Prosecutors are seeking to convince a state judge this week that they have enough evidence against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus last September. Kirk’s parents and widow, Erika Kirk, were in the courtroom for the first time, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.

The hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence in the case so far. After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

The preliminary hearing is set to continue Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Here's the latest:

No major reveals in first day of Kirk murder case hearing

There were no major revelations on Monday in what’s scheduled to be a weeklong hearing to determine if defendant Tyler Robinson should stand trial in last year’s assassination of activist Charlie Kirk.

Prosecutors presented testimony from a former officer who said he found a “sniper pad” on the roof of a nearby building. They also submitted several videos of Kirk being shot, but those were not shown publicly because of their graphic nature.

Erika Kirk leaves Utah courthouse

Charlie Kirk’s widow has left the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo.

Erika Kirk, along with Charlie Kirk’s parents, attended the preliminary hearing of the man accused of shooting her husband.

She walked straight to her car flanked by security and did not stop to speak to media.

Court ends for the day

Shortly after the break, prosecutors requested that court end for the day. They said they wanted to spend the evening preparing a copy of a video that they want to introduce into evidence.

They plan to try to introduce a copy of a video that doesn’t have added markings, including a blur and a circle. Earlier during the hearing, State District Judge Tony Graf declined to admit a video into evidence, in part because it had been altered.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team says they don’t mind ending 15 minutes earlier than planned.

The preliminary hearing will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Judge orders 10-minute break

The judge announced the unscheduled break shortly after attorneys on both sides approached the judge’s bench so they could discuss something in private.

Doorbell video shows shooting suspect’s car, investigator says

Prosecutors have played a series of video clips taken from a Utah resident’s doorbell camera.

The clips showed a vehicle parking across the street from the home with the camera, a person leaving the vehicle, and then a person returning to the vehicle before it drives away.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says investigators believe the camera captured Tyler Robinson and his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Judge rejects a video exhibit for now

State District Judge Tony Graf says he won’t admit a video exhibit after the defense team raised concerns that it had been altered and there was no one to talk about exactly what was changed.

The video in question appears to consist of a variety of clips taken from different sources.

It’s possible the video could still be admitted later, but the prosecution team would likely have to have a witness explain exactly how it was created and where the clips originated.

Attorneys debate over whether the shooting suspect can be pointed out in court

When Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill asked Hull to look around the courtroom and point out the suspect he identified during his investigation, the defense team objected.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester told the judge that would amount to “unduly suggestive in-court identification,” violating Tyler Robinson’s constitutional rights.

Nester said there is a lot of case law that says asking a witness to identify a defendant in a courtroom — particularly when that defendant is the only person sitting at the table with defense attorneys — is unduly suggestive, essentially tainting the identification.

The judge called attorneys on both sides up to the bench to privately discuss the matter. When the discussion was over, the judge said the court record will show that Robinson was identified.

Investigator describes the search for a suspect

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says his primary focus on Sept. 10 was to identify the person who had been seen on the roof at Utah Valley University.

Investigators reviewed hundreds of hours of video, including university surveillance footage, to try to track the suspect’s movements both before and after the shooting, he said.

Investigators also interviewed people in hopes of identifying the person who jumped off the roof, Hull said.

Washington County officials later contacted investigators to report that an individual had come forward with Tyler Robinson’s name, Hull said.

Court is back in session

Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing is underway again after a 15-minute afternoon break.

Much of the past hour has been spent with prosecutors introducing evidence collected by state investigators in the first hours and days after Charlie Kirk was shot, including videos and written statements.

Before the break, former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull described how Kirk’s team loaded him into a vehicle and rushed him to a hospital immediately after the shooting.

Kirk was declared dead at the hospital, and a medical examiner was called in to conduct an autopsy, Hull said.

Court takes an afternoon break

State District Judge Tony Graf has placed the hearing on a 15-minute afternoon break.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull will return to the witness stand after the break.

Judge weighs whether to ‘publish’ evidence

State District Judge Tony Graf is considering several things when deciding whether graphic videos of the shooting and other evidence should be “published,” a legal term that means shown in court.

In some cases, he has found that videos can be shown in court and on the livestream of the hearing. In other cases, he is allowing video to be introduced as evidence but says it can’t be shown in the courtroom or on the livestream.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team has argued that some of the videos may have been altered, with clips taken from longer videos. They’ve also said some evidence may violate Robinson’s due process rights in part because the people who made or edited the videos aren’t in court to testify.

But the prosecution team has generally taken the stance that the records are public and should be published in court. In some cases, they have asked that redacted versions be published.

An attorney for the press has argued that the public has the right to see the exhibits, since they will be used by the court to decide whether the case proceeds.

The judge is also considering whether some of the video or written evidence is so prejudicial that it would make it hard to find impartial jurors if the case goes to trial.

Judge allows statement verifying video of event from woman who isn’t in court

David Sturgill with the Utah County Attorney’s Office is asking former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull to describe the evidence he collected during the shooting investigation.

Hull says phone tips from members of the public poured in, along with many cellphone videos of the shooting taken by people who attended the event. Prosecutors want to present some of those videos, including one from a woman who also wrote a statement confirming she took it.

But defense attorney Kathryn Nester has objected to the video and the written statement, saying they shouldn’t be admitted in part because the woman isn’t present in court to testify about them. It’s difficult for the court to assess a witness’s reliability when the witness isn’t there to be cross-examined, Nester says.

State District Judge Tony Graf says the evidence is allowable under a rule governing “reliable hearsay.”

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The spelling of David Hull's last name has been corrected

Officer’s body camera battery apparently died shortly after the shooting

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley about security plans, body camera footage and any evidence found on the day Charlie Kirk was shot.

Bagley said he wasn’t given any tactical or operational plans before the event.

After the shooting, Bagley looked on the roof of the Losee building, but says he didn’t find any spent casings at that point. His body camera stopped recording while he was on the roof.

“I think my battery died. I don’t know,” Bagley says. He didn’t go back to the roof once his body camera was charged because it was too chaotic, he said.

He has about 27 minutes of body camera footage from that day, Bagley said.

State investigator describes leading the investigation into Kirk’s shooting

Hull, who now works for the Utah Department of Public Safety, says he investigated major crimes when he worked for the State Bureau of Investigation.

He explained how SBI helps other law enforcement agencies process crime scenes and investigate after serious incidents.

Hull says he wasn’t familiar with Charlie Kirk or Utah Valley University before he was asked to help with the shooting investigation. He was eventually tasked with leading the investigation.

Utah state investigator takes the stand

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley is done testifying.

David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent, is called to the stand.

Preliminary hearing resumes after lunch break

Court is back in session for Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing after an hourlong lunch break.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is expected to continue her cross-examination of former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

Members of the press are camped outside the courthouse

Television crews, photographers and writers are camped outside the Fourth Judicial District Courthouse in Provo, Utah.

Seats inside the courtroom are limited, so many members of the press are covering Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing from the sidewalks outside. They’re watching the building entrances to see who is coming and going, hoping for any opportunity to interview those involved with the case.

Security is tight, and surveillance teams can be seen on rooftops. A drone buzzes overhead occasionally.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, are at the hearing today. So is Donald Trump Jr. and far-right influencer Jack Posobiec.

Robinson’s parents have also been attending the hearing.

The court breaks for lunch

The judge has called a break for lunch. Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing will resume after the hourlong break.

Utah is an ‘open carry’ gun law state

Utah is an open carry state, former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley told defense attorney Kathryn Nester.

Utah state laws allow adults to carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit, though there are restrictions for people ages 18 to 20.

There are some exceptions at public colleges, however. Utah Valley University says it follows state law and allows gun owners to carry a concealed firearm if they have a permit.

Nester is questioning Bagley about the report he wrote after the shooting, including his observation about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled.

Bagley acknowledged that he never took custody of the holster and doesn’t know if it was ever fingerprinted.

Defense begins cross-examination of former university officer

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is cross-examining former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

She asked Bagley if he ever attended a meeting to discuss how officers would keep people safe on the day of the shooting. Bagley said he did not.

Bagley said there were six officers working that day. Thousands of people attended the event.

There were no metal detectors being used to screen the crowd, and no drones being used for security, Bagley said.

He also said there were no law enforcement officers on the roof, stairway or walkway when he arrived to work that day.

Officer describes seeing a ‘sniper pad’ disturbance in gravel rooftop

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley says he saw a disturbance in the gravel rooftop of the Losee building that looked like a “sniper pad,” where someone might have been lying in a position that would allow them to shoot a weapon.

The disturbance included spots that looked like they were made by two elbows and two knees, as well as a spot where someone might have laid a gun down. Bagley says he put police tape around the scene to keep people from going near it.

He then realized that they probably did not have a shooter in custody, Bagley said, and so called to have the building searched and secured.

Bagley also went to watch some surveillance video, which showed an individual run to the edge of the roof and drop down. He found a shoe print in the grass on the north-east side of the building, he said.

Preliminary hearing resumes after break

Court is back in session after a 15-minute break. Judge Tony Graf is talking to attorneys about how exhibits are being handled in court.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and widow left the courtroom before the shooting was described

The three of them walked out of the courtroom about a minute after former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot.

Kirk’s mother, Kathryn Kirk, clutched a pocket-sized packet of tissues. She had been listening to the proceedings with her head bowed and eyes closed. Widow Erika Kirk had been leaning her head on the shoulder of a blonde woman sitting to her right.

Defendant Tyler Robinson has meanwhile been sitting quietly between his attorneys at the defense table, looking at the exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He’s wearing a gray suit, a pale pink shirt, and a tie, with his wrists shackled to a chain around his waist.

Bagley says he spotted something ‘out of place’ on a rooftop

Before a 15-minute recess Monday, former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley said that shortly after the shooting last September, he ran up a public staircase to reach the roof of the Losee Center building, which he knew had a clear line of sight to the location where Charlie Kirk was sitting when he was shot.

On the roof, he spotted something “that looked out of place to me,” Bagley said. It was a red-and-black screwdriver.

Officer describes hearing a shot and chaos erupting

Bagley says he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk as the conservative activist spoke on campus.

Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot, he said, and chaos erupted.

People got up and started running.

Within a few moments, Bagley says he heard officers over the radio say that someone was in custody, so he began assessing the crowd for injuries.

Then he began working to “preserve the crime scene,” Bagley said.

He spotted a pistol holster that had been left on the ground, but knew that he had heard a rifle shot rather than a pistol shot, Bagley added.

Officer details the start of his workday on the day Kirk was shot

Bagley says that on the day of the shooting, he got to work around 11 a.m., and his job was to secure an area near a campus building called the Hall of Flags.

Bagley is using aerial drone photos to describe the layout, including whether there is a clear line of sight or view between different places on campus and the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot.

Officer describes the university setting where Kirk was shot

Former Utah Valley police officer Chris Bagley is describing the university campus where Charlie Kirk was shot.

He is using a drone image of Utah Valley University taken in December to set the scene, including a parking garage and campus buildings.

But Robinson’s defense team says he hasn’t adequately shown that he took the photo or that it accurately depicts the campus.

State District Judge Tony Graf says Bagley has first-hand knowledge of the area, so he is allowing it to be used as evidence.

Robinson’s parents are sitting in the courtroom gallery

They are a few rows behind Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, who is watching the proceedings with a furrowed brow.

The first witness has been called

Prosecutors have called Spanish Fork Police Officer Chris Bagley to the stand. Bagley was an officer at Utah Valley University when Charlie Kirk was shot there last year.

Donald Trump Jr. is attending the preliminary hearing

Trump Jr. was among the conservative political figures who spoke at Kirk’s memorial service last year.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s assassination. Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence, and the preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to allow the criminal case to proceed.

As many as 50 exhibits are expected during the hearing

Chief Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told state District Judge Tony Graf that the exhibits will include several videos of the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting, which occurred as Kirk was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University.

The videos will be shown on a courtroom monitor that is being set up so that it won’t be captured by the press videographer in the courtroom, Graf said.

Courtroom spectators told to treat the hearing with respect

The judge says people in the courtroom need to show proper decorum during the preliminary hearing.

Spectators aren’t allowed to display pins, clothing, photos or other visible demonstrations of support for anyone involved in the hearing. That includes things like shaking heads, Graf said.

Decorum rules like these are common during court proceedings.

Most witnesses will also be kept out of the hearing until it is time for them to testify, Graf said.

The hearing will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT each day, with two 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch break at noon. It is expected to last a week.

Preliminary hearing begins for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

State District Judge Tony Graf is going over his rules for the hearing, including some limitations on the use of technology such as cellphones and laptops.

Graf says the court has the duty to protect and uphold the rights of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing the Turning Point USA founder, and those of Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

Kirk’s widow arrives at the courthouse

Erika Kirk has arrived at the Utah courthouse for the preliminary hearing of the man accused of killing her husband, Charlie Kirk.

Three men escorted her into the building several minutes before the hearing was expected to begin.

Charlie Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrived separately.

Court hearing in Kirk’s death draws the curious, heavy security

Armed officers with binoculars are on the roof of the courthouse where Tyler Robinson faces a key hearing in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

More officers are on the ground outside the courthouse. A drone was also flying overhead. Robinson’s defense team arrived at Utah County court with a dolly to move boxes of documents.

The focus of the hearing is whether there’s enough evidence to send Robinson to trial and whether the death penalty will be an option if there’s a conviction.

Shelly Juber, who lives nearby in Orem, got one of the 14 courtroom seats set aside for the public.

“I’m a trial watcher, true-crime enthusiast. … My grandson’s girlfriend was there the day it happened,” she said, referring to Utah Valley University.

A former Utah judge says prosecutors will likely clear the legal bar to pursue a murder case

For Tyler Robinson to be found guilty at trial, prosecutors will have to prove without any reasonable doubt that he killed Kirk. But the criteria for this week’s preliminary hearing are less strict.

Mark Kouris, who was a prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City, says there’s a low threshold for prosecutors to show the case against Robinson should proceed to trial.

“Effectively, it’s 51% — there’s a 51% chance they did it,” Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, said in an interview. “This standard is extremely low, and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing.”

Kirk’s family says his death ‘irrevocably impacted our lives’

Charlie Kirk’s family thanked supporters for their kindness and prayers ahead of Monday’s preliminary hearing.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” Erika Kirk, his widow, said in a statement posted on X, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

She added that the public outpouring “has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives.”

The statement was posted on behalf of Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, his widow and his sister Mary.

“Out of respect for the judicial process, we will not be commenting further at this time,” the brief statement said.

Kirk’s widow has said she forgives the man accused of killing him

Erika Kirk forgave defendant Tyler Robinson during her husband’s memorial service in September.

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said as she struggled to hold back tears.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did. It is what Charlie would do,” she added.

Her declaration was an outlier among prominent conservatives, including President Donald Trump, who said in September on Fox News that he hopes Robinson gets the death penalty.

Erika Kirk took the helm of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement that her husband co-founded, shortly after her husband’s death.

She is expected in court throughout the week with her husband’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk.

Robinson’s attorneys tried to block the death penalty

State District Judge Tony Graf said recently that prosecutors violated his restrictions on talking outside the courtroom when Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard told a media outlet his office had ample evidence to convict Tyler Robinson of killing Charlie Kirk.

Robinson’s lawyers argued the comments were intended to influence potential jurors. As a punishment, they wanted the judge to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

But Graf said that was too severe, and that Ballard's comments weren’t malicious.

The judge said any potential bias issues could be addressed by expanding the jury pool or more closely questioning potential jurors when the case goes to trial.

Will Robinson face the death penalty?

Starting with today’s hearing, the focus of the case shifts to whether there is enough evidence for a trial and whether the death penalty is warranted, said Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor and former federal judge.

Cassell said evidence made public to date in court filings suggests prosecutors have “an overwhelming case.”

“This seems like the proverbial slam dunk at this stage of the case, where the only issue is whether there is a sound basis for moving forward with a trial on the merits,” he said.

A death sentence is an option in Utah only when a crime has aggravating circumstances. Prosecutors will argue in Robinson’s case that Kirk’s shooting endangered others in attendance.

What information is publicly known about the case?

Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle used to kill Kirk, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.

Robinson’s parents had confronted him after authorities released a surveillance photo of the suspect and details about the rifle, authorities have said. His parents convinced him to meet with a family friend, a retired sheriff’s deputy who reportedly helped arrange for Robinson to turn himself in.

Prosecutors have said Robinson left a note for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” They also said he wrote to his roommate in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block prosecutors from using recorded statements from Robinson’s roommate during the hearing. The defense wanted the roommate to testify in person so Robinson could exercise his right to challenge the credibility of witnesses against him. Graf said the time for challenging witnesses would come later.

What to expect during today’s hearing

The proceeding will resemble a mini-trial, with prosecutors planning to offer DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, testimony from investigators, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are not required to present all their evidence and can use secondhand information or hearsay.

After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

Prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors have to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors will lay out their case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk’s widow and parents are expected this week in a Utah court where prosecutors seeking the death penalty will argue that the man charged with killing the conservative activist should stand trial for murder.

The five-day preliminary hearing that starts today will be the first time members of Kirk’s family are in the Utah courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. The hearing will be livestreamed.

Robinson turned himself in after the shooting. Prosecutors allege that he also sent a text message confession to his partner and left a note saying he had an opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it.”

He has not entered a plea in the case, however.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, who was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. His attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence.

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The Arsenal forward made all that fretting moot.

Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While Portugal's Bernardo Silva argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a series of passes capped by Ferran Torres' nifty ball through the middle.

“He's one of the best in his position worldwide, and he has given us a fantastic result and a fantastic goal,” de la Fuente said through a translator. “I want to express the importance of substitutes that came in later in the game. Not just today, but the contribution in other games has been enormous.”

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010. La Roja will play either the United States or Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, California.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer's biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino didn't enter until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years this spring.

The World Cup was in doubt for Merino, who turned 30 during the tournament, after right foot surgery cut short his Arsenal season.

In the biggest moment of the year for Spain, there he was with fresh legs, finishing with his left foot into the left corner of the net. After emerging from a group hug with his teammates, Merino made a circle around the flag in a corner before letting out a guttural scream while clenching both fists.

That's how his father, Miguel Merino, celebrated more than three decades ago during his club career in Spain. And his son first emulated it after a late goal to beat host Germany to send Spain to the semifinals of the European championship two years ago.

This was Mikel Merino's first World Cup goal, and 11th for the national team.

“What better way to celebrate,” Merino said. “You remember all the good and the bad, and there have been difficult moments for me this year.”

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is considered one of the tournament's best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but didn't have many chances against Spain's Unai Simón, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spain became the first team to record six straight shutouts at the World Cup.

The best chance was Ronaldo's nifty backward kick in the 37th minute when Joao Felix’s header deflected off Simón’s left shoulder and popped in the air to Ronaldo. He flicked the ball with his right foot, but it was soft enough to give Simón time to recover and make a leaping grab.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow like I woke up today, with a clear conscience,” said Ronaldo, who a day earlier had repeated his previous declaration that his sixth World Cup would be his last. “I gave my best. I won three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal hadn’t won any title. So, I’m happy. The biggest title that I won with the national team was in 2016 (European Championship), which for me had the same dimension as a World Cup, honestly.”

Portugal desperately pushed for an equalizer in the final eight minutes of stoppage time. Silva had a header that went just over the top of the net.

The defensive struggle came just two days shy of a year since Portugal beat Spain in a riveting UEFA Nations League final that went to penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw.

The other World Cup meeting was Spain's 1-0 victory — also in the round of 16 — when La Roja won the title in South Africa.

“It was a great match. Two superb teams,” de la Fuente said. “As we had said it, it was like an anticipated final. As it was expected, we had to suffer until the very end.”

Until Spain didn't have to suffer anymore — thanks to its super sub.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley said he witnessed Kirk's shooting while the conservative activist was speaking on Sept. 10 to a crowd of thousands. Soon after, Bagley went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk's location, he said.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said, adding, "you’ve got markings of elbows, knees and feet.”

The testimony came as Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, were in the courtroom for the first time since the case began, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler Robinson. A five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case.

There were no major revelations on the first day, although prosecutors aired new video that investigators believe showed Robinson getting in and out of his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Robinson's parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks as the hearing began. The 23-year-old defendant is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist and ally of Trump. Robinson turned himself in the day after the shooting.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

A low threshold for prosecutors

Prosecutors showed several videos of Kirk's shooting as they made their case to state District Judge Tony Graf. Attorneys from both sides tried to shield their monitors from spectators in the court gallery, after Graf said the assassination videos couldn't be publicized because of their graphic nature.

Utah State Bureau of Investigations Agent David Hull described the videos during questioning by prosecutors: They showed the crowd milling around at the event, Kirk interacting with some of the spectators, the harrowing moment when he was shot and, finally, an anxious scene as Kirk's security detail picked him up and took him away while administering first aid.

Robinson sat quietly between his attorneys throughout the hearing, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He wore a gray suit, and his wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.

Charlie Kirk's parents and widow walked out of the courtroom when a police officer started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot. They later returned.

The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors, as a result, should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City.

“This standard is extremely low and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing," said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Bagley, the prosecution's first witness, said he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk’s body as Kirk spoke on campus. Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot.

“I saw him go to the left ... I could no longer see the right side of his body,” Bagley said. “Then everybody started getting up and started to run, more of a chaos situation.”

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled. Bagley acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.

Utah is an open carry state, meaning people can carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit.

Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge. However, Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in or had circles drawn around individuals.

Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

Any evidence from this week’s hearing would have to be reintroduced to be used at trial.

Roommate's recorded testimony could be focal point

Prosecutors have said they plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are also expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Robinson's roommate is not expected to testify in person during the hearing. Still, the roommate's recorded testimony could be a focal point for prosecutors. In addition to the alleged confession note, Robinson reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

Erika Kirk says court proceedings are a 'painful reminder'

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

The Republican president has said he hopes Robinson receives the death penalty.

Erika Kirk said during his memorial service that she forgives Robinson.

Ahead of Monday's hearing, she thanked supporters in a statement for their kindness and prayers.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” she wrote, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Evaniel Johnson said he is waiting to see if video footage supports the police narrative that his 20-year-old grandson, Tyrin Johnson, turned toward U.S. guard members with a gun while running from them early Sunday. Memphis police say the guard members were responding to a report of gunfire.

The National Guard members had been assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis created last year by President Donald Trump, who has sent troops and federal agents to Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden.

“Show me the video,” Evaniel Johnson told The Associated Press. “Please show me that — and then I’m OK. Until you show me that, I’m gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there’s no breath in me.”

Johnson, a former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville, disputes that his grandson would have tried to fire a gun at U.S. guard members and that deadly force would be needed if he was running away. His grandson, he said, was “no hoodlum.”

According to his grandfather, Tyrin Johnson carried a gun for protection after being “jumped” recently in Nashville and was likely wary about being attacked again over a murky social media feud.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it is reviewing the shooting and that two guard members fired their weapons. Johnson’s family says they were told by the TBI that he was shot twice in the chest. The Memphis Police Department declined to comment on what footage existed and when it would be released.

The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the two members involved in the shooting had been placed on leave.

Democrats call for a transparent investigation

Tennessee Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari and Chairwoman London Lamar, both of Memphis, issued joint statement expressing their sympathy and emphasizing the need for transparency during the investigation. They asked the TBI to release any available video as soon as it is possible to do so without jeopardizing the investigation.

“Transparency serves everyone — the Johnson family, the members of the National Guard involved, and a community that deserves confidence in the outcome, whatever the facts ultimately show,” they wrote.

State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat running for the U.S. House, echoed the call for a transparent investigation and demanded the disbanding of the federal task force.

“Memphis does not need armed soldiers in our streets terrifying our people,” he said in a statement.

Trump's decision to send Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis to combat crime was met with a mixed response from residents and was the subject of a lawsuit. However, it was never the subject of widespread protests.

TBI data shows that at least three people have died in four shootings by officers tied to the federal task force.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee embraced federal intervention, while Democratic Memphis Mayor Paul Young took a pragmatic approach. Young said he never asked for National Guard troops but recognized they were coming regardless of his opinion.

Evaniel Johnson wishes his grandson stayed home that weekend

Tyrin Johnson did not appear to have a criminal history besides a handful of traffic violations, according to a review of online federal and state court records and Memphis and Nashville courts. In May, he was arrested for failing to appear at a 2025 hearing for driving without a license in Wilson County, just outside Nashville. He bonded out, records show.

He was enrolled in Tennessee State University from August 2023 to May 2024, according to university spokesperson Angel Higgins.

Evaniel Johnson said he had hoped his grandson would return to university and he was training him to take on a bigger role in the family's real estate development business, including lining up a project for him in Nashville to oversee in the coming weeks.

On the Fourth of July, Evaniel Johnson said his family had gathered on his back porch in Nashville to play cards. He wished his grandson had stayed with them. Instead, Tyrin Johnson ended up in Memphis.

“He was down there like all the rest of the people trying to enjoy the Fourth of July,” Johnson said. “His future was buying homes, living life, taking care of his little baby. He had a future. It’s gone now.”

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Brook reported from New Orleans.

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

On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

Trump rang a ceremonial bell Monday as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq opened, reflecting how much he's counting on the stock market as he promoted the launch of Trump Accounts for children, which Republicans created in their 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

And Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, as Kyiv tries to refocus his attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East.

The Latest:

Senate Democrats' campaign arm says it won’t spend money in Maine if Platner is the nominee

The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out of the Maine Senate race and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

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Balogun is in starting lineup for World Cup match vs Belgium

Folarin Balogun is in the United States’ starting lineup for Monday’s World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium after his red-card suspension was lifted by FIFA in a decision that sparked an uproar across the sport.

Balogun’s red card was assessed for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

Following a phone call from Trump to FIFA’s president, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year, prompting the European governing body UEFA to call the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium’s attempt to have FIFA reinstate the suspension was denied by FIFA’s appeals committee, which said the Belgian federation lacked standing.

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Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters don’t apply to DC pipe bomb suspect, judge rules

Trump’s mass pardons for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol don’t apply to a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump’s blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the attack on the Capitol.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump’s parsons. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped.”

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Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine candidate faces sexual assault allegation

Democrats began pulling their endorsements for Graham Platner after an allegation surfaced that he had forced an on-again-off-again girlfriend to have sex.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who had stood by Platner even as the Senate candidate was hit with prior allegations, said: “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Also dropping their endorsements were Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United.

Top leaders inside the Maine Democratic Party also called on Platner to drop out of the race, a seat considered key to Democrats’ efforts to try to secure a majority in the Senate.

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Red card furor puts Trump and Infantino’s relationship under the spotlight again

The relationship between Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, long in the making, is now at the center of one of the great World Cup controversies, sparking anger, disbelief and questions about the integrity of global sport’s biggest tournament.

Trump’s intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team’s opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino’s campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

FIFA lifts suspension of US star Balogun

FIFA’s stunning decision to lift the suspension of a star U.S. player has riled the host country’s next World Cup opponent, Belgium, and sent soccer fans -- and political leaders -- into a frenzy over the influence President Donald Trump may have had over the extremely rare ruling.

Hours before kickoff, FIFA dismissed Belgium’s challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. That means forward Folarin Balogun is eligible to play on Monday night in Seattle. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, which would be the best U.S. result at a men’s World Cup since 2002.

Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from Monday’s match after receiving a red card last week. But FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

FIFA president says disciplinary committee acted with independence

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

While FIFA didn’t elaborate on how it reached its decision, the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn’t lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Trump says he’s building a White House helipad for a new, more powerful Marine One

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

Trump tells lunch guests they won’t have to talk to each other while music plays

Trump offered his playlist as he wrapped more than 40 minutes of remarks in Washington, D.C.’s heat that was held shortly after an earlier, lengthy press event in the Oval Office.

“Should we put on a little music, yes?,” he asked. “This way you don’t have to talk to each other. You just have to listen to music.”

