Officials said at about 2:14 p.m., a man in his mid-20s riding a micro-mobility device or motorized skateboard eastbound at San Juan at the same time a Chevy Silverado was northbound and struck the rider in the inside lane.

JSO said according to a witness, the rider did not have right of way because he was crossing against the flow of traffic and the northbound Roosevelt light was green.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue said the man died at the scene. This is the 99th traffic fatality in Duval County in 2026.

The intersection is still having delays northbound and the detour has to go a few blocks through a neighborhood, JSO said.

John Yoo confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that he would be assisting Joe diGenova in an ongoing investigation into whether officials who over the last decade scrutinized Trump participated in a criminal conspiracy against the Republican president.

“He’s a lawyer. He's going to be helping us,” diGenova said in a brief telephone interview about Yoo. diGenova served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia between 1983 and 1988 and was enlisted in April to return to government as a counselor to the attorney general.

A law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yoo was a senior Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration who served as an author of the so-called “torture memos” that government officials used to justify using “enhanced interrogation” techniques on potential terror suspects. The Justice Department later rescinded the memos.

In the years since, he's remained a prominent proponent of broad executive authority, telling the AP in 2020 that he had told Trump administration officials that a Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.

The conspiracy investigation is being conducted in Florida, but the scope is unclear, as is whether any criminal charges will be brought.

Prosecutors have centered at least part of the probe on the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Investigators have issued a broad swath of subpoenas to former officials for records and conducted interviews related to the creation of an intelligence community assessment, released in January 2017, that found that Russia engaged in wide-ranging election interference to boost Trump over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

A 2019 report by special counsel Robert Mueller affirmed that Russia interfered on Trump's behalf and that the Trump campaign repeatedly welcomed the assistance, but it did not find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the campaign.

Several subsequent investigations into the Russia probe have identified multiple errors into how it was conducted, and a former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty in 2020 to doctoring an email during the course of the inquiry. But none of the reviews have identified criminal misconduct by any senior law enforcement or intelligence official involved in the investigation.

Trump has nonetheless continued to demand retribution and has sought to punish top officials from that time at the FBI and CIA.

Asked in a Fox News Channel interview in May what the Justice Department had done to address claims of a long-running conspiracy to bring down Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “That's exactly what we're investigating right now.”

Yoo's involvement in the investigation was earlier reported by Politico and CNN.

The findings follow allegations made by Councilman Rory Diamond, who publicly questioned whether the program was involved in Medicare fraud and wasting taxpayer money. Reviews by the city administration, the City Council auditor and independent evaluators found those allegations were not substantiated.

“There’s no evidence of misconduct,” Telescope Health CEO Matthew Thompson said, adding that the reviews consistently reached the same conclusion. Thompson said HealthLink JAX has generated an estimated $16 million in financial impact for the Jacksonville community.

HealthLink JAX serves more than 100,000 uninsured Jacksonville residents by providing free virtual visits with board-certified physicians. The program also connects patients with primary care providers, specialists, prescription assistance and community paramedics who can conduct in-home health screenings when needed.

Thompson said the months-long investigation required the company to repeatedly defend its reputation but also reinforced the program’s commitment to transparency. He noted that HealthLink JAX was created with City Council support and funded through the city’s budget.

While auditors found no evidence of fraud or illegal activity, the Duval DOGE Committee questioned whether the city is receiving enough measurable value from its nearly $2 million annual contract. Auditors said some projected savings could not be independently verified, and that one cost-saving component of the program was used infrequently.

Thompson disputed those conclusions and encouraged uninsured residents who need medical care to take advantage of the service by calling 904-925-CARE.

Councilman Matt Carlucci said the investigation confirmed there was no fraud, misuse of public funds or illegal conduct and cautioned against allowing unsupported allegations to drive expensive investigations.

Diamond, in a statement, pointed to auditors’ conclusion that the program provides “no tangible financial benefit to taxpayers” but did not dispute the findings that uncovered no fraud or criminal wrongdoing that he alleged.

Councilman Ron Salem did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Incoming City Council President Nick Howland has since merged the Duval DOGE Committee into a new audit and oversight committee and says the new city council will move away from so many investigations and focus on oversight.

A deportation flight from Miami arrived in Caracas hours before Wednesday's earthquakes. On board were 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and seven children, according to ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First, which tracks deportation flights.

Lisbeth Portillo, 58, said she escaped the rubble from the hotel with about 20 other deportees who walked the streets looking for help. They saw people running, some naked and others barefoot as they emerged from the rubble of the building in La Guaira, one of the areas that was hardest hit in Wednesday’s 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes.

“We walked about five kilometers, and I cried and cried … there was no communication,” Portillo said in a phone interview from her home in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

They reached a National Guard building, where they had a chance to call relatives.

“I was born again; God gave me a second chance,” said Portillo. “I am traumatized,” she said after a pause, weeping.

The Venezuelan government says more than 1,700 people were killed.

They survived the earthquake the same day that were deported from the U.S.

Portillo was caught up in the Trump administration's drive for mass deportations. In May, ICE Flight Monitor tracked 288 deportation flights to 38 countries, including Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile and the Ivory Coast.

The U.S. ran 12 deportation flights to Venezuela in May, operating three days a week, according to ICE Flight Monitor. Deportation flights to Venezuela resumed in February 2025 after a 13-month pause.

Portillo said the government took them to the Hotel Santuario La Llanada, where they underwent medical exams and got identification documents. They were told they would go home the next day.

Portillo was staying in a second floor room with 16 other women. She stepped onto a balcony to look at the sea and saw that the sky was black; it was very hot. She returned to the room, laid on a bed, and began to feel herself being shaken.

“I started hearing ‘papa, papa papapa,’, and I saw the women next to me start to fall,” she said, describing the sounds from the earthquake. “They were all screaming for help.”

And almost immediately, the second earthquake.

"I fall and end up buried and covered by a beam, but the shaking shifted everything where I was buried and I was able to get out,” said Portillo, who has bruises all over her body.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for information from the AP.

A video from the Venezuelan government posted on social media showed images of the deportees being received by Venezuelan authorities upon their arrival at the Caracas airport on Wednesday.

Jenny Rodriguez, 24, told the Telemundo network that she was on the flight and taken to the hotel.

“I was trapped under the rubble. A colleague who had been on the same flight came by; I managed to free my hand from the debris, grabbed him by the trousers, and begged for help”, she said. “Thanks to God — and to him — I was able to get out of there.”

Liliana Rojas told Telemundo that she has been trying to locate her 33-year-old partner. The detention center where he was held in El Paso, Texas, says only told that he was deported.

“No one is giving an answer about anything,” Rojas said.

Woman says she feels ‘born again’ after surviving

Portillo, who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico in November 2021 and said had an pending asylum claim, couldn't remember her children's phone number. She called her husband in the United States.

“I said to him, ‘Cesar, I’m alive. Help me.’ And my husband kept saying, ‘It can’t be,’” she said. “‘I’m alive, I made it out of the rubble, I’m alive,’ I told him.”

Her husband called their children, who picked her up and were able to reunite with their mother the following night.

“I was born that day; on the 24th, I was born again,” said Portillo, who lived in South Florida for more than four years.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday released its list of participants for an upcoming meeting to reconsider the safety and effectiveness of several popular peptide injections, including some that have been praised by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Previous FDA panels on the topic have been composed of academics and researchers. The agency’s new group mainly includes health professionals who prescribe, produce or promote peptides, which have become a wellness trend among athletes, influencers and celebrities.

The two-day meeting is the latest example of how Kennedy and his deputies are trying to reshape U.S. health policy in the mold of the Make America Healthy Again movement. Some of the biggest supporters of the movement sell peptide formulas, though many pharmaceutical industry experts consider them illegal, unapproved drugs.

The substances are sold online and promoted by wellness clinics as a means to build muscle, heal injuries and look younger, though there’s little evidence behind those claims. Peptide sellers often skirt U.S. regulations by labeling their products as "for research use only,” since the FDA doesn’t regulate research chemicals.

FDA has raised safety concerns about peptides

Many of the injectable peptides sold in the U.S. are produced by compounding pharmacies, which mix custom medications that aren’t available from traditional drug manufacturers.

For several years, the FDA has warned Americans about the risks of injecting chemicals with names like BPC-157 and TB-500, which have not been extensively studied in humans. Both drugs are considered doping substances by international sports authorities. They are among seven peptides set for review in July.

Previous versions of the FDA’s panel on drug compounding — the group that will meet next month — have voted against a string of peptide ingredients brought forward by compounding pharmacies, declaring all of them too risky to be offered to patients. Those panels were mostly composed of experts from universities including Duke, Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

New FDA panel includes peptide proponents

The FDA's new group includes more than a half-dozen panelists who run clinics, online businesses or pharmacies specializing in peptides, which are often given alongside other unapproved therapies, including vitamin infusions.

For example, panel member Dr. Haleem Mohammed runs clinics in Florida that sell injections of peptides, vitamins, testosterone and weight loss medications. The business is part of a national chain of clinics dubbed Gameday Men's Health. The company's website states, "compounded medications offered through our services are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not verify their safety."

Another panelist, Dr. Gabriel Alizaidy, charges $500 for “peptide and hormone” consultations, including advice on “where to safely get each peptide or compound.” Alizaidy promotes BPC-157, GHK-Cu and other peptides to thousands of followers through his accounts on Instagram and TikTok.

His website contains the disclaimer that each consultation “is educational in nature and does not constitute medical care, diagnosis, or treatment.”

Another member is Bobby Harshbarger, a Tennessee state senator who has multiple connections to the industry. Harshbarger is a pharmacist at his family's business, Premiere Pharmacy, which sells compounded medications for weight loss, longevity, pain and other conditions.

His mother, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, is also a pharmacist and a Republican member of U.S. Congress from Tennessee. Last year she sent a letter to Kennedy calling on him to relax FDA restrictions on a half-dozen peptides.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Harshbarger's support of his “Make America Great Again” agenda. Last year, the president pardoned her husband, Robert Harshbarger Jr., who pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to substituting an unapproved drug from China for one used by patients on kidney dialysis. He was stripped of his pharmacy license and sentenced to four years in prison, which he served.

Mohammed and Alizaidy did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for Harshbarger could not immediately provide comment when reached by phone.

Kennedy and his allies previously criticized government panels

The FDA has more than 30 panels of experts who advise the agency on various drugs, vaccines, food ingredients and other products.

Advisory meetings are subject to strict government transparency rules in terms of panel composition and financial disclosures. Experts who have a financial stake in a company or industry are permitted to serve on the panels, but the relationship must be disclosed and regulators are supposed to explain why the person's expertise outweighs their potential conflict of interest.

Kennedy and his allies have been highly critical of federal expert panels, often alleging that they are riven with conflicts of interest, despite federal data showing otherwise.

Last year, Kennedy fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's entire 17-member vaccine panel and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices. A federal judge later said that action likely violated federal rules.

Kennedy told podcast host Joe Rogan earlier this year that he is “a big fan of peptides,” and described using them to recover from injuries.

Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary — who resigned in May — was also highly critical of FDA advisory panels, complaining that they were expensive, time-consuming and subject to too many financial conflicts.

The number of such meetings plummeted during Makary's tenure. Instead, the FDA held a number of ad hoc meetings with handpicked experts on topics favored by Kennedy, including the risks of talc powder and antidepressants.

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

The attorneys general and governors who filed the lawsuit allege that an interim final rule released earlier this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services oversteps the text of the law last summer that set in motion the changes to Medicaid.

They claim the Republican administration’s narrow interpretation of parts of the statute, including new limits to a medical frailty exemption, will create harmful coverage barriers and chaos in states that have been rushing to implement new systems by the January deadline.

“Added administrative burdens will cause individuals who are eligible for Medicaid to lose or be denied coverage,” the plaintiffs write. “People with disabilities, patients in the middle of cancer treatment, or those struggling with another serious or complex health condition, shouldn’t be at risk of losing the care that helps maintain their health.”

Spokespeople for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and CMS, the agencies named in the lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has promoted the new rules as commonsense measures to eliminate government freeloading and preserve benefits for those who need them most.

The new Medicaid restrictions, which Democrats have criticized, were part of Trump’s big tax and policy law in 2025. The change affects those covered through an expansion in most states that gave more lower-income people access to the government’s safety net healthcare program.

Starting Jan. 1, expansion enrollees age 19 to 64 will have to show that they work or do community service at least 80 hours a month or are in school at least half the time. There are exceptions for those considered medically frail or in addiction treatment programs, among others.

This month’s announcement from CMS caught states off guard with a new definition of medical frailty. The law had said medically frail people include those who have substance use disorders, disabilities or serious medical conditions. But the CMS rule went further, saying someone’s condition must “significantly impair” their ability to work, volunteer or attend school at the rates required in the law for them to be granted an exemption.

In 2027 and once in 2028, the patient can attest that they meet this definition. But when they try to renew coverage in 2028, they’ll need to prove it. Health analysts and state Medicaid directors have said they aren’t clear on what existing documentation could prove that point.

In the lawsuit, states allege that this change came “contrary to months of regular communications with CMS and preliminary guidance materials upon which Plaintiff States based their implementation plans.” They say CMS has still not provided states with enough clarity on how they can update their systems appropriately.

Kinda Serafi, a partner at the legal and consulting firm Manatt Health who is working with states to make the changes, said the administration “moved the goalposts” with its rule on medical frailty.

“By going beyond the clear language of the statute, CMS opened the door to this court challenge,” she said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the Democrats suing the administration, said the new rule puts thousands of her state's residents at risk.

“New Yorkers who are battling cancer, living with a disability, managing a serious mental health condition, or recovering from addiction should be able to get the health care they need without being buried in paperwork,” she said in a statement.

The Yarnell Hill Fire that killed 19 firefighters on June 30, 2013, remains the deadliest event on record for U.S. firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the deadliest for U.S. wildland firefighters in over a century.

The firefighters died 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Prescott, Arizona, after trying to escape flames fanned by shifting winds. They were deploying fire shelters — small, heat-resistant tents that can offer a chance at survival — when flames reached them in a brushy box canyon.

Temperatures reached 2,000 degrees (1,100 Celsius).

On Saturday, a wildfire west of Grand Junction, Colorado, killed three firefighters and injured two others. That fire has burned 44 square miles (114 square kilometers). The five firefighters were members of a Helitack crew who are dropped by helicopter into remote areas to saw and dig away vegetation and create fire-resistant barriers ahead of advancing flames.

As at the Yarnell Hill Fire, the firefighters decided to stop fleeing and use fire shelters to try to survive.

A complete investigation could take several months. Full knowledge of what happened could be elusive.

Investigators of the Yarnell Hill Fire could not verify radio communications from the firefighters for a half-hour period that may have shed light on their decision-making process.

The final investigation report ultimately did not fault the firefighters, saying they were fully qualified, staffed and trained and “followed all standards and guidelines.” Their commanders likewise made reasonable judgments and decisions in rapidly worsening conditions, according to the report.

“Complexity can outpace organizational attempts to respond,” the report concluded.

Fire shelters are a last resort, offering roll-of-the-dice odds under otherwise impossible circumstances. In a 2015 wildfire in Washington state, two firefighters who used such tents survived, while three who were in a truck died.

How much the protection the tents provide depends on the conditions in which they are deployed. They are not designed to withstand direct flame, Riva Duncan, president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a firefighter advocacy group, said Monday.

“It’s your last-ditch effort to try to survive,” Duncan said.

Three guards and 88 inmates were inside the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center in Windsor when the takeover began at about 5 a.m., prompting an immediate response from local, state and federal authorities, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement posted on social media.

By early afternoon, the Bureau of Investigation and the FBI had “cleared the facility,” the state bureau said in a statement. ”All inmates and staff are safe and accounted for, and those who sustained injuries have received treatment.”

Inmates have been transferred to other facilities and the jail will remain secured while the damage is assessed, the Bureau of Investigation said. The 90-bed jail located about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of Raleigh houses pretrial detainees and short-term inmates for Bertie and Martin counties.

Inmates took two guards captive and the third guard escaped. Negotiations led to the release of the two guards along with 80 inmates, leaving only eight inmates inside, Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin said at a news conference.

Ruffin said the two guards who were released were undergoing medical treatment but he had no details about their injuries.

Most of the remaining inmates “complied and exited the facility as soon as entry was made,” said Chad Flowers, a spokesperson for the State Bureau of Investigation.

It wasn’t immediately known whether officers fired any lethal or non-lethal rounds upon entering the jail. In a telephone interview, Flowers said law enforcement officials were in a meeting about the incident and unavailable late Monday afternoon.

Flowers also referred questions about the facility's security to a jail administrator, who did not immediately return a telephone message. Authorities have not addressed why there were three guards overseeing the jail at the time of the takeover.

“The perpetrators must be held accountable for this horrifying action," Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said on the social platform X. "We also must do everything in our power to ensure this doesn’t happen again — and that includes doing more to recruit, retain, and compensate the county and state officials who are charged with keeping our jails and prisons safe.”

Ruffin did not indicate what caused the takeover.

“Right now we have a lot going on that we're trying to get under control," he said. "I will release that information to the public as soon as I can.”

A stop-work order, issued after city inspectors said a recent building addition lacked proper permits, was affixed to the entrance.

What happened during the early-morning raid

Officers entered the bar around 3 a.m. Sunday, according to a woman who said she was inside celebrating her birthday weekend. She asked not to be identified.

“Everything was nice vibe, nice chill setting, and we were just enjoying life — and then next thing you know we have these police officers, and they just like bum rush the scene,” she said. “We were scared. We didn’t know what was going on.”

She described officers pushing patrons toward the exits. “They just came in, pushing everyone and telling them get out, get out — everyone gets out, it’s a raid, get out.”

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed its Vice Unit responded to the bar and issued Notices To Appear to several employees for their role in the “sale or dispensing of alcoholic beverages after hours.” News4JAX has requested the incident report to determine how many employees were cited.

A building violation adds to the bar’s troubles

Beyond the after-hours alcohol allegations, city inspectors flagged an unpermitted building addition at the property. The resulting stop-work order was posted on the front door when News4JAX visited Monday.

News4JAX reached out to the owner of Tipsys for comment on both the weekend raid and the building notice. As of this report, we had not received a response.

A history of incidents at the nightclub

This is not the first time Tipsys has drawn attention from law enforcement. Months ago, three people — including a security guard — were shot during a fight inside the bar. Investigators later arrested Khamari Graham on attempted murder charges in connection with that case.

‘Limited options’ in Jacksonville’s urban neighborhoods

The woman who spoke with News4JAX said she is frustrated — not just with the bar’s troubles, but with what she described as a lack of entertainment options in Jacksonville’s urban communities.

“It’s hardly anything for us to do in Jacksonville, especially in the urban neighborhoods,” she said. “We have limited options. We try to go to the park, they shut down the park. You have a little meetup, they try to shut that down — so it’s really nothing to do here. The little entertainment that we do have, we try to take advantage of that and enjoy it.”

For now, the stop-work order remains posted on the front door of Tipsys Bar and Grill, and it is unclear when or whether the business will reopen.

The justices said Monday that Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies with one exception, ruling that central banker Lisa Cook can keep her job at the Federal Reserve for now.

The court said states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting a Trump-led challenge. It declined to consider Trump’s push to toss a $5 million jury verdict that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll. And it turned away Trump defender Alan Dershowitz ’s effort to rewrite the U.S. libel law standards.

Here's the Latest:

Feds to buy back North Carolina offshore wind lease from Duke Energy

Duke Energy is the latest utility to bow to pressure from the Trump administration to cancel offshore wind leases in return for money.

The $129 million deal by the Interior Department brings the total amount spent on these agreements to about $2.7 billion. The Trump administration has been buying back the leases as it seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of more traditional energy sources such as natural gas, coal and nuclear power.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke said the deal will allow it “refocus” the money in range of ways, including new nuclear or natural gas generation, or grid enhancements to strengthen reliability.

French energy giant TotalEnergies, which had partnered with Duke on the North Carolina project, took a similar deal in March.

Mississippi official sued over mail ballots says Supreme Court ruling was win for states’ rights

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said the Supreme Court Monday confirmed the right of states to administer elections.

Watson, a Republican running for lieutenant governor in Mississippi, was sued by the Republican National Committee in 2024 over Mississippi’s policy of counting absentee ballots received after Election Day. The justices in a 5-4 ruling sided with Watson.

Watson said in a statement after the decision that he opposed the practice of counting ballots received after Election Day, but deeply valued the rights of states to “govern themselves, including the administration of elections.”

He said the Supreme Court ruling confirms election policy is a “decision to be made by Congress or, in its absence, state legislatures.”

Trump equivocates on importance of Qatar talks

He said U.S. delegates had either just left or were getting ready to leave for negotiations to end the war with Iran. But he offered a lukewarm view of the talks.

“The meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not — we’re going to find out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

Trump calls bill aimed at addressing housing affordability ‘a yawn’ and says he doesn’t know if he’ll sign it

Trump last week abruptly canceled a ceremony to sign the bill, saying he would not approve the bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering the cost of housing until Congress acts on legislation to require proof of citizenship to vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said over the weekend he would send Trump the bill on Monday anyway. When asked by reporters about whether he’d sign it, Trump gave an exasperated response and drew out his words, saying, “I don’t knooow.”

He proclaimed to have more knowledge about housing than anyone in the history of the presidency, but said the bill was “so unimportant” compared to the voting legislation.

“When I look at that bill, it’s a bill,” Trump said. “But when I look at the Save America Act, it’s about saving America.”

Rubio meets with son of Libyan military strongman as signs of a potential unification deal emerge

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with the son of a powerful Libyan warlord as signs grow that the U.S. is intensifying efforts to broker a unity agreement between the Libya’s fractured eastern and western factions.

Rubio met on Monday with Saddam Hifter, the deputy general commander of the self-styled Libyan national army, based in the east of the country. Hifter is the son of Khalifa Hifter, widely seen as the most powerful figure in eastern and southern Libya.

The two men “discussed ongoing Libyan-led efforts to unify the country’s military, economic, and political institutions” and “possible avenues for cooperation to advance unity and peace in Libya,” the State Department said.

The U.S. is reportedly pushing an initiative under which Saddam Hifter would head a presidential council in a new unified administration that would also include Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who runs the government in western Libya.

Monday’s meeting came after a senior official from Dbeibah’s defense ministry met with U.S. officials in Washington last week.

Trump signs memo telling EPA that people can fix their autos as they see fit

The U.S. president said he signed a memo to allow Americans to fix their own vehicles, saying that people had been arrested for trying to do so.

“It came to my attention because they noticed they were arresting people for fixing their car,” Trump said.

The president appeared to be referencing a diesel mechanic, Troy Lake, who violated the Clean Air Act by disabling emissions monitoring systems on trucks. Trump pardoned Lake last November.

The memo also addresses the use of aftermarket auto parts. It would supersede the ability of the California Air Resources Board to evaluate parts that affect vehicle emissions.

Secretaries of state in mail voting-reliant Washington and Oregon praise Supreme Court mail ballot ruling

The top election officials in Washington and Oregon — states that conduct elections mostly by mail — commended Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing states to continue counting late arriving mail ballots.

Oregon allows mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received in the seven days following to be counted. In Washington, mail ballots can be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received 21 days after a general election or 14 days after a primary.

“The decision is a win for voters, particularly for Oregon voters,” Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a phone interview.

“The ruling upholds our longstanding ballot return rules, which support accessible and fair elections,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a news release.

Schumer blasts Supreme Court decision on independent federal agencies

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says the Supreme Court’s decision giving presidents free rein to fire agency heads at will gives Trump a “permission slip to turn independent federal agencies into members-only clubs for his golf buddies and cronies.”

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired without cause despite a provision of federal law that requires a reason. The logic of the court’s decision extends to other agencies where Trump has fired board members.

Slaughter once served as Schumer’s chief counsel. Schumer says she was fired for no other reason than doing a good of a job protecting consumers.

“Instead of preserving independence intended to keep markets fair and protect consumers, Trump’s instead catering to fraudsters and monopolists. And the Supreme Court is giving him a green light to do it,” Schumer said.

Top California election official says mail-in ballot ruling is a win for democracy

California’s Secretary of State hailed Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as a win for voters, the rule of law and democracy.

Shirley Weber, California’s first Black secretary of state, said in a statement the court “protected an important safeguard” that helps make sure voters are not disenfranchised by mail delays.

“This ruling makes one thing clear,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Our elections belong to the people, not to partisan agendas.”

Under California law, ballots received within seven days of an election are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

FCC’s sole Democrat warns of Supreme Court ruling’s impact

Anna Gomez is one of the few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them, partly because her presence allows for a quorum that allows Chairman Brendan Carr to enact his agenda.

She warned the Supreme Court’s ruling “puts at risk how Congress intended independent agencies to function in American democracy.”

“Those who argue these agencies are unaccountable misunderstand how they were designed, as the FCC answers to Congress, the democratically elected body that created it, through oversight, appropriations, and legislation,” she said in a statement following the Court’s ruling. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it.”

She said consumers “will pay the price” in higher costs, fewer choices and slower progress toward connectivity.

Republican chairman follows Trump’s lead on mail-in ballot ruling

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the court’s decision upholding state practices of accepting all ballots postmarked by Election Day is a reason to pass the president’s proposed elections bill that is stalled on Capitol Hill.

“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” Gruters said.

RNC aides distributed the statement after Trump made the same argument Monday morning. Trump’s proposal would virtually eliminate absentee voting nationally, require voters to provide citizenship documentation to register and then present certain photo identification at polling places.

Gruters said Democrats “are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on.” He did not offer any examples of such chaos, and it was the original plaintiffs who wanted the court to overturn long-established rules months before November’s elections.

America 250 celebrations bring extraordinary security challenge to Washington

Federal law enforcement is preparing for one of the capital’s largest and most complex security operations as hundreds of thousands of people visit Washington for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s freedom.

The security challenge comes amid rising political violence, including recent incidents near the White House, and a president who enjoys being at the center of public pomp yet has repeatedly faced attempts on his life.

The nation’s capital “is a target-rich environment” on a normal day, said Darren B. Cox, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “We are prepared for any threats.”

The throngs will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers and agents and 5,000 National Guard troops, along with military-style vehicles and other hardware not often seen on American streets.

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Trump says he will keep fighting Carroll case after court declines to take it up

The president said in a social media post that it was “a Fake Case” brought against him by a woman he claims he never met.

“I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” Trump wrote.

He also said the case, in which a jury found that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll in New York City in the 1990s and and later defamed her, is “really against the United States of America, and all it stands for.”

In a statement Monday, Carroll said the decision affirms the jury’s verdict will stand. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said.

Trump says he'll seek to remove Cook despite court rejection of his initial attempt

Trump said he lost his effort to remove the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook “on a strictly procedural basis” and would still seek to remove the central bank governor.

The court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook can remain on the Fed board as she challenges the administration’s attempts to fire her over claims of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

Trump said in a social media post that “we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!”

In light of Supreme Court rejection, Trump renews push for his voter ID bill

Trump called a Supreme Court ruling that ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted days after an election a “tremendous loss.”

Trump posted on social media that the decision makes it more important for his SAVE America Act to pass. The measure would require proof of citizenship and include a ban on mail-in ballots unless that person is sick, disabled, traveling or deployed by the military, Trump noted.

“There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!” Trump said.

The president then called out Republican senators who have objected to the measure: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Cook says her attempted firing was about ‘political pressure’ on the Fed

The firing attempt “was never about mortgage documents signed years ago” but rather “was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure” from Trump, who has long sought lower interest rates from the central bank, Cook said in a written statement reacting to the court’s ruling.

Trump fired Cook last August, citing allegations that she had committed fraud in mortgage documents she signed in June and July of 2021. The Biden appointee sued to keep her job, and lower courts ruled she could remain while the case is litigated. The Supreme Court Monday upheld those rulings.

“Today’s ruling affirms a principle that has underpinned sound economic stewardship for generations: that the Federal Reserve must make all its policy decisions guided by evidence and independent judgment, free from political interference,” Cook’s statement said.

Trump applauds ruling empowering him to fire independent agency leaders

A majority of the justices ruled presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a previous court ruling from 91 years ago.

“It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump posted on social media.

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. The decision’s logic extends to National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Trump did not acknowledge that the court recognized some limits on his authorities by also ruling 5-4 that Lisa Cook can remain a central bank governor while challenging unproven mortgage fraud allegations, which she has denied.

Supreme Court says Fed’s Cook can keep her job for now

The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception, the Federal Reserve.

The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority. That decision, Humphrey’s Executor, was overturned.

Witkoff and Kushner going to Qatar for talks with Iran

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Steve Witkoff, who is the special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are flying to Qatar to meet with the Iranians.

Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that those talks would be “high level” and that technical negotiations would occur on the sidelines. Iran has denied that the talks are happening.

Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by attacking a ship last week in Strait of Hormuz, but so far the interim deal for negotiations to take place appears to have held.

Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots

The Court said states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, a persistent target of Trump.

The decision Monday rejects a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.

Trump has claimed most mail balloting breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience. He keeps repeating that fraud caused his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.

▶ Read more

Supreme Court rebuffs Alan Dershowitz’s $300 million suit against CNN

The Supreme Court refused Monday to revive the prominent attorney’s defamation lawsuit against CNN over its coverage of remarks he made while defending Trump during his 2020 impeachment.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority decision, saying legal standards for public figures who claim defamation should be reconsidered.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only part of a comment he made, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

Dershowitz had urged the justices to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits by requiring proof that an outlet either knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Supreme Court will weigh GOP push to revive Arizona voting laws

The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a Republican push to enforce strict Arizona voting laws passed in the swing state after the 2020 election.

The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect temporarily before, including Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration joined the appeal after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.

▶ Read more

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This story has been corrected to show Trump saying hosing bill was “unimportant.”

Yet instead of feeling amplified pressure under the raised expectations created by their strong group round and a groundswell of national support, these Americans appeared to be energized by the opportunity to make history as they broke camp Monday at their training base in Orange County.

“Would it be weird if I told you I don't really feel too much pressure at this minute?” Ream said with a grin.

“I think we felt more pressure for that first game against Paraguay than anything, and that's coming from ourselves, not from anything on the outside," Ream added, referring to the Americans' impressive 4-1 win in their World Cup opener on June 12. "We just have to put in a performance the way we have in the group stage, and then we see where that takes us.”

