Many Christians in Israel, who make up less than 2% of the country’s population, are worried visible signs of their faith will draw harassment, which has increased as multiple conflicts grip the region.

“I’m scared after the sister was beat up,” said Sister Mayela, a Mexican nun who’s lived in Jerusalem on and off for more than two decades. “Before, one could live with more confidence. Some people spat, some said hi. Now we have to live trusting in God.”

She finds resilience in her faith — and in support from Israelis like the volunteers. Even that, though, didn’t prevent a teen from spitting right behind her as they passed a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews recently. The teen said she was only clearing her throat, but the volunteer reported it to police.

Incidents like that are among the challenges for Christians in Israel, particularly since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, plunged the country back into war and polarization. But interfaith leaders and researchers are encouraged by better policing and prosecution as well as the recent appointment of a government envoy to the Christian world, who is Greek Orthodox.

In northern Israel, many Christians say they feel the state isn’t doing enough to protect them from crime because they’re not Jewish. But those concerns didn’t stop groups of Catholics from joining a recent joyous pilgrimage on Mount Tabor, where the Gospels say Jesus appeared transfigured alongside the Jewish prophets Moses and Elijah.

“In a world where darkness is filling the hearts of people, we need to diffuse God’s light to other people,” said Sister Muna, the nun who led one youth group.

For many Christians and Jews, protecting coexistence in the Holy Land is a moral imperative after their own long histories of religious persecution.

“I don’t want Christians to go out of their house in Jerusalem … and have fear,” said Yisca Harani, the Jewish Israeli educator and activist who escorted Sister Mayela. “I’ve gone through this 2,000 years in my Jewish history. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Occasional flare-ups occur in multifaith Old City

In the Old City, Jewish men in black hats and tzitzit tassels, Muslim women in hijabs and Christian priests in flowing robes walk past each other daily in the maze of stone alleyways. Many are headed to pray at the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. These are some of the most sacred sites respectively for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and they are close to each other.

“If you stroll around in your habit, sooner or later you’ll get some spitting next to you,” said the Rev. Alberto Pari, who leads interfaith dialogue and Christian-Jewish relations as secretary to the Custody of the Holy Land, the Catholic order ministering to holy sites across the region. “But it’s important not to generalize, because that unleashes antisemitism.”

Religious Freedom Data Center, the organization that Harani founded to track harassment of Christians, has recorded a near-tripling of incidents in Jerusalem from four years ago to the last three months recorded — about one a day now — virtually all by Jewish religious nationalists.

A Jewish man from a settlement in the occupied West Bank was indicted in the violent attack on the nun in April. The French Biblical and Archeological School of Jerusalem where the nun is a researcher expects “effective prosecution at the criminal and civil levels,” said the school’s director, Friar Olivier Poquillon.

Israel's government tackles anti-Christian incidents

Among those reaching out to Catholic leaders to denounce the attack and offer support was Ambassador George Deek, Israel's new envoy tasked with building what he calls the “special relationship” between Christians and the country, to both keep Christians safe and partner on issues like fighting antisemitism.

“We believe that every incident against Christians is immoral, illegal and should be prosecuted. That’s exactly what we are going to do,” Deek told The Associated Press. “We want to make sure that Israel continues to prosper and grow as a place where Christians can not only survive, but they can thrive.”

Around the time that the nun was attacked, two other incidents drew global condemnation. An Israeli soldier smashed a crucifix in a family garden and another stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, where the military is fighting Hezbollah militants. The soldiers involved received military prison sentences.

Most Israelis find harassment unacceptable. But Jewish religious nationalists, particularly uneducated young men, remain a threat, said John Munayer of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, an interreligious organization in Jerusalem.

Their hostility to Christians is grounded in the history of persecution of Jews in Christian-majority European countries, in faith practices they see as idol-worshipping, and in a “general intolerance” for anyone who’s not Jewish near sacred areas like the Western Wall, Munayer said.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict spills over in Christian-Jewish tensions

Then there’s the overhanging trauma of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, since most local Christians in Israel and the occupied West Bank are Palestinian.

In Taybeh, the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank, Jewish settlers recently cut through house fences and destroyed fruit and vegetable gardens, said the Rev. Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church.

“All the people here are afraid,” he said. “Settlers come and go every day.”

Israel’s army declared the village a closed military zone earlier this week to curb the attacks. But concerns about Israel’s ability and willingness to rein in the settlers remain even among evangelicals, who are among the staunchest Christian supporters of Israel.

“What happens in Taybeh is really troubling,” said David Parsons, spokesperson for International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. “Israeli leaders have realized for some time that Christian support for their nation is not only vital, it’s a strategic interest.”

And yet since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, “generalized fear and skepticism” pervaded all interreligious work, Pari said. The interfaith music institute he directs, Magnificat, was invited to play at a peace march in Jerusalem. But when the Palestinian members saw that the stage had been set up by an Old City gate flanked by Israeli flags, they refused to play.

“I felt a real failure,” Pari said. “We think that as Christians, we have a very important role to patch things back together. ... It will be difficult, but we can do it.”

Israeli Christians hold tight to faith and identity

That faith-grounded resilience prevailed among the Mount Tabor pilgrims, who gathered on the mountain to celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration last week. Rising interfaith tensions and crime have driven many of the area’s Christians to emigrate, several said.

“It’s very difficult that we keep our identity as Christians in the Middle East, but it’s the most important,” said John Akleh, 20, who came with Sister Muna’s group.

Ten pilgrims from nearby Nazareth — where Jesus grew up — started the climb at 4:15 a.m. led by the Rev. Fadi Shallufi in a yearly tradition they’ve maintained even in wartime.

“We will have a lot of sacrifice, but you will be sure in this land something will change,” Shallufi told them as he celebrated Mass in the mountaintop basilica.

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Associated Press journalists Ibrahim Hazboun and Moshe Edri contributed from Jerusalem.

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

And probably more than anything when it comes to time, most of us try to manage it — in our everyday lives and on a global scale, from the biology of our circadian rhythms to what constitutes a work day. Clocks. Calendars. Pendulums. Hourglasses. Sundials. Time zones.

For something that's been a pretty universal impulse to mark the shift of light and dark, the movement of the stars and the rhythms of the tides, the cycles of summer heat and winter cold, one might assume there's been a universal way of measuring time. That assumption would be wrong.

Take the shifting of the clock twice a year in most of the United States, once forward and then back again, a system that “moves” the time to let people enjoy daylight hours later into the evening.

While people love the light, a lot of them loathe having to make the change. So much so that the House of Representatives last month overwhelmingly passed legislation calling for the shift to become permanent year-round. Its prospects for passage in the Senate aren’t high, and when the country tried it in the 1970s it was wildly unpopular and short-lived. But it continues to be brought up, an indication that the way we keep the clock counts.

The methods different peoples and communities have used to track their lives haven't existed in a vacuum. They've been impacted by culture, by religion, by economics and technology, by the governing principles both within nations and among them.

Turns out, like pretty much anything where people are involved, there’s a politics to time.

Measurements of time are made up, but they matter

“Every measurement of time is arbitrary,” says Elizabeth Cohen, a political science professor at Boston University who has written about how we chronicle time and how it impacts the way people relate to each other. “Every deadline could have been a fraction of a second or a large increment of time different than it was,” she says. “None of it is natural.”

Take calendars. We use them to give a structure to our lives, but the spectrum of what that has looked like is vast through human existence. Some followed the sun, others the moon, and others still a combination of both. Maybe all the months were the same length, maybe they weren’t. What we call a seven-day week might have had four, or six, or some other number of days in other timekeeping systems.

Even today, when the main calendar in use globally is what we know as the Gregorian calendar, with its 12 months and leap years, other calendars are still consulted for religious or cultural purposes in places from Israel to Thailand. And daylight saving time? With its connection to our perceptions of what hours of light become available to us, it reflects “a desire for natural time,” says Michael O’Malley, professor of history at George Mason University.

People “are outside longer, so they feel it as a connection to nature,” he says. “But it only makes sense in a society that’s completely hypnotized by clocks so you think the clock is time.”

The culture of the clock is evolving

It's not just about the how. When we think about how culture evolved around time, there's also the why.

For most of human history, there were ties to the rhythms of the natural world: the phases of the moon, the rising and setting of the sun, the ebb and flow of the tides. And in agricultural societies, the importance of when to plant and when to harvest.

Tracking the sun's journey across the sky was a local endeavor. While the idea of a day broken down into 24 equal segments was important to groups like astronomers or seafarers, daily life was broken into “systems that tended to expand and contract based on the time of year and the location,” says Kevin Birth, a professor of anthropology at Queens College.

“But since people weren’t really traveling back and forth with any great rapidity back," he says, "then it really didn’t matter.”

Industrialization — in the form of the Industrial Revolution that started in 18th-century England and spread — pushed people to shift notions of time. No longer was it about the sun's cycle or the turn of the seasons. Industrial production meant schedules — people paying attention to the clock because they were due for specific shifts.

“It was one of the goals of industrialization to instill in people this regular, unvarying sense of time,” O'Malley says.

Contrast that to a preindustrial farmer, he says. “You could have an ethic of hard work, but that work is not going to be governed by a clock. It’s typically going to governed by natural cues. The clock establishes this external authority that’s not you."

In the United States, by the mid-1800s, another issue arose: time zones. There were more than 40 based around cities, which O'Malley says forced railroad companies to switch dynamically as trains traveled.

Worried that other entities would standardize the zones and disrupt their businesses, the companies acted. “The American Railway Association got all the American railroads to agree that on Nov. 18, 1883, they would declare a four-zone system in effect in America,” O'Malley says. “And they just announced it.”

Time can be a cudgel

It's hardly the only occasion where the perception of time has involved national or global concerns.

Take the Prime Meridian, the entirely made-up longitude line running from the North Pole to the South Pole, that divides Earth into eastern and western hemispheres and is used as the basis for global timekeeping as well as navigation.

It runs through Greenwich, England, and was selected at an international conference in 1884. Was that because Greenwich was the ideal place? No, Birth says — it simply was established during “a period when the British Empire was one of the dominant empires in the world.”

Time zones themselves “are about politics,” he says, pointing out that they are not divided in a standard format. Countries decide their own, and in the U.S., the individual states can decide if they observe Daylight Saving or not.

A prime example is China, which stretches more than 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) across Asia. It has one official time zone for the country, instituted when the Communist Party took power in 1949 as a form of national unity.

The entire country runs officially on Beijing time, but the reality on the ground when the sun rises in eastern China hours before it rises in western China is people adjust with their own local times for daily life, Birth says.

Time can also be a tool used in a society to manage dissent and protest, Cohen says. She pointed to examples like governments instituting curfews or protesters engaging in slowdowns or strikes.

“Time has a lot of power," she says, “and people are battling over it to try and impose themselves on others or remove the yoke that has been imposed on them.”

Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party who some see as a possible next prime minister, abruptly quit his seat in July amid an investigation into whether he failed to report a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift from a crypto billionaire overseas.

He said he would run for the open seat to prove he had voters’ support, and regained it with 63% of Thursday's vote. Binface, who finished in second, won about 27%, according to the results announced Friday. The election, held on the hottest day of the year so far, had turnout of 44%.

Binface, a serial candidate who has challenged prime ministers past and present, became the default challenger in a field of 34 candidates after the major parties boycotted the campaign as a political stunt by Farage.

Farage hailed the result as an “overwhelming win” with 1,000 more votes than he earned when first elected two years ago with 46% of the vote share. Turnout during the 2024 general election was nearly 60% and he faced a more robust field of mainstream candidates.

“Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment,” Farage said, referring to the British equivalent of a crude gesture that employs the middle finger in other cultures.

The victory by Farage showed his strong support in his conservative constituency on the east coast of England but it doesn’t ensure he’ll be able to keep the seat. An investigation by a parliamentary watchdog that was suspended when he stepped down is likely to resume and could still lead to Farage being forced out of Parliament to face yet another election.

Farage is a no-show at vote count

Farage declared victory in the early morning and did not attend the official declaration where he would have had to stand alongside the other candidates, many of them running joke campaigns.

“I’m damned if I’m going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory ... and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies,” Farage told supporters at a victory party.

Farage said he didn’t attend because police told him about an “organized campaign to disrupt and degrade the result.” A spokesperson for Reform said there was a credible threat against him, though police disputed that.

Binface, who ran on a wacky platform that included a vow to “cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s,” build one affordable home and nationalize singer Adele, celebrated his best-ever result. It was a massive increase from the votes he received in a special election two months ago against now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham, in which he won 95 votes.

“So against Nigel Farage compared to Andy Burnham, I am 1,000 times more popular,” he quipped. "Does that have anything to do with why he isn’t here tonight?”

Farage still faces investigation over undeclared donation

Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said the election was no victory for Farage and he needs to come clean over his finances and relationship with a convicted fraudster.

“The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin,” Phillipson said. “Farage’s distraction by-election doesn’t clear his name — it just shows he likely has so much more to hide.”

Parliament’s standards watchdog is investigating an undeclared donation to Farage in 2024 from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Farage says he didn’t need to declare the money because it was a personal gift he used to fund his security and was made before he was elected.

However, newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) received in the previous year if they are related to political activities.

When he resigned on July 7, he described the scrutiny as an “establishment hit job” and a media-driven “witch-hunt.”

Farage also faces an investigation into his financial relationship with George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served eight months in a U.S. prison for fraud a decade ago after offering to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers.

Cottrell, 32, remains close to Farage and has reportedly given him money for security and staff.

Farage, who was a major player in getting Britain to vote to leave the European Union a decade ago, has had strong polling nationally though his numbers have slipped during months of scrutiny of his finances.

Binface led a pack of comedy candidates

Farage’s gambit to resign and run again backfired when other parties refused to participate and he was left facing a massive field of independent and small-party candidates, including novelty acts such as Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party.

Binface, who was already a running joke in British elections, drew the most attention because of his satirical spin on politics and persona as a space alien from the planet Sigma IX.

By winning at least 5% of the vote, he's earned a refund of the deposit of 500 pounds ($675) candidates pay to run.

Under the black cape, trash can helmet and ample body armor straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film, Binface’s alter-ego is Jon Harvey, a middle-aged comedian who has spent much of the campaign trying to keep his cool during a sweltering summer.

He said his repeated candidacies were aimed at promoting the beauty of Britain’s centuries-old democracy where even the most high-profile politicians are above no one — including someone from outer space.

The Dodgers took a two-run lead into the ninth inning Thursday night with Diaz, the highest-paid closer in baseball, on the mound. The defending champions left one inning later with a 5-4 loss to the NL-leading Milwaukee Brewers, who wreaked havoc on Los Angeles’ already beleaguered relief corps with a clutch three-run, five-hit rally.

Diaz (2-2) blew a save for the third time in his last four appearances for the Dodgers, giving up four consecutive one-out singles and three runs.

The normally imperturbable Roberts was clearly annoyed after this brutal loss in a game that would have pulled the Dodgers even with the Brewers atop the National League standings. Instead, Los Angeles has lost nine of 13.

When Roberts was asked whether Diaz would be allowed to continue to work through his struggles as the closer, Roberts snapped: “Give me another option.”

“I can’t just say, ‘Change (Diaz) to low leverage,'” Roberts added. “I have to have other options, and to be quite honest, none of those guys really have thrown the baseball great. That’s just kind of the way it is.”

That’s the dilemma facing Roberts, whose bullpen doesn’t currently contain a reliever he completely trusts. While the Dodgers’ overall bullpen statistics aren’t glaringly bad, Diaz’s struggles and a series of poor performances in recent high-leverage situations have clearly taxed Roberts’ problem-solving ability.

“You look back at the last week, and guys have struggled,” Roberts said. “I’m not going to sit here and play carousel and chase my tail ... when a guy is struggling, and then when he doesn’t pitch well, then it’s, ‘Why are you pitching him?’ I don’t do that. Everyone has got a role. They all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”

The trumpets that herald Diaz’s entrance into games have sounded more like a dirge lately while his ERA ballooned to 11.57. The three-time All-Star and longtime Mets closer has been frequently awful since returning late last month from a three-month absence for elbow surgery, giving up eight runs and 12 hits in only seven appearances.

“It’s frustrating, because I know my ability,” Diaz said. “I know what I can do on the mound. To not be able to do it (stinks). I've just got to come tomorrow and try to keep getting better.”

Diaz realizes he could be in danger of losing his job as the Dodgers' closer.

“I've just got to see what they want to do,” he said. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth, I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”

Despite Roberts’ protestations, the clearest option to replace Diaz is left-hander Tanner Scott, who earned 16 saves this season before Diaz returned. But Scott’s miserable 2025 season is still top of many minds in Los Angeles, and his 2026 performance has mildly declined in recent weeks.

Roberts realizes he could consider a closer-by-committee plan, but that’s also difficult when any choice will be concerning.

“We’ve got to get other guys on track to even have that be even a valid conversation, to be honest with you,” Roberts said.

The bullpen’s struggles are magnified because the Dodgers’ talent-laden lineup hasn’t blown out anyone in weeks. Los Angeles has won just two games by more than two runs since July 19, repeatedly putting its relievers into perilous situations.

The Dodgers are trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series, and their fans still remember their team barely scraping through last season with a patchwork bullpen that finished 21st in the majors in ERA. In the postseason, LA improbably converted rookie starter Roki Sasaki into a closer.

Diaz was supposed to be the foundation of a return to a strong bullpen for the Dodgers, who hadn’t had a standout closer for years. Instead, he’s the central figure in another mess in mid-August.

Roberts is frustrated, but he’s also got perspective.

“I know people don’t want to hear it, but it’s baseball,” Roberts said. “Offenses go in lulls, and the bullpens go in lulls, and sometimes you get in a run where the starting pitching isn’t there. It is what happens, and it just doesn’t feel good. And it certainly is more highlighted when the ’pen doesn’t throw the baseball well, because it costs you games.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Interior Department released a statement late Thursday saying: “Our U.S. Park Police are on the scene and the investigation is ongoing. The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act.”

The Friends of the National World War II Memorial, a nonprofit organization that helps maintain the site, said: “There are many places in our country for expression, debate, and disagreement. A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never be used as a canvas for vandalism.”

The Veterans of Foreign Wars called the vandalism “an act of profound disrespect, a slap in the face to the veterans who served and sacrificed and to the families who carried that burden at home.”

The World War II Memorial is just east of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the Mall. After a botched repair job earlier this year left the pool with peeling blue sealant and green algae, President Donald Trump blamed the issues on vandalism without providing evidence.

The program remained secret for decades and in 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation designating Aug. 14 as the official day to honor the Navajo Code Talkers and all Native Americans who served in the war.

A crowd is expected to gather in Phoenix to mark the day. Among them will be Thomas H. Begay, 101, who is among the last two remaining Code Talkers.

In all, the military recruited and trained more than 400 Navajo men to communicate confidential information using their then-unwritten language. It became the largest code-talking program in the military at the time.

Between 1942 and 1945, they sent thousands of secret messages on battle tactics and enemy troop movements and ultimately helped save the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers.

“The U.S. was being defeated. Without that code, that war could have been different," said Dawn Manuelito, a granddaughter of one of the first 29 Navajo Code Talkers. “Our language saved this country."

Navajo soldiers were sworn to secrecy

When the Code Talkers were discharged after the war, they couldn't tell anyone — even family members — about their secret mission. The program remained classified until 1968 and then efforts began to formally recognize the soldiers for their contributions.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon sent a letter of appreciation to the Navajo Tribal Council. Code Talker veterans participated in the bicentennial parade in Washington in 1976 and then Begay and other Code Talkers made a written request for recognition that resulted in a 1982 joint congressional resolution and Reagan's proclamation.

In the proclamation, Reagan also acknowledged that members of the Choctaw, Chippewa, Creek, Sioux, and other tribes used their tribal languages as effective battlefield codes in the two world wars.

At least 20 tribes have had members participate in the code talking programs, according to the National Museum of the American Indian.

During World War II, over 40,000 Native American men and women enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Of the hundreds of Code Talkers deployed, the Comanches participated in operations in Europe, including the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

Advocates work to keep the legacy alive

Following President Donald Trump’s executive order to end federal diversity and equity programs, the Defense Department deleted thousands of pages honoring contributions by women and minority groups, including the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans.

Tribes condemned the action. The Pentagon restored some webpages, saying the Navajo Code Talker material was erroneously removed.

Laura Tohe, the Arizona poet laureate and daughter of a Navajo Code Talker, said her father went to a boarding school where students were punished for using their native languages. But when he joined the Army, Tohe said, he and other men were told that the military would use their language to devise a code.

“It's a huge contradiction,” Tohe said. “Despite the complicated and dark history and relationship that we have with the U.S., these men were willing to step up because many of them felt like it was their responsibility to serve."

There's no dedicated museum to honor the group. Attempts to build one on the Navajo Nation haven't come to fruition, but plans were announced last week to establish one in Farmington, New Mexico.

Only two Navajo Code Talkers remain

Begay grew up speaking only the Navajo language with his parents. At 13, like many Native American Code Talkers, he first learned English when he was sent to boarding school.

Begay left the Marines in 1946 but joined the U.S. Army a year later. He worked as a communication specialist and was a paratrooper during the Korean War. The experience in Korea convinced him to leave the military in 1953.

The other surviving Navajo Code Talker is Peter MacDonald. He joined the Marine Corps at 15. He was two years too young, so he lied about his age.

After the war, MacDonald worked as an engineer at a defense contractor company and eventually became a powerful and controversial politician on the Navajo Nation. In November 2017, MacDonald, along with other World War II veterans, met Trump in the Oval Office and shared the history of the Navajo Code Talkers.

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Associated Press writer Savannah Peters contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“I’m not too concerned,” deGrom said following a 7-0 loss to the Angels. “I mean, hopefully I’ll make my next (start). We’ll see. It was tight in the second inning, and it just didn’t want to loosen up,
so I don’t know, I haven’t really had this before.”

The 38-year-old right-hander, who has been dealing with a left hip and glute injury since the All-Star break, escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the first but gave up two runs and five hits during a 32-pitch second. He was replaced by right-hander Peyton Gray to begin the third with the Angels leading 2-0.

It was the first time deGrom permitted five hits in an inning since Sept. 5, 2017, with the New York Mets.

“I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard (it was) the triceps,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Obviously, you don’t want to hear anything arm-related. You pull a guy out in the second inning, it’s concerning. But we’ll figure it out when he gets some imaging. We won’t know until they get in there.”

This seven-game road trip began with the Rangers placing pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list because of elbow inflammation Monday. Texas beat the Angels 4-1 that night but lost the next three games to fall to 60-62 and two games behind first-place Houston in the AL West.

Now, the Rangers might have to navigate the next few weeks without their two best starting pitchers.

“Our starting pitching has taken a hit, that is reality,” Schumaker said. “With two guys going down, we’ll see what it looks like, but it’s never easy when you’re No. 1 and No. 2 guys are down.”

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom allowed six hits, struck out three and walked one. He needs two strikeouts to become the ninth active pitcher and 94th in major league history to reach 2,000.

In three starts against the Angels this season, deGrom has yielded 10 earned runs in 10 innings.

“It was very disappointing,” he said of Thursday night's start. “I needed to go out there and give us some length and wasn’t able to do it. I said I could probably keep going, and they said, ‘Well, we’re not going to risk this right now,’ so we’ll just see how it is tomorrow and I’ll go from there.”

One of baseball’s best pitchers when healthy, deGrom made at least 31 starts per season and pitched to a 2.53 ERA across 622 1/3 innings from 2017-19 with the Mets.

He won NL Cy Young Awards with New York in 2018 and 2019 and led the National League with 255 strikeouts in 2019 and 104 strikeouts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

But deGrom made only 35 starts because of injuries from 2021-24 and underwent his second Tommy John surgery in June 2023, which sidelined him for much of his first two seasons with Texas in 2023 and 2024.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Oil prices were holding steady after slipping in recent days.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 68,533.85, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 1.3%, to 6,924.74.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 1% to 25,137.87. The Shanghai Composite index was 0.5% lower at 3,908.05.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.1% to 9,090.90.

Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.2% and the Sensex in India fell 0.5%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to an all-time high close of 7,798.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 53,839.99, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to 26,803.03.

Wall Street relaxed after a report showed prices at the U.S. wholesale level were 4.7% higher last month than a year earlier. While that is more painful than anyone would like, it’s not as bad as June’s 5.5% inflation rate at the wholesale level, and it was slightly better than economists expected.

If inflation continues to trend that way, the Federal Reserve could decide to hold off on hikes to interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.

“The disinflation ducks are starting to line up, and with oil also backing off, the market has steadily stripped away the case for another near-term Fed hike,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Any increase by the Fed would be the first in more than three years. It also could anger U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been lobbying for lower interest rates.

Oil prices eased, with Brent crude, the international standard, falling 2.1%. Early Friday, Brent was nearly unchanged at $87.06 per barrel.

It’s been swinging sharply recently, zinging between $72 and $102 in July as hopes rose and fell that Trump could set a deal with Iran that might allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.

A summertime holiday lull has slowed trading, but worries over oil supplies persist.

Clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces in Yemen have raised fears that the country’s civil war could reignite and open another front in the Middle East.

In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 159.32 Japanese yen from 159.50 yen. The euro rose to $1.1543 from $1.1530.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

Australia led all but 150 meters of the women's 4 x 200 freestyle relay, with the team of Inez Miller, Lani Pallister, Hannah Casey and Milla Jansen winning in 7 minutes, 42.40 seconds to lower the country's championship mark of 7:44.12 set at the 2018 Pan Pacs.

Katie Ledecky swam the anchor leg for the U.S., but couldn't overhaul Jansen although she got within a body length in the closing meters. Erin Gemmell, Anna Peplowski, Rylee Erisman and Ledecky took silver in 7:43.10, also going under the old championship mark.

“I've kind of struggled with the 200 individually from a flat start over the last couple years, but I always know I'll have something in me for the relay and I'll pull out a good split,” Ledecky said. “I love swimming that anchor leg.”

McIntosh helped Canada earn the relay bronze.

The U.S. team of Luke Hobson, Aaron Shackell, Patrick Sammon and Gabriel Jett won the men's 4 x 200 free relay in a championship record of 6:59.37. The Americans led the entire race, with Jett's explosive turn off the final wall helping him hold off a charging Sam Short of Australia on the anchor leg.

“I just kind of poured everything on,” Jett said. “I swim with my eyes closed, so I didn't know where I was.”

McIntosh briefly dipped under her own world-record pace early in the 400 IM. McIntosh finished in a championship record time of 4:28.01 after qualifying second-quickest for the eight-woman final at the outdoor pool.

McIntosh was disappointed with her time in the 200 free after losing to Pallister of Australia on opening night of the four-day international meet.

“Just trying to forget about it,” McIntosh said.

Jenna Forrester of Australia was second in 4:31.50. Agostina Hein, an 18-year-old from Argentina, took bronze after coming into the final with the fastest time in preliminaries.

Meg Harris of Australia surprised herself with a victory in the women's 100 freestyle from Lane 6. She touched in 52.60 seconds, beating American Gretchen Walsh, who was second in 52.78 after being 0.01 seconds under world-record pace at the turn. Olivia Wunsch of Australia was third.

American Simon Manuel, the 2016 Olympic champion, finished fourth.

The U.S. went 1-2 in the men's 100. Jack Alexy won in 47.14, lowering his championship-record time of 47.40 from the preliminaries. Teammate Patrick Sammon was second at 47.62. Guilherme Caribe of Brazil was third.

American McKenzie Siroky won the 100 breaststroke for her first international medal. She outdueled Tang Qianting of China down the stretch to touch first in 1:05.32. Tang was second in 1:05.46.

The U.S. swept the 50 backstroke events.

Quintin McCarty won the men's race in 24.51, lowering the championship record set by Isaac Cooper of Australia in the prelims. Cooper took silver.

Katharine Berkoff won the women's race in a career-best 26.90, bettering her championship mark set in the prelims. Teammate Regan Smith was second in 27.14.

American Van Mathias earned his third medal of the meet, winning the 100 breaststroke in 58.02, lowering his championship record from the prelims. He took silver in the 50 butterfly and gold in the world record-setting 4 x 100 mixed medley relay Wednesday.

The men's 400 IM was won by Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan in 4:06.75. His time erased American Ryan Lochte's championship mark of 4:07.59 set at the 2010 Pan Pacs, also in Irvine.

“Next time I come back to the U.S. I'm going to get gold again,” a smiling Matsushita said through a translator.

American Carson Foster was second.

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The Heisman Trophy winner led one touchdown drive for the Raiders (0-1) in four series — not including a kneel-down at the end of the first half — and finished 10 of 16 for 97 yards and a 6-yard TD pass to Jack Bech.

“I thought he led a good scoring drive as far as getting in and out of the huddle and commanding the group and getting the play calls down,” Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said. “I saw the same guy that we’ve seen in practice. I see an ascending player.”

Mendoza was more critical in his self-evaluation.

“Unfortunately, I let my teammates down today,” Mendoza said. “But it's a growing experience, and I feel like we're all growing. It showed me that I need to grow a lot.”

Mendoza became the first top overall draft selection to throw a touchdown pass in his first preseason game since 2018, when Baker Mayfield had two for Cleveland against the New York Giants.

Mendoza just missed a second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, throwing beyond the reach of Deven Thompkins. He was sharp at times, threading a 19-yard pass in the second quarter between three defenders to fellow rookie Malik Benson.

While noting that everything came together on that play, including his timing with the receiver, Mendoza said some of his throws were a bit off.

“There's other passes I made that did not have great timing and anticipation,” Mendoza said. “But that was one that was a good connection. You see (starter) Kirk (Cousins) is timing and anticipation — boom, boom, boom. So that's an area I've got to grow in.”

The expected rematch of college football national championship quarterbacks didn't happen because the Cardinals (1-1) decided not to play Carson Beck, who has sore ribs. Mendoza led Indiana to a 27-21 victory over Beck and Miami in the title game in January.

“Being the preseason, we just didn't want to risk it,” Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said. “It was kind of a bummer for our fan base and (media) and me and all us because we want to see these guys out there.”

Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby also did not play, which wasn't completely unexpected after Kubiak said Tuesday that his playing status was to be determined. Crosby, who underwent knee surgery in January, has participated in training camp.

Teammate Jermod McCoy, who hasn't played in nearly two years because of a torn ACL, played with the second-team defense at cornerback. He was the primary defender on two Cardinals touchdowns.

Each team's starting quarterback played one series, both resulting in touchdowns.

Las Vegas' Cousins was 5 of 6 for 50 yards and a 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Mayer. Arizona's Jacoby Brissett completed all five passes for 44 yards and a 7-yard TD to Marvin Harrison Jr.

Brissett and former Raider Gardner Minshew combined to go 15 of 15 for 123 yards and three touchdowns in the first half to build a 21-14 lead. That string of completions extended 16 early in the second half before Minshew finally threw an incomplete pass on a rollout to the right.

Rookie Jeremiyah Love, drafted third overall by the Cardinals, made his preseason debut and rushed for 58 yards on 11 carries.

Injury report

Cardinals: Rookie right guard Chase Bisontis, who was drafted in the second round, injured his left knee. LaFleur said the injury appears serious. ... LaFleur said he didn't think Love's ankle injury was a major concern.

Up next

Cardinals: Host Dallas on Aug. 22.

Raiders: At Houston next Thursday.

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The 33-year-old Philadelphia Phillies slugger added another thoroughly Midwestern highlight to his well-decorated career Thursday night, hitting two home runs into an Iowa cornfield.

Schwarber led off the Field of Dreams game with a homer and then connected for a two-run shot in the fourth inning to spark the Phillies in a 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

“We all watched the movie as kids, so it was really cool to be able to see exactly where it was and just kind of the full ceremony of it, too,” said Schwarber, who leads the major leagues with 37 home runs. “Just an unbelievable experience.”

After helping the Cubs win the World Series in 2016, making the postseason 10 times in his first 11 years and being selected to four All-Star teams, Schwarber has been building quite the resume. With 377 career home runs and counting, perhaps he'll one day join the club in Cooperstown like the 26 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who took part in the pregame pomp at the newly constructed ballpark.

For now, Schwarber has an unforgettable night to share with his family forever. His two children are too young to watch or understand the movie now, but he can't wait to watch the 1989 film with them down the road.

“You might not ever get to play another big league baseball game here, so to be able to have that experience, it’s a unique thing for you and it’s something you’re going to bring up to your kids,” Schwarber said. “We’re going to watch that movie together with my kids one day and be able to say, ‘Hey, dad got to play there,’ or, ‘See that house in this movie? I got to see it.’ So it’ll be really cool.”

Twins right fielder Luke Keaschall, who homered in the loss, nearly caught Schwarber's second home run above the wall, but the ball glanced off his glove and into the dark green sea of corn.

“It was up there a while. In a perfect world, I think I should catch it,” Keaschall said. “I didn’t today.”

The Phillies moved a half-game ahead of idle Arizona into the third and final wild-card spot for the NL playoffs. So Schwarber's big swings meant more than just a page in his personal memory book.

“To have a good season a lot of guys have to have good years, but the aircraft carriers have still got to carry you,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “That just takes pressure off of everyone.”

Having entered the night just 10-15 since the All-Star break, the Phillies needed a bit of a jolt like the magic of the movie site and game location can produce — and their star designated hitter can provide.

“I feel like some people could take that for granted because he’s done it so many times, but we definitely don’t,” Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola said. “There’s no moment ever too big for him.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Trump is visiting the Nassau County Police Academy in suburban Long Island, where the White House said he will release new FBI crime statistics showing a decrease in violent crime for 2025.

“President Trump promised to make America safe again and the data proves he has done just that,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said. “Unlike Defund-the-Police Democrats, President Trump will always stand with our law enforcement officers and deliver safer American neighborhoods.”

Trump's visit is aimed at boosting Republican candidates in closely contested races across his home state, but just how much his presence will help is in question as he faces lagging approval ratings and a deeply unpopular war in Iran with no end in sight.

Trump narrowly won Nassau County in 2024, flipping it for Republicans for the first time in more than two decades. It's home to two Democratic House seats that Republicans now see as winnable this fall, and it's home turf for Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Trump will be joined by Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel in Nassau County, which has one of the largest police forces in the nation.

Crime becoming a theme in New York races

It's the second time this year Trump has visited New York in support of Blakeman and other Republicans. He stopped by the Hudson Valley area in May for a speech in which he said Blakeman would curb “out of control” crime.

Crime has emerged as a significant issue in the governor's race, with both candidates claiming to have the better track record of making New Yorkers safe. Hochul visited a different Long Island police department in July to announce a statewide investment in policing technology.

A statement from Blakeman said he's grateful Trump is visiting “to tour our outstanding, state-of-the-art law enforcement facilities” and pay tribute to law enforcement workers.

In a Fox Business interview Thursday, Blakeman played down concerns that Trump's visit would be unpopular with voters in New York City.

“When the most powerful person in the world comes to visit you and shows that you have a relationship together, I think that’s a very good thing,” Blakeman said, adding that even voters who disagree with Trump might appreciate a governor with a direct line to the president.

Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said the governor "has invested billions in public safety to protect New Yorkers — ‘MAGA all the way’ Bruce Blakeman is bringing Donald Trump to tour the county where he let violent crime spike to decade highs and Trump’s unaccountable ICE agents abuse their power.”

For GOP, safety is seen as a winning issue

Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist, said Trump's visit stands to boost Blakeman along with Republican challengers looking to unseat a pair of Democratic incumbents in Nassau County districts. Michael LiPetri Jr. is challenging Rep. Tom Suozzi in New York's 3rd Congressional District, while Jeanine Driscoll is opposing Rep. Lauren Gillen in the 4th Congressional District.

The focus on crime is seen as a cornerstone issue for Republicans that appeals to Trump's base along with suburban swing voters, Gorman said.

“On the strategic level, crime is an issue that Republicans feel comfortable going on offense with, where the country kind of broadly agrees with them,” he said.

Trump is touting the issue as he faces low approval ratings on a number of other issues, including the economy and the Iran war. An AP-NORC poll from August 2025 found that Trump’s handling of crime was among his strongest issues, though his approval on the issue had fallen by 10 points by December 2025.

Trump lashes out over report finding he hasn't reduced crime

While many of Trump's recent swing-state speeches have focused on his tax breaks and economic policies, Trump often mentions his effort to curb crime by deploying the National Guard in Washington, New Orleans and other Democrat-led cities.

