Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, has long backed Platner in the high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, but he said in a statement that he spoke with the candidate and “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

Platner, who denies the allegation, has so far not heeded the wave of calls to resign as the nominee. Instead, he posted a video on Monday saying he’s currently considering next steps for his campaign while canceling town hall events.

Platner posted the video after reports that a woman who previously dated the first-time candidate said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop.

The allegation is the latest in a string a controversies Platner has faced, and so far weathered since the oyster farmer and Marine veteran entered the race. But the seriousness of the assault claim has put the Maine contest — and Democrats' ability to win control of the Senate — at risk, with even some of his strongest supporters questioning whether Platner should continue his campaign.

A Platner voter is ‘heartbroken’

Joanie Monteith, a passionate supporter from the southern Maine town of York who organized a trivia night about Platner in March, said through tears Tuesday that she was “numb” and “heartbroken” at the news. She was waiting for another public statement from Platner before making a decision about whether she could keep supporting him.

“I’m in tears. I’m numb and I’m waiting for what Graham has to say. I’m trying not to be a part of this public trial. And I’m heartbroken. And I’m heartbroken for him and his wife.”

She added she believes the allegations are serious.

“I’m not going to blame a victim. Because if this is true I feel very bad for the woman,” she said. “You just don’t know how to feel.”

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

Another Maine voter, Lee Holman, said she wants Platner to stay in the race.

“I feel like the people of Maine have spoken,” the Democrat said. “If they wanted Janet Mills, they could have voted for her.”

She said the allegation against Platner may be legitimate, but she questions the timing. Democrats, she added, can be too quick to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” by calling on politicians facing allegations to resign.

“Every time we think we have a chance to snatch our democracy back, something gets in the way,” she said.

Replacing Platner may further divide Democrats

The pressure for Platner to withdraw from the Senate race has only increased given the short deadlines Maine law allows for replacing general election candidates. There is no mechanism for Democrats to remove Platner from the ballot, meaning Platner must first opt to drop out of the general election before a replacement can be selected. The deadline to withdraw is 5 p.m. on July 13.

Just who should replace Platner if he drops out appeared to already be further splintering Democrats. Some argued the next Democrat should echo Platner's progressive messaging, pointing to his success at rallying voters across the state. Others cautioned that having ties to Platner will only doom an already uphill campaign against Collins.

Joe Baldacci, a Democratic state senator, said he’s concerned about what the latest allegations will do to the voter excitement over the past year.

“I think the major concern, even with a nominee, a new replacement, is that person is going to start very much behind the eight ball,” Baldacci added.

Gov. Janet Mills, who sought the Democratic nomination but dropped out before the June 9 primary, could be considered as a nominee. Mills was supported by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer but abandoned her campaign saying she couldn't raise the money needed to compete.

Another possible replacement is Troy Jackson, Maine’s former state Senate President, who unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee earlier this year with the backing of Platner and Sanders.

While he hasn’t publicly said he’d run for the Maine Senate seat, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna threw out his name as someone who stands up for “progressive values” after the California Democrat withdrew his support for Platner.

Other names include Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Shah came in second in this year’s Maine Democratic gubernatorial primary, where he was considered more moderate compared to Jackson.

In a statement Tuesday, Shah said he's “evaluating” whether he should enter the race should Platner step aside.

Shenna Bellows, the current Maine Secretary of State; Dan Kleban, founder of Maine Beer Company; Maine U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who is not running for reelection, as well as Hannah Pingree, currently Maine's Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

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Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I.

Can anyone stop Messi? Did Merlin the duck like wearing that jersey? What would have happened if the Congo's statue fan had to sneeze?

That said, if you're a first-time soccer watcher still confused by all this footie, we're here to help! Free kicks, hydration breaks, stoppage time, the situation with Folarin Balogun ... there's a lot to know. We put out a call for your burning World Cup questions — and we'll keep answering them if you have more. We're compiling answers to your FAQs below.

Now to some new questions...

Has what happened with Balogun ever happened before at a World Cup?

Not for 64 years. Back then, in the 1962 World Cup and at a time when there were no physical red cards in soccer, Brazil midfielder Garrincha was sent off the field by the referee in the semifinals for kicking a Chilean opponent away from the ball. However, Garrincha escaped a ban for the final — a scenario Brazil officials feared — as a result of the intervention of host nation Chile's president, who argued that Garrincha should be allowed to play. The Balogun case differs slightly in the sense that his ban for the red card was placed on suspension for one year.

How are World Cup referees chosen and vetted?

Brazilian ref Raphael Claus — the match official President Donald Trump described as “a little bit suspect” in light of the red card for Balogun — was one of 52 referees selected for the tournament based on their “quality and consistency of performances” over the previous three years in international and domestic competitions, FIFA says. They’ve been monitored, attended seminars and even received support from mental specialists. “The very best in the world,” is how FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina put it.

Who are the kids accompanying players at the beginning of matches?

Lucky souls, aren’t they? Those children holding hands and sometimes talking with the best soccer players in the world before games are officially called “player escorts” — even though many would describe them as “mascots.” One of FIFA’s sponsors is food company Quaker, who has teamed up with dozens of community organizations to give kids “from underserved communities” the chance to walk players onto the field.

Why do Americans call it ‘soccer’?

First of all, it's not just Americans — looking at you, fallen brethren in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. While all the teams that call it “soccer” and not “football” may have been knocked out, England — the birthplace of the sport — is hanging in there in the quarterfinals and still flies the “it's called football!” flag. That's despite the word “soccer” actually being coined in Britain, perhaps as far back as the 1880s. The exact date it was first used is not known, but it is widely believed “soccer” was derived from “association football,” which was the first official name of the sport. “Soccer” is not a commonly used term in Britain these days and some Brits often roll their eyes when they hear others use the word instead of “football.” But given the U.S. has its own version of football, surely it's OK to use “soccer” as a differentiator, right?

What does it take to rain out or delay a game?

Soccer isn't like cricket or tennis or baseball — it can be played through heavy rain. If it gets too heavy, though, the referee has the authority to bring a halt to, or abandon, a match owing to poor weather conditions that affect the field or the surrounding areas. Storms have been an issue at this World Cup — one caused a delay of around two hours during the group game between France and Iraq — and a rule used by FIFA pauses games for 30 minutes if lightning is detected within 8 miles (up to 13 kilometers). Each strike resets the clock. World Cup regulations state that if a match was to be abandoned after it had kicked off, it restarts “at the minute at which play was interrupted rather than being replayed in full, and with the same scoreline.”

What happens if teams are still tied after five penalty kicks?

In that case, the shootout then goes to the forebodingly named “sudden death.” That means the teams take extra rounds of penalties — one attempt each — until one scores and one doesn't. On some occasions, even the goalkeepers end up taking a penalty. The shootout can go on for quite some time, like in the Israeli third-tier promotion playoff between F.C. Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv in 2024, when 56 shots were needed before Dimona prevailed 23-22.

Can you drink alcohol at the soccer games?

Yes! Unlike at the Paris Olympics venues or the Qatar World Cup stadiums, alcoholic beer is available at World Cup venues. Michelob Ultra and Budweiser are the official sponsors. Stadiums can also offer cocktails and hard seltzers for sale.

How does the size of a soccer pitch compare to an NFL field? And why is it called a pitch, anyway?

Put simply, NFL fields are longer and narrower. According to the NFL rule book, “the game shall be played upon a rectangular field, 360 feet in length and 160 feet in width.” In yards, that's 120 x 53.3, or in meters, 110 x 49. The recommended dimensions of a soccer field in yardage, FIFA says, is 115 x 74 yards (345 x 222 feet, 105 meters x 68 meters), though they can vary slightly. As for the widely used “pitch,” that's just a term the English use for a field. Some say it's because goalposts were pitched into the ground for matches in the 19th century.

Here’s our previous round of No Dumb Questions...

OK, let's start with the real basics: What does ‘offsides’ mean?

Well, first off, it's “offside,” per the AP Stylebook. Secondly, this is a common question — and one that can make you appear a soccer aficionado if you know the answer. Essentially, a player is offside if he or she is closer to the opponent's goal line than the ball and second-to-last opposition player (the goalkeeper is usually the last) the moment the ball is passed by a teammate. There are various caveats — for example, you cannot be offside inside your own half — but that is the gist. It can be confusing and a source of great debate.

When a team loses a player due to a red card, does it play with just 10 men the following match?

No, the team only plays short-handed for the rest of the current match.

A red card, which is handed out by an official when a player does something naughty like intentionally striking another player, means the player has been ejected and must leave the pitch. From that point on, the team would play a “man down,” meaning it can only field 10 players instead of 11. In some cases, teams have had two red cards in a single game and had to play with nine.

The player must serve a one-game suspension for the following match. However, the team itself is not penalized, and can return to its full starting strength of 11 players.

How many players are at this World Cup in total? How many of them are first timers?

Each of the 48 teams were allowed 26 players on their roster, so 1,248 players. Of those, more than half — 891 to be exact — are participating for the first time.

Why are World Cup tickets so expensive?

A lot people would like to know that. FIFA came under scrutiny about a month before the tournament for their high-price tickets and sales tactics, leaving some fans upset. That caused demand for the tickets to drop, while other fans had to make tough financial sacrifices.

Why isn’t it free to watch on TV?

They are free — if you have a subscription to Fox or Telemundo through a cable provider or streamer. Every single game of the World Cup is fully televised on Fox and FS1. Matches can also be streamed live on the FOX One app.

How are the teams selected and groups determined?

The 48 teams in this year's World Cup qualified through regional tournaments. (Host countries — in this case the U.S., Canada and Mexico — receive automatic bids.)

As for how the 12 groups are determined, the 48 teams are divided into four, 12-team “pots” based primarily on the FIFA World Rankings. The first pot includes the host nations and then the top nine highest-ranked teams. The next 36 highest-ranked teams are divided into sequential pots of 12. Teams are then drawn at random, meaning that every group contains exactly one team from each of the four pots.

Can some qualify to play for a country without being a citizen?

A player doesn't necessarily have to be born or raised in the country to play for the team. But there are some restrictions to prevent countries from stacking their rosters. If a player has a biological parent or grandparent who was born in the territory of the country, or if they have established residency in the country for at least five years, they would be allowed to play.

Why is there only one official on the field, given that the pitch is bigger than in American football?

There are actually four officials for every World Cup match, although they may not be as prominent as in an American football game. The head referee controls the match and enforces the rules of the game, while two assistant referees manage offside calls, throw-ins, and goal kicks. A fourth oversees substitutions, team benches, and indicates stoppage time.

How do teams decide which uniform to wear during games?

In World Cup play it's FIFA that determines uniform combinations, not the teams. The governing body's primary objective is to ensure strong visual contrast on the pitch so players, referees and television viewers can easily tell the teams apart. So basically, you will never see teams wearing two shades of blue in the same match.

And if you missed our first round of No Dumb Questions...

Why doesn't the clock stop for penalties and injuries?

Unlike American football, basketball or hockey, the clock never stops in soccer. If there are delays for such things as injuries, blatant time-wasting or the aftermath of goals, those seconds or minutes are added on at the end of each half in a period called “stoppage time.” There's an extra twist in this World Cup: hydration breaks. These three-minute stoppages in the middle of each half have been introduced to help players deal with the summer heat in the United States, Canada and Mexico (they're also a convenient spot for extra TV ads). Those three-minute blocks must also be added to the overall stoppage time, meaning there is typically at least five minutes of extra play in each half of this World Cup.

What's the difference between a free kick and a penalty kick?

Well, both are dead-ball situations and given after fouls. The key difference is that a penalty kick is awarded after a foul inside the penalty area — the big rectangle drawn near the opposing goal — and a free kick is awarded outside the penalty area. A penalty is a free shot at goal — from the designated spot, which is central and 12 yards (11 meters) out — with just the goalkeeper able to stop the shot. A free kick can be defended against by a whole team and is taken from where the offense occurred.

What was the tiebreaker if teams ended up with the same number of points in the group stage?

Starting from this World Cup, head-to-head results between two or more teams tied on points were the first tiebreaker — instead of overall goal difference. The second tiebreaker was goal difference in the games between the teams concerned, followed by the highest number of goals scored in those games. Only then — as a fourth tiebreaker — did overall goal difference come into play.

What's the deal with the 5-second throw-in rule?

It's another new measure being implemented at this World Cup with the intention of speeding up play and stopping time-wasting. If referees deem a player is taking too long on a throw-in, they can start a visual five-second countdown. If it reaches five seconds, the throw-in will be awarded to the opposing team. And it has already happened, with Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Sead Kolašinac giving up a throw-in for taking too long against Canada.

Off the pitch ... are Heinz bottles really taped over at stadiums? Why are logos being covered?

Yes, eagle-eyed reporters and fans have noted that logos on bottles of condiments — such as ketchup from Heinz — have been taped over inside stadiums. This is a directive of FIFA, the soccer governing body always very careful to protect its official partners and sponsors and give them exclusive visibility at stadiums. For the same reason, stadiums named after a sponsor — such as Gillette Stadium near Boston — have been renamed for the tournament by FIFA, which is instead using generic names.

So how much annual PTO do Europeans get anyway?

Wondering how fans of these top European soccer nations can be spending so many weeks in North America, are you? Well, the Europeans do love their soccer and this supersized tournament will have been in the diary for years. The amount of vacation days employees get vary from country to country. In the U.K, for example, most workers receive at least 28 days of paid annual leave per year. In France, they get a minimum of 30 working days. In Spain, it's 22.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% even though the majority of stocks within the index rose. The drops for stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry dragged the Nasdaq down 0.7%, as of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 173 points, or 0.3%.

The weakness began in Asia, where Samsung Electronics tumbled 6.9% in Seoul. The tech giant gave a preliminary look at its performance for the second quarter, and the numbers were strong. Samsung Electronics said it expects to say its operating profit surged roughly 1,800% from a year earlier.

Analysts called the numbers surprisingly good, but they still weren’t enough for investors after its stock came into the day having well more than doubled in the year so far.

On Wall Street, AI stocks have been under similar pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

Micron Technology fell 6.1% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Intel sank 9.2% and also weighed heavily on the market. Nvidia, which is the largest stock on Wall Street by value because of the AI boom, rose 0.9% after slipping earlier in trading. That helped ease some pressure on the broader market.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, fell 5.2% in its first trading after getting included in the Nasdaq 100 index.

Outside of tech, Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell 0.5% after saying it agreed to buy Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $85 per share in cash. Crinetics, which develops therapeutics for endocrine diseases, soared 98.8%.

Rivian Automotive dropped 14.5% after the electric vehicle company said it's selling 75 million shares of its stock, which dilutes the ownership stakes of earlier shareholders.

Stocks also felt pressure from a rise in oil prices after the British military said three tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. That hurt hopes that the war in Iran may be winding down and that the Strait of Hormuz may fully reopen to oil tankers carrying crude to customers worldwide from the Persian Gulf.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3% to $74.12.

Higher oil prices put upward pressure on inflation, and Treasury yields climbed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.52% from 4.48%

High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel earlier in the summer because of the war. The worry is that high inflation may force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to hike interest rates. High rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 4.9% because Samsung Electronics alone makes up more than a quarter of the index.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.1%, and Germany's DAX lost 1.4% for two of the world's bigger moves.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Trump also criticized NATO’s abilities to function without American leadership and power, expressing disappointment at the refusal of some NATO allies to join the Iran war he launched alongside Israel without consulting them. And he insisted again that Greenland should be “controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.” Of all of his threats to NATO and its member countries, this has posed the greatest danger to the organization.

Alliance leaders meanwhile are trying to show increased military capabilities as the American focus shifts from defending Europe. The two-day summit will showcase military projects worth billions of dollars aimed at persuading Trump they’re making a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO.

The Latest:

NATO leaders arrive for dinner hosted by Erdogan

NATO leaders are arriving at the Turkish presidential compound for a dinner hosted by Erdogan.

The leaders are walking along a turquoise‑colored carpet lined with soldiers dressed in historic military garments, before ascending steps where they are greeted by Erdogan and his wife, Emine.

Four NATO allies could face strife over defense spending

Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic could be in hot water with the Trump administration after new NATO defense spending figures showed they’re struggling to meet the organization’s old target.

NATO leaders agreed last year to invest 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 — 3.5% on core defense requirements and 1.5% on upgrading security related infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports and airports.

The Trump administration is expecting a “first report card” to be handed in by European allies and Canada to demonstrate progress. It’s threatened to take unspecified action against those lacking a solid plan to make the grade.

Some are still struggling to meet NATO’s old target of 2% of GDP. Slovenia is expected to fall short, with just 1.6%. Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic are forecast to barely make 2%.

How will Netanyahu react?

Rahm Emanuel’s remarks could prompt a similarly fiery response from Benjamin Netanyahu, who famously once called the Democrat who had ambitions of being the first Jewish speaker of the U.S. House a “self-hating Jew.”

The prime minister faces his own battle for reelection in October, and may try to use a confrontation with Emanuel for political gain by appearing to stand strong in the face of international criticism.

As for Democrats, Emanuel’s speed represents a particularly frontal strategy for possible presidential contenders gauging how to address the fallout from Israel’s war in Gaza and Netanyahu’s perceived tilt toward Trump ’s Republican Party.

Emanuel, a longtime Israel supporter, tells AP he has a blunt message for Netanyahu

Rahm Emanuel told The Associated Press in an interview from Tel Aviv ahead of his speech on Wednesday that he’s avoiding interactions with elected officials so as to not interfere with upcoming elections. Instead he’s visiting a hospital serving Israelis and Palestinians and meeting with the family of an Oct. 7 hostage.

Emanuel said Israel’s continued military response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has been “reckless and careless in the treatment of Palestinian life — not only the military campaign but using food and medicine as an instrument of your military goals.”

Asked whether Israel had committed genocide, the stalwart of Democratic centrists said the question should not be considered in isolation without also examining conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

“I’m ready to have that discussion,” he said, “but I don’t think it should be politicized, and then dilute the power of what genocide means.”

▶ Read more

What is NATO’s Article 5?

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, left, receives applause from NATO members including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, center, and U.S. President Joe Biden during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of Heads of State and Government, with Sweden, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July, 12, 2023. (Doug Mills/Pool via AP)

Article 5 is at the heart of the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.

That security guarantee is the reason previously neutral Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO and why Ukraine and other countries in Europe also want in. It has only been invoked once, in the wake of the Sept.11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

▶ Read more

Turkey’s opposition leader criticizes Trump for not visiting Ataturk tomb

Ozgur Ozel said Trump would be the only visiting U.S. president not to pay his respects at the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

He said every visiting U.S. president since Eisenhower in 1959 had gone to the monument to honor Ataturk, who remains a revered figure in Turkey.

Talking about Trump’s welcome, Ozel said the president should be greeted by children “holding pictures of the 165 girls killed in Iran” – a reference to an airstrike on a school at the start of the Iran war.

Ozel was removed as head of the Republican People’s Party by court order last May. However, many believe the ruling was politically motivated and still consider him the de facto opposition leader.

Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden did not visit Turkey but he did lay a wreath at Ataturk’s tomb as vice-president in 2011.

Explosions rock Damascus as France’s Macron visits Syria

The explosions in Syria’s capital on Tuesday injured at least 18 people, the interior ministry said, as France’s president met with his counterpart in a landmark visit. Both leaders later announced the reappointment of ambassadors, marking a major restoration of diplomatic ties after years of civil war.

It was the second attack in Damascus in a week and a setback for President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he welcomed the first major Western leader to visit since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad in late 2024. But French President Emmanuel Macron was safe in the presidential palace when the explosions happened, and voiced support for the country’s new direction.

“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said on X hours later. Both he and Al-Sharaa will next appear in Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit.

▶ Read more

Three tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz, British military says

The British military now says three tankers were struck Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a third ship was hit by a drone in the critical oil-shipping waterway, where two other tankers had been attacked earlier in the day.

The third ship sustained minor damage, with no one injured, and continued on its way, the UKMTO said.

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes and later charge fees, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.

Security is tight in the Turkish capital

Air defenses are on alert, and tens of thousands of police will be on duty.

Neighborhoods around the summit site are closed to traffic, and some state workers have been given time off to help keep roads unclogged.

Public gatherings are banned; however, Turkish police detained more than 20 protestors at a demonstration in central Ankara against the NATO summit on Tuesday.

Erdogan’s government has prioritized security, and authorities have carried out raids on people allegedly linked to extremist groups ahead of the summit.

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Trump says US will lift sanctions that prevented sales of F-35 jets to Turkey

Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.

There are still a number of legal hurdles before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. program, but the removal of the sanctions — issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act — would help ease the process for Ankara to regain access to the F-35s, a top goal of Erdogan.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question at the presidential palace in Ankara. He said Cabinet officials were working on the matter.

Earlier, he said that the possibility of selling the F-35s to Turkey is “certainly something we will consider.”

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Erdogan hopeful over US defense sales

Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell F-35 planes to Turkey, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.

At a joint news conference with Trump, Erdogan also said the two leaders would take up the issue of the sale of jet engines to power Turkey’s domestically-produced KAAN fighter planes.

He said Turkey expects Trump to “repeat the positive news” he previously gave about supporting Turkey’s defense projects.

Trump repeats his insistence that the US should control Greenland

Trump says the semiautonomous island, which is part of NATO ally Denmark, is “an important part for the United States,” and that he does not intend to let Greenland be threatened by China and Russia. He repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Erdogan.

Of all Trump’s threats to NATO and its member countries, Trump’s repeated insistence that the U.S. should acquire Greenland has posed the greatest danger to the organization. NATO is founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each other’s territory and not threaten to seize it.

The British military says a second ship has been hit in the Strait of Hormuz

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center made the announcement Tuesday, hours after it said a tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the strait was struck by a projectile and caught fire.

Iranian state television reported on the earlier attack, saying the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings, while not directly claiming responsibility. Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, and is suspected of attacking other ships that have tried to transit the strait close to the Omani shore.

Talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the initial attacks by the U.S. and Israel that launched the war. Iranian mourners have called for the death of Trump.

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NATO official dismisses fears of a Russian attack on alliance members

A senior NATO official speaking on the sidelines of the summit in Ankara Tuesday said that despite some “reckless” actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, he believes the alliance has been successful in deterring Russia from any potential attack on a member country.

“I see absolutely no indications whatsoever that Russia is interested in any sort of conflict with NATO,” the official said.

He said Moscow is overstretched by its war in Ukraine and knows NATO would respond to any attack on a member.

“I would say now that Russia is deterred, but Russia is deterred because of the actions that we are taking,” he said.

Rahm Emanuel will assail Netanyahu in Tel Aviv speech as American politics shift against Israel

While Trump is in Turkey demanding loyalty from NATO allies, a leading Democrat will be in Tel Aviv, directly accusing the president’s military partner of driving Israel into a “dead end.”

Potential presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel plans to denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and call for an end to U.S. subsidies of Israel’s defense budget in a speech Wednesday at Tel Aviv University.

“You’ve lost Europe,” Emanuel will say, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. Castigating Netanyahu for doing little to end the Iran war, he’ll note that “support for Israel is plummeting around the world.”

About 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe Israel’s government has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government.

▶ Read more

Trump says he thinks Russia-Ukraine war will be settled ‘hopefully soon’

The U.S. leader was asked about his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled for Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit, and responded by saying he’s had great recent phone conversations with both the Ukrainian president and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They both want to get it settled now,” he said.

He added later that Erdogan is “helping us get it settled.”

Trump refreshes complaints against European allies

At his bilateral meeting with Erdogan, Trump said he was testing European allies when he asked for their help with the Iran war.

“Italy turned us down and Germany turned us down and France turned us down,” Trump said. “And that’s OK. But, you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us?”

The complaint has been a central point of conflict between Trump and NATO, which he has described as a “paper tiger."

Trump says he has great chemistry with Erdogan

As they sat down for a bilateral meeting, Trump showered praise on Erdogan, saying they have a “very special relationship” that benefits both countries.

Asked about what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there’s “a chemistry that works between us.”

“Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him,” Trump said, gesturing to Erdogan. “Sometimes you don’t get along with the weakest, most pathetic people.”

Trump says he’s going to consider selling F-35 jets to Turkey

The president was asked by a reporter as he met with Erdogan whether he’ll allow the sale of the American fighter jets to Turkey, which had been banned from the program after purchasing Russian missile defense systems.

“It’s certainly something we will consider,” Trump said as he sat with his Turkish counterpart.

He said that “Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly urged the U.S. not to sell the jets to Turkey, saying it would upset the balance of power in the Middle East.

