With control of the chamber on the line, Sullivan stepped up his attack against Peltola in the days leading to the primary, questioning her effectiveness while in Congress and seeking to align her with Lower 48 “liberals.” Peltola positioned herself as someone who would represent “regular” people and push back against special interests and wealthy politicians.

Both are seen as the leading candidates in November because of their fundraising and name recognition.

The Senate race was one of several being decided in Tuesday's primary, which also featured Alaska's only U.S. House seat and a wide open governor's race. Under the state’s open primary system, all candidates appeared on the same ballot. The four top vote-getters qualify for the ranked vote general election, but it was too early to call all candidates advancing in the top races.

In the House race, Republican Rep. Nick Begich advanced, along with independent Bill Hill. Two Democrats, former lawmakers Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, Nick Begich's uncle, advanced in the race for governor.

Voters Tuesday also approved a ballot measure that would reimpose campaign contribution limits, five years after a divided federal appeals court struck down a number of caps.

Senate race features 2 widely known candidates

Sullivan and Peltola were the highest-profile candidates among a field of 16 and vastly outraised the other competitors. The race, among a handful that could help determine control of the Senate, has drawn significant attention from outside groups, with Republican and Democratic campaign organizations identifying it as a top target.

Peltola, who in 2022 became the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, has tried to steer a centrist path and revived the “fish, family, freedom” slogan that first propelled her to office. But in the days before the primary, she shook up her campaign leadership. The campaign described the changes as “staffing updates as we transition into the general election.”

Sullivan, a veteran and ally of President Donald Trump who is seeking a third term, campaigned on supporting the military, opening more land for oil and gas extraction, and voting for Trump’s signature tax and spending law. He told supporters Tuesday that his office is “getting big things done.”

He said “D.C. Democrats” don't have a vision for the state but instead have placed a target on Alaska, such as opposing opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

He criticized Peltola as ineffective during her time in Congress. She lost reelection in 2024.

Peltola said she worked well with Sullivan as part of the state's three-person congressional delegation. But she said the Trump administration has brought challenges to Alaska, including cuts to the federal workforce, and she blasted Sullivan for his support of Trump’s tax and spending bill. She said the bill has not brought opportunity to Alaskans and accused Sullivan of voting for “corporate greed.”

“We’ve got to get working people — regular people — in” office, she told supporters.

A second Dan Sullivan garnered attention

A third candidate, a Republican also named Dan Sullivan, stole much of the attention ahead of the primary.

Dan J. Sullivan won a legal fight to appear on the ballot despite claims by the senator and GOP allies that he was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats with the intent of causing confusion. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, denied that and said frustration with the incumbent prompted him to run.

He appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation — a decision that a state elections official said was intended to minimize possible confusion. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent.

It was too early to determine whether he would be among the four Senate candidates in the general election.

Matchups in House, governor's races still taking shape

Nick Begich, who was endorsed by Trump, cast himself as hardworking and effective in his role in the U.S. House. He said results from the primary show that Alaskans are ready to return him to Congress.

Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small southwestern village, has made affordability a key issue in his campaign. He said Alaskans are tired of paying high costs for healthcare, gas and groceries.

“Begich and his buddies think they can play by a different set of rules than we do,” he said after advancing Tuesday. “The Alaskans I know don’t think that’s right.”

The governor's race was wide open with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive stint. The crowded field was mostly led by Republican tickets. A Democrat hasn't served as governor in Alaska since Tony Knowles left office in 2002.

Republicans in the race included Bernadette Wilson, a businessperson and conservative activist; Click Bishop, a former lawmaker; Dave Bronson, a former mayor of Anchorage; and Adam Crum and Treg Taylor, two former members of Dunleavy’s Cabinet.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage contributed to this report.

Data from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed the outbreak had so far recorded 5,021 cases, including 2,378 deaths as of Sunday, as it rages in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable fueled by insecurity, displacement and intense population movements.

The outbreak has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other outbreak in history.

Starting from the first detected case, it has spread about three times faster than an outbreak from 2014 to 2016 across West Africa, which was the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

The outbreak “has spread rapidly and the risk of further national and international spread remains high,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday at a meeting convened by the agency.

“We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” he said.

Safety concerns have limited the response as health workers are targeted, particularly in Ituri, the province that has been hit the worst by the outbreak.

Residents on Monday attacked a health team in the territory of Aru after a suspected case was reported there. A mob set fire to an ambulance and damaged two other vehicles, according to Michael Wani, president of the Union of Cultural Associations for the Development of Ituri.

Donalds, a rising Republican star backed by President Donald Trump, will face Jolly, a former Republican congressman who later became an independent before joining the Democratic Party. The winner will succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

The contest will help determine Florida’s political direction after years of Republican control and will give voters a choice between two candidates with different party histories and visions for the state.

Donalds wins Republican nomination

Donalds won the Republican nomination after receiving Trump’s support in the primary. His victory puts him in position to seek the governorship as Florida’s first Black governor.

Donalds is part of a historic slate of Black gubernatorial nominees running across the country this year. There is currently one Black governor in the United States: Democrat Wes Moore of Maryland.

In a Facebook post after the primary, Donalds thanked his family, campaign team, volunteers and supporters across Florida. He also called for Republicans to unite behind his campaign.

“By working together, we can make Florida more affordable and defend the Florida Dream for our families, seniors, and young people,” Donalds wrote.

Donalds quickly turned his attention to the general election, accusing Jolly of supporting higher taxes and what he called the Democratic Party’s “radical left agenda.”

“Florida cannot afford Liberal David Jolly,” Donalds wrote, predicting that Jolly would lose again on Nov. 3.

Jolly captures Democratic nomination

Jolly won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night. His political career has included several party affiliations: He previously served as a Republican in Congress, later became an independent and eventually joined the Democratic Party.

His nomination gives Florida Democrats a candidate with experience in national politics and a potentially broader appeal to voters who may not identify strongly with the party’s progressive wing.

Jolly will now try to build a coalition in a state where Republicans have dominated statewide elections in recent years. His campaign will need to appeal to Democratic voters in major population centers while also competing for independents and moderate voters who could decide a close race.

A contest to replace DeSantis

The governor’s race comes as DeSantis reaches the end of his time in office. His tenure has shaped Florida’s national political identity, with the state becoming a center of conservative policy and a frequent focus of national political debates.

Donalds would seek to extend that direction while putting his own imprint on state government. In his Facebook statement, he said his priorities would include affordability and protecting what he called the “Florida Dream.”

Jolly is expected to offer voters an alternative to the Republican agenda that has guided the state during DeSantis’ administration. His campaign will likely focus on the future of Florida, the cost of living and whether voters want a change in political leadership.

What will shape the November race

The candidates will face several major tests before Election Day:

• Party unity: Donalds said Republicans must come together after the primary. Maintaining that coalition will be important as he moves into the general election.
• Democratic reach: Jolly will need to expand beyond the Democratic base in a state where Republicans hold a significant statewide advantage.
• Affordability: Both campaigns are likely to address the cost of living, taxes and the economic pressures facing Florida families, seniors and young people.
• National influence: Trump’s endorsement helped define the Republican primary, and national politics will remain part of the contest.
• Turnout: The governor’s race will share the ballot with the U.S. Senate contest between Republican Ashley Moody and Democrat Angie Nixon, along with congressional races that could affect participation across the state.

A consequential choice for Florida voters

Donalds enters the general election with Trump’s backing, a strong Republican base and the opportunity to make history. Jolly enters with a complicated political background and the challenge of competing statewide in a state that has moved firmly toward Republicans.

The November race will test whether Democrats can broaden their appeal in Florida and whether Republicans can maintain control of the governor’s mansion after DeSantis leaves office.

For Donalds, the message is unity, affordability and continued Republican leadership. For Jolly, the campaign will be an opportunity to present Florida voters with a different direction.

Florida voters will decide between them on Nov. 3.

This story incorporates information from The Associated Press and a Facebook post published by Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds.

For months, the two countries have traded fire sporadically across their long, mountainous border, leaving hundreds of people dead. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan — a charge Kabul denies.

With the fighting have come border closures, severing a critical trade route and preventing Afghan producers from reaching what is the primary export market for many goods.

Unable to export their fresh fruit, Afghan grape producers have turned to the domestic market, where the increased supply has sent prices tumbling. To adapt, many producers are now drying their grapes and turning them into raisins — a cheaper product that sells for less.

In a long warehouse in Kandahar’s Zhari district, fans whirl overhead, stirring the hot summer air around bunches of plump, green grapes draped over sticks set up in rows to dry.

But even for raisins, prices have tanked.

Sakhi Jan, who owns a grape orchard in Zhari, says that with 10 people in his household to feed, he's barely getting by. Seven kilograms (15.5 pounds) of raisins used to sell for around 1,000 to 1,200 afghanis ($13 to $16), he says. Now, the same amount sells for just 400-450 afghanis ($5-$6).

In a country where poverty is rife and malnutrition strikes the most vulnerable, such income losses can be critical.

“We are grateful, but things aren’t like they used to be, the struggle is much harder now,” Jan said. “In the past, work was steady, we used to sell some grapes, and people generally had good work but now the hardship is immense.”

Opening the border crossings and allowing trade to flow once more is critical, he stressed.

“We urge both our government and Pakistan to open these routes and reach an agreement,” he said. “The current situation is causing great hardship.”

Abdul Baqi Bina, the deputy director of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said the border closure has dealt a severe blow to Afghanistan's fruit exports — not just grapes, but also pomegranates.

In 2025, five southern Afghan provinces that make up the country’s main grape-producing region exported 44,225 tons — $13.8 million worth of grapes. Nearly all — 43,000 tons — went to Pakistan and the remainder headed to Bangladesh, Iraq and India, Bina said. So far this year, only 256 tons have been exported, at a value of $100,000.

For grape exporter Haji Abdul Hai, it has been a disaster.

“In my 50 years of life, I have never seen these roads closed to the extent they are now,” he said, adding that previous border closures would usually last for a few days, or one crossing would close while another remained open.

“But now, we are facing truly major difficulties,” he said.

Last year, the orchard where Qudratullah Popal worked picking grapes employed about 1,500 workers. This year, Popal said the number has plummeted to around 15.

“There have been good harvests. Grapes turned out well, but the issue is they cannot be exported to other countries. They are being sent to domestic locations … where there is already an abundance of grapes,” he said.

“When routes are blocked and trade halts, everyone’s livelihood is paralyzed, traders, laborers and orchard owners alike,” Popal said.

The company, founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Wang Xingxing in the eastern Chinese technology hub of Hangzhou, raised around 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style STAR market. The shares were priced at 150.80 yuan ($22.36) a share. Its shares closed 460% higher at 845 yuan ($125.31).

Advanced robotics, often referred to as “embodied” artificial intelligence, is a key sector in the heated technology rivalry between China and the U.S. China leads the U.S. in terms of production capacity of humanoid robots and the ability to scale up manufacturing.

Last year, of the roughly 15,000 humanoid robots shipped globally, Unitree and AGIBOT, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, each shipped more than 5,000, according to technology research and advisory group Omdia, way ahead of their U.S. counterparts. For the first half of 2026, Omdia’s estimates put Chinese humanoid robot makers’ total global shipments at around 18,500 units.

But analysts say for now, many of these humanoid robots are still mainly used for demonstrations, performances and research rather than real-world applications. Unitree's humanoid robots, for example, dazzled audiences at China's annual Spring Festival gala by performing backflips and martial arts.

“The real competitive test will be whether companies – Chinese or American – can achieve reliable performance and attractive returns on investment in large-scale industrial and commercial deployments,” analyst Kangyuxiao Li at investment research firm Morningstar said in a commentary.

Unitree said proceeds from the IPO will be used for advanced robot research and development and development of its robot manufacturing base.

The company is the first publicly traded humanoid robotics maker in mainland China. Analysts believe the IPO could set a precedent for valuations of other robotic company stock offerings.

It “gives mainland investors direct exposure to one of the sector’s leading companies,” said Li at Morningstar.

Unitree's debut coincided with the World Robot Conference in Beijing, featuring more than 300 exhibitors. Chinese leaders made robots a development priority.

UBTech, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, has shares traded in Hong Kong. Its shares fell more than 10% on Wednesday.

Unitree reported about 1.7 billion yuan (about $250 million) in revenue in 2025, mainly from sales of its humanoid robots and quadruped robots, often referring to four-legged robot dogs. More than 40% of that revenue was from overseas.

Last year, the U.S. accounted for roughly 13% of Unitree’s revenue, the company said. But that was before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission banned imports of new foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots in July on national security grounds.

Unitree cautioned that the U.S. ban, which it said applies to its new models, could affect its future sales in the U.S. market. Existing models of its advanced robots can still be sold, but Unitree faces the risk that the U.S. could further expand its restrictions.

Lian Jye Su of Omdia said Chinese robot makers will likely seek to expand in major markets outside of the U.S., such as Europe.

Nixon defeated retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who became nationally known after testifying during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. According to The Associated Press, Vindman had outraised Nixon by more than 16-to-1.

The result sets up a November general election matchup against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Marco Rubio left the Senate to become secretary of state in the Trump administration.

Moody is running to hold the seat for the remainder of Rubio’s term, while Nixon is seeking to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Florida in a decade marked by Republican dominance.

Nixon’s primary win

Nixon’s victory is one of the clearest signs from Florida’s primary that Democratic voters remain willing to back candidates running outside the party establishment, even when those candidates face opponents with significantly greater financial resources and national profiles.

Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville, built her campaign around a progressive message and a grassroots operation. Vindman entered the race with national name recognition, a military background and a profile shaped by his testimony during the 2019 impeachment proceedings.

In a Facebook post published overnight, Nixon celebrated the result by highlighting her Jacksonville roots and personal story: “A former single Black mom from Moncrief, just became your democratic nominee for U.S. Senator. Good things do come from the Northside.” Vindman entered the race with national name recognition, a military background and a profile shaped by his testimony during the 2019 impeachment proceedings.

But those advantages did not translate into a primary win. Nixon’s victory reflects the same broader Democratic tension seen in other states this year: whether voters want an establishment candidate viewed as more conventionally electable or a candidate who more directly represents the party’s progressive base.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Vindman congratulated Nixon and said he would support her in the general election.

“Rep. Nixon ran a strong campaign. I will be standing by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody,” Vindman said.

Vindman also described his own path—from arriving in the United States as a Jewish refugee to serving in the Army and the White House—as an example of the American dream.

Moody’s path to the Senate

Moody entered the Senate after Rubio resigned to take a position in the Trump administration. DeSantis appointed Moody, Florida’s former attorney general, to serve out the remaining portion of Rubio’s term.

In a Facebook post after the primary, Moody said she was “humbled” to be the Republican nominee and renewed her commitment to Florida voters. “I am YOUR fighter. YOU are my bosses. And I will NOT let you down,” Moody wrote.

The November election will determine who holds the seat through the end of that term. The race also gives Florida voters a direct choice between an appointed Republican incumbent and a Democratic challenger who emerged from a competitive primary.

Moody can point to her statewide experience as attorney general and her position as the sitting senator. Nixon will likely emphasize her Jacksonville roots, her legislative record and the significance of electing a Democrat in a state where Republicans control the governor’s mansion, both U.S. Senate seats and the Legislature.

Why November will be difficult for Democrats

Florida remains a challenging statewide environment for Democrats. Republicans have won the state in recent presidential elections, and the party holds a broad advantage in statewide offices and congressional representation.

That does not make the Senate race irrelevant. Florida is a large and diverse state with major population centers in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, South Florida and the I-4 corridor. Turnout, fundraising, candidate organization and the national political climate will all shape the contest.

For Nixon, the central challenge will be expanding beyond the Democratic coalition that carried her through the primary. She will need to introduce herself to voters who may not have followed the Jacksonville legislative race while competing against an incumbent with statewide visibility.

For Moody, the appointment itself will remain part of the campaign conversation. Nixon can argue that voters should decide who serves in the Senate rather than leaving that choice to a gubernatorial appointment. Moody, meanwhile, will seek to make the race a referendum on Republican priorities and the direction of the state and country.

The race will be part of a larger Florida political test

The Senate matchup comes as Florida prepares for an unusually consequential general election season.

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds won the GOP nomination for governor and will face Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who later became an independent before joining the Democratic Party. Donalds is seeking to become Florida’s first Black governor.

The primary also produced significant results in several congressional races, including the defeat of Republican Rep. Cory Mills and the victory of longtime Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a heavily redrawn South Florida district.

Those contests will help shape the political backdrop for the Senate race. A strong Republican showing in the governor’s contest could reinforce the party’s statewide advantage. A close or unexpectedly competitive gubernatorial campaign, however, could increase Democratic turnout and give Nixon more room to compete.

What to watch before November

Several factors will help determine whether Nixon can turn her primary upset into a statewide victory:

• Fundraising: Nixon’s ability to close the financial gap with Moody will be an early test of Democratic support.
• Geography: The candidates will need to compete across Florida’s distinct regional coalitions, from Jacksonville and Central Florida to the Tampa Bay area and South Florida.
• Turnout: The Senate race will be affected by participation in the governor’s election and other high-profile contests on the ballot.
• National politics: With Republicans holding a narrow edge in Congress, Florida’s Senate race could become part of the national battle for control of the chamber.
• Candidate definition: Moody will be introduced to voters as an appointed incumbent, while Nixon will have to build statewide recognition quickly.

Nixon’s primary victory changed the shape of Florida’s Senate race. In November, she will face a Republican incumbent with statewide experience in a state that has generally favored Republicans in recent statewide elections.

The question now is whether Nixon’s grassroots coalition can grow large enough—and broad enough—to make the appointed senator’s hold on the seat vulnerable.

This story incorporates information from The Associated Press, a statement released by the campaign of Alex Vindman, a Facebook post published overnight by Angie Nixon and a Facebook post published by Ashley Moody.

The move by one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's most loyal and longstanding team members until recently could become the most significant internal challenge Zelenskyy has faced since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The appeal came in a video address posted to YouTube by Fedorov, who lost his post in July.

“We must find a legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war,” Fedorov said.

Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately comment on Fedorov’s address.

Ukrainian law prohibits elections while the country is under martial law, which was imposed on Feb. 24, 2022, the day that the Russian invasion began.

Fedorov said the country was facing a systemic crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine’s ability to fight the war.

Fedorov has said he believes a factor in his removal was an overhaul he led of the Defense Ministry’s procurement system, which oversees billions of dollars in equipment purchases.

“Corruption in wartime is not merely a financial issue. It is a matter of our capability to survive and win,” said Fedorov. “Every single hryvnia intended for defense must work for defense. Not for a private pocket.”

Fedorov released the address hours after Ukraine’s Parliament received a submission from Zelenskyy nominating Yevhenii Khmara to be the new defense minister, Parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on Facebook Tuesday.

Large crowds of protesters have taken to the streets of Kyiv in support of Fedorov over the past month following his abrupt dismissal. The demonstrations have lost some of their initial force but still draw crowds of thousands during weekend marches, with demonstrators carrying handmade signs demanding Zelenskyy reinstate Fedorov.

Trump had ordered his Pentagon chief to downsize the allies’ summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, just before they began Monday for an 11-day run. Trump cited what he said was a good relationship with Kim and South Korea’s refusal to support him over Iran.

South Korea’s military said in a statement the ongoing drills with the U.S. would end Friday, not Aug. 27 as initially planned. It said the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises.

The statement said South Korea and the U.S. will discuss and carry out various steps to achieve objectives of their drills and establish combined defense postures.

Drills' cut raise worries about military readiness

Many experts say Trump’s move threatens to hurt the combined U.S.-South Korean defense posture and eventually weaken their decades-long alliance.

A reduction or suspension of military drills matters because military commanders change periodically. A one-year suspension of drills would mean commanders unfamiliar with the procedures of the drills would be taking part when they resume, according to Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies’ ability to deal with potential North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold a set of field training exercises during the command post exercise period.

The drills and a similar springtime exercise are a central pillar of the U.S. -South Korea alliance, which dates to the 1950-53 Korean War. But it’s also a long-running source of tensions with North Korea, which has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion and responded with provocative missile tests. Days before this month's drills began, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea.

This month's drills were reportedly supposed to be held in two phases. The first part until this Friday will focus on defensive operations in simulation of North Korean attacks and the second part until Aug. 27 will practice counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to counteroffensive drills.

North Korea lambasts US-South Korea drills and vows responses

North Korea hasn't responded to Trump's overture. But earlier Wednesday, its state news agency, KCNA, published a commentary slamming the U.S.-South Korean military drills as “frantic” and “extremely dangerous” and vowing to completely frustrate its rivals’ hostilities.

“The dangerous escalation of the war drills staged by the U.S. and its vassal forces is posing a more serious threat to the security” of North Korea, the commentary said. “Our exercise of right to self-defense will continue to completely neutralize the enemies’ military threat.”

Many experts said Kim, now emboldened by his advancing nuclear program and expanding military cooperation with Russia, won't likely embrace Trump's overture and return to talks anytime soon unless he's promised bigger concessions. In response to Trump's previous outreach, Kim suggested last year that he can only return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand of a North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy.

Trump and Ki m met three times from 2018-2019 but their high-stakes diplomacy eventually fell apart over wrangling over a North Korean demand for extensive sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps.

On Monday, the office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed hope that a “friendly relationship” between Trump and Kim would lead to “meaningful dialogue” between their countries to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee is a liberal who wants better ties with North Korea.

But his office's statement drew a strong backlash from conservatives, who alleged Lee's government was prioritizing the resumption of Kim-Trump diplomacy over security concerns caused by Trump's move.

Trump's move may focus on South Korea over Iran

In his social media post, Trump said the drills are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House. Trump said he asked Lee if South Korea would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”

At separate parliamentary hearings Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said neither South Korean nor U.S. officials were informed of Trump's move before his social media post.

Cho said the alliance remains strong, while Ahn said South Korean and U.S. defense officials were maintaining close consultations.

Some experts say Trump's cut of the drills was more likely designed to apply pressures on South Korea to give him substantial support over the Iran war than reaching out to North Korea.

“Trump's message is that if you don’t cooperate with us on Iran, we’re not cooperating you” on the drills either, said Yang, the analyst. “It's like he's asking South Korea to show it's helping him over Iran” by taking steps like sending warships or reinforcing missile defenses in some areas.

South Korean officials said South Korea and the U.S. are closely discussing practical and military contributions that South Korea can make to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

It wasn't the first time that U.S. and South Korea have scaled back or canceled their drills.

In 2018, Trump abruptly announced the cancellation of a major war game with South Korea, after his first summit with Kim. Announcing the decision, Trump said suspending the “provocative” war games would “save us a tremendous amount of money.”

The U.S. and South Korea have since canceled or reduced other joint drills to support diplomacy with North Korea and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts say reducing those drills has undermined the combined South Korea-U.S. readiness.

Sullivan went on the attack against Peltola in the days leading to the primary, providing a possible preview of their coming matchup. He attempted to tie her to a progressive movement within the Democratic Party that has been ascendant throughout the primary season, claiming Peltola was aligned with Lower 48 “liberals.”

Peltola, who in 2022 became the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, tried to steer a centrist path but shook up her campaign hierarchy just days before the primary, ousting her campaign manager.

Sullivan and Peltola have raised by far the most money to date in the race and have the greatest name recognition across Alaska, making them the leading contenders in November.

In the race for the state’s lone U.S. House seat, Republican Rep. Nick Begich advanced to the general election along with independent Bill Hill.

The campaign featured over a dozen contenders in each of the top races — for Senate, U.S. House and governor. Under Alaska’s open primary system, all candidates appeared on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes qualify for the ranked vote general election. It was too early to call all candidates advancing in the top races under the top-four format.

Tuesday's ballot also included state legislative candidates and a ballot initiative that would reimpose campaign contribution limits in state and local elections.

Senate race will feature 2 candidates widely known in Alaska

The highest-profile candidates in a field of 16 were Sen. Sullivan, a two-term Republican, and Peltola.

The race, which is among a handful that could help determine control of the Senate, drew significant attention from outside groups, with Republican and Democratic campaign organizations identifying it as a top target.

Peltola shook up her campaign leadership days before the primary, letting her campaign manager go and elevating a deputy to that role. In a statement, the campaign described the changes as “staffing updates as we transition into the general election.”

Sullivan, a veteran and ally of President Donald Trump, campaigned on supporting the military, opening more land for oil and gas extraction, and voting for Trump's signature tax and spending law. He told supporters Tuesday that his office is “getting big things done.”

He criticized Peltola as ineffective during her time in Congress, which spanned just over one term.

Peltola, who was elected in 2022, criticized a political system she said is rigged by special interests and allows politicians to enrich themselves. She said the Trump administration has brought challenges to Alaska including cuts to the federal workforce, and she blasted Sullivan for his support of Trump's tax and spending bill.

“We really need a champion for us in Washington, D.C., who gets us and will work hard for us,” Peltola told supporters Tuesday.

A second Dan Sullivan made a stir ahead of the primary

It was a third candidate, a Republican also named Dan Sullivan, who garnered much of the attention during the campaign.

Dan J. Sullivan won a legal fight to appear on the ballot despite claims by the senator and GOP allies that he was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats with the intent of causing confusion. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, denied that and said frustration with the incumbent prompted him to run.

He appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation — a decision that a state elections official said was intended to minimize possible confusion. Meanwhile the senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. No other candidate seeking reelection had the “incumbent” label.

The drama involving the dueling Dan Sullivans caught the attention of Trump. In a social media post reiterating his support for the senator days before the primary, Trump called the other's candidacy an attempt to trick voters and urged his followers to vote for “SULLIVAN, DAN S.”

Dan J. Sullivan criticized the senator for embracing Trump's endorsement, calling the president “more interested in raising tariffs on our allies than in lowering the cost of groceries, housing and energy” and “more interested in punishing his enemies than bringing Americans together.”

Some voters tired of status quo, worried about shifting politics

The Senate race was a focal point for a number of voters.

Jeri Kissner said Congress must do more to push back against Trump.

“I’m so disappointed in our Congress to acquiesce to the president and his minions,” Kissner said. She favored Peltola because she did not like the other options.

Tom Dienst, who voted early and described himself as an “extremely staunch Reagan Republican,” said Trump needs allies to help carry out his agenda.