“So we’re going to put on a little music, the Trump playlist, OK, and we’ll have a little fun,” Trump said.

“YMCA” began to play as the White House press pool was escorted back indoors.

Rapper Nicki Minaj returns to White House for launch of Trump accounts

Minaj got a shoutout from Trump as he spoke at a Rose Garden luncheon after an earlier event to highlight the accounts.

The musical artist had joined Trump in January for an earlier announcement about the “Trump Accounts” for children born during his second term.

Trump said Monday that Minaj is “great” and “so respected.”

Minaj has described herself as Trump’s “number one fan.”

Rubio also wades into the red card controversy

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump by saying “it was the right decision to reverse” Balogun’s penalty.

Rubio acknowledged that “there’s a lot of drama around” the decision. But he mused about why Belgium would want to possibly win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading scorer was not on the pitch.”

Rubio joked that maybe it was “turning into an international incident” ahead of the NATO leaders summit in Turkey this week.

“Maybe we’ll bring it up at NATO tomorrow or with the Belgians and everybody else,” Rubio told reporters Monday, laughing. “I just hope the match will go on, everyone will be at full strength and the winner will be the winner.”

Trump says Cruz only SCOTUS appointee who would get 100 Senate votes

Calling Sen. Ted Cruz “a friend of mine,” in the Oval Office earlier on Monday, Trump said the Texas Republican was the only potential Supreme Court nominee who could get unanimous approval for the post from the Senate.

Trump talked at length about how the two were “great friends” before they duked it out for the GOP nomination during the 2016 presidential campaign, “but then it came together better than ever before.”

Cruz has been laying the groundwork for a possible run at the presidency again, stumping for Republican candidates in early-voting states including South Carolina. Frequently floated by Trump for a post on the high court, Cruz has said he would decline it, preferring to stay in politics and policy.

Trump says he’s putting ‘a lot of love’ back into the White House

Trump reviewed several of his White House renovation projects at a lunch on the Rose Garden patio for his investment accounts that bear his name for children born during his second term.

He referenced work being done to the columns on the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the mansion and said he was having layers and layers of paint removed.

Trump also talked about the ballroom he’s building and his decision to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with patio stone.

“We’re putting a lot of love back into the White House,” he said.

Nonprofits and brands navigate this partisan 250th in search of a unifying tone

The United States’ 250th birthday carries ambitions to galvanize Americans behind nationwide community-service drives and patriotic brand launches. Well-known U.S. nonprofits hope to inspire a record-setting level of volunteerism, while major companies such as Walmart and Coca-Cola are sponsoring tributes and selling limited-edition merchandise.

But the private sector’s unifying ambitions have been met with a mixed response, complicated by an uneasy national mood. Fewer Americans see their country as exceptional compared to 10 years ago, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, part of a broad decline in patriotic sentiment. Views of the American flag — a prominent feature of semiquincentennial celebrations — are divided by politics, age and race.

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Hamas dissolves Gaza government, plans power transfer to UN-backed committee

The Hamas militant group said Monday it had dissolved its government in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, led by Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it would assess the impact of the Hamas announcement based on “actions, not promises” and stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu urges US not to sell F-35s to Turkey

Speaking Monday on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “calls openly for the annihilation of Israel.”

Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara for the NATO summit that the sales could soon resume.

Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would “upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East.”

Israel’s Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

Trump points to George Washington to justify enriching his family

The president has drawn sharp criticism after financial disclosures showed his family made more than $1 billion in crypto last year.

He says his sons are running the family business, the Trump Organization, while he’s president.

“I don’t talk to them,” Trump said, adding, “I’m allowed to, I think.”

But he also said he doesn’t bother because being president is more important: “This office is a much higher calling.”

Trump also offered a dubious history lesson, suggesting that, as president, George Washington had two desks — one for business matters and another for the presidency.

“He had two desks in the same room,” Trump said. “And so, you’re allowed to. But I choose not to. I don’t talk to my kids about, you know, this stuff.”

“The hardest thing to get is a helipad,” Trump said. “There’s no harder zoning thing to get.”

He added “we’re building a helipad” that will feature the presidential seal and be made of granite.

The plan marks yet another building project for Trump, who has shaped the White House and its grounds in his own image in myriad ways.

Trump questions dangers of TikTok because he’s No. 1 on it

Asked whether SpaceX shares would be donated for use in Trump Accounts, the president instead talked about how TikTok helped him become president again.

Citing a news segment about the social media app’s purported dangers, Trump said he had seen that he is “No. 1 on it,” then questioned how dangerous it could actually be.

“I think it helped me win the election in a landslide, if you want to know the truth,” he said.

As for SpaceX, Trump said he’s “a cheerleader for geniuses” and speaks to many of them, including Elon Musk, who founded the rocketmaking company.

Trump says he called FIFA president to review red card, called it a ‘horrible’ call

Asked about his role in getting Balogun’s red-card penalty suspended, Trump acknowledged calling Infantino and asking that FIFA take a second look.

The president said he didn’t initially know what a red card was or what its consequences were. When he found out that it could keep Balogun out of Monday’s match against Belgium, Trump said he felt compelled to intervene.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said to press at the White House. “I didn’t think it was a foul,” he added. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed each other and got entangled.”

He said the red card was a “horrible” call, arguing that the slowed-down video review made it look worse than it was.

“That’s very unfair,” he said. “How do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played?

Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.

“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response, but in an interview on CNN Monday evening she said she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.

“He violated multiple layers of consent that night,” Racicot said.

Platner's campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who'd stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday's was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also announced he was pulling his endorsement, as did the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United.

The Democratic leaders of Maine's legislature called for Platner to withdraw, as did top officials at the state Democratic Party.

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,” the statement continued.

Platner commandingly won Maine's Democratic primary last month, but state law allows him to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

As of Monday, Platner had canceled a handful of campaign town halls planned in Maine.

Platner was a first-time candidate who won the primary with backing of the party's left wing. While some Democrats came around to support him after his commanding primary win, Platner's controversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. A veteran who also worked for a private security contractor, Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, had a history of controversial statements on social media and reportedly sexted with other women shortly after getting married.

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn’t get so drunk “they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to” and that sexual assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves.” He's since apologized for the post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who's backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report. "If new evidence presents itself, I’m going to change my perspective — it’s that simple,” Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: “This is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Maine's Democrats have long sought to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who's held on despite representing a state that reliably votes for other party at the presidential level. After Collins' solid 2020 win, several Maine Democrats passed on the opportunity to challenge her this time and instead looked at other offices. That left the state's 78-year-old governor, Janet Mills, as the Democratic establishment's best hope.

Platner rode into the political void and pitched himself as a blue-collar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters who had supported President Donald Trump. But as allegations began mounting against him, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills' refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary. Chatter already began to circulate about other possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“I’ve known this has been coming,” said Marie Follayttar, a Democrat and community organizer in Maine, talking the growing whispers inside the state's small population that had been bracing for yet another revelation surrounding Platner. “I’ve been scared and I’ve been sick waiting.”

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.

Balogun’s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

Following a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, FIFA's disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year on Sunday, prompting the European governing body UEFA to call the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium's attempt to have FIFA reinstate the suspension was denied by FIFA's appeals committee, which said the Belgian federation lacked standing.

Belgium fans chanted “FIFA Mafia” during their pregame march to Lumen Field.

Infantino said he did not play a role in the decision by the disciplinary committee, which also fined Balogun $40,000, a penalty that can be paid by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The U.S. started an unchanged lineup, while Belgium dropped Jérémy Doku and Kevin DeBruyne, who began on the bench along with Romelu Lukaku. The Red Devils also left out Artur Teatre and Hans Vanaken, while inserting Dodi Lukébakio, Amadou Onana, Nicolas Raskin and Nathan Ngoy.

Balogun's three goals lead the U.S., which has never won consecutive knockout-rounds games at the World Cup. Belgium eliminated the Americans in the 2014 round of 16.

The U.S.-Belgium winner faces Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco. The U.S. last reached the quarterfinals in 2002, when it was knocked out by Germany. The Americans advanced to the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Trump’s unprecedented dismissal of Jocelyn Samuels and another Democrat from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cleared the way for his shake-up of civil rights enforcement, which has prioritized rooting out diversity and inclusion practices, weakening protections for transgender workers and championing discrimination claims against white workers and U.S.-born workers.

The EEOC moved forward with aspects of that plan Monday, releasing a regulatory agenda that includes proposals to end its annual collection of workplace demographic data and rescind longstanding guidance warning it may be discriminatory to require workers to exclusively use English on the job, among other changes.

One of Trump's first acts as president was demolishing the Democratic majority on the normally five-member EEOC, sweeping away what would have been a major obstacle to his civil rights agenda. His dismissal of Samuels and Charlotte Burrows before the end of their five-year terms was unprecedented in the history of the EEOC, which was created by Congress through the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The EEOC commission now consists of two Republicans and one Democrat. Trump has yet to nominate candidates to fill two open seats on the commission.

In her lawsuit, Samuels had argued that Congress established that the EEOC commissioners, who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, would serve staggered terms to ensure “continuity, stability and insulation from political pressure.”

But in a statement Monday, Samuels said she was dismissing her lawsuit because the Supreme Court's ruling in a separate case “leaves me without a viable path forward to continue contesting my termination.”

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld Trump's firing of the heads of independent agencies, with the exception of the Federal Reserve, jettisoning a 91-year-old decision that had limited when presidents can fire board members of independent agencies.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas applauded the Supreme Court's ruling in a LinkedIn post last week, saying that it reinforced that the “EEOC is an executive branch agency.”

In a statement Monday about the new regulatory agenda, an EEOC spokesperson said the agency is “committed to implementing President Trump’s landmark civil rights agenda, dedicated to evenhanded enforcement of federal civil rights laws.”

The EEOC’s sole Democratic commissioner, Kalpana Kotagal, voted against the agenda, saying in a statement that “the proposed changes weaken civil rights protections for workers and undermine the agency’s investigative and enforcement efforts.”

The regulatory agenda includes a proposal to end a 40-year requirement for companies with 100 or more employees, or federal contractors with at least 50 workers, to submit workforce demographic data to the EEOC.

Lucas has publicly warned companies not to use such demographic data to justify what she describes as potentially discriminatory practices to bolster the diversity for their workforce. In its proposed rescission, the EEOC said requirements impose “significant financial and administrative burdens on the nation’s employers.” The rescission will almost certainly be approved by the EEOC commission but it will then be subject to a public commentary period before final passage.

Conservative critics have said demographic data encourages the EEOC to assume that discrimination is behind any gender or racial imbalance in a company's workforce. Supporters say the EEOC has used the annual surveys to help identify discriminatory patterns, guide its priorities and help track how women and minorities have fared since the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

"The EEOC has collected this data from employers for six decades. It’s difficult to understand why the agency would kneecap its ability to investigate discrimination, particularly at a time when the EEOC is chronically understaffed and underfunded,” Kotagal said.

The EEOC also announced its intent to rescind 1980 guidelines defining national origin-based discrimination, which warns employers that any requirement for workers to exclusively speak English may “create an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation based on national origin which could result in a discriminatory working environment.” The EEOC argued that the guidelines are outdated and incorrectly established a “presumption that English-only rules violate Title VII in some circumstances.”

Last week, the EEOC voted to toss out longstanding guidelines on what sort of voluntary affirmative action employers can take to improve job opportunities for women and minorities without violating Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on race, color, national origin, sex and religion. The EEOC reversed its stance that employers could pursue some programs, such as training for women and minorities or steps to expand recruitment pools, without running afoul of Title VII.

Also on the EEOC's agenda is revising regulations for enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a law that entitles women to seek workplace accommodations for pregnancy and related medical conditions. Lucas opposed the Biden-era regulations for including abortion as a circumstance allowing accommodations, such as time off for medical appointments.

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The Associated Press’ women in the workforce coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The president has faced public backlash over inflation rising during his watch, as prices climbed initially in the aftermath of his tariffs and later with the start of the Iran war in late February. Trump described a recent bipartisan measure to trim housing costs as "a yawn” and tried to blame the Democrats for inflation staying elevated.

Going into the November midterm elections for control of Congress, Trump has sought to deride Democrats as communists who would have the government interfere with private companies. But in his social media post about Walmart, he said the business had trimmed prices at the specific request of his administration.

“I have just been informed that one of the biggest, best, and smartest Retailers in America, Walmart, will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration’s request to celebrate our great Country’s 250th birthday,” Trump said. “Walmart will, in particular, be dropping the price for a pound of ground beef by almost 15%, among many other products.”

Walmart has benefited in part from higher inflation under Trump, as consumers have turned to its stores and website in search of lower prices, according to its quarterly earnings released in May.

The company, in a statement issued Monday after the president's post, said its price rollbacks at Walmart and Sam's Club “are designed to help customers and members make the most” of the summer season. There was no mention of any interaction with the administration and the company did not publicly comment on Trump's claims.

The statement noted price cuts for ground beef, corn, red cherries, ice cream, potato chips and Coca-Cola and Pepsi products.

Inflation for consumer prices has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, meaningfully higher than the 3% rate Trump inherited, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some inflationary pressures may ease as the interim ceasefire deal with Iran has led to lower oil prices as more tankers can travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has famously used Walmart as a barometer of the American consumer, telling the company in May 2025 that it needed to “eat” the cost of tariffs that he had unilaterally imposed.

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump posted a little over a year ago. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says all 145 domestic cases involved people who became sick between May 1 and June 6, 2026 — and none had traveled internationally in the two weeks before falling ill.

What is cyclosporiasis?

Cyclosporiasis is caused by a tiny parasite called Cyclospora cayetanensis, also known simply as Cyclospora. People become infected by consuming food or water contaminated with feces. While the illness can be unpleasant and prolonged, it is not usually life-threatening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Signs, symptoms of cyclosporiasis

Not everyone infected with Cyclospora will feel sick. For those who do, the parasite targets the small intestine and typically causes watery diarrhea with frequent — and sometimes explosive — bowel movements.

Without treatment, the illness can last anywhere from a few days to more than a month. Symptoms may also appear to improve before returning, a pattern known as relapse.

What foods have been linked to U.S. outbreaks of cyclosporiasis?

Past cyclosporiasis outbreaks in the U.S. have been linked to raspberries, basil, cilantro, snow peas and mesclun lettuce. Although it’s unknown exactly how food and water become infected with Cyclospora, the Food and Drug Administration says people should be aware that rinsing or washing food is not likely to remove it.

2026 by the numbers

The CDC’s fast facts for the 2026 season paint a clear picture of the outbreak’s scope so far:

• 145 cases acquired in the United States
• 20 hospitalizations
• 0 deaths
• 17 states reporting cases

Sick individuals ranged in age from 5 to 86 years old, with a median age of 42. Roughly 61% of domestic cases were female. The median illness onset date was May 13, 2026.

How it spreads

Cyclospora spreads when people eat food or drink water contaminated with feces. One key detail sets it apart from many other infections: direct person-to-person transmission is unlikely.

That is because it takes at least one to two weeks outside the body for Cyclospora to become infectious after passing in a bowel movement.

Who is at risk?

Anyone can contract cyclosporiasis, but some people face a higher risk. Those living or traveling in tropical or subtropical regions — where cyclosporiasis is considered endemic, or regularly occurring — are more vulnerable.

In the U.S., outbreaks have been linked to various types of fresh produce. People can also be reinfected with Cyclospora more than once.

Those in poor health or who are immunocompromised may be at higher risk for severe or prolonged illness.

How cyclosporiasis is diagnosed

A healthcare provider can diagnose cyclosporiasis by testing a stool sample. However, detecting Cyclospora can be tricky — even in patients showing symptoms.

Standard stool testing does not typically include Cyclospora screening. Patients may need to submit multiple samples on different days, and providers must specifically request the specialized tests needed to identify the parasite.

Treating cyclosporiasis

Cyclosporiasis is treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, sold under the brand names Bactrim, Septra or Cotrim. Those with a sulfa drug allergy should consult a healthcare provider about alternative options.

Regardless of treatment, the CDC says rest and staying well-hydrated are important — especially for those experiencing diarrhea. Most people with healthy immune systems will eventually recover without treatment, though the process can take a month or longer.

Preventing Cyclospora infection

Prevention comes down to two core habits: avoiding food or water that may be contaminated with feces and following safe food handling and storage practices. This is especially important when traveling in tropical or subtropical areas.

Investigations ongoing

Local, state and federal authorities — including the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — are actively investigating several clusters of cases spanning multiple states. Officials have not yet identified a confirmed food source linked to the current outbreak.

The cyclosporiasis season runs May 1 through Aug. 31, though clusters have been detected outside that window in some years. Case counts historically rise during the spring and summer months.

Travel-related cases also reported

Beyond domestic infections, 45 additional cases involved people who became ill after eating or drinking contaminated food or water while traveling outside the United States.

Those individuals ranged in age from 17 to 89, with a median age of 43, and 62% were female. Three of the 45 were hospitalized. No deaths were reported in this group.

What to do if you’re sick

Anyone experiencing symptoms consistent with cyclosporiasis is encouraged to contact a healthcare provider. The illness is treatable, and early reporting helps officials detect and contain outbreaks more quickly.

The data, posted in late June by the Trump administration and first reported on by The Associated Press, reveals how changes in each state’s insured population led to around 2.6 million fewer Americans having Obamacare plans in February compared with the same time last year.

It captures not only how many people signed up for or were automatically reenrolled in plans in 2026, but how many paid their first monthly premiums to keep coverage, according to Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, who reviewed the dataset. She said it accounts for people who were retroactively removed from coverage after a nonpayment grace period ended.

“This is the first time we’ve seen state-level data that shows how much ACA marketplace enrollment truly fell,” Cox said. “It’s in line with our expectations, but it does show a very steep drop in the number of people with ACA coverage.”

Healthcare affordability is a central issue to voters

Health analysts have kept a close eye on changes in ACA enrollment since the expiration of so-called enhanced premium tax credits caused many Americans’ monthly health insurance fees to double or triple, forcing some to forgo coverage entirely. The subsidies had been at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal.

Health insurance costs have been rising across ACA and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns.

In a report released last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the significant drop in enrollment this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But analysts have said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, and other changes, including tightened requirements on which immigrants could access subsidized plans.

Mike Rhoads, deputy commissioner of life and health at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, cited a crackdown on fraudulent enrollments as one reason ACA enrollments dropped. But he said in his state, the biggest factor was money.

“It's all about affordability at this point in time,” he said in an interview, adding that he expects the problem to continue with insurers forecast to raise rates again next year.

Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona saw the most significant drop-offs

An AP analysis of the data finds that Ohio and Oklahoma each saw a more than 32% decline in ACA enrollment over the past year. They lost larger shares of their covered populations than any other state.

Following closely behind, and losing more than a fourth of their enrollees, were Arizona, South Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri.

Florida, a state that relies highly on ACA insurance in part because it did not expand Medicaid and is home to many gig workers and entrepreneurs, still has more residents in the marketplace than any other state, at nearly 4 million. But it also saw the highest number of enrollees drop coverage this year — around 443,000.

The data doesn’t show whether people who dropped ACA health insurance this year found coverage elsewhere, and chances are some of them became insured through employer plans or other options. But Cox said most people who left the marketplace are likely going without insurance, because it is typically a “place of last resort” to get health coverage for people who aren’t eligible elsewhere.

Some of the states that saw the largest enrollment declines were the same ones that saw the biggest enrollment gains after the federal government introduced enhanced subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cox said that isn’t surprising, because those states likely had large numbers of people who enrolled only because the enhanced subsidies made coverage much more affordable.

Only one state saw an increase in its covered population. New Mexico gained some 14% more enrollees in the government health insurance program compared with the same time last year. It was the only state in the nation that fully replaced the lost federal subsidies using its own funds.

Federal marketplace states saw biggest enrollment losses

About three in five states use the federal marketplace Healthcare.gov, while the rest operate their own state-based marketplaces for ACA insurance.

The new data shows that federal marketplace states overall lost larger shares of enrollees than states with state-based exchanges.

One reason for that could be that many states with their own marketplaces took steps to offset costs for their residents when the enhanced subsidies expired in January.

New Mexico, which saw double-digit enrollment gains, is the most extreme example of that. In a special legislative session last fall, lawmakers in the state approved a plan to use state funds to make up for the missing subsidies through mid-2026. In March, the state’s governor signed a bill to continue making up the difference through mid-2027.

Tim Fowler, public relations coordinator for the New Mexico Health Care Authority, said the state's rise in enrollment was due to its healthcare affordability fund that replaced the subsidies.

“In New Mexico, we believe health insurance should protect people against medical debt, not cause it,” he said.

According to JSO, patrol officers were called around 3:57 a.m. Sunday to Calvert Street, where they found 40-year-old Robert Miller on the ground with gunshot wounds.

He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

On Monday, JSO announced that Kala Murrell had been arrested.

According to witnesses, the shooting happened as a result of an altercation between Miller and Murrell, who began to shoot him with her firearm.

Murrell left the scene, but was quickly caught by patrol officers a short distance away.

She was charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

Ford, a nationally recognized transportation leader, said he plans to continue working on innovative mobility solutions but did not announce specific plans.

“The JTA is operationally strong and well-positioned for the future,” Ford said. “I have full confidence in the leadership team’s ability to continue advancing our mission. It has been the greatest professional honor of my career to serve this organization, this city, and this region.”

The JTA Board’s next scheduled meeting is July 29. Board Chair Aundra Wallace said the board plans to discuss next steps for the CEO position at that meeting.

Its a process that comes as the agency faces growing public scrutiny over recent service changes.

JTA has drawn criticism in recent months after cutting several services and increasing fares as it works to address a projected $17.5 million budget deficit in fiscal year 2027, decisions that impact thousands of riders who rely on public transportation.

Mayor Donna Deegan praised Ford’s tenure, saying his leadership helped make the authority a model for innovation and a catalyst for economic growth.

“Nat has been a dedicated partner to the City of Jacksonville, and his vision and collaborative spirit helped move our community forward in meaningful ways,” she said.

Under Ford’s leadership, the JTA said, the agency reached several milestones that helped raise Jacksonville’s national profile in public transportation, including:

• developing the First Coast Flyer bus rapid transit system, the largest BRT network in the southeastern United States;
• constructing the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, an award-winning multimodal mobility hub;
• winning more than $400 million in federal discretionary grants and supporting a local option gas tax extension that generated $1 billion for regional infrastructure;
• completing JTAMobilityWorks, a 27-project road-building and complete streets initiative, two years ahead of schedule;
• implementing the Route Optimization Initiative, the first complete redesign of JTA’s transit system in 34 years;
• expanding JTA’s regional footprint across Baker, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties, including restoration of the St. Johns River Ferry;
• launching the Ultimate Urban Circulator, the nation’s first deployment of an autonomous vehicle service in public transit; and
• attracting HOLON’s first U.S. autonomous vehicle manufacturing facility, a $200 million investment projected to generate $87 million annually for Florida’s economy.

Wallace thanked Ford and JTA staff for advancing mobility solutions for Northeast Florida.

“Under the leadership of Nat, JTA has built a national reputation for innovating, particularly in the autonomous vehicle space at the same time the JTA team remains true to the core of what we do best — providing safe, reliable and affordable public transportation to our community,” she said.

Councilman Rahman Johnson released a statement congratulating Ford’s tenure.

Over the past fourteen years, Nat Ford has done far more than lead the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. He helped redefine what public transportation could become, not only in Jacksonville, but across the nation. He challenged our community to imagine a future where innovation, technology, economic development, and mobility could work together to transform the way a city moves.

Under his leadership, JTA evolved from a respected regional transit authority into a nationally recognized leader in transportation innovation. He championed autonomous mobility, advanced the Ultimate Urban Circulator, strengthened regional partnerships, secured transformative public investment, and positioned Jacksonville among a select group of cities helping to shape the future of public transportation. Nat Ford understood that great cities don’t simply prepare for tomorrow – they have the courage to build it.

Every public agency faces challenges. Across America, transit systems continue to adapt to changing travel patterns, evolving consumer expectations, workforce shortages, and economic realities. Those challenges are real. But because of Nat Ford’s leadership, Jacksonville enters its next chapter with a transportation authority that is more innovative, more financially disciplined, more globally respected, and more prepared for the future than the one he inherited. That is the definition of transformational leadership.

As an ex-officio on the board, I have had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the passion, professionalism, and unwavering commitment Nat brought to this community. He has never been afraid to challenge conventional thinking, pursue bold ideas, or advocate for investments that position Jacksonville to compete on a global stage.

Today’s announcement closes an extraordinary chapter in Jacksonville’s history, but JTA’s recent work will continue shaping this city for decades to come.

Jacksonville is grateful for Nat’s years of dedicated service and his belief in our city’s limitless potential. Whatever comes next, I know he will continue to lead with the same integrity, courage, and vision that defined his service here. I have no doubt that Jacksonville will always hold a special place in his heart.

Roads will evolve, technology will advance, vehicles will change – but vision endures. Because Nat Ford believed Jacksonville could lead instead of follow, the future of this city will carry his fingerprints for generations to come. Thank you, Nat. Godspeed.

Councilman Rahman Johnson

Ford has served nationally as chairman of the American Public Transportation Association and chairman of the Transportation Research Board. His national honors include White House Champion of Change, APTA Outstanding Public Transportation Manager of the Year and the Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award.

Ford will remain fully engaged with JTA through January 2027 to support a seamless transition and assist the board in preparing for the next CEO.

Ford has not said why he is stepping down.

Hours before kickoff, FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. That means forward Folarin Balogun is eligible to play on Monday night in Seattle. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, which would be the best U.S. result at a men’s World Cup since 2002.

Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from Monday's match after receiving a red card last week. But FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

Here’s a deeper look at the controversy.

Why Balogun and the red card matter

Born in New York to Nigerian parents, raised in London, and playing in the French league, Balogun's birthright citizenship made him eligible for the U.S.

Securing his commitment to play on the American team was a coup and it has paid off; the 25-year-old leads the team's World Cup scoring with three goals.

All was well until Wednesday when he stepped on opponent Tarik Muharemović's ankle in a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32.

The decision to send off Balogun was disputed — his movement seemed clumsy but not malicious. But once a referee decides to issue a red card, the punishment is usually straightforward: The player is excluded from the rest of the game and — until now, at least — a suspension for the next game is automatic.

If the ban had stayed in place, replacing Balogun in the lineup posed a big challenge for coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The U.S. has plenty of attacking players in wider or deeper roles, but few with the combination of physical power and goal-scoring ability for the center-forward role that the rest of the offense focuses around. Likely replacement Ricardo Pepi hasn't scored in four World Cup games.

FIFA's explanation and what it didn't say

There is typically no appeals process against the automatic one-game ban, only for longer sanctions usually applied to the most serious fouls like violent conduct or racism.

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

In a statement Monday, FIFA's disciplinary committee gave more details on its decision. It said it found Balogun guilty of two breaches of its disciplinary code: one related to the red card and another for celebrating with his teammates on the field after the Bosnia match despite having been ejected. It imposed a fine of $40,000 but suspended the automatic one-match ban for a probationary period of one year.

“The sanction remains dormant during the probationary period and will only be activated if he commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during that one-year period,” the committee said.

Infantino insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn't lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Last year, FIFA suspended two games of a three-game ban for one of soccer's biggest-ever stars, Cristiano Ronaldo. That left him free to play in the opening games of the World Cup for Portugal. He did serve the remaining one game ban in a qualifier.

Balogun's case seems to be the first since 1962 in which a sending-off during a World Cup match didn’t result in a suspension. On that occasion, the president of host nation Chile argued for Brazilian midfielder Garrincha to be allowed to play the final after he had kicked a Chilean opponent.

How Trump got involved in ‘great injustice’

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said Sunday on social media after Balogun's suspension was lifted. On Monday, Trump defended his outreach to Infantino, saying he merely pointed out that the referee's call against Balogun seemed like a bad one and warranted a closer look.