FIFA praises World Cup referee who Trump claimed was ‘suspect’ after red card for Balogun

FIFA has defended the reputation of World Cup referee Raphael Claus in rare pushback on comments by Trump, who questioned his integrity for sending off Folarin Balogun.

Trump suggested on Monday at the White House, without elaborating, that the 46-year-old Brazilian referee was “a little bit suspect if you check his past.”

Trump set off a furor by successfully intervening with FIFA to ensure the United States forward could play against Belgium despite his red-card penalty. FIFA praised Claus, now working at his second World Cup, in a statement published before the U.S. lost 4-1 Monday night.

“Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and integrity,” FIFA said, calling Claus “one of the world’s leading professional referees and a valued member” of its team of World Cup match officials.

▶ Read more

Zelenskyy reiterates call for Ukraine to join NATO

Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO, saying that his country’s armed forces are highly experienced and resilient would only boost the alliance’s defense capabilities.

“Ukraine belongs in NATO,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum, near where NATO leaders were due to gather later on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said that Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

“Do you believe it would be right to live outside NATO, a country and a people with this level of defense capability?” he said.

Ukraine seeks continued funding in war

Another top agenda item is continued support to Ukraine, now in a fifth year of full-scale war with Russia. European allies and Canada are funding most of Ukraine’s needs, including paying for about 90% of the country’s air defenses.

With European countries fearing what Moscow’s territorial ambitions might lie beyond Ukraine, leaders have described Kyiv as a bulwark against Russian advances.

Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

The Netherlands announces more and smarter defense spending

The Dutch defense ministry says it is investing together with the United Kingdom in new amphibious transport vessels and with other NATO allies in replacing aging AWACS surveillance planes.

The government announced the plans on the first day of the NATO summit in Ankara to underscore its commitment to ramping up defense spending.

The ministry says the Dutch also are playing a leading role in a European initiative to co-produce and maintain American arms such as Stinger, Amraam, and PAC-3 missiles.

Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius says the Netherlands and European allies “are investing much more in strengthening European defense” with extra money “but also by working together smarter.”

German leader wants ‘signal of strength and unity’ in Ankara

Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed before leaving Berlin that his country has doubled its defense spending since 2022.

He said that “we are not making this effort to do anyone a favor; we are making this effort because it is necessary for our defense, for our security.”

Merz said that “Russia remains a serious threat” and is “testing our determination every day.” He added that “it is all the more important that we send a signal of strength and unity in Ankara.”

Merz said: “This summit should send the message that we are building a more European NATO so that NATO can remain trans-Atlantic.”

That may be a TV exaggeration, but tornadoes and other dangerous storms do hit the city regularly. When they do, many people here turn to Nashville Severe Weather.

This group of dedicated volunteers can be found on social media, calmly explaining the storm movement, advising when to take cover and giving the “all clear.” The coverage by Will Minkoff, Andrew Leeper and Tom Johnstone draws tens of thousands of viewers who interact with them in real time. It’s a service that evokes the early promise of the internet, before the rise of the influencer.

This is happening at a time when many people no longer watch local news and weather reports. Yet Kevin Trowbridge, who teaches strategic communication at Belmont University in Nashville, says an informal survey of his students found many are tuning in to Nashville Severe Weather.

“The millennials and Gen Z — and teaching college students, I know this all too well — their source of information is that handheld device,” he says. “It’s not turning on a TV. And it’s not even looking at a traditional media outlet’s online presence. It’s finding sources that provide them quick information when they need it.”

They are ‘prepared, not scared’

The rise of Nashville Severe Weather is a modern case study in multiple areas — a shifting tornado alley, a changing climate, the prevalence of social media and the value of instantaneous, hyperlocal information that can save the day or save lives.

The initiative has evolved over more than a decade from its origins as a Twitter feed and blog. Today, volunteers livestream on their YouTube channel whenever Nashville or surrounding counties face severe weather. Because Leeper, Minkoff and Johnstone all live here, they are facing the same threats as their audience.

“There’s something about Nash Severe Weather that’s different from the hobbyist enthusiast,” Trowbridge says. “I think that’s why people are following them. That’s why they are trusting them. That’s why they’re tuning in and turning to them. ... It is authentic and real.”

Leeper, a church pastor, has a soothing voice and a sign on a shelf behind him that reads “prepared not scared.” He has had to leave the stream to wake up his family and hunker down in their safe space. He did so calmly, modeling the behavior of his motto. After the threat passed, he rejoined the stream.

Katherine Moffat, who works as the executive director of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants, says local TV weather can be “a little over-the-top” when storms are threatening. Nashville Severe Weather, she says, is different.

“They’re a little more calm and telling it to you straight,” she says. “They don’t get people overly excited.”

Tornado Alley has shifted

The need for their service has never been greater. “Tornado Alley” has been shifting from the Midwest plains to states further east, says Johnstone, a meteorologist who joined the group last year after 33 years with the National Weather Service.

“The mid-South, especially down through Alabama, Mississippi, and into Tennessee and western Kentucky, has been where tornadoes have been most frequent ... and people have been dying in the highest numbers,” he says.

Michelle Stewart gets all her weather information via push notifications from Nashville Severe Weather on her phone. It's a service she found invaluable during an ice storm that left much of the city without power or internet service for days.

“They are very informative about, not just what to expect, but how to be prepared, and just giving everybody the lay of the land without it being too science-y. You know, it kind of feels like you’re talking to your neighbor,” says Stewart, a project manager at a healthcare research company. “They are so calming to me during those live events.”

Brett Withers, a former Nashville city councilman who saw two people die in his district during a 2020 tornado that killed 24 people in Tennessee, calls Nashville Severe Weather a “godsend.”

“We have so many people moving to Nashville, and they might move from places where tornadoes are rare, if they ever happen,” he says.

Low production value with a ‘volunteer heart’

The popularity of Nashville Severe Weather defies much of the received logic about how to build an audience on social media. There's nothing fancy or highly produced about their livestreams. They don't try to play up danger or excitement. They certainly don't try to chase down tornadoes or run around outside in hurricane-force winds.

Their streams are visually dominated by weather radar. Minkoff, Leeper and Johnstone, sometimes joined by other volunteers, each stream from their own homes and appear in little boxes at the bottom or side of the screen. Graphics, when they have them at all, look like they could have been drawn by a 5-year-old.

Take the beloved “Dry Air Monster,” a stick figure with an huge head and chomping Godzilla jaws.

Nashville Severe Weather co-founder David Drobny drew this to explain how dry air could “eat” snow that was headed toward Nashville. In a Southern town that usually sees snow on the ground only a few days each year, many people look forward to it as a mini-vacation. The monster's motto is “No Snow for You.”

Its hyperlocal focus stays grounded

Their hyperlocal focus allows Nashville Severe Weather to fill a niche left open by the local TV meteorologists who have to report on dozens of counties.

“One of the things that Nash Severe can do that even the TV stations have trouble doing is really bring it down to intersection level, school level, church level to let people know where the danger and the threat is,” Johnstone says.

Their coverage is a two-way street. Audience members provide photos and video showing on-the-ground conditions and comment in the chat. Nashville Severe Weather shares that information with the National Weather Service and TV meteorologists. They also try to answer people's questions as they stream.

Leeper remembers a day when schoolchildren were sent home because of a tornado threat. When one child commented in the chat about being home alone, his heart sank.

“We just stopped what we were saying on the stream, and I said, ‘Hey. It dawns on me that we’ve got a bunch of kiddos at home that are maybe by themselves. Hey. Here’s what you do’,” Leeper recalls. “I love those moments where we can just sort of put everything else aside to talk to the people who are listening, in whatever situation they’re in.”

It's moments like that that help them stay grounded.

In 2023, a tornado killed a mother and young child here who lived in a trailer. Leeper didn't know them, but he attended the visitation.

“It just creates a whole other emotion when you walk into a funeral visitation for hurting families when it’s a weather event that you covered,” he says. “It’s not all action and adventure. It really affects people’s lives forever.”

Ending the year with the ball in her hand in the biggest moment of her career wasn’t exactly how she expected this season to go. Stone, the Varsity 4 All-News4JAX player of the year just wanted to find a way to contribute for the Tigers.

Well, her contribution was helping steer Columbia to a state championship as a 15-year-old freshman.

“I didn’t,” Stone said. “But that’s where my mindset was. I was like, even if I don’t get to be the number one pitcher, I’m going to contribute.”

Stone did more than just contribute.

Not only did Stone find a way to contribute, she was the one in the circle when the Tigers hung on to beat Lake Wales for the Class 5A state championship last May. Stone was excellent in that game, whiffing nine and getting out of a bases loaded situation in the final inning to lock down a 3-2 win, and just the program’s second state championship. Stone finished 15-1 in the circle and hit .406 for a Columbia team that is positioned to be good for a long time. The state championship is the school’s first since 2013.

Stone liked softball at an early age, spending a year playing rec ball when she was 8. But that eventually gave way to cheerleading and gymnastics before the tug of softball eventually pulled her back.

“I’m pretty sure I was just passing the softball fields one day and I said, ‘I want to play that [again],” she said.

That passing glance at softball soon became a full entrance back in the sport. Stone said she just fell in love with being on a field.

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX players of the year

“When I went out there, I just wanted to do everything,” she said. “I was a pitcher, catcher; I can still catch. I love doing that. I didn’t get to do it a lot because I’m a pitcher. I just wanted to be able to do everything, and I wanted to work at everything. Pitching is a thing you have to work on daily. And I was like, ‘that’s fine. I’m going to do this. It was a lot of hours in the yard. Sometimes, I did not want to do it, but got it done, and it worked out.”

Did it ever.

Stone’s only loss of the season came to perennial power and Class 6A state runner-up Bartow in a 4-0 game in late March. The Tigers wouldn’t lose again, ripping off 16 consecutive wins to polish off a stunning 29-3 season. Stone said that she didn’t expect a season like this when it started, but once the Tigers got rolling the momentum surged across the team.

“I did not [expect a championship season], but I was hoping,” she said. “And after a few of our good wins, and even when we lost to Trenton and Santa Fe, those were the best teams and we had lost only by a little against Trenton. So, I had an idea we could do this.”

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX softball first team

All-News4JAX softball, first team

Position, player, school, class, notable

P Morgan Brown, Atlantic Coast, Jr.

Second-team selection last year. Finished 17-5 with 2.10 ERA, 150 Ks in 143 IP. At the plate, hit .337 and had three doubles.

P Lily Hubbard, Baldwin, Jr.

Really emerged in the circle this season. Went 15-5 with 2.00 ERA, 143 Ks in 136.1 IP. At the plate, hit a career high .372 with 13 extra-base hits (10 doubles, 2 HRs, triple), drove in 23 runs and scored 22 times.

P Grace Masterson, Baker County, So.

She saw her workload take a big step up and she delivered. Went 13-2 and whiffed 112 in 84 IP for the 24-3 Wildcats.

P Ryleigh Stone, Columbia, Fr.

Breakout first season for Class 4A state champs. Hit .406 with 26 hits, 13 RBI and a homer. In the circle, went 15-1 with 125 Ks, 1.22 ERA in 109 IP. Whiffed nine in complete game five-hitter to beat Lake Wales in title game.

C Makiyah Lester, Paxon, Sr.

Hit .538 in huge final season. Pounded out 45 hits and had 13 RBI. Had 25 stolen bases. On defense, threw out five of 11 runners trying to steal.

IF Alannah Lord, Columbia, Fr.

Freshman season for the books. Hit .446 with 44 runs scored, 37 RBI and 17 extra-base hits (10 doubles, 5 HRs, 2 triples) as Tigers won state title. Earned Class 4A player of the year honors.

IF Jazmine Ramos-Merced, Baldwin, Sr.

Two-time All-News4JAX selection. Led Indians in the Triple Crown categories (.519, 31 RBI, 10 HR). Finished career with 43 HRs. Career .407 average (206 for 506) with 185 RBI, 43 2Bs.

IF Josie Raulerson, Columbia, Jr.

Huge final season for Class 4A state champs. Hit .432 with 5 HR, 37 RBI, six doubles and two triples. Scored 18 runs. Career .400 hitter with 16 HR, 90 RBI.

IF Baleigh Shields, Baker County, Sr.

Three-time All-News4JAX selection. Hit .518 with career-bests in hits (43) and runs scored (39) in final season. Had 27 stolen bases. Career .464 hitter with 75 RBI, 14 HR.

OF/C Chloe Gotto, Bishop Snyder, Sr.

Hit .432 with 23 RBI, 12 extra-base hits (8 2Bs, 3 HR, 3B). Hit .512 in two seasons with the Cardinals. Two-time first-team All-News4JAX selection. Second-team pick in 2024. Saint Leo signee.

OF/C Stella Lynton, Atlantic Coast, So.

Excellent catcher but shined in the outfield, too. Hit .457 with 36 runs scored, 27 RBI and 14 extra-base hits (7 doubles, 6 triples, HR). Perhaps even more impressive was the number of times that she struck out (none).

OF/IF Lauren Rosepiler, West Nassau, Sr.

Improved across the board in every category. Hit .446 with 26 runs, 33 hits and 10 for extra bases (4 triples, 4 doubles, 2 HRs). Unbelievable contact hitter. Struck out just six times in her career.

UT Hannah Jones, Tocoi Creek, So.

Leading force for the best season in Toros history (24-3). Finished 20-2 with 227 Ks in 133.1 IP, 0.68 ERA. At this plate, hit .282 with 14 RBI, four doubles and six runs scored.

UT Madden Lutze, Bolles, So.

Rising star is poised to be one of the area’s best players. Hit .487 with six homers, 27 RBI and team-bests of hits (38) and runs scored (38). Had 16 stolen bases. Whiffed 216 in 133.2 IP and three four no-hitters including three in a row.

UT Emily Davidson, Episcopal, Jr.

Primary position was catcher. Hit .423 with 33 RBI for 19-6 Eagles. Scored 28 runs. Had 17 extra-base hits (8 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 4 HRs). Threw out 14 runners. Career .369 hitter with 64 RBI. FACA District 4 Class 2A player of the year.

UT Dixie Tessier, University Christian, Sr.

The pitcher and 1B hit .348 and had five doubles en route to Class 1A state championship. Career .420 hitter with 76 RBI. Went 11-0 in the circle with 0.78 ERA, 71 Ks in 63 IP. In career pitching, was 29-6 with 249 Ks, 1.98 ERA in 180.1 IP.

Second team

Position, player, school, class, notable

P Caitlyn Boshell, Bishop Snyder, So.

Hit .329 with 7 HR, 27 RBI, 16 runs scored. Very strong in the circle this season, too (12-6, 221 Ks in 138.1 IP).

P Kassidy Edwards, Paxon, Jr.

Career season at the plate (.458, 38 RBI, 12 2Bs, 7 HR) and scored 19 runs. Finished 12-7 with 2.28 ERA, 180 Ks in 104.1 IP.

P Aoife Weaver, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Four-year player for the Sharks. Career-best .488 average with 35 RIB, 3 HR, 39 hits. A career .407 hitter with 104 RBI. Went 8-7 in the circle with 56 Ks in 84 IP.

C Kaitlyn Robbins, Creekside, Jr.

Breakout season. Led team in batting (.429), RBI (29) and HRs (5). Added six doubles and five triples and scored 29 runs.

IF/OF Aleda Cashwell, Bolles, Sr.

Spent six seasons on varsity and graduates as a .403 hitter. Surged in final season (.487, .570 OBP, 9 2Bs, 8 HR, 30 RBI). Headed to Rollins.

IF Rylan DeGrande, Menendez, Sr.

Hit .426 with 20 RBI, 12 extra-base hits (6 HR, 4 3Bs, 2 2Bs), scored 27 runs for Falcons. Excellent four-year starter. Hit .388 with 16 HR, 85 RBI in her career. Signed with Valdosta State. Two-time second-team selection.

IF Teagan Harter, West Nassau, Jr.

Hit .438 with 17 extra-base hits (15 2Bs, HR, 3B). Drove in 16 runs and had seven stolen bases. Made just three errors at shortstop and finished with .967 fielding percentage.

IF/OF Maleah Rouse, Paxon, So.

Hit .503 with 38 RBI, 7 HR and 13 doubles. Scored 18 runs for 17-8 Golden Eagles. Has a .519 average, 16 HRs in her first two seasons.

IF Summer Stearns, Episcopal, Sr.

Hit .403 with 14 extra-base hits (8 2Bs, 3B, 5 HR). Scored 32 runs. Very strong at shortstop (.933 fielding percentage). Headed to Elon. Two-time second-team All-News4JAX.

IF/C Madisyn Strickland, Middleburg, Sr.

Big bat for the Broncos. Hit .288 with nine HRs, 25 RBI and 15 runs scored. Just one error in 100 chances (.990 fielding percentage). Signed with Florida Gateway.

OF Claire Cinnamond, Episcopal, Sr.

Lockdown centerfielder played error-free ball. Hit .4-0 with eight doubles, 23 RI and 30 runs scored. Headed to Covenant College.

OF/IF Sinai Tunsill, University Christian, 7

Huge contributor for Class 1A state champion Christians. Hit .521 with 29 runs scored, 18 RBI, 12 stolen bases, seven doubles. Excellent in the field, too (.938 fielding percentage)

UT Presley Brinkley, Creekside, Sr.

Four-year starter who had an excellent all-around final season. Hit a career-best .427 with three HRs, 22 RBI and 26 runs scored. Headed to Santa Fe College.

UT Emily Delgado, Columbia, Sr.

Catcher is a four-year player who had career-highs in homers (7), hits (33) and RBI (31). Hit .375 this season for 29-3 Tigers.

UT Chloe Johnson, Baker County, Sr.

Best season at the plate in her career. Hit .367 with six HRs, 34 RBI and seven doubles for 24-3 Wildcats. Career .301 hitter. Headed to Santa Fe College.

UT Carmen Overstreet, Yulee, Jr.

Hit .434 with four homers, eight doubles, 20 runs scored and 19 RBI. Committed to University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Honorable mention

Position, Player, School, Class

C Regan Barnett, Orange Park, Sr.

P Kelsea Bass, West Nassau, So.

P Saige Bialek, Ridgeview, Sr.

IF Peyton Brown, Wolfson, So.

C Evey Bryant, University Christian, Fr.

P/UT Elle Burns, Providence, So.

IF/P Sawyer Butacan, Trinity Christian, 8^th

C/IF Gus Campbell, St. Augustine, Jr.

IF Emma Cano, Atlantic Coast, Sr.

OF/UT Jenna Clair, Hilliard, Fr.

P Sydney Davis, Nease, Sr.

IF/OF Emmie Dawley, Sandalwood, Sr.

OF Skye Deans, Atlantic Coast, So.

UT Nichole Deschamps. Ridgeview, Sr.

OF Alanna DeJesus, Mandarin, Sr.

IF Leanne Dicks, Union County, Sr.

C Leighton Dostie, Bolles, So.

P Rylee Dynesius, Christ’s Church, Fr.

OF Skye Fourman, Tocoi Creek, Jr.

OF Teryn Freeman, Bolles, So.

OF KK Fry, Baldwin, So.

OF Siena Gallant, Tocoi Creek, Sr.

OF Yarianis Gonzalez, Clay, So.

C/IF Andi Gooch, Bartram Trail, So.

IF Aubree Green, Menendez, Sr.

IF Ly’nasia Green, Baker County, Sr.

UT Georgia Griffin, Christ’s Church, 6th

IF/OF Mady Grumbly, Bishop Snyder, So.

UT Leelee Gwinn, Sandalwood, Sr.

IF Julia Hansen, St. Augustine, Sr.

P/UT Rebekah Harmer, Harvest Community, Sr.

UT Madison Heath, Sandalwood, So.

OF Maddie Hollis, Creekside, Jr.

OF Camdyn Hunt, Tocoi Creek, Sr.

IF Amaya Hyslop, Paxon, Jr.

OF Mallory Jackson, Baker County, Sr.

IF Michelle Jones, Bishop Kenny, Sr.

IF Kyleigh Kendall, Beachside, So.

P Kinley King, Columbia, Jr.

IF/OF Mila Lackowski, University Christian, 8^th

OF Anna Lamb, Trinity Christian, Sr.

P Madelyn Lasater, Trinity Christian, Sr.

IF Taigen Lebel, St. Johns Country Day, Fr.

IF Ava Lowman, Fletcher, So.

P Kadence Massey, Keystone Heights, Sr.

IF Lillyenne Mayhew, Union County, Sr.

OF/IF/P Josleen Mendoza, Atlantic Coast, Fr.

IF/P Lily Maguire, Atlantic Coast, So.

P Kadence Massey, Keystone Heights, Sr.

IF Josleen Mendoza, Atlantic Coast, Fr.

IF/OF Cassidy Morgan, University Christian, Fr.

C Rylee Murallo, Fernandina Beach, Sr.

IF Amelia Oreair, Episcopal, Sr.

IF MaKayla Oxley, Mandarin, Jr.

P Rommeney Patrey, Bartram Trail, So.

C/IF Gracianna Peck-Headley, Mandarin, So.

IF Izzy Pifer, Middleburg, Jr.

OF Addison Pleiss, Fleming Island, Fr.

C Tatum Pocol, Beachside, Jr.

C Makayla Pratt, Trinity Christian, 8^th

OF Kyleigh Rivera, Nease, Fr.

IF Kaelye Rowe, Clay, Jr.

IF Ally Satryan, Tocoi Creek, Fr.

IF Brooklyn Sawyer, Yulee, Jr.

P Tiffany Semack, Fletcher, Sr.

IF Madison Seprish, Sandalwood, Sr.

P Isabella Seymour, Creekside, Fr.

OF Addison Siebenaler, Ponte Vedra, Jr.

OF Jadah Stubbs, Christ’s Church

IF/OF Cali Taylor, Palatka, Jr.

OF Luisa Taylor, Columbia, Sr.

IF/P Piper Tessier, University Christian, Fr.

OF Ava Tolbert, Oakleaf, Sr.

P/IF Olivia Urbina, West Nassau, Jr.

P Riley Valent, Episcopal, Sr.

IF Addison VanArsdale, Wolfson, Fr.

IF Victoria Vazquez, Fleming Island, So.

C/UT Alondra Vincenty, Matanzas, Jr.

C Emma Ward, Middleburg, Sr.

OF Tenley Wilkinson, Palatka, Fr.

OF Camryn Williams, Flagler Palm Coast, So.

IF/P Emily Williams, Fleming Island, Fr.

P Naomi Winburn, University Christian, 8th

OF Sarah Wisniewski, Atlantic Coast, So.

OF Ashten Wolff, Episcopal, So.

Among the evacuated buildings was a school with about 400 children, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. There were no reported injuries and all workers inside the building were accounted for, he said. Nearby streets were closed to people and vehicles.

The 1970s-era building is the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. It's located in a busy corridor about a block from the landmark Chrysler Building and between Grand Central Terminal and the United Nations headquarters.

The New York Fire Department said it received reports of bricks falling at around 8 a.m. from the 38-story tower. Officials found two columns had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors and that floors were sagging between the 21st and 26th floors.

The office-to-residential conversion has been billed as the largest in the city’s history, according to Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project. The planned complex with more than 1,600 units includes adding more than a dozen stories atop the building’s original tower while also redesigning an adjoining tower. A spokesperson for Gensler did not immediately return a voicemail and email seeking comment.

Asked whether the building was actually at risk of collapse, Mamdani said first responders found “structural issues with the building” and “beyond that, just for those in the immediate area to follow the instructions of those on the ground.”

The city's building department said its inspectors and engineers were on the scene at 235 East 42nd Street.

“Our top priority right now,” the mayor added, “is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area.”

___

Izaguirre reported from Lindenhurst, New York.

Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers Ltd. engaged in unlawful activities. He said there was a shortage of evidence to support the claims and found a possibility that the news stories came from legitimate sources.

“In substance, the claimants’ case invites the Court to conclude that, because the information was private and because Associated cannot positively explain how it was sourced, the article must have been unlawfully sourced,” Nicklin wrote. “That is not a permissible approach.”

The ruling scuttles a bid by Harry and six others, including singer Elton John and actor-model Elizabeth Hurley, which sought substantial damages but could leave them with massive legal bills. Updated estimates by ANL put legal costs for both sides above 50 million pounds ($67 million) for years of case preparation and an 11-week trial.

The publisher called it an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication” of the Mail's journalism.

The newspapers had denied the allegations as “preposterous,” insisting the roughly 50 articles at issue were based on lawful sources including friends, royal aides and publicists who offered information to reporters.