“When you look at all of the good Trump policies that will help the state, there’s just no doubt. We have to continue with Sullivan,” he said.

Republican Begich faced challenge from independent fisherman

In the House race, the most prominent candidates were Begich, seeking a second term, and Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small southwestern village.

Hill made affordability a key issue in his campaign. He said Alaskans are sick of paying high costs for healthcare, gas and groceries.

“Begich and his buddies think they can play by a different set of rules than we do,” he said after advancing Tuesday. “The Alaskans I know don’t think that’s right.”

Begich, who was endorsed by Trump, cast himself as hardworking and effective in his role. He said results from the primary show that Alaskans are ready to return him to Congress.

Progressive Democrat Matt Schultz suspended his campaign last month but remained on the ballot. His campaign said Schultz would withdraw as a general election candidate if he makes the primary’s top four. Schultz urged support for Hill.

Governor's race wide open

The campaign for the state’s top executive office was an open race this year because Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy was barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive stint.

Two Democrats advanced to the general election from a crowded, largely Republican field: former state lawmakers Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, who is Nick Begich's uncle. If either wins in November, he would become Alaska's first Democratic governor since Tony Knowles left office in 2002.

Republicans in the race included Bernadette Wilson, a businessperson and conservative activist; Click Bishop, a former state labor commissioner and lawmaker; Dave Bronson, former mayor of Anchorage; and Adam Crum and Treg Taylor, two former members of Dunleavy's Cabinet.

Former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, also was on the ballot.

Ballot measure addresses money in state politics

Voters overwhelming approved the lone ballot measure at stake, which asked them to reimpose campaign contribution limits, five years after a divided federal appeals court struck down a number of caps.

The measure imposes a $2,000 limit on how much individuals can give to candidates in state and local elections and a $5,000 cap on what they can give to political parties. It also limits spending by groups other than political parties and limits what individuals and groups can give to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage contributed.

South Korea’s Kospi led the regional retreat, dropping 5.7% to 6,487.34. The two biggest companies benefiting from the AI boom tracked losses for their U.S. rivals. Samsung Electronics shed 7.5%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled 8.8%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 3.2% to 65,332.04 as worries over rising bond yields coupled with selling of tech shares pulled the benchmark lower.

The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has been trading near a three-decade high of over 2.9% due to expectations that the Bank of Japan will soon raise its benchmark rate to counter inflation.

The Shanghai Composite index shed 2.2% to 3,903.61. Shares in humanoid robot maker Unitree soared nearly 630% initially in their trading debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market. The company reaped about $900 million with its initial public offering.

But shares in UBTech, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, whose stock is traded in Hong Kong, fell 10.6%.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost less than 0.1% to 25,460.46.

Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.7%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 9,053.00.

Apart from renewed jitters over criticism that AI-related stocks have shot too high, rising oil prices have been clouding market sentiment.

Crude prices have been swinging sharply due to uncertainty about when and whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal to allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf freely again. Brent was going for $72.87 per barrel just before the start of the war.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.6% to $91.57 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 0.7% to $84.66 per barrel

On Tuesday, Wall Street pulled further from its all-time high. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% for a third straight modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.3%.

Stocks that have been big winners in the boom around AI technology led the decline. They’ve been veering up and down this summer on worries that their prices have shot too high and that the strong demand for memory, processors and other building blocks of data centers may fizzle if AI proves less profitable than promised.

Micron Technology dropped 7%, and the seller of computer memory was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So were chip companies Nvidia, which fell 2.3%, and Broadcom, which sank 3.2%.

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

Bond yields have been another concern. They have jumped since the war began because high oil prices are pushing inflation higher. That adds to worries over huge debt loads for governments, while surging borrowing keeps yields high.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged down to 4.70% from 4.72% late Monday but remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war with Iran began. The 30-year Treasury yield also ticked lower but is still near its highest level since 2007.

When bond yields are high, investors are less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.

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

High yields could also slow borrowing by Big Tech companies to pay for data centers, threatening a big source of growth for the U.S. economy.

In other dealings early Wednesday, the U.S. dollar fell to 159.26 Japanese yen from 159.61 yen. The euro rose to $1.1582 from $1.1577.

Three years later, after weeks of news stories presenting evidence that he was a plagiarist and fabulist, Arday, 41, was found dead on Friday at his apartment in south London.

His death quickly led to a blame game. Cambridge has been criticized for elevating Arday in a rush to promote diversity — despite red flags about his qualifications — and the news media has been targeted for driving him to despair when his credentials and life story began to unravel under intense scrutiny.

Universities' ‘due diligence’ criticized

James Cleverly, a Black member of Parliament who held Cabinet positions in past governments, said a number of universities “failed to do the proper due diligence” on Arday.

“We see now that he was not completely honest and he clearly did have frailties and failings,” Cleverly told Times Radio. “But he was teed up by a number of academic institutions because they desperately wanted a wunderkind. They desperately wanted to play on the fact he was young and Black and good-looking, and they wanted him to be their poster child.”

But Patrick Vernon, who was recently knighted for his work on racial equality, is focused on the media.

Coverage of the Arday story was out of proportion to his position in society, reflecting the higher standard to which people of color are held when compared with their white peers, Vernon said.

“The level of scrutiny that the late Professor Jason Arday faced was unprecedented,” Vernon said.

“He’s not the prime minister of this country. He’s not a current secretary of the civil service or local government or the (National Health Service) or a chief executive of a major PLC. ... But he was treated at the same standard, which is outrageous," Vernon said.

Cambridge trumpeted Arday's arrival

Cambridge hired Arday as a professor of sociology of education in February 2023, when he was 37.

In announcing the appointment, Cambridge highlighted his place as the youngest Black professor in the university’s history and described him as a “respected scholar” focused on increasing the representation of Black, Asian and other minorities in higher education. Arday achieved this stature, the university said, even though he was born with a form of autism spectrum disorder that left him unable to speak until he was 11 and unable to read or write until his late teens — aspects of his biography that have since been questioned in news stories.

British universities have been working to hire more academics from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds so that their faculties better reflect the broader society.

There were 270 Black professors at U.K. universities during the 2024-25 academic year, up from 120 in 2016-17, according to data published by the Society for Research into Higher Education. Black scholars still represent just 1% of all U.K. professors, even though Black people make up about 4% of the working age population, the data shows.

Questions about Arday’s qualifications became public last month.

Nathan Cofnas, a one-time Cambridge researcher who left the university after his vitriolic comments about diversity programs and minorities sparked widespread protests, said he had found evidence of plagiarism in Arday’s Ph.D. thesis. The Times of London and other newspapers picked up the story, publishing an analysis of the thesis and highlighting multiple passages they said were “identical or near-identical” to an earlier paper by another academic.

The news media also questioned Arday’s claims about astounding personal accomplishments, such as running 30 marathons in 35 days, and raising 5.5 million pounds ($7.4 million) for charity over 20 years.

The public scrutiny was partly fueled by the impending publication of Arday’s memoir, “Great and Unfortunate Things.” Simon & Schuster published the book last week in the U.S., and it is scheduled to be published in the U.K. on Aug. 27.

After initially standing by Arday, Cambridge said Aug. 5 that it was opening an investigation after receiving “new information” about his qualifications. Arday resigned later that day. The University of Glasgow and Durham University, where Arday previously taught, have announced their own investigations.

The ceremonial head of Cambridge on Sunday defended the university’s decision and criticized media coverage of Arday.

“I do believe it is possible to hold to two principles at the same time: To believe in the importance of academic integrity, and, where criticisms of plagiarism arise about any academic, whoever they are, ensure that they are rigorously investigated, and also to refuse to join in a racist feeding frenzy over a particular academic,” Chancellor Chris Smith told the BBC.

Demand for investigation of media coverage

By Tuesday afternoon, more than 107,000 people had signed an open letter calling on the government to commission a public inquiry into media coverage of Arday.

The letter alleges that media organizations kept up their coverage of Arday even after Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre, publicly warned that their focus on a “vulnerable autistic man” raised “safeguarding issues.” Circulated by the Good Law Project, a campaign group, the letter says Arday and other prominent Black people have been subject to “press harassment with racist overtones."

Steven Barnett, a professor of communications at the University of Westminster, put the onus on British newspapers, not social media. The mainstream press published 289 stories about Arday in 22 days, almost two-thirds of them after he resigned, Barnett said.

No one should doubt that he was overwhelmed by the scrutiny because Arday himself said it was more than anyone could bear, Barnett said. "I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate the impact that those newspapers, those publishers, have had in this particular case,” he said.

Charles Moore, a former editor of the Daily Telegraph who writes about education, rejected that criticism in a column on Monday.

If Cambridge had properly investigated concerns about Arday that surfaced as early as 2023, he wouldn’t have suffered the shame caused by widespread media coverage, Moore wrote.

Rather than trumpeting Arday’s position as the university’s youngest ever Black professor, Cambridge “could quietly have nurtured his talents and sorted out his problems, which were surely those of a young man out of his depth rather than a brazen impostor,” he said.

“It was the university, not the press, which was obsessed with the color of Dr. Arday’s skin,” Moore wrote.

Sarah Ditum, writing in the Times of London, said Arday was a legitimate news story because his actions hurt the academics he plagiarized, public confidence in the rigor of his discipline and other early-career lecturers against whom he competed. But she acknowledged that the story was given extra oxygen because it broke during the summer, when Parliament is closed and journalists are desperate for something to write about.

“Academic plagiarists don’t usually make headlines, but Arday was not any old academic,” Ditum wrote.

“He was publishing a high-profile memoir with celebrity blurbs,” she added. "He had chosen the spotlight.”

Vernon, meanwhile, is encouraging people to remember that there was a man, a husband and father behind the headlines. He has created a GoFundMe campaign to help Arday’s family that has already raised more than 193,000 pounds ($261,000).

“This tells you that Britain still cares about justice, they care about inequalities,” he said. “And more importantly they really want to support Jason and his family in their hour of need.”

It was a mixed bag for incumbents in the state, where Republican-led redistricting efforts scrambled congressional maps. Voters in Alaska, Wyoming and California were also choosing their nominees, sometimes considering multiple people running with matching last names.

Tuesday's contests will help shape the midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans have a narrow edge.

Here are some takeaways from this round of primaries.

Another progressive beats a far better-funded establishment rival

Progressives notched a surprise victory as the battle between outsider and establishment candidates that has roiled the Democratic Party in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan moved to more conservative territory.

In a major upset, progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon easily defeated retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who delivered searing testimony against Trump in his 2019 impeachment trial. Vindman had outraised Nixon by more than 16-to-1, with Nixon bringing in less than $1 million.

Now she will face Sen. Ashley Moody in a campaign to fill the last two years of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s former Senate term. Moody was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Rubio stepped down.

But in another matchup in South Florida, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz won the nomination for reelection in a new Republican-friendly district against union organizer and democratic socialist Oliver Larkin.

Donalds joins historic slate of Black candidates for governor

Donalds, a rising star in the Republican Party, won his party's nomination to succeed the term-limited DeSantis, joining a historic slate of Black gubernatorial nominees across the country as he vies to become the first Black governor of the state.

They include Republicans Rep. John James in Michigan and Lisa Demuth, who defeated pillow-selling conspiracist Mike Lindell in Minnesota. On the Democratic side, David Crowley won a razor-thin primary against a democratic socialist in Wisconsin, joining Attorney General Aaron Ford in Nevada, State Rep. Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia.

Either Bottoms or Demuth could be the country's first Black woman governor.

There is currently only one Black governor in the nation, Democrat Wes Moore of Maryland, who is seeking reelection in November.

Donalds will face David Jolly, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

Wasserman Schultz wins diverse, redrawn Florida seat

A Republican-led redrawing scrambled Florida's congressional map, creating some awkward matchups for Democrats.

But longtime U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz easily won the most contentious race, beating U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and three other Black candidates in a South Florida district that is a plurality-Black district. Cherfilus-McCormick had resigned earlier this year under a pending federal indictment and threat of House ethics sanctions, but wanted her seat back.

Wasserman Schultz, a former national party chair seeking a 12th term in Congress, was the only white candidate competing to represent an area of Broward County that has helped send Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.

Her decision to run had stirred deep animosity, including charges by one rival that “she stabbed us in the back."

Trump pick loses in race featuring transplants and scandal-plagued candidates

While Trump-backed Donalds emerged victorious, the candidate Trump had endorsed to fill his seat — Catalina Lauf — lost to Jim Schwartzel, owner of conservative talk radio station 92.5 FOX News.

The race had featured a cast of characters akin to a reality show reunion, including several who had spent time in prison and a handful who had run in other states.

They included two former members of Congress mounting comeback bids after departing in scandal: Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn'stenure was marred by repeat traffic stops, guns at airport checkpoints and a claim he had been invited to a Washington orgy. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who resigned before pleading guilty to insider trading charges, served prison time before he was pardoned by Trump.

Trump-endorsed Lauf had run twice for Congress in Illinois. She lost the 2020 primary to Jim Oberweis, a former state senator, who has also decamped to Florida and ran for the seat.

Another candidate, Ola Hawatmeh, previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York, while Linda Sawyer once tried in Michigan.

Also in the race: John Strand, a former television actor, underwear model and romance novel cover model, who served prison time for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault of the U.S. Capitol.

Republicans lose an incumbent

While Democratic incumbents won their races, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his bid for a third term to Ryan Elijah, a former television reporter.

Mills faced a series of scandals, including allegations of domestic violence involving a former girlfriend, which he denies. He had also been abandoned by DeSantis and other state officials.

Trump initially backed Mills in February but did not include him in a list of endorsements on Monday.

Double-checking the name in Alaska

Will Alaska voters need to contend with two Dan Sullivans going forward? It's too soon to tell.

The primary ballot for the state's Senate race, which is expected to be one of the country's most closely watched this fall, included both Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, and another candidate also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans had claimed the second Sullivan — who appeared on the ballot as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." — was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Under the state’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes move on to a ranked-vote general election. Sullivan, the incumbent senator, and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November, swiftly advanced Tuesday, but it was too early to call the other two spots on the November ballot.

Another Trump pick for governor loses their race

While he had success with Donalds, another governor candidate endorsed by Trump lost her race, this time in Wyoming. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder was defeated by state Sen. Eric Barlow, a U.S. Marine veteran and livestock veterinarian who is also a former Wyoming House Speaker.

Trump’s picks for governor have occasionally struggled in primaries this year, including Lindell in Minnesota, Randy Feenstra in Iowa, Burt Jones in Georgia and Pamela Evette in South Carolina.

Trump had better luck in the Senate race in Wyoming, where his endorsed candidate, Rep. Harriet Hageman, easily captured the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

Pro-Israel group spending in former Swalwell seat

In California’s Bay Area, voters are choosing a replacement for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose resignation amid sexual assault allegations ended his run for governor.

California's 14th District will remain under Democratic control as state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez advanced from a special open primary.

However, the race was too early to call on Tuesday night, and California is notorious for counting slowly.

The campaign reprised a theme that dominated other Democratic primaries this year: outside spending, particularly from pro-Israel lobbying groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC spent more than $2 million against Wahab and in support of Hernandez, and another group funded by the super PAC has spent nearly $2 million in support of Hernandez.

Pro-Israel group spending seemed to backfire in Michigan's recent Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed emerged victorious despite tens of millions of dollars backing his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty — or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table.

The prosecution and defense have filed dueling documents focused on whether the crime included aggravating factors that would make Robinson eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Those include political targeting and whether the shooting endangered thousands of others who attended Kirk's Sept. 10 event at Utah Valley University.

Robinson is charged with crimes including aggravated murder and has not yet entered a plea. The 23-year-old defendant turned himself in a day after the shooting.

The latest batch of court documents follows a five-day preliminary hearing in July, when prosecutors presented what they said was “overwhelming” evidence against Robinson, while defense attorneys worked to sow doubt about analysts’ findings.

Judge Tony Graf said he will decide if the case should advance to trial after he hears again from both sides on Sept. 1.

In a document filed late Tuesday, prosecutors argued the engraved bullet found in the suspected murder weapon was an “overt political reference." They also noted that Robinson allegedly wrote in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out."

Robinson's attorneys have argued that the text message is not strong enough evidence to prove a political motivation. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on prosecutors' new filing.

Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help President Donald Trump win a second term.

Prosecutors contend that Kirk’s opposition to same-sex marriage and gender-affirming care stood in sharp contrast to Robinson, who was reportedly in a romantic relationship with his roommate, Lance Twiggs. Twiggs told investigators he had considered a gender transition around the time of Kirk's killing, according to prosecutors.

A handwritten note that prosecutors allege Robinson left for Twiggs read in part, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”

In a recorded interview shown in court last month, Twiggs said he had never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. Robinson also did not talk much about gender issues or LGBTQ+ rights, but he did sometimes talk about politics, including Trump, Twiggs told investigators.

The Associated Press emailed Twiggs’ attorney seeking comment.

During the July hearing, investigators presented DNA analyses that they said linked Robinson to both the suspected murder weapon and a tool he allegedly used to engrave the bullet cartridges. Robinson’s attorneys repeatedly questioned the reliability of DNA tests and other evidence.

Defense attorneys also have argued against a possible sentence enhancement for endangering others, saying the shooter “hit the intended target.” Prosecutors said numerous people were within a “zone of danger” around Kirk when he was shot from a rooftop.

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

In an open contest to replace term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Byron Donalds won the nomination on the Republican side and former Rep. David Jolly won the Democratic nomination. Sen. Ashley Moody won the Republican nomination to finish the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s term in the U.S. Senate.

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

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

Here's the latest:

Winner of 9-way Wyoming GOP US House race calls for party unity

Chuck Gray, the winner of the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone seat in the U.S. House, says President Donald Trump needs a Republican Congress that will stand for “America First values.”

Gray is a former state legislator who has been Wyoming’s secretary of state since 2023. He said in a statement the primary was a “spirited race” but that it’s time for Republicans to unite.

“What unites us is far greater than anything that divided us during this campaign,” Gray said.

Among others, Gray beat Steve Friess, son of the late financier and Republican donor Foster Friess, and Kevin Christensen, a former U.S. Bureau of Land Management district manager.

Gray will face Democrat Lisa Kinney in the general election.

Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman isn’t seeking reelection and won the GOP nomination for Wyoming’s open U.S. Senate seat. Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis is retiring after one term.

Independent Hill sees momentum in advancing in Alaska House primary

Independent Bill Hill says he’s excited about the momentum building around his campaign for Alaska’s only U.S. House seat.

Hill and Republican Rep. Nick Begich advanced from Alaska’s open primary to the ranked vote general election in November.

Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small Alaska village, has made affordability a key issue in his campaign. He says Alaskans are sick of paying high costs for healthcare, gas and groceries.

Begich is seeking a second term.

Independent Bill Hill advances from primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat

Hill, a commercial fisherman and retired educator, was one of the top finishers in Tuesday’s election. The four candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election, which is a ranked choice contest.

Hill, who lives in the tiny fishing village of Naknek in southwest Alaska and is Dena’ina Athabascan, has raised concerns about affordability, an issue that has hit especially hard in rural parts of the state where goods often arrive by plane or barge. He cited his own experiences with fragile supply systems that can delay fuel shipments and high costs for groceries and other staples.

The incumbent in the race is Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, who is seeking a second term.

The highest-profile Democrat on the ballot, Matt Schultz, suspended his campaign in mid-July and urged voters to back Hill.

Republican US Rep. Nick Begich advances from primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat

Begich, who is seeking a second term, was one of the top finishers in Tuesday’s election. The four candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election, which will be a ranked choice contest.

Begich, an ally of President Donald Trump, has had a large cash advantage and is the only Republican with widespread name recognition in the race.

His campaign emphasized his support for expanded oil and gas development in Alaska and success in getting legislation passed as a new lawmaker.

Begich comes from a family of prominent Democrats including his uncle Tom Begich, who is running for governor. His late grandfather, also named Nick Begich, once held the House seat.

Democratic former US Rep. Mary Peltola advances from Alaska primary for US Senate

Peltola was one of the top finishers in Tuesday’s election. The four candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election, which is a ranked choice contest.

Peltola and two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are the highest-profile candidates.

The campaign was dominated by news of another Republican named Dan Sullivan who also ran for the seat — and allegations by the senator and his GOP allies that the lesser-known Sullivan coordinated with Democrats to help Peltola. The challenger, Peltola’s campaign and state Democrats denied such claims.

Peltola emphasized affordability concerns, support for Alaska fisheries and fighting what she called a rigged system of politicians catering to billionaires and enriching themselves.

Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan advances to general election in Alaska

Sullivan, who is seeking a third term, was one of the top finishers in Tuesday’s election. The four candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election, which is a ranked choice contest.

Sullivan’s chief rival is Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. representative.

The campaign was dominated by news of another Republican candidate named Dan Sullivan who also ran for the seat — and unsuccessful efforts by GOP allies of the incumbent to keep him off the ballot.

Sen. Sullivan emphasized his military service and work supporting investments in the military, including efforts to bring more Coast Guard assets to the Arctic state.

Chuck Gray wins the Republican primary for Wyoming’s seat in the US House, beating 8 challengers

The crowded field of candidates sought the GOP nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, who is not seeking a third term while she runs for U.S. Senate.

Gray has a significant advantage headed into the general election. Wyoming has not been represented by a Democrat in the U.S. House in almost 50 years, and no Democrat in recent memory has come close to winning Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat.

Florida Republicans eye the 9th District

As of 12:30 a.m., fewer than 600 votes separated the top two candidates in Florida’s 9th District Republican primary.

Seven contenders vie for the chance to unseat five-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Darren Soto in November. Soto is running for a sixth term, but his district saw the biggest partisan shift after the state redrew the congressional map earlier this year.

Under the new lines, Florida Republicans hope to pick up the 9th District, along with the 14th, 22nd and 25th.

Wyoming GOP nominee for governor: ‘Show up, do the work’ wins the race

The Republican nominee for governor of Wyoming says he ran on a simple idea: “Show up, do the work, get the job done.”

“That is how we run our ranch, that is how I have served in the Legislature, and that is how this administration will operate,” state Sen. Eric Barlow said in a statement after winning the nomination Tuesday.

Barlow beat three other Republicans including retired U.S. Marine Col. Brent Bien and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

Degenfelder had President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Barlow said he won despite the efforts of “out-of-state money and outside voices.”

Barlow is a northeast Wyoming livestock veterinarian and rancher who was speaker of the Wyoming House before being elected to the state Senate.

In the general election he will face Democrat Ken Casner, a southeast Wyoming store owner who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Wyoming hasn’t elected a Democrat to the governor’s office in almost 20 years.

Eric Barlow wins the Republican nomination for Wyoming governor, beating 3 challengers

Wyoming’s current governor, Republican Mark Gordon, is term-limited and serving his final year in office.

Barlow has a significant advantage with voter registration alone in becoming Wyoming’s third Republican governor in a row.

Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Wyoming by a 7-to-1 margin.

No Democrat has come close to being elected Wyoming governor since Democrat Dave Freudenthal left office in 2011.

Harriet Hageman beats 4 opponents to win the Republican nomination for US Senate in Wyoming

Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Wyoming by a 7-to-1 margin, giving Hageman a significant advantage in the November election.

The winner will succeed Republican U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who is retiring after a single term.

Lummis has announced no future political plans after a more than 40-year career in politics. She served in the U.S. House, the Wyoming Legislature and as Wyoming’s state treasurer.

Wyoming has not had a Democratic U.S. senator since 1977.

State Rep. Angie Nixon becomes latest DSA member to win a Democratic primary

It’s another major victory for the Democratic Socialists of America, of which Nixon is a member, she previously told the radio station WUSF. Nixon, who secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida, chalks DSA candidates’ success up to voter frustration with the party establishment.

Other candidates hailing from the faction — who have won party primaries in New York and Denver — have made the same argument.

That progressive undercurrent on the left has disturbed the party’s leadership, who fear that such candidates will fare worse against Republicans come November. Nixon’s Republican opponent also sees it as a weakness, unfurling a diatribe against socialism in her victory speech Tuesday.

Donalds downplays possibly being Florida’s first Black governor

“Florida is a great meritocracy in America,” Donalds said when asked what it means to him and to the state to be Republicans’ first Black gubernatorial nominee and potentially its first Black governor.

Donalds did mention “my journey through life” and said many Florida voters are familiar with his story but also with his “voting record in Congress” and his conservative credentials.

Donalds has not emphasized the historic nature of his candidacy.

Black voters nationally and in Florida vote overwhelmingly Democratic, though Trump made notable gains with Black men in 2024, and Donalds promised to court all parts of the diverse electorate.

Donalds says Trump’s endorsement matters but isn’t enough

The Republican nominee’s intro video included a clip of the president praising the congressman. But in his lengthy victory speech, Donalds did not mention President Donald Trump or the endorsement.

Afterward, he told reporters he’s grateful for the support but won’t lean on it in a general election campaign.

“Obviously, he has the strongest following of anybody in our party,” Donalds said. “You start with that.” But, he added, “You can’t just sit back and think the president’s endorsement is going to carry you.”

He said he’s talked with Trump about that and “the president knows this.”

Florida’s Lt. Gov. Jay Collins loses bid to be Republican’s nominee for governor

After U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds won the GOP primary and spoke to his supporters, Collins took to the social platform X to thank his staff, adding that it was an “honor of a lifetime” to meet Floridians on the campaign trail.

“I congratulate Byron Donalds on his victory,” wrote Collins, who was previously elected as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ running mate, “and vow to continue fighting like hell to ensure we remain the free state of Florida in November.”

Nixon’s win means a Black Democrat is on the statewide ticket

State Rep. Angie Nixon’s win in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary means that both parties will have a Black nominee in the top statewide races.

Republicans made Byron Donalds the party’s first Black nominee for governor.

Some south Florida Democrats had expressed concerns that Black turnout in heavily Democratic Broward County could be down in November if Democrats had an all-white ticket.

Donalds’ Democratic opponent, Jolly, and his running mate, Gwen Graham, are both white and could benefit if Nixon’s candidacy helps drive turnout among Black voters who might have stayed home or even be drawn to Donalds’ candidacy.

There is still the complicating factor of Nixon’s progressive leanings. That could hamper her ability to reach Hispanic voters in south Florida, where many voters or their family members’ fled socialist regimes in Latin America.