Infantino and Trump have developed a well-known relationship. The Swiss soccer official became a regular visitor to the Oval Office as the U.S. prepared to host the World Cup. He gave Trump a FIFA peace prize at the World Cup draw in December, an award the organization hasn't presented to anyone else before or since.

FIFA’s statutes prohibit governments from intervening in the independence of soccer bodies managing their own affairs. FIFA regularly suspends member federations where governments have interfered in decision-making.

Pochettino, the U.S. coach, applauded FIFA’s move Sunday and said the initial on-field ruling against Balogun was “completely unfair.”

Backlash from Belgium over FIFA decision

The Belgian soccer federation said it was “astonished” when the news of FIFA's intervention broke. Coach Rudi Garcia likened the decision to April Fools' Day.

On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA’s disciplinary code says suspensions of two games or less typically can’t be appealed — though that would generally apply to teams wanting a suspension lifted, not reimposed.

It was unclear if Belgium can, and how soon, pursue an appeal to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is on standby to rule on urgent World Cup cases.

As Europe woke to the news Monday, the Instagram account of Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever's cat, Maximus — a social media celebrity in his own right — weighed in with a picture captioned: “Red card? I'm still going to play!”

Other prominent soccer voices weigh in

European soccer body UEFA criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” and warned “the integrity of the game is at stake.”

In an apparent response to UEFA’s criticism, FIFA’s disciplinary committee said “reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game.”

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken weighed in after his team stunned Brazil on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” he said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away?”

Former England great Wayne Rooney said on the BBC: “Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think the sportsmanship of this game is in question here.”

Ex-Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimović was a prominent voice welcoming the decision.

“First of all, he should not get a red card and then they should have come quicker, this call,” Ibrahimovic said on Fox Sports. “I’m happy for the U.S. team because the U.S. team has been amazing but Balo has been super-amazing.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel predicted this could set off a flood of complaints and appeals over other on-field decisions affecting key players at the World Cup.

“Where to draw the line is the question that I ask,” he said after England beat Mexico 3-2 for a quarterfinal spot.

“Our yellow card from the first minute against Declan Rice, we can now debate endlessly. I think it's not a yellow card. Do we get this back?”

___

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Video from the scene showed a section of Lane Ave. blocked by police.

According to JSO, a Ford Mustang was driving north on Lane Avenue and drifted across the southbound lanes, striking a metal JEA pole.

Police say the driver was a man in his early 30s, and they believe speed was a factor. No other vehicles were involved.

JSO is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The Republican president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

The helipad will be able to handle new choppers, Trump says

Some of Trump's major White House construction projects have relied on public money, even when the president initially suggested otherwise. Still, Trump said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the helipad.

Asked about the cost of the project and a timeline for its completion, Lockheed Martin responded with a statement reading in part: “This specific contribution was made to the National Park Service” and “conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

In 2024, Sikorsky completed a new fleet of helicopters for use as Marine One, and President Joe Biden took the first flight aboard a modern VH-92A Patriot helicopter on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — the same day the military announced Sikorsky delivered the last of the 23 new aircraft.

A Sikorsky spokesperson said Monday that the new helicopters deliver “increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time.”

But Trump said the newer aircraft were more powerful than Vietnam War-era choppers that long had been used as Marine One, and the modern ones were too potent to land on the White House lawn without damaging the grass.

"It’s not that the grass gets discolored — it gets ripped out,” the president said.

Indeed, the new helicopters have seen limited service because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, scorching the White House South Lawn.

The Marines and Sikorsky have spent years trying to find a solution to the problem, which has meant that the new helicopters haven't been used at the White House. Trump recalled telling a group of gathered military generals that a White House helipad would solve those problems.

The president said Sikorsky was building the helipad and paying the "full cost” because they “felt a little bit guilty” that the new fleet of helicopters was too powerful to land at the White House.

Trump also said he told builders to “do a beauty” and suggested using granite rather than simply laying concrete and painting it white.

“You’re landing on granite, which is the strongest stone,” the president said, noting that the completed landing pad could also be used for other events, like outdoor White House news conferences. He added that the helipad will allow officials to “finally retire 45-year-old helicopters” that had been used as Marine One.

Trump's other projects to remake the White House include tearing up part of the Rose Garden for a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and affixing partisan plaques to the wall of the colonnade for a Presidential Walk of Fame.

Trump also had crews redo the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom and renovate the Palm Room, place new flagpoles on the north and south lawns and demolish the entire East Wing for a sprawling ballroom.

Efforts to improve presidential helicopters go back decades

While the term “Marine One” is applied to a variety of helicopter models that transport presidents, the most iconic and longest serving helicopter to take on the mission is the specially modified VH-3D Sea King helicopter that first entered service in 1978.

In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush, a Republican, began an effort to modernize the helicopter fleet, but the program ran into cost overruns, leading it to be scrapped by President Barack Obama's administration.

Obama, a Democrat, restarted the program, but new technical issues emerged, and it wasn’t until May 2014 that the military finally awarded Sikorsky a contract to build the next presidential helicopter -- the VH-92A Patriot, which were the aircraft delivered in 2024.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Capt. Jacob M. Sugg, declined to comment on matters pertaining to the White House property. But he said the Marine One squadron currently consists of nine Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings that were first deployed in the 1970s, as well as six Sikorsky VH-60Ns deployed in the late 1980s and 10 of the newer VH-92A Patriots.

Trump says ‘a lot of love is being put into the White House’

Later Monday, Trump addressed a lunch in the Rose Garden patio space and detailed yet another White House construction project, this one to revamp the columns on the building's north side.

Crews have erected scaffolding and Trump said, “We’ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns," noting, “If you don’t strip the paint off, it gets worse and worse and worse.”

“A lot of love is being put into the White House,” Trump said.

He didn't say who would be covering the cost of the column work.

Coffee in the morning. An energy drink in the afternoon. Maybe a workout booster before the gym. Possibly a diet supplement and even a soda. But here’s the problem many people don’t realize they’re stacking stimulants all day long.

Tune into News4JAX at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning for the story.

Officials said it is the first of many restaurants planned along the St. Johns River.

RELATED: JAXBest 2025: Beloved European Street Cafe comes out on top in both best lunch & best vegan/vegetarian

As Riverfront Plaza becomes Jacksonville’s newest gathering place, European Street Cafe will introduce nearly fifty years of trusted hospitality, beloved menu staples, and a welcoming atmosphere to the waterfront, helping create a destination where the community can naturally come together.

Menu, service designed for Downtown crowds

The Riverfront Plaza location will feature European Street Cafe’s signature overstuffed sandwiches, fresh soups and salads, decadent desserts, premium coffee, beer and wine, frozen treats and kid-friendly offerings.

The downtown location will also offer quick grab-and-go service for employees during the workday while also serving as an inviting destination for families, park visitors and eventgoers throughout the day and evening.

“Riverfront Plaza is being created as a place where Jacksonville comes together, and great public spaces deserve great local partners,” said Mayor Donna Deegan.

European Street Cafe was selected through a public and competitive request for proposals process. The café is expected to open by late fall 2026.

Additional details regarding the buildout, opening timeline and grand opening celebration will be announced as the project progresses.

The heat and humidity will stick around on Monday. We will see a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures in the 90s.

When you factor in the humidity, the heat index will approach if not exceed 105 degrees.

Showers and storms will develop in the afternoon and evening. Heavy rain, frequent lightning and gusty wind will be possible in any storm.

Make sure to keep an eye to the sky and storms could develop rapidly. Activity will eventually dissipate later in the evening.

Storm coverage will turn isolated for most of the upcoming week with highs in the 90s. The heat index will remain near 105 degrees.

Regarding the drought, the latest drought monitor reflects improvement across our area. Several areas have been downgraded to a moderate and severe drought which reflects the rainfall we saw over the past week.

While we are still in a deficit, rainfall will once again lead to more improvement in the next outlook.

TONIGHT: Partly Cloudy. An Isolated Storm Early. Low 77.

MONDAY: Sun & Clouds. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 95, Low 77.

TUESDAY: Sun & Clouds. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 96, Low 78.

WEDNESDAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 97, Low 78.

THURSDAY: Partly Cloudy. Mainly Dry. High 96, Low 77.

FRIDAY: Partly Cloudy. Mainly Dry. High 97, Low 77.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump's blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Cole hadn't been charged, let alone convicted, when Trump issued the pardons, Ali noted in his three-page order.

On the first day of his second term in the White House, Trump erased the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history when he pardoned, commuted the prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6 attack.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump's sweeping act of clemency. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the night before the riot. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped." Investigators also used phone records and other evidence to identify him as a suspect.

Cole's attorneys argued that he qualifies for a pardon because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to reach,” defense lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors countered that Trump's pardons have no bearing on Cole's case since the president's proclamation applies only to people who been convicted of or had a pending indictment for Capitol riot-related crimes.

“And even if the proclamation somehow could apply to this case, the Department of Justice’s contrary position is entitled to deference as a reasonable interpretation taken by the Executive Branch agency expressly charged with administering the proclamation,” they wrote.

Ali was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Trump, a Republican, spread baseless conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him. Supporters who attended Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 joined a mob's attack on the Capitol, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying Biden's electoral victory.

Cole is due back in court on Wednesday for a status hearing in his case. A trial date for his case hasn't been scheduled yet.

The furor centered on a phone call that President Donald Trump made last week to FIFA head Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for Monday’s matchup with Belgium because of a red card in a game last week. FIFA lifted the suspension and cleared Balogun to play.

The decision appeared to be the first time since 1962 that punishment for a World Cup offense was suspended in the tournament, increasing scrutiny on Infantino’s control of FIFA and his close association with Trump.

European soccer body UEFA said FIFA “crossed a red line” and called Sunday’s decision by FIFA’s disciplinary committee “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” Infantino denied having a role in the decision. Trump called it a “horrible” call and took credit for getting FIFA to review the foul, but said he did not demand an outcome.

The Belgian Football Association said it informed the U.S. Soccer Federation it was contesting Balogun’s eligibility.

But FIFA’s appeals committee dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge less than eight hours before scheduled kickoff of the round of 16 match in Seattle. The appellate panel said Belgium had no standing to challenge the decision.

It was unclear whether Belgium could pursue an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Balogun’s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Claus did not initially issue a red card but showed it after a video review.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee on Sunday provisionally lifted the suspension for one year and fined Balogun $40,000, which the USSF can pay.

UEFA vs. FIFA reignites

European soccer officials reacted with outrage.

“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” UEFA said in a statement.

“Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,” it said. “When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

UEFA has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power.

Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media:

“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” said Blatter. “They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”

The Swiss Football Association declared that the “credibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.”

Coaches speculated about the implications of the decision going forward.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away? It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel wondered whether yellow cards to English defender Declan Rice and French midfielder Michael Olise could be reversed.

FIFA's disciplinary committee defended its decision in a statement Monday.

“Reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game,” it said. “In the majority of top-tier leagues belonging to UEFA-affiliated member associations the overturning of red cards is a common disciplinary measure, yet this has never raised concerns about crossing any `red line.'”

Trump’s comments

Trump on Monday called the referee’s decision a “horrible” call while admitting he was confused about the rules and punishment surrounding red cards.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

He also acknowledged calling Infantino.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Infantino issued a statement saying: “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously.”

“I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” he said of his conversation with Trump.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump previously sparked concern among soccer officials. European soccer leaders walked out of a FIFA Congress in Paraguay last year due to a three-hour delay caused by Infantino arriving late because he was with Trump in the Middle East.

After Infantino awarded Trump the first FIFA peace prize in December, Norway’s governing body filed a letter supporting an ethics complaint against Infantino that accused him of violating provisions in FIFA’s code of ethics requiring political neutrality.

Belgium’s legal options

Belgian officials prepared in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge, and their eventual defeat might not be the end.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of the match,” the Belgian federation said, ”(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.”

Balogun’s tackle

Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on an ankle of defender Tarik Muharemović.

That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.

Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup — by Argentina’s Lionel Messi against Algeria and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun later suggested.

FIFA’s interventions

This World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action even before the tournament began.

A pattern of pardons opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.

Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal’s opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.

Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal’s final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.

At the opening game on June 11, South Africa’s Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo’s and FIFA imposed a three-game ban with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.

Three players sent off in their teams’ qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.

Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Two people were briefly trapped in debris at the BJ’s Wholesale Club in Ocean Township but managed to escape, and no injuries were reported, according to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.

Flooding rains were reported in parts of New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey as rounds of storms moved through the area Monday, breaking a heat wave that gripped much of the area last week.

On Sunday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned about heatstroke and shared locations of pools and cooling centers. By Monday, he was urging people to leave basement apartments immediately if they saw water rising in their homes.

Heavy rain stranded cars on flooded highways across northern New Jersey and sloshed water into businesses and at least one hospital.

“Nothing too serious. They have us running from call to call,” said Lakewood Police Capt. Leroy Marshall.

The rain and storms broke the heat dome that settled over much of the Northeast last week.

LaGuardia Airport in New York set a record high Thursday of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Low temperatures in many places barely made it below 80 degrees F (26.7 C), preventing people from cooling off even at night.

The temperature at LaGuardia hovered just below 70 degrees F (21.1 C) Monday with the rain.

Officials in New Jersey were investigating at least 29 deaths last week that were possibly heat-related. The people were found dead on the street or in homes without air conditioning. They ranged in ages from their 30s to their 80s, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Raynard Washington said.

Autopsies and other investigations will be needed before the deaths are officially blamed on the heat, Washington said.

Other states have not announced possible deaths from the heat.

Severe storms moved from Michigan to the East Coast as the heat wave broke over the weekend.

In Michigan, two children, ages 8 and 12, were found dead Saturday in a garage after they were apparently overcome by exhaust from a generator during a storm-related power outage, Sumpter Township police said.

About 370,000 people remained without power across the country, most from the storm damage, according to poweroutage.com.

The prosecutors said Monday in a sentencing memorandum to a New York federal judge that international gold trader Reza Zarrab provided substantial help to the U.S. when he revealed paying millions of dollars in bribes to government and banking officials in Turkey and provided key testimony at the December 2017 trial.

His testimony preceded the conviction of Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla and a sentence of over two years in prison for the banker. After the trial, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the verdict “scandalous.”

In a presentence memorandum, prosecutors wrote that Zarrab's October 2017 guilty plea to conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering charges and the cooperation that followed had been “truthful, complete and reliable” and significant, useful and timely. They also noted that he had suffered “danger or risk” as a result of his help.

During a week on the witness stand at the 2017 trial, Zarrab said he was attacked in prison by a knife-wielding fellow inmate who claimed he was told to kill him for cooperating with U.S. authorities.

In their memorandum Monday, prosecutors referenced the threat, which resulted in Zarrab being moved from prison and into FBI custody.

According to prosecutors, the inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn who threatened Zarrab told him that he would be killed because he was cooperating against “big people in Turkey.”

Prosecutors also said that the government of Turkey imposed broad freezes and seizures of Zarrab's assets after he began cooperating.

The lengthy delay for Zarrab's sentencing is not uncommon in a complex prosecution that carried the potential for multiple trials in which Zarrab's testimony might be necessary.

Last month, Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan approved the dismissal of a criminal case the U.S. government had brought against Halkbank, a state-owned bank in Turkey. The U.S. government's request to drop the charges came amid warm ties between Erdogan and President Donald Trump.

After meeting with Trump last year at the NATO summit in The Hague, Erdogan told reporters that the U.S. president is quick to return his calls, an anecdote that signaled their close ties.

“With my friend Trump, we are opening the door to a new era in Turkish‑American relations,” said Erdogan, who has been president of Turkey for 13 years.

Two Gilbert police officers saw possible signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital's “cold room" after being treated by staff, according to the documents.

“Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” Dr. Aryan Toosi told an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”

First responders were dispatched to the home at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in response to a reported drowning. They performed life-saving measures on the child before taking him to a local hospital where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour later.

About five hours later, police were notified that the child was indeed breathing, and he was flown to another hospital. The boy ultimately survived and has been released.

Boy survived but his parents are scrutiny

Gilbert police are recommending negligence charges against the parents. Investigators said there was a strong odor of marijuana at the home and open doors that could have allowed unsupervised access to the pool. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case and declined further comment Monday.

In 911 calls, two relatives frantically reported that the child had been pulled from the pool as people at the scene could be shrieking. One caller reported the toddler was unconscious.

No one answered at the home where the near-drowning occurred when an Associated Press photographer knocked on the door Monday.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, said in a statement that the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”

The hospital called it “a heartbreaking situation” and declined to release further details.

When a team from the local medical examiner's office arrived in the so-called cold room, they found the boy breathing and rushed him to another hospital, police said.

Doctor's lawyer says there's more to know

Scott Holden, an attorney for Toosi, told the AP that he wouldn't make a full statement on behalf of the doctor “other than to assure you that there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.”

A GoFundMe page, which was created in February to help the boy's family with medical bills, said the toddler would need extensive therapy.

“Thank you for your prayers, your kindness, and your support for baby Vincent — our miracle fighter,” the page says.

An ABC affiliate in Phoenix, KNXV-TV, was the first to report the story.

There have been other cases of people discovered alive after being declared dead. In Southfield, Michigan, Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, was declared dead by a doctor over the phone in 2020. City paramedics had responded to a 911 call at her family’s home.

Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered and died two months later. Southfield settled a negligence lawsuit filed by the family for $3.25 million. ___ Ed White contributed to this story from Detroit.

The store would be built in an old cash-advance building if the town approves the plan. Some neighbors say the proximity to the sober-living home could undermine residents’ recovery.

“This is sober living, so I think it’s awful,” Kristie Sweet, said, who lives at the sober-living home and asked not to be shown on camera. “You don’t want to see that come in. It’s going to be horrible for those who are trying to get sober because they’re going to walk out their front door and see a liquor store.”

A person who works nearby called the proposal “a bad idea,” while others expressed mixed views about whether the neighborhood needs another liquor outlet.

Proposed liquor stores have become flash points in communities around Jacksonville in recent years.

On the Northside, residents opposed a proposed store next to a school, and the city later purchased the property.

Zoning signs are posted at the Orange Park site. Residents can weigh in at a Planning and Zoning Board meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at town hall.

Jonah Griffin, 23, was booked into the Duval County jail just after 2 a.m. on June 28 and charged with violating Florida’s street race law — specifically, operating a motor vehicle in a street takeover, a third-degree felony.

What started as a car meet

According to the arrest report, JSO assets were staged near the Wawa gas station at the corner of Beach Blvd. and Southside Blvd. on the night of June 27 due to a pre-planned car meet that detectives anticipated could escalate.

A detective responded to the area after receiving multiple citizen complaints about loud revving, loud music and people flashing firearms while standing on top of vehicle hoods in the parking lot.

More than 15 vehicles were blocking access to all fuel pumps, and more than 20 spectators were present, the report states. At one point, a white Dodge Challenger attempted a burnout but lost control and crashed into another vehicle in the crowd.

The alleged race on Beach Boulevard

The detective observed a red Dodge Challenger — JSO says was later confirmed to be driven by Griffin — and a black Dodge Charger exit the Wawa parking lot and pull onto Beach Boulevard heading westbound.

The two vehicles then approached a red light at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Grove Park Boulevard, where both cars allegedly accelerated at high speed when the light turned green. A detective reported hearing both sets of tires screeching.

The detective continued to follow both vehicles as they crossed the bridge at Pottsburg Creek, where the cars “bottomed out” going over the bump and sparks flew from beneath both vehicles.

Arrest at Riviera Manor Drive

The vehicles eventually turned north on University Boulevard, then east on Bartram Road South and south on Hickman Road before stopping in front of a residence on Riviera Manor Drive.

Officers coordinated over the radio and conducted a takedown, detaining all occupants of both vehicles.

Griffin was identified as the driver of the red Challenger. He was read his constitutional rights and confirmed he was driving the vehicle but denied racing, according to the report.

A Taurus G3 9mm semiautomatic handgun, tan in color, was recovered and turned in to the property room. The report lists it as found property connected to the street takeover charge.

Griffin’s red 2016 Dodge Challenger was towed from the scene.

Prior conviction

The arrest report notes that Griffin was adjudicated guilty of racing on a highway on Sept. 25, 2022.

Operation Braking News

JSO made 22 arrests in connection with “Operation Braking News,” a crackdown on racing at car meet-up events around Jacksonville the weekend of June 27 and 28.

Sheriff T.K. Waters said the operation was spurred by citizen complaints and the high number of traffic deaths the city has seen this year.

“Time and time again, citizens approach me at events, while I’m out running errands, while I’m out with my family, reporting reckless driving,” Waters said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the results of the operation. “Jacksonville citizens are tired of their roadways being rendered unsafe, and they have empowered me to use the resources of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to catch those who violate traffic laws.”

But ending his career with regrets seemed equally frightening to the two-time NBA MVP.

As his trade to the Miami Heat was finalized on Monday, Antetokounmpo posted a video on YouTube in which he discussed his mixed emotions with former Bucks broadcaster Jim Paschke. He posted a shorter video on social media bidding farewell to Milwaukee.

“I’m scared that the grass is not always greener. … People love me here,” Antetokounmpo said in the interview with Paschke, which lasted nearly 37 minutes. “People respect me here. People allow me to be myself here in the city. And I’m scared that I might never find that ever again.”

But the same unwavering drive that helped him deliver the Bucks their first title in half a century caused him to decide five years later that it was time to move on.

The Bucks haven’t advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs since their 2021 championship and last won a postseason series in 2022. Antetokounmpo, who will turn 32 in December, said he’d wake up each day wondering if he needed a change of scenery to have a better shot at winning another championship.

“I’m scared that maybe if I don’t take that decision, that when I’m going to be 37, 38 years old, hopefully and I’m retiring, I’m going to say: ‘Why? Why didn’t you take that risk?’" Antetokounmpo said.

He made a home in Milwaukee

Antetokounmpo is one of the most beloved sports figures in the history of Wisconsin. After the Bucks selected him with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft, fans watched the skinny 18-year-old mature into the “Greek Freak,” a two-time MVP who became the most impactful player in franchise history.

He established roots here. Antetokounmpo, who had grown up in poverty, brought his whole family with him for a new beginning. He’d eventually start a family of his own here as well.

“The city of Milwaukee will always be in my heart,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is my home.”

During the interview, Paschke asked Antetokounmpo what advice his father might have offered about this move. Antetokounmpo's father, Charles, died in 2017 and is buried in Milwaukee.

“My father would tell me go to an uncomfortable situation that can allow you to grow and chase your dream, no matter what," Antetokounmpo replied.

Antetokounmpo leaves Milwaukee as the Bucks’ career leader in virtually every statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, games and minutes played.

He showcased his tenacity while leading the Bucks to their 2021 title.

Antetokounmpo hyperextended his knee during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals but missed only two games before returning to earn NBA Finals MVP honors. He scored 50 points in Milwaukee’s title-clinching Game 6 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

During the interview with Paschke, Antetokounmpo spoke about how grateful he felt for providing that championship to the city of Milwaukee. Fans loved him for his willingness to sign multiple contract extensions to stay here.

“You don’t understand it,” Antetokounmpo said. “Until you take a break, take a pause and walk out on the street and people approach you and talk to you about it,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s when you start realizing, ‘Man, man, man, man.’ It’s bigger than basketball. You made people feel something.”

His impact was immeasurable

Paschke, who broadcast Bucks games for 35 years before retiring at the end of the 2020-21 season, emphasized how much Antetokounmpo meant to the city.

“I think I need you to know that you’ve had such an impact on everyone,” Paschke told him. “I don’t even know if you realize the impact you’ve had.”

Bucks general manager Jon Horst noted that in a statement announcing the trade, in which Milwaukee acquired Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez, Kasparas Jakucionis, the draft rights to rookie Nate Ament and multiple other draft picks.

Horst said it was the right move for both Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but he added that “there are few players in the history of professional sports who have elevated a franchise, a city and a fan base the way Giannis Antetokounmpo has for Milwaukee and the Bucks."

“He became an ambassador for our city around the world and a source of pride for our entire state,” Horst said. “Through his generosity, authenticity and commitment to helping others, he touched lives throughout our community and inspired people across generations.”

Part of the disappointment about Antetokounmpo’s exit stems from Milwaukee fans never really getting to say goodbye to him.

Antetokounmpo landed awkwardly on a dunk in a March 15 victory over Indiana and didn’t play again, missing the Bucks’ final 15 games. He said late in the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, while the Bucks said he had a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. That kept Bucks fans from getting one last chance to show their appreciation.

Of course, there’s always the possibility this isn’t a final farewell.

When Paschke noted that Antetokounmpo would always be welcome in Milwaukee, the 10-time All-Star replied that it “would be awesome if I could go and play and maybe come back.” Antetokounmpo even noted that Kevin Garnett did that by starting and finishing his career in Minnesota.

“I saw this clip of him walking into the arena, and they gave him a standing ovation, and people to this day love him,” Antetokounmpo recalled.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Márquez and his father, who also survived, spoke through layers of concrete, hearing Leonel suffer, shout for help and inhale suffocating smoke as he waited for a crane to remove the columns crushing him. But it never came. After several hours, Leonel's cries gave way to silence, Márquez said.

But even that, terrible as it was, was not what disturbed him the most. The worst, Márquez said, was trying to recover his families' tangled remains with little more than his bare hands and a saw. He sliced off limbs to free the corpses of Leonel and his mother but was forced to abandon his sister, who was eight-months' pregnant, grandmother and other relatives beneath the ruins — and with their bodies, the hope that if he couldn't save them, he could at least give them proper burials.

“It’s unfair. It’s inhumane, everything that is happening,” 26-year-old Márquez said from the overflowing makeshift morgue at La Guaira port. "We couldn’t get my brother out because we didn’t get a response from the state ... and after 11 days, we are still requesting a crane.”

Márquez is one of countless Venezuelans who, after days of torment, has been left alone to search, if not for signs of life, then for loved ones’ remains — and for some semblance of closure.

International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging the possibility that no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble, are preparing to depart. Local authorities are turning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people. But the recovery of the dead has become a pressing, and horrifying, duty for Venezuelans still missing their loved ones.

“I found her hand, but her torso is crushed," said Norely Rodríguez, trying to get her 5-year-old daughter out of the ruins in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira. “I want to see if I can get her out whole."

Residents say they are alone in the search for their dead

Many say that just as they were left without government help to rescue survivors in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, so too are they now under-equipped to unearth their dead nearly two weeks later.

The more time passes, the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira. “It has been difficult because the bodies are already in an advanced state of decomposition, decomposed to such an extent that many times when we try to remove them, they fall apart.”

Authorities announced that the death toll rose on Monday to 3,535, with another 16,740 people injured. Beyond that is an untold toll: those whose bodies have yet to be found. There are no official statistics on how many people are buried under the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to a website set up by the Venezuelan opposition.

Over the weekend in La Guaira, no government civil defense crews or security forces could be seen helping families dig. The vast majority of those working their way through the wreckage were civilians using their bare hands or rudimentary tools like pickaxes and shovels, occasionally accompanied by firefighters and Mexican rescuers who remain in the country.

There are 1.2 million tons of debris in the most affected parts of La Guaira, according to the United Nations Development Program.

“We are the ones helping ourselves: our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary Urbina, who found the bodies of her mother and brother on Saturday suspended under piles of concrete, seemingly locked in an embrace.

In several WhatsApp chats on Monday, neighbors who could no longer wait for authorities to help them recover their dead discussed pooling their own money to rent a crane — for the price of $11,500, in one case.

Search teams from Italy, Argentina, Spain and other countries have already returned home. The Venezuelan government has not yet called off the search for survivors. But officials have pivoted from promoting heroic rescue stories on social media to announcing reconstruction plans under a program called Venezuela Reborn.