This week, Trump lashed out at the Center for American Progress and threatened to sue the liberal think tank over a report finding that the National Guard deployments failed to reduce crime. Without giving evidence, Trump said in a social media post that “crime is way down since I took Office, and they know it.”

For Trump, talking about crime reduction during his trip to New York offers a chance to reach voters across political and class divisions, said Jesse Hunt, a Republican strategist.

“The issue of crime and safety is a massive winner for Republicans,” Hunt said. “What we’ve seen from the Trump administration and Republicans in general is a real focus on that issue. And they should highlight the successes.”

The White House said the new FBI statistics will show year-over-year decreases in murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Crime experts often caution against drawing too much from single-year changes and encourage a focus on long-term patterns.

The conservative voter from northeast Iowa said he didn't know Zach Lahn before the political newcomer “came out of nowhere" with a surprise GOP primary win over the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump. So when Lahn came to his farm last week, Burrack questioned him on his approach to agriculture.

“I hit him pretty hard,” said Burrack, who was considering whether to vote for Lahn in November or not vote at all.

It wasn't the first skeptical audience for the self-described “change candidate” in the state led by Republicans.

Lahn won the June primary even though an “entire establishment was set up against me,” he said. He criticizes politicians in both parties, accusing them of being bought by corporate interests. His bid for governor will test how an anti-establishment conservative fares with a general electorate — and with traditional Republicans — a decade after Trump’s own brand of populism reshaped the GOP.

While Iowa Republicans have an electoral advantage, Lahn entered the general election with a lower public profile than his Democratic opponent, state Auditor Rob Sand. Democrats see an opportunity to win this cycle in once-competitive Iowa, where high costs, health clinic closures, manufacturing job losses and a struggling agricultural economy weigh on voters.

Lahn talks about bringing a “different message” to Iowans who aren't satisfied with the trajectory of Iowa's small towns, public education or cancer rates, even after years of Republican control of state government. But only three months before Election Day, Lahn acknowledged he needs to keep getting out in front of people to address their questions and concerns.

“I think, for the most part, a lot of people just have never heard my message,” Lahn said after the event at Burrack's farm in Arlington. “The more we’ve met with people, the more they understand where our priorities lie, the more they say, ‘We are with you.’”

In farm country, Lahn has to answer for his positions on ‘big ag’

Some of Lahn's ideas challenge the Republican Party's status quo. Among them is his approach to agriculture and embrace of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has prompted questions in the state that's among the nation's top producers of corn, soybeans, red meat and ethanol. Lahn promotes regenerative farming; emphasizes a link between high nitrate-loaded water and cancer; and questions the safety of agrochemicals.

Before Lahn took the stage in Arlington to talk agriculture, farmer Lance Lillibridge, a former president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, told the couple hundred Iowans there that the goal was to “get the air clear."

In front of a huge American flag and sandwiched between two freshly washed John Deere tractors, Lahn said, “We farm a bit weird” on his own Iowa acres, growing oats, alfalfa and einkorn along with corn and beans.

But he told the crowd he wants to fund farmers’ efforts to diversify their operations, not force Iowans to farm like him. He said targeting “big ag” means filing antitrust lawsuits against corporate conglomerates that sell seed and fertilizer and taxing out-of-state investors consolidating Iowa acres, not stepping on family farms. He wants to see more incentives to improve water quality but wouldn’t try to outright ban agrochemicals.

Burrack, like Lahn, says that they won’t agree on everything. But after talking with Lahn, he called himself a supporter.

Lahn pushes back on claims that he's a ‘part-time Iowan’

At another stop, a few dozen faces crowded at the back of a coffee shop in Hampton, Iowa, just after the lunch rush. Many of them were familiar with each other but less so with the candidate they came to see. Among them were Jay and Sally Van Wert, retired farmer and teacher, who said Lahn seemed like a nice guy, but they didn't know much else.

Several Iowans attending some of Lahn's first publicly advertised events since the primary said they only knew what they’ve seen in advertisements from Sand's campaign. The ads call Lahn a “part-time Iowan" and reference dozens of occasions where Lahn piloted his private plane to and from Kansas since launching his campaign.

“Is he going all the time to Kansas?” asked Larry Streicher, 84, a Republican farmer in the front row in Arlington. “We don’t know anything about him.”

Lahn said he left Iowa for college like so many others but wanted to come home, amplifying a nostalgia for Iowa culture and heritage that resonated with voters, not unlike Trump's “Make America Great Again” message.

He left Iowa again to start a private school funded by the Koch family, which opened in Kansas in 2018. He co-founded the school with his now-wife, Annie, who had been married to Chase Koch, son of conservative billionaire Charles Koch.

Lahn told the crowds he and Annie moved into their Belle Plaine, Iowa, homestead in 2023 after finishing renovations. Lahn bought the farm that had been in his family for a century but sold it after his great-grandmother died.

Douglas Puffett, a farmer from Strawberry Point and member of his county’s GOP central committee, said Lahn's story is like so many other Iowans’ and his vision for Iowa is driven by what drew him back.

“That’s how you inspire the next generation,” said the 40-year-old, who appreciates that Lahn, also 40, is young and has young kids.

Lahn has explained that trips to Kansas are due to his blended family, which includes children from his and Annie’s previous marriages. He doesn't comment on whether he would travel or use taxpayer resources to do so if elected governor, saying it would not impact his ability to govern.

Puffett, who attended Lahn’s Arlington event, thinks 10 years of Republican trifecta have given Sand an opening to appeal to people who might be unhappy with the “Republican establishment,” he said, but Lahn “stacks up really nice” with his calls for reform.

“I think it’s time to kind of roll over the leadership of the Republican Party here in Iowa," he said.

A grassroots campaign receives ‘full embrace’ from the establishment

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to not seek a third term gave Republicans their first wide-open primary since 2010, and five candidates were on the ballot. Lahn overtook U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra by less than a percentage point, or about 1,650 more votes.

Lahn told crowds that he only met Reynolds after the primary, a signal of his distance from Iowa politics. Speaking at the state party’s fundraiser in July, he joked about all the donors who “haven’t been returning my calls” all being in one room.

Since his primary win, Lahn has met with party leaders and Iowa's prominent industry groups. His campaign spent the summer ramping up fundraising, staff and organizing infrastructure.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, who is the majority leader of House Republicans, said there may be some differences of opinion or “curiosities, not concerns" about Lahn's positions, but added that's always the case.

Kaufmann met Lahn earlier this year, voted for him in June and said there's been a “full embrace” of the nominee. He said Lahn is not a traditional candidate, but that's what makes his campaign energizing for Republicans who are “constantly craving new leadership."

“I think it began back in 2016 with President Trump,” Kaufmann said. “Republicans don’t rest on our laurels."

Mangione could still change his mind about the plea, said the person, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Previous plea talks in June broke down.

Lawyers for Mangione and the Justice Department declined comment prior to the late-morning court hearing, which was hastily requested by prosecutors and defense lawyers earlier this week.

Mangione, 28, was charged by both federal and state prosecutors with ambushing Thompson, 50, outside a New York City hotel on Dec. 4, 2024, as the insurance executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

A trial on state murder charges is scheduled to start next month. It is unclear whether that trial would go forward if Mangione pleaded guilty in the federal case.

Mangione faces two federal charges that he stalked Thompson to cause his death. Both the federal and state cases could lead to a life prison sentence. A federal judge earlier this year tossed out additional charges that could have exposed Mangione to a potential death penalty.

Mangione had complained about the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

Under New York law, a state prosecution could potentially be barred if the federal case is resolved first. The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. Mangione’s cases involve different charges arising from the same course of conduct.

In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett has delivered some setbacks to the defense, including ruling in January that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.

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

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

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

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

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

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Durkin Richer reported from Washington.

It is just one way officials across the country are trying to tackle the growing issue, while families navigate a patchwork of local laws and guidance on what kind of souped-up cycles and scooters are safe or even legal for their kids to ride.

New York City’s mayor recently sent cease-and-desist notices to dozens of online retailers for selling products marketed as “e-bikes” that aren’t street legal after a 17-year-old died in a crash on an illicit vehicle. In neighboring New Jersey, new regulations require e-bike riders to be at least 15 and obtain a license and vehicle registration.

But do the measures hit the mark? Cycling advocates worry regulations might be too broad — demonizing low-powered e-bikes instead of speedier motos — while some parents question whether localized, piecemeal strategies are enough.

Monica Stafford, a San Francisco-area mother whose teen daughter fractured her skull falling off an e-bike, said officials are “missing the mark” if they’re seeking to lay the blame solely on parents. The San Rafael resident said a unified, national set of rules is needed.

“We’re in a total Wild West of laws,” Stafford said. “Being for common sense laws doesn’t mean that you’re against e-bikes, just like you can be for cars but not think that it’s safe to put keys in the hands of a 10-year-old.”

E-bike injuries disproportionately impact children, experts say

The two-wheeled machines have become nearly ubiquitous in recent years, from packs of teens zipping around California beach towns to the army of delivery drivers dodging traffic on the congested streets of Manhattan.

Hospital visits for injuries from e-bike, e-scooter and other motorized rides have, as expected, soared as they have grown in popularity, study after study has shown. But researchers stress that the more concerning trends are the severity of the injuries and the fact that they’re especially pronounced among children.

“The big takeaway is that people are generally more severely injured than they would be if they were on a traditional, pedal bicycle,” said Dr. John Austin, a doctor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine who led a recently published statewide study. “Overall, these patients tend to be younger, they tend to be unhelmeted and, in turn, be more severely injured.”

Recent youth deaths prompt officials to take action

Most e-bikes are classified as nonmotorized vehicles akin to traditional bicycles under federal law, meaning riders don’t need a license, insurance or to even wear a helmet. Most states, though, have enacted additional requirements for higher powered machines, including minimum age and helmet requirements.

In New York City, the death of 17-year-old just steps from City Hall has spurred renewed debate about the bikes. Gabriel Nacato had been riding a vehicle advertised as an “e-bike” but wasn't legal on city streets.

Earlier this month, Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned more than 40 online retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and Target, that they could face fines of up to $2,000 for each sale of an e-bike that exceeds city regulations.

New York state requires riders of all forms of e-bikes to be at least 16, and New York City imposes additional restrictions, including a 15 mph (24 kph) speed limit. California, in contrast, has no statewide minimum age for lower-powered bikes, though riders must be at least 16 to use e-bikes that can go up to 28 mph (45 kph).

New Jersey and Illinois are among the states that have enacted statewide regulations recently, and Massachusetts is weighing measures. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in June vetoed a 10 mph (16 kph) speed limit and other e-bike regulations, saying the measures would lead to “enhanced surveillance” of citizens.

Other jurisdictions seek to hold parents accountable

In Southern California, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer says his office has more than two dozen open investigations against parents after launching a new unit focused on e-bike and e-motorcycles cases involving children.

The office has already brought charges against four, including the mother of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing an elderly pedestrian while riding an e-motorcycle.

That mother’s attorney declined to comment, but Mitchell Krems, the lawyer for another parent, dismissed the charges against his client as “absurd,” suggesting his client was being made a “scapegoat.”

Richard Eyssallenne pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charges after prosecutors say he bought his 12-year-old son an e-motorcycle and helped him illegally modify it to make it go faster. The boy ran through a red light and was injured by a car.

Other jurisdictions have also taken steps to hold parents liable. In Ohio, a Columbus suburb recently issued new e-bike rules making it clear that parents who knowingly allow their children to break the rules are subject to the same penalties as the rider.

Cycling advocates blame electronic motorcycles

PeopleForBikes, a national bicycle advocacy group that tracks state e-bike regulations, stressed that many of the problematic vehicles are actually electronic motorcycles with heavy frames, sturdy tires and sizable motors that are falsely marketed as e-bikes.

Lower-powered and pedal-assisted e-bikes have been used safely for decades on U.S. streets and are key to reducing society's reliance on cars, advocates argue.

“Many of the dangerous behaviors people cite — running red lights, riding on sidewalks, not wearing helmets — are already illegal,” added Chloé Lauer, executive director of the San Diego County Bike Coalition. “We’d rather see those laws enforced than add new restrictions that limit mobility for kids who are riding responsibly.”

Anya Dalal, a San Francisco-area high school senior who has been advocating for better safety measures, believes the problem requires multiple solutions, including setting age limits.

“It should be a mix of parental accountability, accountability from the manufacturers and retailers and also education for kids to understand e-bike laws and road rules,” said the 17-year-old Hillsborough resident.

Sharon Franke, a San Diego-area mother, agreed, though she said the first step starts at home, with parents doing their research, accompanying their children on rides and reinforcing safety once they set off on their own.

“We want them to have fun, but we also want them to come back safe and we don’t want them to hurt anybody,” she said as her 15- and 12-year-old sons prepared to attend a safety training last weekend. “How do you balance all of it? It’s just overwhelming right now.”

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Associated Press reporters Amy Taxin and Christopher Weber in California and Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this story.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

In conversation, she seamlessly slips in and out of that singular voice — a little breathy, a little squeaky, a little lispy, a little New York — that made her “Little Shop of Horrors” heroine an instant icon. It wasn’t a register she’d planned on hitting at the audition. It just came out of her in the moment, and it stuck.

“I didn’t think about it,” Greene, 75, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It was weird, I mean, I don’t know where half of this stuff came from.”

Back on tour with ‘Little Shop’

In her long and robust career on the stage and screen, Audrey is perhaps Greene’s defining role. Her tragicomic shopgirl of skid row belted her way into audiences’ hearts off-Broadway in 1982, and then in Frank Oz’s 1986 film opposite Rick Moranis.

The catchy musical about that flesh-eating plant is never too far in the rearview either. Every few years it seems she’s beckoned for an encore. In 2015, she reprised the role for three sold-out shows, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing Seymour.

Starting this weekend, she'll be making stops around the country for the next few months for 40th anniversary screenings, from Seattle (Aug. 18) to Atlanta (Nov. 13). Performances of “Somewhere That’s Green” have been promised too.

'Somewhere That’s Green'

That aching ballad about wanting more, aside from being one of the big showstoppers, holds a special place for Greene. She remembers first listening to it on the unemployment line, waiting to get her check, and quietly singing along.

“I just knew there was an Audrey inside of me waiting to be born,” Greene said.

She carried that feeling to the audition where composer Alan Menken jumped in to play the piano with lyricist Howard Ashman, already her great friend, looking on. When she finished, everyone was in tears.

Getting the role wasn’t any sort of immediate windfall either. When they started at the WPA Theatre in New York, she was being paid $50 a week for a month of rehearsals and two months of shows off-Broadway. But it was a hit. One night, Steve Martin, who would later play Audrey’s abusive dentist boyfriend in the film, even came to see it with Mary Tyler Moore.

On the stage, she performed “Somewhere That's Green” sitting on a trash can. For the film, Ashman wrote the number to be staged like the Leslie Caron and Cyd Charisse numbers they both loved, where a character walks into a room and suddenly they’re in a different outfit for the song.

“You would think I would just have been floored and so excited that he gave me this gift,” she said. “Instead, I call him up and I’m crying my eyes out. And I’m saying, wait for this, ‘Where’s my trash can?’”

Ashman, she said, just laughed and assured her that they’d elicit the same response when the camera pans out to reveal she’s still on skid row. Ironically, this whole exchange happened before she’d even officially been cast in the movie.

How the audience saved Audrey from dying

The story of how the film was made is long and bumpy. John Landis was originally attached to direct, then, briefly, Martin Scorsese, before it found its way to Oz. Greene’s participation was never a given, either. Producer David Geffen wanted to get a “bigger name,” like Cyndi Lauper, on screen.

“I never thought I would have gotten the film,” Greene said.

But it’s hard to imagine anyone else turning in a performance as distinctive. Test audiences loved her Audrey so much that they wholly rejected an ending in which she dies.

“I love that death scene, personally,” Greene said. “But I had an inkling, you see, because Frank directed the Audrey for the screen more heroine-like.”

He’d taken out lines from the play like “you don’t meet nice boys when you live on skid row,” she said in Audrey-speak. She thinks it set her up a little differently. Then at the end, there’s the line “when I die, which should be very shortly.” On stage, she said it to the audience. In the film, she says it to Seymour. It's more intimate and serious.

“Frank thinks it’s because we didn’t take a bow, like in the play, but I think it’s because it’s just the line is interpreted two different ways. One sets it up that this is silly and I’m OK, and the other one is it’s real and it’s touching,” she said.

Oz ultimately relented and they shot a happier conclusion. Now, Greene just likes that they both exist (the original in a director’s cut).

Keeping Howard Ashman's memory alive

Remembering “Little Shop” is also a way to remember Ashman, who died of complications related to AIDS in 1991. Their friendship was one of many laughs, songs and adventures. He even took her on her first trip to Paris.

“We got into my room and he put on a bubble bath, because he knows I love bubble baths. I got into the bath, he gave me Champagne, he gave me caviar, he put on Piaf,” she said. “We had separate rooms, of course, but we were close, so what can you do? And I’m from the theater, so I’m not modest.”

He also looked out for her. When they were drawing up contracts for the “Little Shop” stage run, all she could think about was making sure London was in there. Unbeknownst to her, Ashman had also given her a half point of the profit, “because I created Audrey,” she said.

“That’s how generous and kind he was and how much he loved me,” she said. “Everybody loves Audrey because we, I, loved her first. And everybody loves “Little Shop” because we put so much love in it … I am so grateful and very humble because when they love ‘Little Shop’, they keep it alive, and they keep Howard Ashman alive.”

“I commented a week ago on that,” Kiffin said after practice in Baton Rouge. “That's the comment that I had and we're moving forward.”

LSU's official online store has removed replica Daniels jerseys from the menu of those for sale, which include the No. 9 of 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and the No. 3 of former star receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Meanwhile, Pickett showed no interest in relinquishing the No. 5 when he spoke with reporters after Thursday's practice.

“I’ve been wearing the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old,” Pickett said. “That was the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player — he did real good here.”

Daniels, drafted second overall by the Washington Commanders in 2024, said in a social media post on Thursday that the matter would not affect his preparation for the NFL season.

“I have been locked in on training camp and that has been my No. 1 focus,” Daniels said in the post. “I have a lot of gratitude for my time at LSU and I'm proud of what my teammates and I accomplished there.

“Obviously there are issues to get worked out” with LSU, Daniels continued. “My hope is that it will get done privately. ... I realize the business of football is unique and I trust that this can all be resolved.”

Daniels' statement came in the wake of reports about a letter in which his Miami-based attorney, Adam Kenner, demanded that LSU no longer use his client's name, image or likeness to promote the university or its athletic programs.

Pickett wore a No. 3 jersey as a freshman last year but was wearing No. 5 when August camp opened last week. The 6-foot-5 cornerback is a former five-star recruit who had three interceptions in 2025.

Kiffin said last week that Pickett was promised the opportunity to wear No. 5 when he signed with LSU in December 2024, when Brian Kelly was coaching the Tigers. Kelly was fired in October 2025, and Kiffin was hired at the end of the regular season.

“When a kid’s promised something to come to a school, he should wear it,” Kiffin said during an Aug. 5 media session. “So at that point, I don’t think it’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”

Pickett is the first player to wear No. 5 since Daniels left LSU. Under LSU policy, the only number football players cannot wear is No. 20, worn by the late Billy Cannon, who was the Tigers' first Heisman winner in 1959.

Top LSU officials, including athletic director Verge Ausberry, have declined to comment on the matter.

A number of images of Daniels that are on display at LSU would be considered in the public domain, and not subject to any contractual agreements between the university and the quarterback. But LSU has in the past featured Daniels in promotional videos shown in Tiger Stadium or and elsewhere, and it remains to be seen whether LSU might edit some of those out should the dispute become protracted.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow — who won the 2019 Heisman Trophy and led LSU to a national title — declined to comment on the specifics of Daniels' situation after Thursday night’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions. But he said he's had conversations about his No. 9 not being issued to another player.

“They told me that they wouldn’t use it again, but you never know what happens,” he said.

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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

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In all, three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthis struck the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just off Yemen’s coast, as it was coming into port, killing six people and injuring at least nine others, according to Yemeni authorities.

It was part of an escalating campaign by the Houthis and their first deadly attack this year on a vessel navigating the strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and accounts for roughly 12% of global trade.

“People were burning ... it was a strange scene of doomsday,” said Zaheer Ahmed, a Pakistani crew member recovering at a hospital in the port city of Mokha.

“I shouted for help and a Yemeni soldier came to my aid,” said Ahmed, who was injured in both legs.

All three of the crew members The Associated Press interviewed Wednesday at the hospital described intense fire, panic and damage aboard the ship, which was struck before dawn on Tuesday.

Muhammad Alteno, an Indonesian crew member, said he was in “complete shock” after witnessing another Indonesian crew member — a friend — die in the attack. Alteno said he had tried to rescue his friend, who was trapped inside the room they shared, after the first missile strike.

“But the flames were so intense that I couldn't breathe,” Alteno said. “I managed to escape with some of the (other) crew members.”

Two members of Yemen's government-allied National Resistance Forces were killed in the attack, as were three crew members from Pakistan.

The attack was one of many in recent weeks by the Houthis, who have killed government forces and civilians in an escalating campaign on the government-held city of Mokha and other areas, according to the Yemeni military. The rebel group has also intensified its attacks on troops and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government.

The attacks risk reigniting Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 U.N.-brokered truce, and could open a new front in the Middle East war.

The Houthis declared a blockade several weeks ago on Saudi-linked ships leaving the Bab al-Mandeb strait in retaliation for a yearslong Saudi siege on Yemen and recent attacks on the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa. The Houthis had said they would only stop vessels connected to Saudi Arabia or going in and out of its Red Sea ports.

During a similar blockade it announced during the war in Gaza, the Houthis attacked over 100 vessels before a punishing U.S. and Israeli air campaign put an end to the attacks in early 2025.

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Ezzidin reported from Cairo.

The wildfires across the West Midlands, which saw several houses burned to the ground, have been “one of the most significant” incidents the region’s fire service has ever dealt with, chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said.

A child and three firefighters were taken to the hospital following the wildfire in Stourbridge.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker described the “multiple fires across our region” as an “extremely worrying and fast-moving situation."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been kept abreast of the situation and has, according to Parker, pledged to support fire and rescue services in the West Midlands with any additional resources they need.

The fires, the cause of which has yet to be determined and which could take days to put out, came on the hottest day of the year, when the mercury struck 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in west London, a tenth of a degree higher than the previous high set on June 28.

Britain is experiencing its fifth heat wave of the year, with the first recorded in May. The latest extreme heat means 2026 has now had a record four days with temperatures of 36 C (96.8 F) or higher. It also has matched 2022 with two days reaching 38 C.

These are historic temperatures as a result of human-caused climate change.

Nearby France has also endured its fifth heat wave this year and, if anything, the situation is worse. Temperatures in France approached 41 C (106 F) in several areas, from Aquitaine in the southwest to the Rhone River valley in the east, according to the national weather service.

Britain and France ill-equipped for this sort of heat

This summer has shown that both Britain and France are ill-equipped to deal with these levels of heat. Air conditioning is a rarity outside of shops and offices, for example.

In Britain, nurses have collapsed from heat exhaustion while working in hospitals, many housed in aging buildings that lack adequate cooling, the Royal College of Nursing said Thursday.

“When nursing staff are collapsing, feeling dizzy, sick or even being admitted to the very hospitals they work in because their workplaces cannot handle the heat, it shows just how badly they are being failed,” said Nicola Ranger, the college’s chief executive and general secretary.

Wildfire fears remain a clear and present danger

With the land parched and no sign of any meaningful rain coming, authorities across Europe remain on high alert for wildfires.

French firefighters were back in action after a desperate summer and are threatening to go on strike to demand more staff and resources to cope with increasingly extreme weather events.

One broke out late Wednesday in the northern Pas-de-Calais region, and another in Brittany, far from the hotter, drier and more fire-prone regions in southern France. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux last month and pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.

In northern Greece, more than 300 vacationers and residents were evacuated by sea Thursday after a wildfire swept through a pine forest and threatened seaside homes, authorities said.

The Fire Service said nine water-dropping planes and seven helicopters were assisting 250 firefighters around the Siviri resort on the popular Halkidiki peninsula. There were no initial reports of injuries or serious property damage.

In Britain, which is increasingly looking sandy brown rather than its traditional luscious green, firefighters have been out in force this week trying to contain a wildfire in the New Forest in southern England.

Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to data from the National Fire Chiefs Council, the same as last year’s record-breaking total.

Though not on the same level as those witnessed in France, Greece and Spain, they provide ample evidence of the need for the U.K. to adjust to a new reality.

Unsurprisingly, drought conditions are spreading

Like many parts of Europe, Britain and France are facing widespread drought conditions that have shriveled crops and drained rivers, heaping pressure on water resources for households, agriculture and the environment, and forcing all parts of society to seek both short- and long-term measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Britain’s Southern Water, which oversees supplies in the south of England, has applied for a rare drought order which would ban businesses from nonessential water use, including cleaning cars and filling nondomestic swimming pools, saying an “exceptional” lack of rain is threatening supplies. Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will decide on the application, which would be the first such ban since May 2006.

With temperatures soaring, many people headed to beaches and outdoor pools or found other ways to cool off. In Bordeaux in southwestern France, children and adults sought relief in the city’s iconic “water mirror.” Some frolicked in fountains, splashed their faces and filled up water bottles. Birds too quenched their thirst.

The most intense heat is forecast to move eastward away from Britain and France on Friday and then recede over the weekend.

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Charlton reported from Paris. Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece contributed.

Satellite images have shown that oil from the tanker Caroline Bezengi has exponentially spread over hundreds of square kilometers during stormy weather, endangering a marine protected area. The region's “Khareef” monsoon season peaks in July and August.

Ambrey, a UK-based maritime risk and response company, said its personnel boarded the vessel with help from the Omani air force to assess its condition before stabilizing it.

The vessel has been grounded off Qabiliyah Island in southwestern Oman following an explosion of unclear cause in early June. Its cargo previously has been estimated at more than 800,000 barrels.

Satellite images also have shown that the tanker is increasingly submerged, and experts have warned of an unprecedented environmental disaster if the vessel sinks or breaks open and leaks its entire cargo.

“This is an extremely challenging situation, compounded by adverse weather conditions associated with the Khareef monsoon,” Ambrey's global response director Ed Wollaston said in a statement. The company did not immediately have any estimates of how long the salvage operation would take or cost.

Oman’s Environment Authority said Wednesday the oil spill has reached the shores of Ras Madrakah, more than 200 kilometers (more than 120 miles) north of Qabiliyah Island. Authorities said they estimated the spill could reach more than 100 kilometers further north, to Masirah Island.

Hanen Keskes, a campaigner for the environmental group Greenpeace, said it is “extremely concerning” that the oil has spread from an offshore spill to the shoreline where it can contaminate coastal sediments.

"It can make the cleanup significantly more complex than containment at sea,” she said. “Even after the slick has been contained and removed, the environmental impact can last for years."

The marine protected area of Qabiliyah Island includes coral reefs, seagrass meadows and endangered turtles, and offers breeding sites for migratory birds. The area is also home to the rare Arabian Sea humpback whale.

The remote area lacks infrastructure, making the salvage and containment more challenging and requiring more safety measures, Keskes said.

The 247-meter (899-foot) Caroline Bezengi is believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” and has been sanctioned by the British government and the European Union for carrying cargoes of Russian oil.

It had left the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in Russia, in May, according to geospatial data tracking company SynMax Maritime. The vessel’s owners are believed to be Shanghai-based. The vessel is unflagged, and it is not clear if it is insured.

It is only one of the environmental crises affecting the region. Off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian authorities are cleaning up an oil spill off of Qeshm Island that has been attributed to the conflict between Iran and the United States.

Images distributed by Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA show oil damage to the sandy beaches of Qeshm. It is not immediately clear what caused the spill.

Iran has said it should receive compensation for its efforts to contain the damage. But maritime tracking firm TankerTrackers.com posted satellite images on X saying it appears the spill was caused by an Iranian attack on a bulk container ship off of Oman. The spill drifted across the strait to Iran.

The pregame pomp before the Minnesota Twins played the Philadelphia Phillies — adjacent to the farmland where the 1989 fantasy was filmed — featured 26 members of the Hall of Fame emerging from the outfield corn just as the ghost players did in the movie.

With some of the loudest cheers saved for former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt and former Twins catcher Joe Mauer, the capacity crowd of about 8,000 at the newly constructed ballpark in northeast Iowa soaked up the surreal atmosphere as the aged stars strolled into the infield for proper introductions.

Fireworks were launched from the cornfield during the national anthem, and Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber followed with his own big bang — a stalk shot to right on Twins starter Taj Bradley's third pitch of the game that set the tone for a 7-1 win on Thursday night.

After stealing the show at the inaugural 2021 event, which was played on the same footprint at a temporary setup that also hosted the 2022 game, Kevin Costner did not appear.

But the star of the film — as the restless farmer Ray Kinsella who reconnects with his late father by playing catch on his front-yard ballfield — narrated the pregame video that helped pump some old-guard nostalgia through the new-school broadcast on global streaming giant Netflix.

Both teams emerged from the corn together to take their places along the lines like on opening day, and Twins All-Star Byron Buxton — who came off the injured list in the afternoon to play — took the microphone to evoke a line from James Earl Jones, who played the author Terence Mann in the movie.

“The one constant through all the years has been baseball," Buxton said before Schwarber followed with a brief script on an idyllic late-summer night after heavy rain moved through the area earlier in the day.

Then came the legends, and living ones at that, unlike those wool-clad lads in the movie.

Schmidt and Steve Carlton wore Phillies uniforms along with Jim Kaat, who played for both teams. Mauer and Bert Blyleven donned Twins jerseys. The others — Andruw Jones, Harold Baines, Fred McGriff, Adrián Beltré, Andre Dawson, Larry Walker, Cal Ripken Jr., Iván Rodríguez, Jim Thome, Scott Rolen, Tony Pérez, Tony La Russa, Jeff Kent, Fergie Jenkins, Joe Torre, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Rollie Fingers, Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman — helped form a half-ring around the diamond to represent about one-third of the Cooperstown contingent that's still alive.

This was the largest such gathering at a ballpark, not including the annual ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in upstate New York, since the All-Star Game in 2008 that feted the final season at old Yankee Stadium.

Phillies manager Don Mattingly relished the brief pregame mingle before the grand entrance, with many in the group contemporaries of his as a player in the 1980s and 1990s and a few others in Jones and Kent he was able to coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“It was definitely good to see the boys,” Mattingly said.

No place evokes baseball and family nostalgia like the Field of Dreams

Before the game, Buxton played catch with his 12-year-old son on the nearby movie site that remains open to the public for no cost on non-event days. Twins manager Derek Shelton did the same with his 78-year-old father, a former educator who coached him on his high school baseball team. Shelton later complained that his arm was in weaker shape.

“You don’t get old enough that an experience like that is not emotional to be able to do something with your father,” Shelton said.

Mattingly, whose son just happens to be the club's general manager, found himself harkening back to Indiana childhood ballgames with his brothers upon arrival on the team bus.

“This place reminds me of when I was a kid,” Mattingly said. "You’d go down a dirt road, and all of sudden you’d see a cornfield and then there’d be a field there."

Both teams wore throwback uniforms — the Twins in home threads from their first season in 1961 and the Phillies in road jerseys circa 1940 — in step with the hand-operated scoreboard in right field.

The permanent ballpark built for all kinds of events — including the opportunity to host MLB games on a recurring basis — also has plenty of amenities with the video board in left field, a state-of-the-art sound system and, of course, indoor plumbing.

The feel of the farm was just as strong as the buzz of the ballpark, with natural sponsor John Deere pledging $100,000 per home run hit to hunger-relief organization Feeding America.

The special environment didn't erase the circumstance of the stretch run of the regular season, though, with both the Twins and Phillies in the thick of their respective wild-card races.

“We’re not in Minnesota for three days," Phillies star Bryce Harper said, "but we’re still playing the Twins three times and we've still got to win some games."

Even in defeat, the Twins enjoyed taking part in something bigger than simply the 123rd game on their schedule.

“As you grow in this game and get older and play more games, the shine of being in the big leagues and walking out on a big league field starts to wear off,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Moments like this kind of bring that excitement and that energy and the goosebumps similar to your debut day.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Qusai Abu Rida was holed up inside with his teenage son when settlers cut the water and electricity, leaving them to drink well water as dozens of Israeli settlers erected tents outside. His Palestinian American brother in Ohio, who owns the house, watched the siege unfold on security cameras and called for updates.

The standoff in the northern West Bank town of Qusra is the latest in a wave of settler violence convulsing the territory, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.

On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the settlers as “terrorists” — a word American officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants. It was an unusually sharp rebuke from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has given unprecedented support to Israeli settlement over the years.

Mounting criticism of Israel from the United States could pose a challenge for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is trying to maintain good relations with his country's closest ally as he mobilizes ultranationalist voters ahead of a tough battle for reelection in October.

Settlers have remained in the area despite the army intervening

On Sunday, dozens of settlers arrived at the homes in Qusra, blocking doors and preventing occupants from leaving, according to the families.

Israeli troops have intervened multiple times, but the settlers keep returning, said Loui Ridi, the homeowner in Ohio who spells the family name differently. Rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of turning a blind eye to settler violence or of intervening to protect the settlers.

“It's a cycle,” Ridi said. “They need to be prevented from the entire area, not just removed and moved 100 feet away so when the (Israeli military) leaves, they come back.”

On Tuesday, Israel’s military condemned the siege as “illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable,” and declared Qusra a closed military zone. The next day, dozens of settlers returned, tried to block the road with rocks and clashed with Israeli soldiers, according to video shot by village residents.

On Thursday, the military said troops dismantled “two illegal outposts” in Qusra and a nearby village, and detained one Israeli. It said more soldiers were sent to “carry out defensive missions and patrols.”

Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi said that Israeli forces evacuated more than a dozen homes to take up positions in the village. The settlers, though removed from their outposts, remain in other parts of the village, he added.

Abu Rida said soldiers gave the occupants of all the homes 30 minutes to evacuate and move into one of the besieged houses. The military said the soldiers have been told to allow families to remain in their homes and not to operate in them, but families have not yet returned, Abu Rida said.

It's still not clear when families in the besieged area will be able to get basic supplies and what would happen to their homes. Israel’s military said the families had basic supplies like food and water when it checked in on them on Wednesday.

But Ridi said Thursday that after water and electricity lines had been reconnected, settlers cut them again.

Settler violence has surged in recent years

Netanyahu's government, the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel's history, has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. It views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

On Thursday, members of Netanyahu's Cabinet joined in celebrating the rebuilding of a settlement elsewhere in the West Bank that had been dismantled in 2005. "The era of withdrawals and expulsions has ended. The era of construction and Zionism begins,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said at the ceremony.

During Trump's first term, he signaled broad acceptance of the settlements, which most of the international community views as illegal and an obstacle to peace. At the start of his second term, he lifted sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on settlers accused of violence.

Huckabee, a longtime supporter of the settlements, has condemned the rising violence.

“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee said in his post about the events in Qusra. He said the embassy has been coordinating with the Israeli military and police.

Qusra has been a focus of settler attacks

The U.N. humanitarian office in April said it had recorded more settler attacks in Qusra than in any other West Bank community in 2026. A 25-year-old resident was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli reservist in March, and eight others have been wounded in the attacks, according to the U.N.

Violence between settlers and Palestinians last month left two Israelis and four Palestinians dead in a nearby northern West Bank village. In the aftermath, a mosque in Qusra was set on fire and the word “revenge” was graffitied on its wall in Hebrew.

A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry. Israel says some were involved in terrorism, which it defines broadly to include militant attacks and rock-throwing. Palestinian authorities do not distinguish between militants and civilians when recording deaths in the conflict.

Palestinian officials have reported 1,476 attacks by Israeli settlers in 2026, including several instances in which settlers seized Palestinian homes and property.

The military says it works to maintain law and order in the territory, and Israeli Cabinet ministers have blamed the attacks on a small group of young extremists acting outside the law.

Some 2.8 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. The settlers, who now number over 560,000, are Israeli citizens. There have been no Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in over a decade.

“This is not a life that can continue this way,” said Wadi, the mayor of Qusra. “Too much pressure eventually causes an explosion.”

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This story has been updated to correct the first name of the homeowner to Loui.

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Metz reported from Jerusalem.

The slowdown Thursday for people in the capital, Taipei, and six other cities and localities was part of the last phase of the island's annual Han Kuang exercises, military drills that began last week and aim to model a response to a possible Chinese military invasion.