Byron Donalds promises to continue DOGE in Florida during victory speech

“We are going to DOGE all local governments and all state agencies,” Donalds said. “There will be no sacred cows.”

One month after President Donald Trump and Elon Musk created the United States Department of Government Efficiency in early 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis established Florida’s state-level DOGE, which his administration said would ensure accountability in local government, reduce waste and save taxpayer money.

Florida’s DOGE examines Florida county and state agencies. Previously, it subpoenaed Orlando county workers over failing to cooperate with officers, claiming workers were hiding records associated with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Donalds promised to post all state spending online for Florida residents to see.

“Taxpayers deserve to know their hard-earned dollars are being spent with transparency and hard-earned integrity,” Donalds said.

Voters in Alaska’s capital cite concerns with direction of the state and country

Jeri Kissner, who said she votes for the person versus for a party, said she thinks Congress must do more to push back against President Donald Trump.

She said she favored Democrat Mary Peltola in the Senate race.

Giap Nguyen, an independent who leans Democratic, said he wants elected leaders who challenge the status quo. He said he felt he had a lot of choices in the field of 16 Senate candidates but wasn’t sure on the quality of some of the choices.

He declined to say who he voted for for Senate.

Donalds takes aim at ‘liberal David Jolly’

Florida Democrats nominated a former Republican for governor, but Republican nominee Byron Donalds wasted no time in labeling him as “Liberal David Jolly.”

Donalds said the former congressman backs socialist policies. He noted that Jolly has been a commentator on MSNOW, a liberal-leaning cable TV network, and has defended Dr. Anthony Fauci’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, while supporting Kamala Harris for president in 2024.

“Liberal David Jolly is the change that Florida cannot afford,” Donalds said.

The once-Republican David Jolly speaks after winning Democratic nomination for Florida governor

Jolly did not shy away from his partisan history as he addressed supporters.

“To my Democratic friends, thank you for welcoming me into the party,” he said, which got a “Woo!” from the crowd.

Jolly’s speech detailed a platform that balances between both political parties: an embrace of capitalism and a lean government, but one that “needs to do its part to fill the gaps.” Then he turned to social issues, where the current governor has championed the conservative cause.

“As an old-school Republican, I talk about ending the culture wars not to celebrate some progressive platform,” he said, “but because I still believe in the old-school Republican, libertarian policy that government should simply stay out of your life.”

Florida voters end the comeback bids of 4 former members of Congress plotting a return to Washington

Former Democratic U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick lost their races in the 7th and 20th Congressional Districts, respectively. Two Republican former members who previously represented districts in other states, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Chris Collins of New York, lost the GOP nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds in the 19th Congressional District.

At the top of the ballot, two former members had better luck seeking higher office. Former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly and his running mate, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, won the Democratic nomination for governor and lieutenant governor.

Donalds promises a unified GOP in Florida governor’s race

The congressman told his supporters at a Universal Studios resort hotel that he’d heard from GOP rivals who pledged their help in winning the general election.

“The primary is over,” he said. “Tonight we put aside our differences. Tonight we are one united Republican Party.”

Donalds talked of his economic struggles with his wife Erica when they were a newly married couple. He ran with Trump’s endorsement, but he has emphasized Floridians’ economic hardships without blaming the president for what voters “face every single day.”

He said he wants a state where people “can give your kids a better shot than you have.”

A Republican crowd lines up to replace Hageman as Wyoming’s lone US representative

Nine Republicans seek to succeed Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s lone U.S. representative who is now seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

The GOP candidates include Chuck Gray, Wyoming’s secretary of state since 2022. The others include Senate President Bo Biteman, a certified landman who has also served in the Wyoming House.

Candidate Kevin Christensen is a former U.S. Bureau of Land Management district manager who was a U.S. Army colonel and attack helicopter pilot.

Also seeking the Republican nomination are former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow and Steve Friess, son of the late financier Foster Friess.

The winner in November will face one of two Democrats seeking their party’s nomination. Wyoming has not been represented by a Democrat in the U.S. House since 1978.

Hageman has served two terms since she defeated incumbent Liz Cheney in the 2024 Republican primary.

Ryan Elijah, a former television reporter, defeats Rep. Cory Mills for Republican nomination

Mills faced a series of scandals including allegations of domestic violence involving a former girlfriend, which he denies.

Florida Republicans including DeSantis abandoned Mills ahead of the primary. President Donald Trump initially backed Mills in February but did not include him in a list of endorsements on Monday.

State Rep. Angie Nixon wins Democratic nomination for US Senate in Florida

Nixon would be Florida’s first Black U.S. senator if elected in November. She is running to fill the last two years of a term Republican Marco Rubio won in 2022 before becoming Trump’s secretary of state in January 2025.

It’s the latest victory for progressive candidates who have found success in primary contests against establishment-backed Democrats this year.

Sen. Ashley Moody wins Republican nomination to finish Marco Rubio’s term

Moody, 51, was appointed to fill Rubio’s seat after he became Trump’s secretary of state. Now she’s running to finish the last two years of his term.

A former state attorney general, Moody has Trump’s backing. Florida has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2012, when then-Sen. Bill Nelson won reelection.

David Jolly wins Democratic nomination for Florida governor

For the second time in a row, Florida Democrats have chosen a former Republican as their candidate for the state’s highest office.

Jolly, 53, served as a Republican U.S. representative but became a fierce critic of Trump. He became an independent and then joined the Democratic Party last year.

Four years ago, Democrats backed former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. He was easily defeated by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is finishing his second term and is barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

Rep. Byron Donalds wins Republican nomination for Florida governor

Donalds, 47, was backed by President Donald Trump. If he wins in November, he would be the state’s first Black governor.

He defeated several opponents on Tuesday, including Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and political newcomer James Fishback.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

“Byron Donalds will be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump wrote on social media.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz wins Democratic nomination in new Florida district

The victory positions Wasserman Schultz to serve a 12th term in Congress. She switched districts after Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map to boost their chances in November.

Wasserman Schultz, who is white, faced criticism for running in a district that has elected Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.

She defeated several opponents in the primary, including Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who wanted her seat back after resigning earlier this year while facing an ethics investigation.

Candidate with same name as incumbent Alaska senator seeks to advance

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, hopes to advance in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, where the incumbent is Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

The challenger successfully sued to appear on the ballot after the incumbent and GOP allies accused him of being a sham candidate intent on sowing voter confusion. Dan J. Sullivan has said his frustration with the incumbent was an impetus for his candidacy.

He appears on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation, while the senator appears as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. The decision to list them that way was made by the Division of Elections. Dan J. Sullivan appears as a Republican elsewhere, including on the division’s official candidate list online.

In Florida, Rep. Byron Donalds touts Trump endorsement but has a careful message on the president’s economy

The southwest Florida representative has had the president’s backing for the duration of his campaign to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But Donalds has offered a broader message, promising to tackle an economy that’s tough on many Floridians — while not blaming Trump.

“Affordability is a problem for all Floridians. It doesn’t matter what your politics are. It doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is,” Donalds said, promising to address taxes, property insurance premiums and health insurance access.

His message is notable not just because he so carefully frames economic realities under Trump but also because Donalds explicitly mentions race. Donalds would be the first Black governor of Florida, but he typically does not emphasize that historic possibility.

California election will determine Eric Swalwell’s temporary successor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Race to replace Swalwell reflects Democratic divide

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

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

“Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States and if so, why or how?” asked one of the moderators.

Graham started her answer by saying, “I’m just going to be honest here."

“I’m not that informed on national security," she said, then paused. "But I do support the military."

Graham’s brother, Lindsey, died unexpectedly on July 11. She was appointed to fill his seat temporarily, and now she’s running in a special election for her own term. Her opponent is Rep. Ralph Norman.

Her answer was noteworthy because her late brother was known for his involvement in foreign policy, something that Graham mentioned in her answer.

“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years so I will do everything I can to support the military," she said. "My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here, national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”

Graham was endorsed by President Donald Trump. She and Norman advanced to the runoff in last week's primary.

They are growing in numbers and in political and cultural clout. That’s bringing their vision of faith, Jewish identity and civic practices into conflict with other Israelis, both religious and secular. Distrust spirals on all sides.

Mass protests over proposed changes to the exemption from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men highlight the most contentious issue as the country approaches three years of war on multiple fronts — and national elections where ultra-Orthodox parties are likely to be kingmakers.

At the core of ultra-Orthodox doctrine is the belief that studying scripture — and teaching it to family and community — is the highest duty, above working or joining the armed forces even in wartime.

Judith Rosenblum, who has seven sons and one daughter, believes that ultra-Orthodox practice is under threat from secular culture, and that conscripting young men into the military can “compromise” their religious practice.

But when she ran into an acquaintance whose grandson lost two legs and an arm in the war in Gaza, she was proud to relay that three of her sons also signed up to serve after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

“If all my kids were cut out for full-time Torah learning and had the money to support themselves doing so, for sure that would be a preference,” Rosenblum said. “But my kids who left full-time Torah study are amazing human beings. And I believe that they did the right thing by going into the army and participating in the defense of the country.”

Full-time Torah study anchors ultra-Orthodox beliefs

In Hebrew, the ultra-Orthodox are called Haredim. The term was first used in the late 19th century by several rabbis and is derived from the Prophet Isaiah’s description of being “fearful or astounded by the word of God,” according to Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld.

"God’s word is not supposed to be intuitive; you have to look deeply,” said Gershenfeld, who grew up in Philadelphia but has lived in Israel, studying and teaching the Torah, for half a century. “Understanding the Torah is the crucial mission of life.”

He runs two Jerusalem yeshivas — or seminaries — for ultra-Orthodox boys and men.

Such institutions are “the beating heart of the community,” said Rabbi Heshy Grossman, an administrator at a prominent yeshiva in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot.

Inside the residential yeshiva, students aged 17-22 in white shirts and black pants spend long days praying, studying and discussing sacred texts and commentaries. Etl Lovy, 22, is completing his five years of study at the age when families start matchmaking for marriage.

“We have a lot of belief in what we’re learning,” he said a day before the start of summer break.

The Torah guides every moment of daily life

Lovy enthusiastically described how days begin at 7 a.m. with a prayer and continue with Talmud studies until late evening, learning “all commands from God and how to get close to him.”

As he took a sip of water on the hot day, he whispered a prayer. “Everything comes from the one above,” he explained with a smile.

For the ultra-Orthodox, each commandment and each good deed is not just a God-given obligation, but a way to find fulfillment and holiness.

And the highest one is studying God’s word — especially for men. Women receive a broader education in secular subjects like math, and they are expected to work while also raising large families. Ultra-Orthodox Jews believe many forms of birth control are opposed to God’s will, a view held by other conservative faiths but not all branches of Judaism.

“My life is not about making money, or building a nice house,” said Lovy, who plans to continue to study the Torah while his future wife works.

For the ultra-Orthodox, “every second of life is devoted to God,” said Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, adding that other Jews will either follow suit or “disappear into the mainstream.”

“The Orthodox are fighting assimilation,” said Feldman, who in his late 90s has witnessed the growth of the practice and still writes columns for a popular Haredi weekly magazine. “If you don’t study Torah and observe the commands, you become like any other Mediterranean country.”

He added that the ultra-Orthodox follow civil law so long as it doesn’t interfere with religious belief, such as forbidding or “affecting” the study of the Torah.

The ultra-Orthodox Jews’ complicated relationship with Israel

Much of the Torah studies tradition was lost during the Holocaust. When the state of Israel was founded shortly after, it gave ultra-Orthodox scholars special rights so they could rebuild, said Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, director of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Religion and State Program.

That included an exemption from the military draft, originally for a few hundred scholars and in later decades broadened by conservative governments to everyone who wanted to engage in Torah learning full-time, she said. The same body of men was also largely outside the workforce.

But the ultra-Orthodox have grown rapidly, outpacing other Israelis. Ravitsky Tur-Paz estimates they will be about 25% of the population by 2050, and about 40% of the potential army draft.

“Israelis aren’t concerned about the Haredi way of life; they’re concerned about their way of life,” she said, adding that includes everything from welfare tax impacts to how much time non-Haredi Israelis might need to serve in the reserves. “The question is, who’s paying the price for your choice of life? This has become the issue everyone is talking about.”

For many ultra-Orthodox, there’s no debate — they’re fulfilling their individual obligation to God, and nothing else matters more.

“The importance of the Torah is a genuine feeling, and not just an escape, not just an excuse,” Rosenblum said. “Haredi world will put Torah first, and then Israel.”

Fewer than 10% of ultra-Orthodox men reaching the conscription age of 18 enlist, according to a parliamentary committee, and they usually join separate units accommodating their religious practices. Reacting to a recent bill protecting the ultra-Orthodox from draft evasion prosecution, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, called such exemptions "inconceivable” while troops are being asked for “unprecedented sacrifice.”

But most ultra-Orthodox rabbis are adamant about their youths' exemption from the draft, to avoid “diluting their piety” at a critical age. Other Jewish men in Israel are required to serve for nearly three years, and women for two years.

“Studying the Torah is itself a spiritual protection,” Feldman added — an argument wearing thin with many Israelis, especially since about 1,000 troops have been killed fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon since the 2023 attack.

Asked if he had any qualms about his peers serving as soldiers while he devotes his life to studies, Lovy, the yeshiva student, said he prays “all the time” for soldiers.

“But we think because we believe in the Bible, we believe this is the right way to live. We don’t apologize,” he said. “I’m doing what God wants.”

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

Africa's most populous country will hold the election against a backdrop of worsening economic and security crises that have caused anger among voters against Tinubu's government.

The presidential vote will be held Jan. 16 alongside parliamentary elections, while gubernatorial elections will be held Feb. 6.

Tinubu is challenged by 18 opposition candidates but analysts predict a three-man race, including the two top contenders that he defeated in 2023. They are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, a serial presidential candidate, and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, a former state governor who blew the last race wide open with his mass appeal to Nigeria’s youth.

Historically, the ruling party in Nigeria's presidential elections usually has a higher chance of winning when the race features more than one prominent opposition candidate.

Tinubu unpopular among young voters

Tinubu was elected president in 2023 after campaigning on promises to build on his predecessor's efforts to deliver democratic dividends to citizens in a country grappling with deadly security crises, corruption in the government, and widespread poverty and hunger.

But critics say the president has not met those expectations and has become unpopular among many of Nigeria's mostly young voters. His massive economic reforms and their poor implementation has had a knock-on effect on the price of just about everything, resulting in the country's worst economic hardship in a generation.

Nigeria's challenges, notwithstanding, analysts say the split opposition could give Tinubu a higher chance of winning as was the case in 2023. In that year's election, Tinubu emerged ahead of multiple prominent opposition candidates but recorded one of the lowest vote percentages ever for an elected president, showing how unpopular he was.

An opposition coalition formed by Atiku and Obi among others in 2025 to unseat Tinubu collapsed before it took off.

“Voters are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the administration’s handling of inflation, insecurity and unemployment but because the anti-incumbent vote is split, the president has the edge,” said Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based risk advisory firm.

The president has solidified his base

Tinubu has also shored up his support base through the defections of erstwhile opposition figures, with 31 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors now members of his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The defections had prompted fears of a one-party state, which the national government denied.

In a country where current and former governors command massive grassroots support and are often accused of working with local electoral officials to manipulate election results, analysts say the defections could work in Tinubu’s favor.

The Nigerian leader began his administration with centerpiece economic reforms. At his inauguration in May 2023, he announced the removal of the decades-long fuel subsidy and later floated the local naira currency by ending its distorted foreign exchange rate, which caused a major devaluation.

The bold reforms, which Tinubu’s government argues saved the economy and handed the government more money, were cheered by investors but resulted in soaring inflation.

Nigeria's security woes have also persisted in recent years with more mass kidnappings and killings, and have further spread to regions that were once spared the violence.

“No matter how bad things are, Tinubu will still win because they are not working together,” said Juliet Onah, a resident in the capital of Abuja, referring to the opposition candidates not uniting as one front.

Carson Kelly led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left off Trevor Richards (0-1). The White Sox intentionally walked Crow-Armstrong before Bregman delivered the Cubs' MLB-leading 13th walk-off win of the season.

Bregman singled in pinch-runner Kevin Alcantara off Grant Taylor in the seventh to tie the score.

Crow-Armstrong led off with a home run, his 31st, for the second straight game and sixth time this season. He homered in consecutive at-bats after his first career walk-off shot Monday.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Crow-Armstrong is the first player in MLB history with two leadoff home runs and a walk-off in a two-game span, and the 13th since 1900 to follow a walk-off homer with a leadoff shot.

Crow-Armstrong also hit leadoff home runs in back-to-back games June 15-16 against Colorado.

Jacob Webb (6-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win, the Cubs' eighth straight over the White Sox at Wrigley Field.

Colson Montgomery had three hits for the White Sox, who saw their AL Central lead shrink to four games over the Minnesota Twins. The Cubs remained 4 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

The game was delayed 88 minutes by rain in the eighth inning.

After White Sox opener Bryan Hudson gave up first-inning solo home runs to Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, Erick Fedde worked 4 2/3 shutout innings.

The Cubs' Kevin Gausman gave up three runs on seven hits before exiting the game in the fifth with a left (non-throwing) hand cramp.

After Drew Romo's RBI single in the second, Munetaka Murakami hit his 29th home run in the third. Tristan Peters put the White Sox ahead in the fourth with an RBI double.

Up next

The White Sox have not named a starter for Wednesday's series finale against Cubs RHP Clay Holmes (5-5, 2.56 ERA).

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The Brewers equaled baseball’s modern-era record for the biggest shutout with a power surge that included three-run homers from Christian Yelich, David Hamilton and Luis Lara and a two-run shot by Jake Bauers.

The Brewers have 117 home runs this season, the fewest in baseball, but as was pointed out by Seattle manager Dan Wilson, they have multiple players with the ability to go deep.

“They’ll put bunts down and put pressure on the bases and steal bags,” Wilson said before the game. “They also have the ability to hit the home run. You kind of have to prepare for all areas of the game.”

The Brewers also generated offense doing what they do best, pulling off a double steal in a five-run fifth inning that helped break open a tight game.

The 78-48 Brewers matched a franchise record for runs in a game, tying the 22 runs they scored at the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 28, 1992. The Brewers also had a season-high 22 hits.

“It’s one game but a pretty darn good performance,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’d like to order that every night.”

The only other 22-0 victories since 1901 were by Pittsburgh over the host Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975 and by Cleveland at the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004.

Yelich connected for his ninth homer of the season, a three-run shot off Bryce Miller in the fifth. The Brewers tacked on five more runs in the sixth.

“It’s kind of crazy. It happened fast,” Yelich said. “It’s always fun to be on this side.”

Bauers smiled as he struggled to find words to describe the Brewers offensive outburst.

“I’ve got nothing for you on that one,” Bauers said. “It was just good performance all around. Just good at-bats all night up and down the lineup.”

Bauers hit his team-leading 22nd home run of the season in the sixth inning and he’s now reached base safely in 20 consecutive games.

The Brewers tagged Mariners infielder Leo Rivas, who came on to pitch in the eighth, for nine runs, which included a three-run home run from 21-year-old rookie Lara, his first career homer.

Lara took some good-natured ribbing about whether the homer counted since he hit it off a position player, but he was in a celebratory mood.

“For me, it all counts,” Lara said through an interpreter. “But I understand that it may not be common to get your first (home run) against a position player.”

Bauers and Yelich backed their young teammate.

“It’s a hard game. Every bloop single, dribbler single, home run off a position player, they all count,” he said.

Yelich urged Lara to embrace the moment.

“The first career homer is always cool,” he said. “Anytime you get to jog around the bases in a major league game is always special. It was cool for him to get his first one and smile and laugh about it.”

The Brewers also used a position player on the mound, veteran catcher/first baseman Gary Sanchez, with a much different result. Sanchez pitched a scoreless ninth with many in the announced crowd of 36,870 standing and cheering.

It was the third career pitching appearance for Sanchez and second this season. He has tossed two scoreless innings in the pair of outings the season.

“He did great. He was a showman as always,” Bauers said. “The crowd was involved. They loved it. He loved it. We loved it. But I still think he’s a better catcher than a pitcher.”

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Tatis' glove and bat were on display Tuesday night in a 5-2 win over the Mets as the 27-year-old robbed New York's Francisco Lindor of a grand slam in between hitting two homers.

“Tough challenge,” Tatis said following his 14th career two-homer game, which ties him for second in franchise history. “But robbery today was more fun.”

Tatis hit the first pitch from New York's Zac Thornton 452 feet into the second deck in left field before adding a two-run homer off Thornton in the fifth. He has 15 homers after opening the season without a longball in his first 238 at-bats.

But Tatis’ biggest contribution in the game came in the field in the second inning, when reached over the wall in in right field and pulled back Lindor’s potential slam.

“It’s amazing — he’s seriously one of the most athletic fielders I’ve ever seen,” said Padres pitcher Robbie Ray, who loaded the bases with three walks. “What he’s able to do out there, just to be able to be in that spot to make that catch, was incredible.”

Tatis, Ray and manager Craig Stammen were all surprised as Lindor’s fly drifted toward the wall on an night with minimal wind.

“I knew it was going to be a play at the wall,” Tatis said. “Just great timing — prepare myself to launch and go for it.”

Tatis was one step from the wall when he jumped and grabbed the ball just as it began to clear the wall. The converted shortstop used his hands to break his fall as his hat fell off and bounced behind him.

Tatis stood straight up and stared toward the infield, which left everyone on the field and the crowd of 35,508 wondering if he’d made the catch.

“Just taking off a grand slam right there, that’s a game changer,” Tatis said.

Tatis then raised his glove, after which Ray raised his arms and put his glove on his head.

“He does it with a flair,” Stammen said. “And that’s who makes Fernando who he is and why we love watching him.”

Ray walked a few more steps with his glove on his hat, grinning in disbelief as he gazed at Tatis, who jogged in with his mouth agape before he exchanged low fives with centerfielder Jackson Merrill.

“I kind of blacked out in the moment,” Ray said with a grin. “Just a really cool — it was just an incredible play.”

Ray allowed just two baserunners over his final four innings.

“It’s up there as one of the most impactful games he’s had as a Padre, for sure,” Stammen said. “You look at how many runs he created and then how many runs he took away. That’s a pretty big number.

“They talk about plus/minus in the NBA and hockey and stuff like that. That was a big plus/minus game for ‘Tati’ tonight.”

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Tatis hit the first pitch from Zac Thornton 452 feet into the second deck in left field for his team-record 18th career leadoff homer. Tatis added a two-run homer off Thornton in the fifth. He has 15 homers after opening the season without a longball in his first 238 at-bats.

But, Tatis' biggest contribution in the game came in the field in the second inning when reached over the wall in in right field and pulled back Lindor’s potential slam. Tatis stood and stared straight ahead when he landed, leaving everyone momentarily confused as to whether he'd caught the ball. Tatis then help up his glove and Padres pitcher Robbie Ray raised his arms and put his own glove on his head.

Tatis’ leaping catch came a night after Mets outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing combined to throw out three Padres players at the plate.

Ty France added a run-scoring single in the seventh for the Padres, who lead the majors with an 18-6 record since July 24. Manny Machado hit his 24th homer of the season, a solo shot in the ninth inning.

Ray (11-7) allowed three hits, including Luis Torrens’ homer, and struck out four in six innings on the way to his first win since being acquired from the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline. Mason Miller struck out two in the ninth and earned his 31st save.

New York's Luis Robert Jr. homered in the eighth.

Thornton (3-4) gave up three runs and tied a career-high with seven strikeouts in five innings for the Mets, who are 10-4 since the trade deadline.

Up next

Padres RHP Michael King (8-8, 3.41 ERA) starts against Mets RHP Robert Stock (0-2, 6.57 ERA) in Wednesday’s series finale.

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The private Jellyfish Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale, is believed to be the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to the translucent invertebrates, and one of the few such spaces in the world, according to the city and the museum’s founders.

It was created by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who previously developed successful aquariums in Ukraine, including their first jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The couple left those facilities behind when they fled Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion, operations manager Jessica Eisenbarth said.

The museum, which opened this past spring, is the couple's first aquatic attraction since immigrating to the U.S., but they'd like to expand.

“When they left Ukraine, they moved to Florida, and then they immediately wanted to share their passion here,” Eisenbarth said.

Jellyfish have survived for over 500 million years, making them older than dinosaurs and even trees. Their ancient origins are part of their allure, along with their hypnotic, pulsing movements. They have no heart or brain, and are made up primarily of water, giving them a translucent look.

Yana Yanovsky came up with the idea for the jellyfish museum after noticing how popular the jellyfish were at their other aquariums.

“Jellyfish are some of the most resilient creatures on Earth. While they lack a brain, they maintain a simple nerve net that allows them to respond to their environment,” Yana said in a statement provided by the city. “Their movement is mesmerizing, almost meditative, and they play an important role in marine ecosystems.”

Monty Graham, director of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, said he’s not surprised someone made an aquarium dedicated specifically to jellyfish. He credits the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California with kicking off the popularity of jellyfish exhibits at aquariums all over the world. Monterey Bay Aquarium began displaying jellyfish in temporary exhibits in 1985 and opened a permanent gallery in 1996.

“Jellyfish are cool, they’re things that people don’t get to see up close unless they’re scuba diving,” Graham said. “So here was this opportunity, in a controlled environment, very beautiful settings. It clicked all the buttons and checked all the boxes, and it was a very good, positive thing.”

The nearly 10,000-square-foot (900 square meters) Jellyfish Museum houses roughly 20 unique species of jellyfish found in Florida waters and other parts of the world. Different species can be rotated through the museum's 21 tanks. Some current occupants include Japanese sea nettles, moon jellyfish, spotted jellies and upside-down jellyfish, the last of which can be found among Florida's mangrove swamps.

The jellyfish are acquired through licensed aquaculture partners, according to the city.

The space is designed to exude calm and tranquility, general manager Iryna Pelypkanych said. It was converted from a former Wells Fargo bank branch with about $100,000 in community redevelopment grants from the city of Pompano Beach. Guides teach people about the role jellyfish play in marine ecosystems and the importance of protecting them.