“Venezuela is entering a process of infrastructure recovery, of housing recovery,” acting President Delcy Rodríguez told state TV on Saturday. She has fiercely rejected widespread criticism that her government reacted too slowly to the disaster and accused media outlets of spreading misinformation.

Anger over recovery effort mounts

Families with missing loved ones face fresh horrors as they scour the rubble. Some have searched for days to find corpses of loved ones so decomposed, they cannot tell them apart.

Others have dug and dug only to find nothing at all. “She kept asking, ‘Why did God play this trick on me?’" Geraldine Perdomo said of her sister, who was feverishly clawing at the ruins of her home for anything that would confirm the death of her two daughters.

And some, like Márquez, have agonized for days to extract their loved ones' bodies only to lose them again in the chaos of the impromptu morgue beneath grain silos at the La Guaira port, where a near-constant stream of bodies has been arriving since the June 24 quakes.

Márquez said that on Sunday, a week after delivering their corpses, he heard authorities had located his mother and grandfather. But Leonel, he said, "is still missing because of the negligence here.”

He and many other residents of the country’s public housing blocks — built years ago for low-income families by former socialist leader Hugo Chávez — say their complaints of negligence long predate this disaster. High-rise buildings housing hundreds of apartments pancaked in the earthquakes, reviving questions about substandard construction.

Alexander, a 42-year-old police officer who lived in one of the towers, was trembling with fury at the government on Sunday — for not addressing what he said were long-running resident concerns that his concrete housing complex was shoddily constructed, for not sending rescue teams in time to save his wife and three daughters, and now, for not delivering heavy machinery to help him recover their bodies.

"Not a single person from the government was here," he said, requesting to be identified only by his first name because, as a government employee, he feared retaliation for criticizing authorities.

After 11 days of searching, he reached the last missing member of his family — his 12-year-old daughter, her corpse decomposed but intact.

“She was waiting for me to pull her out,” he said, cradling the black plastic body bag in his arms.

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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled back within 1% of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligence technology industry sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%, to a record.

AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centers can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to make back all the investments.

Broadcom was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 and rose 3.7% after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off two straight losses of more than 2% on Wednesday and Thursday at the end of last week, before Friday’s holiday in advance of the Fourth of July.

The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would make it one of the biggest U.S. offerings ever, behind SpaceX’s IPO from last month, which raised $75 billion.

SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul has already more than tripled so far this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6% on Thursday alone, for example.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has seen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooed initial public offering.

It erased an early gain to fall 1% in the last day of trading before it’s scheduled to join the Nasdaq 100 index of the largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq. That inclusion will force funds like the QQQ exchange-traded fund, which mimic the index, to buy SpaceX themselves.

Elsewhere in AI, TeraWulf climbed 4.9% after it said Anthropic agreed to a 20-year deal to use its data center in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects the deal to bring in roughly $19 billion in revenue. TeraWulf is in the midst of transitioning its business away from mining bitcoin and into high-performance computing.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 54.19 points to 7,537.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 155.84 to 53,055.91, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 288.49 to 26,121.16.

In the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2% to $71.99. That’s close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.

A report showed that growth last month for U.S. recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said that some businesses said they were seeing lower prices for gasoline and diesel, easing inflationary pressures.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier and rose 1.1%.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

He grew up only five minutes away from the All England Club.

On Monday, the tables were turned when Federer was in attendance watching Fery on the sport's most famous court as he became the first British wild card to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam in the professional era (since 1968).

Fery beat fellow wild Grigor Dimitrov — a former top-five player — 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

When it was over Fery, dropped his racket to the grass and held his hands up in disbelief.

“We’ve got probably the greatest of all time watching in the front row over there,” Fery said, nodding in Federer’s direction. “And now playing here in front of all you guys, having the support and winning, it’s unbelievable.”

Fery’s quarterfinal opponent will be Flavio Cobolli, who beat Alex de Minaur.

Fery beat Cobolli in straight sets in the first round of this year’s Australian Open after coming through qualifying.

“(In) Australia I was sick,” Cobolli said. “Of course, Arthur is amazing player, but that match I couldn’t play.”

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

It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway ’s book “The Sun Also Rises” that launched the future Nobel Laureate to literary fame and put Pamplona on the map for millions of people around the world.

On Monday, the festival kicked off with a firework blast over a jam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday.

Hemingway’s 1926 novel captivated generations of readers with its sexy Jazz Age tale of American and British bohemians trying to fill some inner void with the distractions of exotic travel, vast quantities of alcohol and the anguishing pursuit of impossible love.

Its success established “The Sun Also Rises” as a cornerstone of the American literary canon, right up there with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It also popularized the term “lost generation” to describe the tight-knit group of early 20th-century writers expatriated in Paris. Hemingway's terse style forever changed American literature. In Spanish, its title is translated as “Fiesta.”

Hillmann, who hails from Chicago, was 19 when Hemingway’s vivid depiction of the bull running festival first enthralled him, especially descriptions of average Spaniards risking their lives sprinting through the streets to guide the bulls to the bull ring during the nine-day festival.

“I sat there for about six hours, well past midnight, reading the book," Hillmann told The Associated Press in Pamplona as he looked down on the pen where the bulls are held before being set free on the cobblestoned route. “And by the time I was done with that book, I was going to be a writer and I was going to be a bull runner."

Since that literary encounter, the 44-year-old Hillmann has run with the bulls in Spain hundreds of times, counting both his trips to Pamplona and his participation in dozens more bull runs in other Spanish towns. His infatuation with Hemingway and Pamplona has never waned, even though he nearly died one time that he was gored by a bull horn.

Hillmann’s appreciation led him to earn a doctorate in English, and now it is his turn to teach “The Sun Also Rises” at East-West University in Chicago, and write about bull running.

Americans are the biggest group of foreign bull runners

Hillmann is just one of many Americans inspired to travel to Spain to see the festival firsthand. While running with bulls is a cherished local custom for Spanish daredevils, Americans are still the leading group of foreigners who run at the San Fermin festival. In 2022, 16% of the bull runners were Americans, the largest percentage among foreigners and four times more than those from neighboring France, according to Pamplona’s City Hall.

Dallas-based tour operator Bruce Anderson, whose company “Running Of The Bulls” has helped thousands of Americans attend San Fermin over the years, says that Hemingway’s work made the festival a bucket-list destination. This year, his company is bringing 1,400 people to the festival, with over two-thirds from the United States.

“There’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement around just remembering that book and the impact that it’s had,” said Anderson, himself a lifelong Hemingway fan. He spoke in Pamplona’s art deco Café Iruña, which features heavily as a drinking spot in “The Sun Also Rises” and today houses a life-size statue of Hemingway bellying up to the bar.

And Anderson, with his thick white beard, is something of a Hemingway look-alike. Local Spaniards often call out to him: “Papa!” – a nickname for their adopted hero.

It is impossible to avoid Hemingway in Pamplona

Hemingway is etched into the landscape of Pamplona. Hotels and bars have busts of him or signs up that he was once there. Outside the Pamplona bull ring, which also has a statue of the writer, a huge banner hangs in honor of the novel, including a quote that shows how the festival left the writer speechless: “At noon of Sunday, the 6th of July, the fiesta exploded. There is no other way to describe it.”

When Hemingway made his last visits to Pamplona, he would frequent the Perla Hotel; his suite still has furniture from the 1950s when he stayed there. The room, which overlooks the bull run route, also has two glass bookcases holding dozens of copies of “The Sun Also Rises.”

“Hemingway did a lot for Pamplona because he made it known around the world,” said Fernando Hualde, who worked for four decades as a receptionist in the hotel.

Hemingway’s legacy has become complicated over time

Hemingway’s local legacy, however, is mixed.

Beside a feminist critique of his hyper masculine public persona, Hemingway has drawn criticism from the animal rights movement for his praise of bullfighters. In “The Sun Also Rises,” he spills far more ink on descriptions of their bravery than on the bull runs.

Animal welfare activist Brook Spurling said during a protest against the San Fermin bullfights that “Hemingway wrote about many, many themes that today would not be accepted into society. He writes about hunting, about war, and we don’t want to be appreciating these themes today.”

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festival due to the ills of overtourism the sleepy provincial city is now experiencing.

Pamplona has 200,000 residents and receives over a million more people for the festival. While most are Spaniards, around 15% of the revelers are from abroad. And many, especially the younger visitors, follow Hemingway’s example of drinking to excess.

Some locals take pride in spots that weren’t touched by Hemingway. Local literature professor Gabriel Insausti of Pamplona’s University of Navarra recalls being in a bar with a sign that read “Hemingway was not here.”

“In general, Hemingway has become a product of a franchise associated with San Fermin festival that has obscured his novel,” Insausti said. “People know who Hemingway is, but they haven’t read his novel.”

But the power of Hemingway’s English prose lives on

Hillmann said that the high percentage of inexperienced foreigners today makes the Pamplona bull runs particularly dangerous. The last death was in 2009 but gorings and other injuries are common. Novice runners can easily panic and make a wrong move that can cause a pileup or send someone into the path of a bull.

He was badly gored in 2014 when he said a bad maneuver by a fellow runner left him exposed to a bull. He thought he was dying, such was the quantity of blood gushing from his leg.

After another goring in 2017, Hillmann told the AP from his hospital bed in Pamplona that he would not stop running. “People think this is just crazy people running. There is real art. If you pay attention, you can see it,” he said then.

Hemingway's granddaughter, the actress Mariel Hemingway, recalls being treated “like royalty” when she attended San Fermin years ago. Mariel, who has written and spoken about her grandfather's battles with mental illness that led to his suicide in 1961, is convinced his work will endure.

That fascination with death is likewise timeless.

“Identity, love, purpose, and how to rebuild after profound loss ... those themes haven’t ever changed. That’s what’s great about my grandfather,” Mariel Hemingway told the AP from her home in Idaho.

“I think he captured something that will never go away.”

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are developing across southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. Currently, we are tracking storms moving east-northeast in Ware County, near Waycross, Georgia. Additionally, we are watching storms as they develop in Alachua and Clay counties.

Mainly quiet late tonight, with a few showers possible through sunset and straggler showers lingering through 10 p.m. Hot, humid, and mainly dry conditions will prevail through the week, with near-record highs. Scorching summer temperatures in the mid to upper 90s this week, with Feels Like temperatures around 102-107 degrees.

Rain chances pick up slightly this weekend as above-normal temperatures continue.

Tonight: Scattered showers with storms will shift east-northeast near and along our beaches through early evening, with isolated showers possible through 10 p.m.

Tuesday: Hot and humid with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms, 20-30 percent. Morning lows in the 70s to 80 degrees. Afternoon high in the 90s inland, 80s to low 90s along the beaches. Wind: SW 5-15 mph. Feels Like temperatures 102-107 degrees.

Wednesday-Friday: Hot, humid, and mainly dry. Near-record highs continue, with Feels Like temperatures hovering in the triple digits. Rain chances will average 10-20 percent.

Looking ahead: A slight chance of showers returns this weekend as the heat continues.

Tropics: No tropical activity is expected over the next 7 days in the Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean.

Sunrise: 6:31 p.m.

Sunset: 8:33 p.m.

Will this be the final act of his illustrious career?

“I don't know,” he said. “We'll see.”

The NHL's career leader in goals didn't formally commit to returning in 2026-27 until last week, so it was perhaps no surprise that Ovechkin remained noncommittal on whether this is going to be his swan song in Washington. Ovechkin said his wife suggested he play “one more year, or maybe two years, I don't know" — so if anyone was expecting him to announce a retirement tour for this season, that did not happen.

Instead, Ovechkin is focused on showing he can still be effective — he'll be 41 — and help the team win. The organization he's returning to has been one of the most active in the league this offseason, adding Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch and Boone Jenner — among others — via the trade and free agent markets.

Those three have all reached 30 goals at some point in their careers, and Ovechkin did that even last season at his advanced age. The Capitals missed the playoffs, but they had the same number of points (95) as Vegas did before the Golden Knights made a run to the Stanley Cup Final. Washington also finished tied for third in the NHL in even-strength goal differential.

“When you look at our roster, it's a Stanley Cup contender,” Ovechkin said. “I know I still can play, and bring energy to the locker room, energy on the ice.”

The Capitals have mostly remained competitive even though almost everyone from their 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team is gone. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson are still around, but Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Braden Holtby and Evgeny Kuznetsov exited at various points since then. Veteran defenseman John Carlson, who was in his 17th year in Washington, was traded last season.

Now it's a team led by Ovechkin, Wilson, Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois and goalie Logan Thompson — plus new additions.

“We came in looking to add skill to our top six,” president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan said. “We wanted to get a physical, long defenseman that had a net-front presence. We were looking at veteran leadership.”

Ovechkin said it took "maybe 10 minutes” to finalize a deal after telling the team he'd return. He'll make a $1 million salary with bonuses worth an additional $8 million — including $4.75 million if he plays 10 games. The contract counts just $4.25 million against the cap after Washington made plenty of use of its substantial salary cap space.

“Alex, thank you very, very much for the way you handled this," owner Ted Leonsis said.

Ovechkin appeared on a video conference while vacationing in Turkey. Leonsis, MacLellan and general manager Chris Patrick were on the call. Coach Spencer Carbery, who will be tasked with arranging all the new talent on the ice, wasn't.

Ovechkin scored 32 goals last season and 44 in 2024-25, when he broke Wayne Gretzky's career record of 894. He's still a threat in the offensive zone, although oddly, he managed only five power-play goals on 86 shots last season. The power play was a big problem for Washington in general.

The role Ovechkin will play going forward remains to be seen.

“I think we have a pretty balanced team,” Patrick said. “Like a lot of our players, he can move up and down the lineup as how Carbs sees fit, and how he wants to use the lines and deploy the lines on a given night. And obviously the power-play piece as well, where Alex has proven time and again he's an effective player.”

Ovechkin's news conference came shortly before the start of Monday's Portugal-Spain match in the World Cup. Ovechkin spoke glowingly about how Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi continue to perform against younger opposition.

“If you look at Messi and Ronaldo, those players show example that if you're able to continue show the level what you have, the skill, it's tremendous,” he said. “You can see how they play. It's tremendous. I'm really impressed.”

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for a second look at the punishment against Balogun in the United States’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. But he said FIFA made the final call to lift Balogun’s mandatory one-game ban for a foul tackle, allowing him to play in Monday’s round of 16 match with Belgium in Seattle.

FIFA’s decision to suspend the one-game ban was celebrated by many in the United States but brought condemnation in the international sports world, where some called it an outrageous intrusion. The Belgian soccer federation challenged Balogun's eligibility for Monday's match, and the UEFA soccer body in Europe called FIFA's move “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Trump criticizes the referee's red card call

In remarks on Monday, Trump called the referee's decision a “horrible” call. He said it would have been a stain on the tournament if Balogun, the U.S.' leading scorer at this year's World Cup with three goals, was held out against Belgium and the U.S. lost. He praised FIFA for suspending the punishment.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

The Republican president, who said he understands sports “really well,” acknowledged that he did not initially know what a red card is or the consequences it brings. When he learned it would lead to a one-game suspension for Balogun, he said, he decided to step in. He also took issue with the use of video review to issue the red card, arguing that slowed-down reviews can make plays look more aggressive.

“Belgium has got a great team,” Trump said. “We have to have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it’s fair.”

FIFA president defends the decision process

Soon after Trump addressed the controversy, Infantino issued a statement detailing his call with Trump and defending the independence of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement on X. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold."

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who joined Trump at the White House event, credited the president for taking action. "On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” Cruz said during his remarks. “It was spectacular.”

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the right decision to lift the punishment for Balogun.

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Rubio questioned why Belgium would want to win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading, scorer was not on the pitch.”

He joked that it was becoming an “international incident” ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey this week.

Trump also blamed the referee. Brazil's soccer federation defended him

Trump took a swipe at the official who made the call, describing Brazilian referee Raphael Claus as “a little bit suspect if you check his past.” He did not elaborate.

Claus has been considered one of Brazil’s best referees in the last few years, often picked to officiate the nation’s most important matches, including the final of the 2024 Copa America.

During a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s Senate in 2024, lawmakers scrutinized referee assignment practices but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.

On Monday, the Brazilian soccer federation defended Claus as one of the world’s leading active referees, praising his technical expertise and ethics. “There is nothing in his record that calls his integrity into question or supports any suspicion of wrongdoing,” the federation said in a statement.

The Sao Paulo Football Federation in a statement expressed “its unwavering support” for Claus in the face of “regrettable insinuations that attempt, without any basis, to cast doubt on his integrity and professional career.”

How did Balogun get the red card?

The foul against Balogun was called after he planted his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during their round of 32 match. The referee didn’t initially signal a card, but a slow-motion review resulted in the red card.

Balogun later said he thought a yellow card, a formal warning, would have been fair.

FIFA's decision drew quick rebuke on Sunday from Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, who said it sounded like an April Fools' Day joke. Meanwhile U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino applauded FIFA’s move, saying his team was punished enough by losing Balogun for the remainder of last week's game.

As the drama played out on the pitch last week, it was immediately clear from the perspective of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House FIFA Task Force leader Andrew Giuliani and Trump administration officials that the process used to issue the red card to Balogun was improper.

Discussions over the red card and what to do about it dominated the flight from Santa Clara back to Washington. The consensus of the group, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the talks, was simply: that the slow-motion replay was improper, so shouldn’t the red card be nullified?

The next day, Trump officials continued to dig into the rules, consult lawyers and speak with U.S. Soccer about the matter, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Trump was also briefed on updates as he prepared to speak with Infantino, whom the U.S. president has talked with multiple times a week since the World Cup, which is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, began June 11.

___

Kim reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press photographer Manny Ceneta contributed from Washington. Associated Press writer Eléonore Hughes contributed from Rio de Janeiro and writer Tales Azzoni contributed from Madrid.

They will be part of the team's three-car full-season lineup that also includes Pato O’Ward.

And Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, will be in the driver’s seat again in its fourth entry in the 111th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the team also announced Monday.

That means three former winners and one of the most competitive oval racers in the series will make up Arrow McLaren’s Indy 500 lineup next May. The team is seeking its first Indy 500 victory since Johnny Rutherford's 1976 win.

“Our IndyCar team has shown fantastic momentum, and this lineup of Pato, Scott, Felix and Ryan will strengthen every aspect of our program," McLaren CEO Zak Brown said in a news release. "We’ve got our eyes firmly set on the Championship as well as winning the Indianapolis 500 to secure the Triple Crown in the Papaya era. These four drivers bring a wealth of experience as well as great chemistry and will no doubt have a positive impact across our entire team.”

The 45-year-old Dixon won IndyCar championships in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020 and is second all-time in series victories with 59. He won the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday that Dixon had informed the team he would not return in 2027.

Dixon called joining Arrow McLaren an “exciting next step in my career.”

“It was a big decision for myself, for my family, and I’m looking forward to contributing to what the team, Zak and Tony are building there,” Dixon said in the news release. "As a New Zealander, being part of Bruce McLaren’s legacy will be special; his spirit and grit are still very much rooted in that team, and I’m excited to carry that on.”

Rosenqvist announced last month he was leaving Meyer Shank Racing at the end of the IndyCar season.

The 34-year-old from Sweden has been with the team for the past three seasons, earning his biggest win when he drove the No. 60 car past David Malukas to win the Indy 500 in the closest finish in the race’s century-plus history.

Rosenqvist returns to Arrow McLaren, where raced from 2021 through 2023. He won the Indy 500 pole in 2023 for McLaren.

“There are a lot of familiar faces, and we’ve got an incredible lineup with Scott joining and Ryan returning for the 500,” Rosenqvist said. "I think our collective experience will be a huge benefit.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.

In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.” He said the agency violated his First Amendment rights in a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington D.C.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever, and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever's right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the First Amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”

Representatives for ICE previously declined to comment on the warning to Streever, citing an ongoing investigation, and the agency did not immediately comment Monday. The suit also names Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose office released a statement that said “Any allegation DHS and its components are attempting to ‘squash’ free speech is categorically FALSE.”

“Anyone who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences," the statement said.

The entirety of the three-paragraph email, which carried the subject line “What's next,” and referenced a leader in Nazi Germany: “You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.

“The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall. Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.

“You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, Steinbaugh said.

Federal officials went to Streever's house the same week that officials visited Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker, at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post.

Gonyea believes the warning stemmed from writing “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted,” in a post with a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. She posted it in January, after Ross had already been identified by the news media.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’ address. Part of that post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement in June that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.”

A representative for the New York Attorney General's Office has said the office is aware of the two residents' contact with federal agents. The representative has said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

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Trump's intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team's opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer's governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino's campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

Ties have grown during Trump’s second term

On Monday, in response to the fallout over the Balogun decision, Infantino said he had been in regular discussions with Trump about the World Cup.

Trump’s own interest in soccer grew after the U.S. won the right to co-host the tournament back in 2018, during the Republican's first term, and he hosted Infantino at the White House. The FIFA president, who took office in 2016, made an impression by handing Trump red and yellow cards, joking they could be used on the press.

Since then, the pair's relationship has only grown. In 2020, they had dinner together at the global economic summit in Davos, where Infantino called Trump “my great friend.” That same year, Trump invited Infantino to the White House for the signing event for the Abraham Accords, which sought to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries, as Infantino was shoring up FIFA's own ties with Saudi Arabia.

Infantino's ties to Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020, were far more low-key. Biden and Infantino met briefly at a Group of 20 summit in 2022 and the FIFA president visited the White House at least once, in 2024.

Infantino publicly congratulated Trump the day after he won the 2024 presidential election and visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s South Florida club, during the presidential transition. He then attended Trump’s inauguration, saying they “share a great friendship.”

Infantino attended Trump’s Board of Peace meeting in Washington earlier this year where nine governments pledged $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package. Infantino pledged a new stadium, FIFA academy and various soccer fields to the war-torn region.

In December, human rights advocacy group Fair Square filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee, accusing Infantino of repeated breaches of the governing body’s code regarding political neutrality, citing examples of his public support for the “actions and policies of the US President, Donald Trump.”

Trophies, trophies, trophies

The most tangible product of the close ties between Infantino and Trump came in the form of FIFA's inaugural peace prize, which was created in November — not long after Trump complained he had been snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize. The FIFA prize did indeed go to the U.S. president, whom Infantino praised for his “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world.” During the 2026 World Cup draw in December, Infantino awarded Trump a golden trophy with his name on it, as well as a medal to hang around his neck.

“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said at the ceremony, adding that “most important, I just want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now.”

Trump has also been given other trophies of a sporting kind.

Ahead of the newly expanded Club World Cup tournament being held in the U.S. last year, the giant Tiffany-crafted trophy, with a 24-karat gold-plated finish, had sat in the Oval Office. In an interview with broadcaster DAZN, Trump said he asked FIFA when it would pick up the trophy. He said he was told: “You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one.”

Trump was also gifted a gold replica World Cup trophy, with Infantino saying it was “for winners only.”

Trump and Infantino's mutual respect

Trump has described Infantino as “probably the most respected man in sports.” They were together in a luxury box at MetLife Stadium for the Club World Cup final in July last year. There, they began planning to stage the showpiece World Cup draw later that year in Washington, when it was widely thought it would have been hosted in Las Vegas.

Infantino has embraced close relationships with previous host countries, even collecting the Russian Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin after the 2018 World Cup and, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, relocating to Qatar. While Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were also in attendance at December's draw, it was Trump who was given special treatment, alone receiving the FIFA peace prize.

“You can always count on my support,” Infantino told Trump at the glitzy event, which was closed out by the Village People performing “Y.M.C.A.”

Trump confirmed Monday that he had called Infantino last week asking for a review of Balogun's suspension, which was subsequently lifted, clearing the striker to play against Belgium.

“I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do,” Trump said Monday.

Infantino said FIFA's judicial bodies are independent and autonomous and that was “essential to the credibility and integrity of football.”

Trump has yet to attend a World Cup match, though Infantino has taken in matches with members of the Trump administration, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FBI Director Kash Patel. Trump is planning to join Infantino for the World Cup final and award the trophy to the winning team, Infantino said in a “Fox and Friends” interview last month.

___

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Officers responded around 10:35 a.m. to Courtney Manor Apartments at 5620 Collins Road, after receiving reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found a man believed to be in his mid-20s with a single gunshot wound to the leg.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue transported the victim to a local hospital, where his injuries are considered non-life-threatening.

JSO said the man and woman were previously in a romantic relationship and had separated several months ago. The man had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, where the two began talking before an argument broke out, according to JSO.

During the argument, the woman shot the man in the leg, JSO said.

The suspect, a woman believed to be in her mid-40s, remained at the scene and was detained by officers. Investigators believe the incident was isolated.

Crime Scene Detectives are processing the scene for evidence. Detectives with the Robbery and Violent Crime Unit are interviewing witnesses, canvassing for surveillance video and following up on investigative leads.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-8477.

Justice Samuel Alito, in a pair of one-sentence orders, denied petitions by plaintiffs who claim that the Texas App Store Accountability Act violates users' constitutional rights to free speech.

Last month, a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law can take effect. The panel suspended a district court's ruling last December that the law is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs suing to block the law include the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is a defendant in both cases.

Plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the law impermissibly seeks to limit access to content protected by the First Amendment, including news and educational material.

“Equity and the public interest support relief because protecting First Amendment rights — and parents’ rights to supervise their children as they see fit, not as the government tells them they should — is always in the public interest,” wrote attorneys for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas.

Attorneys from Paxton's office argued that the law protects children from “dangerous modern products.”

“A child with access to an app store and a mobile device (such as a tablet or smartphone) can potentially download any number of software applications, potentially agreeing to invasions of the child’s privacy and sale of the child’s data and be exposed to any conceivable content without parental consent or even parental knowledge,” they wrote.

Of course, when it comes to Mick Jagger and company, time seems almost irrelevant.

“No matter who you are or where you’re from or how old you are, you know who the Rolling Stones are,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch joined fellow drivers Carson Hocevar and Jesse Love for a music video as part of a collaboration between NASCAR and the Stones ahead of the band's 25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues,” which comes out on Friday.

A custom NASCAR show car served as a listening lounge for the Stones' new music during events at Chicago's Navy Pier and Plaza of the Americas in the run-up to the stock car series returning to Chicagoland Speedway over the weekend.

The partnership also includes a merchandise collection featuring the band's tongue and lips logo, along with two NASCAR-themed vinyl editions of “Foreign Tongues.”

Megan Malayter, vice president of licensing and consumer products for NASCAR, said the organization was approached by representatives of the band about working together.

“The Rolling Stones, they’re iconic, they’ve been around since 1962, and so they appeal to that generation that was there, but they have just such history, folklore, and nostalgia around them that they appeal to the younger audiences of today," Malayter said. "So there really is amazing crossover."

NASCAR walks a tricky line when it comes to satisfying older racing fans while appealing to its younger supporters and expanding its audience. While its older fans are likely more familiar with the Stones, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Zilisch, Hocevar and Love are three of its younger drivers. Garrett Mitchell, a popular YouTube automotive influencer known as “Cleetus McFarland,” also was part of the video.

“I think when you look at all of those drivers, they have great personalities, very rebellious spirits and they kind of have a rock and roll nature about them, just kind of at heart,” Malayter said.

Set to “In The Stars,” the first single off “Foreign Tongues,” the music video envisions the drivers as a touring rock band.

Zilisch, 19, Love, 21, and Hocevar, 23, clown around during a photo shoot before jumping on a tour bus driven by Mitchell. The drivers play cards before stopping at a bar. Back on the bus, Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series, writes 77 on the face of a sleeping Zilisch in black marker.

The video ends with the drivers at the track in their fire suits, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans.

“It was cool. It was fun,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, just nice to kind of let loose, I guess, on a video.”

Hocevar said he likes to see NASCAR try new ways to interact with potential fans.

“Yeah, they have to,” he said. “I feel like they just got to keep throwing stuff at the dartboard and hopefully something sticks here.”

Zilisch described himself as a huge music fan. He grew up listening to Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with his father in the car. He said he has paid more attention to the Stones' music since he became part of NASCAR's partnership with the band.

Filming the video, Zilisch said, was a memorable experience.

“They made us dress up like we were in the 90s and wear leather and have all this jewelry on,” he said. “It definitely was a little bit unique and outside of what I would normally be wearing but regardless it was just a cool shoot. We got to go inside this old tour bus and, you know, just kind of feel like I was back in the day even though I’ve never lived in that era of time.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian’s weak return didn’t even go past his own service line.

Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur.

Then the Italian moved on to the performance he’d been waiting for.

Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like Cristiano Ronaldo, he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.

The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted “Siuuu” along with Cobolli.

“I love his celebration. I love him,” said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma’s youth system. “I will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the World Cup ) tonight because of Ronaldo.”

In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.

Antonelli and Sinner

While four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the country has no lack of sports stars and a few of them were in the spotlight at the grass-court Grand Slam on Monday.

Cobolli’s 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.

At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals two years ago.

Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.

“I met Kimi afterward,” Paolini said. “I’ve been following him a lot lately. I’m becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.”

Coinciding with Italy’s troubles in soccer, Antonelli and defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner — who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals — have become the country’s most popular athletes.

Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets.

De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and was up a break twice in the third. But Cobolli wouldn’t be deterred.

“Alex is a stratospheric player. So beating him three sets to none makes me feel like I’m ready,” Cobolli said when asked if he’s ready for another deep run. “This gave me a lot of answers, and I think it provided a lot of answers to my opponents, too.”

World Cup and gelato

After the victory over De Minaur, Cobolli’s grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.

Now they can maintain Flavio’s nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove, before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli's flavor for the tournament).

“An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,” Cobolli said. “So it’s really cool.”

Cobolli’s quarterfinal opponent will be Arthur Fery — the 23-year-old British player who grew up just five minutes from the All England Club.

Paolini doesn't let Federer distract her

Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of Roger Federer in the Royal Box distract her.

At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men’s record eight Wimbledon singles titles.

“He is my idol,” the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an on-court interview. “I was like during the match, ‘Please stay focused, stay focused. Don’t think about he’s here.’ I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.”

Paolini’s next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4.

It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, as the temperature rose to 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.

Another women’s quarterfinal will feature Linda Noskova against Elise Mertens.

The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where three men reached the quarterfinals despite Sinner’s second-round meltdown in a Paris heat wave.

___

AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

___

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

Lexus Lewis, 30, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense, along with a consecutive mandatory minimum of two years for the aggravated identity theft charge. No sentencing date has been set.

How the scheme unfolded

According to the plea agreement, Lewis obtained employment in Citibank’s fraud department in 2022 by using another person’s identity. From approximately November 2022 through April 2023, Lewis used her position to access customers’ credit card numbers.

Lewis then used the stolen card numbers to purchase items including jewelry and furniture, pay her own living expenses and travel costs, and pay other individuals’ rent in exchange for cash payments. When confronted by law enforcement, Lewis admitted to her conduct.

Lewis agreed to forfeit $463,619 — the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, suffered “an adverse drug reaction” to an unidentified substance, which triggered anaphylaxis and exacerbated his asthma, according to the document. His March 14 death at a Dallas hospital was ruled to be an accident.

Paktiawal’s sudden death in ICE custody has drawn outrage because he had risked his life fighting as an ally of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan for a decade.

Out of more than 50 ICE detention deaths during President Donald Trump’s second term, Paktiawal’s is the first to be ruled an accident, according to tracking by The Associated Press. Most of the others have been blamed on natural causes or suicide.

An advocacy group, AfghanEvac, and two members of Congress on Monday called on Texas authorities to release his autopsy report, which they have sought to withhold by arguing its disclosure would interfere with a pending criminal investigation.

“This family has a right to know what happened,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac. He asked authorities to explain what substance triggered the allergic reaction, how it got into his system and why the date of the injury on the death certificate was listed as the day before Paktiawal was taken into custody.

“What’s happening here smacks of a cover-up,” added Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who said he would ask the Department of Homeland Security to release the autopsy.

Paktiawal was evacuated with thousands of others from Afghanistan when U.S. troops pulled out in 2021. He entered the U.S. through a legal process and requested asylum to stay. That claim was pending when ICE arrested him at his home in Richardson, Texas, on March 13 as he was getting some of his six children ready for school.

ICE has defended its decision to target Paktiawal for deportation, noting he had been arrested on food stamp fraud and theft charges. He had not been convicted in either case.

ICE did not respond to questions Monday, referring to its previously released report on Paktiawal's death, which said he was screened at its Dallas field office and denied any medical conditions or allergies. Hours later, he began experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain in a holding room and was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

The next morning, hospital staff noted swelling of his tongue while he was eating breakfast and gave him epinephrine, a drug that treats allergic reactions. He was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.

The certificate lists the cause of death as “anaphylaxis complicating acute asthma exacerbation.” Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction typically triggered by food, drugs or insect venom. The document lists the toxic effects of methamphetamine, heart disease and cigarette smoking as contributing factors.

Relatives said they did not know Paktiawal to use meth, and a second autopsy performed for the family could not confirm whether he had meth in his system because no blood remained for testing, VanDiver said. His wife has said that he relied on an inhaler for asthma, but ICE agents rejected her attempt to give them the device when he was taken into custody.

"What accident are they talking about?" Paktiawal's younger brother, Naseer Paktiawal, asked Monday. “We just want the truth.”

Naseer remembered his brother as a special forces soldier who fought in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. After settling in the U.S., Paktiawal became a truck driver and worked at a market and bakery, laboring long hours to support his family, his brother said.

The cause and manner of death were established by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office after an autopsy.

County authorities have refused to release the report, citing statements from ICE officials that doing so would interfere with a federal investigation into the death. They have asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office for permission to withhold the record under a “law enforcement exception” to the state’s open records law.

In response to the AP's request for the report, Dallas County official Jennifer Rose wrote that “its release would interfere with the detection, investigation, and prosecution of a crime."

Paxton’s office hasn’t ruled on the matter, but previously granted a similar request from another Texas county to withhold the autopsy report of a Vietnamese man who died in ICE custody in July 2025, records show.

Co-owner Denny Rodriguez said he found out about the fire the way only a tight-knit community can deliver bad news — neighbors frantically calling him.

“I even had people go to my house. I live five minutes away from here,” Rodriguez said.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) crews responded to the structure fire just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Nobody was hurt, but JFRD says the State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause.

Rodriguez and his uncle, Gabriel Peralta, took over Dinsmore Meats nearly three years ago after relocating from New York. For them, the shop was more than a business.

“When you do good, you give people at least love and respect, that’s what you get back at the end of the day,” Rodriguez said.

For neighbors like Kevin Lumpkins, the loss is deeply personal.

“I’m 28. My mom is almost 50 years old. We’ve been coming here our whole lives. This store is a part of Jacksonville’s history, and it’s been here forever,” Lumpkins said.

He lives directly across the street and watched the fire break out from his bedroom window.

“I look out and all I see is fire that’s like high as the trees here,” Lumpkins said.

Lumpkins was one of several neighbors who stopped by to console the owners, mentioning how much the community is supporting them through this difficult time.

“Great people, just plain and simple,” he said.

Despite the devastation, Rodriguez said the outpouring of support from neighbors is what’s keeping him going.

“The only thing that has my head up right now are these people. They went over, they called me,” Rodriguez said. “I know if somebody could’ve tried to stop it, they would’ve stopped it.”

A GoFundMe has not been set up for the store as of Monday morning. News4JAX will update this story if one becomes available.

Zaben Kinard, 30, and his wife Jasmine Kinard, 28, were arrested and booked into the Duval County jail on July 1. Each face three counts of child neglect with great bodily harm, a second-degree felony.

Their babysitter, Alexus Wortman, 27, faces three counts of aggravated child abuse and two counts of child neglect with great bodily harm.

Infant transported to Wolfson Children’s Hospital

According to the arrest report, investigators were alerted on June 30 that a young child had been transported from Baptist Hospital Town Center to Wolfson Children’s Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

A Wolfson Children’s Hospital doctor confirmed the child’s injuries included a fractured skull, a brain bleed, a fractured sternum, fractured ribs in different stages of healing, blood pooling in his stomach, and a human bite mark on his left leg, according to Zaben Kinard’s arrest report.

The doctor said the child was in stable condition at the time of the report but warned that further testing could reveal additional injuries and that the child’s condition could decline.

A pattern of injuries ignored, according to investigators

Investigators say the abuse did not happen in a single incident. According to the arrest report, the child was taken to Baptist Hospital Town Center on three separate occasions in June 2026 for unexplained injuries.

On June 11, Kinard and his wife, left the child in the care of their roommate, Wortman, while they went to work. When they returned home, Wortman told them the child’s face was swollen, he had two black eyes and bruising on his legs. According to the report, Kinard asked Wortman what happened but said he “did not really receive an answer.”

Rather than pursue the matter further, Kinard said he allowed his wife to take the child to the hospital, where medical staff attributed the injuries to a possible allergic reaction. Kinard later told detectives he knew the injuries were not from an allergic reaction.

On June 24, the child was again left in Wortman’s care. Wortman sent text messages to the couple saying she had slipped on wet grass and fallen backward while holding the child, causing his head to strike the back of her vehicle, according to JSO.

The child again showed signs of injury, including a swollen face and black eye. The following day, Kinard’s wife took the child back to the hospital — but investigators say she withheld the true cause of the injuries from medical staff, allowing the child to be treated for another suspected allergic reaction.

Zaben Kinard later admitted to detectives he knew the injuries were caused by the fall — and the blunt force trauma — but said he “did not want to rock the boat”, according to his arrest report.

Father admits he knew abuse was occurring, police say

On the morning of June 30, Kinard woke to find the child’s eye swollen shut and the child lethargic. His wife again took the child to Baptist Hospital Town Center, where medical staff discovered the full extent of his injuries.

Detectives interviewed Zaben Kinard at JSO’s Police Memorial Building. After being advised of his Miranda rights — which he waived — Kinard agreed to speak with detectives without an attorney present, according to the arrest report. The interview was recorded.

During the interview, police say Kinard confessed he knew after three incidents that “there was a pattern” and that he had failed to protect the child. He acknowledged that his wife had confronted him multiple times with her suspicion that Wortman was harming the child.

“He began to cry, advising he understood that he was a neglectful [parent],” the report states. “He knew Alexus was lying to his face when she claimed to have not harmed [the child] but chose to ignore that fact, nearly causing [the child’s] death.”

Three suspects arrested

Zaben Kinard, Jasmine Kinard and Wortman were booked into the Duval County jail on July 1.

News4JAX is working to obtain the arrest reports for Alexus Lynn Wortman and Jasmine Kinard.

This is a developing story.

A federal grand jury in West Virginia indicted Kriisa last month, and the case was unsealed Monday following his arrest by federal agents on Saturday in Kentucky. A 6-foot-3 guard from Estonia, Kriisa began his college career in 2020 at Arizona, where he became a fan favorite for his feistiness and long-range shooting.

Kriisa, 25, is expected to appear in federal court in West Virginia this week on five counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Matthew Harvey said.

“Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need,” Harvey said in a news release.

Kriisa led the Pac-12 in assists during his two full seasons at Arizona before transferring to West Virginia. Kriisa was suspended the first nine games of his lone season at West Virginia after admitting he received impermissible benefits while at Arizona.

Kriisa transferred to Kentucky in 2024, but was limited to nine games due to a foot injury. He transferred to Cincinnati for his final year of eligibility and started 12 games before suffering a separated shoulder in February.

From 2022 through June 2 of this year, he posed as other people, including his own mother, and falsely claimed that he and his family urgently needed money to deal with an emergency, the indictment says.

The indictment alleges that, in August 2022, Kriisa falsely told one victim that he had gotten a loan to repay her and then a few months falsely told her he planned to sell his organs to get money to repay her. Between 2022 and 2024, he contacted the same victim, posing as his own mother, and asked for money to pay for cancer treatments for his mother and to save the family's farm, the indictment says.

In April 2025, he signed a written agreement falsely promising to repay that victim $100,000 by February 2026.

From November 2025 through early February of this year, Kriisa repeatedly asked a second victim for money, sometimes posing as a made-up person named “Irene.”

McConnell was admitted to the hospital on June 14, according to a statement from his office that only said he was “receiving excellent care.” A statement a week later said that he would not be voting that week. And on Thursday, a new statement said that he “continues to improve” and ”appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”

His office has not released any updates since then, and a spokeswoman did not return a request for comment on Monday.

The senator’s unspecified health issues come after several hospitalizations in recent years, and as Senate Republicans are already navigating a narrow majority in the final months before the midterm elections. McConnell, 84, was the longest serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role. He is serving out his final term, which ends in January.

While he was still Republican leader, McConnell was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance. A year later, he fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs. He also tripped and fell in 2019 at his home in Kentucky and underwent surgery for a fractured shoulder.

McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, serving as both majority and minority leader during that period. He has remained active as a rank-and-file senator, showing up for work when the chamber is in session, often using a wheelchair to get around.

Officers responded about 9:05 a.m. to 1131 Woodruff Ave. and found the man with a gunshot wound to his upper leg. He was taken by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue to a local hospital, where his injuries were described as non-life-threatening, police said.

The sheriff’s office said the victim and his girlfriend had previously lived in a unit at the Villa on the Hill apartment complex. The victim went to the vacant unit to retrieve a pillow when an argument began with two other occupants.

During the dispute, a woman struck the victim with a blunt object to the head, the sheriff’s office said. The victim and the two suspects then went into the parking lot, where a man fired one shot, striking the victim in the leg. Both suspects fled on foot in an unknown direction.

Staff at the complex told investigators the unit where the incident occurred was vacant and no one should have been inside at the time, police said. Investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident.

Crime Scene Detectives are processing the scene. Detectives with the Robbery and Violent Crime Unit are interviewing witnesses, canvassing for surveillance video and following up on leads.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, email jso_crimetips@jaxsheriff.org, or call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.

All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia's main target, and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko. Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine's emergency service.

Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.

Moscow has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Those Ukrainian attacks have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance.

But Russia now is exploiting vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the Patriot missile systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors — a shortage now felt keenly in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy notes gaps in stopping ballistic missiles

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient supplies of interceptors. He urged U.S. and European partners at the summit to bolster Ukraine’s air defense and protect civilians.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he said on X following the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry said any increase in the supply of drones, missiles and ammunition produced in the West "will not go unnoticed and will be countered by a corresponding increase in the number and power of retaliatory strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory.”

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia is deliberately ramping up ballistic missile attacks on a scale unseen before, exploiting the acute shortage of Patriot interceptors. “Fewer such missiles are produced worldwide each month than the enemy fires at Ukraine in that same period,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the capital and surrounding region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia’s attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.

A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.

In Kyiv's suburb of Vyshneve, about 600 residents were evacuated due to the risk of unexploded munitions, Ukraine's Emergency Service said.

Witnesses recount their harrowing escapes

Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.

The lights went out, a burning smell filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.

“When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there,” Piatetska said. “When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire.”

Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she was awakened by the first strike about 2 a.m. Moments later, her apartment building began collapsing around her.

“Everything was falling down,” she said. Water poured through the building as smoke filled the air while emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.

About five minutes after the initial impact, a second strike hit, she said.

Ukrainian strikes reach from Russian-held Crimea to Siberia

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 613 of 625 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine’s military said its Special Operations Forces struck the Omsk oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine’s border. That appeared to be the farthest oil refinery in Russia's east that Ukraine has ever struck, and added to a long list of key refineries hit in recent months.

Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian attack on the refinery in a Telegram post but provided no details, saying only that “most of the drones” targeting the facility were destroyed and that there were no casualties.

The Omsk refinery is Russia’s largest, boasting a capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence. As of the end of June, it was producing close to capacity, accounting for 12% of all Russian refining output, Peach said.

“Depending on the extent of the damage, a sustained outage of even part of Omsk’s capacity will exacerbate Russia’s woes on the domestic fuel market and make the need to find import replacements even more urgent,” he said.

Russia has been grappling with a widespread fuel crisis from Ukraine’s repeated strikes on refineries and other infrastructure inside the country. Gasoline shortages and fuel rationing have been reported in multiple regions, with drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.

In Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, an energy provider reported a blackout across the peninsula following Ukrainian attacks early Monday. The Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attacks cut power that was restored with backup equipment.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it struck several Russian energy and military facilities used to supply Russia’s armed forces with fuel and support its war efforts.

In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, two people were wounded in an attack in which over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed, according to regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev. He didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but the Astra online news outlet said they caused a fire at an oil refinery.

Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region north of Moscow damaged unspecified infrastructure at the Luga training ground, as well as in the areas of Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.

___ Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Susie Blann in London contributed.

___

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

There are many resources out there, including these top five building blocks from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM):

1. Sign up for county and state alerts
2. 1. 1. See below for a list of links to sign up for your county emergency management direct alerts.
      2. Most counties also have Facebook pages for emergency messages.
3. Find a shelter
4. 1. 1. Stay with a family member or friend who isn’t in a flood-prone area.
      2. Know which county-provided shelter will accommodate your family, such as special needs, elderly assistance and pets.
5. Know your flood zone risk and evacuation route/s
6. 1. 1. Determine if you’ll need sandbags and window protection.
      2. Drive the best route and note construction and other road hazards.
7. Know what supplies, medicines, etc., your family and pets will need should you have to evacuate
8. Communicate your plan with your family and friends

Links to county alert websites & apps

Download the News4JAX & Weather Authority App: https://www.news4jax.com/insider/download-wjxt-apps/

NORTHEAST FLORIDA COUNTIES

• Alachua - https://alachuacounty.us/depts/em/pages/em.aspx
• Baker - https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/publicUser.aspx?regionid=1357
• Bradford - https://member.everbridge.net/892807736724821/login
• Clay - www.claycountygov.com/community/emergency-management/alert-clay-staying-informed
• Columbia - https://www.columbiacountyfla.com/alerts.html
• Duval - https://www.jaxready.com/
• Flagler - www.flaglercounty.gov/County-Services/Emergency-Management/Emergency-Alerts-ALERTFlagler
• Nassau - https://member.everbridge.net/453003085611111/login
• Putnam - https://member.everbridge.net/index/453003085613768#/login
• St. Johns - https://www.sjcfl.us/sjc-connect/
• Union - https://member.everbridge.net/453003085614879/login

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA COUNTIES

• Brantley - https://brantleycounty-ga.gov/alerts
• Camden - https://member.everbridge.net/88684095340653/login
• Charlton - https://charlton-county-ga.myfreealerts.com/
• Clinch - https://clinchcountyga.gov/uploads/1/2/7/1/127184196/ema_-_hyper-reach_sign-up_info-english.pdf
• Glynn - https://www.glynncounty.org/671/CodeRED
• Pierce - https://data.redding.com/severe-weather-alerts-warnings-watches/pierce-county-ga/13229/
• Ware - https://accountportal.onsolve.net/warecountyga

Exactly 22 years later, the 464004 SR-200 location will officially stop operations on Wednesday, July 8, to prepare for the grand opening of its new location at 463195 SR-200 in the Villages of Amelia shopping center.

RELATED | Chick-fil-A is no longer Florida’s top fast food chain. Here’s who took No. 1

The move comes after the original site near the Walmart Supercenter outgrew the space as Yulee’s population surged and demand for the chain’s signature chicken and waffle fries kept rising.

The newly built 5,201-square-foot restaurant will feature a dual drive-thru, 59 parking spaces and 94 indoor seats, according to a report from The Jacksonville Daily Record. It will also include a lane for mobile orders and an indoor playground for the kiddos.

The new restaurant will open on Tuesday, July 14 at 10:30 a.m.

Stars A'ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum have all missed time for a variety of ailments. While Wilson and Clark, who were both selected as All-Star starters last week, should be back soon, Plum will be a bit longer.

Wilson has missed three games with a foot injury she suffered against Chicago. Las Vegas' Becky Hammon said that the four-time MVP could have played in Sunday's loss to Indiana if it was a playoff game, but the coach was keeping her out looking at the bigger picture.

Clark has been working her way toward playing again after she aggravated a back injury. Clark has started practicing again and potentially will return during the current road trip that the Fever are on with games in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas. The star guard missed the first game of the trip against Las Vegas on Sunday.

Plum is out with a lower left leg injury and is expected to be evaulated in late July right around the All-Star break. Los Angeles has struggled without her.

Last season's MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier has yet to play this year after she had offseason surgery on both her ankles. She has started practicing again for Minnesota and also should be back soon.

Power poll rankings

Minnesota remained atop the power poll this week barely edging New York. One point separated the top two teams. Golden State was third with Las Vegas fourth, The Valkyries picked up some first-place votes. Dallas was fifth. Indiana, Washington and Atlanta were next. Phoenix Toronto and Portland followed the Dream. Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.

Player of the week

Breanna Stewat of New York was the AP player of the week. She had a huge game in the Liberty's win over Minnesota last Friday. Stewart scored 36 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks in the victory. Other players receiving votes included Paige Bueckers of Dallas, Shakira Austin of Washington and Gabby Williams of Golden State.

Throwback game

Geno Auriemma and Robin Roberts will call the Dallas-New York game Tuesday night on ESPN. The pair called the first WNBA broadcast on the network 30 years earlier.

“Yeah, I was nervous the first time I did it, because I didn’t know what I was doing and now that I remember back and having to do it again, knowing what could go wrong, I’m even more nervous,” Auriemma joked on a conference call. “We just tried, just figure out, let’s watch the game and see what happens and talk about what we see.”

There will be a lot of familiarity for Auriemma as three of his former players will be in the game with Dallas having Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and the Liberty having Stewart.

Roberts has been impressed how the league has grown over the past three decades.

“To see the respect it has earned, the players are just incredible, and I’m just very grateful to see that it is getting the recognition that it’s getting right now,” she said.

Game of the week

New York at Minnesota, Saturday. Two of the top teams in the WNBA will meet again in Minnesota with the Lynx hosting the Liberty. Star Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier might be ready to play in that game as she's been working back from offseason ankle surgeries.

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

On Monday, on the first day, he tried to give it something else to look at.

Three days after Swift married NFL star Travis Kelce at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with both dressed by Dior, Anderson returned to the runway with a sculptural, heavily pleated haute couture collection inspired by American artist Lynda Benglis.

The commission was a coup for the LVMH-owned house and for Anderson, the 41-year-old Northern Irish designer appointed a year ago to overhaul all of Dior’s fashion lines.

For months, industry watchers had bet on American names, such as Ralph Lauren, or on Vivienne Westwood, whom Swift wears often.

The one dress the world wanted to see was the one Anderson would not show.

So on Monday he changed the subject — to art.

Poured, not sewn

The collection tried to move the conversation from Swift’s hidden gown to the work of Benglis, known since the late 1960s for pouring latex onto gallery floors and letting metal fold and sag into shape.

Dior workrooms were treated as a version of her studio — a place where flat fabric is pressed, knotted and bent into three dimensions.

Benglis bends flat material into shape; so, in the end, does couture.

The clothes followed that idea. A skirt of silver-foiled petals moved with each step.

A strapless silver lamé gown was cinched with an oversized bow. Trousers and blouses were finished in tight hand-pressed pleats.

Dior’s signature Bar jacket, the nipped-waist shape the house has built on since 1947, was remade several ways: in fern-green tweed with a frayed fringe, in gray houndstooth folded into a giant bow, and once with loose chiffon threads left hanging at the hem.

Other looks were built entirely from embroidered silk flowers.

A wide fan of blue tulle was splayed across the front of one dress.

Handbags came in metallic pleats — four of them designed with Benglis herself.

Fans out, stars in

France was in another heat wave, with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 F ).

Dior had sent fans with its invitations, and guests used them through the show in the gardens of the Rodin Museum.

The front row mixed pop stars with artists.

Singer Sabrina Carpenter and actor Josh O’Connor sat among guests including Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas, Naomi Watts, Rebecca Ferguson and Alexa Chung.

Despite the razzmatazz, Anderson's wager is plain: that the world’s most storied fashion house can afford to be strange.

He is often compared to Matthieu Blazy, the new designer at rival Chanel, who made the wedding dress for singer Dua Lipa this month.

The season now carries a peculiar distinction: its two biggest stories are dresses no one is allowed to see.

The bride you can’t see

As couture tradition dictates, the show closed with a bride.

Anderson sent out a pale, strapless column gown under a long veil of hand-pleated chiffon, trimmed with feathered dandelions and embroidered cactus flowers.

It was the second wedding dress Anderson showcased this week — and the only one anyone could photograph.

The woman called 911 just after 10:30 p.m. on July 4 and said that she was with Caleb Lopez at a relative’s home in Jacksonville, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the woman, Lopez got into an argument with his relative and was told to leave. The two then drove to a home on Jonas Drive in Callahan.

Once at the residence, the victim said Lopez became irate and struck her multiple times with a pistol. She told deputies Lopez then got out of the vehicle, giving her the chance to get behind the wheel and flee the driveway. As she was leaving, Lopez reportedly fired several rounds at the vehicle, striking it at least once.

Lopez then barricaded himself inside the Jonas Drive home, leading to an hours-long standoff with deputies.

After several hours of attempted negotiations, Lopez was taken into custody just after 6 a.m. Sunday, with assistance from a K-9. He was then transported to a local hospital for injuries sustained during the apprehension.

Lopez is charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and shooting into or throwing deadly missiles.

With high inflation hurting Trump's popularity, the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should get the credit for any gains, particularly as the November midterm elections draw closer.

“It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” said Trump after formally launching the start of trading.

Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Still, the act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’s emphasis on the stock market might not help his party much with voters this fall.

The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a vehicle for children to have investments in stock indexes as part of Republicans' big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

In championing the accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that many Americans have no direct exposure to stocks.

This means that millions of people are not benefiting from investments that largely accrue to more affluent households or that the benefits they’re receiving are for retirements decades away.

Bessent declared before the bell ringing that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets.”

The S&P 500 stock index posted gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index has risen roughly 10% so far this year.

But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump has also seen his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.

The consumer price index has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump started his second term in January 2025.

Trump, however, is betting that the stock investments that are being seeded by the government and by some prominent companies and billionaires will give future generations a deeper stake in the U.S. economy. The accounts already have gotten a boost from billionaires beyond the $1,000 from the government.

Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan, appeared by Trump on Monday as they have pledged $6.25 billion for the accounts, while there have been separate pledges by billionaires including investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who said Monday that she would donate stock in the Elon Musk-led company to the accounts.

Trump jokingly acknowledged that children had missed the stock market gains that have occurred so far because of the delay in launching the Trump Accounts.

“We should have acted faster,” Trump said.

Khamenei's flag-draped coffin, and those of his family members who were killed Feb. 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, sat aboard a truck decorated to resemble the ornamental grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam. The massive turnout was encouraged by Iran's theocracy as a sign of strength, and it came as the Islamic Republic negotiates with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war.

Helicopter images aired on Iranian state television showed a massive crowd stretching from Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square for kilometers (miles) down a multilane street of the same name. The crowd appeared to be larger than the one that turned out for the 2020 procession for the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which drew over 1 million people.

Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the street. People alongside the truck and elsewhere on the route carried placards, signs and banners calling for Trump's death.

“Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it’s a very tough day,” mourner Fatima Hassan said. “We are not here to say goodbye to him. We are here for revenge. And we will take revenge.”

Sea of mourners gather for Khamenei

Mourners reached out to touch the truck, and some threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing. Attendants, some on the ladders of fire trucks, sprayed misted water across the crowds to cool them in the heat.

Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having a large crowd alongside the procession, with officials on loudspeakers urging the public to walk slowly, not to push and to stay to the edges of the street.

