It marks a major triumph for a team that failed to get out of the group stage in 2022 and now has won twice on home soil in front of jubilant crowds. Mexico players celebrated at midfield and waved to the fans who cheered and sang from the packed stands at Estadio Akron.

As soon as the final whistle blew, the mariachis began to sing at the Ángel of Independence in Mexico City while thousands of people walked in from all directions. Some streets in Guadalajara were filled with drivers honking horns and fans chanting and waving Mexican flags.

Luis Romo scored in the 50th minute after South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu collided with defender Lee Gi-hyuk and dropped the ball inside the area. Romo easily found the open net after picking up the loose ball.

The South Koreans nearly equalized in the 87th minute when Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel stopped a header from close range by Cho Gue-sung, then made an even better save of Yang Hyun-jun's attempt on the rebound, extending his right arm to keep the ball from crossing the line.

“It was very quick, it was pure reaction,” Rangel said. “I couldn’t really tell you what I saw, because I remember the moment of impact with my teammate and me having the ball."

Mexico clinches Group A

Mexico won Group A with six points in two matches, three more than South Korea and five more than the Czech Republic and South Africa, who drew 1-1 earlier Thursday in Atlanta.

The top two teams from each group move on to the knockout stage, along with the best eight third-place teams. A round of 32 is being played for the first time at the World Cup after the tournament was expanded to 48 teams.

“We’ve been doing very well,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “It wasn’t a great match, but I think that our opponent didn’t let us do too much. But we still were able to score, on that mistake, in addition to another two or three opportunities.”

Aguirre said it felt good for the players to guarantee their spot in the next round back in Mexico City.

“It relieves some of the pressure,” he said. “But not for me, for the players. They are euphoric, they are very happy.”

Mexico opened with a 2-0 win over South Africa, while South Korea rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Czechs.

Mexico closes group play on Wednesday against the Czech Republic in Mexico City, while South Korea takes on South Africa in Monterrey.

Mexico had never won a World Cup game on home soil outside Mexico City. Before 2026, all but one of its nine World Cup matches at home, spanning the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, had been played at Estadio Azteca, with five wins and three draws. When it played in Toluca in 1970, it lost 4-1 to Italy in the quarterfinals.

Thursday's match got off to a lackluster start, with neither team creating significant scoring opportunities and both squads getting loudly booed after the halftime whistle.

Mexico, ranked 13th, was eliminated in the group stage four years ago in Qatar. That followed seven straight eliminations in the round of the 16.

South Korea star Son Heung-min had another disappointing game and was substituted out in the 57th.

Plaudits for Son

The 33-year-old Son is looking to become South Korea’s top goal scorer at the World Cup and the Asian player with the most goals in the tournament. The former Tottenham star, currently with Los Angeles FC, entered with three goals over three prior World Cups.

Kim kept Mexico from adding to the lead by coming up with a tough save off a close-range shot by Raúl Jiménez in the 75th.

The South Koreans pressed through the end but could not equalize.

South Korea, ranked 22nd, is making its 11th straight World Cup appearance and 12th overall, the most of any Asian country. Its best result was a fourth-place finish at the tournament it co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, the South Koreans have never gone beyond the round of 16.

“The mistake that we made was unfortunate,” coach Hong Myung-bo said.

This time there were not many empty seats in Guadalajara, contrary to what happened in the earlier match between South Korea and the Czech Republic. FIFA had blamed fans standing in the concourses for the empty seats. Thursday's crowd was announced at 45,522 for the 45,664-capacity stadium, which was hosting the national team for the first time.

Celebrations and protest

Fan zones across Mexico were packed ahead of the game. In the biggest one, in Mexico City’s Zócalo, chants of support for the national team, shouting “Olé!” with every pass, mingled with a homophobic chant — a one-word slur that literally means male prostitute in Spanish — that has previously led to sanctions against Mexico and could spur new punishments by FIFA.

There were peaceful protests in Guadalajara organized by the families of Mexico’s 130,000 missing people.

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Associated Press writers Refugio Ruiz, Alexis Triboulard and Maria Verza contributed to this report.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, which the Israeli military said were ongoing.

Continued fighting in Lebanon could unravel the newly signed deal, which calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday put off his trip to Switzerland where he had been set to lead the talks. The White House blamed logistical issues, but the announcement came after a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied to Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, which took immediate effect.

In comments following the signing, Vance offered a blunt warning to Israel, saying Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”

_____

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press reporter David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok.

Vice President JD Vance had been prepared to make an overnight flight Friday to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen and begin the technical talks.

His staff and a small pack of journalists had even gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip. Meanwhile, dozens of White House officials, advance staffers and more media gathered in Switzerland to prepare for Vance's anticipated arrival.

But then abruptly on Thursday evening the trip was called off — at least for the time being.

The White House issued a statement explaining Vance — who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the negotiations — and his delegation were prepared for talks, but they were unable to finalize plans and the vice president would remain in Washington.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement noted.

The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a Pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it.”

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

Hours before postponing his trip, Vance gave some indication of the state of flux when he told reporters at a White House briefing that he was uncertain if the talks were going to happen this weekend.

“Our plan is to go to Switzerland, I don’t know exactly when,” Vance told reporters. “We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan. But that could change.”

Soon after Vance spoke to reporters, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed direct negotiations with the U.S. in a terse statement read by state media that appeared to signal to the Islamic Republic’s leadership that it could move forward with a first round of talks.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said in his statement.

The messaging seemed to give Khamenei, who was badly wounded in the Feb. 28 U.S. strike that killed his father, some maneuverability. Hard-liners in the Iranian government, including Khamenei’s father, have long opposed direct talks with the White House, especially after Trump, during his first term, pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Democratic President Barack Obama's administration.

More importantly for the White House, it appeared to create a permission structure for the talks to start.

The meeting was initially supposed to be a signing ceremony

Vance was initially expected to go to Switzerland to sign the agreement at a formal ceremony. Instead, Trump signed the document Wednesday during a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian separately signed the agreement.

The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble left by U.S. military strikes last year targeting Tehran’s key nuclear sites, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision.

It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously. But a range of other commitments remain to be worked out.

Iran believes it's in a strong negotiating position

Iranians would be going into the talks with a measure of confidence after effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, causing global economic reverberations, said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities in Washington.

She said the U.S. is now “essentially trying to negotiate our way back to the prewar status quo."

Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House think tank, said the “buoyant” Iranian leadership feels it has the upper hand. The endorsement of the talks by the Iranian supreme leader “sends a very strong signal domestically: ’We’re now on an equal footing with the U.S.'”

”‘Trump has gone from calling for regime change on Feb. 28 to this: Now they’re going to sit down with us directly and talk about these big issues,'” Quilliam said of the Iranians' thinking. “So it’s intended more for the domestic audience, and telling them: ‘We are firmly in control of this. There can be no protests, no revolution: We are a new regime and we’re staying put.’”

The president's tone has also taken a notable shift.

For weeks, he's insisted the financial costs to Americans were less important to him than stamping out Iran's nuclear program. He irked some of his fellow Republicans when he indicated its potential impact on November's midterm elections wasn't a concern.

But this week, at the G7 summit in Evian-Les-Bains, France, he acknowledged for the first time that continuing the war could have led to “economic catastrophe” and that oil reserves were on track to run out in about four weeks.

“And the one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover,” said Trump, referring to the 31st president whose time in office was defined by the Great Depression.

Vance has to negotiate through political division

For Vance, a likely 2028 presidential contender, how the negotiations play out could have enormous ramifications for his political fortunes.

Vance's skepticism of foreign wars was a core part of his political identity during his political rise. But now he finds himself the chief defender of negotiating an endgame to Trump's conflict that Democrats have largely derided as a foolish gambit. Some hawkish Republicans are aghast that Trump is getting behind a settlement that could put billions of dollars into Iran's coffers.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that he’s concerned the agreement “negotiates away the victories" from the U.S. air campaign against Iran and said aspects of it are “completely out of step” with Trump's goals.

Trump had fiercely criticized Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic.

In 2018, Trump exited the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union were also signatories to the pact.

Trump has pushed back against comparisons to the JCPOA, saying he had “negotiated from strength” after a massive military campaign while asserting that Obama was paying the Iranians off and not receiving acquiescence.

Wicker was particularly concerned about the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran mentioned in the 14-point agreement, saying it "would make Iran’s payoff under Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison.” Trump and Vance have said no U.S. taxpayer money would go to such a fund and it would not come without concessions and reforms by Tehran.

Burnham decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwest England over Rob Kenyon of the anti-immigration party Reform UK.

The victory announced early Friday cements the status of Burnham, a 56-year-old politician nicknamed the King of the North, as the top contender to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham won almost 55% of the 45,510 votes counted, over 9,000 more than Kenyon.

Burnham’s victory speech left no doubt that he wants to lead the country, and not just be one of the more than 400 Labour lawmakers in the 650-seat House of Commons.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working," he said. "Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

Starmer, who has previously maintained he will fight any leadership challenge, took to social media to congratulate Burnham. “Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate,” the prime minister wrote on X.

Burnham has led Manchester since 2017, overseeing rapid regeneration for the city where the Industrial Revolution was forged. He is pledging to repeat his signature brand of “Manchesterism” on a national scale.

Burnham said he would work to ensure that “the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs.”

He said Labour had “a final chance to change" and win back voters' trust.

“But it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States,” he said.

Labour is in power but unpopular

Starmer’s popularity has cratered since he led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the U.K. ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party, and facing a rising Reform UK, which consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls. The Nigel Farage -led party has rapidly gained ground in post-industrial northern England areas like Makerfield, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of London.

A dismal performance by Labour in May’s local elections spurred scores of lawmakers to demand Starmer’s resignation. He has refused to budge, but senior colleagues are trying to force a change.

Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary in May, saying that “where we need vision, we have a vacuum.” Streeting has said he will run in a leadership contest if there is one.

Then Josh Simons, the Labour lawmaker for Makerfield, stepped down to trigger a special election and give Burnham the chance to return to Parliament.

Britain’s parliamentary system allows governing parties to change leaders midterm, with the winner becoming prime minister without the need for a national election. Under Labour rules, a lawmaker can challenge the leader if they have backing from a fifth of the party’s House of Commons lawmakers — a number that stands at 81.

The victorious Burnham will head to London to be sworn in as a lawmaker as soon as Monday. He’s likely to seek a meeting with Starmer to argue that the prime minister should exit gracefully and set a timetable for his departure.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said Burnham and Starmer would in the next few days have to “have a conversation about what comes next.”

Labour lawmaker Louise Haigh, a Burnham ally, said Starmer should “do what’s best for both the country and the Labour Party” and “consider an orderly and managed transition.”

“Andy won’t be doing anything rash or hasty,” she told Sky News. “I’m really hopeful the prime minister and Andy can come to an agreement.”

Burnham’s victory piles pressure on Starmer to quit

Starmer has so far insisted he has no intention of leaving his post.

“I will fight if there’s a challenge,” he said at the G7 summit in France this week. “We won a significant general election result in 2024, with a mandate to bring about change. I’m not going to walk away from that.”

Starmer suggested that he could offer Burnham a Cabinet post, telling Sky News on Wednesday that “I want him to have a big role in government.” Allies of Burnham indicated that he wasn’t interested.

Despite his stubborn determination, Starmer could be forced out if several members of the Cabinet tell him the game is up and quit, or threaten to quit, in protest.

There could then be a leadership contest, or a coronation, depending on whether other potential candidates think Burnham has an unassailable lead.

Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said “the pressure on Starmer will be very hard to resist” now that Burnham is back in Parliament.

Ford said defeating Reform UK in Makerfield strengthens Burnham’s claim to be Labour’s biggest asset.

“The narrative he can bring is, ‘No one else could have won that seat. I won that. I bring something unique. I bring an ability to renew our appeal,’” Ford said.

U.S. futures declined as optimism over the U.S.-Iran deal to end their war was dimmed by the postponement of high-stakes talks on reopening negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and getting oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.

Investor sentiment has also been hit by expectations that central banks including the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to try to curb inflation.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 wavered between gains and losses and was little changed at 71,082.81. The government reported that consumer prices excluding volatile fresh foods was unchanged, but analysts said it would likely pick up in coming months despite higher fuel costs.

Higher inflation was a factor driving the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark interest rate earlier this week to a three-decade high of 1% as it gradually adjusts its policies after years of near-zero or negative rates.

In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.5% to 9,019.22 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.1% to 8,818.40.

India's Sensex lost 1%.

Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan were closed for the Dragon Boat festival.

On Thursday, stocks rose on Wall Street, erasing most of their losses from a day earlier to notch weekly gains thanks to big advances for heavyweight technology companies. The decline on Wednesday was driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to 7,500.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 51,564.70 and the Nasdaq composite surged 1.9% to 26,517.93.

Technology stocks had some of the biggest gains and the most influence on the broader market's rise. Intel surged 10.6% after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 3% and Micron Technology jumped 8.7%.

On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its big debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 3.6% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.

Oil prices wavered after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, spent most of the day lower before settling 0.4% higher at $79.85 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.2% to $75.85 per barrel.

Early Friday, Brent crude was down 0.5% at $79.34 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude lost 0.5% to $75.37 per barrel.

Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 3.7% and United Airlines rose 2.1%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.2%.

Energy companies lost ground. Exxon Mobil fell 2.1% and Chevron fell 2.2%.

Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.

Higher oil prices have been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.

Rising energy costs have been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher than a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.

The Federal Reserve kept is key interest rate unchanged this week but hotter inflation means it will likely raise rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates make borrowing easier for businesses and households, spurring growth, but they also tend to stoke inflation.

In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.39 Japanese yen from 161.38 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1441 from $1.1458.

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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.

As thousands poured into Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday to see Spain face Cape Verde in what turned out to be a remarkable scoreless draw, Ramroop stood outside, increasingly stressed as she went back and forth for hours between StubHub representatives on the phone and FIFA representatives in the ticket booth. Each blamed the other.

No one could figure out why the tickets Ramroop bought months ago on StubHub for $485 apiece couldn't be transferred from the original seller to the FIFA ticketing app. StubHub offered her a refund and, as Ramroop heard the crowd roar for the start of the match, she knew she had no choice but to give up and take the offer.

“I didn’t want a refund, I didn’t want my money back,” Ramroop said. “I wanted to go to the game.”

The World Cup has delivered thrills on the pitch, but fans have flooded social media with complaints about tickets that never arrived, orders that were canceled at the last minute and hours they spent trying to sort out problems between FIFA’s ticketing system and outside resale platforms. The vast majority seem to be about industry titan StubHub, but people who bought through competitors such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats have also reported issues. Interviews with fans and industry experts show that some cases stem from technical glitches in the transfer process, while others could involve sellers who never had tickets to deliver in the first place, though StubHub denies such sales happen on its platform.

A grandmother's disappointment

FIFA has urged fans to buy resale tickets through its own marketplace, where it slaps a 30% surcharge on every resold ticket — 15% each from the buyer and seller. But many fans bought through other resale sites, either out of habit or because those sites have lower prices or are easier to navigate.

Ramroop didn't realize she was taking a risk when she bought through StubHub, which she had used in the past without issues.

As she and her grandson Elijah Gomes took the long, lonely train ride back to the Atlanta suburbs, Elijah followed the score on his phone. The match had ended scoreless, and he tried to cheer up his devastated grandmother by telling her they hadn't missed much after all (Cape Verdeans would beg to differ ).

“He’s telling me, ‘Grandma, it’s OK, Grandma.’ And he’s trying to console me,” Ramroop said the next day.

She was hardly alone. An Associated Press journalist witnessed more than a dozen frustrated fans at the match who said they were stuck in similar situations.

StubHub blamed FIFA for the transfer problems that buyers like Ramroop have experienced. In a statement, it said FIFA has “poor technology infrastructure,” enacted last-minute transfer restrictions and didn't launch its new ticketing app until a few weeks before the tournament. The company also called out organizers that “take anti-competitive actions” that limit where fans can buy and sell tickets.

Asked about the technical issues, FIFA on Wednesday reiterated that sales through its official site are guaranteed to go through.

An industry's longstanding problem

Industry observers say the problems appear to stem from more than one cause. For some, it may indeed be technical glitches — an issue that StubHub says is “very, very rare” and one that it is hard at work to solve. For others, they say it's likely a more longstanding scourge: speculative sellers.

Scott Friedman, an industry veteran and co-founder of a consultancy called the Ticket Talk Network, said some sellers list tickets before they actually have them, betting that prices will fall closer to the event so they can buy the tickets at a better price later. But because World Cup ticket prices have surged since the tournament began, those sellers have been forced to either buy expensive tickets to fulfill their orders or cancel and accept penalties from resale platforms. StubHub's penalties are typically 200% of the ticket price, Friedman said.

“This is not new at all,” said Friedman, pointing to other high-profile events where frustrated fans were left empty-handed, including Taylor Swift's Eras tour. “This has been going on, but it’s making global news because it’s the World Cup.”

StubHub says it requires sellers to prove they have tickets before they list them.

But regardless of the reason for the canceled sales, Friedman said “StubHub should fill every single order to make sure fans get in the biggest global sporting event that happens every four years.”

That’s what many fans say they expected when they purchased through StubHub.

StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee promises replacement tickets or a refund if tickets fail to arrive. But the policy repeatedly says those remedies are provided at StubHub’s “sole discretion,” meaning the company can choose a refund instead of securing replacement seats.

“That is pretty explicit language,” said Michael McCann, a sports law expert at the University of New Hampshire. McCann noted that a buyer could try to challenge the language under state consumer protection laws, but it would be an uphill battle.

A father's regrets

Pape Ndaw is crestfallen that the high school graduation gift he got for his son — tickets for them to see the Netherlands and Japan near their home city of Dallas — never arrived.

He bought the tickets for about $550 apiece in December. Then, two days before the June 14 match, he received an email from StubHub telling him, “The seller can’t deliver your original tickets.”

Ndaw accepted store credit rather than a refund, thinking he would use the funds to quickly get replacements, only to then realize that the cheapest last-minute tickets were going for more than $1,500 each. Not only were they not going to get to go to the game, but Ndaw said StubHub rejected his belated request for a refund instead of store credit.

Breaking the news to his soccer-obsessed son was brutal, Ndaw said.

“It was a disastrous thing,” he said. “He had told all his friends that he was going to that game. He literally cried. I mean, he is a 17-year-old kid, but he cried.”

A family's attempt to make the best of it

Others fared somewhat better.

Patrick O’Neil of Pittsboro, North Carolina, traveled to Atlanta with his wife, son and relatives after purchasing five tickets through StubHub for the Spain-Cape Verde match. Two tickets transferred successfully, but three never arrived.

O’Neil’s 15-year-old son and his uncle ended up using the two tickets, while O’Neil, his wife and another relative watched from a nearby bar.

After local media caught wind of their ordeal, O’Neil said StubHub contacted the family and offered tickets to another game. Since the family had already bought tickets to one, though, he and his wife asked the company to instead give the seats to local nonprofit Soccer in the Streets so they could go to people who otherwise might not be able to attend a match.

“StubHub is not evil, but they’re part of the whole system that makes it really hard for just normal kids and people who might want to see a match get to go,” O'Neil said.

On Thursday, a StubHub representative confirmed to the AP that the company would honor the O’Neils’ request and send tickets to the nonprofit.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat speeding through the water before being struck and bursting into flames.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

Senators on Thursday demanded that the Pentagon release “unedited video” of the strikes. They have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The U.S. military’s first strike in early September drew particular concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law.

Two men on the boat initially survived the attack that killed nine others, and they were clinging to the wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them. The White House confirmed the follow-up strike, insisting it was done “in self-defense” to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.

But some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would have been illegal under any circumstance, armed conflict or not.

The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.

The decision against Rong Chhun, a top adviser to the Nation Power Party, was met with anger by supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court complex in Phnom Penh.

The 56-year-old had been found guilty last year of inciting social unrest after meeting with villagers displaced by government construction projects, in what was widely seen as one of many legal moves taken by the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet to stifle criticism.

Under the decision, Rong Chhun will be prohibited from any involvement in politics for five years, including voting or standing as a candidate, and will be banned from traveling abroad for three years, the remainder of his original four-year sentence, his attorney Em Chantha told reporters. He had also been free while his appeal was pending.

Supreme Court decisions are final, but Rong Chhun said he and his attorney would study the verdict in detail to decide whether there would be a chance to ask Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni for a pardon.

Severe weather also pummeled parts of the Midwest, where a separate line of strong storms knocked down structures and left tens of thousands of residents without power.

Arthur was the first tropical storm of the season in the Atlantic basin, and although it quickly downgraded within a day of forming, the lingering system created dangerous conditions in Louisiana and Mississippi. In one rural Louisiana parish, more than 2 feet of rain fell in 48 hours and most of that soaking came Thursday, said Donald Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

It flooded at least 200 homes in Avoyelles Parish, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of the state capital, Louisiana state Rep. Daryl Deshotel said.

“Even by this region’s standards, that’s catastrophic rain,” Jones said.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a social media post Thursday night that a worker on a county road crew in the southwestern part of the state had been killed while helping with storm cleanup operations. The cause of the death was not disclosed.

Thirty homes below the Anchor Lake dam in southern Mississippi were being evacuated as a precaution due to concerns that rising waters could overwhelm the spillways and compromise the structure, Reeves said. Residents in the area were being encouraged to seek higher ground.

Coni Dubois said several inches of water flooded her home overnight in Houma, southwest of New Orleans, but others in the community had worse damage. She’s lived through many hurricanes and other storms, but never witnessed thunder and lightning like this.

“It was unbelievable, it literally sounded like hell broke open,” Dubois said. “I thought for sure we had a tornado on top of us. The lightning and the thunder was so consistent, the whole house was lit up like daylight for about 20 minutes.”

The National Guard and state wildlife officials were working with rescue crews, officials said.

One tornado had been confirmed in Avoyelles Parish in central Louisiana, along with three others near New Orleans, the weather service said.

Louisana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency for some storm-hit areas, and the town of Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish said it was turning off water service overnight “to manage our resources and allow our system to recover.” It urged residents to limit water use and to fill pots and other containers before the water was shut off.

Amid relentless rainfall in central Louisiana, Cody Coco said he rescued stranded workers — waist deep in water —- at a cypress sawmill operation he runs near his home in Avoyelles Parish. He said the water has continued to rise all throughout the day.

Coco, 40, said he also used a boat to rescue the four pigs he kept in a pen. Video he shared on his Facebook page shows the hogs swimming out of their enclosure in a torrent of murky water. Coco says they are now safe on higher ground.

“If I’d left them in the pen, they’d have drowned,” Coco said. “They were happy to see me.”

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno posted a video on Facebook describing relatively minor damage and cleanup efforts. Ahead of the storm, police prepared boats and set up barricades in flood-prone areas. They also opened sandbag distribution sites across Louisiana.

Just across the Mississippi River in Avondale, a tornado wrecked four homes, Jefferson Parish spokeswoman Rachel Strassel said. Two people were hospitalized with minor injuries and later released.

The Midwest was also dealing with damage after a strong line of storms.

A tornado was reported Wednesday evening near Effingham, Illinois, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Springfield. Several people suffered minor injuries, officials said.

Firefighters responded to damaged homes, collapsed structures, car crashes, downed power lines, gas leaks and blocked roads, Effingham Fire Chief Brant Yochum said.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois, confirmed two tornadoes, including one Wednesday with maximum winds of 116 mph (186.8 kph) in the Charleston area. The EF2 tornado lifted the roof off a home and flipped a semi-truck, injuring one person.

Marla Washburn and her husband, Todd, hunkered down in their basement as a suspected tornado tore through their neighborhood about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north in Blue Mound. They could hear debris smacking into their house and a school across the street lost its roof, which came crashing onto their home.

“The whole house shook,” Washburn said in a phone interview, adding that the neighborhood looks like Armageddon.

“You don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but we’re OK,” she said. “You look at it and you go, ‘I don’t even know where to start to clean up.'”

Her unapologetically expansive, left-wing agenda includes subsidized or even free childcare, increased down payment assistance for homebuyers and community resources to reduce crime, plus a promise to aggressively confront President Donald Trump's attempts to reshape the nation's capital.

“People are tired of hearing what government can’t do. They want to hear what government can do,” Lewis George said in an interview before the city's primary, where she defeated her Democratic opponents and positioned herself to win the general election in November in a city dominated by Democrats.

Lewis George's victory signals a break with a quarter-century of centrist governance in Washington, and it puts her in the vanguard of democratic socialists who have ascended in urban politics over the last year. Zohran Mamdani toppled Andrew Cuomo, the scion of a political dynasty, on his way to becoming New York City mayor. Katie Wilson won an upset victory to lead Seattle last fall. And this month, Nithya Raman clinched a spot in the November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

All of them are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. The political organization has seen its membership ranks swell from a few thousand to more than 100,000 nationwide over the last decade after an influx of younger Americans joined following the presidential bids of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a self-described democratic socialist.

There's little sign of national coordination among the candidates, and it’s unclear whether voters are gravitating toward their promises of improved government services, their vows to fight the Trump administration or their critiques of capitalism.

But from coast to coast, confrontational progressives are advancing in mayoral races. City leaders can draw outsized attention for their successes and failures, and democratic socialists will be under pressure from residents to deliver on their vows for a new kind of governance. Whether that translates to national politics is a next test for their movement.

“They are all channeling a displeasure with a status quo and a serious desire for economic populism that the establishment Democratic Party hasn't been preaching,” said Eric Stern, a Democratic strategist with Fight Agency, a political consulting firm that strategized Mamdani's mayoral campaign.

Stern added that Democratic voters appeared more willing to support the most progressive candidate in mayoral races rather than in contests for the U.S. House. Candidates like Mamdani and Raman, Stern said, are “daring voters to dream and fall in love not just with the individual candidates but also the political process as a whole.”

A rising left navigates America's urban challenges

The trend of progressives surging in urban areas may have limits for its broader impact on Democratic politics. Democratic mayors in cities including Atlanta, Houston, Miami and San Francisco won on relatively moderate platforms in recent years.

Progressive have also faced noteworthy challenges. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was endorsed by the city's DSA chapter during his 2023 mayoral run but has since faced criticism from both moderate and liberal local leaders on issues such as immigration, the local budget and public safety. Recalls and public pressure ousted progressives elected to district attorney offices in multiple jurisdictions over the last five years, when criminal justice reform efforts ran into dissatisfaction over public disorder following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump's hardline immigration and law enforcement tactics have also become a challenge for liberal cities. The president's agenda poses an especially serious threat to Washington, D.C., because of its status as a federal territory.

“Maybe we take back Washington and run it on a federal basis,” Trump told reporters this month when asked about the potential election of a democratic socialist as the district's mayor. “We won’t put up with it.”

But progressives hope the current wave of anti-Trump furor in deep blue cities across the country will help buoy the chances of those on the hard left.

“It’s not folks looking for the leftmost option so much as looking for a candidate who’s gonna be on their side,” said Ravi Mangla, speaking for the left-wing Working Families Party. The party often endorses the same candidates as the DSA and is readying to target more mayoral offices in the country's biggest metropolises this fall and in 2028.

“It’s less about whether you are on the right or on the left so much as whether you are willing to punch up at the powerful,” he added.

Mamdani and Lewis George are both self-described “sewer socialists” who emphasize the need for responsive government services rather than critiques of market economics. The phrase recalls the socialist Gilded Age mayors whom critics derided as too preoccupied with managing public works projects.

The term's revival is partly a strategic move to align leftist ideas with concerns over affordability and the economy, voters' top concern in the midterm elections, and shift the public perception of democratic socialists from firebrands who support radical policies to independent-minded public servants.

“This is absolutely a change election and I’m excited to bring the change that people want, which is really putting people first in the city and having the moral clarity and courage to stand up to Trump,” Lewis George said.

For voters the ‘socialist’ label did not seem to matter

While conservatives have used the “socialist” label to attack Democrats as extreme or incompetent, some D.C. voters appeared ambivalent before Tuesday's primary.

Several lifelong residents said they believed Lewis George was a “fighter” but didn't think she'd have much of an impact on the local economy, given the city's status as a federal district.

“I go back and forth on my own labels and whether I am supportive of that movement or not, but I am supportive of making D.C. more affordable,” Owen Fitzgerald, a University of Maryland graduate student, said of his support for democratic socialism.

Fitzgerald voted for Lewis George because she would stand up to Trump and said he'd first learned of her campaign from friends in his neighborhood. But he didn't know she was a democratic socialist until he saw news reports describing her with the label.

“It sends a cultural message to this administration that the people who are surrounding them in the capital are opposed to their platform, opposed to their political agenda, and I think that it will send a message, both nationally and internationally,” Fitzgerald said.

“In years to come, as people walk down Hollywood Boulevard, they’ll come across my star,” he said to the assembled crowd. “And unless they’re related to me, they’ll ask: ‘Who the hell was that guy?’”

Yet at a time of perpetual upheaval in Hollywood, the unflashy Meledandri has created and shaped one of Hollywood’s most consistent blockbuster-making operations. Family-friendly movies are fueling the box office like never before, and Illumination is at the forefront of it.

Since Illumination’s first release, 2010’s “Despicable Me,” the animation studio has accounted for more than $11 billion in global box office. Its “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is the sole $1 billion movie of 2026 so far. Illumination’s next release, “Minions & Monsters,” which premieres Sunday at the Annecy Film Festival in France, stands a good chance of equaling it.

The Minions — Illumination’s answer to Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny — have done a lot to drive that success. But the studio, a division of Universal Pictures, has expanded to include the “Mario” movies with Nintendo, an upcoming “Barbie” animated movie with Mattel and earlier franchises like “Sing” and “The Secret Lives of Pets.” If Illumination is synonymous with anything, it’s good cartoony fun.

“From the outset, we really wanted to make films that would be joyous above everything else,” Meledandri said in an interview. “I found myself working with filmmakers who appreciated that Looney Tunes style of cartooning integrated into the creation of these animated films today.”

“Minions & Monsters,” which opens in theaters July 1, may be Illumination’s ultimate goofy romp. In the seventh of the “Despicable Me” movies and the third “Minions” standalone feature, the Minions become filmmakers. “Minions & Monsters” has the gumption to give some of the most chaos-inducing creatures, who have mishandled every diabolical device ever handed to them, a camera.

Set in the 1920s Golden Age of Hollywood, the movie has a lot of fun putting the Minions alongside silent slapstick classics like Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” and Harold Lloyd’s “Safety Last!” Jeff Bridges voices a studio head. It's the Minions' answer to “The Muppet Movie.” James, the most creative Minion, is listed as its director — at least in a first draft of the end credits.

The Minions go behind the camera

The movie’s real director, though, is Pierre Coffin, an Illumination veteran who has directed many of its movies and who famously voices the Minions. But Coffin has had a complicated relationship with the Minions ever-expanding world domination, and Meledandri knew he was reluctant to return. But this is an executive who, as a producer, managed to reunite the cast of DreamWorks' “Shrek” for a fifth movie due out next year.

“He called me one weekend and he said, ’You’re going to say no but I’ve got to ask,” Coffin, speaking from Paris, says. “He said: ‘It’s Minions wanting to make a monster movie. They conjure monsters but then that creation turns on them and the Earth.’”

“He got me at ‘Minions making movies,’” adds Coffin. “From that moment, I just had questions.”

The movie, opening two weeks after Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” will be a new test of just how much of a powerhouse Illumination has become. After a stint running Fox’s animation division and making the “Ice Age” films, Meledandri founded the company, relying heavily on a group of artists at a Paris animation company then called Mac Guff. While Illumination is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, much of its movie production takes place in Paris.

With its collaborations now stretching to Japan, via Nintendo, a globalization defines Illumination — fitting given the international word salad gibberish of the Minions.

“An objective from day one, when I started the company, was to have the complexion of creative leadership reflect our desire to make films for the entire world, as opposed to being so American-centric,” says Meledandri.

But Meledandri never set out to rival Disney or Pixar. “Those goals just felt unrealistically ambitious,” he says. Instead, Meledandri freed filmmakers and animators to make movies about antic antiheroes. He targeted subversive comedy, not poignancy. You’re likely to laugh at an Illumination movie. Crying? Not so much.

That approach has made Illumination a box-office behemoth. (Universal’s output deal with Netflix, after the movies first stream on Peacock, also boosts its films' audience.) But awards love has eluded the company. Illumination has never won an Oscar, a historical fact jokingly nodded to in “Minions & Monsters.” Only one release ("Despicable Me 2") has been nominated for best animated feature.

But with its abiding affection for moviemaking, “Minions & Monsters” could find wider industry support. Even George Lucas lends his voice to the film.

Making blockbusters on a budget

Regardless, “Minions & Monsters” is something rare in today’s movie world: It's almost certain to be profitable. Since producing the 2000 box-office bomb “Titan A.E.” at Fox, Meledandri has made fiscal discipline a religion. “Everyone’s expectation was that I would be fired,” he says. “I probably should have been fired.”