Telecommunication operators slowed mobile web traffic to 256 Kbps, making it difficult to exchange anything other than texts. Usually, residents can access 5G in major cities.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te apologized to the public for the inconvenience, “We ask for your understanding and support, as this is a necessary drill,” he said.

Taiwan has stepped up the intensity of the Han Kuang drills, incorporating reservists and more civilians into the exercises with a focus on real-world scenarios. Previously, urban resilience drills in Taipei went largely unnoticed as they were not disruptive. For example, air raid drills in the metro station didn’t stem the flow of passengers.

This year, integrating civilians and coordinating with local governments was a key part of the exercises, according to the Taipei Times.

At a Taipei metro station Thursday afternoon, passengers waited to be released after the station's gates were shut for the simulation as part of air raid drills.

Allen Hsieh, a tourist from Hong Kong who was among the passengers who waited 30 minutes to be let out of the station, said he found the exercises to be convincing.

“The exercise did not cause me any inconvenience. I know that Taiwan needs to conduct exercises, given the current situation. I can understand that,” he said. “I did not expect it to be so real. I thought I would only receive text messages.”

Lai also visited a hospital as it simulated how to relocate its critical operations to underground facilities as part of the drills.

Taiwan is ramping up its defense exercises and purchases in response to heightened tensions with China, which claims the island as its own. China sends military planes, as well as Coast Guard ships and other vessels towards Taiwan on a daily basis and carries out large-scale military exercises from time to time.

Between Wednesday to Thursday morning, 18 Chinese warplanes and 11 navy ships operated around Taiwan, the island's Defense Ministry said.

The warning is typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises and suggests the country could conduct more missile tests in coming days. Experts say North Korea has often used its rivals' drills as a pretext to ramp up its testing activities to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for leader Kim Jong Un.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries are to start their major summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises Monday and have described their scope as similar to past years. The allies have said the 11-day exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.

In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the U.S.-South Korean training “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that is triggering a different level of instability in the region.

“It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said. North Korea “will more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense.”

North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year” and involve all the military assets and war-fighting modes of the U.S. and South Korea, a claim that those countries haven’t said.

A U.S. military statement issued Friday said U.S. and South Korean forces will practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment.

North Korea's neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off the North's east coast in the past week. North Korea hasn’t commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the U.S.-South Korean drills or upgrade its weapons systems.

Kim has ignored the U.S. and South Korea’s offers to resume diplomacy and focused on taking steps to bolster his nuclear arsenal since his diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump broke down in 2019. Experts say Kim will likely eventually aim to use his advancing nuclear program to win greater U.S. concessions such as extensive sanctions relief.

North Korea has expanded cooperation with Russia in recent years by supplying troops and ammunition to support its war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. North Korea has also recently pushed to deepen ties with China, its biggest trading partner.

The bridge — known as Nero's Bridge, named for the former Roman emperor — once connected Rome’s city center with the Tiber’s right bank.

“Nero is the most famous person linked to this area, because precisely in Nero’s circus, where the Vatican is now located, the Apostle Peter was martyred,” said Antonella Bonini, an archaeologist at Rome’s cultural heritage superintendency.

“However, scholars consider the bridge to be older (than Nero’s era) — built by Caligula, Nero’s uncle,” she said, adding that it existed as early as 39 AD.

The Tiber’s flow has fallen below 80 cubic meters (2,825 cubic feet) per second, about half the historic average for the month of July, according to Giovanni Giganti, coordinator of the Rome civil protection service’s center for water management.

“We are facing a major water crisis. And it is a crisis that is also due to the fact that this winter we did have quite abundant rainfall, but then the dry periods ... were quite long,” Giganti said.

The storm is forecast to bring rain to the Hawaiian Islands starting late Friday as well as high winds and dangerous surf, the National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm watch was added for Maui County, with tropical storm conditions possible in the next 36 to 48 hours, forecasters said.

Lala was about 555 miles (890 kilometers) east-southeast of Hawaii with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), the Miami-based center said. It's moving west.

Lala is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches the Big Island. It's expected to be near the island Saturday. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected, and it is typically issued 36 hours before potential tropical-storm-force winds.

The system could bring rainfall totals of 8 inches to a foot (up to about 30 centimeters) across Maui and the Big Island, with as much as 25 inches (nearly 64 centimeters) possible across the Big Island, forecasters said. That could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the center said.

Also in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Hernan formed Thursday but that storm wasn't threatening land.

Hernan was about 1,460 miles (2,350 kilometers) west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, the center said. Maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph (72 kph) and it was moving west-southwest.

In the Atlantic Ocean, former Tropical Storm Cristobal weakened and degenerated into a post-tropical remnant low on Thursday, the center said. It was about 500 miles (805 kilometers) west of the Azores and didn't threaten land.

The dismissal marks the latest setback in swing states’ efforts to prosecute fake electors who tried to keep Trump in the White House after he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

Three other fake elector cases in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia have been dismissed. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes recently dismissed her office’s criminal case but vowed to bring it back to a grand jury in hopes of securing another indictment. The dismissal was a legal maneuver aimed at getting around a deadline for starting new grand jury proceedings after Mayes lost an appeal earlier in June.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is also running for governor as a Democrat, brought charges relating to forgery and “offering a false instrument for filing or record” against the six Nevada Republicans, who pleaded not guilty.

His office plans to appeal the ruling.

The defendants included Michael McDonald, the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, the former chair of the Clark County Republican Party.

In a Thursday statement, McDonald’s defense attorney Richard Wright called the attorney general’s plans to appeal “hasty” and “premature” and said continuing the case was politically motivated.

After the 2020 election, the six Republican electors gathered outside of the Nevada Legislature to sign a certificate giving the state’s six electoral votes to Trump, despite Biden winning the state by more than 30,000 votes. The ceremony was broadcast online, and the video footage was used as evidence in the case.

The case has revolved around the defendants’ intent behind submitting the certificate.

Prosecutors argue the defendants intended for their documents to be mistaken for actual electoral votes that then-Vice President Mike Pence would count on Jan. 6, 2021.

The defendants say submitting the certificate was an act of “political theater” designed to publicize their concerns about the election. They were preserving their rights to challenge the official election results and had no intent to deceive a government agency into accepting the GOP certificate as real, their attorneys argued.

Nevada Judge Mary Kay Holthus agreed.

She found there was a lack of evidence that showed the electors intended to deceive government officials, and she determined that the state failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

“The fact that Defendants openly announced both their actions and their asserted purpose, rather than concealing their conduct or attempting to secretly induce governmental reliance, weighs against a reasonable inference that they acted with fraudulent intent,” Holthus wrote in her ruling.

Jurisdiction had also been an issue, but the case eventually landed in Clark County, which is home to Las Vegas and leans Democratic.

The case was originally scheduled for a trial in Nevada's capital of Carson City, but the attorney general's office voluntarily dismissed the case to pursue it instead in Southern Nevada, which leans more Democratic.

Courts have dismissed similar cases in Michigan and Georgia, and a special prosecutor dropped a federal case in late 2024 that charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Those cases ended after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. A fake electors case is ongoing in Wisconsin.

The program, dubbed Operation Puppet Master, was aimed at what officials called a network of conspirators helping “violent opportunists and agitators.” The documents were filed in a case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors in June with impeding the crackdown, accusing them of conspiring against the federal government through a range of actions, from throwing ice chunks to setting up blockades.

The government documents were released Thursday in connection with a motion from a defense lawyer in the case, Kevin Riach, who requested that officials disclose more material collected during the investigations.

The reality, according to government documents revealed in court motions, was Department of Homeland Security officers infiltrating meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally protected protests.

A statement from the department said Homeland Security Investigations doesn’t comment on the existence or status of on-going investigations or investigative methods. The statement referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, which didn’t immediately respond to an after-hours email from The Associated Press.

Puppet Master, and a later operation called Project Whipple Shield, were a “broad and irrational investigation” driven by politics and not criminal conduct, Riach said in a motion filed Thursday.

Take, for example, a Jan. 31 meeting in a Minneapolis library, when a Homeland Security report says an undercover officer identified as “UCA 9833” listened as supporters of a progressive climate group, the Sunrise Movement, discussed sit-ins, de-escalation tactics and “having a police liaison and safety marshal present during events.”

“During the Action meeting, it was made clear that the Sunrise Movement organization focused on ‘peaceful’ protests,” the agent reported.

Dozens of pages of documents describe agents secretly infiltrating meetings, monitoring activist chat groups and using license plate numbers to compile names of people who attended gatherings.

A slide created by Homeland Security’s investigative branch titled “The Conspiracy” shows 18 organizations, from a small Minneapolis bicycle repair collective to the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor groups in the U.S.

The government also obtained years of certain financial records for groups ranging from the Sunrise Movement to major unions, including the Service Employees International Union and the Communications Workers of America.

“You are requested not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time,” warned a DHS request to FedWire, a money transfer system operated by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

“It's very disturbing,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Over time, it could deter people from expressing their beliefs, he said.

Many people don’t want to live in a world where expressing their beliefs gives federal agencies the right to investigate them, he said.

“It’s that fear of that creeping police state,” he said.

Groups that the government investigated were furious at the news.

“Our union has become the latest target of a corrupt administration that weaponizes the legal process against law-abiding Americans exercising our Constitutional rights,” CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said in a statement. “We will not be intimidated, and we will not be silenced.”

The AP News Guild, the union that represents many Associated Press employees, is part of the CWA.

On Thursday, a coalition of Minneapolis-area civil society groups defended the protests and criticized the investigations.

The government is “lashing out desperately in hopes of intimidating people and organizations that have shown the power of communities acting together," said a statement distributed by Unidos MN, a local human rights group.

DHS deployed about 3,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for roughly three months starting late last year in what the department called its “ largest immigration enforcement operation ever.” It led to thousands of arrests, angry mass protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said the 15 were part of two groups that he characterized as “antifa,” an umbrella term for a diffuse movement of militant left-wing activists.

Defense attorney Riach said at the time that his client, Isaac Sant, had no affiliation with antifa, which he called “a boogeyman invented by the far-right.”

___

Kelleher reported from Honolulu.

Discussion

At 300 PM GMT (1500 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Cristobal was located near latitude 39.4 North, longitude 36.8 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the northeast near 16 mph (26 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue today.

Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. Cristobal is expected to dissipate later tonight.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1018 mb (30.06 inches).

Watches and Warnings

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Land Hazards

None.

News4JAX heard from parents, students and concerned residents this week about A/C issues at the school. On Thursday, DCPS provided News4JAX with two updates sent to families by First Coast High School Principal Ronnie Williams.

In the update, Williams said the school experienced a building-wide air conditioning outage when “both chillers malfunctioned.” He said maintenance teams were able to repair one chiller immediately, while the second chiller requires a part that must be shipped from out of state.

Williams said that since the initial outage, the system has been cooling the entire school, though a “few classrooms have experienced intermittent outages.” When that happens, Williams said students have been relocated to classrooms with working air conditioning.

Students say heat has affected classrooms and common areas

Two students told News4JAX the heat has been noticeable inside parts of the school, including classrooms and common areas.

Senior Shylinae Wright said she expected it to be hot outside on campus, but noticed issues once she went indoors.

“When I first walked into school obviously it’s an outside school so it’s going to be hot anyway,” Wright said. “But once I started walking into the rooms that’s where it started getting hot.”

Wright also said the cafeteria has been a noticeable difference.

“It’s hot. It’s loud. Crowded,” she said. “It’s Florida. It was 100° yesterday and the fact that school has no AC when it’s supposed to be cool inside and outside. That’s a safety hazard."

Junior Natalee Maryon told News4JAX she also noticed issues in major spaces.

Maryon said the heat and crowded conditions can affect students differently, but said their is a concern for their safety.

“It felt crammed and especially for a lot of people like myself,” she said. “With bad anxiety disorders, it could affect a lot of us.”

District points to repairs and long-term replacement plan

In a district-wide message earlier in the week, DCPS acknowledged “intermittent AC outages” at some schools and said its HVAC team works to make repairs as quickly as possible. The district said students may be relocated to cooler areas while repairs are completed.

In the Aug. 13 update specific to First Coast High School, Williams said the “long-term solution is to replace the school’s aging chillers” and that district maintenance teams had approved plans to purchase a new chiller. He said families would receive updates as soon as a firm timeline is available.

The district encourages families with concerns to contact their school principal.

The backing came from 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco, Qatar, Egypt, Mauritania, Lebanon and Sudan, with four of the signatories being FIFA council members.

“We, the undersigned leaders of our respective football associations, express our full support for Mr. Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, and reaffirm our confidence in his leadership and continued commitment to the development of football worldwide,” the statement read.

“We deeply appreciate Mr. Infantino’s sustained efforts to advance football globally, expand opportunities across all regions and strengthen the game’s role in bringing people and communities together.”

The statement said the signatories “look forward to continuing our close cooperation with him towards a stronger and more prosperous future for world football, expanding opportunities and further enhancing Arab football’s contribution to the global game.”

Infantino is facing a revolt after his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors. He withdrew the $20 billion proposal after a furious backlash by global soccer officials, including European body UEFA, which has warned of a boycott of all FIFA games and events.

UEFA teamed up with CONCACAF — the confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean — and the Asian Football Confederation — and issued an open letter Monday saying Infantino’s plan was a “fundamental breach of trust” and described it as “deception.”

And on Thursday, the Football Association of Ireland said in a statement it has withdrawn its support for Infantino to be re-elected as FIFA president in March, saying “recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation.”

The soccer federations in England and Wales did the same last week, while Northern Ireland said it was backing UEFA's stance.

New Zealand Football, which is part of the Oceania confederation, issued a statement Friday local time saying it had withdrawn its support for the candidature of Infantino and was seeking an independent review of steps taken to develop the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme.

New Zealand soccer's governing body said it “formed the view that decisions and actions within FIFA have contributed to a breakdown in trust and increased division within international football, and that an independent review is required to restore confidence and trust.”

Schism in Asian bloc over Infantino support

By expressing support for Infantino, Qatar and Lebanon aligned against the Asian Football Confederation. Infantino’s official Instagram account previously has posted letters of support from several member federations, including Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The four FIFA council members among the signatories were Qatar Football Association president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida, Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa and Mauritanian Football Federation president Ahmed Yahya.

The other two were Lebanese Football Association president Hashem Haidar and Moatasem Gafar, president of the Sudan Football Association.

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and seemed sure to be re-elected unopposed next year in Morocco.

FIFA has set a Nov. 18 deadline for challengers to come forward.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The Tennessee man was executed for killing a motel maid in 1985 and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was put to death for killing a 5-year-old girl he had offered to pay her mother to abuse.

Having three executions in one day was a coincidence in scheduling, but reflected a trend of increased executions in the U.S. Eleven states executed a total of 47 people in 2025, the highest number since 2009. With Thursday's injections, 22 executions have been carried out this year in the U.S. with nearly a dozen more scheduled.

The last time three executions were carried out on the same day was on Jan. 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio and Texas put inmates to death. Three executions were scheduled on the same day in 2018, but only one went forward after a Texas man was reprieved and Alabama prison officials had problems with the IV line.

Florida executed two men the same day in July and has executed 31 overall since the start of 2025.

Oklahoma prisoner said he regretted killing his girlfriend

Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, received an injection at the state penitentiary in McAlester in Oklahoma's third execution this year.

Cuesta-Rodriguez turned his head toward two relatives watching and mouthed “I love you” but had no last statement. He was declared dead at 10:13 a.m. after several minutes of labored breathing.

Convicted of murdering his girlfriend at their Oklahoma City home in 2003, Cuesta-Rodriguez had said he regretted killing Olimpia Fisher and told a board he didn’t want clemency. Fisher, 43, planned to leave Cuesta-Rodriguez when he shot her.

Fisher’s daughters, Cinthya Allen and Katya Wallis, said in a statement they hoped the execution brings awareness to preventing domestic violence, adding they are “raising our families to reflect the love and faith in God that she taught us.”

Tennessee man challenged execution after previous one was halted

Anthony Darrell Hines was executed in Tennessee for the 1985 stabbing death of Catherine Jean Jenkins, 54, as she worked as a motel maid in Kingston Springs.

Hines said “not right now, thank you” when asked if he had final words, then said, “Tell my son hello."

Hines' son witnessed the execution. He reconnected with his father four days earlier after not seeing him since he was 3 years old.

Minutes after the execution chamber curtain opened, Hines asked his spiritual adviser: “How long do I have?” Soon afterward, witnesses heard groans and heavy breathing while the adviser put her hands on his shoulders and prayed. Hines was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m.

Afterward, Jenkins’ son said his mother had only a plastic spray bottle to defend against Hines' knife.

“I hope he felt severe pain because what he did to my mother is nothing compared to what he may have just gone through,” Dennis Jenkins said.

Hines' execution comes three months after another man's attempted lethal injection was stopped after medical staff couldn’t establish a backup IV line for over an hour.

Hines, 66, appealed unsuccessfully, saying the doctor who oversaw the May execution was unqualified and likely to botch his execution as well.

Alabama man asked to be executed swiftly

Alabama executed Jeremy Williams for the 2021 rape and murder of the young Georgia girl.

“I want to thank God for forgiving me for my sins so I can meet him in peace,” Williams said on the gurney. He rocked his head back and forth, smiled and appeared to sing or speak before becoming still. A member of his family cried quietly throughout, and Williams was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

Williams, who pleaded guilty to killing Kamarie Holland, had written the Alabama attorney general’s office seeking an immediate execution date so his victim’s family “may have some type of closure.”

The 42-year-old raped and strangled Holland after offering her mother $2,500 for the child to perform a sex act, prosecutors said, adding he filmed his attack.

“The unspeakable nature of this crime is exactly why we have the death penalty statute,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement afterward.

The mother is serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking.

Russell County District Attorney Richard Chancey described Kamarie’s final moments as “horrific.”

"That baby didn’t die in peace,” he said at a later news conference, recalling Williams' last words about dying in peace.

Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor, who called the case the worst he'd investigated in 39 years of law enforcement, said he believed Williams sought swift execution over worries about how he would be treated in prison.

"He didn’t want to look over his shoulder for 30 years, in my opinion,” Taylor said.

It was Alabama’s first execution this year. A nitrogen gas execution was blocked in June after a federal judge ruled the method unconstitutional.

Williams also was a suspect in the 2005 death of his infant daughter in Alaska, but charges weren't filed until 2022.

Corey Holland, Kamarie’s father, had said she was an exuberant child who loved princesses and made people laugh.

“She loved playing dress-up, all her little Halloween costumes and her princess stuff I got her,” he said.

___

This story has been revised to correct that the Alabama man offered to pay the mother, but didn't actually do so. It also was updated to correct the name of the Russell County Sheriff. He is Heath Taylor, not Heather Taylor.

___

Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins and Hallie Golden contributed.

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

Yemeni soldier killed in clashes with Houthis

At least one government soldier was killed and another critically wounded in clashes with the Houthis in the mountainous province of Taiz, Yemeni military officials told The Associated Press.

The fighting came as part of a spate of recent Houthi attacks on government-held areas across the country. Dozens of government troops have been killed since last week, the Yemeni military said.

The Houthis also said they launched another drone attack on an Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials did not immediately comment on the reported attack in the city of Jazan. Last weekend, the Houthis fired drones at the refinery, where the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire but no casualties.

Last month, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, threatening another key trade route in the region.

US carrier heads toward Middle East after issues reported on long-deployed USS Lincoln

The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Thursday that reports of trouble on the carrier were “completely misrepresented.”

Speaking during a trip to Panama, he said the U.S. military could maintain the blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely, “because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have and we’ll continue to.”

The USS George Washington left port in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week, a Navy statement said. The carrier, along with a cruiser and a destroyer, have since been spotted crossing the Singapore Strait.

A Navy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail sensitive ship details, confirmed that the Washington was in the Strait of Malacca, which links the Pacific and Indian oceans and puts the carrier on a course to head into the Indian Ocean. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the Washington would replace the Lincoln as one of the two aircraft carriers now stationed in the Middle East.

The move would leave the waters of the Pacific without a U.S. carrier presence for an unknown period of time.

— Konstantin Toropin in Washington

Peace laureate calls for UN pressure to resolve Yemen conflict

Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, told the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing Thursday that Yemen is at greater risk of returning to large-scale conflict than at any time since a 2022 truce paused the fighting.

Yemen faces “catastrophe” from rising hunger and from health services crumbling amid the fighting, said U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher. He said 6 million people in Yemen face emergency levels of food insecurity bordering on famine, “the highest number globally.”

Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman told reporters outside the chamber that Houthi rebels bear the primary responsibility for the “collapse of the state” in her home country.

But the human rights campaigner also blamed Iran for backing the Houthis, Saudi Arabia for its intervention on behalf of the government ousted by the Houthis, the United Arab Emirates for its involvement in the conflict and the international community for its failure to do enough to protect civilians.

Karman was invited to brief the U.N. Security Council as an independent civil society voice on Yemen, but was blocked from speaking because of “strong opposition,” Danish Deputy Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi said. Instead, Karman spoke to reporters outside the council chamber.

Iran and Oman working to clean oil spills off their coasts

Oil spills spreading off the coasts of Iran and Oman are raising concerns about environmental damage as oil shipments have come under fire in the Iran war.

Iran said Thursday it's working to clean up an oil spill off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Images distributed by Iran’s semiofficial news agency ISNA showed oil fouling the island's beaches.

While Iran hasn't said what caused the spill, the firm TankerTrackers.com says it appears to have started with an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier off Oman. Iran has repeatedly attacked shipping in the strait since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

Oman is responding to another spill in the Arabian Sea, coming from a tanker grounded off its southern coast. The tanker Caroline Bezengi — a sanctioned vessel believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” — has been grounded since reporting an explosion in June. No party has claimed responsibility and the cause is unknown.

A British maritime risk and response company said Thursday it has been hired to salvage the tanker and stop the oil leak off Oman. Oil from the ship has been spreading for weeks, reaching shores hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of the vessel.

JD Vance says Iran war will end with US in stronger position

Vice President JD Vance appeared to be lowering expectations for the Strait of Hormuz to return to the way it was before the war. He predicted in an interview on Fox News Channel that the war will end with the U.S. in a stronger position, with Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and with the Strait of Hormuz “returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable for the American people.”

He did not say anything about the strait being open and toll-free for transiting ships, as he had in the past.

Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more acutely focused on the economic impact of the war than the original aims of the war itself.

“That’s goal number one: keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country,” he said.

The second goal, according to Vance, is to ensure that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon.

Kushner will head to Middle East for talks on Gaza

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week to try to advance plans for an end to the conflict in Gaza after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition.

An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday.

The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because planning for details of the trip has not yet been finalized,

The trip was reported earlier by Axios.

— Matthew Lee in Washington

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Click here for full AP coverage on developments in the West Bank.

The call for quiet was part of last-ditch efforts to find anyone else alive in the aftermath of the 7.4 magnitude quake that struck the South American country Monday, killing more than 280 people and leaving hundreds more missing.

“Unfortunately, we are reaching a point where the probability of finding survivors is dwindling,” said David Santiago Tamayo, director of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, in a press conference Thursday night. “But the mission is to never stop searching and find all those reported missing.”

Aid agencies consider the first two to three days after a quake to be the prime window for retrieving survivors. People trapped in debris can live longer if they have access to food and water.

The death toll rose Thursday to 281, authorities said, with another 348 people rescued.

As time runs out, rescuers, families and volunteers across the country continue to hold on to hope.

“There might be two more people alive here, and I’m hopeful,” rescuer Daiana Rojas told The Associated Press. “We have been hearing sounds since 2:30 a.m., so our hope remains.”

Rojas and her family were unharmed by the quake, the most powerful to hit Colombia in this century. She has been volunteering to help search for survivors in Cali, one of the most heavily damaged cities, along with Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó.

“I thought that was going to be my last moment alive,” she said, recalling the terror of the quake. “Seeing this situation in my city breaks my heart.”

Rojas has witnessed two people being pulled alive from the debris, as well as the recovery of bodies.

“They are not a relative or a friend of mine, but it feels as they were,” she said of the survivors who have been found. “Whenever rescuers ask for silence, everyone stays still and tries not to move, speak or whisper. But when signs of life are found, all the teams start to applaud.”

Critical hours

The devastation has tested Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as they scramble to respond while aid groups seek to help the hardest-hit communities.

“The situation is complex, but we are using all our capacity and the capacity that has come from other countries,” de la Espriella said.

The president added nearly 400 people remain missing, though civilian-run databases put the number at more than 4,200. More than 3,900 people were reported injured, while nearly 10,600 homes were destroyed and more than 65,800 damaged. In total, more than 44,900 families have been affected, he said.

Authorities recognize that the rescue effort has entered a grim phase as search teams begin shifting toward recovering bodies. But as the government moves forward with plans to help those affected and rebuild the country, finding potential survivors remains a priority. “Our priority is saving lives,” de la Espriella said. “These are human beings who are trapped under the rubble.”

In other developments, a 4.2 magnitude aftershock struck Thursday in San José del Palmar, in the Chocó region — the epicenter of the earthquake. More than 160 aftershocks have rocked the country, according to the Colombian Geological Survey.

“We’re pretty shaken up, but we’re in good spirits. We can see everyone working hard to get through this very complex situation,” volunteer helper Jairo Galán said in Cali, where food and donation centers were set up.

Colombia, with a population of 54 million people, experiences an average of 2,500 earthquakes each month, most of them small. That's equivalent to about 80 tremors per day, according to the geological survey.

More international aid arrives

Meanwhile, international aid continues to arrive.

Speaking to reporters in Quibdó, in the Chocó region, Colombian Vice President José Manuel Restrepo said rescuers had concluded the search for survivors and bodies in the area and would now shift their focus to the “humanitarian phase.”

The region has received some 7 tons of humanitarian aid, with another 10 tons expected to arrive late Thursday night. An additional 20 tons of supplies are expected to arrive on Friday. “That’s almost 40 tons of humanitarian aid, containing everything people will need at this moment,” Restrepo said.

Earlier today, a group of rescuers from the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived to help with search efforts and structural engineering assessments. Other countries, including Peru, El Salvador, Mexico and Brazil, have also offered assistance.

De la Espriella announced on X that Colombia will receive a $10 million donation from the United Arab Emirates.

The Chinese ambassador to Colombia said China will provide $1 million in financial aid and more than $2 million in humanitarian assistance.

The South American Football Confederation and the Colombian Football Federation also jointly announced a $1 million donation to support reconstruction efforts.

“Soccer transcends the pitch and remains close to its people, especially in the most difficult times,” they said in a statement.

The Colombia disaster unfolded less than two months after neighboring Venezuela endured back-to-back earthquakes. The contrast between the two countries' responses was stark.

In Venezuela, acting President Delcy Rodríguez waited nearly four hours before addressing the nation. In Colombia, de la Espriella announced an emergency command post to oversee rescue efforts barely an hour after the earthquake. For weeks, Venezuelan civilians were clawing through rubble by hand. Hours after the earthquake in Colombia, rescue teams were searching for survivors with cranes and excavators.

The contrast was a reminder of the differences between the nations — their political systems, resources and the strength of their institutions — and a demonstration of how those can take on life-or-death importance.

___

Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia. Batschke reported from Santiago, Chile.

A Louisiana grand jury in June declined to indict Christopher Gillum on a state terrorism charge that could have carried up to a 15-year sentence, court records show.

Gillum, who had been held without bond, was released shortly after the grand jury’s decision and is not facing charges in any other jurisdictions, according to his attorney, Dylan Utley. He declined to comment further.

Gillum's release has not previously been reported.

The 45-year-old ex-police officer, who is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, had been arrested in Florida in April with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a handgun while on his way to Louisiana to commit a mass shooting, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation had involved the FBI and authorities across Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida.

Authorities did not name the event Gillum was allegedly targeting, but his arrest came on the eve of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers annually.

Gillum, who is white, had “expressed recent threats to harm ‘Black people’ ”, according to authorities. His family had reported him missing in North Carolina and said he had a history of self-harm.

Lester Duhe, a spokesperson for Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, said in a statement that Gillum’s family had taken him “to a treatment facility out of the state” and that he is not facing additional criminal charges.

Duhe said there were “several jurisdictional issues” that complicated the case after Gillum was extradited to Louisiana following his arrest.

“The threat relayed to a family member actually occurred in North Carolina,” Duhe said. “The defendant never entered the State of Louisiana until after his arrest.”

Gillum had been planning to travel to the Florida Keys “during the same period he would have been suspected to travel to Louisiana,” Duhe added.

Gillum was charged under a Louisiana statute for the crime of “terrorizing,” which requires that “a crime of violence is imminent or in progress or that a circumstance dangerous to human life exists or is about to exist.”

Jonathan Guidry, the foreperson for the grand jury, declined to comment on the decision to not indict Gillum.

Katherine Schweit, a former Chicago prosecutor and FBI executive who ran the agency’s active shooter program, said that thwarted acts of mass violence do not always lead to indictments, but prosecutors often seek an array of criminal charges when possible.

“It’s very difficult to convince a jury, or to convince a grand jury, that something might have happened,” Schweit told The Associated Press.

Law enforcement authorities in North Carolina, where Louisiana court records list Gillum as residing, told the AP that they were not aware he had been released from custody.

“If we’ve got an individual that was accused of such an action, we would want to know if in fact he did return to Alamance County,” said Byron Tucker, a spokesperson for the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina.

Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, said their office is not involved and that criminal prosecution authority in the state generally belongs to local district attorneys.

The office of the Florida Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment about whether Gillum may face additional criminal charges in its jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana also did not return messages seeking comment.

In a statement, the FBI New Orleans office said the decision whether to charge Gillum rested with prosecutors.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival declined to comment.

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This story was first published on Aug. 12, 2026. It was updated on Aug. 13, 2026, to correct that Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for North Carolina’s attorney general, said their office is not involved in legal proceedings surrounding Christopher Gillum and that criminal prosecution authority in the state generally belongs to local district attorneys, not that there are no plans for the state to pursue charges.

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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.

That's all changed this summer, at least in the parts of the world with a passion for sports.

The 41-year-old Kushner and his partner, former Disney CEO Bob Iger, reached a stunning agreement this week to buy the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers from Mark Walter at a valuation of $12.5 billion — the highest ever for a team sports sale.

It's been a wild two weeks for the 41-year-old Kushner, who followed up his failed attempt to purchase a stake in future World Cup profits in a much-criticized plan orchestrated by FIFA President Gianni Infantino by acquiring the glamorous Lakers in a shockingly swift deal.

Until this month, many people didn't even know that Jared Kushner — President Donald Trump's son-in-law and his longtime lieutenant in government — had a younger brother with a thriving business empire, a supermodel wife and a passion for basketball.

While Josh Kushner avoids the spotlight and rarely grants interviews, the success of his venture capital investment firm, Thrive Capital, has boosted him to mogul status in the past few years. Forbes estimates Kushner’s net worth at about $5 billion.

Kushner’s partner in this historical venture is no secret to anybody, at least in Los Angeles or the entertainment industry or the larger business world. The 75-year-old Iger ran The Walt Disney Co. for two stints over the past two decades, leading the Hollywood behemoth into the streaming age before he stepped away from the Mouse earlier this year.

Los Angeles is still reeling from the surprise of this deal: Just 10 months after Walter — the owner currently presiding over the renaissance of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers — formally took control of the Lakers, he essentially flipped them for a possible multibillion-dollar profit to two new owners with none of Walter's sports ownership experience or credibility among Southern California fans.

So who are the two men suddenly in charge of LA's 17-time NBA championship team?

Kushner and Iger were reportedly introduced by their significant others

The son of a real estate mogul, Kushner founded Thrive Capital in 2009 and health insurance company Oscar Health in 2012. Thrive Capital grew with early investments in OpenAI and SpaceX, among other tech companies. He remains close with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Kushner and Iger reportedly first met eight years ago after they were set up by Iger's wife, Willow Bay, and Kushner's then-girlfriend, Karlie Kloss, whom he has since married. What started as a friendly mentorship turned into a business relationship shortly before Iger left Disney for the first time.

Iger joined Thrive Capital in 2022 as a venture partner, with Iger connecting Kushner to the broader business world while Kushner educated Iger on the tech world. Iger left only months later to go back to Disney for another stint, but he stayed in close contact with Kushner, and they teamed up again this year.

The new owners pounced quickly upon hearing about possible sale

Iger confirmed to the California Post on Wednesday that he had teamed with Kushner on pursuing an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, only to pivot dramatically last weekend when they learned Walter might be looking to sell the Lakers.

“We immediately decided that given the value of the franchise and the iconic nature of the team, that we would be really smart to pursue it,” Iger said. “The deal came together in three days. It’s that simple.”

Iger acknowledged that the deal was finalized so quickly that he and Kushner hadn't had time to make any long-term plans for the Lakers.

New owners have basketball backgrounds, but not with the Lakers

Kushner is new to the Lakers, but not to the NBA. He once owned a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies, but sold it to buy into the Miami Heat. He'll have to sell that stake to complete his purchase of the Lakers. Kushner and Kloss also have been spotted frequently at Knicks games.

Iger is a longtime basketball aficionado — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly introduced him to Bay, a former NBA journalist, 30 years ago — but his particular background makes his Lakers ownership a bit strange.

Iger grew up a Knicks fan, and after he moved to Los Angeles, he decided he couldn't support the rival Lakers — so he became one of the Clippers' most prominent fans, buying season tickets and forming a friendship with former point guard Chris Paul.

Kushner's political beliefs differ from his brother and father

Thousands of Lakers fans in progressive Los Angeles reacted with a raised eyebrow when they learned the name of their team's primary new owner Wednesday, but it's not that simple.

Kushner's surname is indeed among the most politically weighted in the world, but Josh Kushner and Kloss both have publicly said they don't share the conservative beliefs currently espoused by his brother and their father, Charles Kushner.

Josh Kushner has repeatedly donated to progressive political candidates, and he once stated in an interview that “liberal values have guided my life.” Kloss is an outspoken advocate for reproductive rights and other progressive causes.

Iger has described himself as a political independent with progressive personal views. He briefly served in a business advisory forum for Trump in 2017 before resigning over his beliefs in environmental conservation.

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

ORANGE SHADED AREA #1: Central Tropical Atlantic (AL92) Showers and thunderstorms located about 800 miles east of the Lesser Antilles have continued to become less organized.

This system is moving into a region of increasing upper-level winds and dry air, and the possibility of development appears to be decreasing.

Regardless of development, interests in the Lesser Antilles should continue to monitor the progress of this system since gusty winds and areas of heavy rain are possible across these islands Friday night and Saturday.

The chance of formation through 48 hours is 40 percent and the chance through 7 days is 40 percent.

ORANGE AREA #2: Eastern Tropical Atlantic (AL94) is a tropical wave located a few hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

Environmental conditions are forecast to be generally conducive for some development, and a tropical depression could form late this week or this weekend while the wave moves westward or west- northwestward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.

Formation chance through 48 hours remains at 30 percent and the chance through 7 days is 50 percent.

One important reminder

The percentages displayed by the National Hurricane Center represent the chance that a tropical depression or storm will form—not the likelihood of a hurricane, landfall or impacts at a particular location. Right now, there is no reason for alarm in Florida, but we are entering the portion of hurricane season when tropical activity typically increases, so checking the forecast regularly is always a good idea.

An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday.

The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months, the official said. The trip was reported earlier by Axios.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because planning for details of the trip has not yet been finalized, said the meetings would demonstrate the determination of Trump and the Board of Peace to “see peace, prosperity and sustainable security emerge” in a demilitarized Gaza where Hamas has ceded control to allow reconstruction of the devastated territory.

But Israel has dismissed a recent deal announced by Trump for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from the Palestinian territory, marking a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration. Though Hamas accepted the plan to decommission its weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in recent days that Israel would not withdraw until Hamas has completely disarmed.

The deal had been seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza. The agreement was based on an October ceasefire that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, but it has stalled on other fronts.

The line will weaken as it moves south, over Clay and central St. Johns counties through 10 p.m.

Locally heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts and lightning will be the main hazards.

A Heat Advisory will be in effect from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Friday with Advisories and Warnings possible this weekend.

The oppressive heat and humidity along with scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected Friday and Saturday with less storm coverage, but still piping hot on Sunday.

In the tropics: Tropical Storm Cristobal is a remnant storm. One of the two areas we are watching is weakening while the other system could become a short-lived storm.

Tonight: Heat Advisory, showers and thunderstorms through early evening.

Friday: Hot and humid. Heat Advisory, Heat Warning 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Heat indices up to 110 degrees. Isolated showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m., 30-40 percent. Morning lows in the 70s to low 80s. Afternoon highs in the 90s inland, upper 80s to low 90s along the beaches. Wind: W/SW 5-10 mph.

Weekend: The heat continues with possible heat advisories. Lows in the 70s, highs in the mid to upper 90s inland, upper 80s to 90s along the beaches. Feels Like temperatures 105-110 degrees. Wind: WSW 5 -10 mph.

Looking ahead: The heat and humidity linger with temperatures hovering near advisory levels next week.

Sunrise: 6:53 p.m.

Sunset: 8:09 p.m.

The Lincoln has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days. Several Democratic lawmakers are pressing for accountability from the Pentagon over conditions aboard the carrier, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said were “completely misrepresented.”

Extended deployments of carriers during the Iran conflict have raised concerns about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods as well as the increasing strain on the ship and its equipment. While renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran have calmed in recent weeks, the Navy has reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has offered no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.

Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. can maintain the blockade “indefinitely.”

A new aircraft carrier is heading west from the Asia-Pacific

The USS George Washington left port in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week, a Navy statement said. The carrier, along with a cruiser and a destroyer, have since been spotted crossing the Singapore Strait.

A Navy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail sensitive ship details, confirmed that the Washington was in the Strait of Malacca, which links the Pacific and Indian oceans and puts the carrier on a course to head into the Indian Ocean. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the Washington would replace the Lincoln as one of the two aircraft carriers now stationed in the Middle East.

The move would leave the waters of the Pacific without a U.S. carrier presence for an unknown period of time. The Trump administration sees China, the dominant power in the region, as “a settled force” that only needs to be deterred from dominating the U.S. or its allies and not the top global adversary that it was under the Biden administration.

The Lincoln originally deployed Nov. 21 from San Diego, and it arrived in the Middle East in January, ahead of the launch of the Iran war on Feb. 28. The Navy conceded that the conflict created a “highly contested environment where traditional supply hubs in the Middle East were disrupted by combat actions.” That, in turn, led to shortages and loss of mail aboard the aircraft carrier, the Navy said in a statement.

“Leadership prioritized mission-critical supplies: first food, then hygiene items, then mail,” the statement said, before assuring that sailors aboard the ship now have access to clean water and “healthy meal options.”

Democrats call for scrutiny, while the Pentagon defends conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

Democratic lawmakers are calling for investigations, more information and greater visibility into conditions aboard the ship, which was originally set to return home in May.

“The Lincoln’s prolonged deployment is especially significant because it is occurring in the context of continuing military operations against Iran and the possibility that substantial US naval forces will be required in the region for an extended period,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a letter to Navy leadership asking for a response to several questions.

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, said on social media that he is looking to take a bipartisan delegation on an official oversight visit to the ship and that the way sailors are being treated is “not just disgusting; it’s dangerous.”

Hegseth told reporters during ​a visit to Panama that he wants the Lincoln's sailors home and crews rotated as quickly as possible but pushed back against reports of problems aboard.

“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others, and ​I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than ​anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere ⁠conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible.”

Navy leaders, including acting Secretary Hung Cao, last week held a tense town hall for families of troops aboard the USS Lincoln, at which the commanders of the Navy’s air and surface forces promised to do everything they could to relieve the aircraft carrier. MS NOW reported earlier on the meeting.

When reports of food shortages aboard the ship first surfaced in April, the Navy pushed back, calling those reports “false.”

Reports of mental health concerns and more aboard the ship

Reports have since emerged that sailors on the Lincoln are struggling with mental health concerns. The Navy said in its statement that it has “not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship,” but officials declined to provide data, citing operational security and patient privacy concerns.

The Navy official said that a sailor aboard the Lincoln went overboard in early August but that the person was quickly recovered, treated by the ship’s medical department and transferred off ship for follow-on care. The official would not say if it was being considered a suicide attempt.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, pushed back on reports about poor conditions.

“The Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group remain resilient and resolved after more than 260 days at sea, 10,000 aircraft flights, and 1.5 million pounds of ordnance expended,” the command said on social media.

Other carriers also have had long runs that have raised concerns about morale. The USS Gerald R. Ford returned home in mid-May after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, during which it supported the U.S. war with Iran and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

During its deployment, the Ford experienced a fire in a laundry space that forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs and left hundreds of sailors without places to sleep.

Concerns about the demands of battle and the dangers of overextending ships and their crew predate the Iran war, with a number of mishaps on ships battling Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2024 and 2025, including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on a longer-than-expected deployment.

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Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

The new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and revert the Navy’s most advanced ships to a system that takes more sailors to operate and is more difficult to maintain.

The memo directs the Pentagon and the Navy to present Trump with plans to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, also known as EMALS, within two months. It also says the Ford-class carrier's electromagnetic weapons elevators should be replaced.

The move comes after years of Trump railing against the new, magnetically powered catapult system that shoots fighter jets off the deck of the carriers. It also comes at a time when the U.S. military is trying to find funding from Congress for all its desired equipment and as the Navy is struggling to fill its ships with enough sailors.

Trump's ire with the new technology goes back to at least 2017 in his first term, when he claimed the new system is “not good” and “doesn't have the power” of the older, steam systems in an interview with Time magazine.

“You're going to goddamned steam,” Trump said at the time. The topic has frequently come up since then at rallies and other events.

While Trump is looking to roll back the latest technology, the newest Chinese aircraft carriers employ electromagnetic catapults and France said it plans to use the system on its new carrier.

Trump's memo directs the fourth Ford-class carrier, the USS Doris Miller, to be the first ship to include the new changes. That will leave the USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as the forthcoming USS John F. Kennedy and USS Enterprise, untouched.

However, redesigning an already finalized ship for such a major system change will not be an easy task.

General Atomics, the company that makes EMALS, told The Associated Press in an email that the decision not to proceed with the system on the USS Doris Miller “warrants careful reconsideration.”

Trump's memo that mandates the removal of the system also noted that one of the issues facing shipbuilding is the Navy's constant design changes, “which have resulted in cost growth, delays, and cancellations.”

General Atomics said the work on the Doris Miller's catapults and arresting gear was already halfway complete and said “changing course now would introduce significant cost, schedule, and integration risks."

The move comes as Congress will weigh the necessary budget and funding bills that the Trump administration has said they need to fund the Pentagon and the Iran war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated last month that the war's cost grew to $37.5 billion as Republicans prepared a $95 billion package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities.

Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an “urgent, necessary” injection of money, and with Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget a generational investment in the military.

The House narrowly adopted both but the Senate still must act when it returns in September.

Some of the key advantages to the electromagnetic system are its ability to launch aircraft at faster speeds while being easier to maintain, requiring fewer sailors to operate and using less space aboard the ship.

EMALS aboard the USS Ford cut the number of sailors need to operate the catapults from about a dozen to two.

Reverting to a system that requires more people to operate it comes as the Navy has struggled to translate its recruiting successes in the past year to actually filling jobs on warships. At the start of the year, the Navy had about 20,000 unfilled posts across the fleet.

In February, the Navy touted the system in a press release that said it allowed the USS Ford to launch and recover aircraft at a higher rate than its predecessor, the Nimitz-class ships.

“It’s another device to help someone get compliant when they are not,” Homan said Thursday in an interview on Fox News Channel's “Fox & Friends.” “You can't just go from 0 to 100, right, and the first thing you go for is lethal force.”

Homan's remarks were the Trump administration's first public defense of ICE's plan to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and agents. The devices are known as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC. They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments.

The plan has drawn intense criticism from civil rights groups, Democrats in Congress, and some use-of-force experts, who say ICE agents have been too quick to use force while carrying out President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. At least six people have been shot and killed by immigration enforcement agents since last year, including motorists last month in Maine and Texas.

Homan argued the gloves could help avoid such encounters. He said they would give another less lethal option to ICE officers, similar to Tasers or pepper spray, for use in potentially violent situations on the streets and in detention facilities. He said that it would “be awhile” before the gloves are deployed in the field by ICE officers because the agency is still working out training protocols and other policy issues.

In Bardstown, Kentucky, Nelson County Jailer Justin Hall said Thursday that his agency began using the gloves four years ago to try to gain compliance when inmates are out of control. He said that, unlike Tasers, the shocks do not incapacitate people and make them fall or leave contact or burn marks.

Hall estimated that he had been shocked by the gloves more than 10 times during training, and the pain was intense but stops once the gloves are no longer touching skin. He said the shock gloves have been used sparingly, but are helpful as an initial deterrent when de-escalation techniques do not work.

“It’s just a safer way. It’s safer on the inmate. It’s safer on the staff. And most of the time, most of the time we get compliance,” he said. “It's been a great tool for our facility.”

Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina who has written extensively about police use-of-force and tactics, said the devices should be studied more broadly to ensure departments have proper guidance on when and how they should be used. He said it might be a wiser investment for ICE to start with a smaller purchase, given how little is known about them.

“You are wholesaling these to a group of officers who may not be trained in other strategies like de-escalation or trained to interact with the public in non-enforcement ways, like most local police officers are,” he said. “User error is almost predictable at some level. The tech may be fine, but let’s take a minute and make sure that it is used in an appropriate custom and practice.”

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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. AP reporter Claudia Lauer contributed to this report from Philadelphia.

The federal investigation also found that California's corrections department failed to provide victims with a way to report sexual abuse and harassment without retaliation. On top of that, staff who were tasked with investigating the misconduct were often themselves accused of sexual abuse or harassment.

The investigation, which began during the Biden administration, focused on two state prisons: the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. It uncovered numerous instances where guards regularly sexually abused incarcerated women. In at least one instance, a guard was convicted of rampant abuse over roughly a decade and sentenced to 224 years in prison.

State says it's making improvements. Advocates say it's not enough.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement that it “enforces a zero-tolerance policy as mandated by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act,” a federal law passed in 2003 designed to prevent sexual assaults in prisons.

The state agency also said that audits conducted by independent entities trained by the DOJ found the two prisons were in compliance with federal standards as recently as 2024 and 2025.

“CDCR is fully committed to supporting victims of sexual assault and ensuring safe avenues exist for both incarcerated persons and staff to confidentially report misconduct,” spokesperson Will Matthews wrote in an email.

Over the course of the DOJ investigation, the prison agency independently investigated and prosecuted both staff and incarcerated people who violated federal rape prevention laws, he added.

Emily Wonder, who works for Sister Warriors, which advocates for incarcerated women and transgender people, said state audits evaluate prison conditions based on a very “low bar” that allows abuse and neglect to slip through the cracks.

“It's not a very strong protection mechanism in general,” Wonder said. Sister Warriors, other groups and lawmakers are pushing for additional legislation to bolster protections for women, increase opportunities for reporting misconduct and improve transparency.

Federal authorities echoed that assessment on Thursday, saying that there weren’t sufficient mechanisms for victims to come forward.

Women don't have resources to report assaults, Justice Department says

Women were told to report misconduct on an online system that wasn’t confidential and that accused officers had access to, according to Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Dhillon said that women are “fully aware of this gap in confidentiality, and this serves as a deterrent from women reporting this misconduct.” She named at least one sergeant whose job was to investigate misconduct who was himself sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to receiving child sexual abuse images at work.

“The upshot of our investigation is that California’s prison system, when it comes to women, has inadequate systems in place to deter, detect, and hold accountable rampant sexual misconduct and assault on female prisoners,” Dhillon said at a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The Associated Press has previously exposed similar patterns of rampant abuse by federal prison staff against women held in a Dublin, California, facility that at the time was nicknamed the “rape club.” The prison was closed following the AP investigation.

Justice Department sets a deadline to address problems

The federal government on Thursday gave California's prison system 49 days to remediate the conditions that enabled the rampant abuse, warning that a failure to do so could result in civil litigation.

The measures include expanded camera coverage, enhanced confidential reporting channels and strengthened investigative protocols.

The corrections department was implementing many of those changes before the federal investigation, Matthews said.

But Wonder, whose organization has participated in a state-funded working group with the corrections department since 2023, said that advocates “haven’t seen any meaningful changes” despite regular meetings and pressure from the public.

“We’ve been really frustrated, feeling like we’re spinning our wheels,” Wonder said.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, appointed by President Donald Trump as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said California has to take action.

“The State must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities,” Essayli said in a statement, “and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist.”

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been finalized.

Arnold, 23, is facing eight felony charges stemming from allegations he orchestrated the abduction and beating of three men in February. He became a free agent in June, when the Detroit Lions released him a few days after the kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy charges were levied.

Prosecutors in Florida said Arnold arranged for the men to be pistol-whipped after he wrongly suspected them of stealing $100,000 in cash and luxury goods from him. Police called him the “primary conspirator” in the Feb. 4 attack, and a judge set his bail at $1 million.

Defense attorney R. Timothy Jansen said in Hillsborough County court earlier this summer that Arnold is “absolutely denying these allegations.” Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, an agency that represents Arnold, said there’s “no credible evidence” against him, only accounts from others who may have an incentive to get a lighter sentence.

Arnold has played in 25 NFL games, including playoffs, since the Lions took him with the 24th pick of the 2024 draft out of Florida State. The Seahawks hosted Arnold on Sunday, two days before he visited the New York Giants.

Coach Mike Macdonald said Monday that Arnold's visit and tryout went well.

“It’s a situation where there’s other things surrounding it as well, we’re aware of that,” Macdonald said. “We’re working through the situation right now. I enjoyed meeting him and he enjoyed being here. We’ll see how it goes.”

The Seahawks fielded arguably the NFL’s best defense last season. No team allowed fewer points per game (17.2), and Seattle finished in the top seven in the league in sacks and interceptions.

Arnold should add depth to a secondary that lost cornerback Riq Woolen to free agency and has been without second-year safety Nick Emannwori, who had offseason ankle surgery, during training camp.

Macdonald said the Seahawks would look into Arnold's background.

“I trust our people to make the best decision for us,” Macdonald said. “We also think this is a great place to come work, too, and that people can be the best version of themselves if given the opportunity. Works both ways.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz confirmed the tests were negative for meth in a statement to The Texas Tribune, the news organization reported Thursday.

Reitz did not say what the substance actually was, but an attorney for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's family has said it was a homemade electrolyte mixture that Salgado Araujo and his construction crew used to stay hydrated in the grueling summer heat.

Salgado Araujo, 52, was killed July 7 when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in unmarked vehicles chased his white work van through the streets of Houston, then shot him through the window. He had been driving his work crew, including his brother, to a construction site.

Salgado Araujo was a Mexican national who lived without legal status in the U.S. for 35 years, ran a homebuilding business and had never been in trouble with the law.

His death is one of at least 10 during immigration enforcement operations since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, sparking protests in Houston and calls for an independent investigation.

Shortly after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said Salgado Araujo had “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer,” and that the officer had fired in self-defense. The FBI then executed a search warrant on the van, alleging that officers saw several small bags inside filled with a substance that appeared to be methamphetamine.

But the two men who were riding with Salgado Araujo wrote in statements submitted in court that the ICE officers were never in danger of being run over, and in fact were always to the side of the van, never in front of or behind it.

Reitz revealed last month that the ICE officers were targeting two Guatemalan men who were potentially subject to deportation and who were driving a van that was similar to the one Salgado Araujo was driving the day he was killed.

David Donatti, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas which is representing the Salgado family, said the FBI search warrant was part of a government attempt to create a “false narrative.”

“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo should still be alive today, and nothing about the government’s so-called ‘search’ could have changed that fact. That search proved what the Salgado family had said all along: Lorenzo was a hardworking man who made homes for Houston families, and his wife packed him homemade electrolyte mixes to keep him and his crew hydrated under the Texas sun," Donatti said.

“By taking the unusual steps of securing and then unsealing their search warrant, the government has demonstrated that it is more interested in creating a false narrative than in seeking the truth,” he said.

“The Salgados deserve real answers about what happened to their father,” he said.

“It is a live pitch competition, think a Shark Tank-esque thing, but local to Jacksonville,” said Cheyenne LeMaire of Chang Robotics and the Chang Robotics Fund.

LeMaire says the competition is designed to put founders in front of the kind of feedback—and connections—that can accelerate early-stage companies. “We got a bunch of local companies submitted,” she said. “And then our selection committee goes through those and chooses the six.”

So what separates contenders from the rest? LeMaire said judges focus heavily on the founder first. “Our judges are looking for three things primarily. One, they’re looking to have confidence in the founder,” she said, adding they also look for “high growth potential” and whether the company is “investable from a paperwork standpoint.”

On funding, LeMaire stressed that “eligible” doesn’t mean instant money. “It’s not just a handshake and it’s a done deal,” she said. “You know, there’s legal paperwork… we go through due diligence.”

She also acknowledged why promising startups can still be a pass for investors. “I think the Chang Robotics Fund would pass on a company if they didn’t understand their space,” LeMaire said.

Kent Justice and LeMaire also discussed Jacksonville’s evolving startup ecosystem—and what still needs work. “Jacksonville produces great founders and great companies,” she said, “but… we’re missing the apparatus as a city to support the startups and also missing a sizable pool of capital that understands startup investing.”

Varsity 4 top 25 player countdown

1. Brysen Wright

Position/school: ATH/Mandarin.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 200.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A five-star by Rivals and ESPN and a four-star by 247 Sports, Wright ranks no lower than the No. 3 recruit in the nation. He’s been an elite talent since middle school, wearing the moniker “best in the world.” Wright’s highlight catches in flag football have drawn ooohs from NFL players. Wright will be a receiver at the next level, but he’s a terror all over the field at Mandarin. Had 983 yards and 10 TD catches on 46 receptions last year. Added 63 tackles and picked off five passes from his position in the secondary. Took three of those back for TDs. Also had two punt returns for TDs. While some players are more hype than production when it comes to recruiting, Wright warrants the hype. He’s elite in every sense of the word. In the modern era of recruiting, OT Laremy Tunsil (Columbia), RB Ciatrick Fason (Fletcher), DB Kevin Toliver II (Trinity Christian) and ATH Leon Washington (Jackson) are among the consensus highest-ranked recruits from the area. At this rate, Wright could surpass players like that with room to spare.

2. Asher Ghioto

Position/school: DL/Bolles.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-5, 240.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: The reigning All-News4JAX defensive player of the year was a known player before he arrived in high school. He’s a five-star player in the Rivals Industry and 247 Sports Compositive metrics. He’s rated no lower than the 10th-best player in the country (ESPN). Ghioto has excellent bend and a motor that runs nonstop. He racked up 23 sacks, 84 tackles (35 for loss) as a sophomore in a 13-2 season. Ghioto had an interception and a scoop and score. From a recruiting perspective, he’s already in rare air as a top 10 consensus national prospect. That’s been hallowed ground reserved for some of the best names in area history in terms of prospects. The last area five-star edge was Baker County’s CeCe Jefferson in 2015. There have been very good prospects along the defensive line (Columbia’s Timmy Jernigan), linebacker (Menendez’s Tony Steward) and in the secondary (Ed White’s Dee Webb, Trinity’s Kevin Toliver II), but edge rusher is a position that hasn’t seen nearly enough recruiting star power from the area over the years.

3. Xander Edwards

Position/school: RB/Bolles.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 220.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A consensus four-star prospect by the major recruiting services and a top 145 national recruit across the board. Worked on shedding weight before his sophomore season and became a far more explosive back rather than a jackhammer. Erupted onto the scene last year when he led the state in rushing (2,629 yards, 44 TDs) en route to All-News4JAX offensive player of the year honors. Set the Florida single-game record of 522 rushing yards in a win over Baldwin. Scored eight rushing TDs in that game. Helped lead Bolles to the Class 2A state championship game and finished as runner-up in voting for Mr. Football. His father, Marc, starred at fullback for Notre Dame before going on to a second-round draft selection (Niners) and playing in the league for nine seasons.

4. Jacquari Parks

Position/school: CB/Ed White.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 5-11, 160.

Recruiting: Committed to Wake Forest.

Why he’s here: A three-star recruit by ESPN and 247 Sports and a four-star by Rivals, Parks comes in rated between 30th and 117th player in Florida in the Class of 2027. Coming off an excellent junior season. Had five interceptions and took one back for a touchdown. Had 30 tackles and broke up seven passes. Physical in coverage and can land a hit.

5. Kyren Caldwell

Position/school: WR/Columbia.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 180.

Recruiting: Committed to Maryland.

Why he’s here: Consensus three-star prospect who is rated between the No. 39 (Rivals) and No. 75 (ESPN) player in the state. Holds offers from numerous Power Four programs including a trip over the summer to Alabama. Had 48 catches for 701 yards and eight TDs in junior season for Tigers. Boosted numbers from solid sophomore season (32 catches, 547 yards, 5 TDs). Quick and good hands. Poised for another major step in his progression this season.

6. Clayton Lee

Position/school: OL/West Nassau.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-7, 315.

Recruiting: Committed to South Carolina.

Why he’s here: Consensus three-star prospect by the four major recruiting services. Lee is positioned to be West Nassau’s biggest college OL prospect since Clay Hartley in 1998. Hartley signed with Georgia Tech. Lee is a mountain of a player who helped set the tone for the wicked rushing attack of the Warriors, who have emerged as a power in the Sunshine State Athletic Association. West Nassau averaged 9 yards per carry last year, often running right behind Lee. He averaged 10 pancakes a game for 12-2 West Nassau, earning second team All-News4JAX honors. Lee may play for a smaller independent program, but he’s got SEC/Big Ten size.

7. Adrian Williams

Position/school: OL/DL/Trinity Christian.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-3, 295.

Recruiting: Committed to Georgia Tech.

Why he’s here: A consensus three-star prospect by the four major recruiting services. All-News4JAX first-team selection last year at offensive line. Played significant amount on both offensive line and defensive line for the Conquerors during their run to the state semifinals. Williams fits the Trinity mold to a T. He’s a player with positional versatility. On defense, he had 28 tackles, eight for loss and three sacks. But his future at the next level is as an offensive lineman.

8. Desmond Malpress

Position/school: Edge/Atlantic Coast.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-3, 205.

Recruiting: Committed to Clemson.

Why he’s here: A consensus four-star recruit, Malpress is the top local player by industry rankings in the Class of 2027. He’s a top 155 player nationally by ESPN, On 3 and Rivals and will thrive once he gets into the system at Death Valley. He may have the highest college ceiling among local 2027 players. Malpress is very effective off the edge and gets into the backfield to change plays better than many edges locally. He had 10 tackles for loss last season. Malpress is poised for a far greater statistical output this year for the Stingrays, especially while being coached up by former Jaguars players Reggie Hayward and Tony Gilbert at Atlantic Coast.

9. Za’khari Greene

Position/school: CB/Trinity Christian.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-0, 160.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A consensus three-star recruit, he’s ranked No. 274 nationally in a blockbuster Class of 2028. Greene is sticky in coverage and a true lockdown player in the secondary. He led Trinity with four interceptions and seven passes defensed during the team’s run to the state semifinals. Added 20 tackles. Expect a greater presence in the secondary this year from Greene and the young and hungry Conquerors. They’ve reached the state semifinals the last three seasons, two of those with very young teams. This could be the payoff season.

10. Caleb Mattison

Position/school: RB/Bishop Kenny.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 5-10, 200.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A three-star recruit by two of the four major recruiting outlets (247 Sports, Rivals), Mattison has produced from the moment he set foot on Bishop Kenny’s campus. Has rushed for 3,863 yards, 51 TDs in three seasons. Should be able to reach the 5,000-yard career rushing mark, a level reserved for the best backs in area history. Has nearly doubled rushing TD total by the season (from 7 to 16 to 28). Added 225 receiving yards, three TDs. First-team All-News4JAX selection last year and a third-teamer as a sophomore. Kenny will use his skills on defense this year, too.

11. Troy Butler

Position/school: Edge/Raines.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 250.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A Rivals three-star prospect who comes in ranked as the state’s No. 119 overall player. Had 69 tackles and 25 tackles for loss during the Vikings 14-0 season. Had five tackles, two for loss and a sack in that championship game win, 23-22 over Miami Northwestern. That sack was his 10th of the season. Forced five fumbles and recovered one to earn All-News4JAX first-team honors. Early commitment to Liberty but decommitted.

12. JC Wessel

Position/school: TE/Bolles.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-6, 227.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A bit of a projection here. Wessel transferred to Bolles from Frederica Academy in Saint Simons Island. Had 18 catches for 338 yards, three touchdowns last year. Made 16 tackles on defense and picked up a sack. Consensus four-star prospect by the major recruiting services. In top seven consensus of national tight end rankings. As Bolles breaks in a largely new offensive line, Wessel will lend some much-needed size and blocking in the ground game. Former first-round pick Hayden Hurst is coaching tight ends at Bolles now, so expect Wessel to take a major step forward at the position.

13. Terrell Pinkney II

Position/school: ATH/Trinity Christian.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-4, 196.

Recruiting: Committed to USF.

Why he’s here: A three-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports, Pinkney’s recruiting picked up major steam after the 2025 season. He’s a safety/linebacker/corner hybrid for the Conquerors but can line up anywhere, even on offense, if needed. Pinkney showcased in a playoff win over University Christian last year that he can play corner very well, too. Pinkney intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart a UC drive and added a pick-six in that game as well.

14. Zion Green

Position/school: ATH/Raines.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-4, 170.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: A major recruit in the Class of 2028 who has excellent size for a player in the secondary. Likely a cornerback or safety at the next level. He’s an On3 and 247 Sports four-star recruit and a three-star by ESPN and Rivals. Green is a top 160 national recruit by 247 Sports. He was a spot receiver last year and produced. Had just 12 catches for 269 yards and turned four of those grabs into TDs. Had four tackles last year. Really picked up recruiting steam after the Vikings’ 14-0 season that ended with a Class 3A state championship. Will be counted on to deliver far greater on both sides of the ball as a junior.

15. Knox Annis

Position/school: QB/Mandarin.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-3/210.

Recruiting: Committed to Miami.

Why he’s here: Annis was thrown to the fire as he unexpectedly began his varsity career just six quarters into his freshman season due to an injury to starter Tramell Jones Jr. The results were difficult. But Annis took a greater step forward last season, boosting his completion percentage by nearly 20 points. He’s coming off a 22-TD passing season. This is a huge growing season for Annis. He committed to Miami, and a school like that creates its own set of expectations. But he is poised to take another step in his journey.

16. Marcus Small

Position/school: OL/First Coast.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-7, 290.

Recruiting: Committed to Syracuse.

Why he’s here: A consensus three-star recruit, Small is ranked between the 51st (ESPN) and 120th (Rivals/On3) player in Florida this year. He’s not only big but he’s very versatile for the Buccaneers and head coach Jarvis Parker. Small can flip to left or right tackle and earned All-Gateway and first-team All-News4JAX honors last year. As Small goes, so will the First Coast offense.

17. Omari Lawson

Position/school: Zarephath Academy.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-6, 260.

Recruiting: Committed to Syracuse.

Why he’s here: Zarephath is a younger program, so seeing a player listed may be a bit of a shock. But Lawson is a talent who can’t be looked over just because of school size. Power Four programs across the country have zeroed in on Lawson. He’s a four-star prospect at tackle and may wind up being the area’s fifth-best recruit in a blockbuster 2028 class. Come next year, this ranking could seem laughably low.

18. Camden Tietze

Position/school: WR/Bolles.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-1, 180.

Recruiting: Committed to Marshall.

Why he’s here: A Rivals/On3 three-star prospect who came on strong during his first season with the Bulldogs. Had 35 catches for 689 yards and 11 TDs playing alongside electric playmaker Naeem Burroughs. Will open this season as the No. 1 target for QB Luke Toland. As a sophomore at Ponte Vedra, had 599 yards receiving and seven TDs.

19. Aiden Phifer

Position/school: QB/Nease.

Class: Jr.

Height/weight: 6-0, 190.

Recruiting: Committed to Northwestern.

Why he’s here: Phifer burst on the scene last year by passing for 2,003 yards and 20 TDs. He was a threat to break off a run, too. Phifer scored nine rushing TDs. He did it by going 9-3 against a tough schedule that included powerhouse Buchholz (twice), St. Augustine and Oakleaf. A Rivals/On3 three-star recruit, Phifer should continue to ascend as a dual-threat QB.

19. Julius LaRosa III

Position/school: DL/ University Christian.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 260.

Recruiting: Committed to NC State.

Why he’s here: A multiyear force on the defensive line for the Christians, he’s got 24 career sacks and 43.5 tackles for loss. Recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt last year. Had 59 tackles last season and is up to 171 for his career. A consensus three-star recruit by the four major recruiting services and a top 140 player in Florida by those outlets.

21. Kindrid Outland

Position/school: DL/Mandarin.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-2, 270.

Recruiting: Committed to USF.

Why he’s here: He was all over the field last year for the Mustangs, earning a second-team All-News4JAX selection after racking up 62 tackles, 21 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. A three-star recruit by 247 Sports and Rivals/On3, Outland has serious muscle and pocket-busting interior presence.

22. Kyree Wilson

Position/school: ATH/University Christian.

Class: Senior.

Height/weight: 6-0, 190.

Recruiting: Committed to Toledo.

Why he’s here: Wilson has thrived as the No. 1 player at a small school (Christ’s Church) where he racked up 3,019 rushing yards and 32 TDs and added 74 combined tackles during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Wilson, a Rivals three-star prospect, spent his junior year at Mandarin in a two-back system and absolutely scorched teams when given the opportunity (9.1 yards per carry). He’s got 3,807 career rushing yards and 38 rushing TDs, and could join the exclusive 5,000-yard rushing club with a strong season. Factor in his work on defense in the secondary and he’s going to put up numbers all over the field for the Christians.

23. Kash Kolbow

Position/school: S/WR/Nease.

Class: Senior.

Height/weight: 6-1, 180.

Recruiting: Committed to UCF.

Why he’s here: He was a little bit of a do-it-all player on Nease’s defense in 2025. Kolbow had 68 total tackles and a couple of interceptions. He was sticky in coverage (23 passes defensed) and forced two fumbles. With as big graduation losses as the Panthers had on defense, Kolbow’s production is no doubt bound to keep ticking up.

24. King Boylston

Position/school: QB/Ed White.

Class: Sr.

Height/weight: 6-1, 195.

Recruiting: Uncommitted.

Why he’s here: Boylston isn’t rated by any of the major recruiting services, but he’s a player who should see his stock rise over the course of the year. He accounted for 38 TDs last season, passing for 25 and scampering for 13 more. Boylston passed for 2,091 yards and rushed for 712 more to help lead the Commanders to the mantle as the highest-scoring regular season team in state history.

25. Noah Ash

Position/school: Kicker, Ponte Vedra.

Class: Senior.

Height/weight: 5-11, 190.

Recruiting: Committed to Auburn.

Why he’s here: A placekicker among the area’s top players? You got that right. Ash is the area’s best player at his position, and one of the top recruits in the nation. He booted 11 field goals for the state semifinalist Sharks last year and had 74 touchbacks in 85 chances. Depending on the recruiting outlet, Ash ranks between fourth (247 Sports Composite) to sixth (Rivals/On3).

25 players to watch

Position, Player, Height, Weight, Class, High school, College

DL Jayshawn McCloud, 6-3, 255, Sr., Clay, Liberty

ATH Jaiden Barnett, 6-0, 160, Sr., Bolles, Uncommitted

LB Jaison Brown, 6-1, 215, Jr., Yulee, Uncommitted

S Tony Brown, 6-0, 180, Sr., Fletcher, USF

WR Mike Conner, 5-9, 160, Sr., Oakleaf, Uncommitted

QB Cy Cubbedge, 6-3, 180, Jr., Bradford, Uncommitted

ATH Terel Dallas Jr., 6-1, 190, Jr., Trinity Christian, Uncommitted

QB Sa’Mon Ellison-Morgan, 6-3, 185, So., Raines, Uncommitted

ATH Jaxon Flowers, 6-3, 185, Sr., Bolles, Uncommitted

DB Keion Herring, 5-9, 170, Sr., Mandarin, Uncommitted

OL James Holder, 6-4, 315, Jr., Bishop Kenny, Uncommitted

QB David Hunter, 6-3, 160, Jr., First Coast, Uncommitted

RB Rontrez Loyd, 6-1, 200, Jr., White, Uncommitted

LB Cory Matthews, 6-1, 215, Sr., Mandarin, Uncommitted

ATH Andrew McCoy, 6-0, 170, Sr., Bishop Kenny, Uncommitted

WR Brennan Monaco, 5-10, 170, Sr., Beachside, ETSU

TE Chase Phifer, 6-5, 220, Sr., Nease, Boston College

ATH Aydin Poe, 6-1, 185, Sr. Fernandina Beach, Charleston Southern

TE Trent Player, 6-3, 205, Jr., Ponte Vedra, Uncommitted

ATH Beck Rohe, 6-1, 175, Sr. Fernandina Beach, Uncommitted

DL Mark Shiloh, 6-3, 250, Sr., Ed White, Florida Atlantic

QB Luke Toland, 6-0, 205, Bolles, Jr., Bolles, Uncommitted

DL Mason Thomas, 6-3, 250, Sr., Oakleaf, Uncommitted

ATH TJ Williamson, 5-9, 175, Jr., Raines, Uncommitted

TE Connor Winn, 6-3, 235, Sr., University Christian, Florida State

The 12 jurors and four alternates selected were sworn in by Judge London Kite, and the rest of the jury pool was excused from their service.

The jury is made up of seven women and five men, with two men and two women as alternates.

The trial is scheduled to start with opening statements on Monday.

The jury pool was first narrowed to about 80 in Phase 1, with some being dismissed for hardships.

Three more jurors were excused Thursday morning before the defense began its questioning. One was sick, another had a medical concern, and a third was reported by another juror for possibly breaking the court’s rules and making comments about the case.

Judge Kite had repeatedly explained to the potential jurors that they could not look up anything about the case or talk about it with anyone.

Attorneys used answers jurors provided on a questionnaire to dig deeper in Phase 2 as they worked to select an impartial panel to hear the case against Fernandez.

Along with his now-estranged wife, Shanna Gardner, Fernandez is accused of hiring Henry Tenon, a former tenant, to shoot and kill Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.

Bridegan, a 33-year-old father of four, was Gardner’s ex-husband. They were in ongoing custody disputes over their twin children.

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

Defense attorney Jesse Dreicer spent Thursday morning making sure the potential jurors understood the presumption of innocence, the burden of beyond a reasonable doubt and the fact that Fernandez has the right not to testify and not have that held against him.

Dreicer also asked the jurors if they believed that someone can know a person who committed a crime without being guilty of the crime themselves, and he asked several individuals about their ability to be impartial based on their own experiences and the experiences of their loved ones.

At one point, Dreicer questioned the jurors about whether they would be able to weigh equally any competing evidence presented by opposing “expert witnesses.”

The prosecution took its turn questioning the jurors on Wednesday.

Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi spent the morning and afternoon sessions asking jurors questions about their personal backgrounds, any experiences they’ve had with police or the courts, personal beliefs that might be considered controversial, and any issues that might affect their ability to be impartial.

He also asked if they’d ever had to fire an employee, if they or a family member or friend had experienced a bitter divorce involving children, and whether they understand the difference between free speech and someone asking them to commit a crime.

Mizrahi finished around 3 p.m., and Kite dismissed most of the jurors until Thursday morning. A handful of jurors were questioned separately because of specific concerns they wanted to raise with the court, including one juror who ended up being dismissed for financial hardship reasons.

One potential juror was dismissed on Wednesday before questioning even began after a co-worker reported the woman broke the rules.

Kite said someone who asked to remain anonymous called the court to say that Juror No. 110 had been bragging at work about being on the Jared Bridegan case and was looking up details about the case.

The judge offered to question Juror No. 110 about the accusations, but both the defense and prosecution opted to just excuse her for cause and move on with the remaining jurors who returned for Phase 2.

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

Gardner, Fernandez and Tenon are all under indictment for first-degree murder and other charges and have each pleaded not guilty. Fernandez is the first of the three to go on trial.

Despite initially being indicted on four charges, Fernandez will now be tried only on first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the case that has garnered national attention.

Prosecutors announced before jury selection that the other two charges Fernandez had been indicted on -- conspiracy to commit murder and child abuse -- had been dropped.

NEW INFORMATION: Prosecutor drops bombshell in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case: Accused gunman was not alone on night of shooting | RELATED: Defense attorneys for Mario Fernandez briefly discussed plea deal with state in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case

After originally planning to try Gardner and Fernandez at the same time, defense attorneys and state prosecutors have since agreed that they should face separate trials, with two separate jury selection periods.

Fernandez will go on trial first. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 17-28.

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

Tenon will go on trial in March 2027.

In 2023, Tenon pleaded guilty and admitted to being the gunman who killed Bridegan, but he has since backtracked, and a judge granted his motion to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial.

Prosecution bombshell

While arguing a motion at a recent hearing, Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi revealed information about the case that was new to the public.

Speaking for the prosecution, Mizrahi said the state has evidence that multiple people were involved in the ambush shooting that killed Bridegan in February 2022 in Jacksonville Beach.

Previously, the state had only said that Tenon, the alleged hired gunman, was at the scene and fired the fatal shots after leaving a tire in the road to force Bridegan to get out of his SUV.

Now, the state has indicated that Tenon was not alone at the shooting scene.

“When the victim was killed, there is a person that fled on foot and a person that fled in a vehicle. We know that Henry Tenon left his DNA behind on that tire. And we know that Henry Tenon was not driving the pick-up truck that fled the scene,” Mizrahi said, arguing that this was proof of a deeper conspiracy in the case.

It’s unclear if the state is implying that Fernandez was driving the truck that night or if it was someone else.

“If we go back to the time that Jared Bridegan was murdered, we know there were so many questions about who could’ve done this,” Schott said. “We know there are months and months and probably pages of data that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was able to gather about why and how Jared Bridegan was murdered.”

During the hearing, Mizrahi pointed to the landlord-tenant relationship between Fernandez and Tenon as evidence that the two were connected, but said the state also has evidence of communications between the two in the days, weeks and “on the day of the particular crime.”

Timeline: How we got here

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

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

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

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

A tire was in the road.

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

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

Bridegan was left lying in the street next to the SUV with the door wide open, and the shooter seemed to melt into the shadows just as quickly as he had launched his ambush attack.

None of the 911 callers that night mentioned seeing a shooter or a vehicle leaving the scene.

The state has since said that the shooter ran off on foot and someone else drove away from the scene in a pick-up truck.

Prosecutors also said they have Tenon’s DNA on the tire that was left in the road.

LISTEN: Press play below to hear 911 calls from night of Jared Bridegan’s murder (WARNING: May include graphic content)

Eventually, detectives tracked down the man they say pulled the trigger.

Investigators say that it was all part of a murder-for-hire plot set in motion by Gardner and her second husband, Mario Fernandez. It was a conspiracy that began in November of 2021, according to court documents.

Interactive Timeline

Alleged murder-for-hire scheme

According to detectives, Gardner was tired of sharing custody of her twin children with Bridegan.

Fernandez, she knew, could “take care of him” because of his military background, Gardner told a friend. At least that’s what the friend told investigators as she detailed the strained marriage between Gardner and Fernandez and the contentious ongoing custody battle between Gardner and Bridegan.

RELATED: A friend of Shanna Gardner said she could help in Jared Bridegan’s murder case. Here’s what she told investigators | How investigators say they untangled conspiracy to kill Jared Bridegan

Investigators say that’s exactly what Fernandez did, hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant at one of his properties, to kill Bridegan.

In his initial interview with police in July 2022, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville’s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.

Tenon’s original court records said he became involved in the conspiracy on Jan. 4, 2022 -- just over a month before Bridegan was killed.

Investigators said when Tenon was arrested on an unrelated felony driving charge in August 2022, they questioned him about Bridegan’s murder and a Ford F-150 truck they had been searching for since the shooting.

RELATED | Follow the money: Checks written to Jared Bridegan’s admitted killer connect him to 2 accused in ‘murder-for-hire plot’ | Jared Bridegan’s wife files wrongful death lawsuit against 3 accused in his murder

Tenon was later arrested in Bridegan’s murder, and investigators said the single link between Tenon and Bridegan was Fernandez.

Again, Tenon initially pleaded guilty, but has since withdrawn his guilty plea.

He is now under indictment for some of the same charges as Gardner and Fernandez.

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

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

State prosecutors initially said they would be seeking the death penalty against Gardner and Fernandez if they were convicted, but they have since taken the death penalty off the table, with the support of Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, and his family.

Instead, their season ended in the third round of the playoffs with a one-touchdown loss to Gainesville Buchholz, a 27-20 finish that players and coaches say still hasn’t left them.

“We felt confident, honestly,” defensive tackle Kindrid Outland said, remembering the mindset going into that game. “We thought we had them stopped… But you know, we lost.”

That ending is now a reference point — and a motivator — as Mandarin starts a new season on the practice field.

Head coach Toby Bullock said the program brings up the Buchholz loss often, but he’s careful about what it means for this year’s roster.

“This team’s 0-0,” Bullock said. “They’ve never won a game together. They never lost a game together.”

Still, the standard at Mandarin is clear. They said they don’t want to let a season come down to the same small mistakes.

Center Barrett Poulos said the focus this offseason has been on the work it takes to make the difference in tight games.

“This whole offseason, we’ve been focused completely on loving the work,” Poulos said.

‘Plus 2′

At practice, there’s another phrase that shows up in drills, in the weight room, and in the way players talk to each other: “Plus 2.”

Players describe “Plus 2” as a push to go beyond the minimum, not just in football, but in life.

“Plus two is a life mindset… It’s doing more,” Poulos said.

Outland put it this way: “You go a little bit extra, do a little bit more than what you think you can do.”

Bullock said the motto is designed to be practical, something players can apply in real moments, not just repeat in a huddle. He points to examples like getting in extra reps, finishing through the line, studying more film, and handling the details when no one is watching.

“I wanted that… that statement that is uniquely ours… and screams what me and my coaches believe in,” he said.

The goal — and the question

Mandarin’s goals are straightforward.

“A championship,” Outland said.

When asked if he’s seen the “Plus 2″ standard to the level needed to win a championship:

“Not yet,” Bullock said. “We won’t know until we get there Friday night.”

What’s next in the News4JAX series

News4JAX presents “Plus 2.” Our team will follow Mandarin at practice each week as the Mustangs move through the season. You can tune in each Thursday throughout the season.

The Bears announced in June that they were moving forward with a stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana. They have completed their review of what they are calling the Lost Marsh site, and they are doing their due diligence on the Wolf Lake Terminal site. They could merge the two options together in some way.

“Even though we’ve had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole focus at this point in time is working on a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana,” team President Kevin Warren said Thursday.

The Bears also had been considering Arlington Heights — about 30 miles northwest of Chicago — as a potential location for an enclosed stadium. Wherever they end up, a name change is off the table.

“We will be the Chicago Bears whether we’re in Arlington or whether we’re in Hammond,” chairman George McCaskey said.

The Bears, a charter NFL franchise, have played in Illinois since the team’s founding in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys. They moved to Chicago in 1921 and called Wrigley Field home before they started playing at Soldier Field in September 1971.

The Bears’ lease runs through 2033, but they can pay a fee to break the lease early. Soldier Field is about 40 miles south of Halas Hall — the team’s headquarters in Lake Forest — and Hammond is about 20 miles south of the team’s lakefront stadium.

McCaskey acknowledged the “anxiety” of a move to northwest Indiana for the team's fans.

“But when I’ve driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn’t know that I’ve just crossed the state border,” he said. “And as Kevin said, once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that our top priority from day one was a world-class stadium experience, we think we’ll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for that.”

The Bears ramped up their focus on Indiana after a proposal to provide financial incentives for the team to build its new home in Illinois stalled in the state legislature. A committee in the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill in February that established a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium.

The Illinois Senate passed a bill that would have cleared the way for Arlington Heights and Chicago to create local stadium authorities, creating a pathway for the Bears to avoid paying property taxes on a new stadium. But the House adjourned without taking up the measure on the last day of the state’s spring legislative session.

McCaskey said the team has had minimal conversations with Illinois legislators since June. Asked if he was hopeful about Illinois coming up with a plan and building in Arlington Heights, McCaskey demurred.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “has said to us many times in league meetings, ‘Hope is not a strategy,’” McCaskey said. “We have to deal with the here and now. We have to deal with real circumstances, and these are the real circumstances.”

Speaking before McCaskey and Warren held their news conference, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said his office has been in contact with the team.

“We’re working hard to make sure that there’s an opportunity for the Bears to stay in the state of Illinois, whether it’s in Chicago or in Arlington Heights,” Pritzker said.

“I also want, at the same time, to protect the fans and the taxpayers of the state. So we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that that happens.”

The Bears have been pursuing a new home for years, but the process has been hampered by repeated twists and turns.

The team announced in September 2021 that it had signed a purchase agreement for 326 acres of land in Arlington Heights. The $197 million deal with Churchill Downs Inc. was finalized in 2023.

In September 2022, the team unveiled a nearly $5 billion plan for Arlington Heights that called for an enclosed stadium that could host Super Bowls and Final Fours. The conceptual illustrations also provided for a year-round entertainment district with restaurants and shopping.

But the Bears shifted their focus toward building a new stadium next to Soldier Field after Warren was hired as team president in January 2023, replacing the retiring Ted Phillips. The plan to transform Chicago’s Museum Campus got an enthusiastic endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson and a tepid reception from Pritzker and state legislators when it was announced in April 2024.

The team switched gears again in May 2025, announcing it had made “significant progress” with local leaders in Arlington Heights.

Amid lingering efforts to secure tax incentives in Illinois, along with as much as $855 million in public money for infrastructure at the Arlington Heights site, the Bears began to take a closer look at possible options in northwest Indiana.

“We’re in regular, almost daily communication with the state of Indiana working on this,” Warren said. “We have an excellent deal, a win-win partnership together. And the cost of the significance of this decision from a stadium standpoint, we will make sure that we take our time to get this right.”

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This week, Cuba commemorated Castro with events including the International Book Fair, art exhibitions, concerts and gatherings of delegates from leftist organizations across the continent.

Posters bearing his image hang in hospitals, while billboards displaying his slogans — including his widely known “Homeland or Death” — line the streets. His presence is so familiar that many Cubans refer to him simply as Fidel.

“I believe (Fidel Castro) leaves Cuba a legacy of dignity, morality, tireless work and concern for the poor,” writer and essayist Miguel Barnet, who also is a member of the National Assembly, told The Associated Press. “And a philosophy that was translated into concrete policies in areas such as culture, education and public health.”

An island in crisis

Castro’s centennial comes as Cuba faces an ever-intensifying squeeze that began when the Trump administration imposed a fuel blockade in January and followed up with a series of sanctions aimed at pressuring the communist government to make political and economic changes. The measures have deepened a five-year economic crisis fueled by earlier U.S. sanctions and a failed domestic financial overhaul.

For Cubans, the effects have been far-reaching: prolonged power outages, shortages of fuel and medicine, declining industrial and tourism activity, flight cancellations, transportation restrictions and reduced work and school hours.

Castro governed Cuba for five decades, from 1959 until he handed over the presidency to his brother in 2008, holding massive rallies and making hourslong speeches. He remained influential until his death in 2016.

“Fidel left us everything, everything good that came from Cuba’s revolutionary process,” said Argelia Mustelier, a 61-year-old retiree who lives in Old Havana. “In these difficult times we’re living through, he would have found a way to bring some happiness to his country and his people.”

From guerrilla campaigns to leading a country

Fidel Castro Ruz was born Aug. 13, 1926, in eastern Cuba’s sugar country, where his Spanish immigrant father first worked recruiting labor for U.S. sugar companies and later built up a prosperous plantation of his own. Shortly after graduating as a lawyer, he became politically active.

In 1953, Castro and more than 100 others attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro was captured and later released, then went into exile in Mexico. He returned to Cuba with fellow rebels and launched a guerrilla campaign that culminated in Batista’s ouster in 1959 and Castro’s rise to power.

Castro took power and radically transformed Cuba through agrarian reform, a massive literacy campaign and the nationalization of private businesses, policies that put his government on a collision course with the U.S.

Across Latin America and developing nations, Castro became a symbol of anti-colonial and revolutionary movements. His policies also fueled deep opposition, first among wealthy Cubans, many of whom fled to the United States, and later among those who opposed the Communist Party’s monopoly on political power.

“He is a controversial figure,” said historian Manuel Cuesta Morúa, president of the opposition Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba.

“There was no justification for sacrificing freedoms … There was no justification for preventing the rest (of the Cuban people) — and the country’s political diversity and plurality — from expressing themselves,” Cuesta said. “That created a rift whose consequences we are still living with today.”

For many younger Cubans, Castro remains an icon, but his influence is less immediate for them than for older generations who lived under his leadership.

“Our generation didn’t experience him as an active leader. What we saw was a less visible Fidel, one who rarely appeared in public,” 27-year-old Cristian Cohello said. “What remains of Fidel Castro right now, of what he left behind, is nothing; absolutely nothing.”

Raúl Castro makes an unusual appearance

On Thursday, the former president and brother of the leader, 95-year-old Raúl Castro, made an unusual public appearance — who was reportedly last seen in June and has not been seen in public since May 1 — during a tribute at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana.

Dressed in an olive-green uniform, Raúl Castro stood next to President Miguel Díaz-Canel and one row ahead of his own grandson and bodyguard, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who has been cited as one of the island’s negotiators with the United States.

Hours later, Díaz-Canel attended an exhibition of photographs — 30 printed and another 100 projected on a screen — of Fidel Castro taken throughout his life and with prominent figures such as Pope John Paul II and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, both now deceased.

“It is a glorious day for Cuba, 100 years ago Fidel was born ... a man who embodies the ideas for which Cuba fights and the ideas for which we are fiercely defending ourselves against imperial threats,” Díaz-Canel told a group of journalists.

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

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of historian Manuel Cuesta Morúa’s name.

Rocket Classic champion Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Michael Kim and Kurt Kitayama also opened with 65s in the sweltering heat at the TPC Southwind. Spieth and Kim are outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the BMW Championship next week.

This is the second straight year Spieth, at No. 54 and winless in more than four years, has been on the bubble going into the postseason. He was at No. 48 a year ago and fell out of the top 50.

He said the difference is the way he feels he is playing, even though he is the only player from the top 70 who qualified who has yet to register a top 10 this year.

“I'm just in a very different place about the game of golf than I was the last couple seasons heading into this event,” Spieth said. “Again, if it’s going to work out, great. If it doesn’t, I know next year is going to be an awesome year for me. So it takes a lot of the stress off of this week.”

Kim is at No. 61 and likely would need to finish at least 11th to have a chance to move on.

But it's just one round, and it was crowded at the top. Seven players, including defending FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland and Adam Scott — were at 66. Four others were another stroke back.

So much emphasis is on getting into the top 50 because that locks up all the $20 million signature events for next season. Spieth has been on the outside the last two years and knows what's on the line this week.

More than half the field, however, already is assured of heading to Bellerive in St. Louis for the BMW Championship. For the likes of Woodland and Scott — both just inside the top 30 — a good week could lock them up for the Tour Championship and a shot at playing for the FedEx Cup.

It all comes with a reward of getting in all the majors.

“My only feeling has been make the most of this week, then it's all upside for me,” Scott said. “There's so much to gain from a good week right now, not only for the remainder of this season. It’s possible to lock up a spot in the Tour Championship this week, but also what it does into next year, the signatures and all the majors.

“It sets me up for what can be a year on my terms, which will be nice.”

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who has played the TPC Southwind more times (seven) without winning than any other course on the PGA Tour, opened with a 68. He was playing alongside Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who skipped last year knowing that his result had no bearing on his position the rest of the playoffs. McIlroy finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for 74.

The attention falls to Spieth, who won three legs of the career Grand Slam before his 24th birthday. But he had wrist surgery at the end of 2024 and has struggled to contend.

He opened with eight pars, finally got a putt to fall, and then ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch, including a 40-footers on the par-3 14th. Mostly, no bogeys on the card was a plus.

“I just tried to come into this week and just be as patient, nonreactive as possible, dumb it down to try to win the golf tournament and not worry about anything else,” Spieth said. “Just knowing that I’m a lot better golfer than I’ve been in a very long time and continue to believe in that. If low scores come, they come. If they don’t, it doesn’t change the fact that I know that I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”

Jackson Koivun, who won the 3M Open in his third start as a pro and narrowly got the final spot in the postseason at No. 70, played as a single and shot 71. The 69-man field is due to Daniel Berger choosing not to play, and there are no alternates.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

The 24-year-old Hunt started the week by winning the 100-meter final and made it two-for-two Thursday by taking the 200 gold at Alexander Stadium. She’s also in contention to be in two relay teams.

“I am only 50% through as I have set out for the full set of four golds," Hunt said. “Now I am incredibly excited for the relays because I get to do them and have so much fun with my friends.”

The ever-affable Hunt likes to quote a “High School Musical” character when she says “I want it all” on the track. But the University of Cambridge alum can get more serious, too, like when she recently discussed the legacy of colonialism associated with the Commonwealth Games.

Here's what to know about her career:

Medals include silver in 200 at world championships

Hunt was the surprise silver medalist in the 200 at the world championships last September in Tokyo, where she ran 22.14 seconds in the final — U.S. sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden was the winner.

At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Hunt ran the third leg on the British women’s 4x100 relay team that won silver.

In the youth ranks, Hunt set an under-18 women's world best in the 200 when she ran a 22.42 in June 2019 in Mannheim, Germany.

Hunt juggled academics — studying English Literature — while training and overcame a leg injury to reach world-class levels. After her silver medal in Tokyo last year, she told the BBC she's glad she stayed in school: “You can be an academic badass and a track goddess.”

Hunt quotes ‘High School Musical’ character

When describing her goals, Hunt cites a “High School Musical” character Sharpay Evans and the song called “I Want it All.”

Hunt mentioned it in the pre-championships news conference and again after winning gold in the 100 on Monday night.

“That performance is one step closer to being like Sharpay Evans,” she said after the victory. “I really want to win it all and I’m so happy now I’ve got one out of four done. Hopefully I can take this momentum and the good vibes into the rest of the week.”

Hunt's issue with the Commonwealth Games

Hunt gives fans a behind-the-scenes view of her life as an athlete with video updates on her YouTube page. Her “vlog” touches on everything from meals to sightseeing to anti-doping tests.

The sprinter's most recent video was a review of her time at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she won a silver medal in the 100.

Hunt takes a few minutes in the video to discuss the history of the games, saying she doesn't “ethically or morally agree with the kind of notion of a Commonwealth Games.” The games, she added, “used to celebrate a colonial empire.”

“I think the Commonwealth Games provides the opportunity for us to reflect on ourselves and our history with colonialism, also the fact that England as we know it was rebuilt post-war by the Windrush generation, by immigrants,” Hunt said.

Athletes discuss this privately, she said, but that's where it stays.

“I think a lot of people are afraid to speak about it openly. I think as a white athlete, it’s important for me to speak about my thoughts on it. ... I just kind of wish there was more dialogue and more conversation about that.”

She concludes: “You’re more than free to disagree with it and you’re more than free to think that if I have these views it’s hypocritical for me to compete.”

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

New data suggests that gap has nearly disappeared and in some cases, new construction is now selling for less per square foot.

Click here for more Addressing A4dability coverage.

A 25-year analysis of local home sales by Jon Brooks, a market analyst and the co-founder of Momentum Realty, found the price-per-square-foot gap between new and existing homes has narrowed dramatically.

In 2011, new homes sold for about 39% more per square foot than existing homes.

By 2024, that premium had fallen to 2.4%. In 2025, it was just 0.3%.

So far in 2026, new homes are selling for slightly less per square foot than existing homes.

“Typically, new construction has a 15 to 20% premium over existing homes,” Brooks said. “So from a historical standpoint, what we’re seeing right now is very different than what we were normally used to.”

Brooks said the shift is partly the result of existing home prices rising rapidly in recent years, while builders have increasingly competed for buyers by cutting prices and offering incentives.

One of the biggest incentives is financing.

Many builders are offering mortgage rate buy-downs that can push buyers’ interest rates below prevailing market rates, reducing monthly payments.

Brooks said some builders are also cutting the purchase price to make deals work.

“The builders are willing to not only give the concession on the mortgage, but also cut the price of the house to make deals work with buyers,” Brooks said.

Those incentives can make the total cost of a new home more competitive with an existing home, even when the advertised price may initially appear higher.

The shift also comes as new construction has taken a larger share of local home sales.

According to Brooks’ analysis, new construction accounted for about 13% of sales in 2021, a 20-year low. By 2024, that share had climbed to 27%, the highest level in the 25-year data set.

Brooks said builders have been forced to compete more aggressively as the Northeast Florida housing market has added significant amounts of new inventory.

Some builders have accepted lower profit margins to keep homes moving.

“Some of them are losing money,” Brooks said. “The majority of them, their margins are much less than what they’re used to getting.”

For buyers focused on affordability, Brooks said the data is a reason not to automatically rule out new construction.

Instead, he recommends comparing the total cost of buying new versus existing, including mortgage rates, builder incentives, closing costs and other concessions.

The trend could also put additional pressure on sellers of existing homes.

Brooks said that in areas where there has been a major construction boom, increased competition from new homes could force existing-home sellers to lower prices.

“I think times are changing,” Brooks said. “We could see prices actually come down further moving forward now that the ratios have flipped.”

Priority Evac is a membership service that offers customers a pre-secured seat on a flight out of Florida before certain hurricanes, with membership starting at $1,250.

The company says the service is designed to help people avoid the packed highways, airport closures and last-minute scramble that can come with evacuating ahead of a major storm.

“We want to make sure that people have a plan prior to the storm, so you’re not thinking about it when it’s too late,” Priority Evac CEO Tim Houston told News4JAX.

Under the program, members work with a case manager who helps coordinate the evacuation. The company says customers are told which airport to use, where to meet the aircraft and are flown to Atlanta.

Priority Evac says it has not yet flown its first evacuation. The service is launching in South Florida, and the company says it has received interest from people concerned about evacuating elderly parents, college students, pets and those with medical needs.

Houston said the idea came from seeing people begin thinking about evacuation only after a storm is already approaching.

“People experience the storms and then that’s when they start thinking about evacuation,” he said.

The concept has also drawn some criticism online, with some questioning whether evacuation should be something people have to pay for.

One TikTok creator compared the service to the Titanic, saying first-class passengers were being prioritized over working-class passengers. The video was viewed over 1 million times. Another commenter called the concept “dystopian.”

Houston said the service is not intended to be an option for everyone.

“It’s a first-of-its-kind service, so it’s a new concept, but really it’s about being prepared,” he said. “It’s an option. It may not be for everybody, but I think there’s a lot of people in Florida that want this service.”

The company says its evacuation triggers are based on criteria from the National Hurricane Center.

Priority Evac is not currently offering flights out of Jacksonville.

Houston said the service is not intended to replace official hurricane evacuation orders or emergency management guidance. Instead, the company says it is designed to give members another option to leave before traditional evacuation routes become overwhelmed.

For Floridians who choose to evacuate, emergency officials continue to recommend having an evacuation plan in place before a storm threatens the area.

Flock Safety operates a vast nationwide network of automated cameras that record the license plate numbers and other characteristics of all passing vehicles every day.

Thousands of law enforcement agencies in 49 states can search and share Flock’s data across jurisdictions to aid their investigations.

Among those are the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Glynn County Police Department.

Glynn County

In Glynn County, police announced the launch of a Transparency Portal available to the public that includes the department’s policy on the use of data from the 80 Flock cameras around the Golden Isles.

The portal also includes data on usage, which agencies share data with Glynn County and what the cameras can and cannot do.

“The Flock cameras in the Golden Isles are automated license plate readers. They photograph the license plates of passing vehicles and convert the plate number into text. They also record basic information about the vehicle, like body type and color and the date, time, and location of the camera,” GCPD wrote in a Facebook post. “Our Flock cameras do not recognize faces. They don’t measure speed. They don’t track you. They don’t even know who you are.”

The department emphasized that misusing data gathered by a Flock camera doesn’t just violate policy. It’s a crime.

St. Johns County

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office also shared a social media post on Thursday about its use of license plate reader technology, although not specifically about Flock cameras.

“SJSO introduced license plate reader technology in 2017 and currently operates 180 cameras countywide,” the agency wrote.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, LPRs in St. Johns County have led to the following since 2017:

• Locating 600+ stolen vehicles & 300 stolen tags
• Recovering 164 items of stolen property
• Locating 247 wanted individuals
• Locating 180 missing individuals
• Charging 831 individuals responsible for crimes

St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick also made his position on LPR technology very clear: it’s here to stay.

“𝘓𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘚𝘵. 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧, 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦; 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.”

𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘈. 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬

The Sheriff’s Office said so far, since their installation in 2017, the agency has not identified any misuse of the system by personnel.

Flock under scrutiny

But that potential for misuse has the Flock Safety surveillance technology company under scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties, civil liberties advocates and citizens across the U.S.

Those critics say the pervasiveness of the cameras amounts to unconstitutional warrantless mass surveillance.

Dozens of cities and agencies have nixed their relationships with Flock amid concerns that the data can be accessed for immigration enforcement or used in unauthorized tracking, after a flurry of examples surfaced of law enforcement officers misusing the technology for personal searches.

CEO says changes will drive accountability

In an interview, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said many of the product changes will make what were once optional guardrails mandatory for its users to implement by Jan. 1.

Among them: All law enforcement customers will have to implement an audit tool that’s intended to flag abnormal search behavior. When the system detects abnormal behavior, the user would be locked out pending an internal review, the company said in a description of the changes provided ahead of Thursday’s announcement.

Flock, which says its customers own the data that the cameras record, is also shortening the standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. It said it will allow data to be preserved for longer when it is evidence tied to a case number.

Law enforcement users will now also be required to enter a code from their records management system tying each search to a specific case before it is run, something Langley said civil liberties advocates have long been calling for. Overrides for emergencies would be automatically flagged for review, the company said.

Customers will also be allowed to decide which offense types — such as homicide or arson — outside agencies can search their data for, which would allow a customer to block outside searches related to immigration enforcement, the company said.

Langley said that change will give individual cities and departments control to use the system in a manner “consistent with community values.”

Critics say still room for abuses, supporters urge balance

Critics of the company reacted skeptically to the changes, which they said appeared designed to address the growing bipartisan anger about the cameras but could still leave room for police to abuse the system.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a blog post that the shortened evidence retention window could be “a step in the right direction,” but it characterized the other changes as “retreads” of inadequate safety measures.

Robert Frommer, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that’s led closely watched litigation over the technology, called the changes “window dressing” from a company in “panic mode.”

“This is window dressing that doesn’t address the fundamental problem, which is that police officers are the ones deciding who and when to search, and that should be done by judges with real warrants,” he said.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a professor at the George Washington University Law School whose scholarship has focused on policing, big data surveillance and the Fourth Amendment, said Thursday’s shifts were “better than the opposite” but called for further scrutiny of the technology in the form of “sustained democratic engagement with the rules and judicial checks on access at a minimum.”

Ferguson said he’s been surprised to see the “growing community backlash” against Flock specifically, given that the technology isn’t new and other companies sell it as well. But Flock and the movement against it have “captured people’s sense that maybe they don’t want to be surveilled all the time,” he said.

More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended or rejected a contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of the year, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, a grassroots group formed to track the use of license plate reader technology and push back against it. Cameras around the country have also been vandalized.

In Congress, Republican representatives filed at least two bills aiming to restrict the use of the technology in July.

Ian Adams, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina currently working on a Flock-related research study, said many of the concerns raised about how the company’s data can be used are not new concerns in law enforcement.

“Anyone with policing experience could have reasonably foreseen that what have been termed as ‘curiosity searches’ by officers, searches for private reasons not related to police work, were going to be a problem this technology faced,” he added, noting that other technologies and platforms like the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information had faced those issues.

Law enforcement experts said it’s a common tension of “policing in a democracy” — balancing useful technology that officers say helps solve and prevent crime with the community’s interest and right to privacy.

“It’s a balancing act. A community has a legitimate interest in how information is used, but it also has a legitimate interest in the effectiveness of a police department in preventing crime,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank. “I think a balance can be struck, but it’s more likely to come from department policy than company changes.”

Successes and failures have captured attention

Flock, based in Atlanta, Georgia, often posts to its website what the company deems to be everyday examples of success stories for its cameras, including finding missing seniors and catching car thieves. But the tech has also been used in high-profile cases that have garnered national attention, such as the search for a suspect in a fatal shooting at Brown University and in tracking and arresting a former North Carolina police officer who authorities say had made threats that he planned to carry out a mass shooting at a festival in Louisiana.

Abuses have also drawn widespread attention. The Washington Post reported earlier this month finding nearly 50 instances of police officers charged or accused of using the cameras for unauthorized purposes, many for tracking current or former romantic partners or family members.

Just this week, six employees — including four officers — of the Savannah Police Department in Georgia were fired after they were accused of searching for friends and family using the tool and allowing an officer from an outside agency to use the city’s cameras.

The Savannah department said it was made aware of the misuse through Flock’s voluntary audit function.

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Lauer reported from Philadelphia.

The Hennepin County search warrant obtained by The Associated Press identified the man as Nathan Brown, 41. It says he stabbed his wife, 41-year-old Kristen Brown, and their daughter, Evie Brown, inside the daycare that Kristen Brown operated out of the family's basement in Hopkins, a suburb of Minneapolis. He then fatally shot himself in an upstairs closet.

Hopkins police said in a statement Thursday that they are still investigating.

According to police records, a father dropping off two of his children for daycare heard screams coming from the basement. The father entered the home and initially thought Nathan Brown was performing CPR before realizing it was an attack. The witness called 911 and fled with his children and two other children.

Authorities said Wednesday that they believe Nathan Brown earlier killed a 78-year-old relative at her home in Burnsville, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Hopkins. Nathan Brown had recently been living there, investigators said. Police have not released the woman’s identity or said how she was related to Brown.

The warrant says the parent who witnessed the daycare attack told investigators that Kristen Brown had recently sent parents a letter that the daycare would soon be closing, citing “relationship issues with Nathan.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

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Six other children were present, but none were physically harmed, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any information about a potential motive for the killings. They said there was no history of police calls to the Hopkins address.

Records show that Kristen Brown had been licensed by the state since 2019. The daycare had a capacity of 10 children and was found to be in compliance during visits in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Family members of Kristen Brown declined to comment on Thursday.

Kristen Brown opened Brown Bear Childcare a few months after giving birth to Evie. In a 2019 post on the daycare’s Facebook page, Brown wrote that she hoped to help her daughter and other children “blossom into happy, intelligent, caring individuals.”

Kristen Brown had a bachelor’s degree in elementary education foundations from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and was certified in vision therapy, according to her daycare’s Facebook page. She incorporated music and cooking classes into her days with the children and would take them on field trips to a science museum and an orchard.

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Rico reported from Atlanta.

During an hourslong meeting that was conducted virtually, the board voted to add Trump's name to the building's facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” The plaza in front of the building would be named after Trump and most of the space at the venue would be closed for two years to allow for substantial renovations.

The changes, described by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is an ex-officio board member, and her lawyers, amount to a dramatic test of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.

He ruled in May that letters affixed to the building that spelled out Trump's name were added illegally and he ordered their removal, a decision that the Republican administration failed to persuade courts to overturn. At the same time, Cooper blocked a two-year closure that was set to take effect July 5, saying an earlier board vote authorizing the shuttering was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”

“This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed,” Beatty said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”

A Kennedy Center representative did not respond to a request for comment.

Much of Thursday's board meeting was expected to focus on the extent of closures required to allow for renovations that the Kennedy Center's management says are needed to improve safety. In response to the judge's criticism of the earlier vote, the institution's leaders said they would provide the board with three options to consider.

They included a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

Ultimately, the board decided to close the building for two years while leaving the potential for some degree of programming to still happen in an outdoor space known as the Reach. The decision to move ahead with the two-year closure, in addition to the moves to memorialize Trump, could revive questions about whether the board seriously considered the full range of options, a point Democrats emphasized after the meeting.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is also an ex officio board member, criticized a “sham meeting.”

“What happened today was nothing more than a rubber stamp on a decision the President made months ago that the Board already tried to effectuate without doing proper due diligence,” he said in a statement.

The Kennedy Center has become a metaphor for presidential power

During Trump's second term, the Kennedy Center has become an unlikely — and highly visible — metaphor for presidential power. While he largely ignored the institution during his first term in Washington, Trump moved quickly to oust its leadership when he returned to office in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman.

His name was quickly added to the building, before coming down in June in response to Cooper's order. The area where it once stood is now covered by a massive tarp.

The Kennedy Center moves are part of Trump's broader push to reshape the physical landscape of the nation's capital in ways that have few modern parallels.

He demolished the East Wing of the White House and is building a controversial ballroom in its place, though an appeals court ruled last week that construction should stop because Congress didn't approve the project. Trump has said he will take the case to the Supreme Court.

His remodel of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has also stumbled after algae returned and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro refuted his claims that a vandal was responsible for the damage.

Meanwhile, Trump is planning extensive renovations of a golf course in East Potomac Park, which could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths. He is also moving forward with a triumphal arch that will sit near Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump has derided the Kennedy Center as “rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested” and threatened to hand the building over to Congress after Cooper rejected the closure and the addition of the president’s name to the building.

The institution’s leadership has argued that it’s in genuine need of repair and updating.

Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director and chief operating officer, guided a group of journalists through the building in April, highlighting severe water damage that he said corroded steel in some places as thin as tissue paper. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and in need of replacement.

At the time, Floca said he considered doing the repairs individually but insisted it was his recommendation to Trump to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.

“When the president asked, ‘How do you make these projects the best? How do you make them really excellent and deliver them efficiently?’ My recommendation was you close the building and you do everything over a definite period of time, two years,” he said.

More recently, the legal battles became the subject of barbs and jokes as comedian Bill Maher accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in late June. At the start of the program, Pamella Roland DeVos, a Kennedy Center trustee appointed by Trump, described the institution as a “national cultural center open not just for some but for every American patron who wants to experience the greatest art and expression the world has to offer.”

“The responsibility that comes with it is one our board takes very seriously,” she said.

A fan blade in the Boeing 737-800's right engine broke loose, sending fragments flying out of the engine that broke the window and damaged the fuselage in several other places, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. Greece turned the investigation over to the U.S. agency under international aviation rules.

The July 10 accident happened after the flight departed the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Investigators found bird remains inside the engine, suggesting the plane may have struck birds during takeoff, though they haven't determined what caused the fan blade to break loose.

The 61-year-old passenger suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns.

Panicked passengers helped the man after the window broke

The flight attendants told investigators they heard and felt loud, continuous vibration and saw smoke or fog fill the cabin before the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.

One flight attendant then noticed some passengers standing and calling for help. The man in a row 11 window seat was partially lodged in the damaged window, and other passengers pulled him back into the cabin.

The injured passenger was moved to row 12, where a doctor on board tended to him. Other passengers retrieved a metal box from the flight attendants and used it to try to block the opening until the plane could land.

A series of short videos recorded inside the plane and shared by Radio Thessaloniki showed passengers wearing oxygen masks after the cabin lost pressure. Another appeared to show the broken window, with a man seated nearby wearing an oxygen mask. A third video, apparently filmed after the aircraft landed, showed first responders working in the aisle.

The engine's fan blades were inspected in May

Maintenance records show the fan blades in the right engine had undergone ultrasonic inspections in May 2026 and November 2025, with no damage found. But flight crews had reported four suspected bird strikes to the same engine over the previous year, according to the NTSB. Bird remains were found after two of them.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigator who reviewed the preliminary report, told The Associated Press that the required maintenance appears to have been performed on schedule. Investigators, however, will likely examine how the inspections were conducted and whether the previous suspected bird strikes contributed to preexisting damage.

“We know what happened and even to some extent why it happened, but there’s still unanswered questions that the NTSB will get at,” Guzzetti said.

The NTSB last month reprimanded Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary after he told investors the investigation was focused on foreign object damage rather than the plane’s age or maintenance history. The agency said investigators had not ruled anything out and O’Leary wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

Ryanair said Thursday it would not comment further until the NTSB investigation is complete. Boeing and CFM International, the engine maker, said they are assisting with the investigation.

FAA had ordered fixes after similar accidents

The FAA issued three directives last year requiring airlines to strengthen parts of the engine coverings on Boeing 737s after two previous fan blade failures sent pieces of the engine coverings flying. In one accident, a Southwest Airlines passenger was killed in 2018 after debris struck the fuselage and knocked out a window, causing the cabin to rapidly lose pressure.

The directives, which took effect in April 2025, require changes aimed at keeping pieces of the engine covering from breaking away and striking the plane if a fan blade breaks loose. Among other things, airlines must replace certain fasteners and spacers that attach the engine’s inlet covering and revise their maintenance and inspection programs.

The FAA gave airlines until July 2028 to complete the major modifications, and the NTSB report says the required changes had not yet been made to the Ryanair plane.

Guzzetti said the latest accident could prompt the FAA and NTSB to examine whether that deadline should be moved up.

“It takes time to do the maintenance, to get the parts, and the risk at the time was assessed such that the industry could probably wait that long. Now with this event,” Guzzetti said, “that may change things.”

Asked whether the July 2028 deadline could change, the FAA declined to comment on the open investigation, saying it closely supports the NTSB and will “take any necessary safety actions based on the evidence.”

The plane returned about an hour after takeoff

The 737-800, which can seat up to 189 passengers, was delivered new to Ryanair in 2008, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

Flight records show the plane climbed above 15,000 feet (4,570 meters) about six minutes after departure before descending to about 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) “to burn fuel for 30 minutes” and returning to Thessaloniki about an hour after takeoff, Flightradar24 said.

The flight was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget carrier.

The plane landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground, the airline said in a statement at the time.

The company operates a vast nationwide network of automated cameras that record the license plate numbers and other characteristics of all passing vehicles every day. Thousands of law enforcement agencies in 49 states can search and share Flock's data across jurisdictions to aid their investigations.

Police have credited the technology as an important crime-fighting innovation that has helped locate missing people and track suspects in violent crimes. But some critics say its pervasiveness amounts to unconstitutional warrantless mass surveillance. Dozens of cities and agencies have nixed their relationships with Flock amid concerns that the data can be accessed for immigration enforcement or used in unauthorized tracking, after a flurry of examples surfaced of law enforcement officers misusing the technology for personal searches.

CEO says changes will drive accountability

In an interview, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said many of the product changes will make what were once optional guardrails mandatory for its users to implement by Jan. 1.

Among them: All law enforcement customers will have to implement an audit tool that's intended to flag abnormal search behavior. When the system detects abnormal behavior, the user would be locked out pending an internal review, the company said in a description of the changes provided ahead of Thursday's announcement.

Flock, which says its customers own the data that the cameras record, is also shortening the standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. It said it will allow data to be preserved for longer when it is evidence tied to a case number.

Law enforcement users will now also be required to enter a code from their records management system tying each search to a specific case before it is run, something Langley said civil liberties advocates have long been calling for. Overrides for emergencies would be automatically flagged for review, the company said.

Customers will also be allowed to decide which offense types — such as homicide or arson — outside agencies can search their data for, which would allow a customer to block outside searches related to immigration enforcement, the company said.

Langley said that change will give individual cities and departments control to use the system in a manner “consistent with community values.”

Critics say updates still leave room for abuses, supporters urge balance

Critics of the company reacted skeptically to the changes, which they said appeared designed to address the growing bipartisan anger about the cameras but could still leave room for police to abuse the system.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a blog post that the shortened evidence retention window could be “a step in the right direction,” but it characterized the other changes as “retreads” of inadequate safety measures.

Robert Frommer, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that's led closely watched litigation over the technology, called the changes “window dressing” from a company in “panic mode.”

“This is window dressing that doesn’t address the fundamental problem, which is that police officers are the ones deciding who and when to search, and that should be done by judges with real warrants,” he said.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a professor at the George Washington University Law School whose scholarship has focused on policing, big data surveillance and the Fourth Amendment, said Thursday’s shifts were “better than the opposite” but called for further scrutiny of the technology in the form of “sustained democratic engagement with the rules and judicial checks on access at a minimum.”

Ferguson said he’s been surprised to see the “growing community backlash” against Flock specifically, given that the technology isn't new and other companies sell it as well. But Flock and the movement against it have “captured people’s sense that maybe they don’t want to be surveilled all the time,” he said.

More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended or rejected a contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of the year, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, a grassroots group formed to track the use of license plate reader technology and push back against it. Cameras around the country have also been vandalized.

In Congress, Republican representatives filed at least two bills aiming to restrict the use of the technology in July.

Ian Adams, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina currently working on a Flock-related research study, said many of the concerns raised about how the company's data can be used are not new concerns in law enforcement.

“Anyone with policing experience could have reasonably foreseen that what have been termed as ‘curiosity searches’ by officers, searches for private reasons not related to police work, were going to be a problem this technology faced,” he added, noting that other technologies and platforms like the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information had faced those issues.

Law enforcement experts said it's a common tension of “policing in a democracy” — balancing useful technology that officers say helps solve and prevent crime with the community's interest and right to privacy.

“It's a balancing act. A community has a legitimate interest in how information is used, but it also has a legitimate interest in the effectiveness of a police department in preventing crime,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank. “I think a balance can be struck, but it's more likely to come from department policy than company changes.”

Successes and failures have captured attention

Flock, based in Atlanta, Georgia, often posts to its website what the company deems to be everyday examples of success stories for its cameras, including finding missing seniors and catching car thieves.

But the tech has also been used in high-profile cases that have garnered national attention, such as the search for a suspect in a fatal shooting at Brown University and in tracking and arresting a former North Carolina police officer who authorities say had made threats that he planned to carry out a mass shooting at a festival in Louisiana. A grand jury declined to bring charges in that case in June, and state authorities said the former officer's family had taken him to a treatment facility out of state where he does not face further charges.

Abuses have also drawn widespread attention. The Washington Post reported earlier this month finding nearly 50 instances of police officers charged or accused of using the cameras for unauthorized purposes, many for tracking current or former romantic partners or family members.

Just this week, six employees — including four officers — of the Savannah Police Department in Georgia were fired after they were accused of searching for friends and family using the tool and allowing an officer from an outside agency to use the city’s cameras.

The Savannah department said it was made aware of the misuse through Flock’s voluntary audit function.

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Lauer reported from Philadelphia.

The person, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that Mangione could change his mind. If he follows through, it would be a stunning development in a case that rattled business leaders while galvanizing their critics.

Mangione’s lawyers, and spokespeople for the Justice Department and Manhattan federal prosecutors, declined to comment.

Mangione is accused of traveling to New York City to ambush Thompson, 50, then shooting him outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024, as the executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

Mangione is due in court on Friday for a hastily scheduled hearing in the federal case, which involves two counts of stalking. It wasn’t clear what charge or charges Mangione is expected to plead guilty to. The hearing, in Manhattan federal court, comes as his lawyers have been talking with federal prosecutors about a possible resolution to one of two criminal cases against Mangione in Thompson’s death. Previous talks in June broke down.

Mangione, 28, has been charged in both federal and state court in New York and still faces the possibility of a trial in his unresolved state case. Mangione’s state murder trial is set to begin Sept. 8. Both sets of charges carried the possibility of a life sentence.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty and has spoken out publicly against the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

Under New York law, a state prosecution could be barred if the federal case is resolved first, but it isn’t automatic.

The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. Mangione’s cases involve different charges arising from the same course of conduct.

Once Mangione pleads guilty, his lawyers could then ask the judge in the state case to throw out those charges on double jeopardy grounds. State prosecutors argue their case is distinct and double jeopardy shouldn't apply.

Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson and that he used means such as a cellphone, the internet, interstate highways and staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers while planning and carrying out the attack. The state charges pertain to the killing itself, as well as firearms offenses.

In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.

“Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of defendant’s offenses, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote.

Mangione’s decision to plead guilty comes after a series of setbacks for his defense.

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

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

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

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

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

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

An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund raised more than $1.5 million, and several dozen supporters have shown up to his court appearances, some wearing green clothing — the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi — and “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts.

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Durkin Richer reported from Washington.

“We were crossing and we were riding in front of the car. Then she just drove,” West said.

His girlfriend, Calee, says she was driving the e-bike at the time. She described the moment she realized West had been hurt.

“Whenever I felt his arm like leave from like wrapped around me, I turned around and that’s whenever I noticed he was on the ground,” Duren said.

West says he was released from the hospital following the crash. He said his leg is still bothering him.

“Leg is okay, I’ve been a little limpy,” West said.

Despite the scary experience, West says he came away with an important lesson — including about helmet use.

“For sure because you never know what could happen,” West said.

Sheriff: Investigation ongoing, all parties tracked down

Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook addressed the investigation.

“The information that I have at this point is that a juvenile was attempting to cross State Road 16 near Clay High School and there was at some point an impact or potential impact between an SUV and the e-bike. That is still under investigation and as far as I know have been able to track down all parties involved and they’re interviewing them right now,” Cook said.

Cook noted that initial 911 calls don’t always reflect what actually occurred.

“A lot of times when we receive, especially 911 calls, what people call in may or may not have been what actually happened. So, I don’t know until the investigation is complete and everybody is interviewed,” Sheriff Cook said.

The incident is still being investigated as a hit and run. The sheriff’s office says the driver is cooperating.

“That’s why it’s important not to rush to judgment on these cases until we have an opportunity to interview everybody involved,” she added.

Clay County makes August e-bike awareness month

The crash comes as the Clay County Sheriff’s Office ramps up its focus on e-bike safety. Cook says the agency has declared August e-bike education and awareness month.

“Here in Clay County we’ve made the month of August e-bike education and awareness month and we are doing a big educational push to encourage parents to talk to their kids about e-bikes and the electric scooter usage,” Cook said.

Cook explained that under Florida law, e-bikes are largely treated the same as traditional bicycles — meaning riders under 16 are required to wear a helmet and proper protective equipment.

“I understand that for convenience, especially our kids that leave school and go to work, the convenience of an e-bike makes that a lot easier for them, but we want everybody to be safe,” Cook said.

The sheriff’s office plans to distribute flyers and answer parent questions at school open houses in the coming weeks. Deputies will also push e-bike safety messaging across the agency’s social media platforms.

Clancy looked up suicide methods, bipolar disorder and insomnia at the end of December 2022 and, in January, went in search of information on postpartum depression. She also wrote a detailed note in October 2022 expressing doubts about her parenting choices, second-guessing her decision to stop breastfeeding her 8-month-old, and reconsidering plans for a fourth child.

The defense says she was in the grip of bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, a rare condition that can alter a woman’s sense of reality after childbirth. A forensic psychiatrist diagnosed Clancy with those conditions following the killings.

In her note, the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse seemed most concerned with not being able to give her youngest child the same attention as her first two, ages 3 and 5.

“I’m terrified of something happening to my kids or doing something wrong to mess up their development,” Clancy’s note read. “Our generation is inundated with information about every aspect of parenting. ... It’s insane. For the last five years, I’ve just filled my mind with all things parenting and it’s just unhealthy.”

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

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Clancy has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy. Their father found the children in the basement of the family’s home in coastal Duxbury, south of Boston. Their mother was lying in the yard after jumping out a second-story window, and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Text messages with her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, show them juggling the routines of parenthood. Massachusetts State Police cellphone forensics expert Tim Chiappini read aloud texts between them from the day of the killings. They checked in on each other and Lindsay Clancy expressed relief that one of their children's kidneys were OK. There were also photos of the children.

“You're a good mamma,” Patrick Clancy texted, prompting Lindsay Clancy to respond with a heart and smile emoji.

Clancy's livestreamed trial has generated intense public interest, with journalists and spectators packing the courtroom as online audiences pore over the details of the tragedy.

Clancy’s attorneys do not dispute that she killed the children. But they say the jury should not hold her criminally responsible because she was mentally ill, believing she heard voices ordering her to take their lives and her own.

Prosecutors argue she was an intentional killer who contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to get takeout and to the pharmacy on Jan. 24, 2023, then strangled the children with exercise bands.

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham has urged jurors not to view the trial as “a public debate about women’s mental health and how the medical system treats women.”

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

Her attorneys say Clancy did everything she could to seek help: She turned to multiple outpatient providers, tried various drugs they prescribed, called a suicide hotline, went to an emergency room, and approached but wasn’t accepted into a hospital-based, full-day treatment program for women with postpregnancy mental health problems. Clancy even checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for several days.

Rather than improving, her condition worsened on the ever-remixed cocktail of psychiatric medications, some of them problematic for bipolar patients, her attorneys and family say.

Prosecutors aim to show that Clancy had access to a range of mental health services but sometimes ignored doctors' advice and stopped taking certain medications. They've brought several of her medical providers who testified she never talked about having a plan to harm herself or her children. They say she never showed signs of psychosis or mania, although she did say she was having suicidal thoughts.

Monday’s announcement by the Republican president calls for separating combination shots — including the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine — into separate injections. Appointments for that and other vaccinations should be spaced out whenever possible, the order states.

To accomplish that, drugmakers would need to revive a slate of individual vaccines that have not been widely used in the U.S. for decades. They would also have to build new manufacturing plants capable of producing millions more vaccine doses than the nation currently uses.

For parents, unbundling the MMR vaccine and spacing out the shots would mean returning to the doctor’s office many more times than is currently needed. Those appointments could also strain pediatricians who typically administer the shots, while driving up costs tied to syringes and other medical supplies.

Studies in the U.S. and other countries have shown that combination vaccines increase the likelihood that children will be fully protected from infectious diseases before starting school.

Health experts say there is no scientific basis for changing course.

“We do things that are less convenient and more expensive if there’s a good reason to do it,” said Dr. Anna Durbin, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “There is no good justification for this. I think it’s very bad public health policy.”

Trump's plan would require vaccine manufacturing overhaul

Under Trump's executive order, federal officials are instructed to develop within 90 days plans for breaking up the MMR shot and spacing out other vaccines.

But pharmaceutical scientists and former regulators say those changes would likely take years and require drugmakers to spend tens of millions of dollars on new studies and manufacturing facilities.

Currently, there are no individual vaccines in the U.S. for measles, mumps or rubella. All the vaccines approved for those viruses by the Food and Drug Administration are combination shots. That three-in-one approach has been the standard in the U.S. since the 1970s.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, a former FDA vaccine chief, said companies may have to conduct large studies showing their new individual shots produce immune system-boosting reactions in children similar to the current versions. The specifics would depend upon the quality of data from the original standalone vaccines and how it's viewed by FDA regulators.

“The question is how much has changed since then and how comfortable will the FDA and the companies be relying on those comparisons?” said Goodman, who is now a professor at Georgetown University.

Manufacturers may also have to demonstrate the safety of new manufacturing facilities and procedures, given that individual measles shots haven’t been widely produced in the U.S. for decades.

Designing, constructing and getting federal sign-off for new vaccine plants typically takes about five years, according to industry experts.

Additionally, Goodman said the FDA would have to review and license each unbundled vaccine separately, a process with no precedent.

“I don’t think there’s any comparable example of removing hugely effective public health measures that protect babies for no documented scientific reason,” he said.

Individual shots for measles and related diseases tend to be used by lower-income countries that can’t afford the MMR shot. Merck, GSK and the handful of other companies that supply U.S. childhood vaccines make only the combination shot.

In separate statements, Merck and GSK said they stand by the safety and effectiveness of their products. Neither discussed plans to unbundle their shots.

“To date, there has been no published scientific evidence that shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots,” Merck said in an emailed statement.

Parents would need to make many more trips to the doctor

The MMR shot is currently delivered in two doses — the first at the age of 1 and the second dose after age 4. Splitting up the shot into its three separate components would mean six office visits. Spacing out other shots for pertussis and other infectious diseases could multiply the number of visits many more times.

As the number of visits goes up, parents are more likely to miss appointments or stop making them, according to Durbin.

“It’s going to be less convenient, more expensive and you’re going to have fewer people getting vaccinated,” she said.

For well over a decade, Trump has expressed his view — against medical groups’ guidance — that American children receive too many vaccines and that they should be given in smaller doses over a longer period of time. Last year he called on called on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to look at reducing the number. Kennedy and other officials have pointed to smaller countries, such as Denmark, that recommended slightly fewer vaccinations than the U.S.

But breaking up combination shots will result in kids receiving many more individual shots than other comparable nations, Durbin notes.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said the Trump administration’s efforts on the MMR vaccine “will give parents more options on timing and frequency for their children, which ultimately will increase vaccination rates for all three diseases.”

Vaccine order is not legally binding

Despite the precedent-breaking nature of Trump’s order, some experts are skeptical it will result in meaningful changes.

Neither the White House nor the FDA can compel drugmakers to develop and seek approval for new vaccines. And from a business perspective, companies have little incentive to develop individual versions of vaccines they already sell in combination shots.

“They’d be competing against themselves, and there’s no reason to do that,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher and former government adviser.

While Trump’s order calls for more federal research and recommendations, only state governments have the legal authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. The order simply advises states to consider updating their laws to reflect the Trump administration’s approach.

“I think states will ignore this,” Offit said. “I think that bottom line is that we don’t need to look to Donald Trump for our medical advice.”

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AP videojournalist Mary Conlon in New York contributed to this report.

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

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Follow the AP's coverage of immunizations at https://apnews.com/hub/immunizations.

The sheriff’s office said a deputy was conducting a traffic stop near Colerain Road and St. Marys Road when three of the four people in the vehicle ran from the scene. One person, the driver, had been apprehended, and deputies were searching for the other three, the agency said.

Camden County Schools said the lockdown was precautionary and that the activity “did not originate on our campus.” District officials said students and staff already on campus were secure inside the building. The district also said students walking to school who were already in the immediate area would be brought safely inside.

School buses for Mary Lee Clark Elementary were temporarily rerouted to St. Marys Middle School while the area was being cleared, officials said.

Later, the district announced law enforcement had given the all-clear and the lockdown was lifted. Camden County Schools said students who remained at St. Marys Middle School would be transported by bus to Mary Lee Clark Elementary, and families of all other students could safely bring their students to the elementary school.

The school resumed normal operations for the remainder of the day, the district said, adding that absences related to the incident will be excused.

Some parents News4Jax spoke with off camera decided to keep their children home for the day.

Others felt comfortable sending their children back to school after learning that the situation had been cleared.

“He was like I’m not staying inside and I’m like not anymore we get to go to school now everything is safe and you know the cops have everything under control and your teachers can’t wait to see you,” Dani Eveline, a student’s mother said.

The sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the traffic stop and search for the 3 people who fled the scene.

Opening statements at the murder trial in Las Vegas are expected to begin Monday.

Family members and fans of the legendary rapper have been waiting for decades to learn the truth behind the 1996 drive-by shooting that left Shakur dead at the height of his career.

Shakur was just 25 when he was shot near the Las Vegas Strip at a time when he was in the middle of a fierce battle for dominance in a music scene shaped by rival gangs.

Authorities three years ago charged Duane “Keffe D” Davis with murder, describing him as the “shot caller” who orchestrated the killing. Davis has pleaded not guilty and could be sentenced to life in prison if he’s convicted.

Sixteen jurors were picked for the trial, which is expected to last about a month. During the selection process, potential jurors were asked about their favorite books and movies, if they had any strong feelings about gangs, and whether they had listened to Shakur’s music.

Shakur still is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. With hits like “California Love” and “Dear Mama,” more than 75 million of his records have been sold worldwide, including seven albums released after his death.

He was in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight on Sept. 7, 1996, when shots were fired from a Cadillac at a red light. Knight survived but Shakur died six days later.

Prosecutors have not accused Davis, now 63, of pulling the trigger that night, instead saying that he made the calls that led to Shakur’s death and provided the gun.

In Nevada, a person can be convicted of murder for helping another person commit the crime.

Davis is the only person still alive who was in the car where prosecutors said the fatal shots originated.

The case against Davis was revived when Davis published the book “Compton Street Legend,” about the shooting and his time in the Crips, in 2019 as well as his statements during police and media interviews.

Davis’ attorneys unsuccessfully fought to block from the trial details written in the book and said during a 2008 police interview. They argued the book was fictionalized and had a co-author, making it impossible to know which parts Davis wrote.

They also argued Davis’ previous interview with a federal task force was supposed to be confidential and not used against him.

Among those who could be called to testify in the trial is Knight, the rap music mogul whose label represented Shakur. He continually has said that he wants no part in the trial.

Knight, who is serving a 28-year sentence for running over and killing a Compton businessman in 2015, is the only surviving person who was in the car with Shakur at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors expect to call between 35 and 45 witnesses, ranging from people who saw Shakur moments before he was shot to those who were associates of both Shakur and Davis at the time. Sean “Diddy” Combs, who Davis claimed wanted Shakur and Knight dead, will not be one of those witnesses, attorneys said.

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Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote at its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on the new order that frontloads states with more diverse populations.

The meeting comes ahead of bitterly contested midterm elections that will decide control of Congress later this year. Democratic voters have delivered mixed messages on the direction they want to see the party go — backing candidates viewed as more left-wing as well as moderates in consequential primaries across several states.

The group also is convening at a time of internal turmoil, with some members calling for DNC Chairman Ken Martin to be replaced. Critics have questioned Martin's leadership decisions and the party's fundraising, which lags well behind that of Republicans just months before the crucial midterms.

Martin had his defenders, though, on Thursday. William Owen, a committee member from Tennessee, pointed to the victories in special elections that Democrats have won under Martin.

“I think all of us are working as hard as we can to elect Democrats across the country,” Owen said during a resolutions committee hearing. He added later: “I’m tired of people criticizing Ken Martin and criticizing the DNC.”

Martin himself addressed the spotlight he's been under during remarks on Thursday.

“There’s all these stories about ‘Democrats in disarray’ and ‘Ken Martin this,’ ‘Ken Martin that," he said, adding an expletive. “You know, who’s not focused on that? Me. You shouldn’t be either. I want you to focus on power and support.”

New calendar would cement S

outh Carolina as first primary

The party is expected to give final approval to a calendar that has South Carolina's primary first on Jan. 22, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1. New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia would round out the early states, voting throughout February.

The overhaul shows Democrats’ effort to give greater influence to states reflecting the party’s coalition, particularly Black and Latino voters. It follows years of a calendar led by Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with overwhelmingly white electorates.

The proposed calendar would cement South Carolina at the start of the calendar, reflecting a change former President Joe Biden pushed for after that state revived his struggling 2020 campaign.

South Carolina has long been the first Southern contest and has served as a key test of candidates’ support among Black voters.

2 traditional early states aren't happy

Iowa and New Hampshire officials have expressed disappointment with the decision after the early approval at a committee meeting in July. Rita Hart, the Iowa Democratic Party chair, said it was a sign the party is “out of touch with voters.”

New Hampshire congressional leaders, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, said the decision was wrong for their state and the country. New Hampshire's secretary of state is required by law to schedule its presidential primary at least seven days before any other state holds a similar contest, setting up a potential conflict with the DNC calendar.

The GOP still needs to draw up its calendar. Republicans are expected to stick with their traditional early-state lineup led off by Iowa and New Hampshire.

Questions linger about Democrats' next steps

Democratic primaries already have been testing which direction the party is headed in, through races in states such as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

While there's been a split between more progressive candidates who buck the party's establishment and those with more moderate views who have backing from party officials, the common thread is that Democratic voters have been looking for change.

Republicans, confronting high prices and the president's sagging approval, have been eager to cast the party as moving too far to the left.

Meanwhile, the DNC's leadership and financial concerns continue.

The gathering also coincides with financial struggles confronting Democrats, including lackluster fundraising and carrying debt. The DNC reported about $16 million in cash on hand in its most recent Federal Election Commission filing, along with more than $18 million in debt. The GOP, meanwhile, reported nearly $129 million cash on hand in its latest FEC filing.

Martin isn't expected to be replaced before the midterms, as the party has no clear alternative to take over. But members have said the most likely time for a leadership change may be the DNC’s winter meeting after the November contests — and before the 2028 presidential primary process begins in earnest.

Martin, desperate to save his job, has been avoiding media appearances, monitoring his critics’ social media posts and refusing — at least so far — to make any substantive changes at his troubled organization. He said in a recent Substack post the Democratic Party "will be ready to win — everywhere, at every level, in this election and for the decade ahead.”

___ Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in New York contributed to this report.

“Bristol was always one of Kyle’s favorite tracks,” Samantha Busch wrote on X. “He loved racing under the lights, found so much success there, and the iconic M&M’S car holds some of the best memories of his career and our life together.”

Busch, 41, died May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications.

Busch and the No. 18 Toyota M&M’s car were synonymous when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008-22. He moved to Richard Childress Racing in 2023.

Busch won nine Cup Series races and a total of 23 NASCAR races at Bristol.

Ty Gibbs, 23, is coming off his second win of the season at the Cup Series race in Iowa.

He posted pictures of the M&M's car on Instagram and wrote, “Excited for Bristol. Gonna be a cool (one)... So honored to drive this.”

Samantha Busch wrote it would be “heartbreaking” to be at Bristol without Kyle. The race is Sept. 19.

“He should be there,” she wrote. “But I’m so grateful to be able to tell you that those iconic M&M’S colors will be coming back to Bristol, one last time, on the 54 car. It’s a chance to honor him at a place he loved so much, surrounded by our NASCAR family and the fans who loved him too. I know Kyle would want us to be there, to keep showing up, keep racing, and keep carrying his legacy forward.”

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and topped its prior record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 69 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8%.

Wall Street relaxed after a report showed prices at the U.S. wholesale level were 4.7% higher last month than a year earlier. While that’s more painful than anyone would like, it’s not as bad as June’s 5.5% inflation rate at the wholesale level, and it was slightly better than economists expected.

If inflation continues to trend that way, the Federal Reserve could decide to hold off on hikes to interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.

Fed officials are split on whether they should have already begun hiking interest rates. But Thursday’s report, following a similar update on inflation at the U.S. consumer level the day before, has traders now betting on just a 35% chance that the Fed will raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting in September. That’s down from the roughly 50% probability seen two days ago, according to data from CME Group.

Any increase by the Fed would be the first in more than three years. It also could anger President Donald Trump, who has been lobbying for lower interest rates.

Treasury yields sank in the bond market, which eases pressure on stocks and other investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from 4.68% late Wednesday and from 4.72% on Monday, though it’s still well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran sent oil and gasoline prices surging.

Oil prices eased back on Thursday, helping to limit worries about inflation. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 2.1% to $87.07.

It’s been swinging sharply recently and pinballed between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that a deal in the war could allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again and deliver crude worldwide.

On Wall Street, stocks in the real-estate industry climbed to some of the market’s bigger gains. When interest rates are lower and bonds are paying less in yield, the dividends that many real-estate investment trusts pay look more attractive.

Lower mortgage rates could also drive more activity in the housing market, and the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell this week for the first time in six weeks.

AvalonBay Communities, which owns apartments across the country, rose 2.3%. Homebuilder D.R. Horton added 2.8%.

Fossil Group climbed 5.9% after the seller of watches and jewelry became one of the latest companies to report better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Such reports have helped drive Wall Street to records because stocks tend to track the path of corporate profits over the long term.

They helped offset a drop for Cisco Systems, which fell 8.4% even though the tech giant reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected.

Analysts said investors may be worried about its profit margins going forward, and its stock has been shaky through the summer amid worries that AI-related stocks in general shot too high.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 50.49 points to 7,798.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 69.72 to 53,839.99, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 214.54 to 26,803.03.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi again had one of the world’s biggest moves and jumped 3.6%. Seoul has been at the center of the world’s swings for artificial-intelligence stocks because its market is dominated by two tech giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Platner won Maine's Democratic primary for the right to challenge veteran Republican Sen. Susan Collins, but he dropped out in July after Politico reported that a former girlfriend said he sexually assaulted her. Platner denied the allegation but said at the time he left the race that he was stepping aside because of the importance of defeating Collins.

Platner will appear at an event organized by Hancock County Activists called “Labor Day Rally for Labor” at Ellsworth City Hall, near his hometown, organizers said. Hancock County Democrats posted a notice about the event on the party's website, but removed the reference to Platner on Thursday afternoon.

“The rally will kick off a series of events leading up to the primaries, with musical performances and featured speaker Graham Platner, who will talk about the history of unions and the important role organized labor has played in our communities and our country,” the notice initially stated.

The event is not being hosted or organized by the Hancock County Democratic Committee and it has no affiliation with the Maine Democratic Party, a party source said. Posting information about the event online was consistent with Hancock County Democrats' past practice, said Marcia Myers, chair of the county Democratic committee.

“We felt people should be aware of it, and informed about it,” said Myers. “It's certainly notable that Graham Platner is a person scheduled to speak. We post this as information for people and they can decide whether to attend or not.”

Platner spoke at the rally last year, said Carol Leonard, who works with the community organization group Acadia Action, which is also helping to host the event. He’s not expected to talk about the campaign, but instead will focus on the history of the U.S. labor movement, she said.

The state party hastily called a special convention and nominated former state Senate President Troy Jackson after Platner dropped out.

Platner has kept a low profile since dropping out of the race and did not respond to requests for comment.

Jenny Racicot, who has accused Platner of sexual assault, and Lyndsey Fifield, who has accused Platner of domestic abuse, said in a joint statement Thursday that Platner is “trying to sweep the truth under the rug and pretend things are back to normal.” The Associated Press does not usually identify victims of abuse, but Racicot and Fifield came forward on their own. Platner has denied the allegations.

The Maine Republican Party also criticized Democrats for the event.

“If Graham Platner is still a heroic leader for Maine Democrats, as this speaking event indicates, their party is out of touch with Maine," said Maine Republican Party spokeswoman Kristina Parker, adding that Maine voters were “disgusted” by Platner's actions.

Platner, 41, is an oyster farmer and combat veteran who filled theaters around Maine with his booming voice and progressive politics. He has no experience in elected office, but fashioned a campaign focused on working-class issues such as the high costs of housing and healthcare.

Platner’s campaign was beset with controversies for months. Among them, media reports emerged that the candidate had previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while he was married. He also had a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he said he didn’t realize until he was several weeks into the campaign. He later had it covered up with a different design.

Platner grew up in Sullivan, a tiny town near Ellsworth and about 170 miles up the coast from Portland.

___

Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.

Also, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave the Trump administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her young family. Leavitt, 28, called it a “bittersweet decision” in a social media post Wednesday shortly after President Donald Trump announced she would be stepping down.

Here's the latest:

Vance appears to be lowering expectations for the Strait of Hormuz to return to the way it was

He predicted in an interview on Fox News Channel on Thursday that the war will end with the U.S. in a stronger position, with Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and with the Strait of Hormuz “returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable for the American people.”

He did not say anything about the strait being open and toll-free for transiting ships, as he had in the past.

Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more focused on the war’s economic impact than the original aims of the war.

“That’s goal number one: keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country,” he said.

The second goal, according to Vance, is to ensure Iran will never get a nuclear weapon.

“I feel confident we’re accomplishing both of these goals, but it’s an inherently unpredictable thing because the Iranians themselves are unpredictable and they sometimes don’t honor the commitments they’ve made to us.”

Blanche seeks to rally a depleted Justice Department workforce in first speech as attorney general

Attorney General Todd Blanche sought to rally a depleted Justice Department workforce Thursday in his first speech since taking the reins of the beleaguered agency, promising rank-and-file staff that he will lead them with integrity.

Blanche’s speech inside the storied Great Hall at Justice Department headquarters represented an effort to reassure lawyers and law enforcement officials following a tumultuous confirmation battle that exposed deep concerns about the agency’s direction under Republican President Donald Trump.

Blanche vowed to uphold the rule of law “without fear or favor,” and told staff he would welcome their ideas and encourage disagreement.

Without mentioning specific moves that have raised alarms from critics that Blanche is still functioning as Trump’s personal lawyer, the attorney general acknowledged he would “not get every decision right.”

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Hegseth says the military can maintain the Iranian blockade ‘indefinitely’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to reporters in Panama, said that “the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have and we’ll continue to.”

The statement comes as the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln heads into its ninth month and has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.

Several Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Pentagon for accountability over conditions aboard the carrier, including increasing reports of morale and supply issues.

Hegseth dismissed those reports as “completely misrepresented” and claimed that “every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment.”

Wall of US Embassy in Brazil’s capital is vandalized as relations remain tense

One of the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Brazil’s capital was vandalized on Thursday as tensions between the countries remained high. Police said they detained one man in connection with the case but that he has already been released.

The messages against the U.S. government sprayed on the wall of its Brasilia embassy come as President Donald Trump places high tariffs on some Brazilian goods and revokes the Brazilian ambassador’s visa to Washington.

Brazilians rarely vandalize embassies and consulates of any country.

A message that read “The USA makes war and profits from death” was written in Portuguese and English outside the embassy.

The American embassy in Brasilia said in a statement that it is committed to Brazilians and to staffers’ security.

Brazil’s government did not comment on the incident.

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Harvard University

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that accused Harvard University of turning a blind eye to harassment of Jewish students.

The decision from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said the administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws. The judge said the lawsuit, filed in March, mostly focuses on incidents during the 2023-24 academic year, with a few from March 2025.

The cases were “too isolated and episodic” to prove a persistent civil rights violation at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the judge said.

The lawsuit accused Harvard of failing to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled the campus after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The Trump administration argued that Harvard officials did nothing as Jewish students were “harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon.”

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Democratic senator calls for Hegseth to discuss civilian deaths from US strikes

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee is calling out the number of civilian deaths from U.S. military operations under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island cited a recent Pentagon report to Congress that said 153 civilians were killed last year from U.S. airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Reed also said the Pentagon has yet to release a report into a U.S. airstrike in Iran this year that involved a missile hitting an Iranian primary school, killing up to 168 people.

“This did not happen in a vacuum,” Reed said in a statement Thursday, noting that Hegseth had “gutted” an office focused on reducing civilian harm.

Reed called for Hegseth to explain the incidents before Congress.

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Harvard University

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that accused Harvard University of turning a blind eye to harassment of Jewish students.

The decision from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said the administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws. The judge said the lawsuit, filed in March, mostly focuses on incidents during the 2023-24 academic year, with a few from March 2025.

The cases were “too isolated and episodic” to prove a persistent civil rights violation at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the judge said.

The lawsuit accused Harvard of failing to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled the campus after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The Trump administration argued that Harvard officials did nothing as Jewish students were “harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon.”

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New aircraft carrier heads toward the Middle East after reports of issues on long-deployed USS Lincoln

The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East, according to Navy statements and open-source information.

It comes as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose long deployment in support of the Iran war includes a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.

The Navy acknowledges the war has created an environment “where traditional supply hubs in the Middle East were disrupted by combat actions.” That, in turn, led to shortages and loss of mail aboard the Lincoln.

“Leadership prioritized mission-critical supplies: first food, then hygiene items, then mail,” the Navy statement said, before assuring that sailors aboard the ship now have access to clean water and “healthy meal options.”

Several Democratic lawmakers have called for investigations, more information and greater visibility into conditions aboard the USS Lincoln.

Kennedy Center board votes to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade

The Kennedy Center board has voted to add President Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the performing arts building. That’s according to Rep. Joyce Beatty and lawyers.

The move Thursday comes after the board decided to move forward with a two-year closure to allow for substantial renovation work, while some outdoor programming may continue.

Kennedy Center board moves forward with a 2-year closure to allow for renovations, AP sources say

The Kennedy Center will move forward with a two-year closure of the sprawling performing arts venue to allow for substantial renovation work, while some outdoor programming may continue, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The decision, made Thursday by a board largely composed of President Donald Trump’s allies, amounts to a doubling down on the institution’s initial plan so changes could be made that leaders said were necessary for safety. Critics have raised concerns that Trump could move ahead with more drastic renovations as part of his second-term effort to remodel Washington in his image.

The two people were not authorized to publicly discuss the board’s action before an official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in May blocked a closure set to take effect July 5. It was not immediately clear whether the board’s move would prompt another round of legal challenges. Cooper had ruled that the board’s March 16 vote backing the move appeared “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”

In moving forward, board members may face pressure to prove they have thoroughly considered their options.

___

Associated Press reporter Steven Sloan contributed to this report.

Trump White House says it’s losing $19B-$26B a year in revenue as countries dodge tariffs

The Trump White House said in a new report on Thursday that countries are routing their exports through third countries to avoid U.S. tariffs, estimating tax revenue losses of $19 billion to $26 billion annually.

The report specifically highlights that China responded to new tariffs in 2018 by sending its goods to other nations ranging from Mexico to Malaysia for packaging and limited assembly — a practice known as transshipping. That pattern made it look like U.S. imports from China had dropped, but enabled Beijing to continue growing its manufacturing sector in ways that could challenge U.S. factories and employment.

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Democrats are gathering to give final approval to their 2028 presidential primary calendar

Democrats are gathering to finalize their 2028 presidential primary calendar this week, setting the stage for a wide-open contest to succeed President Donald Trump and chart a path ahead as the party’s voters oscillate between progressive and more moderate candidates.

The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote at its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on the new order that frontloads states with more diverse populations.

The meeting comes ahead of bitterly contested midterm elections that will decide control of Congress later this year. Democratic voters have delivered mixed messages on the direction they want to see the party go — backing candidates viewed as more left-wing as well as moderates in consequential primaries across several states.

The group also is convening at a time of internal turmoil, with some members calling for DNC Chairman Ken Martin to be replaced.

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Did you pay tariffs last year? You might be due a refund from FedEx or UPS

If you bought something from an overseas vendor last year, it might be time to check your bank account.

Shippers including FedEx and UPS that acted as customs brokers for imported packages and received tariff refunds from the U.S. government have started to pass on those refunds to the customers that originally paid the tariffs.

The refunds to consumers are the last step in a monthslong process that kicked off in February when the Supreme Court struck down sweeping tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump in March 2025 under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act on goods from almost every country. The court ordered the government to return the tariffs it collected.

So far, about $100 billion in tariffs have been refunded to companies who paid them under a system set up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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US unemployment claims rise but remain at historically healthy levels

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 209,000 people filed jobless claims last week, up from a revised 200,000 the week before and higher than the 205,000 forecasters had expected. The four-week average of applications, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, was unchanged at 199,000.

The overall number of people collecting employment benefits the week that ended Aug. 1 dropped by 22,000 to 1.78 million.

Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and they’ve been at a historically low range of around 200,000 to 230,000 a week for the past year, suggesting Americans who have jobs enjoy unusual job security. The U.S. unemployment rate is low at 4.1%, as the economy has proven resilient despite a spike in energy prices caused by the fighting with Iran.

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US stocks rise toward records as oil prices drop and inflation gets less bad

The stock market is rising toward an all-time high Thursday following the latest sign that inflation is getting less bad. Stocks also got a lift from easing oil prices in their latest yo-yo move.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and was on track to top its record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 185 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

Wall Street relaxed after a report showed prices at the U.S. wholesale level were 4.7% higher last month than a year earlier. While that’s still very high, it’s not as bad as June’s 5.5% inflation rate at the wholesale level, and it was slightly better than economists expected.

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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says party is in a moment of ‘generation change’

During an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta, Jeffries said progressive wins in recent congressional races show generational change.

“I think transition, change, renewal will continue to be an important part of the story, and that energy is being brought to the House in a variety of different ways, including from our progressive members,” Jeffries said.

But he also highlighted his own ascent to Democratic leader and some moderate wins as part of the same trend.

“I think we’ll see what happens in terms of what the caucus looks like on the other side of the midterm election,” Jeffries said when asked if the party’s progressive wing would have greater influence. “Our focus right now is making sure that we win as many seats as we can in November.”

But Trump’s vaccine order is not legally binding

Despite the precedent-breaking nature of Trump’s order, some experts are skeptical it will result in meaningful changes.

Neither the White House nor the FDA can compel drugmakers to develop and seek approval for new vaccines. And from a business perspective, companies have little incentive to develop individual versions of vaccines they already sell in combination shots.

“They’d be competing against themselves, and there’s no reason to do that,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher and former government adviser.

While Trump’s order calls for more federal research and recommendations, only state governments have the legal authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. The order simply advises states to consider updating their laws to reflect the Trump administration’s approach.

“I think states will ignore this,” Offit said. “I think that bottom line is that we don’t need to look to Donald Trump for our medical advice.”

Trump’s vaccine plan would require manufacturing overhaul

Under Trump’s executive order, federal officials are instructed to develop within 90 days plans for breaking up the MMR shot and spacing out other vaccines.

But pharmaceutical scientists and former regulators say those changes would likely take years and require drugmakers to spend tens of millions of dollars on new studies and manufacturing facilities.

Currently, there are no individual vaccines in the U.S. for measles, mumps or rubella. All the vaccines approved for those viruses by the Food and Drug Administration are combination shots. That three-in-one approach has been the standard in the U.S. since the early 1970s.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, a former FDA vaccine chief, said companies would have to conduct large studies showing new individual shots produced immune system-boosting reactions in children similar to the current versions.

US ambassador condemns settler siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank

Israeli settlers have besieged three homes in the occupied West Bank for several days, including one owned by a Palestinian American, in what the U.S. ambassador called a “horrific act of terror” on Thursday.

Mike Huckabee’s remarks on X represented an unusually sharp rebuke from the Trump administration of the latest episode in a surge of settler violence in the region.

Starting Sunday, settlers gathered around three houses in the village of Qusra, according to local officials, Palestinian American homeowner Loui Ridi, and Ridi’s brother. At times numbering dozens, the settlers threw stones, attempted to bring down a stone wall nearby, and prevented the occupants from leaving as their food and water dwindled.

Israeli troops have intervened to try to restore order. On Thursday morning, Ridi’s brother, Qusai Abu Rida, who had holed up in the house with his own teenage son to defend it, said they were moved by Israel’s military to another home but still cannot leave the area.

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USAID fallout: In Nepal, when the aid workers stopped coming, the women and babies started dying

One baby at a time, the world is marching toward a grim milestone: Because of global cuts to foreign aid, the Gates Foundation has predicted 2025 will be the first year this century where child deaths will increase.

And while global child mortality data for 2025 won’t be available for several months, health officials are already bracing for a surge in deaths among the world’s youngest and most vulnerable.

The decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to dissolve the United States Agency for International Development — once the world’s largest humanitarian donor — gutted maternal and neonatal care, decimated nutrition programs for millions of pregnant women and children and left scores of birthing centers devoid of equipment, medicine and staff.

The U.S. government has repeatedly insisted that no one — and, particularly, no children — have died because of its funding cuts. But The Associated Press has documented the deaths of women and children from Myanmar to Nigeria.

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Reflecting Pool’s botched repairs threaten to tarnish the National Park Service’s reputation

President Donald Trump’s botched repairs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have landed the National Park Service in a political predicament.

The beloved federal agency, its iconic park rangers and other employees have been serving the public while managing controversial demands by the Republican president — from revising exhibits at parks and other sites to the demolition of important structures under its stewardship, such as the White House’s East Wing, to arresting visitors for alleged vandalism at the pool.

Critics say the monthslong Reflecting Pool saga and other demands by Trump risk undermining the integrity of a federal agency that’s long been held in high esteem by the American public.

“Never — not once in decades — have I witnessed such systematic degradation, disrespect and dismantling of the National Park Service as I see today under the thumb of President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum,” said Bill Wade, a former park ranger and superintendent.

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Rubio and Bessent stayed on decoy flight from Turkey as Trump switched planes, official says

The two most senior members of Trump’s Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane following an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.

The official, who was briefed on the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of presidential travel, said Rubio was aware of the switch and details of the threat behind it but could or would not say why he had stayed on the plane. The official said Bessent was likely aware but did not know for sure.

The official, however, noted that security precautions for the president — especially one who has been the target of several assassination attempts — are more robust than those for even top members of the Cabinet.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the secretaries of State and Treasury follow the vice president and the highest ranking member of each chamber of Congress in the presidential line of succession.

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— Matthew Lee

Kennedy Center board set to vote on whether to move forward with closure

The Kennedy Center’s board is expected to meet Thursday to consider plans for the performing arts venue’s future after a federal judge blocked an earlier move for a two-year closure that would allow for substantial renovations.

Ahead of the meeting, the Kennedy Center’s management said it would present the board with three approaches for consideration.

The options would include a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

In blocking earlier plans for closure, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the board’s March 16 vote backing the move appeared “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.” In moving forward, the board, which is largely made up of President Donald Trump’s allies, may face pressure to prove they’ve thoroughly considered their options.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving the Trump administration

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave the Trump administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her young family.

Leavitt, 28, called it a “bittersweet decision” in a social media post Wednesday shortly after President Donald Trump announced she would be stepping down. She recently returned to the White House podium after the birth of her second child, a daughter named Viviana, in May. She also has a 2-year-old son.

“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” Leavitt wrote.

Trump did not outline plans for who might replace her in the high-profile role.

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The comments came two days after a fiery, 2 1/2-minute monologue by White during which she defended herself after some critics contended she didn't show enough support for guard Sophie Cunningham when she took a hit across the head and neck area last weekend at Chicago. Referees upgraded the foul from a Flagrant 1 to a Flagrant 2, resulting in an ejection of Sky guard DiJonai Carrington.

“I think Steph does a great job with us,” Boston said before practice. “We love her and appreciate her and so to hear (boos), it was really annoying, honestly, and disrespectful. But for us, the main thing is the main thing, and we said we’re going to come out here and get that win.”

They did win — in resounding fashion, 106-92 over the Commissioner's Cup champion New York Liberty.

Following the game, Cunningham and three-time All-Star Caitlin Clark both backed their coach. Cunningham told reporters she had no problem with White's comments after the Sky game that she thought the refs made the right call, but that she didn't think Carrington was intentionally trying to hit Cunningham above the neck.

Carrington also wrote “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever account on social media after the ejection. She has since explained she never claimed the foul was a result of white privilege.

Before Tuesday's game, White said she had not seen a replay of what happened before her postgame availability Saturday. When she did watch it later, she said called the foul “egregious.”

But the delay put White squarely in the middle of yet another controversy and Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith even used his social media account to call for White's firing.

Clark, Cunningham, Boston and Mitchell disagree.

“I told her to her face, I said, ‘Coach, you know this is for you,’ in terms of a sense of confidence, a sense of awareness that she's not alone,” Mitchell said, referring to Tuesday's pregame conversation. “It's like it really hurt my feelings to see her kind of have emotions in terms of not feeling valued and not feeling wanted in a place where she has to coach. At the end of the day, this is her job and she has to shows up, too, and I think people don't really realize that but it's our job to remind her.”

The boos came as a surprise to some for such an iconic figure in her basketball-rich home state.

She finished her high school career at Seeger, a school located between Indy and Purdue's campus in West Lafayette, as the state's career scoring leader in girls basketball. She led the Boilermakers to the 1998-99 national championship, was one of the original Fever players in 2000 and was an assistant coach on the Fever's 2012 WNBA title team.

The league's 2023 coach of the year returned to Indiana as head coach last season and came within one win of taking a severely injury-riddled Indiana team to the WNBA Finals.

Clark didn't like what happened, but understands because she has also been the target of boos.

“I hated that our fans booed, to be honest, and you can disagree with this and that, I get it,” Clark said Tuesday. “It's professional sports, people are going to boo. But, at the end of the day, that's our head coach and we're going to ride for her and we're always going to have her back and that's never going to tear our locker room apart.”

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

The New York Times reported this week that Randall Lane was paid by RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, worked with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers. The payment was made after Shook sold a majority stake in the company to a private equity firm a year ago.

A internal email dated July 23 and reviewed by The Associated Press confirmed that Lane, who had been editor and chief content officer, no longer worked for the company. It provided no other details of his departure. Lane had worked for Forbes for nearly 16 years and as its top editor since 2017.

“When this undisclosed conflict of interest was brought to our attention, we examined the situation closely and took the appropriate action immediately,” a spokesperson for Forbes said in an email Thursday. She added: “Forbes remains focused on delivering trusted journalism."

A person who works at Forbes and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue told the AP that the staff discovered the apparent reasons behind the firing by reading the Times story. A subsequent email sent out this week said the company could not comment on the matter further.

Former editor quoted as saying he ‘made a mistake’

The Times quoted a person familiar with Lane’s thinking as saying he considered the payment a gift in return for advice he had provided Shook over the years.

"'I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it," Mr. Lane said in a statement to The Times. I should have disclosed the gift and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that, and I lost the job and team I love because of it."

Lane and a spokesperson for Forbes did not respond to requests for comment.

It's unclear why Shook paid Lane. But the company and Forbes apparently had a close relationship. On its website, for example, Shook Research lists 12 rankings of wealth advisers and management teams in partnership with Forbes.

Also unclear is why Lane thought disclosing the payment would have solved the ethical issues it may have raised. Traditional newsrooms typically forbid journalists from accepting payments from sources or business partners to avoid conflicts of interest — or even the appearance of conflict.

Forbes' statement of editorial values and standards says that the company "prohibit(s) all staff members and contributors from accepting compensation, privileges or favors of any kind from people, companies or groups featured in their coverage.

“Any real or perceived conflicts of interest or relationships at all (financial, professional, legal actions, personal or otherwise) must be avoided and/or discussed with the appropriate managing editor. If approved, it must be explicitly disclosed in the story to readers to maintain their trust,” it reads. “Any attempt to evade or failure to honor these solemn responsibilities is a serious offense and is subject to review and swift disciplinary action.”

Public trust in media is flagging

The Times report comes at a low moment for public trust in the media. A majority of Americans — 57% — said they have low confidence in journalists to act in the best interests of the public, according to a Pew Research Center analysis in February.

Forbes was founded in 1917 and developed into an influential biweekly account of corporate America, putting giants like Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett on its cover.

Lane was apparently aware of trust issues in the news business. In 2024, he published a column titled, “How Forbes Delivers Journalism You Can Trust.”

“Thomas Jefferson famously noted that we get the government we deserve,” he wrote. “That’s true of our media too.”

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Associated Press journalist Hannah Schoenbaum contributed to this report.

The ruling allows people to purchase silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and certain other firearms without registration, while also removing an extra layer of background checks.

The order benefits parties that brought the lawsuit, including some dealers based outside northern Texas, but it is not a national injunction. Advocates say there are similar challenges in federal courts in other states. Separately, some states have their own prohibitions on silencers.

U.S. District Judge James Hendrix in Lubbock, Texas, said regulations in a 1930s-era law are unconstitutional. He said the rules must fall after the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump eliminated a $200 permit tax on the devices.

Hendrix said his Aug. 5 order would take effect in seven days unless the government appealed. There was no sign of a filing Wednesday in online entries at Hendrix's court or the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The government’s refusal to pursue an immediate appeal “is a failure to defend public safety,” said Emma Brown, executive director at Giffords, the gun violence prevention group.

An email Thursday seeking comment from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces the law, was not immediately answered. Under court procedure, the government still could file an appeal in the weeks ahead, even while Hendrix's order stands.

Gun Owners of America said two members acquired suppressors at Silencer Shop in Leander, Texas, without having to register.

“Our members are putting the historic victory into action. The era of federal registration for constitutionally protected arms must end,” said Erich Pratt, the group's senior vice president.

The National Firearms Act has been around since 1934 in response to concerns about mafia violence. It regulates firearms that are considered the most dangerous, though gun-rights advocates say it conflicts with the Constitution's Second Amendment.

“The system of regulating these weapons has been effective. The need is no less today than it was after the Prohibition era almost a century ago,” said Giffords chief counsel Adam Skaggs.

Blanche's speech inside the storied Great Hall at Justice Department headquarters represented an effort to reassure lawyers and law enforcement officials on the heels of a tumultuous confirmation battle that exposed deep concerns about the direction of the agency under Republican President Donald Trump.

Blanche vowed to uphold the rule of law “without fear or favor,” and told staff he would welcome their ideas and encourage disagreement. Without mentioning specific moves that have raised alarms from critics that Blanche is still functioning as Trump’s personal lawyer, the attorney general acknowledged he would “not get every decision right.”

“Everything that I do will not be the right path or the right decision,” said Blanche, who served as Trump's criminal defense lawyer before entering the department last year as deputy attorney general. “No one does that, but I do promise you this: I promise you that I will work as hard as any of you. I promise that I’ll listen to you. That I will listen to the ideas that you have, or adjustments that we need to make, and if we need to make them, I will make them.”

Blanche is assuming control of the Justice Department at a turbulent time, with mass firings and resignations having hollowed out the workforce and a slew of politically charged investigations drawing concerns that the agency is being used as a weapon to target the president's perceived foes.

He was confirmed by the Senate early Saturday by the narrowest of margins, opposed by two Republicans who expressed concerns about what they described as the politicization of the Justice Department under Trump.

Blanche told the workforce he is proud of the department's work under the second Trump administration to tackle violent crime, illegal drug trafficking and violent gangs and cartels.

"It’s easy to focus on the negative or the news story that is critical of something we’re doing or something that we’ve done, or questions something that we're doing or something that we've done," Blanche said. “But do not forget that we have accomplished a tremendous amount of good, positive work in the past year and a half.”

Justice Connection, a network of alums, said in a statement that “Blanche’s platitudes will only resonate if his actions start matching his words." The group noted that the department under Blanche's leadership has pushed out employees who opposed decisions in high-profile cases or who were deemed insufficiently loyal to the administration's agenda.

“Thousands more have left because leadership has consistently violated the principles Blanche articulated: prosecuting defendants based only on the facts and the law; holding those who attack law enforcement accountable; and respecting the courts,” the group said.

The Tigers became the first team to blank an opponent without a strikeout since Rick Porcello did it to the Athletics on July 1, 2014. The feat has only been accomplished seven times since 2000.

Montero (9-7) allowed one walk over 6 1/3 innings, holding the Guardians scoreless despite not recording a strikeout. Tyler Holton worked 1 2/3 strong innings, and Kenley Jansen earned his 15th save in a perfect ninth.

Dillon Dingler drove in the game's first run with an RBI groundout in the third before Eduardo Valencia added his fifth homer of the season on a ball that sailed into the left-field seats.

Spencer Torkelson capped the scoring with a one-run single in the eighth.

Parker Messick (9-7) worked 5 2/3 innings for the Guardians, allowing two runs and three hits while fanning six.

Cleveland's Steven Kwan had his career-high on-base streak of 27 games snapped, finishing 0 for 4.

Up next

Tigers: RHP Jackson Jobe (1-0, 0.00 ERA) starts the series opener against the White Sox on Friday.

Guardians: RHP Gavin Williams (11-6, 3.55 ERA) starts the series opener versus the Padres this Friday.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The two-vehicle crash happened Union Carbide Road in Camden County on Aug. 1.

A Georgia State Patrol Trooper responded to the crash near the intersection of Union Carbide Road and Mary’s Drive, arriving just after 9 p.m.

What happened, according to report

A white 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, carrying five teenagers and a gray 2006 Honda Accord, carrying two teenagers, were involved in a collision, according to the report. The Silverado came to rest on its driver’s side in the grass south of Union Carbide Road, while the Accord had driver-side damage and came to rest near a tree line close to Sea Shell Lane.

The 17-year-old driver of the Silverado told troopers he accelerated to pass the Honda Accord when the Accord turned into their path. The teen and his front passenger both stated they never saw a turn signal from the Accord’s driver.

Victims, injuries

A 16-year-old girl from Kingsland, Kylee Nesset, was a rear passenger in the Silverado. She was thrown out of the truck and was in critical condition when first responders arrived. She was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died.

Another rear passenger in the Silverado, 16-year-old girl from Kingsland, was also ejected. A third Silverado passenger, 17-year-old from St. Marys, was also transported by EMS for injuries.

The driver of the Honda Accord, a 16-year-old boy from Woodbine, and his front passenger, a 17-year-old boy from Woodbine, were both transported from the scene by Camden EMS.

Camden EMS transported all four of those teens to UF Health’s trauma center in Jacksonville.

Investigation

The 17-year-old driver of the Silverado voluntarily consented to a blood draw, according to the report.

Data downloaded from the Silverado’s airbag control module — obtained through a search warrant on Aug. 7, 2026 — showed the vehicle was traveling 94 mph in a posted 55 mph zone at the time of impact, according to investigators.

Troop I’s Specialized Crash Reconstruction Team is continuing its investigation.

An autopsy was requested due to potential felony charges, according to the report.

The 2026-27 NBA schedule was released Thursday, setting the dates for the two former NBA Finals MVPs to return to face the teams that traded them this summer.

The schedules for opening night and Christmas had already been unveiled earlier this week, so those two games were among the most intriguing matchups not yet known. Brown, who was dealt from the Celtics to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in a stunning move, will play his first game back in Boston on Jan. 21.

Antetokounmpo was expected to be traded by Milwaukee this offseason — at one point speculation was that he might be swapped for Brown — and was eventually dealt to Miami. The Heat will travel to face the Bucks for the first time on Jan. 28.

Both of those games, which will be on Thursday nights, will stream on Prime Video.

Other details about the schedule:

From start to finish

The season will open Oct. 20 with a tripleheader, highlighted by LeBron James, Brown and the 76ers visiting the Knicks, who will receive their rings after winning the franchise's first championship since 1973.

The regular season ends April 11. All-Star weekend is set for Feb. 19-21 in Phoenix.

Busy nights and nights off

Every team will play on Monday, Nov. 2, and there will then be no games the following night, which is Election Day in the U.S. The league is leaving that first Tuesday in November as an open day in hopes that fans and members of the NBA community will participate in the voting process.

No teams will play on Saturday, April 10, the second-to-last day of the regular season. Every team is then in action on the final day, with all the games matching Eastern Conference teams and the one interconference matchup scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The games involving West teams are set for 8:30 p.m.

Where to watch the games

There will be 90 regular-season games televised nationally on ABC or NBC, up from 79 last season. Every team will be scheduled to appear on national TV at least twice.

Throughout the season, games will stream on Peacock on Monday nights, be shown on NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, be televised by ESPN on Wednesdays, and stream on Prime Video on Fridays.

Saturday night primetime games on ABC begin Dec. 12 with the Knicks visiting the Heat, while NBC's “Sunday Night Basketball” returns Jan. 24 with Oklahoma City visiting Golden State.

Prime Video will begin streaming Thursday night doubleheaders in January and some Saturday afternoon games starting Feb. 6 with Portland at Memphis, when Ja Morant returns to face the Grizzlies for the first time.

A lot of TV time

The NBA champion Knicks have the most appearances on ABC with six, while the Lakers, 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves all are featured on ESPN eight times.

The Knicks, Spurs, 76ers, Thunder, Warriors, Nuggets, Lakers and Houston all get the maximum 11 appearances on NBC.

Back-to-backs and schedule breaks

Teams will average 14.2 back-to-backs this season, the lowest total since the NBA Cup was added to the schedule, and no team will have more than 16. No team will play eight games in 12 nights, or 18 in 30.

There are 59 back-to-backs involving at least 750 miles of travel, down from 74 last season.

No team will be scheduled to play the night before games in the NBA Cup, or if they are in nationally televised games on Christmas Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Sunday nights on NBC or Saturday nights on ABC.

Milestone moments

If Kevin Durant averages 26 points, as he did in his first season in Houston, he could move past Kobe Bryant into fourth place on the career scoring list sometime around Jan. 16, when the Rockets would be at the midpoint of their schedule.

Rick Carlisle is set to become the eighth man to coach 2,000 NBA games on March 8, when the Indiana Pacers play their 65th game of the season.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The decision from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said that President Donald Trump's administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws. The judge said the lawsuit, filed in March, mostly focuses on incidents that took place in the 2023-24 academic year, with a few from March 2025.

The cases were “too isolated and episodic” to prove a persistent civil rights violation at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the judge said.

“We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps,” said Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice. Harvard did not immediately provide a comment on the decision.

The lawsuit accused Harvard of failing to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled the campus after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The Trump administration argued Harvard officials did nothing as Jewish students were “harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon.”

In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, Harvard said it “cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus.”

Harvard President Alan M. Garber says the university formed a task force to combat antisemitism. The university also hired a new provost and new deans and reformed its discipline policies to make them “more consistent, fair and effective,” Garber has said.

The government's case sought to recover billions of dollars in federal research grants awarded to Harvard since October 2023. Trump officials argued they had a right to recoup the money under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law barring discrimination based on race or national origin.

The lawsuit is among several actions the government has taken against Harvard since the Ivy League university refused a list of demands made by the White House after Trump, a Republican, returned to office last year. Trump officials have separately sought to cut Harvard's research funding and limit its ability to enroll foreign students and U.S. military members.

In a separate legal case last year, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reverse more than $2.6 billion in federal funding cuts to Harvard. That decision found that the White House put unconstitutional conditions on federal funding, using antisemitism as a “smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault” on universities.

Despite their bitter dispute, Harvard and the Trump administration have held some negotiations, and Trump himself said the two sides had been close to reaching an agreement. But when the Justice Department filed this civil rights lawsuit in March, it pointed to an extraordinary impasse. When colleges are found in violation of federal civil rights law, they almost always reach compliance through voluntary agreements.

Dr. Diana Jordan-Baldwin, who is challenging incumbent state Rep. Kim Kendall in the Republican primary for House District 18, was at the World Golf Village early voting site when the confrontation occurred.

Charles Edward Hunt, 55, of Saint Augustine, was arrested at the scene. He faces two counts of simple battery, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

[RELATED: ‘There’s no reason to put your hands on someone’: Florida house candidate speaks out after polling place attack]

How it started

Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX she arrived at the polling site around 6 a.m. to set up a campaign tent and check on volunteers. Walking back to her car, she said she encountered Hunt, who was already visibly agitated after a code enforcement officer had asked campaigns to take down their tents.

“I said, sir, I’m moving my car. You can go there,” Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX. “But he had his windows rolled up and he was just mouth — you could see him talking.”

Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX that Hunt then rolled his windows down and began shouting obscenities. She said she had gotten into her car at that point, but when Hunt got out of his truck and approached, she got back out — not wanting to be trapped inside her vehicle.

‘You don’t know his service’

That’s when the confrontation took a deeply personal turn. Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX Hunt targeted her late husband’s military service.

“He said, ‘Lying (expletive), your late husband was not killed in the line of duty. Where did he die at?’” Jordan-Baldwin recalled. “I just got so emotional because I could not believe that he was attacking someone that he didn’t even know.”

Jordan-Baldwin said she pushed back directly.

“I told him, ‘Don’t you dare speak about him. Sergeant First Class Christopher Dante Burks was a good man. He served his country, and a lot of us have freedom because of us — the ones who fought and for the ones that gave their life,’” she said.

Husband steps in, punches thrown

Jordan-Baldwin said her current husband stepped between her and Hunt to try to defuse the situation.

“He reached around him and he punched me in my left side of my face,” Jordan-Baldwin said. “And so my husband was like, ‘No, you’re not gonna hit my wife.’”

According to the SJSO incident report, deputies documented a reddened mark on Jordan-Baldwin’s left cheek and a scuff on her right knee consistent with being pushed to the ground. Her husband sustained a knot on the left side of his head just above his ear. All injuries were photographed as evidence, the report states.

Witnesses corroborate the account

According to the SJSO incident report, three independent witnesses were identified and interviewed — all providing consistent accounts that Hunt was the aggressor. A poll security worker told deputies she witnessed Hunt swinging with balled fists. Two witnesses, who were approximately 90 to 100 feet away, told deputies they watched Hunt punch Jordan-Baldwin with a closed fist, push her to the ground and then strike her husband when he stepped in, the report states.

Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX that bystanders stepped in to separate the parties and that witnesses photographed Hunt’s license plate as he attempted to leave.

“That’s how we were able to give that to the police officers,” she said.

The SJSO incident report adds that Hunt and Jordan-Baldwin had exchanged words the day before, on Aug. 10, 2026, over the same area where Hunt had previously set up equipment — a detail provided by a poll security guard.

Hunt tells a different story

According to the SJSO incident report, deputies located Hunt near the scene sitting on the tailgate of his truck. Hunt admitted to yelling at Jordan-Baldwin but claimed she had walked between his moving vehicle and another car, causing him to brake suddenly. Hunt said all he did was start yelling, “Are you stupid or something?”, before the argument started.

He told deputies her husband grabbed him by the throat and that he heard [redacted] say she was reaching for a firearm. He said he did not remember striking either victim.

The arrest report states Hunt was read his Miranda rights, waived them and agreed to speak with deputies, at which point he confirmed those details and claimed self-defense. Deputies noted his account was inconsistent with the statements of both victims and all three witnesses, and that Hunt showed no visible injuries consistent with his version of events, according to the incident report.

Arrest, booking, bond

According to the SJSO arrest report, Hunt was booked into the St. Johns County Jail just after 11:30 a.m. Bond was set at $1,000 per charge, for a total of $2,000. Booking records identify Hunt as a retired military veteran.

Incumbent responds

Incumbent Rep. Kim Kendall released a statement to News4JAX saying neither she nor her campaign staff were present at World Golf Village during the incident.

“I want to be absolutely clear: this is completely unacceptable. This is a horrible act, and we condemn such behavior,” Kendall said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Diana Jordan-Baldwin.”

‘There’s no reason to put your hands on someone’

Despite the ordeal, Jordan-Baldwin told News4JAX she hopes to one day forgive Hunt — but wanted to be clear about the broader message.

“I don’t understand the world we live in that it’s okay for you to just outright hit somebody,” she said. “There’s no reason to put your hands on someone else.”

She added: “I just ask God to show him himself, and I hope that he could truly be able to see what he did and how hurtful it was — how he could have hurt more people. He could’ve seriously hurt my husband and me. So that’s what I want to forgive.”

The man died in Buta, the capital of Bas-Uele, after traveling there from Isiro in Haut-Uele province, said Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

He was a motorcycle-taxi driver who had sought treatment at several hospitals before he died, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, head of Congo’s National Institute ​for Biomedical Research, said. His colleagues tried to forcibly take his dead body, prompting police intervention and concerns that more people may have been exposed to the virus, Muyembe added.

The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing one yet, is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history, which erupted over a decade ago and killed over 11,000 people, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the current outbreak.

It has killed over 2,100 people out of more than 4,500 cases, according to the latest government figures. This death toll has been reached almost three times faster than in the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa — the worst in history.

The outbreak is unfolding in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable, with strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger from long-traumatized communities and misinformation asserting that Ebola isn’t real.

Bas-Uele is a vast province in northeastern Congo that borders the Central African Republic, where there is recurring armed violence that has forced thousands to flee and take refuge in the province. Access can be difficult due to bad and poorly connected roads as well as limited communication networks, and there are frequent population movements related to gold mining and displacement from conflict.

As of Thursday, six out of 26 of Congo’s provinces have been impacted. About 90% of all cases and 80% of deaths are concentrated in Ituri province, the WHO said Wednesday.

Mercy Corps, an aid group, warned Thursday that Ebola cases have been reported along a major travel route about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Congo's border with South Sudan, expressing concern over the outbreak's “widening footprint.” No cases have been confirmed in South Sudan so far.

Unpaid health workers' strikes and low contact tracing hamper response

Meanwhile, health workers at the Nizi Treatment Center in Ituri province, one of the most affected in the area, went on strike Thursday, leading to the temporary closure of the center after they said they have not been paid for three months.

Kaseya on Thursday called on the Congolese government to pay the outstanding salaries.

“We need to pay health workers,” he told reporters. “This is the responsibility of the government, not partners. And they told us that money is available.”

The real scope of the outbreak remains unknown. It was declared on May 15, but the WHO now says sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February.

Health authorities have said between 60% and 70% of new cases are recorded outside contacts being monitored, and that the disease is spreading at an “alarming” rate. Contact tracing helps break chains of transmission by finding exposed people early and reacting quickly if they show symptoms.

“We are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us,” the WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, said this week.

On Thursday, Kaseya from Africa CDC said “the concept of contact tracing in DRC has become useless.”

Trials for treatments and vaccines are underway

Ebola is rare but highly contagious and can be contracted from bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and from contaminated surfaces and materials such as bedding and clothing. The disease it causes is severe and often fatal.

Clinical trials of two possible treatments for this type of Ebola began last month in Ituri, the most affected of the five provinces in Congo where cases have been reported.

Two vaccines developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus are now being tested in people for the first time, the WHO said Wednesday.

WHO also plans to test whether an existing Ebola vaccine could protect people against the virus after studies in animals showed promising results.

Kaseya said on Thursday that the Africa CDC supports the use of Ervebo, a vaccine authorized against the Zaire Ebola strain in provinces impacted by Bundibugyo virus. He said some studies show some cross-protection from the available vaccines.

“We are in a gray area,” he said. “And when you are in a gray area, you have to make strong decisions to stop seeing people dying."

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Associated Press reporters Constant Same Bagalwa in Bunia, Congo, Justin Kabumba in Goma, Congo and Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa contributed.

Academy museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement that the honorees,’ “extraordinary careers exemplify the creativity, innovation, and excellence that continues to move the industry forward.”

The event’s host committee includes Questlove, Judd Apatow, Teyana Taylor, Ludwig Göransson, Seth Rogen and Demi Moore. Co-chairs are Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw.

The gala raises money to support the museum, from its exhibitions to its public screenings. Theron and Carpenter will be participating in several of those public programs — Theron for a conversation with the museum’s teen council and a screening of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and Carpenter for three nights of screenings of his films, including “Halloween,” which ties in to the museum’s new exhibition entitled The Horror Show.

Last year’s edition honoring Bruce Springsteen, Penélope Cruz, Bowen Yang and filmmaker Walter Salles raised over $12 million.

Week 0

Kickoff classics

Thursday, Aug. 13

Ed White vs. Nease at Ponte Vedra

Ribault at Rickards

Ridgeview at Gainesville, 6 p.m.

Tocoi Creek at Orange Park

Friday, Aug. 14

Atlantic Coast at Beachside

Baldwin at Middleburg

Camden County at Bolles

Clay at Bishop Kenny

Columbia at Oakleaf

Creekside at Mandarin, 6:30 p.m.

Daytona Beach Seabreeze at Matanzas

Dunnellon at Baker County

Ed White at Nease

Flagler Palm Coast, Fleming Island at Bartram Trail (jamboree format)

Fletcher at Yulee

Fort White at Providence, 6:30 p.m.

Hamilton County at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Impact Christian at Taylor County

Jackson at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

Joshua Christian at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Madison County at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

Menendez at Bradford

NFEI at Father Lopez

Palatka at North Marion

Raines at First Coast, 6:30 p.m.

St. Augustine at Ponte Vedra

Sandalwood at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Trinity Christian at Bradenton Manatee, 7:30 p.m.

University Christian at Trinity Catholic

West Nassau at Paxon, 6:30 p.m.

Westside at Englewood, 6:30 p.m.

Regular season games

Bishop Snyder at Port Orange Atlantic

Christ’s Church Academy at St. Joseph

Crescent City at Bayside, 7:30 p.m.

Eagle’s View at Old Plank Christian

Fernandina Beach at Keystone Heights

First Coast Christian at Harvest Community

Interlachen at Trenton, 7:30 p.m.

Lafayette at Union County, 7:30 p.m.

Stanton at Duval Charter

Westminster Academy at Episcopal

OFF: Hilliard, Cornerstone Classical, Zarephath Academy

About 8 million people in the southern African country of 22 million were registered to vote at more than 13,500 polling stations in the one-day election. Voters were also choosing members of Parliament and local government councilors. The Electoral Commission of Zambia said results were expected Monday.

Voters bundled in thick jackets had queued in long lines before dawn outside polling stations across Lusaka, some huddling around makeshift fires as election officials prepared for voting.

European Union observers monitored voting at one polling station in Lusaka. Separately, a local election observer said poor voter direction, confusion over voter rolls and crowd management issues caused delays and frustration at some polling stations.

Mathias Ngoma, in his 70s, said he has voted in every election he could because “it’s the only voice I have.”

“I braved the cold to choose leaders I am hoping will make things better in our constituency,” he said.

Competing visions for Zambia’s future

The election is widely seen as a referendum on Hichilema' s handling of the economy. Elected in 2021, he is seeking a second term after restructuring Zambia’s massive foreign debt, stabilizing the economy and attracting investment.

Hichilema, one of 14 candidates, cast his ballot shortly after midday in Lusaka’s Kabulonga suburb. He described the election as a choice between continuing his government’s reforms or reversing course.

“This election is really about the people of Zambia and their future — progress as opposed to regression,” he told reporters.

Brian Mundubile, considered by analysts to be the strongest opposition candidate, cast his vote in the Olympia area. He assured Zambians that their “second independence” was imminent and encouraged them to cast their ballots peacefully.

Mundubile, who leads an alliance of opposition parties, has campaigned on promises to lower the cost of living, improve agriculture and restore democratic freedoms while accusing Hichilema’s government of undermining democratic institutions.

“This is a revolution,” he said after voting. “The will of the Zambian people will certainly prevail in this election.”

Many still struggle despite recent economic growth

Many Zambians say they don’t feel the benefits of recent economic growth as unemployment, food prices and an unstable electricity supply continue to strain household budgets.

Meki Mulota, 40, an entrepreneur, said she wanted better conditions for entrepreneurs.

“The cost of living has been high,” she said. “I want to see a government that will create an environment where entrepreneurs can sustain their businesses.”

Christopher Banda said he backed Hichilema because he believed the country was on the right track.

“I’m voting for stability,” he said. “There’s been a high cost of living ... but I think we’re heading in the right trajectory.”

A presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Zambian copper production draws international interest

The election is being closely watched abroad because Zambia is a major producer of copper and is seeking to sharply increase production of the metal, which is critical to electric vehicles, renewable energy and power grids.

China is Zambia’s largest foreign investor and has extensive mining interests in the country, while the United States has sought a greater role as Washington seeks to diversify its critical-mineral suppliers and reduce its reliance on China.

Hichilema has courted investment from both China and Western partners, including the U.S., as he seeks to increase annual copper production to 3 million metric tons by 2031.

Security concerns shadow the vote

Security and political tensions rose in the final days of the campaign. Police deployed additional officers and warned against violence, disruptions at polling stations, and the circulation of false results.

Opposition parties and rights groups, including Amnesty International, accused Hichilema’s government of shrinking democratic space and using state institutions to target critics and political rivals, allegations the government rejects.

Hichilema spent four months in jail on treason charges as an opposition leader under former President Edgar Lungu, whom he defeated in 2021.

Lungu remained an influential political figure until his death in South Africa last year. A prolonged dispute between his family and the government over his funeral and burial added to tensions ahead of the election.

Zambia is regarded as one of southern Africa’s more stable democracies, with a history of peaceful transfers of power. Hichilema’s 2021 victory marked the country’s third transfer of power to an opposition candidate since multiparty democracy returned in 1991.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

His former sponsor should be along for the ride.

Take a look at pit road on NASCAR's brightest day and don't be surprised to see celebrities from the kitchen to the stage rooting on Johnson.

Even with the white flag about to drop on Johnson's racing career, he's still one of stock car racing's biggest stars — and by Daytona, he should have a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to prove it.

“I'm going out swinging,” Johnson said with a laugh.

Maybe new Legacy Motor Club investor and Phillies slugger Bryce Harper can offer some tips.

The 50-year-old Johnson is busy in the boardroom these days looking for investors and growing his race team as the majority owner of Legacy. Almost as busy as he was on the track, when he was one of three drivers to win seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, earning a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Johnson is expected to make his 703rd and final — for real, this time — Cup start in February's Daytona 500.

Until then, the two-time Daytona 500 champion is spending his time sharpening Legacy's future.

Johnson growing into ownership role

Johnson used to spend his race weekends signing countless autographs in the garage. The fan requests are still there, for sure, only now his signature is needed more on the dotted line for deals including trying to back long-time sponsor Lowe’s to the 48 — a number Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman surrendered for the Daytona 500. Johnson also soon hopes to announce Legacy’s third driver for the 2027 season.

“I’ve approved press releases, rollout plans, all the elements have all been approved,” Johnson said. “It’s just a matter of slotting them all in.”

Johnson added some big-time winners to his race team last month as part of a strategic ownership group that includes championship athletes, Grammy Award winners, entrepreneurs, investors, motorsport greats and cultural leaders.

The Legacy investors include six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, a two-time National League MVP in Harper, Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick, Grammy Award winner Darius Rucker, celebrity chef Guy Fieri, and six-time MLB All-Star Chase Utley.

“Jimmie's a good friend of mine and I like what he's doing,” Utley said. “It's interesting and it's going to be a good experience.”

Johnson said his star-studded friend group are true investors who are equitable partners in Legacy. More celebrity investors are expected to be announced later this year.

“Sure, I did well racing,” Johnson said. “But I don't have an enterprise like Penske or Hendrick to activate and utilize and drive that success year over year.”

Johnson became the majority owner of Legacy under a restructuring ahead of last season in which investment adviser Knighthead Capital Management bought into the Cup Series team.

Johnson has about enough investors in Legacy to fill a Daytona 500 grid.

“I knew at some point I'd probably want an investor, but I didn't know what that would look like,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of thought around other franchises and leagues, how you create profitability. The stick-and-ball sport and the way they do it makes a lot of sense. It's just a different way to generate the income to win races and championships. From there, to bring investors on, you need a pathway to profitability.”

The roadmap for Legacy turning a profit took a bit of a detour when the organization decided to add a third charter team for next season.

“It's over the horizon,” Johnson said. “A very short horizon. With the strategic ownership group like this, the IP internally, the assets they can activate with and help with, it only helps our case there.”

Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek are expected to return with Riley Herbst widely expected to join Legacy in 2027.

Jones is 20th and Nemechek is 28th in the Cup points standings. The drivers are winless and have a combined three top-five finishes as Legacy has yet to break through into a franchise that can at least compete for checkered flags.

“Some days look good,” Johnson said. “some days don't.”

Johnson dedicated to turning Legacy into winner

Johnson only raced in Cup this season at the Daytona 500 and the debut race at Naval Base Coronado.

He has a few races on deck in other racing series, just as much for fun and without the competitive pressures of NASCAR.

“I've been slowly weaning myself off,” Johnson said. “Now that I've found something that's keeping me so busy and so invigorated in the sport, I'm still competing, it's the race within the race, I am fully ready and also very excited for that day and the build up for it and all the great collaborations that will be announced shortly.”

Johnson has won 83 career races in his NASCAR career and a record five consecutive series titles. He is the only racer to be selected The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

Johnson and his team sent a submission for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he was selected for one for next year.

“I sat and watched on YouTube and they announced my name and I was like, ‘holy smokes! It worked.’ So wild,” Johnson said.

Johnson is aggressively pushing for the Star to be unveiled on the Tuesday of Daytona 500 week.

Johnson found his comfort zone at Legacy

Johnson's last full-time season in NASCAR was 2020 and he spent the ensuing years chasing success in IndyCar. He even moved his family to England all while dealing with the aftermath of a family tragedy.

Johnson never had a podium finish in two years in IndyCar and wrecked out of his only Indianapolis 500 in 2022.

“That was really intentional for me go there and have fun and do it,” Johnson said. “As the two years went by, I was kind of shocked that I didn't ... I was having tons of fun, but I wasn't fulfilled. I was like, ‘what the hell is this?’ The opportunity with (Legacy) came about and I wasn't sure where it would go or how fulfilling it would be. While thinking through the two years of IndyCar, and slowing down my Cup career, what does it look like post-driving? What do I want to do?”

Johnson went on to compete in endurance races and worked in broadcasting. There was only one true calling for him and it was back at the race courses — even if not always behind the wheel — at Daytona and Dover and Darlington.

“I was going to end up back in NASCAR,” Johnson said. “I had no idea it was going to turn into this.”

He's ready for one final time — and one more win — at Daytona.

“Let's blow this thing up,” Johnson said. “Why not?”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 209,000 people filed jobless claims last week, up from a revised 200,000 the week before and higher than the 205,000 forecasters had expected. The four-week average of applications, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, was unchanged at 199,000.

The overall number of people collecting employment benefits the week that ended Aug. 1 dropped by 22,000 to 1.78 million.

Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and they've been at a historically low range of around 200,000 to 230,000 a week for the past year, suggesting that Americans who have jobs enjoy unusual job security. The U.S. unemployment rate is low at 4.1%, as the economy has proven resilient despite a spike in energy prices caused by the fighting with Iran.

"The labor market has yet to show any sign of wear and tear from the surge in oil prices since the start of the war with Iran and the global energy supply shock,'' Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary.

The story is less encouraging for those trying to break into the job market and for those who lost their jobs and are looking for new work. Companies, scarred by worker shortages that followed the end of COVID-19 lockups four to five years ago, are reluctant to let go of staff; but they aren't eager to take on new workers. Economists regularly refer to a "no hire, no fire'' job market.

Last month, in fact, companies, government agencies and nonprofits together cut 23,000 jobs instead of increasing them, the Labor Department reported last week. So far this year, employers are adding 61,000 jobs a month. That is an improvement on the 9,700 they averaged last year — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. The lingering effects of high interest rates and President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies discouraged companies from hiring in 2025.

Still, hiring this year remains well below the 166,00 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns.

The report specifically highlights that China responded to new tariffs in 2018 by sending their goods to other nations ranging from Mexico to Malaysia for packaging and limited assembly — a practice known as transshipping. That pattern made it look like U.S. imports from China had dropped, but enabled Beijing to continue growing its manufacturing sector in ways that could challenge U.S. factories and employment.

Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, told reporters on a conference call that China is laundering its exports through more than 40 countries, though he claimed that the issues raised in the report were really more about other nations enabling the avoidance of tariffs.

“For years, the great transshipment scam has let communist China launder its exports,” Navarro said.

The report comes ahead of a planned September visit by Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, who President Donald Trump described in flattering terms during his own visit to Beijing in May.

The Chinese government has described its relationship with the U.S. as one of “strategic stability,” yet its government policies that support exports of manufactured goods have destabilized the auto, metals and electronics sectors in America, Europe, Japan and elsewhere.

Navarro said that other nations such as India could also transship to avoid new tariffs and said that new trade frameworks pursued by the Trump administration are going to contain provisions that ensure trade partners that engage in the practice will be penalized.

The Trump administration has levied high tariffs on much of the world in hopes of protecting U.S. manufacturers, hitting allies and rivals alike with import taxes. At the same time, those tariffs have created new inflationary pressures at home.

The report includes a range of estimates for the scale of transshipments to avoid tariffs, citing government and private sector numbers to estimate roughly $34.2 billion to $303 billion of goods transshipped each year. It used a central figure of $75 billion worth of goods being transshipped to estimate how much in tax revenues have been lost.

To address the challenge, Navarro said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has started to use artificial intelligence in a prototype program to stop transshipments. Navarro said that when an importer has been found to have falsified the origins of a good, its imports can be retroactively tariffed going back roughly a year.

The president’s tariffs during his second term have faced an array of legal challenges, with the Supreme Court overturning some of them in February. America continues to import more than it exports to the rest of the world, but the trade imbalance so far this year at $371 billion is running about $189 billion lower that it did during the same period last year.

Brett Favre felt the same after Green Bay drafted Aaron Rodgers.

Montana and Favre wanted to keep their starting jobs as long as they could.

Kirk Cousins has a different perspective on mentoring rookie Fernando Mendoza in Las Vegas.

“On one hand, certainly happy to be a resource, and he’ll learn — we’ll all learn from each other so much in the quarterback room,” Cousins said on the AP’s “On Football” podcast. “I’ve always said that the quarterback room is kind of a working force together, where we’re all giving each other feedback, giving each other thoughts, asking questions, wanting to get a feel from the pulse of the room.

“‘What do you think here? What should we do differently, or what are we doing well?’ So, there’s always good dialogue. You know, I’d hate to emphasize the mentoring thing too much in the sense that it makes it look like I know so much and he doesn’t, when I think, in reality, we all have something to share, we all can help one another, and that’s how the good quarterback rooms operate.”

The Raiders drafted Mendoza No. 1 overall after the Heisman Trophy winner led Indiana to its first national championship. Cousins knew the plan before he signed with Las Vegas in March, reuniting with new coach Klint Kubiak. The two were together in Minnesota when Kubiak was an assistant.

“I think it helps to kind of hit the ground running and have a shared history,” Cousins said. “I think any time you have continuity or shared history with coaches or players, it just helps you move faster and have built some trust. And so I think that’s a positive. But, you know, in today’s NFL, that’s more of a luxury than a common thing. It seems like there’s just so much turnover and so much change that you have to kind of be able to hit the reset button every spring. And so that’s part of it as well.”

Cousins, who began his career with Washington in 2012, is on his third team in four years. He spent six years with the Vikings and the last two in Atlanta before going to Las Vegas.

If the Raiders start slow or he struggles early, calls for the team to start Mendoza will be loud. Cousins has played long enough to know how to block out the noise.

“Well, you just go play football. You kind of insulate yourself,” he said. “You certainly listen to the voices that matter, your coaches, your teammates. When they’re telling you something, then that’s what we’re doing. But I don’t think you need to listen to outside voices. And then you just go do your job the way I’ve known to do it for 15 years. You do the best you can. And then, you kind of let outcomes go where they go.

“I think when you stay focused, you kind of stay in your lane, you keep blinders on. I think that’s when I play my best. And that’s kind of the process I’ve employed through every situation I’ve been in, every team, every season, no matter what the journey of that season brought on, you kind of keep a similar perspective, stay consistent, and that’s what we’ll do again this year.”

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Heat Advisory 11 a.m.-8 p.m.: all Northeast Florida, Southeast Georgia counties (minus Camden, Glynn) - feels like 108-112 degrees

Isolated afternoon thunderstorms with wind gusts possible to 55mph along with heavy downpours and frequent lightning.

Areas south of I-10 are more prone to afternoon storms as temperatures rise into the 90s. The east coast sea breeze will likely keep storms pinned closed to I-95 corridor.

Friday: Extreme Heat Watch in place for coastal SE Georgia, Heat Advisory likely in same spots as today.

The beloved federal agency, its iconic park rangers and other employees have been navigating a new reality under Trump, from orders to revise exhibits at parks and other sites to the demolition of important structures under its stewardship, such as the White House’s East Wing, to arresting visitors for alleged vandalism at the pool.

Critics say the monthslong Reflecting Pool saga and other demands by Trump risk undermining the integrity of a federal agency that has long been held in high esteem by the American public.

“Never — not once in decades — have I witnessed such systematic degradation, disrespect and dismantling of the National Park Service as I see today under the thumb of President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum,” said Bill Wade, a former park ranger and superintendent.

Wade, who now serves as executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, wrote an op-ed for The Denver Post lamenting what he called the Trump administration's “assault on the people, the mission and the values that have made the National Park Service one of America’s most valued institutions.”

The park service has been at the center of some of Trump's most contentious actions during his second term. An executive order targeted funding and demanded reviews at national parks and other sites that Trump said advanced “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” resulting in changes to some exhibits on slavery or climate change.

The president has also ordered sweeping changes to historical monuments and buildings in Washington that fall under NPS' purview, including the creation of a White House ballroom and a 250-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) memorial arch. The agency meanwhile has lost at least one-quarter of its permanent workforce since Trump began his second term, through layoffs, forced retirements and resignations.

Park service employees “are being politicized and drawn into the absurdities and corruption of this administration” on a regular basis, said California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. He cited the pool project, the proposed arch and the executive order on exhibit materials.

The ongoing political assault on the agency “is unlike anything we’ve seen in this country, and it makes life miserable at agencies like the National Park Service,” Huffman said.

Reflecting Pool saga continues

Trump launched repairs at the Reflecting Pool earlier this year, hoping to address longstanding problems at the iconic site ahead of the America 250 celebrations. But the $16 million project faced immediate problems, including peeling blue sealant and a fierce return of green algae.

Trump blamed the sealant issues on vandalism without providing evidence, and felony charges were brought against a former Olympic canoeist, David Hearn, after he was accused of vandalizing the pool.

The U.S. Park Police, a unit of the National Park Service, arrested Hearn, who denied wrongdoing and said he briefly touched a chunk of the coating.

Charges against Hearn were dropped on July 31 after prosecutors acknowledged that damage was caused by a bungled installation rather than vandalism.

The advice and counsel of career officials and rangers — instantly recognizable by their signature flat hats and green-and-gray uniforms — has been ignored or pushed aside as Trump and Burgum make decisions regarding the failed pool repair, according to an Interior Department employee who was not authorized to discuss internal discussions and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“It’s tragic,” said Ed Stierli, vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, another advocacy group. “The whole thing is a master class in how not to go about a public rehabilitation project.”

In the days since the dismissal of the charges, Trump has continued to lean on NPS in his repeated claims that vandals damaged the pool’s lining.

“A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn ... in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by ‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating,” Trump posted Aug. 9 on his Truth Social site. Hearn's legal team said Trump “is continuing to attack an innocent man.”

Stierli, of the parks conservation group, called Trump’s reference to the unnamed park employee an example of the awkward position agency workers now face under Trump and Burgum, who has publicly backed Trump’s claims about vandalism at the pool.

“I think the public understands that unfortunately, you have the president of the United States directly driving decisions, both here in Washington and around the country,” Stierli said. The park service — and especially its career staff — “has very little control over this,” he added.

The White House and the Interior Department did not directly respond to requests for comment on the park service. The White House defended the pool project, saying Trump “promised to make D.C. safe and beautiful, and he’s delivering."

“For years, the Reflecting Pool sat neglected, plagued with algae and leaking millions of gallons of water,” the White House said in a statement. "Fixing it was common sense.”

Park service morale is at its lowest point, a former official says

Wade, the former park superintendent, called the pool repair “a comedy of errors” and “a continuation of the incompetence” shown by the Trump administration.

“Most people realize the NPS is under the gun and can’t do much about it, even though they’d like to,″ he said, adding that morale at the agency is at the lowest point he can remember.

Edicts from Washington have made clear that speaking honestly about what is going on could cost staffers their jobs, Wade said. “There’s a very strong fear among employees at NPS,″ he said in an interview. “It’s very frustrating for them, as you can imagine.”

Trump’s proposed memorial arch has faced some pushback. A recent report by park service staff warned that the proposed gilded arch could disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites around its planned location near the Lincoln Memorial.

The arch, which last month received initial approval from a key federal commission, would impact the “integrity” of dozens of historical properties because it would change “character-defining visual and spatial relationships” between them, the report said.

Americans view the National Park Service favorably

The park service is popular with Americans. About three-quarters of U.S. adults — including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans — have a favorable opinion of the agency, according to Pew Research Center polling from 2025. Only about 1 in 10 have a negative impression, and about 15% are unsure.

A Washington Post/Ipsos poll from July found that about two-thirds of Americans say they are “dissatisfied” or “upset” about Trump’s Washington area projects, including construction of a new ballroom at the White House, painting the Reflecting Pool and building his triumphal arch. Republicans are more likely to be “enthusiastic” or “satisfied” with the projects.

About one-quarter of U.S. adults say Trump’s goal is to “make Washington more beautiful,” while about half say he has a “different goal.” In an open-ended question, many respondents speculated that Trump wants to glorify himself or leave his mark.

The pool and other recent controversies including the exhibit reviews jeopardize the agency's credibility, Wade said.

“Whether interpreting the Civil War, discussing climate science or describing the complex stories of Indigenous people, rangers have sought to present evidence, not political ideology,'' he said. ”That is now being lost.”

___

Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this story.

Western officials have previously warned that Russia stepped up a campaign of targeted killings since President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying they have disrupted several plots across Europe. But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this incident was unprecedented.

The suspect, who was allegedly recruited by Russia's secret services, was detained by Polish authorities on Aug. 7. He will be held in custody for three months, the Warsaw police said in a statement.

The American Ukrainian citizen “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime,” Tusk said in a news conference, without elaborating.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with U.S. services, said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister overseeing intelligence services. He said the targeted victim was a U.S. citizen “of Ukrainian origin.” Officials did not immediately provide further details.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the reports but said it had no additional information.

Western countries believe Russia seeks to undermine Ukraine's allies

Russia has long been accused of targeting its enemies abroad, including by using rare poisons. But intelligence officials previously told The Associated Press that Russia’s security services are now more brazen in their choice of targets, going after Russian activists and foreign supporters of Ukraine as well as military defectors.

“We must assume that the Putin regime will try to eliminate people who are inconvenient for various reasons, in various places around the world,” Tusk said on Thursday. He said that Poland and others must be prepared to counter such actions.

Western officials see the campaign as connected to Russia’s broader efforts to undermine European countries that support Ukraine. The AP has mapped about 200 acts of sabotage, arson and other disruption across Europe since the start of the war that officials have linked to Russia. President Vladimir Putin told the AP in June that Russia is not waging a sabotage campaign against Europe.

In 2006, British authorities accused Russia of being behind the killing of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London with radioactive polonium. The U.K. also blames Russia for the attempted killing of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018 with the nerve agent Novichok.

German authorities said Russia organized the 2019 killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen rebel commander who was shot in a Berlin park by Vadim Krasikov, a hitman who was later greeted by Putin after he was exchanged in a spy swap.

In June, a Russian artist who was critical of Putin was shot and killed at close range near his home in eastern Poland. Tusk said at the time that the killing of Robert Kuzovkov, known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, had the hallmarks of a political assassination. He suggested it was possible Russia was behind it but Polish officials have not yet attributed it to Moscow.

Last year French officials disrupted a plot which they believe was aimed at killing Vladimir Osechkin, a Russian exile who lives under police protection and works to help military defectors flee Putin’s war. Lithuanian officials also disrupted a plot last year to kill a Lithuanian supporter of Ukraine and another against a Russian activist. Officials in Germany have similarly broken up two plots: one to target the head of a German weapons company supplying Ukraine, the other against a Ukrainian military official.

Polish authorities arrested a man in 2024 in what they said was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain — with Russian operatives the prime suspects.

“This campaign is not by accident or chance,” a senior European intelligence official previously told the AP. “There is political authorization.”

___

Burrows reported from London. Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Dozens of mourners, including cabinet ministers, gathered at Kariba’s Nyamhunga Stadium, where coffins were laid out in the middle of the field under tents.

The ferry capsized on Zimbabwe ’s Lake Kariba on Tuesday. Police and the government agency responsible for the ferry have yet to give an official count of how many people were aboard or how many remain missing. Estimates have put the number of passengers as high as 153, while authorities say the aging ferry has a capacity of 90. The country's disaster management agency on Wednesday said that 77 people had been rescued.

State broadcaster ZBC News reported that some families lost several members in the disaster. The ferry was traveling from Kariba town to rural communities and fishing camps, where residents rely heavily on fishing and on the vessel for transport because roads are damaged and public transport is scarce or virtually nonexistent.

Among those grieving was Collen Ndandalika, whom the broadcaster said lost his wife and three children.

“My wife and children all drowned. Two children have been recovered, but my wife and the other child are still missing. I still can’t believe this is a real world I am living in,” he said.

His wife sold goods bought in town to people in rural and fishing communities. She had asked their children to help with the business during the school holidays, he said.

“I have my brothers who are checking on the bodies to see if they can identify my wife and child. I am too traumatized to keep looking at dead bodies,” he said.

The disaster has also triggered criticism of the continued use of the aging ferry and what some say was a delayed rescue response to the sinking. Some survivors on Wednesday said they pleaded in vain with the captain of the overloaded ferry to turn back from strong waves shortly before it capsized.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in a condolence message, acknowledged that the tragedy had “exposed serious deficiencies in our maritime capabilities which we have to address immediately so that our places of recreation do not become death traps to the innocent.”

Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster and ordered government agencies to mobilize resources to assist victims and accelerate recovery efforts.

Kariba is the largest human-made lake in the world by volume and was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by building a dam on the Zambezi River. The huge lake is now more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) long and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide in places.

Quarterback

Jamal’s thoughts: Slight tweak here for me from my original 53. Nick Mullens has the backup QB job locked up.

Justin’s thoughts: No surprises here. Mullens had his trouble spots in camp, but still presents a better insurance policy than Joey Aguilar or Carter Bradley.

Running back

Jamal’s thoughts: Three guys are locks and Abdullah is nearly lock territory. He has had a good camp and is in the conversation to be the Jags kick returner. That special teams value gets him on the 53.

Justin’s thoughts: This is a change for me. Originally had Deejay Dallas on here, but I’ve subbed him out for Abdullah. He’s had a good camp and offers upside as a backup return man.

Tight end

Jamal’s thoughts: Tight end is about as cut and dry as it gets.

Justin’s thoughts: I had four originally on the list, but I’ve cut Quintin Morris to get this unit back to three.

Receiver

Jamal’s thoughts: Nothing surprising here. The rookie wide receivers had earned there spots both Cameron and Williams look special.

Justin’s thoughts: Cameron and Williams have looked really good in camp. Cameron will probably see more action as a return man than he will catching passes this season.

Offensive line

Jamal’s thoughts: Injuries have really stacked up on the O-line so that makes this a tough position to judge. I still think Van Lanen will end up starting here year on the pup list if he is healthy that would shift the numbers a little bit.

Justin’s thoughts: The health of Van Lanen remains the biggest question for me. He’s missed all of training camp rehabbing from knee surgery. If he starts the season on the PUP list, I could envision a scenario where Chuma Edoga makes the team.

Defensive line

Jamal’s thoughts: In my first 53, I didn’t have Matt Dickerson on the list. That was a big miss on my part.

Justin’s thoughts: This was my biggest area of change since our initial 53. Green has absolutely looked like the backup to Hines-Allen and Walker during camp. He’s taken a significant step forward. Durfee has flashed his potential to get into the backfield, too.

Linebacker

Jamal’s thoughts: Tavi is a new face on the Jags roster but he is an NFL vet and he has flashed enough to in my mind earn a spot on the 53.

Justin’s thoughts: I clipped Jack Kiser from my initial 53. McLeod could be a bubble guy, too, but I think he’s had some flashes in camp.

Cornerback

Jamal’s thoughts: Muhammad has bee the biggest riser on the Jags roster over the course of the offseason program and training camp. Muhammad has earned his stripes for sure and Christian Braswell is back healthy and will be right back in his spot in the mix.

Justin’s thoughts: Muhammad has played himself onto the 53. He’s my only change here.

Safety

Jamal’s thoughts: The safety room isn’t a question of the bodies it is a question of the orders they get on the field.

Justin’s thoughts: Devin Neal Jr. was on my early 53 but he’s out here.

Specialists

Jamal’s thoughts: No questions here.

Justin’s thoughts: Least amount of suspense on the team.

One was a hit-and-run involving a child or teen on an e-bike near Clay High School. The kid was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Deputies are looking for a silver SUV in connection with that crash.

The other crash involved a school bus on northbound Blanding Boulevard (SR-21) near Howard Road in Middleburg.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the bus had come to a complete stop with its warning lights activated and its stop arm deployed when an SUV failed to slow down or stop, drove onto the right shoulder, then steered back into the right lane and hit the back of the bus.

No students were injured in that incident, Cook said.

News4JAX viewer Danese Terry shared photos from the crash, showing a crumpled white SUV and no visible damage to the bus.

Terry, whose children were not on the bus, praised the Sheriff’s Office and school transportation response.

“Police were on scene very quickly, and transportation notified all parents of students on that bus very promptly. A second bus showed up within minutes to transport kids to school,” Terry said.

Authorities have not indicated which school(s) the students were headed to.

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger. He was convicted of making false statements in a passport application, aggravated identity theft, falsely claiming a Social Security number had been assigned to him, and falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen to vote in an election. The court also issued a judicial order of removal directing that Jaramillo Grajales be returned to Colombia.

A stolen identity, years of fraud

According to court documents, Jaramillo Grajales used the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a real U.S. citizen to build a false identity. He used those credentials to obtain a Florida driver’s license as far back as March 2003 — renewing it multiple times, with the last renewal in February 2024.

In April 2003, he submitted a U.S. passport application using the stolen identity, along with a Puerto Rican birth certificate and the driver’s license he had obtained. A passport was issued in May 2003. He successfully renewed that passport twice — in February 2013 and again in March 2023.

In December 2010, Jaramillo Grajales filed a Florida Voter Registration Application, claiming to be a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico. His registration was approved, and he went on to vote in several elections — including the November 3, 2020, general election in Duval County.

Fraud extended to spouse’s immigration case

The scheme also affected Jaramillo Grajales’s then-spouse. She entered the United States on a visitor’s visa in September 2003, and the two later married. Because her husband appeared to be a U.S. citizen, she was able to apply for — and receive — legal permanent residence and eventual citizenship. She became a U.S. citizen in August 2017. The couple divorced in January 2020.

How the case unraveled

In May 2024, Jaramillo Grajales traveled to Colombia using his false identity. The following month, his ex-spouse flew to Colombia and filed a K-1 fiancé visa application on his behalf — this time using his real name. The visa was approved and he returned to the United States under his true identity. Jaramillo Grajales and his ex-spouse remarried in June 2025, and he subsequently applied for permanent residence based on that marriage.

Investigators, prosecutors speak out

“Federal immigration laws serve to safeguard our nation’s borders and protect the integrity of our government,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. “Those who seek to circumvent, exploit, or break these laws will be prosecuted fully.”

Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker said the case illustrated the far-reaching consequences of identity fraud.

“This criminal illegal alien spent years exploiting a stolen identity of a United States citizen to obtain government documents, claim benefits, and unlawfully participate in the electoral process,” Hemker said. “This conviction demonstrates that identity theft, immigration fraud, and fraud against the integrity of United States government systems will be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. HSI remains committed to protecting victims, safeguarding public institutions, and ensuring that those who abuse our immigration and identification systems are held accountable.”

Less than four months after he left the White House, in May of 2025, Biden went public with his diagnosis, saying he had an “aggressive form” of prostate ​cancer and that it had spread to ‌his bones.

Dr. Ali Kasraeian, a well-respected urologist, joined us on The Morning Show to explain how an advanced prostate cancer diagnosis in older men is unusual. But the prognosis may not be dire.

“Coyote vs. Acme” was finished. Director Dave Green, inspired by “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” had completed the editing on the Looney Tunes blend of cartoon and live action. The whole project, which takes an Ian Frazier “Shouts and Murmurs” column from The New Yorker as its source material, was an audacious comic gambit that seemed to be paying off.

Hopes were high. Audience test scores were good. But days before Forte, who stars as Wile E. Coyote’s attorney, could see “Coyote vs. Acme,” Warner Bros. canceled it. Not just the screening — the movie. The studio hadn’t delayed it or sent it to streaming. They were canning it altogether.

“I just thought: ‘Well, they’re canceling the movie. It’s gotta be bad,’” Forte recalls.

Forte and his wife, suspecting the movie must have turned out poorly, joined the cast and crew to say goodbye to the film no one else was going to see.

“That was when the real emotions started,” Forte says. “It was everything I wished the movie could have been and more. It was so special, which made it so frustrating and so devastating. The confusion was amped up, then frustration, then just searing anger.

“Then it made even less sense,” he adds. “We all looked around, like, ‘What’s happening here?’”

The abrupt termination of “Coyote vs. Acme” sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Everyone in the movie business is accustomed to sudden, painful twists of fate. But the wholesale elimination of a finished film faster than you can say “Meep! Meep!” was something new.

David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros., was intent on pivoting away from the straight-to-HBO Max projects of his predecessor. The expected marketing spend — roughly $30-40 million — for releasing “Coyote vs. Acme” wasn’t worth it to the studio. It was better, the studio said, to take a tax write-off on the $70 million production. Along with two other releases — “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” — “Coyote vs. Acme” was put in mothballs.

But nearly three years after that “funeral screening,” the movie is, like its ever-undaunted protagonist, back from the dead. After an outcry, Warner Bros. put “Coyote vs. Acme” up for sale. Ketchup Entertainment, an independent distributor that last year released the Looney Tunes movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” picked it up for about $50 million. On Aug. 28, “Coyote vs. Acme” will finally see the light of day.

It’s been a dizzying turn of events for everyone involved. Eric Bauza, who voices Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and others in the film, didn’t really believe it until he saw “Obsession” at his local cinema.

“Upon exiting the theater, there in a little marquee box was the poster for ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’” Bauza says. “It hit me: This is going to be seen by people.”

In a recent interview, Green was still in disbelief.

“I must be dreaming,” said Green. “It’s a total surprise I’m sitting here talking to you today.”

Wile E. Coyote has his day in court

The filmmakers and their new distributor have leaned into the project’s tortured history, promoting it as “the film ACME didn’t want you to see.” More than that, “Coyote vs. Acme” now has a newfound meta quality. The premise of the film is that Coyote, after suffering years of defective products, takes Acme to court. Like the drama surrounding the film, it's an underdog victimized by a big corporation.

“I couldn’t help but look at the movie in a completely new way because there are meta crossovers between the story and what the movie had come to represent,” Green says. “It almost felt like we had written the movie after the news had broken.”

When “Coyote vs. Acme” was canceled, its fate became a rallying cry. Filmmakers like Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert championed it as too good to disappear. Even politicians, like Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, urged the Justice Department to investigate Warner Bros.'s decision.

Bauza, a veteran voice actor, pushed the hashtag #ReleaseCoyoteVsACME on social media. His most dramatic effort, though, was at the Annie Awards in 2024. There, he drew hearty applause for making that case from the podium — in the voice of Daffy Duck.

“He’s the go-to cartoon character above anyone else when it comes to begging and pleading,” Bauza says. “It seemed appropriate.”

So many people came out fighting for the film that Green never felt alone throughout the ordeal.

“I would open my phone one day and see someone dressed in a Wile E. Coyote costume outside of the studio protesting with a sign in the rain — these kinds of things you couldn’t believe,” says Green.

‘The pipeline has changed’

At the same time, the entire episode suggested a dark new chapter in the movie business that has left many involved with “Coyote vs. Acme” shaky. This wasn’t a young filmmaker getting turned down on their first film. It was two years of work on one of Warner Bros.’ most iconic franchises — a movie even produced by DC Studios chief James Gunn.

“I don’t know what their judgment was,” says Bauza. “Did they even know or were they just looking at numbers? It’s tough looking in from the outside, thinking: ‘If that’s how the Looney Tunes are being treated, what about my story?’”

“The pipeline has changed,” he adds. “How we get to the finish line is different.”

“Coyote vs. Acme” was greenlit when studios were trying to find their way through the pandemic and theaters were struggling to stay afloat. But Green’s film now arrives at a much different point in time. Theatrical is thriving thanks in large part to the visions of filmmakers, from Christopher Nolan to Curry Barker.

For Green, that “Coyote vs. Acme” is finally having its day in the court of public opinion is a sign of Hollywood returning to its foundations.

“The film business, as much as it might not feel that way, is led and dictated by artists and filmmakers and actors and writers wanting to create,” says Green. “There will be nothing able to take that want away from creators. As long as we keep creating, there will be a movie business.”

Forte is still struggling to find a happy ending. The movie’s initial cancellation felt, he says, “cruel and heartless.”

“The downside is: Trust no one,” says Forte. “And the positive is: Don’t give up hope. And that’s the one I think I will keep.”

School officials said the district needed extra time to finish electrical work and secure the certificate of occupancy before allowing students back into classrooms. Leaders also said a furniture company needed additional time to assemble and install furniture for classrooms, the cafeteria and office spaces.

The Charlton County School District shared photos on social media last week showing a look inside the updated campus. Teachers were allowed back in to set up classrooms and begin unpacking, and the district asked parents and students to give staff space as they prepared for the first day back.

Parents and staff said they understood the delay if it meant the building would be ready for students.

“We just want time to get in there and work and make it good for them for a first day of school,” teacher Aleshia Sumpter said.

Parent Nikisha Lloyd added, “Kind of the same. We’re just ready. We’re all ready to see a new building.”

Even with students returning Thursday, construction at the school isn’t finished. The next phase of the project includes a new gym and weight room, and district officials expect that work to continue into next year, with full completion not expected until 2027.

Deputies were first called to assist the Florida Highway Patrol after the suspects fled the traffic stop in the Sampson City area. Authorities described the suspects as two Hispanic males — one wearing a blue shirt and black pants, and the second wearing a white shirt and khaki pants with a rose tattoo on his left hand.

Residents in the Sampson City area were initially urged not to approach the suspects.

“If you see these individuals, DO NOT APPROACH and call 911 immediately,” the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office said in an earlier statement.

As of the most recent update, all lanes of US-301 have reopened and traffic is flowing normally. However, a large law enforcement presence remains between the South Bypass Interchange and County Road 227 as the search continues.

“We are asking residents to stay alert and if you see something suspicious please do not approach and call 911,” the sheriff’s office said.

The search involves a broad multi-agency response, drawing cooperation from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Union Correctional Institution and the Florida Highway Patrol.

“We appreciate the collaboration between our law enforcement partners with Alachua County, Putnam County, the Union Correctional Institution, and the Florida Highway Patrol,” officials said.

“It happens in a matter of seconds,” said Joshua Moore, a paramedic at HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital.

According to Florida Health, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1–4, with home swimming pools being the most common location.

Moore encourages parents to take practical steps around the home to reduce the chances of a child reaching the water unsupervised.

“If you have a fence around your pool, [make] sure that the gate is always closed,” Moore said. “You can also set alarms on your sliding glass doors. If your kid goes out and you don’t realize it, it’ll kind of alarm you to let you know that your kid’s gone outside.”

The urgency was felt locally in early August, when a 7-year-old boy with autism was reported missing from his Northside Jacksonville home. He was later found dead in a pond, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The boy was non-verbal and had last been seen leaving his home in the early morning hours before being found near Seaside Charter School.

“You wanna make sure that you’re always keeping an eye on your kids,” Moore said.

Moore and other safety advocates point to swim lessons as one of the most effective long-term protections for young children.

Florida residents can now apply for eight free swimming lessons through the state’s Swimming Lesson Voucher program. Lawmakers recently expanded the eligible age range from children ages 0–4 to ages 1–7.

To qualify, a family’s gross income cannot exceed 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Applications are accepted until early September, or until funding runs dry.