The coffins were taken through the streets of Tehran on a roughly 12-hour journey to Mehrabad International Airport, and Khamenei’s casket was flown later Monday to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, according to state television. He will be honored there Tuesday.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday and will end Thursday as Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. Khamenei was 86.

“This is the last time I am seeing him,” said a weeping Maryam Alizadeh. “Our generation lived with him for decades.”

Calls for Trump's death grow as the funeral goes on

As the funeral has gone on, mourners have increasingly called for Khamenei’s death to be avenged. Mourners and the signs they carry have called for the killing of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such signs were seen again Monday along the procession’s route, with one effigy of Trump being hanged.

"We are here to show that his path will continue, and every single one of these people will continue down his path with clenched fists, and soon we will certainly avenge his death against the U.S and Israel,” said mourner Sahar Zaraatgar.

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years, stemming from Trump’s ordering the 2020 killing of Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force. Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.

Trump, meanwhile, promised to destroy Iran’s civilization during the war, among other threats.

Negotiations over the war remain on hold

The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war. Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.

The funeral was in part a show of unity as Iran demands a measure of control over the strait, a vital waterway for global energy that it shut down during the war. The U.S. has rejected those demands, and the sides are divided on other key issues, including the nuclear program and the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

At the height of the war, before an April ceasefire, Israel targeted top Iranian leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

King Charles III’s estranged son arrived Monday in the land of his birth for a series of charity engagements. But for most royal watchers that’s just background noise.

For the past 10 days, British tabloids and news broadcasts have been filled with speculation about whether Harry’s wife, Meghan, will accompany him and, more importantly, whether they will bring their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, so they can finally get to know Grandpa Charles. But everything is up in the air as Harry seeks to arrange protection for his family after a government committee refused to authorize taxpayer-funded security.

“With just days to go until Harry’s first public engagement in the UK on Tuesday … very little is guaranteed at all,” the Times of London reported on Saturday. “For Archie and Lilibet to meet the king, it’s now or never,’’ wrote the Telegraph.

The kids' trip hinges on adequate security measures

Harry, a British army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is visiting to attend events ahead of the next Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style competition he founded to motivate and inspire military veterans around the world as they work to overcome battlefield injuries. The games will be held in Birmingham next year.

Not on the official schedule but very much in the media spotlight is a decision Tuesday at the High Court in London, where the judge will reveal his verdict in Harry’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

The decision about whether to bring the children, according to reports based on off-the-record briefings and unidentified people close to the royals, hinges on whether the U.K. government agrees to provide security for Harry and his family. It is an issue that has hung over every trip the prince has made to Britain since he and Meghan decamped to North America six years ago.

British authorities say Harry isn’t entitled to blanket protection because he is no longer a working member of the royal family and they will assess his security on a case-by-case basis, just like any other celebrity. Harry says it is unsafe for his children to travel to Britain without protection because his family remains a target simply by virtue of their royal status.

The decision rests with a government committee known as Ravec that rules on who should get state-funded protection.

The outcome could be problematic for the royal family, which is trying to show that it provides value for money after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“In the paranoid atmosphere of waiting for more Andrew shoes to drop, Ravec and the royals themselves are terrified of public blowback if taxpayers are asked to fund protection for the House of Sussex,’’ royal commentator Tina Brown wrote on X. “The issue is not a hill that either the king or the government wants to die on, and who can blame them?’’

Harry wants his children to get to know their grandfather

After initial reports that Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, would visit the U.K., plans began to wobble after the Daily Telegraph reported that Ravec had again rejected Harry’s request for protection.

The Times of London reported that Harry was “distraught” after the decision and told friends he wouldn’t let his children be “chased by paparazzi” through the streets of London.

By Sunday, it was clear the family wouldn’t accompany Harry when he arrived in the capital, though there was still a chance they would join him later in the trip.

Then on Monday, plans for the prince's accommodation fell into disarray. First, there were reports that Harry would stay at Buckingham Palace while he was in London, but within an hour, it became clear that the palace was not an option. At least for now.

Nonetheless, Harry has said that he wants to reconcile with his 77-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. And he really wants his children, who first met the monarch during celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, to spend time with their grandfather now that they are old enough to remember the experience.

Harry's relations with the palace have been tense

Tensions within the House of Windsor have heightened ever since Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California to pursue lucrative media deals, free from the pressures of royal life in London.

They reached a new low after Harry published an explosive memoir that included unflattering depictions of the royal family and damning allegations of a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press.

Harry’s description of royals leaking information about other family members in exchange for positive coverage of themselves is just one of the tawdry allegations in his book, “Spare.” The prince was especially scathing about Queen Camilla, accusing her of feeding private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with Charles when he was heir to the throne.

After losing a court battle over the security issue last year, Harry said he hoped to rebuild relations with his family, even as he suggested that the royals had sought to prevent him from receiving police protection to punish him for walking away from royal duties.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

According to veterinary records, the puppy died from a severe intestinal issue shortly after Messina took it home.

“I did not get a healthy dog, I got a sick dog,” Messina said.

The man who sold the dog agreed to issue a refund, Messina claimed, but the money never came.

When Messina picked up the puppy, she received two documents: a veterinary certificate stating the dog was healthy and an American Kennel Club certificate confirming the dog’s pedigree. News 6 found both documents may be fraudulent.

Messina’s experience is exactly what state lawmakers had in mind when they passed new legislation strengthening protections for people who buy cats and dogs in Florida.

The law took effect July 1. Here is what it does:

• Cancels financing without penalty if a purchased pet is sick and the buyer returns the animal
• Removes the cap on how much veterinary care costs buyers can recover from a dealer
• Allows buyers to take sellers to small claims court and recover a minimum of $2,500 if the seller was deceptive
• Directs the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to publish information about individuals who violate animal cruelty laws
• Directs the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to write and post voluntary best management practices for dog breeders and publish guidance for the public.

There are some key legal changes:

• Vet‑check window shrinks. For most illnesses, contagious diseases or internal/external parasites (not fleas/ticks), a buyer now has 14 days after the sale (instead of 30) to get a licensed veterinarian to certify that the animal was unfit at the time of sale. The 1‑year window for congenital or hereditary defects stays the same.
• Faster notice deadlines. Once a veterinarian says the animal was unfit, the buyer must notify the dealer within 2 business days (was 7) and give the dealer the written vet certification within 3 business days of receiving it.
• Dealer must act quickly. After the dealer receives the signed veterinary certification, they have 10 business days to make a refund or provide an exchange.
• Refunds, exchanges, and costs. The buyer chooses: refund (purchase price plus accrued interest, taxes/fees, and reasonable vet costs tied to the certification/emergency care) or an exchange of equal value (plus reasonable vet costs). Vet‑cost reimbursement can’t exceed the purchase price.
• Financing and records. Dealers must disclose all financing terms before the sale. Any record given to the consumer must be kept by the dealer for at least seven years.

Who counts as a “pet dealer” now?

The threshold drops. More sellers become “pet dealers” under the statute: anyone selling more than two litters a year or more than 20 dogs or cats a year (down from more than three litters or 30 animals.)

How disputes are handled

• Dealer can ask for a second veterinary exam. If the dealer disputes your claim, they can have a licensed veterinarian they pick examine the animal.
• If you still disagree, you can sue. If no agreement is reached within 10 business days after that dealer exam, the buyer can file suit in a county circuit court or small claims court in the owner’s county.
• Punitive damages are possible. The enrolled text allows courts to award punitive damages at their discretion, and it references a floor of at least $2,500.
• Consumer‑law angle. Violating the pet‑sale rules is treated as an unfair or deceptive act under Florida’s consumer‑protection law (chapter 501), so administrative enforcement and private consumer claims could apply in addition to the refund/exchange remedies.
• Criminal side. The bill doesn’t create new criminal offenses — it just requires publishing information about people already convicted under existing animal‑cruelty laws.

The Florida Department of Agriculture told News 6 it is investigating multiple complaints tied to the marketplace where Messina says she purchased the puppy. After News 6’s investigation, that marketplace website shut down.

Antetokounmpo's time with the Bucks officially ended Monday, when the trade sending him and Bobby Portis to the Heat for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and draft capital was approved by the NBA.

Antetokounmpo plans to arrive in Miami in a few days to start his Heat era — and said in a video message posted Monday on social media that he will forever think of Milwaukee, the place where he spent 13 seasons, as his city.

“I want you to hear from my mouth, the city of Milwaukee will always be in my heart,” Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and 10-time All-Star, said in the video. "This is my home, and this is a place that I had my kids. ... It made me the man that I am today. That will never ever change. No matter where I am, Milwaukee will always be my city, my team, my family.”

His run in Milwaukee ended with 21,531 points — by far the most in franchise history, more than 7,000 ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s total during his tenure with the Bucks. Antetokounmpo is also Milwaukee’s all-time leader in rebounds and assists, plus he ranks second on the team’s career list in steals.

And now, he plays in Miami — a team desperate to get back into title contention, one that paid a ransom to make it happen.

“The announcement of today’s trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. is one of the great trades in Heat history,” Miami President Pat Riley said. “In my opinion, Giannis is one of the top five players in the league and Bobby is one of the best power forwards. The difficult part is trading Tyler, Kasparas, Jaime and Kel’el, who have given so much to this organization. We wish them nothing but the best."

Bucks general manager Jon Horst released a statement saying the trade was in the best interest of everyone involved.

He also lauded Antetokounmpo, as would be expected.

“Since we drafted him in 2013, Giannis has transformed the Milwaukee Bucks in every way — on the court, in our locker room and throughout the community,” Horst said. “Over 13 seasons, he became an extraordinary leader, teammate and representative of this city, and one of the defining players of his generation. The standard he set will continue here.”

The highlight of Antetokounmpo's 13 seasons in Milwaukee, of course, was the 2021 NBA title. He had 50 points in the Bucks' title-clinching Game 6 victory over Phoenix, earning NBA Finals MVP honors in a landslide.

Antetokounmpo said then, and reiterated Monday, that Bucks fans deserved that moment.

“I believe the city of Milwaukee is blue collar,” he said in the video. "It’s people that work extremely hard every single day. They give all their hard-earned money just to come watch the Milwaukee Bucks, to come and feel something, to come, to be a part of us.

“I hope that I was able to represent them the best that I could. And I was like them. I showed up to work, did everything. I was willing to do all the dirty work, just like them. I hope that bringing a trophy to this city meant something to them, because it meant so much to me.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Deputies responded around just before 5 p.m. on Saturday to the World Center Marriott on World Center Drive.

According to an arrest affidavit, Wiley’s wife told deputies he had poked her in the cheek the previous morning. She also told deputies she was afraid of him and that he had threatened to kill her.

Wiley, 51, denied any physical altercation took place and showed deputies text messages he said demonstrated the two had been communicating cordially. Deputies also noted no visible injuries and no direct witnesses to the alleged incident, the report states.

Wiley, who played for multiple NFL teams including the Jacksonville Jaguars, had a first appearance Sunday, jail records show. He has since posted bond and been released.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as Anthony Groves and said detectives charged him with five counts of sexual battery on a victim between 12 and 16, transmission of harmful material to a minor and solicitation of a minor for sexual acts.

He was taken into custody July 4 and is being held without bond at the Marion County Jail pending his first court appearance.

Deputies were called July 4 after a parent found sexually explicit messages on the girl’s cellphone, according to an arrest affidavit and a sheriff’s office news release. A deputy who reviewed the messages determined they appeared to show sexual contact and contacted a Major Crimes detective to continue the investigation.

The victim was interviewed at the Kimberly Center for Child Protection, where she told investigators Groves had sexually assaulted her multiple times over about a month and had sent two explicit videos, the affidavit says. The victim said one incident occurred on July 2.

Detective Hunter Kephart interviewed Groves after he was located. The affidavit says Groves initially characterized the relationship as a friendship, then acknowledged the communications and ultimately admitted to the sexual battery during questioning. He later asked for an attorney, the report says.

Investigators allege four incidents involved digital penetration and one involved intercourse. They also allege Groves sent explicit images or videos to the victim and asked her to get high to have sex, the affidavit says.

Because of the nature of the allegations, authorities said Groves may have additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Kephart at (352) 368-3562.

“A city upon a hill.” “All men are created equal.” “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Presidents splitting rails and telling the truth about chopping down cherry trees. A statesman out in a storm with a kite. And the biggest story of all, the “American Dream,” echoing across states and oceans.

The United States became the country that produced the most powerful storytelling engines in human history — the American frontier, Hollywood and Madison Avenue. And it sat at the epicenter of the rise of the internet and social media — platforms that confused and jumbled information even as they empowered previously muzzled groups to join the fray with different takes on the American experience.

Saturday marked 250 years of the Great Experiment. And even in these fragmented days, the American story means authority and influence. It means power over hearts and minds in a place where the national tale — and the question of who gets to tell it — has long prevailed. And, as is clear these days, it is the victors who write — and control — the history.

Some years ago, frontier historian Richard Slotkin put it bluntly. “There’s nothing organic about the United States. It’s an invented country,” he told The Associated Press. “And if we stop telling the American story, we’re just a bunch of folks. … You have to keep adding new chapters to the story and making the story make sense.”

And in politics and show business, in schools and in the history exhibited at tourist attractions, Americans do that, at a frenetic pace — sometimes, perhaps, too frantically or intensely for their own good.

From the very beginning, story has ruled

The United States today is home to countless stories; together they illustrate what America has been, is and could be. But when it comes to telling the American story in the 2020s, the field of play is crowded, contentious and brimming with misinformation and disinformation. From schools to political arenas, from news to entertainment to history books, the battle rages.

Is it “This Land Is Your Land,” “God Bless America” or “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”? Is it Sean Penn or James Woods? Tucker Carlson or Jimmy Kimmel? A bald eagle or a pride flag on your T-shirt? A pickup truck or an EV? The choices help define what kind of American you are and aspire to be.

Do you buy flag trinkets at Walmart or do you express your patriotism in a different way? Do you sing along with the National Anthem at ballgames? Do you share memes about how great America is — or how awful? Do you watch old World War II movies with reverence? Each time you do any of those, you're helping to propel the American story.

Are you singer-songwriter Jesse Welles, progressive and openly patriotic in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen, using flag imagery and pointedly critical lyrics at his concerts to show that he and those who believe as he does refuse to be excluded from the American story? “Good morning, America. Good evening, America. I love ya,” he likes to sing.

Or are you Donald Trump, a master of brand-building narrative. who is vigorously reframing the story America tells about itself. Adore him or despise him, it's hard to deny that the American narrative at home and abroad has his indelible stamp. He knows his power over the tale.

"The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies," Trump said shortly before losing the 2020 election.

The president's version of the story, though, often focuses not so much on the nation as on Donald Trump himself.

With an avalanche of superlatives and self-regard, he has made his own story front and center — both metaphorically and literally. He wants to be on Mount Rushmore. His face might end up on currency while he's still alive. It will be on this year's anniversary edition of the U.S. passport. His face is all over Washington, D.C., as are the stamps of his presence — from the triumph arch to the controversial redo of the reflecting pool to the equally contentious $400 million ballroom he is adding to the White House. Whatever else these are, they are efforts to commandeer pieces of the American story.

It's a pattern he has repeated throughout his life — casting himself as the embodiment of American success. Even this month's celebration itself featured a competition of what story to tell, and Trump's thumb on the scale.

There was America250, a bipartisan effort, created by Congress. And there was Freedom 250, a Trump administration-backed version of the celebration far more aligned with the MAGA version of American history. They are, in effect, a wrestling match over which America is amplified. That was underscored by the musical acts that withdrew from Freedom 250 concerts, saying they'd become too political.

The story changed.

The flag is a useful case study for American storytelling

The American flag sits at the center of the national story, a piece of fabric that contains multitudes ("gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there."). Always has, ever since the tale of Betsy Ross.

Its glorification — everywhere from ballparks to solemn military events to the aisles of Target — summons people to contemplate country and purpose. Its desecration under the principle of free speech — also an important part of the tale — is used by some to make passionate points and denounced by others as ugly and treasonous.

Not surprising, since the flag is a physical embodiment of the American story — as Jesse Welles demonstrates at his shows.

“It’s an extraordinarily potent symbol for anybody — left, right or center,” Ken Burns, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, said. “It’s interesting when we have this assault on traditional democratic institutions that the people who are out in the streets protesting have sort of reclaimed — and they never should have relinquished — the American flag.”

But the story of the flag, and how it's used, varies based on who you are. Republicans and older white Americans? More likely to fly it, wear it as clothing or, in Pete Hegseth's case, wear it as a pocket square. Democrats and Black Americans? Not so much. So concluded an AP-NORC poll last month.

John Baick, a historian at Western New England University, sees less flag imagery in Trump's second term than in his first; the intense focus on Trump himself may have crowded it out. Baick suggests that the use of storytelling in the political arena today impacts, as always, the larger sense of what the United States is. He sees it fragmenting — as evidenced by the use of the flag.

“I think it’s just become a muddled mess,” Baick says. "I think it’s just going to be almost the breakdown of a national system and states will figure it out, cities will figure it out, individuals will figure it out. They’ll put out their flags, but ... they'll tell their own stories.”

This national story is not close to complete. As Fox News business journalist Maria Bartiromo told her family's story recently, she referred to “this young nation.” Places like China and Russia have millennia of tales to build upon. The United States has less than 400 even if you go back to its very beginnings.

And so the American story continues. Where will it go next? And who will tell it most persuasively?

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Ted Anthony has been writing about American culture since 1990.

The layoffs included 1,600 Xbox workers, with more to come this year in a broader reorganization designed to “reset” Xbox as it faces heightened competition, the company said Monday.

“Our business today is not healthy,” said a memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who took over the gaming division earlier this year. “We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.”

Sharma said the industry, in which Xbox competes with Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Switch, is facing a severe “hardware crisis” as costs soar for console components.

Beyond the layoffs announced Monday, Sharma said Xbox expects another 1,600 job cuts over the course of the fiscal year that began last week. The company is also spinning off four video game development studios previously acquired by Microsoft.

Nearly three years ago, Microsoft closed a $69 billion deal to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard, maker of “Call of Duty” and other blockbuster franchises. The company said at the time it wanted to broaden its game development portfolio and offer a Netflix-like streaming subscription service, but the strategy doesn't appear to have been enough to get ahead of the competition.

“While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected,” Sharma said.

The Xbox cuts are in addition to broader Microsoft layoffs that the software giant's chief people officer Amy Coleman tied to unspecified changes in customer needs.

“I also want to be direct that the roles eliminated today are not being replaced by AI,” Coleman wrote in a blog post.

The layoffs followed voluntary buyouts that Microsoft began offering to about 8,750 people in May. More than 30% of eligible workers accepted those voluntary retirement offers, Coleman said Monday.

The complaint, filed June 23, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, claims Waffle House collected what it calls an unlawful “tobacco surcharge” from employees enrolled in the company’s health plan — without properly complying with the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, commonly known as ERISA.

What the lawsuit claims

According to the complaint, Waffle House required tobacco-using employees to pay an additional $92 per month — or $1,104 per year — to maintain health insurance coverage under the Waffle House System Employee Benefit Plan. The surcharge was automatically applied as a default, meaning employees had to affirmatively opt out or risk having $23 deducted from their weekly paychecks.

The lawsuit argues that while federal law allows employers to charge tobacco users more for health insurance, those surcharges are only legal if they are part of a compliant wellness program that meets strict ERISA requirements. According to the plaintiff, Waffle House’s program fell short on multiple fronts.

The wellness program at the center of the case

At the heart of the lawsuit is Waffle House’s “Quit for Life” tobacco cessation program, offered through a company called Optum. The plaintiff acknowledges that Waffle House offered the program to employees — but argues the way it was structured and communicated violated federal law.

Under ERISA, a compliant wellness program must offer employees a “reasonable alternative standard,” meaning a path to avoid — or be fully reimbursed for — the entire surcharge for the full plan year. The complaint alleges Waffle House’s program only provided a full refund to employees who completed the cessation program by September 30. Those who finished after that deadline could only have the surcharge removed going forward — not retroactively.

“Participants who complete the program on or after October 1 will not be retroactively reimbursed for any premiums already paid during the Plan Year,” the complaint states, calling this a violation of ERISA’s requirement that participants receive the “full reward” upon satisfying an alternative standard.

Failure to notify workers, suit alleges

Beyond the program structure, the lawsuit also takes aim at how — or whether — Waffle House communicated employees’ rights to them. Under federal regulations, employers must disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative standard “in all plan materials” describing the tobacco surcharge.

The complaint alleges Waffle House’s enrollment guides and summary of benefits documents made no mention of the tobacco surcharge or the wellness program at all. It also claims the plan documents failed to include a required statement that a personal physician’s recommendations would be accommodated in developing an alternative standard for individual employees.

“These deficiencies deprive participants of the information necessary to fully understand and exercise their rights,” the complaint reads.

Self-dealing allegations

The lawsuit goes further, accusing Waffle House of mismanaging the surcharge funds it collected. The complaint alleges that rather than depositing the money into a trust account for the health plan, Waffle House funneled the surcharge funds into its own general accounts — earning interest on the money and reducing its own financial contributions to the plan.

“By retaining these funds, Waffle House earns interest on the withheld surcharges and reduces its own financial contributions to the Plan,” the complaint states. “This practice constitutes self-dealing and violates ERISA’s fiduciary duty requirements.”

The lawsuit characterizes Waffle House’s wellness program as “an unreasonable, revenue-generating scheme disguised as a health initiative.”

Who could be included in the class

The plaintiff is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit, which would potentially include all Waffle House employees across the United States who paid the tobacco surcharge at any point during the six years prior to the filing. The complaint notes that Waffle House operates more than 2,000 locations in 25 states, employing thousands of workers who may be similarly affected.

The amount in controversy is alleged to exceed $5 million.

What the plaintiff is asking for

The complaint asks the court to order Waffle House to reimburse all employees who paid the tobacco surcharge during the relevant period, disgorge any profits the company earned from collecting the fees, and issue a permanent injunction barring Waffle House from collecting the surcharge unless it brings the program into full compliance with ERISA.

The plaintiff is also seeking attorneys’ fees, interest, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

News4JAX has reached out to Waffle House for comment. This story will be updated when we receive a response.

Deputies responded to SW 21st Lane in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 4, after multiple callers reported a woman in a white vehicle attempting to run over a man.

When deputies arrived, they spotted a white Chrysler in the parking lot being actively driven by the suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Michelle Bartholomew. As deputies moved to make contact with her, Bartholomew accelerated her vehicle toward them, striking a patrol vehicle before speeding away.

She then attempted to hit a second deputy’s vehicle as that deputy was responding to the scene. That deputy swerved out of the way, avoiding a collision.

Deputies call off pursuit over concerns for children

Deputies attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but they say Bartholomew refused to pull over. She continued to flee, running red lights and driving above posted speed limits, according to deputies.

During the pursuit, deputies say they learned Bartholomew had two young children in the vehicle. Out of an abundance of caution for the children’s well-being, law enforcement called off the pursuit.

A short time later, deputies spotted Bartholomew walking with the children in the area where the pursuit had been called off.

When deputies stepped out to make contact with her, Bartholomew attempted to jump from a bridge. Deputies intervened and prevented her from doing so.

“She continued to resist and was uncooperative,” according to the sheriff’s office. Bartholomew was ultimately taken into custody.

Deputies located her vehicle nearby. Inside the Chrysler, they found no car seats for the children.

Charges

Bartholomew was charged with the following:

• Two counts of Aggravated Battery on Law Enforcement
• Two counts of Child Abuse without Great Bodily Harm
• Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement
• Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding

Upcoming community meetings

• Tuesday, July 14 — 4 to 6 p.m. Bill Gulliford Community Center, 4875 Ocean St., Jacksonville, Fla.
• Thursday, July 16 — 5 to 7 p.m. Charles Webb Wesconnett Library, 6887 103rd St., Jacksonville, Fla.
• Tuesday, July 21 — 5 to 7 p.m. Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, 100 LaVilla Center Drive, Jacksonville, Fla.
• Wednesday, July 22 — 4 to 6 p.m. Highlands Library, 1826 Dunn Ave., Jacksonville, Fla.
• Thursday, July 23 — 5 to 7 p.m. Pablo Creek Library, 13295 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, Fla.

Public hearing

• Tuesday, July 28 — 5 to 6 p.m. Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, 100 LaVilla Center Drive, Jacksonville, Fla.

The JTA is hosting a series of community meetings and a public hearing to gather public feedback on proposed upcoming fare and service changes. Find a meeting near you and join us to learn more, ask questions, and share your thoughts.

Upcoming Community Meetings:
•Tuesday,… pic.twitter.com/fLOVUALOe8

— Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) (@JTAFLA) July 6, 2026

Proposed changes

Back in May, the JTA board agreed to plans to trim services for some of its bus and ReadiRide routes, and shorten hours for its Downtown Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation service. It would also transition ReadiRide service into Uber fares, while increasing bus fares that it had lowered in a pilot program.

ReadiRide is a shuttle service that users can book by phone, which services door-to-door rides in 14 areas around Duval County. NAVI is the first portion of JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) program. The first phase, which cost $65 million, runs autonomous vehicles along a 3.5-mile route mostly along Bay Street.

With a 7-0 vote, JTA’s board of directors approved a $139.2 million FY27 budget, which included the plans to balance the expected deficit. Like the city and other independent authorities, JTA’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 31.

Pending a final review in August, the increased fares would take effect in January 2027, allowing JTA customers to have some time before the end of a six-month fare reduction pilot program Aug. 1. JTA’s service cuts would begin Oct. 1.

The board’s approved reductions to expenses are as follows: 

• $8.37 million by altering the frequency of four bus routes, including all four First Coast Flyer bus routes. The First Coast Flyer and three other bus routes would see frequency reduced from 20 to 25 minutes, while seven more bus routes would see service reduced from 30 to 60 minutes.

• $2.79 million by eliminating five bus routes. 

• $1.72 million by reducing the frequency of NAVI service from seven minutes to 12 minutes.

• $130,608 by eliminating five ReadiRide zones.

• Save $200,000 by offering Uber vouchers in place of ReadiRide service.

JTA expects service cuts to save $13.62 million.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, the new entity led by President Donald Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it was aware of the Hamas announcement but would assess the impact based on “actions, not promises.” The board stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

At a news conference Monday, Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, said “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Palestinian enclave’s day-to-day affairs.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said during a news conference in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called it “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the move, saying it was designed to avoid disarmament. “As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates,” he wrote on X.

The committee of technocrats, which is based in Cairo, is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former official with the Palestinian Authority. It has a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilian affairs under the supervision of the U.N. and the Board of Peace.

In a statement on X, Shaath acknowledged the Hamas announcement Monday and said that in order for the committee to function effectively, there must be “a single governing authority operating under one legal framework” and “a unified security apparatus accountable to that authority.”

Nine months after the ceasefire was signed, negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Hamas has insisted on implementing the first phase before moving to discuss its weapons.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 73,098 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but they continue almost daily. Israel’s military says it targets Hamas and other militants, often asserting they were planning attacks. The strikes have also killed many civilians.

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza, including three in Khan Younis in the south and two in an apartment in Gaza City, health officials said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas operative in the Gaza City strike and a militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in the attacks in Khan Younis.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks against Israeli troops in Gaza, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. ___

Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

Groundbreaking is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026, according to a post by Regency Centers on LinkedIn.

Whole Foods, Shake Shack among tenants

Whole Foods Market will anchor the development, with TJ Maxx, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, and Shake Shack rounding out the tenant lineup. The open-air center continues Regency Centers’ focus on combining grocery anchors with a strong mix of dining and retail options.

Part of a broader Jacksonville metro commitment

Regency Centers says the Berkeley at Durbin Park marks its continued investment in the Jacksonville metro area. The company is also currently developing The Village at Seven Pines, a 250,000-square-foot ground-up project under construction in the region.