The U.S. faces Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday night. The Americans are significantly favored — which is sort of an achievement in itself, given that this team has won exactly one knockout-round match in its entire World Cup history.

But these Americans are on the international stage with more optimism and likely more talent than nearly all previous editions of this team. Whether that translates into a deep run is still to be decided, but the Americans' confidence and excitement is undeniable.

“The game is going to be about us and what we're prepared to do, and what we have to do to advance,” U.S. striker Folarin Balogun said. “It’s crunch time. This is the business end, and this is the stage where, in my opinion, the big players step forward and the big players carry the pressure and make things happen.”

Although the Americans reached the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 by winning their group, their only knockout victory came at the 2002 tournament when they beat Mexico in the round of 16.

Tim Ream says the US team felt more pressure at the last World Cup in Qatar

The 38-year-old Ream believes the Americans felt more pressure four years ago in Qatar, when they muddled through group play before getting blasted 3-1 by the Netherlands in the first knockout round.

Those Americans weren't led by accomplished Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has made strong tactical advancements and clearly instilled many of his players with a new kind of confidence after previous U.S. cycles were spent under more parochial coaching.

They also didn't have Balogun, the elite goal-scorer who made a major impact on the Americans' victories over Paraguay and Australia by a combined 6-1, clinching their group in style and rendering their third match meaningless.

Folarin Balogun taking in American culture during the World Cup

Balogun's impact is undeniable on the field, but the Brooklyn-born, London-raised forward is also a focal point away from the field. This World Cup cycle has been his first significant exposure to U.S. culture, and that's an endless source of amusement and insight for his teammates.

“He says America is a simulation quite often,” defender Mark McKenzie said with a laugh. “We’ll be driving down the road and he’ll see something and be like, ‘What is that? Why is an individual dressed like that, or why are they throwing a sign up in the air on the corner? What is Bojangles?’ It’s stuff like that, where he’s like, ‘Bro! America! What is going on?’”

Many of the top Americans now play their club soccer internationally — another obvious factor in this team's improved competitiveness in this World Cup. Defender Chris Richards, an Alabama native who plays in London for Crystal Palace, says his team is more mature and more tested than most previous editions of the U.S. roster because of its experience at all levels of the sport.

And count Richards among those who find Balogun's culture shock to be a hilarious distraction during the down time on international breaks and this World Cup cycle.

“I think (Balogun) still has this notion that he says Americans aren’t real,” Richards said. “There’s some stuff that we do that doesn’t fly back in London. It's a lot to learn and especially when you’re only here for a few weeks at a time. It’s been cool (for Balogun) being able to see different pockets of America.”

Cristian Roldan and Auston Trusty do modified training ahead of round of 32

NOTES: Injured players Cristian Roldan (quadriceps strain) and Auston Trusty (ankle) did modified training while their teammates went through a full workout Monday, but McKenzie (foot irritation) remained sidelined for a second straight day. Roldan hasn't played at this World Cup, while Trusty scored in the Americans' 3-2 loss to Turkey before he rolled his ankle late in the match. Roldan was on the field doing drills for the second straight day. McKenzie is getting treatment away from practice. None of the three injured Americans was expected to play a major role in the knockout rounds.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

They were part of a specialized crew that goes into remote areas to quickly put out new and rapidly escalating wildfires, federal officials said Monday.

Their deaths on Saturday came almost 13 years to the day since an elite crew of 19 wildland firefighters died when they were trapped in a steep canyon in Yarnell, Arizona.

Like this weekend's victims, the men in Arizona had tried to deploy emergency shelters that are a “last resort” for firefighters when there's no other way out. Investigators didn't blame anyone in the deaths but did cite radio communication problems that contributed to the Granite Mountain Hotshots becoming trapped. Arizona's workplace safety commission also fined the state's forestry division for not pulling them out.

Wildfires have erupted over the past week all across the West, fueled by months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter in some places. Wildfire experts have been warning for months that extreme fire dangers are likely this summer.

With more than two dozen large fires burning, almost 8,000 wildland firefighters and dozens of firefighting helicopters have been deployed. About half the largest blazes are in Alaska while the rest are mostly in Western states.

Evacuations were ordered near seven fires, including in Arizona, Washington state, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

Firefighters were part of a specialized crew

The U.S. Forest Service identified the firefighters killed as Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Alabama.

Two others who were with them sustained burn injuries. Federal authorities would not release any information about their conditions.

The three victims were assigned to a Helitack crew that can be dropped into remote areas by helicopters and whose mission is to prevent new fires from growing into out-of-control blazes. But it can be extremely dangerous, often taking place in areas where fires are rapidly expanding.

One of the crew members worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service while two were assigned to the U.S. Forest Service and all were part of an interagency response to fires just west of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The Snyder Fire in the area has burned about 44 square miles (114 square kilometers), authorities said.

The Wildland Fire Service, created by the Department of Interior this year to coordinate firefighting on public lands, said in a statement that it “stands united” with the Forest Service in grief and “in our unwavering support for the loved ones left behind.”

The deaths will trigger an investigation by the Forest and Wildland Fire services that typically results in recommendations for how to prevent or reduce the risk of a similar accident. Agencies can also convene an accident review board to suggest any further actions.

High wildfire threat for much of this week

More hot, dry and windy weather across the Southwest will elevate the fire threat at least until the weekend, according to the national Storm Prediction Center.

Among the concerns were high winds in the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, in the Black Hills of South Dakota and across portions of the High Plains.

Utah already has restricted firework usage going into the July Fourth holiday.

The National Interagency Fire Center on Monday increased the national “preparedness level” for wildfires to a 4, on a scale of 1 to 5. That’s a sign resources are beginning to be strained, and officials warned of a high potential for new, large fires in multiple parts of the country in coming days.

So far this year, the fires have burned more than 4,800 square miles (12,400 square kilometers) — the most by this point in the year since 2022 and significantly above the 10-year average.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% and broke a five-day losing streak. It was coming off just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.1%.

Several stocks boosted by the artificial-intelligence boom rose after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest roughly $518 billion in a new chipmaking hub in South Korea, as its president hopes to capitalize on surging AI demand.

Applied Materials, whose equipment helps make semiconductors, rallied 10.8% to vault its gain for the year so far above 170%.

AI stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently after soaring to tremendous heights. They’re under pressure because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the huge gains for their stock prices. And the moves have an outsized effect on investors because AI stocks have become some of Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving them more weight on indexes than others.

Nvidia was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500, for example, after its stock rose 1.3%. That’s because it’s Wall Street’s biggest stock with a total value of more than $4.7 trillion.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business along with rockets, has already become worth more than $2 trillion after its stock's ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month, with sharp rises and falls along the way. It’s become big enough that Nasdaq said Elon Musk’s company will join the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on July 7, which will force funds tracking the index to buy the stock.

SpaceX climbed 7.2%.

Outside of AI, Comcast rose 4.5% after saying it will split off its NBCUniversal media business and Sky from its broadband and wireless business. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 17.3% for the year so far.

That helped offset a 5.2% drop for Verizon Communications, which said it’s paying $625 million as part of a deal to combine its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business with some of London-based BT Group’s subsidiaries in a joint venture.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 86.41 points to 7,440.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306.63 to 52,182.74, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 522.53 to 25,820.14.

The gains for the stock market came even though oil prices rose. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8% to $73.91, pulling back above where it was before the war with Iran began. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery rose 2.2% to settle at $70.75 per barrel.

Following attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend, the United States and Iran on Monday separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the United States “at any level.”

The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will give oil tankers full access again to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing them to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing wave of inflation around the world.

If oil prices do recede and stay low enough, it could keep enough pressure off inflation to allow the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates steady or even cut them instead of hiking them.

Higher interest rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments. High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel because of the war.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.37% from 4.38% late Friday and from 4.56% early this month.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped modestly in Europe following mixed performances in Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1.2% in Shanghai for two of the world’s biggest gains, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Murdaugh’s murder convictions and sentence of life in prison were overturned last month by the South Carolina Supreme Court. On Monday, a new judge laid out a timeline for hearings and set the retrial to start April 5. She also nailed down deadlines for making sure the defense and prosecution have exchanged evidence, a process called discovery.

Dozens of media outlets, from international agencies and local TV stations to podcasters, were inside the 200-person Lexington County courthouse to again chronicle every forehead rub and quizzical look from the once-rich and imposing Southern lawyer.

“I see we have a full house,” Judge Debra McCaslin said as the hearing began.

For many, it was a rare glimpse of how life in state prison has changed the 58-year-old Murdaugh. After pleading guilty to stealing about $12 million from clients and his family’s law firm, he is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence.

Unlike just about everyone else in the courtroom, the judge said she was new to the story, which combines a grisly double murder with the fall of a powerful legal dynasty.

“I don’t know anything about the first trial, so when you tell me something, please be complete,” McCaslin told the lawyers.

Prosecutors say Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie and younger son Paul, age 22, because he believed sympathy over their deaths would buy him time to fix his financial crimes. At that point in 2021, he was close to being exposed by both his law firm and the family of a teen who filed a wrongful death suit after Paul crashed a boat while drinking.

A jury convicted Murdaugh of two counts of murder in 2023. While admitting he is a thief, insurance cheat, bad lawyer and longtime opioid addict, he has adamantly denied the killings.

Murdaugh wore an orange prison jumpsuit Monday, listening with his mouth set in a tight line.

At one point, as defense attorney Dick Harpootlian was asking the judge to let Murdaugh wear civilian clothes in court, he told his client to stand.

“Chains around the hands, chain around the waist, chains on his feet,” Harpootlian noted, saying a jury would see Murdaugh shackled like a dangerous criminal when he’s only been convicted of financial crimes.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters said it's important for incarcerated defendants to wear restraints and jumpsuits. “Every time someone is transferred out of court, it is a security risk,” he said.

Defense lawyers want Murdaugh, who was disbarred during his legal troubles, to have access in prison to a laptop without internet, so his team wouldn't have to print and deliver evidence to him. Harpootlian said Monday there are more than 20,000 pages of documents.

“Well surely, Mr. Harpootlian, he reviewed those before his first trial, did he not?” the judge asked.

“Five years ago,” the lawyer replied.

Another pretrial motion asks prosecutors to turn over DNA found under Murdaugh’s wife’s fingernails for testing at a private lab. Investigators said it was from an unknown and unrelated man. The defense said they would cover the cost of testing.

“I’m gonna let you pay for it,” the judge quipped, drawing a chuckle from the courtroom.

Murdaugh was grimacing and biting his lower lip during the exchange.

The defense also wants to hold the next trial outside Colleton County, where the killings happened and the first trial took place. That matter was not decided Monday.

Investigators and armchair detectives alike have spent hours poring over alibis, timelines and digital breadcrumbs, including a cellphone video that prosecutors say cracked the case. They allege Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video, which was taken by his son shortly before the shootings at dog kennels on the family’s sprawling property. Murdaugh had initially claimed he was asleep at the time.

During the first trial, a few jurors said the Colleton County clerk of court, who is assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, told them to watch Murdaugh’s body language when he testified in his own defense and to not be fooled, confused or thrown off by what he might say.

The state Supreme Court ruled this was a suggestion Murdaugh was guilty, and overturned his convictions.

The justices were also concerned there had been too much testimony around how Murdaugh stole from clients, many of them in dire straits.

More than $800 million in line items were vetoed, bringing the final budget to $117.6 billion.

The vetoed items included funding for residential facilities, workforce development, mental health initiatives, community centers, and infrastructure improvements across counties such as Duval, St. Johns, Bradford, Clay, Alachua, Columbia, Putnam, Nassau, and Union.

Many of the projects aimed to expand services in education, healthcare, event spaces, food distribution, and law enforcement support.

See the county-by-county breakdown of projects across Northeast Florida that were vetoed:

RELATED: Gov. DeSantis touts education, infrastructure spending in $117.6B Florida budget

Duval County

• Edward Waters University - Living, Learning, and Community Multiplex (HF 1906) (SF 2652) - $1,000,000 – would add 425 new residential beds to campus, provide new convention space, expand direct services to community.
• Sowing SEEDS Project - A Workforce Development Program (HF 2369) (SF 2828) - $132,820
• Planned to A.T. Financial Literacy Curriculum Expansion in Duval County Public Schools (HF 2924) (SF 2701) - $100,000 – money was to license the curriculum to four high schools in Duval, to help teach healthy personal finance habits.
• Striving for Excellence Inc. (HF 1283) (SF 1809) - $100,000 – money to support the Cheeseborough Invitational Track & Field Event.
• Junior Achievement of North Florida Experiential Learning Center (HF 2948) (SF 2813) - $350,000 – funding for the new Experiential Learning Center downtown – This was only a portion of the overall funding for the project (it has millions from other sources) – they initially requested $1,950,000 from the state, $350,000 got put into budget, then cut.
• Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) - 200 New Slots - Duval County - $3,151,299 (there were cuts for this program in several counties)
• Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) - 50 New Slots - Duval County - $590,869 (These were two separate budget lines)
• Historic Eastside Community Preventive Health and Wellness Initiative (HF 1293) (SF 2396) - $136,538 – Inaugural implementation of a preventative mental health wellness initiative in Historic Eastside
• Gateway - Community Outreach (HF 1226) (SF 3414) - $300,000 – funding for Gateway Community Outreach to work on awareness around substance use disorders and opioid use disorders
• K9s United (SF 2826) - $200,000 – local nonprofit that helps law enforcement agencies get equipment for K9s that their budgets don’t cover – money would have been used for heat alarms, bulletproof vests (for k9s), etc.
• Atlantic Beach - Sailfish Drive Multi-Use Path (HF 2920) (SF 2709) - $195,000
• Northeast Florida Builders Association Workforce Education Expansion Operations (HF 1200) (SF 2939) - $100,000
• Jacksonville - 11th and 12th Street Connector (HF 1581) (SF 2931) - $750,000
• Jacksonville - Hogan Street Emerald Trail from Union Street to 1st Street (HF 2922) (SF 3119) - $750,000

St. Johns County

• The Arc of the St. Johns - Transportation Maintenance Facility Expansion and Modernization (HF 1330) (SF 3238) - $750,000
• Epic-Cure Food Security Distribution Center (HF 1563) (SF 2621) - $600,000 – money would be used to build a dock-height loading bay at their distribution center in St. Augustine, which would enable them to expand food distributions into Clay County as well
• St. Augustine Beach Mizell Outfall Resiliency Improvements (HF 1332) (SF 2605) - $776,250
• St. Augustine Wastewater System Planning & Design (HF 1810) (SF 2569) - $1,000,000
• Anastasia Island Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety (HF 1676) (SF 2794) - $1,250,000
• St. Augustine Design, Construction of Resilient Structure on Anastasia Blvd (HF 1811) (SF 2524) - $1,500,000

Bradford County

• The Arc of Bradford County - Rural Work Opportunities Expansion (HF 3731) (SF 2995) - $750,000
• Bradford County Keystone Heights Airport Water and Wastewater Master Plan (HF 3727) (SF 3157) - $87,500
• Starke Advanced Metering Infrastructure Replacement Project (HF 3736) (SF 3013) - $437,500

Clay County

• Clay County Nutrition Access for Seniors Project (HF 3057) (SF 3073) - $250,000
• Clay County Fairgrounds Improvements (HF 3028) (SF 2949) - $250,000 – money to demolish two barns and build a new multi-purpose event center with a commercial kitchen, and build a livestock barn, and renovations to exhibit halls.
• Clay County Utility Authority OT, SCADA and Cybersecurity Improvements (HF 3038) (SF 2948) - $1,000,000 vetoed across two budget lines
• Green Cove Springs - St. Johns River Trail Design Phase II (HF 3043) (SF 3087) - $356,250
• Keystone Heights Consolidated Governance Complex Feasibility Study (HF 3099) - $25,000

Alachua County

• High Springs North West Alachua County Utility Maintenance Equipment (HF 3709) (SF 2973) - $125,000
• Waldo Water Meter Replacement (HF 3742) (SF 2981) - $371,000
• Gainesville Regional Fire Response: Fire Apparatus Replacement Initiative (HF 3315) (SF 1973) - $425,000
• Alachua County Fire Rescue Firegrounds Training Facility (HF 3356) (SF 2972) - $350,000

Columbia County

• Fort White Public Works Safety and Storm Resilience Project (HF 3755) - $250,000
• Lake City Wastewater Lift Station Replacement 1 (HF 3751) (SF 3022) - $150,000
• Gainesville - SR 331/SR 121 Strategic Intermodal Bypass Connector (HF 3746) (SF 2979) - $1,000,000

Putnam County

• Goodwill Industries of North Florida - Education and Career Opportunities to Reduce Recidivism in Putnam County (HF 3055) (SF 2582) - $200,000 – Judson Sapp was House sponsor
• Putnam County St. John’s Harbor Water System Upgrades (HF 3089) (SF 2522) - $400,000
• Putnam County Waste Water Treatment Expansion Phase I (HF 3087) (SF 2584) - $1,000,000
• Palatka Fire Department Ladder Truck (HF 3092) (SF 2611) - $375,000

Nassau County:

• Nassau County CR 107 Widening & Intersection Improvements (HF 2941) (SF 2683 - $500,000

Union County:

• Union County Farmers Market (HF 3734) - $100,000

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she was postponing the federal trial so Mangione’s lawyers can focus on his state murder trial, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

Jury selection in the federal case will begin on Jan. 5, instead of Oct. 13, followed by opening statements and testimony on Jan. 25, instead of Nov. 4, Garnett said at a hearing in Manhattan.

Garnett said she will not release the questionnaire that prospective jurors will be required to fill out until after the panel is chosen. Having it circulating online for months before jury selection “would only make what promises to be a difficult task more difficult,” she said.

Wearing a beige jail suit, Mangione looked bemused as a pair of deputy U.S. Marshals led him into the courtroom about 20 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start. He briefly gazed at the courtroom gallery, where about two dozen of his supporters were sitting.

“Mangione was late due to elevator problems,” the court said in a statement.

It was the second mishap involving Mangione’s arrival to a court hearing in recent weeks.

A June 16 hearing in the state case was delayed a day after prosecutors failed to inform his jail that he was needed in court.

Garnett said she had hoped “with perhaps undue optimism” to hold the federal trial in the fall but that “we can no longer wait to see what happens” in the state case.

“In my view it’s simply impossible to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully occupied by conducting the state trial,” Garnett said.

Mangione’s lawyers declined to comment to reporters afterward.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.

The 28-year-old Ivy League graduate appeared energetic and engaged during Monday's brief hearing. He watched intently at times, knitting his fingers and resting his chin on them.

He spoke animatedly with his lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, before the proceeding began, gesturing with his hands as he sat between them at the defense table.

Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson. He's accused of using a cellphone, the internet and interstate highways, among other means, while planning and carrying out the attack, as well as staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers.

At a hearing in the state case in February, Mangione spoke out against the prospect of two trials, telling the judge: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

Mangione’s lawyers had argued that back-to-back trials on a compressed timeline would violate his constitutional rights.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

In January, Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.

They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive.

Earlier this month, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case, but reversed course a day later. The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.

Mangione has become a cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry.

An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund has raised more than $1.5 million and his court appearances have attracted a cadre of supporters, some of whom have worn “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts and green clothing — the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi.

The plaintiff, Sam O’Hara, sued the district, four Metropolitan Police Department officers and a guard member from Ohio over what he says was his act of protest against President Donald Trump's federal law enforcement surge in Washington, D.C.

A court filing on Thursday disclosed the settlement but didn't specify any monetary terms. The amount is included in a copy of the settlement agreement that D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb's office provided to The Associated Press.

The $50,000 settlement includes attorney's fees and costs. O'Hara is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia. In an email on Friday, an ACLU spokesperson referred to the settlement’s financial terms as “a significant amount” that O’Hara “is pleased with” but said they weren't disclosing the dollar figure to protect his privacy.

O’Hara, an artist who works in the hospitality industry, agreed to drop his claims against the district and the MPD officers within three business days of receiving the settlement payment. The settlement isn't an admission of wrongdoing by the district, the agreement says.

O'Hara's settlement with the district doesn’t resolve his related claims against an Ohio National Guard member, Sgt. Devon Beck, who has asked a judge to dismiss O’Hara’s claims against him.

O’Hara said in a statement that he is satisfied with the settlement but conflicted that taxpayers are footing the bill.

“Those who actually violated my constitutional rights should be the ones paying the price, like taking the money from their pensions. That’s what real accountability looks like,” he said. “This settlement is a reminder that our freedoms are worth fighting for, especially when the powerful would rather we suffer in silence.”

O’Hara sued the district in October, claiming police officers violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures and excessive force.

O’Hara played “The Imperial March” theme from “Star Wars” on his phone as he followed several National Guard troops down a public street on Sept. 11, 2025. One of the troops summoned police officers, who stopped O’Hara and kept him handcuffed for 15 to 20 minutes before releasing him without charges, according to the lawsuit.

Trump’s ongoing deployment of guard members in Washington began last August after the Republican president issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in the nation's capital. The surge inflamed tensions with residents of the heavily Democratic district. Hundreds of guard members remain deployed in the district nearly a year later, with no clear end in sight.

That bill — HB 991 — was filed back in January by state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Ft. Myers), and it’s set to make several changes to the Florida Election Code.

Safeguarding the electoral process to improve oversight and prevent unlawful influence has been a top priority for my administration since my first days in office. Today in The Villages, I signed the election integrity bill HB 991, also known as the Florida SAVE Act. This… pic.twitter.com/tYRu1F5B4f

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 1, 2026

More specifically, the legislation implements the following revisions:

• Voter Oath: Voter registration applicants must affirm that they are U.S. citizens and may face criminal penalties for perjury if that is not the case
• Forms of ID: Debit/credit cards, student IDs, retirement center IDs, neighborhood association IDs, and public assistance IDs are no longer acceptable forms of identification for voters
• Campaign Contributions: Political parties and candidates may not willfully accept a contribution from a foreign national in connection with any election held in the state.
• Federal Courts: Requires the state to provide voter registration lists to federal courts to aid in their jury selection process, and requires those courts to provide the state with information about voters being ineligible due to convictions, death, or being a non-U.S. citizen
• Statute of Limitations: Creates a five-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of a felony under the Election Code
• New Penalties: Provides new fines and penalties for those who violate the law of involvement of foreign nationals in state elections
• Dual Citizenship: Candidates for election must affirm U.S. citizenship and disclose whether they are a citizen of any other country
• Stock Trading: Candidates seeking federal office must disclose whether they intend to trade stocks if elected (other than through a trust or similar mechanism)

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However, another provision in the law requires the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to include whether a person is a U.S. citizen on his/her driver’s license and Florida ID card.

This applies to any new licenses or renewals, though, so residents won’t have to visit a DMV just to get it changed.

“The bill requires that DHSMV must, at no charge, issue a new or replacement card if a licensee or cardholder timely updates his or her legal status upon becoming a citizen of the U.S.,” the legislative analysis adds.

Under HB 991, this change is set to kick in on July 1, alongside nearly 90 other new laws.

However, the law in full is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

The once-prominent lawyer was known for his family lineage and million-dollar judgments in rural South Carolina. He worked for his family's century-old law firm and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were elected county prosecutors. Murdaugh, the subject of numerous documentaries and true crime podcasts, will remain imprisoned on federal convictions for stealing millions from clients.

Here is a look at the events leading up to Murdaugh's retrial:

June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near dog kennels on their property.

Sept. 4, 2021: Alex Murdaugh attempts to arrange his own death in a plan to secure his surviving son a $10 million life insurance payment, officials say. The plot fails when the gunshot by a Murdaugh associate only grazes Murdaugh’s head.

Oct. 14, 2021: Police arrest Murdaugh at a drug rehab facility in Florida on charges he stole insurance settlements totaling more than $4 million intended for the sons of his late housekeeper.

Nov. 17, 2021: Prosecutors reveal 27 new charges against Murdaugh, saying he stole nearly $5 million in settlement money. Prosecutors allege Murdaugh was hiding money from lawyers who sued him over the death of a teenager killed when authorities say an intoxicated Paul Murdaugh wrecked the boat he was driving.

Jan. 18, 2022: Additional indictments mean Murdaugh now faces 71 charges that he stole nearly $8.5 million in wrongful death and wreck settlements from more than a dozen people.

May 4, 2022: Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank before his firing earlier that year, is indicted on charges that he conspired with Murdaugh to defraud victims of $1.8 million.

June 28, 2022: Prosecutors outline an eight-year money laundering and painkiller ring in new indictments.

July 14, 2022: Murdaugh is charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and son. The indictments issued by the grand jury contend Murdaugh killed his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun.

Jan. 23, 2023: Murdaugh goes on trial for double murder in the killings of his wife and son.

Feb. 23, 2023: Murdaugh denies killing them after taking the witness stand at his murder trial. But he admits lying to investigators about when he last saw them alive.

March 2, 2023: A jury convicts Murdaugh on two counts of murder after a six-week trial. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.

March 3, 2023: A judge sentences Murdaugh to life in prison.

Jan. 29, 2024: A South Carolina judge denies Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court of tampering with a jury.

April 2, 2024: Murdaugh is sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm.

Feb. 11, 2026: Murdaugh asks the South Carolina Supreme Court to throw out his murder convictions.

May 13, 2026: The South Carolina Supreme Court overturns Murdaugh's murder convictions and life sentence. In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the conduct by the court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

June 29, 2026: Newly appointed Judge Debra McCaslin sets an April 5 date for the start of jury selection in Murdaugh's retrial on the two murder charges as well as an August 14 date to hear pretrial motions. The defense has requested Murdaugh be allowed to wear regular clothes in court, not an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles. They also want to move the trial out of Colleton County, where the killings and the first trial took place.

Relief organizations say the first 72 hours after a natural disaster is the most crucial time period for rescues, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water. Five days after the twin quakes, questions loomed about whether the cash-strapped government will be able to coordinate the effort needed to care for thousands of people who have been left homeless.

In other developments, a 4.6 magnitude aftershock rumbled through the disaster zone in the northern state of La Guaira.

The death toll stood at more than 1,700 people, according to the government.

Venezuelan government promotes its efforts

Facing criticism that authorities have done too little, too slowly, government officials promoted their recovery and rescue efforts on social and state-run media.

In a televised speech Monday, Jorge Rodríguez, the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly and brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, said electricity had been restored to 90% of the hard-hit state of La Guaira. He said authorities were racing to evaluate damaged buildings that still posed a danger and had set up 15 temporary encampments for displaced people.

Delcy Rodríguez, who came to power in January after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration seized former President Nicolás Maduro, shared footage of survivors lifted out of the ruins to applause.

But such bright spots are rare at the quake's epicenter, where families keep vigil at search sites.

“We have to stay strong, even without food, without sleep,” said Ana Rada, watching as civil defense workers looked for her brother. “Until I see the body, I still have hope.”

Aftershock rattles rescuers

Following a weekend of smaller aftershocks and what the government said were more than 600 seismic events since Wednesday's quakes, the moderate temblor on Monday struck 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast and measured 4.6 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey. Colombia’s geological survey put the magnitude at 5.1.

Jorge Rodríguez said there were no reports of additional damage, but the latest aftershock sent residents in the capital of Caracas screaming into the streets.

“Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” said Concepción Hernández, 51, who evacuated her apartment building in the Chacao municipality of Caracas.

The Caracas Metro said it would temporarily suspend service Monday to inspect infrastructure following the aftershock.

Questions over extent of US help

Dozens of countries have offered assistance. But the disaster has raised expectations for the Trump administration after its takeover of Venezuela’s oil industry earlier this year.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior State Department official said 300 first responders sent from the U.S. are working on the ground and two dozen C-17 military transport planes arrive every day with supplies. Financial support from the U.S. now exceeds $300 million.

The American military is also assisting with some repairs, including damage to the port in La Guaira to enable the arrival of more relief supplies by sea. Another team is helping to manage air traffic after the quakes destroyed part of the control tower at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

It seemed unlikely, however, that the Trump administration would grant temporary humanitarian protections to Venezuelans as previous administrations have done for people from disaster-stricken countries already in the U.S. Such action was taken after earthquakes in 2010 in Haiti and 2001 in El Salvador. Venezuelans have been a major focus of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Rescuers included a miner deported from the US

Among the rescuers digging through the rubble Monday in La Guaira was 31-year-old miner Jean Sosa, who said he was deported from the U.S. in January over a missed immigration court hearing and returned to Caracas last month. He said he was dazed by an odyssey that involved traveling by bus through five countries after immigration agents left him in southern Mexico without his passport, phone or wallet.

He had built a new life in New York City over the past four years, working at a taco stand near Penn Station, before Department of Homeland Security officials detained him and shuttled him for months between immigration detention centers.

Since arriving Wednesday in La Guaira, Sosa has scrambled to pull people from the rubble in the absence of national rescue teams. For the first few days before more help arrived, survivors were driven to hospitals by private car or motorcycle, he said.

“I’m not involved in politics, but I believe many people could have been saved if there had been equipment and support from top authorities from the very beginning,” he told The Associated Press, wearing a helmet and a black T-shirt splotched with dust in the port city where he said he had already rescued 20 people alive.

Those rescues heartened him, he said, despite the lack of supplies. “We’re working without gloves, without equipment, borrowing supplies, improvising bandages and whatever else we can.”

The full scale of damage remains unclear

Experts and aid organizations are struggling to assess the scope of damage, but they generally agree that the government's figures are likely a vast undercount. Jorge Rodríguez said that as of Monday, a total of 15,866 people had been affected, while the number of damaged or collapsed buildings had reached 855.

A preliminary assessment by NASA estimated that the earthquake damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings. The assessment relied on radar imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellites, which can detect changes to infrastructure.

The United Nations has said that up to 6.8 million of Venezuela’s nearly 30 million residents may be affected, which could mean being displaced or losing access to essential services such as electricity and water.

The Venezuelan Red Cross said it expected its relief efforts to continue for two years.

Because of the chaos and poor cellphone service, many Venezuelans have turned to non-governmental digital databases to report their loved ones as missing. More than 50,000 people were reported missing on one such database, though it is unclear how many have been found.

Firefighter Kleider Carrillo said nothing prepared him for the destruction in La Guaira.

“When you study for this profession, you’re trained for situations like this," he said. “But what's in textbooks is one thing. Reality is another.”

___

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in Tijuana, Mexico, contributed to this report.

Martinelli, who had come on as a second-half substitute, scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time as the match appeared to be headed to extra time.