Harry's campaign against the press yields mixed results

The 436-page decision leaves a mixed legacy for Harry's trio of lawsuits accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics, such as phone hacking, or hiring private detectives to dig up dirt to snoop on his life.

Harry won a judgment in 2023 that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking. Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid, The Sun, made an unprecedented apology for intruding on his life for years and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer not involved in the case, said Harry's first significant loss was due to a lack of evidence such as admissions of culpability that he had in previous lawsuits.

“This was always a mosaic case where little inferences from different things were being put together by the lawyers for Prince Harry,” Stephens said. “Associated Newspapers' lawyers cleverly rearranged the tiles to show an innocent picture as opposed to the culpable picture that the claimants' lawyers were trying to demonstrate.”

The verdict, released remotely with no court hearing, coincided with Harry’s visit home to the United Kingdom, which has been dominated by headlines over his latest efforts to repair a rift with his father, King Charles III.

Harry has said his litigation — in which he broke with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts — was a primary source of his falling out with his father and brother, Prince William.

His grudge with the press runs deep. He blames it for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris, and for attacks on his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, that led the couple to abandon royal life and move to the United States in 2020.

“They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery,” he testified as he choked back tears in the witness box during the trial in January.

Newspaper editor says Harry is a hypocrite

Associated Newspapers' Editor-in-Chief Paul Dacre called Harry “a confused and angry young man” and said he felt sorry he had been drawn into the case. He mocked Harry’s tell-all memoir, “Spare,” which included details of drug use, losing his virginity, and dishing dirt on his kin.

“There isn’t a laundry in the cosmos big enough to wash all the dirty linen he has aired about his own family,” Dacre said. “For him to complain about his privacy being invaded takes not just the biscuit but the whole tin. Poor Harry.”

Attorney David Sherborne said at trial that the Daily Mail and its sister publication, Mail on Sunday, used their journalists, freelance reporters and private eyes for “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” to snoop on his clients.

Defense lawyer Antony White said the case relied on conjecture and inferences when the more likely source of information was “ordinary, legitimate journalism.” He said Harry was “inclined to see unlawful evidence gathering, in particular voicemail interception, everywhere.”

Other claimants in the case were actor Sadie Frost, anti‑racism activist Doreen Lawrence, former politician Simon Hughes and John’s husband, David Furnish.

The Mail trial played out differently from the Mirror case, with many more journalists defending their work in court. Some Mail reporters pointed to official mouthpieces, such as a palace spokesperson, and others named their sources to dispute Harry’s assertion that his “social circles were not leaky.”

“They were not all tight-lipped,” Katie Nicholl, a former Mail on Sunday editor, said about Harry’s associates. “I had very good sources in the inner circle.” ___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

The findings, obtained by News4JAX, are the latest development in the ongoing fallout from years of sexual misconduct allegations involving teachers at the prestigious arts magnet school. News4JAX has been reporting on investigations involving Douglas Anderson since 2023.

The report centers on Schneider, who abruptly left the district in May after Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier declined to reappoint him for the upcoming school year.

The newly completed investigation by the district’s Office of Professional Standards paints a different picture, concluding Schneider failed to fulfill mandatory reporting obligations after receiving allegations in August 2020.

When News4JAX asked the district if Schneider’s declined contract renewal was related to this internal investigation, a spokesperson said, “The district does not disclose private information related to individual personnel matters. All staffing decisions are made carefully and with sensitivity, with our focus always remaining on supporting positive student outcomes.”

According to the report, then-Douglas Anderson Principal Melanie Hammer emailed Schneider, who was serving as regional superintendent for high schools, after a former student accused a dozen teachers and contractors of sexually abusing students over multiple years.

Hammer told Schneider she had already contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families, but was informed the agency could not investigate because the former student was no longer under 18.

In an Aug. 18, 2020 email included in the investigative report, Hammer asked Schneider:

“I previously contacted DCF and they told me unless it was a current student under the age of 18 they could not do anything. Am I to share this with JSO?”

Schneider replied less than an hour later:

“You have done what is needed.”

Investigators concluded that response effectively halted additional reporting requirements that should have been triggered.

The report states Schneider “had a statutory duty to report the alleged sexual abuse of students by the twelve-listed educators” and found his “actions to dismiss the matter appear intentional but are, at a minimum, reckless.”

Investigators further concluded Schneider’s educator certificate is “in jeopardy” because he “knowingly failed to report actual or suspected child abuse” and failed to report educator misconduct affecting student safety, violations they say are required under Florida law and state education rules.

The report also concludes Schneider committed “a misdemeanor of the first degree” by failing to report allegations involving authority figures accused of sexual misconduct with students.

Investigators: Students remained at risk

In one of the report’s strongest findings, investigators concluded Schneider had opportunities over multiple years to report the allegations but failed to do so.

“Scott Schneider had a duty to report what he learned in August 2020 in year 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025,” the report states. It concludes his decision to remain silent violated Florida law, professional conduct standards and school board policy and constituted “willful (intentional and/or reckless) neglect of duty.”

The report goes on to state that Schneider’s inaction “led to missed opportunities” to interview victims, accused educators and witnesses in 2020.

“As a result, numerous students experienced or continued experiencing abuse by educators,” investigators wrote.

Investigators also said Schneider’s actions “silenced” mandatory reporting requirements to law enforcement, DCF, the district’s Office of Professional Standards and the Florida Department of Education, causing “a systemic breakdown in reporting, compliance, and accountability” that undermined the district’s commitment to student safety.

Report cites broader impact

The investigation says the district has since faced multiple lawsuits involving several educators named in the 2020 allegations, affecting public confidence in Duval County Public Schools and placing financial strain on the district.

As part of its recommendations, the Office of Professional Standards said it revised administrator training during the 2024 school year to reinforce mandatory reporting requirements. The report recommends annual documented training for administrators emphasizing that reporting duties are non-delegable and require documented follow-up.

The report concludes it has been forwarded to both law enforcement and the Florida Department of Education for further review.

It also states that only one educator identified in the 2020 email remained employed by the district at the time the investigation concluded and that employee, who worked part time, has since been released from employment.

When questioned on the findings by News4JAX, DCPS pointed to their Know the Line campaign, saying Dr. Bernier has consistently emphasized the importance of protecting the safety and well-being of students and fostering a culture where any suspected misconduct is reported immediately.

New Florida law changes prosecution timeline

The release of the district’s findings comes just days after a new Florida law took effect changing how prosecutors calculate the deadline to charge someone accused of failing to report suspected child abuse.

The law, sponsored by State Rep. Wyman Duggan, was prompted by cases tied to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.

“Silence is no longer a legal strategy,” Duggan told News4JAX.

Under Florida law, knowingly failing to report suspected child abuse is now a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Before July 1, the three-year statute of limitations began when the alleged failure to report occurred. Under the new law, the clock now starts when law enforcement discovers the failure to report, giving prosecutors more time to pursue charges in cases where reporting failures remain hidden for years.

The law does not revive cases in which the statute of limitations had already expired on or before July 1, 2026.

Duggan said the proposal originated with the State Attorney’s Office after prosecutors encountered repeated instances during the Douglas Anderson investigation in which they uncovered evidence that mandatory reporters may have failed to report suspected abuse, but the deadline to prosecute had already passed.

“It’s outrage,” Duggan said. “Parents drop their child off and they expect the school to take the place of a parent and that child should be able to count on the school administrators and the school leadership to look out for their interests.”

The legislation follows years of investigations into Douglas Anderson. Former choral director Jeffrey Clayton is serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex crimes involving a 16-year-old student. The district has also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle civil lawsuits brought by former students alleging abuse by school employees.

Civil rights attorney Christina Lawrence-Moser, who has represented former Douglas Anderson students, said the change reflects the reality that child abuse and failures to report often are not discovered until years later, when victims come forward or broader investigations uncover patterns of misconduct.

Prosecutors were expected to present a recorded statement from Robinson's roommate and more videos from law enforcement on Tuesday.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination on the Utah Valley University campus, for which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence.

Here's the latest:

A second video with ‘enhancements’ is introduced as evidence

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill has introduced a video with circled highlights, zooming and other alterations apparently designed to help viewers understand what they are seeing.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester objected to the video being introduced as evidence, saying she is concerned about its authenticity and that it will be unduly prejudicial against her client.

State District Judge Tony Graf agrees to admit the video as evidence, but says he’ll view it without showing it to the public or the media since it’s essentially the same footage as the previous video.

Compilation video continues with a vehicle Hull says belongs to Robinson

Hull says a Spanish Fork police officer had an interaction with the vehicle early on Sept. 11. When Hull spoke with that officer later, the officer was able to look up vehicle records via a partial license plate number.

The plates showed Robinson was one of the registered owners of the vehicle, Hull says, and the Spanish Fork police officer said the driver was a male whom he believed to be Robinson.

Hull says video shows Robinson walking with a ‘limp’ and climbing to rooftop

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull says Robinson is shown in another video returning to campus in different clothing and walking with a limp, with one leg held mostly straight.

Video clips show him walking in front of the Losee building, Hull says, and then to the area where he could access the building’s roof.

Yesterday, former Utah Valley University Officer Chris Bagley testified that he saw a “sniper pad” in the gravel atop the Losee building roof.

Additional clips show an individual climbing onto the roof, running across it and then laying prone in the corner of the building. Hull says he believes the person to be Robinson.

The individual then lowers himself off the roof and leaves the area while carrying something in his hand, Hull says. The time stamp is 12:44 p.m.

Compilation video shows Robinson’s movements on Sept. 10

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull is narrating the video as it plays in court.

Some clips from various Utah Valley University surveillance cameras show Tyler Robinson driving into a parking garage, walking away, returning and leaving, Hull says.

Other clips show Robinson walking with a backpack. Robinson purchased a meal from Chick-fil-A at one point in the day, Hull says. Later, as Robinson moves across campus, he is no longer carrying a backpack.

He leaves campus for a second time around 11 a.m., Hull says.

Judge says the compilation video can be shown publicly

The defense team wanted the video published only to the court and not to the press videographer in the courtroom. Allowing news coverage of the video would taint the jury pool for any future trial, violating Tyler Robinson’s constitutional rights, defense attorney Michael Burt said.

But David Reymann, an attorney representing news organizations, asked the judge to allow this and other non-graphic videos in evidence to be shown to people in the courtroom and in media coverage of the case.

“The spectators in the courtroom have a right to know what the court is viewing, so they can understand how you’re making your decisions,” Reymann says.

The compilation video is expected to show Tyler Robinson walking around the Utah Valley University campus on the day of the shooting. That’s relevant, Reymann says.

Judge Tony Graf says he recognizes the importance of balancing Robinson’s constitutional rights as well as the importance of transparency. He says this video is different from the three videos of the shooting introduced as evidence yesterday, and so it can be shown publicly.

Former lead investigator David Hull is on the stand

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill is questioning Hull, the former Utah State Bureau of Investigations agent who testified yesterday about surveillance videos and other footage gathered during the shooting investigation.

Sturgill is asking Hull about a compilation video that includes clips from several different videos. The prosecution team wanted to introduce the compilation as evidence yesterday, but the judge declined after the defense team said the prosecution had not established “foundation.”

The process of establishing “foundation” for evidence generally includes having someone testify about exactly what an item is, including its authenticity and relevance.

Erika Kirk is back in the courtroom today

Tyler Robinson’s parents were also seen entering the courthouse this morning.

State District Judge Tony Graf is giving attendees a reminder of his rules for behavior, including “maintaining a courtroom environment that is safe, respectful, orderly and faithful to the rights and dignity of every person involved.”

It’s warm in the courtroom, so the judge says everyone should feel free to drink from their water bottles.

The defense frequently objected to the introduction of evidence

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester’s attempts were largely overruled by the judge Monday.

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

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

Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in on individuals or had circles drawn around them.

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

Prosecutors must pass a low bar to advance Robinson to trial

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

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

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

Robinson’s demeanor in the courtroom

The defendant sat quietly between his attorneys throughout the hearing, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. His wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.

Kirk and Robinson’s families were in the courtroom Monday

Monday marked the first time Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and his widow, Erika, were in the courtroom since the case began. Robinson’s parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks.

Prosecutors showed several graphic videos of Kirk’s shooting, including the moment he was shot and security administering first aid, as they made their case.

Kirk’s family briefly walked out of the courtroom twice — when Bagley, the university officer, started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus and again when prosecutors introduced the videos. Each time, they returned.

The court will hear a statement from Robinson’s roommate

If prosecutors follow the order of an exhibit list they submitted earlier this year, they will present a video from the Washington County sheriff’s office from Sept. 11 — the day Robinson turned himself in — and recorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate.

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

Robinson also reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

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

What happened during the first day of the hearing?

The court proceedings on Monday produced no major revelations but marked the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case against Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk.

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

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley told the court.

More video is expected during the hearing

Prosecutors seeking to convince a Utah judge to put the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on trial are expected to present more law enforcement video and a recorded statement from the defendant’s roommate as a weeklong preliminary hearing continues Tuesday.

The court proceedings began Monday and so far have produced no major revelations but marked the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case against defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, who is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump.

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The new assaults were the most in a single day since late April, according to U.N. International Maritime Organization figures. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.

One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Two other tankers were also hit, including one that was struck by a drone. It was not immediately clear where they were at the time of the attacks. Both of those ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, the maritime agency said. At least one of the vessels continued on its way.

Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tuesday's attacks.

Talks between US and Iran are on hold

The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. An interim deal has been strained.

Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the U.S. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states.

In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.

Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Mourners at his funeral have called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honored him Tuesday.

Tanker struck in latest attack in strait

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the first tanker to be struck was hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The agency said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel as it tried to travel south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman.

Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied that Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there was no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.

Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law.

In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran “fully legally responsible” for the attack.

Iran’s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by U.S. forces in the strait “will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

But the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, told shippers Monday that the route around Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”

Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the U.S.

Speaking Monday at the White House, Trump warned Iran that it would need to “make a deal, or we're going to finish the job.”

“I'd rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Trump said. “We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the vessels' routes and later charge fees for passage, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and the U.N. to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.

The data firm Kpler reported that over last weekend at least 108 ships crossed through the strait using various routes.

Mourners gather in Qom for Khamenei's funeral

Iranian state television aired live images Tuesday of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. Shiites believe the mosque once hosted the Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and is supposed to one day reappear to bring justice to the world.

Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance at the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday. Khamenei’s body will be taken next to Iraq, where processions are planned for Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala, the two holy cities of Iraqi Shiism.

Khamenei, who was 86, is to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

Le Pen previously said campaigning while wearing a monitor wouldn't be possible. She now has the option of changing her mind, in light of the verdict that her lawyer described as a partial victory.

“It's a good start,” said the lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut.

The court ruled that Le Pen oversaw years of misuse by her National Rally party of European Parliament funds by paying staff with money intended for European Union parliamentary assistants. She had denied criminal wrongdoing but said during the trial that the party had made a “mistake.”

Le Pen, 57, left the courtroom without addressing television cameras. She’s expected to share her thoughts Tuesday evening in a television interview.

Both prison sentence and ban have been shortened

The appeals court upheld guilty verdicts for all 11 accused, including Le Pen and other party members. The party itself also was declared guilty.

However, the court scaled back the punishments handed down by a lower court last year.

Crucially for Le Pen's presidential ambitions, it reduced her ban on seeking elected office. She previously said that not being able to make a fourth run in 2027 would amount to “political death.”

From five years handed down in March 2025, the ban was cut to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. Le Pen has already served 15 months of the ban, meaning that the potential obstacle is effectively removed.

The verdict also cut her prison sentence from four years, two of them suspended, to three years with two suspended.

Still, the remaining year of prison time, to be served at home with an electronic monitor, remains a potential hurdle.

How often Le Pen will be allowed to go out wearing it, and other details about the monitoring, aren't yet known. Conditions will be determined by another judge in the coming weeks or months.

After at least six months of wearing it, the judge could allow Le Pen to remove it as a reward for good behavior that would include her paying the 100 million euro ($114 million) fine the appeals court included in her sentence.

Le Pen went straight to her party's office

Le Pen previously said that electronic monitoring could bar her pathway to the presidency.

“If I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible,” she said in an interview last week.

If she decides that she cannot run, her protege Jordan Bardella would replace her. Bardella, 30, is the president of the anti-immigration National Rally party that Le Pen previously led.

From the courthouse, Le Pen went to the National Rally's headquarters in Paris, where Bardella was seen earlier in the day. The party faces a potentially difficult decision choosing which might be better placed to run in 2027.

Bardella, a European Parliament lawmaker, lacks Le Pen's experience and it would be his first presidential election campaign.

A Le Pen has been on the ballot papers at every presidential election since 1988: four times for her father and three times for her.

The party was called the National Front when her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded it in 1972. It ditched that name in 2018, part of Marine Le Pen’s efforts to broaden her appeal by moving away from her polarizing father’s legacy. His associations with people who collaborated with France’s Nazi occupiers in World II and his multiple hate-speech convictions, including Holocaust denial, made the National Front anathema to many voters.

Le Pen has steered her party’s growth in popularity as it sought to become more mainstream. It has been the largest single party in parliament’s National Assembly since 2024, although it doesn't have a majority in that sharply divided lower house.

But her embezzlement conviction would leave her open to criticism from potential election opponents.

The court noted ‘the principle of freedom to stand for election’

The court said Le Pen’s party embezzled 2.8 million euros ($3.2 million) over more than 11 years.

“The facts are serious,” said the chief judge, Michèle Agi.

But the court, in written notes detailing the verdict, pointed out “the voter’s freedom of choice” and said the 15 months of ban from seeking elected office that Le Pen has served have repaired harm done to public integrity by her wrongdoing.

“Disregarding this would undermine the principle of freedom to stand for election, an essential condition for the democratic expression of universal suffrage,” the court said.

The judge had been expected to spend several hours reading out the full verdict. Instead, the proceedings were over in less than 40 minutes in the courtroom without air conditioning, on a day when Paris temperatures surpassed 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). Table fans provided a slight breeze.

___

Associated Press journalists Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Paris and Samuel Petrequin in London contributed to this report.

One traveler breezes through a priority security lane and heads straight to an invite-only lounge for craft cocktails and a chef-prepared meal before boarding early. A flight attendant offering a glass of champagne and a warm hand towel welcomes the passenger to a spacious seat at the front of the plane.

The other traveler stands in a line at every step — security screening, a café selling $16 sandwiches, a crowded gate — then boards with one of the final groups, hoping there’s still room for a carry-on in the overhead bin before folding into a cramped middle seat. After the cabin lights dim, sleep comes in fragments, and a travel pillow does little to ease a stiff neck.

The contrasting journeys are no accident. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest U.S. airlines have pulled out all the stops to court premium passengers who are willing to pay for comfort, convenience and exclusivity. Budget-conscious travelers may notice a widening gap between the back of the plane and up front as the carriers increasingly build their businesses around selling first-class, business-class and premium-economy seats.

“We can’t win by trying to provide the cheapest. We have to be able to win by providing the best," Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a recent Fortune podcast interview.

The strategy embraced by Delta and rivals American Airlines and United Airlines marks a notable evolution for an industry that spent decades making air travel more accessible. Now, the nation's largest carriers are reconfiguring aircraft to expand premium seating, designing new fleets with larger premium cabins and investing billions in amenities that extend the top-tier travel treatment beyond their jetliners.

But United CEO Scott Kirby has pushed back on the idea that the industry has become solely focused on chasing big spenders. He said United’s premium investments are part of a broader strategy to boost the experience of every traveler, pointing to initiatives such as seatback entertainment and improvements to the airline’s mobile app.

“We’re investing nose to tail for all customers,” Kirby said last month on financial firm Morgan Stanley’s Exceptional Leaders podcast.

Premium cabins have become airlines’ most valuable real estate

The premium playbook didn’t emerge overnight.

Airlines used to fill empty first-class seats mainly by giving their most loyal frequent flyers free upgrades. Delta rewrote the rules in the early 2010s by using sophisticated pricing tools to offer more of those seats to coach passengers who were willing to pay a little more, said Henry Harteveldt, president of travel advisory firm Atmosphere Research Group.

The strategy unlocked demand airlines hadn’t fully recognized, encouraging more travelers to trade up and laying the groundwork for today’s broader premium push.

“Travelers could and would pay for noticeably more comfort, noticeably better service, noticeably more amenities, if the price was right,” Harteveldt said.

Then came the pandemic. When business travel collapsed and Zoom replaced many corporate trips, airline analysts wondered whether carriers would once again have to lure travelers with cheap fares. Instead, eager leisure travelers proved willing to splurge on premium seats and perks, convincing airlines that demand extended well beyond the traditional business road warrior, Harteveldt said.

That confidence has only grown. Premium demand is now a fixture of quarterly earnings calls, with airline executives regularly touting premium revenue as they compete for higher-spending travelers.

“When you think about what’s different and what’s changed over the last 10 or 15 years, the premium products used to be loss leaders, and now they’re the highest-margin products," former Delta President Glen Hauenstein said last summer. “That’s really the headline.”

Analysts say premium cabins — a category that expanded with the introduction of premium economy seats featuring more legroom and amenities at a fraction of the cost — now generate a disproportionate share of airline revenue compared with the space they take up on commercial aircraft.

On heavily trafficked transatlantic routes, business-class tickets can bring in nearly as much revenue as fares and fees paid by passengers in the much larger economy cabin, according to an analysis by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Airlines are competing with chef-designed menus and high-end skin care

The premiumization of air travel has become impossible to miss, even for travelers who only get a glimpse through an airport lounge door or while walking down an airplane aisle.

Delta’s new first-class lounges resemble upscale restaurants, with open kitchens plating dishes such as hamachi crudo, cocktail bars serving made-to-order drinks, soundproof relaxation pods and outdoor decks overlooking the tarmac.

American has partnered with the James Beard Foundation to refresh its lounge menus with dishes like Thai basil and chili crispy shrimp. The airline also redesigned its newest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for long-haul international flights around individual business-class compartments with sliding privacy doors, lie-flat seats longer than a standard twin mattress and amenity kits that might include a celebrity facialist's brand of sheet masks and under-eye patches.

United’s newest business-class cubicles add oversized 27-inch entertainment screens, caviar service, luxury skincare products and multi-course dining on long-haul international services. The airline said its revamped menus “feature flavors and dishes” inspired by cities across its network.

“Marie Antoinette would feel very comfortable on any of the big three airlines these days,” said William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project. “But instead of saying, ‘Let them eat cake’ in the back of the plane, she would say, ‘Let them eat Biscoffs.’”

Air travel is getting more stratified as fuel costs increase fares

The airlines' pursuit of higher-paying passengers shows no loss of momentum. On board Delta's next-generation Airbus A350-1000 aircraft arriving in 2027, nearly half the cabin will be devoted to premium seating. American has said it plans to expand premium cabins by 50% by the end of the decade.

Yet the new era of luxury in the skies is unfolding alongside a very different reality for other U.S. travelers as broader inflationary pressures have added to the strain on household budgets.

New York-based travel advisor Mary Auteri said more of her clients are “experiencing sticker shock” as fares and add-on fees have gotten more expensive since the Iran war broke out and pushed up the price of jet fuel, one of the largest operating costs for airlines.

A group of friends in their 20s recently asked Auteri to price out flights to the sugar-white sand beaches of Punta Cana, a resort town in the Dominican Republic. After she sent them an itinerary, they said they had found what looked like the same flights on Google Flights for more than $100 less.

But the cheaper fares were basic economy tickets that excluded seat assignments, checked bags and flexibility to change plans. Once those costs were added back in, the trip no longer fit their budget.

Baggage fees, seat-selection charges and other add-on costs fall heaviest on economy travelers, McGee said. For wealthier travelers, those fees may amount to little more than an inconvenience. For budget-conscious travelers, they can determine whether a trip happens at all.

“The idea that we’re all created equal? Not in the airlines’ eyes," McGee said. “Not by any means.”

In a matchup of two of the hardest hitters on tour, that was Naomi Osaka's strategy against top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the most highly awaited matchup of Wimbledon so far this year.

Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of their previous matches this year — including at the same stage of the French Open last month.

“On the clay courts I felt like she was pushing me back a lot. I just tried to do it to her first,” Osaka said.

The tactics worked, and Osaka outslugged Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time on Sunday.

Osaka’s pace and flat groundstrokes overwhelmed Sabalenka.

“Obviously we’re big ball strikers. It’s not like I’m going to start running around the court trying to draw an error from her. I can only focus on my strengths," Osaka said.

"I just tried to serve really well, because it’s grass. I also tried to get the upper hand in the rallies first.”

Osaka's power had an even bigger impact than usual as her balls flew through the air faster on the warmest day of the tournament so far: The temperature during the match reached 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit).

