The U.S. and Canada are negotiating ahead of Trump’s midnight deadline to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products starting Wednesday. The fate of the Gaza ceasefire remains unclear after Jared Kushner left a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no firm Israeli commitment to the latest U.S.-proposed plan. And Trump’s pivot away from South Korea is raising broader concerns about U.S. security interests in Asia and elsewhere.

The Latest:

Woman accused of plotting to kill Treasury Secretary is sentenced

A Massachusetts woman who told police that she brought homemade firebombs to the U.S. Capitol to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sentenced on Tuesday to just over six years in prison.

Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman, said she was in the grips of a mental health crisis and abusing drugs when she drove to Washington in January 2025 and told Capitol Police that she was there to kill Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. “I’m not a political person. I’m not a violent person.”

Contreras, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, sentenced English to six years and one month of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. English has remained jailed since her arrest and will get credit for the nearly 20 months that she already has spent in custody.

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Trump to lead tech event

The U.S. president is hosting an event on Wednesday with various leaders in the tech industry, according to a White House official.

The event is meant to “strengthen America’s innovative and technological dominance,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting that has not been publicized.

The official offered few other details about the gathering except to say that prediction markets would not be participating in the White House event.

US hits ICC president and senior prosecutor with sanctions in another move against the court

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one its top prosecutors as it continues a campaign to dismantle the tribunal that it accuses of trying to unfairly prosecute U.S. and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza.

The State Department said Tuesday it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

The move is the latest by the Trump administration against the ICC, which it says has exceeding its mandate by investigating or trying soldiers, commanders and political officials from countries, like Israel and the United States, that are not members of the court.

Minnesota attorney general sues Texas governor to compel extradition of ICE agent for trial

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, seeking to compel the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to stand trial for assault and falsely reporting a crime in the wounding of a man during the agency’s crackdown in Minneapolis.

Ellison said he would request a temporary restraining order barring the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office in Texas from releasing ICE agent Christian Castro and requiring Abbott to sign the extradition warrant allowing Minnesota law enforcement agents to take custody of him.

Castro was arrested 11 days after Minneapolis prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Ellison said at a news conference that Castro faces release from jail next week -- 90 days since he was detained -- under Texas law unless he’s extradited to Minnesota.

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CDC has zombie programs that are funded but don’t have staff

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has several programs that have turned into zombies: They appear to be alive, at least according to legislation and congressional appropriations. But functionally they are dead or nearly dead, because the CDC experts who did the work were laid off by President Donald Trump’s administration or remain on leave — paid but not allowed to do their jobs.

These programs include initiatives for Alzheimer’s, smoking prevention and epilepsy.

Trump’s Republican administration laid off thousands of employees as a cost-cutting move beginning in April 2025. While some cuts were reversed, many experts remain on paid leave due to ongoing legal battles.

The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit

The sole Democrat on the commission, Anna Gomez, commended ABC and Disney for pushing back against the FCC’s actions.

“For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations,” she said in a statement, “using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like.”

“I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up,” Gomez said. “This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”

ABC says FCC’s challenge of its broadcast licenses present an ‘existential threat’

The FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr cited the network’s diversity practices as a reason for a rare early review of some of its local broadcast licenses, but it took the action shortly after a joke by ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel had infuriated the president.

“Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,” the network alleges in its lawsuit filed Tuesday seeking to block the FCC action. “Those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

“If the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free,” it says.

Forced out of the Kennedy Center, National Symphony Orchestra is going on the road

Forced from its concert hall, the orchestra announced Tuesday that it’s splitting its 2026-27 season among six venues in and around Washington, D.C.

Trump loyalists took control of the center named by Congress after President John F. Kennedy and added his name to the complex before a federal judge ordered it removed. Now the board plans a two-year renovation and a new name: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”

“For us to perform and to be somehow disconnected with the Kennedy Center probably will convince some of the audience who stayed away from the center to come back to our concerts, and not only that, even to increase the number of the audience,” music director Gianandrea Noseda said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Hormuz ship traffic is down sharply, despite Trump’s claims

While Trump insists the Strait of Hormuz remains “open and operating,” the numbers show vessel transit dropped significantly last week, with confirmed crossings falling 19.5% to 95, including just three on Sunday, according to shipping data platform Kpler.

The platform said the transited vessels used the Iranian-designated route, while no crossings were recorded through the Omani routes.

Iran refers to Trump’s ‘delusion’ about the strait

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi appeared to respond to Trump’s post on social media depicting the strait as American territory.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will soon either be corrected, or we will correct this deluded man’s delusions for him,” Gharibabadi wrote on X.

Trump floats idea of declaring Strait of Hormuz a US territory

He posted a map on social media Tuesday depicting the strait as a U.S. territory. The president first mentioned the idea in an offhand comment last week. On Monday, he told reporters in the Oval Office, “I like the idea of declaring it a territory,” without providing details.

The White House on Tuesday referred to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office and declined to comment further about Oman.

Tankers and cargo vessels are seen in the Gulf of Oman, along shipping routes linking the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo)

US believes Oman has not been tough enough with Iran

The reason Trump threatened to bomb Oman is because he’s unhappy the country is close to a deal with Iran to manage ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, two regional officials said Tuesday.

The officials said the Trump administration has told Oman it is opposed to parts of the yet-to-be-announced deal, including the joint Iranian and Omani management of the exit route out of the passage that’s critical to global supplies of oil and natural gas. The officials were briefed on the U.S. position and how the administration views Oman’s position.

The U.S. believes Oman has not been tough enough in its negotiations with Iran and is unhappy with Oman’s agreement to collect voluntary fees from vessels, even if the charges are related to security and maritime environmental protection, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Whistleblower alleges political pressure, lack of evidence in antisemitism probes

A whistleblower is alleging that a Trump administration task force created to combat antisemitism has rushed to push for settlements with Ivy League universities, despite incomplete investigations that failed to establish any violations of the law.

The complaint obtained by The Associated Press before it was made public Tuesday details allegations made by a former Justice Department attorney who was involved in the task force. It alleges that the investigations were designed to strong-arm the schools into cutting deals for political purposes.

Spokespeople for the Justice and Health and Human Services Departments did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment Tuesday.

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Trump says US has no planned talks with Iran

The president asserted that even as U.S. has no planned talks with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz remains “open and operating,” despite limited traffic and an attack Tuesday on a ship trying to exit the waterway.

Trump also wrote on social media Tuesday that a U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping remains “in full force and effect,” and asserted that all water mines have been removed.

His post comes after a 60-day negotiating period ended this week between the U.S. and Iran with no clear end to the war in sight.

Disney sues FCC, claiming broadcast licenses challenge is retaliation over ‘Jimmy Kimmel’

Disney’s suit filed Tuesday against the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission alleges a violation of its First Amendment rights.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr defended the agency’s early review of eight ABC local broadcast licenses well before they expire, saying Friday that broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest” and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard.

Carr has said the country should have a “trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there.”

ABC has accused the agency of a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech — and by extension, that of every media outlet in the country.

The 1930 tariff law Trump invoked against Canada made the Great Depression worse

After the Supreme Court ruled the president overstepped his authority by imposing double-digit import taxes on almost every country on earth as a national emergency, Trump last month imposed new import taxes of 10% to 12.5% on 59 countries and the European Union — which together account for 99% of U.S. imports, accusing them of allowing forced labor.

And to whack Canada, he invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose 50% tariffs, starting Wednesday.

These so-called Smoot-Hawley tariffs are notorious among economists and historians for limiting world commerce and making the Great Depression worse. Never before used, Section 338 allows for import taxes on products from countries that have discriminated against U.S. businesses.

Trump claimed Canada discriminates against U.S. exports of autos, alcohol and cheese.

US criticizes Israeli strikes on Syrian air base

Syrian state TV said eight Israeli airstrikes hit the runway of the Abu Duhur air base early Tuesday, causing damage without inflicting any casualties.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack posted on X that Washington is “deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes” constitute “an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the attack and Turkish officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said foreign fighters used to stay at the base before they were recently asked to leave, and that Turkey, a main backer of Syria’s government, has been rehabilitating the base after the Syrian conflict left nearly half a million people dead.

Ship attacked in Hormuz strait as Iran throttles key waterway

A projectile has hit a ship sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz , according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center, causing “a crew casualty” but no environmental damage.

Iranian threats to shipping effectively closed the strait after Israel and the U.S. started the war nearly six months ago.

An Iranian official said Tuesday that the waterway will remain closed until the U.S. meets Tehran’s conditions, which include ending a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping, “releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions (and) ending threats and military operations on all fronts.”

Turkey urges Trump to seek a diplomatic solution to the war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Trump in a telephone call to continue to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Iran.

The call came late Monday as the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the United States and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were at the start.

“President Erdogan said it is important to make maximum use of diplomacy amid tensions between Iran and the United States,” according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office.

The 60-day deadline for an Iran peace deal is expiring. Here’s where things stand

The deal that Trump signed at Versailles in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program.

The deadline was Monday, and the two sides are further apart than they were then.

Talks, such as they are, have focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting a U.S. blockade on Iran, both of which were supposed to have happened under the interim deal. There has been no sign of any compromise on the strait, or that detailed nuclear talks have even begun.

The U.S., meanwhile, has no good options for getting out of the war it started alongside Israel.

Acceding to Iran’s latest demands would mean giving it control over a critical international waterway that carried a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas before the war — and would be tantamount to admitting defeat. Escalating the deeply unpopular war would further draw down U.S. supplies of advanced missile interceptors, jolt the world economy, and drive up gas prices ahead of U.S. congressional elections.

So both sides have dug in, hoping the other will blink first. So far, neither has.

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Trump’s slight of South Korea in favor of the North raises broader US security concerns

Trump on Sunday ordered the U.S. military to downsize the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which began Monday as scheduled. It wasn’t known which parts of the training were being scaled back.

His announcement baffled many in South Korea, which has been closely allied with the U.S. for decades and where national security is a top priority due to threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

Trump explained his decision by citing South Korea’s refusal to join his war against Iran and pointing to what he said was his good relationship with North Korea’s reclusive dictator, a transactional and personal approach to foreign policy that has defined the Republican’s presidency.

“There is no American interest that I can see in this,” said Dan Fried, an assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the George W. Bush administration. “On all levels it makes no sense. It undermines the South Koreans, undermines the Japanese, frightens the Taiwanese, unnerves NATO and emboldens the Chinese, not to mention the North Koreans.”

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“I love the game of football a lot … it brings me joy,” the 39-year-old Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman said Tuesday in his first public remarks since his mother's death. “It was a little harder training, but as far as football goes, I love this game a lot. And this is a very fun place for me to be. So playing football has been great for me.”

The Ravens signed the six-time Pro Bowler in April to a one-year deal for his 19th NFL season.

In late June, police found his 71-year-old mother dead at her home in Atlanta during a welfare check. Her 41-year-old son Ciarre Campbell was charged with murder after he was found with a knife, according to arrest warrants. The family told police that Ciarre struggles with mental illness.

The Ravens permitted Calais Campbell to miss the first few full-team practices of training camp. He participated in his first team session on Aug. 3, five days after the Ravens opened full-team camp.

“These last couple months have been pretty tough for me and my family, but we’re working through it,” Campbell said. “And I really appreciate all the love and support and the prayers that have been coming from all over, really, from all the NFL community. … Continue praying for us because we need it.”

Campbell, who will turn 40 on Sept. 1, previously played in Baltimore from 2020-2022, making his sixth and final Pro Bowl during his first season with the Ravens.

He returns to an organization with a different look, including first-year head coach Jesse Minter and a mostly new coaching staff.

“(He) brings great versatility along the D-line, is an unbelievable leader and mentor in that room and in the defensive room and with the team,” Minter said of Campbell, who has 117 career sacks in 278 NFL games, including 259 starts. “The timing of it obviously was really tough for him and his family. We allowed the first week or two of camp for him to really kind of work himself to get ready, as it affected his summer preparation, obviously. … I’m really happy that we have him.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

ESPN historian Mike Soltys said Rasmussen died at his Florida home from the effects of Parkinson’s disease. Rasmussen announced in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 2014.

“Bill was a remarkable man — a visionary and an innovator who conceived the idea of a network entirely devoted to sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “Quite simply, none of us would be here today if it wasn’t for Bill’s passion and all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit he put into building ESPN in the late 1970s — key aspects of our company culture that still carry on to this day.”

Rasmussen and his son Scott came up with the idea of a network carrying sports around the clock, and it would revolutionize Americans’ TV-watching habits. But the Rasmussens didn’t stick around long. They were forced out after only a year by ESPN majority owner Getty Oil.

Cable operators initially scoffed at Rasmussen's concept

Bill Rasmussen’s original idea was a cable channel covering only Connecticut sports. Many cable operators in the state were skeptical, but someone suggested buying satellite time to reach a national audience.

ESPN was launched on Sept. 7, 1979. George Grande welcomed viewers to the first “SportsCenter” broadcast before the network’s first live event, a slow-pitch softball game between the Kentucky Bourbons and the Milwaukee Schlitz.

“In those days, we didn’t know if we’d last four weeks, four years, let alone 40-some, but we knew it was special,” Grande said. “Bottom line was Bill Rasmussen was the true purveyor of the original American dream, and he gave us all something very special that we still have today.”

The Rasmussens secured financial backing from Getty Oil and a rights deal with the NCAA, and built a studio in Bristol, Connecticut, still under construction when ESPN went on the air.

The Getty investment and the deal with the NCAA occurred on the same day.

“When someone tells you you can’t do something, you want to prove them wrong,” Bill Rasmussen said. “Many, many people told us there wasn’t enough sports to do a 24-hour channel. I didn’t argue with anybody. I just thought they were wrong and I was right.”

When the Rasmussens were forced out of ESPN in 1980, Getty owned 85% of the network. Texaco, which had acquired Getty, sold its interest in ESPN to ABC in 1984.

ESPN helped bring a host of sports to cable

In 1980, only months after its debut, ESPN started televising the NFL draft. The network debuted the ESPY Awards in 1993 and launched the X Games competition in 1995.

The college football landscape underwent massive changes. Games were spread throughout the week to tailor to TV audiences and the number of postseason bowls skyrocketed. ESPN has held exclusive broadcast rights to the College Football Playoff since it began after the 2014 season. In 2024, the network agreed to a new six-year, $7.8 billion contract for the playoff through the 2031-32 season.

While CNN was finding its footing on the news side, ESPN jostled with major networks to bring NFL and college sports to cable audiences that had been over the airwaves for decades. ESPN also pioneered funding and broadcasting women’s sports, particularly college basketball, volleyball and the softball World Series.

Rasmussen was courted back by ESPN years later

Bill Rasmussen and ESPN were estranged until 1999, when company executives invited him to the 20th anniversary celebration. Since then, he has been embraced and recognized for his vision of creating an all-sports network. He toured the country in 2019 for the 40th anniversary and gave speeches at Walt Disney Co. and ESPN events.

“Bill was our George Washington and a good friend,” said veteran anchor Chris Berman, who joined ESPN three weeks after the network launched in 1979. “He was such a grateful person and every sports fan can be grateful for Bill. He wasn’t a glass half-full guy; his glass was always overflowing with optimism. He greeted everyone with a smile and we can all smile knowing Bill’s legacy.”

ESPN's debut came after Rasmussen was fired from a previous job

Born in Chicago, Rasmussen earned degrees from DePauw University in Indiana and Rutgers University and served in the Air Force. He started an advertising services business, then worked in radio and television as a broadcaster during the 1960s.

He was hired in 1974 as public relations director for the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in Hartford, Connecticut. The team’s entire front office was fired in 1978, and Rasmussen soon turned his attention to brainstorming with his son on the creation of sports on cable TV with the help of a $9,000 credit card advance.

“There was a whole lot of chutzpah and a whole lot of vision, and they’re maxed out on their credit cards. It’s the American dream,” said Bob Ley, one of the network’s original anchors.

Rasmussen was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.

Rasmussen was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Lois, in 2011 and is survived by two sons, Scott Rasmussen and his wife, Laura, and Glenn Rasmussen, daughter Lynn Van Hollebeke and her husband, Louie, seven grandchildren, one great-grandson and one great-granddaughter. In addition to his wife, Bill was predeceased by his brothers Robert and Donald Rasmussen, sister Vivien and a grandson.

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman, said she was in the grips of a mental health crisis and abusing drugs when she drove to Washington in January 2025 and told Capitol police that she was there to kill Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. “I'm not a political person. I'm not a violent person.”

Contreras, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, sentenced English to six years and one month of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. English has remained jailed since her arrest and will get credit for the nearly 20 months that she already has spent in custody.

“You’ve had a very difficult life,” Contreras told English. “Hopefully, the progress you’ve made in jail to this date has set you on the right path.”

Nobody was injured, and Contreras said her plan to harm Bessent had an “exceedingly low or non-existent” chance of success. Bessent wasn't at the Capitol when English arrived on Jan. 27, 2025. The Molotov cocktails that English brought to the Capitol appeared to be incapable of igniting, the judge noted.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 10 years and one month for English. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Horan said English had been planning the “attempted political assassination” for at least a month at a time when the threat of politically motivated violence has been mounting in the U.S.

“This was not a chance encounter or an impulsive act,” Horan said.

Defense attorney Maria Jacob said English was “terrified and traumatized” by fears of what would happen to transgender people under the second Trump administration.

“Our argument is that she was in a diminished mental state,” Jacob said.

Investigators said they found a folding knife, two homemade firebombs and a lighter in English’s possession at the Capitol.

English, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, told police that she was influenced by Luigi Mangione, the man who was charged with fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. She said she was “on a mission” and “had been thinking about this for a while because of Luigi Mangione,” prosecutors said. English told officers that she was terminally ill and “wanted to do something before I go,” according to prosecutors.

English also said she traveled from Massachusetts to Washington intending to kill other Republican political figures — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson — and to burn down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, according to police. English changed her target to Bessent after reading an internet post about his confirmation hearing, police said.

Jacob said English's actions last year were “a cry for help.”

“There was no indication that she was acting rationally that day,” the judge said.

Attorney General Keith Ellison is asking a federal judge to bar the sheriff in Cameron County, Texas, from releasing ICE agent Christian Castro, and to order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant so that Minnesota officers can take custody.

Minnesota officials have clashed with the federal government over who has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute federal officers for on-duty conduct. Ellison is a Democrat and Abbott is a Republican ally of President Donald Trump.

Castro was arrested in Texas in May on Minnesota charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 wounding of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro, 52, is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg with a bullet that lodged in a child’s bedroom wall. Prosecutors say Castro then falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

Minnesota officials fear ICE agent could flee

Ellison told a news conference that unless he's extradited, Castro could be released from jail next week -- 90 days since he was detained -- under Texas law. And if he's freed, Castro could slip into Mexico from the border town where he's being held, Ellison said. The lawsuit said Castro has been making calls from jail to a woman in Mexico, talking “about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released.”

“Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota,” Ellison said. “He must face justice in Minnesota. Gov. Abbott should have granted Gov. Walz’s extradition request long ago and is required to do so now.”

It was not immediately known if Castro had a lawyer who could speak for him. Online court records in Minnesota and county jail records in Texas did not list a defense attorney.

Abbott's office said in a statement that it would not comment on “pending extradition matters.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the legal action to compel Castro’s extradition “should be a completely unnecessary lawsuit.” She said jail officials and prosecutors in Texas have been “very cooperative,” and that an extradition “is not supposed to be controversial.”

The office of Cameron County Sheriff Manny Trevino declined to comment Tuesday on the case.

Federal agency has called agent's prosecution a 'political stunt'

Authorities say Sosa-Celis was shot after Castro and another officer chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the Minneapolis apartment duplex where he and Sosa-Celis lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally in the U.S., according to Minnesota officials.

Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an officer. A federal judge later dismissed the charges, and ICE and the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether agents lied about what happened.

Regardless, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has called Moriarty's prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction in the case.

The federal government took a similar stance following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the Minneapolis enforcement surge. Moriarty sued the Trump administration to gain access to evidence in those cases before federal prosecutors turned it over last month.

The extradition lawsuit Ellison filed in U.S. District Court in Texas cites a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that compliance with the Constitution’s extradition clause is mandatory, affording no discretion to the governor or courts of a state where a defendant is being held.

Moriarty said that since Castro’s arrest, Texas has extradited three unrelated criminal defendants without incident to Minnesota.

“Gov. Abbott has received communication with us on an ongoing basis, including recently,” Ellison said. “We have to take the position that they are refusing to honor the extradition request.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalist Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.

The U.S. Forest Service is filing a proposal that would scrap the so called roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton’s presidency in 2001. The agency described the rule as a one-size-fits-all restriction that has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to reducing wildfire risks in the nation’s forests.

“Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction. Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

Scientists say that worsening wildfires are driven by a combination of climate change that warms and dries out forests, less logging and decades of fire suppression that has allowed fuels to build up.

Clinton had signed the rule to safeguard undeveloped national forest land from commercial logging and mineral leasing, with a goal of keeping ecosystems pristine and protecting water supplies.

Calling the roadless rule a failure, Rollins said the proposal calls for restoring authority to local forest managers and removing barriers that have kept them from improving forest health across millions of acres.

The roadless rule has affected 30% of national forest lands nationwide, or about 59 million acres (24 million hectares), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency over the Forest Service.

The Forest Service will gather public comment on the proposal and on a draft of the environmental impact statement that was filed Tuesday in the Federal Register. While the rescission removes national designation of roadless areas, officials say it doesn't mandate timber cutting or road construction.

The filing of the proposal comes as no surprise as the Trump administration first announced its intention to get rid of the rule during a meeting last summer of Western governors in New Mexico.

Environmentalists have been sounding the alarm since then and reiterated Tuesday that lifting protections would have detrimental effects for old growth forests, wildlife and water supplies.

“Americans across the political spectrum have made it crystal clear that they don’t want political appointees removing protections from public lands,” said Chris Krupp, an attorney with the group WildEarth Guardians. “It would be a gross misreading of public sentiment to take the roadless rule away from Americans and our wildlife, and politicians do so at their jeopardy.”

The Alaska Wilderness League and other groups raised concerns about what a rescission could mean for places such as Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest national forest and a lightning rod for litigation. State political leaders there have supported an exemption to the roadless rule that they argue impedes economic opportunities.

During the latter part of Trump’s first term, the federal government lifted restrictions on logging and road-building in the Tongass, something the Biden administration later reversed.

Emma Powell, the Alaska Wilderness League's government affairs manager, described the Tongass as a global treasure that serves as a home for salmon runs and abundant wildlife. She added that cultures and livelihoods are connected to the forest.

“From fisheries to tourism and outdoor recreation, these landscapes also support thousands of jobs and generate billions in economic activity each year,” Powell said.

Alex Craven, the Sierra Club's forest campaign manager, disputed officials' claims that getting rid of the rule would allow for more work to be done to reduce wildfire threats. Craven suggested more roads would lead to more fires and that it never prevented the Forest Service from doing targeted work to reduce wildfire fuels.

He vowed that the Sierra Club and other groups would fight the proposal at each step.

The deadline for comments is Sept. 21.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in a car near his Biddeford home on July 13. Rep. Chellie Pingree said during a hearing in Maine on Monday that ICE's intended target was Durán Guerrero's roommate, who was the owner of the car Durán Guerrero was driving.

Pingree called the discovery a “shocking revelation in clear contradiction to what ICE" and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have said about the shooting. She added that it was previously established Durán Guerrero was not the intended target and also did not have a final order of removal, but did have a pending asylum case and a valid work permit.

“Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero should be alive today,” Pingree said during the hearing. “More than a month later, there are still so many basic questions that remain unanswered by ICE and the Trump administration.”

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement late Monday that it stands by its prior assessment of the shooting. ICE was conducting “targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal,” a spokesperson for the agency said.

“We are not going to disclose law enforcement sensitive intelligence and methods. Nowhere did we state that Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero or his roommate were the target of the operation,” the spokesperson said.

The shooting of Durán Guerrero remains under investigation by the Office of the Maine Attorney General. Pingree was among several Democratic House members who spoke at a hearing in Biddeford on Monday to discuss ICE's use of deadly force in the state. The Department of Homeland Security said at the time of the shooting that Durán Guerrero attempted to flee the scene and the ICE officer discharged his weapon because he feared for public safety.

Pingree and other Democratic Congress members have also called for answers from Homeland Security about its training and vetting of agents after it was disclosed that the ICE officer involved in the shooting had a history of violent behavior and mental health issues. The shooting also appeared to lead to a policy change in which ICE would suspend most vehicle stops, but President Donald Trump swiftly expressed opposition to that change.

The nonprofit Corporate Accountability Lab said it spent more than three years investigating the working conditions on plantations owned by Central Romana Corporation, Ltd., the largest employer and landowner in the Dominican Republic. Its owners have ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the report noted.

Central Romana Corporation was previously investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which accused the company of isolating workers, withholding wages, fostering abusive working and living conditions and pushing for excessive overtime. In 2022, the U.S. imposed a ban on imports of sugar and related products made by the company, but the ban was reversed last year under the Trump administration.

One of the owners of Central Romana is the Florida-based Fanjul Corp., which owns Florida Crystals. The Fanjul family has close ties to Trump and the Dominican government, the report stated.

The human rights group called on the U.S. government to reinstate the ban.

“As long as sugar and other well-positioned interests enjoy the benefits of such market access while ignoring labor rights abuses in their supply chains, U.S. policy will remain complicit in the very kinds of abuse it claims to oppose,” the nonprofit said.

Local civil society groups estimate that up to 8,000 workers toil in the company’s sugarcane fields that span more than 173,700 acres.

They have long complained about a lack of wages and of being forced to live in cramped housing that often lacks water or electricity, as verified by Associated Press journalists in recent years. Many of them are Haitian migrants or descendants of them, who, despite being born in the Dominican Republic, do not have citizenship.

The report quoted one unidentified worker as saying that he doesn’t have any documents to get another job: “Why would we stay? This way we are their slaves.”

Corporate Accountability Lab called on Central Romana Corporation to enroll workers in the country’s social security system; pay them at least the minimum day wage; allow them to join an independent union and protect their health, among other things.

One unidentified worker was quoted as saying that company employees assign jobs and make decisions about how much someone is owed: “They are always underpaying us, but we can’t fight for them to pay us justly because we don’t have that kind of power.”

The nonprofit asserted that a “climate of fear … pervades the industry” as it called on sugar customers to adhere to a proposed code of conduct that would be developed by workers.

“I want to complain every week, but since everyone is so scared, nobody will support you,” one unidentified worker was quoted as saying.

Such fears were reflected in a recent study by the U.S. Department of Labor, with the U.S. government also describing living conditions on plantations as “inhumane” and “abusive.”

The report by Corporate Accountability Lab included comment from Central Romana Corporation, which was quoted as saying that the report was “riddled with inaccuracies and untruths” and that the company had not violated local laws or international labor standards.

The company did not immediately respond to a request seeking additional comment.

Corporate Accountability Lab called on the Dominican government to regularize the immigration status of all those recruited to work on sugarcane fields, to disburse owed pensions and enforce labor and environmental laws.

The organization found that two types of workers are most vulnerable: elderly canecutters who have not received their retirement benefits and those who are stateless.

“Governments of all countries should prohibit the importation of sugar and sugar-based products made with forced labor in the Dominican Republic,” the nonprofit said.

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Norman's comments came in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press ahead of the Aug. 25 GOP runoff to pick a replacement for the senator, who died unexpectedly last month. In a state that routinely elects only Republicans for statewide office, GOP primaries are often the most contentious competitions. Tuesday's winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.

Norman finished second to Graham in a 10-candidate special primary on Aug. 11, though neither won the majority needed to win outright. AP's request for a similar interview with Graham has not been granted.