"Above all else we wanted to freshen up the field because Martinelli has a lot of intensity as a player," Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said through a translator. “When he goes in the match he’s always on his top game.”

Brazil will next face either the Ivory Coast or Norway on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the round of 16.

“We can never be content with what we’re doing,” Ancelotti said. “We’re doing a good job. We are performing. But you can never be content because we want to play better. We want to play at the highest level.”

Casemiro had earlier equalized for Brazil on a header in the 56th minute off an assist from Gabriel Magalhães after just missing another chance two minutes earlier. The shot sailed just out of reach of the outstretched hand of Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and into the net.

Kaishu Sano stole a misplaced pass at midfield and took it down the field before a right-footed shot from above the half circle put Japan ahead in the 29th minute.

“There is not not making mistakes because nobody is perfect,” Ancelotti said. “But you have to overcome it and you have to push it forward. The team did a good job of that in the second half.”

Vinícius Júnior, who has scored four goals so far in this year's tournament, had a chance to put Brazil on top in the 58th minute but his shot from the left box was deflected by Suzuki and went off the far post.

Casemiro left in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with what appeared to be a leg injury.

Brazil had two chances to even the score early in the second half before breaking through. On the first one, Suzuki blocked a header from Bruno Guimarães in the 52nd minute. Soon after, Casemiro’s header bounced off a defender’s head and Suzuki’s face. Suzuki finished with four saves.

Brazil great Neymar didn’t play Monday after making his first appearance for the team since 2023 in the last game against Scotland. He played only 14 minutes in that 3-0 win after missing the first two group matches at the World Cup with a right calf injury.

“I was seriously considering putting him on the pitch,” Ancelotti said. “In the end, we did not need him.”

Japan has never won a knockout match at the World Cup, going 0-4 in the round of 16 — including also taking the lead the last two times in 2018 and 2022 before losing.

The win was Brazil’s 12th in 15 games against Japan. The teams have also played to two draws while Japan got its first win in the series in a friendly in Tokyo in October.

This was a matchup between two countries with deep ties, with Brazil being home to about 2.7 million Japanese descendants, which is the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

Those ties extend to soccer where Brazil superstar Zico moved to Japan in 1991 to play for Kashima Antlers and help build Japan’s professional soccer network. He coached the Japan national team from 2002-06, leading the team to the World Cup in 2006.

That team lost to Brazil 4-1 in the only previous meeting between the teams at the World Cup.

Brazil won Group C after a draw with Morocco and victories over Haiti and Scotland. Monday’s victory came on the anniversary of their first World Cup championship in Sweden in 1958, when a 17-year-old Pele scored two goals in the final against the host country.

Japan reached the round of 32 as runner-up in Group F after a draws with the Netherlands and Sweden and a win over Tunisia. The loss snaps a 10-game unbeaten streak dating back to a 2-0 loss to the United States in September.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

If their injuries aren't too severe, victims can survive for a week or more, assuming the weather isn't too hot or cold, experts say.

In Venezuela, rescue teams have been racing against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble after two powerful earthquakes shook the northern state of La Guaira last Wednesday. More than 770 buildings were totally or partially collapsed from the earthquakes, and aftershocks continued to shake the region.

Most rescues happen in the 24 hours after a disaster. The chances of survival drop with each day after that, experts say. Most victims are badly injured or buried by falling stones or other debris.

What factors affect earthquake survival?

Trapped victims are more likely to survive if they are in a debris-free pocket that prevents major injury while they await rescue, like under a sturdy desk, said geophysicist Victor Tsai from Brown University. Experts call this a survivable void space.

If fire, smoke or hazardous chemicals were released as a result of the building collapse, they may decrease a person's survival odds, said emergency response expert Dr. Joseph Barbera, an associate professor at George Washington University.

Beyond that, having air to breathe and water to drink are crucial as the days go on.

“You could survive a while without food,” Barbera said. “You could survive less without water.”

Temperatures where someone is trapped may affect survival, and temperatures outside the rubble can affect rescue missions.

More than 2,600 rescue workers from around the world arrived in Venezuela with trained search dogs and machinery, the government said. And rescue efforts in La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, appeared significantly more organized on Sunday, after residents expressed frustration and anger about the level of response in the days before.

It can be important for survivors to receive vital medical care before they are removed from the rubble, Barbera said. If not, the buildup of toxins from crushed muscles could make them go into shock after they are rescued.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a teenager and his 80-year-old grandmother were found alive after nine days trapped in their flattened home. And the year before, a 16-year-old Haitian girl was rescued from earthquake rubble in Port-au-Prince after 15 days.

What to do during an earthquake

The best practices for survival during an earthquake depend on where you are in the world. Building codes in regions with active fault lines are often designed to withstand earthquakes, but that doesn't hold true everywhere.

In many countries, including the United States, the best practices are to drop, seek cover and hang on unless you are close to a building exit. Seek shelter under a heavy table or near sturdy furniture that may yield a survivable pocket if the roof collapses. Cover your face with cloth or a mask to protect from dust and debris.

If you are trapped in the rubble after an earthquake, save your energy and don't overexert. Ration food and water, listen for rescue calls and search for something near you to make noise. If you have a phone with you, conserve its battery and try for help in short spurts each day.

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

“I consider myself cancer-free," thanks to robotic surgery that also reconstructed his bladder using part of his intestine, Sanders told The Associated Press after getting a tutorial in the surgical system that was used in his operation.

This being Men's Health Awareness Month, the University of Colorado football coach wanted to get a first-hand look at the Intuitive Da Vinci System, which is less invasive than open surgeries and cuts down on hospital stays and speeds recoveries.

“I was fighting” last year at this time, Sanders recalled. "I was walking out on the property with a bag of blood and also urine and trying to get back. But this expedited the process. Last year at this time I was in a whole different place, and I'm just thankful.”

Sanders missed football camps last summer in Boulder as he went through cancer treatments. The Buffaloes finished with a 3-9 mark a year after making a bowl game behind Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

This summer he appears much fitter and energetic as he oversees offseason training.

"If I pull my shirt up, I'm not scarred, it's not flawed. I'm not embarrassed by anything that transpired. I'm elated by everything that transpired,” Sanders said.

At a routine checkup last spring, a CT scan showed a mass on Sanders' bladder. He was referred to the University of Colorado Anschutz, where he met Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urologic oncology at the CU Cancer Center and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.

Sanders, who turns 59 later this summer, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his bladder. Although the tumor hadn't reached the muscle layer in his bladder, it was considered “very high risk,” with a 50-50 chance of recurring or progressing after treatments.

Kukreja is among the small group of surgeons in the U.S. who perform robotic removal of the entire cancerous bladder — called a radical cystectomy — and robotic reconstruction of the organ, which involves having a section of intestine function as a bladder.

“It got me back in the game, got me back on my feet and got me out of the darn hospital and back into the normalcy of my life," Sanders said. “I'm here to let people know there's another option if you need surgery."

He called the robotic system his time machine.

”I'd be a fool to be blessed the way I was blessed and not sound alarms," Sanders said. “When I opened up a club years ago I went to the mountaintop and told all the stations come on to the nightclub. So, why wouldn't I do this? Saved me time so I could get back on the field, get back on my game instead of sitting up there in the hospital having a pity party. It saves you time. That’s what we’re all fighting for is time. We never know how much we get.”

Football past and present

Sanders has spent time recently with his son Shedeur, who's entering his second year with the Cleveland Browns and who will compete for the starting job with Deshaun Watson in training camp.

“He's on vacation, but he's going to the hills in St. Croix right now doing gassers," Sanders said.

Asked what he thought about Hunter, entering his second season in Jacksonville, possibly focusing on playing defensive back after pulling double duty as a DB and wide receiver in college, Sanders said: “I just want him to be happy. I can't tell those coaches how to coach and Travis what he's gifted to do. I just want him happy; that's all I want.”

As for Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the Buffs' starting quarterback and former five-star recruit out of Carrollton, Georgia, who took over the starting role as a freshman late last season, Sanders said those cameos will pay dividends in 2026.

“I think the entire team is benefiting" from lessons learned last year and new faces arriving this spring, Sanders said. “I have the best coaching staff I've ever featured. Everybody's unified. I just walked out of the weight room. They're lifting their butts off and they can't wait to go to camp. It's going to be phenomenal.”

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

“Overall, we’re looking at just a really hot and humid pattern. It’s going to be with us through most of the week," Andrew Ansorge, a meteorologist in Des Moines, Iowa, said of the first prolonged period of heat this summer.

Much of Iowa and big chunks of the Midwest were under an extreme heat warning through at least Tuesday. Temperatures were forecast to reach the 90s, with heat index values, or “feels-like” temperatures, expected to top 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) in the region, Ansorge said.

Visiting Des Moines with family, Rachel Washburn searched for things to do with kids during a heat wave. They landed at a water sprayground before lunch, where her children played tag in the cool water to escape a heat index forecast to reach 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

“My kids were quite shocked at the heat and humidity,” said Washburn of her seven children ages 18 months to 17 who are used to more temperate weather in Bemidji, Minnesota. “We were hoping for some good weather, but we'll make do.”

Some of the worst conditions are expected by Thursday and Friday as the heat moves through the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, with the potential for some record-high temperatures, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

On Monday morning, Tom and Cindy Youngblood walked around an outdoor sculpture park in Des Moines, enjoying brief moments of shade and a helpful breeze. The couple, both 67 and from Rogers, Arkansas, returned from a camping trip in Wisconsin and chose a hotel over their camper van Sunday.

“We did not want to camp last night because we knew it would be too hot,” Cindy Youngblood said.

Kleebauer said one of the center’s biggest recommendations is to stay hydrated and have access to shady areas and air conditioning.

“It just so happens to be coinciding with a time frame where a lot of people are away and a lot of people are going away for vacation” during the Fourth of July holiday week, he said.

Extreme heat has also taken its toll in Europe, where temperature records were set and many heat-related deaths were reported in France.

People can be caught off guard by the first heat wave of the year, said Dr. Roy Elrod, chief of staff at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital.

“You’re happy winter’s gone, you’re ready to enjoy the summer, you’ve just been aching for it,” Elrod said. “And so, I think we slip into kind of a position where we think it’s got to be OK.”

But heat-related injuries can happen in a matter of minutes, especially to those who don’t prepare for the weather by hydrating, wearing light clothing, avoiding the hottest times of the day and minimizing exposure to the sun, he said.

“We’re just not always prepared for it and it just takes an incident that rattles you and shakes you up that you understand that it can get serious very quick,” he said.

In the Midwest, some camp programs on Monday rearranged their schedules. Other outdoor activities, like a farmers market in Michigan and a drive-in theater in Minnesota, were canceled on Monday because of the heat.

In Flint, Michigan, the city activated four cooling centers through Wednesday, with the potential to extend operations if the heat persists.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison said it was closing 23 buildings to the public starting Tuesday, allowing only limited access to 11 others. It was relocating some summer classes after a broken water line at its cooling plant earlier this month severely reduced the ability to provide air conditioning across campus.

Temperatures approaching 90 degrees and high humidity didn’t stop Toni Kreutzer, 28, from taking a walk along the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, with her 13-year-old dog Chester.

“I like it hot,” Kreutzer said. "I just don’t like the humidity."

___

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Haya Panjwani in Washington, D.C., contributed.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts and that they planned to convene Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.

But one of Iran's senior negotiators denied talks had been scheduled. And the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tehran was sending its delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in the negotiations, to discuss terms of the interim deal without involving the U.S.

The U.S. president has tried to preserve a fragile interim deal, but hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, opens the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.

Confusion mounts over next round of Iran-US talks

After Trump said Monday morning on social media that the U.S. and Iran planned to meet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar.

Pakistan, also a key mediator, had said talks between Iran and the U.S. would resume Tuesday.

But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, said in comments published by Iranian state media that no talks had been confirmed. And Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that its delegation was traveling to Qatar this week to discuss the planned release of frozen Iranian assets and other issues related to the deal.

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Baghaei said. “The fact that U.S. representatives are traveling to Qatar has no connection with the visit of the Iranian delegation.”

Increased tension in waterway vital to world energy supplies

During the war that began Feb. 28, Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis.

In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels in the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — following efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.

The attacks drew retaliatory American airstrikes and raised concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.

The Trump administration was operating Monday on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down after the recent back-and-forth strikes and that vessels can move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

Iran's president, U.S. official say $6 billion coming to Iran

The U.S. official also said that Qatar planned to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets that would be used to purchase U.S. food products for the Iranian people.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the expected release of funds earlier Monday in comments published by the state-run IRNA news agency. He called it “a great victory for the Iranian people.”

Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran's theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar, a key mediator along with Pakistan in the negotiations.

Oman, Iran discuss possible fees for ships transiting the strait

Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said Monday that Oman and Iran are considering charging service-related fees for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Albusaidi said services could include water safety measures, pollution prevention, navigational assistance and preparedness for incidents such as fires. He told Radio Monte Carlo while visiting France that there are “successful examples” of similar services being provided in compliance with maritime law.

Albusaidi said Oman does not support imposing transit fees on ships.

“This is internationally forbidden," he said, "and we are abiding by these rules."

Iran and France clash over clearing mines from strait

An Iranian official warned France against “provocations” Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that France and others were coordinating efforts to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said on X that under the interim deal “demining is carried out solely by Iran and by no other country.”

Macron's post came after he greeted Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman ahead of high-level diplomatic talks in Paris.

Oman and France called for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz, in a joint statement issued Monday after the Paris meeting. Both parties said they “agreed to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to support freedom of navigation going forward and conduct joint demining operations.”

Lebanon's president says it will deploy troops as part of deal with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Lebanon is determined to deploy troops along its entire southern border as part of a framework agreement with Israel signed Friday. He made the remark while meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East.

The deal was rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which triggered the latest war with Israel on March 2 when it fired rockets across Lebanon's southern border and into northern Israel.

The Israel-Lebanon deal calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed before Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Israel agreed to withdraw initially from a couple of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army would then deploy, but no details have been shared about how that will work in practice.

Hezbollah officials have warned that attempts to implement the plan could lead to civil war.

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Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

After Djokovic won the first set against Wu Yibing of China, one man in the crowd took the opportunity to pop the question to his girlfriend.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion clearly took notice, coming back out on court and making a heart gesture and then two thumbs up toward the couple before shouting out: “I want an invitation to the wedding.”

If he gets one, he could bring a pretty decent wedding singer along.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was in the player's box on Centre Court, two days after Djokovic appeared on stage during the artist's concert in London.

Bad Bunny has experience with weddings — there was a real one performed during his Super Bowl halftime show this year.

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

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said a 31-year-old woman was bitten while swimming with a group of friends Saturday afternoon in the Econlockhatchee River near Geneva, off Barr Street. She was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and later died.

“It’s hard to hear somebody passed away out here in such a beautiful place,” a visitor at the river said.

Witness Kelvin Forde said law enforcement flooded the area after the incident.

“There’s literally cops all over the area, literally corralled right in that corner,” Forde said.

People who hike nearby said the river is known to have alligators, similar to many waterways across Central Florida.

“I would avoid swimming in the river. You don’t know what’s in the water,” said local hiker Neil Padriga.

The Seminole County incident is the second gator attack in Central Florida in less than 48 hours, according to FWC.

FWC said the other attack happened Saturday at Nelson’s Fish Camp, where a child was bitten on the hand by an 8-foot, 7-inch alligator. An FWC trapper later removed and killed the animal.

The attacks also come a week after a snorkeler was bitten while swimming at Rainbow Springs State Park in Marion County by another 8-foot alligator.

Kevin Brotz, a licensed gator hunting guide for nearly two decades, said people should stay alert near the water’s edge.

“Stay a few feet off the water’s edge. It’s tempting to walk close to see the minnows and all that stuff. That’s where bad things can happen,” Brotz said.

FWC said serious injuries caused by alligators are rare. Anyone who encounters a nuisance alligator or has concerns can contact the agency.

The bone comes from the tail of a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur called a titanosaur. Scientists haven't yet identified the species it belongs to.

It was discovered in 1985 during an expedition to Antarctica's James Ross Island and collected by geologist Mike Thomson. Working with the British Antarctic Survey, Thomson was mapping the area's rock layers and collected marine reptile fossils to help with future dating efforts. He recorded the find as a large reptile.

Decades later, paleontologist Mark Evans spotted the bone in the British Antarctic Survey's collections and wondered whether it might be a dinosaur. He and other researchers analyzed the shape of the bone and compared it to other more complete dinosaur remains, confirming their discovery. The findings were published on Monday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Dinosaur fossils are rare to find in Antarctica because of the unforgiving ice caps. But millions of years ago, when this dinosaur lived, the region was populated by lush forests — a “rather different and much more hospitable place than we think of today,” said study co-author Paul Barrett with the Natural History Museum in London.

At about 23 feet (7 meters) long, the dinosaur was small for its group and may have been young when it died. Scientists don't know how the creature met its end, but they think its body floated away from the coast and sank to the sea floor, becoming fossilized in marine rock.

Technology has come a long way since the dinosaur tail bone was first found, allowing researchers to peer inside bones and gain even more detailed information about ancient creatures. Thomson died in 2020 before the fossil was identified as belonging to a dinosaur.

“If he were still with us, he would be delighted to know what this was,” Evans, a study co-author, said.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified paleontologist Mark Evans as Mike Evans in one reference.

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AP video producer Havovi Todd in London contributed to this report.

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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.

A decision favoring the state of Mississippi over the Republican National Committee delivered an immediate reprieve to the 14 states with grace periods for regular mail ballots, as well as heading off what was expected to be a scramble to alter the practice and inform voters just months ahead of the midterm elections.

At least one state, Ohio, had preemptively changed its law in anticipation of a different result from the high court, and 15 other states have such grace periods specifically for military and overseas voters.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the ruling means "the thousands of voters whose ballots are postmarked on time but received after Election Day still have their voices heard.”

Mail ballots, also called absentee ballots, have been the source of conspiracy theories from President Donald Trump, who groundlessly blames them for his loss in the 2020 election. The RNC and Libertarian Party had sued to overturn a Mississippi law that permits the counting of mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive up to five days later, on grounds that it violated federal law.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, wrote for the majority that the practice is legal.

"Nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received by Election Day,” she wrote, adding that the court considered that very narrow question without wading into more sweeping declarations about absentee voting in general or the authority of Congress versus states over election law.

In Illinois, where mail-in ballots accounted for up to a quarter of this year's primary vote, the state elections board had budgeted $300,000 for a television and radio ad campaign to educate voters about potential changes to the mail ballot deadline. Spokesman Matt Dietrich said that campaign will be called off after the court's ruling. Illinois allows mail ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within 14 days.

“Anytime you have a change in the administration of elections that affects voters, it is a big challenge to us to make sure that voters understand what that change is,” he said.

California, which has a seven-day grace period, has been a regular target of Trump and other Republicans who criticize the state's slow-counting of late-arriving ballots and have used the gap to spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber called Monday's ruling "a win for voters, for the rule of law, and for the future of our democracy.”

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson called the decision a victory for states' rights, including the ability to set election rules as long as they don't conflict with federal law.

In addition to California, Illinois and Mississippi, the other states that count regular mail ballots received after Election Day are Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Data shows that mail ballots are popular options across all 50 states for both Republican and Democratic voters.

Although the RNC was party to the case and not the Trump administration itself, national party committees of a sitting president’s party typically operate in concert with the president’s political strategies. Trump also has effectively taken over operations of the RNC, the GOP's main fundraising and political operation.

Calling Monday's ruling “a tremendous loss,” Trump used it as a way to push his sweeping election law bill that has stalled on Capitol Hill despite Republican control in both chambers of Congress.

In a Truth Social post, the president declared it “more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” his name for legislation that would require voters nationally to document their U.S. citizenship to register to vote, show certain photo identification to cast ballots and limit who can vote with a mail ballot. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters issued a statement aligning with Trump, saying Monday's ruling was justification to pass the congressional proposal.

Lower federal courts have issued rulings blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail ballots and to create a national voter list, among other proposed changes. Judges in those cases have consistently said the Constitution vests authority for setting election rules with Congress and the states, not the president.

While Barrett framed Monday’s opinion on the narrower question of the mail ballot deadline, the decision could bolster hopes among Democrats that the high court will look skeptically on the president’s assertion of power over elections if other cases land before it.

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin said he was relieved because the ruling was a potential sign that other cases could go Democrats' way. But he accused the president and RNC of trying to disenfranchise voters and said he was alarmed by the narrow 5-4 decision in the case.

“What’s troubling was that so many of the other justices were willing to sacrifice the rights of voters,” said Galvin, a Democrat.

Perhaps nowhere was the case being watched more closely than Alaska, where Native and rural communities dotted across a vast landscape rely on the state's grace period to ensure their ballots get counted. Planes are often the only way ballots can get from polling locations to counting locations.

Jacqueline De León, a senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, was among the attorneys who filed a brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of Alaska Native and Native American groups. The brief highlighted the challenges they face, in particular where many communities are accessible only by air or water and rely on air service for mail.

“For many Native communities, voting by mail is shaped by long distances to election offices, no home mail delivery, unreliable postal service, lack of access to transportation, and the realities of living in rural and remote areas,” she said. “Ballots cast by election deadlines should not be discarded simply because substandard service or weather delays cause them to arrive after Election Day.”

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Associated Press writers Bill Barrow and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Josh Kelety in Phoenix, Ali Swenson in New York and graphic artist Kevin Vineys in Washington contributed to this report.

Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital. All six were employees of the youth center or its affiliates, they said.

"The police are investigating the motive and the exact course of events under high pressure," Daniela Behrens, interior minister for the Lower Saxony region, told a news conference, adding that it was an extremely violent crime in cold blood, “apparently in a custody dispute.”

Police said several people were wounded, some of them seriously, German news agency dpa reported, but they did not give a specific figure or information on the victims’ identity.

Police said the shooting took place in the facility on Dankersstrasse, a street south of the town center. The facility includes temporary accommodation for pregnant women or young mothers with children.

A main suspect was arrested, while another two people were subject to “police measures” on suspicion of involvement, police said in a statement. They didn't elaborate.

Video footage after the shooting showed a large police presence, along with other emergency service personnel and several ambulances on a residential street.

Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than those in the United States, and mass shootings are rare but not unheard of.

Vitali Mertens, who lives across the street from the scene, said he heard gunshots and “the whole area was cordoned off right away.”

Stade has about 50,000 inhabitants and is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Hamburg.

Florida lawmakers had to return for a special session to complete this year’s budget, which was sent to the governor at $114.5 billion.

The total cost, though, was higher after “back of bill” spending moves, and DeSantis said that with about $810 million in line-item vetoes, the final budget came out at $117.6 billion.

Governor DeSantis Signs Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 https://t.co/cGxEyn0Afv

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 29, 2026

“The things that we vetoed, a lot of those are just either inappropriate or maybe nice to have. Nice to have is fine, but I want to fund things that we have to have,” DeSantis said.

He said that makes this the fourth straight year that the state’s budget is less than it was the year before.

“Who else is doing that?” DeSantis said. “The footprint of government is not growing in Florida. If anything it’s shrinking.”

The budget includes more than $30 billion for K-12 schools, or about $9,338 per student, about $150 more than the prior year. That includes about $4.5 billion for the state’s school vouchers program, which pays parents a stipend to send their children to private schools or for homeschooling.

The funding also sets aside $1.5 billion to boost teacher pay, with more than $201 million for teachers with at least 10 years of experience, although the increase will be capped at $3,000 per year.

There is also $665 million for Everglades restoration projects, another priority for DeSantis throughout his two terms in office.

“This budget continues to move Everglades restoration forward so that Floridians – and those that visit our great state – can realize the ultimate benefits ahead of schedule,” said Everglades Trust CEO Anna Upton in a released statement. “Restoring the natural flow of water south through the Everglades and decreasing harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee will mean that Florida’s economy, which relies on clean water, will continue to thrive.”

The signing also comes just days before more than 100 laws are set to take effect in Florida on July 1.

The governor’s office released a detailed breakdown of where the money is going from the budget and what was vetoed.

For highlights from this year’s budget, click here.

To see the list of line item vetoes, click here.

Near-seasonal temperatures Tuesday through Friday, with a slight chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. The onshore wind returns as well, starting from the northeast and then turning southerly late this week and weekend. Temperatures will climb back to the mid to upper 90s for the 4^th of July weekend.

In the tropics, a weak area of low pressure will try to develop along a trough stretching across the Atlantic along the southeast coast. The low will be absorbed by a stronger cold front later this week. The chance of development is down to 10 percent.

Tonight: Hot with isolated showers and thunderstorms, some locally heavy through 8 - 10 p.m.

Tuesday: Hot and humid with afternoon showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Morning lows in the 70s to near 80 degrees. Afternoon high in the 90s inland, 80s to low 90s along the beaches. Rain chance: 20-30 percent. Wind: NE 10-15, gusting to 20 mph.

Wednesday - Friday: Hot and humid conditions continue with Feels Like temperatures around 100-105 degrees. Rain chances will average 20-30 percent. The onshore wind will switch to a southerly flow starting Friday and this weekend.

Looking ahead: 4^th of July weekend: Slight chance of sea breeze showers and storms. Most of the activity will develop after 2 p.m. and linger through around 8 p.m.

Sunrise: 6:28 p.m.

Sunset: 8:33 p.m.

In Khan Younis, a strike hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi neighborhood after a warning call, killing a 23-year-old mother and her one-year-old daughter west of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.

Another strike on the town of Qarara, northwest of the city earlier in the day killed a 31-year-old man, according to Nasser Hospital. The hospital said he had married only a few months ago and left behind a pregnant wife.

In a separate incident in the same area, a strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people along the coastal area of Khan Younis, killing two people and wounding 13 others, according to Nasser hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The wounded were transferred to a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent in Al-Mawasi.

In central Gaza, a drone strike hit a tent in Deir al-Balah, killing at least three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, medical officials said.

Health authorities in the coastal enclave said the drone strike hit a neighborhood in Deir al-Balah, one of the least damaged towns in central Gaza. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the fatalities were Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man.

Abu Shawish, whose parents are divorced, was visiting his mother’s tent at the time of the strike, and his mother was among seven people wounded in the strike, hospital officials said. Israel’s military said the strike was targeting a militant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed.

A strike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed Zaher Abu Salem, the Israeli military said, describing him as a member of Islamic Jihad who was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. A total of four people were killed Sunday in a flurry of strikes around Gaza, including a 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, who was hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling and was buried Monday.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel says it is targeting militants, often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks since the ceasefire.

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.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Palestinian teen killed near Ramallah

Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided locations throughout the occupied West Bank, including near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a 15-year-old from Jerusalem was killed by a gunshot to the head.

Emergency crews transported Amir Jaber to the hospital from the al-Bireh area after attempting to resuscitate him at the scene, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. It also reported two injured by Israeli fire in a raid near Hebron, the West Bank's most populous city.

The Israeli military did not comment immediately.

The raid near Ramallah — the Palestinians' administrative capital in the West Bank — was among half a dozen reported across the territory Monday by WAFA, the Palestinian news agency.

At least 59 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last week.

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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

The fried chicken chain’s Find a Location tracker online listed the following locations as closed as of Friday:

• 1509 University Blvd. N., which opened in 1977
• 7507 Atlantic Blvd.
• 524 Atlantic Blvd., Neptune Beach

The closures follow the shuttering of locations on Kings Road and McDuff Avenue in February.

Sailormen Inc., a Miami-based Popeyes franchise, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January to ease financial strain due to “rising inflation, declining customer traffic and mounting debt,” according to a March report from Yahoo Finance. The company operated about 130 locations when it first filed.

TheStreet reported that a judge approved the sale of 97 Sailormen restaurants to five buyers for a total of $16.55 million. However, the franchisee may be forced to reject leases on about 33 locations it could not sell and permanently close them.

According to TheStreet, 92 restaurants in Florida have been sold, but some locations have been forced to close permanently after failing to find buyers.

Twenty Popeyes locations remain open in Northeast Florida, according to the chain’s website.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to take her outrage “right to the White House and Congress” to seek assurances the DEA is no longer using the risky law enforcement strategy in New Mexico — and that it is not being replicated elsewhere. Overdoses have surged in New Mexico, even as fentanyl deaths declined in other states.

“This is a stunning failure by the federal government,” the governor told reporters at a news conference in the state medical examiner's office in Albuquerque, joining a host of state and local law enforcers and officials demanding answers. “It’s disgusting and despicable.”

The White House and DEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lujan Grisham's remarks came a week after The Associated Press reported that DEA agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — shipments of fentanyl as part of an effort to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.

Current and former DEA agents, including whistleblower David Howell, told AP the strategy amounted to a gamble with public safety and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.

The DEA initially denied Howell’s allegations in a statement to AP. But the agency later called upon the Justice Department’s independent watchdog to conduct its own investigation.

The fentanyl went unseized amid the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history and as the DEA led a public awareness campaign — “One Pill Can Kill” — emphasizing that even a few milligrams of the substance can be lethal.

New Mexico has responded swiftly to the revelations. Last week, the state's attorney general announced a criminal investigation to determine whether any federal officials broke state law by knowingly exposing New Mexico residents to the synthetic opioid.

“We’re going to protect the rest of the United States from this kind of foul, ‘I need a big case' effort no matter what the consequences,” Lujan Grisham said. “We’re angry because it’s immoral."

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said fentanyl represents his city's “No. 1 challenge," driving crime and homelessness and straining health care resources.

“Using us in some sort of uninformed, undisciplined experiment that’s literally killing our people — that’s what this is,” he said. “This should outrage every single New Mexican.”

Trump last week shared a link on his Truth Social page to an article attributing the scandal to the “Biden-run Justice Department.” In a statement to AP last week, the Justice Department similarly said “the alleged conduct occurred under the Biden Administration’s disastrous open border policies.”

Howell first came forward during the Biden administration in 2023 — and was sidelined for doing so — but he continued to flag unseized fentanyl shipments as recently as last year, and the largest he documented happened two months into Trump's second term, a 1.8-million pill haul DEA learned about but did not intercept in March 2025.

Lujan Grisham has criticized both administrations as not doing enough to stem the tide of fentanyl in New Mexico, and pointed to the death last year of a 15-month-old girl who reportedly swallowed some of her mother's drugs in Española, a town ravaged by grinding poverty and addiction.

It is not clear whether any fatal overdoses in the state can be directly attributed to the DEA strategy. While overdose deaths nationwide fell 14% last year, government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.