“The biggest idea here is to leave people with the feeling that they know something more about the population of jellyfish,” Pelypkanych said. “Because so far, we know around 4,000 different species that can be called jellyfish.”

Hundreds of miles away, Ukrainian drone crews had barely paused after the night’s work before starting to prepare for another attack.

A small group of soldiers quickly assembled in a sunflower field in southern Ukraine, gathering around 20 small planelike drones laden with explosives, before launching them toward Russia.

The launch by the Ukrainian 413th “Raid” Unmanned Systems Regiment on Sunday morning was observed by a team of Associated Press journalists — a rare glimpse into a rapidly expanding part of Ukraine’s war effort.

It's Ukraine's latest tactic — long-range drones designed to carry the war deep inside Russia, striking military, industrial and logistical sites far from the front line.

Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries and energy facilities. It has also increasingly pummeled giant Wildberries depots, burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise belonging to the Russian online retail giant.

Those attacks have brought the war home to the Russian public, nearly 4½ years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The scale of the attacks has also forced Russia’s military to stretch air defenses over a larger area, disrupted airports, sparked fuel shortages and undermined morale in Russia.

The regiment's commander, Yevhen Karas, said his unit had also taken part hours earlier in the strike on the Wildberries warehouse, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Moscow, during one of Ukraine’s largest attacks on Russia to date.

Ukraine will need to punish the Kremlin “if we want to get a stable and long period of peace, and normal peace,” Karas said.

“The bigger casualties they have,” the sooner they will go for peace, he added.

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

Karas, however, believes the impact of Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign on Russia’s economy is bringing home the cost of the war to ordinary Russians and hopes this will drive Moscow back to the negotiating table after months of U.S.-brokered talks between the two sides stalled.

On Sunday morning, before the drones took to the skies, Karas took out a black marker and wrote a message on the fuselage: “Moscow burns under the sky, red flame rises so warm and high, dark smoke moves above the town, fire lights the night all around.”

Like the majority of Ukraine’s serving military, Karas had a very different life before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

But on that day, the 38-year-old who majored in philosophy in his university studies and his brother Volodymyr both volunteered for the front. His brother was killed while defending the Kyiv region. In the months that followed, Karas rose through the ranks to become an officer in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.

In 2024, Karas was appointed commander of the newly-formed 413th Raid Unmanned Systems Regiment, which began as a unit using drones for reconnaissance and other battlefield tasks.

As drone technology developed and flight range increased from hundreds to over a thousand miles, his unit was tasked with mounting long-range operations using Ukraine’s domestically produced FP-1 drones against targets deep inside Russia.

Others in the unit include a former opera singer, a computer programmer, a rapper and a cellist. Their routine now focuses on a very simple sequence of tasks: prepare the drone, check the systems, move it into position and launch.

Wait for the result, then repeat.

The unit's medallion — something militaries across the world refer to as a “challenge coin” — carries the troops' insignia on one side, a stylized, three-prong arrow. On the other is a relief depiction of a Kremlin in flames, with a drone flying over it.

Karas said that in this phase of the war, Moscow should fear the skies.

“Muscovites should spend their nights in their wonderful metro, just as residents of Kyiv have spent years going underground to escape Russian missile and drone attacks,” Karas said.

Back in the sunflower field, once the drones were airborne, the soldiers packed up their equipment and drove away, leaving hardly any traces of their activity.

They were on to the next launch site.

Teoscar Hernandez had a triple and double, and Tommy Edman doubled twice as the Dodgers broke out of an offensive slump in Denver.

Los Angeles scored 10 runs in the four-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend. Against Colorado, the Dodgers have scored 18 runs on 24 hits with four homers, including three by Ohtani, in the first two games of the three-game set.

Ohtani’s 30th homer traveled 448 feet into the Los Angeles bullpen off Ryan Feltner (5-7) and gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The Rockies tied it in the bottom of the inning before Los Angeles went ahead again in the fourth.

Edman, Kyle Tucker and Hernandez doubled in the inning to make it 5-3, and Hernandez scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Eric Lauer (8-6) allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings. The 31-yeare-old left-hander has been one of the best starters for Los Angeles since coming over from Toronto on May 17. He went 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his first 11 starts with the Dodgers.

Before the game, Los Angeles placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with neck inflammation and recalled righty Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A. Tanner Scott, elevated to the closer role, earned his 17th save when he got TJ Rumfield to pop out to short with the tying run on.

Colorado's Will Castro hit his 14th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning.

Up next

Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.46 ERA) faces Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.27) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

No officers were injured, officials said.

Chief Michael Paul said at 3:30 p.m., a sergeant was parked at a JSO substation when a 45-year-old man walked up to his car. The sergeant exited his car and interacted with the man, then the man pulled out a gun and started walking backwards, JSO said.

Watch the full media briefing below.

In turn, the sergeant pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man. The man then shot at the sergeant, missing him and striking the building behind him.

JSO said the sergeant shot back at the man and struck him. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue took the man to a hospital where he died.

Officials identified the man as Christopher Ford and said he has a Baker Act from February 2026. Ford has no local criminal history, JSO said.

This is the officer’s second officer-involved shooting and his name isn’t being released by the agency because of Marsy’s Law.

This is the 14th officer-involved shooting in 2026.

JSO said that the sergeant activated his body cam, but it may not have been in time to capture the initial interaction with the man.

“We may have to look to other places for those answers,” Paul said. “It’s a very short period of time.”

The officer was placed on administrative leave.

This story will be updated as we learn more information.

Although this marks China’s first successful recovery on land, it is the second time the country has recovered a rocket stage, following a successful recovery on a sea platform in July.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the reusable rocket, Zhuque-3, was launched Wednesday morning and that the rocket's first stage was recovered afterward.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been recovering rockets since 2015, helping drive down launch costs by reusing hardware that would otherwise be discarded after carrying satellites and other payloads toward space.

Xinhua said that Wednesday's recovery also marked China's first use of deployable landing legs and deemed the result “a major breakthrough in the country’s reusable rocket technology.”

On July 10, the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket separated from the second stage after liftoff and returned to a platform at sea. That time, it was recovered using a net-capture system.

The next day, on July 11, Japan conducted the first test flight of an experimental reusable rocket, which took off and safely landed.

Japan is also trying to catch up with the technology needed to cut launch costs and compete in the global space market.

The major league-best Brewers (78-48) matched a franchise record for runs in a game. Since 1901, the only previous 22-0 victories were by Pittsburgh over the host Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975 and by Cleveland at the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004.

Bauers scored the Brewers' first run in colorful fashion. He doubled with two outs in the first against Bryce Miller (4-7). William Contreras singled, and left fielder Randy Arozarena's throw to the plate easily beat Bauers, who slapped at catcher Cal Raleigh's mitt on his slide. Raleigh dropped the ball, and Bauers dived back to the plate.

Yelich's homer made it 6-0 in the fifth. Hamilton went deep in the sixth to make it 9-0, and Bauers' 22nd homer later in the inning made it 11-0.

Milwaukee scored nine times in the eighth against Mariners infielder Leo Rivas, including Lara's homer, which was the first of his career.

Kyle Harrison (10-3), who allowed eight runs (three earned) over 4 2/3 innings in his previous start, held the Mariners to two hits in five innings. Shane Drohan worked two innings, Grant Anderson pitched the eighth and catcher Gary Sánchez completed the five-hitter, working around two hits in the ninth while throwing several pitches under 40 mph.

Hamilton's four RBIs were a career high. Yelich and Lara also drove in four runs each, and Garrett Mitchell had four hits.

Up next

Seattle’s RHP Logan Gilbert (9-7, 3.28 ERA) and Milwaukee’s RHP Dustin May (6-7, 4.13) start on Wednesday.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

A neighbor told News4JAX a woman was inside the home at the time of the incident. Thankfully, she was not seriously injured, according to the neighbor.

Video from the scene showed the massive tree cutting through the roof of the home.

The storms also brought hail and power outages to the area.

November's election will test President Donald Trump’s grip on his adopted state and Democrats’ ability to resurrect Florida as a national political battleground. Florida has moved notably to the right since Trump's victory in 2016, though Democrats hope to regain ground from his slumping popularity ratings.

DeSantis, a leading conservative figure who has both clashed and collaborated with Trump over the years, is barred from running for a third consecutive term.

Also Tuesday, progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate special election, defeating retired Army Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, a onetime National Security Council official who testified in Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.

Nixon, who was heavily outspent by Vindman, will face Sen. Ashley Moody, winner of the Republican nomination, in November to fill the last two years of Marco Rubio’s Senate term. Rubio left the seat to become Trump's secretary of state last year.

Donalds could be a historic figure in Florida

Donalds would be Florida's first Black governor if he wins in November. He defeated a former DeSantis running mate, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, political newcomer James Fishback and others Tuesday.

The 47-year-old congressman Donalds told his supporters at a Universal Studios resort hotel that he’d heard from Republican rivals who pledged their help in winning the general election.

“The primary is over,” Donalds said. “Tonight we put aside our differences. Tonight we are one united Republican Party.”

Donalds described Trump's backing as important but not determinative.

“Obviously, he has the strongest following of anybody in our party,” he said. However, he added, “you can’t just sit back and think the president’s endorsement is going to carry you.”

Donalds has promised to push tax cuts, overhaul Florida’s insurance regulations to lower consumer costs and seek greater price transparency from healthcare providers.

The Democrats’ candidate for governor, Jolly, is a former Republican congressman who switched parties last year. He did not shy away from his partisan history as he addressed supporters Tuesday night.

“To my Democratic friends, thank you for welcoming me into the party,” he said.

Jolly’s speech detailed a platform that balances between both political parties: an embrace of capitalism and a lean government, but one that “needs to do its part to fill the gaps,” such as with education and housing.

“As an old-school Republican, I talk about ending the culture wars not to celebrate some progressive platform,” he said, “but because I still believe in the old school Republican, Libertarian policy that government should simply stay out of your life, and stay out of your bedroom.”

It's the second time in a row that Democrats have nominated a onetime Republican for governor.

Four years ago, they backed former Gov. Charlie Crist, only to see him lose by nearly 20 percentage points to DeSantis.

Rich Chamberlin, a retiree in Port St. Lucie, said he supported Jolly in Tuesday's primary, spurred on by attack ads against him.

“I saw anti-Jolly ads. I said ‘Ok, if they are against him, then I must be for him,'" Chamberlin said, adding it didn't matter to him that Jolly was once a Republican.

A progressive gets Democratic nomination for Senate

Florida voters haven't sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2012, and this year's race was always going to be an uphill climb.

Moody, a former state attorney general, was appointed by DeSantis to fill Rubio's seat last year after he became Trump's secretary of state. She's now running to finish the last two years of his term.

Moody will face Nixon, a progressive state lawmaker who scored an upset victory over the Army veteran Vindman. Nixon would be Florida’s first Black U.S. senator if elected in November.

"Rep. Nixon ran a strong campaign," Vindman posted on social media. "I will be standing by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody. I hope you’ll join me.

Wasserman Schultz wins in a new plurality Black district

In U.S. House primaries, Tuesday’s biggest contest saw longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, defeat former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and others in a redrawn south Florida district.

Wasserman Schultz, who is white, urged voters in the new, plurality Black district to help her return to Washington for a 12th term. Cherfilus-McCormick had sought a comeback after resigning earlier this year under a pending federal indictment and threat of House ethics sanctions.

Wasserman Schultz entered a new district after DeSantis' successful push for new congressional maps intended to boost Trump's midterm election prospects.

Her four Black primary opponents — including Cherfilus-McCormick — had argued that the district should have a Black representative. But the voters went with a candidate who touted long experience from serving in Congress since 2005.

Surrounded by her campaign staff Tuesday night, Wasserman Schultz tearfully thanked voters for having confidence in her. She said she wanted to “make all of you proud, to make sure that the people we spoke to all across this district know that I will fight so they can pay their rent.”

Republican Rep. Cory Mills is ousted by a challenger

Former television news reporter Ryan Elijah won the Republican nomination for Florida’s 7th Congressional District, ousting the scandal-plagued Mills.

A two-term congressman, Mills has denied allegations of domestic violence against a former girlfriend and other controversies.

But Florida Republicans including DeSantis had abandoned Mills ahead of the primary and the congressman was not included on Trump's final list of Florida endorsements. Elijah advances to the general election in a central Florida district that is considered reliably Republican.

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Associated Press reporters Gisela Salomon in Miami and David Fischer in Port St. Lucie, Florida, contributed.

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

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

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

Trump looms over negotiations to reopen Strait of Hormuz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo

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

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

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

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

Ship traffic drops significantly in Strait of Hormuz

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

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

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

Projectile damages ship in strait causing a casualty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israel strike on Gaza City kills 6 people

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

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

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

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

Missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates

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

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

Iran early Wednesday rejected the UAE’s claims that it launched missiles toward the country.

In a post on social media, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said Dubai’s accusations were “detrimental to ongoing efforts to strengthen trust among the countries of the region and prevent a further deterioration of security.” He called on the nations in the region to not make “baseless accusations” against Iran.

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

The same treat was served to her at breakfast the following morning. Delighted, she summoned her chef and rewarded him with a silver ingot.

“It was originally called ‘minced pork pancake,’ but because it had fulfilled her dream, it later became known as ‘dream pastry,’” said Zhou Tong, a chef at Fangshan Restaurant in Beijing.

Fangshan specializes in imperial cuisine, preserving dishes like the one associated with Cixi and other culinary traditions from China’s imperial court. The restaurant was founded in 1925 by former chefs from the Qing Dynasty at Beihai Park, a garden where royals from several dynasties rested, handled government affairs and performed ritual sacrifices.

“The name Fangshan literally means ‘imitating the imperial cuisine,’” said assistant general manager Di Xin.

A handful of other Beijing restaurants also serve versions of imperial cuisine, while the Palace Museum preserves Qing-dynasty objects tied to court dining, including pastry molds.

Every meal comes with its own rules

Imperial cuisine encompasses the meals emperors ate daily and the feasts their courts held throughout the year.

Each had its own rituals. Drinking milk tea, for instance, was an important first step at Qing-dynasty banquets, said Teng Deyong, a researcher at China’s Palace Museum.

During the banquet, the emperor bestowed wine or food on princes and officials. Recipients performed rites and paid their respects to him before they ate or drank.

Aside from banquets, sacrificial rituals were held. They followed a separate system and could involve meat offerings.

“At the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity, there was the eating of sacrificial pork, which we know was one of the most important rituals of the Qing imperial court,” Teng said.

In that ritual, fatty pork was boiled without salt. After the ceremony, it was distributed among guests, and receiving the sacrificial meat was considered a great honor.

Unseasoned food also appears in earlier Chinese ritual traditions. Wandi Wang, a professor of Chinese at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, said the “Book of Rites,” a classical work on rites and ceremonies, describes a meat broth known as “grand stew” that was served without seasoning during sacrificial ceremonies.

“The absence of added flavoring was itself meaningful: the unseasoned dish evoked an earlier and simpler way of cooking and thus expressed a ritual ideal of honoring antiquity and remembering cultural origins,” Wang said.

Traditional techniques keep imperial pastry-making alive

Pastries were key to imperial cuisine, and the court had an institution specialized in making them.

Sweets made at Fangshan by Zhou include Cixi’s dream pastry and a small steamed corn bun. Their recipes are rooted in the imperial court.

“When customers visit, our servers often tell them the stories behind these dishes,” Zhou said. “People enjoy them even more because they carry such meaningful history.”

He learned his pastry-making technique from a master who had also learned from a mentor. It’s a craft that has been passed from one generation to the next.

Traditional imperial methods mean cooking must be done by hand — no blenders or food processors are allowed. Ingredients like beans are pulverized using sieves and certain flours are handled in custom-made copper pots.

“A machine may be more convenient, but the texture is completely different,” Zhou said. “You lose the delicate graininess and sandy mouthfeel that handcrafted pastries are supposed to have.”

Among Fangshan’s bestselling delicacies are the pea flour cake and the red bean roll. During the busy season, customers order more than 200 of the cakes per day.

Balancing ancient cooking methods with a changing world

When he joined Fangshan as a kitchen apprentice, now-executive chef Fan Liangliang had to relearn everything he was taught at culinary school. Rather than employing techniques that allowed him to work quickly, he embraced slower processes he had never heard of.

One of them is “Nizihuo,” which Fan said involves mincing ingredients such as fish, shrimp or chicken into a smooth paste. It is then reshaped into decorative forms such as frogs, birds and flowers.

“This is one of the hallmarks of imperial cuisine,” Fan said. “Every dish had to be innovative, visually beautiful, nutritious and worthy of presentation on the imperial dining table.”

Rare ingredients such as bear paws are no longer served. Fan said adaptations are made to retain the spirit of each dish.

Chinese cuisine has long reflected cultural values, politics and ideals

A celebrated Chinese poet once wrote about cold noodles made with pagoda-tree leaves.

“The poem is not simply a description of a dish,” Wang said. “Du Fu turns the verdant, fresh, yet modest dish into an expression of his political loyalty and thwarted ambition to serve the emperor.”

She added that Chinese cuisine has historically carried meaning beyond food, reflecting broader ideas about politics, culture and aesthetics that have evolved as circumstances changed.

“Preserving a culinary tradition begins with taking its history seriously,” Wang said. “Culinary heritage tells us not only how people ate in the past, but also how people in the present choose to remember and give meaning to that past.”

Chef Fan said that at the heart of Fangshan’s imperial cuisine is a fusion of Manchu and Han culinary traditions, bringing together the culture of the Qing rulers and that of China’s majority population.

“It’s not simply a collection of dishes from the two cultures,” he said. “It represents the blending of their different approaches to food into a unified cuisine.”

Some inherited techniques such as stir-frying, braising and stewing have survived. And while some ingredients have been substituted both for availability reasons and to suit modern tastes, Fan said his team’s commitment to Chinese heritage remains strong.

“When people dine at Fangshan Restaurant, I hope they experience more than just a meal,” Fan said. “They experience the weight of history.”

___

AP video journalist Wu Jia contributed to this report.

___

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

During Detective Chris Johns’ testimony recounting the investigation, prosecutors played a 50-minute video showing Mario Fernandez’s interview with Johns and another detective after the murder, but before he was considered a suspect.

Fernandez, 38, is currently on trial for first-degree murder and solicitation of murder, accused of arranging Bridegan’s death by hiring the alleged gunman Henry Tenon, who lived at a property on Potomac Avenue in Jacksonville that was owned by Fernandez and his wife, Shanna Gardner, who divorced Bridegan in 2015.

RELATED: He’s the first to face trial in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case. What do we know about Mario Fernandez?

During the interview with investigators, Fernandez accused Bridegan of being difficult to interact with when it came to the care of the twins, a boy and a girl, that Bridegan shared with Gardner. The twins were 9 years old when Bridegan was killed.

Fernandez said Bridegan was a passive-aggressive person and called him a “keyboard warrior.”

“I remember reaching out to Jared (after marrying Shanna). ‘Now that I will be in the kids’ life more, let’s have a chat.’ Nothing. I got nothing,” Fernandez said.

He told detectives that the night of Bridegan’s murder, he had taken pain medication for headaches.

RELATED | Who was Jared Bridegan? A father, a creative builder, a believer — and so much more

Bridegan, a father of four, was killed on Feb. 16, 2022, when he got out of his vehicle to remove a tire that was placed in the road.

After spotting the tire, Bridegan, who was driving home to St. Augustine after dropping off the twins at Gardner’s Jacksonville Beach home, stopped his Volkswagen Atlas and put on warning lights to remove it.

But when he opened his door, he was shot twice.

Two other bullets (seen below in an evidence display) hit the SUV, with one missing his toddler daughter, Bexley, in the back seat by mere inches, investigators said.

RELATED: Murder of father of 4 in Jacksonville Beach inspires toy boxes for children caught in tragedy

Testimony on Tuesday morning included a minute-by-minute timeline of video evidence leading up to the deadly ambush shooting.

The video evidence follows the path of a blue two-tone F-150 pick-up truck through Jacksonville Beach. Investigators say it was the vehicle used to transport the shooter to the scene of Bridegan’s murder.

Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, became emotional when an evidence technician testified about the scene.

The prosecutor showed video the evidence tech took walking up to the dark scene; you see the tire in the road, shell casings and Bridegan’s body on the ground.

Another video shown in court Tuesday morning, taken near the scene, included the sound of gunfire.

Members of law enforcement who collected that video evidence and also DNA, the tire and bullet casings from the scene also testified on Tuesday about the process of cataloguing that evidence.

Johns testified about what was found inside the blue F-150, including business check stubs that were later matched to three checks Fernandez wrote to Tenon.

Johns also testified that boots and a jacket that belong to Tenon appeared to match those worn by the shooter, who was captured on video leaving the scene of the murder on foot.

JSO body camera video of Tenon walking inside the jail was also shown, and Johns said it was taken to show that Tenon’s distinct gait matched the gait of the shooter in the surveillance video the night of the murder.

Johns explained how investigators tried to use the announcement of Tenon’s arrest to “tickle the wire” and see if Fernandez and Gardner would be caught on wire taps talking to each other about the murder.

“It’s an event that is basically prearranged by law enforcement. So it spurs conversation about the actual crime that we’re trying to record,” Johns said, admitting that the effort was not successful.

Johns said Fernandez and Gardner were under surveillance at the time and were living in separate states: Gardner was in Washington state and Fernandez was in Orlando.

‘Absolutely no trust’

Kirsten Bridegan testified on Monday, the first day of the trial, describing the ongoing co-parenting tension between the couples that prosecutors believe was at the heart of the murder-for-hire scheme.

In her opening statement and while questioning Kirsten Bridegan on the stand, Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler traced the bitter relationship between Bridegan and Gardner, who spent years after their divorce in contentious court battles over how to raise their twins, from disputes about religion to doctor’s appointments and even school conferences.

“It was pretty terrible,” Kirsten Bridegan said on the stand. “There was absolutely no trust so everything was in writing. Texts, email. We did not speak in person, like at school events. Didn’t do phone calls.”

Fernandez also mentioned the family communication in his interview with detectives that was played in court on Tuesday. He said the family was in a group text and had an arrangement to text when they arrived to pick up the kids.

Fernandez recounted in his interview what happened one time when he opted to knock instead of texting.

“I went to go pick the kids up like three years ago. I picked them up. The kids came running out. They are scared. ‘Dad said no one should knock on the door. You can’t knock.’ I can do what I want. I could see him; he refused to turn around,” Fernandez recalled. “I got a message (that) if I ever do it again there would be a restraining order.”

Prosecutors have pointed to the ongoing acrimony between the couples as a major motive behind Bridegan’s killing.

“When it was something where all four of us were at, it was very tense. You could just feel the tension,” Kirsten said. “Jared, he would kind of retreat into himself and be quiet and not want to make eye contact. So it was not a comfortable experience ever.”

When prosecutors went through the night of the murder with Kirsten, she choked up as she remembered the moment an officer -- and not Jared -- answered the phone she’d been calling repeatedly after Jared had not made it home.

She cried when the prosecutor showed her a photo of Jared and asked her to confirm it was her husband.

Prosecutors also showed Kirsten a video from surveillance cameras at the Jacksonville Beach Police Department headquarters.

A man is seen walking in front of the police station and then down the street. During opening statements, the defense indicated that man is believed to be Henry Tenon.

The prosecutor asked Kirsten if she recognized the man in the video, and she said no.

On that same video, just seconds after the man walks out of frame, Kirsten is seen arriving at the station in the family’s Suburban after speaking with the officer who answered Jared’s phone.

It was unclear if Kirsten had ever seen the video before or knew how close she’d come to the man police believe shot her husband that night.

‘Targeted ambush’

On day one, Stifler pointed to the tire in the road as proof of a planned attack against Bridegan.

“A targeted ambush, a planned tactical ambush with a tire in the road in a dark place where no one would see and no one would know and no one would trace it back to those responsible,” Stifler told the jury in her opening statement. “The architects of Jared Bridegan’s murder intended it to be the perfect crime, and it almost was.”

In her opening statement, Stifler told the jury that the fatal shooting of the 33-year-old Microsoft design manager on that dark Jacksonville Beach road was hatched by Gardner and Fernandez, after years of post-marriage strife over religion and how to raise the twins.

Gardner, 39, faces her own trial in September. The accused gunman, 65-year-old Henry Tenon, is slated to go to trial next year after backing out of a guilty plea.

Stifler said that while it took investigators time to put the pieces together after discovering the execution-style killing, those pieces now point to a murder-for-hire scheme.

“The killer was a stranger to Jared Bridegan. The murder was personal,” Stifler told the jury.

Stifler acknowledged there were no eyewitnesses to the crime but said surveillance video captured a man later identified as Tenon running from the scene -- and someone else driving away in Tenon’s truck.

Those videos were what law enforcement went over in detail during Tuesday’s testimony.

Defense attorney James Hill told the jury in his opening that the state can’t prove who was driving the truck.

“They don’t know who’s driving the truck. They don’t know who actually solicited Henry Tenon. There’ll be no evidence to suggest they do,” Hill said.

Defense attorney Jesse Dreicer reiterated that point during cross-examination of investigators on Tuesday, saying there was no proof that Fernandez was the driver of the truck, the person running from the scene, or the shooter. He also pointed out a gap of 32 minutes in the footage where investigators admitted they did not know where the truck was.

Hill also told jurors on Monday that Fernandez, an Army veteran, had no motive to get rid of Bridegan and his actions shortly after the killing, a road trip to Pennsylvania and back, didn’t resemble that of a criminal schemer “running from the law.”

“He had access to a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Hill acknowledged, referring to his wife Gardner’s trust fund. “He could have fled the country.”

Execution-style killing

Bridegan’s family was in court on Monday, and his siblings, sitting in the second row behind State Attorney Melissa Nelson, were visibly emotional during testimony from those who described the scene on the night Bridegan was killed.

The first trial witness, Jonelle Cruz, said that she comforted Bridegan’s daughter with a blanket in a separate vehicle while her boyfriend tried to figure out what had happened.

RELATED: 911 calls describe scene of confusion in Sanctuary neighborhood on night of Jared Bridegan’s ambush murder

“She was shaking. She was very worried about her dad,” Cruz testified.

Prosecutors showed a video Cruz had taken with Bexley that night. When she asks Bexley what happened, the toddler says she heard a “Boom!”