Under the order, Florida-based MV Realty paid $1 million in consumer restitution — the largest up-front payment any state has received in a settlement with the company. That payment brings total savings for Georgia homeowners to $25.6 million.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit Carr filed in January 2024 and provides relief to more than 3,300 homeowners who were tricked into signing what prosecutors called predatory contracts. The group includes about 1,000 Georgians ages 60 and older.

More than 400 Georgians paid MV Realty’s early termination fee and will be eligible for restitution from the fund, which the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division will administer. Consumers identified as MV Realty customers will be contacted by the division.

“MV Realty took advantage of Georgia homeowners who were already struggling — scamming them out of their equity and putting their life savings at risk,” Carr said. “It’s unconscionable, and it’s why we took action to put a stop to their predatory scheme once and for all. With this outcome, we’re returning those funds to the hundreds of Georgians who were impacted, and we’re sending a strong message that this type of illegal behavior won’t be tolerated in this state.”

MV Realty marketed a deceptively branded “Homeowner Benefit Program” online and through telemarketing as a way to “get cash without borrowing,” promising a small payment in exchange for a future business agreement.

Consumers were not told they were signing 40-year agreements that could cost them or their heirs at least 3 percent of the home’s value if the home was sold without MV Realty as the agent, transferred to another person, or went into foreclosure before the 40 years ended.

The company enrolled more than 3,300 Georgians in a Homeowner Benefit Agreement, for which it recorded a memorandum in property records.

That memorandum acted as a lien on the property to secure the 3 percent early termination fee and interfered with homeowners’ ability to sell, refinance or obtain a reverse mortgage. As part of Carr’s lawsuit, each of those memorandums has been terminated.

MV Realty customers with questions about how the order affects them should visit the Attorney General’s FAQ page. The Georgia General Assembly also passed a law imposing specific prohibitions and requirements on unsolicited brokerage solicitations; it took effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Read more on the Consumer Protection Division website.

Expect mostly sunny skies each day with afternoon highs climbing into the mid to upper 90s, and it’ll feel even hotter with heat index values topping out around 105 to 106 degrees early in the week.

Rain chances stay pretty limited through Friday, with just an isolated sea breeze shower or thunderstorm developing during the late afternoon and evening hours. Some of those this aftrernoon could be strong, specifically across the Coast per the National Weather Service. Expect lightning and locally heavy rainfall. Wind gusts could pick up as well.

By next weekend, moisture begins to inch back into the area, bringing a slightly better chance for scattered afternoon storms, especially Sunday.

Until then, plan on plenty of sunshine, steamy afternoons, warm nights near 80 degrees, and make sure you’re staying hydrated and taking frequent breaks if you’ll be spending time outdoors.

District 5 covers Baldwin, New Town, Northwest and Riverside.

The meeting agenda includes:

• Sheriff T.K. Waters will review measures the office is taking to keep families safe.
• Harry Massey, commander of District 5, will provide an update on how officers are working in neighborhoods.
• Dashcam video of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest of a suspected drunk driver after an incident in Riverside.
• A question-and-answer session with the sheriff’s command staff. Residents may submit questions in advance by emailing townhall@jaxsheriff.org.

Town halls are open to everyone, regardless of where they live. The sheriff’s office encourages people to attend meetings in the communities where they live or work.

If you’re unsure which district you are in, use the “Find My District” tool on the sheriff’s office website.

The program allows Utah residents to skip the doctor’s office and get their prescriptions refilled online by an AI chatbot called Doctronic. It’s a seemingly simple step toward making healthcare more convenient for patients and prescribers.

But it’s also a precedent-shattering milestone that has set off alarm bells for doctors, lawyers and public health experts. The pilot program has laid bare a host of questions about the role of AI in medicine, including how it should be regulated, whether doctors should be able to veto it, and what kind of safety measures are needed to protect patients.

At the center of the debate: state and federal laws limit prescribing to licensed medical professionals. Proponents say those laws, which have underwritten American medicine for over 100 years, should be updated to include AI chatbots and other new technologies.

“We have crossed a threshold in terms of giving something that is not human a medical license, whether or not we want to call it that,” said Dr. Eric Bressman of the University of Pennsylvania.

AI cannot practice medicine under current laws

Bressman and other experts say they aren't opposed to AI prescribing. But they say it should have to meet rigorous standards akin to human doctors, who undergo years of testing and training before being licensed to practice medicine.

In Utah, Doctronic was able to launch thanks to a “regulatory sandbox” that allows state officials to waive laws for AI companies offering promising technology.

The refill program is currently overseen by a five-member board of AI specialists, none of whom are doctors, who say they have implemented numerous safeguards. During the program's initial phase, for example, human doctors review all Doctronic refill orders. The company expects to soon transition to fully automated refills.

The head of the state’s medical licensing board says he and his colleagues learned of the program when its January launch was reported in the news. In a March letter to the state, 11 board members called for the program to be halted, citing the risks of automatically renewing medicines that can have side effects or drug interactions.

“We were essentially told: ‘Yes this is going on. And no, you don’t have a say in it,’” said Dr. Alan Smith, a family physician who heads the board but said he was speaking only for himself.

Complicating the picture is the fact that medical technology is traditionally regulated at the federal level, while medical professionals are overseen by states.

Doctronic executives consider their AI part of the state-regulated practice of medicine. But the federal Food and Drug Administration is supposed to oversee AI that directly impacts medical care or decision making, a line that some experts believe Doctronic has crossed.

Some states are clearing the way for AI in healthcare

In an interview, Doctronic’s executives wouldn't say whether they have sought permission from the FDA.

“Our goal here is really just to meet patients where they need healthcare,” said Dr. Adam Oskowitz, who co-founded the company with a tech industry entrepreneur. “We try not to get too deep into the weeds on the regulatory side.”

In Utah, residents can visit a Doctronic website built for the refill program. After confirming their identity, the AI chatbot asks users about their prescriptions and medical history, verifying that they have a valid prescription by tapping into a national pharmacy database. If there are no issues, the AI can renew the prescription and send it to a local pharmacy. If the request requires more attention, the chatbot transfers the patient to a doctor who works for Doctronic’s telehealth service.

Oskowitz envisions a future where many routine medical tasks, including ordering tests and analyzing results, can be offloaded to Doctronic, allowing doctors to manage thousands more patients than they can today.

Other states are also waiving rules for AI, including Texas and Wyoming.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Iowa, Idaho and elsewhere have introduced legislation to formally license AI medical services. Many of the bills are based on a template from the nonprofit Cicero Institute, a pro-AI think tank founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the artificial intelligence software company Palantir.

Pushback against medical AI mainly stems from the economic fears of doctors and other health workers, says Cicero’s director for health policy.

“Whoever goes first is going to take the slings and arrows because there’s economic interests, concerns about the workforce and what that’s going to mean for jobs,” said Cicero's Adam Meier.

Doctors see potential risks to AI prescription refills

Smith, the medical board chair, says the risks to patients are real. He points out that Doctronic’s list of 190 refillable medications includes blood thinners, which can become dangerous if patients develop stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause internal bleeding.

“Many times when I see people after six months I find that their medical history or situation has changed,” Smith said. “Just because something was prescribed before does not mean it’s appropriate now.”

The American Medical Association has voiced similar concerns, warning that “prescription renewals aren’t routine checkboxes.”

Zach Boyd, who heads Utah's AI office, said Doctronic has thus far been overly cautious, often elevating uncontroversial decisions to doctors. In response to safety concerns, several medications have been removed from the list eligible for refills, including a drug for irregular heartbeats.

Utah has released some initial data on the program and Doctronic plans to publish peer-reviewed studies later this year. Currently the only publication about its technology is a paper written by company scientists that was not independently reviewed.

The study looked at whether Doctronic could correctly diagnose medical conditions based on records from 500 telehealth consultations. In the study, Doctronic's diagnoses matched that of human doctors 80% of the time.

The FDA is taking a hands-off approach

Bressman says Utah should have demanded data on prescription refills up front, not after Doctronic was up and running.

“Mostly they're accepting the company’s word on good faith that they’re up to the task,” he said.

The current approach to AI mirrors the haphazard medical standards of the early 20th century, Bressman says, before medical schools, medical boards and other authorities agreed on national benchmarks for training and licensing.

National guidelines on medical technology would typically come from the FDA, but the agency has indicated it plans to take a hand-off approach, at least under the current administration.

An FDA spokesperson said the agency has not authorized any AI chatbots but “is committed to encouraging medical innovation and helping bring promising new technologies to patients, while keeping safety at the center of every decision.”

For now, Doctronic and other companies are likely to expand across states with different regulatory approaches.

“Companies may benefit in the short term by expanding their business models and kind of having the technology go beyond the evidence,” says Daniel Aaron of University of Utah's law school. “But in the long-term, I think they risk compromising public trust and fueling backlash.”

___

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

• The W. King Street crossing will close beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday, July 7. The closure is expected to last about four days.
• The Kinlaw Road crossing will close beginning at 7 a.m. Friday, July 10. That closure is also expected to last about four days.

Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead, allow extra travel time and follow posted detour signs while work is underway. Motorists should use caution and obey all posted signs when traveling near the work areas.

According to company officials, the list was based on treatment data from cities where Orkin has performed the greatest number of home termite treatments last year.

And for the fourth year in a row, Miami ranked at the top of Orkin’s list.

Meanwhile, Tampa and Orlando kept their No. 3 and No. 5 spots, respectively. West Palm Beach, though, fell down a rank from its previous spot in 2025.

“Warm-weather markets continue to dominate, with Florida cities taking up six spots in the top 20 this year...” the report reads. “Heat and dry conditions can allow termites to stay active longer, a trend reflected in the ongoing concentration of warm-weather cities at the top of Orkin’s list.”

The full ranking is as follows:

Rutte spoke in the Turkish capital ahead of the two-day summit starting on Tuesday at a crucial time for the alliance, with the United States scaling down its security role in Europe. Washington has been pressing allies to shoulder more of the spending burden.

The 32 nations agreed last year to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defense — 3.5% on their defense budgets and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports so troops and equipment can move faster in times of conflict.

Spain endorsed the goal but said it could fulfill NATO’s security requirements without spending so much. Some countries are still struggling to meet the alliance’s old target of 2% of GDP.

Asked what would happen to members that don't have a clear plan, Rutte said: “If one or two of them still have to be convinced, we have ways to do that.” He did not elaborate.

Trump has called for ‘loyalty’ from NATO allies

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker suggested last week that the U.S. has something in store for those who do not step up, but declined to say more.

“President (Donald) Trump fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency,” Whitaker said.

On spending among European allies and Canada, Rutte said that “the evidence we see so far is impressive.” He said NATO estimates that they will invest a combined $258 billion more in defense in 2025 and this year than they have in previous years.

But the numbers might not be enough to satisfy the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly lashed U.S. allies over defense spending, and in the past threatened not to come to the defense of any member not doing enough — challenging NATO’s key reason for existence.

Trump also has called for “loyalty” from NATO allies, after some of them declined to allow the use of their military bases in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. As well as airing grievances about how much the U.S. spends on defense compared with other countries, Trump has sparred with allies over the war, his comments about annexing Greenland and other tiffs.

The Trump administration is promoting what it calls “NATO 3.0,” a vision in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the U.S. to concentrate on other priorities. The approach was laid out earlier this year by Elbridge Colby, a U.S. undersecretary of defense, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“We need our allies in NATO to step up and assume leadership roles, and I mean that not only in sort of loud cheerleading but also the moral authority and the moral compass of the alliance,” Whitaker said last week.

European allies warn about a possible Russia attack

Some European governments have warned that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack somewhere on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

NATO on Tuesday is due to make announcements showcasing the military equipment being bought with billions of dollars more being spent on defense and security. The event has been dubbed the “big reveal.”

Among the projects, many of them prepared and signed long before the summit, is one to replace NATO’s aging fleet of surveillance planes.

NATO as an organization does not own any weaponry — these are the property of member countries — but it has a fleet of AWACS aircraft that are about 50 years old and some surveillance drones.

In a report released on Monday, the European Stability Mechanism — a financial institution set up to help countries using the euro currency in severe financial distress — said NATO’s defense spending target is achievable but must be handled carefully.

It warned that Europe’s defense buildup, which largely will use debt financing in the short term, is turning into “one of the central fiscal policy questions of this decade.”

NATO governments are struggling to hike their defense spending, which requires increasing taxes or reshuffling resources from other priorities.

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit last month because he said the government was not willing to spend at a time of rising threats.

The unrest at the prison in Negombo, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, started among inmates on Sunday, and when guards attempted to intervene on Monday, “they (inmates) started attacking the prison officials,” prison spokesman A.C. Gajanayake said.

He told reporters that some inmates attempted to escape but were stopped.

An official at the main state-run hospital in the area said seven prison officials and 18 inmates had died while another 43 were being treated for injuries. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Three other hospitals were also treating dozens of injured, he said.

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the first clash erupted between two rival gangs connected to illegal drug trade. After the authorities restored order on Monday evening, Nanayakkara said the inmates who led the violence were transferred to two other prisons.

Army troops were also deployed around the prison.

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000.

Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., based in San Carlos, Chile, announced July 3 it is recalling 10-oz. packages of frozen GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries that may be contaminated with Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli.

What to know about E. coli O145

E. coli can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. Most healthy people recover within a week, but the infection can lead to a serious complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, particularly in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Which products are affected

The recalled product was shipped to Publix retail stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Only the following product is affected:

• Product: Frozen GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries
• Package Size: 10 oz.
• Lot Code: 60401
• Best By Date: February 9, 2028

No other lot codes or best-by dates are affected by this recall.

What consumers should do

Consumers who purchased frozen GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries with Lot Code 60401 should not eat the product. Publix is advising customers to return or discard any frozen GreenWise blueberries with a purchase date of July 3, 2026, or earlier. Returned products are eligible for a full refund.

Consumers are also encouraged to check their freezers for the affected product.

How the recall came about

Twelve confirmed cases of stomach illness linked to E. coli infections were reported between May 11 and June 5, 2026. After receiving reports of digestive illnesses among consumers who had eaten GreenWise frozen blueberries, Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. initiated the recall.

The company says it is working closely with regulatory authorities and its retail customers. All customers who received the affected lot have been instructed to immediately isolate the product, stop distributing it and notify any downstream customers who may also have received it.

“Food safety remains a top priority for Frutas y Hortalizas S.A.,” the company said in a statement. “The company is committed to protecting consumers and is conducting a thorough investigation into the source of the presumptive finding. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

Contact information

Consumers or customers with questions about this recall can contact Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. at Info.foodsafety@comfrut.com or 336-899-5612, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

A truck was lying on its side but has since been removed.

But the private sector's unifying ambitions have been met with a mixed response, complicated by an uneasy national mood. Fewer Americans see their country as exceptional compared to 10 years ago, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, part of a broad decline in patriotic sentiment. Views of the American flag — a prominent feature of semiquincentennial celebrations — are divided by politics, age and race.

Rival events, planned by two different commissions, are adding to the conflicted feelings. Late last year President Donald Trump created Freedom 250, a nonprofit led by his allies, to organize alternative programming to America250, the official nonpartisan group formed in 2016 by Congress.

“The American dream is alive again. That’s something that nobody thought they’d be saying when you went through that last four years of incompetence,” Trump said at his June 24 campaign-style rally kicking off Freedom 250's Great American State Fair, which lost nearly all scheduled musical performers over concerns the event had grown too politically charged.

Philanthropy sees local impact as key to engagement

The tone contrasted with one of America250’s tentpoles: America Gives. The initiative aims to strengthen volunteering habits by encouraging Americans to serve with its nonprofit partners and log those hours in an online tracker.

Salvation Army USA National Commander Merle Heatwole lamented that a number of potential participants have assigned political agendas to the nonpartisan program, partnered on by his Christian aid nonprofit. Still, he celebrated that thousands of churches supported their “Good Neighbor Day” of volunteering in May.

“Some people have shied away because they’re not sure whether this is a nonpartisan effort, or whether it’s connected to the Trump administration versus the Democratic administrations,” Heatwole said. “That, I think, has hindered it slightly. But I think that overall, people are excited about having an opportunity to get involved.”

The America Gives tracker counted just over 38 million hours volunteered entering the holiday weekend. It's unclear how many hours would set the single-year record. Americans recorded 4.99 billion service hours in a one-year span from 2022-2023, according to an AmeriCorps analysis of Census Bureau data.

America250 Chair Rosie Rios said there will be a big year-end increase because many partners wait until “the last second" to populate their hours. She emphasized that highlighting the value of service is their only agenda.

Most nonprofits aren't leveraging semiquincentennial campaigns, one consultant found. Jayne Cravens, whose 30-year nonprofit career has included volunteer coordination, said nonprofits lack the infrastructure to provide meaningful service experiences. That's especially so after the Trump administration gutted AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, in 2025. Nonprofits scrambled to replace lost workers and funding.

Audra Watson, who leads youth civic programs at the nonprofit C&S, is spearheading a three-year effort to increase civic engagement among 20 million people ages 14 to 24.

She finds most young people are getting engaged through appeals outside of the 250th. While the milestone has sparked “some excitement for some young people,” she said, those participants are “hand-raisers” already “deeply excited about history.”

The more they encourage young people to consider local impact, where she said they hold the most influence, the more she finds they depart from partisanship.

“For some young people, the 250th is their thing,” she said. "But for many, many more of them this is about really taking that energy and catalyzing that energy around issues of their community.”

Dueling logos muddle the market

Marketing consultants say brands have to tread carefully, given a divided nation and shrinking national pride.

Further jumbling 250th celebration advertising, marketing executives noted, have been the two competing logos. The America250 emblem depicts a bold red, white and blue continuous ribbon that spells out “250.” The Freedom 250 design features the words “Freedom 250” written in a classic serif font, placed inside a circular arrangement of 13 stars, a nod to the original U.S. flag

“Once you have two competing logos, it’s confusing,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce.

Walmart, an America250 founding sponsor, is sponsoring a mobile recording studio that is collecting oral histories across the country. The Library of Congress will archive a selection of stories, the company said.

Coca‑Cola launched “Paint the Nation,” a large-scale public art initiative resulting in dozens of murals created with local artists. The company said each mural will reflect local culture and community pride, creating a “visual legacy that extends beyond the anniversary year.” Commemorative mini-cans are also being issued for all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

Aaron Hilton of Suffolk, Virginia says he’s seen lots of paper plates, cups and T-shirts with the America 250 reference. He's not interested, blaming his lack of enthusiasm on the Trump administration.

“I’ll end up getting the Coke because I do drink Coke, but otherwise I really don’t want to buy anything like that," said Hilton, 36. "I’m not feeling really patriotic about this.”

Darrell Brown, 50, of Alexander, Arkansas, has already bought commemorative T-shirts and flags. Every year, he decorates his lawn with a 7-foot inflatable Uncle Sam. This year, he's added more American flags than usual to commemorate the milestone.

Brown saye he's been sticking to merchandise with America250 references. He finds it politically divisive to have two logos.

“I don’t believe this should be a political issue,” he said. “I think it should be just about celebrating the country, regardless if you’re a Democrat or Republican."

Grassroots programming defined commemoration 50 years ago

Future generations might be pleasantly surprised to see all their communities accomplished under the milestone's banner, according to M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, a cultural historian who wrote a book about the 1976 bicentennial.

She recalled that the Vietnam war and Watergate still felt fresh during those celebrations. President Richard Nixon initially replaced Lyndon B. Johnson’s bipartisan planning commission with one composed of political appointees interested in a top-down celebration of American supremacy.

But Nixon scrapped those plans in place of federal funding for grassroots programming, Rymsza-Pawlowska said, which grew into forms of civic engagement still popular today. Environmental pick-ups and get-out-the-vote work were common forms of bicentennial volunteerism.

Private funders still support such efforts, though not at the scale possible with government backing. State humanities councils launched a “By the People” campaign to fund community-driven programs exploring the nation's culture and imagining its future. Her Washington, D.C. chapter created an oral history project that promises “an intimate and complex portrait of what it means to call the nation’s capital home" today.

“We don’t really know what the ultimate legacy of the 250th will be,” Rymsza-Pawlowska said. “A commemoration is just an opportunity to do a thing that you were already doing but have an occasion for it. And possibly get some money for it.”

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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.

Tropical Storm Maysak killed two people in Nanning, in China’s southern Guangxi province. The storm affected about 55,000 people, including 48,000 who were evacuated, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Multiple dams were at risk, local media reported.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management deployed more than 1,000 rescuers, along with vehicles and boats to the region. It also sent two drones to ensure communications.

Rivers overflowed in Guangxi's Fangchenggang city, submerging cars up to their roofs, footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed. Rescuers used inflatable boats to reach trapped people. Residents described it as the most severe flooding in two decades, according to a China News Service report.

In Vietnam, the storm knocked down trees and ripped metal roofs off buildings in the town of Mong Cai on Saturday evening, Vietnamese state media said. Crews used chain saws and heavy machinery to clear debris and reopen roads after the winds subsided.

Maysak also uprooted trees in Dongxing, a city that borders Vietnam. The tropical storm dumped rain on China's Hainan island last week before crossing water and making landfall again in Vietnam.

Two villagers died in a mountain flash flood Saturday evening in the eastern part of China’s Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua News Agency said. One drowned while herding cattle and the other fell into water while driving a cattle herd away, the report said.

Three other people died the same day in neighboring Liaoning province’s Fushun city, about 390 kilometers (240 miles) to the southeast, Xinhua said. It did not provide details on how they died.

A heavy rainstorm battered Fushun for several hours early Saturday with rainfall of up to 32.9 centimeters (13 inches) in one area, according to state media reports. Video posted online showed streets turned into lakes. About 3,600 residents were relocated to safer areas.

The missile carried a dummy warhead, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China last conducted a missile test in the Pacific two years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead, the first since 1980.

The 2024 launch mirrored the testing the United States conducts for its own ballistic missile fleet, which experts viewed as an assertion of China’s growing superpower status.

Monday's launch, at 12:01 p.m. local time, was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and practice and was not directed against any country or target, according to a short statement from Xinhua, which was reposted by the Ministry of Defense.

Australia, Japan and New Zealand express criticism

Beijing's militarization has drawn concerns, and Australia, Japan and New Zealand criticized the launch.

The New Zealand government said it was informed hours beforehand and noted that the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.

The zone was established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which prohibits nuclear weapons throughout the region. China ratified the protocols in 1987, pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten to use them against signatories with territory in the region.

“It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press in a statement.

The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.

“Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region,” Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Fiji in response to the test.

Japan's Defense Ministry in a statement expressed concern about China’s increasing military activity and urged Beijing to “rethink” its missile testing so that the projectiles would not fly over Japan or pose other security risks.

“China’s military activities, combined with its lack of transparency, have become a grave concern for Japan and the international society,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in Japan, citing Beijing's military activities around Japan and its increased military spending.

Beijing brushed off the criticism.

“We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

Expert says it's a signal to the United States

The concern is a result of a lack of clear information, said Drew Thompson, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore: “China’s military modernization and buildup have occurred without concurrent increases in openness and transparency, resulting in uncertainty about China’s intentions."

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the launch was the first publicly acknowledged test with a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese navy to travel this far into the Pacific.

Morris said it is noteworthy that the information available shows Japan, New Zealand and Australia received notifications in advance, but not the U.S.

The test was a signal to the U.S., he said: “The announcement demonstrates that China’s nuclear deterrent is no longer centered solely on land-based missiles."

China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, but is also actively pursuing nuclear technology and weaponry as part of its long-term strategy to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.

China has a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines and 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank.

In its latest report to Congress on China’s military capabilities, released in late 2025, the Pentagon said China had an estimated stockpile of around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, adding that the PLA remains on track to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.

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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan, E. Eduardo Castillo in Bangkok and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

SpaceX is now worth more than $2.1 trillion following its ballyhooed debut on Wall Street last month. Whether or not you believe it deserves to be worth roughly the same as Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Bank of America and IBM combined, the collective market does. And because it's that big, SpaceX is about to join a high-profile index on Tuesday, the Nasdaq 100.

Many stock indexes don't care about how realistic a company's growth plans are or who its CEO is. They're simply trying to show how slices of the market, or the whole thing, are performing.

That matters for investors and their 401(k) accounts because they're depending more than ever on funds that simply mimic these indexes. It's a lower-cost way to invest, allowing savers to keep more of their investments. Partly because of that, such index funds have usually proven to be better performers than funds that try to pick and choose individual stocks.

Just one in five actively managed U.S. stock funds survived and beat their average index peer over the last decade, at 21%, according to Morningstar's data through 2025. Such disparities in performance meant investors had more money invested in U.S. index funds than actively managed ones beginning in 2024, and the gap has only grown since then.

Here's a look at what's going on:

Indexes measure the market

Indexes are things the investment industry has created to answer the question: What is the market doing? It's otherwise tough to answer quickly when the U.S. market has thousands of stocks moving in different directions at any moment.

The S&P 500 is perhaps the most famous and influential index. It tracks 500 of the biggest U.S. stocks, and trillions of dollars in investments are either directly mimicking it or at least benchmarking themselves against it.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is well known because it's been around since the 19th century, but it tracks only 30 big stocks so Wall Street pays it little attention.

Companies want to be in indexes

Because index funds are the way so many investors put money into the stock market, companies want to be part of indexes. Stocks can see a big jump in their prices after S&P Dow Jones Indices, Nasdaq, FTSE Russell or other companies announce they'll be joining their indexes.

The investment industry has created funds, including both traditional mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, to track almost every kind of index. More than 1,000 index funds were available at the end of last year, according to the Investment Company Institute. Of them, 185 tracked the S&P 500.

SpaceX is joining indexes

Nasdaq changed its rules to allow some huge companies to join its Nasdaq 100 index after just 15 trading days. That's a break from the past, where it would wait until each December to add new members in an annual reconstitution to make sure it includes the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq.

SpaceX will join the Nasdaq 100 before trading begins Tuesday.

Some popular funds track the Nasdaq 100 index, including the QQQ exchange-traded fund from Invesco that has roughly $480 billion in total investments. That means QQQ holders will soon own shares of SpaceX, without doing anything on their own.

Other AI giants could as well

Anthropic and OpenAI are two other huge AI-related companies looking to sell their own stocks soon on a U.S. exchange for the first time. Their IPOs could potentially make each worth close to $1 trillion.

It used to be that companies would have an IPO long before they got that big. But SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI swelled to tremendous sizes thanks to dollars from private investors, including pension funds, companies and rich investors, away from the public market.

That's forcing the reconsideration for the investment industry about how quickly to add companies to indexes that they say track the biggest companies.

Not every index is making changes to fast-track big IPOs

The company behind the S&P 500 is not making changes to allow SpaceX and other “mega” IPOs faster entry into the index. For it, a stock needs to trade on an eligible exchange for at least 12 months before it can join the index.

Not only that, S&P Dow Jones Indices also requires companies to have made a profit in its most recent quarter and over the sum of its last four quarters.

SpaceX lost $4.9 billion last year and another $4.3 billion through the first three months of 2026. It acknowledges that it “may not achieve profitability in the future.” Over the long term, a stock’s price tends to track with how much profit the company is making.

Not everyone is happy about SpaceX's IPO entry to indexes

Officials from pension funds for firefighters, teachers and other workers in California and New York sent a letter to SpaceX before its IPO decrying its corporate governance, including how much power Musk will hold over the company through his ownership of a special class of stock with more voting power.

They said they could become owners of SpaceX stock because they hold index funds.

If Musk is able to control so much of the voting power on the board of directors, it would make him tremendously powerful atop SpaceX, “essentially making him unfireable without his own consent,” the CEO of California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the New York state comptroller and the New York City comptroller wrote in their letter.

If an investor doesn’t like certain companies in the index, choices are limited

Index funds track indexes. And if a stock is in an index, the index fund will buy it, even if investors may not like it.

Tesla has remained in the S&P 500 even though critics called it overvalued for years, for example, and Musk's electric-vehicle company has grown to become one of Wall Street's 10 biggest companies.

Some indexes say they will not include companies that have poor corporate governance standards or other narrowed criteria, but investors need to look for them.

The S&P 500 ESG index famously kicked Tesla out in 2022, for example.

Belgium takes on the United States later Monday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The Belgian federation (RBFA) said it has still not received either “FIFA’s decision or any explanation regarding this matter. In these circumstances, it has no choice but to challenge the player’s eligibility for the upcoming match.”

It did not specify where it intends to appeal FIFA’s decision.

U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on behalf of star U.S. forward Balogun, whose red-card suspension was lifted in a decision that allowed him to play against Belgium.

The Belgian federation said it learned through media reports about the FIFA's move and sent a letter to the governing body requesting a copy of the decision as well as an explanation of the process.

“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal,” it said. “No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.

The RBFA insisted that FIFA’s regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant.

“While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible,” it said. “All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests.”

Balogun, the star forward for the U.S. with three goals in the tournament, received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemović of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

FIFA announced Sunday that the suspension had been lifted for the round of 16 match, an extraordinary move that triggered praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium’s team. It appeared to be the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup didn’t result in a suspension.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defense of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the Belgian federation added.

The FIFA decision drew criticism from the European Commission, the powerful executive arm of the European Union, which is based in Brussels.

Glenn Micallef, the European Union’s commissioner for sport, said that decisions “on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians.”

“Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport,” he wrote in a message on X. “Our focus should instead be on the real governance challenges facing sport, including the weaponization of sport for political purposes.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

They partnered up to create an inclusive gym for anyone...no matter fitness level, goals, etc. P2T Fitness is about coaching; not just a workout.

Rance popped into the gym to get the vibe and continue his own fitness adventure.

www.p2tfitness.com IG: @p2tfitness

Mayor Donna Deegan said the awards will improve quality of life across the city, supporting the seafood supply chain, expanding transportation options, getting people off the streets, and improving tree canopy in disinvested neighborhoods.

The five most recent awards:

• Mayport Dock Redevelopment, Phase II — $11,210,471 (U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration, Port Infrastructure Development Program). Funds will modernize and storm-harden commercial dock infrastructure at the Mayport working waterfront, adding new mooring structures, a reinforced concrete deck, a floating dock with gangway access, polymeric fender piles, upgraded upland systems including power pedestals, water service, solar lighting and a modern stormwater system. Total project cost is $14,013,089.76, with the city providing a $2,802,617.95 nonfederal match.
• JAX FAST: Focused Accelerator for Sustainable Transportation — $1,150,000 (U.S. DOT Build America Bureau, Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Program). The grant will establish an embedded accelerator office in the Department of Public Works to move eight priority multimodal projects through predevelopment, credit readiness and financing. The portfolio focuses on the LaVilla and downtown area and includes projects such as McCoys Creek restoration and greenway, Beaver Street and Water Street complete streets, Amtrak relocation to the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, and the First Coast Regional Rail initiative.
• Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing — $132,902 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Emergency Solutions Grant). The award supplements emergency shelter services and builds on roughly $1 million the city received under the same program in early 2025 for rapid rehousing, street outreach, emergency shelters, case managers at nonprofit shelters and Homeward Bound program support.
• Ribault River Neighborhoods Urban Forest Resilience and Risk Reduction Project — $50,000 (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry, Inflation Reduction Act grant). The funds will pay ISA-certified arborists to inspect, prioritize and prune at least 166 trees in public parks in the Ribault River corridor, removing hazardous limbs, extending tree lifespan, strengthening storm resilience and advancing Resilient Jacksonville goals. The area is designated as a disadvantaged community with elevated poverty and chronic flood and heat exposure.
• Jacksonville Youth Sustainability Action Initiative — $50,000 (Bloomberg Philanthropies). The city will support youth-led pitch competitions, microgrants and partnerships with schools and nonprofits to move youth-generated sustainability solutions into implementation, building on Mayor’s Youth at Work and the Mayor’s Cup Sustainable Build Challenge.

The city said the five grants are part of more than $359 million in state, federal and philanthropic awards the city has received since July 1, 2023. The city also noted it is working with partners to recover a previously rescinded $147 million award for the Emerald Trail.

Cheya Thousand is the Founder, Speaker & Purpose-Driven Leadership Strategist and Coach, and Founder of CT Wellness Co. With an MBA in HR Management and over a decade of corporate experience, she helps organizations build resilient teams, reduce burnout, and foster inclusive leadership through emotional intelligence and holistic wellness.

Autumn Redding is an entrepreneur and Certified Business Coach building stronger communities through business. She leads 1Bridge Connect (COO), ADQM Solutions (CEO), and BridgePoint Community Development (Executive Director), creating opportunities that strengthen businesses, transform lives, and grow local economies.

According to the National Weather Service, wind gusts topping 50 miles per hour were reported in the area as a storm passed through Sunday evening.

Wings of Grace Ministries, Inc., a nonprofit organization with offices inside the hangar, posted photos of the damage on social media and put out a call for help.

“Hoping the airport has insurance that can covers the structure for weather damage, but they will not cover the inside,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “Needing volunteers to help us dry it out and do repairs on damage caused and will continue to be caused by all the water, until we can stop water.”

Heavy rain also led to a flash flood warning, and later a flood warning, for Glynn County, with a weather station in Dock Junction reporting 4.6 inches of rain in just one hour.

As of Sunday evening, there are no reports of storm-related injuries.

“When drowning occurs, seconds matter,” said Dr. Rohit Shenoi, the lead author of a recent American Academy of Pediatrics warning. “Quick rescue and resuscitation can mean the difference between life, death and lifelong disability.”

About 4,000 to 5,000 Americans drown each year. Most are adults who die in natural bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds or oceans.

But statistically speaking, drowning is a much larger danger to children. It’s the No. 1 cause of death for kids ages 1 to 4, and one of the top killers of children ages 5 to 14. The drowning rate is higher for white kids in the younger group, but much higher for Black, American Indian and Alaska Native children in the older group.

Drownings of very young children sometimes occur in bathtubs. But most, like Stewie Leonard's, occur in swimming pools.

A family tragedy leads to a foundation for water safety

The Stew Leonard’s grocery chain offers a Disney-like shopping experience, featuring food-promoting animatronic characters like a dancing banana, a mooing cow and singing avocados. But several of its stores also have an animatronic creature that seems out of place: a life-jacketed duck named Stewie who sings about how not to drown.

The duck is named for the son of Stew Leonard, the grocery chain’s chief executive. The boy was 21 months old when he drowned during a family vacation on the island of St. Martin in 1989.

More than a dozen adults and kids had gathered at a birthday party for Stewie's older sister, who was turning 3. Stew Leonard was outside hanging balloons and his wife was inside baking a cake.

“I saw Stewie outside and I assumed that he (Leonard) was watching him,” said his wife, Kim, noting that other relatives also were in the area of the pool.

“We never communicated with each other; ‘You’ve got him?’” said Kim Leonard, now 65. “When everyone’s watching, nobody’s watching.”

“There were a couple of balloons floating in the water,” Leonard, 71, recalled. “And you know after a few minutes, sort of everybody was like, ‘Where’s Stewie?’ Unfortunately I was the one who found him. He was face down in the pool.”

His death led the couple to start a foundation that pays for children’s swimming lessons and promotes drowning prevention.

Why are more kids drowning?

Unintentional child drowning deaths in the U.S. fell from around 2,000 a year in the 1980s to below 1,000 a year by the early 2000s, thanks in part to public awareness campaigns, expanded access to swimming lessons, and adoption of pool fencing laws. Between 2000 and 2019, health officials saw a 38% drop.

But then the trend reversed, with the number of child drowning deaths rising from 756 in 2019 to 865 in 2024, the most recent year for which complete data is available. The bulk of them were children younger than 5. The child drowning death rate also increased slightly, from 1.1 to 1.2 per 100,000 children.

What happened?

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted swimming lessons and lifeguard training programs, and contributed to a national lifeguard shortage. Meanwhile, some data suggests an increase in swimming pool construction and increases in unsupervised swimming, said Tessa Clemens, the CDC Foundation’s senior director for drowning prevention initiatives.

Kym Roberts studies drownings in Australia — where child drownings have been either level or decreasing in recent years. She said “drowning in young children is often associated with falls into water and lapses in direct supervision.”

Some possible good news: Preliminary U.S. data for last year suggests child drownings declined. But it's not clear whether that's the start of a trend, and the deaths still remain higher compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, Clemens said.

Pediatricians push for standards and regulations

Inventors have recognized a need for child water safety measures, and recent years have seen the emergence of immersion alarms that sound if the wristband a child is wearing goes underwater. But manufacturers of such devices note they can serve as an extra warning system, but should not be considered a primary way to keep children safe.

The federal government's top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, laid off Clemens and the rest of the staff of its drowning prevention program last year. But new guidance and drowning prevention support continues to come out of other organizations, including the CDC Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A CDC Foundation program has paid for basic swimming and water safety skills training for over 35,000 students since 2024. The program operates in 11 states with higher drowning rates: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

Ways to prevent drowning

The AAP says research shows that policies can make a difference, including lifeguard standards, life jacket regulations and requirements that swimming pools be completely surrounded by fences with self-closing, self-latching gates.

Stew Leonard emphasizes two other approaches — swimming lessons for young kids and complete focus by caregivers when young children are around water.

“I mean, I love ballet. I love karate. I love tennis lessons. You know, all the activities that kids can do,” he said. “But the only thing you can do to save their life is put them in swimming lessons.”

His foundation has funded over 250,000 swimming lessons for children and opened two swimming schools — one of them across the street from his company's headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Also, “shut your cellphones off when you're around the pool, watching the kids. Don't sit there reading a book. Don't sit there talking to your friends, neglecting your child that's near the water,” he said.

“This happens in the blink of an eye.”

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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.

“I’ve had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honor,” Clooney said in a statement. “It also probably means I’m old, but I’ll take it.”

The star has indeed had many memorable appearances in Venice, and at the festival, including with Steven Soderbergh’s Elmore Leonard adaptation “Out of Sight,” in 1998, and his sophomore feature as a director, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” in 2005. Last year, he came with Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” in which he plays a movie star experiencing an existential crisis in the lead-up to accepting a lifetime achievement award at an Italian film festival.

“In his triple capacity as actor, director, and producer, George Clooney is a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original, who has transformed a deep vocation into one of the most luminous parabolas of contemporary film,” festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement. “A perfect combination of the star glamour of days gone by, remarkable professionalism, and modern sensitivity, the actor has crossed the genres with rare versatility.”

Venice is also where Clooney exchanged vows with then Amal Alamuddin, in 2014.

The 83rd Venice Film Festival kicks off on Sept. 2 and runs through Sept. 12.

This Positively JAX initiative has helped collect tens of thousands of pairs of shoes for local children in need since 2014.

We are now collecting new shoes for this year’s giveaway.

Our drop-off locations this year are WJXT-Channel 4, Closets By Design, 1st Place Sports locations, Annie Lee’s Bakery & Diner, Fragrant Body Oilz, Meow and Barks Boutique, Bold City Wings, Allusion’s Restaurant & Lounge, The Icy Spot, and Bank of America branches.

Addresses for our drop-off locations are below.

Drop-off locations for new shoes:

WJXT Channel 4

• 4 Broadcast Place, 32207

Closets By Design of the First Coast

• 3728 Philips Highway, Suite 360, 32207

1st Place Sports

• Search for your local location

Annie Lee’s Bakery & Diner

• 203 West 48th St., Suite 4, 32208

Fragrant Body Oilz

• 231 Edgewood Ave. South 32254

Meow and Barks Boutique

• 1537 San Marco Blvd., 32207

Bold City Wings

• 2016 Hendricks Ave.

Allusion’s Restaurant & Lounge

• 5045 Soutel Dr. 

The Icy Spot

10584 Old St. Augustine Rd

Sears Dental Works

• 10365 Hood Rd STE 103 32257

Bank of America branches

• Normandy: 7770 Normandy Blvd. Jacksonville, Florida 32221
• North Jacksonville: 1055 Dunn Avenue Jacksonville, Florida 32218
• Regency: 9550 Regency Square Blvd. Jacksonville, Florida 32225 
• Baymeadows: 9225 Baymeadows Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32256
• Beaches- Hodges: 13756 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, Florida 32224

The visible signs of impending work signal the start of parking lot demolition several months after the city issued a permit April 6 for site-clearing at a project cost of almost $3.7 million.

Fencing surrounds part of the parking lot on the east end of the mall where outparcels are being prepared for development.

Urban Partners Construction, a design-build and general contracting company, put a sign behind the fencing indicating it will be working on the project.

Blackwater Development LLC intends to redevelop the property at 9501 Arlington Expressway into The Nexus at Regency, with first-phase work to create outparcels for restaurants, a bank, a gas station and other retailers.

The fencing ends near Impact Church, which is separately owned in the center of the mall property. Impact Church remains accessible from Arlington Expressway and within the mall property.

There is no fencing at the west end and north face of the mall where the closed Sears and the Dillard’s Clearance Centers also are separately owned.

The approved demolition work includes asphalt removal, sidewalk removal, curb removal, storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water main, fire main, subgrade, base, curb, sidewalk, asphalt paving, striping and signage, the permit application says.

The demolition permit came less than two weeks after the city approved civil engineering development and sketch plans March 26, a move that allowed the developer to work on infrastructure to prepare outparcels along Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.

With those approvals, Blackwater can start to prepare what plans show as eight outparcels from 1.1 acres to 2.25 acres at the mall property’s southwest corner.

Blackwater President Rurmell McGee declined comment about the current state of demolition.

He said March 26 the approvals mean his group can “take this next step in the transformation of the Regency Square Mall.”

Click here to read the full story on the Jacksonville Daily Record website.

The outbreak has recorded 1,561 cases, including 506 deaths, since it was declared on May 15 as the spread continues to outpace response, Congo's Ministry of Health said in its latest update on Sunday night.

Frontline workers deployed in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, issued a 24-hour notice on Sunday threatening to strike if authorities fail to pay them and improve their working conditions.

The workers include mostly health professionals who have been laboring with little rest as they battle attacks from angry residents and widespread skepticism about the virus.

In the notice to the government, a copy of which was seen by The Associated Press, the workers both in and outside hospitals said they had not been paid benefits since the outbreak began and they do not have adequate supplies for their work.

They also complained of poor salaries, the "arrogance" of teams sent from Congo's capital of Kinshasa, and the “excessive” use of labor from other provinces without prioritizing local labor in Ituri, as well as the lack of adequate equipment.

The strike threats come just days after enrollment for clinical trials started, raising concerns in the epicenter about its possible impact. Any strike could also hamper efforts to slow the spread of the outbreak, which is now confirmed in three eastern provinces including North Kivu and South Kivu.

The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the latest Ebola outbreak, has complicated response efforts. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Officials are yet to identify the outbreak’s patient zero and still need to trace possibly tens of thousands of people who have come in contact with infected individuals.

The first month of this Ebola outbreak was already the worst on record, the World Health Organization has said.

Ana Termyna has been working out at home for years. She says it helps her save money on gym memberships, and she gets a great workout without needing tons of space or equipment.

Consumer Reports says one of the smartest home gym purchases is a set of adjustable dumbbells. Instead of buying multiple weights, adjustable dumbbells let you change the resistance with a quick adjustment, saving money and space.

Consumer Reports evaluated the dumbbells for things like ease of adjustment, comfort, versatility, and overall workout performance. Testers paid close attention to comfort, evaluating not only how the dumbbells felt to hold during a workout, but also how comfortable they were to rest on your legs when seated on a bench and when transitioning between exercises. Two of the top-rated options are the NordicTrack 55-pound Select-A-Weight Dumbbells and the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Set that goes up to 50 pounds. Both sell for under $400.

Resistance bands are another affordable option. They are a lightweight, space-saving alternative to traditional weights. And experts say they can be just as effective for building strength, power, and muscular endurance. Consumer Reports recommends looking for bands that feel sturdy and checking them regularly for signs of wear and tear.

Resistance bands are one of the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment you can buy. They’re relatively inexpensive and can be used by people at many different fitness levels. Whatafit Resistance Bands are a CR’s Smart Buy. 5 bands sell for about $28.

And if music helps you keep moving, Consumer Reports recommends workout headphones that stay secure, resist sweat, and sound great. The Apple AirPods Pro can even track your heart rate, while the Beats Fit Pro feature flexible wingtips designed to stay put during exercise.

Consumer Reports found during recent testing that some HomeProGym resistance bands could fail during use. If you own the company’s purple 60-pound or gray 70-pound bands, stop using them and check the recall. And before you buy, compare prices. Consumer Reports says shopping sales can help you save even more.

The incidents unfolded in different parts of the city but appeared to be unrelated, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said, and detectives are still trying to determine what led to the gunfire.

Early Saturday morning on West 18th Street, officers found a man in his 20s with a gunshot wound to the face. A driver discovered the man and called 911; he was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.

Hours later on Barnes Road South, JSO said four masked men armed with rifles and handguns opened fire outside an apartment complex. A man in his late 40s was struck in the arm and leg and is expected to survive, authorities said.

A Fourth of July gathering on New Berlin Road escalated into a fight that ended with one man shot and killed, investigators said. Multiple people were detained at the scene while detectives interviewed witnesses to piece together what happened.

Just before 4 a.m. Sunday on Calvert Street, an argument between a man and a woman ended when she allegedly shot and killed the man, JSO said. She was arrested a short distance from the scene.

Anyone with information about any of the cases is urged to contact JSO or Crime Stoppers.

More than 6,000 police officers, including anti-riot squads, were deployed to secure the Senate, where about 400 anti-Duterte demonstrators converged, chanting “Convict Sara now.” Duterte did not appear but was represented by her lawyers at the start of the trial, which will run for 92 days, according to a pretrial plan seen by The Associated Press.

If convicted of the charges, which include amassing unexplained wealth and publicly threatening to have Marcos assassinated, Duterte may be permanently disqualified from holding public office. She denies the charges.

Rep. Gerville Luistro, who leads the prosecution team, said there was adequate evidence and witness accounts to convict the vice president.

“This is the moment when the republic must demonstrate that laws are applied equally to the powerful and the powerless alike,” Luistro said.

Sheila Sison, head of the vice president's legal defense, expressed doubt whether prosecutors have legitimate evidence to back up their allegations against Duterte, who rose to power with a landslide electoral victory.

“This court, and we as a people, must guarantee that all efforts to hold our leaders accountable must be done right,” Sison said. “Impeachment should never be abused."

A conviction would be a lethal blow to the vice president's announced plan to seek the presidency in mid-2028, when Marcos ends his six-year term. They were running mates in the 2022 elections in a whirlwind alliance that combined the vote-getting power of two of the country’s most formidable political dynasties, but the union rapidly fell apart.

The vice president is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos’ predecessor. He was arrested last year on orders of the International Criminal Court and flown to The Hague, where he is detained and is scheduled to face trial over alleged crimes against humanity on Nov. 30.

The charges stem from the ex-president’s brutal anti-drugs crackdowns that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead, alarming Western governments and human rights groups. Rodrigo Duterte has denied authorizing extrajudicial killings but repeatedly threatened suspects with death while in office.

The vice president has blamed Marcos for her 81-year-old father’s arrest and handover to the ICC.

Marcos and the Dutertes have contrasting geopolitical leanings. Marcos has expanded defense engagements with the United States, his country’s treaty ally, as his administration stood up to China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.

Rodrigo Duterte had nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin while threatening to sever ties with Washington. The vice president has come under fire for not condemning China’s assaults, including with the use of powerful water cannons, against Filipino forces and fishermen in the disputed waters.

Last month, the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos’ allies, voted overwhelmingly to impeach the vice president over alleged unexplained wealth, misuse of confidential state funds and a public threat to have the president, his wife and a former House speaker and ally assassinated if she herself were killed due to their political disputes.

Sara Duterte has generally denied the charges but has refused to publicly answer the allegations in detail ahead of the impeachment trial. Her supporters have accused Marcos and his key aides of politically persecuting the vice president and her senatorial allies to ensure her impeachment.

Two-thirds of the 24-member Senate, or 16 votes, are needed to convict the vice president.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who belongs to a Senate bloc backing the Duterte family, was arrested and detained last month on a nonbailable charge of plunder, or large-scale graft, in connection with a flood-control project bribery scandal. Estrada denies any wrongdoing.

Another pro-Duterte senator, Rodante Marcoleta, was arrested Monday over a nonbailable charge of plunder for receiving huge campaign donations and failing to declare the funds in his assets declaration. Marcoleta has denied committing any irregularity.

A third senator, Ronald dela Rosa, has gone into hiding after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest as a co-perpetrator in the Duterte-era killings. Dela Rosa served as Rodrigo Duterte’s national police chief, who first enforced the then-president’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs.

___

Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

He points to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

“They were 26 when they were first elected to public office,” said Alfonso, a Republican.

Alfonso is trying to ride support from his father-in-law to win his old House seat in rural northern Wisconsin. Duffy has repeatedly jetted back to the district to campaign and raise money for Alfonso, and he's tapped $1 million from his old congressional account to support Alfonso's candidacy.

Alfonso has also scored the endorsement of President Donald Trump, who called him a “MAGA warrior.” But to Alfonso's detractors, including prominent Republicans in the 7th Congressional District, he's too young and inexperienced for the job.

“I think it’s insulting to people in the 7th that someone who lacks qualifications and any life experiences and any kind of demonstrable leadership skills or experience is even being touted as a candidate,” said Meg Ellefson, a 20-year resident of the district who voted for Trump three times and now opposes him. “It’s super aggravating to me.”

The Aug. 11 primary will test whether Trump's endorsement of Alfonso, Duffy’s star power in his old congressional district and Alfonso’s fundraising advantage will be enough to put the political newcomer over the top.

Alfonso leans into Duffy's ‘Real World’ past

Alfonso is taking a page from his father-in-law’s playbook by participating in a reality show. He appeared alongside Duffy, a 1997 alum of MTV’s “Real World,” in the “Great American Road Trip” video series that Duffy launched with his wife and 11 children on YouTube in June.

Duffy was elected to Congress in 2010, flipping a seat that had been under Democratic control for 41 years. He served for just under nine years before leaving politics. He returned last year when Trump tapped him to serve as transportation secretary.

Alfonso has leaned into his youth and lack of political experience.

“I’m a young man with the energy of a young man, but I have the values of someone who’s in their 60s,” Alfonso said, citing the fact that he got married to Duffy’s daughter Evita Duffy at age 22 and became a father in May.

Alfonso graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022 and then moved to Florida, where he worked for about a year on a podcast hosted by Trump supporter Dan Bongino. Prior to that, he worked construction jobs while in college.

Alfonso said that conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination inspired him to run to continue what he calls a “spiritual battle for the soul of our nation.” Kirk’s Turning Point Action has endorsed Alfonso.

Duffy’s son-in-law faces a former Iranian hostage and a dog musher

One of Alfonso's rivals in the Republican primary, Kevin Hermening, has deep ties to the district.

Hermening is a former Marine who was one of 66 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days starting in 1979. Framed photos of the then-20-year-old Hermening meeting with former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter hang on his office wall.

He has worked nearly 40 years as a financial planner, spent 16 years on a local school board and was chairman of the Marathon County Republican Party for 24 years, helping Duffy and scores of other Republicans win local, state and federal races across the district.

Hermening also previously ran for Congress in 1986, when he was the same age as Alfonso is now — 26. He lost by 25 percentage points to Democratic incumbent Rep. David Obey.

“The voters told me that I wasn’t ready or prepared yet," Hermening, who's now 66, said in an interview at his Wausau office. “I was ill prepared to have actually done the job, and I’m not saying that because Mr. Alfonso’s in the race. It’s a fact."

Another candidate in the primary, Ashley Furniture executive Jessi Ebben, has the backing of powerful Republican megadonors. Others running are Niina Baum, a dog musher, and Don Raihala, an accountant and real estate broker.

Longtime Republicans are publicly opposing Alfonso despite Trump backing

While Alfonso has endorsements from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and four of Wisconsin’s six Republican congressmen, local Republican officials in the district have publicly questioned the young candidate's credentials.

Leaders in at least three counties have publicly spoken out against Alfonso as being too inexperienced for the job and questioned Duffy's influence.

Iron County Republican Party Chair Tanner Hiller accused Duffy of trying to use his connections to get his son-in-law elected.

“I think what they’re doing is wrong morally,” Hiller told Wisconsin Public Radio in May. “There’s a lot of people that have better credentials, that know this district, that will represent this district better than Michael Alfonso.”

Donations in question as GOP megadonors are divided

Alfonso has benefited from tens of thousands of dollars in donations from transportation interests, raising more questions given that Duffy leads the federal agency that oversees the nation’s transportation system.

When asked whether he would be beholden to those donors, Alfonso said he answers only to God and the voters.

“That's it,” Alfonso said.

But Hermening said Alfonso will feel indebted to the donors.

“I would think that the people would want to get paid back,” he said.

Duffy, despite his repeated visits back home to the district to campaign and raise money for Alfonso, is focused exclusively on executing the president's agenda, his Transportation Department spokesperson Nathaniel Sizemore said when asked about the donations.

A super political action committee backing Alfonso has received $1 million from Duffy’s old congressional account and another $1 million from Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein, whose shipping and packaging business, Uline, is based in Wisconsin.

However, Uihlein’s wife, Elizabeth Uihlein, has donated $1 million to another PAC supporting Ebben. Ebben also has the backing of Club for Growth and Diane Hendricks, a billionaire builder from Wisconsin who is another GOP megadonor.

Alfonso hopes Trump endorsement overcomes GOP pushback

Alfonso is leaning into the Trump endorsement, while saying it will be hard work and not the president's backing that gets him elected. His red, white and blue campaign signs say, “Endorsed by President Donald Trump.”

Jack Hoogendyk, chair of the Republican Party in Marathon County, which is home to the district’s largest city of Wausau, said Trump's endorsement is “solid gold” in a district where Trump won by 22 percentage points two years ago.

But Ellefson, the longtime district resident, who hosted a conservative talk radio show in Wausau for five years, isn't so sure that Trump's blessing carries the same weight now that it used to.

“I personally would like to believe that voters in the 7th are intelligent enough and critical thinkers and won’t be swayed by a Trump endorsement,” she said. “I’m going to give the voters credit for not being that foolish."

From streaming services to shopping memberships, fitness apps and free trials that quietly turn into paid subscriptions, recurring charges can add up fast.

I put a “subscription detox” to the test to see how much money our staff could save — and how you can do the same.

I started with my own budget, guessing that I had about eight subscriptions. After taking a closer look, I found closer to 15.

The same thing happened when I started asking around the newsroom.

Janis quickly listed Netflix, Hulu, Kindle Unlimited, HBO Max and Paramount before realizing there may be even more. Eden named Spotify, Hulu, Disney and Netflix, then remembered dog food through Chewy and protein shakes from Amazon. Rance started with five subscriptions, then realized his list was growing as he talked.

The pattern was clear: almost everyone thought they had fewer subscriptions than they actually did.

After going through my own recurring charges, I found nearly $200 a month that I could probably cut.

So why do we keep paying for things we barely use?

Dupont Counseling Group Therapist Nicole Davidson-Harshaw says it can feel like a loss to cancel something once we’ve decided it matters to us. She says our brains also minimize small monthly charges.

A $12 subscription may not seem like much, but when it’s on autopay, it can become almost invisible.

Her advice: Make a list of every subscription you have and ask yourself one simple question: Would I pay for this today?

If the answer is no, it might be time to let it go.

Experts recommend reviewing your bills about every three months, paying close attention to recurring subscriptions. Make sure you’re still using them, and if you’re not, cancel them.