“Somebody must pay for the damage to the state, the public safety risks that will be shared by everyone here for a decade or more, and pay to try to right the wrongs and put people’s lives back together,” she said.

Lujan Grisham, who will leave office at year's end after two terms as governor, said the worst part of being an elected leader is having to face the victims of what she called “senseless” devastation and loss.

“There are no words that can take away that pain,” she said, adding their experiences cannot be dismissed by politics as usual. “Whatever we can do to prevent the next loss for the next family, is the work that we’re all collectively doing."

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Mustian and Goodman reported from Miami.

The 44-year-old Williams is scheduled to play an opponent less than half her age, 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia, in the third match Tuesday on Centre Court — the patch of grass where the American standout won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

“I think everyone’s feeling the same way: Cannot wait to be watching Serena back on Centre Court again,” Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said Monday.

Wimbledon organizers took the unusual step of holding up an eighth and final wild card spot for Williams until she accepted the invitation at almost the last possible moment the weekend before qualifying began.

“We were all sitting there sort of quietly keeping our fingers crossed that that’s what would happen,” Bolton said when asked by The Associated Press how anxious the club was while Williams pondered her decision.

“She is such an icon of the sport and particularly here at the championship she’s one of our most special champions,” Bolton added. “So it really will be the ticket to have tomorrow when she walks back on Centre Court.”

Whether it was related to Williams or not, the queue (line) of would-be-spectators camping out overnight for the daily batches of Wimbledon tickets on offer had reached 10,000 people by Monday morning.

“We are advising people if they haven’t already set off to travel, not to travel because the queue is effectively full,” Bolton said. “By comparison to last year, it is really busy.”

Williams will also play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.

Since Serena last won Wimbledon a decade ago, eight different women have won the title.

“It was needed a wee bit to kind of reinvent the women’s game,” said Lauren Byrne, a 26-year-old spectator at Wimbledon from near Dublin. “She’s definitely going to bring a bit more excitement back.”

Added Byrne’s father, Anthony: “It’s just great to see her. She still has the appetite, hasn’t she, to play at this level? … Age isn’t a barrier.”

Gibran Chenia, a London resident who described himself as “50-plus,” called Williams “a legend.

“And if she’s half as good as she was, she is going to be great for tennis,” Chenia said. “It’s great to have legends back.”

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

It's not even clear when the two sides will meet again. “The situation is sensitive and complex,” a senior Iranian negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, posted Monday on X.

Talks are just one of the pressing questions. Others include the Strait of Hormuz, which the U.S. says is open while Iran insists on a measure of control. The issue led both sides to carry out days of military strikes that appeared on Monday to have ended.

Here’s a look at what both sides have said about key sticking points, including the ongoing fighting in Lebanon, and why the conflict is still far from resolved.

More talks are expected, at some point

WHAT THE U.S. SAYS:

“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!” U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media Monday.

WHAT IRAN SAYS:

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday.

WHAT’S GOING ON:

The U.S. and Iran have a roughly mid-August deadline to reach a permanent peace deal including an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

What’s ahead are technical talks involving lower-level diplomats before any return to the table by top negotiators. Mediators are eager to get going. Pakistan, a key mediator along with Qatar, has said talks would resume Tuesday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar to meet with the Iranians and that technical negotiations would occur on the sidelines.

Later, Iranian state media cited Baghaei as saying an expert delegation will travel to Qatar this week but with no planned U.S. meetings.

There’s plenty to discuss, including arrangements around the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions waivers on Iran and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

But the deal says fighting must stop before further negotiations. After the exchange of fire over the weekend, Iran on Sunday threatened a “complete halt” in talks. On Monday, both sides appeared to pause their attacks. Tehran may be waiting to see if that holds.

The Strait of Hormuz is open for shipping, in theory

WHAT THE U.S. SAYS:

The Strait of Hormuz is open, according to the interim deal.

WHAT IRAN SAYS:

Iran insists it must govern the strait. “Any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday.

WHAT’S GOING ON:

This AP explainer is a good start. But in short, Iran during the war discovered a powerful new source of leverage in the waterway that carried a fifth of the world's oil and gas before the conflict.

The interim deal says Iran should immediately facilitate commercial shipping through the strait that lies between it and Oman. It says Iran can work with Oman and other Persian Gulf countries to administer the waterway in line with international laws ensuring freedom of navigation.

Iran says shippers must use its designated routes and coordinate with its authorities. It has objected to a new route overseen by the U.S. that runs along Oman. That sparked the fighting over the weekend.

The Trump administration is operating on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down and vessels can move freely through the strait, a U.S. official said Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

Ships have begun transiting again, but traffic is still below prewar levels.

Fighting has stopped on all fronts, in a way

WHAT IRAN SAYS:

Fighting must stop everywhere and Israel must withdraw from Lebanon before moving ahead on other issues.

WHAT HEZBOLLAH SAYS:

The Iranian-backed militant group will resist Israel's occupation of large parts of southern Lebanon, and linking Israel’s withdrawal to Hezbollah’s disarmament is a “very dangerous suggestion,” Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said Saturday.

WHAT ISRAEL SAYS:

Israeli forces will remain in southern Lebanon “until Hezbollah and the rest of the terrorist organizations are disarmed, and until no further threat to Israel is posed from Lebanon,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

WHAT’S GOING ON:

A separate set of U.S.-brokered talks have been held between Israel and Lebanon's government.

Iran says its interim deal with the U.S., which calls for a complete ceasefire in Lebanon, requires Israel to withdraw. But a separate U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel allows Israeli forces to stay in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah has been disarmed. Hezbollah was not part of those talks and has rejected that deal.

Hezbollah attacked Israel two days after it and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Israel responded with aerial bombardment and a ground invasion.

Israel has vowed to keep forces in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah's threat is eliminated. Lebanon's government does not have the capacity to disarm Hezbollah by force.

Sporadic clashes continued in Lebanon over the weekend. That could delay Iran's return to the negotiating table.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed.

Osaka, who has made a habit of creating a buzz with her creative outfits at recent Grand Slam tournaments, wore a flowing kimono with swinging sleeves and elaborate embroidery as she walked onto No. 3 Court for her first-round match against Elsa Jacquemot.

After winning 6-1, 7-5, Osaka said she got the inspiration for the outfit from a Quentin Tarantino movie.

“For me, my Japanese heritage means a lot. They say all white at Wimbledon and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono," Osaka said in an on-court interview. "I just get inspired by a lot of different things, and for me, one of my favorite movies is ‘Kill Bill.' So I really love Lucy Liu's character, O-Ren Ishii, and she comes out in this really iconic white kimono. I always tell people I like to be like a video game character sometimes, I don't want to be myself when I'm playing on the court. And I kind of try to embody her a little.”

The Japanese player's latest creation drew a rave reaction from the crowd, many of whom were eagerly waiting with their phones aloft to record her entrance. One female fan shouted “C'mon queen!” as Osaka walked out.

“It’s something that we’ve been waiting for all day, right, what Naomi Osaka is going to appear in at Wimbledon," said Alicia Molik, the former top-10 ranked player who is doing commentary for the BBC.

Osaka kept her robe on as she bounced on her toes at the net while listening to instructions from the chair umpire. She then removed it and placed it on her chair to begin warmups before the match started.

Osaka is far from the first player to make a fashion statement at Wimbledon, and wasn’t the only one to do so on Monday. Seven-time men’s champion Novak Djokovic, for instance, walked out for his match on Centre Court in a white blazer with green details.

But the four-time Grand Slam champion’s fashion creations and walk-ons are becoming an eagerly anticipated ritual at both Grand Slam tournaments and other events.

At the Australian Open this year, Osaka walked onto court wearing a wide-brim hat, a veil and holding a white parasol. At the French Open, she came out for her opening match in a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice, which she removed to reveal a sequined gold playing dress.

And at the Met Gala in New York, Osaka stunned in a edgy Robert Wun white sculptural fitted dress featuring exaggerated shoulders and adorned with red feathers and a matching headpiece. To complete her look, she wore two-toned red gloves.

The latest ensemble turned plenty of heads even before she stepped onto the grass.

Playing on No. 3 Court meant Osaka had to walk through part of the Wimbledon grounds to get to the stadium, giving some fans a sneak peak of her outfit.

“I could feel, when I walked by someone, they would physically turn their whole body,” Osaka said. “I thought that was really fun.”

Fellow players, meanwhile, have been full of questions about the kimono.

“I got asked if I only have one, because it’s all white, and what happens if I stain it,” Osaka said.

At her post-match news conference, Osaka sported a lot more color to show off the Haitian side of her heritage. She wore a red-and-blue Haiti soccer jersey after the country played at a World Cup for the first time since 1974.

“I felt really proud of them,” she said.

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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

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

Sotomayor’s disclosure form says she and unidentified guests attended the concert last August while she was on a personal trip to Puerto Rico. The paperwork does not identify the performer, but Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny is known to have performed a series of shows on the island that month and the $4,333 gift she disclosed was provided by Rimas Entertainment, Bad Bunny's record label.

The justices' ethical practices away from the court have received additional scrutiny in recent years because of media coverage, including by The Associated Press, that has highlighted their lucrative book deals, gifts they have received and travel they have taken. Among the revelations was a series of stories by ProPublica that revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas had failed to report luxury travel paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.

The forms underscore the extent to which book-writing remains a lucrative source of income for members of the court.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who in 2024 released a memoir titled “Lovely One,” disclosed nearly $1.2 million in book advances, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett reported more than $849,000 in royalties. They both reported more than a dozen book events or discussions at which a combination of food, travel or lodging was provided. Justice Neil Gorsuch also received $300,000 in royalty payments.

Several justices also disclosed paid teaching assignments. Chief Justice John Roberts, for instance, reported $25,000 in teaching income for a brief course at New England Law School, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh received $33,285 for teaching at Notre Dame.

Kavanaugh also delivered a speech last September — his meals, transportation and lodging were provided — at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, which the AP earlier reported had invited Thomas to headline a 2017 event.

The court released disclosure forms for eight of the nine current justices. Justice Samuel Alito, as he has previously done, requested a 90-day extension, the court said.

Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, its forces have conducted bombing in an effort to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure and sap morale. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the U.N.

A Russian missile targeting infrastructure struck the central city of Dnipro, killing six people and wounding 29, Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said. Russian drones also hit a passenger minibus in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three and wounding six, including a child, Zelenskyy said on social media.

Russian drones also killed a 69-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man in the northeastern Sumy region, National Police said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a daytime Russian strike killed one person and wounded five others in the northeastern city.

Other deadly attacks occurred in at least six other regions of Ukraine, authorities said. No further details were immediately available.

Strikes leave some Ukrainians without power

Some customers in eight Ukrainian regions were left without power Monday after Russian strikes, while hot weather drove up electricity use as people turned on air conditioners, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Zelenskyy renewed his plea for Europe to step up its development of air defenses to block Russia’s ballistic missiles.

“People need greater protection from such horrific attacks,” Zelenskyy said. “Above all, we need anti-ballistic capabilities. It is essential that Europe is as active as possible in developing its own anti-ballistic defense — its own systems and missiles.”

Putin says expanding Ukrainian drone attacks won't stop the war

A marked shift has taken place in the war in recent months, Western officials say, as Ukraine’s expanding drone strikes have brought fuel shortages in Russia and Russia-occupied territory. The attacks have weakened the Russian military’s supply lines to the front in eastern and southern Ukraine, slowing their advance, according to analysts.

Ukraine’s innovative drone engineering has given it an edge and made it a world leader in the technology’s military use. It is now helping partner countries after previously pleading for foreign military support.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russia’s oil facilities have caused fuel shortages. The scarcity has triggered public anger and frustration as people wait in line for hours at gas stations.

But Putin ruled out making concessions to end the invasion and insisted that Russia will ultimately prevail in the war despite what he called “temporary” setbacks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s position on Ukraine remains unchanged, insisting that Russian troops are continuing their front-line offensive.

Their effort “makes us confident that our goals will be achieved,” Peskov told reporters.

Russia's battlefield progress is waning, analysts say

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Kremlin's stance is an attempt to push the West and Ukraine to give in to Russia’s demands.

But, it added, “Russia’s battlefield performance continues to decline in 2026 and Russia’s ability to seize its objectives militarily is in question.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 209 Ukrainian drones from late Sunday through early Monday.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 82 of the 108 drones that Russia launched overnight.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon.

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The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect as lawsuits play out, including Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.

The appeal was filed by the Republican National Committee after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws, and it was joined by GOP President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The RNC is proud to lead this effort, and we will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens cast a ballot,” said Chairman Joe Gruters.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and likely hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.

The Republican-controlled legislature passed the laws in 2022, part of a wave of similar proposals around the country after Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud was responsible for his narrow defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump reclaimed the state in 2024, helping secure his return to the White House.

One measure requires people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote using a state form. Another calls for regular purges of the voter rolls to remove people if their citizenship could not be confirmed, including within 90 days of an election.

The case reached the Supreme Court's emergency docket in 2024. The justices gave the GOP a partial victory, allowing Arizona to require proof of citizenship for registration in state and local elections but not federal races.

Also that year, the high court allowed Virginia to continue a purge of voter rolls shortly before the election.

Citizenship is required to vote across the country, and people must attest they are citizens under penalty of perjury to register. Arizona is among only a handful of states that require additional proof, like a driver's license or passport. Data indicates that voting by noncitizens is rare.

Arizona tried to impose proof requirements for national elections in 2013, but the law was struck down by the Supreme Court. Now, people can register as “federal only” voters without providing proof of citizenship, but Arizona requires additional proof for state and local election participation.

Just over 19,000 people were registered as active federal-only voters in 2023.

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The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority.

With the six conservative justices in the majority, the nine-member court jettisoned its unanimous decision in Humphrey’s Executor that had limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision-making free of political influence.

“We hold that such protection from removal is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.

Support for Trump’s position

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired without cause despite a provision of federal law that requires a reason. The logic of the decision extends to other agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, where Trump also has fired board members.

Trump voiced his approval in a Truth Social post. “It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” he wrote.

The court already had signaled its support for the Trump administration’s position, over the liberals’ objection, by allowing Slaughter and the board members of other agencies to be removed from their jobs even as their legal challenges continued.

No president before Trump had sought to wrest control of the agencies that regulate wide swaths of American life, including nuclear energy, product safety and labor relations. But at arguments in Slaughter's case in December, the six conservatives, including three appointed by Trump, seemed more concerned about issuing a ruling that would endure than handing too much power to Trump.

Their rhetoric was reminiscent of the presidential immunity case in 2024 that allowed Trump to avoid prosecution for his efforts to undo his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The court is writing a decision “for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said then.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent she summarized aloud in the courtroom, said the ruling could lead to “submission, instability, and even oppression.”

“The president, to be sure, emerges with more power than ever before. That power was given to him by six justices on this court, not the people or the Constitution,” Sotomayor said.

Fed governor Cook's case

In Cook’s case, the court voted 5-4 to reject the Trump administration’s effort to get Cook out of her job now. Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the three liberal justices were in the majority.

Allowing Cook to be ousted now, Roberts wrote, “would allow the President to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after. That would turn for-cause protection into little more than at-will employment.”

Roberts did include a footnote in his opinion noting that nothing forbids Trump from “trying again” to fire her, provided she is given proper notice and a chance to contest it.

Trump suggested he would take Roberts up on the offer, saying on Truth Social that “we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!”

Cook, who was nominated to the Fed’s Board of Governors by Biden, can continue in her post at least as long as her lawsuit challenging her firing goes on, the court said. The Trump administration is appealing a lower-court ruling in her favor.

Besides trying to fire Cook, Trump had threatened to fire former Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell if he didn’t leave the board when his term as chairman ended in mid-May. Powell has remained as a governor, even as Kevin Warsh has replaced him as chairman.

Judges on lower courts have allowed Cook to remain in her post as one of seven central bank governors.

The true motivation for trying to fire Cook, Trump’s critics say, is the Republican president’s desire to exert control over U.S. interest rate policy. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook, the first Black woman to be a Federal Reserve governor, he could replace her with his own appointee and gain a majority on the Fed’s board. The case is being closely watched by Wall Street investors and could have broad impacts on the financial markets and the U.S. economy.

Cook said her case was “never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor.”

"It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people. That is the most fundamental obligation of a Federal Reserve governor,” Cook said in a statement.

Trump's confrontation with the Fed

Trump has been dismissive of worries that cutting rates too quickly could trigger higher inflation. He wants dramatic reductions so the government can borrow more cheaply and Americans can pay lower borrowing costs for new homes, cars or other large purchases, as worries about high costs have soured some voters on his economic management.

The Fed has left its key rate unchanged this year, but a growing chorus of policymakers is expressing concern about persistently high inflation and suggesting the central bank could raise its benchmark rate by the end of this year or leave it unchanged.

While Cook’s case was under review at the high court, Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation of Powell and served the central bank with subpoenas.

The investigation ended in late April, the department said. The announcement cleared a major roadblock to the confirmation of Warsh as Powell’s successor.

The case against Cook stems from allegations she claimed two properties, in Michigan and Georgia, as “primary residences” in June and July 2021, before she joined the Fed board. Such claims can lead to a lower mortgage rate and smaller down payment than if one of them was declared as a rental property or second home.

Those applications, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said in January, are evidence of “gross negligence at best” and give Trump reason to fire her. In any event, he argued, courts shouldn’t be reviewing his decision and Cook has no right to a hearing.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

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Beasley has been out of the NBA since playing with the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25. Another former NBA player, Ed Davis, was also charged in the indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court against six people.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said they “turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation.”

The schemes, he added, “erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public.”

Nocella said hundreds of thousands of dollars were wagered through popular gambling sites. The indictment says Beasley had financial woes, including millions of dollars in gambling losses, and had relied on Davis, a former teammate, for financial help.

“Malik maintains his presumption of innocence throughout this two-year investigation,” Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, said. “We ask that people reserve judgment until all the facts are known.”

Feds say Beasley tipped others about his play

In return for fixing his performance, Beasley got paid by his money-winning co-conspirators and his debts to Davis were reduced or eliminated, the indictment alleges.

In one example, according to the court filing, Beasley informed Davis that he would try to outperform the 3.5 prop line bet for rebounds in Milwaukee's game against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, 2024.

With a second left, and the Bucks ahead by seven points, any shot by the Clippers would not have affected the outcome. But Beasley challenged the shot and then dashed past four players to grab the rebound as the horn sounded.

Beasley finished with four rebounds that night — an overperformance and a winning prop bet, the indictment states.

“What's funny is after he got it he had a big sigh of relief,” a co-conspirator said in a text message, according to the indictment.

In other games, Beasley told Davis that he would underperform certain statistics, the government alleges.

The NBA said it would continue to cooperate with authorities.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” spokesperson Mike Bass said.

Investigation has kept Beasley on sidelines

Beasley last played in the NBA for the Pistons in 2025, averaging 16 points per game. He is one of five players in NBA history with more than 300 3-pointers in a season, but he did not play in the league last season because of the investigation.

Beasley's financial problems have been widely reported, including lawsuits by his Detroit landlord and payment disputes with a Milwaukee barber and Minnesota dentist.

Davis' attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. He was an NBA journeyman who was primarily a backup in a 12-year career that got him roughly $48 million in gross salary. Davis and Beasley were teammates in Minnesota in 2020-21.

Paolo Zamorano, a sports agent who formerly represented Davis, was also charged with placing bets based on Beasley's information. Defense attorney Ken Breen said Zamorano denies wrongdoing and “looks forward to his day in court.”

Other NBA figures arrested in 2025

Authorities last fall announced a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and well-known basketball figures such as Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and coach of the Portland Trail Blazers at the time.

Billups is accused of participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million. He has pleaded not guilty.

In April, former NBA player Damon Jones, 49, became the first person to plead guilty. He was accused of defrauding major sportsbooks, including DraftKings and FanDuel, and filching millions of dollars from unwitting poker players.

Jones was charged with selling or attempting to sell insider information to bettors based on his relationships in the NBA.

Another key figure is Terry Rozier, who was on the Miami Heat when he was charged in 2025. Rozier is accused of conspiring with friends to help them win bets on his performance during a 2023 game when he played for the Charlotte Hornets. He, too, has pleaded not guilty.

In 2024, former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in a separate gambling case. Porter said he took himself out of games early so co-conspirators could win bets on his performance, saying he did it “to get out from under large gambling debts.”

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Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

News4JAX viewers said unwanted spam calls have become a daily frustration, with many reporting they continue despite registering their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry and filing complaints with federal regulators.

Consumer investigative reporter Tiffany Salameh found her own phone has become a target.

“You qualify for a loan up to $80,000,” one recorded message said. Salameh noted she had never applied for such a loan and said she now receives five or six spam calls a day.

After sharing the issue on social media, hundreds of viewers responded with similar experiences.

One viewer, Leandrofedz, commented that the calls come “everyday at every time.”

Another, Marsattack22, said, “I’ve reported it to the FCC and am registered on the do-not-call list but calls still come through.”

Jason Belcher, president of the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida, said consumer frustration is understandable.

“We wish there was a button we could push or a switch we could flip that would just make them stop,” Belcher said. “I’m with you on that.”

While many consumers wonder why the calls haven’t been stopped, Belcher said creating or changing laws is up to lawmakers, not consumer protection organizations.

Instead, he said the focus should be on preventing people from becoming victims.

“The number one thing is don’t give out personal identifying information,” Belcher said. “That includes your Social Security number, address and birthday.”

Belcher said many spam calls are fueled by massive data breaches, where criminals obtain large databases containing thousands or even millions of phone numbers. Using automated dialing technology, scammers can contact huge numbers of people in a short amount of time.

Although there’s no guaranteed way to eliminate the calls, Belcher recommends several steps consumers can take to reduce their risk:

• Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers when possible.
• Never provide personal or financial information over the phone to unsolicited callers.
• Block spam numbers on your phone.
• Register your number with the National Do Not Call Registry.
• Report unwanted calls to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Communications Commission.

Belcher said reporting spam calls is important because the BBB tracks scam trends nationwide and shares that information with law enforcement agencies when patterns emerge.

“If we see scams that are affecting large numbers of people across a certain region or state, we can report that to the local authorities and let them take action from a legal perspective,” he said.

While unwanted calls may continue, consumer advocates say staying cautious and refusing to engage with callers remains the best defense against becoming the next scam victim.

Click here to report spam calls to the BBB.

Click here to report spam calls to the FCC.

Click here to put yourself on the Do Not Call Registry.

Sister Leticia Ugboaja was walking to Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday when she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not responded to a request for comment since Sunday.

Parish officials posted a message on social media shortly after the arrest that gained traction in the news and led to Congress members including U.S. Rep. Monica de la Cruz intervening on Ugboaja's behalf.

The nun is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and volunteered as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, according to Brenda Riojas, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Brownsville.

Ugboaja is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System and worked previously for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant at DHR Health in Edinburg, Riojas confirmed.

Members of congress representing south Texas intervened with federal officials. As of Monday, Ugboaja was back in her home.

“We are grateful for the quick response of local representatives who reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to get her released from custody,” Riojas added in her statement.

President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown — including at sensitive sites such as houses of worship — has prompted faith leaders to adjust their response to church members who have become too afraid to attend. Some have encouraged online attendance, while others have offered help doing errands such as grocery shopping for people too fearful to leave their homes.

In a Monday announcement, Comcast said the breakup will put both of these operations in a better position to pursue their own priorities and growth. The move arrives as communications companies continue to wrestle with years of cord-cutting, and shifting habits in how consumers now buy subscriptions for anything from their phone plans to streaming budgets more broadly.

“The world is changing faster than ever,” Comcast Chairman and co-CEO Brian Roberts said on a Monday call — adding that it “has become clear” the company’s technology and media businesses each “have compelling opportunities in front of them that are distinct in nature and best pursued with dedicated focus.”

Upon the spinoff’s completion, both businesses would become their own publicly-traded companies. Comcast said it expects to complete the process in about a year, pending regulatory approvals and a final greenlight from its board.

That means consumers shouldn’t feel immediate impacts. But a host of major brands currently sit under Comcast’s umbrella — from internet and wireless provider Xfinity to streaming platform Peacock, NBC News and Universal Studios. And analysts are eyeing what those businesses could look like farther down the road.

What could be in store for NBCUniversal and Comcast

“In the short term, bundles, pricing, and distribution will likely hold,” said Mike Proulx, a vice president and research director at market research firm Forrester. For NBCUniversal — set to head the media-centered company Comcast is spinning off — the split in itself carries little effect on its current business, he noted, and is “more to do with what it becomes longer term.”

Proulx is bracing for future acquisitions in this space, adding that “Comcast is following a playbook we have already seen.” He pointed to Warner Bros. Discovery, which announced its own intention to split just last June — before becoming a takeover target that erupted into a messy tug-of-war between Netflix and Skydance-owned Paramount. Paramount eventually became victorious, and is now edging closer to closing its $81 billion buyout of Warner’s entire company.

Comcast executives have appeared to so far dismiss the possibility of heading toward a similar fate. When asked on Monday’s call whether investors should view the separation as a step toward “potential strategic transactions” for either business, Roberts said: “Absolutely not.”

His co-CEO Mike Cavanagh — who is set to become the chief executive of the NBCUniversal spinoff — echoed that sentiment. Cavanagh reiterated plans to “build and invest for growth” with more freedom as a standalone business.

Still, analysts like Proulx speculate that even if NBCUniversal doesn’t become a takeover target, “it’ll likely be the company doing the acquiring.”

“As it stands, traditional TV is dying, and Peacock alone isn’t enough to compete at scale against the biggest streaming services,” Proulx said via email. “One way or the other, NBCU’s entertainment business will look different within the next couple of years.”

This isn’t the first spinoff for Comcast

Like other companies, Comcast in recent years has shifted its business emphasis away from traditional cable toward streaming and other sources of revenue, such as its movie studio, theme parks and home wireless and internet services.

NBCUniversal includes that theme parks division, Universal film and television studios, NBC and Telemundo networks, Peacock, and Bravo — and with the spinoff, European media business Sky will also be part of that portfolio led by Cavanagh.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia-based Comcast will continue providing internet services to residential and business customers. Comcast’s former Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis will become the CEO of that company following its separation.

Comcast has split off assets before. Monday’s move arrives just months after the company officially completed its separation of Versant Media Group — which, as first announced in November 2024, is the new home of networks like USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as CNBC and MSNBC (now MS NOW). Movie ticketing platform Fandango and the Rotten Tomatoes movie rating site were also included.

Once the latest split is complete, Comcast shareholders will own shares in both Comcast and NBCUniversal. Comcast expects to keep a stake of up to 19.9% ownership position in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the spinoff is complete.

Comcast jumped more than 6% as of midday trading following Monday’s announcement. Shares still are down over 10% since the start of 2026.

The 5-4 decision rejected a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court's majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices.

Federal laws setting a single Election Day “leave open when those votes must be received,” Barrett wrote.

Congress could change the law, she said. “If varied deadlines for ballot receipt similarly call for a national solution, the American people must choose it through their elected representatives,” Barrett wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent for four justices. “Not only is today’s decision inconsistent with statutory text, legal context, historical practice, and precedent; it also threatens to produce lamentable consequences," Alito wrote. “The majority’s holding spawns a slurry of troubling election-law questions and risks further undermining Americans’ confidence in election integrity.”

The legal challenge was part of Trump’s broader attack on most mail balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 resulted from fraud even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.

Trump called the court ruling a “tremendous loss” and renewed his call for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which has made it through the House of Representatives but not the Senate.

“There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Among other changes, the legislation would limit who is able to receive a mail ballot and impose a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for registering to vote.

“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement.

The court heard arguments in March in a case from Mississippi pitting the state against Trump’s Republican administration and the Republican and Libertarian parties. At issue was whether federal law sets a single Election Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state officials.

The federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.

The outcome is a “sigh of relief” for a lot of election administrators, said Stephen Richer, a Republican and the former top election administrator in Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix.

A ruling in favor of the Republican National Committee "would have created a whole host of administrative challenges for the affected states,” said Richer, who is now a legal fellow at the Cato Institute.

RNC officials did not immediately respond Monday to email and telephone requests for comment.

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But before you put on that new sweater, shirt, or baby outfit straight from the store, Consumer Reports says you should wash it first.

Watch The Morning Show at 6 a.m. Tuesday to learn why and how to do it without ruining your latest purchase.

An early Sunday morning shooting on West 11th Street killed one man and sent another to the hospital, police said.

On late Sunday evening, a man believed by JSO to be 20 to 25 years old was found shot to death near a playground at Victory Pointe Apartments off Lane Avenue; some neighbors said the victim appeared to be a teen.

Residents at the apartment complex described feeling shaken.

“To be honest with you, we usually don’t have things like that,” Bonita Stewart said, who has lived in the neighborhood for 21 years. “You very seldom see this. We don’t have that in Victory Pointe.”

A neighbor who declined to be named said the shooting made her feel unsafe in her own home.

“For that to happen where my kids are, this is awful,” she said.

Several residents said people are reluctant to speak to police. Stewart said there is a local “code” against talking about crimes, but added, “If the shoe is on the other foot, you would want someone to tell about who did it to your family member.”

JSO said investigators have encountered similar unwillingness to cooperate at the West 11th Street scene.

Anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers, noting tips there are anonymous and can lead to a reward if they result in an arrest.

“JSO’s not going to show up at my door, are they? No, sir — you’re completely anonymous,” Hancock said.

He warned that contacting the sheriff’s office directly by email or phone could constitute a public record.

Anyone with information about either case is asked to call 904-630-0500, by email at JSOCRIMETIPS@JAXSHERIFF.ORG, or anonymously Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the 6-3 court that people don’t forfeit expectations of privacy even when they opt into Google’s location history.

“A cellphone user is not to be viewed as sharing private information with third parties—which then can be freely passed on to the government—just by doing the ordinary things cellphone users do,” Kagan wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent that Okello Chatrie had no expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turned over to Google.

The decision is the court’s latest effort to apply a constitutional provision ratified in 1791 to technology the nation’s founders could not have envisioned.

Police obtained a geofence warrant after a bank robbery in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia, and used it to locate cellphones that were near the bank around the time it was robbed in May 2019.

One of those phones belonged to Chatrie, who had eluded the police until they turned to the powerful technological tool.