“She overpowered me,” Sabalenka said. “I felt like it was incredible level from her."

Besides Paris, Sabalenka also beat Osaka in Indian Wells, California, and Madrid this year.

“That really sucked,” Osaka said. “So I wanted to turn it (around)."

When it was over, Osaka performed a few fist pumps, let out a brief smile and then placed her racket over her head and spun around in delight to celebrate her first career win on Centre Court.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on the court," Osaka said. "And to do it here, it really means a lot.”

Mental health and maternity

It was Osaka’s first win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka, a former No. 1 herself, took breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023.

Osaka's daughter turned three on Thursday.

After getting routed by Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open in May, Osaka said she “shut everyone out” on her team and "literally just got on a plane back home.

“It wasn’t the most professional thing to do,” she said. “I felt really ashamed about what I did. So then after that I just told myself, ‘Hey, I’m nearing 30, I really got to enjoy the time that I have.’ Also, obviously tennis is very, very important to me, but I have a life outside of that. I have to treasure tennis in the way that I can, which is not putting too much importance on it.”

Sabalenka to ‘forget about tennis’

It’s the second straight Grand Slam in which Sabalenka has failed to reach the latter stages. After a stunning meltdown against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarterfinals last month, Sabalenka said she “just want to quit tennis.”

This time, Sabalenka said she wanted to “get completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape.”

Sabalenka and Osaka have each won four Grand Slam titles. All their major trophies have come on hard courts — at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Osaka is coming off her first grass-court final. She had to retire against Karolina Muchova in Bad Homburg, Germany, last weekend because of a foot injury.

She'll now get a rematch with Muchova, who beat 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Kimono walk-on fashion

Before the match, Osaka came out in the white kimono she’s been wearing for her walk-ons at Wimbledon — which was inspired by a character in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Unlike at the French Open, when the designer for Osaka's walk-on outfits “was sewing things immediately after I won,” the kimono was designed in Japan, so “it’s not like (the designer) can make a brand-new thing every time.”

Instead, Osaka is using variations on the same outfit. For her past two matches, she's employed “the free-robe vibe” inspired by an anime called Bleach.

Aces and winners

Osaka saved the only two break points she faced and put 87% of her first serves in play — compared to 69% for Sabalenka.

Osaka also led 8-5 in aces and 21-15 in winners in the match, which lasted less than 1 ½ hours.

“What could I do if the person is acing and hitting the lines, just going for her shots without any fear?" Sabalenka said. "She was just going for it.

“Level-wise, today,” Sabalenka added, “I wasn’t world No. 1.”

Coco breaks through

Coco Gauff reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by overcoming Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 just before the 11 p.m. curfew.

Gauff will next meet fellow American Jessica Pegula, who beat Iva Jovic — another American — 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Djokovic edges Federer

Earlier on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic beat 132nd-ranked qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for a record 106th match victory at the All England Club.

Djokovic will next play third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3 and will next meet Jan-Lennard Struff, who advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired while trailing 4-2 in the fifth set due to a strained abdominal muscle.

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This story was first published on July 5, 2026. It was updated on July 7, 2026 to correct the score of Coco Gauff’s victory over Belinda Bencic.

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

The unexpected resignation is an effort by the anti-immigration politician to preempt a standards investigation that could have seen him ejected as a lawmaker, and to present himself as the victim of a witch hunt by the media and his political foes.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a statement broadcast by his party. Media outlets were not allowed to attend the broadcast and he did not take questions.

Farage faces a parliamentary standards investigation about undeclared and potentially rule-breaking donations, including a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift he received from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. A finding of wrongdoing could lead to Farage being suspended or expelled from Parliament. But he has made the first move by triggering an election for his seaside seat of Clacton in eastern England.

“The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election.”

And, he said: “I will fight to win.”

Farage won Clacton comfortably in the 2024 election, taking 46.2% of the vote, and stands a good chance of winning reelection. Reform UK said it was willing to pay for the special election, which may deflect claims it is wasting taxpayers’ money.

Farage’s opponents were unimpressed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the announcement “a desperate stunt” from a man “up to his neck in sleaze.” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed Farage was having a “hissy fit” and triggering an “ego by-election.”

The gambit may only postpone Farage’s problems. Even if he wins, the standards inquiry is likely to resume.

Farage tipped by some as a future prime minister

Scrutiny of Farage’s finances has spurred speculation about the future of a politician some considered the favorite to be prime minister after the next national election.

One of the most high-profile and controversial figures in British politics, Farage has had an outsized impact as a champion of leaving the European Union and foe of large-scale immigration. He was key in securing victory for the “leave” side in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

His rise has echoes of Trump’s nationalist, anti-immigration playbook. Farage has capitalized on — critics say stoked — concerns about migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, which he has called an invasion, and alleges that white people face discrimination from police.

He also rails against “the establishment” and the media, which he claimed are using “foul means” to stop him.

A skilled communicator whose supporters see a beer-drinking plain-speaker, and whose critics see a populist rabble-rouser, Farage has had a checkered political career and was only elected to Parliament in 2024 after seven failed attempts. Farage also has a history of walking away from parties he led, stepping down from both the UK Independence Party and its successor, the Brexit Party, in the last decade.

Reform UK has only eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but consistently leads opinion polls over the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives.

Farage’s party was the big winner in local and regional elections in May that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the hands of his own Labour Party.

But Reform UK has lost three consecutive special elections that it hoped to win, a possible sign its support may be sagging. The most recent loss was to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who is likely to succeed Starmer as prime minister within weeks.

Donors include a crypto billionaire and a fraudster

Parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating the 5 million pound donation to Farage from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand. Farage says the money was a personal gift that he used to fund security and came before he was elected to the House of Commons.

U.K. rules state that newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Farage is also facing questions about claims, reported by the Sunday Times, over his financial relationship with George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur, convicted fraudster and on-off aide to the Reform UK leader.

Cottrell was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in 2016, while traveling with Farage, over allegations he offered to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers. Indicted on 21 counts relating to money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion, he agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of wire fraud, admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer. He served eight months in prison.

Cottrell, 32, remains close to Farage, and The Sunday Times said he gave the politician funding for staffing and security before Britain’s 2024 general election, as well as the use of a London townhouse near Buckingham Palace.

Trump said that the semiautonomous island is “an important part" for the United States, as he repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and said he won't let Greenland be threatened by those countries.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara.

The comments are likely to rattle countries in the NATO alliance, which was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others' territory and not threaten to seize it. At this year's summit, European countries and the alliance's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, were already working overtime to address another longstanding complaint from Trump about NATO: that European allies do not spend enough on their own defense.

Separately, Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program — in a nod to his warm ties with Erdogan, the summit's host.

Trump cites Erdogan ‘chemistry’ as he lifts one obstacle on F-35s

Turkey was barred from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. That unfurled years of tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, despite the warm personal relationship between Trump and Erdogan dating back to the U.S. president's first term.

There are still a number of legal hurdles before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. F-35 program, but the removal of sanctions issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act would help ease that process. Regaining access to the F-35s is a top goal of Erdogan, and Trump has hinted for some time that that will eventually happen.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question as he sat alongside Erdogan, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were working on the issue.

Trump said the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey is “something certainly we’d consider,” given the U.S.'s relationship with Turkey and that “Turkey’s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.” For his part, Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell F-35 planes to Turkey, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.

Trump and Erdogan repeatedly showed off their fondness for each other after Air Force One touched down in Ankara. Erdogan greeted the U.S. president with an elaborate welcome ceremony involving cannons, military officials on horseback and jets flying overhead emitting red, white and blue smoke.

Asked about what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there’s “a chemistry that works between us.”

“Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him,” Trump said, gesturing to Erdogan.

Turkey's access to any of the U.S. F-35s could complicate relationships elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the Trump administration not to sell the fighter jets to Turkey, saying Erdogan “calls openly for the annihilation of Israel," and there is deep opposition among U.S. lawmakers to Turkey having the F-35s as long as the Russian missile defense system remains in its possession.

Even if sanctions are no longer an issue, the Trump administration still faces restrictions under U.S. law that prevents Turkey from being able to purchase the fighter jets if it still owns the S-400s.

NATO has ‘moment of great pride’ on defense

Earlier in the day, NATO showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars — an investment Rutte called “money well spent" and that was clearly meant to try to satisfy Trump.

An energized Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal,” to the thrum of techno music and a slick video display.

NATO as an organization does not own any weapons — these are the property of the 32 member countries — but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with some newer surveillance drones.

A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.

“It’s a moment of great pride,” he said, noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be “made within the alliance for all the alliance.”

Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.

“We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,” Rutte said.

Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus. Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO’s small fleet.

Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance’s two-day summit in Turkey that “we will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend.”

However, at Tuesday's event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry

Separately on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for his country to be allowed to join the alliance, saying its armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost the alliance’s defense capabilities.

He highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said that Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month. He is slated to meet with Trump on Wednesday in Ankara.

“Frankly we take no pride in this,” Zelenskyy said, noting that the war with Russia — now in its fifth year — is “a war we did not seek but one we are forced to fight.”

Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Yet a senior NATO official, speaking on the sidelines of the summit, said Tuesday that despite some “reckless” actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, the alliance has been successful in deterring Russia from any potential attack on a member country. The official insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Andy Wilks in Istanbul and Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy. Their pleas came after Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty last week and resigned. All three are Democrats.

Two other people — Angelique Lee, the Democratic former vice president of the Jackson City Council, and Sherik Marve Smith, a businessman and relative of Owens — had already pleaded guilty to bribery charges.

A November 2024 indictment accused Owens of taking at least $115,000 from two FBI agents posing as real estate developers and facilitating more than $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba and Lee in exchange for their help greenlighting a development project.

Lumumba, Banks and Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Their sentencing hearings are set for Oct. 15.

Lumumba, who previously called the charges a political prosecution, lost his reelection bid last year. His lawyers did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment.

Banks' lawyer declined to comment.

The case has been wending its way through the courts for years and stems from attempts by conservatives to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in 2020.

Here’s what to know:

A conservative activist brought the case

The case tested the line between protecting personal privacy rights and ensuring that ineligible people can’t vote.

Former travel executive Ron Heuer and a group he leads, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, brought the lawsuit in 2022 alleging that the number of ineligible voters doesn’t match the count on Wisconsin’s voter registration list. The lawsuit doesn't specify how many people could be affected.

In Wisconsin, a guardianship order is granted by a court giving a person certain legal rights over another who is determined to be unable to make decisions about their life. A court has the power to remove the right to vote from a person under a guardianship order if the person is determined to be unable to understand “the objective of the election process.”

Heuer asked the state Supreme Court to rule that counties must release records filed when a judge determines that someone isn’t competent to vote so that those names can be compared to the voter registration list.

Heuer’s attorney, Erick Kaardal, argued that privacy concerns could be balanced with the public’s right to access government records by redacting identifying or sensitive information on the forms.

But the attorney for Walworth County said those seeking access to the records wanted to cross-check ineligible voters against the names of those registered. They can’t do that, attorney Sam Hall said during oral arguments, without releasing the person’s name and address.

Hall praised the ruling, saying it “protects the privacy of vulnerable individuals while preserving their dignity.”

Kaardal did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, which advocates for public access to documents but did not take a position on this case, said the court’s decision was “narrowly tailored and should not have a huge impact.”

The council praised the court for clarifying the standard for deciding similar cases in the future, but that “it’s always disappointing when access to public information is curtailed.”

Liberal justices who control Wisconsin Supreme Court reject the cas

e

In the 5-2 ruling on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority along with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn ruled that the records are not public as the conservative activist had claimed.

The court took the case after two lower state appeals courts issued divergent rulings. One appeals court, based in Madison, denied access to the records while another appeals court, based in Waukesha, said in 2023 that the records should be made public.

It ordered Walworth County to release them with birth dates and case numbers redacted.

The Supreme Court overturned the appeals court ruling that the records should be made public.

State law is clear that the records being sought are not public and “the Alliance has no right to the records,” Justice Janet Protasiewicz wrote for the majority.

Conservative justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented, saying the court adopted “an overbroad and unworkable definition of what records pertain to a finding of incompetency” to include the forms that indicate a person has been found ineligible to vote.

Those forms are not pertinent to the finding of incompetency and are therefore subject to the open records law, Ziegler and Bradley wrote.

The case was one of several targeting the 2020 election

The case was an attempt by those who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential race to cast doubt on the integrity of elections in the presidential swing state. Heuer and the WVA filed lawsuits in 13 Wisconsin counties in 2022 seeking guardianship records.

Heuer and the WVA have pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in a failed attempt to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin. Heuer was hired as an investigator in the discredited 2020 election probe led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. The probe found no evidence of fraud or abuse that would have changed the election results.

The WVA also filed two unsuccessful lawsuits that sought to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin.

Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 after losing in 2020

Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and the recounts Trump requested. Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 by about 29,000 votes.

There are no pending lawsuits challenging the results of the 2024 election or calls to investigate the outcome.

JSO is right by the Arco Place apartments. News4JAX did see a body in the street.

This story will be updated.

Juan Carlos Quintero-Barrios, 64, Deputies responded June 10 after a juvenile reported that the alleged abuse, which she said began in September 2025, occurred at several locations around Marion County, including Doghouse Boxing Gym, 4 Kings Boxing Gym, Juan Carlos Quintero-Barrios’ home, a hotel room and his vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

Quintero-Barrios acknowledged that he was the victim’s coach and called her a “troublemaker,” then became agitated when confronted with the allegations and hotel receipts obtained by investigators, the sheriff’s office said.

He admitted to sneaking a female into a hotel room and said it was to cheat on his wife but declined to identify her, investigators said.

Quintero-Barrios was booked into the Marion County Jail and is being held without bond.

Because Quintero-Barrios worked as a boxing coach with children, detectives said they believe there may be additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Zachary Elliot at (352) 368-3847.

A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing the bombing suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, with the help of a former law enforcement officer, said the security service, known as the SBU. The military intelligence officer said he acted on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors, the SBU said.

Both men were detained on suspicion of premeditated murder.

Last week’s bombing attack at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a tycoon with links to Russia. A woman and a child with him were also injured. The attack shocked Monaco, a coastal playground for the rich and famous known for its tax-friendly incentives, royal family and Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Authorities have not disclosed possible motives for the bombing attack, or the killing of Berezovska.

In Kyiv, the mysterious events have raised concerns among some lawmakers about how Ukraine’s Western allies are reacting to a possible assassination attempt in Monaco that is now linked to at least one member of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

“I hope it will not have a serious impact. But our allies deserve an explanation,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party.

“The unusual thing is that the perpetrators were caught so quickly. That could be interpreted as evidence of a swift and effective operation by our law enforcement agencies,” he added.

Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert II, described last week's bombing as “an odious act.” The 39-year-old Berezovska was identified as the main suspect by Interpol, which issued a so-called Red Notice seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder and criminal conspiracy.

Yermolaiev built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified business that includes commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. Sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023 for his Russia ties, Yermolaiev has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago.

Interpol on Tuesday said it had no immediate comment on the arrests of the Ukrainian military intelligence officer and former law enforcement officer.

The SBU said investigators had focused on the two men after discovering they had repeatedly transferred cryptocurrency and money through bank accounts to Berezovska.

Investigators said they found Berezovska’s body during a reconstruction of the crime based on one suspect’s testimony. Investigators recovered spent pistol casings at the scene, the SBU said.

Authorities said the basement of the former law enforcement officer’s home appeared to be used as a torture chamber. It was not immediately clear if this is where Berezovska’s body was found.

The SBU said it had shared all available information with authorities in Monaco and was continuing to investigate those who ordered and organized the bombing in Monaco.

The court proceedings mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case against Tyler Robinson, 23. Investigators believe he shot Kirk from a rooftop while the conservative activist and ally of President Donald Trump was speaking to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

Officer Christopher Bagley testified Monday that he witnessed the shooting then went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk’s location.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley told the court.

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

Court will hear statement from defendant's roommate

If prosecutors follow the order of an exhibit list they submitted earlier this year, they will present a video from the Washington County sheriff’s office from Sept. 11 — the day Robinson turned himself in — and recorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate.

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

Robinson also reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

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

Kirk's family briefly left the courtroom

This week marks the first time Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, have been in the courtroom since the case began.

Robinson’s parents also have been present and sat a few rows behind the Kirks on Monday. Robinson sat quietly between his attorneys, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. His wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.

Prosecutors showed several graphic videos of Kirk's shooting, including of the moment he was shot and security administering first aid, as they made their case to state District Judge Tony Graf.

Kirk's family briefly walked out of the courtroom twice — when Bagley started testifying about Charlie Kirk’s arrival on campus and again when prosecutors introduced the videos. Each time, they returned.

Prosecutors have a low bar

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

Legal experts say that means prosecutors should have little trouble advancing their case.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge.

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

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

Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in or had circles drawn around individuals. Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

Erika Kirk says court proceedings are a 'painful reminder'

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

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

Erika Kirk said during her husband's memorial service that she forgives Robinson.

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

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

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Tenants in the building at 50 N. Laura St., formerly the Bank of America Tower, were notified in an email that the fast-food chain would be on-site from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday from July 6 through August.

“While this is a temporary arrangement, Chick-fil-A is using this opportunity to test both the downtown market and our building as a potential location for a future full-time, full-service restaurant,” the email read, noting the temporary site is selling items from a limited menu.

Sarah Teagle, a senior associate of office brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield, confirmed July 6 that the counter was open. She said sandwiches sold out the first day and that the chain was considering adding breakfast service based on requests from customers.

Cushman & Wakefield’s property management division manages the tower and took over leasing and management around January.

Click here to read the full story on the Jacksonville Daily Record website.

Down a set after untimely double-faults, Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.

The two-time major champion raised her arms in the air after Pegula sent a weak backhand into the net on the first match point in an all-American quarterfinal on Centre Court.

“I’ve been going three sets almost every match. I feel like when you have that faith in yourself as a competitor, when the match goes a distance, you know when you lose one set, you’re not panicking,” Gauff said in an on-court interview.

With the victory, the 22-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova, who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open.

Gauff will face either Naomi Osaka or Karolina Muchova for a spot in Saturday’s final.

In Gauff's six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never gotten past the fourth round. But perhaps the experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.

“I think after seven years playing this tournament it’s finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous,” she said. “So I don’t know if I’m becoming a vet.”

The “vet” was undone by early double-faults, though, putting herself in a hole to start the match. She led 40-0 right away but lost the next five points — including two on double-faults — to go down 1-0. After breaking Pegula in the sixth game, Gauff was immediately broken to love with two more double-faults.

Gauff called the last two sets “really great tennis.”

“Jess' ball is so flat and low. So I think I just needed to address that ... be in there in the rallies and just play the tennis that I wanted to play. And I think I started to land more first serves in the court,” said Gauff, who cranked up one serve to 126 mph in the third game of the second set. “So I think that also helped and just trusting my shots.”

Sinner beats Struff

On No. 1 Court, defending champion Jannik Sinner kept his title defense on track by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.

The top-ranked Sinner continues to put his French Open meltdown behind him. He needed five sets to get past 50th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, but since then they've been straight-set victories, allowing the 24-year-old Italian to avoid marathon sessions.

Sinner will next face either seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. The men's final is on Sunday.

Heating up at Wimbledon

Under a sunny sky, the early afternoon matches started with the temperature at 29 Celsius degrees (84 Fahrenheit) and expected to rise to 31 C (88 F).

Sinner, who lost in the second round at the French Open amid a heat wave in Paris, used an ice towel around his neck on changeovers.

Early in her match, Gauff asked the chair umpire: “Do you guys have an ice pack?” The American dabbed what appeared to be a blue ice pack to her cheeks and top of her thighs.

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AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.

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

Victor Montano was last seen around 12:45 a.m. on A.C. Skinner Parkway near Deerwood Park Boulevard. Montano has been diagnosed with dementia, and authorities say they want to ensure he is safe.

Montano is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. He has brown eyes and gray hair. He was last seen wearing black shorts, a blue shirt, a black hat and flip-flops.

Anyone who sees Montano or knows his whereabouts is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500.

The survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research arrives at a moment when a once-consensus foreign policy issue is increasingly polarizing Americans along partisan and generational lines, driven by criticism for Israel's conduct nearly three years after the outbreak of its latest war with Hamas in Gaza.

About one-third of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government. About 2 in 10 Americans say Israel has not and the rest, about half, don’t know enough to say.

A similar share, 30%, of Jewish adults say Israel has committed genocide, although about half, 49%, say it has not.

Harold Kalmus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Arden, Delaware who describes himself as Jewish by birth, said he remembers being proud of Israel when he was younger. Not anymore.

“I realize that there is a threat from Hamas. And I realize they’re in a very difficult situation, but what they have done is just an unspeakable horror,” he said of Israel’s military action against the Palestinians. “They’re trying to wipe out a civilization as far as I’m concerned.”

The findings show sharply eroded views of Israel in the U.S., nearly three years after Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead in Israel, mainly civilians, while 251 hostages were taken back to Gaza. More than 73,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and militant deaths, including more than 1,000 killed since the beginning of the latest ceasefire. American sympathies had been shifting toward the Palestinians and away from the Israelis since around 2020, according to other polling, but has nose-dived since the latest war in Gaza began.

Many Americans, about 4 in 10, don't know enough to say whether Israel’s immediate military response to Hamas’ attack or its ongoing military operations were justified. Among those who did have an opinion in each case, most say the initial retaliation was justified — but a majority think its current actions are not.

About three-quarters of Jewish adults said Israel's initial response was justified, but only about 4 in 10 believe that about its ongoing operations.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults view Israel as an “extremely” or “very" important issue to them personally. But it's been a searing topic in American politics as the relationship between the two countries remains tense, just four months before high-stakes midterm elections determine the balance of power in Congress for President Donald Trump’s final two years in office. Vice President JD Vance recently criticized Israeli leaders who have expressed frustration with Trump, while vocal critics of Israel recently defeated establishment-backed Democrats in New York and Colorado primaries.

Democrats' support for Israel drops

The AP-NORC poll reveals a decisive shift within the Democratic Party.

About 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, up from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024 when former President Joe Biden was in office. That includes 51% of Jewish Democrats in the new poll.

Roughly 6 in 10 Democrats, 62%, say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, up from 49% in 2024. Younger Democrats — those 45 and younger — are still more likely than older ones to say that the United States is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, but older Democrats are catching up to their younger counterparts. About 57% of older Democrats now say the U.S. should do more for the Palestinians, up from 39% two years ago.

Joy Jennik, a 73-year-old Democrat from Brookfield, Wisconsin, said she didn’t have strong opinions about the U.S. relationship with Israel until after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Now, she believes Israel is guilty of genocide.

“The Gaza Strip, there’s not a lot left of it. Those poor people are barely living,” said Jennik, a retired home economics teacher.

GOP stays behind Israel, but less so among young Republicans

Just a sliver of Republicans, 13%, describe Israel’s actions as genocide, although there is an apparent age gap. About 2 in 10 Republicans under 45 say Israel has committed genocide, while about 1 in 10 Republicans ages 45 and older say the same.

Overall, 60% of Republicans describe the U.S. support for Israel as “about right." Only about 2 in 10 Republicans say that the United States is “too supportive” of the Israelis, although Republicans under 45 are more likely to say this.

The share of Republicans overall who say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel has not changed meaningfully since 2024, but the share who say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” has shrunk from 39% to 15%.

Mike Cardona, a 70-year-old Republican from suburban Phoenix, said he's pleased with the level of support that the U.S. is giving Israel and rejects the notion that Israel has committed genocide.

“I wish they’d gone in harder and better,” Cardona, a retired industrial supply salesperson said of Israel's military action in Gaza. “Unfortunately, some innocents will be hurt, but Hamas and Hezbollah never took that into consideration when they were killing children and women in Israel.”

Netanyahu is broadly unpopular, while views of Mamdani are split

In interviews, several respondents emphasized that their criticism of Israel was focused on its leaders, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is perceived as closely aligned with Trump after repeated clashes with Democratic presidents.

Overall, only 20% of U.S. adults have a favorable view of the Israeli prime minister, while about twice as many, 38%, have an unfavorable view. About 41% don't know enough to have an opinion.

Netanyahu is particularly unpopular among Jewish adults: about 6 in 10 view him unfavorably, while about one-third see him positively.

Younger adults, regardless of party, are more likely than older adults to say they don't have an opinion about Netanyahu. But while older Republicans see Netanyahu more positively than negatively, younger Republicans' views tilt unfavorably.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has gained prominence as an outspoken critic of Israel, and 27% of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of the 34-year-old democratic socialist. Another 28% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable opinion, while 44% don’t know enough to say.