Cruz said Bexley asked about her daddy, saying he was hurt and wanting to know if the police would help him.

Cruz’s boyfriend, Shane Borja, described Bridegan being found face down in a pool of blood next to his SUV. Borja was the one who found Bexley in the SUV, took her out and handed her over to Cruz, who kept her until detectives took her to the police station.

That’s where she was reunited with her mother, who testified that she followed her “gut instinct” and urged police to investigate Gardner and Fernandez.

Stifler said Gardner, who was from a wealthy family, relocated to Washington state with her children after Bridegan’s death. Fernandez, meanwhile, moved to Orlando.

“Ms. Gardner got what she wanted: full control over her children and the freedom to move out of Jacksonville, Florida,” the prosecutor said.

The first day of the trial ended with testimony from the medical examiner who confirmed what no one had disputed: That Jared Bridegan died from gunshot wounds and that his death was a homicide.

Second tire found

Stifler said during her opening that police discovered a lead a few months into the investigation “that blew the case open.”

A tire at a rental property owned by Fernandez was very similar to the tire that had blocked Bridegan’s vehicle when he was shot.

An investigator testified on Tuesday to finding the tire at the Potomac Avenue home.

“I actually got onto Google and started looking at the DOT numbers that are on the tire, and according to Google, and ultimately later through Bridgestone itself, they matched or they appeared to match at least the same date and manufacture, manufacturer plan,” he said.

Police said they matched DNA on those two tires to Tenon, who had a criminal record and financial problems.

Tenon was charged with shooting Bridegan and at first pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Fernandez and Gardner. But he withdrew the plea earlier this year and will have his own trial in March 2027.

Tenon is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, possession of a firearm by a felon and accessory after the fact.

Fernandez’s trial is scheduled to last through Aug. 28.

Gardner will go on trial after Fernandez, with jury selection from Aug. 31-Sept. 4, and the trial from Sept. 8-25.

Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Neither Gardner nor Tenon will testify in Fernandez’s trial.

The case has garnered national attention, and Judge London Kite has repeatedly explained to the 12 jurors and four alternates that they can not look up anything about the case or talk about it with anyone.

As part of the preparation for trial, Kite previously ordered that the seated jurors’ names be kept anonymous until 60 days after the trial, which is typical in high-profile cases. The jurors were referred to only by their numbers during jury selection to protect their identities.

What a legal analyst saw on Day 1

Gene Nichols, an attorney not involved in the case, said the opening statements immediately captured attention.

“I think most of us were riveted by paying attention to especially opening statements and then hearing the evidence,” Nichols said.

He noted that while the early witnesses and procedural steps were expected, they are legally necessary. Unlike civil or family law cases, the state cannot simply stipulate to certain facts — prosecutors must prove every element of the case.

“Right now, the state is jumping through required hoops,” Nichols said. “The state attorney’s office has an obligation to prove this case, all the elements of the case.”

The checks: A central piece of evidence

Prosecutors highlighted checks Fernandez allegedly wrote to Tenon as key evidence in their opening statement, framing the payments as money paid to hide a murder.

“These checks were a way to hide money for a murder hidden in plain sight to make it look legitimate with the hope that Henry Tenon would never be identified and no one would ever look that deep,” Stifler told the jury.

Fernandez is accused of paying Tenon at least $10,000 for fatally shooting Bridegan.

When police obtained Tenon’s bank records, they found three checks totaling $10,000 written from First Choice Home Rentals LLC — all signed by Fernandez. They were for $2,000 and $3,000 dated March 28, 2022, and $5,000 dated April 4, 2022. The memo lines described work such as landscaping, roof upkeep and “Kickstarter Good Luck!!,” according to copies released by prosecutors.

“There are no eyewitnesses; there’s no video footage that captures the individuals or individual in the truck clearly enough to make them out. These things are all true,” Stifler said. ”But it cannot change the fact that there is no connection between the shooter and Bridegan other than this defendant (Fernandez). It cannot change that this defendant paid a man $10,000 for work that didn’t happen and a Kickstarter that doesn’t exist."

But the defense pushed back, saying there is video evidence that Tenon did do work at the property.

“Man, Henry Tenon, he’s a workhorse. That guy tilled up the front yard, chopped down trees. You’ll actually see video of him unloading tile from the back of his truck at Potomac, doing work,” Hill said. “Henry Tenon is a worker. Mario Fernandez has hired him to do work, not murder, tree work, roof work, landscaping, tile work.”

Hill argued the payments were legitimate.

“Mario Fernandez, who had at the time access to hundreds and hundreds and thousands of dollars, gave money to a guy that had helped him around his own house and invest in his business that he wanted to start,” Hill said. “That’s what the checks say.”

Nichols said the checks are the hinge point of the entire trial.

“I think when it’s all said and done, what does the jury believe about the checks? That’s going to rule a tremendous amount,” he said. “That, to me, is going to be where this hinges — will a jury believe that those checks were written in order to commit murder, or were those checks written for the work that Mr. Hill said they were written for?”

He added that the burden of proof remains high.

“If the jury believes that they were for work that was done, or they take the position that the state didn’t prove that the money was for murder, then that’s going to sway a jury,” Nichols said. “In order to convict him, it’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by all of those jurors.”

Timeline: How we got here

More than four years ago, Jared Bridegan dropped his then-9-year-old twin children off at the home of his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, after a “date night” with their dad.

He left Gardner’s Jacksonville Beach home on Feb. 16, 2022, with his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, strapped in her car seat in the back of his dark-colored SUV. They were headed back to St. Augustine.

But the 33-year-old Microsoft employee never made it home.

Following his normal route through the Sanctuary neighborhood, Bridegan suddenly had to stop in the area of Jacksonville Drive, America Avenue and Sanctuary Boulevard.

A tire was in the road.

When Bridegan stepped out of his SUV, he was ambushed by gunfire. At least one bullet missed Bexley by mere inches in her car seat.

In previous interviews, Kirsten Bridegan said Bexley described the loud noise of the gunfire, calling it “the boom.”

“She says, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom! Daddy on the ground,’” Kirsten explained.

RELATED | Murder-for-hire plot included practice run along Jared Bridegan’s normal route home: prosecutors

Neighbors’ surveillance cameras from the Sanctuary subdivision caught the sound of those gunshots just before 8 p.m.

Jared Bridegan was left lying in the street next to the SUV with the door wide open, and the shooter seemed to melt into the shadows just as quickly as he had launched his ambush attack.

None of the 911 callers that night mentioned seeing a shooter or a vehicle leaving the scene.

LISTEN: Press play below to hear 911 calls from night of Jared Bridegan’s murder (WARNING: May include graphic content)

They said that the shooter ran off on foot and someone else drove away from the scene in a pick-up truck. Prosecutors also said they have Tenon’s DNA on the tire that was left in the road.

NEW INFORMATION: Prosecutor drops bombshell in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case: Accused gunman was not alone on night of shooting | RELATED: Defense attorneys for Mario Fernandez briefly discussed plea deal with state in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case

“When the victim was killed, there is a person that fled on foot and a person that fled in a vehicle. We know that Henry Tenon left his DNA behind on that tire. And we know that Henry Tenon was not driving the pick-up truck that fled the scene,” Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi said during a hearing before jury selection began. He was arguing that this was proof of a deeper conspiracy in the case.

Eventually, detectives tracked down the man they say pulled the trigger.

Investigators say that it was all part of a murder-for-hire plot set in motion by Gardner and her second husband, Mario Fernandez. It was a conspiracy that began in November of 2021, according to court documents.

Interactive Timeline

Alleged murder-for-hire scheme

According to detectives, Gardner was tired of sharing custody of her twin children with Bridegan.

Fernandez, she knew, could “take care of him” because of his military background, Gardner told a friend. At least that’s what the friend told investigators as she detailed the strained marriage between Gardner and Fernandez and the contentious ongoing custody battle between Gardner and Bridegan.

RELATED: A friend of Shanna Gardner said she could help in Jared Bridegan’s murder case. Here’s what she told investigators | How investigators say they untangled conspiracy to kill Jared Bridegan

Investigators say that’s exactly what Fernandez did, hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant at one of his properties, to kill Bridegan.

In his initial interview with police in July 2022, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville’s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.

Tenon’s original court records said he became involved in the conspiracy on Jan. 4, 2022 -- just over a month before Bridegan was killed.

The state says it has evidence of communications between Tenon and Fernandez in the days, weeks and “on the day of the particular crime.”

Investigators said when Tenon was arrested on an unrelated felony driving charge in August 2022, they questioned him about Bridegan’s murder and a Ford F-150 truck they had been searching for since the shooting.

RELATED | Follow the money: Checks written to Jared Bridegan’s admitted killer connect him to 2 accused in ‘murder-for-hire plot’ | Jared Bridegan’s wife files wrongful death lawsuit against 3 accused in his murder

Tenon was later arrested in Bridegan’s murder, and investigators said the single link between Tenon and Bridegan was Fernandez.

State prosecutors initially said they would be seeking the death penalty against Gardner and Fernandez if they were convicted, but they have since taken the death penalty off the table, with the support of Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, and his family.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hundreds of students were evacuated after shots rang out in the high school building of the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus in the southern port city of Zamboanga. Two other people were injured, police and city officials said.

The suspect, identified by police as grade 9 student Mohammad Mael Jalani, fired at a teacher sitting in front of a class but apparently missed. He then shot a student on the fourth floor of the building before going up one floor and killing himself, police said in an initial report.

“He entered and started indiscriminately firing, hitting a Grade 10 student at the fourth floor then subsequently went to the fifth floor and jumped from the said building and committed suicide,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters.

“He showed this on Facebook Live starting when he was climbing up the stairs but there were only snippets,” Remulla said. “We'll look into his gaming history and his chat history so we cannot come up with a complete answer why this happened until we do a complete forensic analysis.”

Zamboanga city Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso and the police said the suspect shot himself.

The high school building, where the gun attack happened, is in a secured campus, separate from a larger campus of the privately owned Catholic university where its colleges and professional schools are located in Zamboanga. One of the largest and most prestigious universities in the south, Ateneo suspended classes at all levels Tuesday and Wednesday following the attack.

Joe Darryl Jaron has just driven his child to the school when he heard the gunshots that prompted students to scream in panic and dash to safety. He took a video of the commotion and posted it on Facebook. “There are gunshots here in Ateneo, help! help,” he said.

A few hours after the shooting, police said the situation was under control. They asked parents and guardians of students to remain calm and follow the high school's advice and arrangements to pick up their children.

“Authorities are currently establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident,” national police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said. The police “will provide verified information as appropriate and appeals to the public to refrain from sharing unconfirmed reports, photos, or videos that may cause unnecessary concern.”

The national police “assure the public that the safety and well-being of the school community remain a priority. We thank the school administration, parents, guardians, and the community for their patience, cooperation and understanding as authorities continue to manage the situation,” Nartatez said.

One of the pistols carried by the suspect came from his father, who was the Bureau of Customs police commander in Zamboanga, Bureau of Customs deputy commissioner Nolasco Bathan told reporters. He added that he recommended the temporary suspension of the father, who may face administrative charges for failing to properly safeguard the government-issued pistol.

The shooting happened despite police assurances that security in schools across the country would be strengthened after a shooting in June in which three high school students were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in central Tacloban city. Police arrested two students, ages 14 and 15, and accused them of carrying out that shooting.

Crimes involving the use of firearms are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare.

Days after the school shooting in Tacloban, Philippine authorities said they temporarily blocked an online gaming app to assess whether it played a role in fostering such violence. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said its decision to indefinitely block Gorebox was prompted by an ongoing police investigation which showed that one suspect was an avid user of the app.

The shooting in the Philippines also occurred less than two weeks after a school shooting in Thailand.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul took steps to restrict guns in the Southeast Asian country after a 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents, five school staff members and a 12-year-old girl in Nonthaburi province outside Bangkok.

Thailand’s high rate of gun ownership is second only to Pakistan in Asia, and far surpasses its Southeast Asian neighbors.

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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines, and Haruka Nuga and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.

More than 40,000 people were sheltering in tents, evacuation centers and makeshift camps after the earthquake struck off Flores, a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province, early Saturday, damaging at least 11,925 homes, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

The quake caused widespread destruction across the island, damaging 172 health facilities, 658 schools, 187 offices and 172 places of worship, the local disaster agency said.

At crowded evacuation camps across Flores on Tuesday, children played under tarpaulin shelters while aid workers and volunteers provided psychosocial support alongside food and medical assistance.

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued but later lifted. Authorities recorded more than 2,100 aftershocks into Tuesday, though only 70 were felt by residents.

Fear and painful memories haunt survivors

An aftershock that struck during an interview Tuesday prompted Vincentius Rano and his wife to instinctively duck and cover their heads. Nearby, their daughter began crying, a reminder of the fear that continues to haunt many survivors.

Rano is a resident of Lamba Leda, one of the hardest-hit villages in the lush hills of East Manggarai regency, where widespread damage was reported, with at least 50 homes shattered and trees toppled over. He recalled the terrifying moment the earthquake struck Saturday just after he and his wife had woken up.

“Suddenly, we felt a tremor that kept getting stronger,” said Rano, the father of a 5-year-old girl. The couple rushed to grab their sleeping daughter, but before they could escape, part of the house came down, causing injuries to his back and shoulder.

“We didn’t have time to get outside. Everything happened so fast. The roof collapsed on us, and all I could do was shield my wife and child with my back,” Rano said, gesturing toward his flattened home, a modest house, built of timber rather than concrete.

Children in shelters treated for trauma

Psychosocial support programs, which combine mental health treatment and social care, are being rolled out across the region hit by the earthquake. Children have been encouraged to read books and join counselors for games, educational activities and group activities designed to help them cope with fear and anxiety.

“For many survivors, especially children, the psychological impact has lingered long after the shaking stopped,” said local police chief Yudhi Franata, who organized trauma-healing sessions for children displaced by the disaster in Ende regency.

Parents at an evacuation center said many children were afraid to return indoors and woke up frightened whenever aftershocks rattled the island, he said.

Mieke Suharni, a police officer who was among 30 personnel deployed to Lamba Leda, said much of their work is focused on helping children cope with the disaster’s emotional aftermath. She said officers have organized trauma-healing activities at several evacuation camps, but emotional distress remained widespread among survivors.

Earlier Tuesday, she comforted a woman who was visibly shaken by memories of the quake and used a psychological support method known as Universal Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique, which she learned during a police training.

“We are trying to help people manage their fear step by step,” Suharni said. “Some survivors continue to experience anxiety and excessive fear. Our goal is to help calm that trauma so they can begin to recover.”

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Flores experienced one of the country’s deadliest disasters in 1992, when an earthquake and an ensuing tsunami killed about 2,500 people.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms became a cluster of slow moving storms along our southern counties, creating local flooding hazards with 1 - 3 inches of radar-estimated rainfall.

Hail was reported in across the area with peak wind gusts reaching 57 mph and multiple reports of wind gusts in excess of 40 mph.

Tree and powerline damage has been reported, resulting in power outages.

Near-record highs under the Heat Advisory from 11 a.m. 8 p.m.

A record high temperature was tied today at Jacksonville. A high temperature of 98 degrees was reached, which ties the old record set in 1954.

A record warm minimum temperatures was tied at JAX yesterday. The morning low reached 79 degrees, which ties the previous daily record set in 1909.

A record high temperature was tied at Craig Airport on Monday of 97 degrees, set in 2005. The morning low fell to 82 degrees on Monday which breaks the previous daily record of 80 degrees set in 2005.

In Gainesville the low fell to 77 degrees on Monday, which tied a record from 2010 and in Alma, GA the low dropped to 77 degrees, which ties a record minimum temperature in 2021.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms will be possible across northeast Florida through sunset.

The pattern continues with triple-digit Heat Indices and afternoon thunderstorms through Friday. Locally heavy rain, gusty wind and lightning remain the main hazards.

Near record highs along with the heat and humidity will keep heat indices around 105 - 110 degrees.

In the tropics: Tropical activity is not expected for the next few days, however, the GFS continues to show potential development in the Atlantic later this week or weekend. The EURO is not showing anything over the same area and time.

Tonight: Heat Advisory, Heat Warning through 8 p.m. Isolated showers and thunderstorms through early evening.

Wednesday: Hot and humid. Heat Advisory 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Heat indices up to 110 degrees. Isolated showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m., 30-50 percent. Morning lows in the 70s to low 80s. Afternoon highs in the 90s inland, upper 80s to low 90s along the beaches. Wind: W/SE 5-10 mph.

Thursday - Friday: Near record highs with possible heat advisories. Scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms daily. Morning lows in the 70s with highs in the mid to upper 90s inland, upper 80s to 90s along the beaches. Feels Like temperatures 105-110 degrees. Wind: WSW 5 -10 mph.

Looking ahead: Temperatures return to near-seasonal this weekend with a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

Sunrise: 6:56 p.m.

Sunset: 8:04 p.m.

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

The grisly photos came on the second day of testimony in the trial of 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer in opening statements called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”

Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, described Shakur's injuries and explained his cause of death. Jurors were shown photos of his body. Some relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away.

Tupac's family in the Las Vegas courtroom

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

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

He said he hadn’t known how many times his cousin was shot and can’t help but think of the ways the night could have played out differently.

Seeing the photos of Shakur’s body made him feel “Very angry, very angry, to say the least, very sad,” Akinyela said.

What the forensic pathologist said about the gunshots

Gavin described three bullets. One of them caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.

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

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

Gavin was not at Shakur’s 1996 autopsy but was called as a witness because the examiner who performed it has since died.

Surveillance video of a clash before the drive-by shooting

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

Jurors were shown the casino surveillance video of a group of people beating and kicking someone on the ground.

The video then showed Shakur and his entourage moving quickly through the crowded building in the minutes after.

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

‘Hostile’ witness refuses to revisit the past

After many technical and procedural witnesses, James McDonald brought both hostility and humor to the stand when he testified unwillingly under a court order.

McDonald, like Knight, had been affiliated with the Mob Piru Bloods gang, and worked security for Knight at his Club 662, where Shakur and Knight had been headed when they were fired on. Davis was a member of the rival South Side Compton Crips.

Asked by Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal if he was aware of why Anderson was beaten, he wouldn't say.

“I’m aware of a lot of things,” McDonald said, “things that was going on, people ain’t talked about them in 30 years. Today ain’t one of them.”

He said, “Me or anybody else bringing up the dead is wrong," and “you'd better treat me as a hostile witness.”

McDonald said he wanted to avoid answering questions that will hurt Davis, even saying the questions Sanft asked were not in his client's best interest.

He directly addressed the defendant. “What you’re going through, brother, is what you’re going through," McDonald said, adding "I didn’t want to be a part of it.” Davis had no visible reaction.

But McDonald also brought several moments of levity.

Asked if there were specific fights or disputes he could remember regarding the gang rivalry, McDonald said, “Are you serious?!” and laughter broke out in the courtroom.

After the testimony concluded, McDonald said prosecutors wanted him to say that he saw Davis and others pull up to Club 662 that night and why Anderson was beaten up at the MGM Grand.

“I'm not gonna send another Black man to prison,” McDonald told reporters Tuesday evening.

Death Row security officer chronicles Bad Boy rivalry

Reggie Wright Jr., a former Compton police officer who owned a security company that was contracted by Knight's Death Row Records, detailed the way tension had grown between the label and Sean “Diddy” Combs' Bad Boy Records leading up to the Shakur shooting.

He said he had doubled Shakur's security guards after he released the video for “Hit ‘Em Up,” one of the most vicious diss tracks in the history of hip-hop, aimed at Bad Boy's Notorious B.I.G., who was killed six months later. The night Shakur was shot, however, he had only one security guard.

Wright said Shakur was on his way to perform at a charity event at Club 662. Shakur was on probation for California weapons and assault convictions.

After the shooting, Wright went to University Medical Center where Shakur was taken, and said a crowd was gathering there. He called his father, who worked in the Compton Police Department’s gang division, to tell him about the brawl and shooting, and warned him that trouble could be coming there.

Wright testified that he received Shakur's ashes after he was cremated, and saw that they got to Shakur's family.

Wright has long been among those rumored to be involved in Shakur's killing.

Palal asked him if he had anything to do with it.

“Absolutely not," Wright replied.

Tupac's legacy and memory

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

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

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Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho and AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

The remains are believed to be those of a man who may have been sacrificed during a ritual in which a canal linked to a ceremonial pool was closed.

Gladys Paz, the archaeologist who led the excavation, said the bones will help researchers better understand "the rituals of the Lima culture” and reconstruct ceremonies performed hundreds of years ago.

Paz said that the body was buried inside a canal, resting on its left flank, with the skull facing the pyramid and the Pacific Ocean.

The Lima culture flourished between the first and seventh centuries along Peru’s arid central coast, about 700 years before the rise of the Inca Empire.

Huaca Pucllana was one of the most important ceremonial and administrative centers of the Lima culture, which disappeared centuries before a group of Spanish conquistadors founded Lima in 1535.

Today, the pyramid is surrounded by parks, leafy streets and upscale apartment buildings in the districts of Miraflores and San Isidro.

Huaca Pucllana is open to tourists, with a restaurant serving Peruvian specialties like ceviche, stir-fried beef and roasted alpaca meat.

According to Peru’s government, there are more than 400 archaeological sites across metropolitan Lima. Pieter Van Dalen, an archaeology professor at the National University of San Marcos who was not involved in the excavation, said that it's common to find tombs, mummified remains and other burial-related items along Peru’s coast. Such discoveries have also been made while construction workers dig canals to install gas pipes.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Beard was in hospice care when he died Tuesday at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members at his side, according to publicist Bob Merlis. Band co-founder and guitarist Billy Gibbons, on tour with bassist Elwood Francis, hailed Beard in a statement.

“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished,” Gibbons said.

ZZ Top sold more than 50 million records and had six singles that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Seven of their albums have been in the Billboard 200’s Top 10 and they earned three Grammy Award nominations.

“I’ve found the people I was meant to play with,” Beard says in the 2019 documentary “ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.” “I never wanted to quit, and never wanted to get fired.”

Drummers went to social media to pay tribute to Beard's influence, including Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk, who wrote his mind was blown seeing Beard's two-hand shuffle live in high school. Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum called Beard “a very special and unique man behind the kit.”

How the band came together

Beard, from Frankston, Texas, met Gibbons in a band called The Moving Sidewalks and later introduced bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill who had been in several bands with Beard.

The trio formed ZZ Top in 1969, naming themselves in part after blues singer Z.Z. Hill and influenced by the British power trio Cream and Jimmy Reed. They maintained their original lineup for more than five decades. Their signature look — long, bushy beards on Gibbons and Hill, and dark sunglasses for all — didn’t change much, either.

When Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards helped induct the trio into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, he joked: “These cats know their blues and they know how to dress it up. When I first saw them, I thought, ‘I hope these guys are not on the run, because that disguise is not going to work.’ ”

ZZ Top songs — with their sly and humorous lyrics — were popular in Hollywood, which used “Gimme All Your Lovin’” in “Happy Feet,” “Sharp Dressed Man” in “Evan Almighty,” “Legs” in “Air,” “Sleeping Bag” in “I, Tonya,” “Tush” in “Dazed and Confused,” “Mexican Blackbird” in “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “La Grange” in “Armageddon.”

“The best way to describe ZZ Top is we’re interpreters of a great American art form,” Gibbons told The Dallas Morning News.

Their debut release, “ZZ Top’s First Album,” came out in 1970. Their sound was described as a hybrid mixing elements of rock, blues and funk into a steaming-hot Houston stew. They called themselves a “Little Ol’ Band From Texas.”

Breaking through

Three years later, they broke through commercially with “La Grange,” a funky blues song on the album “Tres Hombres” that paid tribute to the Chicken Ranch, a brothel outside of the Texas town of La Grange that operated from 1905 until 1973 and was immortalized in the Broadway show and the film “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Gibbons has ascribed the power of “La Grange" to its simplicity — just two chords and a Robert Johnson-inspired guitar solo.

The band went on to have such hits as “Tush” and “Cheap Sunglasses.” But their 1983 “Eliminator” — named after one of Gibbons’ custom cars — added more production elements, synthesizers and drum machines to their stripped-down sound and yielded the hits “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Legs” and “Sharp-Dressed Man.” The band toured with a Texas-shaped stage, live rattlesnakes and a longhorn steer.

Long beards weren’t always part of the band’s look. Gibbons said it happened by accident: In 1976, the trio took a long break and scattered. Beard went to Jamaica, Hill went to Mexico and Gibbons went to France.

“Although we were speaking by phone, this was pre-video phone. And Dusty and I did not know that we had gotten so lazy that we had decided to forget to shave,” Gibbons told The Tribune in San Luis Obispo in 2010. “So after three years we returned and showed up, and lo and behold here was this sort of wacky-looking image. And it just kind of stuck with us.”

A boost from MTV

The band’s rock-chic cool played well on the nascent MTV crowd and their videos, featuring models in short skirts emerging from one of Gibbons’ custom roadsters, became a mainstay.

They kept the beards, hats and cheap sunglasses in the video trilogy of “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Legs,” made with director Tim Newman.

“ZZ Top reveled in the humor and ridiculousness of it all, busting their synchronized dance moves and spinning their white-fur guitars. These guys always got the joke, at a time when other bands were still just nervously lip-syncing in front of brick walls,” Rolling Stone said in 2021.

In 2012, superstar producer Rick Rubin helped update the trio’s sound with the band’s comeback album, “La Futura.” The album landed at No. 6 on the Billboard chart, their highest position since 1990's “Recycler,” some 22 years previously.

Hill died in 2021.

In March 2025, the band announced via Instagram that Beard would temporarily step away from the band’s tour to tend to foot and ankle problems. Beard died weeks after ZZ Top called off its Aug. 5 concert at the Hollywood Bowl due to his health issues.

Beard is survived by his wife, Debbie Meredith, and three children.

JEA confirmed all outages were weather-related. At one point, 8,038 customers — roughly 1.47% of JEA’s 546,281 total served customers — were without power.

As of 6 p.m., 4,065 customers were without power.

Click here to see JEA’s power outage map.

Customers are encouraged to monitor updates through JEA’s outage map on the utility’s official website and to report any outages not already listed.