Darline Graham was appointed as interim senator after her brother's death. She opted to run in the special primary for a full term, something she said Trump — long an ally of her brother — urged her to do. Darline Graham says she's accomplished much during her time as interim, has years of experience running a state agency in South Carolina and will continue to advocate for Trump's goals in the Senate.

Norman said he’s skeptical that South Carolina voters have had enough time to vet the political newcomer for a six-year term, while he’s already been through a statewide campaign this cycle, coming up short in the June gubernatorial primary. He also eschewed the millions being spent on ads against him, much of it from a super PAC that had been aligned with Lindsey Graham and now supports Darline Graham.

Norman backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over Trump in the 2024 presidential primary, but has since been a Trump supporter.

Here are excerpts from AP's conversation with Norman about the race. This transcript has been edited for space and clarity:

You oppose ‘endless wars’ and support Trump. What should the U.S. do next on Iran?

A: If you read the mood of the public across the country, it's, “we want gas prices down.” They don’t understand what’s left.

(Trump) did a great job of taking out the nuclear threat that we had for 40 years. … but there’s still a lot of work to be done. The American people do not understand the Strait of Hormuz not being completely controlled by America. That’s what I hear. And gas prices, as a result, are staying high. And I think one of the worst things the president wants is the public to turn on him because he’s not ending it.

Now, what does ending it mean? Well, no one really knows. I mean, does it mean, just a remnant of leaders that are opposed to him? Does it mean bombing? He mentioned that he was going to take out the electrical supplies. He was going to decimate the country. Well, that hasn’t happened. So, I think it’s a communication issue that he needs to get involved with.

So I think he’d be doing himself a big favor to explain more now. He says it’s under no timeline. Well, when the public turns on you, they turn on you.

How does Trump's support for Graham complicate your campaign?

A: Imagine if I went to (head football coach) Dabo Swinney at Clemson and any of the coaches said, “Look, I got a prospect I want you to look at, and I want them to. They can start. I want you to sign them up. They can start for the next six years.” “What’s the qualifications?” “They're kin to Tom Brady.” Tell me how that analogy doesn’t work here.

It’s politics. It’s votes, and I’ve stuck with it, and I will continue to.

Has Darline Graham done enough to let voters get to know her?

A: It’s not the fact that she hasn’t been in politics. Now, she’s worked at a governmental agency. I’ve run a business. I’ve made money and I’ve lost money, and that’s the drawback for any politician. You need to have done that. I have demonstrated that I want to get the national debt solved, which is the cancer that I see is bankrupting this country, but by dodging debates, that’s going to hurt her, and it should.

You got to get out there and answer all questions.

She can run a campaign like she wants to. What’s happened? She’s told the Washington elite they’re dictating the terms because it’s not South Carolina money. Mine is my money and South Carolina’s money, so they’re dictating the terms and giving her the political answers, like Biden: Don’t show up, be in a basement. His was because he was senile. Hers is they want her to win this election.

The powers that be do not want Ralph Norman in there, and it would be questioned, what’s the return on investment that they’re having to come after me like that? What’s the return on investment for the president? If I were your typical politician, I would say, “No, that makes me mad, I’m gonna stop him at every level.” I’m not gonna do that. I don’t play like that. It would be horrible if Kamala Harris had won this. He saved the country, and I really think that. He should go on Rushmore. He really should. What he’s done, it took guts.

But this one is a head scratcher. I’m gonna win this election. We’re gonna win this election, and unless something happens that I, you know — I can just feel it. People are with us, and I’ve got a record they can’t dispute.

Does support from Nikki Haley hurt you in a race dominated by Trump?

A: No. And I told the president it was a loyalty issue. I came in with Nikki. She’s from South Carolina, and he understands that. And again, anybody can take anything and use it to say that was a reason. Look, the minute she lost (the 2024 presidential primary against Trump), I called him, and my record since he’s been in office has been lock solid.

It’s because I believe in him. I just believe what he’s doing. Now I don’t like what he’s doing now, but he’s president. I give him all the leeway to do it if that’s what you want to do. But he’s done so many good things, right, to me.

Voters have to decide that. I mean, if they want to hold that against me, it’s out there. I’m not apologizing.

If elected, what would be your Senate priorities?

A: People bait us, “Are you gonna fire (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune?” Well, it’s deeper than that. One, I wouldn’t do it to somebody that I wouldn’t have a conversation with first. When you fire anybody, you talk with them, and you come to an agreement. You either disagree or agree. I would get with Thune, who is a nice man, from what I've been hearing, say, “How can we work on getting the SAVE Act passed? Now, if it’s still the same, “We don’t have the votes. We’re not going to try anything,” and then I’ll just say, “Well, fine, I’m going to work to replace you, and we’ll see who that is.”

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

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Others remained in the courtroom to face the grim facts of what happened to his body.

Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony. Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body. Some relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away. One woman got up to leave once the photos were shown.

Shakur’s cousin Zayd Akinyela said he wanted to stay in court to learn more.

“I feel like the details, especially for people that are close to him, honestly for me helps, helps the grief process. I think we’ve been waiting 30 years to grieve properly,” Akinyela told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. “A lot of people don’t get to grieve until they understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened. He added, “That’s why I wanted to stay and just see for my own personal closure.”

Akinyela said he hadn't known how many times his cousin was shot. Gavin described three bullets, one of which traveled through Shakur's chest, including through a lung. That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.

Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.

Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur’s body, which was bloated and had multiple chest wounds. The nearly full courtroom was quiet. One photo showed his tattoos and the chest tubes that were still in his body from the six days he spent in the hospital before dying.

The images were not shown in the video feed from the trial.

Gavin was not at Shakur’s autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died.

As Gavin explained the photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him. He occasionally whispered in his attorney’s ear.

Family members who had stepped out returned for the testimony of subsequent witnesses.

Akinyela said the photos made him feel “Very angry, very angry, to say the least, very sad.”

But he said, “I’m very spiritual, so just seeing the body doesn’t affect me the same way as it might some people. I do believe that his spirit is still around and still lives on through his family and through his legacy.”

Prosecutors allege Shakur was killed to avenge Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight.

On Tuesday, jurors were shown the casino's surveillance video of the clash. The camera, which panned back and forth in the MGM Grand, showed a group of people beating and kicking someone on the ground.

The video showed Shakur and his entourage moving quickly through the crowded building in the minutes after. At times, the other men had to jog to keep up with the rapper.

The surveillance footage then showed security and police arriving at the scene and talking to Anderson, who was wearing a number 13 Dan Marino Miami Dolphins jersey.

A few hours later, Shakur, riding in a black BMW with hip-hop mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, was gunned down by shots fired from a white Cadillac that had Davis, Anderson and two other men inside. Davis is not charged with pulling the trigger.

Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”

Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”

Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. He died as his popularity was peaking at age 25, and his legend has only grown in the years since.

His rap rival, the Notorious B.I.G., was killed six months later in a shooting that has always been paired with Shakur's in the public memory.

That shooting has already been discussed at this trial and likely will be again. A former Los Angeles police detective testified that Davis was briefly a suspect in the shooting of the rapper born Christopher Wallace, but was ruled out. The court day began Tuesday with a recording of Davis talking to detectives about the Wallace shooting.

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Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.

Oman has played a relatively low-profile role since the Iran war began, including as a mediator. But its geography has thrust the sultanate into the uncomfortable position of negotiating with Tehran over management of the strait while facing Trump’s threats.

Trump this week told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst that the U.S. would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way,” using an expletive for emphasis. It’s not the first such threat he’s made. Oman’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to emailed questions about Trump’s threat and when Oman and Iran might issue a joint statement on their deal.

Here’s a look at the country in the middle of the Washington-Tehran tug-of-war.

Trump is not happy about emerging Oman-Iran deal

Trump threatened Oman because he’s not happy that it’s close to a deal with Iran over the strait, two regional officials said Tuesday.

Trump is under pressure. He vowed a quick war and a weakened Iran, along with a better deal on Tehran’s nuclear program. Instead, Iran has seized on the Strait of Hormuz as a new weapon in talks, asserting control of what had been seen as an international waterway before the war.

U.S.-Iran negotiations have dried up. This week ended the 60-day period that launched when the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement. It had been meant to open the way for more detailed talks. There's no sign of it being extended. Trump now says there are no planned talks with Iran.

So the only confirmed discussions happening now are between Iran and Oman about shipping on the strait. These have been going on for weeks. Oman hasn’t said much about them publicly. Tehran says they’re finalizing a joint statement. There’s widespread thinking that Iran is not in much of a hurry.

Trump has made plenty of threats against Iran. Now he's venting his frustration at Oman, too.

The sultanate had been trying to make peace

Oman, with a population of just over 5 million, is one of the quieter actors in the Gulf. It has allowed the U.S. military to use its facilities, though Washington has described defense relations as smaller in scale compared with Gulf neighbors like the United Arab Emirates.

Unlike other regional states, Oman hasn’t been targeted during the war in the way that Tehran has lashed out at other Gulf neighbors. The Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft notes that while Omani ports have been targeted by drones, Iran hasn't claimed responsibility and Oman hasn't blamed Iran, and no missiles have struck Omani territory.

Oman’s leaders have long preferred engagement with Iran. The sultanate has been involved in mediation efforts, but that work is now being driven by Qatar and Pakistan.

The world's focus has turned more toward Oman since the interim agreement was signed. Not long after the signing, the relative calm was shattered when Iran started firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz near the Oman coast on a route supported by the U.S.

Now Oman is in discussions that appear to be driven by Iran, which has described the talks as aiming to “develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests.” The mechanisms might include fees.

Regional officials have said the emerging deal calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. But any deal appears to rely on the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.

Oman earlier this month described the talks as “proceeding in a positive and constructive atmosphere,” while in the same statement condemning repeated attacks on ships transiting the strait.

After a meeting Tuesday between Oman’s foreign minister and his Egyptian counterpart, Egypt said the Iranian-Omani deal could pave the way for the U.S. and Tehran to return to negotiations for a “comprehensive and permanent deal that addresses all concerns and enhances regional security and stability.”

It is not clear what effect Trump’s threat might have

Oman is caught between two heavily armed and stubborn powers. Meanwhile, global supplies of oil, natural gas and related goods are only able to get through the strait at a reduced level, with ships still at risk of attack.

Since Trump's latest threat, the government's Oman News Agency has been posting about other things — the Muscat Stock Exchange, sports, imports of coffee and tea. Foreign ministry statements have focused on diplomatic meetings and greetings.

It is not clear whether Trump’s threat will make any difference in Oman's talks with Iran, including in hurrying the countries to finalize and announce a deal.

But it's clear that the U.S. president is passing along the growing heat his administration feels as midterm elections approach, and as the global economy watches events on the Iran-gripped strait for any sign of relief.

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

Oswaldo Pirela, a catching coach in the Padres' minor league system, was being held in a detention center in El Paso, federal records show. The Padres said in a statement that the team was aware of Pirela's arrest and was trying to gather more details.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Pirela was on a work trip when he was arrested Sunday around 5 a.m. at an airport in El Paso, according to Daniela Pirela, his sister. The Padres have a minor league affiliate team in the city, the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Daniela Pirela said her 34-year-old brother has lived in U.S. for 12 years and has followed the law. She said he applied for asylum in 2015 and lives in Peoria, Arizona, with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 4, who are both U.S. citizens.

“Since he arrived in this country, the only thing he’s done is follow the rules of this country and do things properly,” Daniela Pirela told the The Associated Press.

Oswaldo Pirela had a brief minor-league playing career as a catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.

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Turbay is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

In the lawsuit, ABC, its parent company Disney and the eight ABC-owned stations whose licenses are affected asked a federal court to stop the early renewal proceedings.

The FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr, an ally of President Donald Trump, had ordered the early review in April — itself a rare move — of all eight licenses owned by ABC, years before they are set to expire. Licenses are issued for eight-year periods. The FCC cited the network’s diversity and inclusion practices as a reason, but the development came shortly after a joke by ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel — an outspoken Trump critic — had infuriated the president, who has called for Kimmel's firing.

“Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,” the network alleged in its lawsuit Tuesday. “Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech."

“Facing this existential threat,” it added, “Plaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration’s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech.”

It said ABC had “no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration’s demands." It asked the court to “immediately enjoin Defendants from taking or threatening to take any action against Plaintiffs in relation to the early license renewal applications.”

There are already clashes between ABC and the administration

The early license review is only one part of a long-simmering confrontation between ABC and the FCC.

The network has also been fighting Carr’s efforts to make the morning talk show “The View,” whose hosts and guests are often critical of Trump, subject to equal-time rules. That's a question ABC says the agency itself decided — in the network's favor — more than two decades ago. ABC argues “The View” is a bona fide news program, meaning it’s exempt from equal time rules, which require granting equal airtime to competing candidates for office.

The ABC lawsuit Tuesday also spoke of broad ramifications that go well beyond one network.

“The consequences of the Administration’s campaign against free speech reach well beyond ABC,” it said. “If the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.”

It added: “The FCC Chairman has left little doubt that this is his goal.”

The lawsuit also quoted Carr as saying, when Kimmel made comments that angered the administration, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways . . . to take action . . . on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr, a longtime FCC commissioner, was named chairman by Trump in November 2025. He has indeed made it clear that he is considering revoking ABC's licenses, or trying to, in what would surely be a drawn-out legal process.

Longtime free-speech attorney Floyd Abrams noted that tensions between the press and the commission are not new — but have never been this pronounced.

“There has long been a level of tension between the broadcast media, which seeks full First Amendment protection, and the FCC,” Abrams wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “But not until the Trump Administration has the government so directly, so deliberately and so dangerously sought to limit the freedom of the broadcast press to cover and discuss the news.”

The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit

The sole Democrat on the commission, Anna Gomez, commended ABC and Disney for pushing back against the FCC’s actions.

“For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations,” she said in a statement, “using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like.”

“I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up," she said. "This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”

In late July, Carr defended his agency’s actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest.” The FCC, he said, was merely trying to restore that standard. Besides investigating ABC, Carr has also opened separate investigations into CBS News and NBC News.

Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, “struck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.”

“Look, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there,” Carr said. “So I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.”

On Tuesday, an FCC spokesperson reiterated that position.

“All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest — even Disney," said a statement from the commission, responding to the lawsuit.

"The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year. Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”

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Associated Press journalist Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

“Thank you, baseball,” Mancini wrote on lnstagram.

Mancini, 34, agreed to a minor league contract with the Angels in February, a deal that included an invitation to major league spring training. Mancini hit .273 with six homers, 29 RBIs and three steals for Triple-A Salt Lake this year.

The right-handed batter had three hits in his first major league game since 2023 playing first base in a 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros in 10 innings. Mancini's final major league appearance was June 14, and he was designated for assignment on June 17.

“I am blessed to have made a home in the Orioles organization for 10 years, win a World Series in Houston, play for the Cubs in Chicago (I wish I played better for you guys), and make it back up to the MLB with the Angels,” Mancini wrote while also thanking the Reds, Marlins and Diamondbacks as well.

Mancini batted .263 with 129 homers and 404 RBIs in the majors. He played parts of six seasons with the Orioles and hit a career-high 29 homers in 2019.

He then missed the 2020 season after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. He made a successful return to the Orioles in 2021, and he won a World Series ring in 2022 after Baltimore traded him to Houston.

Mancini spent part of the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs. He has since played in the minor league systems of the Reds, Marlins and Diamondbacks. He opted out of a minor league deal with Arizona last July after batting .308 with 16 homers for Triple-A Reno.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The lawsuit, originally filed in October 2022, alleged that the two men were racially profiled and illegally stopped by Clayton County police at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The settlement agreement, announced Tuesday by the pair's lawyers, does not include an admission of fault or liability but says the county has ended the program at issue and has no intention to reactivate it.

Both men said officers at the airport singled them out because they were Black and grilled them about drugs while other passengers watched during separate stops about six months apart. In an interview when the lawsuit was filed, André called the experience “dehumanizing and demoralizing.”

The stated purpose of the program was to fight drug trafficking, but the lawsuit said drugs are rarely found, criminal charges seldom result, and seized cash provides a financial windfall for the police department.

“It’s a major victory that Clayton County has confirmed that it has ended this program and is now taking steps to prevent this type of abuse from happening in the future,” André said in a press release.

“What happened to me was wrong, and I wasn’t willing to let it happen to other people,” English said in the release.

A county spokesperson did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the settlement agreement.

The county Board of Commissioners authorized a payment of $30,000, with half going to each comedian, as part of the settlement, according to minutes from the board's Aug. 4 meeting.

The county also agreed to require police officers assigned to the airport to use body-worn cameras and to undergo training on constitutional limits regarding police encounters at airports, the settlement says.

Police records cited in the lawsuit showed that from Aug. 30, 2020, to April 30, 2021, there were 402 jet bridge stops, and the passenger’s race was listed for 378 of those stops. Of those 378 passengers, 211, or 56%, were Black, and people of color accounted for 258 total stops, or 68%, the lawsuit said.

Those 402 stops resulted in three reported drug seizures: about 10 grams of drugs from one passenger, 26 grams of “suspected THC gummies” from another, and six prescription pills without a prescription from a third, the lawsuit said. Only the first and third person were charged.

Those 402 stops also yielded more than $1 million in cash and money orders from a total of 25 passengers. All but one were allowed to continue their travels, and only two — the ones who also had drugs — were charged, the lawsuit said. Eight of the 25 challenged the seizures, and Clayton County police settled each case, returning much of the seized money, the lawsuit said.

The vote comes after a deadly crash in June that killed 63-year-old toll attendant Tammy Jo Baker.

A pickup truck crashed through the existing toll booth before continuing onto the beach and into the ocean, according to the county.

The approved project calls for a new, reinforced toll booth with improved physical barriers intended to provide additional protection for attendants.

The project also includes permanent, upgraded restroom facilities at the Dunlawton Avenue beach ramp, replacing the current temporary or outdated facilities.

County officials also plan to make improvements to traffic flow and the overall appearance of the entrance.

The Dunlawton Avenue access is one of the busiest beach access points in Volusia County and serves both local residents and visitors.

Beachgoers who spoke with News 6 said the improvements would benefit the community and people visiting the area.

“So many people use the beach, I imagine it would be an all-around improvement not just for the people in the community, but for the guest coming in from out of town,” said beachgoer Leeann Evanovich.

Gordon Smith, another beachgoer, said improving safety and the appearance of the entrance would be worthwhile.

“The safety issues and then otherwise the aesthetics. This is kind the face of Dayton Beach as people are coming in, I think it would be a great idea. The 2.5 million? I think we could make it happen somehow,” said beachgoer Gordon Smith.

The county’s $2.6 million allocation includes the construction and contract plan for the project.

The improvements come as the county continues to address safety concerns surrounding the beach access following Baker’s death.

Construction plans and a timeline for the improvements will determine when beachgoers can expect to see changes at the Dunlawton Avenue entrance.

Heat index values are expected to reach 108 degrees in Osceola County on Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. — triggering the county’s cooling center threshold.

All Osceola Library System branches will be open to residents who need a place to escape the heat. Water will be available at each location, and LYNX will provide free transportation to cooling centers during the heat event.

Residents should note that personal items are subject to search, and certain items may be required to remain outside at management’s discretion.

John Murphy, Deputy Chief of Administration for Osceola County Fire Rescue, says heat-related illness is always a concern in hot weather.

“We suggest that people find places to cool off and take frequent breaks if they have to be outside. It’s an exposure issue, so it’s the amount of time that you’re spending outside; you should probably spend inside,” he told News 6.

Murphy says anyone who feels nausea, weakness, cramps or heavy sweating while outdoors should go inside immediately and seek medical attention if symptoms worsen.

He also offered advice for those who cannot avoid being in the sun during the day.

“The folks that have to work outside, make sure you’re spacing that work out,” he said. “[Wear] loose-fitting clothing, lighter colors. Allow that sweat to work for you.”

For those whose daily routines take them outside — like runner Sara George and angler Andrew Ulang— health officials encourage heading out early before temperatures peak, or later in the evening after the sun goes down.

George, who is training for two full marathons, says preparation is key.

“I try to get out as early as possible, but I also have my little hydration vest; I try to keep cool. Drinks every 15, 20 minutes. I also have little electrolyte tabs that I take every 30 minutes,” she explained.

Ulang says sun protection is a major focus for him when he heads out to fish a few times a week.

“If I’m still out [during peak hours], sunscreen as much as I can, making sure that’s a priority for me,” Ulang said.

Residents are encouraged to stay hydrated, limit time outdoors and check on neighbors, older adults and anyone without reliable air conditioning. Officials are also reminding everyone to ensure no children or pets are left in parked vehicles.

[ELECTION 2026: Make sure you’re eligible to vote|How to vote by mail|Election Myths]

Florida has a closed primary system, which means only members of a political party may vote in those elections.

[WATCH: Election security, voter fraud and vote by mail: Central Florida supervisors answer tough questions]

What’s on the ballot?

Registered Democrats and Republicans will be choosing candidates to be on the ballot in the November general election. They include races for governor and other Florida cabinet seats, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Florida House and Senate, and in some counties, county commission seats that are partisan.

If you are not a Democrat or a Republican, though, there are still lots of races on the ballot for you -- school board races, judicial races, and any nonpartisan county commission seats.

[SEE WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT: The Voting Central Florida Guide]

Your county elections supervisor will send out a sample ballot ahead of the primary, so watch your mailbox. That will tell you what races will be on your particular ballot.

You can also look up your ballot on the county election supervisors’ websites below.

• BREVARD COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• FLAGLER COUNTY: View Your Sample Ballot
• LAKE COUNTY: View Your Sample Ballot
• MARION COUNTY: View Your sample ballot
• ORANGE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• OSCEOLA COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SEMINOLE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SUMTER COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• VOLUSIA COUNTY: View Your sample ballot

“Yes, the president is an important election. Yes, the governor is at the general, but they’re not the ones worrying about your potholes, your schools, your roadways, your stormwater issues,” said Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock.

Pennock was one of six election supervisors who recently joined News 6 and other members of the News Collaborative of Central Florida for a wide-ranging discussion on election issues. Central Florida Public Media hosted the discussion.

In addition, some Florida House of Representatives races will be decided in August in what are called “universal primaries,” said Osceola County Supervisor Mary Jane Arrington.

“These are races where there’s only one party running, and that selection will be made,” Arrington said. “And in the primary, House District 47, in Osceola County, will be a universal primary for every voter.”

What you need to vote in person

In Florida, voting in person is not just for Election Day — you can also vote early.

To vote, you need to be registered. When you go to your polling place, you need to bring a current and valid photo and signature ID.

The following forms of picture identification are allowed if they are current:

• Florida driver’s license
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• United States passport
• Military identification
• Student identification
• Retirement center identification
• Neighborhood association identification
• Public assistance identification

If you do not have a proper photo ID, you will be given a provisional ballot, which will allow you to vote and then later provide documents to prove your identity to the supervisor of elections office.

Also, if your ID does not have a signature on it, you may be asked to provide more forms of identification.

NOTE: The Florida Legislature passed a law that will make changes to this, but it will not take effect until January of 2027.

Have questions about voting at the polls? We have an in-depth guide to voting in the 2026 Election HERE.

When to vote

The polling places will open at 7 a.m. and continue until 7 p.m. If you are in line at the polling place at 7 p.m. and have not yet voted, stay in line. The polls have to be kept open until all voters in line have voted.

Where to vote

To find your Central Florida Election Day polling place, use the links below.

To find information outside Central Florida, find your county supervisor of elections office HERE.

• BREVARD COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• FLAGLER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• LAKE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• MARION COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• ORANGE COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place
• OSCEOLA COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place
• SEMINOLE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• SUMTER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place
• VOLUSIA COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

Video released in March showed Officer Joel Llinas punching a man in the head. Police said the incident stemmed from an open-container violation.

The department said its investigation determined Llinas violated multiple policies related to his conduct and use of force.

It was his second use-of-force incident in a “relatively short time,” according to police. He had also previously received de-escalation training.

After reviewing the circumstances, the department terminated Llinas.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young issued a statement acknowledging the challenges officers face while also underscoring the department’s commitment to holding officers accountable.

“I want to recognize the more than 200 men and women who serve as police officers with this department,” Young said. “Law enforcement has become increasingly difficult over the years, and our officers are asked every day to deal with people during some of the worst moments of their lives and they are often faced with situations most people will never experience.”

The Coast Florida Police Benevolent Association, a union, released the following statement, saying in part:

“We could not disagree more with this absurd outcome.” They add, “This entire incident is the fault of the suspect, not the officer. Sadly, this department has chosen to ignore the obvious – that he did what they asked him to do – and terminated a hardworking cop who proudly served our country in the military as well.”

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% and is on track for a third straight modest loss since setting its all-time high on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 89 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:54 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.

Leading the way lower were stocks that have been big winners in the boom around artificial-intelligence technology. They’ve been veering up and down this summer on worries that their prices shot too high in the AI frenzy and that the strong demand for memory, processors and other building blocks of data centers may fizzle out if AI proves less profitable than promised.

Micron Technology dropped 7.6%, and the seller of computer memory was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So were chip companies Nvidia, which fell 2.1%, and Broadcom, which sank 3%.

Even with their recent swings, such stocks remain big winners, and Micron has more than tripled this year.

But stocks that critics call too expensive get more scrutiny when interest rates are high, and yields remained that way in bond markets worldwide Tuesday.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged down to 4.71% from 4.72% late Monday. But it remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war with Iran began. The 30-year Treasury yield also ticked lower, but it's still near its highest level since 2007.

Yields have jumped since the war began because high oil prices are pushing upward on inflation and raising the pressure on the Federal Reserve and other central banks to hike interest rates. All the while, continuing worries about huge debt loads for governments and their increases in borrowing keep yields high.

The bond market often runs in the background, but it’s powerful enough to sway markets and government leaders worldwide, including President Donald Trump. When yields are high, investors are less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.

Much of the pressure on yields has come from oil prices, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude ticked up by 0.4% to $91.24. It’s been swinging sharply on uncertainty about when and whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal to allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf freely again. Brent was priced at $72.87 right before the start of the war.

High yields have already sent the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate near its highest level in a year, which has hurt the housing industry. A report on Tuesday said homebuilders broke ground on fewer new houses last month than economists expected.

Such data helped to restrain Home Depot's stock, which rose 0.2% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said Home Depot saw its customers continue to pursue smaller projects.

High yields could also slow the tremendous borrowing Big Tech companies are doing to pay for data centers, putting at risk one of the big sources of growth for the U.S. economy.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Klarna fell 22% even though the payments company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The buy-now, pay-later company cut some of its financial forecasts for the full year of 2026, largely because of expectations for Germany, its largest market by volume.

Meta Platforms fell 3.6%, with opening statements set to kick off in a pivotal trial in a California federal court, where states are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi has been home to some of the world’s sharpest AI-induced swings because it’s dominated by two tech giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The index fell 1.5%, which counts as relatively modest move for it. It had swung by at least 2.4% in each of its three prior days.

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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking a financial penalty that could, in theory, total as much as $1.4 trillion plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. Twenty-nine states sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts.

The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms. It also argues that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.

Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, laid out the states' case for jurors during opening statements in federal court in Oakland, California.

“You're going to hear that Meta knew a lot about kids' brains,” O'Neill said. This includes how they are constantly seeking rewards, how they are sensitive to social feedback and “how they are still developing their ability to control impulses the way adults do.”

Meta, she said, researched these vulnerabilities and talked about how it could change Instagram to respond to them.

“‘The young ones are the best ones’ is a title of a Meta study we are going to show you,” she said, telling jurors that for Meta, “kids are the product.”

Meta has repeatedly said it believes it has a strong case.

“We are proud of our record in protecting teens on our platforms and the amount of effort that we’ve put into developing protections over the years, even before these cases were ever filed, and continuing to the present day. We look forward to showing the judge and the jury those facts in court,” the company said in a written statement.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland is overseeing the proceedings, which are expected to last six weeks with testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives and former employees. Gonzalez Rogers, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, has overseen a bevy of complex, high-profile cases involving Big Tech. These include Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders as well as Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple over its app store.

If Meta loses the trial, the court would have wide discretion over the size of any financial penalty, and legal experts say anything close to $1.4 trillion would be unlikely.

“This case is not about any individual person or kid,” O'Neill said. Rather, she said, it's a law enforcement action designed to hold Meta responsible.

The trial is the latest in an avalanche of lawsuits against Meta Platforms and other social media companies including Google’s YouTube, TikTok and Snap, over arguments that their platforms harm young people, illegally collect their data and are deliberately designed to addict them.

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AP Technology Writer Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this story from Los Angeles.

The midfielder who helped Spain secure its second World Cup title transferred from Man City to join a squad already filled with world champions such as Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi and Pedri.

The 30-year-old Rodri's contract will run to 2030, Barcelona said. The announcement was made after the midfielder underwent a medical and the clubs finalized transfer details.

“It’s a very special day, a very important new chapter in my career,” he said. “It was a tough decision. First, because I’m leaving Manchester City, a club that has given me everything and where I’ve been incredibly happy. I’ll be eternally grateful,” Rodri said. “I’m also grateful that they understood it was a good time to leave. Barcelona is a fantastic club, a global reference for its approach to football and the values ​​it represents. I had other options, but Barcelona was my first choice.”

Rodri, who had one year left on his City contract, said upon arriving in Barcelona on Monday that it was “a dream to play” for the Catalan club.

“When offers came in, the first step was understanding that a chapter at my club had ended and it was time to look for a way out. It took me a while to process that. It was the most special club I’ve ever been at,” Rodri said Tuesday. “I studied and analyzed the offers, they were from very important clubs. Together with my family and friends, we made the decision we thought was best.”

Barcelona agreed to a transfer worth 76.5 million euros ($88.5 million), according to a person with knowledge of the transaction confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details of the deal have not been made public.

Real Madrid was also reportedly interested in signing Rodri at first — and the midfielder had loudly praised Barcelona's rival in the past — but Spanish media said no agreement could be reached.

Barcelona, chasing a three-peat in La Liga, has already boosted its squad with England forward Anthony Gordon, who will help to make up for the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, who scored the winning goal in extra time in the World Cup final against Argentina.

The club is also set to add defender João Cancelo.

Rodri won the Golden Ball as the World Cup’s best player and was crucial for Spain's title-winning campaign.

“I’ve been with many of my teammates for almost two months now, and it’s been a warm welcome," Rodri said. "It’s a very young dressing room, eager to do important things. I hope to contribute to what they’ve brought me here for. I’m joining a tight and enthusiastic dressing room.”

Rodri spent seven years at City, making 298 appearances, scoring 28 goals and helping the English club win 14 trophies.

He scored the winning goal in the Champions League final victory over Inter Milan in 2023, and won the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player the following year after being part of Spain’s European Championship-winning team.

Rodri had joined City from Atletico Madrid. He previously played at Villarreal. His departure further weakens City’s midfield, with Bernardo Silva having left for Real Madrid this offseason.

“Rodri has been a quite magnificent servant and played a huge part of what the club has achieved since he arrived,” City director of football Hugo Viana said. “With his achievements, Rodri has more than cemented his place in the history of Manchester City and we all wish him well in the next chapter of his career.”

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The area, which includes Lake Nona, is already experiencing heavy traffic. Narcoossee Road, a major north-south route through southeast Orlando, carries about 70,000 vehicles each day, according to city officials. The road’s intended capacity is slightly more than 50,000 vehicles.

“It’s tough. I mean, we like growth, but here it’s overgrown,” said Christine Nieves, who lives in St. Cloud.

Orlando currently has about 350,000 residents. About 143,000 live on the city’s southeast side, and that number is expected to increase by about 50,000 people by 2035.

Orlando District 1 Commissioner Tom Keen said affordability is one of the main reasons people are moving to the southeast area.

“People want to live here in Orlando, and they want to find a place to live that’s affordable — and that’s what this area is able to provide,” Keen said.

Keen said the city needs to add more housing to accommodate the growing population.

“We do need to build more housing stock so that everyone can participate in this great economy,” he said.

But the population increase is also expected to bring more vehicles to an already crowded road network.

“Congestion at all angles — through parking lots, through the main road — any hour of the day,” Nieves said.

City and state officials are planning several projects they say could help ease congestion.

The Boggy Creek Road expansion is expected to widen the road from two lanes to four. The project is expected to be completed within the next year.

State Route 534 is also expected to begin construction later this year or early next year. Keen said the project is expected to be completed by 2030.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a village in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed at least 10 people and wounded 17 others as the barrage demolished homes, officials said.

The countries are locked in an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes. Fighting on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine is restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots threatening troop movements, and neither side is making significant battlefield progress, analysts say.

Putin resists pressure for peace talks

In the past year, Ukraine has devised and deployed domestically produced long-range drones for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.

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

“Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine’s realistic ceasefire proposals and ending the bloodshed,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

Russian air defenses overnight intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones over a number of regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said, in what was the second-largest drone attack since January 2025, according to an Associated Press tally.

More than 600 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region, where 180 were shot down, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said without elaborating.

Officials reported no deaths or major damage. Ukraine has increasingly launched swarms of hundreds of drones to try to overwhelm Russian air defenses.

In the region that surrounds the capital, three people were wounded, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said.

Three people were also wounded in the adjacent Ryazan region where three private houses were damaged, Gov. Pavel Malkov said.

The overnight attack started a fire at a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, in an industrial zone. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the company, which it says helps supply the Russian military, an allegation Moscow denies.

Wildberries said its facility sustained “insignificant damage.”

Russian TV doesn't report news of the attack

Coverage of the attack in state and Kremlin-backed Russian media was mostly muted, as is often the case. Russia’s main TV channels — state-run Russia 1 and Channel One — did not mention the attack at all in their morning news bulletins.

But Russian state news agency RIA Novosti featured it among the main news on its website’s homepage, describing it as “one of the most large-scale attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer.”

State newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on its website prominently featured a roundup of what Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported about the attack, describing it as “massive” in the headline. Pro-Kremlin tabloid MK featured a news brief about it on its home page.

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of a ‘brutal attack’ on civilians

A Russian missile strike on the village of Pechenihy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed 10 civilians, according to preliminary information, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

Another 17 people were wounded, he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a brutal attack” that damaged 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store and at least seven vehicles, according to Syniehubov.

“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” he said on social media.

Also, three people were killed and three others were wounded over the past day in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, Ukraine’s National Police said.

UK vows continued Ukraine support

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office last month, said the U.K. will continue to stand by Ukraine after Russia said that Kyiv’s reported use of British drones for attacks on Russian soil would bring unidentified consequences.

“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers," Burnham said. “It remains the case with me.”

British newspaper The Sunday Times reported that two U.K. companies made drones used by Ukraine to hit Russia.

Following the report, the Russian Embassy in the U.K. said in a statement that “London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state TV that Moscow has the right to view British involvement in strikes on Russian territory as “participation in the war, with all the ensuing consequences.”

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Brian Melley in London contributed.

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

Earlier this week, Trump also threatened to bomb Oman as the country sought a deal with Iran to manage shipping traffic through the strait, two regional officials said Tuesday, a day after Trump reportedly leveled the threat if Oman "gets in the way.” Iran says the waterway will not be reopened until the U.S. meets its conditions.

As talks between Iran and Oman continue, a projectile hit a ship in the strait and Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed they fired drones at an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Here’s a look at the latest developments Tuesday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Trump looms over negotiations to reopen Strait of Hormuz

As Oman and Iran say they are nearing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said on social media Tuesday that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains “in full force and effect,” but asserted that all water mines have been removed and that other marine traffic was free to pass.

Trump posted a map depicting the strait as U.S. territory.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi appeared to respond to Trump’s post.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man," he wrote on X.

The Trump administration has told Oman it opposes parts of the yet-to-be-announced deal, according to officials briefed on the U.S. position. Those include joint Iranian and Omani management of the passage's exit route and the collection of voluntary fees from vessels, even if the money is used for security and maritime environmental protection.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

The White House on Tuesday referred to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office and declined to comment further about Oman.

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo

Egypt says Iran-Oman agreement could open door to Iran-US deal

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Iranian-Omani deal could pave the way for Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations for a “comprehensive and permanent deal that addresses all concerns and enhances regional security and stability.”

The statement came after a meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi. But it did not address Trump’s latest threat against Oman.

The 60-day negotiating period ended this week between the U.S. and Iran with no clear end to the war in sight.

Ship traffic drops significantly in Strait of Hormuz

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped significantly last week, with confirmed crossings falling 19.5% to 95 transits. Only three vessels made it through the waterway on Sunday, according to shipping data platform Kpler.

The ships used the Iranian-designated route through the strait, with no crossings recorded through the Omani routes.

Crossings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait increased 6.7% to 254 transits, while so-called dark transits, in which ships turn off the transponders that broadcast their location, fell from 40 to 16, Kpler said.

Projectile damages ship in strait causing casualty

An unidentified projectile damaged the engine room of a ship in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman and “resulted in a crew casualty," according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center.

The maritime monitoring agency did not release any details about the ship or its cargo, and it was not clear whether the crew member was killed or wounded.

No environmental damage has been reported and the agency said the Omani Coast Guard was assisting other crew members and authorities were investigating.

Iran-backed Houthis claim an attack on a Saudi oil refinery

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed they fired drones at an oil refinery in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the latest attack threatening to reignite Yemen’s civil war and open another front in the Middle East.

The attack targeted a facility run by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, according to a report by the Houthi-run SABA news agency. There were no immediate reports of damage or comment from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have escalated attacks against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea, an important alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel strike on Gaza City kills 7 people

An Israeli strike hit Gaza City on Tuesday, killing six people, including a child, and wounding 14 others, according to Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken.

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas commanders in the Shati area who it said were planning to carry out attacks against Israeli forces.

The heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire in the more than two-year war took hold in October. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes since then, killing at least 1,266 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates

The defense ministry of the United Arab Emirates said two ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the UAE on Tuesday.

One landed outside of the country’s waters, and the other landed within them, the Emirati Defense Ministry said. It was unclear whether the missiles were shot down by air defenses or fell. No damage or injuries were reported. There was no immediate statement from Iran.

In the weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28, the UAE was frequently targeted by Iranian missiles and drones, but Tuesday’s reported attack was the first in weeks.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed its request less than a week after the Trump administration asked the nation's highest court to allow the White House to continue construction on its $400 million ballroom project during the appeals process.

Lawyers for the trust accused the administration of trying to “outrun judicial review” rather than obtain permission for the work from Congress, as required by federal law.

The administration “cannot identify any statute granting them ‘express authority’ to destroy a third of the White House and replace it with a massive, privately funded ballroom, because none exists,” trust attorneys wrote.

The building of the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House and is part of Trump’s plans to quickly remake Washington. The project includes the addition of an underground military facility that the administration says is necessary to protect the president.

The petition comes after a divided appeals court panel upheld an order to pause aboveground construction on the project. The ruling was suspended to let the administration appeal.

The ruling left intact an order by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush. Leon wrote that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”

The administration argues that the president, not Congress or the courts, has unimpeded authority to renovate the White House. The current state of the project, essentially an open construction site, makes it harder to protect the White House, the Justice Department contends.

The administration also says the National Trust for Historic Preservation does not have the legal right, or standing, to sue over the ballroom.

Trust attorneys said the preliminary injunction issued by the lower court is “already narrowly tailored, and limited in scope and duration.”

“It expressly allows (the administration) to continue building their underground military facility, to protect the President, his family, and his staff, and to maintain the safety and security of the White House complex,” they wrote.

Chief Justice John Roberts had set a deadline of Tuesday for the trust to respond in writing to the administration's petition. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who represents the administration, asked the Supreme Court to rule on its stay petition before the appeals court panel’s decision takes effect on Friday.

“This case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security,” Sauer wrote.

The ballroom has been under construction for 10 months. The administration says the work is roughly 65% finished.

League Commissioner Cathy Engelbert made the announcement Tuesday that the WNBA showcase game will be held July 31, 2027, at Chase Center after a weekend of All-Star activities around the San Francisco region.

“We are thrilled to bring AT&T WNBA All-Star to the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time,” Engelbert said in a statement. “The Golden State Valkyries have brought incredible energy and excitement to the WNBA from the moment they were announced as an expansion team in 2023, and the response from fans across the Bay Area has been remarkable. Valkyries fans have embraced this team with an extraordinary level of passion and enthusiasm, and we can’t wait to see that energy on full display for an unforgettable All-Star weekend next summer.”

At the All-Star Game in Chicago last month players' union president Nneka Ogwumike, who played in college at Stanford, said that many players felt that Golden State would be a great host for next year's mid-summer exhibition game.

Hosting world-class events was always in the plans since long before Chase Center opened in 2019. The Valkyries have sold out all of their home games since the franchise's inception last year — and the team became the first expansion organization to make the playoffs in its inaugural year. Golden State lost to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. The Valkyries clinched a playoff berth for this year on Monday night with a win over Dallas.

The NBA All-Star Game was played at Chase Center last year.

“Hosting AT&T WNBA All-Star in only our third season is an incredible honor and a reflection of everything this fanbase, this region, and this organization have built together,” Valkyries President Jess Smith said. “From day one, the Bay Area has shown up for this team in a way that’s redefined what’s possible in women’s basketball, and we can’t wait to put that same energy on display for the entire league next summer.”

Last week, Major League Baseball announced the 2028 All-Star Game would return to nearby Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

The Super Bowl was played in February at Levi's Stadium, which then hosted the World Cup this summer.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Lise Klaveness, who heads the Norwegian Football Federation since 2022, told The Associated Press that the firing of FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour was “unacceptable” and urged other senior leaders to resist potentially damaging orders.

Lamour’s exit late Monday came 17 days after his statement to AP criticizing Infantino’s $20 billion private equity project, which was withdrawn just hours later.

“Now he is thrown out and we are supposed to move on. It’s unacceptable, it’s management by fear,” Klaveness told the AP in a telephone interview, describing Lamour as “the best football administrator I have ever met.”

“Now we also have to call upon FIFA leadership and the administration to not submit to orders you know are not in the interests of football,” Klaveness added, especially targeting FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström.

Klaveness is a former Norway international soccer player, a judge in Oslo and an elected executive committee member at European soccer body UEFA who has built on her country’s long-held reputation as a champion of good governance in soccer. The Norwegian federation's board last week called on Infantino to resign and has backed a London-based NGO's formal complaint to FIFA ethics investigators about his political ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lamour was a long-time colleague of Infantino, first as senior officials at UEFA from 2007-15, on his campaign team to be elected FIFA president in 2016, then moving two years ago from UEFA to oversee much of FIFA’s operations in Zurich.

Infantino in crisis

With a reputation among the most trusted executives in the often murky world of global soccer politics, Lamour’s pointed criticisms of Infantino’s leadership intensified a crisis for the FIFA president.

A backlash by UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and north American soccer body CONCACAF was provoked by a secretive plan to sell future World Cup profits to investors led by Joshua Kushner.

A $4.2 billion investment to take a 20% stake in a FIFA commercial spin-off was to fund offers of $20 million to each of its 211 national member federations. They already effectively own the non-profit soccer body, which has multibillion dollar reserves, and would have had a mid-September deadline to accept.

Lamour’s statement on July 31 spoke of FIFA staff being “deceived” by Infantino’s lack of openness over the now-failed sale and how they “deserve better than contempt and intimidation.”

The French executive called on soccer leaders worldwide "to make the right decisions” and signed off: “If that means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”

Fired, not resigned

“This is a firing situation, it’s not a resignation,” Klaveness said of Lamour’s exit, suggesting it was done by Grafström “obviously being pressured by the president.”

FIFA didn’t respond to a request for comment on Klaveness’ remarks.

In a statement, FIFA said it “thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made on the matter.”

Lamour did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

“His statement was necessary to kill the project,” Klaveness said of Lamour’s intervention. “He said something that was obvious, that was very important that someone within the staff told us the story so that we knew it was not FIFA, as such, but one person.”

Infantino called a meeting with senior management minus Lamour in Rabat, Morocco. After that Aug. 5 meeting, a FIFA statement apologized for errors and said those managers who attended “reaffirmed their full support” of Infantino’s presidency.

“We all got reports in Morocco, we know it’s a management of fear,” Klaveness said. “It’s not in football’s best interests.”

Until the uproar over Infantino's “FIFA Forward Enterprise” proposal, he seemed sure to be reelected unopposed next year in Morocco for a fourth and final term in office through 2031. The deadline is Nov. 18 for challengers to enter the contest.

Norway not discussing other candidates right now

Though UEFA and other critics of Infantino want him ousted from the $6 million-per-year FIFA job, Klaveness said any search for an opponent was not a talking point in Norway.

“We are not there at all and that is 100% the truth," she said, though adding any eventual candidate "has to be very accountable to a governance structure that will not in four or five years just deteriorate.”

Infantino was appointed by UEFA in 2015 to a panel advising FIFA on reforms, in fallout from corruption scandals provoked by U.S. federal investigations. That group's recommendations limiting FIFA presidents to 12 years in office, plus limiting their executive powers and patronage all have retreated under Infantino.

Klaveness acknowledged FIFA members have been less “passionate about the details of governance” than Norway.

Lamour also won praise and support Tuesday by UEFA vice president Laura McAllister, also a former player and now a university professor of governance in Wales, who lamented the “shabby events of the past weeks.”

“Kevin’s sacking seriously weakens FIFA’s administration," McAllister said, "whilst undermining this unique opportunity to shift the culture at FIFA and to reset the organization on sporting values, not simply commercial and financial ones.”

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The backlash to the massive server warehouses is enveloping races for governor in some of the nation's biggest states and presidential battlegrounds.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said his administration would no longer put data center projects at the head of the line when it comes to issuing construction permits or grant them a lucrative tax exemption if they don't meet certain standards.

Those include plans to pay the full cost of their electricity, limit water use and mount a local outreach campaign in the community.

Shapiro, considered a potential contender for the White House in 2028, is facing increasing pressure from his GOP opponent, Stacy Garrity, as communities across the state revolt against proposed data centers.

In a statement, Shapiro said Pennsylvania is seeing an “unacceptable number of speculative proposals for data centers swamp our commonwealth — many of them led by developers who have no regard for local communities.”

Meanwhile, in Texas, Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa released a TV ad in rural markets Tuesday accusing Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of “selling you out” to data center executives and companies.

The ad airs as Hinojosa, a state lawmaker, has aggressively looked to exploit an undercurrent of discontent in rural, Republican strongholds over data centers' perceived threat to rural life, ranchland and dwindling water supplies.

Stances are changing as challengers capitalize on growing discontent

At one time, both Shapiro and Abbott had been cheerleaders for data centers and actively sought to recruit them.

But in recent weeks, Abbott ordered regulators to take steps to ensure Texans were not paying higher electricity bills because of data centers, even telling them to hold up data center projects until they compete their work.

He also promised to push a legislative agenda next year to impose regulations on data centers, including taking away the state’s billion-dollar-plus-per-year tax break.

For much of the past year, a growing number of data center projects have met rejection in local zoning or permitting board votes across the U.S., as angry residents pack once-sleepy municipal meetings.

Losing open space, farmland, forest or rural character is a big concern. So is the damage to quality of life, property values or health by on-site diesel generators kicking on or the constant hum of servers. Others worry that wells and aquifers could run dry or electricity bills will skyrocket.

Small, under-the-radar data centers have been around for decades. But the explosion of artificial intelligence chatbots has given rise to data centers that are larger than anything just about any town has ever seen. Some of them dwarf football stadiums and factories and use more energy than small cities.

Some officials want centers to pay for their own electricity and limit water use

They are also chafing at the rising tab for the sales tax exemption most states offer data centers.

In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is seeking reelection, got lawmakers to agree to slap a three-year moratorium on the state's sales tax exemption for data centers. Hobbs, who had voted to create the tax credits when she was a legislator, called it a “corporate handout.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat seeking reelection, ordered a one-year ban on large data centers to give the state time to impose protections for the environment and its energy grid.

Shapiro isn't the only potential 2028 White House hopeful to step up his criticism data centers. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat running for a third term, halted new sales tax exemptions for data centers there until lawmakers impose tougher standards on their operations.

In Ohio, the Democratic and Republican nominees for governor — Dr. Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy — in recent days each unveiled dueling data center policies that called for developers to meet tougher standards before being built.

Data center opposition isn't necessarily a golden ticket

In Wisconsin, the Democratic nominee for governor, David Crowley, narrowly defeated a challenger who made her call for a one-year moratorium on data center construction a centerpiece of her campaign.

Crowley has taken a more nuanced approach, saying local communities must have veto authority, while also saying data centers are a part of the modern economy and could bring significant economic benefits to the state.

His Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, has attacked Crowley on the issue, including a TV ad released this week where he calls him “Data Center David Crowley.”

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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and J.J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.

The officials said the Trump administration has told Oman it is opposed to parts of the yet-to-be-announced deal, including the joint Iranian and Omani management of the exit route out of the passage that’s critical to global supplies of oil and natural gas. The officials were briefed on the U.S. position and how the administration views Oman's position.

Meanwhile, a projectile hit a ship as it sailed out of the strait, according to the British military's maritime monitoring agency, and an Iranian official said the waterway would not reopen until the United States meets Iran’s conditions. The defense ministry of the United Arab Emirates said two ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the UAE.

US believes Oman has not been tough enough with Iran

The U.S. believes Oman has not been tough enough in its negotiations with Iran and is unhappy with Oman’s agreement to collect voluntary fees from vessels, even if the charges are related to security and maritime environmental protection, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Trump on Monday threatened to bomb Oman as it works with Iran on a deal to open the strait and pave the way for the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations to end the war.

He posted a map on social media Tuesday depicting the strait as a U.S. territory. The president first mentioned the idea in an offhand comment last week. On Monday, he told reporters in the Oval Office, “I like the idea of declaring it a territory,” without providing details.

The White House on Tuesday referred to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office and declined to comment further about Oman.

Iran refers to Trump's ‘delusion’ about the strait

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi appeared to respond to Trump’s post on social media depicting the strait as American territory.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will soon either be corrected, or we will correct this deluded man’s delusions for him,” Gharibabadi wrote on X.

Trump's comment on Monday was not the first time he has threatened Oman. In May, he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that Oman “will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.”

Iran reiterated Tuesday that Tehran plans to maintain its grip on shipping traffic until Washington meets its conditions.

“Until the United States fulfills its commitments under the agreement, including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and implementing the other conditions to which it committed, the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen,” said Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and negotiator in previous talks with the U.S.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Iranian-Omani deal could pave the way for Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations for a “comprehensive and permanent deal that addresses all concerns and enhances regional security and stability."

The statement came after a meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi. But it did not address Trump’s latest threat against Oman.

President insists strait is open as more attacks are reported

Trump said Tuesday the U.S. has no planned talks with Iran but insisted the strait is “open and operating,” despite limited traffic, the reported boat strike and the end on Monday of the 60-day negotiating period between the countries.

Trump wrote on social media that a U.S. blockade of the strait remains “in full force and effect,” adding that all water mines have been removed.

As the talks between Iran and Oman continue, more attacks were reported in the region.

One of the missiles fired at the UAE landed outside of the country’s waters, and the other landed within them, the Emirati Defense Ministry said. It was unclear whether the missiles were shot down by air defenses or fell. No damages or injuries were reported. There was no immediate statement from Iran.

In the weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28, the UAE was frequently targeted by Iranian missile and drones, but Tuesday’s reported attack was the first in weeks.

An unidentified projectile hit a ship early Tuesday in the strait off the coast of Oman, damaging the engine room and causing a casualty, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center.

The monitoring agency did not release any details about the ship or its cargo, and it was unclear whether the crew member was killed or wounded. The agency said the Omani Coast Guard was assisting other crew members and that authorities were investigating.

And Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed they fired drones at an oil refinery in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the latest attack that threatened to reignite Yemen’s civil war and open another front in the Middle East.

The attack targeted a facility run by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, according to a report by the Houthi-run SABA news agency. There were no immediate reports of damage or comment from Saudi Arabia.

Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, was one of six other women to receive a wild card, and the U.S. Tennis Association said the final one is still to be announced.

That almost certainly would go to Serena Williams, if she decides she wants to return to the tournament at 44.

Venus Williams received a wild card last year, returning to the Grand Slam event she won twice for the first time since 2023. The 46-year-old has become the oldest entrant in singles at the tournament since Renee Richards played at 47 in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation.

She has continued to play some singles matches and this week joined Serena for their first doubles tournament together since the 2022 U.S. Open. They lost Monday at the Cincinnati Open in a match tiebreaker against Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

The sisters planned to play at Wimbledon but had to withdraw after Serena injured her knee in her singles match. That marked her first time playing singles since the 2022 U.S. Open, and she indicated afterward that she hoped to keep competing if healthy.

Headlining the wild-card recipients on the men's side were 39-year-old Gael Monfils, a past U.S. Open semifinalist who is set to play his final Grand Slam tournament before retiring, and Australian Alexei Popyrin, who upset Novak Djokovic in 2024 on the way to the fourth round.

One spot is also being held among the eight men's wild cards. Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 champion at Flushing Meadows who at 41 is playing his final season, could be a candidate for that.

Also receiving women's wild cards were Carol Young Suh Lee, Reese Brantmeier, Thea Frodin, Leolia Jeanjean and Taylah Preston.

The other men receiving wild cards were two-time reigning NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, Martin Damm, J.J. Wolf, Sebastian Gorzny and Jack Kennedy.

Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up who also is retiring, was given a wild card into the men's qualifying tournament, along with Jordan Lee, Trevor Svajda, Andre Ilagan, Spencer Johnson, Michael Antonius, Andrew Johnson and Daniel Milavsky.

Women given spots in the qualifying tournament were Caroline Dolehide, Janae Preston, Katrina Scott, Ayana Akli, Annika Penickova, Julieta Pareja, Kristina Penickova and Savannah Broadus.

The main draw begins Aug. 30, with the qualifying tournaments being played earlier that week.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

The illicit initiation was revealed Monday as Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday charged 14 people — including 13 current or former Penn State students — in connection with the alleged drug ring.

The man accused of leading the operation, 24-year-old Agostino Abbatiello, surrendered on Tuesday after failing to appear for a scheduled arraignment on Monday on charges including possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy. He was ordered jailed without bail.

A message seeking comment was left for Abbatiello’s lawyer.

According to court documents, the drug ring operated in 2023 and 2024, fueled by bulk quantities of cocaine that two of the charged men obtained from contacts in Philadelphia and New York.

They cut and bagged the drugs mainly at the Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternity houses, using frat brothers and pledges as labor, then distributed it through Penn State students, court documents said.

One of the men said a co-defendant was the “largest distributor of cocaine” at Penn State and would “boast about how much money he was making from selling cocaine.” At least four of the defendants are current students, Sunday’s office said.

“This is very serious criminal conduct. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct,” Sunday said at a news conference on Monday. “This was an upper-level trafficking organization for this region in Pennsylvania.”

Four people are charged with conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, felony corrupt organizations and other offenses. Another defendant is charged with felony conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility.

Eight defendants are charged with misdemeanor drug possession.

Paul Robinson, the father of a student who was accused with Abbatiello of being one of the ring's two main suppliers, is charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension and obstructing the investigation. Authorities say he took steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs and cash.

Court documents did not list a lawyer who could speak on Robinson’s behalf.

Penn State said it placed Delta Upsilon on interim suspension, noting Sigma Chi is not recognized by the university and is not subject to its oversight.

Delta Upsilon Executive Director Justin Kirk said anyone involved in the drug ring who had ties to Delta Upsilon was expelled or suspended from the fraternity if they did not resign.

Sigma Chi’s executive director, Michael Church, said the three Sigma Chi members who were charged have been suspended pending the outcome of the judicial process. He said the fraternity has suspended all operations at its Penn State chapter on an interim basis “while we determine whether these allegations reflect individual conduct or organized chapter activity.”

“This conduct is an egregious violation of our values and has no place in our fraternity, community, or society," Church said, adding that any members involved “will be held fully accountable to the extent available to our fraternity.”

The globally recognized “Hips Don't Lie” musician toured damaged schools in Quibdó, the capital of the Colombian province of Chocó, an area where roughly 40 schools completely collapsed and hundreds more were affected.

"What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over,” Shakira told journalists after visiting with students, hugging and taking photos with them. “Every day that children don’t go to school is a day they miss out on their future.”

She was accompanied by Howard Buffett, son of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett and longtime donor to Colombia who has helped Shakira set up schools there before. The Howard G. Buffett foundation will collaborate with Shakira's Fundación Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot Foundation, to reconstruct 10 schools.

“When she calls, I come,” Buffett said during the visit.

The singer also said she would focus her “personal efforts” on rebuilding a severely damaged technological university in Chocó, and announced pledges of $500,000 each from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and Live Nation and $250,000 from CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean toward rebuilding schools and getting children back into classrooms.

The 7.4 magnitude quake on Aug. 10 struck a vast swath of western Colombia, killing at least 287 people and destroying more than 26,000 dwellings, authorities said. The government has said 194 people are missing, while other civilian-run databases put the number at more than 4,100. Thousands of educational centers were affected.

The epicenter was in Chocó, one of Colombia's poorest regions and where at least 3,100 homes were destroyed, according to the regional government's latest report Monday.

“It’s a place I love, a place where I’ve seen our students grow in our classrooms,” Shakira said in a video posted on X by the Colombian news outlet La FM.

Her foundation, which focuses on educational access for youths in Colombia, has been in Chocó for 22 years, running two schools from which hundreds of students have graduated. “I really want to see it rebuild again,” she said.

Aid groups and officials are still assessing the damage in Chocó, an area the size of Switzerland where communication and travel are challenging. The province has few roads linking it to the rest of the country, and its towns and villages are connected mostly by rivers and unpaved roads.

Most of Chocó's 600,000 inhabitants live in poverty, according to figures published last year by Colombia’s national government, and it is largely inhabited by Indigenous tribes and Afro Colombian communities.

“There is not a way to alleviate the pain of so many, there are no magic solutions," Shakira, 49, said during her visit to a large high school in Quibdó.

“But what there is, is commitment to be here alongside those from Chocó, to not abandon El Chocó like it historically has been abandoned, until every Colombian and every person from Chocó can return to their normal lives like they deserve and all the children can return to their schools and dream of the futures they deserve," she said.

The Grammy award winner known for hits like “Whenever, Wherever,” “La Tortura,” and the 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” is a longtime supporter of educational access and advancement. She recently headlined the halftime show of the World Cup final match in July and performed in May on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach to a crowd of 2 million.

After Venezuela’s twin earthquakes in June, Shakira announced the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund would commit $500,000 to education recovery there.

Her announcement Monday is the latest of many commitments from prominent Colombians and other Latin American artists to help Colombia and Venezuela. On Sunday, Marc Anthony and Chayanne joined dozens of other artists at a Miami benefit concert and live fundraiser for both countries' earthquake relief.

Colombian singer Karol G pledged to match fan donations to her Con Cora Foundation during her three-night run at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles last weekend. She will also join Maluma, Sebastián Yatra and others at a benefit concert in Bogotá this Sunday.

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An earlier correction stated Shakira committed to building 10 new schools, not rebuilding 10 schools. She and Buffett are helping reconstruct the schools, not building new ones.

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Gabriela Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The government is appealing the May ruling by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw that threw out charges of human smuggling against the Salvadoran national. The ruling amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a Justice Department that under President Donald Trump has repeatedly been accused of targeting defendants for political purposes.

Crenshaw found that Abrego Garcia would never have faced criminal charges had he not successfully sued the government over his 2025 deportation. The ruling was an embarrassment for the Trump administration, which only brought him back after securing a criminal indictment against him.

Crenshaw stopped short of finding the government acted with “actual vindictiveness,” a rarely-met standard that usually requires evidence like a prosecutor admitting that charges were filed in retaliation against someone. But the judge did find there was enough evidence of “presumptive vindictiveness.” That included the timing of the indictment.

Homeland Security had been aware of the 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee that was the basis for the human smuggling charges for more than two years before Abrego Garcia was deported. The agency only reopened the case and began investigating in earnest after Abrego Garcia was ordered returned to the U.S.

Crenshaw also found that statements by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was a deputy at the time, suggested the Justice Department was targeting Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.

In a brief filed Monday night with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, federal prosecutors argued that Crenshaw got it wrong. Blanche’s statements, they argue, demonstrated a legitimate motive for prosecuting him. His rationale reflected a “normal assessment of the societal interest in punishment,” not an “improper penalty,” they said. The statements “explained that the government was seeking to protect the public and confirm its prior assertions about Abrego's criminal activity," the brief states.

But even if Blanche's statements reflected an animus against Abrego Garcia, they are irrelevant because the person who actually brought the charges was then-Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire, the brief states — rehashing an argument thoroughly rejected by Crenshaw that McGuire's motives were the only motives that mattered in the case.

Crenshaw's ruling noted the sustained oversight of the case by top Justice Department officials, including regular communications between McGuire and Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh, in finding that the criminal case was thoroughly tainted. Crenshaw also noted that prosecutors never called as a witness the investigator who actually reopened the case, to explain why.

Abrego Garcia, 31, is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years although he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. A 2019 order by an immigration judge prohibited his deportation to El Salvador, finding he had a “well founded fear” of a gang that had targeted his family there. The judge allowed him to live and work in the U.S. under Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision, but he was not given residency status.

Blocked from re-deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, the Trump administration has vowed to deport him to a third county, threatening to send him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia. Abrego Garcia has said he would agree to be deported to Costa Rica, which has said they will accept him, but the government has so far declined to send him there.

He is fighting deportation to Liberia in a separate federal court case in Maryland.

Mia was shot the evening of July 26, and the couple's 27-year-old son, Elijah, was arrested. Eric left the Chiefs right away to help his family through the crisis, and he returned to camp last week ahead of a preseason loss to the Rams.

"First and foremost, yes, she's on a great road to recovery. Yes, she's doing great,” Bieniemy said of his wife, speaking to reporters for the first time since she was rushed to the hospital with multiple wounds. “It is one of the main reasons that I am back here, because of her recovery. She's truly a soldier. She's a saint. And it's been incredible to watch.”

Bieniemy was never far from camp, even while he was back home in Ashburn, Virginia. He was able to watch streams of practice from Missouri Western State University, and he was often conferenced into team meetings before and after the workouts.

At one point, he called Chiefs general manager Brett Veach — who he knew was seated beside coach Andy Reid — and told him to give Big Red the phone. Bieniemy proceeded to remind Reid to get on one of his players for a seemingly minor coaching point.

“I was yelling at the screen, yelling at players, yelling at coaches — ‘What the hell are we doing?!’ I'm yelling at myself, 'Why would you put that play in!?” Bieniemy said, smiling. “At the end of the day, I was making sure I was keeping up with what was going on.”

At the same time, he was driving Mia and the rest of the family crazy.

“So she was like, ‘You have my blessing to leave,’” Eric said, “so it was time to get back.”

Elijah Bieniemy has been charged with malicious wounding, the use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling. His court appearances remain delayed pending a mental health evaluation.

“I'd like to say thank you to the Hunt family, the entire Chiefs family for the outpouring, the love and support that my family has received through this particular situation,” Eric Bieniemy said. “And with all that said, we're back to football.”

While brash and demanding, Bieniemy is universally beloved within the Kansas City locker room. He was part of coaching staffs that helped the Chiefs reach three Super Bowls and win two, and he helped to set the foundation for the dynasty to come.

When he left a few years ago to serve as the Commanders' offensive coordinator, it was in the hopes that calling his own plays could someday lead to an NFL head coaching job. But Washington struggled in his lone season there and the coaching staff was let go, and Bieniemy ended up spending a season at UCLA and last season coaching the running backs for the Chicago Bears.

He returned to Kansas City to replace Matt Nagy, who left to become the offensive coordinator of the Giants.

“Obviously it’s great to have him back. We missed him and prayed for his family when he was out,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said. “But to have a guy like that come back to the field, man, a competitor — it brings out the best in us.”

NOTES: LT Josh Simmons did not practice Tuesday because of back pain. He worked out alongside RG Trey Smith, who has been out with a hip injury. ... DE Ashton Gillotte (foot) and WR Tyquan Thornton (hamstring) left practice early. Gillotte already has missed time with a hamstring injury. ... LB Drue Tranquill (back) and CB L'Jarius Snead (knee) were back in pads for the workout.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Dry heat and minimal relief were day-to-day life, and many had to get a little creative. Some slept outdoors under damp sheets. Others adjusted schedules to avoid working outside during high daylight hours.

Then a great way to beat the heat emerged. It was dubbed the “swamp cooler.”

Basic cooling principles were used centuries ago in ancient civilizations; air was fanned by hand over water in clay pots or jars. In the early 20th century, those same principles were refined in the United States. The evaporative cooler, or swamp cooler, was the result. America’s first system using the concept of evaporative cooling was perfected by Oscar Palmer in 1908 in Arizona.

It's relatively simple: A fan pulls a stream of fresh hot air through vertical, porous pads saturated with water. It evaporates, cooling and humidifying the air and directing it indoors.

By the 1930s, the gadgets changed entire swaths of the country, cooling southwestern states like New Mexico and Nevada. Even today, in the age of air conditioning, they play a role in making desert-like states more livable.

“If it’s really dry out, in Arizona, you’re going to get a greater cooling effect,” says Eric Verpolegen, the founder of CoolVeg, a nonprofit dedicated to evaporative cooling for fruits and vegetables.

Traditional air-conditioning units didn’t become standard in the U.S. until the 1950s, and central air conditioning remains a luxury. But the swamp cooler endures.

“Where you don’t have air conditioning and where the climate allows, evaporative coolers could be a good solution and are low cost, low energy consumption,” says Ankit Kalanki, principal of cooling at RMI, a nonprofit dedicated to clean energy.

Swamp coolers and fans fall short in humid regions because the air is already saturated and can't handle more water. Experts say humidity has been worsening in some areas.

“There is a lot of innovation happening where people are trying to come up with hybrid solutions, where they are marrying evaporative cooling with something that can manage humidity separately,” Kalanki says, “and so now you have the best of both worlds.”

Evaporative coolers remain in use for Americans and many around the world who lack other cooling options.

“We’ve got this vicious circle where the hotter it gets, the more cooling we need,” Verpolegen says. “So you’re going to spend more energy, which could lead to more greenhouse gas emissions.” That's where Palmer's cooler tech and even more modern iterations come into play.

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here. Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

Swalwell resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations earlier this year. Regardless of who is chosen to replace him, the 14th Congressional District seat is guaranteed to remain under Democratic control.

Florida's primary will choose candidates to complete the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s term in the U.S. Senate. There’s also an open contest to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, featuring Rep. Byron Donalds on the Republican side and former Rep. David Jolly as a Democrat.

Alaska voters will narrow down a wide field of candidates for a competitive U.S. Senate seat that’s expected to play a pivotal role in determining which political party will hold a majority in the Senate next year. Among the 16 candidates running in the all-party primary, the most notable are Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. The top four vote-getters will advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation and the winner in November will be determined by ranked choice voting.

An unusually high number of open-seat races are on the ballot in Wyoming's primary after two prominent Republican officials announced their retirements. The upcoming departures of Gov. Mark Gordon and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, along with U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman’s decision to run to replace Lummis, mark the first time in 32 years that Wyoming has had open seats for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House at the same time.

Progressives may not find the same juice in Florida as elsewhere

Democrats’ left flank has won notable victories since Trump’s second inauguration, even with mixed results in recent Midwestern primaries. But the party’s progressive wing may find a tougher landscape in Florida.

Our Revolution, the organization started by Vermont’s democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, has endorsed state Rep. Angie Nixon in her U.S. Senate bid against former National Security Council aide Alex Vindman.

Several congressional hopefuls have the nod from various progressive groups, but in most competitive Democratic primaries, progressives face better-funded moderates. In south Florida, especially, many Latino voters are skeptical of anything labeled “socialism” because they or their families fled authoritarian socialist governments to come to the U.S.

Our Revolution endorsee Elijah Manley, one of the candidates running against moderate Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Broward County, said he believes voters are “ready for a more progressive approach because the system we have just hasn’t delivered for them.”

California election will determine Eric Swalwell’s temporary successor

Tuesday is voters’ last chance to decide whether a progressive state lawmaker or a moderate San Francisco Bay Area transit leader will fulfill the remainder of Swalwell’s term ending in January. Swalwell, a Democrat, dropped his bid for California governor and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault. He denies the allegations.

Aisha Wahab, a state senator, is running against Melissa Hernandez, a Bay Area Rapid Transit director and former Dublin mayor. The two Democrats, who advanced after a crowded primary in June, are vying to represent California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes cities east of San Francisco such as Hayward, Livermore and Union City.

Wahab and Hernandez will also face off in a separate general election in November to determine who will serve the next full two-year term.

Aisha Wahab, a state senator, is running against Melissa Hernandez, a Bay Area Rapid Transit director and former Dublin mayor. The two Democrats, who advanced after a crowded primary in June, are vying to represent California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes cities east of San Francisco such as Hayward, Livermore and Union City.

Wahab and Hernandez will also face off in a separate general election in November to determine who will serve the next full two-year term.

Incumbent Sullivan and former Rep. Peltola headline Alaska’s US Senate race

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola are the highest-profile candidates in a race that will be among the few in November to determine control of the U.S. Senate.

Sullivan and Peltola have vastly outraised any of the other candidates in the overall field of 16. The candidates and groups that support them have dominated the airwaves and filled mailboxes with flyers ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

Alaska’s primary features all candidates on one ballot, with the top four advancing to November’s ranked vote general election.

Sullivan has leaned into his background as a Marine and supporter of the military, while Peltola has repurposed the “fish, family, freedom” slogan that propelled her to the U.S. House in 2022. She lost reelection in 2024.

Republican redistricting shapes Florida primaries

Gov. Ron DeSantis, in response to Trump’s desire for a better shot to defend the Republican majority on Capitol Hill, eagerly pushed to redraw Florida congressional districts.

It’s yielded a round of political dominoes in South Florida.

Broward County, the state’s most left-leaning county, is down to one presumed Democratic district. It’s plurality Black. But Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an 11th-term lawmaker who doesn’t live in the district, is the favorite as the lone white candidate in District 20.

Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Jared Moskowitz live in a redrawn District 22 that now reaches the more conservative Gulf Coast. But Moskowitz isn’t running in his home district either. He’s running in a new District 25 that stretches along the coasts of multiple southwest Florida counties, including Broward.

National Democrats’ favorite in District 22 is educator Pia Dandiya. Moskowitz and Dandiya are favored over primary opponents. Trump won both districts comfortably.

Wyoming GOP Senate race includes Hageman and 4 little-known candidates

The five Republicans competing to become Wyoming’s next U.S. senator include one with an overwhelming funding and name recognition advantage: Harriet Hageman.

Hageman seeks the GOP nomination after two terms as Wyoming’s representative in the U.S. House.

Through July, Hageman had over $900,000 still available to spend on her campaign, eight times more than the funding runner-up in the GOP race, rancher and business owner Sam Mead.

Former oil field services business owner Jimmy Skovgard had $3,200. The Federal Election Commission had no campaign finance records online for the other two Republican candidates — massage therapist Jill Edwards and U.S. Air Force veteran and attorney John Holtz.

Former state legislator Jim Byrd, one of two Democrats seeking the party’s nomination, had about $350 cash on hand, according to the FEC.

The winner will succeed Republican U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who is retiring.

Republican incumbent faces independent newcomer for Alaska’s only House seat

Independent commercial fisherman Bill Hill is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich in the race for Alaska’s only House seat.

Hill, a former educator, has focused on issues such as affordability and reining in the influence of ultra-wealthy people and special interests in politics. Hill lives in a fishing community of about 425 people in southwest Alaska, where goods are brought in by plane or barge.

In July, the highest-profile Democrat in the race, pastor Matt Schultz, suspended his campaign and urged voters to back Hill.

No other candidates in the crowded race have reported raising money. Begich has been endorsed by Trump.

Race to replace Swalwell reflects Democratic divide

The special general election pits California state Sen. Aisha Wahab, a progressive who’s championed housing issues, against San Francisco Bay Area transit leader Melissa Hernandez, a moderate who’s made cracking down on crime central to her campaign.

Hernandez, who is raising more money, has accused her rival of being too soft on crime, which Wahab denies. Wahab, who won the June primary decisively, says she’s better positioned to fight against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Democrats look for any foothold they can get in Florida

A generation ago, Florida decided a presidential race by mere hundreds of votes and court fights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet Democrats haven’t won a presidential race, Senate contest or gubernatorial election there since 2012.

It’s gotten so dire for the party that they’re expected, for the second governor’s race in a row, to nominate a former Republican. The leading candidate this time is former Rep. David Jolly, a critic of President Donald Trump who joined Democrats in 2025 after shifting his position on abortion and the Affordable Care Act.

That kind of move didn’t work four years ago, though. Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist won the nomination and got trounced by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Alaska has an unusual way of selecting its officeholders

Alaska has open primaries, meaning all candidates are listed on one ballot. It uses ranked choice voting in general elections.

In each race in the primary, voters get one pick. The four candidates with the most votes advance to the November election, where voters can choose to rank the candidates in order of preference. The top races on the ballot — for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor — each feature more than a dozen candidates. Few races for state legislative seats have more than four candidates running in Tuesday’s primary.

Alaska voters approved this system in 2020, which supporters say lends itself to more moderate candidates, and it was first used in 2022. There have been several efforts to repeal it, including one heading to the November ballot.

“I’d ask you to confirm a simple statement: the Department of Defense will not send Federal troops to the polls or to seize election materials of any kind,” Slotkin wrote to Hegseth and to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in letters Tuesday.

The Pentagon said in an email that it will respond directly to Slotkin, as it does with all congressional correspondence. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Slotkin told The Associated Press that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the midterms were stolen. She noted that Trump contemplated using the military to seize voting machines after his loss in 2020 and has deployed the National Guard to cities against the wishes of Democratic leaders. He also deployed active duty Marines to Los Angeles during his immigration crackdown in 2025.

“He’s very clearly laying the breadcrumbs to be able to say the day after the election that he didn’t really lose the House or he didn’t really lose the Senate,” Slotkin said.

Slotkin asked Hegseth during an April congressional hearing if he would follow orders to seize ballots. Hegseth called the question a “gotcha hypothetical,” but said, “I’ve never been ordered to do anything illegal, and I won’t.”

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles denied in a Vanity Fair interview last year that Trump would use the military to suppress voting in the midterms.

“I say it is categorically false, will not happen. It’s just wrongheaded,” she said.

Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.” If any element of the military were to get involved, it would likely be the National Guard under state control.

In 2020, Gen. Mark Milley, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded to a similar letter from Slotkin, then a congresswoman.

“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military,” Milley wrote. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military."

The ruling is the latest development in a yearslong battle over where to house the main office for the nation's premier law enforcement agency. A site in Greenbelt, Maryland, was picked during former President Joe Biden's administration, but Trump appointees sought to reverse that decision last year in favor of repurposing the Ronald Reagan Building, a federal office complex a few blocks from the FBI's existing headquarters.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled that the move was “ not in accordance with law,” and blocked the Trump administration from moving the FBI to the Reagan building, renovating it for the FBI or repurposing funds.

“This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers,” the FBI said in a statement. “The court has chosen to impermissibly intervene for political reasons. This FBI is mission focused and will continue the best course of action to meet the needs of law enforcement.”

The suit was brought by the state of Maryland and Prince George's County.

“Maryland and Prince George’s County committed more than a decade of work to earn the FBI headquarters and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars," Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. “By blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to move the FBI to the Reagan Building and divert the funds Congress set aside for this project, the Court has cleared the path back to Greenbelt.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, also a Democrat, said, "Now it is time to stop the games and get to work building the world-class FBI headquarters that our public servants deserve, where it belongs: in Prince George’s County, Maryland.”

The FBI's current Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, was dedicated in 1975. Proponents of moving the headquarters have said the brutalist-style building, where nets surround the facility to protect pedestrians from falling debris, has fallen into disrepair.

The Maryland location was selected over nearby Virginia following an intense competition between the two states.

But this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, one of two main drills conducted by the allies annually, could be disrupted after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his Pentagon chief to “substantially” scale it back just before its start Monday.

He cited what he said was a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to join the U.S. war against Iran. It was unclear what parts of the 11-day exercise were being cut and to what extent, but many experts say Trump's move threatens to hurt combined U.S.-South Korean readiness and eventually weaken their decades-long alliance.

The exercise is central to the US-South Korea alliance

The Ulchi Freedom Shield, or UFS, is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies' ability to deal with potential regional security threats like North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold field training exercises during the command post exercise period.

South Korea's military had earlier said this year's exercise would be similar in scale to previous years, with the participation of about 18,000 South Korean soldiers. The U.S. military said it would incorporate lessons from recent conflicts such as North Korea’s battlefield experiences on the Russia-Ukraine front. Local media reported South Korea and the U.S. had planned 14 field training exercises.

The UFS, along with a similar joint war game in the spring, is a central pillar of the U.S. -South Korea alliance, which dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War. But it's also a long-running source of tensions with North Korea, which has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for war and responded with provocative missile tests.

On Friday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. and South Korea of plotting more provocative drills this year and vowed to respond with “a new level of a deterrent.” The U.S. and South Korea have said their regular drills are defensive in nature.

Field training will likely be affected by Trump's decision

In a social media post, Trump called the exercise costly, "with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America.” During his first term, Trump complained about the cost of drills with South Korea, suspending joint exercises in 2018 to advance now-stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea.

Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, visited South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Tuesday for talks likely focusing on the adjustment of this year’s drills, according to media reports. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it couldn’t confirm the reports.

Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said the U.S. will likely participate in the command post exercise but cancel “some costly field training that requires large-scale movements of troops."

Yang said that a downsizing or suspension of military drills matters because commanders of the allies change periodically. He said a one-year suspension of drills would see commanders unfamiliar with procedures of those drills taking part when they resume.

Trump's move could strain the US-South Korea alliance

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said Trump’s move could result in the U.S. downsizing other regular drills with South Korea, posing “a big, crippling blow” to their joint operation posture.

Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network, said downsizing the exercise will likely delay the planned transfer to a system in which wartime operational control would be exercised by a binational command led by a South Korean general.

Under the current system, the U.S. military would command joint forces in the event of war.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries had earlier said the exercise would be an opportunity to support preparations for the transfer. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday stressed the need to complete the transition during his term that ends in 2030.

Many South Koreans view the transition to South Korean leadership of the combined forces in wartime to be a matter of national sovereignty, but others worry that could weaken the alliance.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the deal had not yet been announced. The 28-year-old worked out for the team on Monday.

Harris is coming off tearing his left Achilles tendon on a noncontact play in a game on Sept. 21 while with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Giants coach John Harbaugh said Harris is not 100% healthy and expected it to be a process to get him up and going if signed. As a result, it was not immediately clear how soon Harris would participate in training camp practices.

Harris is not far removed from four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons with Pittsburgh from 2021-24.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Angela Garrett, 52, has been arrested and faces multiple charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument, disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb, and grand theft over $20,000.

Detectives are still searching for Drake Lee Milam, 33, and his girlfriend, Porsche Bancroft, 32. The trio is accused of targeting cemeteries across the country, breaking into niches and stealing jewelry and keepsakes — including wedding rings — placed with cremated remains.

At least 20 cases have been reported in Florida, though investigators believe the number could be higher. The suspects are believed to live in Indianapolis and may have committed similar crimes in at least nine states.

Officials are urging families to check their loved ones’ resting places to make sure items remain secure.

Central Florida Crimeline is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest. Call 800-423-TIPS (8477).

William Frances Silvia, 61, would be the 13th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, which has two more executions scheduled in September and has carried out more than half the nation's 22 executions so far in 2026.

Silvia is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at 6 p.m. local time.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request to halt the execution.

Courts twice sentenced Silvia to death

Silvia was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the deadly 2006 attack on Patricia Silvia, along with her mother, Betty Woodard.

According to court records, Silvia purchased a shotgun that year and then went to Woodard’s Orlando-area home, where his wife had been living since their separation two months earlier. The family was in the middle of a cookout when Silvia arrived, and after an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile, authorities said Silvia retrieved the shotgun from his truck and shot the two women.

William Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial. A court later vacated that sentence following an appeal related to Florida's death penalty sentencing procedures, but after being granted a new death penalty phase in 2018, he was again sentenced to death.

A Florida state agency, the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, provides legal representation to death row inmates. Silvia's attorneys have argued that the agency could not provide adequate legal assistance because it was already helping another death row inmate. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal.

Florida leads the way in executions

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with 19, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more executions are planned in Florida next month. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is scheduled to die Sept. 1, followed by Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, on Sept. 10.

Lucas was convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends.

Conahan was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photos, and authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

The complaint alleges that the investigations into some of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions were designed to strong-arm the schools into cutting deals for political purposes. Outcomes of the investigations were "predetermined, without regard to the evidence" in a “politically mandated effort” to extract money from schools through settlement demands and funding freezes under the pretext of rooting out antisemitism, the complaint alleges.

The work of the multi-agency task force, launched by the Justice Department under then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in February 2025, was “marked by extraordinary procedural irregularities, predetermined outcomes without factual or legal support” and disregard for the law and Constitution, lawyers for the former government attorney wrote in seeking watchdog investigations into their client's complaints.

The complaint taps into a broader public discussion about the administration's efforts to confront allegations of antisemitism at colleges, a problem that received renewed attention during campus protests over Israel's war in Gaza that some Jewish students said made them feel unsafe. President Donald Trump returned to the White House with a goal of rooting out antisemitism that he said had gone unchecked during the Biden administration, but critics have called his government's response heavy-handed and said it infringed on free speech rights and coerced concessions from public institutions.

A key House Democrat is publicizing the whistleblower's allegations

Lawyers for the former Justice Department attorney, identified as Haley Van Erem, filed the disclosure Tuesday with the inspectors general at the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services and the Office of Special Counsel.

Van Erem spent nearly a decade working in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division before being involuntarily assigned to HHS to work on the Title VI investigations into the universities, the complaint says.

The health department assignees were initially told to scrutinize allegations of antisemitism at medical school commencement ceremonies — the lawyers were advised of a New York Post story describing antisemitic conduct at graduation events, the complaint says — but the inquiries were later expanded to focus on the entire schools in the cases of Columbia and Brown, according to Van Erem's account.

She left the Justice Department in May 2025 because she was "unwilling to be made vulnerable to further participation in politically motivated investigations unsupported by facts and contrary to law," says the complaint, which also accuses the task force of having targeted Muslim professors.

Kiersten Pels, a Justice Department spokesperson, said the department “stands behind the integrity” of its investigations. A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment Tuesday.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote separately to Harmeet Dhillon, who as the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has been a public face of the department's efforts to counter antisemitism. In his letter, he said antisemitism at colleges and medical schools is a real problem that needs to be investigated.

“But,” he told Dhillon, “your 'investigation’ into antisemitism was fake, a pre-baked frame-up operation thoroughly political in nature.”

Raskin wrote that “the whole project was designed to harass professors and administrators at major universities, to curtail their freedom of speech and academic freedom, and to strip targeted institutions of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants that they had already been awarded on the merits of their applications.”

Scrutiny over the handling of investigations into elite schools

The whistleblower complaint deals chiefly with investigations into three Ivy League universities: Brown, Harvard and Columbia.