Jewish adults, who overwhelmingly identify as Democrats, have a more positive view of Mamdani than of Netanyahu, with 44% viewing the New York City mayor positively, 39% viewing him negatively, and 17% saying they don't know enough to say.

About half of Democrats overall have a favorable impression of Mamdani and only about 1 in 10 have an unfavorable view of him, while the rest, about 39%, don't have an opinion.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-Israel relationship is not top of mind for many Americans as they think about the upcoming midterm elections.

For people like Michael Ripka, a 34-year-old stage hand from Casper, Wyoming who typically votes Republican, the economy is by far the most important thing on his mind.

“Everything is mad expensive,” he said. The conflicts in the Middle East, he added, is “100% a very big distraction.”

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Sanders reported from Washington.

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The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.

On May 5, a shopper accidentally left the bank card in the machine at the Walmart on Cypress Point Parkway. Detectives traced fraudulent Amazon charges to the man, the sheriff’s office said.

When detectives confronted him, he denied taking or using the card and pulled up his Amazon account to show purchases he said were his. Detectives pointed out that the purchases on his account had been delivered to his home, the office said.

He used the stolen debit card to buy about $79 worth of door hinges and Axe products on Amazon, investigators said.

He was arrested July 6 on charges of possession of personal identifying information without consent and petit theft and was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.

“Being a good citizen includes reporting or turning in lost property, not using it for your personal gain,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Finders keepers is a schoolyard rule. In Flagler County, it’s called theft.”

If you find something that isn’t yours — including a lost bank card, wallet or ID — do not use it. Report it to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911. If you are missing something, the office may be holding it; a list of found property is available at flaglersheriff.com/found-property.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the extension had not been announced. Tuesday was the first day that the Cavaliers could offer Mitchell the extension. The seven-time All-Star had two seasons remaining on his contract and could have waited to re-sign until next summer, when he would be eligible for a five-year supermax deal worth $350 million.

The extension includes a $76 million player option for the 2030-31 season and a full trade kicker, the person said.

“I love it here. I don’t know how else to say it. I have no doubt these guys can get there. We have unfinished business," Mitchell said on May 25 after the Cavaliers were swept by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.

For now, it is the fourth-biggest contract in terms of total value in NBA history behind the $314 million contract Boston gave to Jayson Tatum, the $285 million deal that the Celtics gave to Jaylen Brown -- who now plays for Philadelphia -- and the $276 million deal that Nikola Jokic currently has with Denver.

That assumes Mitchell will pick up a player option worth nearly $76 million for 2030-31. The average annual value of just over $68 million is, for now, an NBA record, barely passing the $67.9 million average value of the deal that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has with Oklahoma City.

“When we have a superstar of his caliber that wants to be in Cleveland, that’s our best ambassador, that’s our best recruiter. There’s guys that are here that wouldn’t be here without him, quite frankly,” Cavaliers’ president of basketball operation Koby Altman said about Mitchell and an extension on May 29. “So I think the bigger question is, the one that’s been answered is, does he want be here and does he want to be here long term? And I think he’s answered that.”

The 29-year-old Mitchell led the Cavaliers this past season to their first conference final since 2018. He averaged 27.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the regular season, along with 26 points in the playoffs.

Mitchell is averaging 26.7 points in four seasons with Cleveland since he was traded by the Utah Jazz in 2022.

Mitchell's extension is the first in what is likely to be a series of moves for the Cavaliers. There is the possibility LeBron James could return to his hometown franchise, which he led to its first championship in 2016. James Harden — whom the Cavaliers acquired at the trade deadline — also is considering a new deal to remain with Cleveland after turning down his player option for 2026-27.

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

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

The Constitutional Court ruled that Tokayev can run again when his term expires in 2029 because his current tenure does not count under amendments to the constitution that were approved in a nationwide vote in March and came into force this month.

Leaders of several former Soviet republics, including Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have replaced or amended their countries’ constitutions to strengthen their executive powers and extend their time in office.

The 73-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and diplomat who previously served at the United Nations, has led the oil-rich Central Asian country of 20 million people since 2019.

The constitutional amendments, which won overwhelming approval in the referendum, strengthened Tokayev’s grip on power in Kazakhstan.

Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balance between Russia and the West since the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over its 4-year-old war in Ukraine, has explained that the constitution needed to be amended in order to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing world.

The changes merged Kazakhstan's parliament’s two chambers into one and gave the president the right to appoint key government officials with the approval of lawmakers, including restoring the ​post of vice president.

They also envisioned the creation of a new body, the People’s Council, alongside parliament to initiate legislation and referendums. The council's members are appointed by the president.

The opposition in Kazakhstan is not represented in government structures and has been unable to significantly influence public sentiment.

Tokayev became acting president in 2019 after the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev, an autocrat who held power for nearly three decades and led Kazakhstan’s transition as an independent country following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Seen as Nazarbayev’s handpicked successor, Tokayev harshly suppressed protests in 2022 that left 238 people dead and thousands injured and were dubbed by some in Kazakhstan as “Bloody January.” Tokayev sought to reinvent himself as a reformer and called an early presidential vote, which he won overwhelmingly later that year.

nassauhumane.org/

The five defendants are Brianna Jordan, a former campaign manager; Sarah Arnold, commissioner for District 2; Dylan Rumrell, St. Augustine Beach commissioner and previously served as mayor; and Christian Whitehurst, county commissioner for District 1; and Jamie Johnson. Arrest warrants were received by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office on July 6.

What they’re accused of doing

Prosecutors allege that between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, 2024, the five defendants worked together to produce and distribute a voter guide that falsely presented itself as an official publication of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee — also known as the St. Johns GOP Republican Party.

According to the charging documents, the guide lacked written authorization from the SJREC and failed to include legally required disclosures, in violation of Florida Statute 106.1436.

All five defendants face charges of:

• Conspiracy (misdemeanor)
• Unauthorized voter guide (misdemeanor)

Additional felony charge for Jordan

Jordan faces a third count — tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony. Prosecutors allege she altered, destroyed, concealed, or removed voter guides while knowing a criminal investigation was pending or about to be launched, in violation of Florida Statute 918.13.

Her bond is set at $12,000 total: $10,000 for the tampering charge and $1,000 each for the conspiracy and unauthorized voter guide counts.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

A spokesperson for the legal team of Arnold, Whitehurst and Rumrell sent this statement to News4JAX.

These allegations have lingered for nearly two years in the hands of various government agencies. With formal charges now filed, County Commissioner Arnold, County Commissioner Whitehurst and St. Augustine Beach City Commissioner Rumrell look forward to the conclusion of this matter and will have no further comment at this time.

Spokesperson

Festival organizers announced Tuesday that “Being Heumann,” starring Ruth Madeley as Heumann, will make its world premiere on the opening night of the Canadian festival Sept. 10. The festival runs through Sept. 20.

Heumann, who died in 2023, has been called the “mother of the disability rights movement” for her longtime advocacy and for lobbying for what eventually led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Heumann, who lost the ability to walk at age 2, was also a central figure in the Oscar-nominated 2020 film “Crip Camp.”

“Being Heumann” is Heder's follow-up to the 2021 film “CODA,” which won best picture at the Academy Awards. The win marked a milestone for the deaf community and signaled the first time a streamer, Apple, won Hollywood's top award. Apple is also releasing “Being Heumann.”

“We’re thrilled to open this year’s Festival with Siân Heder’s inspiring follow-up to her Oscar winning ‘CODA,’” Cameron Bailey, chief executive of TIFF, said in a statement. “'Being Heumann' features an electric performance from Ruth Madeley in the story of Judy Heumann, a world-changing advocate for accessibility.”

The festival, one of the premiere launching pads of fall movies, also announced gala world premieres of Susanna White's legal thriller “Prima Facie,” starring Cynthia Erivo, and of Hur Jin-ho's Korean thriller “The Assassin(s).”

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The story has been updated to correct that the film “Crip Camp” was from 2020, not 2000.

Arts Collective Theatre is proud to announce the opening of its inaugural production, Victor/Victoria, running July 10 through July 26, 2026, at the company’s brand new theatre at 6701 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, Fla. 32216. Based on the beloved Academy Award-nominated film starring Julie Andrews by Blake Edwards and featuring music by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria tells the story of Victoria Grant, a struggling soprano who finds unexpected success by masquerading as “Count Victor Grazinski,” a man performing as a female impersonator. Set against the dazzling backdrop of 1930s Paris, the musical is a joyful celebration of identity, ambition, love, and finding the courage to become who you are.

New Smyrna Beach police responded about 4:30 p.m. Monday at Merk’s Bar & Grill.

According to a news release, Jason Stickels,44, instigated the confrontation, making unwanted contact with the couple seated near the bar.

According to witnesses and video footage, Stickels first battered a 71-year-old woman at a table, then battered her 77-year-old husband when he stepped in to intervene. A bystander quickly subdued Stickels, taking him to the ground.

No injuries were reported.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood posted on social media, calling Stickels’ conduct “idiotic behavior,” saying Stickels was placed on administrative leave, surrendered his law enforcement equipment and could face termination.

Stickels, who has been with the sheriff’s office since 2004, was charged on two counts of felony battery on a person 65 or older, officials said.

He was released after posting bond. Authorities said anyone with information or additional footage should contact New Smyrna Beach police at the department’s nonemergency line.

Sgt. Howard Saunders with JSO’s Homicide Unit said patrol officers were called to the area just after 12:40 a.m. in reference to “someone shot.” When officers arrived, Saunders said they found an adult male with at least one gunshot wound.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said he died at the scene.

The victim was identified by his mother as 18-year-old Alexander Rutledge. She said that he was going to be in the Navy and had just met with his recruiter. His mother also said that he is an Ed White graduate.

Homicide detectives, crime scene detectives and the State Attorney’s Office are investigating the circumstances. Based on the facts known so far, Saunders said this appears to be an isolated incident.

Rutledge’s mother, Shantarious, said that her son had gotten into an argument with his best friend before he was shot.

JSO said the classification of the incident is pending as investigators work with the Medical Examiner’s Office.

How to share information

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org, or contact Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The actor and producer is making her Broadway debut starting Tuesday in “Every Brilliant Thing,” one of the more uplifting and joyful plays this summer, even if it delves into the subject of depression.

It's the story of a narrator who compiles a list of the things to prove to his or her depressed mother that life is worth living — like ducklings, spaghetti Bolognese and dancing in public. No. 999,996 is: “Peeling off a sheet of wallpaper in one intact piece.”

“What is incredible when you start doing this is that you really do start to notice things that you never thought of before,” says Ross. “They’re everywhere and that’s why this piece is so beautiful: It changes the way you see the world.”

Ross will convince audience members to join in

Ross steps into the Broadway role originated by Daniel Radcliffe and then held by Mariska Hargitay. It's a solo show, but the audience helps, with some asked to read items from scraps of paper and others pretend to drive a car, craft a sock puppet or act as the narrator's parent.

Ross will be helping select and convince audience members to join her in the show, wandering the aisles to chat as patrons first file in. She'll be looking for kindness — and even some resistance.

“It is a sense of being of service to the material and a little bit of reluctance is actually a special quality in the roles that we need to cast,” she says.

Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, “Every Brilliant Thing” allows its narrator to ad-lib and changes some of the brilliant things to fit their background. So “wearing a cape ” for Radcliffe can be turned to “tutus” in Ross' case.

“The list has to feel authentic to them,” says Macmillan. “What they would have found brilliant at different stages of their life, that’s changed from person to person.”

The play gets a rewrite for the new performer and is adjusted according to their age and background — a favorite cereal or cartoon — who they may have had a crush on as a teen and what movies they might have found brilliant along the way.

“They have their own personal reasons for connecting with material, but they are also incredibly funny, open, generous, humble people that we root for,” Macmillan says.

The play runs only 70 minutes, but Ross never takes a break, does crowd work and she's basically been asked to memorize a 40-page monologue during just a three-week rehearsal period.

“It felt like I was swallowing a whale and learning how to digest it through my fingers and through my body and through my voice and through my heart,” she says.

Ross has had Broadway on her bucket list

Ross, who graduated from Brown University and studied acting at The William Esper Studio, started her career auditioning for theater, films and TV. She's become best-known for roles in shows like “black-ish” and “Girlfriends.”

Broadway was always on her bucket list, but she says starring in a play that connects with other people in a hopeful way hits “my sweet spot.”

“It's a story that is about something real that so much of us are struggling with, but yet it is told through the lens of the lifeline of what makes life worth living — just everything that could be on a bucket list for me,” she says.

“Sometimes hope can feel like a daunting idea in the face of feelings and also facts, but I do think that having the ability and the map to reach for other things can balance out those moments in a way that gives you an opening to the next.”

She resisted the temptation of watching Radcliffe or Hargitay in the role: “It’s hard for me once I get somebody else’s performance or idea in my head.”

Asked for one more personal brilliant thing and Ross, one of five children, is quick with an answer: “That moment when you and your siblings glance at each other because you know exactly what’s happening and only the five of us know but nobody else does.”

The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the U.S. and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments and an ongoing war.

Roughly 600 Iranians were put in immigration detention last year, according to public records obtained by the National Iranian American Council. In June, an Iranian woman was among the two dozen migrants the U.S. deported to the Central African Republic — in a marked departure from a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a large number of Iranians to flee.

The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the individual getting deported applied for asylum.

“Congress made these confidentiality protections mandatory precisely because lives depend on them, and no agency and no administration, of either party, may set them aside,” said Ali Rahnama, the interim executive director of Iranian American Legal Defense Fund.

Starting in March 2025, the U.S. State Department arranged monthly meetings with Iranian officials, using the Pakistani embassy as an intermediary, in which U.S. officials shared detailed, sensitive information about detained Iranian immigrants who the U.S. government hoped to deport, lawyers for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and the Public Citizen Litigation Group wrote in a complaint.

The information included details about asylum applications filed by people who say they were persecuted for converting to Christianity, for their sexuality or for participating in the Women, Life, Freedom protests against the Iranian government in 2022, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

ICE forced Iranian asylum applicants who had been detained in numerous facilities, mostly southern states, to meet with an Iranian government official who had extensive and specific knowledge about their applications, according to the complaint. The information was shared even after the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran started the Iran war in February 2026.

The lawsuit is seeking to halt sharing information about asylum seekers with the Iranian government and appoint an independent monitor to prevent future disclosures.

“Despite the U.S.’s ongoing war with Iran, the administration seems more committed to mass deportation than protecting human lives,” Michael Kirkpatrick, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group said in a statement.

The complaint names the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Department of State as some of the defendants. The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday morning.

The allegations come amid President Donald Trump’s ambitious and aggressive immigration crackdown that involved over 600,000 deportations and causing roughly 1.9 million immigrants to voluntarily leave in 2025 alone, according to an announcement made by DHS.

Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump's administration. That month, the first of three deportation flights brought dozens of Iranians back to Iran. The second deportation flight was in December 2025, and the final recorded deportation flight departed at the end of January 2026, roughly a month before the war on Iran started, and just weeks after the Iranian government killed thousands of citizens as part of a brutal crackdown on protests. The New York Times reported at the time that some of those deported in the flights in September, December and January were asylum seekers.

News4JAX is working to learn more and this story will be updated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Uproar in the Democratic Party

Platner won the Democratic nomination last month, setting himself up to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has beaten back previous attempts to dislodge her from the seat that she's held for nearly three decades.

Although Platner has long been controversial, the sexual allegation sparked a flight away from the candidate, who canceled a handful of town hall events. The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out and said it would spend no money on the race, which is considered critical to control of the chamber, if he is the nominee.

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

The Democratic National Committee sent out an email soliciting money for Senate races hours after the Politico report posted, but Maine was not one of them. Ken Martin, the party chair, said, “Maine Democrats should select a new nominee.”

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

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced they were pulling their endorsements and called on Platner to drop out. The Democratic leaders of Maine's legislature and top officials at the state Democratic Party did the same.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement.

Collins issued only a brief statement.

“These allegations are appalling,” she said. “Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”

State law allows Platner to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

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

A succession of campaign controversies

Platner had never before held elected office, and Democratic leaders in Washington preferred Gov. Janet Mills in the primary. However, Mills, 78, dropped out as Platner, 41, consolidated support with help from progressive leaders at a time when Democratic voters have grown disenchanted with the party establishment.

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

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

The New York Times also reported that Platner had volatile relationships with previous girlfriends, one of whom said an argument became physical. Platner denied the allegation.

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report.

“If new evidence presents itself, I’m going to change my perspective — it’s that simple,” Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: “This is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said Platner should withdraw because the allegations “are too serious to treat as a distraction from the campaign or the issues.”

It also hinted at the potential battle over who would replace Platner.

“Whoever leads this movement forward must be someone who has actually lived the fight Graham Platner ran on: a record with working people, with unions, against corporate money, already tested and trusted by the same base that delivered this result,” said a statement from Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution.

Platner had pitched himself as a blue-collar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters. But as controversies mounted, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills’ refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary. Chatter circulated about possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

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

Mike Connelly, a business owner and Democrat in Brunswick, Maine, said in an interview that he wants Platner to drop out after the latest allegations. But Connelly said he'd vote for him if he stays in.

“I would vote for a comatose Democrat before I would vote for Susan Collins,” Connelly said.

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Jesse Bedayn contributed from Austin, Texas, Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C., and Ali Swenson contributed from New York.

It was the second attack in Damascus in a week and a setback for President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he welcomed the first major Western leader to visit since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad by insurgent groups in late 2024. Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with outbreaks of violence as they assert control, but the capital had been been largely peaceful.

French President Emmanuel Macron was in the presidential palace when the explosions happened. An official from the Elysee Palace said he was safe and the meeting with al-Sharaa continued, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Macron’s security.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said on X hours later. “This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage and determination.”

Later, al-Sharaa and Macron announced they have agreed to reappoint ambassadors after more than a decade, marking a major restoration of diplomatic ties.

“Our meeting marks a historical milestone,” al-Sharaa said. France had closed its embassy in 2012 but symbolically reopened it in early 2025.

Macron, who played a major role in pushing Europe and the United States to drop most sanctions that were imposed on Syria under Assad, was in Syria before heading to Ankara, Turkey, later Tuesday for a NATO summit.

A large plume of smoke was seen at the site of the blast near the Four Seasons Hotel, where Syrian media reported Macron was staying. Footage on social media showed a van and a motorcycle on fire and bloodstains on a busy street near the headquarters of the Tourism Ministry and the Damascus National Museum.

The Interior Ministry in a statement reported by Syrian state media said one bomb had been placed in a garbage bin and the other in a parked car. It said four of the wounded were police officers, and no deaths were immediately reported.

On Thursday, an explosive device detonated in a cafe near the Justice Palace, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20.

Syria's government sees Macron's visit and the signing of over a dozen agreements with Paris and large French companies as a major boost for the country's new authorities in their bid to rebuild the country battered by a 14-year uprising-turned-civil war under Assad.

One agreement was to kick off the process of returning some 51 million euros ($58.3 million) in illicit assets that belonged to Rifaat Assad, the late uncle of Assad. Other agreements included rebuilding the destroyed water and electricity infrastructure in the city of Homs, providing technical assistance to Syria's Central Bank as it undergoes financial reforms and bolstering cargo infrastructure at the Damascus airport.

“The outcome of this visit confirms that Syria is steadily moving toward a new phase of international partnerships based on shared interests and mutual respect," a Syrian foreign ministry official told The Associated Press, who said the perpetrators of the attack will be brought to justice. "Attempts to destabilize the country will not alter this trajectory.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The explosions represent a challenge for al-Sharaa, who has pushed to assert full control over Syria, appeal to minorities skeptical of his Islamist-led rule and win the support of Western governments who were concerned about his past leadership of the formerly al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. His government has promised political and economic reform after decades of autocratic rule.

The conflict in Syria killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions. Infrastructure lies in ruins. While other nations and businesses have made large investment pledges, the country still needs hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild and lift millions out of poverty.

Before arriving at the presidential palace, Macron met with members of Syrian civil society, though his office did not give details.

___

Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed.

Here are the key steps to take.

Step 1: Find a qualified attorney

Because your estate plan will likely need to be updated as the years go by, it makes sense to find an attorney who practices in the community where you live.

Start by asking other financial professionals who you work with for recommendations. If you have a specific situation that is likely to affect your estate plan—for example, if you’re a  small-business owner  or if you have a child with a disability —ask for referrals to attorneys well-versed in those areas.

Conduct a basic informational interview with prospective attorneys (it should be free), and ask the following:

1. How long have you been practicing law?

2. How long have you been practicing this type of law?

3. How many estates have you settled?

4. What is the typical asset level for your clients?

5. Do you have experience with situations like mine? (Blended/divorced family, business owner, child with addiction issue, etc.)

6. How do you charge for your services? What is an estimate of the charges for my estate plan?

7. Do you have experience with tax planning? (Particularly important for large estates)

Remember to weigh the intangibles: Do you like this person, and would you be comfortable supplying them with personal information about your finances and family situation?

Step 2: Take stock of your assets

List your assets and their value: investment accounts, life insurance, your home, your share of any businesses you own. Gather current information about any  debts outstanding. Your estate-planning attorney is likely to provide you with a worksheet for this.

Step 3: Identify key individuals

Who do you trust to ensure that your wishes are carried out in case of your death or incapacity? You’ll need individuals to fill the following key roles. Note that the same individual can fulfill more than one role.

8. Executor: A person who gathers your assets and makes sure they are distributed as spelled out in your will. The executor must be detail-oriented and comfortable with numbers. The executor can be a family member or a professional (such as a bank trust officer).

9. Durable (or Financial) Power of Attorney: A document that grants an individual the legal authority to make financial decisions on your behalf if you can’t. This person must understand your wishes about your financial affairs. They should also be detail-oriented and adept with financial matters.

10. Power of Attorney for Healthcare: A document that specifies whom you entrust with making healthcare decisions on your behalf if you can’t. Ideally, this person lives reasonably close and understands your general wishes about healthcare.

11. Guardian: A person who is willing and financially able to look after and/or raise your minor children if you and your partner die. You want your child’s guardian to share your values and views on parenting.

Step 4: Know the key documents you need

At a minimum, ask your attorney to draft:

12. Last Will and Testament: Tells everyone how you would like your assets distributed after you’re gone.

13. Living Will: Tells your loved ones and healthcare providers how you would like to be cared for if you become terminally ill. It usually includes your wishes on the use of life-support equipment.

14. Healthcare Power of Attorney: Gives an individual the power to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

15. Durable (Financial) Power of Attorney

Step 5: Manage your documents

Once your estate-planning documents are drafted, destroy any older versions. Keep the current ones in a secure place and tell the executor where they are.

Provide copies to your executor, agents for powers of attorney, and the guardian for your children, and discuss your wishes with them.

Step 6: Plan to keep your plan current

One of the biggest estate-planning pitfalls is drafting a plan but not keeping it up to date. Plan to notify your estate-planning attorney, and possibly revise your documents, in these situations:

16. A change in marital or family status (marriage, divorce , birth, adoption)

17. A major change in assets (sale or purchase)

18. A major change in financial status

19. The death or ill health of a beneficiary

20. The death or ill health of the executor, power of attorney, or guardian.

_____

This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance.

Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast. Subscribe to her free weekly newsletter.

Related Links

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https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/3-big-questions-ask-your-aging-parents

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

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

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

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

Boy survived but his parents are under scrutiny

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doctor's lawyer says there's more to know

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mistaken death declarations are rare but do happen

Cases in which someone is mistakenly declared dead and later found to be alive are rare, but they do happen, said Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in San Francisco who is not associated with the case. “It tends to be much more common in elderly people than in children or toddlers,” she said.

“The criteria of death require no heartbeat, no breathing, and no brain activity or neurologic activity,” Melinek said. There were times when people were breathing very shallowly or intermittently, so medical practitioners had to wait a few minutes before the declaration, she added.

According to Melinek, determining death depends on a doctor’s skill and training, and policies may differ from hospital to hospital. “It’s either someone inexperienced got involved or a policy failure,” she said. “Because people, once they’re dead, they don’t come back to life — that doesn’t happen.”

___

Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Wufei Yu in Phoenix contributed to this story.

“It cannot stand or survive as it has been,” Emanuel will say at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “To maintain the strength of our ties, we need significant changes and a new direction.”

In an interview ahead of his speech, Emanuel said Israel’s continued military response to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has been “reckless and careless in the treatment of Palestinian life — not only the military campaign but using food and medicine as an instrument of your military goals.”