Dr. David Morens is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12 by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland. Morens pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years.

“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," defense attorney Tim Belevetz said in a statement after the plea hearing.

Morens is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

In July, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional hearing on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Friday, Fauci declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines to hold him in contempt of Congress.

Fauci wasn't charged in the case against Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland.

William Frances Silvia, 61, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up at 6 p.m. He remained relatively motionless with his eyes and mouth open throughout most of the execution, and a priest sat at his feet and prayed.

Asked if he had any final words, Silvia said, "I’m sorry all this happened. It was an accident. I never meant to hurt her."

A warden shook him and shouted his name several minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing but got no response. A medic declared him dead a short time later.

Silvia is the 13th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, which has two more executions scheduled in September. The state has carried out more than half of the nation’s 23 executions so far in 2026.

Courts twice sentenced Silvia to death

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

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

Pamela Wyatt, Patricia Silvia’s sister, said William Frances Silvia’s actions not only took her sister's life but changed the lives of everyone who loved her.

“Nothing that happens today can give us those stolen years. No execution can return Patricia to her children and give her the grandchildren she dreamed of knowing,” Wyatt said after the execution. “But today can be an opportunity to remember that Patricia’s life was bigger than the terrible act that ended it.”

Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial. He was briefly granted a new penalty phase, but the Florida Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 2018 because Silvia had previously waived his post-conviction appeals.

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

Florida leads the way in executions

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

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

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

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

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

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

A pivotal trial for the parent company of Instagram and Facebook kicked off in a California federal court Tuesday, with four states seeking billions of dollars in damages as well as fundamental changes to how Meta runs its platforms.

A jury will decide whether the states' attorneys general have made their case that the tech giant designed its apps to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data and hide the truth from the public,” as Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, put it in her opening statement.

California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among the 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts, including one underway in Tennessee.

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

The company has defended its safety record and said it has a strong case.

States argue Meta exploited research on child development

O’Neill laid out the states' case for the eight jurors during opening statements in federal court in Oakland, California.

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

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

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

Meta, O'Neill said, also knew that kids under 13 were using its products even though they were banned from it, and “failed to take the simplest most obvious steps to keep them off.” For instance, she said, when Meta found that someone on Facebook was under 13, it would disable the person's Facebook account but not their connected account on Instagram.

The states called as their first witness former Meta executive Arturo Béjar, who worked as an engineering director at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, attracting wide attention for his work to combat cyberbullying. He returned from 2019 to 2021 as a contractor to work on safety issues.

Béjar said that, contrary to Meta's statements, the company's research on safety issues was not being used to improve products.

For example, regarding eating disorder content, Meta's engineers “had very good ideas on how to make it better” so that users, especially young ones, would not be exposed to it.

“But once it was reviewed, it got whittled down to a little pebble that didn’t make a difference,” he said.

Meta attorney highlights company work on safety

Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt laid out his case beginning with what is not disputed in the trial — that even though kids under 13 are not supposed to be on its apps, some lie about their ages; that some teens struggle to manage their time; and that some people post "negative content" on Facebook and Instagram.

But he said he will focus on the work Meta does to make its platforms safer and share information with the public.

“Much of this lawsuit is about the government attorneys and their witnesses saying in trying to improve, we’d do it a little differently,” Schmidt said. "In talking about how to improve, we disagree with how you talk about it. It’s meaningful, and the evidence will be meaningful, these efforts Meta has taken to improve.”

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

If Meta loses the trial, the court would have wide discretion over the size of any financial penalty. Meta has said if it loses, the case could leave it liable for damages amounting to $1.4 trillion, but legal experts say anything close to that amount would be unlikely.

Meta faces thousands of lawsuits, angry parents

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

As the trial began, child safety advocates and parents who trace their children’s deaths to social media harms gathered outside of the courthouse Tuesday. Many parents held photos of their late children as they spoke to reporters outside, at times speaking through tears.

Several parents held a banner with the names and ages of children who died from social media-related harms. It was several feet long.

Mary Rodee, whose son Riley Basford died by suicide at age 15 after being sextorted on Facebook Messenger, was among the parents and said she had helped write the names. They have had to add 39 new ones to the banner since March, she said.

“It’s not just a banner,” Rodee said. “Every name that I wrote on there is a promise that these children will never be forgotten and that their stories will force accountability where silence once reigned.” ___

Huamani reported from Los Angeles.

Written on it in black ink were the names of children and young adults who have died from social media related harms, including deaths by suicide after bouts of cyberbullying or sextortion. Giovanni, an 11-year-old, Bubba, a 13-year-old, and Englyn, a 14-year-old, were among the nearly 600 names. Parents said the names were “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Behind us, justice is going to be served,″ said Lennon Torres, an advocate with the organization Heat Initiative. “The courtroom doors are open, and it is time that the public see what the executives at Meta have known all along: that their products are designed to addict and to harm children.″

Many of the gathered parents have attended previous trials, congressional hearings and other events related to online child safety. But they say this trial, in which the attorneys general from four states are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children, marks a significant moment.

They see it as the culmination of years of work and public pressure on social media firms to do more to protect kids online. Social media companies are increasingly facing lawsuits over harms to young users, and Meta already has lost two pivotal cases over harms to children and teens this year, both of which it is appealing.

The trial represents a “groundswell of public perception changing against these companies,” said Amy Neville, whose 14-year-old son Alexander Neville died from fentanyl poisoning after being deceived by a drug dealer operating on Snapchat. Neville, like many other parents who have lost their children in similar ways, has dedicated her life to educating and spreading awareness of the dangers of social media.

“If we can keep holding them accountable over and over, something has to give, and I don’t want us to stop doing this until they’ve made their products safe by design,” she said.

Lawsuit focuses on broad claims

This lawsuit is not focused on any individual person, case or specific harm tied to social media, but rather broader claims that Meta made decisions in designing Instagram and Facebook that put young users at risk. The states also claim Meta knew the platforms to be dangerous and lied about how dangerous they were.

Meta has rejected the allegations and said the trial will show the work it has done to make its platforms safer.

The trial's outcome could have significant consequences for Meta’s bottom line and how its platforms are designed and operated. But many parents are eager for evidence from the trial, namely internal Meta documents, to be brought to light.

John DeMay, whose son Jordan died by suicide at age 17 after being subject to a sextortion scheme on Instagram, is one of those parents who will be closely watching the trial and the evidence that emerges.

“As this information starts to unfold and unfold and unfold, the American people, the American mothers and the American fathers who are not seeing this stuff every day can see it and go, ‘Oh my God, this is really what’s happening,’ ” he said.

Some of the parents present outside of the courtroom were residents of the four states that are the plaintiffs in this trial — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — and they thanked their attorneys general for the work on the case.

Lori Schott of Colorado said Attorney General Phil Weiser has viewed the content that populated her daughter Annalee's social media feeds and read her journals after her death by suicide. Annalee, who was 18 when she died, wrote in her journals about feeling ugly and comparing herself to other girls' social media profiles.

Parents call for accountability

In a message to Meta, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, Schott said outside of court that they have built one of the most powerful companies in the world, “but power does not excuse harm.”

“Profits does not erase the responsibility of Big Tech and no company — no matter how wealthy, no matter how influential, no matter how untouchable it feels it is — should get to stand above the truth, the law and our children," Schott continued.

Many parent advocates seemed to carry optimism with them on Tuesday. Erin Popolo, whose daughter Emily Murillo died by suicide after being subject to intense cyberbullying, was hopeful the trial's outcome could lead to meaningful change on social media.

“I think that we’re going to make history here," she said.

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Associated Press journalist Terry Chea contributed to this report.

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

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

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

Minnesota officials fear ICE agent could flee

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

If Castro was to reach Mexico, “it may be difficult or impossible to locate and have him re-arrested,” with the process slowed further by a complex international extradition process that normally requires requests from the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a legal memo filed by Ellison's office.

Complicating the situation, travelers face few difficulties crossing from the U.S. into Mexico. Pedestrian border crossings typically have no immigration checks for people leaving the U.S., and only occasional requests for passports on the Mexican side.

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

Ellison's office later said Castro could be freed as early as Aug. 26.

Abbott said Tuesday that he has no immediate intention to respond to extradition requests from Minnesota. He cited ongoing investigations of fraud in government social service programs in Minnesota, which Trump used to justify his immigration crackdown there.

“I will not respond to them at all until they step up and do what’s right and they acknowledge their fault in the fraud that took place,” Abbott said during a news conference on an unrelated topic in Austin, Texas.

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

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

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

Peter E. Larsen, an assistant professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, said Ellison's argument was based on a “fairly straightforward legal principle” that requires states to hand over criminals, or accused criminals, to other states when they are asked.

Abbott's rationale, tying the extradition to unconnected fraud cases, makes the Minnesota argument even clearer, he said.

“I don’t think that the courts (even the fairly partisan Roberts Court) would consider that as a legitimate basis for noncompliance with the extradition request,” he said in an email.

It was not immediately known if Castro had a lawyer who could speak for him. Online court records in Minnesota and county jail records in Texas did not list a defense attorney. The jail holding Castro declined to relay a message to him from The Associated Press.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalists Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis and Anna Wilder in Austin, Texas, contributed.

In addition to the party primaries, Tuesday’s primary included non-partisan races, such as school board, that were open to all voters in a given area. Also, some party primaries were opened to all voters, if there were no other candidates in the race. That situation, when the primary determines the winner of the race, is called a Universal Primary Contest.

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, statewide voter turnout was nearly 24 percent. In 2018, the last time that there was not an incumbent in the race for governor, statewide turnout in the primary was 27 percent.

Use the drop-down list below to search for results in the races you’re interested in, or use the links below to go right to a page.

Primary Election Results:

• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House
• Governor
• Florida Cabinet (Chief Financial Officer & Agriculture Commissioner)
• Florida House
• Alachua County & Gainesville
• Baker County, Bradford County & Starke
• Clay County
• Columbia County & Lake City
• Duval County & Jacksonville
• Flagler County & Palm Coast
• Nassau County & Fernandina Beach
• Putnam County & Palatka
• St. Johns County & St. Augustine
• Union County

“It was the Valkyries' first game ever, and somehow it felt like this arena was filled with lifelong fans who had been following this league for 30 years,” Engelbert recalled. “It was the true sense that the team already belonged here.”

Now, Engelbert is bringing the WNBA All-Star Game to the Bay Area and “Ballhalla” next summer so all of women's basketball can experience what she did that night in May 2025.

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

“I remember looking around that night and thinking to myself, ‘This place is going to be special,' and in less than two seasons the Valkyries family has proven just how special it can be," Engelbert said. “The Bay Area community hasn't simply welcomed the Valkyries, this community has embraced the Valks as their team.”

And Golden State has waited for this moment all along. For Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob, this is decades in the making since he first began supporting women's basketball.

Lacob has loved women’s basketball for decades and became one of the original investors in the former American Basketball League with the San Jose Lasers. He bought the Warriors in 2010 then Golden State was granted an expansion team in October 2023.

“It is actually a great honor to be hosting the All-Star Game. All I will say for all of us at Golden State but me in particular, it is a full-circle moment, well it will be full circle when we win the championship,” Lacob said.

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

Warriors coach Steve Kerr and guard Gary Payton II were among those in the audience for the announcement at Chase Center, where a cable car was set up inside the arena for the occasion.

“When you walk into this building for a Valkyries game, it is unlike any experience,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said.

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

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

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

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

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

Smith can't wait for her team to add to that list — saying such an opportunity will never be taken for granted “to have a chance to be a part of the WNBA's growth.”

“But it's part of what we knew was possible from Day 1 with this organization,” she said. “We have embodied the bay's energy in every decision that we've made, along with the community and our fans and our players, and one of the things we keep in mind is this that we understand this is where the world looks to see what comes next, whether it's technology, innovation or how we treat people, how we connect what it means to gather, and we're doing that at Ballhalla. The opportunity to do that in honor of all those stakeholders here, on behalf of this league with the best players in the world, is immense.”

___

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

The space agency released before-and-after photos of the impact area on Tuesday.

The Falcon rocket’s upper stage plowed into the moon at 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) on Aug. 5 after drifting through space for more than a year. It launched a pair of private moon landers with experiments and even a tiny rover in 2025 as part of NASA’s push to commercialize lunar exploration.

Based on these new photos by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the fresh crater appears to be 60 feet (18 meters) across and less than 10 feet (3 meters) deep, according to scientists.

Dark and bright streaks are clearly visible emanating like butterfly wings from the crater. The darker lines represent excavated material that was close to the surface and shaped by eons of solar wind, cosmic rays and micrometeorite strikes. The brighter rays indicate fresh rocks and dirt that were hurled from farther down.

The spacecraft photographed the crater a week after the collision from 60 miles (96 kilometers) up, while zooming along at one mile per second. Flight controllers had to tilt the spacecraft so its cameras pointed toward the impact scene.

The orbiter completes a lunar polar orbit every two hours, as the moon rotates beneath. It took six days before the crash scene came into view.

South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft was first on the scene to beam back photos.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting the moon since 2009, serving as NASA's up-close eyes as the space agency works to return astronauts to the lunar surface.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Jenkins, president of the Virginia-based nonprofit Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, criticized the proposal as fiscally irresponsible and pointed to an existing maintenance backlog that stretches into the billions of dollars.

“The agency doesn't have the budget to take care of the 368,000 miles of roads already riddling our national forests,” he said.

The deadline for comments is Sept. 21.

News4Jax received multiple videos of hail from Orange Park, showing what appeared to be dime-sized stones falling in some areas.

Viewer Amber Rivas shared a video to the News4Jax Facebook page showing hail pelting her car.

SnapJax user Dog Coach sent photos of a downed tree and broken branches in the Loretto area of Jacksonville.

SnapJax user Caitlin Zeal shared a photo of a piece of roofing blown off a strip mall on Larkin Road in Jacksonville’s Woodland Acres neighborhood around 3 p.m.

A Greenville police officer who responded to the residence Sunday afternoon was met by the brothers and then observed paramedics performing CPR on an unresponsive woman, the report states.

“The patient did not seem to have any obvious physical reasons to be unresponsive,” the officer notes. After attempting lifesaving measures, the emergency workers declared Panettiere dead at 2:31 p.m.

No cause has been determined, and her death remains under investigation. An autopsy found no signs of trauma, and police said officers saw no signs of foul play.

The onetime child star, who soared to fame in the TV shows “Heroes” and “Nashville” while enduring struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, would have turned 37 on Friday.

Tumultuous relationship

Panettiere and Brian Hickerson had been in a tumultuous relationship for years, with allegations the 37-year-old aspiring actor physically abused her.

He was charged in 2020 with multiple counts of felony abuse, and he pleaded no contest to two counts of injuring a spouse or partner and served a short time in jail due to the case. He was sentenced to four years of probation and anger management and Alcoholics Anonymous sessions.

He completed the terms and recently asked a judge to reduce his conviction to misdemeanors; that request was denied Thursday by a Los Angeles judge. Messages were sent Tuesday seeking comment from Pat Carey, an attorney for Hickerson.

Panettiere wrote of Hickerson's time behind bars, and how she hoped it would change him, in her memoir, “This Is Me,” which came out in May.

“I wanted Brian to be in jail just long enough to scare him, but not long enough where’d he become a worse person,” she wrote. “I needed him to admit his wrongs and change because of them, but I didn’t want to traumatize him in an irreversible way.”

She wrote about her decision to “let go of my resentment” and try to forgive Hickerson, who she'd met at a West Hollywood restaurant in 2018 after noticing his “charming smile.”

Police report has redactions

The police report, which is heavily redacted, said the responding officer first spoke with Zach Hickerson, who said the unresponsive woman was his brother's girlfriend.

“I observed Zach to be very emotional while EMS were working on Hayden. Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased,” the officer said.

After she was declared dead, the officer escorted the brothers out of the apartment. The officer spoke with Brian “more in depth,” but the details of that conversation are redacted in the police report.

Also redacted is a list that of medications that Panettiere had been taking.

She had been open about addiction issues

In her book, Panettiere described lifelong scars from her early fame, and acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

Panettiere’s daughter, now 11, began living with Klitschko full-time in Ukraine when she was 2. At the time, the actor was struggling with mental health and addiction. She entered rehab in 2015, while filming “Nashville.”

“I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child,” she said in an interview with podcaster Jay Shetty in May. “That could not be farther from the truth.”

In a statement Tuesday, Klitschko said he will make sure their daughter always remembers her mother.

“She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives," Klitschko said on Instagram.

Panettiere had endured numerous family struggles, and tragedy. Her parents’ marriage was strained, and eventually ended. Her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who was also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023, at age 28.

Started out as a child actor

Panettiere was one of two children born to Skip Panettiere, a former New York City fire captain, and Lesley Vogel, a former soap opera star who had been the prime force behind her early career before the two became estranged. Panettiere began acting in commercials and soap operas, including as the ever-troubled Lizzie Spaulding on “Guiding Light.” In “This Is Me,” she wrote that the traumas her character endured, from being kidnapped to killing her mother’s boyfriend, led her to associate “catastrophe with adoration.”

“Is it any wonder why I’ve faced so many real struggles in my life?” she wrote.

She had much warmer memories of her role as a cheerleader with supernatural powers in “Heroes,” which propelled her to fame in 2006. The series revolved around the mantra: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”

She went on to win three Teen Choice Awards for that role. She was also nominated for a Grammy for a children’s spoken word album, “A Bug’s Life: Read-Along.”

Panettiere later played a brash country upstart opposite Connie Britton on “Nashville,” which aired on ABC for four seasons before being canceled and revived on CMT. She did her own singing in the show, which scored some hits on country charts, spawned U.S. tours and earned Panettiere two supporting actress Golden Globe nominations.

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

Meanwhile, a projectile hit a ship as it sailed out of the strait, and a cargo vessel was rendered a “constructive total loss” by multiple projectiles off the coast of Yemen, according to the British military's maritime monitoring agency. The defense ministry of the United Arab Emirates said two ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the UAE.

An Iranian official said the strait would not reopen until the United States meets Iran’s conditions.

US believes Oman has not been tough enough with Iran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump insists the strait is open as more attacks are reported

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

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

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

Both missiles fired at the UAE fell into the sea, the UAE Defense Ministry said. No damage or injuries were reported. Iran disputed the UAE’s claim that it launched missiles toward the country.

The ministry later said assessments showed that the missiles targeted maritime traffic. It was not clear whether they directly targeted UAE ships or the country’s territorial waters.

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

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

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

Elsewhere, the cargo ship that was deemed a loss was struck about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) southeast of Mokha, Yemen, the UKMTO center reported.

The center did not identify the projectiles or those responsible.

The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels resumed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in July and escalated attacks on Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces. The renewed assaults have threatened shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, another key global trade route.

In other developments, the Houthis claimed they fired drones at an oil refinery in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the latest attack that threatened to reignite Yemen’s civil war and open another front in the Middle East.

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

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Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.

Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss reiterated their stance Tuesday in a statement issued to ESPN, saying they “remain united in that decision. ... We intend to move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and through the appropriate process."

The five Buss siblings said Monday they had voted to sell the family trust's remaining 17.8% stake to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, who are acquiring majority ownership from Mark Walter.

Jeanie Buss announced her intention to fight back against the plan later Monday through a letter from her attorney, Adam Streisand. Jeanie Buss claims the siblings can't sell the trust's ownership shares without her approval.

If the five siblings are able to sell their remaining ownership, Jeanie Buss would no longer be able to serve as the Lakers' governor, a position she is scheduled to hold until at least 2030 under the deal struck with Walter last year when he purchased majority control of the team at a valuation of $10 billion.

The Buss siblings reportedly made nearly half a billion dollars apiece in that sale, but the 17-time NBA champion team is considered to be worth even more with Walter flipping his ownership to Kushner and Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion.

Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since Jerry Buss’ death in 2013, and she led the family’s decision to sell to Walter, who is now under federal investigation for tax issues. Not all of the siblings were in favor of relinquishing majority control of the Lakers last year, and Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.

The Buss siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father’s death in 2013, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers’ head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later by a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust Jeanie from her role as the Lakers’ controlling owner.

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

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

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

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

A key House Democrat is publicizing the whistleblower's allegations

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

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

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

Van Erem left the Justice Department in May 2025 because she was "unwilling to be made vulnerable to further participation in politically motivated investigations unsupported by facts and contrary to law," says the complaint, which also says “officials targeted some Middle East Studies faculty for the content of their work and other professors for their Muslim faith.”

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

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

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

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

Scrutiny over the handling of investigations into elite schools

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just a few days later, the truth emerged: The poll was fabricated.

The California results were among at least three “polls” across three states posted online this month by Median Strategies, a previously unknown organization that admitted to the Los Angeles Times on Monday that the purported results were fake. The company wrote before shuttering its website this week that it “was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.”

The post offered no explanation of who was behind the “experiment” or for what purpose.

The trajectory of the California poll offers a cautionary tale about the perils of trusting unvetted polling. While high-quality independent polls still exist, they appear amid a slew of other surveys produced by outside groups, campaigns or super PACs or using undisclosed or questionable methodologies. It can be a struggle to make sense of the findings — and as the latest episode shows, even campaigns may end up falling for falsified data.

“This is much bigger than one fake poll,” said Chris Wilson, a veteran Republican pollster who now leads the public opinion firm EyesOver. “It’s never been easier to make invented numbers look legitimate, and campaigns and outside groups have every incentive to amplify anything favorable before anyone verifies it.”

The Median Strategies fake polls, none of which appeared in AP coverage, claimed to evaluate support in the Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin, the gubernatorial race in Nevada, and the mayoral race in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles poll, which purported to show Bass, an incumbent Democrat, leading councilmember Nithya Raman, a progressive Democrat, by about 12 percentage points in the mayoral race, was shared by the Bass campaign on social media and covered by the California Post before it was revealed to be bogus.

The Bass campaign has since deleted its social media post promoting the poll, but defended itself by saying that it “was reported on by multiple news outlets.”

"Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stack said.

Transparency is critical for evaluating poll findings

Median's “findings” were shared by polling aggregation accounts on social media. They were not, however, included in the databases of major independent aggregators, including The New York Times, Real Clear Politics or FiftyPlusOne.

The New York Times and FiftyPlusOne noted that the polls were released without basic information that was needed for vetting, such as who was running the firm. When they reached out, Median Strategies did not respond to requests for more information.

“When the poll was released, it lacked basic information about how it was conducted and who was behind it,” Will Davis, director of Election Data Analytics at The New York Times, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “Releasing this type of information is standard practice for pollsters, and because that information was not provided, we did not include it.”

Mary Radcliffe, Head of Research at FiftyPlusOne, also thought the methodology statement for the Wisconsin poll was missing key details, including the source for the voter file the company claimed to have used and the vendor who fielded part of the sample.

Median did not respond to her questions, so the polls were not included in FiftyPlusOne’s database. But Radcliffe noted that her method for screening polls is not infallible.

“There is a universe where they could have come up with plausible answers to my questions,” she said. “This is an industry built on trust. I have to trust that people are answering my questions in good faith.”

While admissions of falsified polling data are rare, they are not without precedent.

In 2010, for instance, the left-leaning blog Daily Kos said that polling for its website, conducted by a firm called Research 2000, was fraudulent.

But it’s common for pollsters to release polls with minimal information about how the survey was conducted, what questions were asked, or who was behind it. Higher-quality polls rely on expensive methodologies, such as randomized sampling, so many pollsters opt for cheaper solutions. In addition, many election polls are conducted by campaigns or super PACs with a stake in the outcome of the race. This can leave few — if any — reliable and independent polls to evaluate in contests like midterm primaries.

Before writing about any poll, AP verifies that it meets high standards of transparency and methodological rigor. But even high-quality polls have some amount of error, which underscores the importance of examining each finding with caution.

Prediction markets introduce more complexity

The introduction of prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket gives polls a different significance for people betting on election outcomes.

The posts about Wisconsin and Nevada drew little reaction and were not accompanied by any discernible movement on the two prediction markets when they were released, but there were some shifts on both platforms after Bass shared the false Median Strategies numbers.

On Kalshi, the price of a “yes” contract on Bass winning the Los Angeles mayoral election rose two cents, from about 63 cents to about 65 cents, within fifteen minutes of Median’s post. On Polymarket, roughly twenty separate accounts traded thousands of contracts in Bass’s favor six minutes after the tweet.

In the days leading up to Bass's post about Median, trading on the LA mayoral election had been thin, with a typical trade over that week being under ten dollars.

While the price movements were small, the concentration of trading on both platforms shortly after the release of Median’s fake poll was not.

Before it was taken down, the Median Strategies website included a statement claiming that “no individual involved held or traded any position in an election prediction market, betting market, or other financial instrument tied to the races covered by Median Strategies.”

Motivations for the fake data remain unclear

More than a week after the firm began sharing “results,” it remains unclear who is behind Median Strategies.

No one responded to AP's questions sent to an email address listed on its website, which was created little more than a week ago. Before it was taken offline, the only content on the site was a statement indicating that the firm “has concluded its polling project and will not publish additional polls.”

“All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data,” it wrote.

The firm highlighted what it called “a credibility problem” in its first social media post earlier in the month.

“Polling has a credibility problem. Ours is the fix: no partisan clients, no campaign or party money, numbers that go wherever the data takes them even when it’s inconvenient. Trustworthy polling, rebuilt,” it wrote.

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AP writers Linley Sanders and Michael Reo in Washington, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin and Michael Blood in Los Angeles contributed.

Asked if he thought Marte would play for Arizona again this year, Lovullo said he hoped so. A three-time All-Star, Marte is hitting .249 with 21 home runs and 67 RBIs over 118 games this season.

“We need him,” Lovullo said before Tuesday's game against the Red Sox. “He’s one of the best players in the National League as far as I’m concerned.”

Arizona placed the 32-year-old Marte on the restricted list Monday, the second time in as many seasons the D-backs have done so.

Marte failed to show up for Arizona’s 11-1 loss at Boston on Monday night in what Lovullo said was a crazy day as Marte deals with a personal issue. Lovullo said he spoke to Marte on Monday trying to find out what was going on without getting any answers.

The second baseman traveled with the team to Boston and Lovullo wasn't certain after Monday night's loss if Marte was still there.

This wasn’t the first time Marte had a strange disappearance.

