Sheriff H.D. Gator DeLoach and Putnam County Clerk of Courts Matt Reynolds will be speaking on Friday at 10 a.m.

This story will be updated with the details from the conference.

And experts say mid-year, right around June, can be a turning point, when people take a hard look at their goals and start thinking about what’s next.

And for many, especially in their 40s, it’s not just about a new job. It’s a moment of re-evaluation, sometimes called a mid-career panic.

It starts quietly, progress starts to slow and the clock feels louder. Every scroll, every update feels like a reminder you’re not where you thought you’d be.

“People are comparing themselves to everybody else’s highlight reel,” said Jenna Watson, an executive coach and licensed mental health counselor.

Only 3 in 10 workers say they feel engaged at work, meaning nearly 70% have checked out.

And social media, LinkedIn updates, and promotions can create the illusion that everyone else is ahead.

“I think having realistic expectations, right? Setting a smart goal that is very clearly defined and achievable,” explained Watson.

But often it’s more perception than reality, especially in mid-career when priorities shift from just climbing, to meaning, balance and purpose.

So, what should you do when that panic hits?

First, pause and identify what’s really driving the stress. Is it burnout, boredom, or a lack of growth?

Don’t assume you have to start over. Many of your skills like leadership, communication, and strategy can move with you into a new role or even a new field.

And reassess goals, are they realistic for your life today?

Reaching out to a mentor or building a new skill can help turn panic into a plan. Because what feels like a breakdown may actually be a reset, pointing you toward what’s next.

Career coaches say one simple step is to update your resume or LinkedIn profile, even if you’re not ready to leave. They say seeing your skills and accomplishments in writing can help shift your mindset from stuck to strategic and help you move forward with a plan, not panic.

ATF, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, told The Associated Press that it discontinued what it called a “pilot” program using a tool called Webloc after Rep. Michael Cloud, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, expressed reservations about the agency's use of bulk commercial location data.

Webloc, which is made by a vendor called Penlink, sources data from consumer apps and advertising networks, which collect the location of mobile devices from consumers who download apps or browse the web. Such data is sometimes called “ad tech” and has been controversial in criminal law enforcement as it allows agencies to bypass warrant requirements to identify the mobile devices present in certain areas at specific times.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that police needed a warrant to obtain historic movement data from cellphone companies on a criminal suspect. But it has never addressed the growing practice of commercially acquired data.

Other users of Webloc include the U.S. military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but also local law enforcement agencies such as police in places like Elk Grove, Calif. and Durham, N.C. The technology has also expanded around the world, with the national police in El Salvador and Hungarian intelligence agencies as customers, according to a report from earlier this year from Citizen Lab, a group of researchers at the University of Toronto who investigate digital threats to civil society.

“A victory for Americans’ constitutional rights”

ATF said in a statement that it determined that the tool “does not meet our needs.” The agency said it is not using any other ad-tech-sourced services.

“ATF continually evaluates tools and techniques to enhance our investigations and ultimately reduce violent crime in American communities. We did conduct a pilot with Webloc to determine if it could improve our investigative capabilities,” an ATF spokesperson said in an email.

Wyden called ATF’s decision to abandon the software “a victory for Americans’ constitutional rights.”

“For years, I have warned that the government’s purchase of Americans’ location data from shady data brokers is an unacceptable end-run around the Fourth Amendment,” Wyden said in a statement. After Rep. Cloud and my staff informed the ATF about the legal and privacy quagmire surrounding adtech data, the agency did the right thing.”

Under questioning from Cloud, ATF Director Robert Cekada acknowledged in a congressional hearing in May that the agency had been buying geolocation data on American cell phones.

After the hearing, Wyden and Cloud’s office were briefed by ATF. In a joint press release, the two lawmakers said they learned ATF had conducted more than 300 warrantless searches using the tool — including more than 200 tied to active ATF cases.

In one instance involving suspected arson at a facility belonging to a U.S. defense contractor, both a prosecutor and a judge expressed concerns about the use of Webloc ad tech data, according to the two lawmakers. The agency “was ultimately forced to backtrack and obtain a traditional court order for bulk cellphone tower data” from cell carriers instead, Wyden and Cloud said in a release.

Webloc was originally made by an Israeli company called Cobwebs before it was bought and merged with a U.S. company called Penlink.

Penlink said in a statement that it is “proud to have a long-standing relationship with ATF that has enabled us to support its mission to protect America’s communities from violent crime involving the illegal use of firearms, explosives and arson.” The company added that it “looks forward to continuing our relationship in support of that mission.”

Practice continues in other government agencies

Other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security continue to buy commercial geolocation data.

DHS issued a request for information to private industry in January asking about how commercially available advertising data might be used to assist in its deportation and law enforcement mission. And earlier this year, FBI director Kash Patel told the Senate: “We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Wyden, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, have introduced a bill that would ban the practice of buying data without a judicial order.

While the images were consistent with the location, it was not possible to independently confirm their authenticity and they were quickly removed from the internet.

Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post reported that a small airplane crashed into the CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, in Beijing’s Central Business District.

Photos showed what appeared to be a hole or broken glass on one side of the building.

Heavy police presence, as well as fire engines and ambulances were seen outside the skyscraper, which stands at 528 meters (1,732 feet.)

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, and authorities have not issued a statement on the incident.

The mobile phone alert startled many across Dubai, the first since the United States and Iran last week reached an interim ceasefire in the war.

The warning underscored the ongoing tensions in the region, following an attack on a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past few days.

Iran is suspected of launching a drone attack against a tanker off the coast of Oman on Thursday as Tehran increasingly challenges the region and the U.S. over its control of the strait, even with the current interim deal in the Iran war.

The brief text alert that was sent from the UAE’s Interior Ministry on Friday afternoon was also the first of its kind during the Iran war, and seemed to have been an accidental alert that went out to the public. It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the warning.

A short time after the alert, the Emiratis said there was a telephone call between Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. It quoted Sheikh Abdullah as telling Araghchi that the UAE “emphasized the importance of full commitment” to the interim deal between Iran and the U.S.

“Serious diplomacy and responsible dialogue are the optimal path for addressing all regional and international crises,” it said.

The U.S. and Iran are still negotiating terms of the interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.

The topic of the news conference has not been released, but DeSantis will be joined at Lakeland High School by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Stasi Kamoutsas.

News4JAX will stream the news conference live. Press play above to watch.

The events include school supply giveaways, food bank drives, neighborhood door knockings and organizer trainings.

“Everything costs too damn much under Donald Trump and the Republicans,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

Martin said party members planned “to reach, engage, register, and mobilize voters who will make the difference in races up and down the ballot.”

Two years ago, Democrats were the ones accused of being indifferent to Americans’ anger about rising prices. Now they're pointing the finger at Trump, who has downplayed the impact of lingering inflation.

He has described affordability concerns as a “hoax” and recently said, “I love the inflation” because he expects costs to drop as he tries to resolve his war with Iran.

This weekend's events vary by region.

In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Luján Grisham will convene a training for 150 potential campaign staffers. Nevada’s statewide campaigns will knock on doors in rural and working class neighborhoods. Others will call voters in swing districts with competitive U.S. House races to talk about the rising price of gas.

Some events are geared toward directly helping voters to persuade them that Democrats are concerned about affordability.

For instance, the local party in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, plans to collect and distribute school supplies to poor families. And canvassers will fan out to discuss affordability issues in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democrats hope that the events will show that their time in the political wilderness has made it more serious and effective at tackling kitchen table issues. But some fear their agenda may not be heard by voters in an increasingly fractured media environment.

“One of Donald Trump’s greatest strengths is that he’s so loud,” said Brian Derrick, a Democratic strategist. He said that events like the weekend’s itinerary help Democrats focus on an “Achilles’ heel” issue for Trump, “which right now is his lack of interest in addressing everyday costs for people.”

It's not the kind of reaction most veteran artists receive. “And I’m thinking, you know, 20 years is a long time to work for something. But when you see that … What’s the next 20 years look like?” he asks.

The rancher, rodeo competitor and onetime prison guard started his two-decade career playing honky tonks and dive bars. That led to slow and steady growth for the country traditionalist, but in the last few years, something has shifted. He landed his fifth career No. 1 song with “The Fall.” He was named entertainer of the year at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards, the show's highest honor. That was a month after he headlined Stagecoach Music Festival. For an artist with legions of fans, it looked like he was accessing new heights.

“I feel like I’m closing a book and I’m opening another one and it’s all blank pages,” he says of this period. “Let's get to the next chapter."

On Friday, that new era began with the release of his album “Banks of the Trinity.”

Traveling to the ‘Banks of the Trinity’

It hasn't been an easy road. Last fall, Johnson had to cancel a bunch of tour dates after upper respiratory and sinus infections caused a burst eardrum that required surgery — an intimidating medical procedure for anyone, but especially nerve-wracking for a musician. “I was scared,” he said simply. But “in a roundabout way, it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

It forced him to take three months off, which allowed him to be home during the birth of his son. It also rejuvenated his approach in the studio. Before the incident, he thought the album was complete. It was not: The additional time resulted in the inclusion of a few songs that now feel inextricable from the record: “Thank Somebody Country,” “Take Me Back (Leave Me There),” “Cricket on a Hook,” and the resilient “I Have” among them.

“What a blessing to have that kind of song fall in your lap when you’re kind of up against the ropes,” he says of the latter. “I mean, we thought we had the record done. It wasn’t done.”

A title track with real resonance

At the heart of “Banks of the Trinity” is its title track, which recalls Eagles' cover of “Seven Bridges Road” meets bluegrass and Southern gospel. Lyrically, it's an ode to Johnson's childhood. “I grew up on the banks of the Trinity (River.) Fishing for catfish, not so much out of pleasure or sport but for necessity to put food in the freezer. Deer season for me was not a trophy thing,” he said.

And while that track inspires a feeling of nostalgia within the listener, he doesn't consider this album a throwback collection. He says it's about showcasing his evolving sonic diversity. “The rest of the album for me is a musical journey from track one to track 16,” he said. “There’s a little bit of a flavor for everybody. It does kind of hit Motown. It does kind of hit Bluegrass. It does hit progressive country. It does it old country. It does a little rock here and there.”

It's the result of a new kind of freedom, one that is at least partially due to his recent accomplishments, including taking home the top prize at the ACM Awards. “I just did the thing that I’ve aspired to do in my career my entire life,” he says. “A really good place is a really good way to describe where I am.”

And now that the album is out, he's ready to take a breather. “I will be shirtless with no shoes on a beach at an undisclosed location,” he jokes about the days after record release. “'Cause I have already done all the prep work. I've been working on this album for two years. I’ve done all of the interviews. I’ve shook all the hands. Me and my wife and kids are gonna disappear for 10 days and I’m gonna become, I guess, every Kenny Chesney song ever.”

It's not a bad place to be.

Hours after Paris police authorities said they wanted the event canceled, the French athletics federation (FFA) confirmed that it would take place on Sunday at Charlety Stadium, in agreement with the police prefecture.

Citing the exceptional heat that has affected Paris since June 21, the police prefecture had asked organizers of the meet, and other events scheduled this weekend including a music festival and a Pride march, to cancel.

The prefecture said it would be forced to comply with the order if they didn’t agree voluntarily as emergency services needed to concentrate their efforts on protecting the most vulnerable people.

Noah Lyle, Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis are among the athletes expected to compete in Paris.

The FFA, which organizes the meet, said it would be staged in “an adapted format designed to ensure the safety of all participants.”

Only competitions involving professional athletes will be held, with all other activities cancelled.

“Since the beginning of this extreme weather event, the French Athletics Federation has been closely monitoring the situation in constant coordination with government authorities. The safety of athletes, coaches, volunteers, officials, spectators and all staff involved remains our highest priority,” the FFA said.

Among the measures put in place to mitigate the effects of the heat, the FFA cited delaying the opening of the stadium gates to the public, reinforcing medical and emergency services and providing additional drinking water stations and shaded areas.

The average temperature recorded at 30 weather stations by the Meteo France weather agency on Thursday reached 30 degrees C (86F) again, matching the record for the hottest day nationwide set the previous day.

More than three-quarters of France has been placed under a red weather alert for the first time.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

New York is 34-47 following a six-game losing streak, 15 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta and 9 1/2 games back of the NL’s last wild-card berth.

Mets owner Steve Cohen had high expectations for a team without a World Series title since 1986. New York opened the season with baseball's highest payroll at $358 million and was projected to pay an additional $124 million in luxury tax.

“Our commitment to bringing our fans a championship-caliber team has not changed," Cohen said in a statement. "There is no sugar-coating it: This season has been a disappointment and our fans deserve better than what we’ve delivered.”

A former Yankees assistant coach, Mendoza replaced Buck Showalter after the 2023 season and led the Mets to a 206-199 record. While New York advanced to the NL Championship Series in 2024, the Mets failed to reach the playoffs last year and are among the sport's biggest disappointments this season.

“Carlos has led the organization with passion and grace and is beloved by everyone who works with him on a daily basis,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said in a statement. “Carlos’ impact on our players, staff, and culture over the last three seasons has been transformative. Unfortunately, we know we are falling short and change is necessary to move forward.”

Green, a former major league infielder, joined the Mets in 2023 as senior vice president of baseball development. He managed San Diego to a 274-366 record from 2016-19.

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

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% and is heading for just its second losing week in the last 13. The Nasdaq composite, which has a heavy emphasis on tech stocks, was down 1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, was down a more modest 0.4%, or 223 points.

The slump started in Asia, where stock indexes tumbled 4.2% in Japan and 5.8% in South Korea. There, as well, the culprits were stocks of companies that have been swept up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology.

After soaring to tremendous heights and leading the market for years, AI stocks been under pressure recently because of worries their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. And those drops have an outsized effect because AI stocks have grown into Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving movements for their stock prices more influence on indexes than others.

Thursday’s losses came even though the majority of stocks rose within the S&P 500.

That was drowned out by such losses as the 5.5% drop for Micron Technology. The maker of memory for computers has been a big winner this year, with its stock roughly quadrupling, because the AI boom has created a surge of demand for its products.

But investors also saw the downside of that surge the day before, when Apple said it had to raise prices on many of its products by significant percentages to make up for the increases in memory prices. The worry is that such higher prices could ultimately lead to lower demand.

Highlighting the roller-coaster ride that AI stocks have been on, SpaceX fell 1% below $152, toward its lowest level since its ballyhooed debut on Wall Street earlier this month. After initially selling its stock at $135 apiece, the price briefly soared above $225 within its first few days of trading. Besides rockets, SpaceX also owns the xAI artificial-intelligence business.

The drops for stocks came even as oil prices slumped back toward where they were before the war with Iran sent them surging. The price for a barrel of Brent crude sank 3% to $73.23. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 3.2% to $69.65 per barrel.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.39% from 4.40% late Thursday.

High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.

In Japan, a 12.5% plunge for Softbank Group Corp led the Nikkei 225 lower. The company is a major investor in OpenAI, the maker of AI chatbot ChatGPT, and a report in The New York Times suggested OpenAI is considering delaying an initial public offering of its stock to next year from the second half of this year.

Such an IPO would give OpenAI the chance to raise more cash to spend on data centers, as well as the opportunity for early investors like Softbank to cash out some of their holdings. But the recent stumbles for SpaceX’s stock and for AI stocks broadly may be a signal of less appetite for big AI stocks among investors.

In South Korea, sharp drops for AI winners also dragged the market lower. SK Hynix fell 8.4%, and Samsung Electronics sank 5.3%.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Investigators requested a large number of text messages from Carrico after it came to light through a public record request that he was trying to appoint his boss to the JEA board as a “big favor.”

RELATED | Timeline: How ‘big favor’ texts sparked a JEA board shakeup and allegations about utility leadership | JEA CEO denies ‘toxic’ culture, ‘racism’ claims; Mayor Deegan calls it a smear campaign by those out to control utility | Council president responds to released documents through lawyer, says personal texts don’t have to be released | Newly released Carrico records raise questions about altered text messages in JEA probe

Text message records were obtained a few weeks ago through the City Council, but some were heavily redacted.

The new documents obtained Thursday, which include previously redacted messages, give critical context.

The one that was called into question was a message between Carrico and his boss at the Boys and Girls Club, Paul Martinez. The original text we received was heavily redacted and didn’t provide any context.

The originally-released text from Carrico to Martinez said, “Guess it’s time they get a new board member to show them who’s boss….You ready to play the game?” At the time, it was unclear what “the game” was.

Part of the game Carrico is referring to appears to be the Nassau County land deal, according to the text of the unredacted message obtained on Thursday.

In a text message dated Jan. 7, it’s not clear who’s writing, but the conversation starts: “Hi, any word on the Nassau County property?” “They are checking with CEO to see if the donation of the land is still in play,” Carrico responds. “Gracias,” the original writer responds.

In the next message, dated Jan. 20, the writer, who appears to be Martinez, says, “Good evening, any word on Nassau for Nassau?”

Carrico responds, “No love, first they said no to giving it away because of fear of the board. Now they say not interested in selling either because of further growth in Nassau County. Guess it’s time they get a new board member to show them who’s boss. You ready to play the game?”

The last part of Carrico’s response matches one from the originally-released documents, and Carrico told News4JAX at the time that he was messaging with Martinez.

Less than a month later, Carrico introduced a resolution on Feb. 10 to nominate Martinez as a member of the JEA board to replace board member Arthur Adams Jr., who was appointed to the board in January 2025 and whose term was close to expiring.

Martinez is the current president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, where Carrico works as the vice president of strategic initiatives.

So why is the message significant? It’s because the land, owned by JEA, was appraised at more than $1 million. According to a draft agreement that was never signed, JEA considered leasing the land to the nonprofit Nassau County Boys & Girls Club Foundation for $1 a year, but that was never executed.

Real estate officials had previously concluded the facility could not essentially give away the land. They did offer the nonprofit the chance to discuss a market-rate lease or purchase of the land.

Martinez issued a statement to News4JAX and Florida Trib, denying any connection between his potential nomination to JEA’s board and the Nassau County land deal.

“There was no connection between my potential nomination to the JEA Board and the Nassau County Boys & Girls Club Foundation’s discussions regarding the property. The Nassau County Boys & Girls Club Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) organization with its own independent board of directors. The Foundation’s board had expressed that it was not receiving responses regarding the property and asked me to inquire on its behalf. Other than this inquiry, I had no further conversations with Mr. Carrico regarding the property. Had I been appointed to the JEA Board, I understood that I would have been required to abstain from participating in any discussion or vote involving the property. That is how any potential conflict would have been handled,” Martinez said.

Earlier this month, News4JAX reached out to Carrico for comment about the redacted message and the records overall.

Carrico confirmed to News4JAX that the “play the game” message was sent to Martinez, also saying, “I’m a straight shooter, and sometimes that means my language is more blunt than polished. The text reflects what I’ve said publicly for years: JEA needs change. Under the current leadership, Jacksonville ratepayers have been saddled with some of the largest utility rate hikes in JEA’s history, and they’ve every right to be frustrated. Rather than demanding answers and pushing back on behalf of customers, too many members of the board have simply accepted the status quo. I will continue fighting for greater accountability, stronger oversight, and for a board that puts ratepayers first.”

Carrico faced backlash after the first batch of text messages seemed to reveal that at least part of his motivation to nominate his boss for a position on JEA’s board happened because he owed him a “big favor.”

As the now unredacted records continue to raise questions about JEA’s board appointment process, City Council President Nick Howland told News4JAX on Thursday night what could happen next.

“I think we are ready to move from a stage of investigation to a state of collaboration to come together and find solutions,” Howland said. “You will see when I issue a memo tomorrow (Friday) morning about what special committees we are ready to do that, and as a council, we will be ready.”

How we got here

The original records request triggered a cost estimate from city council for nearly $4,000. We wanted to find out why, since the records we requested had already been compiled in response to a State Attorney’s Office subpoena issued in February.

After News4JAX and other local newsrooms started asking questions, the cost of providing the records to local reporters was eventually reduced to $220.

The ongoing JEA saga has many layers, so first, let’s start with some background.

Back in April, JEA itself was issued a subpoena by the state attorney seeking a broad swath of communication records about the agency’s CEO, Vickie Cavey, as well as discussions involving City Council President Kevin Carrico and a high-powered lobbying firm that employs former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

But the records we requested were related to an earlier subpoena, issued in February, directly to Carrico for calendar entries and various communications.

After the text messages came to light, Martinez withdrew himself from consideration for the JEA board position.

But the public trust in the city-owned utility’s board appointment process was damaged, some said, and the SAO opted to investigate.

The subpoena, which Carrico revealed to News4JAX, called for the council president to turn over his daily calendar entries from Jan. 1, 2025, to Feb. 24, 2026, as well as emails, text messages, and other communications fitting a variety of categories.

They include communications between Carrico and any JEA board member related to a board appointment, communications with board members about Cavey, communications with former JEA chief of staff Kurt Wilson, and messages matching terms including “JEA,” “Board of Directors,” “lobbying,” and others.

The materials were originally due to the state attorney’s office on March 10, but Carrico told us he requested an extension.

In April, News4JAX made a public records request for the materials Carrico had turned over to prosecutors. In response, city council officials said the estimated cost of our request was $3,976.50.

Under Florida public records law, if a request requires “extensive” time or resources, an agency can charge the requester based on the amount of time and the hourly pay of the person working on the request.

The estimate called for 45 hours of work by Carrico and another 25 hours of work by his council assistant, each at a rate of a little more than $40 an hour. On top of that, it was estimated that the request would require an additional 10 hours of legal review, at a cost of $104 an hour.

When News4JAX asked why it would take 70 hours to pull and review materials that had already been gathered for the state attorney’s office, a city council official told us that no copies were made of the materials given to the state attorney’s office, so they would have to start over to fulfill our request.

Also, the official said, the documents handed over to prosecutors included non-public records, as well as records that were not reviewed for public record exemptions, thus requiring the legal review.

We further asked for additional details about the basis for the cost estimate, including:

• A detailed breakdown of the time estimates for Carrico and his assistant, including the tasks performed and why those efforts had to be repeated if the records were already gathered once before
• A detailed breakdown of the categories of records previously compiled, including the number of pages
• Whether or not any sort of index or inventory of the records exists, and whether it could help reduce the time required to process the request
• Clarification as to whether any of the requested records are already readily available

News4JAX also told city council officials that we were willing to work with them to obtain the records and view them in-person, if that would be a reasonable compromise to the costs involved.

City Council Legislative Counsel Jason Teal shared the following response:

“The hours spent by Council President Carrico and Ms. Lee represent the actual time spent compiling the documents responsive to the SAO request. Council President Carrico fulfilled the request himself because he is the only person who can examine his records and compare them to the subject matters sought in the subpoena, and he did not keep a copy of what was sent in response to the subpoena. I am unaware of any law or regulation that requires that a copy be kept of subpoenaed and produced documents; however, I would be happy to review any law that you have which says differently.

Therefore, to reproduce the materials provided in response to the subpoena, the Council President and Ms. Lee would be required to duplicate their dozens of hours initially spent. Due to the fact that they are producing the documents this time pursuant to a public record request (and not a subpoena), Florida’s public records laws allow the collection of costs associated with fulfilling the public record request. That would include the initial time to gather the documents, a substantive review to determine which are public records and which are private communications and a legal review to determine whether any of the public records are exempt from disclosure. This results in an additional, yet allowable, cost collection. An in-person review of responsive documents instead of another form of delivery would still require the initial production, review, and analysis to identify responsive documents for such in-person review.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the initial document production was done in response to a subpoena not a public record request. Council President Carrico still has the original documents responsive to the subpoena in their native format stored in their native and original location. That is all he is legally required to do to maintain public records so that he can appropriately and legally respond to an initial public record request.

Finally, as mentioned twice above, the documents were produced in response to a subpoena. Therefore, your assertions regarding the public policy rationale for Florida’s broad public record laws and maintenance of tracking information and/or logs regarding the documents are irrelevant; however, I would be happy to review any relevant law that says otherwise.

Council President Carrico and the Jacksonville City Council remain committed to strict adherence to and compliance with their duties under Florida law."

Freedom Fest returns to Naval Station Mayport with live music, food, family activities, and fireworks to end the night.

Doors open at 4 p.m., and the event will go on -- free of charge -- rain or shine.

Installation Commander Capt. Michael Trumbull said he’s anticipating 4,000-5,000 people will attend the event. He said that events like these give families something to look forward to even through hard times.

“The idea is to have an opportunity with a great venue; we’ve got three great bands coming out just to celebrate our nation and celebrate what our team does every day,” Trumbull said.

The Navy Band will be making an appearance at 6 p.m., pop band Hot Chelle Rae will hit the stage at 7:15 p.m., and country band Lanco will start at 8:35 p.m.

The night will end with fireworks at 9:30.

Organizer Terra Downey with the Naval Station Mayport Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) Department said the event is all about supporting military families.

“We’re extra excited this year, it’s America’s 250, but also we always have a celebration for Independence Day on this base, and it’s really to celebrate the sailors and their families and the sacrifice they make for the country,” Downey said.

To attend the event, you need to have base access, so that means anyone with a Department of Defense ID card, including active duty, National Guard, reservists and dependents.

If you don’t have any military affiliation, each service member can bring up to five guests.

Now, if you are in the area around Mayport at North Beach and Wonderwood, expect traffic this afternoon.

As a historic heat wave gripped the French capital, fashion houses fought to keep guests cool with mist machines, chilled towels, parasols and iced Evian on silver platters.

It wasn’t enough. Historic venues sweltered, guests were packed in tight, air conditioning was absent or inadequate and water ran short — at one house, organizers weighed serving none at all, having found only plastic bottles to hand out.

That mattered because Paris Fashion Week is not a minor cultural event.

It is one of France’s most visible export machines: six fashion seasons a year, global luxury houses, celebrities, editors, buyers and clients moving through an industry worth billions, often inside aging venues built for a cooler age.

This week raised a harder question: whether Paris should keep staging menswear and haute couture in the height of summer at all if climate change keeps bringing more frequent and intense heat waves.

“I honestly thought I was going to pass out,” said Ben Freeman, a London-based fashion critic from Australia.

Paris neared 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) during a heat wave that pushed France into emergency mode. Large parts of the country were under red alert, and hospitals were told to prepare for more heat-related cases.

Like the dusty Louvre, which cut hours and said its historic building “remains vulnerable and is not sufficiently adapted to climate change,” fashion week exposed a Paris problem as much as a fashion one: how to keep prestige institutions running when the weather no longer fits the building, the calendar or the crowd.

“Paris Fashion Week is the canary in the mine,” Freeman said.

The deeper contradiction was on the runway.

At a Paris Fashion Week Men’s where the industry paid to imagine next summer could barely survive this one, houses cooled the people watching the shows, then dressed their models in unseasonable leather, neoprene, wool and fur.

“The calendar does not make any sense,” acknowledged Dior’s Jonathan Anderson, blaming fractured delivery cycles and a business that bears no relation to the season outside.

Some in the front row said Paris may have to consider moving fashion week away from the height of summer if climate change keeps bringing more frequent and intense heat waves.

“In Paris we don’t have AC everywhere, it’s quite rare,” said Thomas Levy, 24, a fashion student outside one show. “I don’t know how the models did it this week in some of the leather and knit coats."

The venues couldn’t cope

Pascal Morand, who heads France’s fashion federation, said organizers were following the government’s heat-wave plan.

“We are conscious of the challenges and very attentive to preserving the Fashion Week experience in this context of structural change,” he told The Associated Press.

The cause ran deeper — an industry whose fixed parts, from the buildings to the clothes, were designed for a cooler world and a customer who lives somewhere else.

The response included earlier shows, more water, more mist, more shade.

Fashion had already been warned about heat management. In March, Celine built an okoumé-wood pavilion in the courtyard of the Institut de France for a winter show, packed guests inside and still saw some leave because of the temperature.

Dior shifted its show to 9 a.m. from mid-afternoon, and Rick Owens moved his forward too. Yet inside Dior’s half-renovated mansion, water was scarce, there was no air conditioning, and some guests looked ready pass out.

The strain had already shown at Milan Fashion Week last week. At Thom Browne’s first show there, giant misting fans ran and black umbrellas went out as guests waited out the midday sun.

Runways out of season

The clothes were made not for summer in Paris but for global markets and customers who pass the hottest months in refrigerated air — the malls of the Gulf, the towers of New York and Shanghai. For them, a wool coat in June is not a contradiction. It is just a purchase.

Louis Vuitton presented wetsuits in neoprene, as well as coats in cashmere and fur.

At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello sent models through cooling clouds of vapor from a Fujiko Nakaya fog sculpture, then ran hot and cold at once: featherweight, unlined tailoring stripped down for the heat, against leather briefs, choker scarves and transparent shoes fogging with the wearer’s sweat.

Issey Miyake’s IM Men gave the clearest practical answer, handing out ice packs at the door, then bamboo-thread fabrics and shadowy prints that moved with the air rather than against it.

Rick Owens made the anxiety literal, sending models through mist in garments with fans whirring inside. One critic called it metaphor for climate catastrophe.

France’s uneasy cooling debate

Air conditioning remains culturally suspect in France — blamed for sore throats, dismissed as wasteful or bad for the planet — even as heat waves turn cooling into a question of public safety.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government leans toward shade, insulation and trees; environmentalists warn that mass cooling would only deepen the emissions driving the heat.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, but its old cities are short on the cooling a hotter climate demands. From sport to tourism to construction, industries built around fixed calendars and outdoor crowds are being forced to adapt to heat that comes earlier, lasts longer and climbs higher.

The question is how much longer an aging 19th century Paris can host a summer spectacle where guests need ice packs to reach the finale.

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Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year, as Ukraine has accelerated its drone development, involved 556 drones on May 17.

In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have been battering oil production and energy facilities behind the front line and deep inside Russia.

The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Moscow's efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and has heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit

Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually doesn't say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.

Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defense radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea.

The targets were two reconnaissance and minelaying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency said, claiming that the strikes started a large fire. The claim could not be independently verified.

Zelenskyy hints at a 40-day blitz of Russia

The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.

Still, as they have occasionally in the past, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war, with 160 from each side returning home on Friday, officials said.

Ukraine has racked up a list of successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.

A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine's military.

Russian attacks killed 3 civilians and wounded 29, Ukraine says

Two people were killed and seven were wounded in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.

Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region, Syniehubov added.

On Friday morning, another Russian drone attack on downtown Izium, a city in the Kharkiv region, killed a woman and wounded three other people, emergency services said.

Attacks in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Sumy in the northeast, also left at least 19 people wounded, including a 9-year-old, according to authorities. Some of the Russian attacks used powerful glide bombs and also targeted gas stations.

Ukraine’s defenses overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.

No Russian military buildup seen on border with Belarus, Ukraine says

Russia is expanding several of its military sites deep inside Belarus, but there is no buildup of forces near the Ukrainian border, a State Border Guard Service spokesman said Friday.

Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine from Belarus, which borders both countries, and Kyiv has kept a close watch on developments there during the war.

Ukrainian intelligence units have detected no grouping or reinforcement of Russian units, equipment or personnel close to the border, spokesman Andrii Demchenko said in remarks to Ukrainian television.

However, Russia has a growing number of training grounds, bases and other sites deeper inside the country, according to intelligence units.

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

Bringing the character of Superman’s cousin, Supergirl, to the big screen has been a challenge.

There were high hopes for 1984’s “Supergirl” featuring Helen Slater, but negative reviews and poor box office shot down that anticipated franchise faster than a kryptonite arrow.

The character was then sidelined as the studio concentrated on movies featuring The Man of Steel, although those had their share of ups and downs.

The female superhero did show up in a couple of live-action TV shows (“Smallville” and “Supergirl”) as well as some animated series before re-emerging in 2023 in a small part in the big screen film, “The Flash.”

Actress Sasha Calle was signed and ready to be front and center in future films, but a studio merger and changes at Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment resulted in those plans being shelved.

When the dust finally cleared, a new game plan emerged. First came a completely new Man of Steel (David Corenswet), who starred in 2025’s successful reboot, “Superman.” The film featured a short appearance by Supergirl, now played by “House of the Dragon” actress Milly Alcock. She played it a little drunk, sassy and edgy, making it a nice set-up for her own film, which has just opened in theaters.

The film begins with the young lady celebrating her 23^rd birthday. She’s doing shots, swearing, and is clearly a little troubled. She’s also smart and very capable of handling herself.

Alcock demonstrated her acting chops in “House of the Dragon” and does so again here. She smoothly tackles all the physical challenges of the role, while still being vulnerable and conflicted.

The script was written by Ana Nogueira, a former actress-turned playwright-turned-screenwriter who has been writing for multiple DC movie projects. Also listed as writers are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The story unfolds at a smooth and brisk pace. We meet the main villain: a stud-faced psycho named “Krem of the Yellow Hills,” played by Matthias Schoenaerts, who was seen previously in “Red Sparrow.”

He and his henchmen kill the family of a teenage girl named Ruthye, who embarks on a mission of revenge that leads her to form an alliance with Supergirl. Ruthye is well-played by British actress Eve Ridley, who appeared in the Netflix series “3 Body Problem.”

Also showing up periodically in the film is Jason Momoa (“Aquaman”), who seems delighted to play an over-the-top, extremely-violent, alien mercenary/bounty hunter who proves to be an ally.

Director Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya” and “Cruella”) manages to stage multiple big fight scenes, while also weaving in a series of flashbacks that tell the origin story of Supergirl and how she came to follow her cousin to Earth.

By the way, “Superman” himself (David Corenswet) does appear multiple times, as does Krypto, the wildly popular dog from the first film. An attack on the pooch is a major plot driver in this movie.