The warrant kick-started the investigation. After determining that Chatrie was among those near the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian at the time, police obtained a search warrant for his home. They found nearly $100,000 in cash, including bills wrapped in bands signed by the bank teller.

Chatrie pleaded guilty to robbing the bank and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. His lawyers argued on appeal that none of the evidence should have been used against him.

They challenged the warrant as a violation of his privacy because it allowed authorities to gather the location history of people near the bank without having any evidence they had anything to do with the robbery. Prosecutors argued that Chatrie had no expectation of privacy because he voluntarily opted into Google’s location history.

The Supreme Court did not decide Monday whether the search complied with the Fourth Amendment, which bans unreasonable searches and seizures. It sent the case back to a lower court for more work.

A federal judge had ruled that the search violated Chatrie’s rights, but allowed the evidence to be used because the officer who applied for the warrant reasonably believed he was acting properly.

The federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the conviction in a fractured ruling. In a separate case, the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that geofence warrants “are general warrants categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.”

NBA free agency in 2026: Everyone is waiting again for James to make a decision.

James was the biggest domino to fall in the NBA's offseason player movement period 16 years ago when he decided to join Miami, and he may be the biggest domino to fall — at least in free agency — this summer as well. Free agency opens in the NBA on Tuesday evening, with James' future atop the list of most intriguing storylines that will be solved over the coming days and weeks.

It seems like retirement isn't happening yet, which would mean the NBA's all-time leader in points scored, minutes played and games played coming back for a record-extending 24th season and potentially — when including playoff contests — appearing in the 2,000th game of his career.

His options would figure to include staying with the Los Angeles Lakers, returning to Miami or Cleveland (both would have interest for obvious reasons) or even thinking about moving elsewhere like Golden State and teaming up with longtime friends Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to chase one more title.

Green — who is not expected to leave Golden State — on Monday declined his $27.6 million option for next season, doing so to give the Warriors more maneuverability to add players in the coming days, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because that detail was not revealed publicly by the team, and it raises the possibility that the Warriors might now have more of a selling point to pitch to James.

“When the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do,” James said when the Lakers were eliminated this spring by Oklahoma City in a 4-0 sweep.

The time is coming.

The window when teams can begin officially talking with free agents — other than the ones on their own team, those talks could begin when the NBA Finals ended — opens at 6 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, and deals could be flying not long afterward.

In most cases, any new deals cannot be executed until at least the end of the NBA's offseason moratorium on July 6.

“This period we’re in right now, kind of from mid-May to mid-July, it’s a two-month sprint through the draft, combine, free agency, Summer League, all that,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said earlier this month. “We’re super busy right now. But it’s a fun time of year. This is where we get to make decisions, shape the roster, do all that stuff.”

The NBA finalists — champion New York and runner-up San Antonio — both will have moves to make in the coming days, though they are expected to keep their cores largely intact.

Plenty of decisions and roster-shaping already has happened around the league, either by trades (such as the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster) or teams re-signing or extending their own players (such as Trae Young's $212 million deal with Washington and Austin Reaves' $185 million deal with the Lakers).

Miami will land Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis in a trade that sends Tyler Herro, other players and draft capital to Milwaukee, but that won't be finalized until that moratorium date passes. But in the interim, the Heat will be looking to add shooters — Tim Hardaway Jr., whose father's number is retired in Miami, and longtime Antetokounmpo favorite Khris Middleton make a lot of sense.

The Heat will be keeping Andrew Wiggins, who on Monday exercised his $30 million option for this coming season and, according to a person familiar with the talks between the sides, has agreed in principle on a $34 million deal for the following two seasons — with 2028-29 at his option.

More trades could be coming, with a person familiar with the negotiations confirming to the AP that Toronto has spoken with the Los Angeles Clippers on the possibility of Kawhi Leonard — who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title — returning to Ontario next season. And Boston is still believed to be holding talks about the possibility of trading 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was the centerpiece of the Celtics' ultimately futile offer to land Antetokounmpo in trade discussions with Milwaukee.

“Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He's right: The Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, including playoff contests, which is six more than Denver has won with Nikola Jokic over that span.

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

Instead, Alexandra Lozano created fake stories of domestic abuse and human trafficking to apply for humanitarian visas without her clients' knowledge, according to several lawsuits and a legal ethics investigation. They say she preyed on immigrants’ desperation to drain their bank accounts while leaving them at risk of deportation.

She is accused of hiring workers who didn’t have proper legal credentials and building an assembly-line system to rush through applications, even copying clients’ signatures onto documents they never saw.

“I put the trust of my family with her,” 30-year-old Gabriel Martinez Garcia said. After they paid $30,000, he said Lozano duped his family and got his mother placed in removal proceedings despite her marriage to a naturalized U.S. citizen. “We believed in her and then she just let us down.”

Lozano's firm, Luz del Camino Legal, closed this month amid a barrage of allegations. She permanently surrendered her law license rather than face discipline from the bar association, and denies wrongdoing.

While federal data shows immigration service scams are rising sharply, Lozano’s alleged scheme stands out for its scale. The bar says her signature is on more than 53,000 pending cases.

It's unclear how many cases were fraudulent or to what extent her clients were complicit. The ones suing her say they had no idea.

The consequences of her downfall are hitting the immigration system “like a tidal wave,” said Erika Gonzalez, an attorney with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

The Trump administration last year started overhauling the humanitarian programs Lozano allegedly exploited, claiming a surge in applications since 2020 was a sign of widespread fraud. The administration tightened the programs' restrictions and slowed processing rates, which advocacy groups say will hurt legitimate victims.

The visas are meant for people who were trafficked or abused

Lozano specialized in getting visas through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which covers all genders.

These programs seek to protect victims from having their immigration status weaponized by abusers. Evidence standards are more flexible, making the system more accessible to victims. But it's also easier for an unscrupulous firm to exploit, immigration attorneys say.

Lozano's firm probed clients for issues at home or work, then spun them as abuse cases that didn't meet the threshold for these humanitarian programs, according to attorneys representing dozens of her old clients.

Although clients quickly secured work permits, they often faced trouble years later when seeking permanent residency and their claims faced greater scrutiny.

Lozano denies mass immigration fraud

Angelo Calfo, an attorney representing Lozano, said clients were expected to review their applications before signing and blamed them for any false statements.

“Alexandra’s practice has always been to fight for her clients, zealously pursue every lawful option available to them, and support their efforts to build lives in this country,” his statement said.

The bar accused Lozano of fraud in May and her firm shut down June 10. She’s being investigated by the fraud unit of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. The Department of Homeland Security, which runs the immigration agency, declined to comment.

At least 920 immigration service scams were reported in 2025, which is more than the first three years of the Biden administration combined, according to Federal Trade Commission data analyzed by the AP. Experts say that's probably an undercount, given immigrants’ reluctance to come forward.

Clients say foreign workers, not US-licensed lawyers, handled cases

Lozano is accused of enlisting hundreds of employees in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina to provide legal advice to clients and handle visa applications. That would mean clients never got consultations from a U.S.-licensed attorney.

“Alexandra was telling us to please invent more information about the abuse because it is not real abuse,” said Rafael Alvarez, who worked for Lozano from 2022 to 2024 in Colombia. “There were a lot of cases that were not true.”

Lozano's former chief operating officer, Amy Rios, testified in 2024 that the firm earned $1.7 million teaching other law firms its legal strategies for humanitarian visas and “changed the way many attorneys now approach immigration law.”

Recent lawsuits accuse at least two other firms in Texas and Ohio of replicating Lozano’s tactics, which they deny.

Immigrants say they didn't know about the lies

Erika Sanchez and her husband entered the U.S. unlawfully. Multiple lawyers told them there was no way to adjust their status from within the country.

But Lozano promised a successful outcome after just one consultation in 2020, according to a lawsuit the couple filed in May alongside seven other former clients.

The couple trusted the firm when it asked for their signatures on blank paper, Sanchez said, and lived on a tight budget to pay Lozano more than $32,000.

“We truly did believe that she was doing the right thing,” Sanchez said.

She added that they never saw the application submitted by the firm for her husband, which they later learned contained false claims that his teenage daughter abused him. He is now in removal proceedings.

Some former clients say they didn't discover the alleged fraud for years. Nora Murillo Moreno said the firm told her about the fake abuse claims on the day before her green card interview. She panicked.

“Should I say what really happened, or what is written?” Murillo Moreno said. “I knew things didn’t match.”

Trump administration says visa surge indicates ‘rampant fraud’

Attorneys suing Lozano say her rise parallels an exponential increase in visa applications for trafficking and domestic abuse cases.

Domestic abuse claims more than tripled between the 2020 and 2025 fiscal years, from nearly 15,000 applications to upward of 53,000 per year, according to immigration agency data. There were also nearly twelve times as many applications from parents alleging their child abused them.

During that same period, human trafficking claims jumped from around 1,000 applications to more than 37,000.

In December, the immigration agency said it would overhaul its domestic violence visa program due to “rampant fraud" based on the increase in filings, without offering other evidence. The changes include narrowing definitions of abuse and giving greater weight to evidence supplied by alleged abusers.

Cecelia Levin, an attorney with the nonprofit Alliance for Immigrant Survivors, said making these visas harder for actual abuse victims isn't the answer. Instead, the Trump administration should focus on enforcing the law against attorneys running scams, she said.

An earlier ethics complaint was dismissed

Immigration attorneys say Lozano’s social media was filled with red flags, like claiming the Virgin Mary blessed all her cases.

In 2023, the Washington bar said it had concerns about Lozano’s law practice but dismissed an ethics complaint against her, according to a document obtained by the AP. The complaint alleged deceptive advertising and other misconduct, but the bar said she was protected by disclaimers.

Sara Niegowski, a spokesperson for the bar, said it blocked Lozano from practicing law “as quickly as possible.”

Lozano’s ex-clients are in a legal mess

Former clients are now scrambling to get their case files from the defunct firm. Hundreds showed up for recent consultations with volunteer attorneys in Washington and Oregon.

Many applied to join a lawsuit seeking financial compensation for legal malpractice. Another class action lawsuit aims to recoup their attorney fees. On Friday, a statement from the federal immigration agency told ex-clients how to withdraw their cases or update their addresses so processing could continue.

Vicente Omar Barraza, an attorney behind the malpractice lawsuit, said hundreds of former clients told him they still don't know what Lozano's firm wrote in their applications. He’s worried many people lost viable pathways to legal status.

Garcia Martinez, who says his mother is in removal proceedings because Lozano mishandled her case, lives every day in fear that she will be deported.

“I’m just praying really, really, really hard for her,” Garcia Martinez said. “None of this should have happened.”

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Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and data journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.

A month after his French Open meltdown, the top-ranked Sinner produced a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 win that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes in the honorary opening match on Centre Court reserved for the past year’s men’s singles champion.

Sinner said he was “a little tight in the beginning,” noting that it was his first grass-court match of the season.

“I’m happy that I turned it around,” Sinner said.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, remains the only Wimbledon men’s singles winner in the professional era (since 1968) to have lost in the first round the following year. The Australian was defeated by Ivo Karlovic in his 2003 opener.

Sinner hadn’t played an official match since he struggled with dizziness during a heat wave at Roland Garros, where after being within one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets, he was beaten by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in five.

The match with Kecmanovic was played in ideal conditions, with sunny skies and the temperature 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit).

Sinner is a big favorite to repeat as Wimbledon champion since his main rival Carlos Alcaraz, who he beat in last year’s final, is missing the championships due to a right wrist injury.

Sinner felt the pressure from the honors reserved for the defending champion.

“It was a very, very different feeling," he said. "There’s a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court. Also mentally knowing it’s such a prestige court and such a historical court.”

Early in the third set, Sinner drew a loud applause when he executed a sliced stop-volley drop shot that was so good Kecmanovic didn’t even run for it. But in the same game, Sinner then fell hard to the grass when he lost his footing trying to change directions. He went down on his knees and fell backwards grimacing in pain as he grasped what appeared to be his left hip area. But he quickly got up and resumed playing.

As the match wore on, Sinner appeared to be bleeding through his right shoe.

“I’m good,” Sinner said. “It just seems much worse than it is. … It’s just a nail.”

Kecmanovic saved a set point in the third-set tiebreaker with a wild point that ended with Sinner down on the ground again after he first retrieved a short ball and then retreated to run down a ball over his shoulder into the corner. It evened the tiebreaker at 6-6 and Sinner and Kecmanovic slapped hands on the ensuing change of ends as the players appeared to appreciate each other’s effort.

Two points later, a backhand from Sinner sailed long and Kecmanovic had a two-sets-to-one lead.

“The third set," Sinner said, "was a very tough one to swallow.”

But Sinner cleaned up his game in the final two sets.

When Sinner held for a 5-2 lead in the fifth, David Beckham in the Royal Box was among the spectators taking part in a Centre Court wave.

Sinner has now won all five of his career meetings with Kecmanovic but this one was nothing like a straight-sets victory in the third round at Wimbledon in 2024 and the players shared a friendly embrace at the net when it was over.

Sinner produced 72 winners to Kecmanovic's 20 but also had many more unforced errors: 52 to 33. The serve was a weapon for Sinner, cranking out 31 aces to Kecmanovic's one.

“We will try to aim for a couple of improvements for the next match,” Sinner said.

Kecmanovic had to regroup recently after Viktor Troicki left him to coach another Serbian — someone by the name of Novak Djokovic.

In other matches, 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev was beaten by Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-7 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12); and rising Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, in his Wimbledon debut, beat Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

In women's action, Naomi Osaka made another fashion statement by wearing a flowing kimono for her walk-on before a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Elsa Jacquemot; fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5, 6-3; and French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska, who needed a wild-card entry, was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 by Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

Up next on Centre Court, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was playing Teodora Kostovic, followed by seven-time champion Djokovic against Wu Yibing.

Serena Williams will play her opening match on Tuesday against 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia — marking the first time she competes in singles in nearly four years. Then she’ll play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.

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

Customers traveling from Tampa and Okeechobee north through Jacksonville and up to Jesup, Ga., may experience delays between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT. Amtrak says it will continue to monitor conditions and provide updates as the situation develops.

Why trains slow down in extreme heat

Heat-related slowdowns are a standard railroad safety practice. According to Amtrak, the railroad issues speed restrictions when ambient temperatures exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit or when tracks themselves reach 128 degrees Fahrenheit.

High temperatures cause railroad tracks to physically expand, which can affect their structural integrity. Slowing trains reduces stress on the tracks and helps prevent potential safety issues.

How Amtrak monitors conditions

Amtrak actively monitors rail temperatures and weather conditions along portions of its own infrastructure, including the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, the Harrisburg Line in Pennsylvania, the Empire Line in New York, the Springfield Line in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the Michigan Line.

All commuter and freight entities operating on Amtrak-owned tracks are required to follow Amtrak’s heat restrictions. Amtrak must also follow heat restrictions set by host railroads on tracks it does not own.

How passengers can stay informed

Passengers will receive direct notifications on their day of travel if their departure cities fall within a heat advisory area. Updates are also available at Amtrak.com, as well as through text messages, email and the Amtrak mobile app.

In the event a train loses power or air conditioning, Amtrak says its conductors and senior managers continually monitor onboard conditions, identify passengers with special needs and communicate that information to the National Operations Center. Water and other beverages are stored onboard, and Amtrak Police Department vehicles are stocked with water to deliver to any disabled trains.

The expressway connects three northeast Florida counties, completing a project that began in late 2019.

“This is the final Clay County segment of the First Coast Expressway,” said Jacob Pickering, public information officer for FDOT. “Clay County has really experienced a lot of improved efficiency with this First Coast Expressway — another option for you.”

US 17 to Leonard C. Taylor Parkway

The new stretch allows drivers to travel the expressway from US 17 to Leonard C. Taylor Parkway. New traffic signals on Leonard C. Taylor Parkway were also activated Monday, giving drivers coming from the east the ability to head north directly onto the expressway — including right off the Shands Bridge.

“Once they get off the Shands Bridge, they can immediately go north and access the First Coast Expressway right from the bridge now,” Pickering said. “This is that final connection that connects folks all the way down right to the Shands Bridge up to the First Coast Expressway at US 17.”

The First Coast Expressway is already open from US 17 north to Interstate 10, meaning Monday’s opening completed the full Clay County corridor.

3 new bridges, electronic tolling

The new segment includes three new bridges, a brand-new drainage system and an all-electronic toll facility.

Drivers without a SunPass can still use the road — the system will automatically read their license plate.

“What this is, is really good for the state of Florida, because what we’re doing is giving that option and proving to our motorists on these roadways that we’re thinking of you guys and we’re trying to give you new options here,” Pickering said.

For the toll rates, including SunPass rates and toll-by-plate rates, click here.

New traffic triangle

Any drivers traveling through the intersection of State Road 13 and State Road 16 near the Shands Bridge should expect a new traffic pattern in the shape of a triangle, with traffic flowing counterclockwise.

“There will be some changes to the roadway, so we want folks to use extra caution. But also the significance is really that you’ll have more options to get around, and you’ll have easier access to both State Road 13 and State Road 16 from either direction,” Pickering said.

Two legs of what is known as the “triangle” are now one-way only, while State Road 13 continues to carry traffic in both directions with two newly installed traffic signals

FDOT also advised drivers to prepare for slowdowns on Monday morning and to leave the house a bit earlier than they are used to, to give them some extra time in case of any delays.

This temporary setup will remain in place until the construction of the bridge is completed in 2030.

Drivers who will benefit most

Drivers in Green Cove Springs and St. Johns County are expected to see the greatest impact from the new segment.

US 17, which runs through the center of Green Cove Springs, is known for heavy congestion during peak travel hours. The new expressway gives commuters an alternative to crowded surface roads like Blanding Boulevard and US 17.

“What we’re hoping that will happen here for the folks who live in Green Cove, who maybe work in Orange Park or Jacksonville — this will give them a new option to get home quicker,” Pickering said.

Residents of St. Johns County communities such as Fruit Cove will also benefit, gaining quicker access to the expressway than ever before.

“If you live in St. Johns County, you can now access the First Coast Expressway much sooner than you could before, right at the bottom of the Shands Bridge,” Pickering said. “That really gives folks in Fruit Cove and Green Cove this brand-new option to really access that urban parkway really fast.”

Limited access design

Because the road is a limited-access toll facility, FDOT does not expect the kind of peak-hour backups common on surface roads.

“It is limited access, so we don’t expect peak rush hours to build up on this section of the roadway,” Pickering said.

As drivers get familiar with the new segment, FDOT is urging patience and caution. The department’s Target Zero initiative — aimed at eliminating fatalities and crashes on Florida roadways — remains central to its mission.

“We just really want to tell drivers to be safe out there, and as folks get used to this new roadway segment in the next week, give it some time and be patient with everybody around you,” Pickering said.

Troopers said a pick-up truck, being driven by a 79-year-old man from Thonotosassa, Florida, was headed north on New Kings Road around 8:35 p.m. Sunday when the motorcyclist came up from behind in the same lane as they approached the intersection with Old Kings Road.

According to the crash report, the motorcyclist suddenly veered left, hitting the truck’s back left bumper, and the impact sent the motorcycle skidding across the oncoming lanes onto the grass shoulder on the opposite side before it hit the woodline.

The motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was critically injured.

The driver of the pick-up truck and his 79-year-old female passenger were not hurt. The report did not indicate if they were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. There were no noted dissents. Trump also plans to appeal another $83.3 million verdict awarded to Carroll by a different jury after a second defamation trial, his lawyers have said.

The decision comes as the court hands down its biggest opinions, including a ruling that expands his firing power over the federal bureaucracy with the exception of the Federal Reserve.

Trump called the decision to pass on the Carroll case “surprising” in a social media post, and he said he would continue to fight the defamation claims. “This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for,” he wrote.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations.

Trump's attorneys argued the judge broke federal evidence rules in the case. They framed it as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House.

“This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand,” Attorney Justin D. Smith wrote in court documents. Trump, a Republican, has since nominated Smith to be an appeals court judge. His lawyers called the case “Liberal Lawfare" in a statement on Monday.

Carroll's lawyers had urged the justices to pass on the case. They argued that the women's testimony was relevant because the allegations were similar and that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s decisions were in line with others around the country. “This question is not worthy of review,” wrote attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.

Monday's decision affirms the jury's verdict will stand, she said in a statement Monday. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said.

Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan. The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he denied her allegation in 2022.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

Trump has successfully fended off other hefty court judgments, including a New York civil fraud penalty of over $500 million thrown out by a New York appeals court. The Supreme Court also granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution in 2024, though it later narrowly rejected his bid to halt sentencing in his New York hush money case.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.

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

He beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers Championship, had both parents from Norway watch him win for the first time and even did the “row” with the Norwegian soccer fans who cheered him all the way to the surprising end.

Hovland capped off a gritty rally when he made a 7-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole and won the Travelers when Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

“Winning in the playoff against Scottie — best player in the world — that was pretty satisfying,” said Hovland, who won for the first time since the Valspar Championship in March 2025.

The surprise was Scheffler going from a big advantage — an 8-iron to 4 feet on the 18th on the first playoff hole — to missing a hard-sliding putt on the high side that made Hovland a winner.

“Maybe I hit it a little firmer than I intended to,” said Scheffler, whose putt caught the left edge and rolled out some 7 feet by the hole. “It looked like it got pretty far by the hole and I was playing it outside the hole, so I hit it down my line, just maybe the speed was a touch off.”

It was a big disappointment for Scheffler, who made Monday possible by making an 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole in near darkness to force the playoff.

He was first to hit from the 18th fairway and some 3,000 fans on the hillside around the green erupted in cheers. Hovland responded, just like the 28-year-old Norwegian had done on the back nine Sunday when he rallied from a two-shot deficit.

Hovland's birdie putt was snapping off to the right when it curled in the right side and he let out a big fist pump.

“It’s one of those putts that if I make mine, his gets significantly tougher, and if I miss, he probably will make his,” Hovland said. “Yeah, it was definitely no gimmies there, so to put the pressure on him was awesome.”

It was the first Monday finish on the PGA Tour since The Players Championship in 2025, which involved a three-hole aggregate playoff won by Rory McIlroy. This turned out to be one hole and 15 minutes, but it did not lack for drama, or atmosphere.

There was lively banter for the playoff. A group of Norwegian fans, who had been in Boston for the World Cup, wore their soccer jerseys and chanted, “Hov-land!” as he approached his golf ball in the fairway. The Americans began the “Scot-tie Scheff-ler!” chants to drown them out.

The Norwegians also brought the “row,” which has gone viral in the stadium and subway stations and wherever they go. They sit shoulder to shoulder, arms out and then forcefully pull them in. Hovland had never seen it in person until Saturday.

When it was over, he sat with his people and they showed him how it's done.

“You definitely get adrenaline from it,” he said.

Hovland had plenty of that Sunday afternoon when he returned from a 90-minute rain delay and made three straight birdies to catch up to Scheffler and eventually get into the playoff. He closed with a 69, while Scheffler had a 68. They finished at 21-under 259.

Hovland is rarely satisfied with a swing that has given him a reputation for making solid contact. He felt it gaining momentum with a third-place finish in Canada, and even in the U.S. Open despite missing the cut. There was always one bad swing that allowed doubts to creep in.

Those were gone at the TPC River Highlands, particularly at the end. He was first to hit in the playoff and drilled it down the middle, just as he had done all week.

“I’ve been playing golf with Viktor for a long time. We’ve had some good battles in college and out here as a pro," Scheffler said. “He’s a guy that has a lot of talent and works really hard. So those are the types of guys you like to see have success.”

For Scheffler, it was his fourth runner-up finish this year after opening his season with a victory at The American Express in the California desert. But he felt a little momentum, even in a playoff loss, as he gets ready a three-week stretch that includes the British Open, the final major of the year.

“Ball striking is definitely in a good spot. That was some of the best I hit it all season,” Scheffler said. “Obviously I think just a little disappointed with the results of today. But, yeah, I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament last night, made the nice putt to close out last night, and so trying to remember that one.”

Hovland headed home for Norway with his parents. As for his throng of flag-waving, rowing supporters? Norway plays Ivory Coast on Tuesday in Dallas, the hometown of Scheffler.

“That was probably more coincidental,” Hovland said with a laugh. “That should be a good game.”

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

Keith’s family said Monday that she had been diagnosed with cancer and died at her home in Surrey, near London.

Keith began her acting career onstage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963. But she found her greatest fame on television.

She won a BAFTA award in 1977 for “The Good Life,” playing Margo Leadbetter, a snobbish suburbanite appalled by her back-to-the-land neighbors Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal.

Kendal called Keith a “comic genius.”

“She was a joy to know and work with, and she will be much missed,” Kendal said.

Keith displayed a similar mix of imperiousness and deadpan wit in “To the Manor Born,” broadcast between 1979 and 1981 and brought back for a 2007 Christmas special. Keith played cash-strapped aristocratic widow Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her country estate to a nouveau millionaire, played by Peter Bowles, with whom she has a love-hate relationship.

Keith's velvet tones featured on children’s show “Teletubbies” and in ads for everything from Pimm’s to Parker Pens. She also presented cozy documentary TV series, including “Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages.”

Keith continued to perform in stage roles into her 80s. Theaters in London’s West End will dim their lights on Wednesday evening in tribute to her.

In 2014 she was made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, for services to the arts and to charity.

She is survived by her husband, Rodney Timson, and their two adopted sons.

That has blunted the nascent recovery of ship traffic that in normal times feeds the global economy with a fifth of its oil and gas shipments. Now, hopes for a continued rise are on hold as ship traffic cautiously continues at levels below those from before the war.

Oil producers and markets were hoping to continue the rise in passages that followed a U.S.-Iranian interim deal, from less than 10% of normal to roughly half of prewar averages on the eve of the June 25 drone incident.

A second strike on Saturday hit a tanker carrying crude for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the U.S. The U.S. responded with a second round of strikes on Iranian “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities.” Iran launched drone and missile strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday.

After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

Here’s where things stand and the reasons behind the current confusion.

Iran tries to assert its control over the strait

Iran demands that ships pass the strait using a route near its coastline. It has set up an agency to vet ships and collect information on crews, destination and cargo. It had also demanded payment in at least some cases. That meant a conundrum for ship owners and operators, because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is running the vetting process, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU. So paying the IGRC means exposure to risk of U.S. or EU sanctions.

Ships had increasingly used a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation that guided them using drones and aircraft. The ship that was hit was trying to use that route.

Control over the strait gives Iran leverage over the global economy, and over Trump. The effective closure of the strait sent U.S. gasoline prices higher, a politically sensitive issue ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections in November. Simple fear of Iranian drones or speedboats, it has turned out, is enough to deter ship traffic.

The US and Iran don’t agree on what they agreed on

U.S. officials say the interim agreement was that the strait would reopen, without Iran collecting money from passing vessels, for 60 days while a more permanent resolution to the war is negotiated.

Iran is citing language from the agreement which says that Iran “will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” during the negotiating period.

Iran says that language means it’s up to Iran exactly how the strait reopens. The interim agreement says Iran will “conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.”

Iran underlined that position by initially threatening vessels without taking action. At that point, enterprising ship operators started to test the Iranian position and took their chance to rescue vessels stuck for weeks in the Gulf. The day before the June 25 drone strike, 78 vessels passed the strait, including at least five large oil tankers with up to 2 million barrels of oil each, according to S&P Global. That was still below the 130 or more that was normal before the war. But oil prices fell to prewar levels, and a return to normalcy seemed to at least be on the horizon.

Ship traffic continues at somewhat lower pace

Ship traffic has continued, but at a somewhat lower pace than the day before the first Iranian strike, and an humanitarian evacuation by the UN's International Maritime Organization remains suspended.

On Sunday, there were 44 transits, 24 inbound and 20 outbound, with the “strait open with no disruption to freedom of navigation despite ongoing military operations,” according to marine data firm Windward. It said “most traffic has shifted north under Iranian coordination" and noted that “multiple” sanctioned tankers had crossed Sunday.

There was “elevated activity” by IGRC speedboats, with around 60 of the vessels patrolling in swarms around the U.S.-overseen southern corridor.

Of 108 crossings over the weekend, 39 used the U.S.-backed Omani route, 37 the Iranian route, while 23 were unknown due to their switching off their location systems and running dark, according to ship tracker MarineTraffic.com. Nine used a prewar route in the middle of the strait.

“The split suggests operators are still assessing risk cautiously, rather than returning to pre-crisis traffic patterns,” MarineTraffic.com said on X.

The oil market remains unruffled, US gasoline prices down

Oil prices fell after the U.S.-Iran memorandum raised hopes of an end to the conflict, and oil traders seem to have stayed with that approach.

International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.9% on Friday to $72.67 at 1430 GMT, close to its last close before the war of $72.48.

Other factors have combined to ease pressure on oil prices, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report Monday. Hit with higher fuel prices, consumers have scaled back energy use. IEA member governments released oil from emergency stocks. Exporters like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have ramped up alternative routes using pipelines that bypass the strait. Exports surged from other suppliers, most notably the US. Another major factor: the 40% drop in China’s oil imports between February and May, as China relied in part on drawing down its robust oil reserves.

U.S. gasoline pump prices have fallen back below $4 per gallon, averaging $3.86 as of Monday.

Experts say Iran’s position is contrary to international law

Multiple international law experts say Teheran’s demand to control the strait violates international law as set down in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994.

The treaty requires coastal states to permit peaceful passage through their waters. Iran’s stance raises concerns that other choke points, such as the Straits of Malacca in East Asia, could be subject to geopolitical power plays that disrupt global commerce, as Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz has done.

Trump says talks are coming, Iran hasn’t confirmed

The U.S. and Iran are supposed to negotiate a more lasting resolution, including the strait and the future of Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and ending the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.

Trump said Monday on social media that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts. However one of Iran’s top negotiators said no further talks had been scheduled.

Gov. DeSantis signed the legislation into law earlier this year. The cursive writing requirement is part of a broader education bill, SB 182, passed during the 2026 legislative session.

What students must learn

Under the new law, third through fifth grade students must receive instruction in cursive writing, covering letter formation, proper spacing and alignment, and practice writing complete words and sentences.

By the end of fifth grade, each student must demonstrate they can write uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet in cursive, write words and sentences legibly with proper spacing and alignment, and read and apply cursive writing in a way that supports literacy development — including writing essays and class assignments in cursive.

What comes next

The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards and develop assessments tied to the cursive writing requirements, though the law stops short of mandating it do so.

