child in me wanting to be part of something cool that would change the future of automotive,” Blankenship said in a call from his Cybertruck as he drove through Sunnyside, Colorado. Even as Blankenship found he agreed with Musk on politics, he hated seeing a vehicle he loved turned into a political symbol. “I never bought it for any other reason than the fascination with the future technology of trucks … so that was a little heartbreaking.”

He would buy another Cybertruck again in a heartbeat, calling its end “a sad moment.”

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Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://x.com/sedensky

The video loop shows real-time river gauge data for the St. Johns River near Cocoa, above Lake Harney, near DeLand, near Sanford and at Astor.

Clicking on the locations below will provide more information about the area impacted by water.

St. Johns River gauge locations:

• Near Cocoa
• Above Lake Harney
• Near Sanford
• Near DeLand
• Astor