Last season, he went on the restricted list when his home in Arizona was broken into during the All-Star break. He missed three games after flying back to his native Dominican Republic and later apologized for his absence.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

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

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

Those include plans to pay the full cost of their electricity and show how they will use advanced technology to limit water use. They also must first win local approval before they can seek state approval. They are, he said, the “strictest guardrails in the nation,” although he stopped short of imposing a moratorium on issuing permits.

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

At a news conference, Shapiro slammed what he called “predatory developers” trying to bully local officials and ram through dozens of projects in Pennsylvania — his administration said it counted reports of more than 100 — that likely will never be built because they don't have the financing, power supply or tech-sector clients to use the space.

“These speculators are nevertheless scaring our communities, being aggressive with township officials, bullying our neighbors, our fellow Pennsylvanians, and refusing to listen to the people,” Shapiro said. “And they are threatening to fundamentally change the character of our communities.”

In particular, he singled out developers aiming to build six campuses of about 50 server warehouses in tiny Archbald Borough that has spawned a community uprising, a lawsuit by one developer and motions by another to force the recusal of six of the town's seven council members.

In a statement, Garrity said Shapiro “lit the fuse on the chaos we are seeing in community after community.”

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

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

Challengers are capitalizing on growing discontent

At one time, both Shapiro and Abbott had been cheerleaders for data centers and actively sought to recruit them, with Shapiro appearing with Amazon officials to announce a $20 billion investment in Pennsylvania, and Abbott, likewise, appearing with Google execs to announce its $40 billion investment in Texas.

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

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

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

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

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

States trying to tighten the screws on data centers

In some states, governors and lawmakers are trying to force data centers to pay for their own electricity supply, limit their water use, disclose more about their operations and do more to win community support. They are also chafing at the rising tab for the sales tax exemption most states offer data centers.

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

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

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

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

Data center opposition isn't necessarily a golden ticket

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

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

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

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

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

One of his formative memories was seeing his father celebrating the Cowboys' success watching a game on TV. His mother, however, is not a fan.

"This should be the first year where everybody’s unified on one team, so it’s pretty cool to have everybody in blue,” Miller said at an introductory news conference after signing a one-year contract that could be worth up to $7.5 million with his hometown team on Tuesday, with the 37-year-old standout pass rusher hoping to return them to their Super Bowl-winning heights of his childhood.

Miller had previous conversations about joining the Cowboys, including after claiming his second Lombardi Trophy with the Los Angeles Rams following the 2021 season. He ended up signing with the Buffalo Bills, where he spent three years, before joining the Washington Commanders last season. This time around, everything lined up.

"It's like that movie, 'Inception,' like a dream within a dream. I always wanted to play in the National Football League, and then to play for the Dallas Cowboys. We're going deep with it, year 16,” Miller said.

It helped that Miller has ties to the Cowboys' new defensive coaching staff. Pass rush consultant B.T. Jordan is his longtime trainer. Miller also worked alongside coordinator Christian Parker in Denver and line coach Marcus Dixon in Los Angeles.

Add in his relationships with several Cowboys players, including outside linebackers Rashan Gary and Donovan Ezeiruaku, and even crossing paths with star quarterback Dak Prescott in Las Vegas last month, Miller felt everything was coming together to finally fulfill his aspirations of wearing the famous “star” helmet.

“For it to happen, it just shows you that you can really manifest everything. And to be here with the Dallas Cowboys back in my hometown, it's really cool,” he said.

Miller, the NFL's active sack leader, is coming off one of his better seasons in recent memory. He had nine sacks last season with a carefully managed workload for the Commanders, and Miller is confident he can “walk into eight of those” playing a similar number of snaps for the Cowboys.

“Like, am I gonna go out here and just beat somebody to death for 60 plays a game? Probably not, but it's still in there. And I can still win a lot of these reps, especially when it's crunch time," he said.

Not everything is finalized for Miller. He is still trying to figure out what number he will wear for the Cowboys. Miller and fullback Hunter Luepke both had No. 40 on during a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday.

“I'm not gonna get caught up in the number, but I did make some offers to him already that I feel like he can't really come off of those. I think a lifetime supply of chicken will do it," said Miller, who owns and operates a poultry ranch. “A number would be fine, but I think the most important thing is to win a lot of these games, play in big games, and the number would just be an afterthought.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The deportees will be received within a year, with the first batch of 20 expected on Thursday, Liberia’s Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah told reporters. The 1,200 deportees will include Africans as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, Piah said.

Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say, with about 10 of them in Africa.

A key issue in the agreements is that they can involve migrants with protection orders from a U.S. immigration judge not to be returned to their home countries because of concerns for their safety. The Liberian minister did not say if the deportees expected in Liberia had such protection orders.

Liberia’s Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh said at Tuesday’s briefing that the country has screened the list of migrants ahead of their arrival.

“Most of them are people who had immigration violations and offenses,” he said.

They “may wish to seek asylum” in Liberia after their arrival or “can leave the country whenever they desire,” Piah said.

Piah added that Liberia will receive support from the U.S. to manage the program and strengthen its migration system.

“Liberia’s gesture is entirely humanitarian and in keeping with the country’s longstanding traditions,” he said.

“The government of Liberia intends to provide the transferred persons with the necessary support to seek protection in Liberia and to be safe during their stay here."

Immigration lawyers have said the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries.

In many cases, migrants are deported to countries they've never been to or where they face safety risks and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries they were fleeing from.

The St. Marys Police Department is urging residents in the area of Kings Bay Road and Barrier Island Way to remain inside with their doors locked as the search continues.

“If you see this man, do not approach him,” the St. Marys Police Department said in a statement. “Call 911 immediately.”

Authorities warn the suspect is potentially armed and dangerous. Residents are also being asked to stay clear of the area until further notice.

Officials have not yet released additional details about the robbery or the suspect’s identity.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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

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

The trial centers not on whether Lindsay Clancy killed her children on Jan. 24, 2023, which her lawyers do not dispute, but on her state of mind at the time. Her attorney argues she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.

Former mother-in-law says Lindsay was open about her struggles

Susan Clancy’s testimony echoed emotional accounts the day before from Lindsay Clancy’s mother and sister, who recounted for jurors how they saw her become increasingly anxious, paranoid and suicidal starting in the fall of 2022.

Susan Clancy, who, like Lindsay, worked as a labor and delivery nurse, said in Plymouth Superior Court that she and her former daughter-in-law were close and described Lindsay as a “wonderful mother” who was “very nurturing, very loving.”

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

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

On Monday, Lindsay Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, said her daughter was scared of sleeping alone, became increasingly paranoid and believed the medications she was taking “were destroying her mind.”

That December, Lindsay Clancy told her mother and her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, that "she had thoughts of harming the children,” Musgrove said. Lindsay Clancy’s sister Allison Ozga testified that at the end of December, Lindsay told her she had experienced suicidal thoughts every day for a month.

Psychologist who visited Lindsay in the hospital said there's no evidence she's lying

Prosecutors argue that Lindsay Clancy planned the killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him out on errands. They have pointed to normal activities she performed that day, including taking her children to the doctor and playing with them in the snow.

Lindsay Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued that in addition to suffering from postpartum psychosis, she had bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed after the birth of her third child worsened her condition.

Dr. Paul Zeisel, a clinical and forensic psychologist who visited Lindsay Clancy in the hospital in early February 2023, described seeing her handcuffed to a hospital bed and unable to move below her sternum. Her memory of what had happened was “fuzzy and foggy,” he said, and she was taking medication for significant pain following surgery.

Zeisel said Clancy knew who she was but didn’t know where she was and wasn’t sure of the time. She asked about Patrick, how he was doing and whether she could speak to him. Two days later, she spoke to Patrick using Zeisel’s cellphone.

“She told Patrick that she loved him very much,” Zeisel testified. He said Lindsay Clancy then told Patrick “that she heard a male voice ordering her,” telling her she had no choice but to kill her children and then herself.

Zeisel has met with Lindsay Clancy dozens of times since then. He testified that psychological testing administered by a government doctor found no evidence she was faking or exaggerating psychiatric symptoms.

Zeisel also testified that before the killings, Lindsay Clancy described having “horrible thoughts” and believing her thoughts were so loud other people could hear them.

He testified that psychotic symptoms can come and go, and that a person experiencing psychosis can still perform ordinary activities such as making a phone call or driving a car.

If convicted of murder, Lindsay faces life without parole

Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense public interest. Over the prior weeks, jurors visited the home where she killed her children, and heard emotional testimony from Patrick Clancy.

At the start of the trial, Patrick Clancy described the horror of returning home to find his dead children. Prosecutors played a seven-minute 911 call in which he can be heard finding the bodies and telling a dispatcher, “She killed the kids!”

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

Officer Ernesto Valerio, with JSO’s Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit, says he was driving an unmarked SUV when he spotted two cars driving side by side, blocking traffic on the bridge. JSO says the drivers, apparently unaware they were being watched, took off racing — hitting speeds of 120 mph.

Valerio pulled one of the drivers over and made an arrest on the spot. Quashay Frazier Jr., 22, was charged with a felony and multiple misdemeanors, including super speeding and racing.

The arrest came during Operation Double Down, a weekend initiative targeting street racing and excessive speeding across Jacksonville. Eight total arrests were made Friday and Saturday, with JSO promising additional details about the operation soon.

The agency noted that more than 100 people have lost their lives on Jacksonville roads so far in 2026, with speed and impairment among the top contributing factors.

RELATED: Flock Safety mandates new audits for license-plate camera searches as St. Johns, Glynn agencies address misuse concerns

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says it operates 180 license plate readers and uses them to help locate stolen vehicles as well as wanted and missing persons.

Officials say the cameras capture vehicles and license plates, but do not identify drivers or continuously track their movements.

The agency also states it has strict auditing and oversight procedures in place and has not identified any intentional misuse of the system by its personnel.

The cameras were not on Tuesday’s agenda, but residents still showed up to voice their concerns and ask for more public input on the technology.

Some say they would rather see that money invested in programs and projects that bring the community together, not surveillance technology that makes them feel watched.

“Are there better ways that we could spend that money that would actually make us a safer community? Things like community gardens, edible forests, after school programs, adult education programs,” said Brian Seymour, a St. Johns County resident.

Others say they aren’t necessarily opposed to the cameras but want the public to have a say in how they are used.

“We can keep the cameras, but if the public decides that these cameras are not effective enough. If the public decides that we’re spending too much money, or if the public decides that it’s an infringement, the public should be able to make the decision as to whether or not we should keep them,” said Riley Willis, Deflock St. Johns Founder.

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

“The Trump Administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty.”

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

The ICC was quick to respond, as it has done when faced with previous Trump administration actions, saying that the sanctions “undermine the rule of law.”

“When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” it said.

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Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague contributed.

Now that he has joined the New York Giants, the veteran running back does not anticipate making them wait for him to contribute. Fresh off signing with them following a workout Monday, Harris has his confidence back and is eager to play sooner than later.

“How long’s it going to take? I don’t know, but I’m going to be good,” Harris said Tuesday after doing limited individual work in practice. “It’s not going to take a long time. It doesn’t take a long time for me to get in shape. I take that seriously. I’m committed to that, so I’m not really too worried about that at all.”

Coach John Harbaugh estimated it would take 2-3 weeks for Harris to be game ready. New York's season opener against Dallas on Sept. 13 is 3 1/2 weeks away.

"Just in time, probably," Harbaugh said. “He’s an experienced back. Anybody that’s watched him play knows what type of a back he is. He’s a downhill runner, a physical runner."

How substantial Harris' role might be is anyone's guess as the 28-year-old joins a backfield that includes prospective starters Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy and another runner with more than 100 games of experience in the league, Devin Singletary. Skattebo only recently became fully healthy again after breaking his right fibula and dislocating his right ankle in October.

Harris also went through a long rehabilitation process after tearing his left Achilles tendon on a noncontact play with the Los Angeles Chargers against Denver on Sept. 21.

"I’m proud of the work that I did," Harris said. "It’s been a process, but I learned a lot about myself: Just trying to get back, get the strength back and push off of it. It went really well."

Before the injury cut his season short at three games, Harris was a full-time feature back with the Pittsburgh Steelers and eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing four years in a row from 2021-24. Even with that resume, he feels he has a lot to prove.

“Everything that I did in the past is in the past, and really everything I do now is really what matters,” Harris said. "I know there’s going to be a lot of questions of how I’ll come back looking, and I’m ready to answer all those.”

The Giants with Harbaugh in charge are expected to rely heavily on the running game. Harris at 6-foot-1 and over 240 pounds gives them another battering ram, and he said he likes the opportunity in front of him, even at a crowded position.

“The style of play that they’re heading towards is the style of play that aligns with me,” Harris said. "I’m willing to just put my foot in there and help out any way I can.”

Forcing his way into carries means there may be fewer for Skattebo and Tracy. Harbaugh said he's excited for the possibilities with Harris but hasn't addressed the situation with the other backs.

“Everybody understands,” Harbaugh said. "Football’s competitive, the NFL’s competitive and we’re building the strongest team we can and he’s a really good football player.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The S&P 500 fell 0.7% for a third straight modest loss since setting its all-time high on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 116 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.3%.

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

Micron Technology dropped 7%, and the seller of computer memory was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So were chip companies Nvidia, which fell 2.3%, and Broadcom, which sank 3.2%.

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

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

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged down to 4.70% from 4.72% late Monday but remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war with Iran began. The 30-year Treasury yield also ticked lower but is still near its highest level since 2007.

Yields have jumped since the war began because high oil prices are pushing upward on inflation. All the while, continuing worries about huge debt loads for governments and their increases in borrowing keep yields high.

When yields are high, investors are less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.

Much of the pressure on yields has come from oil prices, and Brent crude added 0.2% to $91.02 per barrel. It’s been swinging sharply on uncertainty about when and whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal to allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf freely again. Brent was going for $72.87 per barrel just before the start of the war.

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

Such data helped to restrain Home Depot’s stock, which slipped 0.1% even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said Home Depot saw its customers continue to pursue smaller projects.

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

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Klarna fell 22.8% even though the payments company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The buy-now, pay-later company cut some of its financial forecasts for 2026, largely because of expectations for Germany, its largest market by volume.

Meta Platforms fell 4.4% as opening statements began in a pivotal trial in a California federal court, where states are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 53.30 points to 7,691.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 116.38 to 53,343.40, and the Nasdaq composite sank 355.20 to 26,289.71.

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

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

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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

The Department of Homeland Security said Oswaldo Pirela entered the country legally in 2014 and was granted permission to stay until 2018. He then “overstayed his welcome,” DHS said in a statement, adding that work authorization or pending applications “do not confer” U.S. legal status.

Pirela is in ICE custody pending removal, DHS said.

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

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

Terrell Williams, 44, has been charged with second-degree burglary, safe cracking, money laundering and other felonies, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell announced at a news conference. Williams was being held without bond in Cobb County, Georgia, on suspicion of another home burglary. Jail records did not list an attorney.

Campbell said investigators were led to Williams in July, when Cobb County police arrested him and found items taken from Biffle's home.

Biffle, his wife and his two children, along with three others, died in the Dec. 18 crash, which remains under investigation by the NTSB.

Authorities reported a break-in at the home on Jan. 8 and have said $30,000 in cash, two Glock handguns, NASCAR memorabilia and gold and silver coins were stolen.

Investigators have recovered some of the stolen items, including NASCAR memorabilia, Campbell said. They also found a radio-frequency detector they believe Williams used during the burglary to locate security cameras.

He said Williams is also suspected in another North Carolina burglary that occurred when a law enforcement officer was in the hospital.

“He used headlines, social media posts, different things to find out when people were and were not home, and he executed his plan in that capacity,” Campbell said.

Campbell said investigators have also identified a person of interest in a separate fraud case following the Biffle family's death.

Investigators have said bank, Venmo and PayPal accounts tied to the Biffles were accessed online using personal information, with phone numbers and email addresses changed to gain control of funds. Money was then allegedly transferred to accounts not belonging to the family and used for purchases, according to a search warrant affidavit.

At least one fraudulent check tied to Biffle’s business interests was cashed, and other attempts were made to access accounts. The activity occurred across multiple states.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The case against English fits a pattern of politically motivated violence that has plagued the U.S. over the past decade. In a letter addressed to the judge, Bessent said he worries the country “cannot survive this assault.”

“Political violence is an attack on the rule of law and on representative government itself,” Bessent wrote. “It also deprives our country of service by talented men and women with ability and integrity who may reasonably decide that no job is worth threats to themselves and their families.”

English's prosecution drew comparisons to the case against California resident Sophie Roske, who was sentenced last October to over eight years in prison for attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home. Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of no less than 30 years for Roske, a transgender woman. They appealed Roske's sentence by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, calling it unreasonably lenient.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“As reflected in the settlement agreement between the parties, there has been no admission of any fact or liability whatsoever relating to the incident involving the plaintiffs,” county spokesperson Valerie Fuller said in an email. “However, all have agreed that it is in everyone’s interests to resolve this matter to end litigation and move forward.”

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday will feature increasing clouds, a high near 97° and a heat index as high as 111°. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will begin developing late in the afternoon, mainly after 5 p.m., with rain chances near 60%. A few storms could produce frequent lightning, gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall before activity gradually diminishes late Tuesday evening.

Wednesday may become the hottest day of the week. Mostly sunny skies will send temperatures to around 98°, with the heat index approaching 110° or higher. Only isolated late-afternoon storms are expected, with rain chances near 30%. Warm and muggy conditions will continue Wednesday night as temperatures settle near 78°.

The combination of intense heat and scattered storms will continue Thursday and Friday. Highs will reach the upper 90s both days, with a 50% chance of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Any storm could briefly cool temperatures, but dangerous heat will remain possible before storms develop.

Temperatures will ease slightly over the weekend as rain coverage increases. Saturday will bring a 60% chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms with a high near 94°. Sunday will remain hot and humid with a high around 94°, although storm coverage should become more isolated.

The City of Jacksonville Cooling Center Contingency Plan remains active in response.

When activated Monday-Saturday, Cooling Centers will be available at various City of Jacksonville (COJ) facilities during normal hours of operation. These facilities stay open on their regular schedule regardless of whether activation thresholds are met, and they include:

• All COJ Public Libraries (21 libraries): Accessible and air-conditioned spaces.
• All COJ Community Centers (20 centers): Available in multiple neighborhoods.
• All Splash Pads (18 pads) and Cecil Aquatics Center (the other COJ pools are now only open on weekends due to school being back in session): Provide immediate cooling relief.

Free rides to cooling centers are available through the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) on activation days. Riders must let the bus driver know they’re headed to a Cooling Center. Given the severity of Tuesday’s warning, please take extra precautions if you have outdoor plans:

• Avoid outdoor activity between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. if at all possible. If you must be outside, find shade and take frequent breaks in cooler areas.
• Never leave children or pets unattended in vehicles, as temperatures can quickly become dangerously high and potentially fatal.
• Watch for symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke — dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and confusion. If you or someone else experiences these symptoms, seek medical help immediately and move to a cooler environment.

For additional information on Stay Cool Jax, visit Jacksonville.gov/StayCoolJax or JaxReady.com/StayCoolJax, which features details on locations, hours of operation, and amenities for all Cooling Centers throughout Jacksonville.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You got to get out there and answer all questions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If elected, what would be your Senate priorities?

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

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

The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens is tailored for kids ages 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content restrictions around things like suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays.

The idea is to guide teens toward healthy AI use in an age-appropriate environment, the company said.

“We want to treat teens like teens, which means that we have to make sure that we’re showing up with the right developmental stage when we’re not either talking down to them or treating them like kids, but we’re also making sure that they’re not exposed to material that they shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Ann O'Leary, vice president of global policy at OpenAI.

The effectiveness of the safeguards remains to be seen, said Brendan Bouffard, associate general counsel for AI and privacy at children’s advocacy group Fairplay. He said it is unclear whether OpenAI’s actions are enough to address young users' compulsive use of and emotional dependence on chatbots.

“Announcements like these can be seen as a step in the right direction,” he said. “But I also would caution against parents being lured into this false sense of safety based on the announcement.”

Risks abound in widespread teen usage of AI chatbots

Parents, educators and child development experts have been sounding alarms over children's use of AI chatbots, which have been blamed for facilitating cheating on schoolwork and even suicide. While even adults can fall victim to anthropomorphizing AI and developing unhealthy relationships with it, teenagers' brains are not yet fully developed and they can be particularly vulnerable.

Last year, research from a watchdog group found that ChatGPT would tell 13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, instruct them on how to conceal eating disorders and even compose a heartbreaking suicide letter to their parents if asked. In interactions with researchers posing as vulnerable teens, ChatGPT typically warned against risky activity but went on to deliver startlingly detailed and personalized plans for drug use, calorie-restricted diets or self-injury.

In the U.S., more than 70% of teens are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and half use AI companions regularly, according to a 2025 study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using digital media sensibly.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the company is trying to study “emotional overreliance” on the technology, describing it last year as a “really common thing” with young people.

For users of ChatGPT for Teens, the chatbot is prevented from suggesting it has personal feelings toward the user or implying that it is conscious or experiences emotions, according to OpenAI. That's in addition to blocking romantic or sexual chats.

“We went through and identified what are the hypothetical cues that a model could give that might make a teenager kind of develop a relationship to it,” said Allison Mishkin, head of child development at OpenAI.

A new version of the chatbot expands safety protections

OpenAI doesn't verify users' ages, but it already uses age assurance to estimate if someone is under 18 based on factors such as their types of queries. If someone is identified or identifies themselves as a minor, they are automatically placed into the teen version of the chatbot. This is similar to Meta's approach to teen accounts on Instagram, which have stricter content, chat and privacy restrictions than regular accounts.

To use parental controls, both the teen user and their parent or guardian have to opt in. But O'Leary said the idea with the teen chatbot is to “make sure that this is safe, even if you don’t use parental controls.” Parents with linked teen accounts can set “quiet hours” when their teen can't access ChatGPT, and receive safety notifications in limited high-risk situations, such as the possibility of a user hurting themself.

“We are adding additional notifications related to eating disorders, while limiting what is shared and focusing on moments when offline support may matter most,” OpenAI said.

Bouffard of Fairplay said some of what he would consider to be the most important safeguards, such as restricting ChatGPT's long-term memory, are not in place by default in the teen accounts and would require the intervention of parental controls. That creates “a major gap in safety” despite the default protections around content and other areas of concern, he said.

For homework help, OpenAI said the teen chatbot is designed to guide students to come up with answers on their own. The company already offers a version of ChatGPT for teachers, and tailoring a model to help kids with studying and homework could give OpenAI more ways to bring its product to schools.

“We continue to also invest in expanding interactive learning because research shows that people learn more effectively when they actively engage and struggle with concepts,” Mishkin said.

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Huamani reported from Los Angeles.

The USS Benfold “reported an engineering casualty involving its generators, causing a loss of power” on July 24, Navy spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer said in the statement. The breakdown meant the crew went without drinking water, meals, functioning toilets and air conditioning for days aboard the ship, Comer said.

The incident, which only became public on Friday when it was first reported by USNI News, comes as the Pentagon grapples with serious questions about the quality of life aboard naval vessels and the military's ability to supply ships during the conflict with Iran.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for investigations into conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Reports last week revealed that the ship, which has spent a record-setting 250 uninterrupted days at sea, has experienced shortages of supplies, including food and hygiene products, while crew members have suffered from stress and poor mental health.

Comer stressed that there were no injuries to the crew of the Benfold, “who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism, and unwavering steadiness in their response,” but that the ship needed assistance from the George Washington carrier strike group.

The cruiser USS Robert Smalls provided meals to the stricken destroyer.

Ultimately, Comer said the Benfold had to be towed to Subic Bay, in the Philippines, for repairs, arriving on July 28. The crew was then provided food and lodging off the ship. On Aug. 8, the Benfold left port “with all engineering, combat systems, and crew support systems functioning normally,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the ships from the George Washington strike group, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, were spotted heading toward the Middle East. The carrier was expected to replace the Lincoln, which the acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, said last week would be returning home soon.

This would leave the waters of the Pacific without a U.S. carrier presence for an unknown period of time. The Trump administration sees China, the dominant power in the region, as “a settled force” that only needs to be deterred from dominating the U.S. or its allies and not the top global adversary that it was under the Biden administration.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But it would come at a cost to property owners in the form of a possible increase to property taxes.

The measure would significantly expand funding for the county’s Land Acquisition and Management Program, known as LAMP, which currently operates on just $500,000 a year.

“This bond would enable us to issue up to $100 million to buy land for conservation, and that would give us the ability to leverage state and federal funding to make that pot even bigger,” said Jen Lomberk, the Matanzas Riverkeeper.

The problem is simple — when a critical piece of land becomes available, the county often can’t move fast enough to save it.

Without dedicated funding, those properties are left vulnerable to development.

If voters approve the bond, the money will go toward purchasing and protecting lands that safeguard drinking water, wildlife habitat, coastal areas, working farms and forests, all while also helping reduce flooding across the county.

“We don’t get second chances for prime, sensitive, ecologically valuable land. So, it’s about ecotourism,” said Rhonda Lovett, a supporter of the measure.

Repayment would come from a property tax levy of up to 0.15 mills; that’s $15 annually for every $100,000 of taxable property value.

The bonds would mature within 20 years of each issuance.

The vote was not without pushback.

Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voted against the measure, raising concerns about its timing alongside Amendment 3, also on the November ballot, which asks voters to cut their property taxes.

“There’s a referendum on the ballot that’s asking people to cut their property taxes, right? That’s been a primary concern. Are we overtaxing our people?” said Whitehurst.

But Commissioner Clay Murphy and others argued the community has waited long enough and that protecting these lands simply can’t wait any longer.

Commissioner Ann Taylor acknowledged the difficulty of the decision.

“We’re trying to solve a problem here. So that’s what we’ll do. I’m very torn. Is this the right time? But who knows when the right time is right,” Taylor said.

Taylor says if passed, the bond would only apply to properties from willing sellers, and every potential acquisition would still need to go before the LAMP board for approval before moving forward.

Commissioners say they will have to scramble to get the ballot language ready in time for November but are confident they will have enough time.