Tresonda Benefield, 26, Nathanial Carter, 25, Jackeri Lewis, 28 and Jakeithiyan Daniel, 25, pleaded guilty last year, according to federal prosecutors.

Benefield, Carter, and Lewis were each sentenced to 16 years and 1 month in federal prison, and Daniel was sentenced to 14 years and 6 months in federal prison.

They also have to pay back the money they stole.

Police said the four suspects used the same mode of operation for each robbery at a Dollar General on Main Street, Fort Caroline Road, Yellow Bluff Road and a store on Main Street in the Brentwood neighborhood.

The robberies took place between April 9 and May 1, 2024, officials said. Benefield, Carter and Lewis participated in all four robberies, while Daniel was involved in the last two.

MORE: Officer fires shot at suspected robbers leaving Brentwood dollar store, Jacksonville police say

Benefield kept an eye on each of the stores before the robberies and then drove the rest of the crew to the stores just before closing time.

Once the store employees began to lock up the store at night, the crew, wearing masks and brandishing firearms, approached the employees and demanded that they go back inside the store to unlock the safe.

The store employees were then forced to hand over the money inside the safe. The group collectively stole more than $11,000 from the four stores.

After one of the robbery incidents, there was a brief chase that led to an officer firing a shot at the getaway vehicle when one of the suspects raised a gun at him.

WATCH | Video shows JSO officers in dramatic takedown of suspects accused in Dollar General robbery spree

Following the suspects’ arrest, police searched the vehicle. Officers said they found three guns believed to be used in all the robberies, ski masks, more than $3,500 in cash and stolen merchandise in the vehicle.

Investigators also said a search warrant served at two of the suspects’ homes led to the discovery of clothing worn by the suspects in a previous armed robbery, a box of latex gloves that matched the gloves worn in previous robberies and Dollar General bags.

No one was injured in the shooting or during the robberies.

Dollar General’s corporate office issued this statement about the robberies in 2024:

We are committed to providing a safe environment for employees and customers. We have invested in various security measures, as appropriate for each store. To protect the integrity of these measures, we do not publicly comment on their details. Additionally, we appreciate our ongoing and collaborative partnership with Jacksonville law enforcement.

Dollar General Spokesperson

With rising political violence, including recent incidents near the White House, and a president who enjoys being at the center of public pomp yet has repeatedly faced attempts on his life, a major security challenge awaits.

“It comes as no surprise to you that D.C. on a normal day is a target-rich environment,” said Darren B. Cox assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office at a recent press conference detailing the security preparations. “We are prepared for any threats.”

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit Washington in the coming weeks for the festivities.

The throngs will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers and agents and 5,000 National Guard troops, along with military-style vehicles and other hardware they don’t often see on the streets of America.

Authorities are preparing for a major security operation

The largest crowds are expected July 4, with multiple events happening simultaneously, including the Great American State Fair, a showcase for each state and a signature attraction of the celebrations that stretches across the National Mall.

The annual fireworks display that night is designated a National Security Special Event for the first time by the Department of Homeland Security, granting it the highest classification for federal security coordination.

For visitors, that means strict ID requirements, long lines and magnetometers, similar to air travel security. Snipers are also expected to be deployed at some events.

Flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is across the Potomac River from Washington, will be suspended longer than in other years because of the scope of the celebrations — from noon on July 4 until the next day. Other America 250 events that include flyovers or parachute jumps could prompt more flight disruptions.

The FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police and D.C. National Guard have all been involved in security coordination for the events. At the press conference earlier this month, equipment that could be deployed to guard the city was on display, including BearCat armored SWAT vehicles, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, known as MRAPs, as well as communication vans and FBI diving boats.

“Our protective model is meant to adjust to any type of direct or indirect threats that we come across,” said Tara McLeese, special agent in charge of the Secret Service Washington Field Office. “I can assure you that we have no lack of imagination as to the potential threats out there."

Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, interim commander of the D.C. National Guard, said the planning had been underway for months and included rehearsals.

Blanchard said the guard members would continue the roles they have served the last 10 months as part of a deployment to the city President Donald Trump says is meant to fight crime. Blanchard highlighted that guard members, including military police officers, would be helping with duties like traffic and crowd control as well as responding to emergencies around the events.

President Trump, who has already attended several events leading up to July 4, including the kickoff rally last week launching the Great American State Fair, has said on Truth Social that he would hold a rally on the National Mall.

Speaking at a press conference Monday updating the upcoming security preparations, Cox reiterated that “at this time we are not tracking any credible threats related to the July 4th event, but we always remain vigilant.”

Recent violence has shaped the threat picture

The festivities come at a fraught moment, with recent political violence creating a complex threat environment for authorities. One man, Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president after he sprinted past security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April. Allen has pleaded not guilty.

In the following weeks, two men on two separate occasions opened fired at Secret Service officers, the service said. Each incident happened in the vicinity of the White House.

More recently, the FBI announced it had thwarted a planned attack targeting Trump’s UFC cage-fighting show at the White House. Several suspects have been arrested in that case.

Security was already enhanced on the National Mall ahead of the launch of festivities, as Trump claimed without providing evidence that vandals had damaged the Reflecting Pool that he had recently renovated.

Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University who studies extremism, said Trump posed a unique security challenge because he is “both an accelerant and a target of political violence.”

The nation’s bicentennial offers a historical parallel

Observers draw some parallels to the 1976 bicentennial. The nation was coming off Watergate and Vietnam and 10 months before the celebration there were two assassination attempts against then-President Gerald Ford.

“There was a lot of sourness in the country in ’76, a lot of cynicism about the direction of the country,” Dallek said. But both Ford and his democratic opponent Jimmy Carter understood the threat political divisions posed and “were looking to bring down the level of vitriol.”

Angelyn Spaulding Flowers, Professor of Homeland Security & Administration of Justice at the University of the District of Columbia, said the amount of security was unparalleled for the city, citing the ongoing and open-ended National Guard presence that has flooded Washington with additional security patrols for months.

The IRS Criminal Investigations division, the crime-fighting arm of the IRS, says Twista, whose legal name is Carl Mitchell, failed to pay income tax from 2019 to 2023 and owes more than $440,000 in back taxes.

Last week, Mitchell pleaded guilty to five counts of willfully failing to pay income tax. He is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 22.

Best known for his 2004 album ’Kamikaze,” Mitchell has collaborated with musicians including Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and Jamie Foxx on the song “Slow Jamz." He has received two Grammy nominations.

His income stemmed from performances, album sales, streaming and royalties, according to IRS-CI.

Despite warnings from both the IRS and his own accountants of his tax debts, “instead, Mitchell entered into agreements with a third-party company to pay him advances on future royalties, knowing that the IRS would not be able to levy these funds,” the IRS said in a statement.

Mitchell also has unpaid tax liabilities dating back to 2011, and the government alleges Mitchell made large purchases to support his lifestyle, including buying at least four luxury vehicles.

Representatives for Mitchell did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

“IRS Criminal Investigation doesn’t care how famous you are or what you’ve accomplished,” Adam Jobes, with IRS-CI's Chicago field office, said in a statement. "If you willfully refuse to pay your taxes, we’ll follow the money and bring you to justice.”

Gotham announced signing Kerr on Monday to a deal that will keep her with the team through 2030. The move marks a return to the NWSL for Kerr, who previously played for Sky Blue — which later became Gotham — from 2015-17.

She also played for the Chicago Red Stars before moving to Chelsea in November 2019. Kerr remains the NWSL's top regular-season scorer with 77 career goals and led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 2017-19. She won league MVP awards in 2017 and 2019.

Kerr, 32, also is the all-time leading scorer for the Australia, among men or women, with 75 international goals, surpassing men's leader Tim Cahill with 51. She led the Matildas to the semifinals of the 2023 Women's World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m incredibly excited to return to Gotham FC and to this city,” Kerr said in a statement released by the team. “This club was an important part of my journey, and to come back at this moment, with everything Gotham has built, is really special. The ambition here is clear, and I’m looking forward to helping this team compete for trophies and create more history.”

Known for her backflip goal celebrations, Kerr is widely considered one of the best strikers in the world. She's the only player to have won a Golden Boot in three different leagues.

“Sam is one of the defining players of her generation and a game-changing talent who has consistently delivered at the highest levels of world football,” said Yael Averbuch West, president of soccer operations for Gotham FC. “Her winning mentality, relentless competitiveness and ability to decide matches in an instant make her one of the most impactful players in the game. Bringing Sam back to Gotham is a landmark moment for our club, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Gotham won the league title last year and in 2023. The team’s loaded roster already includes such players as Esther González, who won the 2023 World Cup with Spain, German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, U.S. midfielder Rose Lavelle and England defender Jess Carter.

Kerr finished with 17 goals last season for Chelsea. She scored 65 goals in the Women’s Super League and won the league’s Golden Boot twice. She scored 116 goals in all competitions, tying Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer Fran Kirby. Chelsea won five WSL titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups during Kerr’s tenure with the club.

She also played professionally in the W League in Australia.

Kerr is married to American Kristie Mewis, who also played in the NWSL and the English WSL, as well as for the U.S. national team. The couple have a son, Jagger Mewis-Kerr, who was born in May 2025.

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

A disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms is near the North Carolina coast. Forecasters say a broad area of low pressure could form off the Southeast U.S. coast in the next day or two, and there’s a slight chance it will gradually organize as it drifts southward and then westward.

The keyword here is slight. The chance of any formal tropical development sits at just 10% over the next seven days, and conditions are expected to become less favorable as the week goes on. Wind shear and drier air will limit any development.

As we head into the month of July, these are the zones we look at for potential development.

Johnson, 40, spent 10 seasons in the league and last played in 2017 for the Arizona Cardinals. He said on ABC's “ Good Morning America ” that he was diagnosed with the fatal nervous system disease last year.

“Honestly, I don’t know if you really fully process it,” he said, using his eyes to communicate through a computerized speech-generating device during the interview with Michael Strahan. “At first you’re in shock. Then you realize you have two choices: You can give up or you can fight. I chose to fight.”

Johnson, a first-round draft pick out of East Carolina in 2008, rushed for 7,965 yards over six seasons with the Titans. The native of Orlando, Florida, had 2,006 yards in 2009 to earn the nickname “CJ2K” and ingratiate himself with the Tennessee fan base.

Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, in a statement released Monday, said the organization is holding Johnson, his wife and four children close.

“Some people leave a mark on an organization that you just can’t put into words. Chris Johnson is one of those people for us. His leadership on the field, in addition to his impact in the locker room and Nashville community have written him permanently into the story of this franchise," Adams Strunk said. “Learning this news is extremely difficult, and we will support Chris every step of the way throughout his journey."

ALS, which is an acronym for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative condition that affects nerve cell communication with muscles throughout the body. The disease leads to muscle weakness and can cause deterioration of the ability to move, speak and breathe.

Tim Shaw, who had a six-year career as a linebacker in the NFL and was a teammate of Johnson's with the Titans from 2010-12, was diagnosed in 2014 at age 30 with ALS and is still alive.

Johnson, who also played one season for the New York Jets, first noticed weakness in his right hand and trouble with his grip. He was still working out daily a year ago. Now he can't hold a cup or speak on his own.

“Your mind stays sharp. People sometimes look at a person with a physical disability and assume you’re not still the same person inside,” Johnson said. “I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn’t cooperate.”

Johnson was joined for the interview by his wife, Brittany, who has become his primary caregiver.

“She hasn’t left my side through any of this. My kids are also a huge part of why I keep going,” Johnson said. “Every day I wake up wanting more time with them to make more memories and just be their dad. They give me a reason to keep fighting.”

Johnson has been participating in experimental treatments with the goal of extending his life and helping the medical field move closer to a cure for the disease.

“If it helps even one person get diagnosed sooner, inspires more research or gives another family hope,” he said, “then it's worth it.”

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

Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule and Stevie Wonder were among the other musical stars at the service. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adrien Brody, Hoda Kotb and Gayle King were among the other notables.

Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl said Davis would have been thrilled by the turnout. “Clive would have loved this,” she said. “He’d have been touched to have filled the house, thrilled by the superstars who have come to share tributes to him.”

The service was closed to the public but was livestreamed from Central Synagogue in Manhattan.

Davis, a record company lawyer who rose to become one of music’s most influential figures, launched the careers of numerous stars, including Whitney Houston, Springsteen, Keys and Kenny G, and influenced others such as Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.

Springsteen called him big, bombastic and brave. “He was born to run everything,” The Boss said. He remembered meeting him at age 22 in 1972, his anxiety rising. “I can’t wait to hear you,” Davis told him. After his audition, the executive simply said: “Welcome to Columbia Records."

"In those few words, he changed my life forever,” Springsteen said.

Davis died June 22 in his Manhattan apartment at the age of 94, a few weeks after he was hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue.

Buchdahl asked what song Davis most admired that was not something he had a hand in and was told “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg in 1938 for the film “The Wizard of Oz.” Buchdahl then sang a soaring version. “You have a home at Sony Music Classics,” joked Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.

Warwick told a story about how Davis urged her to work with Manilow in the late 1970s, which she initially resisted. But Davis’ suggestion was fruitful: Their partnership, the album “Dionne,” went platinum and earned two Grammy Awards. “So Barry and I became very, very good friends that day,” she said to laughter.

Manilow recalled Davis urging him to record the rock song “Brandy,” written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. Manilow turned it into a love song and played it for Davis. “Just do that,” Davis told him. They renamed it “Mandy.” It went to No. 1. “He believed in me from the very beginning,” Manilow said.

Hudson sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and then grew emotional as she transitioned to “I Will Always Love You,” a hit for Houston. ”We love you, Clive" she said before getting a standing ovation.

While many record execs saw their influence wane as they grew older, Davis' seemed to grow. He breathed new life into the careers of established artists such as Aretha Franklin and Santana, and helped launch Keys and several early “American Idol” winners' careers, including Kelly Clarkson's.

Springsteen said a world had died with Davis' passing — the record executive-led top-down changemakers that also included such visionaries as Berry Gordy, Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin and Jerry Wexler: “Men who defined, loved and sustained the record business.”

“There isn’t a day when I don’t sit on my big front porch in my big house, surrounded by my big cars with my big family, looking out over my big yard, and Clive doesn’t come somewhere whistling around the top of my brain,” Springsteen said.

Keys was in tears when she approached the podium and borrowed a handkerchief. “I'm actually not a crier. I'm in a strange place,” she told the crowd. She recalled being 15 when she first met Davis, running because she was late, and playing songs for him on a piano. “You saw something in me that I was just beginning to see in myself,” she read in a letter to Davis.

“In a world that so often reduces art to commerce, and genius to product, you held the line. You reminded me again and again that what we were doing was about truth and legacy, and about the human heart reaching out to another human heart and saying, ’You are not alone.”

Davis is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. An instrumental version of Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” played as Davis coffin was carried out of the synagogue.

The app said it has started allowing users to reserve unique usernames, which can be used to contact WhatsApp users when the feature is launched later this year.

WhatsApp, which says it has more than 3 billion users globally, has until now allowed users to be contacted by anyone who has their phone number.

The app, owned by Meta Platforms, said in a blog post that over the “coming months” users will get the option to be found and contacted only by their username, and not their number. It wasn't more specific about the timeline.

“We have designed this as a core privacy feature,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp's vice president of product, told reporters.

There won't be a directory of usernames on the app, and the app won't suggest names as you type.

“People will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time,” she said.

WhatsApp's current privacy settings are limited to blocking individual users and silencing unknown callers. The app also allows users to add a profile name, but that's only displayed in chat groups for other people who don't have the user's contact info saved.

While Americans still prefer text messaging to WhatsApp, the app is widely used in Europe, Asia and much of the rest of the world.

Catchy online handles are highly coveted and users will likely scramble to claim a desirable one.

“I think a lot of people will go and get usernames and that’s why we decided to open reservations early,” Newton-Rex said.

Companies, organizations and creators with existing accounts on Meta's social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, will get the chance to claim their usernames on WhatsApp.

Usernames need to be between three and 35 characters. To prevent impersonation, WhatsApp will hold back usernames for high-profile people or groups such as celebrities, public figures and government entities.

We’ve got a county-by-county list of events happening around Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia to celebrate July 4th.

FLORIDA

Alachua County

• Fanfares & Fireworks (Gainesville): Community Independence celebration with live music and a fireworks finale. 6–10 p.m., Friday, July 3 (fireworks ~9:30 p.m.) at the UF Bandshell at Flavet Field in Gainesville.

Bradford County

• Starke Spangled Splash Bash (Starke): City/community July 4 festivities including a parade. Parade starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 4 (military flyover of vintage aircraft at 10 a.m.).

Clay County

• Independence Day Celebration (Keystone Heights): Full-day, family-friendly Independence Day activities honoring America 250 (community events + fireworks finale). 10 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Saturday, July 4 at Theme Park Tennis Courts, 555 S Lawrence Blvd., Keystone Heights.

Columbia County

• July 4 celebration (Lake City): Live music, food, hot air balloons, fireworks and more. 5 p.m.-11:55 p.m., Saturday, July 4, at the Columbia County Fairgrounds at 164 SW Mary Ethel Lane, Lake City.

Duval County

• Jacksonville Fourth of July Celebration (Downtown Jacksonville): Downtown riverfront festival-style celebration (live music, art, family activities, food vendors) + fireworks. 4–9:30 p.m., Saturday, July 4 (fireworks 9 p.m.) at Riverfront Plaza, Downtown. What you need to know

Flagler County

• United Flagler Fourth / Fireworks Over the Runways (Palm Coast): Countywide July 4 celebration at the airport with live entertainment/activities + fireworks. 5–10 p.m., Saturday, July 4 (fireworks 9 p.m.) at Flagler Executive Airport in Palm Coast.

Nassau County

• Light Up Amelia / Hometown 4th of July Firework Show (Fernandina Beach): City-sponsored downtown/waterfront July 4 celebration + fireworks. 6–10 p.m., Saturday, July 4 (fireworks 9 p.m.) at Waterfront Park/Downtown in Fernandina Beach.

Putnam County

• July 4 celebration (Palatka): Free, family-friendly event includes live music, food trucks, vendors, a kids zone, face painting, puppet shows and more from 4-9:30 p.m., Saturday, July 4 at the Palatka Riverfront.

St. Johns County

• Fireworks Over the Matanzas (St. Augustine): City/visitor-bureau promoted concert + fireworks over the bayfront. 6–9:30 p.m., Saturday, July 4 (fireworks 9 p.m.) at St. Augustine bayfront/downtown waterfront area, St. Augustine.

Union County

• July 4 celebration (Lake Butler): Live music, waterslides, face paiting, food trucks and more, starting at 8 a.m., Saturday, July 4 at Lakeside Park in Lake Butler.

GEORGIA

Camden County

• St. Marys July 4 festival + fireworks (St. Marys): Festival-style celebration from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, July 4, with a parade and fireworks over the St. Marys River at St. Marys waterfront.

Glynn County

• Beach Village carnival: Bounce houses, carnival rides, face painting and more form 2-7 p.m., Friday, July 3 a Beach Village.
• Jekyll Island concerts and fireworks (Jekyll Island): Live music on the Turtle Stage in Beach Village from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., followed by a fireworks display at 9 p.m., Saturday, July 4.

Ware County

• Waycross America 250: Field of Honor (Dedication Ceremony): America 250 commemorative dedication ceremony at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 4 at 2401 Knight Ave., Waycross.
• Waycross July 4th Celebration / 4th of July Spectacular (Waycross): Downtown celebration with live music, food/arts vendors, inflatables/family activities + fireworks finale. 12–10 p.m., Saturday, July 4 (fireworks at dusk) at Downtown Waycross (Pendleton Street).

If your city/county has an event that we do not have listed, please email the information to webteam@wjxt.com.

Americans’ pride in the U.S. on several key attributes has dropped since 2017 — including the nation's military and its political influence around the globe — according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This poll was conducted in April, as the United States and Iran fought over the Strait of Hormuz in a prolonged war that started with the U.S. and Israel launching strikes on Iran.

New Gallup polling also finds that only 53% of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American, the lowest reading in the trend dating back to 2001.

The findings point to a broad decline in patriotic sentiment over a tumultuous period that included most of President Donald Trump's first term, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation that contributed to a backlash against President Joe Biden. That timeframe also covers Trump's return to the White House, where he's taken more aggressive actions on immigration and issues abroad.

Much of the falling positivity comes from Democrats, who have become increasingly disenchanted with the country since Trump's first term.

At the same time, most U.S. adults say that being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their identity, highlighting an enduring connection, even as some become increasingly critical of the country's past or the government’s current actions.

American pride declines on the armed forces and democracy

Americans' pride in the way democracy works in the U.S. has declined 14 percentage points, falling from 42% in February 2017 to 28% now.

In addition, Americans' pride in their armed forces has dropped 19 percentage points since 2017, and pride in the U.S.’s history has declined 14 percentage points. In each case, the drop is largely driven by Democrats, with some movement among independents as well.

Karla Galdamez — a 48-year-old Democrat who used to teach U.S. history — believes America has regressed under the Trump administration. While the Californian is not proud of Trump, she is pleased with how far the U.S. has come in 250 years.

“It’s a country that really wanted to be different and really wanted to be better," she said. "Despite some of the very ugly history that we have of segregation and slavery ... if you look at the trajectory of the last 250 years, we’ve done nothing but get better and move toward a more egalitarian nation.”

Only 14% of Democrats and 28% of independents say they are “extremely" proud to be an American, according to Gallup's new poll, compared with 70% of Republicans.

The AP-NORC poll found that Republicans are especially likely to be proud of the nation's armed forces. About 9 in 10 Republicans say the military makes them “extremely” or “very” proud, compared with about 6 in 10 U.S. adults.

Samantha Fulks, a 40-year-old in San Antonio, Texas, says she’s proud to be an American and doesn't hide it. The Texas Republican showcases that pride with an American flag in her front yard — as well as Trump flags in the back yard — and she plans to wear red, white and blue on the Fourth of July. Fulks comes from a military family, and while she believes the country's involvement in Iran is unnecessary, she remains a proud supporter of the military.

“I still support our troops no matter what they do,” Fulks said.

Being an American matters more for personal identity among Republicans and older adults

Matt Stafford, a 39-year-old in Massachusetts, is proud of being an American, even if the U.S. political system frustrates him.

He has a bald eagle tattooed on his back to represent the United States, its freedoms and “all the things we’re supposed to stand for as a country.” But despite that national pride, he often finds himself frustrated by politicians on both sides. Stafford — a centrist who identifies as “politically homeless” — wants Democrats and Republicans to come together to look out for their constituents in middle America.

“I love America, but our biggest problem is how we’re pushing both sides — like the left and the right — to the extremes," he said.

For many Americans, their partisanship is often intertwined with their national identity. The poll finds that Republicans are much likelier than Democrats or independents to say being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their personal identity.

Younger people are also much less likely than older people to say being an American is highly important to their personal identity. About three-quarters of Americans ages 60 and older say being an American is highly important to them, compared with only about one-third of U.S. adults under 30.

Race or ethnicity matters more to many Black Americans

The AP-NORC survey found that the vast majority of Black Americans — 73% — say their race or ethnicity is “extremely” or “very” important to how they see themselves, higher than the share that say that about being an American.

Vincent Harris, a 60-year-old in California, says his identity as a Black man rises above other attributes for him because of how Black men are treated in America.

“A lot of people are scared of Black men just because we are Black and we are male. And that's crazy,” Harris said. “People don't even take you for who you are as a person; they just look at your race.”

About half of Hispanic Americans say their race or ethnicity is highly important to them, compared with 22% of white Americans.

Black and Hispanic adults are also more likely than white adults to say their family’s ancestry or country of origin is highly important to their personal identity.

Harris, who identifies as a gay man, says being an American is “a wonderful thing” because of the freedoms that Americans have, despite the obstacles he's had to overcome.

“It’s great to be an American — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or whatever. As long as you have that freedom of choice as an American, that’s a great thing," Harris said. "Right now, I wouldn’t live in any other country in the world. I’m here. I love it.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Just moments after Maher began to accept the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Matt Friend, a leading impersonator of the president, took to the stage and, in Trump's voice, joked that he would accept the award himself. Trump was a punchline for other comedians and entertainers, including Whitney Cummings, Jay Leno and Woody Harrelson.

For the most part, the barbs weren't particularly biting. Cummings, for instance, said that under Trump's influence, the Kennedy Center would host “white ‘Hamilton.’” And once Friend left the stage, Maher largely steered clear of hitting the president. The commentary was nonetheless notable for unfolding in an iconic performing arts venue that Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to bend to his favor, leaving its future in the coming years uncertain.

Accepting the award, Maher derided extremes in both political parties, rejecting what he called “groupthink.”

“If you hang around long enough and create something important enough, everyone hates you at some point,” Maher said.

The ceremony in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall wasn't purely political. There were plenty of jokes about Maher's fondness for marijuana, his rejection of organized religion and his penchant for controversy, including comments he made shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the cancellation of his television show, “Politically Incorrect.”

The Kennedy Center's uncertain future hangs over event

But the future of the Kennedy Center hung most prominently over the event.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, the Republican president fired much of the center's leadership and installed a board largely composed of allies. It named Trump as chairman and his name was added to the building's iconic facade, prompting a legal battle that became a proxy fight over the extent of the president's power.

Trump later said the Kennedy Center would close in July for a two-year renovation. But U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper upended those plans in May by ruling that Trump's name was illegally added to the building, ordering it removed. The judge also has blocked the closure.

Trump's name has come down from the building, in compliance with the judge's order. But the part of the building once covered with letters spelling the president's name is now shrouded in a tarp. The full closure is on hold. Lawyers for the Kennedy Center have said they are not planning for now to build out programming.

Cooper has asked for an update next month on how long the tarp will remain on the building. For now, the final event scheduled for the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall is “The Freedom Gathering: A Musical Celebration” on July 3.

The legal fight has turned into a saga that at points became fodder for jokes at the Twain gala. At one point, Harrelson joked “we fixed that" in a nod to the court order calling for Trump's name to be removed from the building.

Ahead of the ceremony, Lutnick said Trump “wants to make this building sensational.”

But others were more skeptical. As he walked the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, Leno said Trump’s moves at the Kennedy Center were both “hilarious” and about “vanity.”

“It's not a war,” he said. “It's not people getting killed. It's not antisemitism. It's a silly thing covering a name. I mean what's funnier than that? I mean it's just like, you know it's high school with money.”

Friend said he felt there was a “hunger games vibe” as he entered the building.

“It's crazy,” he said of the changes Trump has pushed for.

Maher has a fraught relationship with Trump

Given Trump's sway over the Kennedy Center, Maher's selection for the award was notable because the two men have long had a fraught relationship.

Before he entered politics, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher in 2013 for breach of contract. Appearing on Leno’s “The Tonight Show,” Maher said he would give $5 million to the charity of Trump’s choice if Trump could prove he was not “the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.”

Trump claimed that when he provided his birth certificate, Maher did not pay up, prompting the lawsuit. Trump ended up dropping it.

The Trump-Maher relationship exploded again earlier this year, when the president claimed on social media that he wasted time sitting down for a meal with the comedian last year. Lutnick noted that Trump had written out all the critical comments he'd made about Maher over the years and autographed the document.

“You've got to be able to laugh at it,” Lutnick said. “The president can laugh at it. Bill Maher can laugh at it. And that's what makes tonight great.”

Maher hosted Vice President JD Vance on his show heading into the weekend. Vance, who is promoting a book, said he watches the show and laughed at Maher's monologue “even though you were making fun of me.” During the interview, Maher pressed Vance on the Iran war, immigration enforcement and election conspiracy theories.

“You guys have two outcomes that an election can be,” Maher told Vance. “Either we win or they cheated. That s—- has to stop.”

The Twain prize ceremony will air on Netflix on July 21.

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Associated Press videojournalist John Carucci contributed to this report.

Temperatures across the area are expected to climb into the mid-to-upper 90s, and with humidity factored in, it’s going to feel more like 105 to 110 degrees this afternoon.

A Heat Advisory is in effect from noon until 7 p.m. for much of Northeast Florida and parts of Southeast Georgia.

Limit time outdoors, take frequent breaks, and stay hydrated. Be sure to wear light, loose-fitting clothing and have your sunscreen on. The heat will be at its worst during the afternoon hours.

Storms are on the way, too

The heat won’t be the only thing building this afternoon. Expect scattered to numerous thunderstorms to pop up today and again Thursday, especially as sea breezes push inland.

The St. Johns River basin could see storm activity develop by mid-afternoon, and the heaviest storm activity is expected in north-central Florida, where multiple storm boundaries are expected to collide.

A tropical system? Maybe just a rainmaker

There’s also a low-level tropical threat worth keeping an eye on — though it’s nothing to lose sleep over right now.

A disorganized cluster of showers and thunderstorms is near the North Carolina coast. Forecasters say a broad area of low pressure could form off the Southeast U.S. coast in the next day or two, and there’s a slight chance it will gradually organize as it drifts southward and then westward.

The keyword here is slight. The chance of any formal tropical development sits at just 10% over the next seven days, and conditions are expected to become less favorable as the week goes on.

It’s worth a casual watch — but not a panic.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister’s office from London’s 10 Downing St. to northwest England as part of “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”

“Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said in a speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his economic vision.

Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last week.

“If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?” Burnham said. He set out a 10-year plan to get “good growth in every postcode,” in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.

He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure. He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.’s inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.

Moving the new ‘No. 10 North’ to Manchester

During the speech at the People’s History Museum in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester – dubbed “No. 10 North” — would oversee regional development and become “the nerve center of a rewired Britain,” tasked with equalizing living standards across the country. Regional mayors would get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his planned reforms.

Burnham’s rousing speech was short on specifics about where the government would find more money, and he didn’t take questions from journalists.

Burnham won praise for his role in revitalizing and regenerating Manchester, but he has not served in a U.K. government for almost two decades, and may struggle to replicate “Manchesterism” on a U.K.-wide scale.

The Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said Burnham is right to focus on “rebalancing Britain."

“The U.K.’s concentration of power and opportunity in Westminster has held back growth, productivity and living standards for too long,” said IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner. “The real test now is delivery.”

Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield, said replicating Burnham’s Manchester approach on a national level would require “a fundamental shift" in the way politics is done in Britain.

“And at the heart of that would be moving from a very traditional, elitist, centralized model of politics toward something that is in many ways far more European, far more based on power-sharing in order to develop long-term policymaking capacity,” he said.