While $200 million-plus budgets still drive many blockbusters, even big-budget filmmakers like James Cameron have warned that production costs need to be scaled down for leaner times. “Minions & Monsters” cost a relatively modest $85 million to make. Illumination’s most expensive movie, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” cost a not-extreme $110 million. “Toy Story 5,” on the other hand, carries a $250 million budget.

“In 19 years, I cannot remember a single conversation where a director came back and said: We need more money. It’s just not part of our ethos,” Meledandri says. “It may be: How are we going to solve this problem? Or: We can’t get this done by this date. But it’s never: We need more money.”

Some in Hollywood see generative AI as a promising new way to keep expenses down, but Meledandri isn’t sold yet.

“My main focus right now is the preservation of jobs and at the expense of being the most technologically advanced,” he says. “It always feels better to be part of a front of a wave as opposed to a Luddite. But in this case, we’re not pushing AI into our pipeline.”

“I do not believe that a sufficient answer is, ‘Well, we’ve had technological advances before and people were worried yet it all was fine and things kept surging forward,’” Meledandri continues. “None of those other technologies had agency.”

Animation big wigs have often been ubiquitous presences. But neither Jeffrey Katzenberg, of DreamWorks, nor John Lasseter, of Pixar, remain at the animation studios they once defined. The 67-year-old Meledandri, who grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is the unlikely heavyweight — the “big boss” of the Minion empire.

His entry to the movie business first began when a customer of his father's men's clothing store hired him as an assistant on “Footloose.” His second big break came producing the 1993 Disney hit “Cool Runnings.” Now he finds himself running a once-underdog animation studio with an almost unblemished track record.

The competition that worries him isn't Disney or Pixar, though, but short-form content.

“It’s got to force us to be more imaginative and more surprising and to reach further than storytelling that could feel safe because it’s worked before,” says Meledandri. “In ‘Minions & Monsters,’ what Pierre Coffin has done is made a movie that is so wildly imaginative and unexpected that it’s exactly where I would wish Illumination to be in this moment in time.”

Dressed in military-style camouflage, the members of the National Coordinating Committee of the Bolivarian Army placed their weapons on a table during a formal ceremony in the department of Putumayo, which borders Ecuador. The group is a dissident faction of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Now disarmed, the dissidents will enter a temporary resettlement zone where the government intends to facilitate their gradual reintegration into civilian life. The government in a statement explained that they “will have their freedom restricted and will be under the control and supervision” of authorities.

“We laid down the iron rifle because we understand that words are a more powerful weapon,” dissident leader Geovany Andrés Rojas said as part of the ceremony. He made the remarks remotely from jail, where he is being held after being captured last year when the group was engaged in peace talks with the government.

His arrest took place in connection with an Interpol Red Notice for drug trafficking charges in the United States. Rojas on Thursday said his capture undermined the confidence of the rank and file but did not derail the dialogue process.

Petro, a former rebel leader and Colombia’s first progressive president, is negotiating with the dissident faction as part of his signature “total peace” policy, which has opened parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups. The effort has largely failed.

The dissident groups emerged from factions that did not accept the historic peace agreement signed a decade ago by the state and FARC, formerly Latin America’s oldest guerrilla group. The country is estimated to have 27,000 illegally armed group members, according to a 2025 report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a think tank focused on the internal conflict.

Last week, Petro established a monitoring mechanism for the temporary relocation zone and ordered the suspension of offensive military and special police operations to allow the dissidents to enter the designated area.

The warnings were followed by sweeping airstrikes, which Israel said targeted the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

What Kaour found back in Tyre shattered his hopes. His dream family apartment overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was a heap of rubble and shattered glass.

His return came after the announcement of an agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. The deal also calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah, but it's unclear what that means in practice.

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as "Israel’s security needs require it.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri — a Hezbollah ally — said Thursday that the group was committed to the ceasefire, “provided that Israel adheres to it fully and comprehensively.” Hezbollah has said that it's committed to resisting any occupation by Israel. Fighting between the two sides, which was still underway in some parts of southern Lebanon, could derail the deal.

Many hope the US-Iran deal signals better times

For residents in the south of crisis-battered Lebanon, hopes of better times are mixed with skepticism after many ceasefire announcements previously failed to halt fighting.

Kaour lives in Germany but spends most of the summer in Tyre. Last month, when an Israeli strike hit their street without warning, he was abroad with his family.

When he returned, he saw his building, with a popular sweets shop and an electronics store on the ground floor, was still standing, unlike surrounding structures that were leveled to the ground.

But walls and windows had been blasted out. He was relieved his family had not been there, he said.

“I’m hopeful for peace, and God willing this is the end of the war, and everyone can go back to their homes," he said. “We are living abroad, but our minds are here in our country.”

Outside, the street filled with people trying to clear the rubble.

Kaour's neighbor one floor above, Samih Haidar, had also just returned and found his door bolted by wooden boards.

He tried to kick them down but failed, then anxiously waited as two men who had been clearing rubble on another floor came and unscrewed the bolts.

Through a gap, Haidar climbed in. He didn't know what to expect. He had rented the apartment out to a family displaced from another area in the south, people who came to him through a friend.

His anxiety turned into shock: broken furniture, shattered glass, rubble and a burned out kitchen that had caught fire after the strike. He slowly walked through each room, quietly filming with his phone. He doesn't know what became of the tenants — displaced from Tyre like scores of others, he presumed.

“We want things to work out and live in safety, so there can be stability for us and everyone else,” Haidar said.

An isolated enclave hopes for reprieve

Farther south, the Christian village of Ain Ebel is one of a few enclaves in Lebanon's border area where residents have remained during the war. Christian villages, where Hezbollah has little presence, have been largely spared the destruction of neighboring Shiite villages. But they have their own problems.

The village is cut off from the rest of Lebanon by fighting and Israeli checkpoints, relying on aid convoys that require extensive coordination to get through. One such convoy, organized by the Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order, arrived Thursday bearing emergency livestock feed and supplies for farmers.

Cattle farmer Boutros Maroun said people in Ain Ebel are exhausted.

“We don’t care about America and Iran, we want the Lebanese people to live comfortably and happily," he said. "Every two years there’s a new war, and we can no longer take it.”

The convoy was delayed in returning to Beirut because of explosives found on the road, which had to be cleared by U.N. peacekeepers.

Fighting pierces a tenuous ceasefire

The fighting subsided but did not stop Thursday. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli drone strikes, including one on a car in the town of Kfar Tebnit that killed one person and critically wounded another. Hezbollah later said in a statement that its fighters clashed with Israeli troops trying to advance on the town. Israel did not comment.

To the north, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, displaced families huddled along the waterfront in Beirut. Most of them have been sleeping in tents for months, living in limbo. For others, it's a bench or a mattress on the ground.

Many said they're not convinced that the U.S.-Iran deal will hold or that they will be able to return to their homes — if they still exist. In the border area close to Israel, many Lebanese villages have been almost completely demolished.

“I haven’t felt relieved at all,” said Mohammed Ashmar, displaced from the border village of Deir Seryan, holding a cup of coffee and sitting near his tent on the waterfront. “Until I get back to my home ... I won’t be convinced of anything.”

The Israel-Hezbollah war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon, and killed more than 3,900, according to Lebanese officials. About 30 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

Speaking during a visit by foreign dignitaries on Thursday, Lebanon’s Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said the country faces urgent humanitarian needs but also the daunting task of planning for the return of displaced families and reconstruction of the destroyed areas.

“The Lebanese people deserve peace," she said. “They deserve to return safely to their homes, rebuild their communities, and look to the future with confidence and hope.”

___

Associated Press journalists Fadi Tawil in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. Hussein reported from Ain Ebel, Lebanon.

The review was yet another surprise for European allies and Canada as they learn to deal with an increasingly unpredictable ally. U.S. officials and senior military officers had promised to coordinate closely with the Europeans as America draws down.

In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump and the Pentagon have sent conflicting signals about whether America is reducing or increasing its military footprint in Europe, as well as threatening to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark. Just weeks ago, the Trump administration said that it would no longer provide as much military support should any NATO member come under attack.

“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” Hegseth told his NATO counterparts. “It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said the allies have long been aware of U.S. plans to pull troops from Europe at some point and that they must take care of their own security.

“We know that we must do more and we are doing it,” Merz said.

Public dressing down over bases, gender and migration

In a fiery speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide U.S. forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it “shameful.”

“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said. The review would also assess whether the U.S. has full access and overflight “when we need it.”

While defense ministers and military officers sat in silence, Hegseth railed against migration and gender equality policies in Europe, in remarks reminiscent to those of Vice President JD Vance in February last year that angered many Europeans.

“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered, along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth's comments largely mischaracterized European policies today. On defense, European allies and Canada have launched an unprecedented effort to boost defense spending and expand their armed forces. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted on Thursday that they spent $90 billion more on defense last year, a 20% increase over 2024. And while Europe accepted large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers more than a decade ago, most countries have tightened their borders since.

It does not augur well for a summit of NATO leaders in Turkey on July 7-8.

A rare and short visit to NATO

It was a rare visit to NATO by Hegseth, his first this year after skipping a meeting in February. The Pentagon chief did not stay long, leaving well before the gathering was over and hours before Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to press allies for more weapons for his country.

Speaking to reporters at Brussels airport before flying home, Hegseth said, “It was great to hear country after country say, ‘We’re going to meet our target. We’re going to meet our target.’ There are still a few outliers, and we will be clear with them as we do this review.”

NATO’s supreme allied commander, an American, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the U.S. signaled on June 3 that it would no longer supply an aircraft carrier and support ships, aerial refueling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in a crisis.

The Trump administration insists that it needs to be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources at hand should it clash with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Under NATO’s collective security guarantee – Article 5 of its founding treaty – the 32 allies pledge that an attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all. It does not oblige them to provide military support, although many likely would.

In essence, the United States is scaling back how it might help should an ally trigger Article 5.

US nuclear weapons will stay

The U.S. has by far NATO’s biggest armed forces. It does not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons in Europe, which are key to NATO’s deterrence. To underscore that point, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group issued its first statement in 19 years after Thursday’s meeting.

In the statement, it “recalled that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance remain the supreme guarantee of Allied security and underpin NATO’s extended deterrence architecture.”

The ministers “agreed to continue enhancing NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission by modernizing NATO’s nuclear capabilities, strengthening its nuclear planning capacity, and adapting to achieve its security interests.”

Rutte played down the impact of the U.S. decision, saying that the NATO Force Model – the system for organizing what forces member countries will provide commanders in times of peace, crisis or conflict – is just “a planning tool,” and not a reflection of what would actually happen.

“If war breaks out, we will all max out what we need to do to make sure we can fight the war,” Rutte told reporters. “In the planning phase, it is important to know what we can count on. What is in theory there.”

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

Jonathan David scored three goals and Canada won its first World Cup match while all but securing a spot in the knockout round with a 6-0 victory over Qatar on Thursday.

Qatar was reduced to nine players because of red cards in the chaotic match. Assim Madibo was handed a red early in the second half after a tackle on Ismaël Koné, who was stretchered off with a broken left leg. Homan Ahmed was sent off in the first half for a challenge on Tajon Buchanan.

With the outburst of scoring, Canada tripled its overall World Cup goal total. Cyle Larin scored in the Canadians' opening draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Alphonso Davies scored four years ago in a loss to Croatia in Qatar, where Canada also got on the board with an own goal by Morocco. The Canadians were shut out three times in the 1986 World Cup.

“No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day,” said coach Jesse Marsch, who held up six fingers as he walked off the field. “It’s an incredibly seminal moment for everyone to understand that there’s talent in this country, that there’s mentality, that there’s desire, that there’s a lot of things that make this country special.”

And the supporters who packed BC Place were ecstatic.

“We’re soaking up history right here,” fan Matthias Kempe said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the 52,497 fans in attendance after missing the game in Toronto last week because of the G7 summit in France. He sat with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“It was amazing. After every goal it got louder and louder,” David said. “It gave us motivation to get the next goal and the next goal.”

Canada's triumph was marred by its anguish over Koné's injury. Teammates surrounded him in concern after he was tackled from behind and crumpled to the pitch with his lower left leg bent at a gruesome-looking angle. Madibo was clearly distraught before he was ejected.

Koné was taken to a hospital, were he was preparing for surgery. His family was with him, said Marsch, who confirmed the player's leg was broken.

Larin scored his second goal of the tournament on a rebound in the 16th minute. Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada punched away David’s volley but it fell to Larin, who pointed to his ears in celebration as the red-clad crowd roared.

David doubled the lead with a right-footed volley in the 29th, for his first goal in the run of play in more than a year.

Ahmed was sent off with a red card in the 33rd. The official initially pointed to the penalty spot, but after video review Canada was given a free kick just outside the box and the initial yellow card handed to Ahmed was changed to red.

Canada made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time when David scored in a scramble in front of the net off a shot that caromed off the crossbar. Qatari players stood with their hands on their hips in frustration while Canada celebrated.

Nathan Saliba, who came in as a substitute for Koné, scored on a free kick in the 64th to make it 4-0. Mohamed Manai deflected a shot past his goalkeeper for an own goal in the 75th.

David completed the hat trick in stoppage time, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi as the only players with three goals in a match in this World Cup.

“It was a very tough match for many reasons. The players did their best. It was very difficult to face this match with two players less with this environment,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said.

Qatar scored a stoppage-time goal to earn a surprising 1-1 draw with Group B favorite Switzerland in its opener. The Persian Gulf country is still looking for its first World Cup win after losing all of its group matches four years ago as the host.

Switzerland defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 earlier in the day in Group B.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Officers responded around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to Norfolk Boulevard in connection with a shooting. Before officers arrived, the shooter called police to report the incident.

Shortly after, a man in his 20s drove himself to a nearby hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. He was listed in stable condition.

According to the investigation, the shooter was parked and sitting in his car when the man approached him and told him to leave. The shooter agreed to do so, but JSO said that when the shooter did not leave quickly enough, the other man reapproached him and pointed a rifle at him.

The shooter then shot the man several times before leaving the scene and calling police, JSO said. Investigators believe the incident was isolated and said there was no threat to the community.

Crime Scene detectives are processing the scene for evidence. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-8477.

A Tornado Watch continues from the Panhandle to near Athens, Georgia, west of our area, through 11 p.m.

Breezy, hot and humid conditions continue Friday and this weekend. Scattered showers with thunderstorms are likely Saturday with a slight chance of afternoon showers and storms expected on Sunday.

Summer officially starts at 4:24 a.m. on Sunday.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, warm.

Friday: Scattered showers with thunderstorms, hot and humid. Showers and isolated storms will be possible early as the remnants of Arthur sail across Georgia and heads toward the Carolinas. Lows in the 70s to low 80s. Highs in the 80s and 90s. Rain chance: 50-70 percent. Wind: SW 10-15, gusting to 20 mph.

Saturday: Hot and humid with showers and afternoon thunderstorms, 70-90 percent. Lows in the 70s to low 80s. Highs in the 80s and 90s. Wind: W/NW 10-15 mph.

Looking ahead: Partly cloudy with afternoon showers and isolated storms on Sunday. Drier and hotter next week.

Tropics: The remnants of Arthur could reemerge off the Carolina coast on Friday with possible development as it steers away from land.

Sunrise: 6:25 p.m.

Sunset: 8:32 p.m.

Romanch Mahajan, 18, died after he got off of the four-wheeled carriage as its horse sprinted through the park without the driver.

He is believed to be the first person to die in a horse carriage accident since they were introduced in Central Park more than 150 years ago, according to the labor union representing the industry and the Central Park Conservancy, which manages the 843-acre (341-hectare) park.

The conservancy was among those arguing Thursday that the carriage industry should be suspended until more protections can be put in place. Mahajan’s death was the eighth horse-related incident in the park over the past 13 months, the group said.

“The record is undeniable: crashes, runaways, horse deaths, injuries, and now a devastating loss of human life,” said Edita Birnkrant, head of the animal welfare group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets.

Animal rights activists have long said the carriage horses are overworked, can get easily spooked on city streets and live in inadequate stables while their drivers regularly flout city rules. All of those allegations have been denied by the horse and carriage owners, who say the animals are well cared for and the stables are fine.

The conservancy has argued that horses can no longer safely share park roads teeming with joggers, cyclists, pedestrians and motorized scooters, noting that other U.S. cities, including Chicago and San Antonio, have also recently done away with the nostalgic rides.

But carriage industry leaders said the fatal crash underscores the need for better protections, not outright elimination of the quaint attraction that harkens back to a romanticized, bygone New York.

“We’re absolutely gutted and stunned by this tragedy,” said Alexander Kemp, a vice president with the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the labor union representing carriage drivers and owners. “We have shuttered the stables and ceased operations today while we have extensive internal discussions of safety protocols and how they can be improved.”

Horse carriages weren’t running Thursday and it was not immediately clear when the rides, which cost about $72 for the first 20 minutes, would resume.

The owner of the carriage involved in the fatal crash also suspended the driver indefinitely, and has plans to retire the horse from the business, according to the union. It said the driver improperly dismounted to take a photograph of his passengers.

Celebrating a high school graduation turned tragic

Mahajan had been on a family trip celebrating his recent high school graduation when the family decided to take a ride on one of the park’s often photographed, richly decorated carriages.

His father, Deepak Mahajan, told The New York Times the family had arrived from India on Monday, the same day Romanch learned he had been accepted to a university in Jaipur.

They had spent the trip visiting many of the city’s popular tourist attractions, including the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The carriage driver hopped off to take a photograph of the family near a fountain when the horse suddenly bolted, Mahajan said.

Romanch’s mother fell out of the carriage, and the teen jumped out in an attempt to save her, according to his father.

“He was screaming, ‘Mom!’” Deepak Mahajan recounted to the Times.

But Romanch hit his head on the ground before the carriage clipped another horse-drawn vehicle and eventually toppled over. The father, his wife and younger son escaped with minor injuries.

“This incident should be taken very seriously,” Mahajan said. “It took my son’s dream away.”

Carriage owners and drivers fear end to livelihood

New York City leaders vowed to work swiftly to end the industry in the wake of Romanch's death.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the legislative body would hold a hearing next month on a long-simmering bill that would ban horse carriages and help drivers transition into new jobs.

Last year, the park conservancy revived debate over the carriages when, for the first time, it threw its support behind what’s known as Ryder’s Law.

“The time to act is now,” she wrote on the social platform X.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani also reiterated his support for ending the industry, saying he’d work with the council, the industry and animal welfare advocates to “deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.”

Other recent mayors have made similar pronouncements. Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to shut down the industry “on Day One" in office, only to come up against years of council opposition. Mayor Eric Adams, Mamdani’s predecessor, came out against the industry near the end of his single term.

Onur Altintas, who owns four horses and a carriage operating in Central Park, was among those worried about an end to their livelihood. He said the industry provides hundreds of jobs to drivers, stable hands, farriers, and others in horse-related trades.

“We are sad about what happened. Nobody wants that. But it’s not like this is happening every day,” said Altintas. “Car crashes and plane crashes are happening every single day. One horse makes an accident, and the world is destroyed? Come on.”

The longtime owner and driver said the industry needs better regulations to make it safer. He said “90%” of horse-related accidents could be avoided simply by installing hitching posts throughout the park so drivers could safely tether and secure their horses, including at popular tourist photo stops.

The Transport Workers Union on Thursday said legislation recently introduced into the council would do just that.

“Drivers can’t leave their carriage. They have to be on it all the time,” Altintas said. “But it’s impossible. We have to go to the restroom. We have to eat. We have to do things.”

____

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.

Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree's gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said.

The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive.

That is no longer the case.

“The tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heartbreaking for everyone,” Hollie Drake of the RSPB said in a statement announcing the death.

The tree is said to have sheltered Robin Hood, the legendary 13th-century bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and took refuge in the forest when being pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham.

It got its name after being mentioned in a book on oaks by Major Hayman Rooke in 1790 that led to the first wave of fans who flocked to the forest.

It's impossible to say what killed the tree, but the footprints of millions contributed to its downfall, along with intervention to shore up its massive limbs using cables and poles. Climate change that has brought heat waves and drought was also blamed.

Tree experts found the root system strangled and starved.

“Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘conservation white rhinos of the U.K.’ but their decline is far less visible,” said Ed Pyne, of the Woodland Trust. “Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear quietly, without the recognition or care given to the Major Oak.”

In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for Sherwood oaks that floated the ships of Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson’s Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and as timbers in the roof of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Major Oak was spared from the saw and has been protected by a fence since the 1970s.

“The Major Oak will continue to stand at the heart of Sherwood as a natural monument for visitors to come and see, living on in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide as much support to the forest’s ecosystem in death as in life,” Drake said.

The proposal from the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West to impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion faces staunch pushback from a wide swath of critics, including Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The union said Thursday that it would abandon the 5% tax proposal if Newsom would join them in supporting a 2% levy. The updated proposal would instead have to be passed by the Legislature, given a June 25 deadline for the measure to qualify for the ballot.

Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, said scaling it back doesn't change its "fundamental flaws that harm working Californians.”

“The Governor supports making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share, but this poorly designed state-only measure will defund teachers, schools, clinics, and public safety,” she said in a statement.

The tax, to be paid by those living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026, is meant to generate $100 billion in revenue, mainly to counter federal cuts to healthcare for low-income people with some money going to food assistance and education programs.

“A 2% one-time tax on that accumulated wealth is modest by any objective measure especially if it means keeping emergency rooms open and saving patient lives,” backers wrote in a letter to Newsom.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, said Wednesday night that petitioners collected more than the roughly 875,000 signatures needed to place the original proposal before voters.

States have been debating how to respond to the major tax breaks and spending cuts legislation President Donald Trump signed last year. The proposal has already divided Democrats and major labor unions and triggered an expensive campaign to defeat it. The proposed tax is backed by prominent progressives including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Silicon Valley tech moguls have spent millions to defeat it, and prominent players in Sacramento have opposed it. They include the California Medical Association and California School Boards Association, which helped launch a committee this week urging voters to reject it if it ends up on the ballot in November. Newsom also opposed a ballot measure in 2022 to increase taxes on the wealthy, which would have funded programs that help people buy electric cars or install more chargers. Voters rejected it.

Critics say the original measure would decrease state revenue over time by pushing the ultrawealthy to leave, taking the money they would contribute in income taxes with them. That would deal a huge blow to a state that relies on its top 1% of earners for nearly half its personal income tax revenue.

“This flawed measure is the wrong approach for California’s small businesses and working families,” said Roger Salazar, a spokesperson for Golden State Promise, a political committee fighting the tax.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that the 5% tax would generate tens of billions of dollars in the first few years, but that income tax revenues could subsequently decline by hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Since the proposal was announced in October, Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated $82 million to a political committee called Building a Better California that backs a variety of initiatives designed to blunt the billionaire tax proposal. It has raised more than $118 million, counting Brin’s contributions, from fewer than a dozen donors.

State lawmakers passed budget bills this week that aim to raise revenue in other ways, including by extending a tax on healthcare providers. Newsom and legislative leaders agree to this approach, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón said.

“The budget, as approved by the Legislature and now being negotiated with the Governor, does not include the billionaire’s tax,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Instead, it reflects additional revenues to address our long-term structural deficit.”

“It’s important because people be going through things,” barber Kevin Cornelius said. “And you never know what a person is going through.”

And that is why during Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, local educator and author Gail Carter-Cade visited the shop to launch what she calls the “Uplifting The Pain…Now Barbershop Initiative,” an effort to place resources in barbershops across Jacksonville to help spark conversations about mental health and emotional wellness.

“We uncover the challenge… once we understand we can uplift you and get you the help,” Carter-Cade said.

Carter-Cade said she chose barbershops because they’re trusted community spaces where men and boys already talk — often about topics they might not bring up elsewhere.

Barbers at Urban Elite said those conversations are part of the job, whether they expected it or not.

School the Barber described the barbershop as a place where people feel comfortable sharing what’s on their mind.

“I wouldn’t compare it to a Catholic church but it’s the same concept,” he said. “You come pour out your feelings or you talk to somebody in confidence or you just know somebody’s going to listen.”

Kevin Cornelius has been a barber for 15 years. He said he never expected to connect with so many people.

“I thought I was just going to be quiet to cut hair and make my money,” he said. “But you find yourself really talking with the person and getting to know them and doing a lot of counseling. That’s the big part about it. Feeling like you’re a therapist most of the time.”

Carter-Cade said the she is working with shops to place her book where visitors can access it. She said book’s poetry format can help people start a conversation when they’re not sure how to say what they’re feeling.

“Because for some strange reason we feel that that’s taboo and that we shouldn’t talk about it,” she said. “But we have to build that awareness.”

Barbers told News4JAX that even small moments — a laugh, a check-in, a chance to be heard — can change how someone walks out the door.

“You may not even know that you actually help somebody,” Champion the Barber said. “You may not know because some people don’t like to just open up and say stuff. But if there’s a conversation in the air, they may be going through something unbeknownst to everybody else and you may get the advice that you’ve been looking for.”

Carter-Cade said her hope is that the initiative keeps the conversation going — not just during June, but year-round — in places where people already gather and talk.

For Blanca Nubia Monroy, it’s a black-and-white scale of justice tattooed on her forearm, identical to the one used to identify her 19-year-old son's body after he was kidnapped and killed by Colombian soldiers in 2008.

For Sigifredo López, it's flashbacks from the seven years he was held captive by guerrillas in the South American country's dense jungles and the trauma of surviving after his companions were massacred in 2007.

Both have radically different views of who should win Colombia’s presidency on Sunday, with Monroy throwing her support behind peace activist Iván Cepeda and López backing Trump-endorsed Abelardo de la Espriella, who has promised a scourge on crime.

But their fear is the same: Returning to a more violent past.

“It all takes a toll, both physically and emotionally,” said López. “Emotionally, there’s the fear that still simmers deep down, something you don’t openly express, the fear that everything we’ve already lived through could happen again.”

Polarization ‘brewing for decades’

In Colombia’s most polarized presidential election in years, voters will choose between de la Espriella and Cepeda – two candidates with sharply different visions for how to find peace in a country long marked by war.

The armed struggle between Marxist guerrillas, Colombian military forces and right-wing paramilitaries has resulted in more than 10 million people — one in five Colombians — becoming victims of conflict, according to a government registry documenting killings, kidnappings, forced displacement and more.

The trauma of war and the fight for peace are embedded in Colombian politics. Despite a 2016 peace pact with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, conflict rages in many parts of the Andean nation, becoming a defining theme in Sunday's vote.

Polarization within Colombian society over how to handle violence has “been brewing for decades,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, Bogotá-based deputy Latin America director of International Crisis Group.

“Increasingly on both sides, there's an us and a them. That's very dangerous in a country like Colombia with a long history of political violence. ... The spark could light at any moment."

On one side is Cepeda, who has pledged to continue Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” agenda of negotiating peace pacts with a range of criminal groups, from drug mafias to insurgent fighters. That strategy sought to rewire how Colombia deals with conflict, but has largely failed, stoking a rebuke as armed groups have taken advantage of ceasefires to grow in strength.

On the other is de la Espriella, a lawyer who has promised an all-out offensive on crime, echoing El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s war on gangs. While Bukele’s crackdown has drawn attention across the region for sharply cutting homicide rates, it also fueled allegations of human rights abuses.

Fears of state violence

The 67-year-old Monroy is reminded of the civilian toll from past military offensives every time she thinks of her son, Julián Oviedo Monroy, or looks at the tattoo on her arm.

Her son, who had dreamed of joining Colombia’s military to lift his family out of poverty, disappeared in 2008 along with other poor young men on the fringes of Bogotá. Months later, his body was unearthed in a clandestine grave in the conflict-torn northeast. His body was identified by his tattoo.

“It’s like still having him here,” she said, looking down at the tattoo she got as an homage to her son and his photo that she keeps in her wallet.

Monroy's son became one of 6,402 victims in one of the worst atrocities of Colombia’s conflict. Colombian military officers carried out extrajudicial executions against civilians in a scandal known as “false positives” carried out largely between 2002–2008 under ex-President Álvaro Uribe. Officials then falsely said the murdered civilians were enemy combatants killed in the war with FARC rebels.

Around a dozen high-ranking security officers later acknowledged they killed Monroy's son and asked for forgiveness in a peace tribunal established after the 2016 peace pact to unearth the ugly truths of the war — a court that de la Espriella has promised to dismantle.

Monroy criticized the mounting violence under incumbent president Petro, saying Cepeda would have to come down with a heavier hand on criminal groups.

But what outweighed her criticism was fear of the military campaign promised by de la Espriella, who has vowed to wipe out “anyone who I’ve declared a military target like cockroaches, like rats.”

“God willing, this man doesn’t come to power, because ‘false positives’ will become a reality again,” she said of de la Espriella.

‘Colombia is being kidnapped’

For López, 62, the fear is returning to the “hell” he lived in for seven years from 2002-2009 when he was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas and held captive in the jungles they controlled.

López was working as a local assemblyman in western Colombia at a time when the rebels had declared politicians military targets. They kidnapped him and 11 other lawmakers.

López was being held in solitary confinement in 2007 when his companions were massacred by rebels. He heard the gunshots echo over the rebel camp, a memory that haunts him. The case turned López into a symbol — a survivor of the FARC's kidnapping of over 21,000 people over five decades of conflict.

Now in Cali, the city where he was kidnapped, he lives with a state-appointed security detail because of threats against his life. He's watched with fear over the past four years as violence has mounted. Because of that, López, a self-declared leftist, said de la Espriella has his support.

“Colombia is being kidnapped,” López said. “I’m with Abelardo because his priority is to restore safety to Colombians. He understands ‘total peace’ isn’t won by negotiating with criminals, but by exercising the legitimate force of the state.”

Under current president Petro, armed groups have used weapons like drones to wage war, bombings have racked up a civilian toll and one presidential candidate was assassinated in June 2025. In May, the International Red Cross said the impact of armed conflict on civilians in Colombia over the past year had reached the worst point in a decade.

This week, the country's largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), announced a temporary ceasefire in order to not interfere in Colombia's elections. Other criminal groups made no such promises.

With the wave of violence, López said, “victims are being revictimized."

Just as Monroy fears what could come from a sharp swerve to the right, López worries about what could happen if Colombia continues on its current path.

“My fear is for the new generation, that the same thing that happened to me could happen to them if the country keeps being handed over to guerrillas and organized crime,” López said.

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

Koné injured his left leg when Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo tackled him from behind in the second half, sending the 24-year-old to the ground. Koné grimaced and players rushed to his aid, calling for help from the sidelines.

Madibo was sent off for the tackle on Koné, who was protectively surrounded by his teammates while he was treated on the field before he was stretchered off.

“I saw his leg. I saw that something wasn’t right,” Canada captain Stephen Eustáquio said. He was among one of the first players to reach Koné.

Koné was whisked to a local hospital were he was preparing for surgery while surrounded by family, Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. He said the injury happened right in front of the bench, and you could hear the “bones snap."

“Everybody was crushed when it happened, but we had to find a way to stay focused, we knew that Ismaël wanted us to finish the job," Marsch said. "There’s a lot of thoughts that go through our heads right now, we’re all thinking about him, but we’re all very proud of what we are.”

Marsch added that Madibo personally apologized to Koné.

Madibo's red card left Qatar to play with nine men, after teammate Homam Ahmed was sent off in the first half.

Fewer than 10 minutes later, Koné’s replacement, Nathan Saliba, scored Canada’s fourth goal in the 6-0 win and held up Koné’s jersey in an emotional tribute.

Canada striker Jonathan David, who scored a hat trick, questioned the need for the tackle on Koné.

“If there’s a play where you cannot win the ball, there’s no point,” he said. “It’s just to hurt people.”

The details of Koné’s injury have not yet been disclosed. His lower left leg looked visibly broken in photos after the incident.

“We’re going to miss (Koné),” Eustáquio said. “He has that X factor that our team really needs.”

__

Connor Joyce and Drew Renner are students in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

Lashanna Gilbert was visiting family in Texas when she got a jarring phone call from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

“They were panicked. They were trying to verify my identity. And then I was just like, what’s going on? And he said, ma’am, your house is on fire. It’s a total loss. Everything is gone,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert says she had a hard time leaving Jacksonville on Sunday. Her flight got delayed and she briefly returned home before catching a later flight.

“At one point, I said, if this flight does not leave Jacksonville, I’m going back home, and my flight left,” she said.

She credits the last-minute travel struggle with saving her life — and the lives of her son and her dog, who were also away from the home at the time.

“I absolutely do [believe in divine intervention]. I am thankful to God for this trip to Texas that was out of the blue,” Gilbert said. “I am grateful that me and my son and my dog were not in the home.”

Jacksonville Fire Rescue responded to the scene Tuesday morning. Two firefighters were transported with minor injuries; both were treated and released, according to the department.

The home sustained significant damage.