The U.N. political mission in Afghanistan confirmed the injuries near the education center and said the children are between 9 and 14 years old, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Earlier, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said that “a number of children” had been wounded by a hand grenade on Monday, and that an investigation was underway. He did not provide further details.

The U.N. mission known as UNAMA also called for an investigation to establish the circumstances of the explosion, Dujarric said.

Richard Bennett, the U.N.'s independent investigator for Afghanistan, on Tuesday condemned the “heinous attack harming numerous children near a school."

Afghan media had said that around 50 children were hurt in the blast, which occurred in a part of Kabul populated mainly by the Hazara ethnic minority, which makes up around 9% of the Afghan population and has long suffered attacks and persecution.

Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, and they have been targeted repeatedly in the past by Sunni Muslim radicals like the Islamic State group. They have also faced discrimination in the Sunni majority country.

In May 2021, a few months before the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the wake of a chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops, three bombings at a school in Kabul killed dozens of people, all of them from the Hazara community. Most of them were young girls leaving class.

That school, like the school complex where Monday's explosion took place, was in Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, the main Hazara district in the Afghan capital.

In a social media post on X, Bennett said an independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice was essential. “Once again this mainly Hazara part of Kabul has been targeted. Deplorable!” he wrote.

The U.N. humanitarian office noted that schooling in Afghanistan already faces challenges, with girls denied access to education beyond the sixth grade, Dujarric said. In addition, around two-thirds of the 900,000 children who returned to Afghanistan, mostly from neighboring Pakistan — some 600,000 youngsters — remain out of school.

The U.N. and its humanitarian partners are supporting children’s education, but Dujarric said their efforts have been limited by continued underfunding.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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

The Latest:

Congresswoman says target of ICE operation in fatal Maine shooting wasn’t up for removal

The person an ICE agent shot and killed in Maine last month was not subject to a final removal order, a Democratic congresswoman said.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, was shot and killed by an ICE agent near his Biddeford home. Rep. Chellie Pingree said during a hearing that ICE’s intended target was Durán Guerrero’s roommate, who owns the car Durán Guerrero was driving.

Pingree called the discovery a “shocking revelation in clear contradiction to what ICE” and DHS have said about the shooting.

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

DHS said in a statement late Monday that it stands by its prior assessment of the shooting.

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Woman accused of plotting to kill Treasury Secretary is sentenced

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

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

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

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

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Trump to lead tech event

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump floats idea of declaring Strait of Hormuz a US territory

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

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

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

US believes Oman has not been tough enough with Iran

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

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

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

Whistleblower alleges political pressure, lack of evidence in antisemitism probes

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

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

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

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Trump says US has no planned talks with Iran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US criticizes Israeli strikes on Syrian air base

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

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

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

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

Ship attacked in Hormuz strait as Iran throttles key waterway

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

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

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

Turkey urges Trump to seek a diplomatic solution to the war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The money will help Haiti’s government update its voter lists and procure 350,000 blank identification cards, the OAS said in a statement.

Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, with many leaving their IDs and other important documents behind when fleeing their homes under attack by armed men in Port-au-Prince and beyond.

The OAS said the grant also would help reduce the backlog of Haitians awaiting identification, expand services in rural communities and improve power and internet connections in decentralized offices.

Last month, Haiti’s government began voter registration in Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 70% of territory is controlled by gangs.

The first round of elections is scheduled for Dec. 13, although experts have said ongoing gang violence could push back the date once again.

Haiti hasn’t had a president since Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021. Moïse became president following the November 2016 elections.

The affected products include five flavors of Outshine 6-Count 2.5-ounce Fruit Bars: Strawberry, Watermelon, Grape, Tangerine and Black Cherry. The recalled lots were distributed to retailers nationwide.

Which products are affected?

Only specific batch codes of the five flavors are subject to the recall. Consumers should check the bottom of their package for the batch code and UPC number to determine if their product is included.

Click here to see the affected batch codes and UPC numbers.

What should consumers do?

No illnesses or injuries have been reported in connection with the recall, according to Dreyer’s. Consumers who have purchased any of the affected products are urged to dispose of them immediately or return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

Anyone who believes they may have been injured by the affected product should contact a healthcare provider right away.

Consumers with questions or concerns can reach Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc. directly by email at dreyers@casupport.com.

Company response

Dreyer’s said in a statement that food safety remains its top priority.

“The safety, quality, and integrity of our products remain our highest priority. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this action may cause our consumers and retail customers.”

The company added that it remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of food safety and earning consumer trust.

No other Outshine products or varieties beyond the five listed flavors of 6-count, 2.5-ounce paddle bars are affected by this recall.

Work location: Onsite at WKMG (Orlando, FL) or WSLS (Roanoke, VA)

About the Role

The Client Strategy Lead is a client-growth and media-strategy leader who partners with Sales Leadership and Account Executives to design insight-led, cross-platform marketing solutions that drive measurable business outcomes and long-term retention. This role elevates GMG from “media vendor” to growth partner by leading with business objectives, audience intelligence, and accountable performance

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Account Executives to identify, strategize, and close new integrated revenue opportunities with both existing and prospective clients.
• Design and implement cutting-edge, multi-platform strategies leveraging GMG’s digital product suite and vendor partnerships to deliver measurable results.
• Lead digital discovery sessions, develop compelling proposals, and deliver persuasive client presentations focused on client-centric solutions that ultimately secure high-value deals.
• Maintain a deep understanding of the competitive landscape, emerging advertising technologies, and market trends to position GMG as a leader in digital solutions.
• Provide advanced digital and modern media planning education and development to local sales teams, empowering them to confidently pitch and execute digital solutions.
• Collaborate with the Director of Strategic Sales to refine product offerings, set ambitious campaign goals, and ensure optimal performance outcomes.
• Responsible for tracking, analyzing, and forecasting digital sales performance, delivering actionable insights to drive continuous improvement and revenue acceleration.

Requirements

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in digital media sales or strategy, preferably within a broadcast or media company.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute innovative, results-driven digital strategies.
• Strong understanding of digital advertising platforms, targeting, analytics, and emerging technologies.
• Outstanding presentation and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to influence and inspire both internal teams and external clients.
• Consistent achievement of or exceeding revenue goals in a fast-paced, competitive environment.
• Ability to work seamlessly across teams and departments, driving alignment and shared success.
• Competitive mindset with a focus on achieving and exceeding goals.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing market dynamics.
• Experience in developing marketing solutions tailored to client needs, rather than selling pre-packaged offerings
• Deep understanding of consumer behavior and retail dynamics to craft impactful strategies.

Contact: Kim Jakubowski, Director of Strategic Sales

kjakubowski@grahammedia.com

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

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

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

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

Cable operators initially scoffed at Rasmussen's concept

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ESPN helped bring a host of sports to cable

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

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

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

Rasmussen was courted back by ESPN years later

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

The next wave comes during the last leg of camp when Tampa Bay visits for two days of joint practices next week before the preseason finale. NFL teams have used the joint practices in lieu of extended playing time for starters in preseason games.

Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen said this week that he was leaning toward playing his starters in Friday night’s preseason game, but a good day of work on Wednesday – and the growing injury list – could alter those plans.

“Yeah, I think it definitely is important, because you could try to simulate whatever you want or you could think of in a practice, but I think, like you said, live bullets flying, we have to react fast. It’s not a walkthrough anymore,” running back Bhayshul Tuten said of the joint practice. “You have to go and I think that’s the best thing that we need coming into Sundays.”

Jacksonville’s injury situation (see below) has become particularly notable this week, and one of those could open up a less rugged path to the 53-man roster for running back J’Mari Taylor. He’s coming off a very solid performance in the 24-20 preseason-opening win over the Saints. Taylor had 78 yards on 22 carries and scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run.

“Body’s sore a little bit but that’s how running back is when you get 22 carries,” Taylor said. “What’s crazy is I didn’t think I had 22 carries. When I seen that after the game, I was like, ‘oh man, 22 carries, back to college [workload], man, back to college.’ But this is the pros now. It was very fun though.”

With LeQuint Allen Jr. out for the remainder of training camp with a lower body injury, Taylor could see his workload jump over that span. The undrafted free agent out of Virginia said that he’s been leaning on the veterans in the running back room (Chris Rodriguez Jr., Ameer Abdullah, Deejay Dallas) to get better and better.

“Continue to do what I’m doing now. Take advantage of the opportunity and stay consistent. Staying in the playbook. Asking coaches and teammates for everything that I can ask them for,” Taylor said. “I’d be crazy not to take advantage of everything.”

QB tracker:

Trevor Lawrence: 7 for 14.

Nick Mullens: 9 for 11.

Carter Bradley: 0 for 1.

RB tracker:

Tuten: One carry with Trevor Lawrence.

Rodriguez: Five carries all with Lawrence.

Taylor: Three carries all with Mullens.

Deejay Dallas: Two carries. One with Mullens and one with Aguilar.

Related content

• News4JAGs podcast: Jaguars prep for joint practice with Panthers
• Full interview: Rookie WR CJ Williams
• Full interview: Rookie RB J’Mari Taylor
• Teal the Show: Back to work after preseason opener

Notebook

• Patrick Mekari’s injury report is accurate; he had back surgery, but no determination has been made about placing him on what would be season-ending injured reserve.
• LeQuint Allen Jr.: has a soft tissue injury and will miss the rest of camp.
• Parker Washington is day-to-day but will return next week.
• Wyatt Milum is day-to-day but will return next week.
• Injuries are stacking up, but overall, nothing too major. The biggest concern is still the offensive line and finding the right five.
• The offensive line rotation was back in full swing. Today, the main combo had Emmanuel Pregnon at left guard with Ezra Cleveland at right guard and Walker Little back in action at right tackle.
• Liam Coen said on Monday he was considering playing the starters on Friday. In my opinion, with the health of the offensive line as it is, I wouldn’t put Trevor Lawrence out there. Juice doesn’t seem worth the squeeze.

Four players to watch Wednesday

With the Panthers coming to town for a day of joint practice Wednesday, here are four guys who need to have a good day:

• Walker Little: He has more on the line than anyone. Little had a rough start to camp but now looks to be back healthy. If he doesn’t show he can be one of the Jaguars’ best six linemen, then he won’t be long for Jacksonville.
• Branson Combs: Right now, Combs is playing behind Ventrell Miller. If he is going to make a move for the starting job this is the time to do it. During the preseason game, Combs was a little passive in the way he played the run. If he can show some more aggressiveness in the run game to go with his skill in pass coverage he could take that job.
• Bhayshul Tuten: The fantasy football community should keep an eye on the Jags backfield over the next few weeks. With LeQuint Allen sidelined, this could be Tuten’s chance to show he can be effective in the pass game and pass protection. If Tuten can earn that role it would give him a stranglehold on the Jags backfield.
• Nick Mullens: Backup quarterback play was not good during the preseason games. Mullens is the best of the rest, but does that mean they couldn’t look outside the building for an upgrade?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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

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

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

Trump is not happy about emerging Oman-Iran deal

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

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

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

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

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

The sultanate had been trying to make peace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

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

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

Publix spokesperson

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

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

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

Varsity 4 News4JAX Super 10 rankings, Week 1

Rank, school, record last year, classification

1. Raines (14-0), Class 3A

This week: at (9) Oakleaf. Coaches poll ranking: 1.

Why they’re here: The Vikings are unquestionably the area’s top team. They’re 27-1 over the last two seasons and won the Class 3A state championship last year. The schedule is beefed up and the expectations are for no less than another run to the title game.

2. Bolles (13-2), Class 2A

This week: vs. (8) Columbia. Coaches poll ranking: 2.

Why they’re here: Our Varsity 4 players of the year both return and are both junior stars for the Bulldogs (RB Xander Edwards and edge Asher Ghioto). How strong will the offensive line be this season after a mass graduation on that unit?

3. Mandarin (11-2, Class 5A)

This week: at McArthur, Broward County Showcase. Coaches poll ranking: 4.

Why they’re here: The Mustangs have a QB who is committed to Miami and perhaps the top overall junior in the country in Brysen Wright. But the Mustangs will do the bulk of their damage on the ground behind Queze Foster and a nasty defense.

4. Nease (9-3, Class 5A)

This week: at Creekside. Coaches poll ranking: 6.

Why they’re here: I’m not concerned with how Ed White rang up 30 points in three quarters against the Panthers in the kickoff classic. This offense will be strong once again and the defense will be good when the starters play the whole way.

5. St. Augustine (11-2, Class 4A)

This week: at Palatka. Coaches poll ranking: 3.

Why they’re here: They’re a model of consistency. The Yellow Jackets have missed the state playoffs one time in the last 27 seasons (2021). There are some significant graduation losses, but the defense will be very, very good. Out of the backfield, look for a big season for RB Durell Preston.

6. Ed White (9-3, Class 4A)

This week: vs. (7) Trinity Christian, 6:30 p.m. Coaches poll ranking: 5.

Why they’re here: The Commanders were the highest scoring regular season team in state history last year with 537 points. But half of those wins were against some of the Gateway’s leanest teams (Englewood, Parker, Riverside, Sandalwood, Westside) who were a combined 5-44. They outscored those teams by a combined 306-65. The Commanders have major potential, they just need to show it against quality teams.

7. Trinity Christian (10-4, Class 1A)

This week: at (6) Ed White, 6:30 p.m. Coaches poll ranking: 7.

Why they’re here: The Conquerors under Verlon Dorminey are a threat every season. They’ve been young and hungry the last two years and reached the state semifinals each time. This may be Trinity’s best opportunity since 2021 to bring home a state championship.

8. Columbia (9-3, Class 4A)

This week: at (2) Bolles. Coaches poll ranking: 9.

Why they’re here: The Tigers really could have challenged for a spot in the state semifinals last year had they been able to finish the game strong against Choctawhatchee. Columbia has big-time potential. The question will be do they have enough offensive firepower against teams like Bolles.

9. Oakleaf (8-3, Class 5A)

This week: vs. (1) Raines. Coaches poll ranking: 8.

Why they’re here: The Knights are little young on the offensive side of the ball this year. They’ve got transfer Jaidan Delaune at QB and the steady and experienced Mike Conner contributing all over the place. Mason Thomas returns as a veteran presence on defensive front.

10. University Christian (9-4, Class 1A)

This week: at Ponte Vedra. Coaches poll ranking: NR.

Why they’re here: The Christians are going to be strong up front defensively with Julius LaRosa the enforcer on the line. They’ve got a difficult enough schedule to prep them for the postseason and what should be an annual elimination clash against Trinity Christian.

On the bubble

Baker County (4-7, Class 3A); Baldwin (7-4, Class 2A); Beachside (8-4, Class 5A); Bishop Kenny (10-3, Class 3A); Bradford (11-2, Class 2A); Fleming Island (6-4, Class 5A); Fletcher (6-4, Class 5A); Middleburg (8-3, Class 4A); Ponte Vedra (11-3, Class 5A).

Week 1

Florida schedule

Friday, Aug. 21

Atlantic at Crescent City (0-1)

Baker County at Clay

Beachside at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Bishop Kenny at NFEI

Charlton County at West Nassau

Columbia at Bolles

Cornerstone Classical at Bishop McLaughlin, 6 p.m.

Duval Charter (0-1) at Old Plank Christian (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Eagle’s View (0-1) at Branford, 7:30 p.m.

Eastside at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Englewood at Bishop Snyder (0-1)

Episcopal (1-0) at Providence

First Coast at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

First Coast Christian (0-1) at Christ’s Church Academy (1-0)

Fleming Island at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Fletcher at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Harvest Community (1-0) at Stanton (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Hilliard at All Saints Academy

Impact Christian at Chiles

Jackson at Orange Park

Keystone Heights (0-1) at Interlachen, 7:30 p.m.

Leon at Fernandina Beach

Mandarin at McArthur (Broward County Showcase)

Matanzas at Flagler Palm Coast

Menendez at Middleburg

Nease at Creekside

Parker at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

Paxon (0-1) at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Raines at Oakleaf

St. Augustine at Palatka

Suwannee at Crystal River

Tocoi Creek at Bartram Trail

Trinity Christian at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Union County (1-0) at Rutherford, 7:30 p.m.

University Christian at Ponte Vedra

West Port at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

Westside at Ridgeview

Young Kids in Motion at Joshua Christian

Yulee at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at IMG Academy White

OFF: St. Joseph.

Georgia schedule

Thursday, Aug. 20

Calvary Day at Glynn Academy, 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 21

Brantley County at Bacon County, 7:30 p.m.

Camden County at Brunswick, 7:30 p.m.

Charlton County at West Nassau

Frederica Academy at Pinewood Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Pierce County at Coosa Christian, Alabama

Ware County at Bainbridge, 7:30 p.m.

Largest dividend in company history

State Farm Mutual is distributing the dividend across eligible customers with more than 49 million auto vehicles insured under State Farm Mutual policies. Each customer’s payment is based on a percentage of the premium paid for each qualifying policy in 2025, with percentages varying by state from 4% to 10%.

“As a mutual company with a customer-first focus, State Farm Mutual is able to provide value directly to our customers while maintaining financial strength to keep our promises in the future,” said Jon Farney, State Farm Mutual president and CEO. “That translated this year to lower auto rates and cash back in the form of a $5 billion policyholder dividend.”

How customers will receive payments

Qualifying customers will be notified of their pending payment by email from donotreply@e.sfdividend.com or by a mailed letter. Customers with an email address on file with State Farm will receive instructions on how to log into the State Farm dividend payment portal and select their preferred payment method. Those without a registered email will automatically receive a check in the mail.

The State Farm dividend payment portal is available at sfdividend.com. Because the distribution covers more than 49 million auto vehicles, the payment process is expected to take several months to complete nationwide. Customers with payment questions or seeking state-specific dates can visit sfdividend.com or call the Dividend Customer Contact Center at 1-888-808-9532.

Protect yourself from scams

As payments go out, State Farm is urging customers to stay vigilant against potential scams. State Farm will never ask customers to pay a fee to receive their dividend, nor will it ask for any personal passwords — including email, banking or digital wallet passwords.

Customers should carefully review any sender email addresses and website links before clicking.

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

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

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

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

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

There are already clashes between ABC and the administration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit

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

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

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

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

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

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

On Tuesday, an FCC spokesperson reiterated that position.

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

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

___

Associated Press journalist Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

According to Down Detector, an outage-tracking website, reports peaked at just over 1,000 around 12:20 p.m. By around 1 p.m., reports had dropped to approximately 100 — suggesting the issues were beginning to resolve.

The problems hit app users the hardest. Of those who reported issues, 77% experienced trouble with the app, 11% encountered problems with the website and 8% had difficulty logging in.

For many customers, the outage meant one thing: no tickets.

“Can’t buy tickets online or through the app without the site saying, ‘Sorry, an error has occurred. Please try again,’” one user wrote.

As of this writing, AMC Theatres had not addressed the outage on any of its social media channels, and it remained unclear what caused the disruption.

Fire rescue personnel from both Alachua and Marion counties were also on scene.

Authorities say they located the crash site and confirmed that both people on board are safe and uninjured. Deputies were working to guide the two occupants out of a marsh area and onto dry land, where they would be evaluated by emergency medical services.

Super 6 independent football rankings, Week 2

Ranking (previous) team, last season, league

1. (1) West Nassau (1-0, SSAA)

Last week: beat (5) Paxon, 35-20. This week: vs. Charlton County (0-0).

Coaches poll ranking: 1.

Why they’re here: The Warriors picked up where they left off, getting behind their big offensive line and overwhelming a good team. West Nassau rushed for 392 yards and averaged 7.5 ypc. Should be a good challenge this week in a Peach-Sunshine State clash.

2. (2) Fernandina Beach (1-0, SSAA)

Last week: beat Keystone Heights, 65-14. This week: vs. Tallahassee Leon (0-1).

Coaches poll ranking: 2.

Why they’re here: The Pirates opened with a bang as the playmakers had their day. Beck Rohe had two TDs on three receptions. If Rohe and Aydin Poe stay healthy all year, the Pirates are going to put up some numbers.

3. (3) Union County (1-0, SSAA)

Last week: beat Lafayette, 21-7. This week: at Rutherford (0-0), 7:30 p.m.

Coaches poll ranking: 3.

Why they’re here: A solid start for the Tigers last week which is followed by a lengthy road trip to the Panhandle. For a team that didn’t have much success last year, a win out of the gate is a great start.

4. (5) Episcopal (1-0, SSAA)

Last week: beat Westminster Academy, 27-26. This week: at Providence (0-0).

Coaches poll ranking: 6.

Why they’re here: Huge win for the Eagles last week over a Westminster team coming off an 8-3 season. This week is a huge rivalry clash against another team in the independent Super 6 conversation.

5. (4) Paxon (0-1, SSAA)

Last week: lost to (1) West Nassau, 35-20. This week: at Wolfson (0-0), 6:30 p.m.

Coaches poll ranking: 5.

Why they’re here: The Golden Eagles slugged it out with No. 1 West Nassau, but just couldn’t stop the ground game. This week should be a good clash between very similar programs.

6. (NR) Christ’s Church Academy (1-0, SSAA)

Last week: beat St. Joseph, 48-21. This week: vs. First Coast Christian (0-1).

Coaches poll ranking: 4.

Why they’re here: A huge evening on the ground as Rayden Butts and Jaylin Robinson both eclipsed 100 yards on the ground and helped the Eagles average a crazy 9.6 ypc.

Dropped out

Providence (0-0, FHSAA).

On the bubble

Old Plank Christian (1-0, SSAA); Providence (0-0, FHSAA).

Week 1 schedule

Friday, Aug. 21

Atlantic at Crescent City (0-1)

Baker County at Clay

Beachside at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Bishop Kenny at NFEI

Charlton County at West Nassau

Columbia at Bolles

Cornerstone Classical at Bishop McLaughlin, 6 p.m.

Duval Charter (0-1) at Old Plank Christian (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Eagle’s View (0-1) at Branford, 7:30 p.m.

Eastside at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Englewood at Bishop Snyder (0-1)

Episcopal (1-0) at Providence

First Coast at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

First Coast Christian (0-1) at Christ’s Church Academy (1-0)

Fleming Island at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Fletcher at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Harvest Community (1-0) at Stanton (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Hilliard at All Saints Academy

Impact Christian at Chiles

Jackson at Orange Park

Keystone Heights (0-1) at Interlachen, 7:30 p.m.

Leon at Fernandina Beach

Mandarin at McArthur (Broward County Showcase)

Matanzas at Flagler Palm Coast

Menendez at Middleburg

Nease at Creekside

Parker at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

Paxon (0-1) at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Raines at Oakleaf

St. Augustine at Palatka

Suwannee at Crystal River

Tocoi Creek at Bartram Trail

Trinity Christian at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Union County (1-0) at Rutherford, 7:30 p.m.

University Christian at Ponte Vedra

West Port at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

Westside at Ridgeview

Young Kids in Motion at Joshua Christian

Yulee at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at IMG Academy White

OFF: St. Joseph.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The club is also set to add defender João Cancelo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Unlike in early voting, when you could vote at any early voting location in your county, on Election Day, you must vote at your assigned precinct.

Early voting ended this weekend after more than a week of in-person advance voting opportunities. According to data from the Florida Division of Elections, statewide turnout currently sits just below 15 percent. Nearly 16 percent of the state’s Republicans have cast a ballot so far, and more than 20 percent of the state’s registered Democrats have already voted.

Florida is a closed primary state, meaning that in most cases, you must already be registered with a specific party to vote in one of that party’s primary contests.

However, the primary also includes numerous races that will be open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation. That includes school board and judicial contests, as well as races for certain local offices.

In addition, in races where all of the candidates are of one party, with no unaffiliated or write-in candidates, the party primary will be open to all voters, since the primary will decide the office-holder.

To find your sample ballot so you can see what races you’re eligible to vote in, go to your county’s supervisor of elections page (linked below). You can also read about the candidates on the ballot in the News4JAX Voter’s Guide, which includes responses from the candidates in their own words.

In order to vote, you must bring one or two forms of valid and current identification that include your signature and photo.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

• Florida Driver License
• Florida ID Card (issued by DHSMV)
• U.S. Passport
• Debit or Credit Card
• Military ID
• Student ID
• Retirement Center ID
• Neighborhood Association ID
• Public Assistance ID
• Veteran Health ID (issued by the US Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Concealed Weapon License (issued pursuant to F.S. 790.06)
• Employee ID card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government, the state, a county, or a municipality.

If you show up without an ID, you can cast a “provisional” ballot, which is then evaluated by a canvassing board that decides if the ballot is eligible.

Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by your county’s supervisor of elections by 7 p.m. on Tuesday in order to be counted.

Find your polling precinct:

• Alachua County
• Baker County
• Bradford County
• Clay County
• Columbia County
• Duval County
• Flagler County
• Nassau County
• Putnam County
• St. Johns County
• Union County

Once polls close at 7 p.m., we will have results here on News4JAX.com as they come in. We will also have special coverage on Channel 4 and streaming on News4JAX.com and News4JAX+ starting at 8 p.m.

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

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

Putin resists pressure for peace talks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wildberries said its facility sustained “insignificant damage.”

Russian TV doesn't report news of the attack

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

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

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

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of a ‘brutal attack’ on civilians

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

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

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

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

UK vows continued Ukraine support

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to JEA, customers report most often that an impostor asks them to make a payment by calling a toll-free number or texting a payment to Walmart.

JEA said it is working to get the toll-free number shut down and has contacted Walmart representatives about the scam tactics directing customers to Walmart using a barcode.

JEA reminds customers of steps they can take to protect themselves.

The utility does not request personal information or instant payments by gift cards over the phone.

JEA also does not call after business hours, as some of these callers have done.

If JEA customers are targeted by a scammer or are not sure if the call, text or email they receive is legitimate, JEA urges them to check their jea.com account or call 904-665-6000 and use the automated service to check their balance.

The utility also encourages customers to familiarize themselves with these tips:

• Never provide or confirm personal information (Social Security number, date of birth) or financial information to anyone initiating contact with you and claiming to be a utility company representative. 
• Never purchase a prepaid card or respond via a mobile payment app to avoid service interruptions. JEA does not accept payments via cash apps.  
• Customers who feel that they are in physical danger should first call 911. 
• Visit jea.com/scams for a comprehensive list of what to look for. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Infantino in crisis

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

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

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

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

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

Fired, not resigned

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Norway not discussing other candidates right now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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