Asked whether Israel had committed genocide, an accusation leveled by some human rights organizations and rejected by the Israeli and U.S. governments, Emanuel said the question should not be considered in isolation without also examining conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

“I’m ready to have that discussion,” he said, “but I don’t think it should be politicized, and then dilute the power of what genocide means.”

Taken together, the interview and upcoming speech from a stalwart of Democrats’ centrist wing are another demonstration of how far the party has shifted away from its historic support of Israel almost three years after the war in Gaza began.

About 58% of Democrats say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war with Hamas.

Emanuel's proposals will include sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property along with companies and banks that support settlements considered illegal by most of the international community. He also wants to end U.S. subsidies to Israel's defense budget, arguing the country “should be able to buy American arms under the same financial terms, the same restrictions, and the same requirements as every other trusted ally that abides by our laws.”

In addition, Emanuel will blame Netanyahu for driving Israel to a “dead end,” emboldened by poor decisions from American leaders.

“For too long, American policy toward Israel operated under the assumption that the best thing Washington could do for Jerusalem was to blindly and silently stand behind your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences when we disagreed,” he will say. “That has been our mistake. Unconditional support has produced a prime minister who has presumed that his strategic interests would incur no cost if he ignored America’s concerns.”

There's little precedent for an American with presidential ambitions to travel to another country, much less one as fraught as Israel, to deliver such a stinging rebuke of its political leadership. Centrist figures like Emanuel have been more reluctant than Democrats' progressive base to question longtime U.S. support for Israel in recent years.

How will Netanyahu react?

His remarks could prompt a similarly fiery response from Netanyahu, who famously once called Emanuel, who had ambitions of being the first Jewish speaker of the U.S. House, a “self-hating Jew.” Netanyahu faces his own battle for reelection in October, and the veteran leader may try to use a confrontation with Emanuel for political gain by appearing to stand strong in the face of international criticism.

Emanuel, who arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday ahead of the Wednesday speech, told the AP that he's intentionally avoiding interactions with Israeli elected officials during his visit to not interfere with the country's upcoming elections. Instead, his agenda includes visiting a hospital that serves Israelis and Palestinians and meeting with the family of an Oct. 7 hostage.

For possible Democratic presidential contenders gauging how to address the fallout from Israel's war in Gaza and Netanyahu's perceived tilt toward the Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump, the speech represents an especially frontal strategy. The war has disrupted political coalitions in both major political parties in the U.S., with younger voters recoiling at Israel's approach to the conflict pressing American leaders to take a tougher stand. The issue has roiled some Democratic congressional primaries this year and could continue to be a dividing line in the contest for the party's presidential nomination in 2028.

Castigating Netanyahu for doing little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war, Emanuel will note that “support for Israel is plummeting around the world.”

“You’ve lost Europe,” he will say. “Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks. Your artists and academics are shut out of exhibits and conferences.”

Support for Israel has waned

While Netanyahu has forged generally strong ties with Trump and the Republican Party, Israel's support among Democrats has slipped in recent years. But in portraying Israel as increasingly isolated, Emanuel's comments have echoes of recent remarks from Vice President JD Vance, a sign of how criticism of the country is taking hold in both parties. Speaking recently from the White House briefing room as the U.S. worked to close a deal to end the war with Iran, Vance said Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”

For all his tough words, Emanuel, who is Jewish and whose father was born in Jerusalem, will offer notes of sympathy and understanding. He acknowledged the toll of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in which Hamas-led militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. He noted disappointments from previous rounds of peace talks with Palestinian leaders.

“But even while acknowledging that history, the path forward cannot be held hostage to a past defined exclusively by recriminations,” he will say.

He will call the two-state solution “discredited” and instead push for a “23-state solution” that includes Israel, the Palestinians and the 21 other members of the Arab League in a peace deal.

“The 21 Arab nations that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land,” he will say.

While no prominent Democrat has formally entered the 2028 contest, that could change soon after the November midterms with a field that could ultimately swell into the dozens. Few have been as open about their intentions as Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, congressman, Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador who has spent much of the past three decades holding one public office or another. Absent such a post now, he’s gained attention by releasing a string of policy proposals, biking through the early voting state of New Hampshire, appearing on podcasts and stepping up his social media presence.

___

Peoples reported from New York.

The traffic camera showed what appeared to be a tractor-trailer on its side, but it has since been removed.

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

“They want energy and they want it fast,” said Megan Ware, Registered dietitian.

For most healthy adults, experts say 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is the upper limit. For kids and teens?

“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero,” said Ware.

Too much caffeine can raise blood pressure, cause abnormal electrical activity in the heart, and it may increase the risk of potentially life-threatening heart rhythm problems, as well as trigger anxiety and disrupt sleep. So, what’s a safer way to get a boost?

Water, coconut water, or an electrolyte drink may be the better fix because dehydration alone can make you feel drained. Green tea or matcha may offer a gentler pick-me-up without the extra stimulant stack. Or try a protein-plus-carb snack, like an apple with peanut butter, Greek yogurt with berries, or a banana with almonds for steadier energy instead of a quick crash. And a quick walk can boost circulation and wake you up naturally.

Most people don’t track their caffeine the way they track calories which makes it easy to overdo it without even realizing it. One smart rule? Experts say avoid caffeine within six to eight hours of bedtime or that “pick-me-up” could keep working long after you want it to.

Fad diets come and go, but the underlying message almost always follows a simple equation. If you consume fewer calories than you burn, the weight will melt away.

In principle, it’s true. And counting calories can be a useful tool for managing weight. But it only works if you know what numbers you’re counting. And what’s been billed as basic math can sometimes look more like Einstein’s theory of relativity.

That’s because a complex web of factors influences how or even if our bodies process calories. And it turns out diet quality is just as important as quantity, and possibly more.

“Different foods have very different effects on the brain, liver, fat cells, muscle function, pancreas and all organs related to metabolism and body weight,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.

Counting calories could burn you

A calorie is the unit of energy used to count what the body can get from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. That sounds simple, but the complexity of counting calories went mainstream recently, when a lawsuit accused the maker of David protein bars of affixing labels that misrepresent how many calories and how much fat the products contain. The lawsuit has since been dropped.

The allegations were based on an analysis of the bars using bomb calorimetry, which measures calories by burning food and calculating the amount of heat released, a method that counts every potential calorie. But our bodies aren’t combustion chambers and don’t treat all calories the same. The company’s numbers, like many food labels, are based only on the calories our bodies can actually use. Technically, both are correct, but only the latter matters for diet.

“You could put sawdust into a bomb calorimeter and you would get basically 4 calories per gram,” said Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. “If you’re a termite, yes, you’ll get calories from it. But humans won’t.”

The calorie counts on most nutrition labels reflect the total our bodies are likely to metabolize, not their burn rate. But they still can be misleading. Because of permitted rounding, the tallies can be off by as much as 20%. Additionally, the digestibility of an ingredient, whether and how it is cooked, to what extent it was processed, variations in processing, even quirks in our own DNA — all of these things influence whether and how our bodies use the calories we eat. Even that is just the start of the complications.

Calories are simple. How your body uses them is not

Our bodies determine how to process calories — either burning them or storing them — depending in part on our energy needs. But the quality of the calories matters, too. High-glycemic foods, such as white breads, pastas and sugars, are easily converted to usable energy and trigger our bodies to store calories, Ludwig said.

Foods containing resistant starches, including some beans, whole grains and seeds, resist easy conversion into usable energy and don’t trigger that same storage response. They also are more difficult to process, so we absorb fewer of the total calories contained in them.

“Having a snack of 8 ounces of sugary beverage, 100 calories, should be better for your weight than 1 ounce of nuts at 200 calories, right?” Ludwig said. “That’s the opposite of what actually happens because those 100 calories, even if they’re fewer at that moment, they shift your body toward storing fat and leave you hungrier sooner.”

Which of course triggers you to eat more, well, calories.

Even cooking and ripeness influence the equation. The calories in cooked foods are more easily absorbed than from raw ingredients, while the calories in unripe produce, such as bananas, are less easily absorbed. This means the number of calories you get from eating a medium banana, which is listed at 105 calories, can depend on how ripe it is.

As for processing, including something as simple as grinding a food, can change caloric impact.

“One classic example is that the calories in whole almonds are absorbed substantially less well than the calories in almond butter,” Ludwig said. “Just processing the almonds into almond butter causes a change in how much they will be absorbed.”

Ultra-processed foods introduce another challenge. Diets high in such foods have been found to decrease the number of calories we burn at rest, Mozaffarian said. That means a higher proportion of those calories will stick to your ribs.

Then there’s just plain old variation between people. Genetics lead our bodies to treat calories differently, said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a Harvard Medical School obesity specialist. Even something as simple as a bad night’s sleep can change how the body processes calories. So you might absorb more or fewer calories from the same food on different days.

Should you even bother to count calories?

So what’s a weight watcher to do? Calorie counts can be a rough guideline; many people otherwise struggle to make healthy choices or determine appropriate portions, Ludwig said.

But the evidence indicates people should focus on diet quality, not just calorie quantity. Avoid ultra-processed foods, particularly refined starches, and build your diet around whole, minimally processed foods with an emphasis on plant-based ingredients rich in fiber.

“We need to think about calories in a much more sophisticated fashion than the number on the package,” Ludwig said. “The number on the package can do more harm than good by misleading people into thinking that it’s simply an accounting problem.”

___

J.M. Hirsch is a food and travel journalist and the former food editor for The Associated Press.

The Arsenal forward made all that fretting moot.

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

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

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

Spain, which has a 35-game unbeaten streak, advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010. La Roja will play Belgium, a 4-1 winner over the United States, on Friday in Inglewood, California.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Christian Pulisic sprawled on the field in agony after hurting an ankle.

Matt Freese holding his hands on his head after his gaffe gifted a goal.

Chris Richards crumpling to the ground, his face pressed on the grass.

Mauricio Pochettino kicking a rack in front of the American bench, sending four water bottles flying.

American hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal, helping Belgium expose the U.S. defensive liabilities in a 4-1 win Monday night that earned a quarterfinal berth.

“It stinks,” Tyler Adams said. “This was a moment to have an opportunity to advance and really try and do something special. We fell short.”

While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and Freese’s howler gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.

Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s final goal in the third minute of stoppage time after Richards’ giveaway. The U.S. hadn’t allowed that many goals in a World Cup game since a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in the Americans’ 1990 opener, when they returned to soccer’s biggest stage after a 40-year absence.

“A very bad day,” said Pochettino, the U.S. coach. “It’s not like you are in a rocket and you improve and you grow. ... It’s not linear.”

This loss was a painful reckoning for a team that hoped to boost the sport but instead failed to shake a quarter-century of stagnation since 20-year-old Landon Donovan led the Americans to the 2002 quarterfinals. Since then, the U.S. has lost four times in the round of 16.

“Everyone had nerves, right, because we knew how much this meant for the whole country, not just our team,” said 21-year-old defender Alex Freeman, the youngest U.S. player.

Belgium knocked out the U.S. in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years and extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Red Devils play 2010 champion Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco.

“We showed that we’re ready and we want to perform,” captain Youri Tielemans said.

All six CONCACAF nations have been eliminated, with the three co-hosts falling in the round of 16.

Malik Tillman tied the score 1-1 midway through the first half when he became the first player since France's Bernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kick goals in a World Cup, but the Americans conceded less than a minute after the ensuing kickoff.

American star Christian Pulisic could only watch the end from the bench after injuring his right ankle when he hit Tielemans' boot on a 52nd-minute shot attempt. Pulisic was replaced seven minutes later, finishing the tournament with no goals.

“I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to really push and get over this next step of beating a really good team,” he said. “I’m disappointed with myself, of course, but I’m going to try and stay positive. I did a lot of good things and the team did, as well.”

After winning three World Cup games for the first time in this expanded 48-nation tournament, the U.S. lost its seventh straight match to Belgium. The Americans have dropped 11 of their last 12 games against European opponents, winning only their round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A heralded generation led by Pulisic, Adams and Weston McKennie only partially accomplished their mission of lifting soccer’s stature closer to that of the NFL, MLB and the NBA.

“A goal was obviously to inspire people that the sport was growing in the U.S., which I think we saw. The support was unbelievable,” Adams said. “In this moment we let them down.”

De Ketelaere put Belgium ahead in the eighth minute and Tillman’s goal in the 31st energized a largely red-white-and-blue crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field. De Ketelaere damped that and assisted on Hans Vanaken’s 57th-minute goal after Freese lost control of the ball in front of his net.

“Obviously disappointed for my involvement and error in judgment on the third goal,” Freese said.

Belgium, which didn't start stars Jérémy Doku as and Kevin De Bruyne, pressed from the start and exposed a defense regarded as the Americans’ weak spot.

Dodi Lukébakio made a long diagonal pass to the opposite corner, leading to the opening goal. Leandro Troussard controlled the ball and his cross was blocked by Freeman and popped into the air. Freeman headed the ball into the penalty area and Timothy Castagne charged after it and hooked a centering pass around Richards. De Ketelaere split Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream, at 38 the oldest American ever in a World Cup, then with his right foot redirected the ball into an open net.

Pochettino held out his arms, as if to ask: What was going on?

Tillman scored after Brandon Mechele knocked down Balogun about 25 yards from goal. Tillman’s kick deflected off Vanaken’s head and deflected to the left of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had dived right.

Troussard got around Sergiño Dest for a cross and De Ketelaere outjumped Ream and headed the ball past Freese in the 33rd minute for his eighth international goal.

Belgium built a two-goal lead when Mechele lofted a long ball that Freese chested after two hops. Freese hesitated with a touch, then scrambled and kicked the ball off De Ketelaere. Vanaken one-timed a shot from 35 yards that deflected in off Ream.

Lukaku entered in the 67th minute and scored his 93rd international goal.

Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter after first-round elimination at the 2024 Copa America. His contract expires this summer and he hasn't decided whether to stay through the 2030 World Cup.

Instead of focusing on Spain, Pochettino has a different near-term agenda.

“To rest a little bit, to think, to have conversation,” he said, “and then see what the decision is from the federation and from us.”

___

AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin and Associated Press writer Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

We’re starting the day with temperatures in the 70’s, and you’ll notice plenty of sunshine through the morning hours.

As we head into the afternoon, temperatures will soar into the upper 90s, with heat index values climbing well above 100 degrees, so be sure to stay hydrated if you’ll be outdoors.

We’ll also be watching for scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms to develop, producing brief heavy rain, gusty winds, and frequent lightning before winding down after sunset.

Overall, expect another hot and humid summer day across Northeast Florida, with the familiar pattern of sunshine early followed by a few storms later in the day. Have a great morning, and stay weather aware this afternoon!

Chinese state-media and online commentators are questioning if the four-petal flower design in the fashion house’s 130-year-old signature monogram is derived from patterns dating back to ancient China. Some are accusing the company of “monopolizing” traditional Chinese patterns.

A court in the eastern city of Suzhou recently ruled that the logo of the Molly Tea, whose signature drinks are based on jasmine and other floral-based teas, infringed on Louis Vuitton’s trademark monogram. It ordered the tea company to pay 10.3 million yuan ($1.5 million) to the French company, according to local media reports that carried copies or details of what they said was the ruling.

Intellectual property fights between Western and Chinese brands are not uncommon. International brands like American sneaker maker New Balance have taken Chinese firms to local courts and sometimes prevailed in intellectual property and trademark cases.

The judgement has been trending online in China.

The state owned newspaper Beijing Daily said Tuesday in a post on the popular online platform Weibo that the ruling exposed a gap in protections of ancient Chinese heritage and symbols.

“Why did a Chinese enterprise end up paying more than 10 million yuan in damages to a French company for using a design that resonated with the spirit of China’s centuries-old patterns?” it said.

“Chinese netizens accuse LV of attempting to monopolize ancient motifs after lawsuit against tea brand,” said a headline in the Global Times, a state-owned English language newspaper. It asserted there was “widespread frustration” over a foreign brand controlling a design believed to be part of China's cultural heritage.

A photo and caption accompanying the article showed patterns on a Tang Dynasty rosewood “pipa,” a kind of Chinese traditional lute, side-by-side with the Louis Vuitton monogram pattern.

Louis Vuitton is celebrating the 130th anniversary of its monogram designed in 1896, which it has called a “universal symbol of creativity.” The monogram was “inspired by neo-gothic ornamentation and the influence of Japonism,” its parent LVMH's website says.

LVMH and Molly Tea did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Molly Tea, founded in 2021, was still displaying its four-petal flower logo on its official website as of Tuesday. The company told local media it was planning to appeal.

Sure, the Nease girls tennis team had won just two previous state championships in school history, but Wei, the Varsity 4 All-News4JAX girls tennis player of the year, felt as confident as ever that this season would end in a third. And when the Panthers trounced Jensen Beach for back-to-back state championships, Wei’s confidence paid off.

“Honestly, not really,” Wei said when asked if there was any pause about going back-to-back. “I mean, we are a very strong team. I didn’t really have any doubts.”

The confidence was rooted in belief from top to bottom of the lineup. Wei focused more on junior tennis during Nease’s team championship season and slid up to the No. 1 line to take the spot held by Kylie Kochis, a two-time All-News4JAX player of the year.

“I felt like I definitely embraced it,” Wei said of the move up to the top line. “It was not so much nerve wracking. I mean, I had absolute faith in my team.”

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX players of the year

Nease was a wrecking ball as a team. Wei went 11-1 at No. 1, her only loss in a tiebreaker against Spruce Creek’s Ashley Narath. She rolled in straight sets the rest of the season, including a 6-2, 6-2 romp against Jensen Beach’s Domenica Monserrate in the final.

“I’ve never been a part of something big, so it’s definitely like mind blowing for me,” she said of the team championship.

Wei said she was just an observer for the longest time before tennis became a family tradition.

“Honestly, my mom and dad got me into it. They played every single day, and one day they were just like, oh, do you want to hit some balls with us,” Wei said. “And so I went on court with them, and I really started playing better than them. I felt like I said to myself, ‘oh, I’m really good at this sport. I went out with some friends, and just from there, like a sport that’s given me like so much.”

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX girls tennis team

Player, school, class, notable

Angela Chen, Stanton, So.

Honorable mention All-News4JAX selection last year. Moved up into No. 1 spot and excelled. Unbeaten in singles until losing in tiebreaker in Class 2A state opener.

Caroline Cooper, Creekside, Sr.

Two-time All-News4JAX selection. Went 12-5 at No. 1 singles and 13-5 at doubles and went to Class 4A state meet with Claire Mitchell. Finished 74-27 in her career.

Olivia Jepsen, Nease, So.

Finished 22-6 overall, with a dominant stretch (14-2 with partner Danielle Wei) at the No. 1 doubles spot for Class 3A state champion. Is 52-10 overall in her high school career.

Claire Mitchell, Creekside, Fr.

Excellent debut season and positioned as a rising star in the area. Unbeaten at No. 2 singles and only loss at No. 1 came to player of the year, Danielle Wei. Went 27-5 overall and reached Class 4A state meet with Caroline Cooper.

Rafa Neel, Bolles, Jr.

Three-time All-News4JAX selection. Went 14-4 overall in regular season. Reached Class 2A state tournament as an individual and in doubles with Juliana Graham.

Danielle Wei, Nease, Sr.

Led Panthers to back-to-back team state championships. Third player of the year from the Panthers since 2021. Only regular season loss came in Spruce Creek Invitational. Finished 25-3 overall in dominant season.

Second team

Player, school, class, notable

Stephanie Axne, Fleming Island, Fr.

Reached Class 3A state tournament in her first season. Finished 18-2 overall.

Addie Grek, Episcopal, Jr.

Second team selection last year. Very strong season, with just one singles loss to a local opponent (first-teamer Rafa Neel). Finished 20-8 and helped take Eagles to Class 1A state tournament.

Kaylee Munson, Fletcher, Jr.

Went 15-5 at No. 1 singles and doubles, building off 8-3 season as a sophomore. Honorable mention selection last year.

Blair Murray, Nease, Sr.

Fixture at the No. 2 doubles spot for Class 3A team state champions. Went 25-4 overall in final season. Second team selection last year.

Portland Murray, Nease, Fr.

Finished 24-2 overall for Class 3A state champs, including 12-1 mark at No. 2 doubles spot. Should move up in lineup next season.

Eimy O’Brien, Bishop Kenny, Sr.

Went 14-5 overall for Crusaders, including 8-3 at the No. 1 singles spot. Second-teamer in back-to-back years.

Honorable mention

Player, school, class

Emma Abernathy, Wolfson, So.

Rachel Alvarez, Nease, Jr.

Cora Anderson, Episcopal, Jr.

Natalie Bachman, Beachside, Sr.

Calli Berrang, St. Johns Country Day, Sr.

Berkeley Burkhart, Fernandina Beach, So.

Abigail Capuzzo, Oakleaf, So.

Alana Griffin, Bartram Trail, Sr.

Alexis Henninger, Fleming Island, Sr.

Rosie Jones, Ponte Vedra, So.

Maya Kovalcik, Fernandina Beach, Fr.

Ines Lahbabi, Bolles, Fr.

Tatiana Leontyeve, Flagler Palm Coast, Sr.

Brooke Mitchell, Creekside, So.

Grace Mitchell, Episcopal, Jr.

Lauren Parker, Nease, Fr.

Anabelle Rockwell, Episcopal, Sr.

Lauren Siari, St. Augustine, Fr.

Ruby Walker, Yulee, Sr.

Journalists and civil liberties groups say the vaguely worded law fails to clearly define what information it prohibits and lacks adequate safeguards for the media, warning it could potentially discourage critical reporting about government officials, politicians and large businesses.

The law allows courts to award damages of up to five times the proven losses against news organizations and large social media channels, including YouTube creators, that circulate illegal, false or manipulated information to cause harm or generate profit.

In addition, those who distribute information more than twice after a court has confirmed it to be false or manipulated could be fined up to 1 billion won ($656,000) by the country’s media regulator. Internet companies operating large social media platforms with more than 1 million daily users are required to take measures such as removing content or suspending user accounts when they receive reports of false or fabricated information.

The law was backed by President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal Democratic Party and passed by the National Assembly in December over a boycott by the conservative opposition. The liberals, who unsuccessfully sought to pass similar legislation under previous governments, say the law is necessary to combat fake news and disinformation, which they argue is posing a growing threat to democracy by fueling division and hate speech.

The Journalists Association of Korea said the mere prospect of news organizations repeatedly facing massive damage claims or legal disputes could have an “unavoidable chilling effect.”

“Even if a law’s objective is legitimate, it could erode the foundations of democracy if it’s enforced in a way that discourages the media and ordinary citizens from freely criticizing and scrutinizing those in power,” the group said in a statement.

The Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club also expressed concern about the potential impact on the work of the media and the free flow of information.

Concerns about murky online discourse

The push for the law came as Lee expressed concern about South Korea’s online discourse and information environment after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law in 2024. He was later impeached and removed from office. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for rebellion, a ruling that he appealed in February.

Yoon, who faces other criminal cases as well, has promoted unsubstantiated election fraud claims circulated on YouTube to defend his botched power grab and rally conservative supporters against the Democrats. Critics say Yoon’s campaign further polarized the country by injecting falsehoods into already bitter political disputes and making compromise increasingly difficult.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission has downplayed concerns that the law could be used as a tool for state censorship. It would be private operators of online platforms, not the government, deciding whether reported content qualifies as false or manipulated information, and the law exempts reporting conducted in the public interest from damages claims, the commission said last week.

But Kim Hong-yeol, a professor at Seoul’s Duksung Women’s University, said the law could encourage widespread self-censorship and discourage reporting or discussions on sensitive issues. Internet companies could end up acting as online censors, adopting overly aggressive moderation policies to avoid liability and removing legitimate content in the process, Kim wrote in an article for the news website Medius.

While major South Korean internet companies like Naver and Kakao have reportedly been updating their systems for reporting and handling false information in line with guidelines from the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization, it’s unclear how major foreign platforms, like Google’s YouTube, would comply.

In a statement to The Associated Press, YouTube said it strives to balance its commitment to openness with its responsibility to protect users and will “continue to engage with relevant parties and share our longstanding investments we have in this critical work.” The company did not specify how the South Korean law would affect its policies, but encouraged users to report “potentially violative content” directly on YouTube or through its legal web form.

After the law was passed in December, U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers criticized it in a post on X, writing that the revised law endangers tech cooperation and that “it’s better to give victims civil remedies than give regulators invasive license for viewpoint-based censorship.”