Burnham is likely to inherit Starmer's challenges

Burnham will be aware that Starmer also announced a 10-year mission — the equivalent of two full terms in government —- to transform Britain soon after he was elected in a landslide in July 2024. Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham won a special election for a seat in Parliament on June 18 and was sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22, the same day Starmer announced that he will resign as soon as a successor is chosen.

Burnham is so far the only contender in the Labour Party leadership contest. If no one challenges him, he will become prime minister by July 20.

While Burnham is considered more charismatic than the stolid Starmer, he will face many of the same political and economic challenges, including a sluggish economy, tattered public services and a cost-of-living squeeze. He will also be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on in 2024, with its pledges not to increase taxes on working people.

And like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to dramatically increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.

The government’s long-awaited defense investment plan — which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — is expected to be published before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8. Starmer’s successor will be expected to stick to the commitments in the plan.

“Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians,” said opposition Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake. “Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”

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Lawless reported from London. Associated Press Writer Brian Melley contributed to this story.

Pier side access, local food, and libations available for purchase.

DJ Rantz with the crowd pleasing dance music!

Gates 6:30pm must be 16 or older.

21 must show ID.

Welcome to bring a folding chair for front row seats of the Fireworks show.

904tix.com for pre sale tickets

610 East Bay Street

Parking free Lot S

The Mickler’s Landing Beachfront Park shuttle will operate July 4–6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., running between Cornerstone Park, 1046 A1A North, and the Mickler’s parking lot, the county said.

Law enforcement and rescue personnel will patrol beaches throughout the weekend. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department and St. Johns County Marine Rescue personnel will be on duty. Marine Rescue lifeguards will be stationed along the beaches from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and beach flags indicating water and surf conditions will be displayed.

The county cautioned that the absence of a flag does not mean there is no danger and urged beachgoers to consult a staffed lifeguard tower for local conditions.

On-beach driving will be allowed between 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Vehicles must remain in designated driving lanes, and driving conditions can change throughout the day at each access point, St. Johns County Beach Services said.

Beach visitors are encouraged to monitor daily updates on driving and access conditions by following @SJCBeaches on Facebook and X and by downloading the SJC Connect mobile app. Information is also available on the St. Johns County website under the Beach Services section.

For safety information, rules and regulations, visit the county’s beach safety page.

Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 28 at Florida State Prison near Starke, according to the warrant DeSantis signed on Friday. The window to carry out the sentence runs from noon, July 28 through noon, Aug. 4.

The warrant is the 12th DeSantis has signed this year and followed last week’s execution of Dusty Ray Spencer. Spencer, at 74, became the oldest inmate put to death by the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 after a U.S. Supreme Court decision halted executions.

Dennis Sochor, 74, is set to surpass Spencer in age at the time of execution by seven days if there is no delay in his scheduled July 14 execution. Sochor was convicted of killing an 18-year-old woman he met at a New Year’s celebration in a Broward County bar 44 years ago.

Age was brought up in Spencer’s defense.

On June 18, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the argument that the execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment given Spencer’s age.

The Florida Supreme Court noted, “The only age-based exemption from execution recognized by the United States Supreme Court is for individuals under the chronological age of eighteen when they committed the offense.”

According to court records, Occhicone went to the Pasco County home of Raymond and Martha Artzner where his former girlfriend was living with her child on June 10, 1986.

Occhicone initially knocked on a sliding glass door, but his former girlfriend refused to talk and threatened to call the police. Occhicone appeared to leave, only to return a brief time later armed with a handgun. He cut the telephone lines to the home and was confronted outside by Raymond Artzner.

Occhicone shot and killed Artzner and then broke into the home. While his former girlfriend was able to flee with her child, Occhicone fatally shot Martha Artzner four times.

Charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Occhicone received a life sentence for Raymond Artzner’s death and a death sentence for killing Martha Artzner.

The jury voted 7-5 to recommend death in September 1987.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty quickly requested DeSantis stay the execution.

“Five jurors voted to spare Dominick’s life, and even the sentencing court recognized that he was acting under extreme mental and emotional disturbance,” the group stated in a petition. “His case reflects the devastating consequences of untreated addiction, emotional crisis, and human failure --- not a problem that another execution can solve.”

The majority declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented, calling on the court to reconsider the legal standards for public figures who claim defamation.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only a portion of the comment made during his defense of the president, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

In his appeal, Dershowitz had urged the court to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits because it requires proof that an outlet knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor and legal commentator, was part of Trump's defense team during his impeachment trial over allegations that Trump wanted political favors from Ukraine in return for U.S. military aid. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

Dershowitz responded to a question at one point by saying, “the only thing that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were somehow illegal." Providing arms to Ukraine, he said, isn't illegal.

He alleged that CNN only played what he said moments later: “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest and, mostly, they are right, your election is in the public interest, and if the president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

Dershowitz said the edit made it seem like he was arguing a president could avoid impeachment for illegal acts as long as he was doing it to get reelected – a concept his original suit called “preposterous and foolish on its face.”

CNN countered by saying it did air his full remarks during its live coverage, and invited him on twice more to expand on his meaning.

Lower courts tossed out the suit, finding that Dershowitz hadn’t shown CNN acted with “actual malice” in its reporting, making it fall short of the standard set by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

For 35 years, Pace has taught music. But outside the piano studio, he is also the founder of Be the Change Northeast Florida, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families, seniors and people experiencing homelessness.

On his property, volunteers have a nickname for the growing collection of storage buildings: “The Compound.”

Inside, every space has a purpose.

One building stores hygiene items for care bags. Another is filled with clothing for families. A food pantry helps people in crisis. A trailer serves as a mobile clothing closet for homeless outreach.

Pace says people can come get clothing with no questions asked.

No applications. No income requirements. No judgment. Just help.

The nonprofit provides clothing to families, donates items to senior citizens and once a month takes food, hygiene supplies and clothes to people experiencing homelessness in downtown Jacksonville.

Be the Change Northeast Florida also holds yard sales to raise money for the nonprofit. Pace says clothing is never sold — it is always given away for free.

A partnership with Feeding Northeast Florida has helped the organization expand its food outreach, allowing volunteers to regularly pick up food and provide more support to people in need.

Pace still teaches music full time, and many of his students and their families have become volunteers.

For him, music and service are connected.

“You can’t change the world,” Pace said, “but you can change the world for one person.”

Whether he is teaching a student at the piano, loading food into a pantry or helping a family find clothes, Pace says the mission is simple: help people.

For dedicating his time, talent and heart to serving others, Joel Pace is News4JAX’s June Positively JAX winner.

Pakistan said the operations were launched in response to militant attacks across Pakistan. Security forces carried out a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

Afghanistan condemned the strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces as a “cowardly act of aggression” and an “act of brutality.” Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said Afghanistan would respond “in due time.”

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, said Pakistani forces targeted a home in Paktia's Chamkani district, killing an older man and a child, while other family members were wounded. When residents gathered to rescue people, the area was struck again, killing 28 villagers and wounding 158, he said.

Six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a village in Giyan district, Paktika province, when another home was struck, he said. A civilian home in Kunar province was also hit, causing no casualties but killing some 30 livestock.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan independently confirmed that at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 others were wounded in the strikes, including women and children. It added that the figures were preliminary and could increase.

Pakistani officials said an uneasy calm prevailed along the border Monday, with security forces remaining on high alert.

Envoys are summoned over the attacks

On Monday, Afghanistan and Pakistan summoned each other's top diplomats to protest the attacks.

Zia Ahmad Takal, the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesperson, accused Islamabad of repeatedly blaming Afghanistan for security incidents inside Pakistan without “credible evidence.”

Pakistan’s behavior “seriously harms the atmosphere of trust between the two countries, good neighborly relations and the security and stability of the region,” Takal said.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Afghanistan’s top diplomat in Islamabad to protest the involvement of Afghan nationals in recent attacks, including one in Karachi over the weekend.

Militant attacks targeting Pakistan’s police and security forces have surged in recent years. Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and allied militant groups for most of the violence. The Pakistani Taliban are separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that returned to power in 2021.

Tarar, the Pakistani information minister, shared three videos on X that he said showed projectiles striking sprawling camps and safe havens of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. Tarar said the overnight strikes killed “terrorists” and destroyed weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

Pakistan uses the phrase “Khawarij” to refer to Indian-backed Pakistani Taliban and other militants. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

Tarar said Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign “will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”

India, however, denied any involvement, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling the statements “baseless allegations.” Pakistan should “look inwards, take credible action against the terror infrastructure on its territory,” he said.

Pakistan launches operation after assault in Karachi

The Pakistani security operation followed a militant attack targeting the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi that killed three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another assailant, whom the military identified as a wounded Afghan national.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.

Officials in Pakistan claimed one Afghan suspect was captured following the attack, saying that “Afghan soil and Afghan nationals continue to be used to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.” Police later released the statement of the wounded Afghan detainee, who said the Karachi attack was planned by Jamaat‑ul‑Ahrar, though it was unclear if the confession was made under duress.

Sunday’s cross-border strikes and ground operation came less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military launched airstrikes on what it said were militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an “open war” between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to broker a lasting peace.

The escalation follows months of military action. Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Multiple rounds of talks have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire. China hosted the two sides in April and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed from Islamabad.

They walked the coed Paris runways at Amiri and Ami. At Vetements, women modeled many of the “menswear” looks, and Sharon Stone closed the show in thigh-high boots.

Inside fashion, none of this was eyebrow-raising.

The gender blur was not happening on the margins. It was built into Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which ended Sunday, where a multibillion-dollar luxury industry shows what it thinks men will want next.

It has reached menswear advertising, too.

A pregnant Rihanna became the face of Pharrell Williams’ first Louis Vuitton men’s campaign in 2023, appearing on a giant Paris billboard with her baby bump exposed and arms full of Vuitton bags.

“It’s not something completely new,” said Joseph McBrinn, art historian at Ulster University.

Women have paraded through menswear collections for so many seasons that it barely registers with fashion insiders anymore — even as a Gen Z mainstream, only now catching up to the gender-bending David Bowie flaunted in the ’70s, treats it as the cutting edge.

In recent decades, he said, fashion has moved “from very binary understandings of gender and fashion to something which is today very fluid” — reflective, he added, of how younger people now think.

The deeper confusion: They do not always travel together.

At Issey Miyake’s IM Men, by the brand’s account, the cast was entirely male — yet the show still read as androgynous.

The border between his and hers keeps eroding, on the body and on the calendar. It has not vanished, and its erosion owes as much to money as to gender.

“Androgyny only works because people understand what is being crossed,” said Andrew Groves, menswear systems professor at the University of Westminster.

The real story is not that menswear has escaped its rules, but that designers are finding new freedom inside one of fashion’s narrowest rule books, Groves added.

The runways look like they are erasing gender; the categories are exactly what make the gesture legible.

This season's men's clothes borrowed freely from womenswear

For Jonathan Anderson, Dior’s first ever designer to oversee both its men’s and women’s lines, models wore pearls, pink and sheer blouses with soft bows at the throat; the collection, he told reporters, was about how he "connects with the feminine.”

At Saint Laurent, men bared their chests in second-skin tops, wore briefs cut from leather and walked in transparent shoes lifted from the women’s runway.

The house opened Paris Men’s Week, and its menswear push is not only aesthetic: Saint Laurent has reportedly set a target of doubling men’s sales by 2030.

Many houses have folded men’s and women’s collections into one coed runway. Once provocations, such shows became a calendar strategy by the late 2010s — part creative, part convenient, mostly commercial.

When Anthony Vaccarello took over Saint Laurent in 2016, he scrapped its separate menswear show and sent men down the women’s runway, restoring a men’s show only in 2018; Vetements and Balenciaga merged theirs around then too.

“I don’t think having men and women on the same runway means a greater belief in nonbinary genders,” said Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “That’s really more of an economic thing.”

One show costs less than two

A mixed approach consolidates the media moment and lets a designer tell a single story. That matters in a luxury market under pressure – it’s been a weaker period for the sector in the last couple of years.

Women already buy menswear, which helps explain why Ami, founded in 2011 as a men’s brand, added womenswear.

The blurring of the clothes is the older story. Long before “nonbinary” was common usage, Yves Saint Laurent put women in men’s tailoring in 1966, Bowie smudged the line in the ’70s and Jean Paul Gaultier sent men out in skirts in the ‘80s. Fashion ran years ahead of the language.

Suzy Menkes, the veteran fashion critic, sees the history stretching even further back. Men once wore “the most dramatic, precious, glamorous and priceless jewels,” she noted, without doubting that they were suitable for men. The 20th century, she said, narrowed that idea of male dress before fashion began reopening it.

The exchange has never been equal: A woman in a man’s suit is, 60 years on, unremarkable; a man in a skirt or heels still reads as transgression.

“Women’s bodies are still consumed in ways that men’s bodies are not,” McBrinn said.

Men, he added, “can still be seen as deviant” when they cross the line.

Off the runway, the moment is volatile: combative online masculinity, “manosphere" influencers like the Tate brothers, a wave of anti-trans laws.

Last year, J.Crew set off a conservative uproar by marketing a pink sweater to men — even as Dior, Paul Smith and Willy Chavarria sent pink down their own runways. The fight was cultural, but not only: reports said pink apparel sellouts rose 17% year-on-year in spring-summer 2025.

Menkes said color is part of the same story. Postwar Europe helped harden the idea that some colors were “suitable” for men, she said, and it took “a surprisingly long time” for shades such as lilac or pale pink to be accepted as male choices.

Steele said openness to androgyny crested in the 1920s, the ’70s and the ’90s, then receded each time.

“Everything is moving to the right,” McBrinn said. “Fashion may go back to being much more entrenched within gender binary” — perhaps, he warned, within five to 10 years.

The stakes run past the runway

After years of expanding legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, progress is reversing in many countries, with transgender people at the center of the fight.

“We are seeing tremendous backlash internationally against trans people,” Steele said.

In the end, Steele said, the runway matters less than the office and the dinner table. People shift when they see androgynous clothes on friends, colleagues or men around them.

Increasingly, they are just clothes.

Black Music Month traces its roots to 1979, when President Jimmy Carter designated June as a time to honor the cultural, historical and artistic impact of Black musicians on American music.

“Behind the Board” is News4JAX’s newest original series featuring Jacksonville music innovators — from producers and engineers to musicians and rising artists shaping the city’s sound and culture.

Each week, “Behind the Board” goes beyond the music, taking viewers inside the creative process while sharing the personal journeys behind the sound.

The series explores how Jacksonville’s culture, communities and musical legacy continue to influence artists across multiple genres and inspire the next generation of talent.

From the studio to center stage, the series showcases the River City’s growing influence on the soundtrack of today and the artists driving Jacksonville’s music scene forward.

Every Monday at 9 a.m. starting June 1, the following artists will be featured in this order on “Behind the Board”:

• André Troutman: Serves as music director for rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, for his current stadium tour. His collaborations on Ye’s Bully earned him his first two entries on the Billboard Hot 100. Troutman is also carrying on the legacy of his cousin, Roger Troutman, of the legendary funk band Zapp & Roger, by incorporating futuristic vocals through the talk box.
• Dwayne Richardson II: Professionally known as D Rich, the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum producer stands out with his horn-driven sound and instrumentation, leading to Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 projects for artists like Future and Metro Boomin. Other credits include Rick Ross’ “Box Chevy,” which was filmed in Downtown Jacksonville, and Jeezy’s chart-topping his “All There,” featuring the late Bankroll Fresh.
• Jahaan Sweet: The Grammy Award-winning, Billboard chart-topping producer, songwriter, and pianist’s unique sound has landed him collaborations with artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Travis Scott. Sweet was recently honored with a spot on the Jacksonville Riverfront Music Garden Walk of Fame.
• Darien Bankhead: The producer and artist known as Boyband has built a genre-blending sound that fuses hip-hop, alternative, and electronic music. In 2020, he earned his first Grammy nomination for Album of the Year for his work on Lil Nas X’s 7.
• Bobby Wintons Jr.: Known as Bob On Keys, Wintons was born in Apalachicola, Florida, before moving to Jacksonville, where he got his start as a jazz and church musician. The Billboard-charting producer has worked alongside artists like Future, Boston Richey, Nardo Wick and serves as music director for Yung Bleu. He’s also toured internationally in Jeju Island, South Korea, Cancun, Mexico, and the Bahamas.

He said that growing up, music was all around him.

“I knew all the jingles on TV, every commercial, every radio song that came on, I was singing to all of them, sometimes to my detriment in school,” Troutman said of his earliest memories.

Watch the full interview below.

He sang in his elementary school choir for a treat in the holiday concert, but he learned he liked singing.

“I went for the popsicles and stayed for the singing,” Troutman said. “But that was my first time ever in any organized singing.”

Troutman, an arranger, producer, singer and composer who studied vocal performance at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, said he decided to pursue music as a career early.

When he was in middle school, his uncle Darryl Hall had a summer camp called 100 Youth Voices State Aurora Performing Arts Camp, which he said was his first introduction to performing arts.

“It gave me the exposure to all of those arts areas, things that I had just been doing on my own at home and I used to pretend like I knew how to sing opera, not knowing that I would literally end up getting a full scholarship for singing classical music,” Troutman said. “I like doing this and I can get paid doing it on Broadway and back then I’m like, ‘wait, you get paid to do this? I was like, ‘Oh, I could do this. I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”

He described a turning point during a church service in Jacksonville that pushed him to relocate to Los Angeles. In high school, he visited his Uncle Mike, who lived there. He did a few things on TV with BET, but he found himself wanting more while he was playing the keys at Central Baptist in Jacksonville.

“God was like, ‘Yes, I have to go,’…I was like, I was like, right now I’m in the middle of offering. I’m in the middle of playing right now. It’s like, yes, it’s time to go…He said to me, ‘You’re a big fish in a small pond, and I need to expand you globally.’”

So he headed to Los Angeles with no real plan, only knowing his uncle Mike.

‘How do you do that?’: The talkbox family legacy

Troutman is a relative of Roger Troutman of the 1980s funk band Zapp & Roger and has embraced the talkbox that helped define that sound.

The talkbox is a device that is connected to an instrument, usually a keyboard. The device directs sound from the instrument into the user’s mouth through a plastic tube adjacent to a vocal microphone. The musician controls the instrument’s sound by changing the shape of their mouth, vocalizing the instrument’s output into a microphone.

Zapp & Roger popularized the talkbox through hit songs like “Computer Love” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” They also influenced the West Coast hip-hop scene with their songs being sampled.

André Troutman said he first became serious about the instrument after hearing his cousin Rufus use it in the Sunday service during their family reunion in Ohio.

“After the end of service going up, and I was like, how do you do that?” Troutman said. “I went and bought one. I went to Guitar Center and went bought one. And I knew that I wanted to play it on keytar because I wanted to be cool.” He described the learning curve with a laugh: “A lot of practice, a lot of weird faces, and a lot of bad notes.”

Troutman describes himself as a singer first and at the time, he was heavily in gospel music. He was trying to figure out how to integrate the talkbox into what he already does.

“I felt a definite inherent responsibility to honor the shoulders on which I stand, and do it to my absolute best ability,” he said. “When people did start holding me in the same sentence as Roger and Zapp, it was a huge responsibility for me that I took with honor and humility...”

He acknowledged the doors that playing the talkbox has opened for him.

‘That was everything to me’: Working with Kanye West

Troutman said he began working with West in March 2025, initially helping with music and production for live shows.

“Literally just coming along, to help in the area of music and production,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing working with him because he’s such a universally creative person, incredibly wise in how he formulates things...it’s like a vortex of just pure energy.”

That collaboration grew into a larger role orchestrating music for West’s stadium tour and contributing to “Bully.”

“All the Love happened. It was just a very incredibly organic. And I feel like very organic and very God move how it was, was all orchestrated and it just flowed,” Troutman said.

Performing the song for stadium audiences, he added, has been “mind-blowing.”

Troutman said having his name on “Bully” was deeply meaningful after years of working as an independent musician.

“To be able to Google me and just see my name next to something that I created, that mattered that much to me. That was everything to me,” he said, noting how important the credit would be for his mother and daughters to see.

His family and the world can see that he earned his first two entries on the Billboard Hot 100 list with “All the Love” and “White Lines.” He said the recognition meant everything to him.

“I remember the night that I reached out to him and expressed how important it was for my name to be on this,” he said.

He said of the live show at So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles that he hadn’t really had a chance to sit and take in the magnitude of the performance because it’s happened so fast and they’re gearing up to continue the stadium tour, including a performance on June 26 in Tampa.

“It’s a story I couldn’t have written,” Troutman said. “It’s really hard for me to put into words...”

It’s an immense accomplishment for an independent artist from Jacksonville who’s never signed a record deal.

‘Build with the people next to you’: Advice for Jacksonville artists

Troutman urged young creatives to build with peers in their own community.

“Instead of reaching up to this impossible build with the people next to you,” he said. “The world will come and find you and they will hear you make a noise when you build.”

He said the collective community that you create will elevate you to the next level, not the people who may be out of your reach.

He pointed to a network of Jacksonville artists — many who attended Douglas Anderson — who have supported one another.

“I call my friends first, and then we build and grow up together,” he said.

‘We are a diamond’: Jacksonville’s arts growth

Troutman praised recent civic investments such as the Riverfront Music Garden and the Jacksonville Walk of Fame, calling them the realization of long-held dreams.

“This is a manifestation of dreams and conversations we had 10, 15 years ago,” he said. “It takes money to create art. And it takes money to be sustainable. And there’s seeds. I look at it as investments.”

While he isn’t featured on the Walk of Fame (yet), he urged continued investment and communication to help the city’s creative economy grow.

“We have a plan to do that with Jacksonville. We have as many accolades as any other city. We are a diamond,” he said.

‘Behind the board, I am...’

“Behind the board, I am The Oracle,” he said. “My gift is being able to see beyond what people see. Cannot hear sometimes beyond what people hear. Vision and connectivity. I can see it oftentimes. I can see the tree when it’s still the seed. I can pull people together and pull the best out of people, and really guide the energy.”

Troutman’s rise from performance arts in Jacksonville to stadium stages and the Billboard charts reflects a mix of craft, community and persistence — and a commitment to honoring the musical lineage that shaped his sound.

Watch the full interview with Richardson below.

He was a high school football player with a dream tucked into the liner notes of CDs his father bought — he wanted to see “Produced by” next to his name.

Richardson, professionally known as D Rich, taught himself how to make beats in a digital audio workspace program called FruityLoops through hours of repetition and let some of his neighborhood friends listen.

His friends recognized his talent and suggested he start selling them.

“They’d always be like, ‘man, take some of your beats to school, let them dudes hear it, and they’ll buy some beats,’ and they would buy them $100 a pop and it was selling,” Richardson said.

He was a football player at Lee High School and Nathan Bedford Forest and many of the other guys at the school were rappers too. While football was his true passion, he gained confidence in his music production talent.

“I knew I had something...so I stayed on the field and once football didn’t work out, I was like, you know what, man, I’m gonna give this music thing a try, and it worked out,” Richardson said. “I knew I had a talent because people loved it.”

It was so special that in the era of custom voicemail messages on phones, his classmates would call him and tell him not to answer just so they could hear the song and him rapping on it.

‘It unfolded like a miracle’: Taking a risk

He used to post his beats on his MySpace social media page. There was a rap producer based in Atlanta named Shawty Redd, who worked with the heavy hitters at the time. Richardson said he sent him a message to look at his beats.

“He checked it out instantly and shot me a text and shot me his number and I called him,” Richardson said. “It unfolded like a miracle.”

This led him to take what he called the biggest risk of his life. He had just got a job at a Publix Warehouse, which wasn’t easy to get into at the time.

“I had a song with Jeezy called ‘Who Dat,’ I was already signed to Shawty Redd, but the song came out and I was still in Jacksonville working, but I never told anybody,” Richardson said.

His coworkers would be listening to the song on their stereos while working.

“I had it in my mind that I can’t tell nobody that I made this song because nobody will believe me,” he said.

He went into work like any other day, but something felt different.

“I just looked at the manager’s office, I looked back at everybody else and I just walked out,” Richardson said. “It’s like something came over me and say ‘this ain’t for you, you’ve got something else to do,’ and my mom took me to the airport with a book bag, got a standby pass with AirTran for $60 and I flew to Atlanta just like that.”

He said he’d rather take that risk and move in with Shawty Redd and be okay with it not working out.

“I couldn’t live my life knowing that I had a chance to do something,” Richardson said.

‘Jacksonville is the sound of my music’

While Atlanta is roughly a five-hour drive up the interstate from Jacksonville, Richardson was sure to carry the influences of his home city with him.

“I feel like Jacksonville is the sound of my music,” he said. “The horns, from playing high school football, the battle of the bands, my music has a lot of horns in it and I feel like the horns from the band is what’s known as my sound.”

He said Jacksonville rap fans listen to fast, high-energy music, which represents the toughness of its residents.

“My beats kind of had a umph and I definitely credit it to Jacksonville," he said.

That umph led him to many awards and to work with many of hip-hop’s biggest names. He said his collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin on the mega-popular song ‘Type S***’ was a defining moment in his career.

“I was 17 years in at the time so most people really don’t have a career that long or their biggest song doesn’t come that long into their career,” he said. “That was a big moment for me and I was accepted by a lot of my peers...[Future and Metro Boomin] love working with me.”

Another significant moment is when Rick Ross shot the “Box Chevy” video in Jacksonville in 2013, shutting down parts of Main Street and the Florida Theatre and bringing visibility to the city.

Richardson produced a beat for Ross that never came out, but Ross eventually released a song that sounded similar to one that Richardson made.

“I expressed that instead of being quiet and in my feelings, they were like, ‘send us some more beats and we can make that right,’ and I sent some beats; then they sent me ‘Box Chevy,’” he said. “It’s still a classic today to me.”

He gave his top five favorite songs that he’s produced in his career:

“All There” by Jeezy feat. Bankroll Fresh

“Who Dat” by Jeezy because it “changed his life.”

”Supafreak" by Jeezy feat. 2 Chainz

“Type S***” by Future and Metro Boomin

Bankroll Fresh the person and artist, who passed away in 2016.

“[Bankroll Fresh] was an artist that I started with out of the streets with nothing going on, no backing, just two guys independently coming together,” he said.

‘I just want to see guys win’: Paying it forward

But with all the accolades and career highlight moments, Richardson stays humble and focuses on what’s next.

“I’m big on longevity, discipline, consistency and I think with some factors, you can’t gloat too much over one layer, you gotta keep going,” he said.

Now running his company Rich Territory, Richardson said he’s focused on paying it forward. He’s mentoring younger producers aged 19 and 21 years old, and using his industry relationships to place their beats with major artists, sometimes putting his own name on the work to open doors for them.

“I just want to see guys win,” he said. “God blessed me with the opportunity, and I just kind of want to let God use me to help others.”

‘Behind the board, I am...’

“Dwayne Richardson, the humble,” he said, staying aligned with the down-to-earth attitude that’s carried him so far. “Just a regular guy from Jacksonville, Florida, went to Lee High, Nathan Bedford Forest, John Love Elementary.”

Richardson said he is grateful for the support Jacksonville has shown him through the years. He said there are times when he would go to a Jaguars game and hear his songs played.

“I appreciate all the support,” he said. “It’s in the air, it’s in the frequency. I’ve got some new stuff with Metro Boomin coming up, got a lot of new stuff with Future, y’all get ready.”

Watch the full interview with Sweet below.

Sweet, who began piano at 6 and studied jazz at LaVilla School of the Arts before attending Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and graduating from Juilliard, said the instrument shaped his approach to making records.

“Piano really is an accompanying instrument,” he said. “That instrument was made to help other musicians sound good…My mentality is always go in the room and help them do whatever they want to do.”

He said that whatever they’re trying to convey musically, translates to production, which is then translated to songwriting.

Sweet credited his first teacher, Cynthia Blaylock, with recognizing his talent and keeping him at the piano.

“She saw something in me that my parents didn’t see,” he said. “I wasn’t even really that into it, but she was just like, ‘Hey, he’s really good at this.’”

His parents wouldn’t let him quit either. He wanted to play sports, though he wasn’t good at them.

“I was like, ‘Yo, I don’t want to do this, I want to play sports, whatever I was in was the excuse,” he said. “I wasn’t the most gifted in sports at that age, but my parents were like, ‘yo you’re not quitting.’”

He joined a jazz band program in the 6th grade and played with some older musicians and learned to love piano.

“That helped shape me as a musician and that’s when I fell in love with piano so when I started playing jazz and see how I could be around my friends and collaborate with them, because jazz is a collaborative music so that kind of just shaped my whole identity,” he said.

He then learned that he could make money through this foundation of collaboratively creating music. That was when he took music seriously as an art form.

He started playing in his church, St. Paul AME and they paid him at 12 years old to play in the band.

“I got paid to do something I love to do,” Sweet said. “At that point I was like, oh, I can make money now.”

‘I had to shape up’: Juilliard and the grind

He graduated from Douglas Anderson School of Arts and going to Juilliard was something that he said offhand as a child, not knowing that it could be a reality.

“I was just trying to shock people,” he said of wanting to go to Juilliard. “But the idea didn’t really become a reality until I fell in love with jazz...then I realized, ‘Oh shoot, like this may really happen.’”

He said he was ready to leave Jacksonville after Douglas Anderson. He felt the best move he could make to progress his career was to move to New York in Juilliard’s jazz program.

Sweet said Juilliard tested him. “I was ready to drop out,” he admitted, recalling a low point during his first year. He told his cousin, comedian Lil Duval, he was thinking of quitting.

“He called my dad and said, ‘Yo, let me tell you what your son said,’” Sweet recalled. “My dad called me, cursed me out. My mom called and cursed me out…you drop out, you ain’t getting nothing from us.”

The reprimand helped him refocus.

“I had to shape up,” Sweet said. He improved his grades, completed his coursework and graduated. “It’s a different level of detail that I had to give to the music, but once I got it, it was easy,” he said.

After adjusting to Juilliard’s rigorous training, he said, he found a routine that worked for him.

Breakthroughs and collaborations

While still a student, Sweet began getting placements and meeting collaborators. He said he met R&B singer Kehlani through local New York producers Jeff Robinson and David Harris, also known as Swagg R’Celious, and worked on her “Cloud 19″ EP, including the breakout song “Get Away.”

“[Nick Cannon] sent [Kehlani] to work with Swagg and I met her there,” he said. “She [said] ‘I like Jahaan’ and we were both young so it was just like hey let’s make more music and that kept happening.”

Just one year after graduating from Juilliard, Sweet earned a Grammy nomination for his collaboration on Kehlani’s acclaimed mixtape “You Should Be Here” while they were on tour together.

“It was crazy,” he said. “It was cool. It was cool. Great moments for sure.”

He relocated to Los Angeles to make more music with Kehlani and for the tour, but after a while, he realized he wanted to spend more time in the studio rather than the road.

While in L.A., he met Matthew Jehu Samuels, professionally known as Boi-1da, whose collaborations include Drake, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and more. Sweet credited a lot of his professional success and connections he’s made to Samuels.

“Boi‑1da forever is a big, big, big, big, big reason why I’m successful with production,” he said. “He just wanted me to be next to him. I learned a lot just watching him.”

In 2022, he won a Grammy Award for his contributions to Jon Batiste’s Album of the Year, “We Are.” He received the award in the mail and shared the moment with his mother.

Sweet has contributed to projects for Beyoncé — including work on “Renaissance” — Jay‑Z and Drake, and he was part of sessions with Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Travis Scott on the song “Father.”

“It was a humbling experience,” he said of working with Ye and Travis. “I’m just here to help whatever is going on.”

Jacksonville native André Troutman is also credited on Ye’s album “Bully." Troutman is also sharing the stage with Ye on his international tour, providing vocals using a talkbox instrument. To have two musicians from the River City on an artist of Ye’s magnitude is no small accomplishment.

“Two people doing things on that scale...I was like, man, this is so great and so great for the city.” Sweet said of he and Troutman representing Jacksonville on the world stage.

With all the accomplishments, credits and accolades, there’s still at least one thing that Sweet desires: a No. 1 record.

“I’m always just trying to be better every day. That’s just a checklist thing. It’s something that I just want to be like, ‘OK, I finally did it,’” he said.

He said he isn’t chasing it, but he knows it will happen when it’s supposed to happen.

“Just staying diligent in the process,” Sweet said.

Sweet said he hopes to collaborate with artists Bruno Mars, Frank Ocean and SZA.

‘It means so much’: Riverfront Music Garden, giving back

Sweet said being honored in Jacksonville with his name on the Riverfront Music Garden Walk of Fame felt deeply meaningful.

“To be honored by the city I grew up in…it means so much,” he said.

Through his company, The Sweet Life, Sweet said he prefers hands‑on mentorship.

“I try to get very direct with people — meeting them in person, exchanging texts. That’s my way of truly giving back,” he said.

Sweet urged aspiring musicians to think beyond their hometowns.

“Dream the biggest dream you can dream, and then go chase that,” he said. “There’s a way bigger world out there.”

Behind the board I am...

“I’m a collaborator.” He added, “That’s what the synergy for me is: collaboration, even if it’s not music, just being with people you want to be around or doing things with people you respect, admire, love, whatever it is, life is collaboration to me.”

Collaboration is a word that Sweet often said when talking about how he originally fell in love with piano, the beginning of his taking music seriously as an art form.

That desire for collaboration has led him into rooms with the world’s biggest artists.

“I use my skill to help me be better at collaborating...with other people...train my brain to be able to walk into any room and we have some kind of common understanding,” Sweet said.

Press the play button to watch the full interview with Bankhead.

Bankhead, a native of the Northside, credited his mother for introducing him to music and marching band for teaching him discipline and the basics of arranging.

He learned trumpet in sixth grade, started making beats in his teens and sold his first beat at 16 for $300 — an early sign that music could become more than a hobby.

“I was 16. I didn’t have a job. I was still in school,” Bankhead said of his first sale. “I was just like, ‘Oh, you can actually make some money off of this.’”

A mix of self-teaching, local friends and mentorship helped him advance. Taz Taylor, another producer from Jacksonville who started a producer collective called Internet Money, mentored Bankhead and taught him tricks of the trade.

“If you didn’t know anyone doing it, you were kind of on your own,” Bankhead said, describing how resource-sharing among Jacksonville producers helped him learn FL Studio and other tools.

He left college after two years and saved money working locally, then moved to Los Angeles to chase bigger opportunities.

“I knew I needed to go to a bigger city and then the opportunity came up to move to L.A. and I was like, you know what, I’m gonna do it, I’ve got some money saved, and then I’m gonna just go see what happens,” Bankhead said.

He said the move accelerated his technical skills — recording, engineering and understanding the music business — and put him in contact with artists and producers who helped elevate his work.

His credits include work with Young Thug, Gunna and the late Juice WRLD. He also contributed to Lil Nas X’s 2019 project “7,” which earned him a Grammy nomination and a Billboard plaque.

Bankhead said he nearly walked away from music a year before that session, frustrated by slow progress in Los Angeles. A friend, Andre “Bizness Boi” Robertson, invited him to the Lil Nas X session that led to the collaboration.

The recognition, he said, “put a lot of things in perspective” and reinforced that he had overcome many obstacles that affect young people on Jacksonville’s Northside.

“It’s kind of bleak,” he said. “I have a lot of peers of mine that passed away over the years from things like gang violence, drugs, stuff like that. In the moment, I kind of felt like, wow I really did beat a lot of the odds, you know what I mean and...it carries a heavy weight with me, in that regard.”

‘It’s a melting pot’: Jacksonville’s sound sets itself apart

Staying true to himself has been central to his approach. Bankhead blends funk, alternative pop, rock and hip-hop, a style he attributes to Jacksonville’s diverse music scene — from Southern rap to a robust rock and punk community.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, Black or Asian, Mexican or whatever, you’re just part of the culture but I feel like what a lot of people don’t know is that Jax has an insane rock and punk scene,” he said.

While other cities like Atlanta or L.A., which have a distinctive sound from artists who are from there, he said that Jacksonville is unique in the sense that it’s a mixed bag.

“You could get a trap artist, an alternative artist, an R&B artist,” he said. “It’s a melting pot...There’s so much exchange of culture here that’s slept on.”

He referenced Jahaan Sweet, also from Jacksonville, who has worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Drake, Jon Baptiste and more.

“I think that’s what sets the city apart,” he said.

Bankhead records and performs under the name Boyband — and sometimes uses the longer handle Alone in a Boyband — a moniker he said reflects his multirole identity as creator, engineer and photographer.

During the pandemic, he taught himself bass and uses it now to sketch songs before bringing in collaborators.

“I can’t start a song without my bass,” he said. “I can pretty much map out the entire song on an instrument and then bring the homies in.”

He also spoke of the pressure that comes after a high-profile success.

“The music industry is very ‘what have you done lately?’” he said, describing bouts of imposter syndrome and the challenge of following up a major placement. Still, he says accolades pushed him to keep working.

Bankhead’s advice to aspiring musicians: be willing to fail, cultivate your work and trust your instincts.

“If you love it, don’t quit,” he said. “You got to be okay with putting something out and not doing good. You got to be realistic about yourself, but also trust yourself.”

Asked what mark he hopes to leave, Bankhead said he wants to inspire others to be authentic.

“I want more people to just be themselves,” he said. “You’ll get to where you want to go quicker if you do that.”

He also welcomed recent local efforts to recognize Jacksonville’s musical history, including a new Riverfront Music Garden with a walk of fame.

“It’s good that people get their flowers,” he said. “Especially those who made something of themselves coming from Jacksonville.”

Behind the board I am...

“Behind the board, I am the wild card,” he said. “When I get pulled in line for projects, it’s usually never for what I want to do for the project; it’s always like, ‘I need something different, I need the weird stuff...”

But he said he still wants to make a song that becomes a hit on the radio

“I literally just want on because it just adds to the lore,” Bankhead said.

Watch the full interview with Wintons below.

Wintons said his earliest memory of music is playing the drums for his church, which he credited his mother for getting his start with the instrument. He said he wasn’t that good of a drummer, so he was allowed to play the slow songs.

“She sings, writes, does plays, she does her own music so she’s a super huge influence on me as a musician,” he said.

His Uncle Toby plays the keys and he has many other family members who sing as well.

Wintons switched from drums to piano around age 12 or 13. He later moved with his family to Jacksonville after they connected with The Potter’s House, where his mother taught and he attended the Potter’s House Christian Academy.

Expanding his musical horizons through collaboration

The church foundation gave way to other musical rooms. In high school, he played jazz with a local band, learning key basslines and standards that would expand his musical vocabulary.

“My first instance of any music outside of church was jazz,” he said.

Playing Friday night gigs as a teenager gave him early experience recreating and respecting songs across genres.

That broad musical education — from gospel to jazz to trap — informs his approach in the studio.

Though he’s not from Jacksonville, he’s worked with local artists Akai and Ebonique. He said it’s important for him to build community among the artists right in his backyard.

“One of the main things that I like to do is collaborate with different artists...and bring a different side that they might not be used to working with other producers,” Wintons said.

He described his creative process as half random experimentation and half intentional work tailored to the artist in mind.

Collaboration is central to his work. Wintons said a period of studio sessions with producers DJ Shab and Keem Turbo helped him develop a reliable formula.

‘It happens fast’: Billboard 200 recognition

“By the time [Keem] got to the drums it was like, ‘Yeah, this is it,’” he said of those sessions. The team approach helped produce songs that caught wider attention.

One of those tracks, produced with the group, became his first Billboard credit. Wintons worked on a song titled “Loner” by rapper Boston Richey that later appeared on the Billboard 200, earning him his first chart plaque.

“You just go to the studio and cook,” he said. “Sometimes it happens kind of fast. He posted a snippet online and a week later it was out there.”

His studio work led to higher-profile collaborations and live dates, including serving as Music Director with rap artist Yung Bleu while on tour and recording sessions with artists such as Nardo Wick, Sada Baby and Melvin Crispell III.

Wintons recalled an early studio moment with Nardo Wick — who initially thought Wintons was the studio manager — when Nardo discovered he plays keys and asked him to teach a song ahead of a Rolling Loud performance.

He also spent time away from music, playing football at Alabama State, before returning to Jacksonville and committing to music full-time.

“College was dope,” he said. “I met so many different musicians. It opened my eyes.”

‘You gotta go learn’: Maintaining a signature sound

To stay relevant while keeping his signature sound, Wintons studies widely. He urged young musicians to learn multiple genres, perform in cover bands and absorb the feel of different musical traditions.

“Whether it’s rock, pop, jazz, hip-hop, EDM, house, everything has its true essence,” he said. “You gotta go and learn from those people who make that music.”

For those trying to break into music locally, his advice was practical: balance skill with personality.

“You don’t want to just be skillful and nobody wants to work with you,” he said. “But you also don’t want to be so cool and not really know what you’re doing. Have a balance of skill and personality.”

He emphasized preparation and professionalism. Being “a good steward” of his craft, he said, means showing up ready and exceeding expectations.

“When someone [calls] me for a session, I try to be super prepared, like overly prepared,” he said.

On stage, Wintons said the payoff is immediate. Live performance demands the rehearsal and musicianship that studio work builds, and crowd energy fuels improvisation.

“Playing live is all I did before studio,” he said. “It’s all in real time. You can’t go back and change anything.”

Behind the Board, I am...

“Passionate,” he said. “That’s the best way I can explain it, that’s where the passion comes out.”

Bob on Keys continues to produce, perform and travel while staying rooted in the musical lessons of his family and church. He said his goal is simple: make music that serves its purpose — to make people dance, cry or worship — and to reach the listeners it was meant to reach.

“When we hear a song, it automatically makes you feel a certain way,” he said.

At 10:25 p.m. Sunday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received reports of a shooting on Ramona Boulevard.

As officers were heading to the scene, the call was upgraded to a person shot at the Victory Pointe Apartments, west of Lane Avenue.

When officers arrived at the apartment complex, they found a man fatally shot in the playground area. He died at the scene.

JSO is working to identify the man and learn if he lived in the apartment complex. They say he is believed to be between 20 and 25 years old.

Investigators are looking for a suspect and working to learn what led up to the shooting.

“We’re still trying to look for, search the area for video and/or any type of vehicles that were possibly used for travel,” Sgt. Steve Rudlaff said. “At this point, we definitely know he was on foot, but do not know anything else after.”

Anyone with information on the shooting is aksed to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office by phone at 904-630-0500, by email at JSOCRIMETIPS@JAXSHERIFF.ORG, and or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

JEA on Thursday said that Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC — the company that owns the property, according to records — finally paid the thousands of dollars it owed for a delinquent water bill after we reported on the water outage there, but residents still can’t find anyone to talk to as the city citations start to pile up on the empty front office.

RELATED |Water is back at a Westside apartment complex after days without service. But residents don’t know how long it will last

“So who am I sending the you know, letter saying that, you know, I’m breaking the lease or, you know, withholding rent if things aren’t getting fixed, if the address that I’ve been paying rent to is no longer there anymore?” resident Naportia Jones said.

Jones said no one has been at her complex office for some time, so she calls the number on her resident portal where she pays her rent, but no one picks up.

The phone number is the same number listed on the complex next door, where a sign says “People’s Choice.”

That company is linked to multiple apartment complexes in the city.

People’s Choice is tied to an LLC that sold Arbor Oaks back in April to Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, according to records. State records show Andrew Sallee as the registered agent and manager of Jacksonville Rental Properties. He told News4JAX on Thursday that he no longer owns Arbor Oaks, despite what records show, but has provided no proof to back up that claim.

MORE | Social media influencer connected to troubled Westside apartments says he doesn’t own it anymore. Records link his LLC

Naportia, who lives at Arbor Oaks, says she still gets emails from People’s Choice.

News4JAX went to check the office at Arbor Oaks again on Friday.

We have been here multiple days this week after it was left without water for before our reporting helped get it back on. On top of that, we saw a kitchen countertop covered in bugs, and issues with the ceiling, and the city actually cited the complex on Thursday for a sagging ceiling and holes in walls, among other listed reasons.

News4JAX also went next door to the other apartment complex and saw some people talking to residents who looked like maintenance workers. When we asked about whether residents at Arbor Oaks should take their concerns there, they didn’t have any real answers and wouldn’t identify themselves.

At that complex, a note says the office is closed, but says to go to another nearby apartment complex on 103rd Street, which is also linked to People’s Choice, according to property records. News4JAX went to that location, as we have four times this week, but no one was there.

“What I’m hoping to do is withhold the rent and I haven’t paid rent or anything, hoping that someone will come knock on the door or call me and be like, Hey, Miss Jones, you haven’t paid rent, or, you know, something, just to get someone to call back, or just to get somebody you know here,” Jones said.

Just before 6 p.m., JEA confirmed Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC had paid the $19,000 that were owed in unpaid water bills for the Arbor Oaks Apartments on Jammes Road. The payment came the same day News4JAX contacted the registered agent and manager linked to the LLC and asked about ongoing issues.

RELATED | Water is back at a Westside apartment complex after days without service. But residents don’t know how long it will last

Water was running at the apartment complex when News4JAX visited on Thursday. However, we noticed another issue: bugs covering Kathy Lewis’ kitchen counter.

Lewis said she and other residents can’t contact the owner or anyone else at the complex to address issues like this.

“It is really awful. The bugs are eating through the paint of the ceiling,” Lewis said.

Iris Woods also said she has some bug issues in her apartment.

“I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like living here. I want to move, but I don’t have no place to go right now,” Woods said.

After two days trying to reach the office, News4JAX attempted to knock on the office’s door once again on Thursday, hoping to speak with someone in charge.

No one answered.

“It’s been an ongoing issue for quite some time. You know, they keep the office closed,” Lewis said.

During Thursday’s visit, News4JAX noticed the City of Jacksonville posted citations on the property.

According to the city, it issued three citations. One for failure to maintain property, which mentions cracked flooring, holes in walls and baseboards separating. A second citation was issued for failure to maintain facilities and equipment in good repair, and a third citation for failure to maintain facilities.

The citations were issued to Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC.

Duval property records show the apartment complex is owned by Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, and JEA said it previously owed $19,000, which led to the water being turned off multiple times since June. That money was paid Thursday.

Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC shows up on the deed, which records show was signed over on April 9. State records show Andrew Sallee as the registered agent and manager of Jacksonville Rental Properties.

After searching his name, News4JAX found YouTube videos with Sallee on podcasts. He also has a strong Instagram following of more than 1 million people, and he describes himself as an investor in real estate and an entrepreneur.

News4JAX exchanged direct messages with Sallee on Thursday morning after he commented on our Facebook post stating he was not the owner of the property and that he had sold the asset.

After exchanging messages on Facebook, News4JAX exchanged emails with Sallee. He said we should contact the owner, and he included the name of who he said is the owner’s chief operating officer. We replied, asking for a record of the sale. The response we received was that the attorney is out of the office at this time.

According to the latest TRIM notice for that property, as of August, it was sent to Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, which is under Sallee’s name.

That could be the case in Jacksonville thanks to a renewed push by a councilman who wants more accountability for the city’s landlords.

A Jacksonville councilman is reintroducing a bill that would establish a rental registry with information on who owns a property, code violations against them, and more.

The residents at the Arbor Oaks apartments on the Westside had issues reaching their landlord when their water was off for days. Councilman Jimmy Peluso wants to change that.

Naportia Jones, a resident, said it’s been a growing issue to get in touch with management, especially when things needed fixing. She said she’s tried calling more than 20 times with no response.

“If I’m about to rent from somebody, I can look them up, make sure they’re a good landlord,” Peluso said.

He is trying to build a rental registry, where there would be information on who owns a property and any code violations they have against them, as well as someone physically in an office in downtown Jacksonville who could reach out to a property owner or management.

“The rental registry office, that staffer can also be kind of a conduit, an ombudsman, if you will, to make sure that they can help people get resources for rental assistance,” Peluso said.

News4JAX reached out to the listed owner according to property deeds for Arbor Oaks, which is Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC and the registered agent of that LLC, Andrew Sallee, though he said he doesn’t own it. He was asked again on Thursday for proof of sale of that property, but News4JAX hasn’t gotten anything back.

Every day for a week, News4JAX knocked on the Arbor Oaks door and the neighboring property, where some said they have paid rent. It took exactly seven days before we met people in the office, but they did not have answers.

Video shows at least one maintenance worker who said they worked for Peoples Choice LLC, a company linked to that neighboring property, but the people in the office didn’t give any answers and the people living at Arbor Oaks said some of the things they worked on aren’t totally fixed.

Someone living at the property next door, linked to Peoples Choice, Virginian Arms, showed his struggles of being in a wheelchair, paralyzed and only having a piece of plywood to help him get into his apartment.

These units fall in Councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray’s district. News4JAX reached out to a cell phone number on Sept. 4, believed to have belonged to her, and did not receive a response. We called and emailed her aides back on Sept. 9.

On Wednesday, we were told that they would get her the message and that she was busy, and that she has a daytime job, but we have been reaching out and have gotten no response from Clark-Murray.

We stopped by the city council and Clark-Murray was not in her office.

Earlier this week, Councilman Rahman Johnson spoke about the issues we aired in our coverage, though not all of the people in these complexes are in his district.

Peluso was the second councilman, though not from this district, to speak on the issues with the apartments and anything related to rents.

“I want to show as much positivity to good landlords as we’re going after some folks just sitting on bad properties and not doing their work,” Peluso said.

Peluso filed similar legislation in April, but it was withdrawn a month later to be reworked. He says the new bill is being drafted now and intends to hold meetings to discuss it in the coming months.

Clark-Murray acknowledged the ongoing problems at Arbor Oaks apartments, where residents faced a water outage earlier in the month due to unpaid bills.

“We’re aware of the problem, and we are working on solutions,” Clark-Murray said. “My heart always goes out to the people, but I also wonder, what is management doing with the money that they should have paid to keep up the service?”

The issues at Arbor Oaks first came to light on Sept. 2, when residents said they had been without water for several days. Water service was restored later that same day, but residents continued to report difficulties reaching property management or the owner, Jacksonville Rental Properties, LLC.

When asked about similar situations across Jacksonville, Clark-Murray noted this wasn’t an isolated incident.

RELATED: Westside apartment complex resident fed up with conditions plans to withhold rent, if she can find someone to respond

“This is not the first case, obviously, in Jacksonville, and there have been some cases that have been much, much worse,” she said. “But for the people who are going through it, it doesn’t matter how many cases, it’s the first case or the last case, they’re going through that, and they want their services restored.”

Looking ahead, the councilwoman indicated there are potential solutions within legal boundaries.

MORE | Residents of troubled Westside apartment complex still can’t find anyone to help with problems; city issues new citation

“There are other solutions that we can look at, some ways like code enforcement make sure that the management company is doing what it’s supposed to do,” she said.

News4JAX will continue to monitor developments at Arbor Oaks and the City Council’s response to these ongoing issues.

For weeks, the News4JAX I-TEAM has been reporting on ongoing problems at housing owned and linked to Peoples Choice Apartments, where residents have said they faced maintenance issues and deteriorating conditions.

RELATED |‘It’s horrid’: Tenants say they’re paying nearly $1K for mold, leaks, and broken AC in duplexes owned by major landlord|Social media influencer connected to troubled Westside apartments says he doesn’t own it anymore. Records link his LLC|Water is back at a Westside apartment complex after days without service. But residents don’t know how long it will last|Residents of troubled Westside apartment complex still can’t find anyone to help with problems; city issues new citation

Legacy Family Communities, an LLC that was created less than a month ago following our reporting, has now replaced Peoples Choice.

News4JAX first visited Arbor Oaks in September when residents told us they had been without running water for days. JEA said it shut off the water because of an unpaid bill. JEA later restored the water after we shared residents’ concerns, and a couple days later, the $15,000 bill was paid.

News4JAX was never able to get a hold of the leaders of Peoples Choice to get answers about other concerns residents at Arbor Oaks and the property next door, Virginian Arms, had, but Legacy Family Communities sent us an email on Thursday.

“On behalf of Arbor Oaks and Virginian Arms and its new property management company Legacy Family Communities, we want to formally respond to the recent media coverage and news articles that spotlighted issues at our locations,” the email statement said. “Regretfully, our residents had to endure some brief unpleasant experiences that did not meet our expectations for our properties.”

The company said the welfare of its residents are a top priority and it is committed to providing residents a “safe and secure environment to call their home.”

“We are listening to the concerns presented by the community and have a team in place that is working diligently to implement changes to achieve meaningful and sustainable improvement,” the statement said. “As we move forward, we will focus on transparency, accountability, and restoring confidence within the community. These changes may not occur overnight, but welcome the opportunity for a follow-up as we progress forward and will provide updates at that time. Thank you for your attention and for giving us the chance to demonstrate our commitment to improving our Communities.”

According to the City of Jacksonville, there have been 15 individual complaints related to Arbor Oaks since July. The city said there were 10 fines for various property safety and maintenance violations since the summer and fines totaling $2,325. The city said that the property manager is aware and is planning to address them.

News4JAX visited Arbor Oaks on Friday and saw crews trimming bushes and power washing. Trash was noticeably cleaner than last week. Both are issues the complex had been cited for.

We reached back out to property management, who have not responded to our request for an interview about the recent work being done.

On Dec. 4, the City of Jacksonville’s Code Compliance gave News4JAX an update regarding Arbor Oaks Apartments on Jammes Road, and confirmed there were 12 active cases on the property, with seven resulting in fines.

The city also said two new complaints were awaiting initial inspections, and the citations and fines issued remained open and unpaid.

In late October, there were 10 active enforcement cases, according to the City of Jacksonville.

News4Jax returned to the property Monday. We saw what residents say is a vacant apartment with the door open and possibly broken. Residents say animals go in there. We also observed holes in the barbed wire fence. Residents also say people experience homelessness come through the fence and sometimes go into the unused units. We also noticed multiple boarded up units.

We reached out to the property manager for the new management team Legacy Family Communities who hung up on us.

RELATED | Westside apartments left without running water led to an investigation and a search for the owner. Here’s what we found

The apartment complex, which was initially linked to Peoples Choice Apartments, sparked a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation in September after a resident reported going days without running water.

“If you want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, we are literally using the bathroom in buckets and then carrying it outside and throwing it in the trash,” said Naportia Jones back in September.

RELATED |‘It’s horrid’: Tenants say they’re paying nearly $1K for mold, leaks, and broken AC in duplexes owned by major landlord|Water is back at a Westside apartment complex after days without service. But residents don’t know how long it will last|Residents of troubled Westside apartment complex still can’t find anyone to help with problems; city issues new citation

According to JEA, the water service had been off since July due to a $15,000 unpaid bill, with JEA reporting meter tampering. After News4JAX’s initial story, JEA said the bill was paid by Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, the company listed as the property owner.

The I-TEAM tried repeatedly to contact property management and ownership to get answers for residents living amid uncollected trash and deteriorating conditions.

Despite water service being restored, other issues persisted.

The City of Jacksonville confirmed 15 complaints since July in connection with Arbor Oaks, resulting in more than $2,300 in fines for insect infestations, garbage issues, and ceiling damage.

After weeks of knocking on doors with no response, a representative from the management company ran into someone with the property management team, but they refused to answer questions or provide contact information for ownership.

The city said property management told them they were aware of the issues and planned to address them.

News4JAX also looked into the property owner.

Attempts to reach the owner, according to property records, Andrew Sallee, who has a large social media following, were unsuccessful. He initially claimed to have sold the property back to the previous owner but did not provide proof of sale or respond to calls.

The I-TEAM tracked Sallee to a condo building in Fort Lauderdale but could not reach him.

After returning to Jacksonville, News4JAX received an email from Legacy Family Communities, a new management group formed shortly after the initial reports.

The new group acknowledged the problems and said they were committed to fixing them.

RELATED | New manager of troubled apartment complexes addresses ‘brief unpleasant experiences,’ pledges change, accountability

Since then, some visible improvements have been made at Arbor Oaks, including trash pickup and maintenance work. However, the new management has not agreed to an interview and shut their office door when approached.

News4JAX has also reached out to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation about the conditions but received no response.

Councilwoman Tyrona Clark Murray, representing the district, said in a September meeting she was aware of the issues and planned to discuss solutions, but to this date, she has not scheduled a follow-up meeting.

Because of the reporting, JEA restored water service and changed its policy to notify residents before shutting off water. However, issues persisted.

The I-TEAM tried repeatedly to contact property management and ownership to get answers for residents living amid uncollected trash and deteriorating conditions.

“If you want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, we are literally using the bathroom in buckets and then carrying it outside and throwing it in the trash,” said Naportia Jones back in September.

RELATED |‘It’s horrid’: Tenants say they’re paying nearly $1K for mold, leaks, and broken AC in duplexes owned by major landlord|Social media influencer connected to troubled Westside apartments says he doesn’t own it anymore. Records link his LLC|Water is back at a Westside apartment complex after days without service. But residents don’t know how long it will last|Residents of troubled Westside apartment complex still can’t find anyone to help with problems; city issues new citation

According to JEA, the water service had been off since July due to a $15,000 unpaid bill, with JEA reporting meter tampering. After News4JAX’s initial story, JEA said the bill was paid by Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, the company listed as the property owner.

The City of Jacksonville confirmed 15 complaints since July about Arbor Oaks, resulting in more than $2,300 in fines for insect infestations, garbage issues, and ceiling damage.

After weeks of knocking on doors with no response, a representative from the management company finally ran into someone with the property management team, but they refused to answer questions or provide contact information for ownership.

The city said property management told them they are aware of the issues and plans to address them.

News4JAX also looked into the property owner.

Attempts to reach the owner, according to property records, Andrew Sallee, who has a large social media following, were unsuccessful. He initially claimed to have sold the property back to the previous owner but did not provide proof of sale or respond to calls.

The I-TEAM tracked Sallee to a condo building in Fort Lauderdale but could not reach him.

After returning to Jacksonville, we received an email from Legacy Family Communities, a new management group formed shortly after the initial reports.

The new group acknowledged the problems and said they were committed to fixing them.

MORE | New manager of troubled apartment complexes addresses ‘brief unpleasant experiences,’ pledges change, accountability

Since then, visible improvements have been made at Arbor Oaks, including trash pickup and maintenance work. However, the new management has not agreed to an interview and shut their office door when approached.

News4JAX reached out to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation about the conditions, but received no response.

Councilwoman Tyrona Clark Murray, representing the district, said in a September meeting she was aware of the issues and planned to discuss solutions, but to this date, she has not scheduled a follow-up meeting.

The service restoration at the Arbor Oaks Apartments on Jammes Road comes on the same day the News4JAX I-TEAM brought the concern to the City of Jacksonville and JEA.

A resident, who did not want to be identified, said he hasn’t had running water since Friday.

He said he has to shower at the gym and buy gallons of water to get by.

A video obtained by News4JAX from one of the apartment’s residents showed no water flow in the bathroom or the kitchen.

During our visit to the apartment complex on Tuesday, we also ran into Roshaunda Williams, who said her son lives there and has been dealing with the same issue.

“Not having water is like not being able to fully bathe,” she said.

According to the City of Jacksonville, they’ve received two complaints in the last several days about the lack of running water at the apartment complex.

Despite multiple attempts to contact apartment complex management by knocking on the office door and making phone calls, at the time of this publication, we had not been able to reach anyone in charge.

JEA told News4JAX that the owner of Arbor Oaks Apartments, Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC, owes the agency approximately $19,000 for past-due amounts and a deposit.

According to JEA, it has tried to reach the owner since May 16 to request a deposit. However, the agency said it never received it and disconnected services on July 9. The agency also noted that since that time, it believes someone has tampered with the equipment on three separate occasions to supply water.

Residents told News4JAX the water has been on and off for weeks, which lines up with JEA’s statement.

Read JEA’s statement below:

JEA is restoring water service to Arbor Oaks Apartments for the safety of residents.

JEA only disconnects services as a last resort, after notifications and efforts to help customers resolve issues. Starting on May 16, 2025, JEA notified Jacksonville Rental Properties LLC multiple times that a deposit was needed to keep services on. The deposit was not received, and water services were disconnected on July 9. Since that time, JEA has detected tampering of equipment at least three different times and confirmed that water was supplied to the property.

JEA spokesperson

JEA also said it is “working to secure payment from Jacksonville Rental Properties,” and since it just re-established the service, it does not have a new deadline.

Residents who expressed their concerns on Tuesday were happy to know water would finally be turned back on.

“This isn’t the first time the water’s been cut off,” a resident told News4JAX.

News4JAX is currently trying to track down more information on the property owner and will be following this story.