Gilbert has launched a GoFundMe to help rebuild her and her son’s lives. The campaign has already raised a few thousand dollars toward her $12,000 goal.

“In these times that we’re in today, I know life is hard for everyone, so I’m so appreciative of any support that someone gives — but it just gives me hope in humanity,” she said.

The State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire.

You can donate to the fundraiser here: gofundme.com

The team led by Vance had been ready to leave but was postponing, the White House said, citing difficult logistics for negotiations. The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

Vance, who was initially personally skeptical of the U.S. going to war with Iran, has increasingly become the administration’s face of the conflict and has been outspoken in defending the deal.

Earlier Thursday, he took the relatively unusual step of appearing at the White House to defend the initial deal to extend the ceasefire 60 days and allow for more negotiating — arguing that while it offers concessions, Iran first has to comply with U.S. demands.

“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”

But the vice president also had said during those remarks that he was not sure of the timing of his planned to Switzerland and that talks might not begin this week. The formal postponement now makes that even less clear.

Vance staying put in Washington came after the U.S. said it had lifted its blockade, allowing oil tankers to begin freely moving through the Strait of Hormuz after months of being unable to use the critical channel. Still, the tentative agreement has drawn sharp criticism from some in the U.S. — including a few congressional Republicans — who worry Washington ceded too much to Iran with relief from sanctions and a potential $300 billion fund to help with rebuilding.

Earlier, a top Trump administration envoy told U.S. lawmakers in a private briefing that Iran will invite the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites.

And Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had seemed to endorse direct negotiations for his officials.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said in a statement read by state media.

It was Khamenei’s first reaction to the agreement, and it was interpreted as a shift in Iran’s approach. Hard-liners, especially Khamenei’s father, the previous supreme leader, have long opposed direct talks, especially after the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.

Lawmakers told Iran will invite UN inspectors to its nuclear sites

The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also says that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told members of Congress that Iran will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, which is believed to be buried under rubble.

Witkoff's private briefing was described by two people familiar with the conversation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to share the closed-door details.

The agreement requires Iran to “commit to renounce their nuclear ambitions in writing,” said White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales. The IAEA did not respond to a request for comment.

Witkoff told congressional leadership and members of national security-related committees that the agreement the U.S. struck with Iran did not include any side deals, but a side letter was drafted between Tehran and the IAEA extending the invitation.

Witkoff said the letter to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would enable him to bring U.S. nuclear inspectors to Tehran.

Vance defends US-Iran deal and has sharp words for Israel

Before Vance delayed his trip, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif postponed a planned visit to Switzerland, where Islamabad officials had originally planned to host a ceremonial signing ceremony for the agreement. That visit was postponed because the agreement had already been signed by both Iran and the U.S., said two senior officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles. The deal is slated to take immediate effect and extends a ceasefire while giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements on larger issues.

Vance, in his comments at the White House, shrugged off criticism about the confusing rollout of the initial deal, saying, “I don’t think our public messaging has been chaotic."

He also offered a blunt warning to Israel, which has pushed the U.S. to take a harder stance against Iran and launched attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon throughout the war, including just before the deal extending the ceasefire was reached. Those attacks complicated the peace efforts with Iran.

Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time," Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”

Shipping starts to pick up

Trump said he signed the agreement to avoid “economic catastrophe” in the U.S., after the war caused oil prices to skyrocket, made financial markets skittish and fueled inflation. The deal caused gas prices to fall and stock markets to rise — though rallies could be threatened again depending on how the next round of U.S.-Iran talks go.

The vice president said more than 12.5 million barrels of oil went through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night and said that the U.S. easing its blockade of Iran means “honoring our end of the early part of the agreement on the military side.”

U.S. Central Command said American warships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.”

Iranian state media said shipping had “normalized” at Iran’s southern ports but added that the strait remains supervised and under the control of the Iranian military, and transiting through the vital waterway still requires coordination.

Major shipowners began moving vessels through the strait after the agreement was signed, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, though Lloyd's did not give data on how many ships have passed through the strait as of Thursday.

In a media briefing, Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, said for the first time in 110 days, ships owned by major companies are transiting the strait after effectively being marooned there since February. It could take weeks or months to fully reopen the strait, and the two alternative routes do not have as much capacity as the strait's central passage.

___

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Aamer Madhani in Zurich; Collin Binkley in Washington; Mae Anderson in New York; and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

A few minutes later, everyone knew the answer. There was Scheffler jumping up and down in a bunker situated 150 yards shy of the green — and 10 feet lower than the fairway — to catch a glimpse of the flag on the putting surface ahead.

What resulted was a rare bogey 6 for the world's No. 1 player on one of those rare par 5s in pro golf that wasn't remotely reachable in two — thanks to it being uphill and dead into a 25 mph wind. Even after the wind died down in the afternoon, the 16th played at 0.372 strokes over par with most of the first round over, making it the fourth-hardest hole on the course.

Welcome to Shinnecock.

“You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment,” Scheffler said after walking off the windswept golf course at 2-over par, which was eight shots behind leader Wyndham Clark, who played in much tamer conditions in the afternoon. “I think ‘good’ would put you in some tough spots.”

Scheffler, who needs this tournament to complete the career Grand Slam, found plenty of those tough spots in his 10th straight round at the U.S. Open in which he has failed to break par. It began in the morning but bled well into the afternoon — a 5 1/2-hour grind through the wind that started late because of a two-hour fog delay. One of his playing partners, defending champion J.J. Spaun, fared even worse. Spaun shot 77.

Scheffler made double bogey on No. 8 after teeing off into the rough, hitting his second into a bunker some 40 yards from the hole, then three-putting.

He hit a wedge from 110 yards to the middle of the 13th green, but the ball spun and rolled off the front. That led to a bogey; blame it on the soft conditions the USGA has been trying to hang on to in wake of the wind forecast.

“Overall, yeah, it was a really challenging day,” Scheffler said. “If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on 9 that I would post 2-over today, I would definitely have taken it at the time.”

He made that putt, a 6-footer, to make the turn at 3 over. He sank a 9-footer for a sand save on No. 18 to walk away with his 72. Three of his four birdies came on the back nine.

“I feel like this course can change pretty rapidly from day to day,” he said. “I think that’s also part of the challenge of the tournament is adjusting to those conditions.”

Some 90 minutes after the round, Scheffler was still on the driving range, having an animated conversation with his coach, Randy Smith, while the wind picked up for the second wave of players, many of whom would be on the course at twilight.

As much as his swing, Scheffler knows this tournament will come down to who can untangle the conditions, then deal with them the best. He walked off the course in a tie for 75th place — not out of it, but still looking for answers.

“I think it’s a little easier sometimes in a U.S. Open,” Scheffler said, “because it’s happening to everybody.”

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

Morning fog led to a two-hour delay, and Clark had a feeling his late afternoon start would be an advantage as the wind began to subside with the setting sun. Good golf was still required, and Clark displayed every bit of that before he was stopped only by darkness.

By then, the former U.S. Open champion rode a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch to 6-under par through 16 holes and a four-shot lead.

“Everything was kind of clicking,” said Clark, who came into the U.S. Open playing as well as anyone. “We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.”

The USGA set up a different golf course at Shinnecock Hills — slower, more receptive greens and reasonable pin positions — to keep it playable in strong wind. But when the wind subsided late in the day, Clark looked like he was playing in a different U.S. Open.

No one ever has gone lower than 66 in an opening round at Shinnecock Hills. Clark can go two shots lower if he can finish with two pars when he and 49 other players return Friday morning.

He led by four over seven players, one of them Oklahoma junior Ryder Cowan, another one the surprisingly resurgent Dustin Johnson. Four of them were former U.S. Open champions.

Rory McIlroy thought he had made a fine effort with a 69 in gusts that topped 30 mph in the middle of the day, when the scoring average was well above 74. The afternoon started tough until the wind kept subsiding, and players began taking aim at flags. The afternoon wave was playing at least a stroke easier than the early starters who faced relentless wind.

Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard was an unfamiliar site for this course. When play was suspended by darkness, 17 players were under par.

Cowan birdied his last hole for a 68 to join former Sooner Max McGreevy and former Oklahoma State player Sam Stevens of those who finished the round. Stevens was the only one of that trio who faced the harsh wind of the morning wave.

Johnson, in his final year of being exempt from the U.S. Open he won at Oakmont in 2016, ran off four straight birdies and was tied with Clark after 13 holes. But Johnson failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the easy par-5 fifth, where Clark made eagle. And then Johnson three-putted from short range for double bogey on the sixth to fall four shots behind.

Scottie Scheffler, who needs the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam, battled all day and relied heavily on his short game to salvage a 72. It was his 10th consecutive U.S. Open round without breaking par, but at the time it left him only four shots out of the lead.

Clark, who won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club three years ago, changed the look of the leaderboard with his late flourish. He was to return Friday morning to complete the round, then head out for the second round in wind expected to be not as strong as the full blast from Thursday.

“I would say when I got my tee times on Tuesday, I was like, ‘Oh, could be a tough draw,’” Clark said. “That two-hour fog delay was very helpful, and it was really nice it laid down. So it definitely helped those last six, seven holes we played.”

His golf wasn't too shabby, either. Clark started on No. 10 and opened with two quick birdies. He went out in 32 to get his name atop the leaderboard. And after missing an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and failing to save par from a bunker on the long par-3 second, he took off.

He hit wedge to 5 feet on No. 3 for birdie, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the next and then from 207 yards with some wind at his back, he hit his second on the par-5 fifth to 3 feet for eagle.

When Johnson faltered, Clark had plenty of breathing room — and a quick turnaround.

The wind was so strong and the conditions so severe that it took Scheffler's group nearly three hours to complete nine holes. There was a question the round could have finished even without the fog delay.

Johnson was joined by three other U.S. Open champions — Matt Fitzpatrick (2022), Gary Woodland (2019) and Jon Rahm (2021) — at 2 under, with all still having holes to play.

Rahm, who had a chance in the final hour at the PGA Championship, was bogey-free and reached 2 under by making a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole.

Stevens overcame a double bogey to start his round — a hole that took him over two hours to play because of the fog — and strung together six birdies for his 68.

“The greens haven’t been too firm, the fairways haven’t been too firm, so I’ve really felt like it’s pretty scorable,” said Stevens, who had only his second sub-70 round in his fourth U.S. Open. “Obviously, it’s difficult, but overall it’s an awesome place. I think the setup is great right now.”

For half of the opening round, the USGA appeared to have the ideal test. Coming off two Opens at Shinnecock when the course got out of control, it slowed greens to 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter — rare for any major, much less the U.S. Open — and keep plenty of water on the putting surfaces.

It was all due to the wind, which did not disappoint. The sustained wind approached 25 mph, and gusts were even stronger. And if that wasn’t enough, it shifted directions in the middle of the day.

“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard — really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after a 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”

But they played, it became more ideal with each passing hour late in the afternoon.

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

Midway through his round Thursday, the leaderboard showed that the amateur was playing the best golf of anyone at Shinnecock Hills.

Cowan, a 21-year-old who will be a senior at Oklahoma, briefly held the lead in his first major championship before finishing with a 2-under 68, matching the lowest round by an amateur at Shinnecock. He was tied for second when the first round was suspended because of darkness.

“Through nine, I looked up and I was 3-under par,” Cowan said. “I definitely looked at that leaderboard, and I saw it up there.”

A couple bogeys on his second nine knocked him back, but with the sun setting, Cowan finished strong shortly before play was stopped for the day. Playing the ninth hole, he hit his approach to 5 feet and knocked in the putt for his fourth birdie of the round.

Starting on the back, he had three of them in his first eight holes, moving to 3-under and into the lead after his birdie at the par-3 17th.

“I feel like I started well. I got some momentum from that,” Cowan said. "I knew, if I could get through those holes, I had a couple easy holes coming in.

"I hit it good all day, put myself in good positions throughout the day.

Cowan was four shots behind Wyndham Clark, in position to be the first amateur to finish a U.S. Open round in the top five since Brian Campbell was tied for fourth after the first round in 2015. The group he is tied with includes past U.S. champions Dustin Johnson, Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland and Jon Rahm.

Cowan earned his trip to Shinnecock through a qualifier at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, shooting 6-under 138 and then surviving a three-man playoff for two spots. The other was earned by 17-year-old Miles Russell, who also played well Thursday and finished at 2 over while playing in a group with three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, 54.

Cowan said the practice he did to prepare had him believing he would play well. But playing on his home course looks and sounds much different than what he faced at Shinnecock.

“I think that I’ve really just been trying this week to focus on each shot, especially today. One at a time, not worry about what’s going on in the crowds or everything,” Cowan said. “I’m not used to all these crowds. We don’t ever really play with a lot of crowds.”

If he can keep up his strong play, he might have a big one following him around on the weekend.

“I feel like all the work I put in every single day gives me that belief that I can come out here and play with anyone and the guys that I surround myself with,” Cowan said.

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

In a rally with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that drew thousands to a Brooklyn theater, the emboldened mayor delivered a fiery message to Democratic leaders in Washington — and even those considering 2028 presidential bids — as he worked to elevate a slate of likeminded candidates in Tuesday's New York primaries.

“People often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party. This slate here today is our answer," Mamdani declared. "The Democratic Party must change.”

“The party of the past will not be what leads us into the future. We need a Democratic Party with backbone."

He shared the stage with three congressional candidates, including two running against Democratic incumbents. All three identify, or have identified, as democratic socialists. They promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to "tax the rich" if elected.

The collection of congressional candidates he’s backing represent a political gamble for Mamdani, whose picks may not win Tuesday, and a potential headache for Democratic leaders, who fear that Mamdani’s allies may push the party too far left. It's the latest way Mamdani is testing the limits of his newfound political muscle, even if it means challenging his own party’s leadership.

Sanders cheered him on Thursday night, noting that democratic socialists fighting for working-class voters like Mamdani have been elected across the country in recent months.

“The politics and the policies of the democratic establishment are no longer good enough,” Sanders charged. “In this dangerous and unprecedented moment in American history, tinkering around the edges just won’t work.”

The Mamdani slate

Establishment Democrats are not pleased with the mayor's decisions.

Mamdani endorsed political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York's 13th District, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Mamdani is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York's 10th District. And in New York's 7th, he's supporting democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s handpicked successor.

All three congressional candidates stood arm-in-arm with the mayor Thursday and spoke from a podium emblazoned with the sign “Our team, our year.”

“Right now there’s really mass dissatisfaction with the way the party leadership has been operating and not standing up strongly enough to Trump,” Valdez told The Associated Press before the rally, where she promised to “Free Palestine” and “abolish ICE.”

She said she hopes to “bring a partner to Zohran to Washington.”

Valdez's primary opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, said he feels like the underdog in the race, even though he was endorsed by the outgoing incumbent. He said Mamdani “has a celebrity status that we haven’t seen the likes of since I’ve been alive.”

“He’s going to be our champion for the foreseeable future and he’s doing a great job, and when he says that he’s endorsing someone, it matters,” Reynoso said in an interview. “I believe that this community has seen me work, they know I’m a progressive champion, and in any other circumstance I would be a favorite to win this race, but I’m not because he has tipped the scale.”

The candidates are largely aligned on the biggest issues, although there are modest differences.

Israel’s war in Gaza has featured heavily among the Mamdani slate, with Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier casting their Democratic opponents as too soft on Israel. The mayor’s candidates also sought to replicate much of the platform that sent him to City Hall, focusing on the city’s high cost of living and framing themselves as fresh faces not beholden to powerful business interests.

Avila Chevalier went after Espaillat at Thursday’s rally for accepting major donations from real estate developers and Wall Street.

“You cannot take working people for granted. And you cannot outspend a movement whose time has come,” she said. “We are done being ignored.”

The view from Washington

On Capitol Hill, Democrats are pleasantly surprised that Mamdani has become less of a political liability for the party in swing district seats than they once feared.

But Mamdani’s endorsements have aggravated intraparty fissures, especially among moderates who worry that Mamdani's far-left brand may eventually tarnish the entire party.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, has tried to push back against the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist challengers, endorsing and campaigning for the embattled incumbents in a proxy fight with the mayor.

But Jeffries and Mamdani have opted to wrestle only in primaries rather than bicker publicly and feed into GOP narratives of Democratic disarray.

“Democrats must understand, and both the leader and Mamdani appreciate this, how to yell in areas where we agree and whisper in areas where we diverge,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who works with House Democrats.

For now, Jeffries' allies acknowledge that Mamdani has energized Democratic voters and may be able to reach some Americans who have checked out of the political process. They also prefer that Mamdani is hyper-focused on New York City’s governance rather than traveling across the country.

And yet Mamdani made clear Thursday that he wants his message to be heard nationally.

He referenced the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination contest, saying it begins Tuesday when New York Democrats pick their general election nominees.

“For far too long our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,” Mamdani said. “That old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. And frankly it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire.”

Meanwhile, Republicans plan to elevate Mamdani's profile as well.

The GOP hasn't made Mamdani a central feature of its broader national messaging as it once threatened, but Republican operatives have sought to link Mamdani to Democratic House candidates in swing districts across California, Colorado and Wisconsin. They also believe the specter of the New York City mayor will loom large in pivotal House races in New York and New Jersey.

The Republican bet is that vulnerable Democrats cannot afford to break with Mamdani too cleanly for fear of alienating progressive voters, even as they cast him as a radical.

“Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm. “And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”

Sanders' senior adviser Faiz Shakir encouraged the GOP to try.

He said “the crowd goes nuts” when Sanders mentions Mamdani in almost every speech as he tours the nation rallying voters ahead of the midterms.

“He’s seeing that opportunity — that we can radically change the Democratic Party,” Shakir said of Mamdani, whom he described as a friend. “He certainly is not a political liability.”

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Brown reported in Washington.

The team announced before Thursday night's game against the Athletics that the 11-time All-Star was placed on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain. The Angels recalled infielder Christian Moore from Triple-A Salt Lake among a flurry of moves.

Trout told MLB.com that the injury occurred when he was running to first base Wednesday in the Angels' 8-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“From last night to today, it’s a night-and-day difference, so that’s positive for me,” Trout told MLB.com. “I was a little worried last night, but had a plane ride and just sitting down after playing, so that kind of came into effect. But feels way better today, so I’m not overly concerned about it. But I’m going to do everything I can in that training room and the weight room to get back.”

Injuries have hindered Trout for much of this decade. Since winning his third AL MVP award in 2019, Trout has played more than 82 games in a season just twice – 119 in 2022 and 130 in 2025.

The 34-year-old Trout had played in 74 of 75 games this year in a resurgent season. He's batting .234 with an .866 OPS, 17 homers, 36 RBIs and seven steals.

He entered Thursday with an AL-leading 54 runs, a total that was tied for second in the majors behind Washington’s James Wood. Trout's 66 walks also ranked second in the big leagues, behind the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz.

Trout had the second-highest vote count of any AL outfielder in the All-Star Game balloting totals that were released this week. He grew up near Philadelphia, where this year’s All-Star Game will take place next month.

The injury to Trout created an opportunity for Moore, who was hitting .333 with a .468 on-base percentage, nine homers, 45 RBIs and 10 steals in 51 games at Salt Lake while playing second base, third base and the outfield.

Moore hit .198 with a .284 on-base percentage, seven homers, 16 RBIs and three steals in 53 games with the Angels last season.

In other moves, the Angels recalled right-hander Ryan Johnson from Double-A Rocket City, released left-hander Drew Pomeranz and optioned right-hander Brett Kerry and catcher Logan Porter to Salt Lake.

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

A large police presence was reported Thursday night. Deputies responded to the area after a man fired a few shots into the ground, according to the CCSO.

The SWAT team arrived at the scene to negotiate with the man, who deputies said was contained in his yard.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is asking the community to avoid the area as deputies work to clear the scene.

State Sen. Aisha Wahab and Melissa Hernandez, a Bay Area Rapid Transit director who advanced Thursday, received the most votes in a crowded field of both Democrats and Republicans to move on to the Aug. 18 special general election.

Wahab had a lead in votes, but Hernandez said her path forward to August is “digging into the numbers, and going out to those areas where we know that we can secure votes."

“I connect to voters, and that’s one thing that is definitely different than my opponent," she said, reiterating her focus on bringing down costs for lower and middle class families. “We’re going to fight the good fight.”

Whoever wins the special election in August will fill Swalwell’s seat through January. At that time, the winner of the regular general election in November will take over for a full, two-year term. In this case, that will also be Wahab or Hernandez, who snagged the top two spots in the regular primary that was held on June 2, similarly locking out Republican challengers.

That means both candidates are running in two separate elections for California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes East Bay cities such as Fremont, Hayward and Livermore. It would’ve been an uphill fight for a Republican to win in the heavily Democratic district. The three top vote-getters in the special election were Democrats, with businesswoman and attorney Rakhi Israni Singh finishing behind Hernandez.

Whoever wins the special election in August will likely get a boost of visibility and a few months of experience in Congress that they can tout during the November general election campaign.

Wahab, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, is an established presence in California politics as the Senate’s assistant majority leader. She has campaigned on a more progressive platform and has detailed her track record in public office.

That includes expanding social safety net programs and renter protections, promoting social justice issues and pledging to support small businesses by cutting bureaucratic hurdles.

Hernandez, who was the former mayor of the East Bay city of Dublin, has highlighted similar goals while emphasizing a business-friendly approach. For lowering costs, Hernandez said she would “prioritize growing small businesses” and promote incentives to build housing. She also would push to lower health insurance premiums by restoring insurance subsidies.

One of them will replace Swalwell after he served for seven terms before resigning in April and dropping his bid for California governor. That was prompted by a San Francisco Chronicle report of allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him.

CNN later reported that other women accused him of sending inappropriate messages and nude photos.

Swalwell, a Democrat, has repeatedly denied the accusations but said it would be unfair to his constituents to remain in Congress.

Mitchell set a U.S. Open record Thursday at Shinnecock Hills when he became the only player to post a score in the 40s on nine holes, and follow that with a score in the 20s on the next nine.

He went 41-29. It added to an even-par 70, and Mitchell still isn't sure what happened. He was coming off a bogey on the par-5 16th, and his first thought was whether he would finish.

“I was thinking about trying to break 80,” he said. “I was just trying to keep in it in the fairway, on the green and maybe have a chance to make the cut. And then it all flipped.”

His 29 tied the Shinnecock Hills record for nine holes set by Neal Lancaster in 1995 (Lancaster is the only player to twice shoot 29 on nine holes in the U.S. Open).

How it started is something Mitchell would like to forget. He went over the par-4 10th green to start his round, took two chips and two putts and had a double bogey. He went over the green on the par-3 11th and made bogey. Going long is to be avoided on those holes.

“All week I've been told not to do that,” Mitchell said. “It's the sum of all fears.”

After a string of bogeys, he hit a good tee shot into the par-3 17th and two-putted for par. He hit another good iron on the 18th and two-putted for par, both of them in the 20-foot range.

Those pars sparked the turnaround.

“There's a lot less pressure when you're 6 over and you're just rocking and rolling,” he said.

He was rolling, all right. The wind switched and was at his back on the first hole, so his caddie suggested he hit driver.

“Best swing of the day,” Mitchell said. It led to birdie, and he was on his way.

He hit wedge to 3 feet on the third, holed a 10-footer for birdie on the fourth, and then hit his second shot to 12 feet on the par-5 fifth and made eagle. He closed out his remarkable round with an approach to 8 feet on the rough nine for his 29.

He might have taken a 70 at the start of the day. He certainly would have taken it after his opening seven holes.

“If you hit the fairway, you have a chance — I didn't do that very often on the back nine — and then you have a chance to get on the green,” Mitchell said.

He did that on the front nine, not missing a fairway and only missing the green on one of the long holes. And suddenly, the game felt easy.

“Fortunately, I hit it really, really well,” he said.

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

Every Brazilian fan — in Philadelphia to watch their team play Haiti on Friday at the World Cup — who stopped for a snapshot or a selfie with the 9-foot-11, 1,300-pound beast left the statue dressed in only his bronze trunks and boots.

No taking chances of getting hit by the Rocky curse.

Yes, the Rocky statue, long a symbol of resilience, heart and the unbreakable bond between Rocky and the people of Philadelphia, has taken a few more hits of late (even in retirement).

Visiting American sports fans have long learned the hard way that dressing the statue with colorful jerseys, scarfs, hats, anything found in your local Rally House, has only meant that team would suffer a knockout blow at the home of the local Philly team.

Scoff all you want.

The bad fortune stretched to soccer when Ecuador fans took over the Rocky steps and sang and danced and waved flags and ... dressed Rocky in a team jersey and tied the country's flag around the fictional fighter's neck.

It didn't go well.

Amad Diallo scored in the 90th minute to lift Ivory Coast to a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in its first World Cup appearance in a dozen years.

And there ain't gonna be no rematch.

Brazil fans noticed the outcome and one of their fan groups, the Green and Yellow Movement, urged visitors to keep their clothing to themselves.

"ANTENCAO TORCEDOR!" the Instagram post warned.

Everyone is paying attention.

The translated text read: “It's totally forbidden to put a Brazil shirt on the Rocky statue in Philly!!!!!”

Even Visit PA cheekily got in on the fun and tried to warn foreigners that — just like Ivan Drago learned the hard way — Rocky was not to be messed with.

“Countless football teams (as in American Football, not Fútbol — same curse, different sport) have all dressed the Rocky Statue in their colors and gone on to lose,” the Instagram post said. “Ecuador dressed Rocky last weekend Coincidence? Sadly, history says no.

“Philadelphia can't wait to host you! (but Rocky does not need your kit)”

Brazilian fans paid heed to the warning Thursday, and scores of fans simply took the spot in front of the statue and raised their arms in triumph just as Rocky did after so many fights, and many, many movies.

Hundreds of Brazilian fans swarmed the Rocky steps late in the day and left the statue bare. Rocky was roped off as if inside the ring and four “Rocky protectors” stood at each corner to keep enthusiastic fans at bay.

“This is a moment in Brazil,” said Lorival Guerreiro, who traveled from Limeira, Brazil. “They promote this place to celebrate before the game. The Brazilians come here to celebrate our team."

When the bronze statue was left on the steps after filming the “Rocky” movies, the museum fought to have it removed. It was eventually relocated to South Philadelphia before returning to the bottom of the steps in 2006. The statue was a huge hit and became a point of pilgrimage for people around the world.

According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people visit the steps each year — rivaling the nearby Liberty Bell in annual foot traffic. The pop culture icon was recently moved to the top of the steps.

Roberto De Freitas, a native of Porto Alegre who now lives in Florida and is attending his third World Cup, climbed the steps for a photoshoot with perhaps Philadelphia's most famous landmark. He was dressed in Brazil's colors — down to the green sneakers — and was set to attend Friday's game.

He hoped five-time World Cup champion Brazil would take a page from Rocky's corner and win some more.

“We have five titles,” De Freitas said. “We are trying to get that sixth one.”

De Freitas had not yet heard of the Rocky curse but had no plans to tempt fate once he learned of the potential consequences.

“That's what they said,” he asked with a laugh. “I'm for sure not going to do it.”

For the record, De Freitas said “Rocky” was his favorite of all the movies in the series.

The Rocky Shop at the base of the steps was loaded with tourists who snaked their way through fighter T-shirts and plush offerings of Mr. T's character, Clubber Lang. Peruvian sports journalist Jampool Cuadros Estrada tried on a Rocky robe as a cameraman followed him around the store for their latest World Cup report.

Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian-born immigrants, has a bit of a recent connection with the South American country. The Philadelphia Eagles opened their Super Bowl championship season with a win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil in 2024.

Facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002, Brazil was outplayed early and needed Vinícius Júnior’s 32nd-minute goal to get a 1-1 draw with Morocco on Saturday.

Brazil now needs to beware Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 and is a noted heavy underdog — just like Rocky.

“Brazil has the pressure. Haiti has the freedom,” Haitian singer Wyclef Jean wrote on social media. “And sometimes freedom is the most dangerous thing on the pitch. I can't wait!!!!”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

RELATED: Rapper Fetty Wap sends flowers to Trout Creek Academy principal after she was suspended over yearbook lyric

Katherine O’Connell, the former principal of Trout Creek Academy, filed a 32-page petition in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court on June 16, 2026, seeking a writ of mandamus and a writ of prohibition against the St. Johns County School Board.

The lawsuit alleges O’Connell was denied basic due process before being suspended and told her contract would not be renewed.

But the lawsuit reveals something beyond the yearbook controversy that first made national headlines — a pattern of alleged violence at the school that O’Connell says she repeatedly warned the district about, to no avail.

O’Connell told News4JAX during a Zoom interview on June 4th that she was actively dealing with the aftermath of a serious incident at Trout Creek Academy, the same week the district called her in over the yearbook quote.

“Before I even got a chance to do that, I received a phone call to go to HR that afternoon,” O’Connell said. “And I was also dealing with a very serious incident that had happened the week before, because we had had a stabbing at our school the week before, which resulted in a kindergartener being life-flighted. So very serious things were all happening at the same time.”

Her attorney, Jack Webb, provided additional detail during our June 4th phone interview.

“The child ultimately had to be life-flighted because he was stabbed in the neck with a pencil by another student,” Webb told News4JAX. “That’s why we’re demanding that the school board conduct an appropriate investigation of this whole matter.”

The lawsuit states the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office major crimes unit was involved in the investigation of the incident.

News4JAX reached out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office regarding the May 13, 2026, incident.

“On May 13, 2026, SJSO responded to an altercation between two students during class,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “One student struck another student with a pencil — causing a wound that appeared superficial.”

News4JAX has requested the full incident report from the Sheriff’s Office. We will update this story when that report is received.

The lawsuit alleges the safety concerns at Trout Creek Academy extended well beyond the May 13 incident.

According to the petition, one student stabbed others approximately six times over the course of the school year, had to be held in a separate classroom, and engaged in repeated violence toward teachers — including one who eventually filed a police report. The lawsuit also alleges the student had set fires at his home.

The suit states O’Connell’s own interaction with a student in 2024 left her requiring knee surgery.

Despite O’Connell’s repeated requests to have the student moved to the Evelyn Hamblen Center — a specialized facility — the lawsuit alleges the district refused.

Beyond the safety concerns, the lawsuit alleges a series of due process violations by the St. Johns County School Board.

According to the petition:

• O’Connell was told she would be immediately suspended if she brought her attorney to the district’s HR investigatory interview on May 20, 2026
• She was placed on administrative leave the same day, with no specific charges provided
• Her request for a formal hearing was denied
• The district’s own attorney told O’Connell’s attorney the yearbook incident was “the last straw” in a broader pattern of concerns — concerns O’Connell says she was never formally notified of
• The superintendent publicly posted to the school’s PTO social media page seeking input on a new principal before O’Connell was formally removed
• O’Connell’s non-renewal was placed on the June 9 school board consent agenda despite board members being told it was not there

At the June 9 school board meeting, O’Connell addressed the board directly.

“I stand here before the board in utter disappointment and devastation,” she said. “Here I am — a 26-year dedicated, defamed, destroyed educator — over a quote I didn’t even proof or approve.”

O’Connell’s Background

O’Connell has nearly 30 years of experience in education, including eight years as a principal, four as an assistant principal, and six in other administrative roles. She has been rated “highly effective” as a principal in St. Johns County for five consecutive years and was selected in 2024 to open the then brand-new Trout Creek Academy.

The lawsuit states O’Connell has been rejected for comparable positions at multiple surrounding counties since her suspension — positions that would allow her to remain in the Florida Retirement System. The district has asked her to submit a retirement or resignation letter by June 25 — before any formal board vote on her contract, which expires June 30, 2026.

The St. Johns County School District responded to News4JAX’s questions with the following statement:

“The true facts will come out during the litigation process. Beyond that, we will not comment further on pending legal action.”

News4JAX will continue to follow this case.

A GoFundMe established to help cover O’Connell’s legal expenses has raised more than $3,000 as of the time of this report.

Waters said the undercover five‑day operation began April 27 and ended May 2. Detectives posed as children online to identify adults who solicited sex, then arrested those who arranged to meet purported minors at prearranged locations, he said.

Waters said the men arrested so far range in age from 22 to 72 and face felony charges including sexually motivated offenses and unlawful use of electronic devices. Waters said detectives expect additional arrests as they follow up on leads developed during the operation.

Waters named several people arrested in the sting, including:

• Zachary Stitz, 49, was previously designated a sex offender after a 2021 conviction in Hillsborough County for using a computer to lure a child;
• Jacob Futch, 29, previously arrested in a 2019 JSO operation in which he pleaded to a third‑degree felony for unlawful use of a two‑way communications device, served probation and later violated it;
• Mikal Detoro, 44, was a Clay County youth wrestling coach who drove to a prearranged location and whose vehicle was found outfitted with cameras, blankets and what investigators described as sexual paraphernalia. Detectives are conducting forensic searches of cameras and memory cards seized from the vehicle.

Waters said five of the people arrested are in the country illegally and have Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. One man was reported to have an active deportation order prior to his arrest.