The writing is very clever, with some excellent lines. When the pessimistic Supergirl is asked about the difference between her and the Man of Steel, she replies: “He sees the good in people. I see the truth.” The script also deftly handles the question of why the heroine is known as Super-GIRL while her cousin is Super-MAN.

There are a number of elements here that may feel familiar. The tough, extreme-looking bad guys look like leftovers from a Mad Max film, while some of the action sequences feel very inspired by those movies. The multiple spaceships are reminiscent of “Star Wars,” as is a big cantina fight scene filled with aliens. And yet another battle sequence brings back memories of “Deadpool.”

“Supergirl” is often a very dark film. It’s violent and pushes the envelope of what many might expect from a superhero movie. I loved the performances and think that Milly Alcock was a superb, engaging choice to play the heroine.

The problem is that “Supergirl” feels more like an extended set-up for a follow-up movie. I was expecting more to happen in this film, which runs just 1 hour, 48 minutes, one of the shortest DC releases. Instead, it concludes with a rather abrupt ending that had me thinking, “Are they saving material for the next one?”

“Supergirl” has some nice moments, and while it’s not a bad film, it’s not a great one either. I am hopeful for the follow-up.

Note: For fans of staying through the credits for bonus clips, don’t bother. There are none in this film.

Newsom also said the U.S. government should own a stake in artificial intelligence companies. His proposals, outlined in a Substack post, aligns him with the Democratic Party's populist left, and he argued that urgent changes are needed to prevent the elite concentration of wealth and power from undermining democracy.

“It’s time for an economic reset for America,” Newsom wrote.

The governor announced his agenda a day after an influential health care union in California pledged to go forward with a ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026.

Newsom opposes that measure, as do many of the liberal interest groups that typically favor higher taxes. They fear it would drive billionaires out of California, eroding the state’s tax base over the long term for a one-time influx of cash. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other state — a few hundred, by some estimates.

“You may not be able to pick up and move to Texas or Florida to shelter your income from taxation, but I promise you that billionaires can, and do,” Newsom wrote. “Wealth is movable, and it shops for the state with the lowest taxes. The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place.”

A minimum tax on large net worths

Newsom said the solution is a new national tax policy, rather than a state-by-state system. He proposed a minimum tax on anyone with a net worth above $100 million. He also wants to make it illegal for the wealthy to borrow against their stock portfolios to fund their luxury lifestyles tax free.

Newsom said there should be new rules for inheritance taxes, warning that “the transfer of wealth among the ultra-wealthy will lock in a permanent American aristocracy of inherited wealth.” And he wants to raise corporate tax rates to where they were before President Donald Trump’s first-term tax cut.

The need is especially urgent as artificial intelligence threatens to displace workers and further concentrate wealth, he wrote.

“We need to ensure every American owns a stake in the future being built by AI through a national public equity fund that takes a major stake in the new economy,” he wrote. "Simply, as artificial intelligence reshapes the country, every American should own a piece of the future it builds."

Revenue generated by his proposals could be used to retrain workers, fund universal child care, make college free and increase funding for health care.

‘Money buys influence’

Newsom, who has drawn attention as one of Trump's most high-profile political antagonists, is getting an early start on laying out a policy framework for his potential White House bid months before the midterm elections, which have typically marked the informal start of overt presidential campaigning.

The embrace of a wealth tax by Newsom, a moderate on tax policy despite his liberal reputation, signals a notable shift in the political landscape since Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren struggled to get traction in her 2020 campaign, which she largely centered around a 2% levy wealth tax.

Newsom portrayed the nation's tax code as a corrupt system built to help an elite few.

“Money buys influence, and influence rewrites the rules,” he wrote. “Those rewritten rules funnel even more wealth to the few. Under this weight, democracy itself starts to buckle.”

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced the new toll early Friday, surrounded by government and military officials as she welcomed the arrival of rescue crews from all over the world.

“We are going to rescue the people who are trapped,” she said. “We are working tirelessly on this task.”

She said the state of La Guaira has been hardest hit by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, noting that it has been militarized as crews search for survivors and distribute food and water.

The number of casualties is expected to climb with thousands reported missing and frantic rescue efforts continuing.

Rodríguez noted that crews have rescued dozens of people, saying, “It brings us joy that they can embrace their families and loved ones.”

The injured were pulled out covered in dust and blood, among them children. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab with only a bare foot poking out before rescuers slid her out alive. But few government search teams were initially seen outside Caracas.

The International Organization for Migration said that up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the quakes, some 2 million of them in Caracas alone. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for the Americas, said "people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”

Venezuelans reeling from quakes

Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were flattened and streets cracked open.

Families posted missing-person flyers with photos of while others shared handwritten lists of names. Venezuelans abroad struggled to make contact with relatives due to interrupted phone service in the country.

In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

A mother of three, Dayana Delgado, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised and said residents were the ones digging through crumpled buildings.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her missing 8-year-old son.

Another mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of the missing. Some stood in silent shock.

Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters: A 1999 mudslide killed thousands and is considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.

“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” Mendaño said. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”

Media reports have shared notable moments of hope among the destruction, including a young man brought out on a stretcher in the San Bernardino district of Caracas to the applause of onlookers as his tearful mother said, “Leandro, I love you.”

Venezuelan TV broadcast video of a girl covered in dust and wrapping herself in a dark sweatshirt as she emerged from rubble with the help of rescuers. Caracas metropolitan rescue team head José Luis Núñez said she was found in a 10-story building in La Guaira that collapsed and flattened “like a pancake.”

“We want to highlight this girl’s strength, determination and will to live,” Núñez said.

Government and rescuers face huge challenges

The natural disaster is the latest challenge for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture and removal from power of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

The U.S. Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centered near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.

“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.

Shortly after U.N. officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.

Foreign governments offer assistance

Some 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from across the globe are deploying to Venezuela, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States was immediately deploying assistance.

“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big; it’ll be fast; and it’ll be effective,” Rubio said, while acknowledging the closure of Venezuela’s main airport near Caracas created logistical challenges.

Venezuelan TV on Friday showed the arrival of rescuers with dogs and equipment, including cameras and ground-penetrating radar, from Spain. Teams from Germany, Chile and Switzerland also landed. Turkey announced two flights will leave Istanbul on Friday with rescuers and a pair of search dogs. China also said it will provide assistance. Leaders from Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada vowed to send help.

Rescue teams from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, along with rescuers and material aid from Mexico.

“No country is prepared to provide the response that’s needed. That’s what neighboring countries are there for,” Dominican air force Maj. Carlos Olivares said.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Julie Watson in San Diego, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, India Grant in Mexico City, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.

The annual commemoration, known as Ashoura, is marked on the 10th day of the month of Muharram in the lunar-based Islamic calendar. Ashoura is the culmination of a 10-day mourning period and marks the day Hussein was killed alongside members of his family and companions as he fought against the army of Caliph Yazid, to whom Hussein had refused to pledge allegiance.

Hussein’s killing cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam and remains a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice.

Ashoura this year comes after a war between predominantly Shiite Iran and the United States and Israel, who launched strikes on the country on Feb. 28, killing senior officials including Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The 86-year-old Khamenei was not just Iran’s top political leader but also had a final say on all religious matters and was revered by millions of Shiites worldwide.

A funeral procession for Khamenei is scheduled to take place in early July.

On Friday, large crowds of people gathered in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Karbala to mark Ashoura. Hussein is buried in the city where he was killed in the battle that took place in 680, and his shrine is visited by millions of Shiites from around the world every year.

In Baghdad, thousands marched through the streets, including some who slashed their heads with razors and performed other forms of self-flagellation in a show of grief to mark the occasion.

In Lebanon, where a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah is in place, thousands of black-clad mourners gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs at a shrine to Hezbollah’s former longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes in 2024.

Women clutched photographs of sons and brothers killed in the war — many of them fighting for Hezbollah — while others held photographs of Nasrallah or Iran’s Khamenei, who was killed in February in an attack by the U.S. and Israel.

Many of them sobbed. Expressions of grief for the death of the Imam Hussein are traditional during Ashoura, but many of the mourners were also grieving more personal losses.

Nagham Jaber said her fiance was killed in the war.

“This war was truly harsh on all of us, and now we are feeling the meaning of Ashoura more than usual,” she said.

In the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, that is usually a major center to commemorate Ashoura, dozens of people gathered near the main square, much of which was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes over the past weeks, with some of them inflicting head injuries on themselves to express their mourning. The practice is widely opposed by many Shiites, including Hezbollah.

Earlier on Friday, state media and Associated Press journalists on the ground reported two Israeli airstrikes on the nearby village of Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa. It was not immediately clear if the strike inflicted any casualties.

“Despite all the hardships, everything happening to the Shiite Muslim community, and the wars we are facing, we came to reaffirm our loyalty, our love and our unwavering passion for Imam Hussein," said Khader Kamal.

To Shiites, who make up the second-largest branch of Islam after the Sunni majority, the killing of Hussein holds deep religious and historical resonance and plays a key role in shaping identity.

Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Kassem, said in a speech Friday that Ashoura is being repeated again by the U.S. and Israel, adding that his group and its supporters were subjected to a “war of elimination.”

“America and Israel also wanted to eliminate Iran by removing the regime and controlling the country,” Kassem said. “The memorandum of understanding is a declaration of defeat for America and Israel,” Kassem said of the deal reached this month between Washington and Tehran.

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Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

They had been engaged in intensive talks through the night, attempting to halt what appeared to be a spiral back into all-out war, a diplomat briefed on the talks said.

The scene on the runway encapsulated the tumultuous diplomatic process, led by Pakistan and Qatar, that led to last week's deal to end a war that destabilized the Middle East and damaged the world economy.

It was one of several moments in which social media threats or actual hostilities threatened to reignite the war. Negotiations on implementing the deal face similar challenges, including violence in Lebanon and threats over the Strait of Hormuz.

This account of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy leading to the interim deal is based on Associated Press interviews with three Pakistani officials, two regional officials and the diplomat. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive closed-door talks.

In response to a request for comment on its role, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred the AP to previous public statements and said Pakistan will continue mediating. The White House declined to comment. Representatives of Qatar and Iran did not respond to requests for comment.

Mediators averted a crisis after Trump threatened strikes

On the same day as the scene on the runway, U.S. President Donald Trump had once again threatened military action, saying the U.S. would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and take “total control” of its oil and gas industry.

Regional players launched a desperate push to convince Trump to give diplomacy another chance. Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, spoke directly with Trump and urged him to hold off on more strikes because the deal was close, the diplomat said.

The efforts paid off. Trump announced that he had canceled the planned strikes. Days later, Washington and Tehran signed an agreement to end the conflict sparked by the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in February.

The deal aimed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil and gas that Iran shut down at the start of the conflict, and lift a U.S. blockade to allow Iran to export oil. It set a 60-day deadline for negotiating a broader agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program to include further economic relief for Tehran.

Pakistan had quickly emerged as the chief mediator

Previous U.S.-Iran negotiations had been facilitated by Oman and Qatar, but they had come under fire early in the war as Iran lashed out at Gulf countries, many of which host American forces.

Pakistan had not often mediated high-stakes diplomacy, but it borders Iran and has good relations with Tehran and Washington.

The negotiating team used a secure system to relay messages between Iranian and U.S. officials. Staff were warned that leaking information could lead to a life sentence, one of the Pakistani officials said.

Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, played a key role and had a direct line to Trump, officials said.

“As the U.S.-Iran war began to drag on and both parties became keen to strike a deal, Munir’s unique network across Washington and Tehran became valuable,” said Charles Lyons-Jones, an Australian former diplomat who worked in Pakistan and is now a research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Australia.

A truce was reached in April. Days later, U.S. and Iranian representatives met in Islamabad for their first high-level talks in years.

Trump later said of the ceasefire, “I wouldn’t have really been in favor of it, but we did it as a favor to Pakistan, who are terrific people.”

Qatar stepped in as the ceasefire was shaken

Within weeks, prospects of a permanent end to the war appeared to be slipping.

Qatar had said it would not mediate while under fire from Iran, but in mid-May, with strikes on the Gulf country halted, both sides reached out asking Doha to help break the deadlock, the diplomat said.

Qatar had plenty of recent experience, having played a key role alongside Egypt in negotiating the Gaza ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.

Working alongside Pakistan, Qatari officials began quietly traveling to Tehran.

Egypt's spy chief, Hassan Rashad, meanwhile opened a line of communication with Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, who is in touch with Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, one of the regional officials said. Khamenei has been in deep hiding since the start of the war.

The two regional officials said Egypt and Turkey played a major role in keeping a number of Gulf countries — including Saudi Arabia — from joining the war.

Iran wanted to delay discussing the fate of its highly enriched uranium, the regional officials said.

But mediators convinced it to include a commitment to dilute the stockpile in the draft text in response to U.S. promises to waive sanctions on oil sales and gradually unfreeze billions in Iranian assets.

The sides also compromised on financial relief for Iran, which initially demanded at least $500 billion in reparations, one of the regional officials said. Iran finally agreed to $300 billion in pledged investments linked to a final deal, though it's unclear who would provide that funding.

Fighting in Lebanon repeatedly threatened the deal

The Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had launched missiles into Israel in response to the initial attack on Iran. Israel responded with a blistering aerial bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion.

Iran’s stance throughout the talks, which was opposed by Israel and initially the U.S., was that any deal must include a Lebanon ceasefire, and language was put into the draft.

On June 7, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi was in Tehran to deliver a message bound for Khamenei, urging him to accept the deal.

On that day, Israel struck Beirut, and Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Israel. The U.S. and Iran then traded strikes, culminating in the June 11 episode on the tarmac.

After that averted crisis, negotiations moved quickly. Trump announced on June 13 that a deal would be signed the following day. Qatari mediators returned to the Iranian capital for 17 hours of what the diplomat described as intensive negotiations.

As they appeared to be nearing a successful conclusion, Israel struck Beirut again on June 14, crossing what Iran had described as a red line.

Qatari mediators sought to convince Iran that retaliating “would only play into the hands of the deal’s opponents,” the diplomat said, adding that heading off the Iranian strikes was what “got the deal over the line.”

At Iran's demand, a pledge to ensure Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity was added to the memorandum. Iran says it requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, something Israel still refuses to do.

On June 17, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed.

Talks in Switzerland have resumed after a delay

The U.S. and Iran are now working on a final nuclear agreement with an August deadline. Those talks were delayed by two days — again because of ongoing violence in Lebanon, the diplomat said.

Iran “viewed (the Lebanon ceasefire) as point number one, and if you can’t abide by point number one, then why should we discuss two, three, four?” the diplomat said.

The U.S. and Iran pushed Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a new truce, and the talks in Switzerland went forward on Sunday, focusing on creating a mechanism to solidify the ceasefire in Lebanon.

Trump and Iranian officials have continued to fire off tough public statements, and the Iranians briefly paused the talks in Switzerland after what they said was an insulting message from Trump.

But the diplomat described the atmosphere in Switzerland as “quite positive,” with U.S. and Iranian officials having coffee together during breaks.

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Sewell reported from Beirut, Magdy from Cairo and Castillo from Beijing.

He was just 7 years old when doctors found an inoperable brain tumor deep in his brain. Surgery was too risky, so Riley’s life became filled with chemotherapy, MRIs and constant doctor visits.

“Every Friday I was going in for chemotherapy,” Riley said. “I had to do that for 52 weeks.”

He remembers being scared and confused.

“I remember asking my dad why it was happening to me and not one of my other friends,” Riley said.

But Dream Day gave him a break from all of that.

He remembers superheroes, NFL players, giant games, candy and the chance to simply feel like a kid.

“It was excitement and joy and happiness,” Riley said. “It was a break.”

Now, 10 years later, Riley is back at Dream Day — but in a very different role.

The same child who once received the magic is now helping create it.

Riley started volunteering for this year’s Dream Day just days before landing a two-week job with Event Technologies, the company helping produce the event.

For him, it is more than a summer job. It is a full-circle moment.

Riley recently graduated high school and is headed to college in Orlando to study live event production.

“I love the audience reaction,” Riley said. “That’s my favorite part.”

He said being behind the scenes has made him appreciate what Dream Day means for children and families facing serious medical challenges.

“It means everything,” Riley said. “It’s a break. It is an escape from the realities of treatment, doctors appointments, scariness and fear.”

Today, Riley’s tumor is stable. He only needs monitoring every two years.

And the little boy who once came to Dream Day looking for hope is now helping give that same feeling to someone else.

The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who is 44, accepted a wild-card entry to the grass-court Grand Slam, where she’ll also compete in doubles with her older sister Venus, who turned 46 last week.

It's all part of a tennis comeback that started with two doubles warmup matches but kicked into high gear Sunday when the All England Club announced Serena would play singles. Brackets were set in Friday's draw.

Joint was born in Michigan — as was Williams — but represents Australia through her father. She is ranked No. 53 and made her Wimbledon debut last year, losing in the first round to Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.

Joint won the grass-court Eastbourne Open last year for one of her two WTA tour-level singles titles.

Williams hasn't played a singles match since a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, she said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared she was “evolving” away from tennis. Her second daughter was born in 2023.

Williams' most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to then-115th-ranked Harmony Tan.

If Williams beats Joint on Tuesday, she may face rising Filipino star Alexandra Eala, who is seeded 29th, in the second round. She could meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round.

Swiatek opens against Taylor Townsend of the U.S. on Centre Court on Tuesday.

In a projected quarterfinals by seedings, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka would meet French Open champion Mirra Andreeva; No. 2 Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, would face 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimova; Swiatek, the No. 3 seed, would play Elina Svitolina; and No. 4 Jessica Pegula would meet Coco Gauff.

Sinner could meet Djokovic in semifinals

On the men's side, No. 1 Jannik Sinner will begin his Wimbledon title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court on Monday.

Sinner and Novak Djokovic, the No. 7 seed, are in the same half of the draw and could meet in the semifinals.

Sinner underwent checks following his French Open meltdown — losing in the second round amid a heat wave in Paris — and said he felt physically good after an exhibition match this week in London, which also experienced high temperatures.

Djokovic, a seven-time champion at the All England Club, will play Wu Yibing of China. Djokovic could meet third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.

Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the 2025 final, will miss this year’s tournament because of a wrist injury.

Wimbledon starts on Monday.

Serena and Venus in doubles

The Williams sisters are wild-card entries in the women's doubles and will play their first-round match against Colombia's Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra of Argentina.

Serena and Venus have won 14 Grand Slam titles together in doubles, including six at Wimbledon — the first in 2000 and the last in 2016. Their first two doubles titles at the All England Club, in 2000 and 2002, came as wild cards.

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

But visitors to Washington will find that the city is undergoing tremendous change, courtesy of President Donald Trump’s takeover makeover.

Since returning to office 17 months ago, Trump has demonstrated a continuing fixation with the District of Columbia. The Republican president has slapped his image and name on buildings, torn down storied structures, altered others, started massive construction projects and deployed armed military personnel.

The traditional tourist sights remain. But with slight detours, an open mind and a critical eye, the ambitious walker can see all the ways the president has pushed to remake the capital.

On the eve of the United States' birthday, take a trip with The Associated Press across a changing Washington.

First stop: An indefinite National Guard deployment

We start our tour at Union Station and Metro Center, the city’s main transit hubs. Notice the Greco-Roman architecture of the former, the Brutalist design of the latter. Now see the ongoing, indefinite deployment of armed National Guard troops there and in many other parts of the city.

National Guard members from the district and several states have been in the city since August 2025, deployed under an emergency order issued by Trump in what he called a bid to fight crime. Trump has portrayed the deployment as a lifeline for the city. They will be here for most, if not all, of 2026 and are expected to number 5,000 this summer.

It's not the first time the military has deployed to the capital. Troops were in Washington throughout the Civil War, to quell riots after Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination and, famously, hours into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

But in Trump's Washington, Guardsmen at street corners and metro stations have become an increasingly normal part of the city’s scenery.

And no one knows when they will leave.

Second stop: Scars left by DOGE

Exit Union Station, take in the view of the Capitol and turn right down Pennsylvania Avenue. There sits a building now synonymous with the Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration's effort to shrink the federal government.

The U.S. Agency for International Development was the first major federal agency targeted by then-DOGE leader Elon Musk in the remake of the federal government, when cost-cutting measures prompted the terminations of tens of thousands of workers. USAID spent billions on humanitarian aid worldwide and was credited with saving millions of lives over time.

By eliminating 90% of foreign aid contracts, the Trump administration effectively cut some $60 billion in funding.

After workers cleared their desks in February 2025, the USAID offices on Pennsylvania Avenue were repurposed for other government uses.

The shuttering of the agency also contributed to a massive increase in unemployment in the region where about one-fifth of the workforce lives.

Many workers still ask: When their lives were upended, what was saved?

Third stop: Trump's image staring down

Walking south along any of the numbered streets leads to Constitution Avenue and the National Mall. Banners bearing Trump's image have adorned the facades of several government buildings over the past 17 months — an uncommon practice for a sitting American president and a highly literal sign of his imprint upon the city.

At the Department of the Interior, his image has equal billing with George Washington on similar banners proclaiming “America's First” and “America First.”

A mile away, Trump's face glowers from the storied Department of Justice building, a physical display of Trump's efforts to exert power over the law enforcement agency that once investigated him. It's also a striking symbol of the erosion of the department’s tradition of independence from White House control, as the president pushes to prosecute his political adversaries.

Next up: The Reflecting Pool painted ‘American flag blue’

Westward toward the Lincoln Memorial sits the recently repainted Reflecting Pool.

The site has always been a must-see on any tourist's checklist. But the Reflecting Pool, the scene of historic marches and protests, today also symbolizes Trump's drive to change Washington.

Trump called the area “filthy” and had workers paint it in a color he has called “American flag blue.” A Washington-based nonprofit that tried to block the move said it undermined the somber tone of the area, which sits near the memorials to Lincoln and to the Vietnam and Korean wars.

Since the makeover, the pool has been fraught with problems, from runaway algae growth to dead ducks and a torn lining. Authorities say vandals have been responsible for some of the problems and arrests have been made. The National Park Service said the liner was intentionally cut with a sharp razor or knife.

A walk over the Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River leads directly to the proposed future site of Trump's 20-story, gold-adorned triumphal arch. Although embroiled in a court battle, like a number of his projects, the arch has been approved by a key federal agency and survey work has begun at the site.

In a city meticulously planned and rich with the symbolism that defines the nation, new construction can unsettle the carefully crafted balance.

The arch, when built, will break up the intentionally designed symbolic sightline between Arlington House, once the home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Lincoln Memorial, which symbolized the reunification of a divided nation following the Civil War.

Just ahead: The Trump-Kennedy Center

Visible from the site is the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts — known for much of this year as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center.

Congress named the performing arts venue as a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated. A law explicitly prohibits its board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.

A court decision eventually stripped the center of Trump's name, but a tarp remains there, obscuring the change.

Trump also added his name to the U.S. Institute of Peace, part of a broader series of tributes that has been largely unprecedented for a sitting, living president.

In the middle of it all: A significantly changed White House

No tour would be complete without 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — the White House. There, gazers can look at the construction site formerly known as the East Wing. It's now the president's ballroom-in-waiting as the courts and Congress battle over whether to build it.

The White House has said the $400 million cost would be paid by private donors, but public money — around $1 billion for the entire White House complex, including the ballroom — would be used for security measures. The proposed building has also expanded to a size larger than the rest of the White House. Trump argues the ballroom is necessary for security reasons, and amplified that assertion after the attack on the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April.

Not viewable on the tour: the area formerly known as the Rose Garden. Planted by then-first lady Jackie Kennedy, it has been paved over into a patio.

Last stop: Black Lives Matter Plaza no more

Directly north, across Pennsylvania Avenue, is the area of town formerly known as Black Lives Matter Plaza. During Trump's first term, a more defiant Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered the painting and naming of the area as a remembrance of the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police.

BLM Plaza became a magnet point for years of political activism. Hundreds of protests started, ended or rallied there.

The plaza came down in March 2025 at Bowser’s direction, spurred by threats from Congress to hold the city’s funding. The decision served as an acknowledgment of a major shift in tone under Trump.

That's the tour, folks. Please enjoy your stay.

Black is the latest powerful figure to sit for a closed-door deposition before the committee. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified earlier this month and said he had made a “grave error in judgment” by meeting with Epstein.

Black is the co-founder and former chief executive of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. He stepped down in 2021 amid fallout over his ties to Epstein.

A 2021 review commissioned by Apollo found that Black paid Epstein $158 million from 2012 to 2017, after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The review said the payments were for “bona fide tax, estate planning and other related services.”

Black was featured prominently in the Epstein files

Black is mentioned repeatedly in files that the Department of Justice has released related to the Epstein investigation. He also appears in a collection of birthday messages sent to Epstein that were released by the House committee last year, including a poem attributed to him that refers to “Blond, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically.”

Epstein was indicted in July 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. The Justice Department alleged that Epstein created a vast network of girls, some as young as 14, for him to sexually abuse between 2002 and 2005. He died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The House committee chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said earlier this year that Epstein’s former accountant, Richard Kahn, told lawmakers in his testimony that Epstein received significant sums of money from a number of high-profile individuals, including Black.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., this month referred findings from a nearly four-year investigation into Black to the House committee. In a statement, Wyden said, “Epstein even appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black’s behalf.”

“While I have offered Black ample opportunities to address outstanding irregularities regarding his arrangement with Epstein, he has refused,” Wyden said.

Many high-profile figures have been summoned to testify about Epstein

Other figures to have appeared for the investigation include former Democratic President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gates.

Democrats on the House committee have pushed Republicans to seek testimony from President Donald Trump, a Republican who had his own relationship with Epstein. Republicans have refused, saying they have not come across any evidence that Trump did anything wrong during his well-documented friendship with Epstein.

Comer has said he has been in touch with the Justice Department about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche coming in for questioning soon.

Bondi, in her testimony, stressed that Blanche had overseen the chaotic release of the federal Epstein files, which included the unintentional release of victim information.

In his first rejection of legislation passed this year, DeSantis also quashed a bill that would have allowed high school students to assist poll workers and get community service credits for graduation (HB 461).

His third veto was for HB 4075, which would have created an exemption to federal and state regulations on signs near interstate roads in Davie.

VETO LETTERS: SB 382 | HB 461 | HB 4075

All three vetoed bills passed the Legislature unanimously.

In his veto message on the electric bicycle bill, DeSantis expressed concern about its provision banning riders from going more than 10 miles per hour within 50 feet of a pedestrian.

“The bill establishes a standard that would certainly be difficult for a bicyclist to measure when safely operating an e-bike,” DeSantis wrote in his letter about the veto.

A violation would be punished the same as a nonmoving violation of a vehicle, with fines of more than $100.

RELATED: Gov. DeSantis signs 15 more bills as July 1 looms. Here’s the full list

Also, such a violation “would inevitably be enforced with speed detection and surveillance devices,” DeSantis’ letter states.

DeSantis was also leery of the task force the bill set up to study and make recommendations for further electric bicycle regulations.

“This bill will likely lead to enhanced surveillance by local governments against citizens. Moreover, the bill creates a task force, yet substantive changes are also implemented prior to any task force recommendations,” DeSantis wrote.

For the bill to ensure high school students can get credit for volunteering as assistant poll workers, DeSantis lauded the intention of the bill but suspected it could be used by liberal groups and he cited the Southern Poverty Law Center’s backing of the measure.

“While the House and Senate sponsors had a noble intent in filing the bill, the application of the bill may result in an avenue for polls to be staffed with volunteers that may not be subject to Florida’s prohibition on single party registered poll workers for general elections,” DeSantis wrote in his veto message. “Given the bill received support in committee by representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center, this may indeed be the consequence of the legislation.”

Attorney General James Uthmeier issued subpoenas to the SPLC in May, saying the group “appears to be running a deceptive organization that pays informants to manufacture racism on its behalf.”

The third bill would have allowed Davie, a town in Broward County, an exemption from state and federal advertising laws for lands near I-75 to put up a sign promoting the “agricultural heritage” of the area. DeSantis vetoed the bill because he was concerned it would lead to cuts in federal transportation funds issued to the state.

Air Chief Marshal John Stringer, NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, spoke to AP in London less than two weeks before the crucial Ankara summit on July 7-8 tests the cohesion of the 77-year-old alliance.

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent conflicting signals over America's force posture in Europe and has threatened to leave the alliance. He has also unnerved European leaders with his push to annex Greenland and his flattery of NATO adversary Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted NATO allies last week for not allowing use of their bases to attack Iran, as he announced a surprise six-month review of American forces in Europe.

Meanwhile, in the U.K. — the country which holds the position of NATO deputy supreme allied commander — government ministers quit recently over what they said were military spending plans that fail to keep Britain safe.

Summits are “highly political events and they are a demonstration of any organization’s unity,” said Stringer, a senior British air force officer. It would be strange if there weren't moments of turbulence over decades of NATO expanding, he said.

“Are we in one of those moments at the moment? Yes, we are,” Stringer said during a military conference in London where AP also interviewed other senior European military officials about their hopes — and fears — for the summit.

NATO's European members step up on defense

Trump has long urged European allies to take more responsibility for their own defense, and with the notable exception of Spain they have largely heeded with an unprecedented effort to spend more on their armed forces.

Russia is increasingly threatening Europe, so allies should boost their own militaries while helping Ukraine degrade Russia's fighting power, said Maj. Gen. Indrek Sirel, a commander in Estonia's armed forces.

“Europe as a whole has a lot to do in order to be credible against Russia,” said Brig. Gen. Jyri Raitasalo of Finland, which shares NATO's longest border with Russia.

Stringer said European nations are investing to generate a “really credible force,” citing as an example how some countries are quadrupling production of 155 mm artillery shells. The summit will discuss ramping up production in ways the alliance has not had to do in decades, Stringer said.

European military chiefs wait for clarity on US plans

The outcome of Hegseth's six-month review of forces will determine how fast Europeans must take responsibility for their own security. The U.S. military in Europe had said earlier in June that Washington would be withdrawing some capabilities from Europe and expecting other allies to fill the gaps.

The Trump administration says that troop reductions in Europe have long been planned and coordinated with allies, but Sirel said it's still not clear how U.S. forces will be positioned in the Baltic states. That includes some U.S.-led deterrence of Russia on NATO's eastern flank.

Sirel said he was “confident” he could rely on a U.S. presence, though the Estonian military is finding ways to react to sudden changes.

Stringer said it would be difficult to replace U.S. long-range strike and surveillance capabilities, but he was confident allies could bridge the gap — not always with the same equipment, but by mixing a “cocktail” of capabilities.

Only the U.S. operates B1 and B52 bomber aircraft, but Stringer said that, in theory, a loss of their capabilities might be offset by firing missiles from a variety of other systems including from the ground, sea and smaller aircraft.

Changing plans suddenly is not good for defense

NATO allies were bewildered in May when Trump said he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number pulled from Europe.

Such sudden changes are challenging because military planning requires long-term strategy, said Raitasalo, the Finnish military's logistics chief. “If you change your mind, or change your plan, every week or every month or even every year, you will not get very good results,” he said.

Raitasalo said the allies need to make clear pledges of capabilities, rather than just promise spending.

Sweden's army chief, Maj. Gen. Jonny Lindfors, said a good outcome from the summit would be “a common picture of how to realign when it comes to deterrence and defense."

Lindfors said he would like at least an outline — if not a “clear vision” — on how defense burdens should shift so that he knows what “NATO 3.0 is starting to look like.”

Britain needs to commit to defense

British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned earlier this month, along with another minister, saying the government was unable and unwilling to commit the resources Britain needs to “defend the country at this time of rising threats.”

At last year’s NATO summit, members agreed to spend 3.5% of their gross domestic product on core defense. The U.K. committed to meeting that target by 2035, but Healey said the proposed defense investment plan would see spending rise to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030.

The new defense secretary, Dan Jarvis, has said Britain will keep its commitments, and the British government has committed to publishing the spending plan.

By the summit, NATO expects nations to have a “credible path” to 3.5%, and the U.K. is “as beholden to that as anybody else," Stringer said.

He said the U.K. cannot presume that “thought leadership” in NATO is enough, and that it must match its “forces and resources."

NATO's credibility is at stake

At last year's summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte kept Trump on board by telling him he would achieve “BIG” success at getting allies to spend more on defense.

“It’s a tricky question,” said Lindfors, the Swedish commander, when asked if a key goal for this summit is to avoid a situation where the U.S. president slams his allies.

Stringer said that at this year’s summit it’s important to display “cohesion and unity” among the alliance’s 32 members but also to have “honest” conversations and deliver “credible” plans.

Raitasalo of Finland said the meeting must go beyond traditional “communiques, road maps and action plans" and demonstrate deterrence through deeds. He said if NATO members don't step up and translate promises into action, the “credibility” of the alliance is at stake.

Observers said on Friday the government was responding to evidence that the ban on young children holding accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube had failed since it came into force on Dec. 10 last year. Australia was the first country in the world to pass legislation keeping youth off social media, but others have since followed.

Albanese told Parliament on Thursday this government was considering options to strengthen the ban.

“We’re working on that as a priority because this is something that other generations didn’t have to deal with, which is why it’s complex,” Albanese told Parliament.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday the government was asking “are the laws as strong as possible?” and did eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety watchdog, “have every power at her disposal?”

Britain announced last week plans to ban children under 16 from a range of platforms to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time.

Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have introduced legislation or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children’s access to social media. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are among others studying or developing similar approaches.

Inman Grant said in April she was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, alleging they were not doing enough to keep young Australian children off their platforms.

These platforms, as well as X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch, face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($34 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of young children.

Melbourne’s RMIT University expert on information sciences Lisa Given said the government’s proposed reform was a response to evidence that the ban was failing. The evidence included eSafety's own data released in March that showed seven in 10 underage children continued to hold accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok since December.

Given also pointed to a study published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday that found 85% of a group of Australian 12 to 17-year-olds were using restricted platforms.

“I do think it’s failing,” Given said. “Many kids in the media have reported that they also think that this is really a failed exercise.”

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported Inman Grant saying in an interview in early June: “I don’t have potent powers.”

“What I would say is a regulator is only as good as the tools and the resources that they’re given,” she is quoted as saying.

The Associated Press asked Inman Grant’s office on Friday to comment on the accuracy of that reporting, but her office did not immediately reply.

Given said Inman Grant faced a challenge in enforcing legislation that platforms were resisting.

“Either the eSafety Commissioner needs more powers or we’ve got to have some other approach to enforcement,” Given said.

Given expected the courts would need to decide what constituted “reasonable steps” required by the law to be taken to keep children off platforms.

Albanese said as part of increased efforts to enforce the social media ban, his government would proceed with digital duty of care legislation which would hold platforms accountable for foreseeable harms caused by content and algorithms.

Although President Donald Trump already achieved one of his top political goals with Cassidy’s defeat, Saturday’s runoff could further demonstrate his ongoing influence in Republican primaries as he tries to populate the halls of Congress with loyalists for his final two years in office. The seat is not a top target among Democrats looking to win back control of the chamber in November.

Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming are the finalists for Cassidy’s now-open U.S. Senate seat. Trump encouraged Letlow to challenge Cassidy in the primary and endorsed her before she entered the race in January. Letlow took office in 2021 in a special election to replace her husband, Luke Letlow, who died from COVID-19 in 2020 before taking office. Fleming served in Congress for eight years leading up to Trump’s first term. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 but failed to make the runoff. Republican John Kennedy won the seat.

In the May 16 primary, Letlow placed first with about 45% of the vote, short of the majority required to avoid Saturday’s runoff. Fleming placed second with 28% of the vote, just ahead of Cassidy with about 25%.

Letlow led in small, mostly rural parishes across the state, with outright majorities in parishes in northeastern Louisiana and along the Mississippi border. Fleming mostly placed a distant second across the state. He performed best in northwestern Louisiana, with leads in nine rural parishes, but not in Caddo, home to Shreveport, where he finished a close second behind Letlow.

Cassidy was the top vote-getter in the state’s three most populous parishes, including Orleans Parish where he led Letlow by almost a three-to-one margin. But he barely outperformed Letlow in East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parishes.

The president’s endorsees have generally had a strong winning record at the ballot box, but his recent picks for governor of Iowa and Georgia lost their primaries. Trump endorsed South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for governor ahead of the primary, but after she was forced to a runoff in a close vote, he announced he was backing both her and her opponent, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won the nomination on Tuesday.

Trump has reissued his endorsement of Letlow several times since January, including most recently in mid-June. He has not also endorsed Fleming.

Louisiana Democrats will also finalize their U.S. Senate nominee, with farmer Jamie Davis and Navy veteran Gary Crockett competing in the runoff.

Other primary runoffs on the ballot include Republican contests for Public Service Commission and state board of education, where incumbent board member and former Republican U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao faces a challenge from educator and business owner Ellie Schroder.

Primaries for U.S. House were were postponed to November after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current congressional map, which includes a majority Black district that favors Democrats. Although the state had previously adopted a new primary system for congressional races, the postponed U.S. House races will revert to using an “open” or “ jungle ” primary system where candidates run on the same ballot regardless of party.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. CT, which is 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, state Public Service Commission and state school board.

Who gets to vote?

Registered party members may vote only in their own party’s primary runoffs. In other words, Democrats can’t vote in a Republican runoff or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters who voted in a party’s primary on May 16 may only vote in that same party’s runoff. Independent or unaffiliated voters who did not vote in a partisan primary on May 16 may vote in either party’s runoff.

How many voters are there?

As of June 1, there were about 3 million registered voters in Louisiana. Registered Democrats and Republicans numbered about 1.1 million each, with registered Democrats at a slight advantage. About 819,000 voters were not registered with any party. The remainder were registered with other parties.

How many people actually vote?

About 832,000 Louisianans participated in the May 16 primary, or about 28% of registered voters. This includes about 347,000 registered Democrats and about 336,000 registered Republicans.

In 2022 when the state still used “open” or “jungle” primary rules for certain contests, turnout fell from 1.4 million in the November primary to about 439,000 in the December runoff, or about 47% of registered voters to about 14%.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 33% of Democratic primary votes and about 31% of Republican primary votes in the May 16 primaries were cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Thursday, about 82,000 ballots from Republicans and about 61,000 ballots from Democrats had already been cast in Saturday’s runoffs.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Results from early and absentee voting are usually released by each parish in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the May 16 primary, the AP first reported results at 9:02 p.m. ET, or two minutes after polls closed. By 10:46 p.m. ET, more than 90% of the total vote had been counted. The last vote update of the night was at 1:30 a.m. ET with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

There are no automatic recounts in Louisiana, but a candidate may request and pay for a recount of absentee and early votes. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Saturday, there will be 129 days until the Nov. 3 general election and the Louisiana congressional primaries, and 168 days until the Louisiana congressional general election on Dec. 12.

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

The Trevor Project, the leading nonprofit for suicide prevention in LGBTQ+ young people, may not be allowed to offer the service it had helped develop for the 988 Lifeline just a few years ago.

The 988 hotline, which has been dubbed the 911 for mental health emergencies, is credited with reducing teen and young adult suicide deaths. It offers specialized options for certain groups, such as veterans and Spanish speakers, but in July the Trump administration stopped offering the “press 3” option for LGBTQ+ youth with a month’s notice.

The administration said it ended the service because the funding ran out. It is now working to bring it back by the end of the year because Congress directed officials to allocate $33 million toward LGBTQ+-specific interventions for youth.

However, The Trevor Project might not be allowed to offer the services it developed and specializes in.

Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said it “would not make sense” to keep The Trevor Project ineligible to help and it is a “long-standing, high-quality and trusted resource” to LGBTQ+ people.

The development is the latest in what’s become a chaotic chapter for the service for LGBTQ+ youth, who attempt suicide at higher rates than the general population. Leaving The Trevor Project out is raising concerns about the relaunched service, especially given the Trump administration's broader attempt to unravel protections for transgender and non-binary Americans at a time when more of them are reaching out in crisis.

“The Trump administration never should have shut down the ‘press 3’ option and put young Americans at further risk," said Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who has led a bipartisan push to restore the service. She called on the president to restore the service "without needless limitations and with the most qualified, experienced people answering the phone calls and text messages from these vulnerable young people.”

The Trevor Project handled the bulk of 988's LGBTQ+ youth services

The lifeline's specialized service allowed people to press 3, text “PRIDE” or use online chat to reach counselors who were specially trained to work with LGBTQ+ young people.

The umbrella of services broadly called the “Press 3” option fielded 1.6 million contacts while it was in operation, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Trevor Project handled about half of the program's traffic.

When it canceled the “Press 3” option, federal officials said LGBTQ+ youth could still get help through 988’s general services, but it would “no longer silo” the services “to focus on serving all help seekers," including LGBTQ+ youth.

The relaunch of ‘Press 3’ may not include The Trevor Project

Now, the nonprofit that administers the 988 service, Vibrant Emotional Health, has called for applications to manage the return of the “Press 3” lines.

But applications are limited to crisis centers that are “current and active” members of the 988 network. The Trevor Project is not currently active — only because the administration canceled the service it specialized in.

The six other crisis centers that worked on the LGBTQ+ youth program are active in the 988 network. They work with the general population as well as LGBTQ+ people. Only The Trevor Project had a specific mission to serve LGBTQ+ youth.

“This troubling development indicates a dangerous step toward degrading the clinical standards to serve high risk groups that the ‘press 3’ specialized services were founded on,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, in a statement to the AP.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not directly respond to questions about The Trevor Project’s eligibility, saying that the department is working with Vibrant to restore the service by the end of the year as directed by Congress.

Moutier said other crisis centers are providing high-quality care for LGBTQ+ youth. LGBTQ+ young people who are often marginalized and bullied need “psychological safety” because they don't always trust institutions to help them. She said it's too soon to say she's worried about the relaunch, but how it is brought back is just as important as the fact that it is.

“I think there's the potential for great good, and some harm as well,” she said.

Concerns shroud relaunch of the “Press 3” option

Even though the service itself may be restored, how it will operate is unclear — and LGBTQ+ advocates are concerned, in part because the Trump administration has indicated that its anti-transgender policies will influence how the program relaunches.

This month, a SAMHSA leader wrote to Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi that the agency needed to assess the “most appropriate approach” to restart the service while complying with a Trump executive order that targets the rights of transgender people, claiming “gender ideology extremism” is a threat to women and declaring there are only two sexes.

The Trevor Project's Black worries that the next iteration of 988's LGBTQ+ youth services “may exclude transgender and nonbinary youth entirely.” The organization still independently runs its own 24-7 crisis line for LGBTQ+ young people.

Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk of suicide, including a 2024 analysis by the CDC that found 26% transgender and gender-questioning students attempted suicide in the past year. That’s compared with 5% of cisgender male and 11% of cisgender female students.

“While anti-LGBTQ+ politics may be altering the very purpose of this lifeline created to help save young LGBTQ+ lives, it is critical to make clear that politics has no place in suicide prevention,” Black said.

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

Afternoon highs will reach the low to mid 90s, but when you factor in the tropical humidity, it’ll feel more like 105° to 110°, especially from 2 to 6 p.m.

Heat illness can develop quickly, so make sure you’re staying hydrated, taking frequent breaks in the shade or air conditioning, and never leaving children or pets in a parked vehicle.

A few isolated to scattered sea breeze showers and thunderstorms will develop each afternoon, mainly after 2 p.m.

Coverage stays fairly limited through the weekend, so many neighborhoods will remain dry while others pick up a quick downpour and a few lightning strikes.

By Monday, moisture increases enough for more widespread afternoon storms, helping knock temperatures back a bit early next week, with highs returning to the upper 80s by Tuesday and Wednesday.

The biggest weather story through the weekend isn’t the rain—it’s the prolonged stretch of dangerous heat, so if you have outdoor plans, try to get them done early in the day before the worst of the heat arrives.

The signings come just days before July 1, the date many of Florida’s new laws will take effect.

DeSantis also used his veto pen for the first time this year, nixing three bills that had unanimous support from the Florida Legislature.

RELATED: DeSantis vetoes new e-bike rules, citing concerns over ‘enhanced surveillance by local governments’

Here’s the full list of the latest laws signed by DeSantis:

CS/HB 33 – Transportation Facility Designations

The bill establishes the following honorary designations for transportation facilities and directs the Florida Department of Transportation to erect suitable markers:

• That portion of S.R. 985/S.W. 107th Avenue between S.W. 24th Street and S.R. 90/S.W. 8th Street in Miami Dade County as “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue”; and
• That portion of S.R. 870/Commercial Boulevard between Tradewinds Avenue and the eastern terminus of Commercial Boulevard in Broward County as “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/CS/HB 47 – Specific Medical Diagnoses in Child Protective Investigations

The bill amends statutes related to child protective investigations to allow for the consideration of certain preexisting medical diagnoses for a child who has been removed from his or her home by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) due to allegations of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Specifically, the bill:

• Authorizes the DCF to delay forwarding allegations of criminal conduct to law enforcement pending the outcome of the child protective investigation if the parent or legal custodian alleges the child has a preexisting condition of Rickets, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Osteogenesis imperfecta, or Vitamin D deficiency or has requested a second medical examination of the child to determine whether the child may have one of those preexisting conditions. The bill requires allegations of criminal conduct that may remain upon completion of the investigation to be immediately forwarded to law enforcement.
• Requires the DCF, upon commencement of a child protective investigation, to notify parents or legal custodians of their duty to report preexisting medical diagnoses and the contact information of the healthcare professional that diagnosed or treated the child within 10 days after being informed of the duty to report. The bill also amends the procedures of a child protective investigation to require the DCF to request relevant medical records from the diagnosing or treating healthcare professional of the child.
• Requires a Child Protection Team (CPT), when evaluating a child with a listed reported preexisting condition, to consult with a licensed physician or licensed advanced practice registered nurse with experience in treating children with that reported medical diagnosis. The bill allows a parent or legal custodian from whom the child has been removed to request a second medical examination or the consideration of a differential diagnosis after an initial allegation. The bill requires the parent or legal custodian to request such examination within 10 days of the initial examination and to bear the cost of the examination.
• Requires the health care practitioner who performs the second medical examination to submit a written report to the DCF and the parent or legal custodian within 10 days of the examination with their findings and conclusions. If the second examination conflicts with the initial examination, the bill requires the DCF to convene a case staffing to reach a consensus.
• Establishes a 14-day time limit in which a health care practitioner must furnish patient records to the DCF after receiving a records request from the DCF.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/HB 253 – Veterans Dental Care Grant Program

The bill expands eligibility for the Veterans Dental Care Grant Program established within the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The bill effectively requires veterans to have an income of up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for the program. The department set the current program eligibility to veterans with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level by administrative rule.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/HB 967 – Electronic Payments Made to Units of Local Governments

The bill requires each unit of local government, including all municipalities, special districts, counties, and county constitutional officers, to accept payment by use of credit cards, charge cards, bank debit cards, and electronic fund transfers for financial obligations owed to the local government, except when another form of payment is required by law. The bill also requires local governments to have an online method to accept payments.

These provisions take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

CS/CS/CS/HB 1081 – Cybersecurity Experiential Learning

The bill requires the Florida Center for Cybersecurity (Cyber Florida) at the University of South Florida to develop a Cybersecurity Experiential Learning Program and:

• Identify specific cybersecurity internship and experiential learning opportunities;
• Consult with employers in the state with openings in cybersecurity roles;
• Review best practices for cybersecurity learning opportunities at other National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity-designated educational institutions;
• Establish minimum qualifications that a student should possess prior to enrolling in the Cybersecurity Experiential Learning program; and
• Identify educational institutions seeking to participate in the program and the projected number of students to be served at each participating institution.

Implementation of the bill is subject to appropriation. Additionally, Cyber Florida must publish a report annually on its website, beginning July 1, 2028, containing specified data on the program and recommendations for program improvements.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

HB 1405 – Statewide Project for Missing Persons with Special Needs

The bill re-establishes the Missing Persons with Special Needs Statewide Project (“Project Leo”), which was repealed in 2019. Project Leo is administered through selected service-area centers for autism and related disabilities.

The bill requires each participating Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD or center) to develop criteria for selecting individuals for participation in the project, which must account for an individual’s risk of elopement. The project is implemented on a first-come, first-served basis to the extent funding is available. Participation is voluntary and provided at no cost to the participant.

The bill requires each participating CARD to provide personal search-and-rescue devices to the sheriff’s offices of participating counties. The bill requires county sheriffs’ offices to distribute the devices to project participants in coordination with the respective CARD. The participating CARD is also required to fund any costs associated with monitoring the devices.

Additionally, the bill appropriates $1 million in nonrecurring General Revenue funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, allocating $250,000 each to the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University, University of South Florida, and Florida State University centers, to be used solely for the purchase of personal search-and-rescue devices.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/HB 273 – Special District Funding

Current law requires agreements for state or federal funds between a state agency and a county or municipality that is a rural community or rural area of opportunity to allow for the state agency to pay invoices to the local government for verified and eligible performance under the agreement. The bill adds special districts located entirely within a county or municipality, or to an independent special district that provides water and wastewater services within a rural area of opportunity, to such agreement requirements. Additionally, the bill clarifies that the provision is not intended to require reimbursement to a rural county, municipality, or special district, but to allow the agency to pay invoices as they become due and to expedite payment requests for these local governments.

The bill revises the definition of “rural community” for the purposes of the Rural Economic Development Initiative to include special districts located in rural counties, as well as to include independent special districts that provide water and wastewater services within a rural area of opportunity. This inclusion will allow these special and independent districts to participate in state financial assistance programs, such as the Rural Infrastructure Fund.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/CS/HB 797 – Nonprofit Corporations

The bill comprehensively revises ch. 617, F.S., the Florida Nonprofit Corporation Act (the Act), which incorporates updates from the Model Nonprofit Corporation Act and harmonizes the Act with the Florida Business Corporation Act.

The bill modifies and creates several provisions regarding governance of nonprofits. Importantly, the bill:

• Modifies the process for filing and correcting documents;
• Alters the provisions for corporations to change a registered agent or office;
• Consolidates share distribution prohibitions into one section;
• Modernizes the service of process provisions;
• Changes membership and meeting requirements, including allowing remote meetings and proxy voting;
• Allows directors and officers to bring derivative actions;
• Amends standards of conduct and liability for directors and officers;
• Updates the process to amend a nonprofit’s articles of incorporation;
• Modifies the processes of judicial dissolution of a nonprofit and appointment of receivers and custodians made in the process thereof;
• Parallels processes for foreign nonprofits to those of domestic nonprofits;
• Updates a nonprofit’s duties to maintain and provide access to corporate records;
• Clarifies what constitutes a director’s conflict of interest;
• Modernizes provisions regarding mergers, conversions, and dissolutions; and
• Makes conforming changes to parallel the Florida Business Corporation Act.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

CS/CS/HB 1285 – Biosolids Management

The bill prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing or renewing a permit for a land application site which authorizes the disposal or land application of septage as Class B biosolids if there is a permitted wastewater treatment facility that accepts septage for higher levels of treatment which is:

• Less than 30 miles from a proposed Class B biosolids land application site;
• Owned or operated by the federal government or a federal agency, a state government body or agency, or a political subdivision of this state; and
• Not defunct, used for other purposes, or out of capacity.

These provisions take effect on July 1, 2027.

CS/SB 110 – Homestead Exemptions

The bill amends s. 196.041, F.S., to provide that a lessee that owns the leasehold interest in a bona fide lease of 98 years or more in a residential or condominium parcel is eligible for a homestead exemption on the property, even if the lease contains a provision that terminates the leasehold interest upon the death of the lessee.

These provisions take effect upon becoming law.

CS/CS/SB 1180 – Community Development Districts

CDD Board of Supervisors Recall Procedure

The bill creates a recall election process for a member of a community development district’s (CDD) board of supervisors that largely mirrors existing procedures for municipalities and charter counties. The bill provides the grounds for removal of a member of the board of supervisors is limited to certain offenses, including:

• Malfeasance;
• Misfeasance;
• Neglect of duty;
• Drunkenness;
• Incompetence;
• Permanent inability to perform official duties; or
• Conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude.

In addition, the bill sets requirements for initiating a recall petition, creates processes regarding petition filing and signature verification, and specifies ballot language. The bill also provides noticing requirements, establishes a procedure for filling vacancies created by a recall, and prescribes penalties for offenses related to the petition process. A person who is removed by a recall or resigns after a petition has been filed against him or her is not eligible to be appointed to the CDD’s governing body for two years after the date of the recall or resignation.

Synthetic Turf Regulations

In 2025, the Legislature directed the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt by rule minimum standards for the installation of synthetic turf on single-family residential properties of one acre or less. Upon adoption of the rule, local governments may not prohibit property owners from installing synthetic turf that complies with DEP standards or regulate synthetic turf inconsistent with DEP’s standards. This bill provides that the prohibition on local government regulation of synthetic turf in s. 125.572, F.S., does not limit a CDD’s ability to enforce deed restrictions.

Compact, Urban, Mixed-Use CDD

The bill expands the definition of “compact, urban, mixed-use district,” which is a specialized type of CDD that aims to provide for a compact downtown, high intensity development, with mixed uses. The bill amends the definition to include a district that consists of a maximum of 75 acres, which is located within a municipality, and is within a qualified opportunity zone designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury or a community redevelopment area which district has development entitlements of:

• At least 400,000 square feet of retail development and 500 residential units; or
• At least 250,000 square feet of commercial development and 500 residential units that are affordable for very low-income, low-income, or moderate-income persons.

These provisions take effect on July 1.

SB 962 – Affordable Housing

The bill provides that for the purposes of the Live Local Act, passed during the 2023 Regular Session, related to the preemption of certain zoning and land use regulations to authorize affordable housing developments, farms or farm operations, including the packaging and sale of those products raised on the premises, are excluded from the definitions of commercial, industrial, or mixed use zoning which would require the local government to approve certain affordable housing developments.

These provisions take effect upon becoming law.

CS/HB 4003 – City of Marco Island, Collier County

Requires special election be held to fill any vacancy on city council upon resolution adopted by council; provides exception for vacancies occurring within 1 year before general election; revises circumstances under which Governor is required to fill vacancies; provides for Governor to call special election in certain circumstances; requires referendum.

Effective Date:This act shall take effect only upon its approval by a majority vote of qualified electors residing in the City of Marco Island voting in a referendum held on Nov. 3, 2026, concurrent with the 2026 general election, except that section 2 and this section shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CS/HB 4079 – Marion County

Creates Uplands Steward District; establishes legal boundaries; provides for jurisdiction & charter of district; provides for board of supervisors, district manager, personnel & treasurer; provides for selection of public depository, district budgets & financial reports; provides for general & special powers of district; provides for bonds, borrowing, trust agreements, future ad valorem taxation, special assessments, issuance of certificates of indebtedness & tax liens; provides for termination, contraction, expansion, or merger of district; provides for required notices to purchasers of residential units within district; provides severability & referendum.

This act shall take effect upon becoming law. More details here

HB 6515 – Relief/Lourdes Latour and Edward Latour/Miami-Dade County

This is an uncontested claim bill for local funds in the amount of $500,000, payable from unencumbered funds of Miami-Dade County. The bill is based on a settlement agreement between Lourdes and Edward Latour and Miami-Dade County. The settlement agreement resolved a civil action that arose from the alleged negligence of the County that caused injuries to Lourdes Latour and her husband, Edward.

The bill provides that the total amount paid for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount awarded under the bill.

These provisions take effect upon becoming law.

Down in the valley, a living museum honoring the Swiss national dog's history — and its future — is marking its first year.

More than 130,000 people have visited Barryland, the world's only space dedicated to St. Bernards, since it opened last summer in Martigny, Switzerland, after outgrowing a much smaller space. Tourists can watch live grooming and physiotherapy sessions, explore the mountain pass with augmented reality technology and learn more about the dogs.

“We have a lot of demand and interest for this breed and this whole history and patrimony,” said Barryland director Mélanie Glassey-Roth. “So we decided to create a new park, a big one.”

At 2,469 meters (8,100 feet) above sea level on the Swiss-Italian border, the Great St. Bernard Pass is one of the country’s highest and most treacherous.

Since the mid-17th century, large mountain dogs have been kept on the pass. They arrived as guard dogs, became companions, and gradually evolved into something the Alpine world had never seen before: Animals with an extraordinary instinct for locating hikers lost in snow and fog.

The breed's name stems from the Great St. Bernard Hospice, which was founded in 1050 by Bernard de Montjoux, the archdeacon of Aosta and future saint, to provide refuge for pilgrims and merchants crossing the dangerous pass. The dogs became central to that mission, and by the early 19th century they had a reputation that was carried across Europe by soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte following his army's own crossing of the route.

Barry the First, the most celebrated dog, is traditionally credited with saving more than 40 lives when he was at the hospice between 1800 and 1812. At the Barry Foundation, the steward for the breeding program, there is always a male dog called Barry.

Currently, the foundation's 21 keepers care for 32 dogs. Roughly 20 pedigree puppies are born annually. These dogs, as well as other St. Bernards, no longer do mountain rescues because they’re too big to be transported by helicopter. Smaller breeds like Australian shepherds are used instead, though a number of St. Bernards are kept on the pass to keep the tradition alive.

The foundation's dogs typically eat about 10 metric tons (22,046 pounds) of dry food each year and spend their summers gamboling in the remnants of snow in the mountains before heading 40 kilometers (25 miles) down winding roads back to the kennel in Barryland.

“We get to see them born, and we get to see them grow up, and then become mothers, and we get to accompany them through all those different challenges in life,” keeper Alexandra Piatti said. “We are their guide, so we can help them with socialization and educate them, and really be by their side for their whole lives.”

In 2025 alone, the foundation says its dogs completed 609 jobs by visiting hospitals, care homes, schools and prisons across Switzerland.

Keeper Déborah Dini balances the weight of the breed's history with affection for the dogs in her charge.

“We perpetuate the tradition,” she said. “We take care of them. We love them.”

Governments, nonprofits and members of the Venezuelan diaspora around the world are mobilizing to respond after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, to help find the missing and deliver medical care and humanitarian services to the thousands of injured and displaced.

Help is needed for search and rescue efforts, emergency shelter for displaced families and emergency health care, followed by safe water and sanitation, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Humanitarian organizations will face many challenges, including airport closures and the need for fast-tracked visas for aid workers, said Michael Capponi, president of Global Empowerment Mission (GEM).

“No single organization can meet all the needs alone,” he said. “Collaboration across governments and NGOs is critical to ensuring we cover all ground efficiently and swiftly.”

Here are some of the responding organizations you can support. The nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator recommends donors avoid fraudulent fundraising campaigns by assessing whether an organization has a history of working on the specific type of disaster and in the affected region, and if it is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Charity Navigator has also published its own list of vetted groups aiding Venezuela.

How to help those affected by the Venezuela earthquakes

Global Empowerment Mission: The Doral, Florida-based humanitarian relief organization is collaborating with its long-term nonprofit partner the We Love Foundation. GEM immediately began packing food, water, hygiene supplies, medical necessities and other emergency relief items for shipment Thursday to Caracas, where it has set up a distribution hub. GEM has responded in Venezuela before, including in 2018 and 2019.

CORE: The humanitarian nonprofit is deploying personnel and partnering with The Wayuu Taya Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Indigenous Wayuu communities in Venezuela and Colombia and who have staff on the ground in Caracas. They aim to distribute cash support to impacted families as well as food, drinking water, hygiene kits and other critical resources. CORE was founded after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Direct Relief: The California-based medical humanitarian organization is funding the deployment of a team from Spanish Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (BUSF) to assist search-and-rescue efforts, and is poised to send medical supplies to local healthcare partners as needed. Direct Relief has responded to multiple earthquakes, including the 2023 disaster in Syria and Turkey.

International Red Cross: Despite experiencing damage to its own national headquarters, the Venezuelan Red Cross' nationwide network of hospitals and clinics remains active and continues to deliver care, and rescue teams are supporting evacuation and search efforts as well as mobilizing prepositioned relief supplies. Red Cross Societies in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Argentina — countries home to large Venezuelan communities — have activated services to restore family links and help people find news of their loved ones.

Airlink: The global humanitarian organization helps facilitate transport and logistics for other nonprofits needing to send relief and personnel to disasters worldwide. It will mobilize airlines and logistics companies to send search-and-rescue teams, medical responders and aid like medicines, water filters and food to Venezuela.

World Central Kitchen: The nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés is mobilizing to serve hot meals to affected families and first responders as quickly as possible. WCK has led multiple responses in Venezuela, most recently in 2024 when families in the state of Sucre were displaced by Hurricane Beryl.

Catholic Relief Services: The international aid agency of the U.S. Catholic Church is working with local partner Caritas Venezuela to deliver emergency shelter, food, water and medical care to impacted families.

Global Impact: The philanthropy adviser and intermediary has set up a Venezuela Earthquakes Response fund that will funnel aid to multiple vetted organizations, including UNICEF USA and Save the Children.

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

The comedian and filmmaker has been awaiting the milestone. Earlier this year, Judd Apatow titled his retrospective documentary on him: “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!”

“I was born to make people laugh,” Brooks says in the film. “So, I do that.”

Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, on June 28, 1926. After serving in the Army during World War II and performing in the Borscht Belt, Sid Caesar hired him as a writer. On his “Show of Shows,” Brooks met Carl Reiner, who'd remain a lifelong friend and with whom he created the “2000 Year Old Man” sketches.

Reiner would pepper Brooks' ancient man with questions about what Jesus was like. “Jesus … yes, yes,” Brooks would answer. “Thin lad. Wore sandals. Always walked around with 12 other guys.”

Brooks went to make classic comedies like “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “High Anxiety.” It all started, Brooks told The Associated Press in 2021, with his childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

“I wanted to keep the party going. I wanted to keep the happiness and joy and explosions of laughter going into a dour part of our lives, not our childhood anymore,” Brooks recalled. “I was once interviewed and the guy said, ‘What was the happiest part of your life? Was it winning the Academy Award? Was it marrying Anne Bancroft?’ I said no, not at all. It was my childhood. From about 4 or 5 to 9, it was the most exciting, happiest, joyous life that anyone could experience.

“The guy said, 'What happened at 9?’ I said, 'Homework.'”

In April, Brooks submitted a video message to Eddie Murphy to honor him for his AFI life achievement award. In May, he announced that he was donating thousands of his documents and photographs to the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York.

“I’ve always been proud to say that I make people laugh for a living,” Brooks said then in a statement. “So, knowing that my work will have a home at comedy’s national archive and continue making people laugh leaves me with a deep sense of pride.”

Brooks has sometimes made mortality a joke, too. In a 1980s sketch, he created a coin-operated gravestone for himself that played a videotaped message. It began: “I was Mel Brooks, one of the funniest little Jews to walk the Earth.”

When asked in that AP 2021 interview if he thought much about death, Brooks said no.

“I gave up after 60 thinking about it because if I did, I’d be thinking about it all the time. So I don’t think about it much. When and if it happens it’s going to be a sad day — for everybody but me,” Brooks said, laughing.

“I enjoy living,” he added. “I’d like to do it as long as I can.”

The promising 18-year-old shortstop was taking infield practice Tuesday during the MLB draft combine at Chase Field, fluidly handling ground balls before firing to first base. It's one of many reasons the California native has a chance to be selected in the first round of next month's draft.

But if he decides he's not ready to start his professional baseball career, he's committed to play college ball at Duke, which has a successful baseball program and an elite academic reputation.

“It's going to be a difficult decision,” Clark said. “But it's a good one to have."

If MLB gets it's way, it's a decision that future baseball prospects won't get to make.

Owners recently proposed banning high school players from signing with major league teams, raising the age for international amateurs and slashing the money spent on signing bonuses in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

If the league gets its way, starting in 2028, a prospect for the amateur draft would have to be at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class — a restriction that also would eliminate players who completed their first year of junior college.

Many, many big leaguers began their pro careers right after high school

There are dozens of current MLB stars who signed as teenagers, including Pete Crow-Armstrong, Mike Trout and Bobby Witt Jr. Even more recently, Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin made his MLB debut at 19 years old.

Crow-Armstrong — who was selected as an 18-year-old with the No. 19 overall pick in 2020 out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles — was committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt but decided to begin his pro career instead.

He hopes other young ballplayers will still have that option in the future.

“I got an opportunity to grow up in a really real-life setting and I was really grateful for it,” the All-Star center fielder said earlier this week. “I think if there’s any sport you can go straight from high school, it’s this one. You’re afforded a lot of time in the minor leagues to develop, and that’s kind of the point.”

Cubs pitcher Ben Brown was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies as a 17-year-old in 2017 in the 33rd round — which doesn't even exist anymore after MLB shortened the draft to 20 rounds in 2021. The owners' most recent proposal would shorten the draft to 12 rounds starting in 2027.

Brown said he has fond memories of staying in hotels with roommates in the lower levels of the minors, learning how to budget money on a low salary and being on his own trying to make it in the baseball world.

“It was the greatest blessing in the world for me to go into pro ball at a young age,” Brown said. “I had to work in the offseasons. I did plenty of things just to show up to spring training early. And the Phillies took amazing care of me as a young kid.”

Of course, for every Ben Brown or Pete Crow-Armstrong, there are countless high school signees who never reached the majors. There also are lots of baseball players who want to go to college, earn a degree and then embark on their pro career if things work out.

The college game is growing, and it's changing the calculus

Shortstop Roch Cholowsky was a highly-rated recruit coming out of a high school in Arizona in 2023 but instead played at UCLA for three seasons. Now he could be the No. 1 selection in next month's MLB draft after a standout career with the Bruins.

Still, he had plenty of friends who went straight to the pros out of high school.

“It's different for everybody — whatever is best for you,” Cholowsky said. “A guy like myself needed to go to college. I got to play three years of unbelievable baseball at UCLA, learn a lot and really grow up.”

College baseball has grown rapidly in recent years for many reasons, including that NCAA programs can now offer 34 scholarships instead of the old cap of 11.7. There's also some NIL money available at the top programs, though it's usually not like the high-dollar deals for their football or basketball counterparts.

Mississippi baseball coach Mike Bianco has been at the school for 26 years — winning a national championship in 2022 — and said the college game has become more enticing, with more and more young prospects deciding it's the best option. If MLB bans teenagers from signing out of high school, it likely means the NCAA version becomes even stronger.

Bianco's four sons all played at least some college baseball.

“Even if they had been potential first-round draft picks, I would have made them go to college,” Bianco said. “At the major college level, you're playing the best amateur baseball in the world. You've got a support system that's different than the minor leagues and you're getting educated in lots of different ways.”

MLB takes notice of better college players

In the 2025 MLB draft, 56 college players were selected in the top 90 picks.

Thanks to a variety of factors — especially money and technology — the MLB and NCAA versions of baseball have never been more similar. It’s part of the reason Tony Vitello is now the manager of the San Francisco Giants despite never working or playing for a professional organization before he was hired. That's a first in MLB history.

Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz was last year's AL Rookie of the Year after playing in college at Wake Forest, needing just 210 plate appearances in the minors before dominating MLB pitching with 36 homers and 86 RBIs in 117 games.

Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes was a star pitcher at LSU before being drafted in 2023 and needed just 34 innings in the minors before making it to the big leagues. He was obviously ready — winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2024 and the Cy Young award in 2025.

From the MLB perspective, it's become advantageous to let prospects develop in college instead of drafting them as teenagers, paying large signing bonuses, and then trying to project their growth. Currently, each MLB team runs five levels of domestic minor leagues, which can get expensive.

Streamlining that process is enticing. The minors are already shrinking — MLB cut 40 minor league affiliates back in 2020. MLB has said it will not seek to reduce the 120 minor league teams in the top four levels when it negotiates new professional development licenses in 2030 to replace expiring 10-year deals. But the makeup of those 120 teams will surely be different if no players are signing out of high school.

“These guys trust (college) programs,” Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist said earlier this spring. “They say, ‘We’ll just watch them in college in three years at a Power 4 program, see how they development and then we’ll go get them.’”

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AP Baseball Writers Mike Fitzpatrick and Ronald Blum contributed to this story.

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

For the past month and a half, due to life circumstances, the 54-year-old has been living in her car, surrounded by clothes, blankets, and the two things she says matter most: a framed photo of her son, and a box of his ashes.

“My baby comes with me everywhere,” Higgins said.

Higgins is the mother of Anthony Elrod, the 25-year-old worker who died May 9 at BAE Systems, an international ship repair company with a shipyard in Jacksonville. She says she hasn’t heard from the company about what happened to her son. Higgins was living in her car prior to Anthony’s death.

A mother still searching for answers

Elrod was working on a self-propelled modular transporter when he died. Higgins says a coworker who was nearby that day described what happened.

“He was crying. He was crying. ‘What’s on my chest? What’s on my chest?’” Higgins recalled. “And apparently the rim had hit him on his chest and his abdomen.”

She says she still doesn’t know her son’s official cause of death — and BAE Systems has not reached out to her.

“I just want him. And I can’t have my baby back,” she said.

Sen. Sanders weighs in

Elrod’s death drew national attention when U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote a letter to BAE Systems CEO Tom Arsenault on June 12. In it, Sanders accused the company of “negligence” and said Anthony was “forced to work a job that he was not properly trained to do.”

Sanders also accused BAE of trying to bust a union that Jacksonville workers were attempting to form, allegedly by laying off up to 200 employees.

RELATED: BAE Systems lays off nearly 200 Jacksonville workers

BAE Systems strongly denied those accusations, calling Sanders’ claims “inaccurate.” In a statement, the company said: “We are concerned that drawing conclusions at this stage, while the investigation continues, does a disservice to the people involved with this tragic accident.”

The company opened a $250 million shiplift at its Jacksonville shipyard last year, a facility designed to lift vessels out of the water for repair work.

‘I’m 54, living in my car’

Higgins says she she didn’t see her son often, but she loved him. She was hospitalized last week after she couldn’t stop vomiting. She keeps some of her belongings in a storage unit and stays in a motel when she cans, but says she often feels hopeless.

“I’m 54,” she said. “Living in my car.”

Still, she keeps her son close. She takes his ashes with her wherever she goes.

“Whenever I can get a room. In the car — we eat, we sleep, we talk to each other,” she said.

Her one request of BAE Systems is simple.

“I want to know what’s going on. I want to know why it blew. Why it was his time to go,” she said.

No injuries were reported in the fire, but the home is a total loss. At one point, the blaze burned so intensely that firefighters had to evacuate the two neighboring homes. Residents say the community’s lack of fire hydrants made a bad situation worse.

“The number one fear of anybody is fire,” said neighbor Edward Raffaniello. “Hurricanes, storm damage — you can rebuild. Fire destroys everything.”

Firefighters struggled to find water

Residents say the nearest fire hydrant to the home is roughly two blocks away. A drive from the fire scene revealed only one hydrant in the surrounding area.

Raffaniello said firefighters on the scene were visibly frustrated. “Our neighbors fortunately got out of the house, but the firemen were struggling to put water on it because of the lack of fire hydrants out here,” he said. “I won’t repeat some of the language they were using, but they were not happy with not having water pressure.”

Resident Jon Hunt, who started the petition, said the fire revealed a vulnerability many neighbors had overlooked. “We all knew that we didn’t have fire hydrants in this area,” Hunt said. “I don’t think any of us realized the impact a fire would have and how difficult it would be for the fire department to get water on the flames.”

Hunt added that firefighters had to travel far just to access water — and even then, the pressure fell short. “What we heard from firemen on the scene indirectly was that they were very frustrated that they had to go so far to get water. And then when they got here, the pressure was so poor, they were ineffective in putting water on the flames.”

County says infrastructure predates current standards

St. Johns County’s Utility Department responded to a request for comment with a written statement:

The St. Johns County Utility Department has received several inquiries from residents regarding fire protection in the Vilano Beach and Porpoise Point area following the residential fire on June 16.

The water infrastructure serving this community was constructed prior to current County standards, which require fire hydrants to be installed at intervals of no more than 660 feet. In addition, the County recently acquired the area’s water system from a private utility operator.

The existing water lines in the area are smaller than those typically needed to support fire hydrants and do not have the capacity to deliver the large volumes of water required for firefighting operations.

In response to community concerns, the Utility Department is evaluating the existing water system and conducting an engineering analysis to identify potential infrastructure improvements that could enhance fire protection capabilities in the future.

The engineering analysis is expected to be completed within approximately six weeks. Upon completion, the Utility Department will share its findings and recommendations with area residents.

St. Johns County Utility Department

Residents say that response has not been enough. Raffaniello noted that the community runs on wells, septic tanks, and private utility connections. He believes that impact fees collected in the area have not been reinvested locally.

“We may have a million dollars plus out here in impact fees, but it hasn’t been spent out here,” he said. “All we’re asking for is the basic needs of fire hydrants.”

Residents want answers — and a timeline

Both Hunt and Raffaniello say they have yet to receive direct communication from the county beyond the public statement.

“I just wish we’d at least get an acknowledgement — hey, we got your email, we’ll get back with you,” Raffaniello said. “We haven’t gotten anything. Are they just forgetting us again? Are they gonna wait until somebody dies in a fire before they do something?”

Hunt echoed that frustration, saying the community needs a clear plan.

“We just need more support out here, and I’m sure the county wants to do that, but we haven’t heard much from them about how and when that process will begin.”

The petition has more than 200 signatures. Neighbors plan to bring it before the St. Johns County Commission in the near future.

But one homeowner says another reptile has her a lot more creeped out, according to a report from our sister station WKMG in Orlando.

“They’re huge. They’re so big. They look like mini dinosaurs,” Brady Deluca said. “That’s so dramatic, I know, but they are so disgusting.”

The City of Cape Canaveral recently shared a message saying Brevard County is asking for help spotting Argentine black and white tegus, an invasive species that state wildlife officials say can threaten native wildlife.

Deluca recently captured video of one of the large lizards crossing a road in her neighborhood and heading toward a canal.

“OH NO, IT’S BACK,” she recalled thinking.

That’s because this wasn’t her first encounter with one.

Last year, Deluca said a smaller tegu somehow ended up inside a neighbor’s crab trap.

“We tried to trap it. Failed miserably. Got in the water,” she said. “We learned they’re great swimmers.”

Her neighbor showed News 6 the trap where the lizard was found before escaping.

“I think those traps are a little over 24 inches, so he was probably close to three foot,” he said.

Deluca says she’s used to sharing her Lake Poinsett neighborhood with alligators, but these lizards are another story.

“We’re used to the gators because they’re here and they don’t bother us. We don’t bother them,” she said. “But these are new and different. And I don’t like them.”

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly 5 feet long. The agency says the invasive lizards are strong swimmers and have been documented eating the eggs of native wildlife, including alligators and sea turtles.

That worries Deluca, who recently watched a pair of sandhill cranes raise two chicks near her home.

“We had two babies here for a couple weeks, and now they only have one,” Deluca said. “Now I’m going to sit here and worry that one of the tegus got it.”

Still, she hopes she won’t have to worry about seeing any more.

“I would love to think that no more show up,” Deluca said. “That would make my day.”

FWC encourages anyone who spots a tegu to take a picture, note the location and report the sighting through the IveGot1 app or the Exotic Species Hotline. The agency advises people not to try to handle the animals themselves.

They are among the images posted by relatives within Venezuela and abroad desperately searching for their missing loved ones following two powerful, back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday evening.

Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said late Thursday that the death toll had risen to around 235, with at least 4,300 people injured. The number of casualties is expected to climb after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes that caused widespread damage and were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century.

With communication patchy, social media and online registries have become a crucial tool for many Venezuelans seeking information and resources beyond sparse government statistics. Independent online registries documenting up to 40,000 people missing far surpass the official government account.

While some rushed to search beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings, others created digital flyers on WhatsApp, Facebook and X with their relatives’ details.

Searching for relatives

Among them was Vanesa Marcano, 31, who posted photos from Madrid of her uncle and aunt, who live in La Guaira state, north of the capital Caracas, which suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties.

Marcano posted the images in the hopes that they were only unreachable due to damaged communication lines. Her uncle’s daughter and his 7-year-old grandson were visiting from the United States and also are missing.

“It’s a feeling of impotence and uncertainty,” Marcano said by phone. “I know you must stay calm and focus on the actions you can take. But it’s very easy to fall into despair.”

Jhoyser Concalves, a Venezuelan from the northern coastal city of Catia La Mar, was talking to his partner and her daughter just minutes before the shaking. It was the last he heard from them.

When the earthquake stopped, Concalves ran out of his house to their apartment building, where they lived on the sixth floor. There was only debris and people desperately trying to rescue neighbors from the rubble.

Concalves posted a flyer reading “MISSING” on X and Facebook in a desperate attempt to find them.

“They are pulling people out of the building alive. So I still have hope that they are in there alive,” he said.

United Nations calls for restored social media access

The search was complicated by the country's restrictions on social media and messaging platforms.

On Thursday, the U.N. human rights mission in Venezuela issued a statement calling on the government to lift local restrictions on social media and saying timely access to reliable information can save lives.

Sites including X and messaging app Signal were blocked in August 2024 by then-President Nicolás Maduro in an attempt to suppress communication among those who rejected his claim of victory in the presidential election. Former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez became the acting president in January after the U.S. captured and removed Maduro from power.

Shortly after the U.N.’s request Thursday, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X.

Search from abroad

Outside the country, such sites have become even more important for many of the 8 million people who have migrated from Venezuela in recent years and were unable to check on their loved ones.

Elibel Tovar Lanas, 38, was planning to travel Saturday from Chile, where he has lived for 23 years, for the first visit in a decade with his 70-year-old father, who lives in Brazil but was in La Guaira for business. Lanas has not heard from his dad, Félix Ramón Tovar Hernández.

“I feel powerless because I don’t know how this is affecting him: the shock, the decisions he’s having to make, whether he is physically okay, or even whether he is still alive,” said Lanas, who registered his father on the website for the missing.

“Being in Chile makes it very difficult to get information, and everything we see feels confusing,” Lanas said via WhatsApp.

In Madrid, Marcano said she was trying to stay calm for the sake of her 1-year-old daughter.

“You keep hoping someone will organize a fundraiser or some kind of initiative where you can help,” Marcano said. “But the truth is, from far away, there is very little you can do.”

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Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Pulisic entered the Americans' 3-2 loss to Turkey as a substitute early in the second half to the soundtrack of an enormous roar from the sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium.

He immediately looked comfortable in his first game action in 13 days, contributing to several strong attacks and coming awfully close to scoring a goal shortly after his entrance. Pulisic also had a lowlight when rising star Arda Güler nutmegged him — flicked the ball between his legs — to begin the sequence that ended with Kaan Ayhan's winning goal on the final kick of the match.

The loss didn't matter to the Americans, but the chance to prepare for next week was the important part. The U.S. faces Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 on Wednesday.

“His goal was to get some minutes to be ready” for next week, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “I'm happy because I think he made a good impact when he was on the pitch.”

Pulisic played dynamically in the first half of the Americans' tournament-opening, 4-1 victory over Paraguay nearly two weeks ago, creating one goal and assisting on another — but he came off at halftime due to a calf injury he had picked up in training.

The AC Milan midfielder missed the Americans' next match against Australia, and he sat out the first half against Turkey before coming on as a substitute in the 58th minute to that massive cheer from the raucous Los Angeles-area crowd.

Pulisic didn't stop to speak to reporters in the mixed zone after the loss, but he thinks he'll be ready when the U.S. attempts to win a knockout-round World Cup match for only the second time.

"I felt good, so it was really nice to be back with the team and get some minutes,” Pulisic told Fox. “I felt good with the ball. It was a tough way to end for us, for sure. But at the end of the day, we win the group, and we just have to look forward to next week.”

Pulisic said this week that he was ready to play again, and he created a scoring opportunity only a couple of minutes after he entered the 2-2 game with a dynamic run down the left side.

Pulisic nearly scored in the 63rd minute, but his quick shot in traffic was deflected off the goalpost by Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

“You saw his quality, and you saw when he came in the impact he had,” Sebastian Berhalter said. “He’s our guy. he’s a leader in his own right.”

Late goal for Turkey

Pulisic had another excellent pass to Ricardo Pepi in injury time, but his teammate couldn't get off a shot. The U.S. appeared to be headed to a draw — until Turkey pulled out an extraordinary late goal that began with a bit of magic from Güler, the 21-year-old Real Madrid star.

Boxed into the corner by two Americans, Güler flicked the ball perfectly between Pulisic's legs and ran around him, creating the space necessary to start the final sequence. Salih Ozcan kicked a long cross to Can Uzun got the ball in space on the back post slipped it under sprawling goalkeeper Matt Turner to Ayhan.

That sequence aside, Pulisic's presence energized the American attack and portended well for its next match, according to his teammates.

“(Pulisic) is a special player," U.S. captain Weston McKennie told Fox. "There’s no doubt that he adds something to the group. He adds his 1-on-1 qualities. Whenever the game might look dry or the game isn’t creative or something, he can come in and be that player to create something out of thin air. It was good to see him back on the pitch. Hopefully we’ll see him again in San Francisco.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

Both teams got what they wanted most out of their meaningless meeting before the Americans head on to the knockout stage — and coach Mauricio Pochettino was annoyed by any suggestion that the Americans' last-gasp, 3-2 defeat said anything negative about the state of his team.

Kaan Ayhan scored on the final kick of the match to send Turkey past the U.S. in the eighth minute of stoppage time for its only win of the World Cup.

The result was meaningless to the Americans, who will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. Pochettino sent out nine new starters, including eight who were starting a World Cup match for the first time.

The U.S. tied it early in the second half on a goal by Sebastian Berhalter, and the Americans got within a few seconds of an unbeaten run through the group stage. But in his postgame news conference, Pochettino expressed his annoyance with what he perceived as disappointment in the result.

“For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters.

“What we need to remember is we won first place in this group,” Pochettino added while speaking in Spanish and English. “We ended up being No. 1, and we managed all the pressure and the expectations quite well. We had other priorities. We wanted to win. We did want the victory, but there are other things we needed to balance out, and that’s how I made the decisions. ... Making history is winning the World Cup, not just winning the group. It’s a little bit petty, if you will. You’re thinking just a little bit too small.”

Auston Trusty scored in the third minute for the Americans, who beat Paraguay and Australia by a combined 6-1 to book their place in the knockouts.

Pochettino fielded nearly an entirely new lineup for this low-stakes game, notably resting all four key players who picked up yellow cards earlier in the tournament.

Christian Pulisic entered in the 58th minute, however. The AC Milan midfielder hadn’t played since the first half of the Americans’ opener due to a calf injury, and he was involved in a couple of early scoring chances before getting beaten on the wing on Turkey’s winning goal.

“We could have done better on some defensive plays, but it happens,” said Brenden Aaronson, one of nine new starters chosen by Pochettino for the group finale.

“You make (nine) changes, and the team might not be used to as the guys that have been playing," Aaronson added. "It showed the hustle, the aggressiveness of the team. I think it’s a positive, because Turkey is a top team. They might have not performed their best throughout this tournament, but their quality is on the pitch and you can see it.”

Berhalter said he doesn’t believe the Americans lost any momentum from this close defeat.

“You saw the second half, how we came out,” said Berhalter, who tied it in the 49th minute by running on to a loose ball about 20 yards out for a vicious strike. “I think we deserved more out of that game. We slipped in the last second of the game. ... We gave everything we had, and we’ll be ready for the knockouts. The guys did well. We fought. Unfortunate not to get a result, but we’ll be ready for sure.”

Arda Güler and Orkun Kökçü scored in the first half of a resilient performance by Turkey, which had already been eliminated after losing its first two matches despite largely dominating both statistically.

Turkey improbably won in the eighth minute of stoppage time when Can Uzun got the ball in space on the back post and pushed it past sprawling goalkeeper Matt Turner to Ayhan, who slid to knock it home.

“I’m super-happy with how my players played tonight,” Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella said through an interpreter. “They showcased all of their skills, all of their abilities, all of their character. Playing the way they played tonight in an away match, against a very loud crowd, if they weren’t as strong as they are, they wouldn’t have made it tonight.

"I’m really happy for the Turkish people. I can say that we can go back home with our chin up.”

Indeed, the game’s meaninglessness didn’t matter to the raucous sellout crowd that packed SoFi Stadium. The American team’s fan base has been energized by its strong start to this home World Cup -- and this Los Angeles-area crowd was still chanting and standing when Berhalter airmailed a long corner to Trusty, who made the stadium shake when he banged it home inside the back post.

Trusty’s goal was the Americans’ seventh of the tournament, tying their scoring record for any World Cup before knockout play even begins. It was also the 173rd goal of this tournament, breaking the record for the most combined goals scored in a World Cup set in Qatar four years ago — and doing it in four fewer matches.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

The expanded tournament to 48 teams that provides a spot in the knockout round for eight of the 12 third-place teams in the group stage led to the cautious approach for both teams in their final Group D match after they each entered with three points thanks to wins over Turkey.

The winner of this game was assured second place behind the United States in the group with Australia also clinching that spot with a draw thanks to a better goal differential than Paraguay. But the draw that gave Paraguay four points in the group also was likely to be enough barring a string of bad results in the final two days of group play.

“We tried to win the game," Australia coach Tony Popovic said. "In the end, a draw was enough for both nations. Congratulations to Paraguay as well. ... I’m sure as we are feeling euphoria and joy as a nation, I’m sure Paraguay is as well.”

This marks the third time that Australia has advanced to the knockout round after losing in the round of 16 in 2006 and 2022. The Socceroos will play in the round of 32 on July 3 in Arlington, Texas, against the second-place finisher from Group G that will be determined Friday night.

“We really did work hard for this moment and I think we should enjoy it,” midfielder Ajdin Hrustic said.

Paraguay must wait to learn its fate, but is in good position to advance to the knockout round for the fifth time.

“Now we have to wait,” coach Gustavo Alfaro said. “I am optimistic that we will be able to move on to the next phase.”

The Socceroos had the best chances in the first half, but Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill stopped an early attempt from Jackson Irvine and then made another save in stoppage time against Cristian Volpato.

The cautious play continued in the second half when Paraguay did have more possession than in the opening 45 minutes but neither team came close to scoring. Jordan Bos had the best chance for Australia in the 90th minute, but his shot went wide from the right side of the box.

Patrick Beach then made a save for Australia on a low shot by Mauricio that lacked power in stoppage time.

“You can have opinions on how the game was played or what we both thought we needed," Popovic said. “We at no stage felt we were playing for a draw. I felt we controlled the game quite well, were in control and had the better opportunities. We just gave one away at the end from the edge of the box, which was a heart in the mouth moment unfortunately for us.”

Popovic made six changes to his lineup for the game, including giving 18-year-old Lucas Herrington his first World Cup appearance. Herrington, who plays for the Colorado Rapids in the MLS, became the youngest Aussie to appear in a World Cup game.

Paraguay midfielder Diego Gomez got his second yellow card of group play and will miss the round of 32 if the team advances.

“We wanted a positive result, but it couldn’t be done,” Gomez said. “There is a lot to work on, (lots) to get done, lots of things to improve on.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

It was just a coincidence that the city’s “Pride Match” ended up as a high-stakes matchup between Iran and Egypt — with advancement from Group G still up in the air — and the move has come with plenty of pushback from both countries. But Seattle officials and its soccer community say this distinctive pairing is an opportunity to showcase the city’s inclusivity as well as the common ground that can be found at the World Cup.

Jess Fishlock, captain of the National Women’s Soccer League club Seattle Reign, said this is what the World Cup is all about.

“I don’t think there is a sport that has a global event that creates unity and diversity and a bringing together of so many cultures quite like the World Cup,” she told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I think we get to see that firsthand at the Pride Match.”

Same-sex relations are illegal in Iran, where gay men have been executed on sodomy charges, while Egypt has prosecuted gay and lesbian people and suppressed outward expressions of gay pride, including rainbow flags.

The countries complained to FIFA in December about the “Pride Match” and have asked that the celebrations be canceled.

FIFA treats the rainbow flag as a statement of human rights and will allow fans to wave it inside the stadium, according to Hana Tadesse, a spokesperson for Seattle’s World Cup organizing committee.

When asked Thursday about the pride celebration, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said the team was focused on soccer.

“We are concerned with football on the pitch,” he said in Arabic. “We respect fair play and rules for everybody to abide by.”

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei made similar remarks during a news conference Thursday when asked about what will happen at Lumen Field.

“We are only going to speak about football, what a beautiful game it is, and how enjoyable it’s going to be,” Ghalenoei said in response to a reporter’s question in Farsi.

The match on Friday coincides with Seattle’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and Pride watch parties are planned in some neighborhoods. Over the weekend, the city will hold its popular Pride parade.

Ilona Lohrey, president and CEO of the Greater Seattle Business Association, an LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce, described Seattle as one of the most inclusive cities in the country.

“I think it gives us an opportunity to showcase who we are as a city, who we are as a people and how diversity makes us stronger,” Lohrey said in an interview.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Daniel Marin, FIFA's executive director of public relations, read a statement on behalf of the Iranian team in light of the Pride celebration in Seattle on Friday. Egypt and Iran are two of the most repressive places in the world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but they coincidentally will play each other while the host city honors the LGBTQ+ community.

“This Islamic Republic of the Iran Football Federation has asked us to inform the media that they are only willing to answer questions in relation to the game,” Marin said. “We fully respect the right of all journalists to ask questions. In this case, we ask you respect the rights of the federation here today to only answer questions in relation to the team, the tactics, the match, and so on.”

Nonetheless, Amir Ghalenoei was peppered with questions about what will transpire inside Lumen Field and around the stadium on Friday.

In December, both countries asked for the Pride-themed celebrations to be canceled. FIFA treats the rainbow flag as a statement of human rights and will allow fans to wave it inside the stadium, according to Hana Tadesse, a spokesperson for Seattle's World Cup organizing committee.

Egypt took a similar approach to the Iranians in trying to steer the conversation back to the match and away from the Pride festivities. At Thursday's practice at Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle, Egypt players were barred from answering questions about Pride. Team staffers stepped in and would not allow reporters to ask such questions.

“We are all focused on football,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said in Arabic. "This is all that we think about.”

With a win, Iran could advance to the tournament’s knockout stage for the first time.

“I said to you earlier we are here to play football. For nothing else,” Ghalenoei said in response to a reporter’s question in Farsi. “Our entire focus is going to be on tomorrow’s game, on succeeding in tomorrow’s game. And, anything else that is banned ... we don’t want to speak about it.

“We are only going to speak about football, what a beautiful game it is, and how enjoyable it’s going to be.”

Iran has faced numerous complications off the field. The team has endured travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in light of the war in Iran.

In March, Iran sought to move its group-stage matches to Mexico, with which it has diplomatic ties. Its request to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana was granted two weeks before the team’s arrival. Several team officials and members of the support staff have been barred from traveling into the U.S. with the team.

For the first two matches, near Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before and had to return to Mexico immediately after each game. The U.S. then eased its restrictions, allowing the squad to travel to Seattle two days before Friday’s match.

Ghalenoei said the team is in a better position with its fitness as a result.

“This was a right that we should have had in the two previous games,” Ghalenoei said. “They deprived us of the right to arrive in time. ... What they did for us this time, they didn’t do for the two previous games.”

Ghalenoei commended FIFA president Gianni Infantino for doing the “utmost” to “minimize the challenges” Iran has faced.

But on Friday, Iran is sure to be tested in multiple ways. Egypt is in first place in Group G, and Iran will try to focus strictly on its opponent.

“We are not going to think about what is going on outside of the pitch, because the game is going to be so arduous,” Ghalenoei said. “It is going to be so exciting that we are going to have our total focus on that. We are representatives of our great Iranian nation and great Iranian country, and football only. We are only focused on football, and nothing else.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

These were top of mind as Nike designed its uniform kits for this year’s World Cup, including for football powerhouses France and Brazil as well as the U.S. and Canada in their role as host nations.

In a tournament that has seen storm delays and temperatures hovering around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in some locations, the first step was to ensure players' performance and comfort.

Phil McCartney, chief innovation, design and product officer for Nike, said the company worked with athletes, coaches and football federations to understand how uniforms affect the game.

“We also talk to fans — so what does it mean to wear a Uruguay jersey, what does it mean to represent France, what does it mean to play for Canada?” McCartney told The Associated Press. “We take that and we merge that with all the science and the innovation to make sure that we have beautiful designs.”

Adidas, which designed jerseys for defending champion Argentina, host nation Mexico and Colombia, also unveiled cooling gear for the tournament. Puma designed the kits for Portugal as well as Morocco and Senegal, the two finalists at the most recent African Cup of Nations.

While the three companies are behind most of this year's kits, some teams are sporting uniforms designed by other apparel makers.

Testing facility features thermal chambers and robot mannequins

On a recent morning, McCartney spoke from the sports research lab at Nike’s headquarters just outside Portland, Oregon, where experimentation helped the kits come to life.

The indoor facility includes a 200-meter (219-yard) track, a small football pitch and a basketball court, with hundreds of motion-capture cameras placed throughout. Thermal chambers replicate the effects of heat and humidity on apparel donned by people or robot mannequins.

“We take motion-capture to see how they’re moving in the kit, how the kits are responding,” McCartney said. “We also use the thermal chambers that we have to test the kit’s breathability, to test wicking and moisture management.”

For the World Cup kits, Nike engineered a new fabric that it says is more breathable and made from fully recycled materials. The way the jerseys are knit, with mesh stitching in certain areas allowing more air flow, helps “get that thermal regulation that all the players have been asking for,” McCartney said.

Despite all the testing, the rollout of the kit was still a bit bumpy.

During matches earlier this year, bulges could be seen in the shoulder seams on jerseys for teams including France and Uruguay, the Guardian reported.

When asked by AP, Nike said it was able to identify the issue before the start of the World Cup, and worked with federations “to ensure kits show up as intended.”

Designs incorporate symbols of national pride

While a kit’s physical attributes are important for athletes, its appearance is just as significant for fans who sport the jerseys and want to feel connected to their team.

“We take inspiration from lots of different places, from the past, from art, from music, from culture, so anything that gets us connected to the country we really want to harness,” McCartney said.

France’s away kit, for example, is a light green akin to the Statue of Liberty, which France gifted to the U.S. in the late 19th century. The interior tag features the word “Liberté” inside a silhouette of the monument’s crown.

On the front of the jersey there's a rooster — an emblem of the national team and the country itself — and two stars representing France's two previous World Cup victories.

France's home kit features a collar — as does Uruguay's. The decision to use collars comes from the federations, Nike said, with France leaning into its history as a fashion capital and Uruguay looking to evoke a more classic football look. In previous decades, many uniforms included collars.

Key national symbols were also considered when designing kits for the U.S. and Canada. The home kit for the U.S. features horizontal red and white stripes reminiscent of a waving American flag, while Canada’s displays a prominent maple leaf.

“Especially in an event like the World Cup, we really play into national pride,” McCartney said.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

The World Weather Attribution rapid study released Friday found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.

Millions in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe are experiencing extreme temperatures and humidity this week associated with a heat dome. Daytime temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many places, while high nighttime temperatures have also made it harder to cool down and recover.

The scientists estimated that a heat wave with similar characteristics occurring in the climate of June 1976 would have been about 3.5 degrees Celsius (6.3 Fahrenheit) cooler during the day and about 2 degrees Celsius cooler (3.6 Fahrenheit) in 2003. The nighttime temperatures would have been about 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 Fahrenheit) cooler in June 1976 and about 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) cooler in 2003.

They chose 1976 and 2003 for comparison because those years saw extreme heat in Europe.

“The increase in temperatures was so dramatic that we would have expected to have never seen this event in the 1976 climate,” said the study’s lead author Theodore Keeping, also a climate scientist at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. “And it would also still have been very, very rare, even 23 years ago in 2003.”

Climate change is the driving force behind the heat

World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based collaborative of scientists who study the causes of global extreme weather events, began assessing in 2015 the extent to which those could be attributed to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The organization’s rapid attribution studies, including this one, aren’t peer-reviewed but use peer-reviewed methodology.

The current study used observed temperature data and forecasts for an analysis of the heat wave that started on June 18.

It also found that 45% of the 850 cities analyzed across 30 European countries have broken, or are expected to hit, records for heat stress levels, a measure that includes humidity and temperature.

"It directly relates to the heat stress on the human body and our ability to cool ourselves down, and it’s a really good metric for the expected health impacts we expect to see from this heat wave,” Keeping said. Heat and humidity make for a dangerous combination for humans.

Ultimately, this marks the most severe heat wave to have ever been recorded in this region of Europe and most severe humid heat event, WWA researchers said.

Europe is especially unequipped for these extreme temperatures

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. In a separate study last year, WWA researchers found there were about 1,500 climate change-caused deaths during a European heat wave last summer.

This week, weather agencies across Europe have issued red alerts about heat risks, and sporting events, schools, public transportation and attractions have been limited as a result. Many of these countries do not have widespread air conditioning or other infrastructure to account for warmer climates. France, which has been bearing much of the brunt of the heat wave, recorded its hottest day ever this week, and has also reported 40 deaths from drownings as people seek cooling relief.

The WWA scientists said the current El Nino warming cycle did not influence this heat.

Europe also experienced record-shattering high temperatures in May. Typically, Europe does not see dramatically warmer weather until July and August.

The findings of the study released Friday are reasonable, but may downplay climate change's role in the heat, said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the research.

“If anything, this latest assessment — and all similar assessments — are actually underestimating the role that climate change is playing here,” said Mann, who has separately studied how climate change is increasing heat stress in North America.

Keeping, the study author, said the Europe heat wave shows the need to adapt infrastructure and behavior to extreme temperatures.

"We need to expect them to happen. They’re only going to become more frequent in the near term,” Keeping said. “We also need to address the source of climate change as well. And that is very simply carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.”

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage.

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

No stranger to creating a successful online series, the Emmy-nominated actor and producer became intrigued by China's booming market for the short, mobile-first soap operas, seeing its potential to build audiences and intellectual property.

In May, Rae's Hoorae Media released the thriller “Screen Time,” one of the first major studio-quality microdrama projects developed by an established Hollywood production company. The TikTok-backed series drew nearly 75 million views during its first week.

Rae believes the format offers advantages traditional media often cannot.

“Because the price point is lower than TV and film, there’s an opportunity to take risks,” she told The Associated Press. “The turnaround time is also a lot quicker than TV and film, which allows us the opportunity to be more topical and relevant.”

With vertically shot episodes often running one to three minutes, microdramas have emerged as one of entertainment’s fastest-growing formats. That's drawing interest from celebrities, creators and major media companies looking for new ways to reach audiences who increasingly consume stories on their phones.

Beyond speed and cost, Rae said microdramas foster a more interactive viewing experience between creators and audiences.

“The communal experience is also amazing,” said Rae, whose web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” helped launch her career. “You can see what other viewers think and engage with their commentary in real time.”

Microdramas catch the attention of Hollywood

At first glance, the formula seems deceptively simple: smartphone-friendly bingeable miniepisodes featuring tales of romance, betrayal and redemption with titles like “The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband.” The first few episodes are generally free and viewers have to pay to unlock more.

The model that first emerged in China during the pandemic has exploded — global microdrama revenues will hit $14 billion by the end of 2026, technology research and advisory group Omdia estimates — and the U.S. entertainment industry is taking note.

Peacock recently launched a dedicated microdrama hub. Fox Entertainment invested in microdrama producer Holywater and committed to producing hundreds of vertical titles, while TelevisaUnivision is producing serialized short-form dramas for ViX.

Kevin Hart’s HartBeat has expanded into vertical comedy, Kim Kardashian is backing scripted mobile-first content through her investment in microdrama platform ReelShort, Taye Diggs has starred in vertical series aimed at the growing audience consuming serialized stories on smartphones, and filmmaker Deon Taylor is developing the sports-focused vertical series “I Am Hoop.”

At this year’s MIP London television market, executives said some of the largest microdrama platforms are spending as much as 90% of their budgets on marketing as competition for audiences intensifies.

Phones provide direct access to audiences

Hoorae Media spent more than two years researching the format before launching “Screen Time.” The company became convinced microdramas represented more than a passing trend after studying how audiences were consuming entertainment on their phones.

“The connective tissue being the phone, and how much time people are already spending on their phone,” said Dzifa Yador, head of digital at Hoorae Media. “We’re meeting audiences where they are.”

Yador believes the format gives creators something increasingly difficult to find in traditional Hollywood: Instead of waiting years for a studio decision, creators can test ideas, build an audience and retain ownership.

“You definitely get rid of the gatekeepers,” she said. “You can greenlight your own show.”

Independent creators helped build the audience first

Long before Hollywood began paying attention, creators were already proving audiences would spend hours following serialized stories online.

Among the most successful is Kountry Wayne, who transitioned from the comedy sketches that made him famous to a universe of interconnected relationship dramas after noting those had a longer shelf life.

The Georgia native, whose Amazon Prime Video stand-up special “Kountry Wayne: Nostalgia" debuted this year, said he now releases 50 episodes a day.

Wayne recently posted that his content generated about 1.4 billion views on Facebook and another 100 million on YouTube over the previous month. Meta and YouTube declined to independently verify those figures.

As Hollywood's interest in vertical storytelling accelerated, the comedian said, he turned down eight-figure deals to license or acquire his content, choosing instead to keep ownership as his audience grew.

“If they get in, they're going try to control it,” he said. “I knew it was growing.”

The format offers a new proving ground for filmmakers

The American Black Film Festival, one of the nation’s leading showcases for Black film and television, is giving the next generation of storytellers an entry point through the format.

The festival launched its first microdrama showcase this year, selecting eight finalists from hundreds of submissions.

Festival programmer Bobbi Broome said the response underscored how quickly creators are embracing the format.

“At least two or three of them said that they decided to try doing a microdrama because they saw the ABFF competition start,” Broome told AP.

For many filmmakers, she said, the showcase was more than producing short-form content. It gave them an opportunity to test ideas that could eventually evolve into larger projects.

“I spoke with a couple of filmmakers who said that this was kind of like their proof of concept for a feature,” Broome said. “The industry is changing day in and day out."

Where will microdramas go from here?

Rae believes microdramas are only beginning to reveal their potential.

“We knew audiences will appreciate premium content that is free and easily accessible,” she said. “If the story is engaging, the acting is good and it generally feels made with them in mind, they will engage.”

For Wayne, the future of the format is rooted in the same device that helped him build his audience. He said his videos are filmed on cellphones, with little traditional editing, which allows him and his team to move quickly while getting his stories to the audience with high quality visuals.

“The eyeballs are on the phone,” he said. “We still go to the theater. We still watch TV. But we're on this phone.”

Mikal DeToro was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on April 30 as part of an operation called “Operation Checkmate.” JSO said the operation resulted in the arrests of more than two dozen men accused of attempting to solicit minors online.

Parents at Wilkinson Junior High said they were not notified between the time of DeToro’s arrest and the time of the public announcement. Court records show DeToro has a criminal history involving incidents with minors.

Cheyenne Evans, whose son wrestled at Wilkinson Junior High while DeToro served as a volunteer coach, said the news hit close to home.

“When it’s that close to home, and your baby was taught by him and he has touched him before, it just — it’s infuriating,” Evans said. “You almost feel like you let your kids down when you trusted the school with them.”

After DeToro’s arrest became public, Evans said her son told her that DeToro would request skin checks on wrestlers — a practice she said is typically reserved for referees at wrestling matches, not coaches.

“You don’t hear of a coach making a wrestler go down to their underwear in a closet and put their arms out by themselves to do a skin check,” Evans said. “That’s inappropriate.”

Evans said her son always refused.

Board Chair Erin Skipper and other board members addressed the concerns during a public meeting, though they said the ongoing investigation limited what they could discuss. An upset mother in the audience called out board members during the exchange: “You let a predator around our children! This is your warning.”

District 5 Board Member Ashley Gilhousen said the district expects full accountability.

“We set policy, and we expect the employees in the district to abide by the policies that we set,” Gilhousen said. “I support the complete and thorough investigation and expect that we will have accountability for anybody at fault in failing to protect children in this district.”

Another parent, Tawnya Darnell, whose son also wrestled under DeToro, said her concern centers on how the volunteer screening process failed.

“It’s more of a concern of how the system, the school’s protocol as far as volunteers and coaches and those types of things — how someone like that fell through the cracks,” Darnell said. “And just hoping that moving forward they can rectify that.”

Board Chair Skipper declined a request for an on-camera interview and referred News4JAX to the following statement posted on her Facebook page:

The safety and well being of our students will always remain the highest priority of Clay County District Schools. As Chairman of the School Board, and more importantly as a Mother, I have zero tolerance for individuals who seek to harm, exploit, groom, or negatively influence children in any way.

At this time, there is an ongoing investigation regarding recent allegations. Because of the active nature of the investigation, it is important that due process is respected and that the appropriate authorities are allowed to complete their work. While I cannot comment on specific details, I want our families, staff, and community to know that these matters are taken with the utmost seriousness.

Over the years, I have strongly advocated for policies that prioritize student safety, accountability, and transparency. Those policies are in place to ensure concerns are reported appropriately, investigated thoroughly, and addressed in accordance with both Board policy and Florida law.

As this matter moves forward, the School Board will review the procedures and actions implemented by the superintendent at both the district and school levels to ensure they fully align with Board policy, legal requirements, and the high standards our community expects. We will work closely with Superintendent David Broskie and district leadership to evaluate every aspect of the process and identify if there are any areas where improvements might be necessary.

The adults entrusted to work with our children should be protecting, mentoring, and supporting them not harming them. Every student deserves a safe learning environment where they can grow, learn, and succeed without fear.

The Board and Superintendent will continue ongoing discussions to ensure every available resource is utilized, every concern is taken seriously, and every appropriate measure is taken to protect our students. My commitment is clear: student safety comes first, and we will remain vigilant in fulfilling that responsibility.

Statement from Clay County School Board Chairman Erin Skipper

The U.S. Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration's work on the project.

His statement does not say when exactly the damage occurred or whether it was a suspected case of vandalism and does not identify anyone who might have been involved.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, "including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,'' Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

The statements are the first time the Republican administration has offered specifics for when and how the Reflecting Pool may have been damaged after work on the project was substantially completed.

Interior Department thought the reported damage was an ‘isolated incident'

A spokesperson for the Interior Department said Thursday that public notification about the damage was delayed because, “at the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated. So as not to encourage deranged individuals, we did not announce what we hoped to be an isolated incident.”

Around the same time, park service staff "discovered another incident where fencing around the pool had been forcibly removed and thrown into the pool,'' the spokesperson said in an email.

The department soon noticed that "recurring cases and videos of people ripping at the coating began to circulate. We then knew this was not an isolated incident, but a new trend to attempt to damage the Reflecting Pool,'' the email said.

President Donald Trump and other officials have repeatedly blamed, without citing evidence, unidentified vandals for peeling paint as well as a “350-foot gash” in the liner and other problems. Six people have been arrested, Trump said this week, without providing details.

The Interior Department said Thursday there have been seven arrests, seven federal citations and 18 police reports filed. The department did not specify what the charges were or identify anyone cited by police.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, draining its water and directing the bottom to be painted a color he called “American flag blue.” But after the site was restored, its water was plagued by an algae bloom for more than a week, and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom. The pool has largely cleared in recent days after devices called nanobubblers infused ozone into the water to kill algae and bacteria.

Trump's administration faces a self-imposed deadline to complete the renovation before July Fourth. Trump also has said the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump said Wednesday that “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice portions of the lining.

Reflecting Pool was refilled between June 4 and June 9

The Associated Press reviewed videos showing that the Reflecting Pool was refilled between June 4 and June 9, meaning the alleged cut reported to law enforcement on June 9 could have occurred before the basin was fully refilled. Days later, pieces of the new blue liner were observed peeling up from the bottom.

The Park Police posted surveillance footage Wednesday evening and asked for help “identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation.” The grainy, 30-second video appears to show a person kneeling down, reaching into the reflecting pool and removing something from the water. Police said it was taken on Friday afternoon.

In his statement to the court, Lands said the parks agency plans to begin draining the Reflecting Pool following Independence Day celebrations to conduct repairs, including assessing and repairing any damage to the lining.

The park service completed more than two months of renovations at the Reflecting Pool in early June. The 2,000-foot-long basin was drained and a tinted, plastic-like liner was installed to waterproof and protect the concrete pool surface, and the pool was refilled with water, Lands said.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy group that sued in May to halt work on the project, asked a federal judge to block further renovations.

“It is also not too late to correct course,” the group wrote in a filing Monday. It urged the administration to “engage with experts and the public, and make an informed decision about what is best based on the consultations mandated by the law, instead of once again rushing ahead with half-baked ideas.”

Democrats call for investigations into the pool renovations

Congressional Democrats have called for formal investigations into the pool renovations, saying no-bid contracts for the project were awarded to vendors with prior ties to Trump.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel overseeing the Interior Department's budget, said the pool renovation appears to be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.

“After railing about waste, fraud and abuse, Donald Trump spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae,” Merkley said Thursday. He said this is a "massive waste" of tax dollars and the public deserves "swift answers — and a refund.”

Merkley is one of about 10 Democratic senators and House members investigating the pool project.

"Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them,'' said another letter, signed by New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and five other senators.

Heinrich is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department.

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Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.

In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, Leslie and Douglas Martin say their son was experiencing a mental health crisis in October when responding Oakland police officers held him "face down while one or more officers pressed on his back.” The lawsuit alleges this restraint was a “substantial factor” in causing his death.

“The family is very much interested in finding out what happened to their son,” said attorney John Burris. “Unfortunately the litigation is a mechanism to best get that done.”

Martin, 36, best known for his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was selected last August as one of the top 50 players in franchise history as part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebration. He was originally from Oakland and lived in Stockton, where he played high school football.

Over a decade, more than 1,000 people have died across the country after police subdued them through means not intended to be lethal, such as physical holds, Tasers and body blows, an investigation led by The Associated Press found. That includes George Floyd, whose murder by a police officer in 2020 led to a national reckoning over law enforcement's use of force, especially against Black people.

Police said in a statement at the time of Martin's death that he was involved in a break-in and that a “brief struggle” happened as police were trying to detain him and he became unresponsive. The department did not release any other details.

The Oakland Police Department said Thursday it does not comment on pending litigation and referred inquiries to the Oakland city attorney's office, which declined comment. Oakland police also said the investigation into Martin's death is ongoing.

Leslie Martin had called 911 because she was worried about her son, Burris said in an interview. He had been acting strangely and she “thought that he needed some medical attention," he said.

Burris said Doug Martin took off after she called. Police officers responding to Leslie Martin's call and separate reports of a break-in found Doug Martin hiding in a neighbor’s home.

Oakland police released several minutes of officers' body camera footage and 911 calls in March. In the video, officers called Martin by name.

The officers and Martin struggle briefly and then he is physically restrained face down. There are several minutes not shown in the released video.

The complaint alleges that Martin was later turned onto his side and was unresponsive and says officers initially thought he was “sleeping or pretending to be.” They only requested medical assistance after he remained unresponsive, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also accuses Falck USA, Inc. and its subsidiary Falck Northern California Corp.'s paramedics of taking more than 15 minutes to respond to the call and not promptly providing medical care after they arrived. Messages seeking comment were left Thursday for Falck.

The Alameda County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy report is awaiting test results after extra testing was requested by Martin's family. Burris said he does not know what additional testing is holding up the report.

Burris said he had a second autopsy conducted, and the pathologist determined tentatively that the cause of death was restraint asphyxiation.

In addition to the autopsy, Burris said Martin's brain was immediately sent to be examined posthumously for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can affect regions of the brain involved with regulating behavior and emotions and is linked to contact sports such as football. The family also is awaiting those results.

“They're concerned enough about it that they immediately sent the brain to Boston for examination,” Burris said, though he added the degenerative brain disease might account for his behavior but not how he died that night. Research is done at the Boston University CTE Center.

Martin was the 31st overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft after a standout career at Boise State. He rushed for 1,454 yards, scored 11 touchdowns as a rookie and was selected to the Pro Bowl. He also was named first-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl again in 2015.

Martin played six seasons with the Buccaneers and one season with the Raiders.

The swearing-in ceremony included the national anthem performed by a Navy band and remarks from council members about the year ahead. Carlucci told the crowd he believes Howland will keep council on track.

“I have no doubt that council president Howland will keep the planes on time,” Carlucci said. “We only have one year left together and I think we should act like it… Let’s make 2026-2027 our best year ever.”

After taking the oath, Howland told council members and attendees he plans to focus on all parts of the city.

“Jacksonville is building again and it’s renovating too,” Howland said. “This council this year will not just focus on one neighborhood — it will focus on all of them.”

Howland: ‘Touched and honored’ to lead

In a one-on-one interview with News4JAX, Howland said he felt “touched” by the support of his colleagues.

“I’m honored that my colleagues put me in this position to lead city council,” Howland said. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic year.”

Howland pointed to public safety and infrastructure as areas where he says the city has momentum.

“We always talk about public safety. Crime is down,” he said.

Howland also listed infrastructure and service investments, including roads, sidewalks and lighting, and said the city “saved paratransit.”

Top priorities: budget, basics, and rebuilding trust

With one year to lead the council, Howland said the “core parts of local government” remain the main focus — including public safety, infrastructure and essential services — but he also outlined specific priorities.

His first: fiscal responsibility, as the city looks ahead to a potential property tax relief referendum in November.

“We don’t know what the voters are going to decide with property tax relief in November and we simply don’t,” Howland said. “So we have no choice but to take a fine-tooth comb to the budget.”

Howland said he wants to deliver a budget — with police and fire separated — that is smaller than the previous year.

“Where necessary, we’ll put items into a contingency pending the referendum in November to determine how we move forward,” he said. “But we will be fiscally responsible this year because we need to and it’s the right thing to do.”

News4JAX also asked Howland about restoring trust in city government and JEA.

“I think we’re ready to move from a stage of investigation to a stage of collaboration and working together to find solutions,” Howland said. “You’ll see when I issue a memo tomorrow morning about what special committees we’re standing up that we’re ready to do that.”

Message to Jacksonville

Howland closed his message with an optimistic outlook for the city.

“Things are looking bright for the city of Jacksonville,” he said. “We are on the road to being the best city in the Southeast for businesses to relocate, businesses to grow and families to live, work and play.”

“Unfortunately we have received around 235 patients who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive at our health facilities,” Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media Thursday.

The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, which was among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and was felt throughout the region.

Thousands were reported missing and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.

In response to the devastation, the U.S. Treasury on Thursday moved to waive some sanctions until Oct. 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.

Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris.

The injured were pulled out of the rubble covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab, only a barefoot poking out before crews managed to get her out alive. But few government search teams were seen outside Caracas.

In the capital, Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbors were the ones digging through the rubble.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her 8-year-old son who was missing.

One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock.

The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country’s main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.

Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.

“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendaño. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”

Offers to send aid and supplies poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.

The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro's capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.

Rescue teams head to heavily damaged coastal region

Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters: a 1999 mudslide killed thousands in what is considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.

Rodríguez appealed to businesses Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.

“We hope to rescue as many living people as possible,” said Rodríguez, who referred to La Guaira as a “disaster zone.”

She said the first rescuers from the Dominican Republic were about to land and more from other countries were expected to arrive in the coming hours.

While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.

The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.

“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.

Venezuela residents reeling from quakes

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings. Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink.”

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone service, Rodríguez said. Subway services were suspended and natural gas was shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for loved ones. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to make contact with relatives.

Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024, in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.

Several governments offered assistance

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Canada vowed to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday. Aid included emergency and military personnel, canine and search teams, medical supplies, water purifiers, airplanes and drones.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States was “immediately” deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources other assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of Venezuela's main airport created logistical challenges.

“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big; it’ll be fast; and it’ll be effective,” Rubio said.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Regina Garcia Cano, Mauricio Savarese, Anna-Catherine Brigida, Danica Coto, Clara Preve and Alexandra Olson contributed to this report.

Officers found a man in his mid-30s suffering from one gunshot wound to the abdomen. Family members took him to a local hospital, where he was listed in non-life-threatening condition, JSO said.

Investigators said the man and others were in a physical fight when someone in a white Dodge Charger pulled out a rifle and fired several shots, hitting the man once.

Detectives said it appears to be an isolated incident with no ongoing threat to the community.

Crime scene detectives are processing evidence, while robbery and violent crime detectives interview witnesses and look for surveillance video.

Anyone with information is asked to call 904-630-0500, email JSOCRIMETIPS@JAXSHERIFF.ORG or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.

Elanga’s impressive left-footed strike from just outside the right corner of the box in the 62nd minute was his second goal of this year’s tournament. Elanga has scored only three goals in 49 games for Newcastle, but zero in 32 Premier League matches.

Six minutes earlier, Maeda settled a nifty pass from Ritsu Doan with his left foot in the penalty area and easily beat Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with his right foot.

It was Japan’s seventh goal of the tournament, the country’s most for an entire World Cup. That topped the six the Japanese scored while reaching the round of 16 in Russia eight years ago.

Japan is advancing out of the group stage for the third consecutive World Cup and fifth time in seven tries since first reaching the round of 16 as co-hosts in 2002. The Japanese team finished second in Group F behind the Netherlands and will play Brazil in Houston on Monday.

“For the good of football in Japan, I think it would be a very good experience,” coach Hajime Moriyasu said through a translator of his 16th-ranked team facing No. 5 Brazil. “We do believe there's a chance for us to win. And then we hope that we will be able to move one step further move on to the next stage.”

The Swedes have advanced to the knockout round the past four times they’ve qualified for the World Cup going back to 1994 — when they reached the semifinals the last time the U.S. hosted soccer’s biggest event.

Sweden will have to wait to find out its opponent in the round of 32 next week.

“We have to probably recover the players first and make sure that physically we’re in a good place for whoever we play,” coach Graham Potter said. “We’ve got to be on our toes in terms of logistics. I would say if you had said to me when we first came that would be the challenge we’d face, I would have absolutely taken it.”

Elanga had another chance to score in injury time, with his right-footed attempted forcing goalkeeper Zion Suzuki to make a diving deflection.

On the ensuing corner kick, Suzuki deflected Alexander Isak’s header off the crossbar and into the air, eventually ending the scoring chance with a leaping grab in a crowd of players.

The Blue Samurai's bag-waving, chanting fans among 70,137 at the sold-out home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys were persistent as a scoreless game dragged into the second half. Japan seemed content to sit back and play for a draw that would have guaranteed the same spot in the knockout round as a win.

Just like that, things changed when Doan put Maeda in perfect position to score.

Elanga wasn't anywhere near scoring range, but Suzuki appeared screened and reacted late as the shot beat him to the far post.

Just three minutes later, Isak was inside the penalty area with a great scoring chance, but Suzuki deflected it wide and over the end line, angrily gesturing toward some of his teammates as Sweden lined up for another corner kick. The Swedes had eight corner kicks to only two for Japan.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Nothing else seems to be slowing down the Dutch these days.

Certainly not a Tunisian team in chaos.

Brian Brobbey scored his third goal of the tournament, and the Netherlands got two more goals that deflected off Tunisian players and into their own net, sending the Dutch to a 3-1 victory and ultimately first place in their group.

The Netherlands had begun the day tied at the top with Japan. But when the Samurai Blue only managed a 1-1 draw with Sweden in a game played simultaneously in Arlington, Texas, that left Virgil van Dijk and his teammates looking forward to a matchup with Group C runner-up Morocco on Monday in Monterrey, Mexico — and Japan with the heavy task of playing Brazil in the round of 32.

“These are the kind of games you want to play. These are the big games, why you want to play in the World Cup,” Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke said. “I think the team is prepared for a big game, and everyone knows it's game on.”

Tunisia, which sacked its coach after a loss to open the World Cup, had already been eliminated from the tournament.

The opening minutes Thursday night summed up the last couple of weeks for the Eagles of Carthage, too: Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries sent a ball across the front of the goal, Ellys Skhiri slapped at with his foot in an attempt to clear, and the Tunisian captain found the back of his own net instead.

Brobbey made it 2-0 in the seventh minute, after the Dutch had earned a free kick from about 25 yards. The 6-foot-5 van Dijk expertly headed it across the box, and Brobbey was in perfect position to chip the ball past Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen.

“If you can’t defend,” Tunisia coach Hervé Renard said, “you can’t do anything in football.”

Tunisia finally scored in the 54th minute, when Hazem Mastouri redirected a corner kick into the net, only for the Dutch to match the goal a few minutes later, when van Hecke’s header off a corner glanced off Anis Slimane's head and into his own net.

“We (scored) directly after,” Brobbey said, “so that was a good response.”

That's an understatement.

The Netherlands controlled the game from there, even as a first-half drizzle turned into a second-half downpour.

The threat of thunderstorms had persisted all the week, and lightning briefly forced fans to take cover before the game. But once they were given the all-clear, the Dutch fans clad in their highlighter-orange shirts poured down the aisles and into the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, making it look like deer hunting season had suddenly begun in the Midwest.

“That gives you a fantastic feeling,” Dutch coach Ronald Koeman said, “when you enter the stadium and see all that orange.”

The Netherlands is certainly big-game hunting in this World Cup.

The nation of Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten has long held the moniker of best never to have won the tournament. Three times the Dutch have advanced to the finals and each time they have lost, most recently to Spain in extra time in 2010.

They got off to a lackluster start this go-round, too, tying Japan 2-2 in their opener. But with two goals apiece from Brobby and Cody Gakpo, the Netherlands routed Sweden 5-1, and now it has some serious momentum heading into the knockout stage.

Tunisia seemed quite content just to finish a disastrous World Cup.

The Eagles of Carthage opened with a 5-1 loss to Sweden, which led to coach Sabri Lamouchi's firing. Renard took over amid reports of tension and infighting within the team, and little seemed to have changed during a 4-0 loss to Japan last week.

Tunisia has never reached the knockout rounds in seven trips to soccer's grandest stage.

“It’s a big tournament with very good teams, especially in this group. It was a very good group,” Renard said. “We needed to be much stronger, and we weren’t strong enough, so this is the conclusion.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

The proposal, backed by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion and who were living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The goal is to generate $100 billion in revenue, mainly to fund the state’s Medicaid system after federal cuts.

“I am all in on this,” union President Dave Regan said on a Zoom call, adding that opponents of the proposal are “totally out of touch.”

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and many traditional allies of the union oppose the measure. They argue it is a temporary fix for an ongoing problem and that it would push the ultrawealthy to leave the state, taking the money they would contribute in income taxes with them. Newsom, who is considering a presidential run as he prepares to leave office in January, has generally opposed tax increases during his time as governor.

A coalition of healthcare, education and housing groups — including the California Medical Association and California School Boards Association — banded together last week to fight the tax.

“The dangerous wealth tax directly threatens vital funding for education and schools, healthcare and clinics, public safety, and infrastructure projects by making California’s revenue even more volatile,” the coalition said in a statement.

Brian Brokaw, a Newsom political adviser who is leading a political committee opposing the tax, said it would “make California's biggest challenges worse.”

“Driving away the state’s sustainable tax base for a one-time grab is bad policy and an even worse deal for 40 million Californians who will be left holding the bag,” he said in a statement.

Under the proposal, the state would spend the money generated from the tax over multiple years. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that the proposal would generate tens of billions of dollars in the first few years, but that income tax revenues would subsequently decline by hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Many of the Silicon Valley tech moguls who oppose the measure have already moved their assets to other states or threatened to do so to avoid the possible tax. They have also spent millions to try to defeat it.

Since the proposal was announced in October, Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated $82 million to a political committee called Building a Better California that backs a variety of initiatives designed to blunt the billionaire tax proposal. It has raised more than $118 million, counting Brin’s contributions, from fewer than a dozen donors.

California relies on its top 1% of earners for nearly half of its personal income tax revenue.

The union offered to scale back its proposal last week, asking Newsom to back a 2% tax on billionaires instead. But the governor’s office said the lower rate didn’t change his stance.

The proposed tax may have piqued the interest of many Democrats because it comes at a time when they are particularly concerned about affordability, income inequality and federal cutbacks to government programs, said Martin Gilens, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“There’s kind of a perfect storm that sort of bolsters preexisting inclinations to be sympathetic to the idea of raising taxes on the well-to-do,” he said.

But there’s a catch. Support for ballot initiatives often declines as the election nears, and if the measure passes, it’s likely to face legal challenges, Gilens said.

Water shortages have been reported around the country due to the late start of the rainy season, which typically begins in June but has grown erratic in recent years. Climate experts said the El Nino, a warming of the Pacific that affects weather around the globe, combined with an already heating planet, will likely result in weak, scattered rainfall across the country.

While monsoon rains reached Mumbai earlier this week, about two weeks later than normal, water restrictions are in place to bolster the city’s dwindling reservoirs. Forecasters said it will likely take more than this week's rains to replenish them. The local government has stopped municipal water supplies to swimming pools and construction sites, where it can be used to mix concrete, so there is more available for essential needs.

Lines are stretching for hours at public water distribution sites due to the shortage.

“To collect just 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of water, I have to wait for two hours. I have to go to work, take care of my children and make sure there is water at home,” said Aishah Khan, a 33-year-old domestic worker in Mumbai.

Many farmers in India’s northern, rural regions are delaying the sowing of their seeds as rains have still not arrived. They fear that poor rains this year will drive them into further debt.

“We are unable to plant our seeds without the rains coming. Already, we’re suffering losses. I think it's worse this year than previous years,” said Suresh Kumar, a millet farmer in India's Uttar Pradesh state.

In the neighboring Madhya Pradesh state, soybean and wheat farmer Kedar Sirohi said he is praying for good rains to arrive.

“I'm very worried but we have no choice but to wait and see now,” he said.

June and July are the most important sowing months for millions of Indian farmers who depend on the rainy season to irrigate their fields. Farmers said poor rains are adding to existing challenges, including uncertainty over fertilizer supplies interrupted by the Iran war and a trade agreement with the United States that they think gives them a poor deal.

How climate change is impacting monsoon seasons

Traditionally, people in India and neighboring countries excitedly awaited the monsoon rains, which would finally mean the end of summer heat. However, extreme weather including erratic rain and high heat are becoming more frequent in India and elsewhere as the planet warms.

The South Asian region has traditionally had two monsoon seasons. One typically lasts from June to September, with rains moving southwest to northeast. The other, from roughly October to December, moves in the opposite direction.

But with more planet-warming gases in the air — caused by burning oil, coal and gas — the rain now only loosely follows this pattern. This is because the warmer air can hold more moisture from the Indian Ocean, and that rain then tends to get dumped all at once. It means the monsoon is punctuated with intense flooding and dry spells, rather than sustained rain throughout.

“The Indian monsoon is becoming more variable as a result of global warming,” said Akshay Deoras, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, in the United Kingdom, who has tracked Indian weather systems for more than a decade. He added: “We are seeing wet spells becoming more extreme and dry spells are more prolonged.”

Deoras said the current rainfall deficit is too large to be entirely wiped out by even a few weeks of good rainfall in the areas where monsoon season has arrived. And some regions of India may receive little rain in the coming weeks.

India's weather agency, the India Meteorological Department, said conditions including El Nino and dry winds from northwest India have stalled the monsoon's advance, resulting in a countrywide rainfall deficit of 42%. The weather agency said it expects rainfall from June to September to be below average.

According to local government data, Mumbai has only 40 days of water left. Deoras said erratic rainfall will not be enough to improve this situation.

“I think in the next 10 days, the region will get rain and the reservoir area will also get some rain, but that is not that good enough for levels to improve substantially,” he said.

Improving water storage capacity is key

Given the increasingly unpredictable weather, improving the country’s capacity to handle climate shocks is key, climate experts said. India is among the top 10 countries worst affected by climate change, according to a report released last year by the European nonprofit Germanwatch.

Home to more than 90 million farmers, most of whom own less than 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of land, India is the world’s largest extractor of groundwater, pumping out more than the United States and China combined, according to a 2022 United Nations report. According to India’s Central Ground Water Board, about 70% of the water used in the country is from groundwater sources.

Extraction for farming, construction and other needs, exacerbated by erratic rainfall and extreme heat, is resulting in water tables dropping drastically across the country.

Poor rainfall does not have to translate into water stress if planning and governance systems are strengthened, said Abhiyant Tiwari, climate and health expert at New Delhi-based NRDC India.

“Investing in water conservation, restoring urban water bodies and protecting smaller village ponds should be high priorities at both national and local levels,” he said.

Farmers with access to groundwater will be able to save their crops even during weak rains, but those who depend on the rains won't, said Vivek Grewal, hydrogeologist at Bengaluru-based WELL Labs.

“Every year there are bad rains, it exhausts the groundwater buffer,” he said. “In the cities, authorities expect reservoirs to get filled with a good monsoon but when that doesn’t happen there is an immediate impact.”

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Associated Press journalist Rafiq Maqbool in Mumbai and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Lucknow, contributed to this report.

Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123. Reach him at sarasu@ap.org.

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

Yoon, a 23-year-old South Korean seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, birdied five of her last six holes at Hazeltine National Golf Club with a putter that was consistently on point.

Nelly Korda, who’s aiming to become just the third woman to win the first three major tournaments on the schedule, had a 70.

Davidson, who finished more than four hours after Yoon, had eight birdies on the way to a career-best 65 on a calm and partly cloudy afternoon that yielded a bevy of low scores on the long course on the prairie southwest of Minneapolis that requires accuracy and muscle off the tee.

Alexa Pano and A Lim Kim were tied for third at 67. Aline Krauter, Hye-Jin Choi and Megan Kang followed at 68. Five Americans landed among the top eight scores, including ties.

“Just trying to go out there and make solid swings,” said Pano, who had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine. “My goal for this week was just to really focus on where my feet are and focus on the shot at hand.”

Korda (second round in 2021) and Patty Sheehan (third round in 1984) also posted 9-under 63s at previous Women’s PGA Championships.

Yoon logged the fourth-best first-round score at any major since at least 1980, trailing Hyo Joo Kim at the Evian Championship in 2014 (10-under 61), Mirim Lee at the Women’s British Open in 2016 (10-under 61), and Lorena Ochoa at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (10-under 62).

The 39th-ranked player in the world, Yoon sounded like she surprised even herself with the stellar start.

“I just hit the golf ball and it just dropped in the hole and it was really an awesome experience,” Yoon said, later explaining her mental approach: “Just try to think nothing. Focus on what I need to do. Focus on process. That part I think I did great today.”

Davidson, who has made cuts in 15 straight tournaments for the third-longest active streak on tour behind Korda (31) and Celine Boutier (20), is also seeking her first career victory.

“Hit a lot of fairways. Hit a lot of greens. Putting was pretty on today. Really felt like I was going to hole everything,” Davidson said. “So it was a pretty perfect round.”

Davidson, a 27-year-old Australian, had her best finish earlier this year with a tie for fifth at the Aramco Championship in April. Fellow countrymate and close friend Hannah Green won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2019, the last time it was at Hazeltine.

Jeeno Thitikul, the second-ranked player in the world who's seeking her first career major, shot a 69. This is the fifth time she has finished the first round in the top 10 in a major, including the Women's PGA Championship last year. The Thai star broke 70 in official regular stroke play last season 45 times, the second-highest total on tour.

The runaway LPGA tour scoring leader at the midpoint of the season, Korda double-bogeyed the lakeside 16th hole with “one bad swing” that landed in a pond to the left for a first-shot penalty stroke.

“I just overturned it. By now you just feel it when it’s bad. So the wind was off the right and I actually I think just made a too fast of a swing and I was kind of in between clubs,” Korda said. “It’s a pretty intimidating tee shot, and I just didn’t really like the way I hit it off the start.”

Korda's 19-foot putt on the 18th green stopped an inch from the hole before she tapped in for par, finishing about the same time as Yoon, who wrapped up nearby on the ninth hole. Inbee Park (2013) and Babe Zaharias (1950) are the only women in golf history to win the first three majors in one calendar year.

Amanda Doherty had hole-in-one on the 17th in a 72.

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

In April, Operation 17:2 posted a video on YouTube of the group confronting Roberts at a drug store and accusing him of traveling to meet a minor.

Operation 17:2 describes itself as a nonprofit that identifies and pursues accused child predators, named after Bible verse Luke 17:2.

Police say Roberts was arrested June 24 in Hillsborough County on a warrant issued by the Palatka Police Department.

Police Investigation

The department emphasized that Operation 17:2 was not acting under the direction, supervision or in partnership with the agency. Because of that, investigators said they could not accept the information provided at face value and required an independent criminal investigation.

The department said that process included obtaining and executing search warrants for electronic devices, conducting forensic analysis of digital evidence, verifying IP address information and other electronic records, and confirming the accuracy and authenticity of communications and evidence provided.

Arrest warrant issued June 9

Because of the extensive investigative process required, the department said an immediate arrest at the scene was not legally appropriate. An arrest warrant was issued June 9, 2026, following the completion of the investigation.

Roberts faces four charges:

• Traveling to meet a minor
• Unlawful use of a two-way communication device
• Transmission of harmful material to a minor by electronic device
• Soliciting a child, or a person believed to be a child, for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer service or electronic device

The Palatka Police Department said its responsibility is to ensure every case is built on independently verified evidence.

“While public concern in cases involving crimes against children is understandable, our responsibility is to ensure every case is built on independently verified evidence that can be successfully prosecuted in court,” the department said.

Outrage on Social Media

The release of Operation 17:2’s video of Roberts sparked a wave of outrage on social media, with hundreds of comments and 38,000 views.

Days later, Victory Church posted a lengthy statement on social media on April 27 saying, “After much prayer and careful consideration, we want to share that Pastor Steve and Angie Roberts have stepped down from their roles at Victory Church, effective immediately. Recent circumstances have brought deep sorrow to many within our church and our community.”

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, one of the groups that sued, described the ruling in a Facebook post Thursday as “an important step for NP students, the future health care workforce and the patients who depend on them.”

At issue are caps on federal student loans that were passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and set to take effect in July.

While graduate students could previously borrow loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules set limits. Programs that were designated as “graduate” programs face a loan cap of $100,000, while professional degrees are capped at $200,000.

The Education Department defined the following fields as professional programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.

Eight groups sued, representing nurse practitioners, therapists, public health workers, speech language pathologists, physician assistants and more. All were left out of the new definition.

The groups alleged that students would be forced to forgo their education or accept burdensome private loans.

In pausing the Education Department’s definition of a “professional degree” late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found issue with the agency making updates that added “more stringent requirements" to the definition. Those new requirements include that professional degree holders ”must work free from another professional’s supervision.”

Howell said Congress didn't give the Education Department this authority and raised concerns that a loss of opportunities for prospective students would be "detrimental to the public, particularly in underserved communities that may face a shortage of healthcare and other critical professional services.”

The ruling doesn't stop the loan caps, just the updated definition of a profession degree.

The Education Department said in a written statement that it is “reviewing the order and will take appropriate action.” It previously defended the caps on student loans, saying they were already incentivizing colleges and universities to lower tuition.

A lawsuit filed by a coalition of Democratic-led states that also challenges the caps is still pending.

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

Over the 180-year history of The Associated Press, 38 journalists have fallen on the job while working for the independent not-for-profit news organization.

Thursday marked the 150th anniversary of the very first: Mark Kellogg, one of five civilians killed alongside Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Kellogg, 43, was embedded with Custer's troops. He was reporting for The Bismarck Tribune and New York Herald — the AP circulated his reports across the country — when Custer underestimated the size of a Sioux village that he attacked.

Custer and his outnumbered men made a last stand on a hill. There, they were annihilated by Native American defenders. Kellogg's scalped body was found not far away.

His last published dispatch read in part: “I go with Custer and will be at the death.”

It was more of an attempt at poetry than prophecy. “At the death” is a foxhunting term for the end of the hunt, suggesting Kellogg expected Custer to prevail.

Still, Kellogg's final words and fate circulated far and wide through his employers and the AP. It gave the obscure, part-time journalist — a widower who worked a variety of jobs to support his two daughters — fame in death.

He got to know Custer. He covered the campaign. He mingled with the soldiers and interviewed them at their camps, historian Sandy Barnard said.

“While his record as a journalist might be very small compared to modern reporters who go into combat, he certainly was doing exactly what they are doing,” Barnard said.

Yet in other ways, Kellogg was much different from modern journalists. He carried a rifle into action, Barnard pointed out. And he made no attempt to avoid not just bias but racism against Native Americans, whom he called “red devils.”

“During the last stages of the campaign, Kellogg was probably more of a soldier than he was a newspaper man,” said Barnard, author of a Kellogg biography and other books on the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

The State Historical Society of North Dakota preserves Kellogg’s diary and various belongings, including eyeglasses, tobacco, clothing and a mosquito head net. The fragile diary, now digitized online, documents weather, distances covered, who was riding in front and in back, how many antelope they saw and other day-to-day operations, Deputy State Archivist Lindsay Meidinger said. The diary ends before the battle.

“It’s a primary source of the historical event, that not many other primary sources remain from that time period related to the Seventh Cavalry and Custer,” Meidinger said.

Others who have perished while reporting for AP in war zones include:

— Mariam Dagga, a freelance visual journalist who was killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip last August;

— Anja Niedringhaus, a photographer shot by a police officer as she sat in her car in Afghanistan in 2014;

— Myles Tierney, a videojournalist killed while traveling in a convoy that came under fire in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1999;

— Joseph Morton, a war correspondent who was the only U.S. reporter known to have been executed by the Nazis following his capture alongside Slovakian partisans in 1944.

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This story has been updated to restore correct attribution in final quote to Meidinger, not Barnard.

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Associated Press corporate archivist Sarit Hand in New York and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.

Friday and into the weekend: hot temperatures plus the humidity will keep the heat index top of mind with afternoon showers each day.

Gusty winds, heavy downpours and frequent lightning will start Friday afternoon. Feels like temperatures will be dangerous, in the 100-110 degree range.

Be sure to stay hydrated and wear loose, light-colored clothing if spending time outside over the next several days. Seek AC and indoors if heat-related illness appears suddenly.

Low rip current risk throughout the weekend mornings becoming moderate as the east coast sea breeze kicks in during the afternoons.

Tropics are quiet for now, but there’s some Saharan Dust in the forecast.

MLB's plan would eliminate deals such as Juan Soto's $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets. The league said just seven players this year exceed the proposed maximum and 98% of free agent contracts would not have been impacted.

"There’s no question that we’re very far apart,” union head Bruce Meyer said during an online news conference.

During a bargaining session Thursday at the union's office, MLB said it would accept the union's proposal granting free agency a year early for players who have reached age 30 if the union accepted the league's salary cap system. MLB also proposed boosting the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million for those with two years of big league service.

MLB also proposed increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million to $65 million next year and $75 million by 2032, the sixth season of MLB's proposed seven-year deal.

Meyer said “the debate got a little more vigorous today.”

“The league has done us a favor because their proposals are in fact so obviously and extremely bad for players at all levels that it’s actually been a benefit for our unity,” Meyer said. “Anybody’s who’s banking on Major League Baseball players cracking, it’s never happened. It’s not going to happen. That’s why we’re the only ones who don’t have a salary cap.”

MLB also said it would agree to eliminate the qualifying offer for free agents that since its inception in 2012 has restricted the market for some players.

Bargaining started May 13 for a contract to replace the five-year deal that expires Dec. 1, and owners proposed a salary cap for the first time since the union fought off the system during a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95. MLB is expected to impose a lockout in December, halting free agent signings and trades.

After the prior agreement expired in December 2021, intensive bargaining did not start until late February as the threat approached of losing regular-season games — along with revenue and salary. The sides reached an agreement on March 10, the 99th day of the lockout, preserving the 162-game schedule.

In the league's cornerstone proposal, made last month, team spending would be capped next year at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include $20.1 million for benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. It also would establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million, forcing several teams to spend more. The two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year — around $170 million over the proposed cap.

“The biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the game is fixing the payroll disparity that leaves too many fans without hope of their team competing for a World Series title," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “Every other major U.S. sport has tackled this problem, and every year more small market teams in those leagues have a chance to win. The salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field.”

Meyer took issue with that.

“It’s appalling that the stewards of the game, the people whose job it is to grow the game primarily and promote the game have for whatever period of time now in the last couple of years been saying nothing but the game’s broken,” he said.

As part of the plan, MLB would establish a “cornerstone player” similar to the NBA's Bird rule, which would allow a team to re-sign a player at 16% of the cap. A free agent switching clubs would be limited to a $36.8 million salary next year and a re-signing player to $39.2 million.

Salaries for free agents in additional seasons of a multiyear contract would be limited to 5% increases, as would salaries for younger players in multiyear deals that cover potential free-agent seasons.

Contracts would be capped by service time: at $500 million and 12 years for those yet to make major league debuts, $461 million and 11 seasons for those with 0-1 years of service, $421 million and 10 years for 1-2, $382 million and nine seasons for 2-3, $343 million and eight years for 3-4, $304 million and seven years for 4-5, and $265 million and six years for free-agent eligible players.

Agent Scott Boras claimed the then-record $252 million, 10-year contract he negotiated for Alex Rodriguez in December 2000 would not have been allowed.

"It’s like offering a few pieces of furniture if you agree to live in a house with a 4-foot ceiling," he said, "an attempt to move player contract values back to the 1990s.”

Banning deferred compensation would eliminate a business practice used most prominently by the Dodgers, who owe just under $1.1 billion to 10 players from 2028-47. In addition, MLB would restrict bonus provisions in player contracts and mandate a standard award bonus package.

MLB said it would accept the union's proposal to drop free-agent eligibility to five seasons of service from six for those turning 30 by the Nov. 1 of the offseason. MLB said 354 players on big league rosters as of Thursday would reach free agency a year earlier. MLB would start the change in the 2027-28 offseason.

As part of the minimum salary proposal, MLB said players with less than two years of service would have a $900,000 minimum and if earning a full year of service would get an additional $100,000 from the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Minor league minimums for players with major league contracts would increase from $63,600 to $73,400 for initial big league deals and $127,100 to $146,700 for additional contracts.

The union proposed to jointly lobby with MLB for the prohibition on prop bets; to allow player endorsement and sponsorship of legal betting entities, including sports books and prediction markets; to have players under MLB betting investigations to be placed on administrative leave, similar to the domestic violence policy; and to allow players near the end of suspensions for betting to have unpaid 15-day minor league assignments, similar to the drug policy.

In addition, players asked for increases for in-season meal and tip allowances; housing benefits for players with major league contracts who are assigned to the minors; and increased moving expenses, including for assignments from one minor league affiliate to another.

Meyer expects at least one more bargaining session before the All-Star break.

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Plata poked the ball past Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute and lifted Ecuador to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Germany on Thursday and into the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

“Life is different now. We suffered a lot," said Plata, a 25-year-old winger who scored his ninth international goal. “We suffered too much in the first two matches. We would have liked to secure qualification much earlier, but now we’re going forward more hungry, knowing we have to give it our all.”

Ecuador, which has lost only one of its last 22 games, finished third in Group E with four points and advanced past the group stage for the second time, headed to a possible matchup with Mexico on Tuesday in Mexico City.

A four-time champion already assured of advancement by winning its first two games, Germany will play its round of 32 game Monday at Foxborough, Massachusetts, most likely against Paraguay, Australia or Sweden.

“On Monday it’s important that we start well," Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said through a translator.

Germany's winning streak was stopped at 11 games, one shy of the team record set in 1979-80.

"The difference was today that the opponent wanted to win more than us, and you could really feel it, especially in the second half,” Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich said.

Germany went ahead on Leroy Sané's second-minute goal. Aleksandar Pavlović chested the ball and ended up kicking Pedro Vite in the head following Nathaniel Brown’s throw-in, but American referee Tori Penso didn't whistle a foul. Pavlović passed to Florian Wirtz, who centered to Sané just inside the penalty area to beat goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez.

Nilson Angulo equalized in the ninth minute with Ecuador's first goal of the tournament following a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast and a 0-0 draw with Curaçao. Felix Nmecha lost the ball in midfield to Vite. The midfielder passed to Angulo, who dribbled toward goal and beat Neuer to the far post from just outside the area.

Penso originally awarded Germany a penalty kick less than 30 seconds into the second half after Joel Ordóñez took down Kai Havertz, but a video review ruled Sané had first fouled Vite.

With the crowd tensing as time ran down, Plata scored after Vite's corner kick was nodded on by Kevin Rodríguez, who was 6 yards out at the near post. Neuer, the 40-year-old Germany goalkeeper who ended two years of international retirement for the World Cup, was about to grasp the ball when Plata raised his left foot and stabbed it into the net.

Sebastián Beccacece, an Argentine who has coached Ecuador for two years, sprinted to the front of the stands, his shoulder-length blond hair flowing, to hug his wife, Patricia Persson. He had been pilloried after the poor start and paraphrased a lyric from Argentine rock band Los Redondos.

“In loneliness you cannot always listen to what you hear. You just keep pushing forward. You ignite your fire and you continue,” he said.

A crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium was mostly in Ecuador's yellow. FIFA said it boosted attendance to a record 3,587,539 in the 56th game of the expanded World Cup, one more than the 52 matches for the 1994 tournament in the U.S.

“We felt at home in all these stadiums,” Rodríguez said.

Ecuador had prepared to return to its training camp in Columbus, Ohio, rather than head home to South America.

“They told us: `You will be back here,'” he said. “The staff in the kitchen, in the spa, even the drivers.”

Ecuador isn't sure of its next opponent or even where the match will be played, so fans can't lock in travel just yet.

“I hope they brought plenty of clothes in their luggage," Plata said.

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This story corrects the name of the Argentine rock band to Los Redondos.

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AP Sports Writers Eric Núñez and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The Department of Homeland Security can now end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Supreme Court also voted 6-3 to clear the way for the Trump administration to potentially revive an immigration policy once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The court overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day.

Meanwhile, a liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service said.

Heres' the latest:

What Trump fed farmers at the White House

Farmers and ranchers invited to a Rose Garden dinner on Thursday were served New York strip steak joined by sides and desserts packed with seasonal ingredients.

The menu included a caprese salad with garden tomatoes, plus a side dish featuring White House-harvested peppercress. The meat was billed as a grilled prime New York strip steak. Dessert included roasted peaches and White House honey.

Dinner guests received organic garden seeds and tomato jam prepared by White House chefs.

In keeping with the theme, there was a white farm stand at the back of the garden, surrounded by baskets overflowing with carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, corn and other fruits and vegetables.

Vance says Watergate would fly over in today’s news, draws parallels between Nixon and Trump

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said the legacy of the 37th president is “enjoying a bit of a renaissance.”

“If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy,” Vance said in a conversation promoting his new book.

He went on: “If you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it’s not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions tried to do to Donald Trump in the first Trump administration.”

Vance noted his own parallels with Nixon. “Young senator, vice president, writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media,” he said. “It kind of sounds like JD Vance.”

Nixon was in his second term when he resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Housing bill being sent to White House, starting clock on Trump’s signature

Speaker Mike Johnson returned from what he called a “very productive” hourslong meeting with the president in the Oval Office following a highly dysfunctional week in Congress.

“We’re on exactly the same page,” Johnson said back at the Capitol.

Trump earlier this week abruptly abandoned plans to sign the bipartisan Housing package, which had overwhelmingly passed the House and Senate but got tangled when the president insisted Congress must first pass an unrelated voting bill called the SAVE America Act. That bill has failed to draw broad support in the Senate.

A group of House GOP lawmakers joined Trump’s rally call and refused to vote on other measures, essentially shutting down business in the House.

Trump, after meeting with Johnson, told Republicans in a social media post: “no more grandstanding.”

Johnson said they had to get back to work, and he said they were transmitting the Housing bill, which starts a 10-day clock for Trump to either sign it or veto the bill.

Merchant vessel hit by Iranian drone today

The merchant vessel that was attacked earlier today was hit by an Iranian drone, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, said that the merchant vessel Ever Lovely was attacked by a drone being flown by the Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the attack earlier on Thursday but only said that the ship was struck by a “projectile off Oman near UN-approved route for Strait of Hormuz.”

The center noted that there were no causalities nor any environmental impact.

U.S. says no Iranian funds have been released

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that no frozen funds have been released to Iran and will not be done until Iran meets the requirements of Trump’s interim Iran agreement.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box this week that Treasury would oversee how unfrozen funds would be spent.

“A very large percentage of it will go to buy U.S. foodstuffs and medicines,” he said.

U.N. agency pauses evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz

A U.N. maritime agency has paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz after the British military said a vessel was hit Thursday by a projectile off the coast of Oman.

The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using a U.N.-approved route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.

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Reflecting Pool liner was cut with a sharp knife or razor, National Park Service says

A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service says.

The agency reported the June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, “including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,″ Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

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‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center in Florida is officially closed, governor says

The immigration center built in the Florida swamps known as “Alligator Alcatraz” is closing after nearly a year of holding thousands of immigrant detainees, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

DeSantis said the center was always supposed to be temporary and now federal officials have enough ability to handle detention and deportation in more permanent facilities.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep the detainees in the Florida Everglades. All the of people kept at the isolated airstrip had been sent to other facilities.

Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane to hold people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers, and have described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

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Homeland Security touts TPS win at Supreme Court

The top legal official at Homeland Security praised the Supreme Court’s decision on temporary protected status.

“The Court vindicates DHS yet again,” said James Percival, the department’s general counsel in a statement on X.

“The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense,” Percival said.

DHS secretary says the department is reevaluating warehouses purchased for ICE detention

Markwayne Mullin says his department is reevaluating the eleven warehouses his predecessor purchased to use as immigration detention facilities.

Mullin says some just “probably won’t work” and suggested a lack of “due diligence” when it came to purchasing the warehouses. They were purchased under Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement received huge pushback around the country after the purchases became known.

When Mullin came into office, he paused any new purchases and federal officials have been looking at ways to offload some of them.

Federal judge halts Trump’s election executive order seeking to create a federal voter list

The executive order also sought to limit who can receive a mail ballot.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.

Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, noting in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”

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Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.

The decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Trump administration argued judges can’t second-guess immigration officials’ decisions about the protections, which were intended to be temporary.

Immigration attorneys said the countries remain unsafe to return, and the administration ended them in an unlawfully hasty process tinged by racial animus. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

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Supreme Court clears way for the Trump administration to revive a restrictive immigration policy

The policy was once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The justices overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day under the Obama administration and during Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters to await their turn. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase of asylum seekers at the border.

The policy isn’t in place now, though authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers.

The administration argues that metering is a critical tool that’s been used by presidents of both parties and should stay available.

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Trump’s showdown with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy

President Trump was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP when he wondered aloud how anyone could have voted for a war powers resolution a day earlier that sought to block further U.S. military action against Iran.

Cassidy, one of the four Republicans who backed the measure, was ready with an answer.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, recounted to reporters afterward. “This is supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

Things deteriorated from there.

When Cassidy told Trump he would continue voting for war powers resolutions until there’s a congressional briefing on developments in Iran, the senator recalled that Trump “did not particularly care for my comments” and “raised his voice.”

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic,” the person said.

Cassidy acknowledged losing his temper, which he said was “not appropriate.”

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— Steven Sloan and Lisa Mascaro

Oil tankers use new route through Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian threats

Several tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday using a new route promoted by a U.N. maritime agency. Iran has threatened vessels using the path, which runs along the coast of Oman.

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing talks about the interim deal signed last week with the United States.

Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 a barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The two sides are still debating terms of the deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

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Key inflation gauge jumps to 3-year high in latest sign of affordability challenges

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked, a sign rising costs could pose political problems for President Trump as midterm elections near.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.

The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI build out. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their key rate unchanged this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in two cuts. Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.

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Lawmakers demand answers as turmoil over Reflecting Pool repair continues

Congressional Democrats called for investigations Wednesday into renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the ongoing drama over the president’s problem-plagued, $16 million rehabilitation project continued to roil the capital.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate demanded answers about the saga that’s been highlighted in the news cycle for weeks, even as the White House has repeatedly blamed — without evidence — unidentified vandals for peeling paint and other problems. Six people have been arrested, President Donald Trump said, without providing details, and a local wildlife nonprofit conducted necropsies on dead ducks found near the Reflecting Pool. The president has said the pool may need to be drained once again for additional repairs.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, challenged the Trump administration over no-bid contracts for work on the Reflecting Pool, saying they were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.

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Senate Republicans reject war powers resolution after Trump berates them at Capitol meeting

Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

Trump harangued GOP senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

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Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. followinga three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Spencer was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of his wife Karen.

The curtain to the death chamber went up promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time and the warden asked Spencer if he had any statement as he lay strapped to a metal table with an IV inserted in his arm.

“Sorry, sorry to the family. Into thy hands I commit my spirit and my soul. I’m on my way, Lord. I’m on my way. Amen," Spencer said, a spiritual adviser nearby at the foot of the table.

Immediately after his words, the lethal drugs began flowing and, after a few minutes of labored breathing, Spencer ceased all movements.

The warden then shook Spencer and shouted his name several times, but there was no response. Several more minutes elapsed before a medic was called in to check Spencer’s vital signs, and the inmate was declared dead.

Alex Lanfranconi, in the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, told The Associated Press in a text message that there were no complications. He had no immediate response to further phone and text messages seeking comment about the ages of the inmate executed Thursday and the next facing execution.

The family of the victim released no statement.

Florida Department of Correction records dating to 1924 show the oldest inmates previously executed by the state were both 72 — Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women; and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting death of a state lawmaker, Charles Schuh Jr.

Another 74-year-old Florida inmate, Dennis Sochor, is scheduled to be executed on July 14. Socor was convicted of killing a woman just hours into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

Nationwide, the oldest person ever executed in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, who was put to death in Alabama in 2018 for sending mail bombs during a wave of Southern terror, killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney.

Thursday's execution was the ninth in Florida this year after a record 19 executions in 2025. DeSantis, a Republican, oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was eight executions set in 2014.

Court records show Spencer was arrested after choking and threatening to kill Karen Spencer in December 1991. While in jail, Dusty Ray Spencer called his wife and warned her that when he got out, he was going to finish what he had started.

On Jan. 18, 1992, Spencer beat his wife’s teenage son with a clothes iron when the boy tried to stop Spencer from attacking his mother, officials said. Then about a week later, the son responded to a commotion outside their home and found Spencer hitting his mother in the head with a brick, according to officials.

Court records show the teen tried to shoot Spencer with a rifle, but the gun misfired. Spencer threatened the teen with a knife, and the boy ran away to get help. When police arrived, they found Karen Spencer dead with several stab wounds to the chest.

Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992 after being convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ordered his new sentencing after finding that the trial court had mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Spencer was resentenced to death the next year, and subsequent appeals were denied.

Last week, the state Supreme Court rejected Spencer’s appeals. His attorneys had argued that he had health issues such as liver disease that posed a heightened risk of pain and suffering. They also argued that executing him at his advanced age would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal earlier Thursday without comment.

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

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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.

The battle, one of the most famous and symbolically charged events in American history, marked its anniversary Thursday. Allied tribes came together on that hot day near the banks of the Little Bighorn River in present-day Montana to hand the U.S. Army a rare defeat as they fought to preserve their way of life in the face of westward expansion. Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 his troops were killed.

Reenactments will illustrate the battle. Horse riders from the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and elsewhere traveled hundreds of miles to the Crow Agency area in Montana to mark the occasion. Families were encouraged to share their oral histories. At the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, people planned horse races and traditional songs and dances.

Gathering at the battlefield area in Montana means “we’re still here,” said William Good Bird, a traditional singer from the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation in North Dakota who woke up the camp where hundreds of people were gathered from numerous tribes with a song and drumming.

“Today I am celebrating the victory of our people, celebrating my life as a human being and my spot on this earth,” he said.

Native warriors overpowered divided U.S. Army forces

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota by a Custer expedition just years earlier spurred a military campaign against Great Plains tribes that aimed to push them onto reservations, or what were known then as agencies, said historian Dakota Goodhouse.

There were bigger, longer battles and other Native victories between March 1876 and June 1877, but Goodhouse said only the Battle of Greasy Grass — named by Native Americans for the slick grass along the river — gained national recognition because the commanding officer was killed.

At the time, the Lakota were one of the largest and most powerful tribal nations, with strong leaders in Sitting Bull and warriors like Crazy Horse. Native warriors quickly overwhelmed Custer's men as the U.S. forces were spread miles apart over the hilly area.

News of Custer's defeat stunned Americans, who were celebrating their country's centennial.

The federal government accelerated efforts to subdue resistance, bringing years of hardship and upheaval for Native Americans. Crazy Horse was killed in 1877, and starvation brought about the surrender of others in 1881.

Sitting Bull didn’t surrender as history books tell it, said Jon Eagle Sr., a former Standing Rock tribal historic preservation officer from the Hunkpapa band of the Oceti Sakowin.

“Our people say that he looked at his son Crow Foot and said, ‘My boy, if you live, you can never be a man in this world because you can never own a gun or a pony,’” Eagle said. “I think that he understood that things were going to change for his children, his grandchildren and those not yet born.”

Sitting Bull was killed with about a dozen other people when agency police attempted to arrest him in 1890.

Custer is remembered as a polarizing figure

Biographer T.J. Stiles described Custer as one of the most distinguished combat officers in the Army at the end of the Civil War. But he said the “Boy General” with his long hair and flamboyant battlefield wardrobe often bristled at the chain of command and did not take to the management side of leadership.

“Custer was someone who whenever he got into the frying pan, he immediately started looking for the fire,” he said.

In 1873, Custer was assigned to lead the Seventh Cavalry at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. From there, he led military expeditions, including one that confirmed the gold in the Black Hills, a sacred place to the Lakota.

Seen in the U.S. as a tragic hero and memorialized for his military feats, Custer could also be considered progressive even as the federal government sought to displace Native Americans and stamp out Native languages through boarding schools, Goodhouse said. He learned to speak Arikara and Lakota and became fluent in sign language used by tribes in the region.

Still, as many Americans are celebrating the 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, for many Native Americans it's not a reason to rejoice.

“It’s just a mark to me of 250 years of injustice to the Native people,” Crow tribal member and reenactment coordinator Jim Real Bird said.

Eagle agreed: “That’s one of the things that we always tell our people when we come together, is they failed at their attempts to rub us out. We’re still here as ancient people deeply connected to our environment.”

Commemoration keeps history alive for future generations

For more than 30 years, reenactments featuring hundreds of warriors have marked the anniversary near the battlefield. The choreography is based on Northern Cheyenne oral history and highlights horsemanship and language preservation.

“All the other things that are Native American don't mean nothing if you don't know your language,” said Real Bird.

The atmosphere at the battlefield area was celebratory as hundreds of people from numerous tribes had gathered. Several hundred horse riders charged up a hill and circled at the top as they whooped and yelled. The sun shined on the battlefield area, a wide-open grassland with few trees, mountains in the distance.

Elders wore headdresses. People sang and played drums as flags flew from various tribal nations. The camp with dozens of tepees stood along the Little Bighorn River, with people there from tribes in the Dakotas and as far away as Washington state.

“This is our fuel for the year. We come here and this is a renewal for us, too, you know, personally,” said Theresa Long Turkey, of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

At Standing Rock, Eagle said the races honor the horse nation that carried their ancestors to victory 150 years ago. The commemoration also includes oskáte, a traditional celebration of oral histories, victory songs and tribal dancing.

“It's just an opportunity for us to share with the generations coming behind us that they’re descendants of a very powerful nation and ancient people that are still here despite everything that was done to us,” said Eagle, whose great-great-grandfather, Sunka, fought that day. His father, Charging Thunder, also was there.

Goodhouse recalled stories his grandfather would tell him of their ancestors who were in the Hunkpapa camp when troops attacked. His grandfather’s great-grandfather, Striped Face, was shot but mounted his horse and joined the fight.

“There’s this kind of energy there that still lives on because we have this direct narrative that was handed down,” he said.

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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

Vance described his admiration for Nixon during a conversation at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California. Widely expected to be a presidential contender in 2028, Vance spoke at the library while promoting his new book, “Communion.”

After talking about the book and his faith journey, Vance shifted to Nixon, saying the legacy of the 37th president is “enjoying a bit of a renaissance.”

“If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy,” Vance said.

He went on: “If you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it’s not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions tried to do to Donald Trump in the first Trump administration.”

Vance then noted his own similarities with Nixon.

“Young senator, vice president, writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media,” he said. “It kind of sounds like JD Vance. I've always liked Richard Nixon."

Nixon was in his second term when he resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974.

The restraining order was issued Wednesday at the request of three Nashville doctors who treat some of those children and who sued after state officials sent letters to providers and immigrant families saying a new law required them to share identifying information for those on the program after the end of June.

The law was part of a group of bills that Tennessee Republicans introduced this year to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

A spokesperson for the state attorney general's office said Thursday that it had no comment on the lawsuit and the complaint was under review. State officials have not replied to the complaint in court documents.

“This is an impossible choice for mothers, and it risks the lives and the dignity of these children,” said Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, which filed the lawsuit on the doctors' behalf.

Johnson also said the center has been advising families that they should stay on the program while the issue is before the court. A hearing is set for July 2 in Nashville.

The Children's Special Services program, which is partially funded by federal funds and has been around for decades, covers medical costs for children in need who have serious medical conditions such as cancer, cerebral palsy, seizure diseases and diabetes.

The letters sent by the state told families that, based on their immigration status, they would be reported to the immigration division of the Tennessee Department of Safety if they continued to stay on the program.

The new law required government agencies to check the legal status of all residents before they can obtain public benefits and was among a slate of bills in recent years targeting immigrants' ability to work, get licenses and access free public education and other services.

“We’re going to do what we can to make sure that if you’re here illegally, we will have the data, we’ll have the transparency, and we’re not spending taxpayer dollars on you unless you’re in jail,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said in January.

The doctors behind the lawsuit, all of whom work for Siloam Health clinics that serve uninsured and underserved patients, said in affidavits that some of their patients were afraid they be unable to get important medical care for their children.

One said some patients who received a letter are not in the country illegally but merely lived with families with “mixed status,” and they left the program or planned to to because of the threat to inform immigration officials.

The lawsuit argues that implementing the rule would prevent the doctors from caring for their patients.

“The harm will be irreparable if the court didn’t intervene,” Johnson said.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California, claims the tech giant’s private arbitration order barring her from speaking about the company or promoting her bestselling book is invalid. It also argues that the severance agreement she signed when she left Meta, in which she agreed not to disparage the company, was done under duress.

Sarah Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now operating under parent company Meta Platforms Inc., from 2011 until her firing in 2017. “Careless People” alleges cruel and otherwise disturbing behavior by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. It also describes Zuckerberg’s alleged efforts to win favor with Chinese officials. Meta has countered that Wynn-Williams violated her agreement and wrote a book filled with inaccuracies.

The lawsuit says Meta is seeking $50,000 in damages for each time Wynn-Williams purportedly violates the non-disparagement agreement, putting her under financial duress. She is asking the court to lift the arbitration order and vacate her severance agreement with the company.

Meta said in a statement that its "former employee is trying to use the legal process to sell books, which an arbitrator already ruled broke the agreement she signed with the company when she accepted a large severance payment years ago. Her book is divorced from reality, disparaging and riddled with false claims.”

Meta, according to the lawsuit, had obtained an emergency gag order that bars Wynn-Williams and her lawyers from criticizing the company or promoting her book. Over the course of more than a year since the book was published, the lawsuit claims, Meta has surveilled her, with company representatives attending her public appearances and photographing her, “all to document that at each event, Ms. Wynn-Williams said nothing about Meta or her book.”

Meta, according to the lawsuit, even took issue with Wynn-Williams attending an arts and literary festival in the U.K. earlier this year, where she sat on a panel but remained silent — because other panelists were critics of the company.

“Meta is pursuing Ms. Wynn-Williams at the expense of free speech and legal constraints not only because she refused to bow to the greed and power of Meta, Mr. Zuckerberg, and other executives, but also to strike fear into the heart of anyone else who dares to consider speaking the truth about Meta’s unlawful and abusive practices in the public interest,” the lawsuit says.

The 6-3 decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

It marked another victory at the high court for Republican President Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown on immigration. Though the conservative-dominated court has put the brakes on some of Trump’s immigration policies, it handed him a second win Thursday in a decision clearing the way for the revival of a policy restricting immigrants seeking asylum.

The court’s conservative majority found that the law doesn’t allow courts to question the process that immigration authorities use to revoke the protections.

The opinion from Justice Samuel Alito also brushed aside arguments that Trump's derogatory comments about Haitians showed the decision was unlawfully tinged by prejudice. He called the statements “insufficient to show that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was based on the race of the Haitian people.”

Justice Elena Kagan forcefully disagreed, calling Trump's comments “so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print.” Her dissent pointed out that Trump had said Haitians in the U.S. “probably have AIDS,” and he also amplified false rumors during the 2024 campaign that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

Federal authorities deny that prejudice played a role, and argued that TPS was supposed to be temporary but has lasted over a decade in some cases.

James Percival, DHS general counsel, applauded Thursday’s ruling. He said the program had become “de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense.”

In a Fox News interview Thursday, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called it “a victory 10 years in the making," saying it allows Haitian migrants to “finally” be removed.

Lawyers said Haitian immigrants would be in danger if they are sent back. “Simply put, the Supreme Court’s ruling will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths,” Geoff Pipoly and Andy Tauber said.

They urged the Senate to approve an extension of deportation protections for Haitians that passed the House on a rare bipartisan vote in April.

“Families are here, kids are going to school, parents are going into work, folks are trying to commute, and it’s like the Supreme Court just put all those activities on stop and put folks in limbo,” said Viles Dorsainvil, who runs a support center for Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.

People with TPS are also a key part of the workforce in long-term care facilities, an industry group said. “This would be a dreadful loss for all seniors in our community,” said Rita Siebenaler, a resident at Goodwin Living, a senior living community in Virginia.

The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court after judges postponed the end of the program for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The high court sided with the administration before and allowed the end of the program for people from Venezuela.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Homeland Security has moved to end the protections, including some that had been in place for more than a decade, for people from 13 countries.

Immigration lawyers said the terminations were made through an improperly fast process, even though countries such as Haiti and Syria remain dangerous. Four Haitian women who were deported from the United States in February were later found beheaded and dumped in a river several months later, lawyers said in court documents.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, called the ruling “a devastating betrayal of Haitian families who have lived, worked, and contributed to this country for years — only to be cast out based on anti-Black immigration sentiment.”

The United States first granted protections to Haitians in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and extended them multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.

Syrians were first granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024.

“Today, many of our community members, they feel lost,” Farrah AlKhorfan of Immigrants Act Now said about Syrian immigrants losing TPS protections. “They are trying to understand … what this decision means for them and how it will be implemented and how much time they will have to prepare for what comes next.”

The program was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife and other instability. It allows people already in the country to stay with work permits in increments of up to 18 months, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.

___

Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

The request came days after an Associated Press investigation found agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — major shipments of the synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.

In a letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Justice Department's Inspector General, DEA administrator Terry Cole wrote that an internal probe was necessary because “the allegations have generated significant public attention and have raised questions regarding DEA’s operational decisions, supervisory oversight, and response to concerns.”

Cole wrote in a public statement that his request “should not be interpreted as reflecting any lack of confidence in the professionalism or integrity of DEA personnel or in the investigative decisions made during this matter.”

“If improvements are identified, DEA will implement them,” he added. “Strong institutions are sustained — not diminished — by objective oversight and a willingness to continuously assess and improve.”

Current and former DEA agents told the AP the investigative strategy — known as letting the counterfeit painkillers “walk” — amounted to a gamble with public safety in a state ravaged by the fentanyl epidemic and may have violated Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities from a drug the White House last year designated as a “ weapon of mass destruction.”

The AP investigation cited three current and former agents and government records, including an internal report of a 2023 delivery of 74,000 pills the DEA watched happen at a mobile home park in Albuquerque. One of those agents, David Howell, first raised serious concerns about this strategy in a 2023 whistleblower complaint. He continued to raise his objections internally and spoke at length with the AP about what he described as a strategy that “poisoned our community to make cases."

In an earlier statement to AP, a DEA spokesperson said "public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts."

The DEA's request for the watchdog investigation came just a day after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the state’s attorney general to examine whether the agency’s actions violated New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the country’s deadliest public health threats.

“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.”

The Justice Department said in a statement that it welcomes a partnership with New Mexico leaders to keep the state safe.

"Protecting the public requires more than addressing individual transactions as they occur," the statement said. “It requires identifying the sources of supply, the individuals directing criminal activity and the organizations responsible for moving dangerous drugs into our communities.”

Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico, meanwhile, sent Cole a letter asking for a briefing on the DEA's tactics in the state.

“New Mexicans are paying the price for a fentanyl epidemic that is tearing families apart and deserve answers," U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said in a statement. “At a time when overdose deaths continue to devastate our state and communities, the DEA should be focused on stopping these drugs before they reach our streets — period.”

___

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Wyndham Clark found the gallery a lot kinder and the course a lot softer than when he won his second U.S. Open last week at Shinnecock Hills. His only battle was with the 12th hole when he put his tee shot out of play and made triple bogey in his round of 68.

“They were finally rooting for me instead of against me, so we like the Connecticut fans,” Clark said.

Scheffler, who hasn't won since his first start of the year in January, at least got off to a good start. He played bogey-free in an efficient round of 64 that left him one shot behind along with Matt Fitzpatrick, Ben Griffin, Nico Echavarria, Bud Cauley and Kristoffer Reitan.

Cole had to withdraw from the final round a year ago — he was 10 shots behind, in the middle of the pack — with what he described as a nasty stomach bug. He has Addison's Disease in which the body doesn't produce enough hormones to handle stress and blood pressure. It was bad enough for him to spend a night in the hospital.

“I’m not sure if it’s redemption, but I’m happy to be here and feeling good,” Cole said.

His only disappointment was missing an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole of a pleasant day that followed steady rain earlier in the week that softened the course.

The TPC River Highlands is built for good scoring in any conditions, and it at times looked like target practice for so much of the day with greens holding shots. The greens became slightly firmer as the round went on.

Cole seized on the opportunity, particularly on the 13th hole. His second shot was just right of the green, and he pitched it on the right line with perfect speed to hole it for eagle.

“From 13 in is really where you can kind of score,” he said.

Scheffler, who won the Travelers two years ago, also played bogey-free and was poised to at least catch Cole on the closing stretch. After a tee shot just short of the green set up birdie on the reachable par-4 15th, he had medium-length birdie chances on the three closing holes and narrowly missed them for his 64.

Even so, it was his lowest opening round since a 63 at The American Express, which he went on to win in the California desert in January.

“When the scoring is lower it can be harder and harder to play catch up,” Scheffler said. “Sometimes here you get so far behind you can only shoot so low on some of these golf courses, so it’s important to keep pace.”

Clark said he was surprised by his energy level considering the drain of a U.S. Open and becoming the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion in 12 years. The only issue was an allergic reaction that caused his left eye to get puffy and caused some blurriness.

And the only real issue with his game was the tee shot on the 12th hole.

“I had one bad swing, made a triple,” Clark said. “Other than that we would be at 5 under and in a great spot. So, yeah, I feel really pleased with my round and I felt awesome over everything. Just one bad swing.”

Patrick Cantlay, who has yet to contend this year and missed the cut in the U.S. Open, opened with a 65. It was his lowest start to a tournament since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

“I feel like it’s moving in the right direction,” Cantlay said. “Golf’s a funny game. A couple weeks can make the whole season. So just grinding and working on all the things that have historically paid off and we’re coming into a big stretch of golf, so it’s a good time to start playing well.”

Only 11 players in the 72-man field failed to break par in the final signature event of the regular season on the PGA Tour.

___

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

The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission. The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the U.N. agency’s secretary-general.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the vessel was hit by an Iranian drone.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, said the merchant vessel Ever Lovely was attacked by a drone being flown by the Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a new government agency established to control shipping in the strait — wrote on X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental effects from the attack off the coast of Oman.

An alternative passage would relieve pressure on economy

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and ensuring that ships are able to transit the strait.

“If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Rubio said Thursday before the report of the strike on the ship.

Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The U.S. and Iran are still debating terms of an interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the U.S. and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.

Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon says five people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days. Iran says the tentative deal to end the war would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has rejected.

More ships pass through the strait, but far fewer than before the war

Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman's Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organization.

North of the route is a corridor in the center of the strait where ships moved freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.

Iran said it mined that passage after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. At least one mine has been sighted there.

Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with U.S. military support, the U.N. agency's effort was the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday.

Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

According to S&P Global, Wednesday saw 78 transits, the most since the war began, but still below the daily prewar average of 130 or more.

Iran says the new shipping route is ‘unacceptable’

The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning Thursday against using the new route.

In a statement carried by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, naval officials said the route was established without notice or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely dangerous.”

“The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”

“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.

On Wednesday, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a soldier warning, “You are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you,” according to the private security firm Ambrey.

Rubio says the US will ensure there are no tolls on ships

Rubio met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to assure them that their interests would be protected in any agreement with Iran.

Those countries, including major energy producers reliant on the strait for exports, came under attack by Iran after the start of the war.

“There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” Rubio said at the meeting in Bahrain.

Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, said the agreement brought a glimmer of hope but stressed that it was “critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations.”

Lebanon remains a flashpoint

A lull in fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that started Sunday began to show cracks after Israel said it targeted Hezbollah militants.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that three people were killed by an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has called the recent strikes a ceasefire violation but has not retaliated. The Israeli military said Thursday that it fired on two separate groups it suspected of being Hezbollah members. The strikes came as Lebanese and Israeli officials were in Washington discussing a proposed phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

Israel’s military also said Thursday that a reservist soldier was killed in southern Lebanon.

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Lee reported from Manama, Bahrain. Associated Press writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday next month, historians are reflecting on the handful of moments that transformed Jacksonville from a small river town into one of the South’s most recognizable cities.

RELATED: Here’s what you need to know about Jacksonville’s downtown Fourth of July events to celebrate America 250

A fire that changed everything

The date was May 3, 1901. A fire broke out at a mattress factory in the La Villa neighborhood, and by the end of the afternoon, most of downtown Jacksonville was gone.

“Probably the most significant day in Jacksonville history was the day the town burned down,” said Dr. Wayne Wood, author and historian. “The great fire of Jacksonville was May 3rd, 1901, when a fire at a mattress factory over La Villa blazed up in the embers rained down on the city, and one afternoon, the city of Jacksonville burned.”

In just a few hours, 90% of the city’s downtown was destroyed — making it the third-largest city fire in the history of the United States. The flames were visible as far away as Savannah, Georgia.

“A captain of a ship in Miami looked up in the sky that evening and saw two sunsets, one in the west, and one in the north,” Wood said. “And the one in the north was Jacksonville. This was a huge fire.”

Instead of starting over somewhere else, Jacksonville rebuilt. Developers, architects and investors poured into the city, replacing wooden buildings with brick, steel and concrete structures that transformed the skyline and put Jacksonville on the map.

“Although it was a disaster, it was the kindling that made Jacksonville grow into the great city that it became,” Wood said.

A new form of government

The city’s second major turning point came decades later, with a sweeping change to how Jacksonville is governed.

“Probably the second most important day in Jacksonville’s history was the day that we inaugurated our consolidated government,” Wood said. “Consolidation was a new form of government that was revolutionary and allowed Jacksonville to become what was known as the bold new city of the South, with expressways and shopping halls and expansion of the city in all directions. Jacksonville was truly, once again, one of the most modern cities in the world.”

Writing the next chapter

More than half a century after consolidation, some believe Jacksonville is now writing its next chapter — and the downtown sports complex is at the center of it.

Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping said the stadium project will have a lasting impact that reaches well beyond game day.

“This stadium is going to touch the entire community by putting people to work, by doing business with local companies, by buying products locally,” Lamping said. “And one of the biggest things going to happen is that there’s so many small and emerging businesses out there where this stadium project is giving them the opportunity to be able to gain experience and to grow, which means hiring more people in the future.”

Lamping said he hopes the project will be remembered as a catalyst for broader downtown growth.

“As we look back, we’ll look at a very vibrant, growing downtown Jacksonville,” he said. “And I think we’ll look back at one of the root causes of making that happen was the activity that’s happening right now around the sports complex.”

Whether it’s rebuilding after a fire, reshaping government, or reimagining downtown — Jacksonville’s story continues to be one of transformation.

A social media post promoting what it calls the “biggest car meetup afterparty” in Duval County is drawing attention ahead of this weekend in downtown Jacksonville, with some residents and business owners watching closely for potential traffic and safety concerns.

The flyer says the event will be held on Saturday from 10 p.m. until late at 331 E. Bay Street in Downtown.

The post, circulating on Instagram, advertises a late-night gathering on East Bay Street, an area lined with bars and small businesses. The image used in the promotion appears to be A.I.-generated and depicts cars racing, a detail that some people who saw it said raised questions about what the event could bring to the area.

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“It looks like it’s gonna be a big live event — a lot of cars, a lot of people,” said Jay Wiley, who reviewed the post downtown with Justice Evans.

When asked whether it raised safety concerns, the pair said they worry less about the crowd itself and more about what could happen if tensions escalate.

“When they show up and start to break things up, start chasing cars, that’s what makes it worse,” they said.

JSO said if the event is held, it will monitor it. The agency also said that planning for these events is continuous, based on the factors presented prior to and during the event.

“We will take enforcement action when violations of municipal ordinance or state statute are reported and/or observed – whether civil, traffic, or criminal related," a spokesperson said.

Dallas Brown, who identified himself as one of the promoters behind the post, told News4JAX the image is being misinterpreted and that the gathering is intended to be a stationary car show — not street racing.

“So there would be no street racing at all. It’s just basically parked cars…show your ride,” Brown said.

He also said organizers do not expect violence and claimed they have already spoken with law enforcement about the event.

Street racing and reckless driving remain illegal in Florida, and law enforcement has emphasized that drivers can face penalties that may include arrest, fines and license suspensions, with potential felony charges for repeat offenders.

Officials said if nearby residents or businesses are concerned about issues in real-time, call 911 or the non-emergency number 904-630-0500.

News4JAX has reached out to the City of Jacksonville to determine whether any special events permit has been issued for the gathering and is awaiting a response.

Oscar Torres and thousands of others spent the last 24 hours keeping up with a flurry of messages posted to a WhatsApp group that connects people in Venezuela with their families. He lives in Doral, Florida, a city outside Miami that's home to the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S.

“Already this morning, I was looking at the group in Doral and everybody’s pitching in — money, medicine, water. First, necessity items,” said Torres, a sales manager who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela in 1995. “They’re talking about making the first shipment ASA

In Washington, the Trump administration said it’s sending $150 million to support relief efforts by aid groups and the United Nations, according to a U.S. State Department news release.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government was mobilizing a disaster response team to Venezuela that includes two urban search and rescue teams from fire departments in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. The U.S. military, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro in a surprise January drug arrest, will provide aircraft to help assess damage, assist searches and deliver aid.

Other countries including Mexico and Colombia also promised assistance.

People in the US scramble to reach their families in Venezuela

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes Wednesday night caused severe damage to the country’s main airport in the capital of Caracas, which could hamper efforts to get aid into the country quickly. The quakes were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century.

In photos and videos of the aftermath, injured children, animals and civilians are seen covered in dust and blood being pulled out of concrete rubble.

In addition to those killed and injured, thousands more were reported missing — leaving many families members in the U.S. scrambling for updates. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities settling in Texas and Utah, in addition to Florida.

In the Houston area, home to a large Venezuelan community, residents used community Facebook groups and other social media to spread the word about local donation sites. First aid and medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, antiseptics, disposable gloves, face masks, syringes, thermometers and blood pressure monitors all were in demand.

Local resident Daniel Arenas translated a Spanish-language post into English and shared it Thursday on his LinkedIn page hoping people across Houston would step up and donate.

“I came to this country 10 years ago, built a life here, but my heart is still in Venezuela,” Arenas said. “It’s devastating what’s happening over there. They don’t have the resources to handle this.”

Arenas, a maritime industry consultant, said that his wife is concerned about her aunt, who lives in a high-rise apartment in Caracas and sent a distraught message on WhatsApp after the quakes hit.

“She was crying and screaming and saying she was in pain but not sure from where,” Arenas said. “She said she lost everything. She was desperate.”

Arenas said his wife was later able to reach her aunt.

In Venezuela, people are trapped in their homes or forced to sleep outside

Many of the sites mobilizing donations are in Katy, a suburb about 30 miles (48 km) west of downtown Houston that’s earned the nickname “Katyzuela” because of its high concentration of Venezuelans.

Luis Angarita, who lives in Katy, said his younger sister and family were forced to sleep outside in a park after their home was damaged in the mountain community of Caribia, some 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Caracas.

Angarita’s sister told him in a WhatsApp message that she’s trying to get everyone to their father’s home on the other side of the capital. But no taxis or buses are running and roads leading out of their mountain community are closed.

“Thank God they’re safe,” Angarita said in Spanish. “There are many displaced people and others are stuck in their homes, unable to leave. They need help.”

In Florida, workers for the Doral-based aid group Global Empowerment Mission on Thursday packed medical supplies, toiletries, cases of bottled water and nonperishable foods to be sent to Venezuela.

Despite damage to airports and roads, the aid group doesn’t foresee delays getting supplies into Venezuela, said Billy Richardson, the group’s U.S. logistics director.

“Sometimes it means using other airports, other means of transport, or even coming into other countries,” Richardson said by email.

Torres planned to contribute money for relief efforts. He still has uncles and cousins who live in Caracas and Valencia, another hard-hit Venezuelan city. He said some of them were injured as they fled buildings during the quakes.

“Their homes are destroyed and a few buildings have collapsed,” Torres said. “Thankfully, I don’t know anyone who passed away.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Marcelo reported from New York.

Wednesday evening’s 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region.

Venezuelan officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble.

Here are some of the reactions from world leaders and celebrities to the earthquakes in Venezuela.

US State Secretary Marco Rubio

“The United States extends our deepest condolences to the people of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the social platform X.

“America stands with the Venezuelan people during this difficult time and at the direction of President Trump, the State Department is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”

UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement that Venezuela will need “all hands on deck” from the international community to deal with the aftermath of the earthquakes.

“I’m in close contact with our team in Caracas to ensure a full and urgent response, including search and rescue support and emergency relief for survivors. International solidarity coming in," Fletcher said.

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron took to social platform X to express France's solidarity with the Venezuelan people and said that a team of 85 French rescue workers specializing in search and clearance operations is “being deployed immediately” to Venezuela.

“France stands ready, alongside its European partners, to provide assistance to the affected populations in response to the needs identified by the Venezuelan authorities,” he wrote.

Venezuelan actor-model Alicia Machado

The 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who was born in Maracay, is using her Instagram account to give visibility to distressed Venezuelans and linking them to an initiative named Global Empowerment Mission for aid.

“Venezuela needs us united more than ever! We are waiting for you here,” Machado said in an Instagram post. “Our reconnaissance and emergency response team is deploying immediately and is expected to be on the ground by Friday to assess needs, coordinate with local partners, and begin response operations. Please keep the people of Venezuela in your thoughts during this challenging time.”

Actor Édgar Ramírez

Emmy Award-winning actor Edgar Ramírez, a native of San Cristobal who has appeared in several movies and TV series in the U.S., posted more than 20 messages on his Instagram account by Thursday morning showing people who had disappeared after the earthquakes. He also shared an image of the Venezuelan flag that Oscar-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis had posted.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil said Thursday evening he had just talked ro Rodríguez to offer solidarity and decide the best way to support the neighboring nation.

“We will send Friday morning a humanitarian search and urban rescue mission in a KC-390 plane,” Lula said on X, adding 36 firefighters and eight other specialists on risk assessment and telecommunications will be aboard. “With them, we are sending nine tonnes of equipment to help.”

“On Saturday, we will send another flight with equipment to assemble an open hospital, 100 water purifiers moved by solar panels, medication and medical supplies for surgeries,” the Brazilian president added.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that a team of military rescue workers, along with medical personnel, will depart for Venezuela on Thursday. She did not say how many people would be traveling.

“We will determine tomorrow exactly what additional personnel are needed to continue helping the communities that need it,” the Mexican president said.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

“China has taken note of the reports concerning Venezuela. We extend our sincere condolences to the Venezuelan government and the affected people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday in a news conference.

He added that “China is willing to provide assistance to Venezuela to the best of its ability, according to Venezuela's needs."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez

Sánchez said he spoke with the Venezuelan president on Thursday to say his country was sending a plane later that day with two government-sponsored search-and-rescue teams, along with other aid workers to assess needs on the ground.

“Our government is working to give all the possible assistance to our Spanish expatriates in Venezuela (too),” Sánchez said in his social media channels.

Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella

“I stand in full solidarity with the brotherly people of Venezuela following the devastating earthquake. Colombia stands with you during this difficult time with affection, respect, and hope. My prayers are with the victims and their families. God will provide,” Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X.

It doesn't clear the former Hollywood honcho's criminal record. The 74-year-old has been convicted of other sex crimes in two states and is still behind bars while he appeals those verdicts.

Here’s what you need to know about the case:

Charge dropped when accuser said she couldn't endure another trial

Jessica Mann, the hairstylist and actor who accused Weinstein of raping her in a New York hotel room in 2013, told the court in a letter that she “could no longer endure going through this.”

She had given extensive, emotional testimony at three trials. One produced a conviction that later got overturned for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Then two retrials ended in hung juries.

Mann, 40, said in her letter that she “gave my all” in the case, it “put me through more harm than good” and she wanted to close this chapter of her life.

Prosecutors said they believed Mann and were confident in the case, but they would drop it because of her wishes and Weinstein's other convictions.

Weinstein's lawyers said the charge should never have been brought in the first place.

He denies the allegation, and his lawyers said the encounter was part of a consensual, yearslong relationship. Mann testified that in the early months of that relationship, Weinstein raped her after cornering her in a Manhattan hotel room, grabbing her arms and ignoring her repeated pleas not to have sex.

Dismissal doesn't affect Weinstein's convictions

Mann's allegation was one of a number of criminal charges that evolved from a 2017 deluge of sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein, an Oscar-winning producer who had huge sway in Hollywood. The accusations propelled the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Weinstein was convicted of some charges and acquitted of others at trials in New York and California. The dismissal of the Mann-related case doesn't affect his convictions, which involved other women.

Weinstein is facing sentencing in other case

Weinstein, who has said he “never assaulted anyone,” is challenging his convictions. He was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian actor-model in Los Angeles and sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, a production assistant and producer, in New York.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they choose to make their names public, as Mann and Haley have done.

Weinstein, 74, is facing sentencing in September on the conviction tied to Haley — a verdict reached in at a 2025 retrial after an appeals court reversed an earlier conviction. Haley testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her after inviting her to stop by his Manhattan apartment before a flight in July 2006.

Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year sentence for that conviction. Weinstein's lawyers say they haven't yet decided what sentence they will seek.

After whatever punishment Weinstein gets in New York, he faces a 16-year sentence in California.

The review concluded JEA “historically failed” to manage and collect additional capacity fees in line with governing directives. Contributing factors included incomplete historical records from JEA’s 1997 takeover of city water and sewer systems, system and data integration failures, organizational silos, growth that occurred “behind the meter,” and a lack of formal procedures, the report said.

Read the full report below.

Capacity fees are one-time charges assessed when a customer connects to JEA’s water, wastewater or reclaimed systems to pay for infrastructure expansion and replacement.

The OIG said JEA’s records show some legacy accounts transferred from the city with missing documentation or baselines recorded as zero.

The review focused on the Mayo Clinic account after internal and external inquiries showed the health system’s water use had grown significantly since the 1990s.

JEA staff estimated Mayo’s current consumption was about 276% above the capacity originally paid for in 1995. JEA documents and proposals cited amounts ranging from roughly $834,331.50 to as much as $7.5 million depending on rate assumptions and time frames, the report said.

The OIG said JEA did take steps to address the problem, including meetings with Mayo officials, internal assessments and the creation of a Capacity Fee Project Team to review large-meter accounts, resolve historical discrepancies and design future controls.

The team paused recovery efforts as of May while seeking legal guidance on statutes of limitations, the report said.

When the OIG asked JEA for a list of entities that owe additional capacity fees, JEA replied, “Such a list does not currently exist,” the report said.

The OIG recommended that JEA leadership share the Capacity Fee Project Team’s solutions and completion dates with the JEA Board of Directors during publicly noticed meetings to ensure transparency and accountability.

JEA’s managing director and CEO Vickie Cavey, in a written response attached to the OIG report, said the utility supports the recommended corrective action and will share the team’s solutions and timelines with the board.

“We appreciate the Office of Inspector General’s thorough review of this complicated issue,” Cavey said. “We are working diligently to create a process that addresses an issue that dates back several decades.”

The response also noted one clarifying timing disagreement about when certain staff were first alerted to the Mayo matter.

The task force’s report, the mayor said, frames child care as infrastructure — workforce, economic and community — rather than merely a family issue.

“When child care works, families work. When families work, businesses thrive,” Deegan said.

The report found Jacksonville families pay between $1,000 and more than $2,400 per child per month for child care, costs that for many rival or exceed housing expenses. Officials said those pressures force families to choose among child care, housing, transportation, groceries and health care.

Statewide consequences are large, the task force said: child care challenges cost Florida an estimated $5.38 billion a year in lost economic potential, including about $4.47 billion in employer costs from absenteeism, turnover and lost productivity.

The report noted 64% of Florida parents with young children reported missing work or school because of child care disruptions, and 15% said they had left a job because of child care issues.

Workforce shortages and low pay for early educators were cited as central barriers to expanding capacity. The average early learning educator in Duval County earns just over $37,000 a year, while a survival budget for a family of four in the county approaches $80,000, the report said. Many centers operate below capacity because they cannot recruit or retain qualified staff, officials added.

Lynne Sherman, the city’s executive director of health programs and leader of the task force, said early learning in the years from birth to age 3 is critical for brain development and later school success.

“We have to stop thinking about child care as babysitting and start recognizing it for what it truly is: early care and education,” Sherman said.

River City Care would focus on improving affordability, expanding capacity — especially for infants and toddlers — strengthening workforce compensation and career pathways, creating a centralized navigation system for families and partnering with employers on family-friendly workplace solutions. The initiative also calls for consistent quality standards across programs.

Deegan emphasized the proposal does not call for an expansion of municipal spending. The city, through Kids Hope Alliance, already provides $3.5 million toward early learning to the Early Learning Coalition of Duval County, which helps secure an approximately $3 million state match, she said.

City officials said they will seek partnerships with employers, philanthropy, health organizations, education institutions, faith communities and nonprofits to implement recommendations.

Parents who took part in the task force’s focus groups said child care is where children learn and grow, not merely a place to keep them while parents work.

Minnie Hines, a parent representative, said child care can consume a large portion of a household budget and that navigating programs and enrollment can be overwhelming.

“When I see my child bringing home homework and excited about learning to read and write at 4 years old, it reminds me how much these early childhood teachers contribute to our children’s future,” Hines said.

Yasmina White was the parent who called in to First Coast Connect on its “Ask the Mayor” segment.

“I simply just called in and said, ‘Have you had a thought about creating a task force related to childcare?,’” she said.

She got emotional during the press conference because it meant so much to her.

“I have two young children and I know families that are impacted by this cost burden,” she said.

Arica Brown is a parent who is paying over $1,000 a month for two kids. She also has a child with special needs, which made costs even higher.

“If we could just get more involvement, keep spreading the word, going out to different centers and things like that, I think that’s the main thing that I would like to see,” she said.

Cheryl Fontaine, a task force member and executive director at the Florida Institute of Education at the University of North Florida, called the recommendations “well grounded” and urged leaders to treat early learning and quality child care as essential infrastructure for the city’s future workforce and prosperity.

The 24-member task force included representatives from education, health care, business, philanthropy, government, nonprofit and early learning sectors.

City officials said the report is a starting point and that next steps include convening the task force and community partners to identify objectives, map existing resources and pursue collaborative, nonmunicipal funding strategies to expand access to high-quality early learning across Jacksonville.

The I-TEAM reviewed Duval County’s current tax roll, comparing property owners’ mailing addresses with the addresses of the homes they own. The analysis identified more than 24,000 homeowners whose mailing address matched the property address and did not own another property in the county — suggesting the home may be their primary residence — but who did not have a homestead exemption on file.

A homestead exemption lowers the taxable value of a primary residence, reducing a homeowner’s property tax bill. The exemption can save homeowners hundreds of dollars each year and may provide additional long-term savings through Florida’s Save Our Homes assessment cap, which limits the amount a home’s assessed value can rise in one year.

To better understand why so many homeowners may be missing out on the benefit, News4JAX went door-to-door with local property tax expert Casey Vockell, co-owner of My Exemption Check.

“There’s usually one in every room that should have filed that has not,” Vockell said.

The data showed that the neighborhood we went to has a high number of homes where owners may be missing out on the homestead exemption. After knocking on multiple doors, we met a Jacksonville homeowner who said he had lived in his home for eight years but never filed for a homestead exemption because he believed it happened automatically.

“I’ve heard of it,” the homeowner said. “I thought that was a given automatic.”

Vockell explained that homeowners must apply for the exemption and that the process can be completed online through the Duval County Property Appraiser’s Office.

“So I did pull up your property and confirm that there is not an exemption on there for 2026,” Vockell told the homeowner. “You can go online to the Duval County Property Appraiser’s website, fill out their information if you’re eligible, which it seems like you are if this is your primary residence, and they can get it approved.”

Although the standard filing deadline passed in March, Vockell noted that homeowners can still submit a late application through mid-September.

The homeowner, who is also a military veteran, said he believes more awareness is needed.

“They should definitely put that out there,” he said.

The I-TEAM calculated that the homeowner may have missed out on roughly $6,000 in homestead exemption tax savings over the past eight years. Because he also did not receive Florida’s Save Our Homes assessment cap, his total lost tax savings could be substantially higher.

The News4JAX findings did not surprise Duval County Property Appraiser Joyce Morgan.

“No, I’m not shocked at all,” Morgan said when asked about the more than 24,000 properties identified by the I-TEAM.

Morgan said her office regularly conducts outreach efforts to encourage homeowners to apply.

“We are constantly doing community outreach. We are constantly sending out mailers,” Morgan said.

She added that helping homeowners identify available exemptions remains an ongoing effort.

“It’s a task that we do every single day. We’re always looking for that person who has not filed for Homestead Exemption, but we really need people to pay attention, just pay attention,” Morgan said.

During our door-knocking effort, we tried to reach about 20 homeowners and identified three people who said they planned to check their eligibility and apply for a homestead exemption.

Vockell estimated each homeowner could save roughly $900 annually.

“I would say each one probably averages about $900 a year, so you’re looking at about $2,400 to $2,500 in annual savings that we’ve just got people in a pretty short amount of time today,” he said.

How to apply and check your exemptions

If you’re not sure if you have a homestead exemption, search for your home address on the Duval County Property Appraiser’s website, or your respective county property appraiser.

From there, look for your “value summary.” If your exemptions are listed as $0, that means you have not filed your homestead. If you have filed, your exemptions should be listed at around $50,000, or potentially more, if you qualify for other exemptions as well.

Homeowners can apply for a homestead exemption through the Duval County Property Appraiser’s Office. Applicants will need a Florida driver’s license or other qualifying documentation, and the property must be their primary residence.

Homeowners who need assistance filing can also visit the Property Appraiser’s Office in person.

Below are links to all northeast Florida property appraisers, their property search pages, and their homestead exemption applications. Some counties have a way to file for homestead directly from the website, while others have an application that must be mailed in or turned in.

In this interview we’ll break down her big match with Kendal Grey at the Sunday PLE.

This is a major shift for WWE, putting their PLE’s on CW Network.

You can also catch the Going Ringside TV show each Tuesday night at 7:30 on CW 17 right before NXT every week.

Turns out family might really be the biggest factor behind Williams’ decision to return to the pro game after nearly four years away.

Her two daughters, eight-year-old Olympia and Adira, who is almost three, have been with her every step of the way as she played two doubles warmup matches before accepting wild card invitations to both the singles and doubles (with older sister Venus) competitions at Wimbledon, which starts Monday.

“Just finished a mean game of duck duck goose,” Williams said on X shortly after her singles wild card was announced last weekend.

A big hint about Williams’ return came when she posted a video of a training session last month with Adira on court helping with a resistance band.

“Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in her Instagram caption.

Christopher Eubanks, a recently retired pro turned Tennis Channel commentator, saw up close how Williams interacted with her family at her first tournament back at Queen’s Club, where he performed an on-court interview with the American great and doubles partner Victoria Mboko.

“There’s no changes to her legacy that will come as a result of this return. I don’t see anyone changing their mind about where Serena Williams stands all-time,” Eubanks told The Associated Press on Thursday of the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion.

“This is about more than just records. At this point, it’s more about family," said Eubanks, who will be working for ESPN at Wimbledon. "Not just playing in front of her daughters, but having her daughters sit there and watch her train every day and have to wake up and put in the long, hard yards and doing fitness and doing treatment. For her daughters to have to watch her be super disciplined, that has to be just as much of a factor."

When Williams last played in singles at the 2022 U.S. Open, Olympia had just turned five and Adira wasn’t even born yet.

“They will forever know (Williams) as, ‘Oh, you know, mommy is the GOAT of tennis,’" Eubanks said, using the acronym for “greatest of all time.”

"But then if they have memories of being able to actually watch her go through that training, to me, that feels like what this is about more than anything else,” Eubanks added.

He seems to be on to something, because the daughters did not seem overly enthusiastic about her match at Queen’s.

“Adira wanted to go to the toy store, and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” Williams said.

Court-side seat

Eubanks had a court-side seat for Williams’ match with Mboko and felt like her ball striking was “as good as it’s ever looked.”

He was also “really impressed with her serve."

“A lot of times that can be a very difficult thing to get back after having an extended time off and her serve looked great,” Eubanks said. “She had one serve up near 120 mph. And the purity with which the ball comes off of her strings off the ground on both the forehand and the backhand side looks as dialed in as I’ve seen.”

Decelerating difficulties

The biggest challenge for Williams in singles will likely be her fitness and movement, which on grass is more nuanced than on other surfaces.

“The hardest part for me I always felt was the decelerating and the stopping because you have to take extra steps in order to come to a stop,” said Eubanks, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2023 and a career-high ranking of No. 29 that year.

Williams won the last of her seven Wimbledon singles titles a decade ago

“Whereas on a hard court you can kind of plant your foot, you can slide, you can decelerate a lot easier," Eubanks said. "But on the grass it takes a lot more steps and a lot more pounding on the body before you can change direction. So that’s going to be the biggest thing to watch: Her ability to decelerate and stop out of the corners in order to change direction.”

Williams might come forward to the net more and attempt to end points more quickly than she used to — kind of how Novak Djokovic has used his volleying skills more in recent years.

“That would be," Eubanks said, “what I would expect to see.”

Richard Williams

Eubanks is only 30 and the Williams sisters were role models for him as a kid.

“They were always kind of the guiding light,” he said. “They’ve been a huge influence on me personally.”

Before last month's French Open, Eubanks was invited to a dinner for Black players hosted by Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend.

Coco Gauff, retiring Frenchman Gael Monfils and doubles specialist Asia Muhammad also attended.

The Williams sisters and their father, Richard Williams, were a big conversation topic.

“Everybody in that room, at some point their parents were heavily involved in their tennis,” Eubanks said. “Our parents all mentioned Richard Williams and the Williams sisters and how they did it and everyone kind of bonding over, ‘Man, Richard Williams, his name went all over the world.’”

___

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

It happened with 6:52 left in the second quarter and was deemed to be a non-basketball act. The league gave Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty for it. No foul was called on the play by officials.

The WNBA is allowed to review a game to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any foul not called as such during a game.

Thomas will serve her suspension on Saturday when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.

“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call … You got to call it,” said Fever coach Stephanie White after the game. “You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable.”

The Fever renewed their call for player safety in a statement Thursday.

“Player safety should be paramount in our league,” Fever team president Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “We appreciate the WNBA’s review of last night’s incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday.”

The Fever host Los Angeles on Saturday night.

This isn’t the first time the league has upgraded a foul against Clark. Last season Marina Mabrey, when she was with Connecticut, received a technical foul in a game against Indiana. The league later upgraded it to a Flagrant 2. Over the years the NBA has had a few instances where the league upgraded a play that resulted in a suspension.

The two teams also played on Monday night and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical of the season in that game. The team petitioned the league to have it rescinded, but the WNBA confirmed that the technical will stand.

The physical play carried over to Wednesday's game which the Mercury won 111-109.

Clark left the game in the third quarter as she was dealing with a back issue. She appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the second quarter. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up. In the first quarter she went back to the tunnel and returned to the bench wearing a wrap around her back.

She finished the game with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.

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

It turned out that the three, including Arnold's personal driver, had nothing to do with the theft in February, investigators said.

Two people charged alongside Arnold have pleaded guilty in the attack and agreed to cooperate with Tampa-area authorities, court records show.

“Fame doesn’t get you out of criminal charges or our pursuit of justice and holding criminals accountable,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said.

Three men in their late teens were held at gunpoint, battered, pistol-whipped and robbed in a Tampa apartment on Feb. 4, police said. It was three days after Louis Vuitton bags and shoes, Rolex watches, a Bible, cash and more were reported stolen from Arnold at an Airbnb rental in Largo, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west.

Arnold, 23, was the “primary conspirator” in the attack, police said.

“He’s absolutely denying these allegations,” defense attorney R. Timothy Jansen said in Hillsborough County court.

Arnold briefly appeared in court by video as a judge announced charges of kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy, crimes that carry a sentence of up to life in prison. He surrendered to authorities Wednesday and will remain in jail at least until a detention hearing Monday.

Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, an agency that represents Arnold, said there's “no credible evidence” against him, only accounts from others who may have an incentive to get a lighter sentence.

At least six other people face charges, including two women who pleaded guilty Wednesday and are cooperating. Jasmine Randazzo, 19, was immediately sentenced to four years in prison for kidnapping, conspiracy and robbery with a gun, records show.

The victims told police that Arnold’s friends lured them to an apartment, held them at gunpoint and hit them, all the while streaming the attack to Arnold. Police said he was giving orders in a group chat and later arrived at the apartment.

“No one has the right to take the law into their own hands. A dispute over missing property does not justify kidnapping, violence or retaliation,” State Attorney Suzy Lopez said.

Arnold, a cornerback on Detroit's defense, was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft after playing at the University of Alabama. He had 31 tackles and an interception last season for the Lions. The Lions and the NFL said they were aware of the arrest but declined to comment.

Police in Largo spent weeks investigating the thefts from Arnold's Airbnb stay. One neighbor said there were “pretty wild parties” there that seemed to last until dawn, with multiple people coming and going, according to a report released to The Associated Press. The Airbnb host told police that 20 bags of trash were removed.

Police said they declared the investigation inactive on March 25 because Arnold and others whose property was also reported stolen did not want to pursue it.

The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1% after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.

Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7%. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.

Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. They’re the latest signals of the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centers and other investments.

Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.8%.

But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher costs for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1% to drop below $153 for its lowest finish since its ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 to 7,357.49 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.72 to 51,960.62, and the Nasdaq composite fell 118.03 to 25,358.60.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.

The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.2% to $75.50 Thursday. But it’s still well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier Thursday, it dropped near its roughly $72 price from before the war.

That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.

“As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.

Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.7% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

RELATED: ‘An attack on my name’: St. Johns County deputies seek potential victims in contractor probe; owner denies wrongdoing

Michael Trail, 47, who does business as M&M Cabinets of North Florida Inc., was hired in 2025 to build and install custom cabinetry in a St. Johns County home, deputies said. Trail estimated the job would take about three weeks and received a $12,256 deposit.

After weeks of delays and repeated excuses, Trail asked the homeowners for an additional $6,500 to finish the project. The work remained unfinished, with missing doors, drawer fronts, shelving, trim, crown molding, hardware and finish work, according to the sheriff’s office. The victims paid a total of $18,756.

In April, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office contacted the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes Unit with information about the case. Detectives reviewed prior law enforcement reports and spoke with other complainants, some from outside St. Johns County, who described similar patterns of large deposits, repeated delays and incomplete work or requests for additional money on unfinished projects.

Lafayette County deputies located Trail and arrested him June 24, the sheriff’s office said.

Anyone who hired or paid Trail for contracting work is asked to contact Detective Aran at (904) 209-2212 or email haran@sjso.org.

The movie mogul still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries.

Jessica Mann, a hairstylist and actor, spent days on the witness stand at all three trials, telling jurors that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 and being questioned extensively about the complex relationship she had with him before and afterward. The Oscar-winning producer denied the charge and said everything that happened between him and Mann was consensual.

In a letter that prosecutor Nicole Blumberg quoted in court Thursday, Mann said she could “no longer endure going through this,” adding that the 8-year-old case has “put me through more harm than good.”

Blumberg told the court that prosecutors believe Mann and hail her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate.” With that, Judge Curtis Farber formally dismissed the case.

Weinstein left court with a neutral expression, returning to jail to await a September sentencing on a New York sexual assault conviction involving a different woman. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term.

Once Weinstein finishes whatever punishment he gets in New York, he's due to serve 16 years in California, where he was convicted of raping a third woman, who's an Italian actor. He is appealing both convictions.

Weinstein's lawyers said he was relieved by the dismissal of the case surrounding Mann's allegation.

“These charges should never have been brought to begin with,” lawyer Jacob Kaplan said outside court. “He is innocent.”

Mann has testified that she had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with Weinstein, who was married at the time.

But she told jurors she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to any sexual activity as he cornered her in a hotel room on March 18, 2013. They had planned to meet in the lobby for breakfast, but he had spontaneously taken a room.

She said he persevered, demanding that she undress and grabbing her arms, until she was afraid to keep protesting.

The latest trial, this spring, took a visible toll on Mann, 40. During five days of testimony, she was questioned for the first time about a diarylike, soul-baring note she wrote two days after the alleged rape, which the note did not mention. At one point during her testimony, Mann said she was struggling to focus, prompting court to wrap up early for the day.

In her letter to the court Thursday, she said she had suffered a concussion shortly before her testimony, had headaches and other symptoms on the stand and ultimately “disassociated.” It was a humiliating addition to an already crushing experience, she wrote.

“I have been fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatized. I’ve paid the price of my reputation,” Mann wrote. Slamming the court, the media and Weinstein, she said her experience showed that "pursuing justice is better left a pipe dream.”

Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most powerful figures, a producer of such tastemakers and hits as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Chocolat.”

Then a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fueling the #MeToo campaign for accountability and eventually leading to criminal charges in New York and Los Angeles.

He denied all of them and was acquitted of some, even as he was convicted of others.

During a series of trials, Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann. Then an appeals court overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Jury deliberations broke down at a 2025 retrial, and jurors deadlocked again at this year's retrial.

The rape charge in this case was a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison — less time than Weinstein, 74, already has served.

Weinstein didn’t testify at any of the trials, though he complained during and after the 2025 New York retrial that it was unfair; the judge disagreed.

His lawyers have maintained that all his accusers had completely consensual sexual liaisons with a movie studio boss who could help them go places in show business. Weinstein himself has said he “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they choose to be named, as Mann has done.

Royal officials stressed that the king and Queen Camilla would continue to work out of the palace, which will remain “the ceremonial and operational center” of the monarchy. But for the rest of Charles’ reign, the king and queen will remain in nearby Clarence House.

“It is and will remain Monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings,” said James Chalmers, the senior royal official responsible for managing the king’s financial affairs.

The decision was announced Thursday during a briefing on royal finances at which Charles became the first British monarch to reveal the taxes he paid to the government. The king paid 12.9 million pounds ($16.1 million) in income and capital gains taxes in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 11.7 million pounds the previous year.

The royals are trying to respond to criticism

The announcements come as the royal family tries to shift the narrative after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.The public’s focus on Mountbatten-Windsor has overshadowed the king’s efforts to modernize the monarchy and show that the 1,000-year-old institution can evolve.

Built in the 1820s, Buckingham Palace has been the London home of every British monarch since Queen Victoria. With 775 rooms, the palace also provides office space for the royal bureaucracy and hosts lavish state dinners for visiting presidents and potentates.

The palace is also a focal point for the public, with crowds gathering under its famous balcony to cheer as kings and queens announce the end of wars, celebrate their marriages and mark historic events, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne. It also provides the backdrop for parades down the broad ceremonial avenue known as The Mall.

Buckingham Palace needed some love

But after all the wear and tear, the palace was starting to show its age. In 2017, the royal household began a 10-year program to update obsolete plumbing, wiring and heating and upgrade the building so it could continue to house the monarchy for another 50 years. The project is scheduled to be completed next year.

But now the king and queen have decided to live at Clarence House, a stately home close to the palace where Charles has lived since he was Prince of Wales.

That decision will allow the palace to increase access public access, hosting more events and expanding the number of visitors and tours of the building, Chalmers said. The palace already receives about 700,000 visitors a year.

Royal watchers are waiting for more details about plans for the palace. Ed Owens, author of “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself,’’ said it would be a shame if, for example, the building lies vacant for much of the year.

“I’m hoping for a second act in terms of this decision,’’ he told The Associated Press. “I’m waiting to see whether there will be a sort of a more radical proposal for what Buckingham Palace might be in the future.”

The palace recognizes it needs more transparency

The other big news of the day was the announcement on royal taxes.

While Charles released the details of his personal taxes when he was Prince of Wales, this is the first time he has done so since ascending the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022.

While monarchy receives funding from a number of sources, the king pays taxes only on his personal income, much of which comes from his privately owned estates, Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham on the east coast of England. Charles also paid capital gains taxes related to the sale of assets.

Prince William, the current Prince of Wales, also released his tax details on Thursday. William paid 7.76 million pounds in income and capital gains taxes in the 2024-25 tax year, down from 8.34 million pounds the previous year, his office said.

The figures for the first time give the public a concrete idea about the King’s personal wealth, as opposed to the castles, jewels and artwork that go with the job but aren’t the monarch’s personal property.

Charles didn’t have to do this. The king’s tax affairs, like those of any citizen, are strictly confidential. But he decided to give up that right to privacy as the monarchy tries to put as much distance as possible between itself and Mountbatten-Windsor.

It also underscores the idea that the monarchy is a public institution and its workings should be public, said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“If they’re open and as transparent as possible, then the contrast with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor becomes all the greater,” he said.

Mateo Chávez and Julián Quiñones scored in a six-minute span early in the second half, and Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Wednesday to complete wins in all three of its World Cup group-stage matches for the first time.

The 22-year-old Chávez, in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute and Quiñones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in stoppage time.

“It was something very beautiful, and I’ll take it with me to the grave,” Chávez said of his goal. “I imagined it many times; I dreamed of this.”

Mexico's previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, done in 1986 and 2002 and both featuring Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri's coach. Aguirre is now in his third stint leading the national team.

After topping Group A, Mexico will play again at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against an opponent to be determined.

“Now comes the knockout stage; statistics and data don’t matter. We’re achieving things, but what lies ahead is what counts,” Aguirre said. “Neither the players nor I dwell on what we’ve just done; we’re thinking about what’s next.”

Mexico is undefeated at nine World Cup matches at the massive stadium, which was packed with 80,824 fans on Wednesday. El Tri has only two losses at Azteca, most recently in World Cup qualifying against Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

The match Wednesday included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest Mexico player to start in a World Cup. And 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa entered in the 77th minute, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to appear in six World Cups.

“It’s like a dream come true after everything I’ve worked for,” Mora said.

“Now we have tough opponents ahead,” he added. “We’re going to keep working to stay on this path. We want to keep advancing because the Mexican national team can become champion.”

Mexico's triumph was marred, however, by the return of a homophobic chant by fans that has previously led to fines and other sanctions against its soccer federation. The chant, a one-word slur, was heard near the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick.

The Czech Republic was eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.

Mexico is unbeaten in 11 games dating to a friendly loss against Panama last November. And Aguirre has made the most of his roster, using 25 of 26 players in the tournament. Chávez was one of five starters Wednesday who didn't start in the previous win over South Korea.

“Twenty-five of the 26 have played — that is no small detail — nor is it a small detail that everyone celebrates the goals,” Aguirre said.

Ochoa makes history in his likely farewell

Ochoa, who wears No. 13, played the last 13 minutes in regulation, plus stoppage time, in what's likely to be his last appearance for Mexico. He turns 41 on July 13 and plans to retire from international competition after the World Cup.

“Life — football — had this farewell in store for me, to cap it all off perfectly. For my part, I’ve left it all out there; I gave everything,” Ochoa said. “I leave with nothing left because I poured it all into my teams and the national squad.”

He was a substitute in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and started for Mexico in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

“I felt Memo had to play (but) for how long? I never knew until I said, ‘This is the moment,’” Aguirre said. “These are coaching decisions, but it was a night for Mexico to honor its legend, Memo.”

Raúl Rangel is the starter this year, stepping in for the injured Luis Ángel Malagón, who helped Mexico win the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup last year. Malagón's injury opened the door for Ochoa's return.

Ochoa became the oldest Mexican to play in the World Cup. The previous record holder was Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who was 37 when he played in South Africa in 2014.

After the match, the veteran goalkeeper kissed the goal post before kneeling down and was hugged by the rest of the squad.

“Regarding Memo’s appearance, we don’t know if he’s going to say goodbye or not, but it was a nice tribute for his six World Cups,” Aguirre said. “He is a legend — he is Mexican.”

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

The justices, in a 6-3 decision, overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day, first under the Obama administration and then expanded during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters along ports of entry to await their turn for days or months. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase in asylum seekers at the border.

The policy is not in place now, and crowds are much thinner as authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers. The Department of Homeland Security did not say if it plans to revive it, but applauded the ruling. “This decision opens up an important tool to continue securing our southern border,” said James Percival, the agency's general counsel.

The administration argued that metering is a critical tool used by presidents of both parties and should remain available. Federal attorneys say people turned away at the border could come back later, though lines were thousands of people long when the policy was in place before.

The case is one of several immigration suits the court is considering this term, including Trump’s push to restrict birthright citizenship. The high court also allowed his administration to end deportation for migrants fleeing instability and armed conflict on Thursday.

Under federal law, migrants who arrive in the U.S. must be able to apply for asylum and be screened for fear of persecution in their home countries.

The Justice Department argued that people stopped by authorities haven’t arrived in the country, so immigration agents don’t have to let them apply.

The court's conservative majority agreed. “A guest does not arrive in a house when he knocks on the front door,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.

But attorneys for people seeking asylum say the law has long meant anyone arriving at a port of entry should be screened, and blocking arrivals disregards the nation’s ideals.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the bench, saying that the majority’s opinion “regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty.”

The decision could also give people a “perverse incentive” to enter the country illegally if they can't count on being able to legally apply for asylum at a port of entry, she said, a concern that Alito's opinion said was overblown.

In an unusual exchange, Alito voiced a response after she finished speaking. He expressed surprise that she had read her dissent aloud and defended his opinion by noting that the policy had been used under two presidential administrations. “I won’t add anything more to that,” Alito said.

Metering was first used under President Barack Obama when large numbers of Haitians appeared at the main crossing to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. It was expanded to all border crossings from Mexico during Trump’s first term in the White House.

Customs officers often cited reaching maximum capacity in holding cells at the port of entry as a reason for delays in processing asylum seekers waiting to be accepted for inspection, but those claims were refuted by official data that was disclosed in a lawsuit in 2020. Many waiting in Mexico were exposed to violence by organized crime, severe heat during the summer and cold conditions during the winter. The queue was managed differently at each port of entry, sometimes by Mexican authorities, volunteers or migrants.

The policy ended in 2020 when the government introduced greater restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, and President Joe Biden formally rescinded it in 2021.

The same year, a California-based federal judge found that metering violated the asylum seekers' rights and the law requiring screening. A divided appeals court panel affirmed the ruling, but nearly half of the judges on the full San Francisco-based court voted to rehear it, a strong signal that might have caught the attention of the Supreme Court.

Since Trump returned to the White House, crowds at international bridges have decreased significantly. In May, the government reported an average of 114 immigrants encountered by customs officers along the southwest ports of entry. Those numbers reached a daily high of 1,703 immigrants in May 2024.

Attorneys with the group Democracy Forward first brought the case, and condemned Thursday's ruling. “We are disappointed in the Court’s decision and call on all Americans to demand that our government protect the families the Court today decided to keep in harm’s way,” said President and CEO Skye Perryman.

They represented the group Al Otro Lado, whose executive director said the decision would mean a “hardening of borders to keep out the most vulnerable" that is "sure to result in many more lives lost.”

U.S. law allows people seeking refuge to apply for asylum once they are on American soil, regardless of whether they came legally. To qualify for asylum, they must show a fear of persecution in their homeland for specific reasons, like race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

People who are eventually granted asylum can’t be deported. They can legally work, bring in immediate family, apply for legal residency and seek citizenship.

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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Rebecca Santana in Washington, as well as Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.

Thousands of people have been reported missing and about 1,500 people have been injured. Some of the heaviest damage and casualties were in La Guaira, a coastal region north of the capital, Caracas.

Here’s what to know about the earthquakes and the search for survivors:

Two earthquakes in less than one minute

The powerful 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart along the San Sebastian fault on Venezuela’s northern coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

They were among the strongest in the South American nation in more than a century.

The first earthquake, a 7.2-magnitude foreshock, hit west of Morón on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas, with a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles).

The second, a 7.5-magnitude mainshock, was centered 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Morón, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles).

The back-to-back earthquakes — known as a doublet because of their similarities in magnitude, time and proximity — resulted from shallow strike-slip faulting near the complex plate boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Many people are dead, injured or missing

The death toll in Venezuela is likely to climb as rescue crews comb through buildings toppled by the earthquake.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said authorities have deployed rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, where dozens of buildings have collapsed.

The city, about 165 kilometers (103 miles) east of the 7.5-magnitude quake’s epicenter, is a “disaster zone,” she said.

Civilians and authorities pulled survivors out of concrete rubble, some of them covered in dust and blood. Families sobbed in front of destroyed homes.

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.

Significant damage in Caracas and beyond

The earthquake destroyed buildings in Caracas and led to evacuation as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) away.

In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

Parts of the city lost power and cellphone service. Venezuela’s main airport in Caracas was damaged and closed, subway service was suspended and natural gas was shut off.

Classes will also be canceled for several days as schools are used as shelters and donation centers.

Rodríguez said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes.

Another challenge for Venezuela’s leader

The earthquakes are yet another crisis for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the U.S. captured former President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are jailed in New York City while awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez inherited a country that has been in economic turmoil for more than a decade.

Many Venezuelans reject the legitimacy of her political movement, while some loyalists have criticized her leadership and warming relationship with the U.S.

Help from other nations and Venezuelans abroad

The U.S. said Thursday it is sending two specialized urban search and rescue teams to Venezuela and will provide $150 million in assistance through nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The United Nations said Thursday that international search and rescue teams are expected to start arriving “in the coming hours.”

Other countries sending aid to Venezuela include Qatar and Mexico.

Venezuelans in the U.S. are rushing to organize donation drives. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities in Florida, Texas and Utah.

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Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The Las Vegas-based restaurant at 4910 Big Island Drive permanently closed on or before June 21, weeks after the state ordered it shut following a failed inspection.

RELATED: The Sugar Factory in St. Johns Town Center follows trend of Jacksonville restaurant closures

Our new partners at The Jacksonville Daily Record looked into the restaurant’s history of health violations.

The chain is known for elaborate craft cocktails, many priced at $19 or more, but the Jacksonville restaurant opened serving only mocktails, lacking a state alcohol license when it launched in March 2023. It later obtained an alcohol license.

Since its first inspection in August 2023, the restaurant was cited for problems ranging from missing hand-washing signs and unposted inspection documents to mold in the ice machine, unsafe food preparation, flying insects and improper food storage.

The problems persisted into 2026 with 165 citations documented in 21 visits since 2023.

A Jan. 12 inspection found 21 violations, which were later corrected, and the restaurant passed a recommended follow-up.

Months later, a June 8 inspection again found 21 violations and the state shut down the restaurant. Six were high priority, including:

• Flying insects

• Rodent activity

• A stop-sale order on food found not to be in a “wholesome and sound condition”

• Time and temperature violations

• Sanitizer solution exceeding the maximum allowed concentration

• An expired hotel and restaurant license

A return inspection June 9 found nine items still uncorrected including high priority violations of flying insects, rodent activity and improper food storage temperatures. The restaurant remained closed by the state.

The June 10 inspection still found seven violations including the high priority problems with flying insects and rodent activity. The restaurant remained closed.

The follow-up June 12 inspection noted the previous seven violations but found that the insect and rodent problems had been resolved. Five other basic problems were granted more time to be corrected.

An email sent to Sugar Factory headquarters and a phone call to Kimco Realty, owner of The Markets at Town Center, were not returned. Kimco owns the building that was leased by Sugar Factory.

As of June 25, the Jacksonville location was still listed at sugarfactory.com.

Read more at jaxdailyrecord.com.

The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer, a German agrochemical manufacturer that acquired Roundup’s original producer, Monsanto, in 2018.

The decision is a victory for President Donald Trump's administration, which argued in support of Bayer. But it provoked outrage from allies in the “ Make America Healthy Again” movement who want to rein in pesticide use.

The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, held that Roundup cannot be sued in state courts for failure to warn because federal regulators have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label. Federal law also bars states from imposing additional or different labeling requirements, the opinion from Justice Brett Kavanaugh states.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Neil Gorsuch, dissented, saying that Monsanto could have added a warning without violating federal law.

Though focused on Roundup, the ruling could affect similar health claims against other pesticide products.

“This decision is good for American farmers who help feed the world,“ Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said. ”It provides the regulatory clarity necessary for innovators like us to develop the agricultural tools that guarantee an affordable food supply.”

Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of failure-to-warn lawsuits, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims.

The ruling was denounced by environmental groups and lawyers representing people who believe they were harmed by Roundup.

“This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides," said attorney Christopher Seeger, who is a claimant’s representative in the settlement. But he said a settlement still would allow some people to receive compensation.

The decision “is a tragic setback for public and environmental health,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, a health and environmental group.

A sickened gardener had won $1 million

The case before the Supreme Court was filed by Missouri resident John Durnell. He developed a cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after more than 20 years of serving as the neighborhood association’s “spray guy,” using Roundup on parks in his historic St. Louis community.

A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. But Durnell never received the money as his case was appealed. Durnell, 75, said Thursday that his cancer is in remission, and he will be fine without the money.

But “there are thousands of cases that are like mine that will not see court now," Durnell said. "So that is the biggest disappointment for me.”

There is still fierce debate about whether Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, causes cancer. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as “probably carcinogenic” in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it’s not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed.

The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argued that it was required to follow those federal standards. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that separate warning requirements cannot be compelled by state laws and courts. The ruling still leaves room for other lawsuits alleging problems with the product’s design, and Durnell said he is considering bringing a new case on different grounds.

Bayer has pledged billions for settlements

Bayer disputes the cancer claims but previously set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and earlier this year proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. A federal judge recently ruled that the proposed settlement will be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits have been filed.

At the same time, Bayer has tried to persuade states to pass laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits. North Dakota was the first to do so, followed by Georgia and Kentucky.

About 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been made against Bayer, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market.

The company had said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if it keeps getting sued. Agricultural industry groups have said Roundup is important for a strong food supply.

"Today's decision protects our access to the tools that let us care for our soil, protect our crops, and keep food affordable for your family and mine,” said Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer who is a former president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.

The court ruling runs counter to the MAHA movement

Pesticides have created a rift between the administration and members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s MAHA movement, who were frustrated by an executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate’s production.

Kennedy has said repeatedly that glyphosate causes cancer, even as he says he recognizes the executive order was necessary for food supply and national security reasons.

After the high court's decision on Thursday, prominent MAHA activist Kelly Ryerson, known to her supporters as “Glyphosate Girl,” called the Trump administration's participation in the case “unforgivable.”

Some health advocates contend the EPA's approval of glyphosate-based weedkillers was based on limited information and that lawsuits in state courts have turned up additional evidence against it.

“The fact that EPA approved a pesticide label does not mean a product is safe, and it should not become a shield for companies that fail to warn about cancer risks, neurological harm, and other serious dangers,” said Patti Goldman, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental legal organization.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.

When he was about five, his father bought him a Spider-Man basketball hoop that went on the back of his door.

“I loved Spider-Man growing up. So I just started shooting from my bed, started shooting from my bed with this miniature ball. Then I started playing in the YMCA leagues ... ended up falling in love with the game," Dybantsa said. "So Spider-Man is the reason why I love basketball.”

The Washington Wizards are certainly glad Dybantsa took up the sport and committed himself to it. Two days after taking the 6-foot-9 star out of BYU with the top pick in the NBA draft, the team introduced him Thursday at a hotel overlooking the Potomac River, about 1 1/2 miles south from where the Wizards play their home games.

“Nothing comes easy, but I want to be a piece of the puzzle that is part of the rebuild,” he said. “Obviously, Wizards fans have been waiting for a long time.”

This was the first time the Wizards have picked first in the draft since 2010 when they took John Wall. Dybantsa joins a team that hasn't won 50 games in a season since 1979 — and more recently managed only 50 victories over the past three seasons combined.

One issue of uncertainty was resolved at the news conference. Dybantsa wore No. 3 in college, but in Washington that belongs to Trae Young. Dybantsa will change to No. 4.

“Previously wore No. 3, but I was the No. 1 pick,” he said. “Wanted to add those up, and we got four.”

Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points per game in college, becoming the first freshman to lead the nation in scoring since his new teammate, Young, did it at Oklahoma in 2017-18.

Washington fans will have a chance soon enough to see what Dybantsa brings on the court, but Thursday's event was an opportunity to see the type of person they'll be investing so much hope in. Dybantsa was personable and confident, and he seemed eager to get down to business. That much was clear back at the combine before the draft.

“It was like a job. My dad was like, ‘This is your first job interview,’” he said. "So we decided to dress up. I went to a suit and tie in every single interview. Media availability, that was in a suit and tie. So I just wanted to treat it like a real job.”

That made quite an impression on Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.

“It was a pretty fun first introduction, just to learn the maturity that he brings," Dawkins said. "We allow opportunities to ask questions. Sometimes you get the standard questions from guys. We didn’t get that from AJ. He’s just curious and mature and asked some really deep questions.”

Dybantsa said he intends to graduate college, finishing his studies online, and he has big plans for how he can make a difference away from basketball. The 19-year-old has already started a foundation aimed at empowering young people.

“My mom’s from Jamaica, my dad’s from Congo. We’re going to start off just sending 20 kids from there to different universities," he said. "If that’s universities in the continent of Africa, if that’s different universities in Jamaica, if that’s universities in the States, we’re going to try that. But after those two, we’re just going to expand all around the world. We just want to help kids all around the world.”

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

On Friday, the city will host the Freedom Fest at Friendship Fountain from 5:30 - 10 p.m., including live music, food trucks and the debut of “America 250 Proof,” a new patriotic anthem to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.

Saturday will feature three events that take place across Southbank and Northbank.

See the breakdown of events below:

Saturday, July 4: Fourth of July

Event 1

Where: Riverfront Plaza - 2 W. Independent Dr.

When: 4 - 9:30 p.m.

What to expect:

• Performances by Sal Gonzalez, Tobacco Road, Bold City Classics and Lane Pittman
• The largest Fourth of July Fireworks show in Jacksonville history
• Facepainting and balloon animals
• The River City Readers Bookmobile
• An art exhibition by JAMS students
• Food and beverages for purchase

Event 2

Where: Friendship Fountain

When: 3 - 9:30 p.m.

What to expect:

• Live music by Scott Halls and Caribe Groove
• Fireworks (same show, different vantage point)
• Hot dog eating contest
• Cornhole tournament
• Food and beverages for purchase

Event 3

Where: RiversEdge - 1915 RiversEdge Blvd

When: 6 - 9 p.m.

What to expect:

• Music and entertainment
• Fireworks (same show, different vantage point)
• Food and beverages for sale

Where to get the best fireworks views:

Northbank and Southbank have designated viewing areas, which are highlighted in red on the map below.

All about parking

• Public and private parking options will be available on a first-come, first-served basis
• It’s advised to arrive early to snag a spot
• Please be aware that parking availability is subject to change and may be limited based on demand and traffic conditions
• On-street meter parking is free on weekends

Northbank parking options:

• Water Street Garage: 541 Water St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Annex Garage: 21 E Bay St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Jax Center Garage:1 W. Bay St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Yates Garage: 200 E Adams St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
• VyStar Forsyth Garage: 26 W. Forsyth St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Chamber Lot Parking: 59 E. Bay St., Jacksonville, FL 32202

Southbank parking options:

• DCPS Parking Lot: 1701 Prudential Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32207
• Kings Ave Station: 1301 King Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32207

All about road closures

The following streets and bridges will be closed during the celebration:

• INDEPENDENT DR & LAURA ST

7:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. = Closure of W Independent Dr. from Hogan St. to Laura St

• ACOSTA BRIDGE

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.= Closure of Acosta Bridge Northbound Emergency Lane & Sidewalk ONLY

8:45 p.m. – 9:45 p.m.= Closure of all northbound lanes and sidewalk (during show)

• MAIN STREET BRIDGE

2:00 p.m. – 10:15 p.m.= Closure of Main Street Bridge southbound exterior lane and adjacent sidewalk ONLY. Closure of Main Street Bridge northbound exterior lane and adjacent sidewalk ONLY.

8:30 p.m. – 10:15 p.m.= Full Closure of Main Street Bridge all lanes and sidewalks (during show)

For more information, visit events.jacksonville.gov.

The decision, which comes amid a record heat wave in France, fell short of requests from the climate organizations who brought the lawsuit to force the company to reduce its oil and gas production.

The court scheduled a new hearing for January to consider TotalEnergies’ new assessment under a 2017 law that requires companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental risks. It's the first time that the so-called corporate duty of vigilance law is being applied to climate change.

The law is not intended to make companies “responsible for the risks linked to climate change, which result from all human activity on the planet since the Industrial Revolution” the court said in a statement, but rather requests them to act “according to their own situation.”

TotalEnergies expressed "satisfaction" that the court didn’t ban it from pursuing new oil and gas projects or force it to reduce oil and gas production.

In a statement, the company said it will update its climate policies following the ruling. It also said it has expanded development of other energy sources and reduced emissions of its operations by 28% since 2015.

It's a landmark case for environmental campaigners

Environmental groups Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA, France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris, launched the proceedings in 2020.

The groups said that they were happy that the court decided that climate change was included in the 2017 duty of vigilance law.

“This decision marks a significant step forward, confirming that the duty of vigilance fully applies to climate risks generated by multinational corporations,” they said in a statement.

They claim that TotalEnergies is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gas and asked the court to require the company to reduce oil production by 37% and gas production by 25% by 2030. The lawsuit also asked for a halt to all new fossil fuel projects.

Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, told The Associated Press that including the effects of climate change in the duty of vigilance law could set a precedent across Europe. This legislation “is a key legal path to corporate accountability,” he said, adding that the French law has “served as a model for other laws of the same nature in other countries and at the EU level.”

Europe is feeling climate change this week

The court's decision comes as Europe is experiencing a heat wave. Punishing temperatures extended to the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts — like France — about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.

The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum have been forced to restrict visiting hours, and school and transportation schedules have been interrupted across the continent.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather, and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years are likely to shatter more heat records.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of those deaths were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month.

Court cases about the climate are on the rise

The decision is the latest in a series of rulings in climate change cases. Last year, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, said that countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right, and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.

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Quell reported from The Hague, Netherlands.

DeSantis said the center, which opened in July 2025, was always meant to be only temporary until more permanent detention centers could be secured and federal officials now have that capacity.

“We stepped up because there was a gap, but my hope is that they’ll be able to handle that,” the Republican governor said at a news conference at the facility.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June and sent all of the detainees to other facilities, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep them in the Everglades.

Immigration advocates said the center's tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn’t flush, floors flooded with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

They described large white tents with rows of and rows of bunk beds surrounded by chain-link cages. The air conditioning could shut off abruptly in the sweltering Florida heat. Detainees could go days without showering or getting prescription medicine.

Advocates for immigrants said the closure of “Alligator Alcatraz” does nothing to stop the harm to people who spend months in custody as their families suffer. The Florida Immigrant Coalition said the only winners were corporations and contractors who profited millions of dollars as Republicans pushed an immigration emergency that does not exist.

The detention center of tents and trailers was built by DeSantis’ administration in a matter of days. The governor and President Donald Trump said the center was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries.

“There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer," said DeSantis, noting that 21,000 people were deported through the facility.

Even with the closure of the facility, Florida continues to play a key role with other detention centers and an increased role in helping with immigration enforcement, White House border czar Tom Homan said at Thursday’s news conference.

“Gov. DeSantis did a good job, and he’s going to continue doing what he’s doing to help us make this country safe again,” Homan said. “This isn’t the end of relationship. This is a continuation.”

Lawyers for the immigrants at the facility said their clients suddenly started leaving for other facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas earlier this month, disappearing for about a week before their attorneys and families were told where they were sent.

DeSantis said the Everglades airstrip the facility was built around will continue to be used.

Environmental groups sued over the detention center, saying Florida officials never got the proper permits or did required reviews on its impact.

The state and federal governments built the site with no oversight and closed it with no input, but they will still be held responsible even with the site is closed, said Paul J. Schwiep, an attorney for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

"The administration believes it can quietly walk away and leave its mess for others to clean up. The law will not allow them to escape accountability. We will ask the courts to ensure that the environmental damage is fully addressed," Schwiep said in a statement Thursday.

The pontiff has been given the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. It was unclear when exactly the exchange occurred, but Pierzynski posted pictures on social media on Thursday showing the moment at the Vatican.

“7 year old me, at my First Communion, would have never thought that I would get to meet The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV,” Pierzynski wrote on Instagram. “I was honored to give him the last out ball from Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, the game he attended.”

Leo is a White Sox fan dating to his days growing up in Chicago. He was known as Robert Prevost or Father Bob when he went to the World Series opener 21 years ago, a 5-3 White Sox victory that ended when Bobby Jenks struck out Houston's Adam Everett with Pierzynski behind the plate.

There is a graphic installation at Rate Field that marks the section where the pope sat for Game 1. The White Sox went on to a four-game sweep for the championship.

The first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church has received several sports-related gifts since he was elected last May.

He was given a pinstriped No. 14 White Sox jersey with “Konerko” and “Pope Leo” written on the back and signed by former White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who wore No. 14 during his playing career. He also has a bat that once belonged to Hall of Famer Nellie Fox, who spent most of his career with the White Sox.

Shortly after he became the pope, Leo was given a custom Chicago Bears jersey from Vice President JD Vance. He was presented with a Chicago Bulls jersey with No. 14 and “Pope Leo” on the back from Bulls radio broadcaster Chuck Swirsky in November.

The White Sox plan to pay tribute to Leo at their Aug. 11 game against Cincinnati, handing out pope-themed hats to fans. The hats are shaped like the pope’s miter, with the team’s sock logo in the middle.

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