Sgt. Howard Saunders with JSO’s Homicide Unit said patrol officers were called to the area just after 12:40 a.m. in reference to “someone shot.” When officers arrived, Saunders said they found an adult male with at least one gunshot wound.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said the man died at the scene.

Homicide detectives, crime scene detectives and the State Attorney’s Office are investigating the circumstances. Based on the facts known so far, Saunders said this appears to be an isolated incident.

JSO said the classification of the incident is pending as investigators work with the Medical Examiner’s Office.

How to share information

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org, or contact Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

However, he didn’t OK all of the bills that were sent to his desk.

Among the large batches of bills that he approved, there were several — including one that would have implemented speed limits for e-bikes — that he instead opted to veto.

Our sister station in Orlando, WKMG, collected the veto letters from each of these bills, in which DeSantis explains his reasoning for doing so.

The full list of veto letters is as follows:

HB 145 — Government Claims

“HB 145 imposes new costs on taxpayers by increasing the damage caps awarded in lawsuits against local government entities. Florida law already provides a well-established and thoughtful claims bill process to review and ultimately determine if a judgment above the statutory limits should be awarded.

For these reasons, I withhold my approval of HB 145 and do hereby veto the same."

HB 325 — Inmate Development

“HB 325 creates a new program that requires state correctional institutions and facilities to include training for Class A and Class B commercial driver’s licenses.

The bill allows inmates to operate a state-owned vehicle outside of the fence for the purpose of completing program requirements or demonstrating proficiency in the program and requires that such operation must be under the supervision of a correctional officer.

Not only is this new program unnecessarily burdensome to the Department of Corrections staff and its facilities, but it also creates signification public safety concerns by authorizing incarcerated individuals to operate commercial vehicles in public thoroughfares.

Florida’s commitment to enhancing workforce development efforts and supporting our state’s trucking industry is clear, and while portions of the bill may support both goals, those can be achieved through the existing oversight of both the Department of Corrections and Department of Transportation, that do not put our roads at risk.

For these reasons, I withhold my approval of (HB 325) and do hereby veto the same."

SB 382 — E-Bike Rules

“SB 382 prohibits electric bicycles (e-bikes) from operating at a speed greater than 10 miles per hour if within 50 feet of a pedestrian. The bill establishes a standard that would certainly be difficult for a bicyclist to measure when safely operating an e-bike.

Violators would be guilty of a nonmoving traffic violation and subject to fines surpassing $100, a violation that would inevitably be enforced with speed detection and surveillance devices. Separately, the bill creates a ‘Micromobility Device Safety Task Force," with no sunset date, to recommend limitless regulations related to e-bikes.

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

For these reasons, I withhold my approval of (SB 382) and do hereby veto the same."

HB 461 — Poll Volunteers

“The bill seeks to clarify the ability for high school students to volunteer at polling locations for the purpose of receiving community service hours to meet high school graduation and scholarship requirements.

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

Currently, Florida high school students can already receive service hour credit for paid work and volunteering. For these reasons, I withhold my approval of (HB 461) and do hereby veto the same."

SB 688 — Naturopathic Medicine

“SB 688 provides for the regulation and licensing of naturopathic medicine in Florida. The bill requires the Department of Health to establish the Board of Naturopathic Medicine to oversee naturopathic doctors and authorizes a licensure fee. The bill requires individuals to receive a license to practice from an accredited institution - all of which are out of state.

Current law allows licensed practitioners such as physicians, doctors of osteopathy, acupuncturists, and dietitians to employ naturopathic methods and recommend natural remedies.

Additionally, Floridians can already access natural remedy treatments because they do not require a prescription or U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. If enacted, this legislation may negatively impact Floridians who currently work in alternative medicine by mandating post-graduate education that cannot be obtained in Florida and require them to pay costly licensure fees to do the work they are already performing. There is no need to create additional bureaucratic hurdles.

Florida leads the nation in advancing medical freedom and access to care. Initiatives such as Healthy Florida First empower citizens to make informed choices without creating excessive regulations. Rather than relying on additional bureaucracy, Florida will continue to pursue practical solutions that promote transparency and accountability to better serve Florida families."

HB 1245 — Biosolids Management

“The bill creates unnecessary regulations related to the use of Class AA biosolids and includes vendor-specific provisions requiring enrollment in fee-based accreditation programs created by an industry trade association, rather than through existing state regulatory mechanisms.

Further, the bill subjects landowners to onerous recordkeeping requirements for irrelevant information to the matter at hand, which would undoubtedly be used to file dubious legal actions.

My Administration’s commitment to improving water quality is clear, and while portions of the bill may support that goal, those can be achieved through the existing oversight of both the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Department of Environmental Protection. For these reasons, I withhold my approval of (HB 1245) and do hereby veto the same."

HB 4075 — Town of Davie

“The bill creates an exemption from state and federal outdoor advertising laws for a parcel abutting I-75, a federal-aid component of the Interstate Highway System. Given that the bill provides an exclusive exemption to the Highway Beautification Act, it may result in a reduction in Florida’s funding apportionment under federal law.

While the bill has the intent of promoting the agricultural heritage of the community, the fiscal impact from noncompliance with the Highway Beautification Act outweighs any revenue that may be derived from the promotional signage planned by the Town of Davie.

For this reason, I withhold my approval of (HB 4075) and do hereby veto the same."

HB 5403-E — Correctional Facilities

“During my time as Governor, Florida has paid off over fifty percent of its historical debt. While the federal clock continues to tick up, Florida’s ticks down. Florida has reduced its debt from $17.5 billion to $8.7 billion since 2018, paying off approximately $3 million a day.

In my budget recommendations, I proposed a pay increase for correctional officers totaling almost $374 million. However, this was not contingent on incurring massive new debt obligations for constructing a new prison hospital.

This bill takes a D.C. swamp approach to correctional pay, attempting to force our state to take on new debt to build a prison hospital by holding hostage pay increases for our hard-working correctional officers. This is not a game I am willing to play. We cannot reduce debt with one hand while adding debt with another.

For this reason, I withhold my approval of HB 5403E and do hereby veto the same."

HB 893 — Trust Fund Interest

“HB 893 perpetuates an Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) Program of dubious constitutionality. The Florida Supreme Court established this program in 1978 and implemented it in 2981 in a series of opinions that were unduly dismissive of constitutional concerns...

Under the Florida Constitution, the Supreme Court has ‘exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the admissions of persons to the practice of law and the discipline of persons admitted.’ Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const. The IOTA program plainly does not regulate attorney admissions or discipline. Indeed, this limited grant of regulatory authority ‘cannot be read to include a plenary power to regulate the business models of lawyers or their firms, to say nothing of nonlawyers and their enterprises’... The Court has never adequately explained how its limited constitutional regulatory authority properly extends to the regulation of financial institutions (through the setting of interest rates) or authorizes it to compel the donation of interest earned on client funds.

Although the Court’s usurpation of regulatory authority long predates the current composition of the Court, we should not perpetuate the errors of the past. Signing HB 893 would, in effect, represent my ratification of the constitutionality of this dubious arrangement. This I am not willing to do.

The Supreme Court’s limited regulatory authority is hardly the only constitutional concern with the IOTA program. Although the Court has attempted to justify the program by noting that it funds the delivery of legal services to the poor, even an admirable social objective cannot justify what Justice Scalia aptly described as a ‘Robin Hood Taking’...

I agree with the ‘many lawyers (who) expressed a strong, common-sense feeling that income earned from the investment of trust funds simply must be deemed in the first instance to be the property of the owners of the funds’... And I share the view that the judiciary’s ‘answer to the ‘taking’ argument is inadequate.’ Id. The IOTA program also raises due process concerns, as it is simply left to ‘the sound judgment of the lawyer or law firm’ to decide whether to place client funds into IOTA accounts, with no input from clients.

Moreover, although the Court has long attempted to justify the IOTA program by reference to the use of funds for legal aid to the poor, HB 893 expressly disclaims any such limitation. Instead, it authorizes the use of interest earned on client funds ‘for such other purposes’ that the Supreme Court may authorize. This improperly delegates regulatory authority to the Judicial Branch and raises various other concerns, including that it allows the Court (through the entity it has established to distribute IOTA earnings) to compel ‘support of certain viewpoints’ with which the clients who own the IOTA funds may disagree...

Finally, although the IOTA program has heretofore been limited to confiscating and redistributing interest earned on ‘nominal or short-term funds,’ HB 893 does not limit its application to such funds. The bill therefore may be read to authorize the Supreme Court to expand the scope of the IOTA program and exacerbate its existing problems. And even if the Court declined that invitation, the putatively ‘nominal or short-term funds’ that remain subject to the program have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings in the past fiscal year alone. HB 893 would ensure that interest on client funds will continue to be skimmed to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to be redistributed however the Supreme Court sees fit.

For these reasons, I withhold my approval of House Bill 893 and do hereby veto the same."

Now 74, Helou has a wide following in the region and elsewhere and has released nearly a dozen books since the 1990s about food in the Middle East and beyond. Last month she received Britain’s prestigious Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award.

The daughter of a Lebanese mother and a Syrian father, Helou was born into a Christian family and grew up watching her mother, grandmother and paternal aunt cooking. It opened her eyes to the food traditions of the two countries, both widely known in the region for their varied and flavorful cuisine.

“I was always fascinated by the kitchen, by their movements (and) by how they put things together, by the chopping,” Helou said about her mentors. “I love being in the kitchen with them and of course I loved eating.”

Helou’s latest book, “Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland,” was officially released in late June in Beirut in a ceremony at Lebanon's Tourism Ministry attended by scores of people including food critics and restaurant owners.

An homage to the cuisine of Lebanon's war-battered south

The book, which comes as the country has been battered by two wars in the past three years between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, includes a section about food in some of the southern Lebanese villages that have suffered the worst destruction.

During her repeated visits there, most recently in October 2023, she found residents had their own regional variations of traditional cuisine. They include mujadara, a dish mainly consisting of lentils that is often cooked with rice, but in southern Lebanon is more likely to be made with bulgur.

“I discovered more, like, variations and added dishes, rather than something that was a complete revelation,” Helou said.

She has picked walnuts from a tree growing along the giant wall separating southern Lebanon from northern Israel and met residents who have lost their homes and businesses in the Hezbollah-Israel conflict.

Helou recalled Moussa Ibrahim from the southern village of Dibbine, which has been the site of intense clashes between Israel troops and Hezbollah fighters. Fighting there in 2024 caused Ibrahim to lose his business producing mouneh: vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy preserved with traditional Lebanese techniques including sun-drying, salting, pickling or submerging in olive oil.

Representing the Middle East and Muslims through recipes

Helou, who has traveled the world to sample food, said she loves Korean and Japanese in addition to Middle Eastern cuisine.

“Lebanese, Iranian and Moroccan are among the greatest cuisines,” Helou said earlier this month in her late mother's apartment in the Mount Lebanon town of Ballouneh.

“Lebanese cuisine is kind of a little bit more sophisticated, a lot fresher, more vibrant” compared with some other Middle East food, Helou said as she prepared a traditional Lebanese lamb confit called awarma.

Asked for the home of the region’s best food, Helou did not hesitate to move outside Lebanon and name Syria’s largest city, Aleppo.

Famed for its centuries-old covered market, which was badly damaged during Syria’s civil war beginning in March 2011, Aleppo is known for varied and elaborate cuisine with influences from Persia, North Africa and Armenia.

“I think that Aleppo is undoubtedly the gastronomic capital of the Middle East, regardless of me being Syrian,” she said.

Global anti-Islamic sentiments rose dramatically after the Islamic State group took large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate in 2014, launching deadly attacks in the region and the world.

Helou responded with a book of about 300 recipes of dishes from Muslim countries.

“I was thinking, one way of presenting Islam and Muslim people positively could be through their foods,” she said.

Starting late in the world of cooking

Helou, who left Lebanon at the age of 21, holds citizenship in Lebanon, Syria and the United Kingdom and has spent much of her time in Britain and Italy. She still regularly visits Lebanon, cooking and asking people how they make specific dishes.

Helou refused to cook for years while she was a young woman and told her partner at the time not to expect her to make meals.

“I didn’t want to be domesticated. I was like a feminist and so I didn’t cook for a very long time,” she said.

One day a friend prepared a meal at their home and Helou saw the happiness it gave her partner, prompting her to think she should start cooking.

Her decision to become a food writer came in 1992 when a discussion with a group of Lebanese living abroad gave Helou the idea of filling a gap in Lebanese cookbooks with a collection of her mother's recipes. As it happened, there was a publisher looking for someone to write such a book.

“That’s how I started, by sheer coincidence,” Helou said.

The 25-year-old striker, who had three goals in this World Cup, was shown a red card during the U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but FIFA lifted his suspension for Monday's match after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on Balogun's behalf.

FIFA's decision prompted soccer leaders to question the integrity of the World Cup, with European soccer body UEFA saying FIFA “crossed a red line” and Belgium's soccer federation contesting Balogun's eligibility.

“I accepted the decision when I was given the red card, and I accepted the decision when I was told I was allowed to play,” Balogun said. “I didn't have any involvement in the process, and that's not something that has anything to do with me personally.”

Balogun did not score on Monday. He helped set up Malik Tillman's goal in the 31st minute when he was fouled by Belgium defender Brandon Mechele roughly 25 yards outside the Red Devils’ goal.

Tillman scored on the ensuing free kick. Just before the goal, Balogun waved his arms and pumped up the American fans.

The U.S. tried to set up Balogun multiple times. He made use of his speed on several runs but could not get past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. His best chance came in the 82nd minute, when Courtois got in front of a left-footed attempt. Balogun was replaced by Haji Wright in the 92nd minute.

To a suggestion that Balogun wasn’t a major presence on the field, U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams responded: “Was anyone a major presence on the field today?”

“We were happy that we had the opportunity for him to play,” Adams said. “He tried today to be a presence and a nuisance, and at times he was — getting the ball in behind and doing what he does. Just didn’t have too many opportunities.”

Balogun said it was difficult to understand why the U.S. didn't play with the intensity the team brought to its earlier games.

“Today we didn't give the crowd a lot to cheer for,” he said. “That's the most disappointing thing, and that's the part that hurts the most for me personally.”

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

After Trump spoke by phone to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year on Sunday.

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

The FIFA president was in attendance for the match, watching from a suite with Pascale Van Damme, chair of the Belgian Football Association, and Cindy Parlow Cone, president of the USSF. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was seated nearby.

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

Balogun's three goals matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second most by an American in a World Cup. Bert Patenaude holds the U.S. record with four in the initial tournament in 1930.

Balogun, who was playing in his first World Cup for the Americans, became the first U.S. player to score two goals in a match in the tournament since 1930. But he failed to lead the U.S. to what would have been its first consecutive knockout-stage wins. The best performance by the Americans since 1930 remains their run to the quarterfinals in 2002.

___

Associated Press writer Gene Johnson contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The yacht owners and public transit riders who shared this road epitomized the social integration that the government set out to accomplish. Many of them enjoying a holiday or resting at home on June 24 met the same fate when the ground shook so violently that their homes flattened in seconds.

Now, about 17,000 who survived also share the uncommon status of being homeless in Venezuela. As the official death toll climbs above 3,500, many must rely on a government that has been excoriated for its response to the tragedy and that has politicized housing in the past to figure out where they will live — if they will have a new home at all.

Housing is still a constant even in times of crisis

Housing has generally been the first aspiration for Venezuelan adults since the second half of the 20th century, when an oil bonanza allowed the government to fund housing complexes, the poor to build brick and cement shacks locally known as “ranchos,” and the rich to buy second and third homes.

Even when the country’s economy came undone in 2013, most Venezuelans still had a roof over their heads, be it by getting one handed out by the country’s self-described socialist government, buying one at a deep discount from people desperate for cash to migrate, building ranchos on top of each other, and even invading abandoned homes.

Those in housing built by the ruling party of 27 years — currently helmed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez — do not hold the deeds to the property, but the homes allowed them to save and keep entire families off the streets.

“It was their home, their house. It was an immense joy when they were assigned these houses here,” Carlos Ortega said of the 12 apartments in Caraballeda that his relatives were assigned to more than a decade ago following years of financial struggles after a mudslide.

“Imagine, they were given a home after losing everything, but now they’ve lost everything, even their lives.”

Only one of Ortega’s siblings survived the collapse of the public housing towers, while his son, who lived in a ninth-floor apartment but was working at a convenience store when the earthquakes struck, is still missing more than a week after the disaster. Ortega hoped he might find him at a hospital, a shelter or one of the tent camps that have taken over public spaces and private parking lots.

Not far from where he took a break from removing the rubble that buried his family, people were assessing flattened homes adjacent to a yacht club and some towed Jet Skis. There, rescuers were being handed cookies and other food on a plastic tray while standing on the rubble where the wife of a military general hoped he and their children would be found.

Government efforts to integrate different socioeconomic classes

Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at Colombia's Universidad del Rosario, explained that Venezuelan governments, even before the arrival of the fiery Hugo Chávez to the presidency in 1999, had tried to prevent socioeconomic segregation by building housing projects in or near areas that were considered exclusive. The strategy, he said, also gave them a political edge by diversifying the voter base in wealthier neighborhoods that tend to vote for the opposition.

But the homes built under Chávez’s “Grand Housing Mission,” which his successor, Nicolás Maduro, continued until the U.S. military deposed him in January, came with a caveat: People never received a deed.

“What Chavismo tries to do is maintain political dependence,” Rodríguez said of Chávez’s political movement. “That is, if at any point you turn against me and stop supporting me, then I’ll take away the roof I’ve given you.”

This makes these residents vulnerable to the whims of the government once again, particularly when survivors have been vocal about the lack of government support in search and rescue efforts.

The government of Rodríguez, whose dismal response to the catastrophe has been decried by residents across the board, has not yet given any timelines for long-term housing recovery efforts.

The extent of damage is still unclear, but at least 10,000 structures, or about one-third, were damaged in Catia La Mar, a city west of Caraballeda also in La Guaira state, based on satellite imagery analyzed by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab. Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes.

Picking up the pieces

Benito Mantilla, 68, now lives in a tent set up in a pharmacy parking lot in Catia La Mar after his privately owned home was damaged. His wife left for the Dominican Republic last week, but he decided to stay and try to find a job about 40 minutes away in the capital, Caracas, as the earthquakes also damaged his and his brother's car repair shop.

Another woman also living in the parking lot was still hoping that the government would give her a home soon. Her daughter, she said, is part of the local organizers for the ruling party.

Meanwhile, Caryudedi González, who bought her own home when she was 21, was hoping that her working-class home, half of which went down a ravine, could somehow be repaired.

“In many countries, it’s very difficult to own a home, and here, we work so hard to have what’s ours,” González, 44, said.

The unrest at the prison in Negombo, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, started among inmates on Sunday, and when guards attempted to intervene on Monday, “they (inmates) started attacking the prison officials,” prison spokesman A.C. Gajanayake said.

He told reporters that some inmates attempted to escape but were stopped.

An official at the main state-run hospital in the area said seven prison officials and 18 inmates had died while another 43 were being treated for injuries. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Three other hospitals were also treating dozens of injured, he said.

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the first clash erupted between two rival gangs connected to the illegal drug trade. After the authorities restored order on Monday evening, Nanayakkara said the inmates who led the violence were transferred to two other prisons.

Army troops were also deployed around the prison.

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000.

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

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

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

At a news conference Monday, Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, said “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Palestinian enclave’s day-to-day affairs.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said during a news conference in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called it “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the move, saying it was designed to avoid disarmament. “As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates,” he wrote on X.

The committee of technocrats, which is based in Cairo, is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former official with the Palestinian Authority. It has a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilian affairs under the supervision of the U.N. and the Board of Peace.

In a statement on X, Shaath acknowledged the Hamas announcement Monday and said that in order for the committee to function effectively, there must be “a single governing authority operating under one legal framework” and “a unified security apparatus accountable to that authority.”

Nine months after the ceasefire was signed, negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Hamas has insisted on implementing the first phase before moving to discuss its weapons.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 73,098 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but they continue almost daily. Israel’s military says it targets Hamas and other militants, often asserting they were planning attacks. The strikes have also killed many civilians.

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza, including three in Khan Younis in the south and two in an apartment in Gaza City, health officials said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas operative in the Gaza City strike and a militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in the attacks in Khan Younis.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks against Israeli troops in Gaza, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. ___

Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

It was Kepler’s first home run since returning from an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Kepler was activated by the Diamondbacks on June 25.

The Padres are in freefall, losing nine of their past 10 games and 28 of their last 43.

The teams came into the game with identical 44-45 records. The win moved the Diamondbacks into second place in the NL West, while the Padres dropped to third place.

Diamondbacks starter Brando Pfaadt (2-1) worked five innings, allowing four hits and striking out six.

San Diego starter Walker Buehler (5-5) — whose 18th start of the season is tied for the most on the Padres — got hit hard in his second consecutive loss. He gave up seven runs and seven hits in five innings. In his previous start on July 1 at Wrigley Field versus the Cubs, Buehler allowed nine runs in four innings.

Buehler is the first major league pitcher this season to give up 16 earned runs over two consecutive outings.

With the Diamondbacks leading 3-0 in the third inning, Kepler hit a three-run homer to right field. He drove in a run in his previous at-bat with a single in the first.

Arizona tacked on two more runs on solo homers. Geraldo Perdomo homered in the fourth off Buehler and Nolan Arenado in the sixth off Padres’ reliever Alek Jacob for an 8-0 Diamondbacks lead.

Ryan Thompson pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the Diamondbacks.

Up next

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-8, 6.36) takes the mound in the second game of the four-game set on Tuesday night. The Padres have not announced their starter.

___

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

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

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

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

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, who is charged with aggravated murder. Robinson’s parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks.

The five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday is expected to mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. There were no major revelations on the first day, although prosecutors aired new video that investigators believe showed Robinson getting in and out of his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

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

A low threshold for prosecutors

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

The sound was still audible in court — Kirk's response to a question about mass shootings in the U.S. is interrupted by a loud pop, followed by screams.

Kirk’s family briefly stepped out of the courtroom twice — when investigators began testifying about the day of the shooting and again when prosecutors introduced the graphic videos.

David Hull, who was an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation at the time of Kirk’s killing, said investigators reviewed hundreds of hours of video to track the suspect's movements before and after the shooting. He pointed out Robinson in court after prosecutors asked him if the suspect he identified during his investigation was in the room.

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

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

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

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge.

However, Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in or had circles drawn around individuals. Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

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

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

Roommate's recorded testimony could be focal point

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

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

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

Erika Kirk says court proceedings are a 'painful reminder'

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

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

Erika Kirk said during her husband's memorial service that she forgives Robinson.

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

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

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

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

The decision ultimately didn't help the U.S. team, which was eliminated from the World Cup with a 4-1 loss to Belgium late Monday with Balogun in the lineup.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UEFA vs. FIFA reignites

European soccer officials reacted with outrage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coaches speculated about the implications of the decision going forward.

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

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

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

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

Trump’s comments

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

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

He also acknowledged calling Infantino.

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

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

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

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

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

Belgium’s legal options

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

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

Balogun’s tackle

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

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

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

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

FIFA’s interventions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The missile carried a dummy warhead, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China last conducted a missile test in the Pacific two years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead, the first since 1980.

The 2024 launch mirrored the testing the United States conducts for its own ballistic missile fleet, which experts viewed as an assertion of China’s growing superpower status.

Monday's launch, at 12:01 p.m. local time, was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and practice and was not directed against any country or target, according to a short statement from Xinhua, which was reposted by the Ministry of Defense.

Australia, Japan and New Zealand express criticism

Beijing's militarization has drawn concerns, and Australia, Japan and New Zealand criticized the launch.

The New Zealand government said it was informed hours beforehand and noted that the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.

The zone was established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which prohibits nuclear weapons throughout the region. China ratified the protocols in 1987, pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten to use them against signatories with territory in the region.

“It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press in a statement.

The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.

“Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region,” Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Fiji in response to the test.

Japan's Defense Ministry in a statement expressed concern about China’s increasing military activity and urged Beijing to “rethink” its missile testing so that the projectiles would not fly over Japan or pose other security risks.

“China’s military activities, combined with its lack of transparency, have become a grave concern for Japan and the international society,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in Japan, citing Beijing's military activities around Japan and its increased military spending.

Beijing brushed off the criticism.

“We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said while the U.S. was “working harder than ever” to prevent nuclear proliferation, China was doing the opposite.

“Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world,” he said.

He added the U.S. will continue to urge Beijing to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for intercontinental ballistic missile and space launches.