Other people named by Waters included Terry Rivers, 34, who had been released from state prison in Oct. 2024 after serving 17 years for armed robbery. John Mullins, 61, a manager of a Jacksonville events company who was arrested for allegedly soliciting a boy.

“JSO puts the highest priority on the safety and security of our children as the internet provides new and frightening opportunities for predators to victimize our children,” Waters said. “[We] will continue to proactively identify and apprehend our child predators before they have an opportunity to act upon their perversions.”

The full list of the arrested men is on JSO’s X account.

29 men and counting are facing criminal charges after they chatted online with who they thought were young teens for sex. On the other end of the conversations? Undercover detectives who were part of Operation Checkmate.

Over the course of five days beginning in late April, our… pic.twitter.com/HjA0S06TUr

— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) June 18, 2026

Waters declined to discuss specific online platforms or investigative tactics to avoid revealing law enforcement methods. He urged parents to monitor what their children are viewing and who they are communicating with online, noting that many children use phones in bed and that parents should pay attention to the times and content of those interactions.

“Just be alert, be aware, pay attention to what’s going on,” Waters said. “My kids are adults, but my grandkids aren’t, so it worries me. I want to make sure that we keep everyone that we can safe.”

He said that it’s been frustrating knowing that some of the men have been arrested for similar offenses in the past.

“I think you should put them all in prison forever. That’s just my opinion. Oh, we get rid of them completely because my experience tells me that they can’t be cured. And if you get one, you interview them. If they’re honest with you, they’ll tell you they can’t be cured. They’re probably in the safest place that they can be,” he said.

Click here for more Addressing A4dability coverage.

The Village of New Augustine, a 92-unit affordable housing development, is preparing to welcome its first residents. The project is a partnership between the West Augustine Historical Community Development Corporation and Ability Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer.

The development is one of the first large-scale affordable apartment communities in the St. Augustine area and is designed for residents earning 60% of the area median income or less. For a single person, that’s roughly $43,000 annually.

For lifelong St. Augustine resident Khrissy Axen, the opportunity comes after years of searching for a place she could afford.

“A very big challenge for the past five years,” Axen said. “I had been looking and couldn’t find anything that was affordable, but this is a great opportunity and I’m thankful for it.”

Axen and her two daughters recently signed paperwork for one of the community’s apartments and said they are excited to finally have a place of their own.

Ability Housing CEO Reggie Fullwood said the goal is to create affordable housing that residents can take pride in.

“You’ll see very nice countertops. You’ll see upgraded appliances, flooring,” Fullwood said. “Our goal is to provide affordable housing that people again feel proud of.”

The community includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Rents start at approximately $634 per month for a one-bedroom unit and increase to about $1,600 for a three-bedroom apartment, depending on household income and eligibility requirements.

Fullwood said the development is intended to serve a range of residents, including working individuals and families who have struggled to find affordable options in one of Florida’s fastest-growing counties.

“A young professional who’s making probably $40,000 to $50,000 and can afford to live here, and then families can live here,” Fullwood said. “So it really depends on your income.”

Local leaders said the project was driven by a longstanding community need.

Robert Nimmons, chairman of the West Augustine Community Redevelopment Area, said the area lacked affordable apartment options despite years of growth and development.

“Over the past 20, 30 years, we never had an apartment complex here that was affordable,” Nimmons said.

The West Augustine CRA helped bring infrastructure to the site and supported efforts to develop housing options for local residents, leaders said.

Katrina Mayers, chair of affordable housing for the West Augustine CRA, said rising rents have made affordable housing a growing concern throughout St. Johns County.

“There are a lot of people who need affordable housing,” Mayers said. “St. Johns County, definitely the rent, affordable housing has been an issue for a lot of the residents here.”

Fullwood said the development addresses a critical need in a county where housing costs have continued to rise.

“If you look around Florida, affordable housing is a problem, but St. Johns County in particular is one of the richest counties in our state,” Fullwood said. “A lot of times you have the haves and have-nots. Having housing for workforce folks who really don’t have a lot of options is really important.”

According to 2025 income limits from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, qualifying household income ranges from $43,080 annually for a one-person household to $71,340 for a six-person household.

For Axen, the development represents more than just an apartment.

“I’m just glad that I have this opportunity and they brought something to St. Johns County, not just to help my family, but those that are in need,” she said.

To learn more about eligibility requirements or to speak with a leasing agent, applicants are encouraged to complete an online interest form.

The city and JEA said the work is part of a long-running effort to reduce aging septic systems and expand access to sewer infrastructure. The city has already completed major conversions in the Biltmore and Beverly Hills neighborhoods, phasing out more than 1,000 septic tanks at homes and businesses.

Congressman John Rutherford appeared in Christobel to highlight the grants, saying the funding reflects what can happen when leaders work together for residents.

Mayor Donna Deegan said replacing old septic tanks is also a public health issue, pointing to concerns such as sewage backing up after heavy rains, odors around homes and the high cost of septic system failures. She said connecting neighborhoods to a modern sewer system helps create cleaner, safer communities.

City leaders said the project also addresses promises tied to Jacksonville’s consolidation era in the late 1960s, noting some residents have waited decades for sewer service.

Residents in the neighborhood welcomed the construction. William Batts said the change will improve quality of life, and he raised concerns about the costs of septic tank maintenance. Neighbor Willie Hammonds said the work is overdue and could help improve property values in the area.

JEA spokesperson Greg Corcoran said crews are rebuilding streets and yards as they install sewer lines, sometimes digging as deep as 18 feet, while residents continue living in the neighborhood.

The Christobel Septic Tank Phaseout Project is scheduled to be completed by November 2028. The Riverview project — one of the largest planned conversions — is currently in the design phase.

Trump bestowed the military's highest honor on Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. and Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery. He also awarded it posthumously to Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley, who died in 2008.

“These are great men, great people,” Trump said at the ceremony. “We thank you and we will never, ever forget you.”

Capers led a selfless rescue after a deadly ambush

Capers, 88, was honored for risking his life to ensure the safety of his fellow Marines after they were ambushed in Vietnam in 1967. What was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission to find a suspected North Vietnamese base camp turned into days of bloody fighting in dense jungle, according to his citation.

On the fourth day, his team was ambushed and outnumbered by Vietnamese fighters. A mine explosion left Capers with a broken leg and serious wounds to his abdomen.

“After a shot of morphine, Jim asserted command of the firefight,” Trump said, drawing on accounts of the mission. “He took over like nobody’s ever seen before.”

Capers called in air support to repel the ambush. When a rescue helicopter arrived, Capers loaded all the wounded men before climbing aboard.

Trump shared a moving moment with Capers as the president pinned the Medal of Honor around his neck, clasping Capers by the shoulders and pulling him forward to make sure the medal was straight and level against his chest. Capers had been keeping a straight face but broke into a smile when Trump grinned.

Ripley single-handedly laid explosives to destroy key bridge

Ripley was honored for a heroic effort to halt the advance of North Vietnamese forces by blowing up a crucial bridge in 1972.

A force of more than 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and 200 tanks was approaching the bridge in the village of Dong Ha when Ripley single-handedly placed 500 pounds of explosives to bring it down, according to his citation.

Over the course of five hours, Ripley climbed back and forth along the bridge's steel beams, exposing himself to enemy fire as he placed the charges.

“John completed not one, not two, but five such trips,” Trump said, calling him a “very strong guy.”

Ripley said a prayer, then detonated the bridge, sending it into the water below and halting the North Vietnamese advance, Trump said.

Ripley died in 2008. His three sons and other family members attended the ceremony.

Dockery rescued wounded soldiers before coordinating rescue

Dockery's platoon members were guarding a compound in Afghanistan's Kapisa Province in 2012 when they were ambushed by an estimated 150 Taliban fighters. He raced across open ground to rally his scattered team then set out to find missing soldiers, according to his citation.

After carrying a wounded soldier away from gunfire, he spotted two enemy fighters heading toward another wounded soldier in an alley. Dockery killed the two fighters before performing CPR on the American soldier to get him breathing again, his citation said. Dockery called in mortar support, then shielded the wounded soldier from the blasts with his own body.

After hours of fighting in the close urban setting, Dockery used smoke grenades to signal enemy positions for American gunships. He refused to leave the village until all the wounded soldiers were taken to safety.

“You were the last man to depart the battlefield that day," Trump told him, “and you left it a legend and a hero."

According to an annual defense authorization bill, filed this week, much of the travel funds for the defense secretary’s office may not be spent until Hegseth submits "unredacted civilian harm investigations," including for the Feb. 28, 2026, strike on the Minab school. Officials have preliminarily said the U.S. was responsible for the strike, which was blamed on outdated intelligence.

Congress, which conducts oversight of the Pentagon, has not yet received the Defense Department's report on the investigation. It is believed to have been completed last month.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that this year's annual defense package “forces the Secretary to be more accountable to Congress and will prevent many errors of the past from being repeated in the future.”

Strike on elementary school became a flashpoint

The bombing of the elementary school on the first day of the U.S. war against Iran killed more than 165 people, many of them children, at the campus adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base. It quickly became a focal point of the conflict.

Outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out the missile strike, according to those familiar with the preliminary findings in March. If so, it would stand among the highest civilian casualty events caused by American military operations in the last two decades.

Senators from both parties tucked the new provisions blocking Hegseth's travel funds into the National Defense Authorization Act to force release of the investigation.

The Senate bill text said not more than 25% of the defense secretary’s travel funds may be spent until he submits the investigations, "including all relevant supporting documents,” for several incidents of civilian harm.

The Pentagon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senators also demand video of the boat strikes near Venezuela

Senators also are seeking to withhold Hegseth's travel funds until the Pentagon releases “unedited video” of the U.S. strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats near Venezuela.

The Pentagon has conducted a monthslong campaign of strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 211 people so far. Many of the attacks have been captured on videos that the department announces by posting select footage on social media.

In at least one instance, survivors have been killed in follow-on strikes, which experts have said is at odds with military law and rules of engagement. Lawmakers also pressed for such video in last year's defense package.

Additionally, lawmakers are seeking three other investigations into a series of strikes in Yemen in April 2025. They were conducted during the U.S. military's campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who were attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea.

The list of requested investigations includes a strike on a port that left at least 70 dead and more than 170 wounded and a strike on neighborhood in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital of Yemen, that hit a house, killing at least four people and wounding 16 others.

The casualty figures for both were provided by the Houthis.

At the time, U.S. Central Command didn’t answer questions relating to the strikes in Yemen. Following the port strike, it said it “was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.” Central Command argued it was intended to “eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years.”

Senators conduct oversight as part of sweeping defense bill

The reports being requested from the Pentagon are to be submitted to the Armed Services committees in the House and Senate.

The directive comes as part of the annual defense bill, a sprawling 1,500-page document that sets policy for the coming year. The package is compiled by both parties — Republicans, who hold the majority in the Senate, and Democrats in the minority.

It’s one of the rare bipartisan measures that is almost always approved by Congress.

The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced the measure last week, and it is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.

The retraction came just a day after Mangione’s lawyers told Judge Gregory Carro that they planned to pursue a defense involving claims that the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing.

A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment.

Mangione's lawyers had faced a deadline Thursday to provide prosecutors with information to support the emotional disturbance claim.

In another turn, Carro rescinded his order to unseal a transcript and other material from a secret hearing on the matter on June 3, citing the defense’s decision, but by the time he ruled copies of the transcript had already been provided to at least some members of the news media.

It contained no additional details about the emotional disturbance claim.

If Mangione were to have gone through with the extreme emotional disturbance defense, he would have effectively been admitting that he killed Thompson but did so because of mitigating circumstances. It wouldn’t have absolved him of responsibility, but could have led to less time in prison.

If a jury accepts the defense, it is obligated to convict a defendant of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which carries a potential life sentence.

In a letter to Carro on Thursday, Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defense “respectfully withdraws” its notice under New York's psychiatric defense statute “at this time.”

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. His state trial is scheduled to start Sept. 8. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.

At Wednesday's hearing, Friedman Agnifilo protested Carro’s decision to unseal materials related to his psychiatric defense, saying it will be “prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts” in his federal case, where an extreme emotional disturbance defense isn’t allowed.

An emotional disturbance defense is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, 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.

At a hearing last month, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.

The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

The decision comes as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against “clear national consensus” and that it intended to keep fighting.

“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” said Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.

Netchoice brought suit against Ohio's law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.

The Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit's panel disagreed. In a 2-1 decision, it found that the law was not unconstitutional and sent it back to a lower court to have a block on the law's enforcement vacated.

“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote in the lead opinion. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”

Judge Alice Batchelder concurred, writing that “a statute is not vague just because it has a wide berth.”

Known as the Social Media Parental Notification Act, the Ohio law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July 2023.

The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, now a U.S. senator, saying at the time that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.

The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.

Republican Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called Thursday's ruling “a win for Ohio families.”

“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”

Chase's father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. She had been homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died, he told the newspaper.

TMZ first reported Wednesday that Chase died Tuesday.

She voiced the lead role of Lilo in the 2002 animated film, a role she auditioned for at age 8. Years later, a Hawaiian actress was cast as Lilo for the live-action remake.

For her role as long-haired Samara in the 2002 horror film, Chase won an MTV movie award for best villain.

Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to internet movie database IMDb.com.

She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. In her small hometown, she began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.

Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier said in an interview with the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.

Schwallier said he was in touch with Chase's boyfriend, and just before she died, arrived at the Los Angeles hospital where she was being treated.

Preston Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay and was sentenced on May 8 to five years in prison with credit for three years already served. He was released Monday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Begay’s relatives, who expected Tolth to remain in custody until at least 2028, said they were shocked when they heard Monday. The eldest of her three children, Gerald Begay, learned of Tolth’s release while wrapping up his workday on a construction site and reflecting on the somber anniversary of his mother’s still-unsolved disappearance.

“This is just another slap in the face," Begay said.

Begay, a prolific weaver of Navajo-style rugs and a grandmother of nine, was 62 when she disappeared from Sweetwater on the Navajo Nation. Family and community members searched for her, pressured law enforcement for action and drew national media attention to the case that’s been symbolic of the crisis of violence against Indigenous people.

Shortened sentence

Scott Taylor, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said Tolth received credit for good conduct while incarcerated and under a statute that counts time served after the commission of a crime but before sentencing, including on unrelated charges.

“The release was calculated in full accordance with federal sentencing law and Bureau of Prisons policy,” Taylor said Thursday.

According to New Mexico court records, Tolth was incarcerated while facing multiple state charges between the time he robbed Begay on June 15, 2021, and his April 2023 arrest. Those separate charges ultimately were dismissed.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona and a public defender who represented Tolth confirmed the conditions of release but otherwise declined comment.

Mark Osler, an expert on sentencing at the University of St. Thomas, said the Federal Bureau of Prisons routinely shortens sentences to reduce overcrowding and recidivism. The bureau has no obligation to notify victims and their families of releases.

“What’s unfortunate here is the lack of communication,” Osler said. “These are people that have been hurt and society owes more to them.”

An elder vanished

On the morning of June 15, 2021, Begay's daughter, who lived next door to her, called 911 to report a break-in at her own home, according to the Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigations. By the time officers arrived 90 minutes later, Begay told them the intruder had left and something else that struck her as odd: She had just seen her mother’s truck leave the driveway, even though it was well before sunrise.

According to the department, officers “checked on” Begay's house and noted that the doors were locked but did not confirm if Begay was home. Nine hours later, she was declared missing and tribal police began investigating.

Begay's family pointed law enforcement to Tolth, whose father was dating Begay's sister. Investigators twice interrogated him, and Tolth admitted stealing Begay's truck with her in it, repeatedly punching her in the face and leaving her on the road. He acknowledged he may have hit her hard enough to kill her.

But a federal judge later ruled that confession inadmissible, saying the FBI failed to honor Tolth's right to refuse questioning. Federal prosecutors then opted to negotiate an agreement rather than go to trial.

“A miscarriage of justice”

Court documents outlined an unstable childhood for Tolth, marked by homelessness, early substance abuse and parental neglect. A sentencing memo noted he planned to seek mental health treatment once out of prison. He is required to spend six months in a residential reentry center, better known as a halfway house, and will be supervised for three years, under his conditions of release.

The Associated Press left messages for several of Tolth's relatives on social media platforms this week seeking comment.

Begay's case received more resources and attention than most involving Indigenous people who are missing or have been killed, said Mary Kathryn Nagle, a Cherokee Nation citizen and attorney who has advocated for Begay's family. The timeline, however, is emblematic of widespread failures, she said.

“Most never have their case investigated at all,” Nagle said. “It’s troubling to see (Begay’s) case, even after making it this far, end in a miscarriage of justice.”

Begay has never been found. At the May sentencing hearing, Tolth's attorney said he made a good faith effort to lead investigators to where he left Begay when he fled in her truck.

On Monday, Begay's niece, Seraphine Warren, walked over 100 miles (161 kilometers) from Sweetwater to the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock, Arizona, carrying one of her aunt's weavings to mark the anniversary of her disappearance. The news of Tolth's release “gutted” her after an emotional day, she said.

“That date will haunt us forever,” Warren said through tears. “Now it’s not just the day my auntie went missing, it’s the day we were told, ‘You aren’t worth anything.’”

——

This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

Switzerland used the break to seize it.

Coach Murat Yakin said he timed a triple substitution of speedy players for the second-half pause Thursday, betting that plucky Bosnia-Herzegovina couldn't handle an abrupt change of pace in what had been a nervy, scoreless match.

Johan Manzambi and Rubén Vargas made their coach look awfully clever while they led a spectacular barrage of goals that put the Swiss in control of the game and atop their group.

Manzambi scored his first World Cup goal on an outstanding volley in the 74th minute, and Switzerland erupted late for a 4-1 victory over Bosnia.

Despite controlling possession deep into the second half, Switzerland couldn't break through against the Dragons until Yakin used the FIFA-mandated pause to turbo-charge its attack with the 20-year-old Manzambi and the dynamic Vargas. Both substitutes immediately altered the tempo, and both played roles in multiple goals while Bosnia went down to 10 men.

“It was very important that after the second hydration break, we would change a few things, because then the opponent can’t react immediately,” Yakin said through an interpreter. “Maybe that was the edge we had. We brought in very fast players, and our opponent couldn’t run (with them), and it opened up gaps on the edge. That was my strategy. I waited until the break.”

Vargas scored in the 84th minute shortly after Tarik Muharemovic was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Manzambi scored again in the 90th on a pass from Vargas, and captain Granit Xhaka converted from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game in stoppage time.

Switzerland opened the World Cup with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Qatar last week, stoking concern about the team's mental state. The Swiss then struggled to get loose from the Dragons, who were unbeaten in their last nine competitive matches.

Backed by tens of thousands of raucous fans in the Los Angeles area, Bosnia capably hung with Switzerland into the second half — until the hydration break led to a moment of brilliance from Manzambi, a 20-year-old Geneva native who plays for German club Freiburg.

“This is probably the best moment of my career so far,” Manzambi said. “We knew we didn’t start the match in the best way, but we had to be patient. We know we’re a good team, and we showed it.”

Three minutes after Manzambi replaced standout winger Dan Ndoye, he jumped and connected perfectly on Amar Memic’s attempted clearing header. The volley set off a wild celebration in the nervous Swiss sections of SoFi Stadium.

“He’s a boy who learned how to play football on the streets, but on defense he also has a lot of discipline,” Yakin said. “He still needs to learn how to be more structured, but we are making progress. We try to give him a lot of freedom to play, and he handles it very well.”

Substitute Ermin Mahmic scored in second-half injury time for Bosnia, which still has a legitimate chance of reaching the knockout stage of only its second World Cup. Mahmic’s vicious goal in traffic salvaged some good feeling before a decisive showdown with Qatar next week.

“Maybe our start wasn’t that good, but from (first) cooling break until the goal, we were the better team,” Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said. “We had two or three excellent chances which should have ended in a goal. ... This is the first match we've lost in a while, and it is hurtful. It's quite painful, but we know that if we win the next game, we have an excellent chance of going forward in the tournament.”

Four minutes after Muharemovic was sent off for taking down striker Breel Embolo one step outside the penalty area, Embolo got the ball from Manzambi and slipped a pass across the front to Vargas for a no-doubt goal.

Xhaka then found Vargas in deep for another pass to Manzambi, who finished with aplomb.

Captain Edin Dzeko started and played 63 minutes for Bosnia, becoming the fourth outfield player to start at a World Cup in his 40s — a group joined by Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday. Barbarez said Dzeko didn't play in the World Cup opener last week because he wasn't fully fit.

___

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

Liu closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th at Blythefield Country Club. The 28-year-old player is winless on the LPGA Tour.

“Very happy I put myself on this position,” Liu said. “I think nothing to lose so I just do my best.”

American Jessica Porvasnik and Cassie Porter of Australia were a stroke back.

“Was definitely pretty windy, but kind of the wind direction I really liked out there,” Porvasnik said. “West-northwest kind of suited my game well.”

Jennifer Kupcho was at 68 with Youmin Hwang, Minji Kang, Nastasia Nadaud, Benedetta Moresco and Daniela Darquea.

“To start it was really windy," Kupcho said. “Had kind of bit of a stomach ache, so a little bit rough start to the beginning of the round.”

Amateur star Kiara Romero shot a 72 playing on a sponsor exemption. She's the No. 1 amateur in the world and was the low amateur at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she tied for sixth.

Defending champion Carlota Ciganda also opened with a 72.

Two-time winner Brooke Henderson had a 73. Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul shot 74.

___

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

From a distance, Ivan Franco thought it must be a car. But as he approached in his tow truck, he saw it was a plane — broken in half, its fuselage resting on its side, bright fire beginning to rise above. He stopped and rifled through the rescue kit his company keeps in the truck, grabbing a sledgehammer as well as three fire extinguishers, which he handed off to police officers.

“At that moment, you don’t think much about what to do, because I knew the plane could explode since it was on fire,” Franco told The Associated Press in Spanish. “My idea was to try to break the windows because the pilots hadn’t come out yet.”

Franco was one of several motorists who happened across the crash in Laredo, Texas, late Tuesday night and rushed to help — putting their own lives in danger to help those on board escape as smoke filled the cabin.

Passersby helped save lives

Police were also on the scene quickly, and their teamwork with the good Samaritans undoubtedly saved lives, officials said.

“The officers and the good Samaritans that went to the scene, our firefighters that responded — I do also want to commend each and every one of them,” Laredo Police Chief Mike Rodriguez said during a news conference Wednesday. He said he asked his staff to track down all the civilians who helped.

The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement. The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement that it was cooperating with authorities.

The crash occurred after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport. The fuselage came to rest across a concrete barrier, while its tail broke off and fell to a lower section of roadway.

One person was killed: Joshua Baer, 50, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors. Three male teenage passengers and two pilots survived, as did a person in a truck struck by the plane as it crashed. Laredo police said one of the survivors, 16, was related to Baer but did not provide more details about him or the other passengers.

Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to the cause.

It was the third significant aviation accident in as many days in the U.S. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.

‘It looked like part of a movie’

Among the motorists who stopped in Laredo was Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she saw the wreckage. She recorded video as her husband ran to help.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. Most worrisome was the fire: “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

Garza saw people leave their cars to try to smash the cockpit glass. Her video shows the aircraft's door popping open slightly from inside as a voice cries “Help! Help! Help!” The rescuers strain to lift the door farther open as the three teenagers dart out, followed quickly by one pilot and then by another.

Franco, a 23-year-old from Laredo, frantically swung the sledgehammer through heavy smoke. Others struck at the window with a shovel and tools from their own vehicles.

Cockpit windows are designed not to shatter

They accomplished little more than spiderwebbing the cockpit window with small cracks: Airplane windshields have multiple layers of glass and are designed to remain structurally sound even if the outer layer shatters. The windows must be able to withstand a bird strike at cruising speed and hold up to extreme pressure differences at high altitudes.

“They are basically bulletproof,” said retired airline pilot John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

Police officers tried to remove the final person inside — Baer — as the smoke grew thicker. Officers doubled over coughing after turning away from the smoke.

Eventually firefighters with oxygen masks were able to get inside.

Firefighters also removed a dog from the plane that was suffering from smoke inhalation. The dog was turned over to animal control and was expected to survive, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department.

Five officers were treated for smoke inhalation; the five people who survived the crash were also released from a hospital.

As the plane crashed on the northbound lanes of the highway, its wing hit a truck traveling southbound. The driver of that vehicle also survived, Baeza said.

There has been an outpouring of support on social media for those who stopped to help, heralding their bravery and selflessness.

Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño called it “nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” thanks in part to the late hour when the crash occurred and the quick action of first responders.

Franco said that as he tried to help, all he could think of was getting people out of the plane. But to do it, he had to conquer another feeling.

“You’re in constant fear," he said. "You don’t know what situation you’re in.”

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Johnson and Golden reported from Seattle. Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

McKenna Wendel was reported missing March 13 and last seen alive in her hometown of Sioux Falls early on March 14. Her body was found outside Brookings, an hour's drive north of Sioux Falls, on March 19.

Wendel's uncle, Mark Milk, 51, also of Sioux Falls, now faces five counts related to her death. Milk was almost three decades into a life term on a manslaughter conviction when Noem commuted his sentence in 2023.

Wendel was raised by her grandparents, loved animals and had a “vibrant personality and a zest for life,” according to her obituary. She and her grandparents were Rosebud Sioux Tribe members and attended powwows often.

“She loved the singing and the beautiful sounds of the drums,” her obituary read.

Details about Wendel's death remained thin as authorities who announced the charges in a Sioux City, Iowa, news conference Thursday kept close what they knew to protect their investigation.

Authorities have said an autopsy was done, but the findings have not been released. The cause and manner of Wendel's death would not be released yet per Justice Department policy, said Leif Olson, U.S. attorney for northern Iowa.

Milk faces five counts including possession with intent to deliver cocaine that caused Wendel's death. He is also charged with transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to court documents.

Jon Rogness, 38, of Brookings faces conspiracy and accessory charges in an alleged attempt to cover up the crimes. The counts against the men were the “most serious, readily provable” charges and all originated in Iowa, Olson said.

“This is a horrific case,” FBI special agent Gene Kowel said. “There are no cases that we investigate that are more heart-wrenching and more tragic than the ones that involve children or the death of a child.”

Court records showed no lawyers listed for Milk and Rogness, and no relatives could immediately be located through phone records and social media to speak on their behalf.

In February 2023, Noem commuted Milk’s life sentence for a manslaughter conviction in an October 1993 stabbing death. Milk, then 19, had been involved in several altercations in the city of Winner that ended with the death of Shawn Peneaux, according to records.

Milk was in jail on unrelated allegations of driving under the influence and eluding police when Wendel's body was found. His name came up in public discussion about the case from the start. But prosecutors, who finished their investigation in late May, did not formally link him to Wendel's death until filing charges Wednesday.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a late March news conference the decision to commute Milk's life sentence was strictly Noem's.

“It is fairly often that you see law enforcement oppose commutations," Jackley remarked without commenting further on Noem's decision.

The commutation documents were sealed and even he had not seen them, he noted.

The Associated Press left a message Thursday for Noem on seeking comment through NovaRed Mining, a Canadian firm she recently joined in a “strategic advisory role."

A Republican, Noem, 54, was South Dakota's lone congressperson from 2011 to 2019 and governor from 2019 to 2025. She was Homeland Security secretary before being fired in March by President Donald Trump amid criticism of her handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

Trump praised Noem's leadership and said he was making her special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas." The new organization of Western Hemisphere nations is focused on supporting democracy and security in the region.

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Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado, and Billeaud from Phoenix, Arizona.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference where he called Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws.”

The 58-year-old stand-up comic was charged with six felony counts of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade taxes — one each for the years 2019 to 2024 — and six similar counts for corporate taxes.

Mencia owes more than $300,000 in state taxes on income totaling $8.7 million, Hochman said.

He has not entered a plea, and emails sent to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Mencia was arrested at his Los Angeles home at about 7 a.m., authorities said. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon and was being held on $250,000 bail. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday. If he’s convicted of all counts he could get more than 11 years in prison, along with paying the tax bills and interest that will almost double the total.

The charges are the first filed under the new district attorney's new Business Tax Fraud Unit that was established in May by Hochman, a former longtime prosecutor of tax cases.

Mencia regularly paid taxes before 2019, Hochman said. He was sent 78 notices from the state about his delinquent bills, with no response. The charges deal only with state taxes. Hochman said the IRS has not informed his office of Mencia's federal tax status.

Born Ned Arnel Holness in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles, Mencia began doing stand-up in LA clubs in the late 1980s. By the early 2000s, he became one of the most popular comics in the U.S. and also did some acting in film and television. He had his own TV series, “Mind of Mencia,” combining stand-up with sketches on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2008.

Hochman pointed out at the news conference that on the show in 2007, Mencia said, “Maybe I'm different, but I think taxes are a good thing.”

His comedy most often dealt with race, class and Latino culture. His career took a downward turn as he was hit with accusations from many fellow comedians of joke theft, which he always denied, from other comics. Joe Rogan, then best known as a stand-up comic, confronted him on a club stage on the issue in a video that went viral in 2007. Mencia had long discussions on Marc Maron's podcast on the alleged plagiarism, acknowledging that he may have absorbed others' material but denying outright theft.

He still does regular stand-up shows, touring clubs and small theaters. He's scheduled to do a series of dates in Southern California this week and Las Vegas next week.

The death of Kohen Wiley is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged community members in recent years. It has led to protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000, with some civil rights activists pointing to Kohen's death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value — in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.

“We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child,” Bernice King, the daughter of civil right icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse.”

Differing accounts of what happened

There are still many unanswered questions about the shooting and what led up to it.

Senatobia police responded to the shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: “Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.”

Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said her son and her friend, who was driving, were hit by gunfire. In a video posted on social media Wednesday by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Wiley said her friend was not driving toward the officers because they were “all on the right side and she was driving towards the left.”

She also disputes the shoplifting claim, saying in the video that she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was carrying.

Policing expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said regardless of the circumstances, the officer should not have fired at the car.

“Modern policing knows that shooting into a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and one to be avoided at almost all costs,′ Adams said. For one thing, ”vehicles have other occupants, which is obviously a concern here in the current case.”

Shooting revives racial justice concerns

Kohen was Black, as are his mother and her friend, and the circumstances leading to Kohen's death quickly drew comparisons to another Black mother shot during a response to a shoplifting accusation.

In 2023, Ta’Kiya Young, who was pregnant, was shot by police in a Columbus, Ohio, suburb, after they attempted to apprehend her. Police said Young, who was also the mother of two young sons, got into her car and accelerated in the direction of the officer who fired at her through the windshield. Both Young and her unborn daughter were killed.

The officer in that case was acquitted of criminal charges and found justified in his use of force by a review board.

The two deaths join a long list of other instances of Black Americans dying in interactions with police after accusations of petty criminal offenses. That list includes the murder of George Floyd in 2020, who was killed after police responded to a call that he used a fake $20 bill at a Minneapolis grocery store.

For some racial justice advocates, such cases serve as a constant reminder of the consequences of systemic racism in law enforcement.

“In the name of ‘law and order,’ a child was killed and family was shattered over items that could be restocked, written off, and replaced,” King wrote on Instagram. “Our charge is clear: until the sacredness of human life is the starting point of every police encounter, we must demand changes in training and work unrelentingly to reform policies around police accountability."

Tensions in Senatobia

Marquell Bridges, the president and founder of an advocacy group called the Building Bridges Coalition and who has been helping the Wiley family, said Kohen's death was “just the breaking point” after years of problematic interactions between Black residents and police.

Bridges pointed to an encounter last year in which an officer threatened Breshari Faulkner with a Taser, pulled her from her car onto the ground and arrested her during a confrontation over a handicapped parking space in the same Walmart lot where Kohen was shot.

Two years earlier, in 2023, a Senatobia officer was fired for his role in arresting a 10-year-old Black boy who had urinated in a different parking lot. The boy’s family settled a federal lawsuit with the city earlier this year.

“There is a culture there that they are above the law – just because they wear a uniform,” said civil rights attorney Carlos Moore, who has represented the 10-year-old boy and others accusing the department of misconduct.

Police did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The mayor and city aldermen also did not respond to messages.

About 40% of the city’s population of approximately 8,300 is Black, according to 2020 Census data. Police did not respond to questions about the racial makeup of the department, but the mayor and a majority of the Board of Alderman members are white. The city has elected only three Black aldermen since it became a municipality in 1860, according to the Tate Record, a local newspaper.

A toy lawnmower that blows bubbles

The officer who shot Kohen and the woman driving the car he was in has been placed on administrative leave, a standard practice, while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation looks into what happened. They have promised to release video of the shooting once the investigation is complete.

Kohen's grandmother, Veronica Roberson, was there when Kohen was born and babysat him often. She described him as a happy little baby with “the prettiest smile you could ever imagine.”

She said he was a sweet child and: “He just loved on me, and I loved on him. We loved each other.”

One of his favorite toys was a little lawnmower that would blow bubbles when pushed. Roberson would sit outside with him while he played with it. “He really thought he was mowing my yard,” she said, laughing a little at the memory. “That baby was my world."

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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Jack Brook contributed from New Orleans. Aaron Morrison contributed from New York City.

With 894 confirmed cases so far, the current outbreak is three times worse than a previous outbreak in Uganda in 2000, which had 281 cases at the same point, said Dr. Wessam Mankoula, a medical epidemiologist at Africa CDC.

The latest number of cases is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, weeks after it was suspected to have begun. The number of cases has increased 38% since last week and is now in 32 health zones across eastern Congo, said Mankoula.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatments and was not tested for in the early days. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

So far 74 patients have recovered from the disease across eastern Congo and Uganda. Experimental treatments like monoclonal antibodies are being developed for Bundibugyo.

The outbreak is concentrated in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, which accounts for more than 90% of the cases. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases have been reported and two people have died.

Contact tracing remains an issue due to the area's remoteness and ongoing insecurity in Ituri province, Dr. Mankoula said.

“For those 800 confirmed cases, we should have between 17,000 to 35,000 contacts that should be in our contact list,” said Mankoula. Currently only around 4,000 contacts have been tracked and are being evaluated, less than 15%.

“We are still far from controlling the situation of this outbreak,” said Mankoula.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by years of conflict in Ituri, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, making contact tracing difficult as people flee attacks or move frequently in the vast province with dense forests, poor roads and remote villages that can take days to reach.

Tracing is also difficult among the thousands of miners who regularly move among remote sites in the mineral-rich region.

Of the over $900 million pledged to fight the outbreak, only $90 million has been released to help fight the outbreak, further complicating the ongoing crisis, according to Mankoula.

Africa CDC estimates it needs 540 personnel to fight the outbreak and so far they only have 84.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed those new pledges will be fast tracked, and we’ll be following up with different member states and different partners about their commitment to turn those pledges into actual money released to their affected countries or partners,” said Mankoula.

“Damn, New York, we really did it,” Brunson, the finals MVP, said at a celebration at City Hall. “Somehow, someway, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done.”

Moments later, Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented keys to the city to the Knicks' players, coaches, owners and staff. Wearing a team jersey under his suit jacket, Mamdani said he and other fans “waited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts” the Knicks would someday win.

Blue and orange confetti swirled through the air during the parade. Massive cheers of “Let’s go, Knicks!” and “Knicks in five!” kept erupting.

And OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket in Game 4 of the finals on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his parade float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.

Director Spike Lee, perhaps the team’s most iconic fan, was on a float with Brunson, savoring the moment. “I’ve never been to a parade — ever — and I’m glad it’s this one,” Lee said.

The MVP’s mom, Sandra Brunson, wore a shirt with photos of Jalen and husband Rick, who played for the Knicks and is an assistant on coach Mike Brown's staff. She echoed her son’s words, saying, “It was all worth it.”

Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar on top of a parade bus while Mamdani danced. Later, Towns approached a group of kids with the NBA trophy to let them get their hands on it, bringing joyful screams.

Knicks fans turn out in force

Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder — sometimes on each other’s shoulders — or climbed traffic lights and sanitation trucks. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.

“I had to be here today,” said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of a legend from that era, Patrick Ewing.

Owner James Dolan thanked fans for waiting more than a half-century. Brown encouraged fans to keep their energy going “because this championship is about you guys.”

‘The New York vibe’

Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they’d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with only experiencing the parade from a distance.

“We just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,” said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.

Terrell Emerson, a chef who grew up in Queens, said he drove from Maryland with his daughter Madison — named in honor of the Knicks' home arena, Madison Square Garden.

Beaming, Madison held a handwritten sign announcing she’d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be there.

Stars and Knicks legends

Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — led the parade in a stylish convertible, wearing his NBA title rings. Frazier had late teammates and coaches on his mind.

“They would be amazed at what has happened to the Knicks and how they’ve really captivated the city this year,” Frazier said. “This has exceeded any expectations I ever thought that we’d have.”

Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart, Mariska Hargitay, Tracy Morgan and other celebrities joined the party, while Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen emceed the City Hall ceremony.

Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” performed a medley that mixed her song with the classic “New York, New York.”

A parade decades in the making

The mere fact that the parade is happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn’t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons. Instead, he held a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed ceremony in 1973 outside City Hall.

This time, the city went all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, “This is really happening.”

And a massive security operation

Officials said 10,000 police officers were deployed to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks' title run, including a five-game final against San Antonio.

Police said 10 people in the area around the parade were arrested and three others were issued summonses, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to felony assault. The Fire Department said it took 30 people to hospitals and treated 31 others at the scene for ailments that included heat-related emergencies, asthma and minor injuries.

Before the parade, a small group of people were crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier.

Some 650 sanitation workers were assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.

Why does New York throw ticker-tape parades?

Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers tossed the paper from office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling spectacle.

Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades for visiting foreign leaders, historic anniversaries and feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.

The Knicks' parade was the 210th, coming after a bash for the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2024.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Julie Walker in New York and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Southampton, New York, contributed.

The 17-year-old Jacksonville Beach resident carded a 2-over 74 in his first round of his first major golf championship on Thursday at Shinnecock Hills. Russell is one of the 20 amateur golfers in the event, a record for the U.S. Open.

Russell said last week that the key to success at the challenging Shinnecock Hills was boring golf; hitting the fairways and keeping the ball in the mix for pars and the ability to scratch out birdies.

Russell managed just one birdie on Thursday, a 9 1/2 -foot putt on No. 6 that was set up by one of his best approaches of the day. He wasn’t as strong on the greens as he needed to be. Russell two-putted from 23 feet on No. 4 for a bogey and two-putted on the par-3 No. 7 hole from 12 feet.

Russell played the back nine at 1 over.

Merlin Lu admitted to a TV station this week that he was responsible for the recent cross burning in Grant Park. But he insisted that he was protesting President Donald Trump and Christian nationalists and was not using the cross as a historical symbol of hate against Black people.

Lu appeared in court Thursday on four felonies and four misdemeanors, including a hate crime, property damage and burning a cross to intimidate. A judge denied a request by prosecutors to keep him detained.

Defense attorney Alexander Michael told the judge that Lu was exercising free speech in a “foolish manner.” He also disputed that it could be a hate crime against certain Christians.

On June 9, in the middle of the day, Lu created a cross with two pieces of wood, wrapped it in toilet paper, doused it with kerosene and started a fire, Cook County prosecutors said in a court filing. The fire left burn marks on the trunk and limbs of a tree.

Lu told WMAQ-TV before his arrest that his intent was not to intimidate Black people. He said he was protesting the “ruling class” and Christian nationalists who support Trump, and attached a red hat to symbolize the MAGA hat favored by the president's allies.

“I did know about this historical relevance beforehand. But I didn’t know the severity, how racially motivated it may seem from what I did,” Lu said of a burning cross. “Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.”

Someone put a large, multicolored, glass fiber heart with the word, “resilient,” in the place where the burning cross stood in the park.

Lu's LinkedIn page says he has attended college in Indiana and Chicago and was studying chemistry.

The amateur draft for players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico would be cut from 20 rounds to 12 beginning in 2027 under the proposal Major League Baseball made during a bargaining session with the players' association. An identical 12-round draft would be started for international prospects, a proposal the union has rejected in the past.

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

The amateur draft started in 1965, high schoolers have been eligible along with college players who are in or have just finished their junior years.

Raising signing ages would likely lead to players being older when they become eligible for free agency, which currently requires six years of major league service.

MLB cited increased revenue in college baseball as reasoning. In addition, MLB said 75% of high schoolers signed from 2012-19 did not reach the major leagues.

“Expanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing major league-ready talent at an accelerated rate," MLB said in a statement. “By creating a draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball — and ultimately the major leagues — more quickly.”

The players' association claimed the plan would decrease compensation by $1 billion over five years, including $400 million from this year to 2027.

“MLB made another set of proposals that are flat-out bad for baseball, ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game,” the union said in a statement.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips supported keeping more prospects in college longer. He said in a statement that improvements in facilities, technology and scholarships “are creating more opportunities for student-athletes and providing additional pathways to develop at the collegiate level before taking the next step to the professional ranks.”

MLB said it will not seek to reduce the 120 minor league teams in the top four levels when it negotiates new professional development licenses in 2030 to replace expiring 10-year deals. It would cap bonuses for undrafted players at $10,000 — Middle Tennessee two-way player Trace Phillips was bypassed in the draft last July and signed with Tampa Bay for $629,200.

For international amateurs, the age to sign would be raised to 18 on the Sept. 1 of their signing year, up from 17.

“The game's greatest stars are precocious talents. We always want to have a great window for them,” said Scott Boras, baseball's most high-profile agent. “International markets recognize this, as well. When you bar a labor force from opportunity in America, it is not an American concept.”

Each separate draft would have $200 million in signing pools in 2027. There would be hard caps for each draft.

Teams would be able to trade draft picks but a club couldn't trade its first-round pick in consecutive drafts. A team couldn't acquire more than three additional selections among the first three rounds. In addition, MLB proposed requiring up to 10 prospects to attend the draft, and each would get a $50,000 draft attendance bonus.

Spending on signing bonuses for players eligible for the 2025 amateur draft have totaled $401.81 million and signing bonus pools for 2026 increased by 2.5%.

Each team would have the same amount to spend under the proposal rather than the current system which gives higher pools to teams with poorer records in the previous year. Pittsburgh is at just over $19 million this year and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at slightly under $4 million. Teams currently can go over their pools and often do as much as 5%.

Teams have spent $196.38 million on signing bonuses for international amateurs in 2026. The current signing period runs from Jan. 15 to Dec. 15 each year, but the initial international draft would be no earlier than September 2027 and no later than March 2028.

MLB proposed eliminating competitive balance round picks that began in 2023 and cutting the draft lottery that started in 2023 from the top six picks to four.

Bargaining began May 13 and the sides exchanged initial proposals two weeks later as management proposed a salary cap for the first time since 1994, which resulted in a 7 1/2-month strike and the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.

Baseball's five-year collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to immediately impose a lockout, as it did in December 2021. An agreement was reached on the 99th day of the lockout, preserving a slightly delayed 162-game schedule.

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

The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge wrongly interpreted Philadelphia's contract claims involving Independence National Historical Park, saying the city merely having standing to sue did not mean its arguments had merit. The panel also praised the plans for the replacement installation, writing that they were “full of historical context,” despite objections from historians and city officials that the content appears whitewashed.

The ruling comes a week after a Massachusetts federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore sites changed under an executive order calling for the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks to not display elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” The federal government has asked for a stay on that ruling while it appeals.

It was unclear how the Massachusetts ruling would affect the restoration or replacement of the panels at the President's House Site. About half the large panels at the outdoor exhibit had been restored before a February pause in the work.

Messages to spokespeople for the Department of Interior and the National Park Service were not returned.

In a statement on Instagram late Thursday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker vowed to pursue legal avenues to reverse the decision.

“We cannot and WILL not rest until the full story of American history – including the existence of Slavery at the President’s House here in Philadelphia – is told, for our Nation and the World to see,” she wrote.

Dawn Chavous, a volunteer for Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, one of the advocacy groups that helped develop the site in the 2000s, said they are disappointed with the decision but are speaking to their attorneys and considering options.

“For decades, ATAC has worked to ensure that the stories of the enslaved African descendants who lived and labored at the President’s House are not erased, overlooked, or misrepresented,” the group said in an emailed statement. “That commitment remains unwavering. We believe that historical truth matters, and we will continue to advocate for the protection, preservation, and accurate interpretation of this important chapter of American history.”

The city of Philadelphia sued in January after the National Park Service, in response to President Donald Trump's executive order, removed the explanatory panels from the President’s House Site, where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.

The city had worked in tandem with the federal government, historians and private partners to create the exhibit in the early 2000s — as part of a longstanding cooperation agreement over the downtown historical park — and contributed $1.5 million toward its creation.

The city argued that the federal government must consult with the city before making changes to the President's House Site. Justice Department lawyers argued the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.

In its ruling Thursday, the appeals panel said the maintenance portion of the contract between the city and the federal government could not be interpreted to mean the site would remain as it was when it was completed.

“The duty to ‘maintain’ is better understood as a general management obligation that accompanies ownership, not a promise that the exhibits will forever remain in place regardless of the owner’s wishes,” the opinion said.

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Casey contributed from Boston.

“You guys were after me,” he told reporters. “I was the hunted. And now I’m the hunter."

The incident, recalled in “Regime Change,” New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's new book on the first year of Trump's second term, encapsulates how different Trump's return to the White House in 2025 has been from his first term.

The book spells out a thesis that Trump himself believes: Had he not lost the 2020 election, he would not be as powerful in his second term as he is now — emboldening him to trample norms, dismantle established institutions and push the limits of presidential power.

Trump still falsely claims to have won in 2020. But a second term coming then might have been marred by pushback from members of his own administration, the coronavirus pandemic and the runaway inflation it caused, as well as an antagonistic Congress controlled by Democrats. He hasn't faced those issues this time.

Here are some takeaways from the book:

Vance or Rubio in 2028? Trump will loom large in the choice

The authors recount how Trump frequently quizzed aides about whether Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be better to succeed him.

Some donors promoted Rubio and some aides thought the secretary and the president had better personal chemistry than Trump and Vance. But Trump also indicated that he was impressed by Vance’s intellect and abilities during television interviews — particularly tough ones, the book says.

Trump is also said to be impressed by the background of Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants. The book describes how, after Trump redecorated the Oval Office to fill it with gold flourishes, someone asked the president about the likelihood that the next president would undo all that he had done. Trump retorted: “Cubans love gold.”

But, Haberman and Swan write, Rubio and Vance are also friends. An example they offer is Rubio texting Vance after the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee's comments about “ childless cat ladies ” became a scandal. Rubio offered to campaign with Vance to show his support.

As those two men jostle for position before 2028, it’s possible Trump won’t soon yield the spotlight to them.

The president frequently talks about the two and a half years left in his term, a timeline that carries him right up to Inauguration Day 2029 — suggesting that he's unlikely to let the Republicans running in the presidential race overshadow him.

A case in point occurred during an Oval Office meeting with Trump, Vance and Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the House Democrats. As Haberman and Swan recount, the president showed off “Trump 2028” baseball caps, prompting Jeffries to gesture at Vance and ask, “How does he feel about that?” Trump responded “Ah, he’s fine. He doesn’t care,” adding, “We’re giving him a little more training.”

Vance, speaking up for himself, offered, “No comment.”

Panic inside the White House over the Epstein files release

Haberman and Swan detail the deep level of alarm over the administration’s handling of the release of files from the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. That included White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles convening a crisis response meeting in the Situation Room and Vance suggesting enlisting friendly interviewer Tucker Carlson to sit down with Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

That revelation has now raised questions about whether the reporters got audio recordings of what was said in a secure area of the White House, which would be a security concern.

Trump redecorated while the first lady was away

The book details how the president and first lady are the first first couple to sleep in separate bedrooms since Richard and Pat Nixon, though Bill and Hillary Clinton slept apart briefly when his affair with Monica Lewinsky became public. First lady Melania Trump sleeps in the White House’s traditional master bedroom of the Executive Residence — Room 219 — while the president sleeps in Room 220, next to second-floor space known as the Yellow Oval.

The president fitted his bedroom with gold and other flourishes, carrying in some objects himself from the corridor where his wife had selected the decor during the first term, the book said. Because the first lady wasn’t in Washington much during the start of the second term, she wasn't there to stop the president from rearranging things.

Among the items moved was a gold-leaf-framed mirror that had been part of the first lady’s redesign of the second-floor Queen’s Bedroom. But that actually ended up outside, on the Colonnade outside the Oval Office, where it is used to facilitate selfies.

The first lady had also overseen first-term Rose Garden renovations and objected to Trump wanting to pave over the area for his patio space reminiscent of his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago. The president relented, and the surrounding grass was covered, but not the roses. She lost a larger battle, the authors write, as the East Wing was demolished to make room for the $400 million ballroom her husband is building.

Trump long had a Venezuela fixation

The president began his second term talking frequently about seizing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state, but was privately more focused on Venezuela — even suggesting it could become a state where he'd be allowed to appoint the governor.

Initially, Trump allowed special envoy Ric Grenell to negotiate with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but he was eventually sidelined as Rubio made the case that Maduro would string along the administration for years, in an attempt to wait until Trump was out of power in 2029, Haberman and Swan write.

Rubio told White House officials that Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was corrupt but serious and could most likely keep Venezuela together. Rubio spoke with Rodriguez on the night U.S. forces stormed into Venezuela and deposed its president. He told her she had to bring stability to her country and prevent mass migration and violence. Rodriguez remains head of Venezuela after Maduro's ouster.

Trump also told the authors during a March 2026 interview that he had a “love affair” with Venezuela that began with his years of owning the Miss Universe pageant and the beautiful women representing that country in it. That wasn’t enough to improve his opinion of Ukraine, though, which Trump said he didn't like, except for its women who kept winning Miss Universe, the book says.

Trump said he was talking to a historian. It was Gary Player's caddy

Haberman and Swan conclude with the president telling them about a historian introduced to him by golfer Gary Player who described the president as the most powerful man the planet had ever known — surpassing even Alexander the Great, William the Conqueror and Napoleon.

Trump, who promoted the anecdote himself on social media Thursday, was unable to recall the historian's name during that interview. However, a White House staffer later revealed to the authors who the golf legend actually had been talking about. It was Player's longtime caddy.

The letter from the Illinois senator, the top Democrat on the Senate's aviation subcommittee, adds to questions and concerns over Trump's proposed 250-foot (76-meter) arch for the nation's capital. Pushed by Trump to commemorate the country's 250th anniversary, it would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial.

Duckworth wrote that the FAA’s initial review of the arch appears to have been expedited and raised questions about whether the president or his White House aides are “already improperly pressuring FAA to prioritize rubberstamping Trump’s vanity arch over public safety.”

Officials are looking to complete the towering edifice within three years, possibly requiring 20 hours of work per day and cranes up to 320 feet (106 meters) tall, according to a National Park Service preliminary report, which Duckworth cited in her letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

The agency said it would respond directly to Duckworth.

The arch's close proximity to the complex airspace of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where a U.S. Army helicopter collided with a commercial jet last year, killing 67 people, was a key concern for Duckworth.

The crash “underscores the consequences of inadequate coordination and the need for extreme caution when evaluating any new obstruction in this environment,” she wrote. The FAA must be “firm in rejecting any improper or irresponsible pressure" from Trump on the matter.

In a previous statement, the FAA said that a preliminary feasibility study found “no adverse impacts to operations” at the nearby airport. The top of the structure, however, would need to be lit with red obstruction lights, which it called “a common safety tool.”

The agency said a full study in coordination with the park service would come next.

Duckworth added another concern in her letter, that the arch would interrupt the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, and thereby “offensively desecrate the hallowed symbolism.”

Although the tentative peace deal between the U.S. and Iran and the resumption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are pushing energy prices downward, the cost of gas is still much higher than before the war began on Feb. 28.

According to motor club AAA, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $3.999 on Thursday. It was the first time since late March that prices were that low. And the drop aligns with easing crude oil costs overall, with markets expressing optimism in recent weeks about the prospect of a peace deal.

Even with prices dropping, American drivers are collectively paying about $1 more per gallon than they were before the war, and gas is 25% more expensive than it was this time last year. That has caused many households to tighten their budgets and rethink how they want to spend their money.

More expensive bills beyond gas

Research has shown that short-term swings in the cost of gas leads consumers to adjust their driving and wider spending, with some even pulling back on core necessities such as groceries when gas prices get high, said Dylan Brewer, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Economics.

If costs continue to fall in the coming weeks, he said, more people may be able to “loosen their belts a little bit.” Businesses that rely on gas and diesel to transport their goods will also benefit, but it could take a few months for that to trickle through the supply chain, Brewer added.

Gas isn't the only thing that's gotten more expensive during the war. Groceries, airline tickets and even condoms and shoes cost more amid global supply chain disruptions. Even if oil and other core necessities such as fertilizer begin flowing from the Middle East again, experts warn that the high costs will likely persist long after the fighting ends.

“Product prices across the United States are projected to keep climbing for the rest of 2026," Pat Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, said Thursday.

Penfield pointed to depleted inventories and supply chain problems caused by the war, noting that farmers, for example, had to pay more for fertilizer and other supplies this spring, which will “ripple through to increased food prices by autumn.” At the gas pump, meanwhile, limited refinery capacity in the U.S. “remains a significant bottleneck” toward bringing down prices further, he said.

What prices at the pump look like nationwide

Steep fuel costs have already pushed U.S. inflation to its highest level in three years. And many consumers are still paying much more than $4 per gallon to fill their tanks.

That price is a national average, with costs varying between states due to factors like proximity to supply and differing tax rates. In California on Thursday, the average price for regular gas was about $5.64, according to AAA. Next costliest was Hawaii, at $5.57. Meanwhile, prices in Indiana and Texas sat at about $3.40 and $3.49 a gallon, respectively.

Recent relief for fuel prices arrived with a drop in costs for crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline.

Brent crude, the international standard, sat under $80 per barrel Thursday. And U.S. benchmark crude tumbled to below $76 per barrel. That's still a little higher than the roughly $70 price tag before the war, but far below the $100-plus price from just a few weeks ago.

Why oil costs are falling

Prices fell overnight Wednesday into Thursday after President Donald Trump signed the tentative agreement with Iran. It calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and, in a significant concession from Washington, waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil freely.

Major ship owners have also begun moving vessels through the Strait of Hormuz since the memorandum of understanding was signed Wednesday, according to maritime data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, although some reported that only more limited side routes were open. And U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. Navy has lifted its own blockade to allow some transit to and from Iranian ports.

Still, it could take weeks or months for traffic to return to prewar levels. Before the war, the strait carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. And Gulf oil producers that throttled back production will need time to get the oil moving again.

Some ship captains may take their time to determine if the passage is safe. The agreement between the U.S. and Iran calls for a permanent end to hostilities and starts a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, though Trump left the door open to resume attacks.

Refineries also typically pay for crude oil a month or more in advance, so even after oil prices drop, they won’t immediately be processing cheaper products. Energy shocks have been even starker in places that rely more heavily on imports from the Middle East — notably countries across Asia and Africa.

The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. While Trump allies noted the agreement is not final, the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran’s sale of oil and the plan for a $300 billion fund to rebuild Iran and its economy were met with criticism from Republican leaders and conservative influencers, including some close Trump supporters.

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength. I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has urged Trump to keep up the pressure on Iran and last month warned against striking a bad deal.

“The $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said, referring to the Democratic administration's Iran agreement that Trump withdrew from during his first term.

The criticism from within Trump’s own party — though hardly unanimous — comes as he is trying to bring an end to the unpopular war fewer than five months from midterm elections, where Republicans are facing headwinds in their effort to hold their narrow majorities.

Trump calls his critics ‘fools’

Wicker’s points were backed by a number of his colleagues, many of whom supported the war when it began.

“History demonstrates giving billions of dollars to the theocratic lunatics who want to kill you is an exceptionally bad idea," said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch supporter of the war. “And so I hope we don’t do that.”

Trump on Truth Social called his critics “fools” and said the $300 billion payment to Iran by the United States is “fake news.” The interim pact promises a $300 billion fund for postwar reconstruction. It’s not clear where that money will come from — but Trump said, as Wicker noted, the U.S. would not contribute.

“All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory,” he posted.

Some senators question financial provisions

As the memorandum was released to Congress on Thursday, several Republican senators said it left them with questions, many of them about its financial provisions.

Majority Leader John Thune and South Dakota colleague Sen. Mike Rounds were seeking clarity on how financial incentives to Iran and conditions barring funding terrorism would be enforced, because “right now, a lot of money's going to go to Iran,” Rounds said.

To be sure, there were Republicans more closely aligned with Trump's America First policies in the Senate and elsewhere who were giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Sen. Roger Marshall stressed the point in the memorandum that supporters say gives the U.S. the upper hand. In a social media post, the Kansas Republican said one of the most important provisions “lays out a key commitment that strengthens regional security and ensures that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Louisiana GOP Senate candidate John Fleming, who has focused on Trump's most loyal supporters ahead of a June 27 Republican primary runoff, said that means Trump has suggested that the U.S. will strike Iran again if it does not live up to the agreement.

“The criticism may be worthy if there isn't follow-through,” Fleming said. “He's using the speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick in offering them plenty of help, but at the same time he's got that stick ready if they don't live up to their agreements."

MAGA voices send a warning

Still, some of Trump's strongest supporters in conservative media have warned against the agreement.

Conservative radio host Mark Levin suggested a strategic rethinking to hold off on an agreement with Iran until after the midterms.

“We should consider slow-walking the enemy, building up our munitions, our oil reserves, get the price of gasoline down, get through the midterms, then knock them out,” he said in a social media post. Instead, the U.S. seemed to be “rushing to a deal, building up their oil industry” and agreeing to governments “transferring billions to them.”

Right-wing social media influencer Laura Loomer, who has long supported Trump while also promoting conspiracy theories, was more pointed in her criticism.

“Who is giving the President tainted, pro-Islamic intel?” she posted on X.

What all the critics shared is an abiding distrust of the Iranian regime, no matter their relationship to Trump.

“It does smack of the kind of appeasement," said former Vice President Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump was fractured after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Bottom line. I don’t trust the Iranians.”

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

Churchill Downs Inc., which runs the Kentucky Derby to open the Triple Crown, announced in April it was buying the branding rights to the second leg, as well as the race for fillies the precedes it by a day, from 1/ST Racing with the intent of licensing it back to Maryland annually to stage the races.

"The Preakness Stakes is more than just a race: It is a cornerstone of Maryland’s history, culture, and economy," Moore said in a statement. "This decision secures a vital asset for our state, allows Maryland to shape its horse racing destiny, and by leveraging the Preakness’s iconic status and partnering with industry experts to enhance the fan experience, preserve Maryland’s position as a key power player in the Triple Crown for generations to come.”

Moore said no general fund tax dollars would be used, with the $85 million cost instead being funded by a tax-exempt revenue bond issuance, which would be paid back by money generated by the race through ticketing, wagering and sponsorships. The state expected the fee paid to Churchill Downs Inc. would escalate over time.

Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Katharine M. Voss called the decision a defining moment for Maryland racing.

"Ownership ensures that the decisions shaping the future of the Preakness are made in the interest of Maryland," Greater Baltimore Committee President and CEO Mark Anthony Thomas said.

It is Maryland's latest investment in the industry, in the middle of a massive reconstruction project at Pimlico Race Course, the traditional home of the Preakness and the Black-Eyed Susan in Baltimore. The races moved down the road to Laurel Park this year on a one-time-only basis while Pimlico work is being done.

“We plan to be back there next year,” Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Bill Knauf told The Associated Press in an interview last month. The expectation is for the full grandstand to be ready by May 2028.

The Maryland Jockey Club is the nonprofit organization set to take over for 1/ST Racing, which is transferring control to the state. The plan is for year-round racing to take place at Pimlico.

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

The decision announced Thursday marks the third such fake elector case filed by states to be dismissed, though the Democratic attorney general is vowing to bring it back to a grand jury in hopes of securing another indictment.

The legal maneuver is aimed at getting around a Friday deadline for starting new grand jury proceedings after Mayes lost an appeal earlier this month. The appeal was filed after defense attorneys argued successfully that the original grand jury hadn’t been shown the relevant parts of a law that governs how presidential contests are certified.

“This case is complex and will require substantial presentation of evidence and time to accommodate defendants’ request to testify and present evidence,” prosecutors wrote, explaining the new presentation of the case to a grand jury won’t happen by the deadline. Mark L. Williams, an attorney for Giuliani, said his client and the others charged in the case did nothing wrong and were only exercising their rights to free speech and to petition the government.

“This action was brought to punish Mr. Giuliani and the other Republican defendants for exercising their constitutional rights,” Williams said. “It’s appropriate that it’s being dismissed.”

Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair during the 2020 election season and one of the 18 defendants in the case, wrote on social media that Mayes had damaged the reputations and finances of those charged and “certainly seems unwilling to admit her overreach & put this behind us. She wants to keep persecuting her political opponents.”

Mayes’ office has declined to comment on Ward’s criticism.

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. Cases related to the fake elector scheme remain in Nevada and Wisconsin.

The Nevada charges were dismissed in 2024 after a judge concluded Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong venue for the case. Later that year, though, the case was refiled in Carson City, Nevada’s capital.

The Arizona case had been stalled for well over a year while Mayes pursued the appeal.

In Arizona, defense lawyers argued the law allowed for multiple slates of electors to be submitted to Congress in case the results were disputed. Federal law was amended in 2022 to specify that any given state could put forward only one slate of electors and that state governors are responsible for signing off.

Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes.

The state attorney general has faced steep challenges in making her case.

It was filed nearly three and a half years after the 2020 election and levels complicated conspiracy charges against the 18 defendants. A dozen dismissal requests filed by defense attorneys have slowed progress in court.

The first judge on the case recused himself in late 2024 after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Harris’ campaign for the presidency. The next judge ordered the case to be sent back to a grand jury.

Of the 18 Arizona defendants, two were former Trump aides, five were lawyers working for Trump and 11 were Republicans who submitted a document falsely claiming Trump won Arizona.

Three defendants have resolved their cases, including one who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The rest pleaded not guilty. Some said they signed the certificate in case Trump won court challenges and a new slate of electors was needed urgently before Congress’ Jan. 6 deadline to tally votes.

The case has factored into Arizona’s attorney general race, where both Republicans vying to challenge Mayes in the Nov. 3 general election have publicly said they would dismiss the charges if they were elected to the post. Mayes is running unopposed in the July 21 primary.

Mike O’Neil, an Arizona pollster and political analyst, said he believes Mayes would face criticism from Democrats if she had decided to abandon the case altogether. “People who are upset about this aren’t the people who would vote for her anyway,” O’Neil said.

RELATED: Jacksonville parents fear losing children’s doctors as Baptist-Cigna dispute threatens care

If a new agreement is not reached, Baptist Health hospitals and employed providers will move out of Cigna’s network beginning June 24. Both organizations say they remain willing to negotiate, but each blames the other for the impasse.

The dispute has sparked concern among patients, including Jacksonville parents Amanda and Jasen LaPointe, who worry about losing access to their children’s doctors and specialists.

Their oldest daughter receives ongoing treatment for hip dysplasia through Baptist-affiliated specialists. Their younger daughter previously received speech therapy and surgery through Baptist providers.

“We’ve been with them since our oldest was born seven years ago,” Amanda LaPointe said. “They’ve always been great to us, so now to start over it’s kind of stressful.”

The family said they may be forced to seek care outside Jacksonville or pay thousands of dollars out of pocket if the dispute is not resolved.

“For major things like orthopedics, we’re going to have to go probably outside the city,” Jason LaPointe said. “The only game in town for that in Jacksonville was Wolfson’s.”

Why negotiations have stalled

Baptist Health says Cigna canceled its contract with the health system and has refused proposals that would keep Baptist hospitals and providers in network.

“We are at a critical point and are very concerned that Cigna will force Baptist Health hospitals and providers out of network on June 23, 2026,” Baptist said in a statement.

The health system said it offered Cigna lower reimbursement rates in hopes the insurer would pass savings on to members and employers. Baptist also argues that Cigna is seeking contract provisions that would give the insurer greater control over certain medical decisions.

“We believe medical decisions should be made by trusted doctors who know their patients,” Baptist said.

Baptist has also emphasized the potential impact on pediatric patients, calling Cigna’s decision to terminate its contract with Wolfson Children’s Hospital “particularly disappointing.”

“As the only dedicated children’s hospital here, we play an irreplaceable role in caring for kids,” Baptist said.

Cigna disputes Baptist’s characterization of the negotiations.

In a statement to News4JAX, Cigna said Baptist already charges significantly more than other local providers and is seeking contract changes that would increase costs for patients and employers.

“Baptist Health Jacksonville already charges Cigna customers more than other providers in the area and is seeking additional contract changes that would raise costs for employers and patients,” Cigna said.

According to Cigna, Baptist currently costs the insurer and its clients about 40% more than other local hospitals.

The insurer said negotiations have focused on creating more predictable and transparent pricing for customers while maintaining affordable access to care.

“We’ve been engaged in active, good faith negotiations and continue to meet regularly with the Baptist Health team,” Cigna said. “While there has been some progress in specific areas, significant gaps remain — particularly around solutions that would support more predictable, sustainable costs for families and local employers.”

Cigna also said Baptist is seeking changes that could limit the insurer’s ability to ensure the accuracy of claims payments.

“Our priority remains reaching an agreement that protects affordable, reliable access to care for the people we serve, and we remain committed to continuing these discussions,” the company said.

What patients should know

Both sides say patients currently undergoing treatment may have options if Baptist leaves Cigna’s network.

Baptist is encouraging patients to apply immediately for Continuity of Care coverage, which may allow certain patients to continue receiving treatment from their current providers at in-network benefit levels for a limited period.

Patients may qualify if they are receiving treatment for an ongoing serious medical condition, have a scheduled surgery or recent procedure, are in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, require active treatment for a chronic condition or have a terminal illness.

However, both Baptist and Cigna note that eligibility decisions are made by Cigna.

Cigna said patients can continue receiving in-network coverage for certain medical and behavioral health treatment through its Continuity of Care program for a defined period after providers leave the network.

The insurer said customer service representatives can help members locate in-network providers, obtain referrals and prescriptions, and navigate Continuity of Care options.

Baptist also noted that emergency care at Baptist Health and Wolfson Children’s Hospital emergency departments will continue to be covered at in-network rates under federal law. CareSpot Urgent Care centers, Baptist Behavioral Health services and independent physician practices, including Nemours Children’s Health and many OB-GYN groups, are not affected by the dispute.

Cigna says its customers can learn more here.

A 22-year-old male suspect, described as armed and dangerous, remained at large Thursday.

The five shootings occurred Tuesday between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m, in a 5-mile stretch of Kansas City, three of them on Interstates 70 and 670 as they cut through downtown. All of the shootings were at least 4 miles away from Arrowhead Stadium, where Argentina won its first match against Algeria.

Two American fans of Argentina's team, arriving for Tuesday's match, told Argentine outlet La Nación that someone in a car came alongside and fired two shots at the Uber they were riding in, hitting the driver in the leg. They said they first thought the sound was a car tire popping until they saw the driver had been hit.

They had to go to the police station to provide statements about what happened. Officers then took them to the stadium in patrol cars, they said. The driver's injuries were not life-threatening, police Capt. Jacob Becchina said.

That shooting and two others on the interstates occurred while cars were traveling east, one of them from neighboring Kansas, police said. The others occurred further east on Truman Road, a major thoroughfare through the city.

Police said three adults and a minor, a teenager, were injured, and all were hospitalized, though only one adult had life-threatening injuries, Becchina said.

About 6:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a vehicle crashing into a pole along Truman Road, east of the other shootings. The driver was taken to a hospital, and workers there discovered what appeared to be a gunshot wound while treating him. He died of his injuries.

“Victims all indicated they were driving down the highway or roadway when one or more shots were fired into their vehicles,” Becchina said in an email.

Becchina said detectives believe the non-fatal shootings occurred “in close succession,” from west to east, connected by the one suspect.

Police later tracked the suspect to a home in the suburb of Independence, about 2 miles further east of where the fatal shooting victim was found, and a standoff ensued. But when police entered the home about 8 a.m. Wednesday, the suspect was not there.

Officials across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, also have a warrant out for the suspect over a June 11 incident involving an illegal discharge of a firearm, Nancy Chartrand, the spokesperson for its police department said.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States better compete with China for superiority in the fast-growing AI sector.

Tech companies and data center developers welcomed the chance to connect faster to the country’s power supply for the biggest energy users ever built in the United States, including some that consume more electricity than a small city.

Utilities, states and regional grid operators had worried that the Republican administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process, but FERC said the order leaves states in control of retail electric rates, terms and conditions. Clean energy advocates have urged regulators not to undermine state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.

The commission’s actions come as a backlash grows against data centers over concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use and fears about noise and air pollution, water shortages and a loss of open space or farmland.

Unanimous vote and affordability

FERC members voted unanimously to direct six regional grid operators to ensure that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”

Laura Swett, an appointee of President Donald Trump who chairs the commission, called the vote “historic” and said it would push the country’s electricity market into the future while respecting states’ rights, protecting reliable electric service and shielding ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.

“I know that Americans across the country are concerned about affordability, and so are we,” Swett said, referring to the five-member commission. As chair, “I am taking extremely seriously the mission that Congress has entrusted us to ensure that rates are reasonable,” she said.

The vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses needed to power AI are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.

Wright hailed the commission's action, saying it would "remove barriers, accelerate development and ensure America has the affordable, reliable and secure energy needed to power a new era of prosperity."

Data centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.

Robert Montejo, a lawyer who represents data centers, said the most important message from FERC’s action is that AI “has fundamentally changed the electricity landscape. The grid and prior policy were not built for the pace and scale of demand we’re seeing from AI infrastructure, and FERC is signaling that standing still is no longer an option.”

The six regional grid operators under the order serve 200 million Americans, or two-thirds of FERC’s jurisdiction. FERC, meanwhile, invited utilities that handle their regional transmission systems to also participate and analysts said the agency could eventually pressure them, too.

A search for power

Tech giants are scrambling to find enough power for their data centers and report that, in some places, it will take years to connect to the electric grid.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities, said FERC’s order builds on regional and state processes already underway while “supporting flexibility and innovation.”

Besides power bottlenecks, the tech industry is running into widespread opposition from communities where residents don’t want to live next to or near a data center.

More than 4,000 data centers now operate in the U.S., according to one estimate, with an additional 3,000 planned or under construction.

Trump has tried to deflect public concerns about AI, seeing the fast-evolving technology as crucial for the U.S. to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. He signed an executive order this month establishing a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.

In December, FERC took an earlier step to help data center operators get electricity quickly, voting to allow tech companies to effectively plug a data center directly into a power plant and Thursday’s order sought to ensure that option is accessible around the country.

Power demands from data centers

FERC told grid operators to respond within 30 days on how they will ensure there is adequate power supplies for new and future data centers, and within 60 days on plans to integrate large power users in line with the new guidelines. Swett told reporters after the meeting that she hoped faster connection processes are in effect in “as little time as possible.” She didn't set an exact timeline.

Jeff Dennis, executive director of the Electricity Customer Alliance, said FERC’s order is responsive in particular to big power users and state regulators.

Tech giants are confronting unclear rules to connect data centers to high-voltage transmission systems, while states need more clarity on who should bear the cost of regional transmission projects approved at the federal level, he said.

Rob Gramlich, a Washington-based energy consultant, said states should quickly develop rules to accommodate large power users and prevent cost shifts to residential and business customers. FERC could assert broader jurisdiction over interconnection issues if states don’t act quickly, he said.

Data from the Electric Power Research Institute shows that data centers now account for about 5% of U.S. electricity demand, but could triple by 2035.

Tech companies have continued to raise their spending on building and equipping data centers, but there is evidence that construction is lagging and projects are hitting roadblocks, including permitting delays, growing local opposition or bottlenecks around gas turbines, transformers and skilled labor.

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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pa.

The market's reversal was powered by sharp gains for big technology companies. The decline on Wednesday was driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation.

On Thursday, stocks faced less pressure as bond yields eased and oil prices spent most of the day falling.

The S&P 500 rose 80.48 points, or 1.1%, to 7,500.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.15 points, or 0.1%, to 51,564.70. The Nasdaq composite surged 496.28 points, or 1.9%, to 26,517.93. Every major index notched weekly gains.

U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.

Technology stocks had some of the biggest gains and the most influence on the broader market's rise. Intel surged 10.6% after President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 3% and Micron Technology jumped 8.7%.

On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its ballyhooed debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 3.6% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.

Oil prices wavered after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, spent most of the day lower before settling 0.4% higher at $79.85 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.2% to $75.85 per barrel.

Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 3.7% and United Airlines rose 2.1%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.2%.

Energy companies lost ground. Exxon Mobil fell 2.1% and Chevron fell 2.2%.

Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.

Higher oil prices have been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.

“While investors are welcoming the agreement as a constructive step for geopolitical risk, uncertainty remains elevated around potential flare-ups, the pace of shipping normalization, control of the waterway, the cost of access, and the path forward for Iran’s nuclear program.” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, in a research note.

Rising energy costs have been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher from a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.

Hotter inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to shift course from cutting its benchmark interest rate to likely raising rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates can boost the economy by making borrowing easier for businesses and households, but it also tends to stoke inflation.

The Fed has been trying to balance its job of curbing inflation while supporting employment growth. The jobs market has remained relatively strong amid rising inflation, with low unemployment and solid job growth.

The central bank closed its two-day meeting on Wednesday by maintaining its benchmark interest rate at its current level. But it signaled that it might raise the rate at least once by December.

“This shift in the risk distribution helps explain why around half of the committee thought that an interest-rate hike this year might be needed,” said James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones, in a research note.

The Fed's stronger signal for an eventual rate hike prompted a jump in bond yields on Wednesday, but they eased on Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.45% from 4.49% late Wednesday. The yield on 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks action by the Fed, fell to 4.18% from 4.20% late Wednesday.

Markets were mixed in Europe after closing lower Asia.

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Senior Producer Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

The justices decided unanimously in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who regularly uses illegal drugs violates the Second Amendment.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that his opinion narrowly limits the government's power to take guns away from drug users who are not considered dangerous. Hemani, who was not charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence, is thankful he “finally has closure,” lawyer Zachary Newland said.

The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions. Its core argument “fails under every measure,” Gorsuch wrote.

The law was originally meant to keep guns away from dangerous people, but the millions of people who now use marijuana can't all be characterized that way, Gorsuch wrote. While recreational use is illegal under federal law, about half of states allow it and cannabis use for health purposes is widespread.

“Whatever one thinks of these developments, the federal government has not just tolerated them; it helped fuel them,” Gorsuch wrote. “All of which leaves it awkwardly positioned to suggest that the millions of Americans who now regularly use marijuana are categorically and unusually dangerous.”

The law was also used in a case against Hunter Biden, who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware, of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, Democratic President Joe Biden.

Someone addicted to an illegal drug could potentially still be prosecuted after Thursday’s decision.

“We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm,” Gorsuch wrote. Prosecutors could charge a marijuana user if they had evidence the person was dangerous, he said.

Recreational use remains illegal on a federal level even after the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in April.

Gun rights and pro-cannabis groups join forces

The case made for some unusual political alliances.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association supported Hemani’s case, as did cannabis legalization groups such as NORML. On the other side were gun safety groups including Everytown that usually oppose the administration on Second Amendment issues.

The ACLU applauded the ruling, saying that nearly half of Americans have reported using marijuana at some point in their lives.

“The court has sent a strong message that the government cannot criminalize the conduct of large numbers of people by making categorical and unfounded assumptions about whether they are dangerous,” said Cecillia Wang, legal director at the ACLU.

NORML applauded the decision as a “vindication of personal freedom” and the Second Amendment Foundation called it a “major victory for gun owners.”

The group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization of the drug, condemned it.

“While the justices in this case appear to be most concerned with historical battles over Second Amendment rights, public health and safety are the collateral damage in this decision,” said CEO Kevin Sabet.

Gun control groups were more measured, with Everytown saying the decision still recognizes that “drugs and guns can make for a dangerous mix.”

It is rare to see standalone criminal charges filed against people accused solely of owning guns and using drugs, though they are more often filed against people also accused of other crimes.

The opinion is the latest in a series of firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since its landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country.

Since then, the high court has upheld a law aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and strict regulations on ghost gun kits but has struck down a ban on bump stocks, an accessory that enables rapid fire. The justices are also considering a second firearm case this term over strict regulations on carrying guns in Hawaii.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

“I hope this center will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is and remind us what we can achieve when we embrace our shared responsibilities as citizens,” the nation’s first Black president told the crowd.

Bono, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder took turns on the stage ahead of Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder, who closed the show singing “Higher Ground” as the former presidents, world leaders and others danced along.

President Donald Trump was conspicuous both in his physical absence and by not being mentioned by any of the speakers or performers. Trump called the $850 million center a “total disaster” in a social media post in February.

Obama voiced his support for character, honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion and sense of duty, praising both Democrats and Republicans, including those he defeated.

“Every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did,” Obama said. “It is our greatest inheritance.”

Reflecting on his arrival in Chicago in 1985 as an untested political organizer, he said he could not have built the Obama Presidential Center anywhere else. He met his future wife Michelle nearby, their wedding reception was within walking distance, his children were born in the neighborhood and he launched his first candidacy not far away.

“It’s an expression of thanks, an acknowledgment that so much of what I hold most dear I owe to the people of this city and the people of the surrounding neighborhoods,” Obama said.

Michelle had some emotional words for her husband

The Obamas and their daughters shared the stage with former presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and many other leading Democrats were in the audience.

Michelle Obama spoke directly to her husband when she stepped up to the podium. “Eight years in the crucible and not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you.

“Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence,” she said. “Your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first.”

She ticked off highlights from her husband's eight years in office, including ordering the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, “standing up for marriage equality” and “listening to science.”

“And you did it all with such grace and class and cool,” she said. “You made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”

Obama appeared to wipe away a tear as she praised him.

Michelle Obama also referenced the current “anxious and divisive times” and warned against being cynical or complacent as “everything feels so upside down.” She pitched the center as “a respite from all that.”

A-list entertainers sang inspirational anthems and protest songs

Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem and Aguilera delivered a rousing rendition of “What a Wonderful World.” Pearl Jam’s Vedder, joined by Chicago teenagers in the nonprofit Guitars Over Guns program, sang an original song called “Better Believe,” written just for the dedication.

Legend sang “Someday We’ll All Be Free” and was joined by the rapper Common and Uniting Voices Chicago for their Academy Award-winning song “Glory.”

Bono, who said he was representing the Irish, joined with The Edge in singing the U2 song “City of Blinding Lights.” The Roots served as the house band. And Springsteen sang “Land of Hopes and Dreams” before turning to the Obamas and saying “I love you.”

Wonder sang “All I Do” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)” before the grand finale, joined by the performers who preceded him.

The VIP crowd included several potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates; civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Al Sharpton; Oprah Winfrey; comedians David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert; actor Tom Hanks; tennis legend Billie Jean King and Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.

Former world leaders in attendance included former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Event kicked off weekend of celebration

The three-hour invite-only celebration included commentary from a nearby park where thousands gathered, and it was livestreamed to many more. It kicks off a weekend of events as the center opens to the general public on Juneteenth.

“This is not a monument to the Obamas,” said Valerie Jarrett, the Obama Foundation’s chief executive and former Obama top adviser. “This is a tribute to all those who made this journey possible.”

The opening, like the ribbon-cuttings of other presidential libraries over the years, had a heavy focus on accomplishments. This former president also expressed some regrets — such as the increase in political polarization during his two terms. “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” Obama said in his final State of the Union.

“Some of the exhibits reflect unfinished business,” Obama said Thursday. “In some cases, my own shortcomings and mistakes.”

General admission tickets for the center are sold out through the end of October. More than a million visitors a year are expected at the nearly 20-acre campus.

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Associated Press writer Mike Catalini contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Even one of golf's elder statesmen and a three-time major champion could learn something from the way the 17-year-old played Thursday in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Russell rarely looked like a rookie while shooting a 2-over 72 that left him five shots ahead of his 54-year-old playing partner.

“He played lovely, 2-over par was the worst he could’ve shot,” Harrington said. “He hit it dead straight all day, didn’t really have himself in too much trouble at all. And then, you know, probably could have been a couple better.”

Russell is a Florida State-bound amateur who was making his U.S. Open debut. He is so young that he said this week he couldn't even remember if he watched when Shinnecock Hills last hosted the U.S. Open in 2018.

The left-hander has a thin build and could probably be mistaken for closer to 12 from far away. Harrington, with some grey hair showing from beneath his blue hat, looks every bit the age of someone who qualified for this event by winning the U.S. Senior Open championship last year.

So Russell wasn't surprised to hear that spectators were frequently asking each other how old he was.

“That was the first time I’ve played with somebody maybe that much older than me,” Russell said. “Usually I’m playing Korn Ferry events, so they’re not too much older, maybe a couple years.”

Harrington won his first major title at the British Open in 2007, then repeated and added the PGA Championship in 2008, a few months before Russell was born.

Harrington was a fair amateur himself. The native of Ireland played on three straight Walker Cup teams for Great Britain & Ireland, including one that beat a U.S. squad featuring Tiger Woods in 1995.

But he wasn't sure his game was as developed as Russell's is now.

“I can’t remember what I was doing when I was 17 years of age,” Harrington said. “But yeah, I’m sure it’s all ahead of him.”

Russell, ranked No. 1 in the American Junior Golf Association and No. 7 among all amateurs in the world, earned his spot in the U.S. Open through a 36-hole qualifier — where Charlie Woods, his future college teammate and Tiger's son, was his caddie.

He quickly was ahead of Harrington, who bogeyed six of the final seven holes on the front. Harrington said there wasn't much talk between them, even when they stood just a few feet from each other in the 10th fairway after both hit their tee shots 307 yards. He said the lack of conservation wasn't because of the age difference, but rather because the conditions made it tough to hear anything.

“It was very windy out there. Your head's down, getting your work done,” Harrington said. “There wasn’t a great deal of chat. A lot of good shots for him, as I said, but not a great deal of chat.”

Still, there was enough interaction that Russell was able to learn something from the owner of 43 worldwide victories.

“It’s always good to play with a guy like that and he’s done really well for himself,” Russell said. “He’s played a lot of good golf. So I mean, anything you can pick up from them, whether it’s just the way they act, or the way they walk, or the way they interact with people.”

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

“It was exactly like probably what you see on TV,” Campanile said. “It was great. It was awesome. Just big family. There was five of us kids.”

Campanile grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Family gatherings were loud and lively, creating memories he still cherishes.

“Oh yeah, it was nuts,” Campanile said. “It was the best. Those are your best memories growing up.”

One tradition remains especially important. Every Sunday and every Thursday his family gathered around a plate of pasta. Today, Campanile continues that tradition with his own family.

“In the offseason I cook sauce every Sunday for my kids whether my wife complains or not,” Campanile said with a laugh. “That’s what we eat on Sunday.”

Like many Italian families, Campanile believes the best red sauce is the one made at home. His grandmother’s recipe had one signature characteristic.

“Our sauce was always a little spicy,” Campanile said. “My grandmother made it a little spicy. There was always a little bit of red pepper, little calabrese pepper in there.”

While Sunday dinners helped shape his upbringing, football was equally ingrained in the Campanile household. Campanile’s father, Mike, coached at Paramus Catholic High School for a decade. His oldest brother, Vito, is the head coach at Bergen Catholic High School. Brother Nunzio serves as offensive coordinator at UConn, while brother Nick is the head coach at DePaul Catholic High School.

“It was awesome. I would not trade my upbringing for anything in the world,” Campanile said. “We grew up running around the field as kids when my dad was coaching.”

Those experiences eventually launched his own coaching career. After playing safety and linebacker at Rutgers from 2001-04, Campanile became a student assistant with the Scarlet Knights in 2005 before coaching at Fair Lawn High School and Don Bosco Prep. During his five seasons at Don Bosco Prep, Campanile helped lead the program to New Jersey state championships in 2010 and 2011. The 2011 squad finished 11-0 and earned a No. 1 national ranking in several polls.

“People always bring that team up,” Campanile said. “We had a great team. We had great players.”

Campanile credits longtime Don Bosco Prep head coach Greg Toal with helping mold his coaching philosophy.

“If you walked into one of our meetings at One Performance Place, you probably hear a lot of the same things that he said to his teams and things that he taught me,” Campanile said. “He had a tremendous effect on me and impact on me as a coach.”

His coaching journey later included stops at Rutgers, Boston College, Michigan, the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers before joining the Jaguars in 2025. But no matter where football has taken him, Campanile says one lesson from his father has remained constant.

“The one thing I really learned in my house and from my dad was interacting with players,” Campanile said. “It was hard not to be able to see how much he loved the guys he was coaching.”

To Campanile, coaching is about much more than schemes and game plans.

“Coaching, if you’re really doing it the right way, is more of a vocation,” Campanile said. “It’s something that you really can’t live without. I think most of us who played football, that’s the first thing we miss - the camaraderie and the love that you have in the locker room.”

And for the New Jersey native, there is one thing he knows for certain. Asked if anything is better than being an Italian from New Jersey, Campanile smiled.

“I think it is the greatest thing in the world,” Campanile said. “I’m biased, but it is what it is. It’s been a great life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Instead, the rollout of Vance’s second book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” has been largely crowded out by something else he’s put his name on: the deal to end the Iran war.

The Republican vice president has embraced the role of chief defender of the agreement he and President Donald Trump signed with Tehran, giving a series of interviews touting it as a success, releasing a video championing it and parrying questions about it during a briefing at the White House.

It’s a striking emergence for a politician who's known for his skepticism of foreign military interventions and who seemed reluctant to speak on the conflict when Trump launched it in February.

The vice president is poised to yoke himself further to the conflict’s outcome, when he’s expected to kick off a new phase of negotiations with Iran — though when that will occur was still up in the air Thursday.

Vance becoming a hype man for the agreement seems to be an all-in gamble that, should he decide to seek the White House in 2028, voters will reward him for being the face of ending an unpopular conflict.

It’s also setting Vance up as the presumptive fall guy should the deal with Iran falter.

Trump joked about such a possibility on Wednesday.

“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit," Trump said. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”

Officials release text of the deal after backlash

Vance on Thursday referred to Trump's comment as a joke and said he wasn't worried. He added: “Look, the entire team has worked very well on this, and we’ve got this thing to a very good place for the American people.”

The White House in a statement called Vance the president's “right-hand man and an invaluable member of the President’s talented national security team.”

"That’s why the Vice President was trusted to lead these negotiations alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said. "What President Trump and his team achieved on the battlefield and at the negotiating table is nothing short of remarkable and will strengthen American security for years to come.”

But backlash, including from conservatives, began growing this week after the U.S. digitally signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday.

Vance spokesman Luke Schroeder said in a statement: “It’s unfortunate that some Republicans are attempting to undermine the President’s efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East and ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.”

Officials gave shifting answers about when they would release the text, but leaked copies of a draft were quickly met with anger and skepticism from Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers, as well as Israel and pro-Israel advocates. Their criticisms included concerns that the deal, meant to open a two-month negotiating period, seemed to offer Iran wins up front while guaranteeing little in return and that Trump’s stated reason for launching the conflict, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, remains unresolved.

Vance has reiterated that Iran must meet its obligations.

In response to the backlash and mounting questions, the U.S. on Wednesday provided the text of the agreement to journalists.

The agreement states that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously. But beyond stating that the U.S. and Iran will negotiate over Iran's nuclear program, other commitments still need to be worked out.

Criticism on the right persisted after the text was released.

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson, a hawk who has defended the war, said Wednesday: “This is an American surrender.”

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, another potential 2028 presidential candidate, criticized the agreement and said to reporters, “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.”

Trump's Operation Epic Fury has angered wings of his movement

The conflict, which has stretched into its fourth month, has cleaved Trump’s broad Make America Great Again coalition and angered both those who favored a harder line against Iran and those drawn to Trump’s “America First” foreign policy underscored by a message of “no new wars.”

Critics, including Republicans, have already started pointing fingers in Vance's direction, questioning whether the deal resembles the 2015 nuclear agreement struck by Democratic President Barack Obama and whether this new agreement achieves Trump’s stated objectives for launching the war, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally and Iran hawk, had been skeptical of the agreement and referred to Vance on social media as “the architect of the deal."

After the agreement was released, Graham issued a tepid statement of support, saying, “I see little downside to trying.”

Ben Domenech, The Daily Wire’s opinion editor, said on Fox News that everything he was hearing about the deal “seems bad” and appeared to cast blame on Vance by alluding to his first book, “Hillbilly Elegy."

“Are we going to backslide into being some kind of ‘hillbilly Obama’ kind of GOP?” Domenech said.

GOP allies say Vance can navigate the politics

The Trump administration has not offered formal briefings to Congress on the details of the memorandum, but Vance has quietly started doing outreach to some Republican senators on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, a close ally of Vance's, said the vice president would be able to assuage even critics within his own party who are skeptical of the deal because “JD is just the president’s messenger, and the president’s going to prove them all wrong.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the deal “certainly adds to the national security and geopolitical chops” of Vance, who spent two years as a U.S. senator for Ohio before ascending to the vice presidency.

But Cramer acknowledged the risks if the agreement goes awry.

“I guess the nice thing is, if you’re not the No. 1 person, you can take credit and avoid risk, avoid the criticism, but probably not so easily,” Cramer said.

Vance argues Iran is not a quagmire like the Iraq war

In interviews this week, Vance has sought to speak directly to the skeptics in his party, a preview of the difficult explanations he may be pressed to make as a candidate on the war.

On Megyn Kelly's show, the vice president said the critics “believe Iranian propaganda” about the deal. But he acknowledged some of the frustrations on the hawkish right while trying to reassure the anti-interventionists that the Iran conflict isn't the war in Iraq, where he served as a Marine.

Democrats have stressed that even as Vance becomes the face of the Iran deal, the fate of any administration official who harbors presidential aspirations — particularly hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has largely been quiet in the agreement's final phases — will be tied to its outcome.

“I think any member of this administration is going to rise or fall on the basis of the Iran war and the handling of the economy,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

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Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.

Tornado Watches stretch from the Panhandle to Atlanta. The low associated with Tropical Storm Arthur will bring a risk of severe weather across the Florida panhandle, Alabama and Georgia through 11 p.m. The potential for a watch to extend to our area is less than 5 percent.

Showers and thunderstorms associated with the the remnants of Arthur are located over the southeastern United States. The system is expected to emerge offshore the east coast of the United States on Friday. Environmental conditions then appear to be conducive for some subtropical or tropical development on Friday or Saturday. The system will move northeastward at 15 to 20 mph across the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Regardless of development, heavy rainfall with the potential for widespread and life-threatening flash flooding is likely across portions of the Southeast United States during the next day or two.

Formation chance through 48 hours and 7 days is 10 percent.

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Moderna's new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, for older Americans ahead of the winter flu season. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine's use in people ages 50 to 64 — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.

The FDA's independent advisory committee evaluated Moderna's studies of the vaccine and voted unanimously that its benefits appear to outweigh any risks for both age groups. The FDA will consider that recommendation in making a final decision by early August.

Tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year, and older adults are among the most vulnerable. There are various types of flu vaccines already available in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting flu virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match.

“Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future,” said Dr. Flor Munoz-Rivas of Texas Children’s Hospital, one of FDA's advisers.

In a study of 40,000 people age 50 and older, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine reduced flu cases by about 27% compared with those given another routinely used vaccine brand. In a smaller study of people 65 and older, Moderna's shot also generated a strong protective immune response compared with a high-dose flu vaccine already recommended for that age group.

Data showing strong immune reactions “were very compelling,” said FDA adviser Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, adding that "the vaccine looks very promising.”

Moderna’s Dr. Rituparna Das told panelists that the company’s ability to quickly manufacture mRNA vaccines that closely match the latest flu strains could prevent thousands of hospitalizations in older Americans.

Severe flu cases in the U.S. generally rise in years when the flu shot doesn’t closely match the circulating virus. Moderna officials noted that flu strains for each fall's vaccines now are chosen several months earlier than the yearly recipe update for COVID-19 shots that mostly are mRNA-based — and there can be a mismatch if the flu virus mutates after the recipe is made.

At the meeting, FDA vaccine reviewer Dr. Timothy Brennan suggested the agency was open to approving the vaccine for older adults ahead of the coming flu season, despite the need for more information about its use in frail seniors or people with weak immune systems.

If it's approved, Moderna is planning its required next-step study to include 400,000 people 65 and older, half given the mRNA vaccine and the rest given one of today’s special-for-seniors shots. It's supposed to repeat that study for two flu seasons.

Moderna's data showed no major safety issues although the shot did cause some temporary reactions including injection-site pain, fever, headache, tiredness and aches. The latter reactions are common in a variety of vaccines, but occurred somewhat more often than with today's flu shots. The FDA said that's typical of mRNA vaccines.

Those temporary reactions can be a signal that “your immune system is responding,” said Dr. Hayley Gans, a Stanford Medicine pediatrician and FDA adviser who stressed it will be important to explain that to vaccine recipients.

Earlier this year, Moderna’s data was at the center of a highly unusual public dispute as a then-top FDA official blocked the company’s application for its first-of-its-kind shot.

The embattled vaccine chief at the time, Dr. Vinay Prasad, said the company should have compared its shot to a high-dose flu vaccine recommended for seniors rather than a standard-dose brand. It was a sign of FDA’s heightened vaccine scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Moderna challenged that decision, noting that FDA staff had approved that main study’s design and citing a separate, smaller study comparing the mRNA shot with a high-dose vaccine for seniors. Days after the spat, the FDA accepted Moderna’s application.

Moderna also is studying the vaccine in younger adults and plans a separate study in 9- to 17-year-olds this fall.

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

The apportionment of funds, which the White House's Office of Management and Budget made late Friday, comes from two accounts that were intended to provide the U.S. Secret Service with extra money for hiring and training in the aftermath of last year’s assassination attempts on the president, according to Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. The shift was made days after Congress rejected a $1 billion request for the White House in a Homeland Security bill that Trump signed law and as the ballroom project is tangled in legal challenges.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, whose panel initially drafted the security funding, said Thursday he was unaware of the allocations.

“The president said that it was all going to be paid for with private money,” said Grassley, R-Iowa. “And that’s what the country expects."

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, charged that Trump's actions are potentially illegal.

“After repeatedly telling the American people that zero taxpayer dollars would be spent on his gold-plated ballroom boondoggle, now Trump appears to be using a smoke and mirrors tactic,” Merkley said in a statement.

“Trump has proven that he can’t be trusted to follow the law," Merkley said. "He only cares about wasting taxpayer money on his vanity projects.”

Ballroom project hits setbacks

Trump has faced setbacks in his attempts to build the ballroom on the White House grounds, where he ordered the demolition of the storied East Wing to make way for it.

Touring the construction site last month, Trump called the development a “gift” to the American people. He has repeatedly said that is being paid for by donations – which has also run into ethics questions from watchdogs concerned about potential corruption and conflicts of interest.

Congress refused the Trump administration’s request for $1 billion for the ballroom last month. The administration wanted the money as part of a Homeland Security bill, but Republican and Democratic lawmakers rejected efforts to tack it on. It became politically toxic at a time when Americans are reeling from inflationary high costs of living.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the price tag for the project has ballooned to $600 million, according to a project summary prepared by the contractor, with more than half of that funding coming from taxpayers. Roll Call first reported on the apportionment of new funds for White House security.

At its core, arguments are swirling over how much of the White House project is to bolster security underground, with bomb shelters and a medical facility, and how much of the costs are related to the president's promised 999-seat ballroom on top.

White House says Trump and donors are paying for the ballroom

A spokesman for the White House said that Trump and donors are funding some $400 million for the ballroom development, and that the coordination with the Secret Service had been noted in the initial announcement of the project.

“The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the President, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets,” said White House spokesman Davis R. Ingle in a statement.

He said the events over the past weekend, including an alleged attack plan targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, proves why the project is needed.

“President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for Presidents for generations to come,” he said.

Government lawyers have argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones and missiles.

The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortified,” including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. The Secret Service told senators last month that $220 million of the White House's $1 billion request would go to harden the ballroom addition, with bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies, chemical and other systems.

The rest of the money would go for other security improvements, according to a document provided to Senate Republicans, including $180 million for a new, “long overdue” White House visitors screening facility.

Congress holds power of the purse

The shifting funds are certain to ignite growing concerns in Congress over the separation of powers, and the president’s use of federal funds allocated by lawmakers.

The money comes from Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill that the president signed into law last summer. It provided more than $1 billion for Secret Service resources, including “personnel, training facilities, programming, and technology; and performance, retention, and signing bonuses.”

The provision was uncontested at the time, even as Democrats voted against the broader bill. Democrats said they did not challenge this section or try to strip it out from the package.

Under the Constitution, only Congress has the specific authority to allocate funds across the federal government, including the executive and judicial branch operations.

While the president holds the power to sign – or veto – those appropriation bills, once the funding becomes law, it largely must stand.

The bipartisan Protect College Sports Act aims to regulate payments to players, limit them to one free transfer over their careers and create a rule to restrict coaches from changing jobs during a season. It advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-9 vote and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

Thursday’s vote came hours after the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten Conference, the two most powerful in college sports, reiterated their position that “revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.” Several senators who voted against it cited concerns raised by the two conferences, which could spell trouble for its chances.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who supported the bill, said he would like to be able to bring it up for a vote in the Senate next month, before the August recess. He said the legislation will "continue to get refined as time goes on.”

“It was a really strong vote coming out of the committee,” Thune said.

The bill takes a step forward

The committee vote advancing the bill followed endorsements from several athletic conferences, the NFL and its players union, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The Olympic committee backed the revised measure after lawmakers added additional protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

“The new agreement also reflects the critical importance of Olympic sports," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the committee, said in opening remarks. “That is a major part of what this bill is about. College athletics is not only football and men’s basketball.”

NCAA President Charlie Baker applauded the Senate action Thursday, saying it was a “powerful statement to the growing bipartisan support for targeted intervention.”

In an interview with AP after the vote, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell — the top-ranking Democrat on the committee — said the vote result felt “pretty darn good.” The legislation is the product of months of negotiations between Cruz and Cantwell as other attempts in Congress to intervene in college sports have failed to advance far.

“This is a big milestone,” Cantwell said.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz was among the six Democrats who voted with most Republicans in advancing the bill.

“It took me awhile to get there, and I think there's more work to be done,” he said.

Big Ten and SEC aren't on board

The SEC and Big Ten said hours before Thursday’s committee meeting that their “critical revisions have not been accepted.”

Among their concerns, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has argued the bill could invite the very litigation it is intended to prevent. Both conferences have also objected to a provision allowing conferences to pool media rights, saying they are unconvinced it would generate the additional revenue supporters say it could.

“What we did today was say we’re not going to let the most powerful, richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what’s going to happen to 500,000 athletes,” Cantwell said after the committee vote.

Support and opposition for the bill does not fall neatly along party lines, reflecting the national reach of SEC and Big Ten schools and broader divisions in Congress.

While President Donald Trump has backed the bill, multiple Republicans opposed the legislation Thursday, while several Democrat supported it.

Some of the senators who voted against the bill represent states that are home to prominent SEC and Big Ten programs, including Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

“Universities in Mississippi and around the SEC are concerned that some further progress needs to be made on the media rights,” Wicker told the AP.

Earlier this month, the Congressional Black Caucus also urged the Senate to suspend action on the bill in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that effectively disabled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, a member of the CBC, voted against the legislation Thursday.

A long road ahead

Clearing the committee is just the first step in a long process.

Passage through the Senate is far from guaranteed, as leaders already have a packed schedule and a dwindling number of legislative days left before the November election. The bill would need to clear a 60-vote threshold in the 53-47 Republican-controlled chamber.

The bill will also still need to clear the House. Earlier this year, the House Republican leadership had been working toward a vote on its own college sports bill, known as the SCORE Act, before the Congressional Black Caucus announced its unanimous opposition.

Still, supporters on Thursday called the committee action a massive step forward.

“Today we are proving that we are resilient in keeping this product moving,” Cantwell said.

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AP National Writer Eddie Pells in Southampton, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP's coverage of college sports at https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports.

The federation earlier said the 23-year-old Wahi was not going to be able to travel to Canada, but it issued a statement Thursday stating the necessary authorizations had now been obtained.

Wahi started in Monday's 1-0 win over Ecuador in Philadelphia. The Elephants play Germany on Saturday in Toronto in their second match of the tournament.

Taous Ait, a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration minister, declined to comment on the case, citing a need for authorization from the individual involved.

The French soccer league said Wednesday that an “unusual amount of bets” were placed internationally on Wahi receiving a yellow card during a game on May 17 while playing for Nice. The French league was alerted by partners monitoring betting markets about suspicious betting activity concerning Nice’s home game against Metz, which ended in a 0-0 draw and in which Wahi was shown a yellow card.

The French league said it passed that information to police and gambling authorities, as well as the French soccer federation.

Asked whether Wahi was questioned by police, the Marseille prosecutor's office told The Associated Press “a 23-year-old professional football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1 championship, was arrested on May 29, 2026, as part of their investigation."

The office added “the investigation concerns alleged offenses of organized fraud, organized sports corruption, receiving stolen goods, and money laundering.” The player was questioned while in police custody and was released without being detained.

Wahi’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Ivorian soccer federation said it has not been officially notified “of any judicial or administrative proceedings” concerning Wahi. The soccer body said if “offers its full support to the player and reaffirms its confidence in him.”

“Elye Wahi remains an important member of the Ivory Coast national team," it added.

Wahi joined Nice on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt in January and scored nine goals in 18 games in all competitions, helping the team reach the French Cup final.

The French league season ended May 17. Wahi scored twice less than two weeks later to help Nice stay in the top division, a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne in the second leg of the promotion-relegation playoffs.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Thapelo Maseko’s long range shot late in the match caught the hand of Czech opponent Pavel Sulc in the area.

Mokoena, who was shown on camera with tears rolling down his cheeks during the pre-game national anthem, stepped up to the penalty spot and sent his shot low past Czech Republic goalkeeper Matej Kovar in the 83rd minute.

The South Africa midfielder said he was overwhelmed before kick off, thinking about his late grandfather.

“I know, wherever he is, he would be proud of me," Mokoena said. "I just felt his presence in that moment. I thought if he was here, he would be proud of me because I know he believed in me when nobody believed in me.”

Michal Sadilek had given the Czechs the lead in the sixth minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Alexandr Sojka played in Sadilek and he slid a shot past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

Both teams lost their opening matches, and both knew another setback would seriously hinder their chances of reaching the round of 32.

South Africa faced some strong criticism following its 2-0 loss to World Cup co-host Mexico, which raised the prospect of the country extending its run of never having advanced to the knockout phase of a World Cup — even as host in 2010.

“If we go on like that and if we can make another performance like today I think we have a chance to go in the second round,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said.

South Africa will next face South Korea on Wednesday in Group A, but will be without Mokoena, who is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament.

The Czechs lost to South Korea 2-1 in their opening match and will likely need to beat Mexico in their final game on Wednesday to advance.

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Associated Press writer R.J. Rico contributed to this report.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

At the Roots 101 Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, shackles made 400 years ago in Ghana are among the many relics of the African American experience on display. They were donated by a collector and activist. But Lamont Collins, who founded the museum in 2020, doesn’t just show them. He puts them on the wrists of willing visitors.

“It’s such a deep learning tool,” Collins says. “No matter how we hear people tell stories, how people try to change the story, the reality of the stories is in those shackles. Nobody can deny the reality of what you feel in those shackles.”

For European and American slave traders, iron shackles were seen simply as tools that helped run the transatlantic slave trade. Shackles were made for wrists, ankles, waist and the neck. They were even made in children's sizes. They were forced on kidnapped and sold Africans who were brutally crammed into ships as well as in slave markets in the Deep South. Seeing a coffle of enslaved people chained together in a line was commonplace.

Shackles reinforced to those enslaved that they could not even so much as dream of freedom. They were a punishment and a deterrent. A collar shackle even had bells or spiked ends to help slave catchers track runaways.

Last year, video of Collins placing shackles on a white woman's wrists at the museum gained attention on social media. He thinks it's because people want to talk about history through a racial lens as others continue to resist it.

“What I realized is sometimes that a lot of people think they want to know the story. But they want to know the story in their boundaries,” Collins says.

White men and women have cried after trying the shackles. Some decline just as Collins is about to cinch them on their wrists.

“I would say to them ‘Why I can't put these on you for two seconds and we had them on for 200 years,” he says. “It starts a conversation.”

___ This story is part of a recurring series, “ American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.

Kean, who represents a battleground district in this year's midterms, has missed more than 100 votes and hasn't been spotted in Washington or his district, stirring a mystery that carries potential national consequences.

"Congressman Kean is eager to return to in person work on June 30 and resume a full schedule," said Kean political consultant Harrison Neely in a text. “He plans to be fully transparent regarding the nature of his health issue and you should expect to hear from him in person June 30th."

Kean’s office has said he is still running for reelection and is set to face Democratic Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett in the state's premier contest in November.

The district is among the most closely watched in this year's election. In the past two midterm elections, the seat changed party hands, with Kean winning in 2022 over Democrat Tom Malinowski, who had defeated Republican Leonard Lance in 2018.

Kean last voted in the House on March 5, but his absence wasn’t explained. In April, his social media account posted that he had been dealing with a personal medical issue and his doctors expected him to recover.

On Primary Day this month, President Donald Trump endorsed Kean’s reelection, without mentioning his absence, and the same day, Kean said in a statement he expected to return to work in a matter of weeks.

He hasn't explain what the medical issue was.

Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country’s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader since independence. His great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman and his father is the former two-term governor, Tom Kean Sr.

It also received a positive credit action from Fitch Ratings for both its Electric Enterprise and Water and Sewer System, which are rated separately.

“JEA’s mission is to provide essential services to our customers every day, and these rating actions recognize the progress our team has made to strengthen our financial position, invest responsibly and serve our customers well,” JEA Managing Director and CEO Vickie Cavey said in a news release.

But Moody’s report also included a warning.

The ongoing turmoil at the city-owned utility could send the rating in the other direction.

What these ratings mean for customers

Credit ratings help determine how much public utilities pay to borrow money for major infrastructure projects.

For customers, stronger ratings can mean lower borrowing costs over time, which can reduce pressure on future rates. Ratings do not determine bills by themselves, and a rating upgrade does not automatically lower monthly charges.

But the same principles that allow bills to potentially go down when JEA receives higher ratings also mean they could go up if the utility’s bond rating is downgraded.

For public utilities, bond investors are betting on more than today’s balance sheet. They also watch whether leaders can make decisions consistently, follow rules, respond to oversight and maintain public confidence — especially when a utility needs rate adjustments, large capital projects or complex contracts.

Moody’s explicitly listed governance stability and continued progress rebuilding stakeholder trust as key credit considerations for JEA.

If that progress reverses — for example, through prolonged political conflict, leadership churn, or weakened oversight — the agency said it could become a factor in a future downgrade.

So how might that happen?

According to Moody’s, a future downgrade could be triggered not only by financial stress — such as higher-than-expected payments or a bigger capital plan — but also by “deterioration in governance stability or a reversal of progress in rebuilding stakeholder trust.”

That caution from Moody’s seems particularly pointed as JEA leadership faces renewed scrutiny amid ongoing public drama.

For months, tensions between the Republican-controlled Jacksonville City Council; Mayor Donna Deegan, a Democrat; and JEA have mushroomed into a convoluted, revolving series of controversies that have generated three parallel investigations.

The State Attorney’s Office has issued at least three subpoenas amid swirling questions about JEA, Council President Kevin Carrico and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, where Carrico is a vice president.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office also recently sent JEA a subpoena of its own seeking to learn more about a canceled contract between JEA and Ballard Partners, a high-powered lobbying firm that employs Curry, the city’s former Republican mayor and a critic of Deegan’s administration.

In addition to the subpoenas, Jacksonville City Council’s Special Investigative Committee on JEA continues to follow a mandate from Carrico to investigate claims of a toxic workplace culture and racism at JEA and questions about water/sewer capacity fees.

Capacity fees are one-time charges billed to new customers based on projected water and electric usage; some accounts may not have been adjusted after businesses expanded beyond initial projections.

Why Moody’s upgraded JEA

For now, Moody’s said JEA has delivered consistently strong results over the past three fiscal years and has made a long-term effort to reduce debt, including more than $2.3 billion in debt from fiscal years 2013 through 2025.

The agency said JEA has shown it can implement base rate increases when needed to support debt paydown.

Moody’s also said the utility has made progress in strengthening governance under a reconstituted board and management team.

JEA argued that Moody’s actions underscore the importance of organizational stability, including consistent leadership and Board oversight, as JEA continues executing its long-term strategy.

For a municipal utility, bond ratings can directly influence the interest rate it pays when borrowing money for large projects such as power plants, grid upgrades, storm hardening and technology replacements.

Moody’s uses letter grades to signal credit strength:

• Aaa is the highest rating.
• Aa ratings (including Aa3) are high quality and indicate very low credit risk.
• A ratings (including A1) are still strong but carry somewhat higher risk than Aa.

The number ranks strength within a category: 1 is strongest, then 2, then 3. In simple terms, Aa3 is stronger than A1.

Moody’s now rates the JEA Electric Enterprise at Aa3, and the Water and Sewer System is rated at Aa1.

“That’s a political statement in and of itself because if you change the rating on a municipality from say AA plus down to double B plus, they’re gonna have to pay a full percent more to borrow money in the marketplace. And when you’re talking about borrowing a billion dollars, that’s $10 million that has to be absorbed by your company and ultimately your community in this case,” financial expert Joe Krier of Trading Flow LLC said.

JEA pointed out that it is among the largest community-owned utilities in the United States, serving more than 540,000 electric customers and providing water, wastewater and reclaimed water services to Jacksonville and portions of neighboring counties.

Her childhood experience living in a shelter shaped her lifelong commitment to giving back and eventually inspired her to create Volunteer Jax in 2017. The program now connects thousands of volunteers with more than 100 nonprofits across Northeast Florida each year.

On the season two finale episode of “Voices of the 904,” Jade shares why volunteering is about much more than community service hours. She discusses how Volunteer Jax creates stronger communities, meaningful connections and opportunities for personal growth while helping people discover the value of giving their time.

Episode 7 | Meet Ryan Thompson - This gamer is leveling up Jacksonville creators through connection & community

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A post shared by Jade B. Robinson (@selfmadejadeb)

One of Jade’s core messages is that time is a person’s most valuable resource.

“When I think about my experience with volunteers, the ones who were in front of me, who actually made the most impact for me to become the person I am today,” Jade said. “Once, I realized that and sat back and thought about it, I started realigning the mission of our now program to be about only time and not about money, because you cannot put a price tag on someone giving their time.”

If you’re interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities, check out: volunteerjax.org

Although we’ve wrapped this season, you can still catch up on previous episodes below:

See you in the fall!

But the brief document signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is vague on some of the major questions left by the three-month regional conflict that jolted the world economy. The U.S. says some outstanding issues will be worked out over the 60 days.

Here are some of the main questions, and the best answers available at the moment.

What will happen with Iran's nuclear program?

Trump says a key objective of the war was to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has long denied seeking. The U.S.-Israeli surprise attack that started the war on Feb. 28 came as Iran was engaged in nuclear talks, which are now set to resume.

It will be extremely difficult to reach a full nuclear agreement before the 60-day deadline, which could be extended. The 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term, took more than 18 months to negotiate and involved complex technical discussions among nuclear experts.

Iran has long insisted on its right to enrich uranium. The deal does not specify the level at which it would be allowed to enrich — the low levels required for power plants or the much higher level at which it had enriched before the war, which put the uranium a short, technical step away from weapons-grade.

Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to have been largely buried by U.S. strikes last year. The agreement says at a minimum the stockpile will be diluted on site under U.N. supervision, without elaborating. Trump has long demanded that it be removed from the country.

When will the Strait of Hormuz reopen?

Iran's effective closure of the critical waterway — through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed before the war — caused a historic worldwide fuel shock, driving up the prices of everything from gas and groceries to fertilizer and airline tickets.

Lloyd's List Intelligence, a maritime data company, said Thursday that major shippers have begun moving vessels through the strait again.

Under the agreement, it will be fully reopened, with Iran to remove mines within 30 days and with no charges imposed on commercial vessels during the 60-day period.

Passage was free before the war, but Iran imposed tolls during the fighting and has said it will continue to charge fees.

Legal experts say that would violate international laws around freedom of navigation, and the U.S. has adamantly rejected it. Such fees could also run afoul of sanctions on Iran, making them problematic for shippers.

When will the fuel crisis end?

Even if the strait is fully reopened, it could take weeks or months for the normal flow of oil and gas to resume.

Ship captains and insurers will have to decide if it's truly safe. Hundreds of ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf for months will need to exit through the narrow, elbow-shaped waterway. Even a brief exchange of fire — which happened several times after a declared ceasefire in April — could halt traffic once again.

Major oil and gas producers in the Gulf, including Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, will also need time to repair critical infrastructure damaged by Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Will sanctions on Iran be lifted?

The U.S. says it has lifted its blockade under the agreement, which also calls for sanctions waivers that will allow Iran to export oil. That will provide a boost to Iran's wrecked economy and likely push world fuel prices down. The U.S. also commits to unfreezing Iranian funds held abroad.

A raft of international sanctions imposed over the years related to Iran's nuclear program, its support for militant groups and human rights violations are also to be lifted, but only as part of a final nuclear deal. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said sanctions relief would be “performance-based.”

The deal calls for the United States and its regional allies to develop a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, but does not say who would pay for it.

Trump has said the U.S. won't contribute, and Vance has said it would be up to wealthy Gulf countries to fund it. But they are unlikely to want to help Iran at a time when their own economies are suffering from the war's fallout and the destruction of their infrastructure in Iranian attacks.

Will the war in Lebanon end?

The deal calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon's “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

It does not say whether that means Israel would withdraw from the large swaths of southern Lebanon it has occupied since Hezbollah joined the war in its early days by firing rockets and drones at northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

Hezbollah has refused to halt its own attacks while Israel is occupying Lebanese territory, and Iran has insisted Lebanon be included in any ceasefire.

Continued fighting there could unravel the deal if Iran or the U.S. believe the other is in breach of it.

What about Iran's ballistic missiles and its support for militants?

The deal says nothing about either, and Trump suggested this week that Iran is entitled to have some ballistic missiles in proportion to its neighbors.

Iran still has missiles capable of hitting Israel and has long backed militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and militias in Iraq, which have also attacked it. Eliminating Iran's missiles and degrading its network of militant allies were among the main U.S. war goals.

Sanctions relief would potentially allow Iran to continue funding such groups, though it will have to balance that against its own economic crisis and reconstruction needs.

The comments deepened a rift that has emerged between the two allies over the interim deal reached by the United States and Iran to end their war.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said during a a news briefing at the White House. “The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”

Israel and the U.S. jointly launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, closely coordinating the more than monthlong military operation.

But disagreements quickly emerged following a preliminary April 8 ceasefire agreement, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushing to continue the campaign and Trump moving to wind down a war that was deeply unpopular in the U.S. and rattled the global economy.

While Netanyahu has been careful not to openly criticize this week’s ceasefire deal, some members of his Cabinet have been more outspoken. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads a small ultranationalist party, this week declared that Israel is not “bound” by Trump’s agreement and said it would not cave in to international pressure.

Vance noted that Netanyahu has not publicly criticized Trump, but he accused unnamed members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet of being ungrateful. He said Israel has few friends in the international community and protected itself with large quantities of weapons paid for by the United States.

Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on Vance’s statement.

In recent days, Trump has expressed frustration with Netanyahu, claimed credit for Israel’s existence and has described the Israeli leader as “ crazy.” He sidelined Israel throughout the negotiations, and criticized Israeli airstrikes in Beirut.

In his first comments on the newly signed memorandum of understanding, Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel’s military will stay in a zone of territory it is occupying in southern Lebanon “as long as Israel’s security needs require it.” The comments threatened to undermine the deal, which calls for a halt in all fighting and respect for Lebanon’s territorial integrity.

Netanyahu, however, noted it was important “to maintain the important relationship with our American friends who fought shoulder to shoulder with us, and we greatly appreciate that.”

Niger’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack in Niamey was foiled and that 20 suspects were arrested along with weapons and ammunition.

Witnesses reported gunfire and explosions during the attack, and an Associated Press journalist saw soldiers searching people on the road to the airport in the aftermath of the violence.

Hours later, the National Civil Aviation Agency said the airport was operating normally.

Niger, led by a military junta since a 2023 coup, has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, including neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali that are also run by military juntas.

It was the second attack at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey this year, after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a similar attack in January that targeted Niger’s drone assets.

The airport is a strategic hub that hosts a Nigerien air force base as well as the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali joint military force.

The military has beefed up the airport security following the January attack, but jihadis in Niger and the wider region continue to pose serious threats, analysts say.

“The symbolism of the airport as headquarters for AES will drive intent by militants to target it,” said Beverly Ochieng, a senior security analyst at Control Risks, referring to the regional Alliance of Sahel States.

The document, which has not yet been made public, will be submitted Thursday to Cuba’s National Assembly. It envisions expanding opportunities for private enterprise, greater autonomy for municipalities and state-owned companies and measures to attract additional foreign investment, including from Cubans abroad.

In recent days, residents in several Havana neighborhoods staged protests, banging pots and pans as power outages spread across the island.

“Cuba resists heroically and creatively, but has endured for too long a barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel said late Wednesday in the closing speech of the Communist Party session. The speech was published Thursday.

The announcement comes after months of increasing pressure from the U.S. and high-level talks between the two countries that have included Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. The U.S. has levied numerous sanctions against Cuba and has indicted Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by Miami exiles.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said at a White House press briefing that the administration is watching the island's actions to determine how to respond.

“We’re going to see what they do. And obviously, if they do one thing, we’re going to do something,” Vance said. "If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.”

Pressure from the European Union also ratcheted up Thursday, with lawmakers passing a resolution condemning “the systematic repression” by the Cuban government and demanding “profound economic and political change.” The resolution also called for EU sanctions targeting Díaz-Canel and the leadership of Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Both have already been sanctioned by the U.S.

Díaz-Canel said the emergency plan and the policy document prepared by the Communist Party’s Central Committee were shaped by the experiences of China and Vietnam, two communist countries that have introduced market-oriented economic reforms while maintaining one-party rule.

The document will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate during a special session that, like the recent party meeting, was convened without prior public notice.

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Seung Min Kim in Washington and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this story.

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

Talking to Orlando, he said, was different.

Sweeney was introduced Thursday as the new coach of the Magic, which was the obvious proof that he won them over by his answers during the interview process. Turns out, the Magic won him over with their questions as well.

“The Magic were the most thorough and they did the best job of asking questions and asking follow-ups to get to layers underneath the first answer," Sweeney said. “Some interviews that I’ve had in the past, I did not get that same level of detail. And given how I am and how I want to coach, that stood out.”

Sweeney and the Magic struck their deal for him to take over about three weeks ago; the formal welcome-to-Orlando event was put off until now because Sweeney has been a bit busy in his role as associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs and their trip to the NBA Finals.

He stayed locked in on his tasks with the Spurs, even though the interview process started early in their postseason run. But with the finals over, Sweeney wasted little time in getting to Orlando and starting on the new job.

“When we finally did get in front of him, it was a long day and he had a lot going on," Magic President Jeff Weltman said. "It was during the playoffs and not only was he able to kind of compartmentalize his work with the Spurs and present well to us, but he really knocked our socks off. In Sean Sweeney, we have somebody who, in our minds, has the potential to be one of the elite coaches in this league.”

Sweeney said he fully believes this is the best situation for him.

Some first-time head coaches have to deal with a total rebuild; that's not the case in Orlando, where a young core led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner has made three consecutive playoff appearances — but three consecutive first-round exists essentially convinced the Magic that it was time for a change. Jamahl Mosley, now the coach in New Orleans, was let go after a successful five-year run and Sweeney was targeted as the replacement.

“I was fortunate this summer to have some different things to look at," Sweeney said. "But this is the only one I wanted to look at.”

Sweeney, who turned 42 earlier this month, comes to Orlando after basically spending half his life as an assistant.

He has come a long way from Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Academy of Art University, two of his earliest stops. He started in the NBA as a video coordinator for the then-New Jersey Nets, and has since had assistant stints with the Nets, Milwaukee, Detroit, Dallas and San Antonio. He quotes the teachings of just about everyone he's worked for at every level, along with those he considers some of the greatest to ever blow a whistle in a basketball practice, names like Bob Knight, Tim Grgurich, Rick Majerus, Jason Kidd, Chuck Daly and his now-former boss with the Spurs, Mitch Johnson.

And then there was the guy who had the office next to him for the last year in San Antonio. That would be Gregg Popovich, the NBA's all-time coaching wins leader.

“Coach Pop’s office was right next to mine and I was very fortunate,” Sweeney said. "When you’re next to a guy who’s the greatest coach of all time daily, the fact that he even said hello and knew my name meant something to me. So yeah, Coach Pop, he built that program and guys like me are fortunate to be part of it. I'm very grateful and that’s part of the reason why I’m here now.”

Sweeney is blunt, focused and driven. He took a look at the handful of Magic players who attended the press conference introducing him as the team's new coach on Thursday, offering them his first message since taking the job.

Or, perhaps more accurately, it was part message, part warning.

“I'm going to listen to you guys as much as I talk to you,” Sweeney said. “Now, how I talk to you may be different than how I listen.”

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

The expected motion for dismissal of the suit was filed Thursday by the 99th District Court in Lubbock County. That was three days after Texas Tech said he wouldn't play this fall, and exactly a month after Sorsby filed his lawsuit that set off a legal saga that rattled college sports.

That Texas court issued a temporary injunction June 8 that made the transfer quarterback eligible to play even after admitting that he placed bets on his own team while at Indiana as a freshman four years ago. Those were among thousands of impermissible bets he made while in college.

Sorsby had to be ineligible for NCAA play to be able to apply for the NFL's supplemental draft. The submission deadline for that rarely used draft is Monday, and the 22-year-old quarterback tentatively plans to work out for NFL teams on July 10.

The injunction last week by Judge Ken Curry had prevented the NCAA from enforcing its ruling that the quarterback was ineligible to play what would have been his final college season. Sorsby transferred to reigning Big 12 champion Texas Tech in January after the past two seasons at Cincinnati.

Cody Campbell, the billionaire booster who is chairman of the Texas Tech regents, announced in an open letter Monday night that Sorsby would not be part of the team this fall. He wrote that the decision was made with Sorsby and his family, with the draft deadline and ongoing legal process among the key factors.

That letter came on the same day the NCAA and Big 12 Conference had filings in separate courts related to the case.

Sorsby already faced a two-game suspension as part of the temporary injunction. The continued legal wrangling made uncertain what his status could be for Tech's remaining games.

The temporary injunction had cleared the way for Sorsby, after the first two games, to play despite being declared ineligible after he admitted making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.

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

Here, The Associated Press runs you through some of the more compelling — and controversial — backstories from the kit designs on show in soccer’s biggest event, currently taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Cape Verde's flight paths

For its World Cup debut, the smallest nation by population at the tournament is paying homage to the roughly 525,000 inhabitants who live on 10 volcanic islands off the coast of Africa. A geometric, triangular print across its blue (home) and white (away) jerseys represents the network of flight paths that connect the islands. The idea is that the people of Cape Verde are united behind the players at the World Cup — and that togetherness showed as the team held firm to seal an unlikely 0-0 draw with heavily favored Spain in their first match.

Belgium's surrealism

“This is not a jersey,” reads a message on the collar of Belgium's multicolor away shirt. No, the Belgians aren't losing their minds. It's just a nod to the European nation's surrealist heritage — and notably the work of its master in this artistic movement from the early 20th century. Throughout his career, Belgian artist René Magritte questioned the enigmatic relationship of mind and eye, reality and language, writing under “The Treachery of Images” — his iconic painting of a pipe — the words: “Ceci n’est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe).” The light-blue jersey features pink patterns and black detailing, incorporating soccer-inspired motifs such as pitch lines and a ball. “True to the surrealism theme, the kit sparks the imagination and invites conversation,” the Belgian federation says.

Haiti's battle scene

The original jersey submitted by this Caribbean nation included a depiction of the final battle of the Haitian War of Independence in 1803 on its front. In the words of Colombian sportswear manufacturer Saeta, it was a “tribute to the men and women who contribute every day to Haiti’s future.” It didn't go down too well with FIFA, which rejected the image during its approval process, deeming it too political. So an updated blue soccer kit was needed, one that no longer includes the battle artwork.

Argentina's swirling paint technique

The defending World Cup champion is mixing sporting heritage with artistic expression in its jerseys. The home kit — worn by Lionel Messi for his hat trick against Algeria on Tuesday — features three shades of blue on its stripes, an homage to the South American nation's World Cup-winning uniforms from 1978, 1986 and 2022. As for its dark blue away jersey, that's inspired by a traditional painting technique from capital city Buenos Aires — filete porteño — that's used for ornamental design, combining brilliant, swirling colors with specific lettering styles.

France's American connection

France arrived for the World Cup with an away kit that honors a gift the nation famously gave to the United States: the Statue of Liberty. The jersey has a green hue that resembles the oxidized color of the iconic sculpture designed by a Frenchman — Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi — and given to the United States in 1886 as a symbol of French-American friendship. On the jersey is a logo in copper — the original color of the statue — with the words “Nos différences nous unissent” (Our differences unite us).

Iran's endangered Asiatic cheetah

The most striking imagery on Iran's home (white) and away (red) kits is an Asiatic cheetah low across the front. There also are cheetah spots on the sleeves up to the shoulder. The Asiatic cheetah, an equally fast cousin of the African cat, is one of the world’s critically endangered species — one that Iran has long tried to save. There were as many as 400 in the 1990s but the numbers have dwindled to less than an estimated 70 remaining in Iran.

Norway's runic font

Norway's kit might be the sharpest at the World Cup — literally. The font used for the names and numbers of players is inspired by runic writing — characters in several Germanic alphabets used in northern Europe from ancient times until the adoption of the Latin alphabet. The writing is pointy, geometric and easily visible, representing the Norwegian team's desire to embrace its centuries-old history. Flanking the large blue cross across the chest are Viking art patterns in an Urnes style.

Colombia's yellow butterflies

Look closely at Colombia's typically vibrant yellow jersey and you'll notice a burst of butterfly patterns. That's an homage to the classic novel by the nation's Nobel Prize-winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” and the stories that made him literature’s best-known practitioner of magical realism — the blending of the everyday with fantastical elements such as a man trailed by a cloud of yellow butterflies.

Mexico's Aztec calendar

Mexico's home jersey brings back the Aztec calendar design that was popular in the 1990s. In the run-up to the World Cup, the team visited the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and posed for a photo with the uniforms in front of the Aztec “Piedra de Sol” or Stone of the Sun, best known as the Aztec calendar.

Saudi Arabia's architecture

Dotted across Saudi Arabia's dark green home jersey are symmetrical lavender squares or diamond shapes, a tribute to doorway decoration — namely geometric, triangular architecture — commonly seen in homes in the kingdom. Wild lavender flowers fill Saudi's desert landscapes in springtime, so purple is a celebrated color in the nation and regarded as a symbol of generosity.

Brazil's Amazonian frogs

What might immediately jump out when looking at Brazil's navy blue-and-black away jersey made by Nike is a yellow “Jumpman” logo synonymous with Michael Jordan-promoted sportswear. However, more closely linked to Brazilian culture is the color of the kit, inspired by the skin of the poison dart frog found in the Amazon. It's a nod to the danger posed by Brazil, the record five-time world champion.

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This story has been corrected to remove a reference to Haiti as a World Cup debutant. This is Haiti's second World Cup.

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Associated Press writer Luis Andres Henao contributed to this report.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

A century of broken treaties already had spawned distrust of the federal government, and widespread forced assimilation was accelerating. With shifting cultural and social circumstances came declining populations. Survival was hanging in the balance.

Renowned for their masterful beadwork, Lakota women had a strategy.

Incorporating symbols of American patriotism into their work was more than a simple embrace of the stars and stripes. It was an act of quiet resistance that provided an avenue for conserving their values as U.S. policies unraveled their communities.

So with America's 250th birthday come mixed emotions rooted in pain, pride and even patriotism. Native youth are writing essays about what 1776 means to them. Museums are displaying elaborate beadwork as a window into that past, while contemporary Native artists are offering critics in paintings on more modern political struggles.

It's a milestone marking resilience — and a fresh opportunity to look at the nation's history through an unexpected, and perhaps less varnished, lens.

Native Americans and the US have a unique relationship

Curators and tribal scholars say the Native experience cannot be overlooked or minimized when talking about the complex tapestry that is America.

“The United States could not exist without Native history having been here first,” said Aaron Carapella, who is of Cherokee descent and creates maps of Indigenous territories. “There’s so many influences that Native people embedded into the fabric of what we call America.”

A student of history, Carapella finds it unlikely that most of the Founding Fathers would have expected tribes to persist as sovereign entities. Rather, they thought tribes would be absorbed into American society.

Implementation of laws like the 1830 Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson and the 1887 Dawes Act enacted by President Grover Cleveland led to forced relocations through brutal journeys like the Trail of Tears. Land grabs resulted when millions of acres of tribal landholdings were broken up.

Bounties in Minnesota and the Southwest along with militias in California further eroded tribal territories. Then came the boarding schools, where Native children were sent in an effort to erase their connections to culture, language and religion.

It's not ancient history. Tribal leaders say their people are still living with the effects of those policies.

Today, there are 575 tribes with inherent sovereignty recognized by the U.S, with the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina joining the list in December. The government-to-government relationships are unlike arrangements many other countries have with Indigenous populations.

N. Bruce Duthu, chair of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Dartmouth College and a member of the United Houma Nation, has taught and lectured around the globe. He said it’s hard for Indigenous leaders in Bolivia and elsewhere to believe that tribes in the U.S. have been able to build power over the last half-century. It’s an ongoing fight, but Duthu points to successful efforts to influence environmental policies and pass major legislation to hold nontribal citizens accountable for crimes committed in Indian Country.

“The U.S. is routinely at the top of the heap in terms of a country that, despite all the flaws, at least now in the last 50 years or so, seems to have gotten it right,” Duthu said.

There's a deep history of influence

Native influences span from the notions of democracy shared with the Founding Fathers to the warrior ethos exhibited by the fierceness with which tribal nations fought to protect their land — from other tribes, foreign nations and the federal government.

It's not unlike the patriotism many Americans feel today. And for some Native Americans, it's a fundamental part of who they are; they have one of the highest per-capita rates of military service in the country.

At the center of the “Stars, Stripes and First Americans” exhibit at New Mexico’s Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a painting by Kee Yazzie titled Diné Code Talker. The brushstrokes pay homage to the Navajo Code Talkers, who used their language to create an unbreakable code that played a critical role in U.S. victories during World War II.

Danyelle Means, the museum's executive director and a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, said other tribes also had code talkers. That included the Choctaw Nation and Comanche, Kiowa, Hopi, Muscogee, Sioux and Seminole recruits.

“Veterans are a huge part of celebration and ceremony within Native communities and are often revered and have their own societies within these communities,” Means said. “So it is something — that aspect of the U.S. and being a warrior for this country — that is very deep-seated in so many Native communities.”

Influence has permeated art and culture

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., is commemorating the 250th with an installation of two dresses that highlight heritage and Native American servicewomen.

Made a century apart, one is a Lakota beaded dress likely made for a July Fourth celebration and the other is a modern jingle dress worn by members of the Native American Women Warriors that includes a patch honoring Lori Piestewa, who is believed to be the first Native woman killed in combat on foreign soil. The Hopi soldier died from injuries following an ambush in Iraq in 2003.

Those military operations came after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Navajo artist Pauline Thomas called it a scary time, knowing that more Native soldiers would be heading off to war. The 73-year-old created a weaving following 9/11 that is now part of the exhibition in New Mexico.

For Thomas, her weavings mark moments in time, but they're also a way for Navajo customs to live on. Her 12-year-old granddaughter already is winning blue ribbons for her weavings.

“I think it’s very, very important,” Thomas said from her hometown of Naschitti on the Navajo Nation. “I don’t want my people to lose their culture. I want them to learn more about their ancestors, where they came from.”

The way forward has many paths

Jami Powell, curator of Indigenous art at Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art, uses the phrase “colonial entanglements” to describe the complexity of U.S.-tribal relations. She tells her students that things aren't always black and white.

“And it is OK to have feelings of ambivalence around these issues and the difficult histories that led to this current moment,” said Powell, a citizen of the Osage Nation.

The Hood Museum is displaying the work of Native artists as part of its 250th commemoration. Both subversive and pointed, the pieces broaden the conversation and get visitors thinking about the next two centuries, Powell said.

Ensuring Native youth have a voice in that future is a driving force for Tracy Canard Goodluck, executive director of the Center for Native American Youth.

A member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and of Mvskoke Creek heritage, Goodluck said the power of those voices rang loud and clear in essays submitted for a recent competition focused on the 250th. They touched on sovereignty, self-determination and maintaining a connection with land and culture.

“They know who they are, where they come from, their identity, their culture, their history,” Goodluck says, “and we need to create pathways for them to be able to share that with everyone.”

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

Civil society groups including a Christian organization joined the challenge, arguing that the ban violates the rights to life, health, dignity and equality, and that such protections should be extended to pregnant girls and women.

The challenge was filed Wednesday in the country’s Constitutional Court.

The Dominican Republic has one of the strictest abortion bans in the region, criminalizing it without exception and regardless of circumstance. Women face up to two years in prison for having an abortion, while doctors or midwives could face five to 20 years.

“My daughter died because she was denied the medical care she needed. No other mother should have to go through this,” Rosa Herminia Hernández said in a statement.

Rosaura Almonte died in 2012 from leukemia while three weeks pregnant. She was 16 years old, according to the court filing.

The challenge seeks that abortions be allowed in rape or incest cases; when the life or health of a woman or girl is in danger; or when a fetus has fatal abnormalities.

“This action seeks something very simple: that no woman or girl should have to choose between her life, her health and the law,” attorney Patricia Santana Nina said in a statement.

At least 67,455 abortions were recorded from 2019 through late 2024 in the public health sector, according to government data. It did not differentiate between spontaneous and induced abortions.

Meanwhile, from June 2017 to October 2022, prosecutors filed 62 criminal cases for abortion and 16 cases for attempted abortion. The Prosecutor General’s Office has stopped publishing such data since November 2022.

“Is it legitimate to maintain a permanent criminal threat against women in medical emergencies solely to legally express a moral stance?” the challenged filed Wednesday stated.

In 2023, a woman with three children, one of whom was product of a rape, had an incomplete and spontaneous abortion while pregnant, according to the challenge. It noted that authorities detained her for 10 days in inhumane conditions despite her condition, adding that she did not receive adequate medical care.

“The woman went to a health center seeking care and ended up being deprived of her freedom,” it stated.

Human rights activists say that it’s often health providers who report women to authorities.

There are no reliable statistics on how many women in the Dominican Republic have died during or after a clandestine abortion.

In 2024, at least 585 girls from 11 to 14 years old became mothers, according to government data. Meanwhile, at least 681 rapes were reported from January to July 2025, with activists noting that unreported cases are much higher.

The challenge noted that the ban worsens existing inequalities: women with resources can seek private medical care in or outside the country, while those who are impoverished face higher health risks and are more exposed to criminal prosecution.

“The women who are persecuted often share conditions of socioeconomic vulnerability, job insecurity, low educational level, or migratory status,” the challenge read.

Amanda and Jason LaPointe are among thousands of Northeast Florida residents who could lose in-network access to Baptist Health facilities if negotiations between the health system and insurance provider Cigna fail.

Baptist Health said it is “at a critical point” in negotiations and is “very concerned that Cigna will force Baptist Health hospitals and providers out of network on June 23.”

“Cigna canceled their contract with Baptist Health hospitals. This is not what we want, and it is not our choice,” Baptist said in a statement. “Baptist Health does not want anyone to lose access to the care they need.”

The LaPointes said they recently received a letter from Baptist warning that their children’s specialized pediatric care could no longer be covered as in-network after June 23.

“It kind of makes me angry that it just seems like they’re both pointing fingers still,” Amanda LaPointe said after reading the letter.

The family’s oldest daughter has hip dysplasia and requires ongoing monitoring from specialists. Their younger daughter previously received speech therapy and underwent surgery through Baptist-affiliated providers.

Amanda LaPointe said the family has relied on the same pediatric practice since their oldest child was born seven years ago.

“They’ve always been great to us, so now to start over it’s kind of stressful,” she said.

The family said they are now trying to determine where to continue their daughters’ care, but options for pediatric specialty services in Jacksonville are limited.

“For major things like orthopedics, we’re going to have to go probably outside the city,” Jason LaPointe said. “The only game in town for that in Jacksonville was Wolfson’s.”

The couple said future appointments may require trips to Orlando or Tampa.

The potential loss of access to Wolfson Children’s Hospital is one of the family’s biggest concerns. Baptist called Cigna’s decision to terminate its contract with Wolfson “particularly disappointing” because it could limit access to critical pediatric care in Northeast Florida.

“As the only dedicated children’s hospital here, we play an irreplaceable role in caring for kids,” Baptist said.

The LaPointes also worry about the financial impact of continuing care with their current providers if they become out of network.

When their daughter was referred for physical therapy earlier this year, Amanda LaPointe said Baptist Rehab told her out-of-pocket costs could exceed $3,000 per session.

“That’s just not affordable,” she said.

The dispute affects more than just the couple’s children.

Amanda LaPointe said she continues to receive care from multiple Baptist specialists after experiencing heart failure following the birth of one of her children.

“I have an army of doctors that literally saved my life when my daughter was born,” she said.

Baptist argues it has attempted to reach a compromise, saying it offered Cigna lower rates in hopes the insurer would pass savings on to members and employers. The health system also claims Cigna’s latest proposal would give the insurer greater control over some care decisions.

“We believe medical decisions should be made by trusted doctors who know their patients,” Baptist said.

The health system warned that if coverage is denied by an insurer, patients may be required to pay out of pocket for treatments or procedures.

For patients currently undergoing treatment, Baptist is encouraging them to apply immediately for continuity-of-care coverage through Cigna. The program may allow certain patients — including those with serious medical conditions, scheduled surgeries, chronic illnesses, high-risk pregnancies or terminal illnesses — to continue treatment with their current providers for a limited time. However, Baptist noted that Cigna determines eligibility, timelines and required documentation.

The health system also emphasized that emergency care at Baptist Health and Wolfson Children’s Hospital emergency departments will continue to be covered at in-network rates under federal law. CareSpot Urgent Care centers, Baptist Behavioral Health services and independent physician practices, including Nemours Children’s Health and many OB-GYN groups, are not affected by the dispute.

Still, the LaPointes say they remain frustrated by what they see as a breakdown in negotiations.

“I would probably say stop pointing fingers,” Jason LaPointe said. “Cigna demanding that Baptist lower their rates and Baptist stating that they’re lowering their rates and Cigna doesn’t want to negotiate or pay.”

Amanda LaPointe said the potential loss of access is especially concerning for families with children.

“They’re the biggest hospital for kids,” she said. “Anybody in Jacksonville that you ask where you would take your kids in case of an emergency, they would say Wolfson’s... So to take that away from such a large group of people, it just seems kind of selfish.”

Baptist said it remains willing to continue negotiations in the final days before the deadline if Cigna is willing to negotiate “in good faith.”

Unless a new agreement is reached, Cigna members will lose in-network access to Baptist Health hospitals and employed providers beginning June 23.

News4Jax has also reached out to Cigna for comment on this story. We are still waiting to hear back.

Now that the department is offloading civil rights enforcement and special education, some parents and advocates warn a process that has largely been stalled since President Donald Trump took office will see only more chaos and roadblocks.

“It’s to the point I don’t even check in anymore with the attorney,” said Nicole May, an Ohio mother. May filed a complaint in spring 2024 with the department’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging her teenage daughter was bullied over her hearing aids and was getting in trouble in class because she couldn’t hear her teachers. More than two years later, the case lacks a resolution.

Under the changes announced Tuesday, the Department of Justice will take over civil rights enforcement in schools, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The moves help fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Education Department. Linda McMahon, the education secretary, pitched the changes as a way to get more help to families of kids with disabilities.

Advocates said special education doesn’t belong in a health department, which usually treats disabilities as conditions to manage, instead of differences in how children learn. The top Republican on the Senate education committee agreed, saying he’d pursue legislation to keep special education out of Health and Human Services.

Some families already are taking discrimination cases elsewhere

For many, though, the response to the announcement was a sigh of resignation.

The Education Department’s civil rights office had long been the last resort for parents who believe their child is facing discrimination at school, with a mandate to review all complaints. Under Trump, the backlog of cases has ballooned, and resolutions have dwindled. Increasingly, attorneys say they are turning elsewhere to try to obtain justice for children.

The reaction is a marked change from a year ago, when parents and attorneys were in a panic as Education Department staff and attorneys were slashed.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services has shrunk by roughly a third since 2024, and the Office for Civil Rights is roughly 40% smaller. Meanwhile, in the Department of Justice, the Education Opportunities Section has shrunk by half, according to estimates provided by Justice Connection, a network of department alumni.

“I think a lot of people are mad, but they are like, ‘What are we going to do?’” said Emily Harvey, the co-legal director at Disability Justice, formerly Disability Law Colorado, who has watched her cases languish.

When Trump took office, she had a federal complaint pending, alleging some Colorado schools were illegally rejecting enrollment from kids outside their neighborhood boundaries because they had disabilities. Harvey also has a case pending at the Department of Justice, alleging a district south of Denver restrained and secluded disabled students hundreds of times, even though the practice is supposed to be reserved for emergencies.

“I feel like they’re probably collecting dust on a virtual shelf somewhere,” Harvey said.

In response to the federal backlog, she helped to push for a new state law that expands the types of civil rights cases Colorado education officials can pursue.

States across the U.S. already investigate various special education complaints, including when parents allege schools aren’t following a child’s individualized education program, or IEP. But the Colorado legislation, signed into law in May, allows the state to pursue the types of cases typically handled at the federal level, such as those involving allegations of discrimination and harassment.

Harvey said she didn’t think the federal civil rights office was ever perfect. “But I think it’s become even less help for people who are trying to resolve issues,” said Harvey, who worked as an Education Department civil rights attorney in 2020 and 2021.

Boston-area special education advocate Craig Haller said he’s heard nothing on a complaint he filed early last year with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. Ever since the Trump administration started dismantling the department, he has leaned more on Massachusetts’s state system for resolving special education matters.

He recently used that system to help a student whose high school didn’t take into account his special education plan when it suspended him.

“I got it fixed for my client,” Haller said. But without the federal Office for Civil Rights, “I can’t get it fixed systematically.”

Department workers say the dismantling has made their jobs harder

While only Congress can close the Education Department, McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has signed 10 additional agreements to give department functions to other federal agencies.

So far, those agreements have not reduced the number of employees working on specific programs. But the union that represents department workers says staff have run into issues with equipment and access at their new postings.

“It’s hard to describe how inefficient the implementation of the (agreements) has been,” said Rachel Gittleman, the union’s president.

The Education Department said Wednesday the latest agreements will help the Office for Civil Rights run “more effectively and efficiently.”

“Compliance and enforcement of federal civil rights laws will remain a priority,” the department said in a written statement.

Taken together, the fracturing of programs, enforcement and oversight for disabled students across multiple agencies raised questions of what would fall through the cracks, special education advocates said.

Robyn Linscott, who directs education and family policy at The Arc of the United States, a major disability rights group, recalled attending a three-hour listening session the Education Department hosted in January. Families, educators and advocates described barriers to accessing proper support and services. Although they acknowledged breaks in the system, not a single parent advocated for moving oversight of special education to Health and Human Services.

Still, she isn’t surprised the Trump administration moved the program anyway.

“It has only been 24 hours, but I think we anticipated this move for over a year,” she said on Wednesday.

In Congress, senators from both sides of the aisle said they would try to stop the move to put special education in Health and Human Services.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he would “publicly commit” to working with his Democratic colleague, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, on legislative action that would push the administration to change course. Cassidy, who lost a primary election this spring and has less than six months left in his Senate term, has personal knowledge of the education challenges faced by kids with disabilities: His wife co-founded a network of charter schools for students with dyslexia.

If special education is moved, he said Wednesday, it should go to the Labor Department. That agency, he said, is better positioned to support people with disabilities as they learn and work.

Ultimately, what matters to parents is whether they can get the services their children need, said Rob Harris, an IEP advocate in Colorado. Families spend an inordinate amount of time navigating systems that should be working together to serve children, but often aren’t. Harris has navigated those systems himself: His 19-year-old daughter is blind.

“Families don’t experience the government through organizational charts,” Harris said. “We experience it through the services our children receive.”

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Associated Press writers Bianca Vázquez Toness and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Some experts have warned that this summer's World Cup — co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada — could be the hottest in the tournament's history. In response to concerns about extreme heat, FIFA implemented three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half regardless of temperatures or whether stadiums are enclosed or air conditioned. But some critics say they're interrupting the game's flow and give coaches a chance to shift momentum in their team’s favor, while some scientists have said the breaks are too short to make a significant impact on cooling and rehydration when conditions are sizzling.

“When we look at the three-minute hydration breaks, we're really looking at this as a way to mitigate anything that could potentially lead to an incident or an emergency,” said Joshua L. DeVincenzo with Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.

FIFA's mandatory breaks, regardless of temperatures

FIFA said the mandatory breaks are to “ensure equal conditions for all teams, in all matches,” and the rules draw upon the experiences of past tournaments, including the FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. last summer when temperatures soared.

Some coaches said the breaks make sense when temperatures are extreme, but they questioned whether they were necessary at every match. The pauses have also been criticized for interrupting the spectacle for fans, with broadcasters cutting to commercials.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said they're making the most of the hydration breaks.

“You can’t get on the field but the players can come near you while drinking water and we can give them instructions,” he said. “We take advantage to try to correct something during the game, it’s something good for the coaches.”

Even highly-trained, elite athletes can get heat stress

Athletes pushing themselves physically in hot and humid conditions risk getting what's called exertional heat illness. It happens when the body gets too hot and is accompanied by significant strain on the heart, nerves, muscles and central nervous systems.

Symptoms include muscle cramps, extreme fatigue, impaired performance, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, cramping and dehydration.

When internal body temperature exceeds 105 F (40.5 C), athletes might feel confused, aggressive or lose consciousness, said Yuri Hosokawa with the Faculty of Sport Sciences in Japan’s Waseda University, in an email, “all of which are characteristic signs of exertional heat stroke and require immediate medical attention.” She co-signed a letter to FIFA in May urging stricter heat guidelines for player safety, including that cooling breaks be at least six minutes.

Exertional heat stroke is among the leading causes of death in athletes.

Dehydration also exacerbates the risk. Athletes in the heat can sweat 1 to 2 liters (50 to 67 ounces) an hour, and most drink less liquids than they expel. Losing as little as 2% of one's body weight to dehydration can impair physical performance.

Ryan Calsbeek, professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, said the human body performs better when it’s warmer, but there’s a critical threshold above which that improvement in performance not only stops, but precipitously drops off.

“Your body starts to really fall apart, you lose the ability to cool off fast enough,” he said. “And the physiological mechanisms just break down.” That happens when the wet bulb globe temperature, which includes temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind, reads above about 95 F (35 C), though some people will be more heat tolerant.

The increased confusion from extreme heat could impact an athlete’s ability to make strategic decisions, he said.

“It’s these marginal differences in performance that I think can determine the outcome of a match,” Calsbeek said. “If you have individuals that do better in extreme conditions, whether it’s extreme heat or high altitude or whatever the case may be, those small differences could play a critical, pivotal role in determining the outcome.”

Hydration breaks should be longer, some experts say

The three-minute mandatory hydration breaks are meant to protect players, and referees, from extreme heat illness and help them maintain their physical performance.

Players can cool off and replenish lost water and salt from sweating.

That could mean putting wet, cold towels on parts of a player's body. If done well, that could reduce their body temperature by about 0.22 F (0.12 C) per minute, said Douglas Casa, CEO of the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute who also co-signed the letter.

“Some people can tolerate a little more fluids comfortably and then do intense exercise. Some people can’t because it sloshes around in their stomach and they don’t feel super comfortable, so they might not drink as much in such a short period of time,” he added.

In a 2024 study, researchers found that three minutes lowered athletes' core temperature by about 0.72 F (0.4 C) during simulated soccer running in a heat chamber. But this happened in ideal conditions where they drank 350 to 400 milliliters of cold water and draped a cold towel on their shoulders.

Draping ice towels over a player's shoulders can be helpful, but only if they rehydrate as well, said Julien Périard in an email, a study co-author and director of the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise who also signed the letter.

That’s why it’s important the three minutes be well planned, but “even in ideal settings, the breaks can slightly help but will not eliminate the risk of heat illness in response to a rise in core temperature,” he said.

Casa said time dictates the volume of impact, whether from fluid or cooling.

How much time a player needs to recover also varies. “Depending on your body, you might need more or less time. But those kinds of breaks are crucial so that your body isn’t just being forced to keep trying to play catch up... to keep trying to cool you down without any kind of rest or a break,” said Bharat Venkat, director of the Heat Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles.

As our planet gets hotter, mandating hydration breaks and changing where, when and how sports are played will be necessary.

“No matter what sport you play, there’s going to be adjustments that have to be made in the face of climate change, ” he said.

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Tales Azzoni contributed from Guadalajara, Mexico.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Arianna Aryana Walton, 25, was originally arrested Feb. 25, 2023, after officers responded to Wolfson Children’s Hospital about an infant with multiple injuries, the report says. A Special Assault Unit detective investigated and Walton was arrested on a charge of aggravated child abuse.

The infant, who was born Jan. 5, 2023, remained in hospice care and required continuous medical attention. The child died April 13, 2024, while in hospice care in Clay County, the report says. An autopsy by the medical examiner’s office concluded Aug. 6, 2024, that the death was a homicide.

After conferring with the State Attorney’s Office, the sheriff’s office upgraded the charge to second-degree murder, the report says. Court records show Walton was found indigent.

In a media briefing, Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, said for the first time in 110 days, ships owned by major companies were crossing the strait after effectively being marooned there since February.

The strait is a critical passageway for the world’s oil and natural gas. Before the war, the waterway off Iran's coast carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. Its closure during the war has created a historic energy crisis.

Lloyd’s List did not say how many ships were transiting through or had passed through the strait as of Thursday. It said tankers controlled by major ship owners Grimaldi Group, Cosco, Knutsen and NYK had passed through the strait. Two Iran-flagged, National Iranian Tanker Company-owned, sanctioned crude oil tankers entered the strait, according to Lloyd’s List.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. Navy lifted its blockade of the strait to allow some ships through Iranian ports.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X that an Italian merchant ship owned by the Grimaldi Group was among the first vessels to transit the strait after the agreement’s signing.

Maritime data and tracking company Kpler said it observed six verified ship crossings on Wednesday and another 11 on Thursday.

Phillip Belcher, marine director of Intertanko, a trade group for global independent tanker owners, said the main central route of the Strait of Hormuz was still closed and has an estimated 80 mines that need to be cleared. But ships have been passing through the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters.

“Those two routes now seem to be fully open,” Belcher said.

However, it will take weeks or months to fully reopen the strait, and the two alternative routes don't have as much capacity as the central passage in the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is like a highway where the road in the middle is closed and you’re using that hard shoulder,” Belcher said. “That’s now being used as the main route. We need to get back to having the highway open.”

Lloyd’s List estimated that 550 merchant ships will need to prepare to exit the Persian Gulf, including 160 tankers, 200 bulk carriers, 60 container ships and 10 vehicle carriers.

The woman, who is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, told investigators she was defending her son during an argument with the man who was attacked.

But deputies said in her arrest report that her son did not appear to be in immediate danger during the incident, according to statements from witnesses and the victim.

The woman, who is an orthopaedic nurse, is also charged with giving a false ID to law enforcement, which is a misdemeanor.

According to the arrest report, the woman was playing pickleball with the victim at Treaty Park in St. Augustine around 10 a.m. on May 31 when they got into a disagreement about who should retrieve a ball.

After the match, the victim spoke with the woman’s son about the way he was playing, and the woman “interjected herself” into the argument.

That’s when, deputies say, she hit the man in the head several times with the pickleball paddle, which left him with several cuts to his face, which bled heavily.

The arrest report says the woman gave a false name to deputies twice during the investigation.

In the report, the deputies said the woman had used “a weapon that can cause serious bodily injury or death,” which is why she was charged with the felony.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shared dash cam video earlier this month of Darrell Simon narrowly missing athletes during a chaotic chase through Riverside before police used a PIT maneuver to end the pursuit near Five Points.

Simon was initially booked on eight felony charges and nearly a dozen misdemeanors and violations, but several charges were dropped.

Simon is now facing a total of six felony charges, including driving on a suspended or revoked license, resisting an officer without violence and the felony DUI charge. Court records show this was Simon’s third DUI arrest in the past decade.

In addition to the criminal charges, Simon faces three traffic citations: driving on the wrong side of a divided highway, failing to yield and speeding.

No Ironman athletes were hurt during the May 16 chase, even though Simon narrowly missed hitting several, but police say he could have easily killed someone.

Simon was ordered to return to court on July 28. As a habitual felony offender, Simon could face as much as 7 years in prison if convicted.

Dash cam video

JSO said the incident unfolded on May 16 as Officer Ernesto Valerio was blocking traffic to allow Ironman athletes to complete their 26.2-mile run. Valerio heard over the radio that a driver, later identified as Simon, was traveling through both the bike and run courses.

The video showed Valerio catching up to the vehicle and attempting to pull the driver over multiple times. Dash cam footage captured several moments where the driver came dangerously close to striking athletes on the course.

See the video below:

The footage also showed another officer, who JSO identified as Aaron Sanchez, risking his life, positioning his motorcycle in an attempt to stop the vehicle. But Simon drove around the officer and sped off.

Before he made the next move, Valerio could be heard saying, “We got to stop this guy. He’s going to kill someone.”

Valerio ultimately brought the chase to an end using a PIT maneuver at the intersection of Riverside Park Place and Park Street.

Other nearby officers helped take Simon into custody.

He’s intent on becoming the best. He already may be there.

The 24-year-old is hitting unprecedented velocities for a starter in MLB's pitch-tracking era that began in 2008. Over the last month, he's dominated unlike any pitcher in the last century.

Misiorowski has allowed just one run over his last eight starts heading into his Friday matchup with the Atlanta Braves. He says he can’t come up with a specific moment or decision that sparked this surge.

“It’s more that it finally clicked,” said Misiorowski, who is 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA and 131 strikeouts to lead the majors in the latter two categories. “Everything started settling in and feeling good.”

The fact Misiorowski used the word “finally” to describe an emergence in his first full major league season underscores his exacting standards.

Misiorowski's rise has Brewers manager Pat Murphy comparing him to Forrest Gump, which prompted a social media post by the pitcher his own face over the Tom Hanks movie character’s body.

“It’s for sure meant to be a compliment for a guy who didn’t put in limits on himself and his naiveté,” Murphy said. “It was a factor in a positive way, where he went out and achieved whatever he set his mind to, and didn’t let the outside forces, weren’t even aware of the outside forces, and didn’t let anything hold him back.”

Misiorowski was selected to the All-Star Game last season after only five starts. He struggled late last year before producing a 1.50 postseason ERA during Milwaukee’s run to the NL Championship Series. Now he’s a Cy Young Award favorite.

Misiorowski is more than just a hard thrower

The eye-popping numbers most associated with Misiorowski come from the radar gun. He reached 104.5 mph — the fastest velocity by any starter in the pitch tracking era — and got to 100 mph on a record 58 pitches during the Brewers’ 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

He's thrown 460 pitches at least 100 mph this season, already surpassing the record for a starter set by Cincinnati's Hunter Greene with 337 such pitches in 2022.

But his most impressive statistics have more to do with results than velocity.

According to MLB.com, Misiorowski’s 0.17 ERA since May 1 is the best in an eight-start stretch for any pitcher since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. Against Philadelphia, he became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a shutout while striking out 15 and allowing no more than one baserunner.

Opponents are batting just .140 against Misiorowski this season. SportRadar says no starting pitcher has allowed an opponent batting average of .166 or below over a full non-pandemic season since at least 1910. Boston’s Pedro Martinez had batters hitting .167 against him in 2000. Opponents hit .168 against Cleveland’s Luis Tiant in 1968.

Misiorowski’s development into a complete pitcher should come as no surprise, considering who he grew up watching.

The pitchers Miz admires most aren't necessarily smoke throwers

The list of pitchers he admired growing up includes Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. While Sale is a hard thrower and Kershaw also had outstanding velocity early in his career, Wainwright and Greinke succeeded without overpowering fastballs.

They had one thing in common.

“Every game, you felt like they could trust them to get a win,” Misiorowski said. “That was the big thing. You looked at those guys and they were going out there and going to perform for seven or eight innings to secure the team a win.”

His appreciation for baseball history includes a baseball card collection he says numbers in the thousands, though he probably owns even more Pokemon cards.

“Since I was a kid, my dad got me into it,” Misiorowski said of his baseball card collection. “It’s huge right now. I think I need to downsize it a little bit, but it’s fun.”

His enthusiasm shows on the mound and in his work ethic. He devoted the offseason to upgrading his leg strength to withstand the rigors of a full season and results are showing in his improved endurance and command.

“He could rest on his laurels. ‘Hey, I was an All-Star in my first year. I pitched in the playoffs. I pitched well. I can do it. I’m fine. I’ll be all right,’“ Murphy said. “Or you can say, ‘I’m going home. I’m going to get stronger. I’m going to do whatever I can do to come back and dominate.’ That’s what he’s done.”

He's stabilizing an injury-riddled rotation

Misiorowski’s growth has helped the Brewers overcome numerous pitching injuries to build a comfortable NL Central lead. With Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) leading the rotation, the Brewers rank fourth in the majors in ERA.

Over his last eight starts, Misiorowski has struck out 80 while allowing nine walks and 14 hits over 54 1/3 innings. The only extra-base hit he’s allowed over his last nine starts was a double by Houston’s Isaac Paredes on May 31.

The low walk totals are notable after Misiorowski battled control issues as a rookie. He walked 31 batters in 66 innings last year, but now constantly gets ahead of hitters.

“He’s winning the 0-0 and the 1-1 (counts) a lot,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “When he doesn’t, it stands out to be like, ‘Oh, God, he didn’t win the 0-0. He didn’t win the 1-1.’ Like that’s weird, for him to go to a two-ball count.”

Once hitters fall behind in the count, they have little chance.

After facing him for the first time last month, New York Yankees slugger and three-time MVP Aaron Judge noted that “he’s almost basically releasing it in the catcher’s glove” due to the extension Misiorowski gets with his 6-foot-7 frame.

MLB Network analyst and two-time All-Star pitcher Ryan Dempster says Misiorowski reminds him of 6-10 Hall of Fame lefty Randy Johnson in that regard because their hands seem right in front of the plate to the batter when they let go of the ball.

“You can tell yourself to swing, but your brain doesn’t quite compute until it’s out of the hand,” Dempster said. “By the time it’s out of his hand, it’s already on you. I haven’t seen a fastball like this since Kerry Wood.”

Wood’s career was derailed by injuries, leading to worries of hard throwers being susceptible to blowing out pitching arms. Dempster notes Misiorowski is playing in an era with lower pitch counts. Misiorowski also produces elite velocity without overthrowing.

“He sure is repeating his delivery, and when you repeat your delivery, you tend to stay healthy,” Dempster said. “Guys who don’t repeat deliveries and get out of whack and something’s a little off, they struggle with that. I really think he will stay healthy, just me personally.”

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AP freelance writers Jack Albright and Rich Rovito contributed to this report.

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

The league launched an investigation at the request of the NHL Players’ Association in light of the Edmonton Oilers’ interest in hiring Babcock. The league in a statement said even in the least favorable light, there was no basis to restrict Babcock’s employment.

It was not immediately clear if or when the Oilers would name Babcock coach. They have been looking for a replacement since firing Kris Knoblauch following a first-round playoff exit that came after back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

Babcock, 63, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, when he was fired by Toronto 23 games into his fifth season in charge. The Blue Jackets hired him on July 1, 2023, and Babcock resigned in September after his requests for personal photos from players in an attempt to get to know them drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.

A statement from the NHLPA called the allegations very concerning and said, "Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches.”

The NHL dropped its planned investigation at the time because Babcock stepped down. It got underway this week after the final ended

Babcock coached Detroit to the Stanley Cup in 2008 and has made two other trips to the final, along with guiding Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and ’14.

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

Although the official certification of the primary race is continuing, McDuffie said in a statement that “it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path.” The former member of the D.C. council said he had contacted Lewis George and congratulated her. He thanked his supporters and urged them to continue working for the city.

"The campaign may be over, but the work of building a safer, more affordable, more prosperous city continues.”

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race. Lewis George had a little less than 53% of the vote Thursday morning, which is just a few percentage points above the 50% threshold to avoid ranked choice voting.

The city is scheduled to release preliminary ranked choice voting results on Sunday. AP will call the race before then if it is clear that the ranked choice process will be avoided.

Lewis George has pledged to aggressively stand up to federal intervention into Washington, D.C.’s, affairs, setting up a potential showdown with President Donald Trump over his administration's moves to challenge the city’s limited autonomy.

If the results stand, Lewis George is likely to win November’s general election in the heavily Democratic city. The winner in the general election will replace Muriel Bowser, who decided not to run again after three terms.

Lewis George would join Robert White Jr., who won the Democratic primary for the district’s delegate to Congress, as the top local officials who likely will contend with the federal government’s intentions for the city. They each campaigned on a promise to take a harder line than their predecessors against the Trump administration’s moves on the district, including its deployment of the National Guard on an ongoing, open-ended mission meant to fight crime.

“As mayor, I will work with anyone who makes D.C. safer,” Lewis George told a crowd of cheering supporters Tuesday night, “but I will also stand up to Trump.”

Washington has limited autonomy and federal leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C. Council.

Trump further encroached on that autonomy last year when he briefly federalized the city’s police force and deployed an ongoing law enforcement surge that included the National Guard. His efforts to downsize the federal government also roiled the capital region, costing thousands of people their jobs. And he has been reshaping the city by renovating storied landmarks and putting his name or image on buildings.

Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist and a member of the D.C. Council, has already come under fire from Trump, who last week threatened to place the city under federal control if she won.

“Maybe we’d take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” he said.

Lewis George, 38, and a third generation Washingtonian, has vowed to overrule an executive order by the city’s police chief permitting local law enforcement to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Lewis George argued the order “hurt the trust of our community.”

She also pledged to use any levers available to her through the city’s home rule compact to resist what she called authoritarian infringements on the district’s local governance.

“We have legal tools we can use to fight back,” she told the AP in an interview before the vote. “And we know that when we have gone to court, we’ve won.”

Bowser found herself walking a fine line between staying in Trump’s good graces and responding to the concerns of constituents, many of whom said she didn’t push back hard enough on Trump’s actions. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the 18-term, 89-year-old delegate to Congress, meanwhile, faced mounting concern from critics who said she wasn’t forcefully pushing back on the Trump administration’s moves against the city.