It alleges that in the case of Brown, the investigative team did not find evidence to support a violation of Title VI, the section of the Civil Rights Act that bars discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs that receive federal funding, but that “leadership refused to permit a notice of no violation and instead sought some form of settlement or resolution despite acknowledging the absence of a legal basis for doing so.”

Investigators did find evidence of discrimination at Columbia, the complaint says, but the investigation was done on an accelerated timetable before adequate factual development and legal review were completed and relied on allegations that “were unsupported, based on news reports or litigation filings, or that implicated protected First Amendment activity."

Columbia University agreed to pay the government $200 million as part of an agreement restoring access to federal funding. Brown University separately agreed to pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations to end the three federal investigations involving allegations of antisemitism and racial bias in admissions, with no findings of wrongdoing.

In the investigation into Harvard, Trump administration officials discussed “extraordinary funding freezes and sweeping proposed settlement terms” before an investigation had been completed that could establish Title VI violations. Sean Keveney, then-HHS acting general counsel, said he believed Harvard would settle because they were “over a barrel,” according to the complaint.

A federal judge last year ordered the Trump administration to reverse its cuts of more than $2.6 billion in research funding for the university, saying the government “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.” And a different judge last week dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that accused Harvard University of turning a blind eye to harassment of Jewish students.

Location: Detroit, MI (Graham Media Group HQ)

About the Role

Graham Media Group is seeking a highly analytical, detail-oriented, and process-driven Revenue Planning & Analysis Analyst II to join our Revenue Operations team. Reporting directly to the Director of Revenue Planning & Analysis, this role serves as a critical bridge between Revenue Operations, Sales, Finance, Technology, and Market Leadership teams.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical capabilities with expertise in data governance, quality assurance, process documentation, Salesforce and project management. This individual will champion data integrity across revenue systems, lead cross-functional initiatives, develop scalable operational processes, and leverage emerging AI technologies to drive efficiency and innovation across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct recurring audits of Salesforce, reporting platforms, and revenue datasets to ensure compliance with data standards
• Partner with stakeholders to improve data collection methods, system adoption, and overall data quality
• Monitor key data health metrics and build scorecards to measure accuracy and completeness
• Create and maintain user guides, training materials, process documentation, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to support system adoption and operational consistency.
• Support onboarding and ongoing training efforts for revenue systems, reporting tools, and operational processes
• Partner with the Salesforce Administrator to support CRM enhancements, testing, user adoption, data hygiene, and reporting
• Assist in troubleshooting system issues and validating system changes and integrations
• Document processes, workflows, and system requirements to support ongoing optimization efforts
• Act as the Revenue Operations team’s project manager for key initiatives, coordinating efforts across Sales, Finance, Marketing, Technology, and Market Leadership.
• Gather business requirements, document processes, manage timelines, and communicate progress to stakeholders.
• Drive process improvement initiatives that increase efficiency, scalability, and operational effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI and automation to improve reporting, forecasting, documentation, and operational workflows
• Assist in the design, testing, and deployment of AI-powered solutions and agents that increase productivity and streamline business processes

Requirements:

• Experience creating and maintaining training materials, user guides, process documentation, and standard operating procedures
• Ability to communicate complex processes and technical concepts in a clear, user-friendly manner for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience facilitating training sessions and supporting user adoption of new tools, systems, and processes is a plus
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail — you catch errors before others do
• Collaborative, low-ego, and comfortable in a fast-moving, multi-market environment
• Media, broadcasting, or advertising industry experience a plus, but not required

Please send resumes to Becky Hollandsworth at rhollandsworth@grahammedia.com

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

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

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“Lindsay was struggling — we were all concerned,” said Susan Clancy, mother of Patrick Clancy, who found the Massachusetts couple's children after they had been strangled in the family basement in January 2023. Lindsay Clancy also attempted to take her own life that night, and was left paralyzed. Lindsay and Patrick Clancy are now divorced.

Susan Clancy, who, like Lindsay, worked as a labor and delivery nurse, said in Plymouth Superior Court that she and her former daughter-in-law were close and described Lindsay as a “wonderful mother” who was “very nurturing, very loving.” Her testimony echoed emotional accounts the day before from Lindsay Clancy’s mother and sister, who recounted for jurors how they saw her become increasingly anxious, paranoid and suicidal starting in the fall of 2022.

Susan Clancy said that Lindsay was open with her about struggling and asked for her mother-in-law's support. The jury was shown texts between Lindsay and Susan Clancy in which Lindsay spoke about fears that she had developed a dependence on benzodiazepines, but couldn't sleep without taking them.

“I'm not okay and I'm terrified of taking meds tonight,” Lindsay texted her mother-in-law on Nov. 30, 2022, two months before the killings.

The trial centers not on whether Lindsay Clancy killed her children, which her lawyers do not dispute, but on her state of mind at the time. The defense argues she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors say she planned the killings and understood what she was doing.

Lindsay Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, who lived in Connecticut, testified Monday that she often stayed with her daughter in Massachusetts from October into December 2022. She said Lindsay Clancy was scared of sleeping alone, became increasingly paranoid and believed the medications she was taking “were destroying her mind.”

Lindsay Clancy’s sister described a similar decline. Allison Ozga testified that at the end of December, Lindsay told her she had experienced suicidal thoughts every day for a month.

Musgrove also recalled a more alarming disclosure in December, when she was standing in the kitchen with Lindsay Clancy and her then-husband, Patrick Clancy. Musgrove said her daughter appeared nervous and told them she needed to tell them something.

“She told us she had thoughts of harming the children,” Musgrove said.

Prosecutors argue that Lindsay Clancy planned the Jan. 24, 2023, killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to get takeout and to the pharmacy.

Lindsay Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that she killed the children. But he says she shouldn't be held criminally responsible because she had postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. He said she also had bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed after the birth of her third child worsened her condition.

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard that Lindsay Clancy had sought treatment for severe mental health problems, including admitting herself to a psychiatric hospital. But witnesses also noted she wouldn't always take the medications prescribed to help with her insomnia, anxiety and depression.

The defense has argued that Lindsay Clancy was overmedicated and that her care was disjointed, with doctors not speaking to one another or sharing notes. The defense also showed she was discharged from one facility after a day and denied a higher level of care at another when she couldn't show that she had a suicide plan.

Prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of Lindsay Clancy's suicide attempt and showed through texts and photos that she performed many normal activities the day of the killings, including taking her children to the doctor and playing with them in the snow.

Her doctors have testified they never saw her exhibit signs of mania or psychosis, though she did repeatedly talk of feeling suicidal.

At the start of the trial, Patrick Clancy described the horror of returning home to find his dead children. During his testimony, prosecutors played a harrowing seven-minute 911 call, which was not released to the public. Patrick Clancy can be heard checking on Lindsay Clancy in the backyard, before heading down to his basement and finding his children.

He screams and howls before telling a dispatcher, “She killed the kids!”

If convicted of murder, Lindsay Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty because of a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

The Lakeland, Florida-based grocery giant confirmed it recently updated its express lane process, giving associates more flexibility in managing customer flow rather than enforcing a hard item limit.

“To better serve our customers and improve checkout efficiency, we recently updated our express lane process to provide associates with greater flexibility in managing customer flow. Rather than adhering to a specific item limit, our focus is on reducing wait times and ensuring customers can be served as efficiently as possible.”

Publix spokesperson

Publix did not clarify whether the change applies to self-checkout lanes, which have been rapidly expanding across its store locations in recent years.

The move comes as Publix navigates a challenging economic climate. The company reported second-quarter sales of $15.7 billion — up just 1% from $15.6 billion a year earlier — with comparable-store sales dipping 0.5% for the quarter.

Publix did not say when the policy took effect or whether it applies to all of its more than 1,400 stores across eight southeastern states.

The Big Ten has eight players on the first team, led by Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and two of his teammates.

Defending national champion Indiana, Georgia and Oklahoma each has two players on the first team, as determined by media members on the AP Top 25 voting panel.

The Texas players on the team are offensive lineman Trevor Goosby, wide receiver Cam Coleman, defensive lineman Colin Simmons and linebacker Rasheem Biles.

Defensive lineman A’Mauri Washington and safety Koi Perich are the Oregon players joining Moore, who edged out Mississippi's Trinidad Chambliss for first-team honors.

Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the Big Ten preseason offensive player of the year, is the only selection from Ohio State, the No. 1 team in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

Smith, Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy and Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore are returning AP first-team All-America picks who are on the preseason team.

Iowa's Kade Pieper was voted first-team center by a wide margin even though this will be his first season playing the position. He moved from right guard to replace 2025 consensus All-American Logan Jones.

The AP All-America team for this season will be released in December.

First team offense

Quarterback — Dante Moore, fourth year, Oregon.

Running backs — Kewan Lacy, third year, Mississippi; Ahmad Hardy, third year, Missouri.

Tackles — Carter Smith, fifth year, Indiana; Trevor Goosby, fourth year, Texas.

Guards — Evan Tengesdahl, fourth year, Cincinnati; Shadre Hurst, fifth year, Houston.

Center — Kade Pieper, fourth year, Iowa.

Tight end — Trey’Dez Green, third year, LSU.

Wide receivers — Jeremiah Smith, third year, Ohio State; Malachi Toney, second year, Miami; Cam Coleman, third year, Texas.

All-purpose player — Wayne Knight, fifth year, UCLA.

Kicker — Tate Sandell, fifth year, Oklahoma.

First team defense

Edge — Colin Simmons, third year, Texas; Dylan Stewart, third year, South Carolina.

Tackles — A’Mauri Washington, fourth year, Oregon; David Stone, third year, Oklahoma.

Linebackers — Rasheem Biles, fourth year, Texas; Xavier Atkins, third year, Auburn; Rolijah Hardy, third year, Indiana.

Cornerbacks — Leonard Moore, third year, Notre Dame; Ellis Robinson IV, third year, Georgia.

Safeties — KJ Bolden, third year, Georgia; Koi Perich, third year, Oregon.

Defensive back — Bray Hubbard, fourth year, Alabama.

Punter — Evan Crenshaw, fifth year, Troy.

Second team offense

Quarterback — Trinidad Chambliss, fifth year, Mississippi.

Running backs — Mark Fletcher Jr., fourth year, Miami; LJ Martin, fourth year, BYU.

Tackles — Cayden Green, fourth year, Missouri; Jordan Seaton, third year, LSU.

Guards — Greg Johnson, fourth year, Minnesota; Luke Montgomery, fourth year, Ohio State.

Center — Drew Bobo, fifth season, Georgia.

Tight end — Terrance Carter Jr., fifth year, Texas Tech.

Wide receivers — Duce Robinson, fourth year, Florida State; Charlie Becker, third year, Indiana; KJ Duff, third year, Rutgers.

All-purpose player — Cam Cook, fourth year, West Virginia.

Kicker — Lucas Carneiro, fifth year, Mississippi.

Second team defense

Edge — Anthony Smith, fifth season, Minnesota; John Henry Daley, fourth year, Michigan.

Tackles — Tyrique Tucker, fifth year, Indiana; Will Echoles, third year, Mississippi.

Linebackers — Sammy Brown, third year Clemson; Raylen Wilson, fourth year, Georgia; Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, third year, Notre Dame.

Cornerbacks — Brandon Finney Jr., second year, Oregon; Zabien Brown, third year, Alabama.

Safeties — Brauntae Johnson, third year, Notre Dame; Ty Benefield, fourth year, LSU.

Defensive back — Kelley Jones, fourth year, Mississippi State.

Punter — Palmer Williams, fourth year, Baylor.

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A viewer told News 6 the manatees first beached themselves around 2 p.m. Witnesses said they began reaching out to wildlife authorities and marine rescue organizations at that time.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, FWC received calls reporting the manatees had become stranded onshore during mating activity. FWC then contacted the Volusia County marine mammal response team, which responded to monitor the animals, assess their respiration and body condition, and take measurements.

“We sent a crew down to investigate,” a New Smyrna Beach battalion chief told News 6 hours before the manatees made it back into the river at high tide.

Responders ultimately determined the best course of action was to wait for high tide to see whether the manatees could return to the water on their own

The manatees were ultimately able to return to the water as the tide rose later by 11 p.m.

FWC says mating herds typically include one female pursued by a group of males and may remain together for hours or even days. Although manatees are often considered gentle giants, they are large, strong animals that can be quite active during mating — and that is normal behavior.

Manatees, especially exhausted females, may sometimes beach themselves during this activity. FWC urges anyone who witnesses this to watch from a distance and never attempt to approach, interfere with or push a manatee back into open water.

Anyone who spots a distressed, injured or stranded manatee is encouraged to call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

Trump has suggested the massive building be painted as part of his push to remake and beautify the nation’s capital. Planners said the paint job would cost at least $7.5 million.

The proposal to paint the building has alarmed preservationists, architects, historians and others who argue that granite is not meant to be painted and that paint would trap moisture and degrade the stone.

U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich said plaintiffs in an ongoing case had not shown that minimal tests planned for the historic building would cause irreparable harm if those tests go ahead.

The plaintiffs, which include cultural preservationist groups, had sought a restraining order and a temporary injunction to stop the Trump administration from conducting tests and other preparatory work.

At issue was whether that work would get ahead of a larger question before the court over whether the General Services Administration could delegate its authority for such a project to the Executive Office.

“The plaintiffs’ motion rises and falls on irreparable harm,” Friedrich said from the bench. The test areas would include about 8 square feet of the building's massive exterior and several panels that can’t be seen by the public, she said.

Friedrich said that while she was allowing that test to move ahead, she would not hesitate to step in and rule if the administration moved beyond the limited testing. She asked the parties to provide a status report by next Tuesday and ordered regular reports following that.

Gregory Werkheiser, a lawyer with Cultural Heritage Partners and one of the plaintiffs, said that while he and others challenging the painting plan were disappointed, “the reasons we brought this case are untouched by today’s decision.”

The larger issue, he said, is whether “the president has taken power illegally from the GSA and put it in his office in terms of this project and the implications of that. If that holds true for historic properties around the country, that could be devastating.”

Cosmic radiation comes from space. Only a small amount reaches the Earth's surface, but exposure is greater for people flying at high altitudes.

There’s been limited evidence from small studies suggesting that the exposure translates to higher cancer death rates among people who fly often — particularly pilots and flight attendants. The new study “brings important new evidence to bear on this question,” two Australian radiation experts who weren't involved in the research wrote in an accompanying commentary.

The latest study, published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine, used national data from more than 12 million death certificates that included information about occupations. The authors looked at death rates from cancers that are tied to radiation exposures, including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and cancers of the skin, breast, thyroid, prostate and central nervous system.

Among more than 500 occupations, flight attendants had the highest percentage of deaths from radiation-related cancers, and pilots were second, the researchers found. For those two occupations, the odds of dying were unusually high for each type of radiation-related cancer.

Neither group showed higher-than-normal death rates from cancers that aren't tied to radiation exposure, noted the commentary writers, Catherine Olsen and Ken Karipidis. That fact “supports the hypothesis that occupational radiation exposure, rather than lifestyle or socioeconomic factors, underlies the observed excess,” they wrote.

The researchers found that flight attendants had about 50% higher odds of dying from a radiation-related cancer than the general working population, and pilots had about 36% higher odds.

In terms of absolute risk, about 6.9% of flight attendant deaths were from these cancers — roughly 1 in 14. Among pilots, it was 6.7%. For the general working population, it was 5%, said the study's first author, Dr. Vishal Patel of Harvard Medical School.

The authors acknowledged some limitations in their study. They do not know how much exposure each flight attendant and pilot got in the air or from other sources. It's also possible occupations were misclassified on some death certificates.

They also could not account for another possible contributor specific to the professions: Cancer risk can be worsened by frequent disruption of the body’s internal clock, which can be affected by jet lag, crossing time zones and irregular work schedules.

The Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged that aircrews are exposed to ionizing radiation, but the government does not set federal dose limits or require monitoring, the authors noted.

“You can't manage an exposure you've decided not to measure,” Patel said in an email.

Sara Nelson, who leads a union representing 55,000 flight attendants, said the report reinforces that radiation exposure needs to be taken seriously, as the union has suggested for years.

“The risk is known, but crew are not educated or informed. And, no one is taking responsibility,” said Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

Annual skin examinations may be warranted for all people working on high-altitude flights, and women in those jobs may want to get mammograms earlier or more frequently, Olsen and Karipidis wrote. Doctors who care for pilots and flight attendants also should have a “heightened index of suspicion” for cancer when evaluating these patients, they said.

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

Revenue increased to $47.86 billion from $45.28 billion, edging out the $47.24 billion that Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by FactSet.

Globally, sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, climbed 1.7%. In the U.S., comparable store sales rose 1.3%.

“We saw broad based demand across the business as customers continued to engage in smaller projects,” Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said in prepared remarks Tuesday.

Customer transactions slipped 1% in the quarter, but the amount shoppers spent rose to $92.50 per average receipt from $90.01 a year earlier.

Healthy spending on smaller projects during the quarter is encouraging, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.

“From our data, the number of smaller projects undertaken during the quarter increased by 1.5% over the prior year,” Saunders said in an email. “This may sound unimpressive, but it represents a step change from the declines of previous periods."

But Saunders also pointed out a potential weakness that is impacting almost all businesses where credit is sometimes required.

“The number of bigger-ticket projects undertaken remains down, falling by 2.1% over last year,” he said. "Concerns around financing and a previous lack of moving activity both remain major drags on the bigger-ticket segment.”

Homeowners that are currently considering taking out loans using home equity are realizing that it is considerably more expensive now compared with the ultra-low rates Americans could count on in the early 2020s. A home project that seemed within reach at a 4% to 5% borrowing rate looks a lot more daunting at 8% or higher.

McPhail remains upbeat about Home Depot’s ability to navigate current conditions.

“While consumer uncertainty and housing affordability continue to pressure demand for larger home improvement projects, we remain focused on what we can control,” he said during the company’s conference call.

While the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell slightly for the first time in six weeks, it is still up from last year and borrowing costs remain steeper than they were a year ago.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, the year mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows that fueled a homebuying frenzy at the start of this decade.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed again in July as record prices and the highest mortgage rates in a year prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for many prospective buyers. Existing home sales fell 1.7% last month from June, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

Home prices continue to rise and hit unprecedented levels for the month of July, NAR said. The U.S. median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100.

For the three months ended Aug. 2, Home Depot earned $4.77 billion, or $4.79 per share. A year earlier the home improvement retailer earned $4.55 billion, or $4.58 per share.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $4.92 per share. That’s much better than the $4.73 per share that Wall Street predicted.

McPhail, along with Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vice president, are overseeing operations while CEO Ted Decker takes a temporary medical leave of absence. The company said last week that it expects Decker to return within the next few months.

Home Depot also announced Tuesday that it is launching express delivery nationwide. The service will get orders to customers within three hours or less. It will be available for a small flat fee in the U.S., with no subscription or membership required.

The Atlanta company has posted solid back-to-back quarterly performances this year though many Americans have struggled to buy a home. Despite the solid performance, Home Depot stuck with its earlier sales growth guidance for fiscal 2026 of between 2.5% and 4.5%. It also left unchanged its expectations that comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.

Home Depot said that its outlook includes tariff refunds, which are expected to partially offset higher fuel, energy, and other product input costs throughout the year. Last year, the company said that it didn't expect to raise prices because of tariffs, but executive Billy Bastek said at the time that some products that were on Home Depot shelves may disappear.

McPhail said during the call that Home Depot received $730 million in tariff refunds. Of that, $685 million was put towards lowering the cost of goods sold.

The company's stock rose nearly 2% Tuesday.

The NSO made its delayed 2026-27 season announcement Tuesday, 5 1/2 weeks before its opening concert on Sept. 26 and five months later than the release of its 2025-26 schedule.

The Kennedy Center, named by Congress after President John F. Kennedy, was taken over in 2025 by a board of Trump loyalists who added his name to the complex, only to be ordered to remove it by a federal judge. The board said last week it intends to close the complex for a two-year renovation and add Trump's name to the building’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”

NSO tickets sales declined from 72% of capacity in 2024 to 58% in 2025 to 41% last season, The Washington Post reported. The NSO did not confirm the figures.

“For us to perform and to be somehow disconnected with the Kennedy Center probably will convince some of the audience who stayed away from the center to come back to our concerts, and not only that, even to increase the number of the audience,” music director Gianandrea Noseda said in an interview with The Associated Press. “At least this is my hope.”

Noseda was the only NSO official who commented on the record about the season announcement. Trump's name was included twice in the joint statement by the NSO and the Kennedy Center, which cited his “strategic direction” as Kennedy Center chair and “vision for a revitalized institution.”

Entering his 10th season as music director, Noseda is signed through the NSO’s 100th anniversary season in 2030-31.

Tickets go on sale Aug. 28, leaving little time to start rebuilding an audience.

There are 64 scheduled NSO classical concerts in the upcoming season, including 56 in the D.C. area and eight on a U.S. tour from April 20-30. The total matches 2025-26, when there were 62 at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall and two on tour.

Next season will include 24 concerts at George Washington's Lisner Auditorium in D.C. (1,350 available seats), 13 at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, (1,925), nine at Northern Virginia Community College's Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria (900), eight at George Mason's Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia, (1,850), and two each at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park (1,050) and D.C.'s Lincoln Theatre (1,150).

“We’ll increase the ability of the orchestra to adjust very quickly to the acoustics. I’d like to think of this year of the National Symphony Orchestra as a regional touring orchestra,” Noseda said. “So we will be on tour and we will take and bring the music where the people are instead of inviting them to where we perform.”

Capacity of the venues will be below that of the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall, which had up to 2,465 available seats.

The orchestra still intends to rehearse at the Kennedy Center during the reconstruction and keep its office and music library there.

Noseda will conduct 20 concerts at five of the venues during his 10 weeks in the D.C. area starting with a gala Sept. 26 at Strathmore, and he also will lead the tour performances. He said just two of his programs were changed from his original plans, substituting Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 for Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell” overture and one Ottorino Respighi composition for another, both to account for a smaller stage that could accommodate fewer musicians.

Five holiday performances of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” are the only concerts that require a chorus.

“I honestly would have preferred not to go through this, but the situation is the way it is and we have to be proactive,” Noseda said.

The special prosecutor’s investigation stems from an ethics complaint tied to the city’s BOOST 2.0 program, a public grant initiative aimed at helping small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investigative report cleared Espinosa of several complaints but recommended impeachment related to funds she received through the BOOST 2.0 program. According to state investigators, Espinosa and her family own several businesses in Kissimmee.

Of the first $375,000 allocated for the program, which Espinosa voted to create, the mayor received $50,000 of the first round of funds, the report states.

The report also claims that Espinosa helped her family members and tenants receive grant money.

The special prosecutor wrote, “The BOOST 2.0 program was created to help Kissimmee’s small businesses survive a pandemic, not to enrich the official who controlled it.”

Kissimmee residents are anxious to see how the commission will vote. June Reyes, a Kissimmee resident, believes Espinosa should be removed.

“Well, if the money is for the community, for the people, then it should go to the people. It’s not for personal use or anything like that. If that’s not corruption, then what is, right?” Reyes said.

“Well, any corruption by government officials, first, it needs to be investigated, of course, and then if proven, then they need to step down. Just like that.”

Others in the community believe the mayor is being unfairly targeted.

“So, honestly, I see when I see something like that, I honestly feel that she’s either being targeted because she’s not playing by the rules or something like that,” Harsper Walker said. “Good luck to you. That’s all I can say, mayor.”

When the investigative report was released, Espinosa’s attorney said the mayor plans to defend herself.

“She remains confident that a fair and impartial review of the complete record will demonstrate that impeachment is neither legally justified nor supported by the evidence,” the attorney said.

The Commission will hold the special meeting Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at Kissimmee City Hall.

If the schools don't complete a review and terminate any arrangements deemed problematic within the next two weeks, they face losing funding. The goal is to protect taxpayer-funded research from theft and exploitation, the Pentagon said Monday.

“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said in a news release.

The release didn't name the schools, but a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters said they include Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University.

The schools didn't immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Sarah Spreitzer, vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents, raised concerns that the announcement suggests, without any evidence, that the schools are engaged in wrongdoing.

The order comes after the Pentagon last month released an updated list of 130 foreign institutions it accused of engaging in “activities that increase the likelihood of U.S. government-funded research and development efforts being misappropriated.”

While the vast majority were Chinese, such as the University of Science and Technology of China and the country's Academy of Military Medical Sciences, several Iranian and Russian institutions also appeared on the list.

The first version of the list was developed during Trump's first term, with the help of the American Council on Education, Spreitzer said.

She said most of the council's member institutions moved away from research partnerships with those institutions in the years that followed. She said she worries U.S. schools will be held liable for partnerships that predate the creation of the list.

“We don’t appreciate the implication that we are not good partners on research security, given that we helped create this list, and given that we’ve always partnered with the federal government when there has been national security concerns,” she said.

The audit comes as the Trump administration continues to express deep concern about China’s activities in the Americas, pushing back on Chinese ownership of ports at either end of the Panama Canal, infrastructure projects funded by China’s Belt and Road initiative in the region and Chinese investment in the telecommunications sector.

The Justice Department also is investigating whether Harvard University is allowing Chinese donors to create scholarships that exclude American students, adding to the barrage of federal inquiries the Trump administration has opened in its battle against the Ivy League school.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said in a statement that the country opposes what it described as the politicization of “normal scientific, educational, and academic exchanges.”

“The U.S. side,” the statement continued, “should abandon the Cold War mentality and foster an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for educational, scientific, and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.” ___

Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

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

The last leg of what is being billed as their farewell tour kicks off in September in Los Angeles and what likely will be an emotional homecoming is at the end of it — in San Francisco in November.

“I’m sure it’s going to be somewhat emotional because that’s where it all started,” says co-founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon. “I know the audience is going to be off the hook.”

The band has plenty of dates before that finale, with stops in Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Denver and Las Vegas, among others.

The tour's last show in San Francisco will cap more than 100 concerts this year, and the band frequently plays for more than two hours, adding deep cuts — like the spacy, melodic “Of a Lifetime” from the early ‘70s and songs from the album “Raised on Radio” from the ’80s — to the reliable hits, like “Faithfully.”

“I’m loving it because it’s the type of show I’ve been wanting to do with Journey,” says Schon, who is frustrated when the band is lumped in with other '80s bands like REO Speedwagon, Styx or Foreigner.

“I always felt like even though all those bands have contributed something that a lot of people like, we were much different. I thought musically we could go any place that we wanted to. And so now we’re doing that, finally.”

Expect hits and album tunes alike

Journey has had six Top 10 hits on the Billboard singles chart — including “Open Arms” and “Who’s Crying Now” — and eight albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, including the 1981 No. 1 “Escape.”

Fans can expect to hear those hits as well as Journey's enduring anthem, “Don’t Stop Believin,’” which Schon wrote with keyboardist Jonathan Cain and then-lead singer Steve Perry.

It has shown up in the Broadway show “Rock of Ages,” the cut-to-black finale of “The Sopranos,” the TV show “Glee,” Brad Pitt’s “Moneyball,” the movie “Monster” and the Democratic National Convention roll call in 2024. Journey returns to the road this fall after a summer in which “Don’t Stop Believin’” was heard at the World Cup and as the New York Knicks won the NBA crown.

“'Don’t Stop Believin’' has surpassed our expectations,” says Cain. “Every band wishes they had one and we have one. So, I guess that’s our ‘Hey Jude’ calling card. So we’ll take it.”

In addition to Schon and Cain, the current Journey lineup includes singer Arnel Pineda, keyboardist Jason Derlatka, drummer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jensen. Cain, Derlatka and Castronovo pick up the mic to give Pineda a break on some songs.

Band members say they look out and see five generations attending their shows. “I like to say Journey is certain music in uncertain times,” Cain says. “Journey is a soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives.”

Future is uncertain for band members

The band, born in San Francisco in the days of vinyl, have endured through huge changes in the music business — CDs, Napster, digital and streaming. Schon, who cut his teeth playing with Carlos Santana, remembers Journey in the early days opening for Kiss, Jeff Beck and Cheech and Chong

Touring seems to be the only way for most bands to make any money since each streaming song earns them a fraction of a penny. Journey has leaned into the tour, sometimes hitting three cities in one day.

“I feel bad for the new generation,” says Cain. “I remember when I got a big old fat royalty check and they were playing our songs on the radio and that a new album meant you would sell more tickets. Not so today.”

The end point — Nov. 28 at the Chase Center — looms, but the band isn't sure what that night will include. “It’ll be fitting to end there for sure,” says Cain. “Who knows who’s going to show up? I don’t know. There might be a reunion of sorts, I hope.”

After that, the band isn't certain. “The future kind of remains up in the air really,” says Cain. Schon agrees but isn't ready to make predictions.

“I’m not nearly done with what I want to do,” he says. “I think there’s many great opportunities in the future. Whether or not it’s with everybody that’s here right now, I’m not certain.”

Depending on who you ask, tending to the daily barrage of guinea pig needs can be either a fairy tale or a horror show. For Smothermon, it’s often a mix of both.

“If I could figure out how to get out of this at this point, I probably would,” Smothermon joked. “But I do believe that to a certain extent, I probably wouldn’t get out of bed if I didn’t have this.”

Smothermon is the owner of the Guinea Pig Sanctuary, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Boston. On any given day, 350 to 400 guinea pigs are housed in a modest workspace, split into cages stacked from the floor to ceiling.

The space is cramped and chaotic as volunteers and visitors squeeze past each other between the rows of cages in a converted office space. People constantly move throughout the space cleaning out cages and checking on any sick animals.

But there’s also joy. The squeals from the little piggies about to eat lettuce and other vegetation often spark laughter, while others cuddle and comfort some of the guinea pigs. Each animal has a name prominently displayed outside their cage, as volunteers tick off their personalities.

Maui is friendly and gives kisses. Gritty is older, but shy. Rio has spunk and likes to run around. They all remember the smell of their caretakers and gravitate toward their favorites.

“They’re very sensitive animals,” said Janet Woodman, a volunteer at the nonprofit. “I personally think they are probably the best therapy animal next to a horse.”

Smothermon’s operation is one of the handful of animal rescues in the U.S. devoted solely to taking in abandoned guinea pigs — filling a need as people become overwhelmed with the responsibilities required to take care of these pets. The sanctuary additionally offers boarding for guinea pigs when their owners are traveling, as well as encouraging rehoming of the animals when they can.

Measuring between 8-10 inches (20.32-25.4 centimeters) long, these small beasts originally came from South America derived from the Cavia porcellus species, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. After being domesticated in 5,000 B.C., there are now 13 different breeds that are distributed as both pets and for food.

According to Smothermon, guinea pigs often need to be adopted in pairs. They’re social and can’t be kept in cages full time.

Within minutes of opening the sanctuary earlier this year, an older woman walked through the door carrying two cages needing to “surrender” her guinea pigs. The woman’s husband had become sick, she explained to Smothermon, and she couldn’t properly take care of both him and her pets.

Smothermon hugged the woman and waived the usual fee.

“I tell people, just bring them here,” she said. “If that’s what you need to do, I’ll take on the responsibility.”

Other days, Smothermon is fielding calls from across the U.S., asking if she can take 11 piggies from Illinois, seven from Texas, and 97 from New York — where nearly half are expected to have babies.

It's a constant stress that Smothermon never imagined would consume her life. It initially began when her grandson, Alex, brought home a guinea pig. Alex had fallen into a fire as a child and experienced health problems, causing him to avoid most animals up until he was 12, when he discovered it was safe to interact with guinea pigs.

From there, Smothermon said, her family became a resource to take in abandoned guinea pigs. The family ran the rescue out of their New Hampshire house until a fatal fire burned it down in 2019. The fire resulted in the loss of Smothermon's other grandson, two dogs and dozens of guinea pigs.

The tragedy sent Smothermon into a depression, but when her family was living out of a hotel as they looked for a new home, people still kept dropping off guinea pigs that needed help.

Seeing the need gave Smothermon and her family the focus and motivation to continue Alex's dream, and eventually they relocated to Massachusetts.

Smothermon says the work is hard. She only gets a handful of days off a year, but the constant drumbeat of needing to take care of hundreds, if not thousands, of guinea pigs keeps her grounded.

“If I don’t get up, they don’t eat and they can die. So even though it’s not a choice, I have to," she said.

The campaign featured over a dozen contenders in each of the top races — for Senate, U.S. House and governor. Under Alaska’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes qualify for the ranked vote general election.

Tuesday's ballot also included candidates running for the Legislature and a statewide initiative that would reimpose campaign contribution limits in state and local elections.

Senate race includes 2 Dan Sullivans and a former congresswoman

The highest-profile candidates in a field of 16 were two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola.

The race, which could help determine control of the Senate, has drawn significant attention from outside groups, with Republican and Democratic campaign organizations identifying it as a top target. Peltola shook up her campaign leadership days before the primary.

During the campaign, Sullivan, a veteran and ally of President Donald Trump, emphasized his support for the military, efforts to open more land for oil development and Trump's signature tax and spending bill passed last year. He accused Peltola of being aligned with Lower 48 “liberals.”

Peltola leaned into the “fish, family, freedom” slogan that first got her elected in 2022. She has criticized a political system that she said is rigged by special interests and allows politicians to enrich themselves.

But it was a third candidate, a Republican also named Dan Sullivan, who garnered much of the attention.

Dan J. Sullivan won a legal fight to appear on the ballot following claims by the senator and GOP allies that he was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats with the intent of causing confusion. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, denied that and said his run was spurred by frustration with the incumbent.

He appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation — a decision that a state elections official said was intended to minimize possible confusion. Meanwhile, the senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. The “incumbent” label does not accompany the names of any other candidates seeking reelection.

The drama involving the dueling Dan Sullivans caught the attention of Trump. In a social media post endorsing the senator days before the primary, he called the other's candidacy an attempt to trick voters and urged his followers to vote for “SULLIVAN, DAN S.”

Republican Begich faced challenge from independent fisherman

In the race for Alaska's only House seat, the most prominent candidates were Republican Rep. Nick Begich, seeking a second term, and independent Bill Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small southwestern village.

Progressive Democrat Matt Schultz suspended his campaign last month but remained on the ballot. His campaign said Schultz would withdraw as a general election candidate if he makes the primary's top four.

Schultz urged support for Hill, who leaned into concerns about affordability. Begich, who was endorsed by Trump, cast himself as hardworking and effective in his role. House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared at a rally for Begich in a conservative part of the state this month, though the event was closed to news media.

Governor's race wide open

The campaign for the state’s top executive office was an open race this year because Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy was barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive stint.

Two Democrats hope to emerge from a crowded, largely Republican field: former state lawmakers Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, who is Nick Begich's uncle. If one of them wins in November, he would become Alaska's first Democratic governor since Tony Knowles left office in 2002.

Republicans in the race included Bernadette Wilson, a businessperson and conservative activist; Click Bishop, a former state labor commissioner and lawmaker; Dave Bronson, former mayor of Anchorage; and Adam Crum and Treg Taylor, two former members of Dunleavy's Cabinet.

Former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, was also on the ballot.

Ballot measure addresses money in state politics

The lone measure before voters on the primary ballot asked them to reimpose campaign contribution limits five years after a divided federal appeals court struck down a number of caps.

The measure proposes a $2,000 limit on how much individuals can give to candidates in state and local elections and a $5,000 cap on what they can give to political parties. It would also limit spending by groups other than political parties and how much individuals and groups can give to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor.

Supporters say such limits are needed to prevent special interests and wealthy donors from having outsize influence on a campaign or race. Opponents say the measure would favor candidates with name recognition and argue that restricting what someone can contribute limits their voice.

Political spending by wealthy people has become a flashpoint in races in Alaska and elsewhere. In 2025 in Wisconsin, billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros helped push spending in a state Supreme Court campaign past $100 million, the most ever for a court race in the U.S.

The British government is backing the landmark airspace-scale trial, launched Tuesday, to avoid creating condensation trails, or contrails. Google UK is contributing its artificial intelligence-powered forecasts to identify the contrail regions.

When airplanes fly through cold and humid areas, ice crystals can form around the soot particles emitted from the engine, creating clouds that trap heat and warm the planet. The Shanwick Oceanic Control Area in the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor, the location of the trial, is a busy gateway for air traffic between Europe and North America. It's also a hot spot for where contrails form.

The 30-month research program known as Operation Blue Skies includes test periods this winter and next, when air traffic controllers will tell some flights to deviate up to 2,000 feet (610 meters) to avoid areas where contrails are likely to form. These will be minor altitude adjustments within standard flight operations, coordinated through established air traffic control communication channels, according to the British government.

There will be about 20 to 40 test days per winter, when there is less air traffic. Around 10,000 flights are expected to pass through the Shanwick airspace during the testing. Hundreds of those flights would deviate their routes. That 1 % to 5% would be enough to demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in contrail formation on an airspace-scale, said Paul Hodgson, Google's technical lead for Operation Blue Skies.

Individual airlines have tested shifting altitudes to avoid contrail regions. Earlier this year, Google and American Airlines announced that the airline significantly reduced the climate impact of some flights using Google’s AI-based forecasting tool to help prevent contrails.

This new effort expands on individual airline trials to try mitigating contrails across an entire flight corridor.

The thin, white lines that form behind airplanes are responsible for a surprising amount of Earth’s warming — 1% to 2%, according to Contrails.org, a nonprofit research organization dedicated to reducing aviation’s climate impact through contrail management, as part of the Breakthrough Energy group founded by Bill Gates. Modeling shows that the Shanwick airspace accounts for about 5% of the total contributed by contrails, with a significant amount occurring during winter.

Keir Mather, the UK minister responsible for aviation, said the government is partnering with Google to back British experts and innovators to find practical ways to make flying cleaner. The government is paying for more than half of the 5 million pound ($6.76 million) study.

Google called contrails one of the most urgent yet solvable climate challenges facing aviation today.

Hodgson said testing over an airspace, versus individual airline trials, can show how it's possible to move multiple planes away simultaneously from an area where contrails will form, and can show if contrails can be reduced overall for a region. This could provide a blueprint for similar airspaces, he added.

Along with Google and the UK Department for Transport, the consortium includes the Met Office, the UK’s leading air navigation service provider NATS, Contrails.org, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge.

An Imperial College London study in 2020 found that small changes to flight paths could reduce the climate impact of contrails. Professor Marc Stettler said Operation Blue Skies is a chance to test that idea in the real world, on a scale never seen before.

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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.

Also in the mix are a handful of scandal-plagued candidates, multiple people running with matching last names and several incumbents at risk of defeat.

Tuesday's contests will help shape the fiercely contested midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans have a narrow edge, and offer a referendum on President Donald Trump's second term.

Here's a closer look at what to watch.

Historic slate of Black candidates for governor emerging

Trump-backed Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a rising star in the Republican Party, is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis to become the first Black governor of the state. If Donalds wins, he'll become part of a historic slate of Black gubernatorial nominees that includes Republican Rep. John James in Michigan and Lisa Demuth, who defeated pillow-selling conspiracist Mike Lindell in Minnesota.

On the Democratic side, David Crowley won a razor-thin primary against a democratic socialist in Wisconsin, joining Attorney General Aaron Ford in Nevada, State Rep. Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running in Georgia to be the nation's first Black woman governor.

There is currently only one Black governor in the nation, Democrat Wes Moore of Maryland, who is seeking reelection in November.

The Florida GOP winner will likely face David Jolly, a former Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat.

Redistricting creates skirmishing for Democrats in Florida House races

A GOP-led redrawing scrambled Florida's congressional map, which has created some awkward matchups.

The most contentious pits veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz against former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in a South Florida district that is almost majority Black. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned earlier this year under threat of House ethics sanctions, but now wants her seat back.

Wasserman Schultz, a former national party chair seeking a 12th term in Congress, is the only white candidate competing against four Black candidates in an area of Broward County that has helped send Black Democrats to Congress since 1992. Her decision to run has raised questions about representation and stirred deep animosity, including charges by one rival that “she stabbed us in the back."

Carpetbaggers and comebacks in the making in Florida?

The race to fill Donalds' House seat features a cast of characters akin to a reality show reunion, including several who have spent time in prison and a handful who have run in other states.

The field includes two former members of Congress who are mounting comeback bids after departing in scandal. Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn'stenure was marred by repeat traffic stops, guns at airport checkpoints and a claim he had been invited to a Washington orgy. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who resigned before pleading guilty to insider trading charges, served prison time before he was pardoned by Trump.

Trump-endorsed Catalina Lauf ran twice for Congress in Illinois. She lost the 2020 primary to Jim Oberweis, a former state senator, who has also decamped to Florida and is running for the seat.

Another candidate, Ola Hawatmeh, previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York, while Linda Sawyer once tried in Michigan.

Also in the race: John Strand, a former television actor, underwear model and romance novel cover model, who served prison time for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault of the U.S. Capitol.

Progressive vs. establishment candidates at odds again

The internal battle between progressive and establishment candidates that has been roiling the Democratic Party in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, now arrives in more conservative territory.

Progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon is facing retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who delivered searing testimony against Trump in his 2019 impeachment trial. They're both running in the Florida special election to fill the last two years of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's former Senate term.

The winner is likely to face interim Sen. Ashley Moody, the Republican appointed by DeSantis to the seat.

Other races will also put fault lines on display. In South Florida, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is running for reelection in a new Republican-friendly district against union organizer and democratic socialist Oliver Larkin.

Meanwhile, Republican incumbents are facing their own challenges. Rep. Cory Mills, running for a third term, has been plagued by an ethics investigation stemming from allegations of assault, domestic violence and campaign finance violations, which he denies.

Double-checking the name in Alaska

In a Senate race that is expected to be one of the country's most closely watched this fall, incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, is facing another candidate also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans have argued the second Sullivan, who’ll be appearing on the ballot as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.," is a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Also in the race is former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. She was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, and she would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November.

Under Alaska’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes move on to a ranked-vote general election.

There are other surnames for Alaskans to keep straight.

Republican Rep. Nick Begich faces a crowded field in his bid for a second term in the state’s lone congressional seat. His uncle, former state Sen. Tom Begich, and former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins are the two Democrats in the race for governor. Tom Begich is the brother of Mark Begich, a former Democratic U.S. senator whom Sullivan defeated in 2014.

Seats open up in Wyoming

For the first time in more than 30 years, Wyoming has open seats for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House all up for grabs in a state where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 7-to-1 margin.

Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis' decision to retire after a single term has set off a chain reaction, with Rep. Harriet Hageman running to replace her.

She has an overwhelming fundraising advantage and became well-known after defeating former Rep. Liz Cheney, one of Trump's harshest Republican critics, in 2022.

Nine Republicans, meanwhile, are competing to replace Hageman as the state's lone U.S. representative.

Wyoming’s current governor, Republican Mark Gordon, considered seeking a third term and challenging a state term limit law but ultimately decided not to.

Pro-Israel group spending in former Swalwell seat

In California's Bay Area, voters will be picking a replacement for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose resignation amid sexual assault allegations ended his run for governor.

California's 14th District will remain under Democratic control as state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez advanced from a special open primary.

The race is reprising a theme that cropped up in other Democratic primaries this year: outside spending, particularly from pro-Israel lobbying groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC has spent more than $2 million against Wahab and backing Hernandez, and another group with funding from the super PAC has spent nearly $2 million in support of Hernandez.

Pro-Israel group spending seemed to backfire in Michigan's recent Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed emerged victorious despite tens of millions of dollars backing his opponent Rep. Haley Stevens.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Last week, Putin visited Iturup, one of the four southernmost islands of the chain, which Japan calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Putin’s visit, his first to the islands, was “incompatible with the Japanese position on the Northern Territories” and was “absolutely unacceptable.” She said the visit was a further blow to already-strained ties between the two countries over Ukraine, and that Moscow should understand the consequences.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tokyo “strongly protests” Putin’s visit to Iturup, which Japan calls Etorofu, noting that "the Northern Territories, including Etorofu Island, are Japan’s inherent territory both historically and from the perspective of international law.”

On Tuesday, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin met with Japanese Ambassador Akira Muto to lodge a formal protest over the “anti-Russia” statements by Takaichi and Motegi.

“Russia’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over the southern Kuril Islands are absolutely unshakable,” Galuzin told Muto, according to the Foreign Ministry.

“These territories passed to our country as a result of World War II that was enshrined in the relevant agreements of the Allied Powers and the U.N. Charter,” the ministry said. “Any attempts by the Japanese side to directly or indirectly call this obvious reality into question are absolutely unacceptable and unlawful.”

Galuzin told the ambassador that in view of Tokyo's adherence to Western sanctions against Russia and its support for Ukraine, “Moscow reserves the right to take appropriate countermeasures.”

The Japanese Embassy said in a statement that Muto, during his approximately 20-minute meeting with Galuzin, “appropriately explained the Japanese position on the Northern Territories and President Putin’s recent visit."

It gave no other details, including how Muto responded to Galuzin’s comment on Russia’s territorial claim of the islands or if Japan is considering taking a retaliatory step, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Decades of diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement haven’t produced any visible results. Moscow over the years has also bolstered its military presence on the Kurils in moves that appeared to underscore its firm stance in the dispute.

Speaking last week aboard a Russian warship taking part in the drills in the Pacific, Putin said Moscow previously “had developed constructive relations with a number of Japanese leaders, including the tragically deceased former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who did much to bring Japan and Russia closer together, to align our positions.”

Japan imposed sanctions on Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and “listed Russia as a source of primary threats,” a change in that constructive relationship, he added.

Russia remains ready “to cooperate with all its neighbors, including Japan and other states in the region,” Putin said.

Speaking at the start of the talks with President Min Aung Hlaing, Putin noted both countries have cooperated on foreign policy and security issues and developed economic projects.

They have held joint military drills and developed plans for Russia to build a nuclear power plant, a seaport, oil refineries and other facilities in Myanmar.

The visit is the latest in a series of trips by Min Aung Hlaing to foreign countries, including neighboring China, India, Laos and Thailand as he seeks to strengthen international recognition and regain diplomatic standing with other countries.

Despite the visits, Myanmar has remained largely isolated internationally since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Western nations have imposed economic and political sanctions in response to the takeover by the military, which he led, and its violent repression of the opposition, which has seen the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to a civil war.

Russia has defended Min Aung Hlaing’s military government in international forums while Myanmar’s ruling generals have generally supported Moscow’s foreign policy agenda.

During Tuesday's talks, Min Aung Hlaing thanked Putin for his political support and emphasized that Myanmar has remained a reliable partner.

Russia, along with China, is a major supporter and arms supplier to Myanmar. Russian-made fighter jets are used in attacks on territory under the control of ethnic minority groups, including many allied with pro-democracy resistance forces.

Russia's Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov told reporters that Moscow stands ready to increase supplies of oil products, fertilizers and equipment to Myanmar and boost imports of agricultural products and textiles from the country.

The trip marks Min Aung Hlaing’s seventh visit to Russia. Min Aung Hlaing previously met Putin on the sidelines of Moscow’s World Atomic Week Forum in September. Putin has never visited Myanmar.

Min Aung Hlaing was inaugurated in April following a general election judged by United Nations experts and rights groups to be neither free nor fair. Critics dismissed the polls, held in phases in December and January, as a sham designed to consolidate the military’s grip on power while ostensibly restoring civilian rule.

The pop superstar has been nominated in every decade of her musical career. She has 19 competitive MTV VMA wins and in 1986 became the first solo female artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award.

She is up for 11 awards at this year's ceremony, including video, artist and song of the year as well as best collaboration, dance, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography and visual effects.

If she were to sweep, she'd tie Beyoncé and Taylor Swift for the title of most-awarded musician in VMA history. They have 30 each. (Eminem is the male artist with the most VMAs, with 15.)

Speaking of Swift: She follows Madonna with the second-most nominations, with nine. If she takes home even one award, she will become the most-awarded artist in VMA history.

Swift is up for video and artist of the year as well as best pop, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography and visual effects.

Madonna and Swift are followed by Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter with seven nods to their name as well as Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson with five. Blackpink's LISA has four and Shakira, Tate McRae, GENER8ION and Yung Lean are tied for three.

Rounding out the artist of the year category nominees are Grande, Mars, Carpenter and Morgan Wallen, in addition to Madonna and Swift.

The top prize of the night, video of the year, sees Swift's “The Fate of Ophelia” compete against Madonna’s “Confessions II — The Film,” Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” Mars' “I Just Might,” Carpenter’s “Tear” and GENER8ION’s “Storm” starring Yung Lean.

The two-hour show will broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and 4:30 p.m. Pacific, from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It will also simulcast on MTV and be available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

The show will become available to stream globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.

CBS is home to a number of award shows, including the Tony Awards and the American Music Awards. It has aired the Grammys since 1973, though that show will head to ABC in 2027.

This year’s Video Music Awards features 26 first-time nominees, which include GENER8ION and Yung Lean (with their aforementioned three nods, for their “Storm” collaboration) and the K-pop boy band CORTIS and viral “Boston” singer Stella Lefty with two each. Other notable first-time nominees include Don Toliver, Kali Uchis, Noah Kahan, Olivia Dean, Tucker Wetmore and Sienna Spiro.

The best dance category has returned for the first time in seven years. Nominees include McRae's “Nobody’s Girl,” Bebe Rexha and Faithless' “New Religion,” Harry Styles' “Aperture,” Lady Gaga and Doechii's “Runway,” Madonna's “Confessions II — The Film,” PinkPantheress' “Stateside” with Larsson and Slayyyter's “Dance …”

Fan voting began online Tuesday across 13 categories and ends Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Pacific.

Voting in the best new artist category will remain active during the show.

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An earlier version of this story had an incorrect spelling of Lady Gaga and Doechii’s song “Runway.”

But textile researchers say it’s actually a little more complicated than that.

The fabric matters. But so does how heavy it is, how the clothing is made, how it fits and even what color it is. What works best also depends on what you're doing and how much you’re sweating.

With extreme heat a growing public health concern, scientists are developing and studying clothing designed to help people stay cooler. But clothing is only one component of the body’s response to heat.

Clothing should allow the body’s natural response to heat to work, said George Havenith, emeritus professor of environmental physiology and ergonomics at Loughborough University.

“It’s a really powerful mechanism from humans that we can defend our body temperature with,” Havenith said. “The most important thing in the selection of clothing would be to make sure you do not hamper sweat evaporation.”

Look for lightweight, breathable clothing

In hot weather, look for lightweight clothing that allows air to move through the fabric and reach the skin, which can help sweat evaporate. Researchers refer to this property as air permeability.

The fiber listed on the tag is only part of what determines that. How fibers are woven or knitted also affects how easily air passes through.

“For greatest airflow, open weave and loose knit structures are best, free of any water- or soil-repellent finishes. Cellulosic fibers, like cotton and flax (linen), tend to be more breathable and comfortable,” said Meredith McQuerry, a professor at Florida State University who studies clothing development and performance.

Linen can be a good option, but “linen” on the label doesn't tell the whole story. She said shoppers shouldn't rely on fiber content alone. A more open woven structure will generally be more breathable, regardless of the garment's fiber.

Wicking is slightly different. Wicking fabrics are designed to move sweat away from the skin and spread it across a larger surface area, which can help it evaporate faster. Engineered synthetic fibers are commonly used in sportswear, said Havenith.

But wicking and cooling are not necessarily the same. Moving sweat away from the skin can make clothing feel drier, but evaporation that happens farther from the skin can provide less direct cooling.

Fit matters too. Havenith recommends garments with enough room for ventilation, especially in hot outdoor conditions. McQuerry, however, noted that the right fit can depend on what you're doing. Someone exercising outdoors might prefer a tighter-fitting synthetic tank top, while someone sitting on a porch or doing light yard work might be more comfortable in looser cotton T-shirt.

“In casual settings, wearers may prefer a looser fit that allows for more airflow while standing or sitting. If performing physical activity, a tighter fit may be preferred to enable quicker sweat evaporation,” said McQuerry.

Cotton, polyester and why there is no perfect fabric

People choosing between cotton and polyester should consider how much they expect to sweat and what they'll be doing. Cotton absorbs sweat but can become heavy when saturated, while engineered polyester can move moisture across the fabric and dry quicker, one reason synthetic fabrics are so common in athletic clothing.

During exercise, polyester tends to continuously evaporate sweat, while cotton will work well for a short period until it has absorbed all it can, said Po-Chun Hsu, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago who studies materials and sustainability.

“Imagine you are wearing a wet T-shirt? Of course you get this evaporation going on, but then you also block the breathability and you won’t feel very comfortable when it’s completely wet,” he said.

Polyester is widely used because it is inexpensive, durable and versatile, but not all performs the same way.

It absorbs very little moisture naturally, which can make polyester that hasn’t been treated or engineered uncomfortable in hot conditions as sweat accumulates against the skin, said Jonathan Chen, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies textiles and apparel.

But it can be engineered to move sweat across the fabric and help it evaporate.

Chen suggests looking for lightweight polyester garments designed for breathability. A porous athletic shirt can behave very differently from a dense garment, even if both labels say 100% polyester.

Cotton can have another role in extreme heat. Havenith said deliberately wetting clothing can provide evaporative cooling, including for older adults who may not sweat as effectively.

Sunlight and “cooling” apparel

People spending extended time outdoors in direct sunlight should prioritize covering skin to protect against UV exposure and sunburn, Havenith said.

Loose, ventilated clothing can provide coverage without sacrificing airflow, such as a lightweight long-sleeved shirt.

Color can matter too. White, lighter-colored or highly reflective fabrics can reduce heat gain by reflecting sunlight instead of allowing as much energy to be absorbed, Hsu said.

Hsu said researchers have already made substantial progress in managing sweat and moisture, while engineering clothes to reflect more incoming sunlight remains a developing area.

Consumers should also look beyond the word “cooling” on labels. Hsu said some cooling fabrics are designed primarily to feel cold when they first touch the skin, an effect that can fade as the material warms.

“If it doesn’t really, let’s say, increase the evaporation of the surface area or reflect the sunlight or enhance the breathability, then it’s quite unlikely that it will have any continuous cooling effect,” Hsu said.

Some approaches go beyond the fabric itself. Fan-equipped clothing has become increasingly common among outdoor and factory workers in Japan. The garments use small fans to circulate outside air underneath the clothing, helping sweat evaporate.

Havenith said the garments can improve comfort and lower skin temperature, but don't do much to reduce core body temperature. Battery capacity is also a limitation because of the additional weight, although he expects improvements as battery technology develops.

How effective the fans are also depends on the conditions.

“It should work in all conditions where air temperature is below skin temp. ... In very dry air, the effect may be limited as the sweat evaporates anyway," said Havenith.

For shoppers, the researchers’ advice comes back to looking beyond a single word on the label. Consider whether a garment is lightweight, how easily air moves through it, how it handles moisture, how it fits, whether you will be in direct sun and what kind of activity you will be doing.

There may not be one perfect fabric for extreme temperatures, but there are ways to choose clothing that works with the body’s cooling system rather than against it.

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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.

But on his first day back at his home in the village of Qusra, Loui Ridi was ultimately told to go back inside because the area was a closed military zone.

Israeli soldiers asked the settlers to leave the area as well, but Ridi said he saw at least three settlers close enough to return and threaten his family if the army leaves.

“If I need to walk outside of my house, I’m not able. I have to get a permission and coordination and it’s going to take hours if it’s even possible to leave,” Ridi said.

Ridi yelled at one of the settlers to get off his property and pleaded with the soldiers to remove them, according to video he shared with The Associated Press. He told the settler that he wasn’t allowed to be there and called him a terrorist.

The soldiers who told Ridi to get back inside his home also pleaded with settlers to leave peacefully.

For Ridi, the exchange extinguished any sense of victory remaining after he managed, with the aid of a military escort, to enter his home on Monday. He said the encounter epitomized how the army has been unable or unwilling to clear the area of settlers.

“As soon as (Israeli soldiers) leave — like if they leave today — probably on the same day or a couple hours later, the settlers may come back and build the same tent in front of my house,” he said.

Qusra standoff is the latest violence in the West Bank

Some 2.8 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. Roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers who live in a growing number of communities and farming outposts across the territory. Emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, extremist settlers have routinely attacked villages and set homes, cars and mosques ablaze in the occupied West Bank this year.

The international community largely considers Israeli settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace.

Few episodes garner as much international attention as the siege in Qusra. However, settlers have staged takeovers of other Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. In the neighboring village of Jalud, settlers surrounded a home last month and prevented Palestinians from entering or exiting until they decided to escape and not come back.

Palestinian officials report 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this year. Three Israelis have been killed including two in a nearby clash last month.

Much like in Qusra, violent settlers rarely face arrest by Israeli police or prosecution in Israeli courts.

Ridi, a 46-year-old who lives with his family in Ohio but has a second home in the Qusra, arrived on Monday, climbing his stairs and raising an American flag on his roof.

The United States — Israel’s closest ally — has condemned the ongoing siege in Qusra, now in its tenth day. President Donald Trump has said he opposes Israeli efforts to annex the West Bank but signaled broad acceptance of settlements and, at the start of his second term, lifted sanctions on settlers accused of violence.

Ridi said he can’t go out to buy groceries without permission and has asked U.S. officials to help guarantee he can bring supplies back to his home in the closed military zone on Qusra's outskirts.

Video shows settlers demanding homeowner stay inside

Ridi said he slept for four hours in a room where he kept the shutters closed because settlers had previously thrown rocks toward the windows.

When he woke up Tuesday and went outside to confront the settlers and soldiers, one settler demanded in Hebrew that the soldiers make him go back inside, saying Ridi’s yard belonged to them.

“Take them to their home. You said it’s a closed military zone,” the settler told an Israeli soldier, according to Ridi’s video.

The soldiers told everyone to leave, saying, “We don’t need this commotion.”

Israel's military said Tuesday that the closed military zone had been cleared but did not answer questions about settlers' presence in and around the Palestinian village.

Soldiers have repeatedly dismantled their tents and shades in the area only to have the settlers return to area on the outskirts of a village 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Palestinian city of Nablus.

One settler was detained last week but Israeli police have not reported any arrests. Ridi fears settlers could ramp up attacks on his home moments after Israeli soldiers leave, much like other areas where settlers have staged takeovers of Palestinian homes.

Ridi said his two daughters in Ohio have stayed up past their bedtimes worried for his safety, texting that they miss him and asking if he is all right.

“I have to lie and say, ‘No, I’m safe. I’m OK. It’s safe here,’ because I want her to sleep,” he said.

Council approved a five-year lease for eight automatic license-plate readers in September 2025. Police said all eight cameras were installed by February at entrances and exits to the city.

The cameras take still pictures of license plates and collect details including a car’s description. Oviedo police said that information is searchable for 30 days before it is automatically deleted. Information downloaded as evidence in a criminal case may be retained longer.

Nine of the 10 people who addressed council opposed the cameras.

“That’s how surveillance expands - not one giant leap, but one reasonable justification at a time,” Oviedo community member Lucas Kangas said. “And once it exists, there’s no taking it back.”

Opponents raised concerns about police officers elsewhere using license-plate databases to stalk partners and former partners, false alerts leading to dangerous encounters and the ability to reconstruct someone’s movements.

One speaker supported keeping the cameras.

“I want the security,” Charles Suber said.

Oviedo police said users must complete training before receiving access. Each user has an individual account and must enter a case number and select a reason before conducting a search.

The department’s policy requires quarterly audits, but police said a crime analyst currently conducts them weekly.

Police disclosed that one audit found an officer entering an incomplete case number. The officer was questioned, provided the correct case number, and was reminded to enter the complete number. Police said no additional issues have been found involving that user.

The department also acknowledged that the system can produce false hits.

“Does the system sometimes spit out misinformation about a tag that it sees? Yes, it does,” an Oviedo deputy police chief told council.

Police said officers cannot take action based solely on Flock information. They must visually confirm the license plate and independently verify the information first.

Council members also questioned whether Oviedo’s safeguards apply when outside law enforcement agencies search information collected by the city’s cameras.

Police acknowledged those outside users do not currently have to follow all of Oviedo’s restrictions. The department said Flock expects to release new controls within days that would allow the city to require outside users to provide a case number and limit searches to qualifying criminal investigations.

Police credited license-plate reader information with helping Oviedo officers investigate a domestic violence case involving a pregnant victim, identify burglary suspects and locate a missing juvenile in Titusville. The department also cited regional cases involving homicide suspects and kidnapped children.

No vote on the cameras was scheduled Monday night. The eight Flock cameras remain active.

Hichilema secured around 60% of the presidential vote in the southern African nation that has held largely peaceful elections since it returned to multiparty democracy in 1991.

Hichilema's main challenger, opposition leader Brian Mundubile, won around 38% of the vote, according to the electoral commission.

Zambia, a nation of 22 million people that is one of the world's leading copper producers, is a focus for Chinese investment because of its reserves of the critical mineral. It has also drawn interest from the United States under a Trump administration plan to increase U.S. access to copper and other critical minerals used in new technologies and renewable energy systems.

The results released early Tuesday followed days of heightened tensions since last Thursday's election.

The electoral commission suspended vote counting for hours on Friday, citing attacks on some polling station officials and what it called the theft of some ballot boxes.

It didn't say who might be responsible for the alleged violence and theft, but the suspension prompted the deployment of the army to parts of the capital, Lusaka — an unusual development for one of Africa's more stable democracies.

The Zambian government announced later that 11 opposition officials were detained in a law enforcement raid on election night at a property where opposition leader Mundubile was present, though he was not arrested, according to the government.

The raid involved an exchange of gunfire between occupants of the premises and law enforcement officers, the government said.

The government accused the opposition officials of being in possession of “high-grade military weapons, ammunition and other materials for use in armed insurrection” and said they were a national security threat.

Mundubile criticized the raid as an attempt on his life and denied allegations that the officials were part of a militia.

Hichilema said in a statement Tuesday that he and his party were humbled by the trust placed in them by voters and also reached out to opposition supporters.

“To those citizens who preferred the ideas presented by our opponents, we hear you, and we will continue to work for you to ensure that every Zambian benefits from the development we are delivering,” Hichilema said.

A preliminary report by a European Union observer team released before results were announced said the election was largely peaceful but the “broader electoral process took place in an environment that limited fundamental freedoms.”

“Late legal changes, legal uncertainty and unequal campaign conditions distorted the playing field,” said Michael McNamara, chief of the EU observer mission.

The 64-year-old Hichilema's campaign for a second term focused on an economic recovery plan for a country that was mired in a debt crisis when it defaulted on repayments in 2020. Hichilema was first elected in 2021, and Zambia has restructured debt payments, reined in inflation and stabilized its currency under his leadership.

One of Hichilema's main pledges has been to more than triple Zambia's copper production to 3 million tons a year by the end of his final term in 2031.

Critics, however, said the effects of those macroeconomic improvements were not being felt by ordinary Zambians who were growing frustrated with a high cost of living and electricity shortages.

Hichilema vowed “meaningful development for every single Zambian, in every corner of our country.”

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Magome reported from Johannesburg.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The City of Apopka addressed the concerns in a Facebook post Friday, explaining that its Finance Department recently moved water payments to a temporary payment system while the city prepares to launch a new permanent financial operating system in October.

Among the changes residents are noticing: customers who pay their water bills by credit card online or by phone now see an additional service fee.

But Mayor Nick Nesta told News 6 the fee itself was actually approved months ago.

According to Nesta, city commissioners approved the fee in November 2025 and it was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2026. Because of limitations with the city’s older software, however, he said it was not properly implemented through the online system until this month.

That gap between approval and implementation is one reason some residents are only now realizing the additional charge exists.

Why is Apopka charging the fee?

Nesta said the city had previously been absorbing card-processing costs itself.

The mayor said continuing to cover those costs with city money was not sustainable and could eventually put pressure on the city’s reserves. The new setup instead passes much of the processing cost to the customer who chooses that payment method.

Nesta estimated the current credit-card fee at approximately 1.96%, although he did not have every payment-method fee immediately available during his interview with News 6.

The city also emphasized that the temporary payment website itself did not create the fee.

Rather, the fee was previously approved and is becoming visible now as Apopka transitions away from its older financial software.

The permanent system is expected to launch in October. According to the city’s Friday post, customers should expect the appearance and experience of the payment system to change again at that time, but the credit-card fee is not expected to go away.

Nesta said the larger software overhaul is intended to improve communication and efficiency between city departments, including utility billing.

Some residents question whether modernization should cost them more

Reaction underneath the city’s Facebook post was mixed, but several residents questioned why a system described as a modernization effort would result in an additional cost for customers.

News 6 spoke with longtime Apopka resident Melanie Smith outside the city’s utility office.

Smith said she normally goes to the office to pay her bill and was unaware of the new fee before speaking with News 6.

After learning about it, she said she would consider changing how she pays rather than take on another charge.

“If I’m gonna have to pay to use my debit card, I’ll pay cash. I’m not gonna pay extra,” Smith said.

Smith said she understands that processing electronic payments can cost money, but she questioned why those costs should be passed along to customers.

Her concerns echo some of the comments posted underneath the city’s announcement.

It is important to note, however, that comments on social media do not by themselves establish a widespread billing problem. Individual claims about unusually high bills or incorrect water usage would need to be compared with customers’ actual meter readings and billing histories.

Nesta also said the city’s internal experience does not necessarily mirror the volume of criticism visible online.

He said Apopka has actually seen fewer customer complaints since newer water meters have been installed, although he acknowledged the complaints that remain are legitimate concerns that the city must address.

Nesta also acknowledged another issue: communication.

He said residents should have been told more clearly and earlier about what was changing, why it was changing and when they would begin seeing the fee.

The mayor said there have been communication breakdowns within city government and that the administration is working to prevent similar situations in the future.

He specifically acknowledged residents’ frustration over the fee not being properly explained before it began appearing.

“Residents are frustrated that it wasn’t articulated properly to them,” Nesta said.

That concern prompted the city to publicly explain the transition Friday.

The city also told residents that detailed water-usage information is still available through individual customer portals, even though it may no longer appear in the same place customers were accustomed to seeing it while making a payment.

Officials say that experience should improve once the permanent system goes live.

Questions go beyond the payment fee

The discussion online also exposed a broader issue facing Apopka: some residents continue to question whether their water bills accurately reflect their actual usage.

Several commenters on the city’s Facebook post described bills or water-usage totals they believe are unusually high.

Nesta said the city is still trying to determine why some customers are experiencing large swings.

He said the causes can vary and could include software problems, older meters or equipment that previously was not transmitting readings correctly. In some situations, he said a newer or properly functioning meter could begin producing a more accurate reading than what a customer had been receiving before.

Nesta said the city is working to determine what the underlying data shows before drawing conclusions.

His stated goal is straightforward:

“It’s pretty simple, just charging people for what they’re using,” Nesta said. “Not more, not less.”

The mayor said Apopka is dealing with a combination of aging systems, malfunctioning equipment and meter antennas that do not always transmit information properly.

He said the city’s strategic goal is to get as close as possible to having 100% functioning water meters, although maintaining tens of thousands of meters makes that an ongoing challenge.

Nesta says he understands the billing concerns personally

Nesta told News 6 the issue is not abstract for him.

The mayor said he has looked at water bills for his own property that did not always appear to track with what he expected his normal usage to be.

“I am with the residents that living here, getting the same water bills that maybe don’t add up to my current usage,” Nesta said.

He said determining why customers experience those swings is one of his priorities.

Nesta also pointed to approximately $365,000 in water rebates he said were recently returned to residents after concerns involving charges that were not properly explained.

At the same time, he cautioned that the city has seen improvement since installing newer meters and said the overall number of complaints has fallen.

That leaves Apopka dealing with two issues at once: modernizing an aging utility-billing operation while convincing customers that the numbers appearing on their bills can be trusted.

What happens next?

For now, residents should expect the current payment system to remain temporary.

Another transition is expected in October when Apopka launches its permanent financial operating system. The city says that system is designed to provide a more modern and user-friendly experience, although the credit-card processing fee is expected to remain.

The larger question for city leaders will be whether the new technology can also resolve the billing and meter concerns some residents continue to raise.

Nesta told News 6 the standard he wants the city to follow is simple: Apopka should be able to explain and support what it charges customers.

And if it cannot, he said the city should make it right.

“If I can’t justify it, we’re not gonna charge it. We’re gonna pay it back.”

Alfred A. Knopf announced Tuesday that Gandhi's “Belonging: A Journey of Love” will be published Nov. 10.

“Much has been written about my family, but few narratives were able to reach into the truth of their motivations, their actions and even their very human failings,” Sonia Gandhi said in a statement issued through Knopf. “In many ways, this book is a homage to their humanness. My story also offers readers a unique perspective of the social and political changes I have witnessed for six decades in the beautiful country of my belonging.”

Gandhi, 79, is a native of Italy who was studying in Cambridge, England, when she met fellow student and future husband Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and son of India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

In “Belonging,” she writes of her life being upended when her mother-in-law is assassinated in 1984 and succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi, who seven years later was also murdered. She too would eventually enter politics and become the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress Party while also turning down her party's offer to become prime minister. Her party lost power to current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party in 2014.

“It was heartbreak and loss that threw me into the public world of politics. Up till then I had guarded my privacy fiercely,” she said in her statement.

“Writing about my life did not come easily to me. It meant opening myself up, sharing moments and experiences I had always held deep inside," she said. "Yet as I gradually removed myself from the political sphere and looked back at all I had seen, the thread of love and loyalty that wove through my story began to define itself, from the simplicity of my childhood in small-town Italy, to the complexity of my years in India as the wife of Rajiv Gandhi and the daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.”

The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty remains active in politics. Both of Sonia Gandhi's children, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are members of the Indian parliament's lower house from the Congress party.

The multimillion-dollar project is designed to slow traffic and improve safety at intersections that have a history of crashes.

According to a 2020 safety study from the Florida Department of Transportation, four intersections along Marigold Avenue were reviewed. The study found 107 crashes during the study period, including 70 injury crashes that resulted in 149 injuries.

Those findings helped lead to the improvements drivers are seeing now.

The intersection safety improvement project includes four intersections along Marigold Avenue in Osceola County: San Lorenzo Road, San Miguel Road, Laurel Avenue, and Peabody Road

The project includes three single-lane roundabouts, which are intended to force vehicles to slow down while traveling through the area. The county’s project plan also calls for high-visibility crosswalks, new lighting, drainage improvements, stormwater upgrades and utility work.

At San Miguel Road, the plan includes a new northbound left-turn lane to help drivers turn without blocking traffic behind them.

The total cost of the project is just over $9.5 million.

Construction is already underway, but Osceola County commissioners are expected to consider a change to an agreement with FDOT that helps fund the project. The vote is not about whether the roundabouts will be built, but rather how some of the utility work is being paid for.

County documents show the change would not add money to the project, leaving the total cost at about $9.5 million.

News 6 has reached out to the county for more information about the project’s cost. Updates will be provided as more details become available.

The city closed the Seabreeze beach approach after declaring the Plaza Hotel, which stands above it, non-compliant and unsafe due to a long list of code violations and public health and safety concerns. No reopening date has been announced.

Business owners and nearby residents say the approach is a lifeline for foot and vehicle traffic in the area.

“When they’re getting ready to leave the beach here they’re not going to be coming down Seabreeze and going to all the businesses here so that’s going to be a problem,” said Rick Kitt, a Seabreeze Boulevard business owner.

Kitt says the closure leaves beachgoers with few nearby options.

“There’s no close beach ramp for people to get on and off the beach. The closest one is on Zelda, which is several miles up the street,” Kitt said.

The frustration extends beyond the ramp closure. The Plaza Hotel has been closed since the 2022 hurricanes, and Kitt says little has been done to address the building’s condition.

“He hasn’t done any work on the hotel at all. He’s had it closed for four years and has not done any work on it,” Kitt said.

Unit owners in the condo-hotel have previously said they paid the building owner tens of thousands of dollars for repairs.

Tom Caffrey, a Main Street business owner, called the approach integral to the area’s identity and economy.

“This is integral to our history of the World’s Most Famous Beach. We need to keep this thing open; we need to get it back open as quickly as possible — I plead to whoever is in charge of getting this done, please get this back,” Caffrey said.

Caffrey would like to see the city and Volusia County reopen another closed beach access, such as the Main Street ramp, in the meantime to help offset the impact on local businesses.

“There’s really not going to be a lot of people down here. This is one of the busiest sections of our beach to drive year-round and to population so I think you’re going to see a massive decrease in revenue for a lot of these businesses,” Caffrey said.

The city has not said it would look into reopening alternate access. According to the city’s building department, repairs to the tunnel could take 60 to 90 days, depending on weather. The building owner has until Sept. 2 to bring the rest of the Plaza Hotel’s code violations into compliance or face a $1,000-per-day fine.

Sgt. David Ogletree with the Ocoee Police Department said officers have investigated about six to eight cases over the past three to four weeks, including some reported over the weekend.

He says the worst case involved someone losing four thousand dollars in a matter of seconds.

Police say criminals may target people carrying bank bags or envelopes that identify their bank. They then follow the person to another business or home, where they break into the vehicle and steal the cash.

“If you have a bank bag that says Truist or Bank of America or whatever bank of the day it is, and they’re following those people — whether it’s home, mostly it’s another business where they leave that money in a car — you go inside and in a matter of seconds they break into your car,” Ogletree said.

Ocoee police provided video showing two recent bank-jugging cases.

Authorities recommend taking cash with you if you have to make another stop after leaving the bank. Police also say people using ATMs should remain aware of their surroundings.

The department says the crimes are not limited to nighttime. Some of the cases have happened in broad daylight.

Anyone who believes they are being followed should avoid confronting the person and refrain from stopping to get out of their vehicle.

“Go to a well-lit, populated area or the police department,” Ogletree said. “Don’t stop at the red light and get out of your car and confront them. That can just lead to more problems.”

Residents can also contact the Ocoee Police Department’s non-emergency line.

Six candidates are vying for the two positions, and while the cities are separate, the core issues driving each campaign are largely the same: development, flooding and the future of their communities.

In Edgewater, incumbent Mayor Diezel Depew — described as the youngest mayor in the state — is seeking re-election. His top priorities include growth management tied to new development, reducing utility costs and combating flooding.

Challenging Depew is Wayne McCloskey, a school crossing guard and volunteer with the local police department and animal shelter. McCloskey says his campaign is centered on flood control, smart growth and making the city safer for residents and youth.

Former NHL player, Stanley Cup winner and small-business owner Stephen Olesky has also entered the Edgewater race. Olesky lists his priorities as supporting local businesses, protecting nature and encouraging smart growth in the city.

[RELATED: Florida primary election: Everything you need to know]

All candidate information was gathered directly from the candidates or their official campaign websites, according to News 6.

In Deltona, three candidates are competing for the mayor’s seat — and again, growth management is front and center.

Incumbent Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. says his priorities are managing growth and development, creating the city’s first downtown and uptown districts to drive economic growth, and bringing family-centered facilities — including a maternity hospital and parks and recreation amenities — to Deltona.

Current Vice Mayor Maritza Vazquez is also running for the top seat. She says she wants to preserve green space in Deltona, slow the pace of new development, and identify flooding areas and find solutions to keep residents’ homes safe.

Rounding out the Deltona field is Jason Voelz, a veteran, former law enforcement officer, and small-business owner. Voelz says he wants less development, an end to what he calls overspending and high taxes and fees, and a halt to the “toilet to tap” initiative — arguing the city must prioritize clean water.

The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens, which launches Tuesday, is tailored for kids aged 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content restrictions around things like suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays.

The idea is to guide teens toward healthy AI use in an age-appropriate environment, the company said.

“We want to treat teens like teens, which means that we have to make sure that we’re showing up with the right developmental stage when we’re not either talking down to them or treating them like kids, but we’re also making sure that they’re not exposed to material that they shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Ann O'Leary, vice president of global policy at OpenAI.

Risks abound in widespread teen usage of AI chatbots

Parents, educators and child development experts have been sounding alarms over children's use of AI chatbots, which have been blamed for facilitating cheating on schoolwork and even suicide. And while even adults can fall victim to anthropomorphizing AI and developing unhealthy relationships with it, teenagers' brains are not yet fully developed and they can be particularly vulnerable.

Last year, research from a watchdog group found that ChatGPT would tell 13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, instruct them on how to conceal eating disorders and even compose a heartbreaking suicide letter to their parents if asked. In interactions with researchers posing as vulnerable teens, ChatGPT typically warned against risky activity but went on to deliver startlingly detailed and personalized plans for drug use, calorie-restricted diets or self-injury.

In the U.S., more than 70% of teens are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and half use AI companions regularly, according to a 2025 study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using digital media sensibly.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said that the company is trying to study “emotional overreliance” on the technology, describing it last year as a “really common thing” with young people.

For users of ChatGPT for Teens, the chatbot is prevented from suggesting it has personal feelings toward the user or implying that it is conscious or experiences emotions, according to OpenAI. That's in addition to blocking romantic or sexual chats.

“We went through and identified what are the hypothetical cues that a model could give that might make a teenager kind of develop a relationship to it,” said Allison Mishkin, head of child development at OpenAI.

A new version of the chatbot expands safety protections

OpenAI doesn't verify users' ages, but it already uses age assurance to estimate if someone is under 18 based on factors such as their types of queries. If someone is identified or identifies themselves as a minor, they are automatically placed into the teen version of the chatbot. This is similar to Meta's approach to teen accounts on Instagram, which have stricter content, chat and privacy restrictions than regular accounts.

To use parental controls, both the teen user and their parent or guardian have to opt in. But O'Leary said the idea with the teen chatbot is to “make sure that this is safe, even if you don’t use parental controls.” Parents with linked teen accounts can set “quiet hours” when their teen can't access ChatGPT, and receive safety notifications in limited high-risk situations, such as the possibility of a user hurting themself.

“We are adding additional notifications related to eating disorders, while limiting what is shared and focusing on moments when offline support may matter most,” OpenAI said.

For homework help, OpenAI said the teen chatbot is designed not to give easy answers but to guide students to come up with answers on their own. The company already offers a version of ChatGPT for teachers, and tailoring a model to help kids with studying and homework could give OpenAI more ways to bring its product to schools.

“We continue to also invest in expanding interactive learning because research shows that people learn more effectively when they actively engage and struggle with concepts,” Mishkin said.

The plunging prices, the White House said, resulted from the Republican president's “most favored nation” drug deals with pharmaceutical firms and the TrumpRx website, which it said are “delivering real relief to American families and putting patients first.”

The real picture is more complicated, said drug pricing experts, who noted that other factors, including a law from Democratic President Joe Biden's time in office that allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, are potentially more significant contributors to the latest consumer price index figures.

Also at play, they said, are generic and biosimilar products that have come onto the market, offering competition that drives down the price of expensive brand-name and biologic drugs. In addition, the prescription drug price index measured by the Labor Department and released last week doesn’t directly reflect how much consumers pay — it measures how much pharmacies get paid for the drugs, both by insurers and consumers.

“It’s difficult to know in one number what’s going on beneath the hood,” said Juliette Cubanski, a vice president and director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF. “I don’t think we can attribute this price reduction to any one specific policy change or initiative.”

Here’s what to know about the decline in prescription drug prices:

Competition and policy both contribute to changing prices

Drug pricing experts said both market competition and various policy changes have influenced prescription drug prices in recent years.

On the market side, “when big blockbuster products face generic competition, their prices fall,” said Dr. Benjamin Rome, a health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School.

For example, he said, various biosimilar drugs have arrived on the market to treat the same autoimmune conditions as the brand-name drug Humira, offering similar treatment at a lower cost.

Similarly, competition has led to price reductions for Stelara, a popular biologic medicine that treats chronic inflammatory conditions, said Stacie Dusetzina, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Biden-era federal policies also likely played a role — most notably the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which for the first time allowed Medicare to haggle with drugmakers over the cost of the top-selling prescription drugs in the program.

New prices for the first 10 of those negotiated drugs launched in January, a change Cubanski, Rome and Dusetzina all said likely made an impact on aggregate prices. The Trump administration has carried forward those negotiations, as mandated by law, and projects additional savings on prescription drugs in the years ahead.

A new Trump administration policy lowering the price of GLP-1 weight loss drugs for certain eligible Medicare enrollees could also be playing a role in driving down prices, the experts said. But that went into effect in July, so only its first month is reflected in the data.

It’s hard to measure the impact of MFN deals and TrumpRx

Trump has sought to attribute the drop in prescription drug prices to his “most favored nation” deals to bring U.S. pharmaceutical prices to the same level as other developed countries.

Drug pricing experts said the actual impact of those deals so far is unclear, since the contracts with drug companies have not been made public and the models designed to put MFN policies into practice in federal health programs have not gone into effect yet.

“These policies are under development and have not affected payers in the index,” Dusetzina told The Associated Press in an email. “Ultimately, I believe that the change is likely to be more directly related to the IRA’s policies and the Medicare drug price negotiation program than it is to current policies.”

Experts lauded TrumpRx, the White House’s website funneling Americans to the best deals on a variety of prescription drugs, for bringing a helpful resource and more price transparency to the public.

But they said it’s unclear how many Americans are making use of the service. In addition, many of the brand-name drugs it has featured are cheaper with insurance or have lower-cost generic versions sold elsewhere.

The White House said the website has generated $700 million in savings for patients but didn’t explain how it reached that figure. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts last week questioned that claim in a letter to the Trump administration, saying Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has admitted that TrumpRx doesn’t store patient, health or prescription information.

“Without this information, the accuracy of any claim of savings made by the Trump administration is unreliable,” she wrote.

Many consumers still face high drug costs – and rising health costs overall

Even as the consumer price index shows a year-over-year drop in drug prices, experts warned consumers aren't necessarily seeing that in their budgets.

That's because the Labor Department’s figures measure not what consumers pay directly but what pharmacies are paid by insurers and consumers. Insurers often eat much of the cost, and what patients pay can depend on a variety of factors, including whether they are insured and what plans they have. Plus, some Americans still rely on expensive drugs that don't have cheaper alternatives yet.

Higher health spending and federal policy changes are also resulting in higher insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for many Americans. That could mean even as drug prices decline, they're paying more for healthcare than they once were.

“A price measure like the CPI is not going to adequately capture consumers' experience with healthcare and prescription drugs and other hospital services, the same way it would for groceries and gas and other tangible services that people go and pay for at the store,” Rome said.

More than 40,000 people were sheltering in tents, evacuation centers and makeshift camps after the earthquake struck off Flores, a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province, early Saturday, damaging at least 11,925 homes, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

The quake caused widespread destruction across the island, damaging 172 health facilities, 658 schools, 187 offices and 172 places of worship, the local disaster agency said.

At crowded evacuation camps across Flores on Tuesday, children played under tarpaulin shelters while aid workers and volunteers provided psychosocial support alongside food and medical assistance.

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued but later lifted. Authorities recorded more than 2,100 aftershocks into Tuesday, though only 70 were felt by residents.

Fear and painful memories haunt survivors

An aftershock that struck during an interview Tuesday prompted Vincentius Rano and his wife to instinctively duck and cover their heads. Nearby, their daughter began crying, a reminder of the fear that continues to haunt many survivors.

Rano is a resident of Lamba Leda, one of the hardest-hit villages in the lush hills of East Manggarai regency, where widespread damage was reported, with at least 50 homes shattered and trees toppled over. He recalled the terrifying moment the earthquake struck Saturday just after he and his wife had woken up.

“Suddenly, we felt a tremor that kept getting stronger,” said Rano, the father of a 5-year-old girl. The couple rushed to grab their sleeping daughter, but before they could escape, part of the house came down, causing injuries to his back and shoulder.

“We didn’t have time to get outside. Everything happened so fast. The roof collapsed on us, and all I could do was shield my wife and child with my back,” Rano said, gesturing toward his flattened home, a modest house, built of timber rather than concrete.

Children in shelters treated for trauma

Psychosocial support programs, which combine mental health treatment and social care, are being rolled out across the region hit by the earthquake. Children have been encouraged to read books and join counselors for games, educational activities and group activities designed to help them cope with fear and anxiety.

“For many survivors, especially children, the psychological impact has lingered long after the shaking stopped,” said local police chief Yudhi Franata, who organized trauma-healing sessions for children displaced by the disaster in Ende regency.

Parents at an evacuation center said many children were afraid to return indoors and woke up frightened whenever aftershocks rattled the island, he said.

Mieke Suharni, a police officer who was among 30 personnel deployed to Lamba Leda, said much of their work is focused on helping children cope with the disaster’s emotional aftermath. She said officers have organized trauma-healing activities at several evacuation camps, but emotional distress remained widespread among survivors.

Earlier Tuesday, she comforted a woman who was visibly shaken by memories of the quake and used a psychological support method known as Universal Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique, which she learned during a police training.

“We are trying to help people manage their fear step by step,” Suharni said. “Some survivors continue to experience anxiety and excessive fear. Our goal is to help calm that trauma so they can begin to recover.”

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Flores experienced one of the country’s deadliest disasters in 1992, when an earthquake and an ensuing tsunami killed about 2,500 people.

A heat advisory is in effect for Central Florida counties, while Marion and Flagler counties are under a rare Extreme Heat Warning as heat index values could climb even higher.

TUESDAY

Temperatures will soar into the mid-90s across much of Central Florida, with humidity pushing peak heat index values between 110 and 115 degrees.

The most extreme conditions are expected across Marion and Flagler counties, where the extreme heat warning is a rare alert for our area. Those locations could see especially dangerous heat conditions, making today the most intense day of the current heat wave.

There will be more moisture in the atmosphere today, allowing scattered showers and storms to develop during the afternoon and evening. Rain and storm chances will return closer to normal across East Central Florida.

The east coast sea breeze will develop later than usual and may struggle to move much farther inland than the I-95 corridor. Storms that develop will generally move eastward and offshore through the late afternoon and evening.

A few storms could become strong, producing frequent lightning, wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph, and heavy rainfall

THIS WEEK

A more active summer pattern will continue through the rest of the week and into early next week. Rain and storm chances will generally run between 60 and 70 percent each afternoon, with storms capable of producing lightning, gusty winds, and locally heavy rain.

Increasing clouds and storm coverage may help temperatures trend a little closer to normal later this week and into the weekend.

However, the heat will remain a concern, with heat index values continuing to climb well into the triple digits and additional heat alerts possible.

So when they heard rumors that Morocco’s border with Spain was open, they decided to join the rush to try to reach Europe.

All three died attempting to cross, becoming victims of the deadliest migration crisis between Morocco and Spain.

Fueled by misinformation, poverty and lack of opportunities, more than 70,000 would-be migrants from Morocco and beyond swam or climbed over a breakwater last month to try to reach Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the North African coast. At least 90 people died attempting to cross the border, according to official figures; rights groups reported a much higher toll. Many families still haven’t been able to retrieve the bodies.

Nearly all the survivors have returned to Morocco, and both countries have intensified security measures. Moroccan and Spanish authorities blamed social media rumors and human smuggling networks for the surge, while migrants cited unemployment and low wages as major factors.

The pull of the crowd

Akbili, 31, lived in Tangier, about an hour from the coastal Moroccan town of Fnideq. Migration had been on his mind for some time, but friends and family said he had never considered crossing illegally.

He held a college degree in physics, but couldn't find a job in his field and worked at a car parts factory. He earned about $421 a month, slightly above the median salary in the North African country.

Buoyed by ambitions to become a regional hub for the auto industry, Morocco’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5% this year. But policymakers face a persistent challenge: turning that growth into jobs that offer higher wages.

Akbili was working the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift when he saw Facebook posts about people crossing into Ceuta. He wanted to try his luck in hopes of finding a job that could help his mother pay for hernia surgery.

“His mind changed completely. He went from someone who wasn’t thinking about illegal migration to wanting to go by all means,” Abdelhakim Saadaoui, a relative and Akbili’s apartment mate, told The Associated Press.

Akbili persuaded Saadaoui to go with him. On July 31, they paid a driver $129 to take them near the border with Ceuta — the equivalent of two months’ rent.

When they arrived, Saadaoui said, there was complete chaos. From a distance, the crowds looked like ants, he said, as streets filled with people heading toward the frontier. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas in an attempt to disperse them, he said.

Saadaoui decided not to continue. Akbili went on. The two remained in contact by phone.

Then Akbili stopped answering.

A Moroccan Interior Ministry document obtained by the AP says Akbili died at midnight on July 31. His death was classified as “unnatural,” attributed to “severe head trauma.” He was buried in his hometown of Khenifra.

His family was told he died after falling from a cliff. The Interior Ministry said one of the 11 deaths recorded on the Moroccan side was caused by a cliff fall.

But a cousin suspects foul play and wants further investigation.

“His phone and wallet stayed intact. How is it possible for someone who fell from a cliff?” Zakaria Akbili told the AP.

Soccer dreams drove one victim

Hamza Haibouri, who played soccer for Morocco's second-division Kenitra Athletic Club, was buoyed by dreams of making it big playing in Europe, said his childhood friend Bilal Ratib.

The 28-year-old Haibouri was vacationing in Martil, a Moroccan beach town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Ceuta, when he saw people heading there and decided to join them. His death in the frenzied attempt to cross was announced by the soccer team’s fan club.

Ratib said Haibouri visited France when he was young and had always wanted to return.

“He always had this idea of living abroad and going to France, to get better soccer and a better life,” Ratib said.

“He was a great man, even when we were young and reckless, he would always go to the mosque early for the first prayer,” Ratib said. “He was deeply religious.”

Haibouri, whose income came entirely from soccer, earned around $540 a month when he played, but he hadn't played at all this year, Ratib said.

Families learn of deaths through Facebook

Abdelouahed Iken, 19, was finishing high school in the southern city of Agadir. He regularly admired photos on Facebook posted by a friend who had migrated to Italy.

When he heard rumors the Ceuta border was open, he asked his mother for money to travel to his home village.

But instead of going home, Iken traveled more than 530 miles (850 kilometers) north to Ceuta with friends, according to family member Housine Zligui. Zligui said he learned about Iken’s death on Facebook, and the family is now working to bring his body home.

Iken could not swim, so he bought a life jacket for the crossing. Friends who returned told the family they saw him struggling in the water before he drowned, Zligui said.

For many Moroccans, Europe represents the possibility of work, stability and a better future. Those who make it abroad often return home with designer clothes, cars and euros, becoming symbols of success — and envy.

Money sent home by Moroccans living overseas reached $6.6 billion in the first six months of this year, according to government figures, equivalent to more than 3% of the country’s GDP.

Families asked to pay huge repatriation costs

Families were asked to pay some 2,500 euros ($2,900) in repatriation costs to bring the bodies of their loved ones home from Ceuta, according to Ratib and Zligui.

The AP was unable to confirm the cost. But repatriating a body from Spain to Morocco generally requires authorization from the Moroccan Consulate and a Spanish mortuary transit document. Moroccan rules typically call for a sealed coffin and a certificate confirming the death wasn’t caused by a contagious disease.

A spokesperson for Ceuta’s government said Friday the paperwork to repatriate the bodies of those who died in the crossing was complete, but Morocco’s government had not accepted it. The Moroccan government did not respond to an AP email with detailed questions about what was holding up repatriation, who was responsible for covering the costs and whether the Moroccan government would assist families in paying to have their loved ones returned.

Autopsies on 82 migrants brought ashore in Spain have been completed, said Manuel Aparcero, director of Ceuta’s forensic team.

Haibouri’s sister underwent DNA testing so that Ceuta authorities could confirm her brother’s identity. Authorities in Ceuta gave Haibouri’s sister his identification card and driver’s license but did not allow her to see his body, Ratib said.

“It will take around 20 days or more” for the body to be returned, he said. “You can’t imagine the families' suffering.”

The Trade Union Network for Migration in Morocco called on Morocco and Spain to cover the costs of returning the dead to their families.

Back in Tangier, Saadaoui moved in with co-workers. He couldn't bear living without Akbili.

“He was telling me at the border, ‘I will never come back,’” Saadaoui said. “And indeed, he will never come back.”

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Associated Press journalist Suman Naishadham in Madrid contributed.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said late Monday that “a number of children” had been wounded, and said an investigation was underway. He did not provide further details.

Richard Bennett, the United Nations' special rapporteur for Afghanistan, on Tuesday condemned “the heinous attack harming numerous children near a school” the previous day.

Afghan media said around 50 children were hurt in the blast, which occurred in a part of the capital populated mainly by the Hazara ethnic minority. Hazaras, who make up around 9% of the Afghan population, have long suffered attacks and persecution in Afghanistan. Most are Shiite Muslims, and they have been targeted repeatedly in the past by Sunni Muslim radicals like the Islamic State group, while they have also faced discrimination in the Sunni majority country.

In May 2021, a few months before the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the wake of a chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops, three bombings at a school in Kabul killed dozens of people, all of them from the Hazara community and most of them young girls leaving class.

That school, like the one where the explosion occurred Monday, was in Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, the main Hazara district in the Afghan capital.

In a social media post on X, Bennett said an independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice was essential. “Once again this mainly Hazara part of Kabul has been targeted. Deplorable!” he wrote.

A new CBS News/YouGov poll finds that 60% of Americans describe the U.S. economic system as unfair when it comes to financial opportunities and chances to get ahead. Just 31% say it’s fair.

Life is harder than it was for mom and dad

That sense of unfairness isn’t abstract. When Americans compare their lives to their parents’ generation, 45% say their opportunities to succeed are worse — not better.

Prices top the list of what Americans say drives their view of the economy, with 89% saying they think about costs when evaluating whether things are going well or badly.

Six in 10 Americans rate the national economy as fairly bad or very bad. And 73% believe the income gap between the richest Americans and the middle class is growing.

Free market: yes. But the system still feels broken.

Despite all that frustration, two-thirds of Americans still see the free market as good for the economy. Capitalism draws a net-positive rating. Socialism is net-negative overall.

But the distinction matters: most people support the idea of free markets while saying the current system isn’t working fairly for them. It’s less about ideology and more about outcomes.

That gap shows up in what people want the government to do. Half of Americans say the government should do “a lot” to make the economic system fair. Another 31% say it should do “some.” Just 19% say not much — or nothing at all.

What does “socialism” even mean?

Labels like socialism mean very different things depending on who you ask.

The most common responses in the poll described it as some form of government control or ownership. But close behind were answers rooted in outcomes: equality, fairness, and helping people. Republicans and independents more often used terms like “government control.” Democrats more often described it as equality, public services, or fairness.

Democrats favor socialism over capitalism — a midterm flashpoint

Here’s where the poll gets politically significant heading into the fall.

While Americans overall are net-negative on socialism, Democrats break the other way. A majority of Democrats hold a positive view of socialism — and that favorable rating is higher than their view of capitalism.

Democrats also believe, by a wide margin, that socialist policies would make their personal finances better — while capitalism, on balance, makes them worse.

Among Democrats, 53% say the party is about as progressive as they want it to be. But 44% say it’s not progressive enough — and those voters are more likely to view socialism favorably.

What Democrats want from their party

The frustration inside the Democratic Party isn’t just about policy labels. It’s about intensity.

When asked what’s more important right now, 83% of Democrats say they want their party to show it is fighting for people — not showing off detailed policy plans.

And on economic direction, 68% of Democrats want the party pushing for big, fundamental changes — not smaller, easier ones.

Voters give both parties poor marks

Neither party is getting high marks from voters headed into November.

Among registered voters, 58% describe the Democratic Party as weak, and just 34% call it effective. The Republican Party fares differently but not better: 58% describe it as extreme, and 41% call it effective.

Both parties find only modest agreement with voters on economic and cultural issues, with just over half saying they agree with each party “at least a little.”

A fresh face appetite

One signal for both parties heading into the fall: 53% of Americans say politics would be better with more young people in elected office. Democrats are especially likely to hold that view. Moderates also draw broad positive sentiment — 47% say more moderates would improve politics.

The CBS News/YouGov poll was conducted August 12–14, 2026, with a nationally representative sample of 2,287 U.S. adults. The margin of error is ±2.6 points

Hundreds of students were evacuated after shots rang out in the high school building of the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus in the southern port city of Zamboanga. Two other people were injured, police and city officials said.

The suspect, identified by police as grade 9 student Mohammad Mael Jalani, fired at a teacher sitting in front of a class but apparently missed. He then shot a student on the fourth floor of the building before going up one floor and killing himself, police said in an initial report.

“He entered and started indiscriminately firing, hitting a Grade 10 student at the fourth floor then subsequently went to the fifth floor and jumped from the said building and committed suicide,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters.

“He showed this on Facebook Live starting when he was climbing up the stairs but there were only snippets,” Remulla said. “We'll look into his gaming history and his chat history so we cannot come up with a complete answer why this happened until we do a complete forensic analysis.”

Zamboanga city Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso and the police said the suspect shot himself.

The high school building, where the gun attack happened, is in a secured campus, separate from a larger campus of the privately owned Catholic university where its colleges and professional schools are located in Zamboanga. One of the largest and most prestigious universities in the south, Ateneo suspended classes at all levels Tuesday and Wednesday following the attack.

Joe Darryl Jaron has just driven his child to the school when he heard the gunshots that prompted students to scream in panic and dash to safety. He took a video of the commotion and posted it on Facebook. “There are gunshots here in Ateneo, help! help,” he said.

A few hours after the shooting, police said the situation was under control. They asked parents and guardians of students to remain calm and follow the high school's advice and arrangements to pick up their children.

“Authorities are currently establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident,” national police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said. The police “will provide verified information as appropriate and appeals to the public to refrain from sharing unconfirmed reports, photos, or videos that may cause unnecessary concern.”

The national police “assure the public that the safety and well-being of the school community remain a priority. We thank the school administration, parents, guardians, and the community for their patience, cooperation and understanding as authorities continue to manage the situation,” Nartatez said.

One of the pistols carried by the suspect came from his father, who was the Bureau of Customs police commander in Zamboanga, Bureau of Customs deputy commissioner Nolasco Bathan told reporters. He added that he recommended the temporary suspension of the father, who may face administrative charges for failing to properly safeguard the government-issued pistol.

The shooting happened despite police assurances that security in schools across the country would be strengthened after a shooting in June in which three high school students were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in central Tacloban city. Police arrested two students, ages 14 and 15, and accused them of carrying out that shooting.

Crimes involving the use of firearms are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare.

Days after the school shooting in Tacloban, Philippine authorities said they temporarily blocked an online gaming app to assess whether it played a role in fostering such violence. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said its decision to indefinitely block Gorebox was prompted by an ongoing police investigation which showed that one suspect was an avid user of the app.

The shooting in the Philippines also occurred less than two weeks after a school shooting in Thailand.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul took steps to restrict guns in the Southeast Asian country after a 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents, five school staff members and a 12-year-old girl in Nonthaburi province outside Bangkok.

Thailand’s high rate of gun ownership is second only to Pakistan in Asia, and far surpasses its Southeast Asian neighbors.

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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines, and Haruka Nuga and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.

But it is the scathing online reviews that seem to have prompted interest in “Niu Lai,” an animated film about a calf who had a dream about himself growing up with the help of his family, driving a surprising surge at the box office.

The film earned only about 10,000 yuan ($1,480) at the box office in the first 10 days after its Aug. 5 release. On some days, the film took in as little as 200 yuan ($30) at the box office, according to Maoyan, a movie-tracking platform. The figure was exceptionally low, particularly during the competitive summer movie season.

But its box office surged to 8.2 million yuan ($1.2 million) Monday, with nearly 300,000 admissions, according to Maoyan. Its total box office has reached 17.1 million yuan ($2.5 million).

Red Star News, a local news website in Chengdu, reported that the film was made over five years by just two people — director Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifan. The Associated Press was unable to reach Xin and could not independently verify this.

Posters seen at movie theaters featured a calf, hand-drawn in pen without color, alongside handwritten slogans: “Come on over if you’re into the bizarre” and “No refunds.”

A 'terrible' movie viewers recommend as a prank

On Douban, a popular Chinese movie-review platform, viewers piled on with mocking and bewildered comments.

Among the most popular: “unbelievably terrible and eye-opening,” “a symbol of the new internet troll culture,” and “a must-watch for Chinese stock market investors.” The last is a play on the film’s name, “Niu Lai,” which literally means “the bull is coming” in Chinese — a wish for a bull market.

Comments such as “over nine out of ten,” and “awesome and highly recommended” are also among the sarcastic reactions.

“My initial intention has always been to play pranks on my friends,” said Du Mingxi, a 19-year-old college student in Shanghai.

“If a friend asks me what I think about the movie, I’d say good and recommend them to watch,” he said, adding that he successfully tricked two friends to watch the movie with him. Both found it fun, but one fell asleep during the viewing.

Du compared young people going to the movies to see this kind of film to the mysterious “six-seven” craze in the U.S., saying that some are just drawn to things they find weird or funny, with many jumping on a trend whether they get it or not.

“They are just the same, it is funny but hard to describe what's funny about it, and young people just love spreading these memes virally,” said Du.

Despite the flood of criticism and memes, some viewers didn't mind the rudimentary production.

Zhong Jiaming, a vocational schoolteacher in Guangzhou, called it a rare find in an era when movies are often “visually exquisite and polished, but their stories can fail to engage.”

“This is a movie for the young at heart," said Zhong. "It is simple and honest, like a bedtime story for children.”

The outbreak unfolding in one of Congo’s most vulnerable regions is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever, with 4,945 cases including 2,325 deaths, according to government data released overnight into Monday.

It's Congo’s 17th outbreak, with a toll that has eclipsed that of the country's 2018-2020 outbreak when 2,299 deaths out of 3,481 cases were recorded.

The latest data shows 101 new cases and 33 deaths reported in the previous 24 hours. Over 1,000 people have recovered, while 730 remain in hospitals or isolation.

The outbreak has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other outbreak in history. The World Health Organization has said it is on track to surpass the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the deadliest on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

Trish Newport, emergency coordinator with Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said the limited community engagement in the outbreak remains a key challenge.

“The community needs to be aware about the outbreak," she told The Associated Press, adding that people "need to be involved in the response, and they need to know what the signs and symptoms are and what to do if they get sick. And this today is not happening in every single place where there are Ebola cases.”

Starting from the first confirmed case, the outbreak reached the 2,000 death toll almost three times faster than in the 2014-16 outbreak.

Some families have lost up to 15 of their relatives in the epicenter, the Ituri province, said Newport.

“We rapidly need to scale up to be able to prevent more deaths from happening, more families and communities from being impacted,” she added.

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the current outbreak across six provinces in Congo's east. Trials for those are ongoing in Ituri.

Most new cases and deaths are being reported outside of the people being monitored. Challenges facing medical teams dealing with the outbreak also include strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger from long-traumatized communities, bad roads making it difficult to reach all the affected territories, and misinformation claiming that Ebola isn’t real.

WHO warned over the weekend that the outbreak is still moving at an “exceptional pace” ahead of efforts to track it, noting that it reached a weekly record of 579 cases and 304 deaths in the previous week.

“A substantial scaling up of response activities is underway to get ahead of the outbreak,” the U.N. health agency said.

Experts believe the virus was spreading in the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February — months before authorities declared the outbreak on May 15.

On Friday, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced the allocation of an additional $30.5 million and the deployment of 20 more staff to aid the response on the frontlines.

“This is a wake-up call,” Fletcher said. “We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.”

“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors at the start of Davis' Las Vegas trial. “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”

Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”

Palal showed jurors video of Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson outside the boxing match at the MGM Grand hours before the shooting on Sept. 7, 1996.

Davis spent the next two hours planning how to get even, said Palal, and Shakur was gunned down “in an act of revenge.”

Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time, despite dying at 25.

What he told the FBI and investigators

In a 2008 interview with a federal task force investigating the killing of Shakur's rival, the Notorious B.I.G., Davis instead talked about the Shakur shooting. He described handing a gun to the men in the backseat of a white Cadillac that fired on a black BMW with Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight inside.

As prosecutors played audio of Davis explaining the moment Shakur was shot, members of Shakur’s family, including his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, stared ahead and listened intently from the audience.

Palal told jurors Davis held onto a visceral hatred for Shakur for decades that drove him to speak.

He said the defendant talked to the FBI in 1998 and again in 1999, admitting he had been in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting.

In 2009, he admitted to his role in the killing in an interview with Las Vegas police, Palal said.

“And now 30 years later, we’re going to ask you to finally hold Duane Davis accountable,” Palal said.

He also showed jurors the 2019 memoir that Davis co-authored, “Compton Street Legend,” that the prosecution will use and that the defense fought to keep out of the trial, along with several of the defendant's interviews.

How Davis' legal team is defending him

Davis, wearing a blue suit and tie, sat quietly with his hands folded on the table in front of him, occasionally nodding along as his attorney gave his opening, and often scanned the room during testimony to see who was in the gallery.

“What they are telling you, they are representing as fact, when it’s really fiction,” Michael Sanft said. “There’s no facts."

He said Davis wasn't previously charged because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”

The defense attorney also pointed to missing documents in the original investigation and distrust between police departments.

He called one detective’s work “biased,” “sloppy” and “incomplete.”

Sanft said outside court at the end of the day that he thought the 30 years that had elapsed would help Davis.

“The length of time is going to be a huge problem for people trying to recall things, to remember things,” the lawyer said. “That’s just not how it works.”

Asked about the oddity of calling his client “full of crap" and similar things, he said, “We all have a family member who's like that.”

Briefly a suspect in Notorious B.I.G.'s death

Former Los Angeles Police Department detective Fred Miller — assigned to the investigation of the 1997 shooting death of the Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace — testified remotely and said that Davis had briefly been suspected in that shooting.

Davis admitted to being present at a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles where Wallace and Sean “Diddy” Combs were guests. Wallace was shot as he was leaving.

Sanft objected to the inclusion of the testimony. The judge, with prosecutors’ agreement, told jurors that police do not believe Davis was involved.

Most eyewitnesses are no longer alive

The story of the drive-by shooting has long gripped the hip-hop community, partly because no one was charged until Davis was indicted in 2023.

The other three men riding in the Cadillac have all died in the years since.

Retired Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale was the first of the 35 to 45 witnesses the prosecution plans to call at the trial expected to last about a month.

He testified that he and another officer stopped Knight and Shakur's car for missing a license plate, warned them and let them go.

About 10 minutes later the officers responded to a shooting call and found EMTs pulling Shakur from the car. Dale said Knight had been grazed by bullets, but told the officers to take care of Shakur.

Dale jumped in the ambulance and asked Shakur who shot him. The retired officer said that Shakur said something like “no, we’ll take care of it.”

Brent Becker, a former Las Vegas homicide detective, testified that Knight showed up to a police interview with attorneys, which he thought was odd because Knight was a victim. Knight was timid, his interview was practiced and he told investigators he knew nothing, Becker said.

“I thought he lied to us,” Becker said in video testimony.

Becker said it was difficult to get other witnesses to talk and they “were leaning on” Davis, Anderson, Deandrae “Freaky” Smith and Terry “Bubble Up” Brown as the men in the Cadillac, but had no living witnesses who could identify them.

Witnesses describe the night Tupac was shot

Ingrid Stokes testified that she and her friends were heading home from Las Vegas when they encountered Shakur and Knight, who were friends with a woman in Stokes’ group.

Knight invited them to a nightclub, she said, and they decided to meet them there.

The car Stokes was riding in was one lane over and a car length ahead of Knight's vehicle, when they heard gunshots.

Stokes said they drove off in fear and almost hit a white four-door vehicle in the process.

When they returned to the scene, police made them sit on the sidewalk and treated them like suspects, she said. Stokes was scared to be seen in public talking about the case, worried about poor treatment from law enforcement and the potential for retribution.

“Snitches get stitches,” she said.

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Associated Press journalists Ty ONeil in Las Vegas, Becky Boone in Boise, Idaho, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters before practice that Adams will have surgery and stay in Minnesota for his rehabilitation so he can serve as a mentor to the younger players.

Adams, the sixth overall pick in the 2017 draft, made three Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro in 2019 with the New York Jets. He has been an excellent blitzer who set the NFL season record for sacks by a defensive back (9½) in 2020 after being traded to the Seattle Seahawks. Injuries have derailed him since then, with Minnesota becoming his fifth team in four years. Adams tore his left quadriceps in the 2022 season opener.

Adams, who transitioned to linebacker in a part-time role last year with the Las Vegas Raiders, has 55 tackles for loss, 22½ sacks, eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and four interceptions in his career. He'd made a strong impact on the Vikings in the two-plus weeks he'd been with the team. The 30-year-old Adams was injured in his first exhibition game after signing just before the start of training camp.

“He’s a Minnesota Viking now, and we want to make sure that he knows how important he’ll be to our players and team,” O'Connell said.

The Vikings signed cornerback Bryce Phillips, who originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Kansas City following this year's draft. His brother, Clark Phillips III, plays cornerback for Atlanta after starring collegiately at Utah.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The 1,300 residents of Kandersteg, in Switzerland’s Bern canton, live amid a quintessential Alpine landscape of sharp peaks, white glaciers, steep green valleys and the distant sound of cowbells.

But a catastrophe looms over the quiet village: a mountainside rock formation called Spitze Stei, part of a mountain landscape increasingly affected by thawing permafrost, threatens to collapse into the valley in a massive landslide.

“You are aware that it’s happening, but not afraid,” said Brigitte Jüni, an inhabitant of Kandersteg. She said authorities took all the precautions they could.

“But then it’s nature. It’s nature and you never know,” Jüni added.

As glaciers and permafrost — the frozen soil sediment and rock that acts like a glue holding mountains together — melt due to higher temperatures caused by climate change, the threat of landslides is rising in the Swiss Alps.

In May 2025, a huge mass of rock and ice from a glacier thundered down the mountainside in the nearby Loetschental valley, sending plumes of dust skyward and coating with mud nearly all of Blatten, which had been evacuated earlier as a precaution.

Markus Stoffel, professor for climate change and natural risks at the University of Geneva, said climate change leads to the melting of both glaciers and permafrost.

“In the mountains and in the unconsolidated debris, there is lots of ice,” Stoffel said. “Once this ice is melting, it acts like a cement. These mountain slopes will become increasingly unstable.”

Locals in Kandersteg say their situation is different from Blatten and that preparations made already allow them to live calmly.

“This isn’t the same case as in Blatten. It’s a different situation,” said local resident Rudolf Isler. “We are not afraid of the Spitze Stei rock. It’s been many years seeing stones falling from up there. The problem here is about global warming and rising temperatures.”

If the entire unstable section of the Spitze Stei — estimated at roughly 15--20 million cubic meters — were to collapse, it would trigger a massive natural disaster. But the rock is under constant monitoring, evacuation plans are prepared and experts say the rock is more likely to break down gradually than in one huge chunk.

Nathan Solothurnmann, a climate and energy expert for Greenpeace Switzerland, says that climate change means landslides or avalanches will become more common.

“Maybe even one day we will have to abandon certain valleys or certain villages because it’s becoming impossible to live there,” Solothurnmann said. “Or the measure you will need to take to protect infrastructure is so expensive, the efforts are so big, that it’s not worthwhile anymore living there.”