Expert says it's a signal to the United States

The concern is a result of a lack of clear information, said Drew Thompson, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore: “China’s military modernization and buildup have occurred without concurrent increases in openness and transparency, resulting in uncertainty about China’s intentions."

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the launch was the first publicly acknowledged test with a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese navy to travel this far into the Pacific.

Morris said it is noteworthy that the information available shows Japan, New Zealand and Australia received notifications in advance, but not the U.S.

The test was a signal to the U.S., he said: “The announcement demonstrates that China’s nuclear deterrent is no longer centered solely on land-based missiles."

China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, but is also actively pursuing nuclear technology and weaponry as part of its long-term strategy to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.

China has a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines and 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank.

In its latest report to Congress on China’s military capabilities, released in late 2025, the Pentagon said China had an estimated stockpile of around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, adding that the PLA remains on track to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.

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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan, E. Eduardo Castillo in Bangkok and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Hours before kickoff Monday, FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. U.S. forward Folarin Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from the match after receiving a red card last week, but FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

Despite Balogun's start in Seattle, the U.S. lost 4-1 to Belgium.

Here’s a deeper look at the controversy.

Why Balogun and the red card mattered

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIFA's explanation and what it didn't say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Trump got involved in ‘great injustice’

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

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

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

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

Backlash from Belgium over FIFA decision

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

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

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

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

Other prominent soccer voices weigh in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia's main target, and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko. Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine's emergency service.

Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.

Moscow has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Those Ukrainian attacks have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance.

But Russia now is exploiting vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the Patriot missile systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors — a shortage now felt keenly in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy notes gaps in stopping ballistic missiles

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient supplies of interceptors. He urged U.S. and European partners at the summit to bolster Ukraine’s air defense and protect civilians.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he said on X following the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry said any increase in the supply of drones, missiles and ammunition produced in the West "will not go unnoticed and will be countered by a corresponding increase in the number and power of retaliatory strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory.”

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia is deliberately ramping up ballistic missile attacks on a scale unseen before, exploiting the acute shortage of Patriot interceptors. “Fewer such missiles are produced worldwide each month than the enemy fires at Ukraine in that same period,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the capital and surrounding region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia’s attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.

A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.

In Kyiv's suburb of Vyshneve, about 600 residents were evacuated due to the risk of unexploded munitions, Ukraine's Emergency Service said.

Witnesses recount their harrowing escapes

Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.

The lights went out, a burning smell filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.

“When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there,” Piatetska said. “When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire.”

Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she was awakened by the first strike about 2 a.m. Moments later, her apartment building began collapsing around her.

“Everything was falling down,” she said. Water poured through the building as smoke filled the air while emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.

About five minutes after the initial impact, a second strike hit, she said.

Ukrainian strikes reach from Russian-held Crimea to Siberia

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 613 of 625 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine’s military said its Special Operations Forces struck the Omsk oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine’s border. That appeared to be the farthest oil refinery in Russia's east that Ukraine has ever struck, and added to a long list of key refineries hit in recent months.

Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian attack on the refinery in a Telegram post but provided no details, saying only that “most of the drones” targeting the facility were destroyed and that there were no casualties.

The Omsk refinery is Russia’s largest, boasting a capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence. As of the end of June, it was producing close to capacity, accounting for 12% of all Russian refining output, Peach said.

“Depending on the extent of the damage, a sustained outage of even part of Omsk’s capacity will exacerbate Russia’s woes on the domestic fuel market and make the need to find import replacements even more urgent,” he said.

Russia has been grappling with a widespread fuel crisis from Ukraine’s repeated strikes on refineries and other infrastructure inside the country. Gasoline shortages and fuel rationing have been reported in multiple regions, with drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.

In Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, an energy provider reported a blackout across the peninsula following Ukrainian attacks early Monday. The Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attacks cut power that was restored with backup equipment.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it struck several Russian energy and military facilities used to supply Russia’s armed forces with fuel and support its war efforts.

In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, two people were wounded in an attack in which over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed, according to regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev. He didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but the Astra online news outlet said they caused a fire at an oil refinery.

Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region north of Moscow damaged unspecified infrastructure at the Luga training ground, as well as in the areas of Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.

___ Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Susie Blann in London contributed.

___

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

The Duval County School Board is set to vote in August on closing Ortega Elementary and consolidating it into Venetia Elementary by 2028. That same meeting will also include a vote to designate the Ortega property as surplus. The timeline was previously set for the 2030-2031 school year.

Parents say district broke its own rules

Erin Stone, PTA president at Ortega Elementary, said the accelerated timeline caught the community off guard.

“It was surprising. And disheartening. Just, you know, I didn’t expect it to all of a sudden happen that fast,” she said.

Her husband Alex Stone, president of Friends of Ortega Elementary, described learning the surplus item had been placed on the district’s July agenda — before a consolidation vote had even taken place — as a “bait and switch.”

“To not follow this process that everyone else has gotten to follow is just basically like we don’t care about you,” Alex Stone said. “So that’s what we feel, betrayed, and feel like all of the effort that we put in for the last two years to try to engage and be cooperative and collaborative is just thrown out the window.”

Stone also said the community feels sidelined in a process that should center students.

“I feel like we’re being discounted as a community,” he said. “I feel like the value of the land matters more than the students’ education.”

Neighbors worry a 1,200-student school will gridlock traffic

Venetia Elementary, located off Timuquana Road, had 343 students enrolled last year. The rebuilt school would be designed to hold 1,200 students — more than three times its current population.

John Pratchios lives less than 600 feet from the school and says drop-off and pick-up traffic is already unmanageable.

“What you’ll have is people sitting 10 minutes stacked up and not being able to leave, get their kids into the line. And if we try to drive out, it’s virtually impossible,” Pratchios said.

He said the math on tripling or quadrupling enrollment simply does not work.

“If you get three to four times more traffic, parents dropping their children off and picking them up — already it does not handle with one-third to one-quarter the amount,” he said.

Pratchios believes even an expanded campus footprint won’t solve the problem.

“Even with the campus moving back further and having a lot more driveway space, there’s just going to be a lot more cars waiting in the driveway trying to turn left and go down Timuquana to get out. A larger quantity of cars is just going to make that 45-minute wait in the afternoons could be an hour,” he said.

He warned the situation could become dangerous.

“It will be a traffic disaster and increase the danger to the kids if any kids are walking home,” Pratchios said.

Questions about educational quality at a mega-elementary

Beyond traffic, Ortega parents say a 1,200-student elementary school raises serious questions about educational quality. Alex Stone pointed to the close-knit culture at Ortega that he says cannot scale.

“The principal knows everybody’s name here at Ortega, every single kid’s name, engages with them positively every single day,” Stone said. “There’s no way a principal can do that with 1,200 students — just no way.”

Stone also said no environmental or traffic studies have been conducted for the Venetia site.

“It’s dangerous. There’s been no environmental study. There’s no traffic study. The traffic’s gonna definitely back up onto Roosevelt. It’s really close to Roosevelt,” he said.

What the district says

Duval County Schools confirmed the timeline shift and provided two statements. Regarding the August vote, the district said:

“The Board will consider final action to close Ortega Elementary and designate the property as surplus at its August Board meeting. The surplus item was rescheduled from the July meeting so it could be considered alongside the school closure item during the same meeting in August. If approved, both actions would take effect in August 2028.”

On community engagement, the district added:

“We are grateful to the Ortega and Venetia school communities for sharing their feedback and concerns throughout this process. There are still important decisions to be discussed and finalized, and we look forward to continued engagement opportunities with our stakeholders.”

Duval County Schools has consolidated several schools over the past few years as part of an effort to address a budget shortfall of more than $100 million.

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

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

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

Belgium ended up winning 4-1, eliminating the U.S. team from the tournament.

Trump criticizes the referee's red card call

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

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

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

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

FIFA president defends the decision process

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How did Balogun get the red card?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

On Monday, on the first day, he tried to give it something else to look at.

Three days after Swift married NFL star Travis Kelce at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with both dressed by Dior, Anderson returned to the runway with a sculptural, heavily pleated haute couture collection inspired by American artist Lynda Benglis.

The commission was a coup for the LVMH-owned house and for Anderson, the 41-year-old Northern Irish designer appointed a year ago to overhaul all of Dior’s fashion lines.

For months, industry watchers had bet on American names, such as Ralph Lauren, or on Vivienne Westwood, whom Swift wears often.

The one dress the world wanted to see was the one Anderson would not show.

So on Monday he changed the subject — to art.

Poured, not sewn

The collection tried to move the conversation from Swift’s hidden gown to the work of Benglis, known since the late 1960s for pouring latex onto gallery floors and letting metal fold and sag into shape.

Dior workrooms were treated as a version of her studio — a place where flat fabric is pressed, knotted and bent into three dimensions.

Benglis bends flat material into shape; so, in the end, does couture.

The clothes followed that idea. A skirt of silver-foiled petals moved with each step.

A strapless silver lamé gown was cinched with an oversized bow. Trousers and blouses were finished in tight hand-pressed pleats.

Dior’s signature Bar jacket, the nipped-waist shape the house has built on since 1947, was remade several ways: in fern-green tweed with a frayed fringe, in gray houndstooth folded into a giant bow, and once with loose chiffon threads left hanging at the hem.

Other looks were built entirely from embroidered silk flowers.

A wide fan of blue tulle was splayed across the front of one dress.

Handbags came in metallic pleats — four of them designed with Benglis herself.

Fans out, stars in

France was in another heat wave, with temperatures above 30 Celsius (86 F).

Dior had sent fans with its invitations, and guests used them through the show in the gardens of the Rodin Museum.

The front row mixed pop stars with artists.

Singer Sabrina Carpenter and actor Josh O’Connor sat among guests including Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas, Naomi Watts, Rebecca Ferguson and Alexa Chung.

Despite the razzmatazz, Anderson's wager is plain: that the world’s most storied fashion house can afford to be strange.

He is often compared to Matthieu Blazy, the new designer at rival Chanel, who made the wedding dress for singer Dua Lipa this month.

The season now carries a peculiar distinction: Its two biggest stories are dresses no one is allowed to see.

The bride you can’t see

As couture tradition dictates, the show closed with a bride.

Anderson sent out a pale, strapless column gown under a long veil of hand-pleated chiffon, trimmed with feathered dandelions and embroidered cactus flowers.

It was the second wedding dress Anderson showcased this week — and the only one anyone could photograph.

The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported by the state-run Electric Union, which said on X that the cause is under investigation. The Ministry of Energy and Mines wrote on X that it has activated protocols to restore electricity.

Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island’s ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said microsystems were already operating throughout Cuba a couple of hours after the outage: “Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face.”

Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply.”

“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on X.

The outage sparked concern across Havana, with 36-year-old Lina May wondering when the power would come back on so she could cook some rice.

“I just told my dad that we have to buy charcoal because otherwise we won’t eat and we’ll starve,” she said.

Richard Valdés, 40, said the outage is just the latest hit of many. “We're without power again,” he said. “Now we have no water, no gas, nothing until they restore it.”

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, while the 730,000 barrels of oil delivered by a Russian tanker in late March ran out by the end of April.

The government also has been rationing power with intentional outages that can stretch to more than 24 consecutive hours.

A blackout in mid-May affected the island’s eastern provinces, while a blackout in mid-March struck the entire island.

Like many Cubans, Mario Pedroso, a 33-year-old Havana resident, was resigned about Monday's total blackout.

“Oil hasn’t come in here for a while, and we have no way to solve the problem,” he said. "We have to resist, as we Cubans say. That’s all.”

___

Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

___

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

King Charles III’s estranged son arrived Monday in the land of his birth for a series of charity engagements. But for most royal watchers that’s just background noise.

For the past 10 days, British tabloids and news broadcasts have been filled with speculation about whether Harry’s wife, Meghan, will accompany him and, more importantly, whether they will bring their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, so they can finally get to know Grandpa Charles. But everything is up in the air as Harry seeks to arrange protection for his family after a government committee refused to authorize taxpayer-funded security.

“With just days to go until Harry’s first public engagement in the UK on Tuesday … very little is guaranteed at all,” the Times of London reported on Saturday. “For Archie and Lilibet to meet the king, it’s now or never,’’ wrote the Telegraph.

The kids' trip hinges on adequate security measures

Harry, a British army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is visiting to attend events ahead of the next Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style competition he founded to motivate and inspire military veterans around the world as they work to overcome battlefield injuries. The games will be held in Birmingham next year.

Not on the official schedule but very much in the media spotlight is a decision Tuesday at the High Court in London, where the judge will reveal his verdict in Harry’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

The decision about whether to bring the children, according to reports based on off-the-record briefings and unidentified people close to the royals, hinges on whether the U.K. government agrees to provide security for Harry and his family. It is an issue that has hung over every trip the prince has made to Britain since he and Meghan decamped to North America six years ago.

British authorities say Harry isn’t entitled to blanket protection because he is no longer a working member of the royal family and they will assess his security on a case-by-case basis, just like any other celebrity. Harry says it is unsafe for his children to travel to Britain without protection because his family remains a target simply by virtue of their royal status.

The decision rests with a government committee known as Ravec that rules on who should get state-funded protection.

The outcome could be problematic for the royal family, which is trying to show that it provides value for money after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“In the paranoid atmosphere of waiting for more Andrew shoes to drop, Ravec and the royals themselves are terrified of public blowback if taxpayers are asked to fund protection for the House of Sussex,’’ royal commentator Tina Brown wrote on X. “The issue is not a hill that either the king or the government wants to die on, and who can blame them?’’

Harry wants his children to get to know their grandfather

After initial reports that Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, would visit the U.K., plans began to wobble after the Daily Telegraph reported that Ravec had again rejected Harry’s request for protection.

The Times of London reported that Harry was “distraught” after the decision and told friends he wouldn’t let his children be “chased by paparazzi” through the streets of London.

By Sunday, it was clear the family wouldn’t accompany Harry when he arrived in the capital, though there was still a chance they would join him later in the trip.

Then on Monday, plans for the prince's accommodation fell into disarray. First, there were reports that Harry would stay at Buckingham Palace while he was in London, but within an hour, it became clear that the palace was not an option. At least for now.

Nonetheless, Harry has said that he wants to reconcile with his 77-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. And he really wants his children, who first met the monarch during celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, to spend time with their grandfather now that they are old enough to remember the experience.

Harry's relations with the palace have been tense

Tensions within the House of Windsor have heightened ever since Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California to pursue lucrative media deals, free from the pressures of royal life in London.

They reached a new low after Harry published an explosive memoir that included unflattering depictions of the royal family and damning allegations of a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press.

Harry’s description of royals leaking information about other family members in exchange for positive coverage of themselves is just one of the tawdry allegations in his book, “Spare.” The prince was especially scathing about Queen Camilla, accusing her of feeding private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with Charles when he was heir to the throne.

After losing a court battle over the security issue last year, Harry said he hoped to rebuild relations with his family, even as he suggested that the royals had sought to prevent him from receiving police protection to punish him for walking away from royal duties.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

Another hot afternoon on tap as rain chances decrease and temperatures climb. As far as Heat Advisory Levels, it looks like we will stay just shy of the levels, but confidence is high for ongoing heat indices of 100-107 through Wednesday.

Thank you, Mother Nature. This morning, we woke up to a sauna. Now that the showers have arrived, we have a steam bath!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunrise: 6:31 p.m.

Sunset: 8:33 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Democrats call for a transparent investigation

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

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

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

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

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee also called for the task force to be shut down. “We demand a transparent investigation, not a closed-door ruse that leaves our community in the dark,” the ACLU said in a statement.

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

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

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

Evaniel Johnson wishes his grandson stayed home that weekend

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

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

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

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

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

___

Brook reported from New Orleans.

___

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

The three-time NBA MVP spoke to reporters after helping Serbia to a win over Bosnia-Herzegovina during a FIBA World Cup qualifying game in Belgrade, Serbia. Jokic finished with 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. He then reaffirmed his desire to remain in the Mile High City.

By waiting until next summer, Jokic can sign a five-year supermax contract that would be worth around $350 million.

The 31-year-old Jokic is coming off a season in which he made All-NBA for an eighth time. He averaged 27.7 points, a league-best 12.9 rebounds and a league-best 10.7 assists as he finished runner-up in the MVP voting to Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Jokic and the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota. After another early round exit, Jokic said: “I still want to be (with the) Nuggets forever.”

It's been a quiet offseason so far for the Nuggets. A big decision facing the team is what to do about Peyton Watson, the high-flying guard/forward who will command a lucrative contract to remain in town.

___

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

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

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

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

The Latest:

Collins calls allegations against her opponent ‘appalling’

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent in the Maine Senate race, reacted to the latest allegations against her Democratic opponent.

“These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate,” Collins said.

A woman who previously dated her opponent, Graham Platner, said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil.

Collins has served in the Senate since 1997. The seat has been a key one for Democrats, who hope to unseat her in their quest to gain the majority in the Senate.

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

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

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

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Balogun is in starting lineup for World Cup match vs Belgium

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIFA lifts suspension of US star Balogun

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

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

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

FIFA president says disciplinary committee acted with independence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rubio also wades into the red card controversy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump points to George Washington to justify enriching his family

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sad — it’s normal after being eliminated like this,” said Ronaldo, who briefly shielded his eyes with his right hand after the match.

The sixth and final World Cup for the 41-year-old superstar ended with a 1-0 loss to border rival Spain in a round of 16 game on Monday.

“I’ve given everything, I’ve given my best, and I leave with a clear conscience,” he said. “This is soccer, this is life for a soccer player. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”

Ronaldo, the only player to score goals in six World Cups in a row and the career leader in international goals with 146, said the day before that he hoped it wouldn't be his final match in this run and wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.

But he reiterated then — and again after the loss to Spain — that this was his last time in the tournament that's played every four years. The deepest he ever went in the World Cup was the semifinals in his 2006 debut.

As for his other future plans, he wasn't ready to say.

“Yes, it was my last World Cup, but everything else I’ll have time to think about, to be with my family, and not make any decision hot-headed and move on with life,” he said.

Ronaldo was denied a goal in the first half against Spain when record-setting goalkeeper Unai Simón made an impressive leaping stop. That was one of his three shots.

Two of those were on target, including the one on which Simón was still in midair when he reached back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo got off a backward kick with his right foot after a header by teammate João Félix bounced off Simón’s shoulder.

“He is an example, a role model to follow. This is somebody that we need to celebrate. We’re talking about a football icon,” Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said in translated remarks. “There aren’t too many Cristiano Ronaldos out there. I think we need to thank him. His dream was to win the World Cup and he did this as an amazing example in the locker room.”

Portugal had never won a major international tournament before Ronaldo. The first was the 2016 European Championship, before adding Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025.

Ronaldo's finale on soccer’s biggest stage came eight years after he recorded a World Cup hat trick at age 33. That made him the oldest to have one, and that stood until then-38-year-old Lionel Messi scored three goals for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Algeria on June 16.

The hat trick for Ronaldo came in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that's considered one of the tournament's best matches, although both powers didn’t reach the knockout stage.

He scored three goals in this World Cup, and his 11 overall are tied for ninth on the career list.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

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

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

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

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

Here's the latest:

Prosecutors will try again to introduce surveillance video in Kirk assassination

Prosecutors say they will try again on Tuesday to reintroduce surveillance video compiled from Utah Valley University on the day of Charlie Kirk’s shooting. A state judge initially blocked the footage.

An investigator from the state said the video showed defendant Tyler Robinson on the campus both before and after the shooting. But because the video had been altered with markings and by zooming in, Judge Tony Graf sided with defense attorneys who said it should not be allowed.

Prosecutors say they will remove the alterations before the five-day preliminary hearing resumes Tuesday.

Graf is considering whether Robinson’s case should proceed to trial. The 23-year-old Utah man is charged with aggravated murder, and prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

No major reveals in first day of Kirk murder case hearing

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

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

Erika Kirk leaves Utah courthouse

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

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

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

Court ends for the day

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

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

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

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

Judge orders 10-minute break

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

Doorbell video shows shooting suspect’s car, investigator says

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

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

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

Judge rejects a video exhibit for now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investigator describes the search for a suspect

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

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

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

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

Court is back in session

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

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

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

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

Court takes an afternoon break

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

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

Judge weighs whether to ‘publish’ evidence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State investigator describes leading the investigation into Kirk’s shooting

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

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

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

Utah state investigator takes the stand

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

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

Preliminary hearing resumes after lunch break

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

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

Members of the press are camped outside the courthouse

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

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

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

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

Robinson’s parents have also been attending the hearing.

The court breaks for lunch

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

Utah is an ‘open carry’ gun law state

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

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

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

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

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

Defense begins cross-examination of former university officer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Preliminary hearing resumes after break

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Officer describes hearing a shot and chaos erupting

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

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

People got up and started running.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Officer describes the university setting where Kirk was shot

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

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

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

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

Robinson’s parents are sitting in the courtroom gallery

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

The first witness has been called

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

Donald Trump Jr. is attending the preliminary hearing

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

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

As many as 50 exhibits are expected during the hearing

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

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

Courtroom spectators told to treat the hearing with respect

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

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

Decorum rules like these are common during court proceedings.

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

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

Preliminary hearing begins for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

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

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

Kirk’s widow arrives at the courthouse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robinson’s attorneys tried to block the death penalty

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

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

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

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

Will Robinson face the death penalty?

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

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

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

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

What information is publicly known about the case?

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

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

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

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

What to expect during today’s hearing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is cyclosporiasis?

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

Signs, symptoms of cyclosporiasis

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

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

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

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

2026 by the numbers

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

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

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

How it spreads

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

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

Who is at risk?

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

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

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

How cyclosporiasis is diagnosed

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

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

Treating cyclosporiasis

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

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

Preventing Cyclospora infection

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

Investigations ongoing

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

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

Travel-related cases also reported

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

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

What to do if you’re sick

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

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

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

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

Healthcare affordability is a central issue to voters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Federal marketplace states saw biggest enrollment losses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

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

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

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

She was charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Councilman Rahman Johnson

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

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

Ford has not said why he is stepping down.

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

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

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

JSO is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Efforts to improve presidential helicopters go back decades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Menu, service designed for Downtown crowds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other states have not announced possible deaths from the heat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What started as a car meet

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

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

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

The alleged race on Beach Boulevard

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

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

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

Arrest at Riviera Manor Drive

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

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

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

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

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

Prior conviction

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

Operation Braking News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He made a home in Milwaukee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His impact was immeasurable

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Residents say they are alone in the search for their dead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anger over recovery effort mounts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Americans are the biggest group of foreign bull runners

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

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

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

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

It is impossible to avoid Hemingway in Pamplona

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

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

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

Hemingway’s legacy has become complicated over time

Hemingway’s local legacy, however, is mixed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

But the power of Hemingway’s English prose lives on

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

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

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

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

That fascination with death is likewise timeless.

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

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

Will this be the final act of his illustrious career?

“I don't know,” he said. “We'll see.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That means three former winners and one of the most competitive oval racers in the series will make up Arrow McLaren’s Indy 500 lineup next May. The team is seeking its first Indy 500 victory since Johnny Rutherford's 1976 win.

“Our IndyCar team has shown fantastic momentum, and this lineup of Pato, Scott, Felix and Ryan will strengthen every aspect of our program," McLaren CEO Zak Brown said in a news release. "We’ve got our eyes firmly set on the Championship as well as winning the Indianapolis 500 to secure the Triple Crown in the Papaya era. These four drivers bring a wealth of experience as well as great chemistry and will no doubt have a positive impact across our entire team.”

The 45-year-old Dixon won IndyCar championships in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020 and is second all-time in series victories with 59. He won the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday that Dixon had informed the team he would not return in 2027.

Dixon called joining Arrow McLaren an “exciting next step in my career.”

“It was a big decision for myself, for my family, and I’m looking forward to contributing to what the team, Zak and Tony are building there,” Dixon said in the news release. "As a New Zealander, being part of Bruce McLaren’s legacy will be special; his spirit and grit are still very much rooted in that team, and I’m excited to carry that on.”

Rosenqvist announced last month he was leaving Meyer Shank Racing at the end of the IndyCar season.

The 34-year-old from Sweden has been with the team for the past three seasons, earning his biggest win when he drove the No. 60 car past David Malukas to win the Indy 500 in the closest finish in the race’s century-plus history.

Rosenqvist returns to Arrow McLaren, where raced from 2021 through 2023. He won the Indy 500 pole in 2023 for McLaren.

“There are a lot of familiar faces, and we’ve got an incredible lineup with Scott joining and Ryan returning for the 500,” Rosenqvist said. "I think our collective experience will be a huge benefit.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing