The Jaguars executive vice president was announced as the newest member of the committee on Monday afternoon. Boselli is in his second season as Jacksonville’s EVP alongside head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone.

The Competition Committee “reviews all competitive aspects of the game, including (but not limited to) playing rules, roster regulations, technology, game-day operations, and player protection.”

The current members of the committee:

• Rich McKay (Co-Chairman) — Atlanta Falcons
• Stephen Jones (Co-Chairman) — Dallas Cowboys
• Katie Blackburn — Cincinnati Bengals
• Todd Bowles — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• John Lynch — San Francisco 49ers
• John Mara — New York Giants
• Sean McVay — Los Angeles Rams
• Kevin O’Connell — Minnesota Vikings
• Sean Payton — Denver Broncos
• DeMeco Ryans — Houston Texans
• Mike Vrabel — New England Patriots

Tony Boselli on being added to the committee:

“I have always viewed the game of football—and the institutions and traditions that support it—as sacred. I felt that way when I entered the National Football League as a player more than 30 years ago, and I feel an even greater responsibility to it today,” Boselli said.

“It is an honor to serve on the Competition Committee and to represent the best interests of the game, the NFL, and all 32 clubs. I look forward to joining the other members of the committee and continuing their good work as we thoroughly study the game, protect its integrity, and continue to evolve and grow it for future generations of players and fans.”

However, for someone working in law enforcement, it can happen hundreds of times.

Sgt. Michael Pate, who helps oversee the sheriff’s office peer support program, said most people don’t experience anything close to the number of critical incidents officers encounter on the job.

“In a 20-year career in law enforcement, we are seeing upwards of 500 to 600 critical incidents in those 20 years,” Pate said. “A normal person may only see one or two in their lifetime.”

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office spent years building a peer support program designed to help employees deal with the emotional toll of those experiences.

The effort took on new urgency after a SJSO detective died by suicide.

“It was just a shock to the agency; no one really expected it, no one knew it was coming or what to expect,” Pate said. “He was the implementing factor that we needed to take care of our people. We didn’t know the signs; we didn’t see it coming.”

Pate told News4Jax’s Reporter Briana Brownlee and Photojournalist Jesse Hanson that the detective’s death pushed the agency to take a closer look at how it recognizes and responds to mental health struggles among its employees.

The program now provides trained coworkers who can listen, recognize warning signs, and help employees find additional resources when they need them. The support is available throughout the agency, from patrol officers to the sheriff.

“So a deputy or anybody can come to me like, ‘Hey, I’m struggling with this,’ and it’s 100 percent confidential,” Pate said. “There is no one who can bribe me to talk; no one can force me to talk. It’s between him and I.”

Victoria Thompson understands the need from both sides.

Thompson is a civilian leader on the peer support team, but her primary job is as a 911 dispatcher at the county’s crisis communications center.

She takes hundreds of calls, including crashes, stabbings, and other traumatic incidents.

“There are absolutely crashes, stabbings and incidents that I have taken that affect me personally, so I have to go to a peer support member myself and say, ‘Hey, I’d like to talk about this,’” Thompson said.

She said the culture surrounding mental health in law enforcement is changing.

“Just the culture in law enforcement itself is changing; it’s growing, thankfully,” Thompson said. “We are moving from a ‘this is just how the job is and get through it’ to a ‘we are going to support you through and take care of your mental health.’”

Plans to expand beyond St. Johns County

The sheriff’s office is now trying to take that support a step further.

Commander Tres Edenfield said the agency recently applied for a mental health grant worth up to $300,000 to build a regional peer support team serving agencies across Northeast Florida.

The idea is to have additional trained peer supporters available when one agency’s own team is overwhelmed by a major incident.

Commander Edenfield said that could become especially important after a crisis such as a school shooting.

“Our peer team would be taxed really fast; you have the deputies, you have the human beings who are responding to the scene itself, we may have affected peer team members who have children at the school or affected in some way,” Commander Edenfield said.

With a regional network, agencies could call on peer supporters from other departments to help.

“We can start making phone calls to other agencies who have signed on to be a part of it and say we’re taxed, our peer team is taxed, we need more peer members,” Edenfield said.

Edenfield said the proposed regional team could include more than 40 agencies across Northeast Florida.

For Thompson, the greater effort comes down to making sure people don’t have to simply accept the emotional toll of the job.

“We are moving from a ‘this is just how the job is and get through it’ to a ‘we are going to support you through and take care of your mental health, so when you retire from your career one day, you will be there for your family and enjoy the rest of your life,” Thompson said.

The sheriff’s office hopes the expanded program will make that kind of support available to more first responders across Northeast Florida.

Testimony from law enforcement witnesses last week confirmed that the murder weapon in the February 2022 ambush shooting has never been found.

The state has implied that Mario Fernandez, who is currently facing trial in Bridegan’s murder, could have gotten the weapon, a Glock 40 10mm, from a longtime friend and gun enthusiast.

But that man, John Biggerstaff, and his son both testified Monday, saying unequivocally that that never happened (see more below under “Where is the gun?”).

Fernandez is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the Feb. 16, 2022, shooting that left Bridegan, his wife’s ex-husband, dead on a dark Jacksonville Beach street.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Neither John Biggerstaff nor his son has ever been charged with a crime in connection with Bridegan’s murder.)

Last week, jurors heard from Bridegan’s widow, two witnesses who came upon the murder scene, and investigators who detailed DNA, surveillance video, cellphone data and other evidence in the case.

‘Planned ambush’

Prosecutors have described the deadly shooting as a planned ambush.

“The killer was a stranger to Jared Bridegan. The murder was personal,” Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler told jurors during opening statements.

Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft design manager and father of four, was killed after stopping his Volkswagen Atlas SUV to remove a tire that prosecutors say was left in the road to lure Bridegan out of the vehicle.

RELATED | Who was Jared Bridegan? A father, a creative builder, a believer — and so much more | 4 years later: A timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case

When Bridegan opened his door to move the tire, he was shot multiple times, and two bullets hit the SUV, narrowly missing his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, who was strapped into her car seat.

Bridegan was driving home to St. Augustine after dropping off the twins he shared with his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, at the Jacksonville Beach home where Gardner lived with Fernandez, her new husband.

RELATED: Appeals court gives Jared Bridegan’s widow more time to turn over cellphone after order issued

Gardner and Bridegan divorced in 2015 and spent years in and out of court in contentious disputes over how to care for the twins. Prosecutors have suggested that ongoing tension was a major motive for Bridegan’s murder, which they say was orchestrated by Gardner and Fernandez.

Investigators say the ambush was carried out by Henry Tenon, who was a tenant at a rental property Fernandez owned on Potomac Avenue in Northwest Jacksonville. An analyst testified last week that Tenon’s DNA was found on the tire that had been left in the road.

Gardner and Tenon have also been indicted in Bridegan’s murder and have pleaded not guilty. They will have separate trials after Fernandez.

Prosecutors allege Fernandez hired Tenon to kill Bridegan, saying that Fernandez is Tenon’s only link to a man he had never met. But Fernandez’s defense has argued that the state cannot prove who solicited Tenon or that Fernandez was involved in the shooting.

Minutes after the shooting, Jonelle Cruz and her boyfriend drove upon the scene, seeing an SUV blocking the road.

Cruz, the first trial witness, testified about comforting Bexley after her boyfriend found the toddler in the SUV near her father’s body that night. Prosecutors say Bexley had been alone for about 7 minutes before Cruz and her boyfriend arrived.

In a video shown to jurors, Bexley described to Cruz hearing a “Boom!”

“She was shaking. She was very worried about her dad,” Cruz testified.

RELATED: Jared Bridegan’s widow honored with Back the Blue award for ‘Bexley Boxes’ | 911 calls describe scene of confusion in Sanctuary neighborhood on night of Jared Bridegan’s ambush murder

Key evidence: Where is the gun?

Defense attorneys have questioned lead Jacksonville Beach Police Detective Chris Johns and other investigators about the missing 10mm Glock believed to have been used to kill Bridegan. (The type of weapon was identified because of shell casings left at the scene.)

Investigators say the 10mm, which is a more uncommon firearm, is significant because Biggerstaff owned a 10mm at one point but could not produce it for detectives after the murder.

Biggerstaff acknowledged on Monday that he owned a Glock 40 10mm, which he bought for bear protection, but said he has not seen it since surrendering his firearms in 2016 after being convicted of a felony.

Biggerstaff’s son, Juan, testified Monday that he never saw his father with a firearm after 2016, and that he helped his father move the 20 weapons he had when he was convicted.

Prosecutors have pointed out that Juan used the serial number of the 10mm when he reported two guns stolen from his vehicle in Texas in 2023, but Juan, a former law enforcement officer, called it a mistake, albeit an important one, particularly since he knew at the time that the 10mm was being sought by police.

“Based on your training and experience, are stolen guns and reporting them accurately important?” Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi asked.

“Yes. Very,” Juan Biggerstaff said.

“You would agree that you did not report it accurately,” Mizrahi said.

“Correct,” Juan admitted.

The state has said Fernandez visited John Biggerstaff on Jan. 25, 2022, weeks before the murder, and that investigators found evidence that Biggerstaff searched for information about 10mm firearms on the day of the visit.

But the defense noted there is no physical evidence that Fernandez obtained a gun from John Biggerstaff.

“What you certainly have no evidence of is that Mr. Biggerstaff gave Mr. Fernandez a 10mm firearm,” defense attorney Jesse Dreicer said in one of many tense exchanges last week with Johns.

“There is no physical evidence of that,” Johns replied.

“OK. When you say no physical evidence, there is no evidence of that. Correct?” Dreicer asked again.

“There is no physical evidence of that,” Johns repeated.

Dreicer said Fernandez could have visited John Biggerstaff’s home for reasons unrelated to the murder, including their longstanding personal relationship.

RELATED: He’s the first to face trial in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case. What do we know about Mario Fernandez?

John Biggerstaff confirmed for prosecutors on Monday that he and his wife took part in a “swinger” lifestyle and that a video of Fernandez having sex with Biggerstaff’s wife was found by investigators on Biggerstaff’s phone.

John Biggerstaff said he had to convince Fernandez to take part, but that when he eventually did so, it was on Feb. 15, 2022, which was the day before Bridegan was killed.

Dreicer pushed Biggerstaff on the issue, asking if he had to pay Fernandez or bribe him to take part in the “swinger” situation.

“Did you give Mr. Fernandez a 10mm firearm in exchange for him sleeping with your wife?” Dreicer asked.

“No, sir,” Biggerstaff responded.

John Biggerstaff repeatedly denied giving a 10mm, or any firearm, to Fernandez, saying, “Absolutely not,” and denied involvement in Bridegan’s murder.

Key evidence: How did they find the blue truck?

ATF Agent Kenneth Stengel testified about the discovery of the blue, two-tone Ford F-150 that investigators say was captured on video being used in the killing.

Investigators had scoured the area for months after the shooting, and on Oct. 14, 2022, Stengel and a fellow agent used Google location data from Henry Tenon’s device to locate the truck at the home of Jimmy Jones, who turned out to be a longtime family friend of Tenon.

The truck was visible from the street, and Stengel said Jones was cooperative. Stengel said the truck’s discovery was a major break in the investigation.

Stengel and Johns both admitted on cross-examination that investigators did not search Jones’ home or the rest of the property for the missing firearm.

No DNA sample was taken from Jones, and no additional testing was conducted at the property. Stengel testified that he had no knowledge of any connection between Jones and Fernandez and that Jones was not treated as a suspect.

Johns said the truck was the only evidence recovered there and that investigators had no reason to search the house because records showed the truck arrived months after the homicide and Jones was not considered a suspect.

Dreicer challenged that explanation, noting investigators had not recovered the firearm and had evidence that Tenon had been at the home.

“Other than the fact that the biggest break in the case was found at Jimmy Jones’s house. Other than that, there was no reason to search the house,” Dreicer said.

Stifler made a point of asking Johns on re-direct about not searching Jones’s home. Johns confirmed to her that investigators received information in 2023 that the gun involved in the murder had been destroyed shortly after the shooting, so it would not have been at Jones’s home even if they’d searched for it.

Key evidence: Who was driving the blue truck?

Video evidence shown in court traced the blue, two-tone Ford F-150 through Jacksonville Beach on the night of the killing.

Prosecutors say the truck carried the shooter to the scene of the murder, but that surveillance showed a person running from the area after the shooting while someone else drove away in the truck.

That means two people were there that night, the prosecutors and defense agree.

But they don’t agree on who that might be.

The defense has emphasized that Fernandez was not shown driving the truck or accompanying Tenon.

Investigators acknowledged they could not identify the truck’s driver and that there is a 32-minute gap in the footage when they don’t know where the truck was in Jacksonville Beach that night.

What surveillance video did capture, though, was an unsettling moment outside the Jacksonville Beach Police Department the night of the murder.

A man prosecutors believe was Tenon walked past the station just seconds before Kirsten Bridegan arrived in the family’s SUV after learning her husband had been shot.

Kirsten testified on Monday that she did not recognize the man, and it was unclear whether she had seen the footage before or knew how close she had come to him that night.

Interactive timeline

Key evidence: Cellphone tracking & activity

FBI Agent Bobby Blythe testified that Fernandez’s phone was near his home before and after Bridegan’s killing but produced no cellular data from about 7:10 to 8:20 p.m.

He could not explain the gap or place Fernandez at the crime scene, but prosecutors pointed out that the gap happened at the same time as the murder.

The last gunshots that killed Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach were captured on a neighbor’s surveillance camera shortly before 8 p.m.

Tenon’s phone and Google data showed travel from the Potomac Avenue property toward Jacksonville Beach, including a Jan. 29, 2022, route prosecutors described as a possible practice run.

Defense questioning established the cellphone data did not show Fernandez and Tenon were together or place Fernandez at the murder scene.

Blythe said cellphone records show approximate, not exact, locations, and JSO Detective David Ostertag testified that a factory reset that Fernandez did before his phone was collected meant it no longer contained potential location data.

Fernandez’s defense suggested the reset may have been routine because it happened on the same day Fernandez purchased a new phone, but prosecutors pointed out that Fernandez still had the phone and had logged back in to all his social media accounts after the data was erased.

Former ATF intelligence research specialist Lyndsey Butler testified that Fernandez and Tenon exchanged frequent calls and messages, including a 27-minute call on March 10. Butler said investigators focused on that date because Jacksonville Beach police had released images of the suspected blue Ford F-150 the previous day.

Butler also described more than 5,000 Google Chrome deletions processed the morning of Fernandez’s March 1 police interview, but acknowledged she could not identify what was deleted or connect it to the killing.

“All I can say is that they were processed on the same date of the first interview,” Butler said.

Potomac property

In his cross-examination of Detective Johns, Dreicer also focused on cellphone and surveillance evidence involving Fernandez’s rental property on Potomac Avenue, where Tenon lived at one point.

Fernandez’s phone was recorded at the property for several hours on Jan. 29, 2022, while Tenon’s phone traveled toward Jacksonville Beach and back in what prosecutors describe as a practice run for the night of the murder.

Dreicer made a point while questioning Johns that there was surveillance video evidence showing it was not unusual for Fernandez to be at the rental property when the renter was not at the home, and that by late January, another man had begun renting the property.

Dreicer pointed to surveillance footage showing Fernandez repeatedly visiting the Potomac property, meeting contractors and carrying construction materials.

He argued the video supported Fernandez’s explanation that he was overseeing legitimate repair and renovation work.

Johns agreed the footage showed Fernandez performing or arranging property work but said it did not establish what happened on the specific day in question: Jan. 29, 2022.

Key evidence: Was there DNA?

Prosecutors presented evidence from a DNA analyst on Wednesday afternoon, who said that Tenon’s DNA was found on the tire used to stop Jared Bridegan’s vehicle.

Investigators say Tenon’s boots, jacket and distinctive gait also matched evidence associated with the shooter.

Fernandez’s DNA was not found on any of the items tested by investigators, the analyst acknowledged.

Detective Johns also acknowledged there was no surveillance, fingerprint, hair or other physical evidence placing Fernandez in Tenon’s blue pickup truck or proving he accompanied Tenon to Jacksonville Beach.

Dreicer made a point of talking about how dirty the inside of the truck was when investigators found it months later, implying that the evidence was not missing because someone had “wiped” the truck.

Key evidence: What were the checks for?

Johns, who has expertise in finances, took the stand again on Monday to break down Fernandez’s financials, noting a large cash withdrawal of $10,000 and multiple $5,000 transfers from the First Choice Home Rentals LLC account directly to Fernandez’s account in 2022.

He also flagged two $75,000 checks -- one written to Gardner and the other written to Fernandez -- in December 2021 by Gardner’s parents, who own a successful multi-level marketing craft supply company called Stampin’ Up!

After their daughter married Fernandez, the Gardners made Fernandez the trustee of Shanna’s irrevocable trust.

That gave Fernandez administrative and financial control of the trust, which included a clause that Shanna could only become trustee of the fund when she had “no further legal entanglements with her ex-husband, Jared G. Bridegan.”

The state has highlighted three checks totaling $10,000 that Fernandez wrote to Tenon after the killing.

Johns testified last week that three business check stubs, which were later matched to three checks Fernandez wrote to Tenon, were found in the blue truck.

The checks were described as payment for landscaping, roof work and a Kickstarter project that the state says didn’t exist.

The checks from First Choice Home Rentals LLC — all signed by Fernandez — were for $2,000 and $3,000 dated March 28, 2022, and $5,000 dated April 4, 2022.

Prosecutors argue the payments were disguised compensation for the murder.

But the defense says Tenon performed work at Fernandez’s property and that the checks were legitimate.

“Henry Tenon is a worker. Mario Fernandez has hired him to do work, not murder, tree work, roof work, landscaping, tile work,” defense attorney James Hill said in his opening statement.

Former ATF Agent Butler also testified that she found no evidence of payments from Fernandez to Tenon before the Feb. 16, 2022, homicide. The only payments she was aware of were the three checks issued after the killing.

She said she could not determine whether the checks were related to the homicide.

“I don’t have information that I can speak to now that these three checks were anything other than what they said on the memo line,” Butler said.

Gene Nichols, an attorney not involved in the case, said the checks are the hinge point of the entire trial.

“I think when it’s all said and done, what does the jury believe about the checks? That’s going to rule a tremendous amount,” he said. “That, to me, is going to be where this hinges — will a jury believe that those checks were written in order to commit murder, or were those checks written for the work that Mr. Hill said they were written for?”

He added that the burden of proof remains high.

“If the jury believes that they were for work that was done, or they take the position that the state didn’t prove that the money was for murder, then that’s going to sway a jury,” Nichols said. “In order to convict him, it’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by all of those jurors.”

What’s the motive?

Prosecutors have pointed to the hostility between the two families as a possible motive for Bridegan’s murder.

Kirsten Bridegan, Jared’s widow, testified Monday that the co-parenting relationship between Jared and Shanna Gardner had deteriorated into constant conflict.

“It was pretty terrible,” Kirsten Bridegan said on the stand. “There was absolutely no trust so everything was in writing. Texts, email. We did not speak in person, like at school events. Didn’t do phone calls.”

In his initial interview with detectives, which was played in court on Tuesday for about 50 minutes, Fernandez discussed the ongoing conflicts over the twins, describing Jared Bridegan as difficult and “passive-aggressive” and calling him a “keyboard warrior.”

Fernandez also mentioned the family communication in that interview, saying the family was in a group text and had an arrangement to text when they arrived to pick up the kids for date night.

The custody agreement established alternating Wednesday “date nights” for both parents on the week when the children were in the other parent’s home.

Dreicer argued that the schedule for date night was public information and therefore could have been known by people outside the family.

“So the idea that (Wednesday date night) is some personal detail that only the Bridegans would know and only the Gardner-Fernandez residence would know is simply not true. It’s public information. Correct?” Dreicer asked.

“The docket is publicly available,” Johns acknowledged.

Friends testify

On Wednesday and Thursday, friends of Fernandez also testified.

Taylor Kutis described conversations involving Fernandez’s marriage, co-parenting disputes and an obscure “contract” involving his wife’s family.

Under cross-examination, Kutis acknowledged that her recollections were not verbatim, that she kept no notes and that some details came from media reports.

Victor Quiroz, a longtime online gaming friend, testified that Fernandez visited him in North Carolina in March 2022.

Quiroz said Fernandez acted normally and did not discuss the killing. Fernandez mentioned only later that his wife’s former husband had been shot.

Carlos Phuong, a friend of Fernandez since high school, testified on Thursday about Fernandez’s relationship with Gardner and about two phone calls he placed to Fernandez in January 2023, when neither man was aware they were being recorded.

The expletive-laced calls between the two friends were played for the jury.

In the calls, Phuong told Fernandez that media reports were linking Gardner to Jared Bridegan’s death and that Henry Tenon had been arrested. They discussed Tenon’s work on Fernandez’s rental property and possible motives, along with unrelated topics.

Phuong testified that Fernandez made no admission, did not seem evasive and said he had nothing to do with the killing.

Phuong also testified that he never heard Fernandez or Gardner threaten Jared Bridegan or discuss planning his killing.

What’s next?

Fernandez’s murder trial is scheduled to continue through Aug. 28.

Gardner, 39, faces a separate trial in September, while Tenon is scheduled to stand trial in 2027 after withdrawing an earlier guilty plea.

Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Tenon is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, possession of a firearm by a felon and accessory after the fact.

Neither Gardner nor Tenon will testify in Fernandez’s trial.

RELATED: Judge orders Jared Bridegan’s widow to turn over cellphone in Shanna Gardner murder case

The case has garnered national attention, and Judge London Kite has repeatedly explained to the 12 jurors and four alternates that they can not look up anything about the case or talk about it with anyone.

As part of the preparation for trial, Kite previously ordered that the seated jurors’ names be kept anonymous until 60 days after the trial, which is typical in high-profile cases. The jurors were referred to only by their numbers during jury selection to protect their identities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles, car parts and steel starting next year as the trade rift with Ottawa continued to deepen. The announcement comes after trade talks between the otherwise reliable trading partners collapsed last week. Long-planned U.S. tariffs on various Canadian goods went into effect after the talks broke off, and Canada has vowed to retaliate.

The Latest:

Trump hosts education event in Rose Garden

The president’s main public event Monday is a back-to-school event featuring Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Many schoolchildren are in the audience during the outdoor event.

“What a nice setting this is,” Trump remarked.

US formally removes Syria from state sponsors of terrorism list

The Trump administration on Monday formally removed Syria from the State Department’s “State Sponsor of Terrorism” blacklist, making permanent a series of sanctions removals that had been initially announced more than a month ago.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced the recission of Syria from the list in early July, but there was a 45-day period for congressional review before it was formalized. That review period has now expired and sanctions related to the state sponsor designation have been almost completely removed, the State and Treasury departments said on Monday.

“Treasury is following through on President Trump’s promise to give the Syrian people a chance at greatness,” Bessent said in a statement. “Today’s action will help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability.”

Bessent says no country is ‘above the reach of US sanctions’

When asked that the U.S. could go soft on China to maintain the fragile trade truce between the world’s two largest economies, Bessent said “no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions”

“If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted,” Bessent said.

Experts have said the U.S. is likely to carefully calibrate its actions on China, just a month before Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit the U.S. to keep the already-fraught relations from falling out.

The Trump administration is challenged to act big with Iran “without escalating tensions with Beijing,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Bessent says its giving Iran’s trading partners a chance ‘to remedy bad behavoir’

Asked by a reporter Monday about issuing warnings to Tehran’s financial partners instead of promising an ‘economic D-Day’, the Treasury secretary said he wanted countries to shift away from Iran before it was too late.

“Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” Bessent said. “We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period.”

He added, “But they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious. Secondary sanctions are a very powerful tool.”

Bessent doesn’t name names, but insists US is making its expectations clear on Iran trade

The treasury secretary said Trump has been “making phone calls to world leaders with specific request to cease their interactions” with Iran and has already seen results.

The UAE announced last week that it was suspending all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice.

“I am confident the president, as you all know, is quite persuasive,” Bessent said.

Bessent said that Treasury and State Department officials are following up with calls and visits with officials from countries and entities it wants to see take action and laying out “exactly what we expect and the timelines.”

Iran’s parliament speaker dismisses impact of looming US sanctions

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Monday said Iran’s trading partners were not taking Washington’s “statements into account,” even as the country’s economy reels from months of war and mounting pressure.

“Americans know that no one buys their bombast,” Qalibaf said in a post on X, saying that the United States was “not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries.”

His comments came as Washington prepared to expand secondary sanctions targeting countries and companies doing business with Iran, in an effort to isolate Tehran from the global dollar-based financial system.

Bessent warns nations they can no longer operate in ‘gray zone’ of Iran conflict

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says new U.S. secondary sanctions in the pipeline aim to block all potential sources of revenue for Iran, telling nations to cut economic ties to Tehran or face U.S. retaliation.

Bessent added it’s “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of Iran conflict as US threaten sanctions against Tehran’s trade partners.

The treasury secretary did not name what countries could face potential secondary sanctions from the United States, but China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s largest trade partners.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said at a Monday afternoon news conference. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”

Vance calls Canada ‘a state’ but says doing so was an accident

Asked about the Trump administration escalating a trade war with Canada when Maine depends so heavily on cross-border trade, the vice president said, “Canada is a state” but then added, “Sorry. Freudian slip.”

As the crowd laughed and hooted, Vance added, “That was actually an accident.”

He likened Canada to China in what he called unfair trade practices, saying that “Canada allows itself to be a backdoor for Chinese goods” that eventually are imported into the U.S.

Vance said negotiations between Canada and the U.S. were ongoing and that he thought there’d have been an agreement easing trade disputes by now — but Canada had made “unreasonable” demands.

Vance gives shoutout to ‘our very independent friend, Susan Collins’

Republican Sen. Susan Collins was not accompanying Vice President JD Vance during his manufacturing stop in Brewer, Maine on Monday.

But he still made sure that her presence was felt.

“Whenever I’m in Maine, I got to give Susan a little bit of crap,” Vance told the crowd as he began his remarks. “Because as you know, Susan is the most independent member of the United States Senate, and as the president of the United States Senate, she sometimes makes my job just a little bit harder.”

Vance said Collins, who is up for reelection in the Democratic-leaning state, has visited the vice president’s residence about a half-dozen times. In those meetings, Vance said, Collins is constantly pressing him about how certain policies affect her state.

Vance ended his brief aside on the senator by asking the crowd to give a shoutout to “our very independent friend, Susan Collins.”

The Washington Post must reinstate a Black writer fired for posting about Charlie Kirk

“After wrongfully firing me last year, an independent arbitrator has ordered the @washingtonpost to reinstate me immediately, with back pay,” Karen Attiah posted on Instagram on Monday, calling it “a victory for journalists everywhere.”

The ruling found insufficient cause to terminate Karen Attiah, the last Black full-time member of the Post’s opinion desk at the time.

Kirk, a top conservative podcaster and Trump ally, made provocative statements about race, gender and politics, including calling George Floyd, whose 2020 murder at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked protests, a “scumbag.”

Kirk’s killing on Sept. 10 elicited a torrent of comments, and some who spoke out against him faced sanctions or dismissal at work. One post Attiah made said “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence.”

A Post statement said it respects the arbitration process and declined further comment.

Deportees who refused to exit a US flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea

Six people who were deported by the United States to Liberia last week resisted getting off the plane and instead were sent to Equatorial Guinea, a person on the plane and a lawyer in contact with them said Monday.

Under a series of often secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to two dozen countries that aren’t their own as it pushes ahead with its immigration crackdown, advocates say.

The four Cuban men, a Brazilian man and a Cameroonian woman are now being held with other migrants in worsening conditions in a hotel that lacks medical staff, said Meredyth Yoon, litigation director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta.

Equatorial Guinea’s all-powerful president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, turned the hotel owned by his family into a prison for deported asylum seekers under an opaque $7.5 million deal with the Trump administration. His government did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

By Mark Banchereau

Reopening US border to Mexican cattle not expected to drop beef prices anytime soon

The U.S. plans to reopen a border crossing in Arizona to cattle from Mexico on Monday as part of a broader Trump administration effort to reduce record-high beef prices. Economists doubt grocery store shoppers will see any savings soon.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said concerns about the New World screwworm’s spread lessened enough to allow the movement of cattle from Mexico.

Beef prices clearly are a concern for Trump, who announced Friday that he would allow up to 331,000 tons of ground beef imports, tariff-free, to be sold at below-market prices over the next 90 days.

But the phased reopening means it will take months for Mexican imports to regain their traditional 3% of the U.S. supply, according to Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University.

Palestinian American’s home still besieged by Israeli settlers

The homeowner whose residence has been besieged by Israeli settlers said Monday that he still can’t move freely in the West Bank village of Qusra.

Loui Ridi traveled from Ohio to the Israeli-occupied West Bank a week ago to join relatives defending his home from Israeli settlers.

Israel’s military declared the area a closed zone to restore order in Qusra, made a nearby home into a drone base and required Palestinians to coordinate all their movements from the homes that had been under siege.

Ridi said settlers keep returning to the area above his home, without consequences, while his family spends hours coordinating moves to get food, water and other supplies.

Israel’s police has not announced any arrests of settlers, despite condemnation from Israeli rights groups and foreign officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the siege terrorism.

China says more US economic pressure won’t end the Iran war

“They will only exacerbate tensions and escalate the situation, which is in no one’s interest,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in Beijing as the U.S. threatens sanctions on countries that trade with Iran.

China is calling on all parties to avoid measures “that could further intensify differences and conflicts and disrupt global economic development and financial stability,” he added.

China is considered the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, and was importing more than 80% of Iranian oil before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Iran-backed rebels hit oil tanker in Red Sea

A crude oil tanker was attacked on Monday in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia, igniting a fire on its main deck, the British military said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said there were no reports of casualties.

The tanker issued a distress alert and the Egyptian Navy was reported to have responded to conduct a rescue operation, according to Ambrey, a UK-based maritime risk and response company.

The military spokesman with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said they targeted the tanker with a ballistic missile.

US and Iranian officials trade threats over new sanctions

“President Trump decimated Iran’s economy to a point where the rial has never been weaker and inflation has rarely been higher,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote Sunday in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. “The regime’s final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace.”

Already last week, the United Arab Emirates announced that it was suspending all trade with Iran. The UAE has long been one of Iran’s largest trading partners and its biggest source of imports.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that “any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences … Our hands are not tied.”

Trump promotes economic pressure on Iran

Trump is commenting on Iran ahead of a Monday announcement about new and even stronger sanctions, including penalties against any countries that do business with the Islamic Republic.

Trump posted on social media that “IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!”

Still, economic pressure has not yet translated into political pressure to end the war. Iran retains a key strategic advantage: Its attacks and threats on ships in the Strait of Hormuz have nearly halted traffic in the vital waterway, damaging the world economy and heaping pressure on Trump ahead of congressional elections.

Trump issues new threats to Canada over trade

Trump threatened Monday to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles, car parts and steel starting next year as the trade rift with Ottawa deepens.

Trade talks between the otherwise allies and reliable trading partners collapsed last week. Long-planned U.S. tariffs on various Canadian goods went into effect after the talks broke off, and Canada has vowed to retaliate.

“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” Trump posted on social media Monday morning. Criticizing Canada’s “ridiculously high tariffs” on American farmers, Trump wrote: “Not sustainable, and NOT ANYMORE!”

Ontario’s premier says Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals to US

Doug Ford said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press that the late President Ronald Reagan would be “throwing up on” Trump over his trade policies. He also threatened to cut off electricity and critical minerals to the United States if the Canada-U.S. trade fight worsens.

“I’ll cut them off,” Ford said of critical minerals. “You won’t get a grain of sand out of Ontario.”

Ford said “everything is on the table” after Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade talks late Friday.

Ford enraged Trump last year by using Reagan’s anti-tariff words in a television ad.

US military kills two more boaters in Pacific, says they carried drugs

The U.S. Southern Command announced the strike in a social media post early Monday, raising the death toll from boat bombings in Latin American waters to more than 210 people in more than 60 strikes.

“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is extending its offensive to targets on land across multiple Latin American countries. He said Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied this. Ecuador launched similar joint missions in March.

US trade representative blames Canada for breakdown in trade talks

Jamieson Greer says Canada ultimately wanted more than Washington was willing to offer.

Greer said Monday during an interview on CNBC that Canada had maintained restrictions on U.S. wine, spirits, dairy and autos, prompting the U.S. to impose targeted tariffs covering about 5% of Canadian imports.

He said there was significant progress in negotiations, with the U.S. offering to halve steel and aluminum tariffs and substantially reduce auto tariffs.

He also dismissed concerns about a broader trade war.

Father arrested by Border Patrol as son serves on the USS Lincoln

Joshua Aviles has worked 12-hour shifts for more than 250 days on the USS Lincoln while the aircraft carrier is deployed in the Middle East. One reason he enlisted was the “military parole-in-place” policy, which allows spouses, children and parents of active-duty service members and veterans to obtain legal immigration status while in the United States.

His father Luis Manuel Aviles, a handyman in Key West, Florida, who came from Nicaragua 19 years ago, was arrested anyway on Saturday as the Trump administration withdraws immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda. Dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops have been detained, and at least six have been deported, the AP found in the first accounting of such detentions.

“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.

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Trump’s oil and gas stocks soar as pump prices rise, congressional report says

Trump saw the value of his oil and gas stocks rise by as much as $15 million, surging during the Iran war, according to an analysis from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress.

The committee said the president owned between $12.5 million and $45.6 million in oil and gas company stocks in 2025, according to his most recent disclosures. The portfolio is now worth between $17.2 and $61.1 million, which the analysis attributed largely to “the surge in oil and gas stocks driven by Trump’s war in Iran.”

The Democrats found those stocks rose by an average of 39% from Jan. 2 through Aug. 17 and that two of the large stocks Trump holds in this sector — Valero and Marathon — have more than doubled since the start of 2026.

The committee Democrats noted that Americans have now spent an additional $71.5 billion on gas since the start of the war.

US Trade Representative: Fallout over Canada trade talks a ‘tempest in a teapot’

Jamieson Greer is downplaying the impact of the collapse of the trade talks with Canada.

“I think this is a little bit of a tempest in a teapot,” Greer told reporters at the White House on Monday morning. “The tariffs went in place over the weekend, which we’ve warned about for a long time. They only cover about 5% of Canadian trade, only 6% of U.S. overall consumption.”

Greer said he is preparing potential responses for Trump to Canada’s threat to retaliate dollar-for-dollar, but he declined to elaborate on the options.

The Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division (CID) arrested Otrok after investigators discovered he allegedly attempted to defraud an insurance company of $206,000 by requesting full refunds of his premiums.

“Florida has long been the law-and-order state, but we are now making it the anti-fraud state. If you want to commit financial crimes, my investigators will be close behind you. Fraudsters beware—your crimes will not go unpunished in Florida,” Ingoglia said.

How the alleged scheme worked

Investigators say they found that Otrok used counterfeit and fictitious personal identification information to submit the fraudulent vehicle insurance applications. Detectives say he would then stop payment of his premium from an insufficiently funded bank account before requesting a refund — all before the insurance company could detect the invalid payment.

The investigation confirmed Otrok successfully obtained $44,704 in fraudulent funds as part of the scheme.

Charges, potential penalties

Otrok was arrested Aug. 6. He faces charges of organized scheme to defraud, insurance fraud, grand theft, and fraudulent use of personal identification. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Prosecution of the case falls under the jurisdiction of the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

The Department of Financial Services encourages anyone with knowledge of fraud to report it at FraudFreeFlorida.com.

Kirk Heilbrun, who examined Clancy over three days this year, said he came to a different conclusion than a forensic psychiatrist who also evaluated her and testified Friday that Clancy neither had bipolar disorder nor psychosis.

Both Heilbrun and Dr. Avram Mack testified as rebuttal witnesses for prosecutors in a case that centers around Clancy's mental state when she strangled her three young children before jumping from a second-story window in January 2023. Closing arguments are expected later this week.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that she killed the children. But he says she shouldn’t be held criminally responsible because she had postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. He said she also had bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed worsened her condition.

Prosecutors say the former labor and delivery nurse planned the killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family.

Heilbrun said he struggled to reach a diagnosis of bipolar 2 disorder “because of all the diagnoses in the records and all the symptoms that she experienced.” People with bipolar 2 disorder experience cycles of depression and hypomania, which is less intense than the mania experienced with bipolar 1 disorder.

“I was having a hard time finding something that looked like it was a manic episode,” Heilbrun said. “There were times when she felt, as she described it, after the birth of different children, she felt good. She felt on top of the world. She felt really close to them, her husband and her kids and so on. But, it’s also something that it didn’t look like a manic episode so much as it looked like she was really feeling good.”

Heilbrun echoed earlier testimony about Clancy's struggles with sleep, the negative reactions to medications she was prescribed, anxiety about returning to work and leaving her children as well as intrusive thoughts that include wanting to hurt herself.

But he noted that at a psychiatric hospital she stayed about two weeks before she killed her children that she never reported having hallucinations or suicidal thoughts. Her main concern was insomnia.

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged from 8 months to 5 years old.

The two sides have presented experts with starkly contradicting testimony on whether Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

After the defense rested Friday, prosecutors began calling rebuttal witnesses, starting with Mack. He agreed that Clancy suffered from a major depressive episode but said he found no evidence of mania or hypomania to support a bipolar diagnosis — or of psychosis.

York was arrested Sunday morning at a mobile home community in East Palestine, Ohio, and was released after posting a $5,000 bond. He was sentenced to one day in jail for both offenses to be served concurrently and was credited with one day served when he pleaded no contest Monday morning. He also was fined $1,150.

Court records show that York initially was charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. Records also show that York had a cellphone returned to him and that $160 that was seized was to be given to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force as part of the plea agreement. York also completed on online course.

The NFL issued a statement saying the league was aware of the arrest and would review it under the personal conduct policy. The team said it would not have any comment on the situation.

“As this is a legal matter, which has been resolved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time,” the team said in a statement.

York took over day-to-day control of the 49ers from his parents in 2008. He became the team's principal owner in 2024. After some initial struggles under York's leadership, the team has been a consistent contender since hiring coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017.

The Niners have made the Super Bowl three times under York's leadership, losing in the 2012 season under coach Jim Harbaugh and the 2019 and '23 seasons under Shanahan and Lynch.

York also oversaw the building of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The team moved from San Francisco to the new stadium in 2014. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, a World Cup and a College Football Playoff title game.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Tuesday's Senate runoff tests the heft of both a famous political last name and the endorsement of President Donald Trump, who is backing Darline Graham and campaigned in the state for her days ahead of the vote.

The matchup pits the well-known Norman — fresh off an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid earlier this summer — against Graham, the late senator's sister who was thrust into the political spotlight with her interim appointment, then a sprint of a primary campaign.

Trump making final push for Darline Graham

Graham drew early criticism for being in Washington for Senate votes instead of on the ground in South Carolina, where many voters said they didn’t know anything about her or her positions. She’s been trying to make up that ground, holding meet and greet events, including two on Monday in Aiken and Seneca, as well as a news conference with Gov. Henry McMaster, who appointed her to the interim post and endorsed Graham on Friday.

Trump on Monday night also planned the second of two tele-rallies for Graham.

The president, long closely allied with Lindsey Graham, has done more to promote Darline Graham's candidacy than he has for others he’s endorsed in this year’s midterms. Trump encouraged her to run and traveled to South Carolina on Friday for a rally with Graham in Myrtle Beach.

Before several thousand people — some of whom said they came mostly to see the president, not his chosen candidate — Trump urged “every South Carolina patriot to go to the polls and vote for Darline Graham.”

When McMaster appointed Graham last month, a person familiar with McMaster’s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly about it said the governor had never contemplated that she would run for the seat herself.

Asked Monday why he had waited until late last week to endorse Graham, McMaster said simply that “I thought that was the right time.”

Norman crisscrossing the state to make his final campaign case

On Monday, Norman planned two events with pastors, ending his runoff campaign in Greenville. The most populous in the state, Greenville County typically contributes the most votes in statewide Republican primaries.

It’s also bucked against the front-runners in recent GOP contests. Norman also carried Greenville County in the gubernatorial primary earlier this year — and it was one of the only counties Lindsey Graham lost in his final election, this year’s original June primary.

Norman has decried the role of super PAC spending against him in the runoff campaign, accusing Graham of being funded by special interests who are pushing their own agenda through her candidacy. The wealthy developer has made large personal transfers into his campaign coffers and promoted his voting record and business acumen.

Norman has frequently reminded voters of his history supporting the president’s policies in Congress. He’s also portrayed his opponent as inexperienced for a six-year shot at the Senate job, saying in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press that the “Washington elite” who funded Graham were “dictating the terms and giving her the political answers” in her campaign.

At a town hall Friday, Norman leaned into his experience in elected politics and in the business world, reiterating his campaign trail slight against Graham, a political newcomer, that the Senate isn't a place to get “training on the job.”

“We've had a short runway, and I'm so glad I did this,” Norman told voters at a town hall in Anderson. “You have to know it. You have to be in it, and that's one of the advantages that I have.”

The winner of Tuesday's GOP runoff will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. No Democrat has won a statewide-elected office in South Carolina in two decades.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

The new warnings to further cut off Iran from the rest of the world economy were issued after President Donald Trump pledged last week to unleash an “economic D-Day” against Tehran as the administration struggles to find an off-ramp after nearly six months of war.

“We are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations. We know who they are. They know who they are,” Bessent told a news conference. “So when the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.”

Washington has promised the new sanctions would put even more pressure on an Iranian economy already battered by previous sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade. But the announcement Monday provided little detail and did not name which countries could face secondary sanctions. China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s largest trade partners.

Bessent said Trump has been “making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions” with Iran and has already seen results. The UAE announced last week that it was suspending all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice after a reported missile attack on the Gulf country.

“I am confident the president, as you all know, is quite persuasive,” Bessent said, adding that the UAE decision was “not a coincidence."

Shortly before the announcement, Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the U.S. is not in an economic position to further restrict Tehran's relations with other countries.

“Iran’s trading partners, both in the media and through messages sent to us, have made it clear that they don’t take these statements into account anywhere,” Qalibaf, who has been Iran's lead negotiator over the past six months, posted on X.

Iranian currency falls to a record low

Hours before Bessent's announcement, Iran’s currency hit a record low.

The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar as trading opened on currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the market rate is what most Iranians pay.

The currency had already been under pressure before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, as Iran faced double-digit inflation and negative growth. The rial has repeatedly hit new lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

Iranians find daily staples increasingly unaffordable. Since the war began, rice is up some 60% and beef prices are more than 150% higher. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that gross domestic product will contract more than 5%.

Still, economic pressure has not yet translated into political pressure. Iran retains a key strategic advantage: Its attacks and threats on ships in the Strait of Hormuz have brought traffic in the vital waterway to a near halt, damaging the world economy and heaping pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of congressional elections.

The war, as a result, has devolved into a fight over who controls the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil transited before the conflict. Iran is now refusing to fully reopen it unless it can charge ships.

Iran and Oman, which is on the opposite side of the strait, are reportedly in the final stages of agreeing on a plan for joint management of the waterway. Oman’s foreign minister is set to visit Iran on Tuesday.

Pakistani delegation visits Iran

Pakistan, which played a key role in brokering a 60-day ceasefire in June, sent a high-level delegation to Iran on Monday to encourage the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations, two senior officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

The military confirmed only Field Marshal Asim Munir’s visit, saying it was aimed at de-escalating tensions in the region.

Trump spoke with Munir ahead of the army chief’s visit to Iran, according to a person familiar with the discussion. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm a private conversation. Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, first reported the call.

Munir met Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni in Tehran, according to the two senior officials. Munir was accompanied by Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and other officials. Munir was expected to remain in Iran overnight and meet the Iranian president and other senior officials before returning to Pakistan.

His previous visit to Tehran in May helped pave the way for a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran in June.

In downtown Tehran, 73-year-old Sadegh Mahmoudi did not hold out hope for a resolution. He joined a line of about a dozen people to purchase U.S. dollars with his remaining savings to hedge against further declines.

“There is no hope for a deal and peace,” he said.

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Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; David Rising in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Seung Min Kim in Washington; and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed.

That system is expected to move north to north northeast, so any tropical storm or depression that forms would likely be short lived and remain away from the Caribbean.

The second system is farther east and could be the one to watch more closely.

It is expected to move off the west coast of Africa today and then track west across the Atlantic at about 15 to 20 mph. The system has a 60% chance of development over the next 7 days.

It could become a tropical depression later this week as it continues west toward the Caribbean.

If it strengthens enough to become a named storm, it would be named Dolly.

The hurricane center is no longer watching a third area west of Portugal for possible tropical development.

For now, neither of the two systems poses an immediate threat to land. But forecasters will be watching both as they move across the Atlantic in the coming days.

Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon said armed men raided the community late Sunday, setting fire to homes and killing residents.

“It is still impossible to establish a definitive death toll due to access difficulties and communication problems,” he said.

Wails filled the air in Kenscoff as survivors found the bodies of friends and family strewn on the streets early Monday.

“They killed my son!” one woman kept yelling as people nearby tried to comfort her.

One man flung himself on the side of the road, head on his right arm as he cried on the ground. Nearby, people picked up the bodies of those killed, some wrapped in blood-spattered sheets.

Robert Jean recalled how he heard shooting before dawn and tried to rustle people from their sleep to escape being killed. He said he was frantically looking for his brother, who was killed: “I was calling to see if everyone was safe. I could not find my brother.”

Another Kenscoff resident blamed the government for the killings.

“If only we had a good police force that would have placed an armored truck here, what happened here would been prevented,” said Verti Enold-Saint as he lifted a sheet over the body of his brother-in-law.

Farmer Mathurin Pierre, 41, told AP that he lost 14 loved ones and that an unknown number remain missing.

Massillon blamed the attack on members of Viv Ansanm, which the U.S. government designated as a foreign terrorist organization last year.

“They sowed chaos,” Massillon said.

He said gang members targeted a church and homes including those owned by Dr. Jean “Bill” Pape. He is a renowned doctor who runs a nongovernmental organization in Haiti that helps patients including those with HIV and tuberculosis.

No further details about the attack were available. A spokesperson for the U.N.-backed gang suppression force did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Haiti’s government issued a statement condemning what it called a heinous criminal attack. “Reinforcements are being deployed,” it said. “Kenscoff will not be abandoned.”

It said that security forces have been ordered to pursue those responsible. “The population must remain confident,” the government said, adding that it would not back down.

Gangs control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince, the capital, with Viv Ansanm repeatedly targeting nearby Kenscoff.

Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,100 people were reported killed from January to June and another 1,189 injured, according to U.N. statistics.

The attack comes less than a week after the U.S. government deported more than 160 people to the troubled Caribbean country for the first time since the Trump administration won a legal battle to end Temporary Protected Status for some 350,000 Haitians.

Haiti's government has said some of the deportees included TPS holders. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Monday in a statement to the AP that those deported Friday included several gang members with criminal records ranging from assault to drug trafficking.

Haiti is scheduled to hold general elections for the first time in more than a decade on Dec. 13, and it has been registering voters in Port-au-Prince and beyond. Experts have warned it's currently too dangerous to hold elections.

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Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.

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

Some of those storms could become strong, with a few isolated severe storms possible during the late afternoon and early evening hours.

Where the biggest threat will be

The primary threat area for stronger storms Monday will be along the I-10 and I-95 corridors. As the evening progresses, storm activity could shift toward inland portions of Southeast Georgia.

Storms are expected to move slowly—either southeast or southward—and that slow movement raises the risk of localized flooding, especially in urban areas or low-lying spots already prone to flooding.

Overnight into Tuesday

Lingering storms across inland Southeast Georgia should wind down around midnight. Cloud cover will gradually clear overnight, heading into the early morning hours Tuesday. Overnight lows will drop into the 70s for inland locations, with coastal areas staying in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees.

What to expect Tuesday through Wednesday

The unsettled pattern isn’t going anywhere. High pressure anchored to the southeast and a frontal zone lingering to the north will keep daily storm chances in the forecast through at least Wednesday night.

Each afternoon and evening, a combination of sea breeze activity, daytime heating and an unstable atmosphere will fire up new rounds of storms. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, a few of those storms could become strong to severe.

Temperatures through midweek will run a little above average for this time of year.

The State Attorney’s Office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit filed a criminal information against William Albert Lippold on Aug. 12, charging him with second-degree murder with a firearm in the death of his 87-year-old wife. The charge is classified as a life felony under Florida law.

The formal charge differs from the first-degree premeditated murder charge Lippold faced when he was arrested Aug. 1. According to the filed information, the act was described as “imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design.”

Background on the case

Deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office responded to the couple’s St. Augustine Shores home after Lippold’s son, David Lippold, called 911 and said his father had killed his mother. When deputies arrived, William Lippold and his son came outside.

Lippold reportedly said spontaneously, “It’s not complicated, I shot my wife.”

Investigators found Mary Lippold dead on a bed in the master bedroom, with a firearm, a shell casing and a note nearby. A neighbor told detectives they heard what sounded like a gunshot late July 31.

Detectives said Lippold admitted he had planned the killing for about a month. He told investigators his wife was blind and had severe Alzheimer’s disease and that he was her sole caregiver. He said he had promised not to place her in a nursing home and described exchanging messages with his adult children about the stress of caring for her.

Lippold said he bought the gun recently, practiced at a shooting range and had planned to take his own life after the shooting but was unable to do so, according to the report.

Neighbors described the couple as well-liked in the community.

“They were a really nice couple, and everybody’s heart broke,” neighbor Bill Meyers said. “Everybody in the neighborhood’s heart broke because we all loved the guy and we’d do anything for him.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline anytime.

Since Watson ruptured his right Achilles the first time in a Week 7 game in 2024, owner Jimmy Haslam said during last year’s owners meetings that the Browns “took a big swing and miss” when they sent three first-round picks to Houston for the controversial quarterback in 2022.

After Shedeur Sanders had a solid first half in last Saturday's 31-7 loss to Buffalo, a frustrated Watson said the boos from the crowd were “personal” and showed “disrespect” after he took the field in Cleveland for the first time in 22 months.

Despite the hurdles and a close competition with Sanders, Watson will be the Browns starting quarterback for their Sept. 13 opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Coach Todd Monken made the announcement on Monday after informing both Watson and Sanders.

“I took in the full body of work over the course of the offseason to training camp to the games, the joint practice, and ultimately felt like to start the season on the road, Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points. I mean, that’s really what it’s about,” Monken said. “I felt that way going into the last game, but wasn’t sure. And after we talked as a staff and we re-looked at everything, we’re going to go that direction.”

Watson, a 10-year veteran, won the competition over Sanders as both split reps with the first unit throughout the offseason, training camp and the preseason.

The decision will not be popular with Browns fans, who have booed Watson repeatedly during his time in Cleveland, and have put a lot of support behind Sanders since he was selected last year after dropping to the fifth round.

Monken reiterated that fan sentiment and Watson’s comments did not play a role in his decision. Watson completed 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and an interception while on the field with players at the bottom of the roster who likely will be cut in a couple of weeks.

“Ultimately the fans want us to win. That’s our job as coaches, why we’re hired to try and put the best product on the field. And when we don’t, then I understand their frustration. But ultimately they don’t decide who plays. I mean, who would I be if I let someone outside of the building decide who plays?” Monken said.

Watson has started only 19 games for Cleveland since being acquired from Houston in 2022 and signing a fully guaranteed, $230 million contract that will perhaps go down as one of the worst trades and contract in NFL history. He is 9-10 with the Browns with 19 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating.

In 2022, Watson missed the first 11 games because of a league suspension resulting from his alleged sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. He made six starts in 2023 before a season-ending shoulder injury and started seven in 2024 before the first of two Achilles tendon injuries.

After Monken's announcement, Watson took responsibility for his comments by saying his emotions got the better of him.

“I’m not a big talker anyway. I think people that know me and around the organization, I just felt like it was what was on my heart,” he said. “It was never intended to go at a certain person, fan base or a certain crowd. It was just, this is how I feel. And once I got it off my chest, I felt better and now I can move forward from it.”

Watson completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards and directed two scoring drives working with other starters and the second team during the first half of the preseason opener at Chicago.

“There’s a lot of things, too, that me and (Monken) talking personally that we haven’t showcased. We haven’t showcased my full talent and ability to run in his offense. Being able to run, getting outside the pocket, being able to do some other QB-driven stuff. So I’m excited to see what we can cook up, getting ready for Week 1,” Watson said.

After facing Jacksonville, the Browns are at Tampa Bay on Sept. 20 to face former quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was released after Cleveland traded for Watson. The Browns' first home game is Sept. 27 against Carolina.

Sanders has shown steady improvement throughout the offseason. He started the final seven games of his rookie season, going 3-4 with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Sanders went 9 of 11 for 74 yards with a touchdown and interception during the first half against the Bills. Sanders completed his first eight passes before he was picked off by Damar Hamlin on a pass he threw behind tight end Jermaine Terry.

He was 6 of 11 for 79 yards with an interception in the second half against the Bears.

Sanders' biggest improvement is his ability to stand in the pocket as well as move up when he needs to, along with better footwork and decision making.

Even though Sanders will be on the sideline for the opener, he is likely to start at some point this season.

“I think he has come to understand the long game. What are we really in this for? What am I in it for? To have the Browns be an organization that people aspire to be. The long game. Where do we want to be in the long term? And he understands that as well as a quarterback,” Monken said. “We met this morning for a good long time and all he had was a smile on his face because he understands what really is in front of him. He’s going to work his butt off to get better.”

Watson and Sanders will not play in Thursday's final preseason game against the New England Patriots. Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green will get the snaps as they compete for the third QB spot.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The final regulation was issued Friday night, but may end up as just a footnote in the lengthy legal battle against Trump's order, which a federal judge in Boston has frozen ahead of November’s elections.

The administration has asked the high court to lift that injunction. But a second one from the same judge would prevent the Postal Service from implementing any procedural changes before this year's midterms and would likely need to be nullified, as well.

Time is running out for the administration to make any changes in the nation's voting procedures. The first mail ballots are required to be sent to military and overseas voters from North Carolina on Sept. 4. At that point, it would be virtually impossible for all states to alter the formatting of their mail ballots to comply with Trump's directive. The Postal Service rule also requires states to submit voter lists in order to get their mail ballots delivered.

The Postal Service said it could not comment on its rule given the litigation.

Lawyers from Democratic-run states and civil rights groups who sued to block the order argued that Trump doesn't have the authority to change election regulations in states. The U.S. Constitution vests that power in the states or Congress, which has been unable to pass Trump's desired election changes.

The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court last month to let it move forward with the executive order, which calls for the federal government to compile a list of eligible voters and send mail ballots only to those on the list. The high court has not yet taken action.

Week 0

Thursday, Aug. 13

Ed White 30, Nease 23

Gainesville 34, Ridgeview 0

Rickards 35, Ribault 2

Tocoi Creek at Orange Park, canceled due to weather

Friday, Aug. 14

Baker County 10, Dunnellon 6

Beachside 34, Atlantic Coast 3

Bolles 34, Camden County 10

Bradford 46, Menendez 0

Clay 29, Bishop Kenny 28

Englewood 14, Westside 13

Flagler Palm Coast, Fleming Island at Bartram Trail (jamboree format), not reported

Fletcher 41, Yulee 3

Fort White 42, Providence 21

Impact Christian at Taylor County, not reported

Madison County at Suwannee, canceled

Mandarin 21, Creekside 6

Matanzas 17, Daytona Beach Seabreeze 14

Middleburg 7, Baldwin 6

NFEI at Father Lopez

Oakleaf 21, Columbia 14

Palatka at North Marion, canceled due to weather

Parker 46, Joshua Christian 6

Raines 56, First Coast 14

Riverside 14, Jackson 0

St. Augustine 40, Ponte Vedra 7

Sandalwood 34, KIPP Bold City 0

Trinity Christian 42, Bradenton Manatee 7

University Christian 43, Trinity Catholic 6

Wolfson 21, Hamilton County 7

Regular season games

Bayside 6, Crescent City 0

Christ’s Church Academy 48, St. Joseph 21

Episcopal 27, Westminster Academy 26

Fernandina Beach 63, Keystone Heights 14

Harvest Community 61, First Coast Christian 6

Old Plank Christian 42, Eagle’s View 0

Port Orange Atlantic 20, Bishop Snyder 0

(3) Union County 21, Lafayette 7

Stanton 42, Duval Charter 24

(1) West Nassau 35, (4) Paxon 20

Interlachen at Trenton, delayed

OFF: Hilliard, Cornerstone Classical, Zarephath Academy

Week 1

Friday, Aug. 21

Atlantic at Crescent City, postponed to Monday, 7:30 p.m.

Baker County 31, Clay 19

Bartram Trail 37, Tocoi Creek 3

Beachside 58, KIPP Bold City 0

Bishop Kenny 35, NFEI 14

Bradford 65, West Port 0

Branford 50, Eagle’s View 0

Charlton County 14, West Nassau 14 (tie)

Chiles 50, Impact Christian 0

Christ’s Church Academy 51, First Coast Christian 0

Columbia 20, Bolles 19

Cornerstone Classical 46, Bishop McLaughlin 15

Creekside 21, Nease 14

Ed White 42, Trinity Christian 40 (OT)

Englewood 22, Bishop Snyder 20

Episcopal 42, Providence 6

Flagler Palm Coast 42, Matanzas 7

Fleming Island 33, Atlantic Coast 0

Fletcher 49, Sandalwood 21

Fort White 28, Eastside 13

Hilliard 37, All Saints Academy 13

IMG Academy White 47, Zarephath Academy 0

Interlachen 63, Keystone Heights 0

Jackson 41, Orange Park 0

Joshua Christian 8, Young Kids in Motion 2

Mandarin 38, McArthur 21

Middleburg 23, Menendez 6

Old Plank Christian 34, Duval Charter 0

Paxon 39, Wolfson 12

Raines 21, Oakleaf 7

Ribault 20, First Coast 14

Ridgeview 16, Westside 12

Riverside 32, Parker 6

Stanton 54, Harvest Community 0

St. Augustine 49, Palatka 0

Suwannee 35, Crystal River 0

Tallahassee Leon 42, Fernandina Beach 24

Union County 35, Rutherford 34

University Christian 31, Ponte Vedra 29

Yulee 42, Baldwin 14

OFF: St. Joseph

Week 2

Thursday, Aug. 27

Duval Charter (0-2) at Harvest Community (0-2)

Friday, Aug. 28

Baldwin (0-1) at Raines (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Bartram Trail (1-0) at Middleburg (1-0)

Bell (0-0) at Interlachen (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Bishop Snyder (0-2) at Oak Hall (1-0)

Bolles (0-1) at Archbishop McCarthy (0-0)

Bradford (1-0) at Baker County (1-0)

Bronson (0-2) at Cornerstone Classical (1-0)

Eagle’s View (0-2) at Stanton (2-0), 6:30 p.m.

Episcopal (2-0) at Englewood (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Fernandina Beach (1-1) at NFEI (0-1)

First Coast Christian (0-2) at Hilliard (1-0)

Fleming Island (1-0) at Creekside (1-0)

Fort White (1-0) at Chiefland (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

Geneva (1-0) at St. Joseph (0-1)

KIPP Bold City (0-1) at West Nassau (1-0-1)

Lafayette (0-1) at Suwannee (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Lakewood (0-1) at Columbia (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Mandarin (1-0) at Atlantic Coast (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Matanzas (0-1) at Clay (0-1)

Menendez (0-1) at Ridgeview (1-0)

Nease (0-1) at St. Augustine (1-0)

Orange Park (0-1) at Oakleaf (0-1)

Palatka (0-1) at Union County (2-0), 7:30 p.m.

Paxon (1-1) at Christ’s Church Academy (2-0)

P.K. Yonge (0-1) at Keystone Heights (0-2), 7:30 p.m.

Plant City (0-0) at Fletcher (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Ponte Vedra (0-1) at Bishop Kenny (1-0)

Providence (0-1) at Umatilla (0-1)

Ribault (1-0) at Jackson (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

Riverside (1-0) at Flagler Palm Coast (1-0)

Sandalwood (0-1) at Parker (0-1), 6:30 p.m.

Tocoi Creek (0-1) at Daytona Beach Seabreeze (1-0)

True Institute (0-0) at Joshua Christian (1-0)

University Christian (1-0) at Trinity Christian (0-1)

Wolfson (0-1) at Westside (0-1), 6:30 p.m.

Yulee (1-0) at First Coast (0-1), 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy (0-1) at Santa Fe (1-0)

Saturday, Aug. 29

Halifax Academy (0-1) at Impact Christian (0-1)

OFF: Beachside, Crescent City, Old Plank Christian, White.

Week 3

Friday, Sept. 4

Atlantic Coast at Orange Park

Baldwin at Baker County

Beachside at Tocoi Creek

Bishop Kenny at Bartram Trail

Bluffton at NFEI

Christ’s Church Academy at Old Plank Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Clay at Palatka

Creekside at Fletcher, 6:30 p.m.

Daytona Beach Mainland at Nease

Deltona at Matanzas

Englewood at Stanton, 6:30 p.m.

Episcopal at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Fernandina Beach at Yulee

Flagler Palm Coast at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Gainesville at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

Harvest Community at Cornerstone Classical

Interlachen at Crescent City, 7:30 p.m.

Jackson at Westside, 6:30 p.m.

Keystone Heights at Hilliard, 7:30 p.m.

Lecanto at University Christian

Madison County at Columbia, 7:30 p.m.

Merritt Island at Ponte Vedra

Middleburg at North Marion

Oakleaf at Fleming Island

Paxon at Williston, 7:30 p.m.

Providence at Eagle’s View

Raines at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Riverside at First Coast, 6:30 p.m.

St. Augustine at Menendez

Sandalwood at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Trenton at Impact Christian

Trinity Christian at Tallahassee Lincoln

True Institute at Joshua Christian

Zarephath Academy at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Bishop Snyder, Bolles, Duval Charter, First Coast Christian, Fort White, Mandarin, Ribault, Ridgeview, St. Joseph, Union County, West Nassau.

Week 4

Friday, Sept. 11

American Heritage Plantation at Trinity Christian

Baker County at Yulee

Bartram Trail at Fletcher, 6:30 p.m.

Bell at Harvest Community

Bishop Kenny at Bolles

Bronson at Interlachen, 7:30 p.m.

Brookwood at Bishop Snyder

Christ’s Church at Duval Charter

Columbia at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

Cornerstone Classical at Seven Rivers Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Ed White at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

First Coast at Flagler Palm Coast

First Coast Christian at Eagle’s View

Fort White at Union County, 7:30 p.m.

Impact Christian at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

Mandarin at Nease

Matanzas at Ocala Forest

NFEI at Providence

Orange Park at Clay

Palatka at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

Ponte Vedra at Beachside

Raines at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Ridgeview at Fleming Island

St. Augustine at Middleburg

St. Joseph at Old Plank Christian

Sandalwood at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Stanton at Paxon, 6:30 p.m.

Taylor Pierson at Crescent City

Tocoi Creek at Creekside

Trinity Catholic at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

University Christian at Madison County, 7:30 p.m.

West Nassau at Bayside

Westside at Episcopal

Wolfson at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Young Kids in Motion at West Oaks Academy, 6 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at Dixie County

OFF: Englewood, Fernandina Beach, Hilliard, Jackson, Keystone Heights, Menendez, Oakleaf.

Week 5

Thursday, Sept. 17

Beachside at Englewood, 6:30 p.m.

Young Kids in Motion at Christ’s Church Academy

Friday, Sept. 18

Baker County at Palatka

Bartram Trail at Creekside

Bishop Kenny at Merritt Island

Bradford at Tocoi Creek

Clay at Fernandina Beach

Columbia at Trinity Christian

Crescent City at Orangewood Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Duval Charter at First Coast Christian

Eagle’s View at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Ed White at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

Fletcher at First Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Hamilton County at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

Harvest Community at Bronson

Hilliard at St. Joseph

Interlachen at Citrus, 7:30 p.m.

Jackson at Paxon, 6:30 p.m.

Joshua Christian at Cottondale

Keystone Heights at Bell, 7:30 p.m.

Mandarin at Raines, 6:30 p.m.

Menendez at Matanzas

Newberry at Middleburg

NFEI at University Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Oakleaf at Bolles

Old Plank Christian at Cornerstone Classical, 7:30 p.m.

Orlando Evans at St. Augustine

Parker at Orange Park

Ponte Vedra at Fleming Island

Providence at Impact Christian

Ribault at Ridgeview

Santa Fe at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Stanton at Bishop Snyder

Union County at First Coast Christian

Westside at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Yulee at West Nassau

OFF: Atlantic Coast, Episcopal, Flagler Palm Coast, KIPP Bold City, Nease, Zaraphath Academy.

Week 6

Thursday, Sept. 24

Beachside at Nease

Clay at St. Augustine

Flagler Palm Coast at Tocoi Creek

Friday, Sept. 25

Atlantic at Keystone Heights

Baker County at Godby

Baldwin at Bolles

Bell at Eagle’s View

Bradford at Madison County, 7:30 p.m.

Bronson at Joshua Christian

Cornerstone Classical at Aucilla Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Creekside at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Crescent City at Branford, 7:30 p.m.

Englewood at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

Episcopal at Duval Charter

First Coast at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Fleming Island at Orange Park

Fletcher at Mandarin, 6:30 p.m.

Halifax Academy at Harvest Community

Impact Christian at University Christian, 7:30 p.m.

KIPP Bold City at Jackson, 6:30 p.m.

McKinney Christian (Texas) at Christ’s Church Academy

Menendez at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Middleburg at Ridgeview

Parker at Union County, 7:30 p.m.

Pine Ridge at Matanzas

Ponte Vedra at Bartram Trail

Providence at Seffner Christian

Riverside at Columbia, 7:30 p.m.

Scintilla Charter at Hilliard

Seven Rivers at Old Plank Christian, 7:30 p.m.

St. Joseph at Bishop Snyder

Stanton at First Coast Christian

Suwannee at Wakulla

Taylor County at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Trinity Christian at NFEI

West Nassau at Fernandina Beach

West Port at Oakleaf

Westside at Palatka

Young Kids in Motion at Jefferson County

Yulee at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at West Oaks

OFF: Bishop Kenny, Interlachen, Paxon, Raines.

Week 7

Thursday, Oct. 1

Beachside at Port St. Lucie Legacy

Trinity Prep at Harvest Community

Friday, Oct. 2

Atlantic at Cornerstone Classical

Bradford at Gainesville Eastside, 7:30 p.m.

Branford at St. Joseph

Christ’s Church Academy at Oak Hall

Columbia at Manatee, 7:30 p.m.

Duval Charter at Halifax Academy

Ed White at Oakleaf

Englewood at Westside, 6:30 p.m.

Fernandina Beach at Jackson, 6:30 p.m.

Flagler Palm Coast at Orange City University

Florida High at University Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Gadsden County at Impact Christian

Gainesville P.K. Yonge at First Coast Christian

Keystone Heights at Crescent City, 7:30 p.m.

KIPP Bold City at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

Lake Highland Prep at Bishop Snyder

Lake Mary at Mandarin, 6:30 p.m.

Lake Weir at Interlachen, 7:30 p.m.

Mayo Lafayette at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Menendez at Bishop Kenny

NFEI at Episcopal

Old Plank Christian at Hilliard, 7:30 p.m.

Parker at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

Paxon at Ridgeview

Riverside at Nease

Trinity Christian at Carrollwood Day

Union County at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Venice at Raines, 6:30 p.m.

West Nassau at Providence

Wolfson at Stanton, 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Baker County, Bartram Trail, Bolles, Clay, Creekside, Eagle’s View, First Coast, Fleming Island, Fletcher, Matanzas, Middleburg, Orange Park, Palatka, Ponte Vedra, Sandalwood, St. Augustine, Tocoi Creek, Union County, Yulee.

Week 8

Thursday, Oct. 8

Bishop Snyder at Faith Christian

Harvest Community at Christ’s Church Academy

Joshua Christian at Duval Charter

Friday, Oct. 9

Atlantic Coast at Creekside

Aucilla Christian at Hilliard

Baker County at Suwannee, 7:30 p.m.

Bartram Trail at Beachside

Bradford at Newberry, 7:30 p.m.

Clay at Fleming Island

Crescent City at Halifax Academy

Dixie County at Keystone Heights, 7:30 p.m.

Eagle’s View at Keswick Christian

Ed White at Ribault, 6:30 p.m.

First Coast Christian at Port Orange Atlantic

Fort White at Madison County, 7:30 p.m.

Foundation Academy at Providence

Gainesville Buchholz at Matanzas

Halifax Academy at Crescent City, 7:30 p.m.

Impact Christian at Hamilton County, 7:30 p.m.

Jackson at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

KIPP Bold City at Bolles

Mandarin at Ponte Vedra

Menendez at Palatka

Nease at Fletcher, 6:30 p.m.

Oak Hall at Old Plank Christian

Oakleaf at Ocala Forest

Orange Park at Middleburg

Palatka at Menendez

Paxon and Englewood, 6:30 p.m.

P.K. Yonge at Interlachen, 7:30 p.m.

Raines at Bishop Kenny

St. Augustine at Ridgeview

St. Joseph at West Oaks Academy

Sandalwood at Flagler Palm Coast

Stanton at Westside, 6:30 p.m.

Tocoi Creek at First Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Union County at Fernandina Beach

University Christian at Williston

Wolfson at Episcopal

Yulee at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 10

West Deptford (NJ) at West Nassau

OFF: Columbia, Cornerstone Classical, Parker, Trinity Christian, Zarephath Academy.

Week 9

Thursday, Oct. 15

Episcopal at Eagle’s View

Friday, Oct. 16

Atlantic Coast at Tocoi Creek

Bolles at Trinity Christian

Christ’s Church Academy at True Institute

Columbia at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Cornerstone Classical at Duval Charter

Creekside at Flagler Palm Coast

Englewood at Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.

Father Lopez at Union County, 7:30 p.m.

First Coast Christian at Joshua Christian

First Coast at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Fletcher at Ponte Vedra

Fort White at Baker County

Harvest Community at Taylor Pierson

Hilliard at Dixie County, 7:30 p.m.

Impact Christian at Menendez

Interlachen at Wildwood

Jackson at West Nassau

Keystone Heights at Paxon, 6:30 p.m.

KIPP Bold City at Stanton, 6:30 p.m.

Mandarin at Beachside

Matanzas at Oakleaf

Middleburg at Fleming Island

Nease at Bartram Trail

Old Plank Christian at Bishop Snyder

Orange Park at St. Augustine

Palatka at Newberry

Providence at Fernandina Beach

Ribault at Yulee

Ridgeview at Clay

Riverside at Raines, 6:30 p.m.

St. Joseph at Oak Hall

Taylor County at NFEI

Umatilla at Crescent City

University Christian at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

Wolfson at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Zarephath at Bishop Kenny

OFF: Suwannee, Westside

Week 10

Thursday, Oct. 22

Ridgeview at Orange Park

Friday, Oct. 23

Baldwin at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Bartram Trail at Mandarin, 6:30 p.m.

Beachside at Fletcher, 6:30 p.m.

Bishop Kenny at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Bishop Snyder at Seven Rivers Christian

Bolles at Jackson, 6:30 p.m.

Bronson at Old Plank Christian

Crescent City at Trenton, 7:30 p.m.

Duval Charter at First Coast Christian

Ed White at Bradford, 7:30 p.m.

Fernandina Beach at Episcopal

First Coast at Creekside

Flagler Palm Coast at Atlantic Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Fleming Island at St. Augustine

Halifax Academy at Eagle’s View

Hamilton County at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.

Hilliard at Cornerstone Classical

Impact Christian at Trinity Christian

Interlachen at Atlantic

Middleburg at Clay

Oakleaf at Buchholz

Palatka at Wolfson, 6:30 p.m.

Ponte Vedra at Nease

Raines at Cocoa

Ribault at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

St. Joseph at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal

Sandalwood at Tocoi Creek

Suwannee at Godby

Union County at Paxon, 6:30 p.m.

Wakulla at Baker County

West Nassau at Keystone Heights, 7:30 p.m.

West Port at Matanzas

Westside at Menendez

Young Kids in Motion at Englewood, 6:30 p.m.

Yulee at Columbia, 7:30 p.m.

Zarephath Academy at Umatilla

OFF: Christ’s Church Academy, Harvest, Providence, Stanton, University Christian.

Week 11

Thursday, Oct. 29

University Christian at Calvary Christian

Friday, Oct. 30

Atlantic Coast at Fletcher, 6:30 p.m.

Baker County at West Port

Baldwin at Ed White, 6:30 p.m.

Belleview at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Buchholz at Bolles

Clay at Jackson, 6:30 p.m.

Creekside at Ponte Vedra

Fleming Island at Bishop Kenny

Fort White at Palatka

Halifax Academy at Providence

Hilliard at Taylor Pierson, 7:30 p.m.

Land O’ Lakes at Bartram Trail

Matanzas at Palm Bay

Middleburg at Parker, 6:30 p.m.

Nease at Sandalwood, 6:30 p.m.

Oakleaf at First Coast, 6:30 p.m.

Orange Park at Flagler Palm Coast

Ridgeview at Englewood, 6:30 p.m.

St. Augustine at Mandarin, 6:30 p.m.

Sunlake at KIPP Bold City, 6:30 p.m.

Suwannee at Columbia, 7:30 p.m.

Tocoi Creek at Menendez

Trinity Christian at Riverside, 6:30 p.m.

Westside at Beachside

Zarephath Academy at Yulee

Saturday, Oct. 31

Ribault at Raines, 2 p.m.

OFF: Bradford, Impact Christian, Wolfson

TBA: Cornerstone Classical

TBA, SSAA playoffs: Bishop Snyder, Christ’s Church Academy, Duval Charter, Eagle’s View, Episcopal, Fernandina Beach, First Coast Christian, Harvest, Interlachen, Keystone Heights, Old Plank Christian, Paxon, St. Joseph, Stanton, Union County, West Nassau.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said concerns about the New World screwworm's spread lessened enough to allow the movement of cattle from Mexico at a crossing in Douglas, Arizona, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix. Over time, it hopes to reopen other crossings in New Mexico and Texas.

“Today, the border in Sonora is open for livestock,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a Monday morning news conference in Mexico City, referring to the Mexican state bordering Arizona.

Beef prices clearly are a concern for President Donald Trump, who announced Friday that he would allow up to 331,000 tons (300,000 metric tons) of imported ground beef into the U.S., tariff-free, to be sold at below-market prices over the next 90 days. In February, the White House said closing the border to livestock imports from Mexico more than a year ago was “essential” to containing the screwworm but it has exacerbated a shortage of cattle for slaughter in the U.S.

“The administration obviously has a lot of incentive to try to be able to say that they’re doing something about high beef prices in particular,” said Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University. “Beef has been singled out because it is an expensive product and because it’s just high profile.”

The Trump administration closed the border to cattle imports in May 2025 as part of its response to the screwworm, a parasite with flesh-eating larvae that can infest and even kill cattle or other animals. The move came as the U.S. already was struggling to meet beef demand, thanks to a cattle herd that has been shrinking for five years and now is the smallest in decades.

Because the USDA plans a phased reopening of the border, it will take months for Mexican imports to return to their traditional levels, Peel said. Mexico has traditionally provided 1.1 million head, or about 3% of the U.S. cattle supply.

“I don’t expect to see any measurable impact on cattle prices or beef prices soon,” Peel said.

The smallest US herd in decades fueled record prices

The USDA reported that on Jan. 1, the U.S. cattle herd had dropped to 86.2 million head, the lowest figure in 75 years. Beef prices skyrocketed over the past five years, rising significantly faster than food prices as a whole, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average price of a pound (453 grams) of ground beef rose nearly 57% from July 2021 to July 2026, from $4.39 to $6.89 — hitting a peak of $6.90 in May — with a 10% increase over the previous year. Food prices have risen about 25% overall in those five years, according to the bureau's numbers.

The price for a pound of uncooked steak rose 35% over the past five years, reaching a record $13.06 per pound in July, also 10% higher than a year before.

But Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, said the potential effect on beef prices from the smaller supply of cattle was lessened because the U.S. beef industry is more efficient and has been able to get more meat from each animal than in past years.

The USDA says the reopening starts at a safe spot

U.S. government and industry officials view the New World screwworm fly as a major threat to the nation's $113 billion cattle industry. It was an annual warm-weather scourge for U.S. ranchers from at least the 1930s through the 1960s, until the U.S. largely eradicated it. The fly was contained for years near the Panama Canal, but returned to southern Mexico in late 2024 and advanced toward the U.S., with the first case in Texas since 1966 reported June 3.

Since then, more than 40 cases have been confirmed in southern Texas and southeastern New Mexico, with infestations of cattle, sheep, goats and dogs.

In her July announcement of plans for a phased reopening of the border, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said it was possible to start with an Arizona crossing because the northern Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua had stronger animal health programs than other parts of Mexico. She also said each animal would be inspected and declared free of the parasite before crossing the border.

U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman said the USDA is taking a “careful, science-based” approach to reopening the border and imposing strong animal health protocols.

“This is an important step for America’s cattle producers, especially our feeders in the border states,” Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, said in a statement. “Restoring this long-standing trade is critical to strengthening our cattle supply and supporting a healthy, competitive beef industry.”

Drought, low prices led to the smallest US herd in 75 years

Drought in cattle-producing regions of the U.S. is a major reason the national herd is so small, said David Anderson, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. If grass doesn’t grow, cattle have nothing to graze upon, forcing ranchers to sell them off. Low cattle prices over the past two decades also are a factor.

“Where we are today is sort of the culmination of some 18, 19, 20 years of very low cattle prices,” he said. “That forces us to reduce our herds. Drought forces us to reduce them even further.”

The shortage of cattle also has left beef processing plants operating below capacity.

Tyson Foods, one of the nation's largest meat processors, announced in November that it was reorganizing its beef operations and closing a plant in Lexington, Nebraska, about 220 miles (354 kilometers) southwest of Omaha. Earlier this month, it announced plans to close a plant in Utah outside Salt Lake City and another in Illinois about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.

In June, another major U.S. processor, JBS USA, announced plans to close beef plants in Memphis and outside Philadelphia, though it later said it would keep some operations at the Pennsylvania plant to preserve 400 jobs there.

Rebuilding the U.S. herd — and ultimately lowering prices — likely will take years, largely because a cow typically has only one calf a year, Peel said. In addition, breeding a heifer keeps her out of the food supply, tightening it further as the herd is rebuilt.

Peel said prices will remain high for some time and for elected officials, “There’s nothing you can do.”

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This story has been corrected to show that John Boozman is chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, not the House Agriculture Committee.

Wright's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told The Associated Press on Monday that the tight end had been waived by the Cleveland Browns and if he clears waivers, he will join Lane Kiffin's roster at No. 11 LSU.

If he joins the Tigers, Wright is believed to be the first player to return to college after playing in the NFL. He may not be the last.

At a news conference Monday, Kiffin declined to discuss any specific players, but did say of the players in the lawsuit: “They’re available to recruit. So, ourselves, like many places around the country, are recruiting them.”

Not doing so, Kiffin said, could lead to a situation where "we may end up playing against them.”

Wright signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted rookie after the draft. After Philly released him Aug. 11, the Browns signed him. Wright didn’t play in Cleveland’s two preseason games. Wright played two seasons for Kiffin at Ole Miss. Last year, he caught 39 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns for the Rebels.

Wright was among a group of players who sued in a Louisiana court, saying a new NCAA rule granting five years of eligibility to most athletes should apply to him and others who were not “grandfathered” into the rule, which did not include those who graduated high school in 2022.

The judge in Louisiana allowed for the fifth year and also ordered the football transfer portal, normally open only in January, to reopen for a week for the players in the lawsuit.

“In my opinion, knowing the information, it’s really wrong to be critical of these kids,” said Kiffin, whose move from Ole Miss to LSU last season also created tension between the SEC schools. "They were granted a fifth year by a judge, saying they were wronged by the NCAA. … It’s simply that a judge decided they should have a fifth year, like everyone moving forward will have.”

Kiffin suggested that the current recruiting by colleges of NFL rookies is a “totally unique circumstance that came about because of the five for five (ruling), and players feeling like they should have known about it before, and because of all the cases around the country. I don’t think we’ll have this (situation) again.”

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Maaddi contributed from Tampa, Fla.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and pulled a bit further from its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points, or 0.1%, as of 1:42 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

Tech stocks led the way downward following big swings through the summer on worries that the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology sent prices too high and that the huge demand for AI chips won’t be sustainable if they don’t produce enough profits.

Chip giant Nvidia has been a tremendous winner of the AI boom and become Wall Street’s largest and most influential stock because of it. It will deliver its latest quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, which could dictate the next big move for AI-related stocks.

Nvidia sank 2.3% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500, where the majority of stocks rose. Drops of 6% for Micron Technology and 2% for Broadcom also helped drag the index lower.

The other big factor moving stocks recently has been the bond market, where longer-term Treasury yields climbed through the summer on worries about high inflation, huge government debts and other factors. High yields make it more expensive for everyone to borrow, not just the government, and have already been pushing up mortgage rates and hurting the housing industry.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced a surprise move last week to increase the size of planned buybacks of Treasurys, which could help contain the rise in yields for 10- and 30-year Treasurys. But analysts warned the move may have only a limited effect because of how small the size of the buybacks are and how they do not fix the fundamental problems of too-high debt for the U.S. government and expensive oil prices because of the war with Iran.

On Monday, the yield of the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.70% from 4.74% late Friday and is back below where it was late Tuesday, before the U.S. Treasury Department made its surprise announcement.

Helping to bring yields down on Monday was a drop in oil prices. Brent crude fell 2.3% to $90.55 per barrel.

Last month it zigzagged between $72 and $102 as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again. That was even though the United States announced new sanctions on Iran, which helped drag the value of Iran's currency to a record low.

Despite Monday's easing of yields, analysts warn the U.S. government’s attempts to influence the bond market could ultimately mean higher pressure on inflation. Inflation already is higher than nearly everyone would like and has been for years.

That raises the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise the federal funds rate, which affects very short-term overnight loans. When the Fed raises that rate, it could help keep a lid on inflation by trying to slow the overall economy and undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

The Fed’s new chairman, Kevin Warsh, is set to deliver a speech on Friday at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The mountain setting has been the backdrop for major Fed policy announcements in the past, but investors are unsure of what they may get from Warsh this time around.

Warsh has insisted that he wants to give financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed will do with interest rates, hoping that markets react more to incoming data about the economy and inflation than to what the Fed is signaling.

But with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announcing his move last week, Warsh now holds the ball, according to economists at Bank of America. Expectations are high among investors for Warsh to talk about inflation and how the Fed could potentially react, and a failure to deliver could lead to bond yields jumping, they said.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped around much of the world. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.1%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.9% for two of the biggest moves.

Seoul has been home to some of the world’s sharpest swings this summer because it is dominated by two tech titans benefiting from the AI boom, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

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AP Business Writers Michelle Chapman and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The out-of-control fire has already burned some homes, but there's concern that shifting winds could push the flames into newly developed and densely packed neighborhoods in Nevada's largest city outside of metro Las Vegas.

Schools across the county were closed Monday because of the evacuations and to keep roads clear for emergency crews. At a roadblock in one of the evacuated neighborhoods, residents expressed frustration Monday that they could not get back into their homes.

"There’s no fire here! Why are the National Guard here?” one driver yelled.

Authorities said late Sunday that the Hawk Fire had stayed in its footprint and firefighters were extinguishing hotspots while working to keep the fire from jumping a main highway and reaching areas filled with homes and businesses. There was zero containment.

The fire began Saturday and grew to more than 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) on Sunday across foothills ringed by neighborhoods northwest of downtown Reno near the California state line.

Reno, a city of about 280,000 people, is known for its casinos and as a gateway to nearby Lake Tahoe, North America’s largest alpine lake and a popular vacation destination. It's also about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southwest of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, site of the annual Burning Man festival, which begins Aug. 30.

At least six people — three first responders and three civilians — have been injured in the fire. Officials said the fire was “human-caused” but did not say whether it was intentionally set or accidental.

Videos posted on social media showed the smoldering ruins of homes and cars, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing.

Many residents had little time to evacuate after the fire exploded in size.

“Honestly, I thought it was like in a movie,” said Ruby Delatorre, who got back from a concert only to find her home in the evacuation zone. She returned Sunday to walk to her home and get a few more possessions.

“I literally want to cry and go back for all my stuff. I just got what I thought I needed," Delatorre said.

Some who spotted the smoke on Saturday thought it was from another wildfire that has been burning the past two weeks.

Teresa Lenshyn, who is among the evacuees, said being forced to leave was chaotic and stressful. “You don’t know if the winds are going to shift and it's going to get worse,” she said.

The Hawk Fire is the third large wildfire in the rugged terrain north of Reno in the past two weeks — all caused by human activity, according to fire officials.

Extremely dry conditions across the American West have sparked a rash of wildfires this summer. Fires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area in early August.

Nationwide, there have been more than 50,000 wildfires — the most over the past 10 years covering the same time period, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, and Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed.

The most destructive wildfire in state history, a blaze that killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,000 buildings in Northern California, started two days after Newsom won the governorship in 2018. Investigators determined it was caused by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment. Facing tens of billions of dollars in liability, the giant utility filed for bankruptcy just weeks after Newsom's inauguration.

Months later, Newsom signed a law creating a $21 billion fund, paid for by utility shareholders and ratepayers, to help utilities pay for wildfire damages if they take certain safety measures.

Now, as the final legislative session of his governorship ends, Newsom is trying to broker a deal with lawmakers aimed at further shielding utilities from financial trouble if their equipment sparks a wildfire. His push comes as another major utility, Southern California Edison, faces claims from the state's second-most destructive blaze, a 2025 fire that killed 19 people outside of Los Angeles. Investigators ruled this month that it was sparked by one of the company’s transmission towers.

Newsom's plan could limit the amount electric and gas companies have to pay victims and attorneys. One of the goals is to stabilize the state's electricity rates, which are among the highest in the nation and have continued to climb in recent years. Utilities have raised rates to pay for wildfire prevention and recovery as climate change has made the blazes more intense and frequent. Six of the state’s 10 most destructive wildfires have been caused by utility equipment.

Newsom says the state needs to act quickly because he expects the wildfire fund to run out soon. His plan would require survivors to get paid by utilities sooner.

“Status quo is not going to work,” Newsom recently told reporters. “It’s not going to work for victims, who consistently are last in line. And that’s at the core of this reform."

But some of those victims are pushing back. They've said Newsom's plan prioritizes utilities over the needs of fire survivors. Meanwhile, insurance companies are concerned they would foot more of the bill for property damage. A coalition including the state's major utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric — has been urging lawmakers to pass the plan. The last-minute legislative battle could help shape Newsom's legacy as he considers a run for president in 2028.

Newsom says his plan strikes a fair balance

Under California law, utilities have to pay damages for fires ignited by their equipment, even if a judge doesn't find them negligent. Home insurers that pay for policyholders' rebuilding expenses can try to get reimbursed by utilities.

Newsom's plan could change that by making insurance companies cover more of the cost of property damage. The proposal would also require utility CEOs to forfeit bonuses if their company sparks a wildfire resulting in more than $1 billion worth of damage. And utility shareholders could be fined up to $10 million for violating wildfire prevention requirements, according to the governor's office, which hasn't released the full details.

Personal Insurance Federation of California, a group representing property insurers across the state, said insurance rates will increase if the plan is implemented. The onus should remain on utilities to pay, said Rex Frazier, the federation's president.

“Being responsible for your actions is something that parents tell children,” he said in a statement. "Hopefully the Legislature will tell this to the utilities.”

Fire survivors are also frustrated with the plan, which could limit their payouts. Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor's Network, a group of survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles-area fires, blasted it at a virtual town hall this month.

“This is overall a massive transfer of liability for the three for-profit utility monopolies that have continued to burn down communities across California,” Chen said.

The Legislature has until Aug. 31 to pass a plan. If they don't, Newsom could call them back for a special session.

Democratic legislative leaders say the state needs to address the issue but haven't specified what a deal could include. Newsom proposed another $18 billion last year to supplement the wildfire fund, which the Legislature approved.

An economist says the state should reduce utility liability

California's longstanding requirement that utilities cover the cost of wildfire damages regardless of whether they were negligent is based on the fact that they are providing a public service, said Meredith Fowlie, an economist who co-directs an energy institute at the University of California, Berkeley.

But as climate change has fueled more frequent and destructive fires, the state should rethink how to distribute the ballooning costs of recovering from those blazes, she said.

“Utilities can start fires, but they don’t by themselves create catastrophe,” Fowlie said.

Other factors make wildfires turn into catastrophes, such as failing to clear vegetation or upgrade homes to make them more fire-resistant, she said. The question of who should be held responsible — and by how much — is “a critical, core issue that we have not dealt with and is not going away,” Fowlie said.

Newsom says he's prepared to tackle the issue he's kept revisiting since he took office.

“I'm not going to walk away and hand a real mess to the next governor,” he said last week.

JSO said just after 7:30 a.m., officers responded to the Waterside Townhomes at River City regarding a missing girl with autism. Officers searched the area and found the girl unresponsive in a nearby retention pond.

Investigators said they are determining how the girl was able to leave the home and the circumstances surrounding the incident.

No foul play is suspected at this time, JSO said.

In early August, Chace Brown, 7, also was found in a retention pond after going missing from his home on the Northside.

The sheriff’s office is reminding people about the dangers of water, especially for children with autism. It offered safety tips for the community.

• Block access to water. Use fencing, door and window alarms, locks and other barriers to prevent children from slipping out.
• Know what’s nearby. Check your neighborhood and look for potential access to ponds, lakes, rivers and pools.
• If your child goes missing, call 911 immediately and check the water first.
• Teach water safety. Swimming lessons, including those designed for children with disabilities, can help reduce the risk of drowning.

The tour on Monday revealed plans for PGA Tour Charities ahead of the season-ending Tour Championship, which has a $40 million purse that awards $10 million to the winner.

Along with building its charity strategy around national campaigns with a more local impact, the PGA Tour is prepared to make up any difference, if needed, to maintain charity levels from tournaments that move down to the Challenger Series in the 2028 schedule.

“This next chapter is about generating even more focus, coordination, resources and visibility,” said Laura Neal, executive vice president of PGA Tour Strategic Philanthropy. “Launching an evolved PGA Tour Charities — with a legacy-defining, transformative gift from the Finchems — is an exciting next step in golf's enduring commitment to giving back.”

The PGA Tour long has been the charitable leader in sports with a mechanism that has enabled its tournaments to generate more than $4.4 billion, all starting with a $10,000 donation at the 1938 Palm Beach Invitational. Each tournament operates independently and that doesn't change.

PGA Tour Charities will launch and fund national priority campaigns around such themes as health, youth, access and service. The idea is to connect with tournaments on a broader scale when their missions align, which the tour hopes can attract new resources and raise visibility.

Lucas Glover, the Player Advisory Council chairman who joins the PGA Tour board next year, is leading a committee of players to help shape the initiatives.

“How I grew up on the tour ... what we hung our hat on as an organization was giving back,” Glover said. "With COVID and then LIV coming in, it became more about money in our pocket instead of money in the pocket of people who need it more than we do. It never went away. It just got put on the back burner, and it's time we put it back on the forefront of our minds.

“When we talk about the PGA Tour, it shouldn't be how much we're making, how much we're playing for,” he said. "It should be about what we're doing in the communities where we play.”

PGA Tour Enterprises was launched as a for-profit commercial venture in January 2024 with an investment of up to $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group, which led to players receiving equity for the first time. The nonprofit PGA Tour still operates tournament and regulations. PGA Tour Enterprises is geared toward global business, commercial sponsorship and media rights.

The charitable engine doesn't stop for groups like the Thunderbirds (WM Phoenix Open), Copperheads (Valspar Championship) or the Salesmanship Club of Dallas (The CJ Cup Byron Nelson). Tournaments typically donate all net proceeds — operation costs offset by national and local sponsorship — to local charities.

It has been key for attracting thousands of volunteers — the backbone of golf tournaments — who feel like they are contributing to their communities because of the charitable function.

What the tour wants to emphasize with PGA Tour Charities is a dedicated platform for direct community investment that gives players, corporate partners, tournaments and fans a clear way to get involved. The Finchems' donation was seen as a catalyst.

“The PGA Tour family, its players, fans and communities have meant so much to us for so long, and we feel a connection to the golf world that endures to this day,” Holly Finchem said. “This donation to PGA Tour Charities, as it is reimagined for future generations of impact, is more than a capstone on Tim’s unwavering commitment to charity. It is a celebration of our belief in this great game and the PGA Tour. We can’t wait to see all the good this gift will inspire.”

His wife separately in a letter published in the digital magazine Global Golf Post disclosed that Tim Finchem has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Finchem, the tour's third commissioner, oversaw massive growth during his tenure from 1994 until retiring in 2016, much of that seizing on the arrival of Tiger Woods. Along with a sharp increase in TV contracts and prize money, he helped to create The First Tee in 1997.

Finchem was commissioner when charitable donations of PGA Tour events topped $1 billion in 2005 and $2 billion in 2014.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour disclosed Monday the remaining $2.5 million charity donation from Brooks Koepka — he was required to donate $5 million as part of his return from LIV Golf — is being equally allocated to charities designated by nearly 100 players.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

The ruling Thursday said the newspaper did not have sufficient cause to terminate Karen Attiah, who at the time was the last Black full-time member of the Post’s opinion desk. The arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinosa, also ordered the Post to award Attiah full back pay and lost benefits.

Kirk, who rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to become a top podcaster and ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Sept. 10 during a public appearance at Utah Valley University. He was 31.

Kirk launched Turning Point USA in 2012 and made provocative statements about race, gender and politics. He was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement on college campuses and called George Floyd, the Black man whose 2020 murder at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked protests, a “scumbag.”

His death elicited a torrent of comments about him, both pro and con, and some who spoke out against him in the days after the killing faced sanctions or dismissal at work.

Attiah posted after Kirk's killing

After Kirk's killing, Attiah, the founding global opinion editor for the Post and the newspaper's only Black female opinion writer, made several posts to her Bluesky account.

One post read: “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence.”

“If anything, the rush to coddle violent white men is self-protective — that we know they are not used to feeling vulnerable and mortal — and will react violently out of fear. And we will all suffer,” read another post.

Attiah was emailed a termination letter on Sept. 11, accusing her of “gross misconduct.”

“Your public comments on social media regarding the death of Charlie Kirk violate the Post’s social media policies, harm the integrity of our organization, and potentially endanger the physical safety of our staff,” the letter read.

But Espinosa found that the newspaper, in a June 4 hearing, failed to establish that Attiah “engaged in gross misconduct” and that the Post “did not have good and sufficient cause to terminate” her employment, which violated the collective bargaining agreement with the newspaper's union.

“After wrongfully firing me last year, an independent arbitrator has ordered the @washingtonpost to reinstate me immediately, with back pay,” Attiah posted on Instagram on Monday. “It’s been a year-long fight, but this is a victory for journalists everywhere. More to come soon.”

Ruling welcomed as a landmark moment

The Democracy Defenders Fund, which, along with Washington-Baltimore News Guild, represented Attiah, said the ruling marks a landmark moment for press freedom, “confirming that corporate media institutions cannot use retaliatory discipline to silence journalists who address uncomfortable truths.”

The Post said in a statement that it respects the arbitration process, but declined to comment further.

At the time, Attiah’s firing was among dozens of others across various professions stemming from comments about Kirk’s assassination, igniting a debate over First Amendment rights as Trump vowed retribution for remarks he considers disparaging.

The National Association of Black Journalists, the nation’s largest professional advocacy organization for journalists of color, added at the time that Attiah’s firing had “raised an alarm about the erosion of Black voices across the media.”

During the organization's annual convention this month in Atlanta, the NABJ gave The Post a “Thumbs Down Award” because the newspaper has laid off Black journalists and eliminated race and culture beats.

“When the NABJ raises concerns about the treatment of Black journalists, we do so because the decisions news organizations make have real consequences for our members, our profession and the communities we serve,” NABJ President Errin Haines said Monday in a statement supporting Attiah.

One of President Vladimir Putin’s key goals in starting a war with Russia’s neighbor in February 2022 was to return Kyiv to Moscow’s orbit. Ukrainian lawmakers voted on Aug. 24, 1991, to proclaim the country’s independence, and a nationwide referendum later that year overwhelmingly approved it.

With no significant changes on the front line for months and no apparent progress after more than a year of U.S.-led peace efforts, both countries are locked in a spiral of escalating aerial attacks that are killing civilians and smashing infrastructure.

Europe rallies around Ukraine

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office last month, joined almost a dozen other European leaders, as well as other dignitaries in Kyiv on Monday.

“For Ukraine, independence is not an abstract idea. We defended it against all odds,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media. “In times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies by your side.”

Burnham co-chaired a meeting of what's been dubbed the Coalition of the Willing — a group of over two dozen countries helping Ukraine resist Russia's onslaught.

Burnham said he is pushing British industry to help a Ukrainian project that is working on a low-cost alternative to the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that are desperately needed but are in short supply. He urged other countries to encourage Washington to adopt stiffer sanctions on Russia and press Moscow to accept U.S. attempts to secure an unconditional ceasefire.

Zelenskyy said in a speech at Kyiv’s St. Sophia Square that the presence of European leaders reflected continental fears about Russia’s wider ambitions.

“We all understand that in this Russian war against us — against Ukraine — far more is being decided than the future of Ukraine and Eastern Europe,” he said.

“No nation in a war like this could rely solely on its own weapons," Zelenskyy said. "No nation could withstand attacks of such intensity without the world’s help.”

Ukraine eyes local production of Anglo-French missile

The leaders brought pledges of further military and financial support. Burnham announced his government has agreed to allow defense company MBDA to release classified information relating to British components used in the SCALP long-range missile. That paves the way for France and Ukraine to advance plans for the weapon's production in Ukraine.

SCALP is the French version of the U.K.’s Storm Shadow missile, with both systems incorporating shared technology.

“Ukraine has been Europe’s protector, not a drain on our security, but the front line of keeping Europe safe,” Burnham said, adding that Kyiv and its partners “must keep up the pressure on Moscow.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin views the plan “extremely negatively.” He accused the U.K. of “taking part in this war” on Kyiv’s side.

Ukraine has leaned heavily on NATO countries for help fighting Russia’s bigger army, although relations with the United States have been cooler under President Donald Trump.

Russia, meanwhile, is getting help from North Korea and China.

Ukraine displays its drones in a parade

Ukraine’s swift development of innovative drone technology has enabled it to blunt Moscow’s battlefield progress as well as hit targets deep inside Russia, as far as 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from their border. The speeches in St. Sophia Square were accompanied by a parade of domestically produced weapons.

Both Russia and Ukraine are trying through long-range strikes to inflict economic pain, disrupt military supplies and erode public morale.

Ukraine's long-range drones have repeatedly hit facilities in Russia's vital oil industry, causing fuel shortages, and have also engaged in a campaign against Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries.

But foreign suppliers also have to take into account their own needs, weapon production levels and the depth of stockpiles.

As the air war has intensified, Ukraine’s stocks of Patriot interceptors to counter Russia’s ballistic missiles have dwindled. Kyiv urgently needs more interceptors before winter, when Russia routinely bombards its power grid, but the demands of the Iran war and slow output of the sophisticated interceptors have left Ukraine short and vulnerable.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he believed that striking Russian targets like Wildberries was a “sensible military strategy” that would hasten peace negotiations.

Ukrainian strikes kill 3 teenagers

Three teenagers were killed and six children were wounded in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, Russia’s children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova said, as Ukraine attacked several warehouses of Ozon, another online retailer, for the third straight day, according to officials and the company.

Ozon said a large fire raged at its logistics facility in the suburbs of Krasnodar following the overnight attack.

A drone also hit the grounds of an Ozon logistics center in the southern Russian region of Adygeya, said regional Gov. Murat Kumpilov, although the company said its warehouse wasn’t damaged.

In all, four Ozon premises appeared to have been targeted.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck the Russian state-owned Kamenetsky Combine defense company in the Rostov region overnight, starting a fire. The plant produces rocket and missile fuel, it said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted and destroyed 351 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions, the Crimean Peninsula and the Azov and Black seas. Moscow illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

The ministry also said its forces overnight struck Ukrainian ports and vessels delivering military cargo.

Russia has also turned its sights on Ukrainian shopping malls, supermarkets and gas stations in recent months. Russian drones struck a shopping center in central Ukraine in a daytime attack Friday, killing 16 people and wounding 130, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s southern Odesa region came under a large-scale Russian missile and drone attack Monday, with food storage facilities and energy infrastructure among the targets, regional authorities reported.

Eighteen people, including two children, were injured in a Russian drone strike on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

It was not possible to independently verify each side's reports.

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

The death toll in the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” U.S. Southern Command said on social media.

As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. The strike on Sunday was the first since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes that killed thousands of people.

“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command.

The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.

Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March.

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

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

The strikes, which began in early September, have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars.

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

Afternoon highs will climb into the mid to upper 90s inland, while the beaches stay in the upper 80s to near 90. With the humidity, it could feel as hot as 105 degrees, so take it easy outdoors and stay hydrated.

Most of Monday will remain dry, but a few showers and thunderstorms could develop late in the afternoon and evening.

Any stronger storm could produce frequent lightning, heavy rain and sudden wind gusts approaching 60 mph. Storms should fade before midnight, with overnight lows settling into the mid 70s.

Tuesday brings a better chance for widespread showers and thunderstorms, especially between 2 and 5 p.m. Rain chances climb to around 70 percent, and storms may continue into the evening.

Highs will reach the lower 90s before storms begin cooling some neighborhoods down. Scattered afternoon storms remain likely Wednesday, with rain chances near 60 percent and highs around 92.

The familiar summer pattern continues through the end of the week and into the weekend.

Thursday through Saturday will feature partly to mostly sunny skies, highs in the lower 90s and a 40 to 50 percent chance of mainly afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Overnight lows will remain warm and muggy in the mid 70s.

Southbound traffic is being reduced to one lane, and the pedestrian walkway on that side of the bridge is closed as crews begin work tied to the next phase of Riverfront Plaza.

The changes are expected to remain in place through Jan. 30, 2027.

Northbound traffic will continue with two lanes. If you’re driving from downtown toward the Southbank, you’ll be down to one lane.

The project is about more than managing traffic. The city is removing part of the Main Street Bridge as it works toward a permanent pedestrian connection between the bridge and Riverfront Plaza, the new park replacing the former Jacksonville Landing site.

For pedestrians, the closure means a new route. People walking across the bridge should follow posted detour signs. The city’s route takes pedestrians toward Newnan Street, behind the Daniels Building and back toward the Main Street Bridge.

The work is part of Phase Two of Riverfront Plaza, which includes the new pedestrian and bike connection to the Main Street Bridge. The second phase also includes a beer garden and additional riverfront features.

Why is the bridge changing?

The construction removes the last piece of an old connection between the former Landing site and the Main Street Bridge.

Scott Carter, chief of engineering for the City of Jacksonville, told News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee and photojournalist Jesse Hanson that the old ramp once connected the Landing to the bridge.

“We all know the Landing was taken down, and part of that, there used to be a ramp that used to come behind the Landing and up to the Main Street Bridge. That was taken down, and this is removing that last piece of it where it connected directly to the Main Street Bridge. This is all part of the riverfront plaza project,” Carter said.

The Landing closed in 2019, and the city has since been transforming the site into Riverfront Plaza.

The park’s first phase is already open, with green space, a destination playground, riverwalk improvements and space for events.

RELATED| From a beloved local restaurant to a culinary campus, city leaders hope downtown projects spur even more development

Last month, the city announced European Street Cafe was selected as the first permanent restaurant planned for Riverfront Plaza. The Jacksonville staple is expected to open in late fall.

Phase Two is focused closer to the Main Street Bridge. Carter said it will also include an office, condominium and hotel tower. The goal is to make the riverfront easier to navigate on foot, connecting the Main Street Bridge, downtown and Riverfront Plaza.

Mayor Donna Deegan said the stronger connection could help bring even more people to the riverfront.

“Just think, when we have a really robust connection between the south bank and the north bank over the Main Street Bridge going to this beautiful beer garden and complex and things that are going to be happening there on the riverfront,” Deegan said.

The larger Riverfront Plaza project is part of a broader effort to make the riverfront feel less like a collection of separate destinations and more like one connected downtown district.

For now, though, there is some disruption.

“Ultimately, it’s all the price of progress, and I think we are starting to see everything getting vertical that we have seen in renderings for a couple of years now. It’s wonderful to see it all happen. I am so excited for Jacksonville,” Mayor Deegan said.

The Main Street Bridge will still operate for boat traffic during construction. Its lift span will continue to go up and down.

The city says the construction is the first step in making a permanent pedestrian connection from the Main Street Bridge to the new Riverfront Plaza, as part of Phase Two of construction for the Plaza.

Work is anticipated to be completed by January 30, 2027.

On August 5, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about fake and counterfeit squishy toys that don’t comply with federal safety standards and “may pose serious risks to children.” The agency says it has stopped over 350,000 squishy toys from entering U.S. ports. However, counterfeit squishies are still showing up online, on social media, and in discount stores, and may contain potentially hazardous or unsafe materials.

This government warning comes months after a Consumer Reports investigation found concerning reports filed with the federal SaferProducts.gov site, claiming children suffered chemical burns after their squishy toys burst open.

The risks are not just limited to counterfeit products, and know that because as part of the investigation, CR’s safety experts bought several toys and tested the gel inside. One had an acidic pH, similar to lemon juice or vinegar. And a pH like that can cause severe skin irritation, especially in children who have more delicate skin.

It’s difficult and sometimes impossible for a parent to determine, based on a package or an online listing, whether a particular squishy toy is counterfeit, and many of the incidents reported to the CPSC involve name-brand products purchased at major retail stores.

It’s encouraging that the CPSC is taking action against counterfeit and violative products. But, right now, parents need more information because the safety risks may extend beyond fake or off-brand toys.

If your child is playing with these squishy toys, a few strategies can help keep them safe. Don’t give gel-filled toys to babies or toddlers. Check for holes or tears frequently, and if one does break on your child’s skin, wash it off right away and throw out the toy. If you have concerns about a toy’s safety, report it to the CPSC on SaferProducts.gov.

The warning also comes as dangerous social media videos encourage kids to microwave squishy toys, which safety experts say is never safe. Heating these toys can cause them to burst, releasing hot, sticky material that can cling to skin and cause serious burns.

Adilet, which is led by the former head of Tokayev’s presidential administration, won 71% of Sunday's vote, Kazakhstan’s central electoral commission said, according to preliminary results.

The second-place Auyl Party won 6.26% of the vote, with three other parties – the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, Respublica and Aq Jol – reaching the 5% threshold needed to win a place in parliament.

Election monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote was marred by a lack of distinct political opposition, with “all contesting parties supporting the incumbent president’s policies.”

Some 74% of the country’s 12.6 million eligible voters took part in the election, the central electoral commission said. Officials tried to boost turnout by having some voters travel to the polls by parachutes and hot air balloons.

The election was the first to choose lawmakers for the new single-chamber parliament, known as the Kurultai. It is the culmination of a constitutional overhaul initiated by Tokayev in March, when 87% of voters supported a referendum to merge the two chambers of parliament.

The vote also gave the president authority to appoint key officials, subject to lawmakers' approval.

Last month, Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court ruled that the amendments effectively reset the clock on Tokayev’s previous terms in office, clearing the way for him to seek another seven-year term when his mandate expires in 2029.

The decision echoes those seen in several former Soviet republics, including Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, where leaders have used new or amended constitutions to revise statutory term limits.

The 73-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and Kazakh diplomat who previously worked at the United Nations, has been in office since 2019.

He has sought to maintain a balance between Moscow and the West since sanctions were imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Tokayev has justified the constitutional changes by citing the need for rapid decision-making in a fast-changing world.

The election comes at a difficult economic moment for Kazakhstan, where inflation hit 10.2% in February and tax increases have fueled public discontent.

Analysts say the economic strain has made authorities wary of a repeat of the unrest of January 2022, when fuel price protests spiraled into violence that left dozens of protesters and police officers dead — a scenario Tokayev is seeking to guard against by concentrating power in his own hands.

The vote also took place against a backdrop of intensifying crackdowns on press freedom. Media organizations have urged Tokayev to drop criminal charges against several journalists under house arrest and to revise legislation to ensure freedom of speech. Authorities have opened roughly 10 criminal cases against independent journalists and popular bloggers.

Space is limited, so you can reserve your seat by calling or texting 904-957-CARE (2273).

The 48-year-old wrote Monday on Instagram that she had just returned back home from a trip to Ukraine, where she was exposed to air raid sirens in the ongoing war, only to find a message by a plastic surgeon offering her to “fix that little spot on your nose.”

“I’ve lost count of how many messages I’ve received over the years about my appearance,” Frederiksen wrote. “Especially that I have ugly teeth and thin hair. That I have an ugly ‘wart’ on my nose and well-meaning advice to get some Botox.”

The prime minister of the Nordic country posted a screen shot of the plastic surgeon's offer on Instagram but without identifying him.

She also posted her response: “Oh no. I’m happy with my body — I really don’t need a male plastic surgeon to have an opinion about it!”

Frederiksen, a Social Democrat and Denmark ’s second female prime minister, is now in her third term, making her one of Europe's longest-serving and most experienced leaders. She has led the European Union and NATO member country since mid-2019.

She has pledged to maintain a firm stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitions for Greenland, the kingdom’s semiautonomous territory, and continue supporting Ukraine against Russia's war of aggression.

On Instagram, Frederiksen stressed that she does not interfere with other people's looks and that “I’m perfectly fine with my body — as it is when you’re a woman approaching 50.”

She added that "if you’re going to write to me (and you’re more than welcome to), I hope you’ll use your time to talk about something more meaningful. Not my nose."

The prime minister also said that those unsolicited beauty tips and suggestions made her feel “indignant” and that “today, I’m sending an extra loving thought to all of you who have to put up with the 'perfect imperfections' we all walk around with every day.”

Evan Sankey, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute, joined News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton on The Morning Show to discuss what’s really behind the president’s move and what’s at stake.

Police identified the man as William Walter Frick. Officers patrolling the beach were approached about suspicious activity involving a man and a child, the department said. During the investigation, two children, ages 8 and 9, reported that an adult male had exposed himself while on the beach.

Officers found the man leaving the beach and took him into custody, police said. Detectives continued the probe and interviewed the children. Frick was arrested and charged with two counts of child molestation, the department said.

The investigation remains active. Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity involving Frick at Coast Guard Beach on Aug. 23 or who has additional information is asked to call the GCPD nonemergency line at (912) 554-3645.

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

Iran threatens response ahead of US sanctions announcement

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Tehran would respond harshly to expanded U.S. sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington.

“Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences,” Esmail Baghaei said. “Our hands are not tied.” The new head of Iran’s top security body warned Sunday that Tehran will see any country’s support for the sanctions as an “act of war."

The expanded sanctions come after weeks of impasse. The United States has not dislodged Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war started nearly six months ago.

Iran's demands for reopening the strait include lifting the U.S. naval blockade, withdrawing U.S. forces from the region and reparations for damages sustained in the war. It has held separate talks with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on jointly managing the waterway regardless of whether a new deal is brokered with the U.S.

Sanctions have historically raised prices of basic goods in Iran, but after decades of withstanding them, Iran’s economy has adapted through finding new trading partners and building domestic industries.

Ahead of the expected U.S. announcement, the country's currency hit a record low on Monday.

China warns new sanctions will 'escalate the situation'

China said Monday that sanctions and additional pressure “will not help resolve the issue,” as the U.S. has threatened to impose secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Iran.

“They will only exacerbate tensions and escalate the situation, which is in no one’s interest,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a daily briefing in Beijing.

He added that China was calling on all parties to avoid measures “that could further intensify differences and conflicts and disrupt global economic development and financial stability.”

China is considered the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, and was importing more than 80% of Iranian oil before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Israeli and Syrian officials meet following an Israeli airstrike

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

The U.S.-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement, SANA said.

Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province, saying it aimed to stop Turkey — which has supported the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there.

Syrian officials during the talks asserted the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, SANA said.

They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria they have occupied since December 2024, and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.

Israeli officials didn't immediately comment on the meeting.

An oil tanker is struck off Saudi Arabia

A crude oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile Monday off Saudi Arabia, the British military said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said the attack occurred 63 nautical miles west of the Red Sea city of Yanbu, and a fire was ignited on the main deck. There were no reports of casualties.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked Saudi tankers in recent weeks but did not claim this attack, and did not respond to requests for comment. The group’s military spokesperson said the rebels will release a statement about “military operations” later in the day.

Israel says it killed another Hamas militant

Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit in an overnight airstrike, the latest targeted killing announced since U.S. officials met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week hoping to push last year’s ceasefire deal forward.

Israel says it targets and kills Palestinian militants it says participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.

Israel has announced targeted strikes on six of the seven days since U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu.

At least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gaza’s health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Its numbers are generally considered reliable by the international community.

Palestinian American says he can’t freely leave West Bank home

The Palestinian American homeowner whose residence was besieged this month by Israeli settlers said he remained unable to move freely in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Loui Ridi traveled from Ohio to join his relatives defending his home a week ago.

The Israeli military declared the area a closed zone to restore order in Qusra. Ridi said settlers returned throughout the week to the hill above his house.

Since Israeli settlers surrounded the house more than two weeks ago, preventing occupants from leaving, Israeli soldiers have encouraged them to leave but Israel’s police have not announced arrests.

The siege and Israel’s response have sparked condemnation from Israeli rights groups and foreign officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the violence terrorism.

Palestinians consider the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians and 560,000 Israeli settlers, the heart of any future state and have condemned Israel’s expansion there. This year has seen a dramatic spike in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

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The department reported the Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area had a labor force of 847,772 in July, with 805,825 people employed and 41,947 unemployed, producing the 4.9% not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate. That compares with a 4.8% rate in June 2026 and 4.3% in July 2025.

Statewide, the Florida Department of Commerce said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6% in July, down from 4.7% in June but up 0.7 percentage point from July 2025. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1% for the month, the release said.

The department’s release cautioned that local area figures are not seasonally adjusted and are based on household surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Estimates are revised monthly and are benchmarked annually against state reemployment tax records, the release said.

The rise in Northeast Florida’s unemployment rate comes amid mixed statewide job trends. Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was reported at about 10.04 million in July 2026, a gain of roughly 41,000 jobs over the year, the department said. Industries showing over-the-year job growth statewide included education and health services, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality, while some sectors — including financial activities and total government — posted job losses.

Local officials and workforce agencies often point to employment shifts in specific industries, seasonal hiring patterns and labor force changes as drivers of month-to-month movement in metro-area rates, the release noted.

Fernandez is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the deadly February 2022 ambush shooting in Jacksonville Beach that investigators say was carried out by Tenon, who was a tenant at a rental property Fernandez owned on Potomac Avenue in Northwest Jacksonville.

RELATED: Appeals court gives Jared Bridegan’s widow more time to turn over cellphone after order issued

Prosecutors allege Fernandez hired Tenon to kill Bridegan, his wife Shanna Gardner’s ex-husband. Gardner and Bridegan divorced in 2015 and spent years in and out of court in contentious disputes over how to care for the twins they shared.

Prosecutors say Fernandez is Tenon’s only link to Bridegan, a man he had never met. But the defense has argued that the state cannot prove who solicited Tenon or that Fernandez was involved in the shooting.

Tracking cellphones

FBI Agent Bobby Blythe testified in detail on Thursday and Friday about tracking the phones of Tenon and Fernandez on Feb. 16, 2022, the night Bridegan was killed, and on other dates.

Blythe testified that Fernandez’s phone was at or near his home before and after Bridegan’s killing but produced no cellular or timing-advance data from about 7:10 to 8:20 p.m.

The last gunshots that killed Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach were captured on a neighbor’s surveillance camera shortly before 8 p.m.

Blythe acknowledged that he could not determine why the gap occurred or where the phone was, saying it could have resulted from the phone being off, inactive, disconnected or a network issue.

During his cross-examination of Blythe, defense attorney Jesse Dreicer emphasized that the records were only snapshots in time and that Fernandez could have been connected to Wi-Fi, using the phone in ways not reflected in cellular data, or simply not generating records.

Blythe agreed that he did not know whether Fernandez had connected to Wi-Fi at his home and that the absence of records was not necessarily something Fernandez could control.

On the night of the murder, Tenon’s phone and Gmail location data showed him at or near the Potomac Avenue property until roughly 5:49–5:57 p.m., then moving south and east toward Jacksonville Beach, Blythe said.

Activity for both of Tenon’s devices stopped for a period afterward. Blythe said the devices could have been turned off or placed in airplane mode, but he could not state that with certainty.

Blythe said that Jan. 29, 2022, was of particular interest for Tenon’s phone because it followed an unusual path that prosecutors said appeared to be a practice run for the murder.

The phone traveled from the Potomac Avenue area toward St. Johns County and the area near Bridegan’s home and the gymnastics facility where Bridegan’s oldest daughter took lessons. Prosecutors argue Tenon had no logical reason to be there because he had never met Bridegan.

Defense questioning established the cellphone data did not show Fernandez and Tenon were together or place Fernandez at the murder scene.

Blythe explained to the jury that cellphone records can show an approximate location, not an exact one. Tower-and-sector data identifies the general coverage area; timing-advance data can narrow it further, while Google location history is usually the most precise, sometimes within a few meters.

Most of the tracking data for Tenon used Google history from the Gmail account attached to his device.

On redirect, Blythe testified that GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data stored on a phone could provide more precise location information.

Prosecutors have previously noted that Fernandez’s phone was factory reset before it was seized by authorities 11 months after the homicide.

“You’ll hear from a forensic expert what it means to wipe your phone, what you lose, all the apps, all of the passwords, financial records, banking records, every photograph someone has ever taken on their phone, gone,” Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler said during her opening statement. “Right after his tenant, ex-tenant, is arrested on unrelated charges.”

That means Blythe did not have access to that potential device-level location data when conducting his analysis.

Searches & cellphone activity

Former ATF intelligence research specialist Lyndsey Butler testified Friday about cellphone records, Google account data and other records reviewed during the investigation.

On cross-examination, defense attorney James Hill emphasized that Butler conducted only preliminary analysis and could not determine why gaps appeared in Fernandez’s cellphone records.

Butler testified that Fernandez and Tenon exchanged frequent calls and messages, including a 27-minute call on March 10. Butler said investigators focused on that date because Jacksonville Beach police had released images of the suspected blue Ford F-150 the previous day.

Butler also described more than 5,000 Google Chrome deletions processed the morning of Fernandez’s March 1 police interview, but acknowledged she could not identify what was deleted or connect it to the killing.

“All I can say is that they were processed on the same date of the first interview,” Butler said.

Hill emphasized that cellphone gaps, like the ones Butler had noted for Fernandez’s records around the time of Bridegan’s killing, had multiple possible explanations.

“I can only say that there are gaps,” Butler acknowledged.

JSO Detective David Ostertag later testified that Tenon’s phone listed Fernandez as a contact and contained four messages between them from Jan. 4, 2022. He acknowledged on cross-examination that a person having their landlord’s phone number in their contacts was not unusual.

Ostertag also testified that Fernandez’s phone was factory-reset Aug. 26, 2022, erasing access to earlier photos, texts, searches, social-media data and location information. The phone later contained 35 reactivated user accounts and no post-reset chats with Tenon.

On cross-examination, Ostertag agreed the reset could have been routine, noting Fernandez made a $70.46 purchase at a T-Mobile store that day.

Prosecutors countered that Fernandez continued using the phone after the reset, unlike someone trading it in.

‘Planned ambush’

Prosecutors have described the deadly shooting of Bridegan as a planned ambush.

“The killer was a stranger to Jared Bridegan. The murder was personal,” Stifler told jurors during opening statements.

Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft design manager and father of four, was killed Feb. 16, 2022, after stopping his Volkswagen Atlas SUV on that dark street to remove a tire that prosecutors say was left in the road to lure Bridegan out of the vehicle.

RELATED | Who was Jared Bridegan? A father, a creative builder, a believer — and so much more | 4 years later: A timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case

Bridegan, who was driving home to St. Augustine after dropping off the twins at Shanna Gardner’s Jacksonville Beach home, was shot twice as his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, sat in the vehicle. Two other bullets struck the SUV, narrowly missing Bexley.

The first trial witness, Jonelle Cruz, testified about comforting Bexley after her boyfriend found the toddler in the SUV near her father’s body that night.

Prosecutors say Bexley had been alone for about 7 minutes before Cruz and her boyfriend arrived.

In a video shown to jurors, Bexley described to Cruz hearing a “Boom!”

“She was shaking. She was very worried about her dad,” Cruz testified.

RELATED: Jared Bridegan’s widow honored with Back the Blue award for ‘Bexley Boxes’ | 911 calls describe scene of confusion in Sanctuary neighborhood on night of Jared Bridegan’s ambush murder

Key evidence: Where is the gun?

Defense attorneys have questioned lead Jacksonville Beach Police Detective Chris Johns and other investigators about the missing 10mm Glock believed to have been used to kill Bridegan. (The type of weapon was identified because of shell casings left at the scene.)

Agent Kenneth Stengel, who has been an ATF agent since 2008 and a firearms instructor for about two years, testified that 10mm weapons are more rare and that this was the first 10mm firearm he had encountered in his investigations.

Under cross-examination, however, Stengel acknowledged that Glock has produced multiple 10mm models and that investigators found records of six 10mm purchases at one Jacksonville gun store.

But Stengel maintained that the weapon was “not very common” based on his personal experience.

Investigators say the 10mm is significant because John Biggerstaff, a longtime friend of Fernandez, owned a 10mm at one point but could not produce it for detectives after the murder.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Biggerstaff has never been charged with a crime in connection with Bridegan’s murder.)

The state has said Fernandez visited Biggerstaff on Jan. 25, 2022, weeks before the murder, and that investigators found evidence that Biggerstaff searched for information about 10mm firearms on the day of the visit.

Former ATF Agent Butler testified that Biggerstaff’s Google account showed searches for “Glock 20 Gen four” and “10 millimeter Glock pistol” on Jan. 25, 2022. The account also visited a website showing Glock 20 Gen 4 pistols.

Defense attorney Hill noted that Fernandez was not at Biggerstaff’s home when the searches occurred, that no firearm purchase was documented and that the Glock 20 is a different model from the Glock 40 Gen 4 prosecutors allege was used to kill Bridegan.

Earlier, defense attorney Dreicer also suggested Fernandez could have visited Biggerstaff’s home for reasons unrelated to the murder, including their longstanding personal relationship. (Fernandez attended Sandalwood High School with Biggerstaff’s daughter.)

RELATED: He’s the first to face trial in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case. What do we know about Mario Fernandez?

Dreicer also questioned Johns about a video found on Biggerstaff’s phone that showed Fernandez having sex with Biggerstaff’s wife. Johns agreed the Biggerstaffs practiced a consensual “swinger” lifestyle.

The defense argued that Fernandez’s visit to Biggerstaff’s home in January 2022 did not prove he obtained a weapon there.

“What you certainly have no evidence of is that Mr. Biggerstaff gave Mr. Fernandez a 10mm firearm,” Dreicer said in one of many tense exchanges with Johns.

“There is no physical evidence of that,” Johns replied.

“OK. When you say no physical evidence, there is no evidence of that. Correct?” Dreicer asked again.

“There is no physical evidence of that,” Johns repeated.

Stengel testified Thursday that federal records showed Biggerstaff purchased a Glock 10mm on June 8, 2016, but that he had to give up that gun and other weapons after he was convicted of a felony.

Stengel testified that agents interviewed Biggerstaff, his son Juan and another man, but none provided information that led investigators to the location of the 10mm Glock. Investigators have admitted that the murder weapon was never recovered.

But on re-direct, Stifler got Johns to confirm that despite having no physical evidence that Biggerstaff had a 10mm gun at the time of the murder, detectives did have witness statements recorded on wires that led them to continue investigating Biggerstaff as the source of the murder weapon.

In testimony on Friday, FDLE firearms analyst Daniel Hausdorf said that microscopic markings showed four 10 mm cartridge cases recovered at the Bridegan murder scene were fired from the same firearm.

The markings were consistent with a Glock-type firearm, but because no gun was recovered, Hausdorf could not identify the specific model the cartridges were fired from.

Hausdorf said two projectiles also came from the same firearm, while two others were too damaged for comparison. He could not conclusively determine whether the projectiles were 10 mm or .40 caliber, identify which Glock model was used, or say who fired the weapon.

Defense attorneys also emphasized that thousands of Glock firearms are in circulation.

Key evidence: How did they find the blue truck?

Stengel also testified about the discovery of the blue, two-tone Ford F-150 that investigators say was captured on video being used in the killing.

Investigators had scoured the area for months after the shooting, and on Oct. 14, 2022, Stengel and a fellow agent used Google location data from Henry Tenon’s device to locate the truck at the home of Jimmy Jones, who turned out to be a longtime family friend of Tenon.

The truck was visible from the street, and Stengel said Jones was cooperative. Stengel said the truck’s discovery was a major break in the investigation.

Stengel and Johns both admitted on cross-examination that investigators did not search Jones’ home or the rest of the property for the missing firearm.

No DNA sample was taken from Jones, and no additional testing was conducted at the property. Stengel testified that he had no knowledge of any connection between Jones and Fernandez and that Jones was not treated as a suspect.

Johns said the truck was the only evidence recovered there and that investigators had no reason to search the house because records showed the truck arrived months after the homicide and Jones was not considered a suspect.

Dreicer challenged that explanation, noting investigators had not recovered the firearm and had evidence that Tenon had been at the home.

“Other than the fact that the biggest break in the case was found at Jimmy Jones’s house. Other than that, there was no reason to search the house,” Dreicer said.

Stifler made a point of asking Johns on re-direct about not searching Jones’s home. Johns confirmed to her that investigators received information in 2023 that the gun involved in the murder had been destroyed shortly after the shooting, so it would not have been at Jones’s home even if they’d searched for it.

Key evidence: Who was driving the blue truck?

Video evidence shown in court traced the blue, two-tone Ford F-150 through Jacksonville Beach on the night of the killing.

Prosecutors say the truck carried the shooter to the scene of the murder, but that surveillance showed a person running from the area after the shooting while someone else drove away in the truck.

That means two people were there that night, the prosecutors and defense agree.

But they don’t agree on who that might be.

The defense has emphasized that Fernandez was not shown driving the truck or accompanying Tenon.

Investigators acknowledged they could not identify the truck’s driver and that there is a 32-minute gap in the footage when they don’t know where the truck was in Jacksonville Beach that night.

What surveillance video did capture, though, was an unsettling moment outside the Jacksonville Beach Police Department the night of the murder.

A man prosecutors believe was Tenon walked past the station just seconds before Kirsten Bridegan arrived in the family’s SUV after learning her husband had been shot.

Kirsten testified on Monday that she did not recognize the man, and it was unclear whether she had seen the footage before or knew how close she had come to him that night.

Interactive timeline

Potomac property

In his cross-examination of Detective Johns, Dreicer also focused on cellphone and surveillance evidence involving Fernandez’s rental property on Potomac Avenue, where Tenon lived at one point.

Again, Fernandez’s phone was recorded at the property for several hours on Jan. 29, 2022, while Tenon’s phone traveled toward Jacksonville Beach and back in what prosecutors describe as a practice run for the night of the murder.

Dreicer made a point while questioning Johns that there was surveillance video evidence showing it was not unusual for Fernandez to be at the rental property when the renter was not at the home, and that by late January, another man had begun renting the property.

Dreicer pointed to surveillance footage showing Fernandez repeatedly visiting the Potomac property, meeting contractors and carrying construction materials.

He argued the video supported Fernandez’s explanation that he was overseeing legitimate repair and renovation work.

Johns agreed the footage showed Fernandez performing or arranging property work but said it did not establish what happened on the specific day in question: Jan. 29, 2022.

Key evidence: Was there DNA?

Prosecutors presented evidence from a DNA analyst on Wednesday afternoon, who said that Tenon’s DNA was found on the tire used to stop Jared Bridegan’s vehicle.

Investigators say Tenon’s boots, jacket and distinctive gait also matched evidence associated with the shooter.

Fernandez’s DNA was not found on any of the items tested by investigators, the analyst acknowledged.

Detective Johns also acknowledged there was no surveillance, fingerprint, hair or other physical evidence placing Fernandez in Tenon’s blue pickup truck or proving he accompanied Tenon to Jacksonville Beach.

Dreicer made a point of talking about how dirty the inside of the truck was when investigators found it months later, implying that the evidence was not missing because someone had “wiped” the truck.

Key evidence: What were the checks for?

The state has highlighted three checks totaling $10,000 that Fernandez wrote to Tenon after the killing.

Johns testified Tuesday that three business check stubs, which were later matched to three checks Fernandez wrote to Tenon, were found in the blue truck.

The checks were described as payment for landscaping, roof work and a Kickstarter project that the state says didn’t exist.

The checks from First Choice Home Rentals LLC — all signed by Fernandez — were for $2,000 and $3,000 dated March 28, 2022, and $5,000 dated April 4, 2022.

Prosecutors argue the payments were disguised compensation for the murder.

But the defense says Tenon performed work at Fernandez’s property and that the checks were legitimate.

“Henry Tenon is a worker. Mario Fernandez has hired him to do work, not murder, tree work, roof work, landscaping, tile work,” Hill said in his opening statement.

Former ATF Agent Butler also testified that she found no evidence of payments from Fernandez to Tenon before the Feb. 16, 2022, homicide. The only payments she was aware of were the three checks issued after the killing.

She said she could not determine whether the checks were related to the homicide.

“I don’t have information that I can speak to now that these three checks were anything other than what they said on the memo line,” Butler said.

Gene Nichols, an attorney not involved in the case, said the checks are the hinge point of the entire trial.

“I think when it’s all said and done, what does the jury believe about the checks? That’s going to rule a tremendous amount,” he said. “That, to me, is going to be where this hinges — will a jury believe that those checks were written in order to commit murder, or were those checks written for the work that Mr. Hill said they were written for?”

He added that the burden of proof remains high.

“If the jury believes that they were for work that was done, or they take the position that the state didn’t prove that the money was for murder, then that’s going to sway a jury,” Nichols said. “In order to convict him, it’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by all of those jurors.”

What’s the motive?

Prosecutors have pointed to the hostility between the two families as a possible motive for Bridegan’s murder.

Kirsten Bridegan, Jared’s widow, testified Monday that the co-parenting relationship between Jared and Shanna Gardner had deteriorated into constant conflict.

“It was pretty terrible,” Kirsten Bridegan said on the stand. “There was absolutely no trust so everything was in writing. Texts, email. We did not speak in person, like at school events. Didn’t do phone calls.”

In his initial interview with detectives, which was played in court on Tuesday for about 50 minutes, Fernandez discussed the ongoing conflicts over the twins, describing Jared Bridegan as difficult and “passive-aggressive” and calling him a “keyboard warrior.”

Fernandez also mentioned the family communication in that interview, saying the family was in a group text and had an arrangement to text when they arrived to pick up the kids for date night.

The custody agreement established alternating Wednesday “date nights” for both parents on the week when the children were in the other parent’s home.

Dreicer argued that the schedule for date night was public information and therefore could have been known by people outside the family.

“So the idea that (Wednesday date night) is some personal detail that only the Bridegans would know and only the Gardner-Fernandez residence would know is simply not true. It’s public information. Correct?” Dreicer asked.

“The docket is publicly available,” Johns acknowledged.

Friends testify

On Wednesday and Thursday, friends of Fernandez also testified.

Taylor Kutis described conversations involving Fernandez’s marriage, co-parenting disputes and an obscure “contract” involving his wife’s family.

Under cross-examination, Kutis acknowledged that her recollections were not verbatim, that she kept no notes and that some details came from media reports.

Victor Quiroz, a longtime online gaming friend, testified that Fernandez visited him in North Carolina in March 2022.

Quiroz said Fernandez acted normally and did not discuss the killing. Fernandez mentioned only later that his wife’s former husband had been shot.

Carlos Phuong, a friend of Fernandez since high school, testified on Thursday about Fernandez’s relationship with Gardner and about two phone calls he placed to Fernandez in January 2023, when neither man was aware they were being recorded.

The expletive-laced calls between the two friends were played for the jury.

In the calls, Phuong told Fernandez that media reports were linking Gardner to Jared Bridegan’s death and that Henry Tenon had been arrested. They discussed Tenon’s work on Fernandez’s rental property and possible motives, along with unrelated topics.

Phuong testified that Fernandez made no admission, did not seem evasive and said he had nothing to do with the killing.

Phuong also testified that he never heard Fernandez or Gardner threaten Jared Bridegan or discuss planning his killing.

What’s next?

Fernandez’s murder trial is scheduled to continue through Aug. 28.

Gardner, 39, faces a separate trial in September, while Tenon is scheduled to stand trial in 2027 after withdrawing an earlier guilty plea.

Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Tenon is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, possession of a firearm by a felon and accessory after the fact.

Neither Gardner nor Tenon will testify in Fernandez’s trial.

RELATED: Judge orders Jared Bridegan’s widow to turn over cellphone in Shanna Gardner murder case

The case has garnered national attention, and Judge London Kite has repeatedly explained to the 12 jurors and four alternates that they can not look up anything about the case or talk about it with anyone.

As part of the preparation for trial, Kite previously ordered that the seated jurors’ names be kept anonymous until 60 days after the trial, which is typical in high-profile cases. The jurors were referred to only by their numbers during jury selection to protect their identities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

According to the synopsis, the film was shot at night on Tel Aviv rooftops and focuses on the killings of Palestinian civilians. Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor co-directed “Naza,” which was produced by The Guardian and filmmakers behind “The Zone of Interest.” It’s the only documentary competing for the Golden Lion award.

Abraham and Szor were two of the four directors of the 2025 best documentary winner “No Other Land,” the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by the Israeli military. A collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, it was made over four years between 2019 and 2023, wrapping production days before Hamas launched its deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza.

“Naza” builds on reporting between 2023 and 2025 published by the Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and The Guardian.

The war was top of mind at last year’s festival as well, where thousands gathered for a large pro-Palestinian protest during one of the busiest nights in hopes of redirecting the spotlight from the movie stars to the real world. The subject was also prominent in the program: Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about the death of a 6-year-old girl attempting to flee Gaza City with her family in early 2024, won the festival’s Silver Lion award.

Ben Hania is part of the Maggie Gyllenhaal-led jury that will be selecting the award winners at the festival, which begins on Sept. 2. Winners will be announced on Sept. 12.

Earlier this year, the Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition opened with no Golden Lions after the jury quit in protest of Israel’s and Russia’s participation and loud protests outside their pavilions. In 2024 the artist and curators representing Israel at the Venice Biennale kept the Israeli pavilion exhibit closed, saying they would only open it if there were a ceasefire in Gaza.

Harry, who last week announced he and his family were returning to live in the U.K., left the board of trustees after 10 years of service to the organization, a spokesperson for prince confirmed on Monday.

African Parks said in a statement dated Aug. 19 that the prince’s departure was part of a “governance refresh” in which a Kenyan Supreme Court justice and the president of AGRA, which helps small farmers in Africa, will join the board. The changes take effect Sept. 30.

Harry's departure comes four months after the Indigenous rights group Survival International called on him to resign after it alleged human rights abuses by rangers employed by African Parks. Previously, the prince left Sentebale, the charity he co-founded to fight poverty and AIDS in southern Africa, in March 2025 after relations with the organization's chair broke down.

“We extend our thanks to all the members of the Board who generously volunteer their time in support of our conservation mission — and particularly to The Duke of Sussex, for a decade of committed service to African Parks,” Vas Narasimhan, chair of the African Parks board, said in a statement.

Harry and his wife, Meghan, stepped aside from royal duties when they moved to the U.S. They will not return to royal duties and are expected to live in a non-royal residence outside London.

Each side blamed the other for the collapse of negotiations in Washington late Friday, leading the U.S. to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods and Canada setting Sept. 8 as the start of its retaliatory penalties.

President Donald Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the United States every year, ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors. Prime Minister Carney said Ottawa would respond with targeted tariff protection for industries exposed to the new U.S. duties, including some steel products. He also mentioned the dairy, appliance, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics sectors.

No further talks were planned. Whatever the eventual outcome, a loss of trust seems one of the earliest casualties.

Carney accused Washington of using “economic integration as a weapon” and said “its signature was written in pencil.” Resorting to the language of battle, he said his country had been “attacked” by the new American tariffs. “You’re at war when you get attacked,” he said, adding that Canada had the reserves, resilience and plan to respond.

But to Trump’s chief trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, the U.S. was compelled to act after a year of retaliation by its longtime partner.

“We’ve said enough, and so we’ve taken countermeasures. Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains,” the U.S. trade representative told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

Canada cites ‘unacceptable demands’ as US says it offered favorable terms

Carney said Canada had been willing to drop remaining retaliatory tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos if the U.S. substantially lowered its own, and to encourage provinces to restore U.S. alcohol sales. But he said Washington’s final demands went too far. “They asked too much and offered too little,” Carney said.

Greer said the Republican administration was offering to cut tariffs on steel, autos and lumber, “things that are sensitive for them. And they’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that.”

As a result, he said, “We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation.”

Carney said the U.S. added last-minute terms that would have reduced tariff relief for Canadian-made vehicles, restricted Canada’s ability to strike trade deals with other countries and weakened protections for language, culture and sovereignty.

He said such demands were “unacceptable.”

The breakdown in negotiations marked a sharp reversal from two days earlier, when officials from the two countries sounded as if they were headed toward a compromise.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who leads Canada’s most populous province, praised Carney for rejecting the deal, saying it would have hurt Ontario’s auto, steel and manufacturing sectors. Ford urged Canada to use “every tool in our toolbox” to fight the U.S. tariffs.

The moves also call into question the future of a North American trade agreement covering the United States, Canada and Mexico that is crucial to industry in all three countries.

Carney said the breakdown was “certainly not good news” for the review of that agreement and that the failed negotiations had given Canada “a new perspective” on what Washington wants from the broader economic relationship.

A typically cooperative alliance goes sour

The political impact will likely be even bigger than the economic fallout. The countries sold each other $880 billion worth of goods and services last year.

The tariffs were initially supposed to kick in at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Trump extended the deadline for three days to allow talks to continue, but the countries could not reach an agreement in time.

The U.S. and Canada have wrangled for decades over trade, poking each other over sore spots such as Canadian softwood lumber imports and U.S. access to Canada’s protected dairy market.

Somehow, they still managed to remain friends, allies and trading partners. Canadian soldiers fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan after 9/11. The 5,525-mile U.S.-Canada border is undefended, and nearly 330,000 people and $2 billion worth of goods cross it every day; 800,000 Canadians live in the United States.

Trump’s approach to dealing with Canada marks an extraordinary departure from the traditionally cooperative relationship between the two countries. Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian goods in a push to bring manufacturing back to the United States and made inflammatory comments about turning Canada into America’s 51st state.

Carney said Canada had recognized that “America has changed” and that the two countries would “not return to our old relationship.”

Canadians and Americans are frustrated

The Canadian public is fed up. A petition to expel U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, a Trump ally, has collected nearly 248,000 signatures since July 21. It accuses the former Republican congressman from Michigan of having “normalized’’ Trump’s talk of annexing Canada, among other things.

The two countries had good reasons to find a compromise.

Nearly 72% of Canada’s goods exports last year went to the United States. The Trump administration might be wary of imposing new tariffs — paid by U.S. importers who try to pass along the cost to consumers via higher prices — before the November midterm elections. American voters are already frustrated with the high cost of living.

“Both sides will be under immense pressure in the coming days to still find an off-ramp,” said Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official.

Joshua Bolten, CEO of the Business Roundtable, which represents leaders of major U.S. companies, warned the tariffs and retaliation risk “raising costs for American businesses and families” and disrupting vital supply chains, and urged both governments to resume negotiations.

Trump has turned to Depression-era trade penalties

Trump has made tariffs the centerpiece of his second-term economic agenda. Last year, he imposed double-digit import taxes on almost every country, justifying them by declaring the long-standing U.S. trade deficit a national emergency. The Supreme Court in February ruled that he had overstepped his authority. The justices struck down the trade penalties and set the stage for the federal government to pay refunds to importers.

So Trump has looked for other legal authority to justify tariffs.

After the Supreme Court struck down much of Trump’s earlier tariff program in February, the administration turned to other legal authorities. For Canada, Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a rarely used Depression-era provision allowing tariffs of up to 50% against countries deemed to discriminate against U.S. businesses.

The provision is part of the Smoot-Hawley tariff law, widely blamed by economists and historians for worsening the Great Depression by restricting global trade. Section 338 has never previously been used to impose tariffs.

The rift comes as the United States, Mexico and Canada are trying to renew a trade agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term and once praised as a triumph. The United States has begun formal talks with Mexico over revamping the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA. But talks with Canada have not begun and escalating trade conflict casts doubt on whether they will.

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Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Brown’s contract was set to expire at the end of the season. Senior adviser Jeff Bagwell and assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff will take over Brown’s responsibilities while team owner Jim Crane will oversee baseball operations during the transition.

The move comes after the Astros went 3-6 on a homestand that ended Sunday to fall into a tie with the Texas Rangers for the AL West lead.

Brown had been the team’s general manager since January 2023.

“Over the past four seasons, Dana has helped our organization win two division titles and has led our baseball front office through key scouting, draft and development efforts,” Crane said in a statement. “On behalf of the Astros, I want to thank him for his commitment, energy, and contributions to our organization. We wish he and his family the best.”

Brown came to Houston after four seasons as vice president of scouting for the Atlanta Braves to replace James Click, who was not given a new contract and left the Astros just days after they won the 2022 World Series.

“I want to thank Jim Crane for the opportunity to serve in my first role as an MLB General Manager,” Brown said. “The Astros organization and the fans have welcomed me and my family, and I am grateful to have called Houston home for the past four seasons. I wish the organization well and I look forward to the future as I continue my 36-plus years in professional baseball.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Scientists have long warned that the world will experience more intense extreme weather events like heat waves, storms, floods and droughts. But what once seemed like the realm of fiction is now discussed as a possibility, even an inevitability.

Warning about an “extreme of extremes” or the “Other Big One,” a play off the California reference of a big future earthquake, can be fraught. After all, nobody can say for sure when a weather catastrophe may happen. But in the last few years, the planetary ingredients needed for a massive disturbance have been building. And alarm is growing.

“The risk is that people just think you are exaggerating,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the California Institute for Water Resources. “It's the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ problem. Sometimes wolves are real. If it’s outside the door, wouldn’t you want to know?”

The risks have been known, and building, for over 150 years

In the 1850s, while living in Seneca Falls, New York, amateur scientist Eunice Newton Foote did a series of experiments that put different substances, including carbon dioxide and moist air, inside glass cylinders and left them in the sun. What she found was extraordinary: cylinders with carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is released when coal, gas or oil is burned, heated up faster and took longer to cool after the sun went down.

Fast-forward: Today, Earth is being heated by massive amounts of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere, leading to a gradual rise in average global temperature. That increase, 1.44 degrees Celsius (2.59 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer in 2025 compared to the early 1800s, leads to more frequent, and more intense, extreme weather events.

The country that has released the most greenhouse gas, and thus contributed most to climate change, is the United States. But don't expect recognition of that, much less major government-led efforts to combat it, as the country marks its 250th birthday. President Donald Trump has called climate change “the greatest con job ever," referred to climate policies as a “Green New Scam” and said U.N. climate predictions were made by “stupid people.”

At any given time there are numerous extreme weather events happening around the globe. Indeed, some have already been so big that we have arguably entered an age of extremes.

Consider Australia's “Black Summer” of wildfires in 2019 and 2020, when 19 million hectares (over 46 million acres) were scorched. Or Pakistan in 2022, when flooding left a third of the country under water. Or Hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024, which ravaged parts of the southern United States. That is to say nothing of periodic smaller disasters, such as last year's Texas floods that engulfed young campers; the Los Angeles wildfires that chewed through entire neighborhoods; and Typhoon Kalmaegi, which walloped Vietnam and the Philippines.

Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist at Australian National University, says she had a “come to Jesus moment" when she realized that constant extreme weather events wouldn't stop even if the world could immediately reach net zero, the point when as much greenhouse gas is taken out of the atmosphere as released into it. Many countries and major companies have net-zero targets for 2050 or beyond.

Because carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, and so much has already built up, the damage could take centuries to reverse. And we keep adding more.

“It's the issue of the frog in the boiling water," said Perkins-Kirkpatrick. "If we get used to bracing ourselves, are we going to notice?”

What's clear is that no country is truly prepared for a major climate disaster, and the risks are changing.

Robinson, whose book was published in 2020, says if he were writing today he would include a chapter on wildfires, which have become larger and more destructive. And while the potential heat disaster he writes about in India would arguably be less likely today, thanks to less reliance on the grid and use of solar power, Robinson believes the risks of catastrophe have increased.

The book, he says, “still has a purpose."

People have a natural aversion to contemplating worst case scenarios

It's basic psychology to avoid talking about uncomfortable things. Climate change, depressing and overwhelming, falls into that category.

Instead of taking action by radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or updating our infrastructure to live in a world altered by extreme weather events, a common response, from governments to individuals has largely been to ignore it. Part of the challenge is the care scientists must take when discussing extreme events.

It's impossible to say, for example, that a disaster will happen in a certain year or even decade. But modeling improves every year, and the amount of time between extreme events is shrinking.

Sonia Seneviratne is a Swiss climatologist who vice chairs a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the top U.N. body of climate scientists. Seneviratne likens the risk to smoking and lung cancer. People who smoke won't necessarily get lung cancer, but the chances are higher and doctors should say that. Similarly, the risk of massive extreme events rises with every tenth of a degree.

“If such an event happened, I could already see the criticism of people saying, ‘Climate scientists didn’t tell us,’" Seneviratne said. "But we did.”

While earthquakes are not connected to climate change, the way many cities in earthquake-prone California have prepared for a potential Big One is as an example of what's possible. Central to that effort has been Lucy Jones, a seismologist and author of “The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them).”

In 2014, Jones, then with the U.S. Geological Survey, worked with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's administration in developing an initiative that produced widespread retrofitting and earthquake preparedness in LA, and then later in other California cities. Two years later, she formed a nonprofit that advises on preparing for earthquakes and other disasters.

Jones says people will make changes if they believe risks are real and solutions are possible. Without that belief, the response will likely be to ignore the issue.

“Climate denial is one way of coping," said Jones. She said people rationalize by thinking, 'I won’t believe it’s true, so I’ll feel safer.’”

In the movies, the final resolution is often extreme — and not helpful

Over the last quarter century, many movies have focused on extreme weather events, which provide action and danger to any plot. The cinematic portrayals usually have one of two endings: everything will be okay or we are doomed.

Consider two popular climate movies that came out 15 years apart. In the 2004 “The Day After Tomorrow,” Jack Hall, played by Dennis Quaid, is a climate scientist who, speaking at a U.N. climate conference in Delhi, urges a major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, warning that a failure to do so will lead to major extreme weather events.

“The climate is fragile," says Hall.

“The economy is fragile,” responds the U.S. vice president.

Shortly after, the disaster that Hall warns about happens. Melting polar ice halts the North Atlantic Current, which moves warm ocean currents northeast across the Atlantic. There are giant cyclones, massive hailstones, heavy flooding and tornadoes before a big freeze takes over — so cold that anybody outside dies.

Eventually the vice president, who has become president, apologizes to the nation for exploiting nature.

“We were wrong," he says.

In the 2021 satire “Don't Look Up,” two astronomers played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence discover a giant comet heading toward Earth. They try to spur action to avoid annihilation. The U.S. president, played by Meryl Streep, isn't interested.

“At this exact moment, I think we sit tight and assess,” Streep says after learning the comet is heading straight toward Earth.

“How big is this thing? Can it destroy my ex-wife's house?” jokes a television news host.

At the end, almost everybody dies, a scenario that even the worst predictions of climate impacts don't envision.

Science tells us catastrophe is not a question of if, but when

As powerful as extreme weather events have already gotten, much worse is likely to come. It’s basic physics.

More than half all greenhouse gases produced by humans throughout history have been released into the atmosphere over 50 years. Those gases create heat, which scrambles weather patterns and ecosystems.

The when of a major climatic event, or more likely several in different parts of the world, can't be known with certainty. A catastrophic event in any given area could be in 50 years, or 10 years, or sooner.

People who deny climate change is real will point out that scientists get projections wrong, and it's true that not every climate model has been correct. But over the last decades, if anything, climate scientists have been too conservative. Climate impacts are happening much faster than predicted.

One of many examples: in January 2022, the U.K. Climate Risk Assessment said there was a 0.02% chance of 40C (104F) or above heat before 2040. That summer, parts of the U.K. topped 40C.

We have also reached a moment when “tipping points" — when deterioration of a given planetary system has crossed a threshold from which it can't recover — are no longer positioned as theoretical or futuristic.

The most commonly cited is corals. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, between 2023 and 2025, 84% of the world's corals suffered the expelling of microscopic algae in response to heat stress, which often leads to dying. Even if temperatures were to sharply drop, the recovery of most corals is doubtful.

The Amazon rainforest, which stores massive amounts of carbon dioxide and helps regulate the climate, is also at risk of a tipping point. Persistent drought, large wildfires and deforestation to make way for cattle have degraded swaths of forest in recent decades. The debate today is when, not if, the Amazon will release more carbon dioxide than it holds.

This year's El Niño, a natural and periodic warming cycle, is expected to be the strongest ever recorded, which could push temperatures even higher, breaking records and leaving damage along the way.

Overall, the Earth is on a dangerous path.

“We need to be talking about some of the worst things that can happen,” said Tim Lenton, climate science professor at the University of Exeter. “It’s natural to think that some bigger shocks are on the way.”

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Peter Prengaman is The Associated Press’ global director of climate news and can be followed on LinkedIn.

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AP's climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The state average for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.86 per gallon, roughly unchanged from a week earlier. By contrast, the national average edged up from $4.07 to $4.10 per gallon.

Crude oil rose during the week to $87.06 per barrel, up from $84.50, while gasoline futures increased to $3.35 per gallon from $3.27. Those wholesale cost gains typically put upward pressure on pump prices because fuel retailers pay more for the gasoline they buy from suppliers.

“Florida drivers didn’t see much movement at the pump last week, even though the cost of oil and gasoline futures moved higher,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA — The Auto Club Group. “If wholesale fuel costs remain elevated, drivers could begin seeing more upward pressure on pump prices in the coming days.”

AAA reminded motorists that prices can vary widely between stations and offered tips to save: shop around, combine errands and avoid aggressive driving habits that reduce fuel economy.

More information is available at AAA’s gas price site.

Graham won the June 9 Republican primary for renomination to the seat he first won in 2002, but his unexpected death on July 11 from an aortic tear created a vacancy not only for his current U.S. Senate seat but also as the party’s pick to compete for another six-year term.

The finalists for the Republican nomination are Graham’s sister, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother’s current term, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a five-term congressman who ran for governor earlier in the year and placed third in the primary.

Darline Graham placed first in the Aug. 11 special primary but fell shy of the vote majority needed to avoid Tuesday’s runoff. She received about 33% of the vote, compared to about 25% for Norman. U.S. Rep. Russell Fry placed third with about 20% of the vote.

Graham swept the counties across central South Carolina, including the Columbia area, as well as the state’s Lowcountry region, which includes Charleston. She scored her highest percentages in counties along the Georgia border.

Norman performed best in the state’s Piedmont and Upstate regions, including the Greenville area. Fry did best in the eight counties in the Pee Dee and Waccamaw regions that he represents in Congress.

Fry endorsed Graham after he lost the primary. She also has key backing from Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and President Donald Trump, who was an early proponent of Graham and held a campaign rally with her Friday in Myrtle Beach.

Greenville County is the most populous in the state and typically contributes the most votes in statewide Republican primaries. It also has bucked against the front-runners in recent Republican primaries. Norman also carried Greenville County in the gubernatorial primary, and it was one of the only counties Lindsey Graham lost in his final election.

Democratic-leaning Richland and Charleston counties have the next-largest populations and contribute a sizable number of votes in Republican primaries, but they tend to be more influential in Democratic contests.

Horry, Lexington and Spartanburg counties are also large counties that have big impacts on Republican primaries. Spartanburg was the only other county Lindsey Graham lost in the June primary.

The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician who challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in the 1st Congressional District in 2022.

Lindsey Graham last won reelection in 2020 with 54% of the vote. Trump carried the state in 2024 with 58% of the vote.

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

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare a winner in the special Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate.

Who gets to vote?

Voters who participated in the Democratic primary on June 9 may not participate in the special Republican primary runoff on August 25. Only Republican primary voters or registered voters who did not participate in any party’s primary on June 9 may cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.

How many voters are there?

As of Friday, there were about 3.4 million registered voters in South Carolina. Voters in South Carolina do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

About 465,000 voters cast ballots in the June 9 Republican U.S. Senate primary when Lindsey Graham was renominated. About 336,000 voters participated in the Aug. 11 special Republican U.S. Senate primary.

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

About 19% of the vote in Aug. 11 Republican special primary was cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Friday, about 45,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Nearly all of South Carolina’s 46 counties release all or almost all of their early in-person and mail voting results in the first vote update of the night, usually before releasing any results from in-person Election Day voting.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the Aug. 11 special primary, the AP first reported results at 7:13 p.m. ET, or 13 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:25 p.m. ET with more than 99% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

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

How do recounts work?

In South Carolina, recounts are automatic if the margin between the winning and losing candidates is 1% of the total vote or less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 70 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

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The story has been updated to correct the South Carolina region from Upcountry to Upstate.

Ministry of Health data showed that as of Saturday, the outbreak had recorded 5,514 cases and 2,642 deaths, including 317 deaths reported in the previous seven days. But Congolese experts have said the outbreak that started weeks before it was confirmed could be three times the known size.

This is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, with many people dying outside treatment centers. It has recorded seven times more deaths at this stage than the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak that is the deadliest in history with over 11,000 in all.

Most new cases in Ituri province, the current epicenter, still come from outside monitored contacts.

Nearly half of people infected have died — 47.9% — but the government data shows much higher rates in hard-to-reach areas such as North Kivu province, which has a fatality rate of 68.6%.

Frontline workers to receive vaccine used in past outbreaks

A key challenge has been the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak.

On Friday, Congo received more than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common type. The World Health Organization says it also will be used in clinical trials for a Bundibugyo virus vaccine.

WHO says it’s not known whether Ervebo can protect against the Bundibugyo virus, although early laboratory and animal data suggest it may offer some protection.

Officials have not said when the vaccine will be rolled out to frontline workers. In Ituri, locals expressed optimism that it will help slow the outbreak.

“I am very pleased that these vaccines have finally arrived,” said Héritier Ramazani, a resident. “We are fed up with recording new cases of Ebola every day.”

The outbreak is unfolding in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable, with rebel threats and intense population movements.

Medical teams in Ituri and other affected provinces also face work stoppages by responders who haven’t been paid, anger from long-traumatized communities, bad roads and misinformation claiming that Ebola isn’t real.

Experts believe the virus was spreading in the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February, months before authorities declared the outbreak on May 15.

The agency thanked everyone who helped spread the word.

NOTE: The teen’s name and photo have been removed from this article because he is no longer missing.

The contest between two Democrats will further reduce an already thin Republican majority in the U.S. House.

The finalists for the seat are former Gwinnett County School Board Chair Everton Blair and Marcye Scott, daughter of the late congressman. They were the top two vote-getters among five contenders in the July 28 all-party special election. Scott received about 46% of the vote, compared to about 38% for Blair.

The winner will serve out the remaining few months of David Scott’s final term. Neither candidate is running in for the next full term in this seat, which begins on Jan. 3, 2027.

Blair was the only candidate in the special election who also ran for the full-term seat. He placed third in the May 19 Democratic primary with about 12% of the vote. State Rep. Jasmine Clark won the primary with 56% of the vote and will face Republican Jonathan Chavez in November. Chavez, who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, challenged David Scott in the 2024 general election and received about 28% of the vote.

Clark did not file to compete in the special election. Doing so would have required her to resign from her seat in the state Legislature just as Republican Gov. Brian Kemp was calling for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries in time for the 2028 elections. The state constitution bars state officeholders from seeking a different office with a start date more than 30 days before the end of the officeholder’s current term. The special session did convene, but Republican leaders opted not to take up redistricting.

In recent years, Congressman Scott had faced questions over his age and health. At the time of his death at age 80, he was facing a tough primary challenge from Clark and others as he sought a 13th term.

Georgia’s 13th Congressional District is east and southeast of Atlanta and includes parts of six heavily Democratic counties: Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton and Rockdale. Of the six, the district’s portion of Gwinnett County has the lion’s share of voters, with about 46% of the district electorate in the 2024 general election.

Blair’s best performance in the July 28 special election was in his home base of Gwinnett County, where he received 56% of the vote. Marcye Scott, who lives outside the district in Fulton County as her father did, carried the other five counties in the district, scoring her highest totals in DeKalb, Clayton and Henry.

David Scott won his 2024 reelection bid with about 72% of the vote. In the presidential election that night, Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris received about 71% of the vote in the district, compared with about 28% for Republican Donald Trump. Trump had his best performance in the district in Gwinnett County, although that still only amounted to about 35% of the vote.

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

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare a winner in the special runoff in the 13th Congressional District.

Who gets to vote?

Any voter registered in the 13th Congressional District may participate in the special runoff.

How many voters are there?

As of Friday, there were about 585,000 registered voters in the 13th Congressional District. Georgia voters do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

A total of 20,510 votes were cast in the July 28 special election. Turnout in a runoff election tends to be lower than in the election that preceded it.

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

About 47% of the total vote in the July 28 special election was cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Friday, about 5,200 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election, with by far the largest share coming from Gwinnett County, followed by Clayton and Rockdale counties.

When are early and absentee votes released?

All six counties in the 13th Congressional District tend to release most or all of their results from early in-person and mail voting in the first vote update of the night, usually before any in-person Election Day results are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the July 28 special election, the AP first reported results at 7:05 p.m. ET, or five minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 10:05 p.m. ET with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

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

How do recounts work?

There is no automatic recount provision in Georgia, but a losing candidate may request a recount if the margin is less than or equal to 0.5% of the total vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 70 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

The outcome of the gubernatorial primary to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has major implications for the fall general election, as Democrats haven’t won the Oklahoma governorship in 20 years. It will also further test President Donald Trump’s endorsement power.

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei were the top vote-getters among nine candidates in the June 16 primary, with Drummond just edging Mazzei, 26.25% to 25.97%. Both fell far short of the majority needed to avoid Tuesday’s runoff.

Drummond narrowly carried Oklahoma and Cleveland counties in the Oklahoma City area, while Mazzei edged Drummond in Tulsa County. The two split most of the counties in the Tulsa area.

The two have poured millions from their personal fortunes into the race, with Mazzei loaning his campaign more than $11 million, compared with $3 million for Drummond, according to state campaign finance records. Mazzei has spent $12.3 million in the race overall, while Drummond has spent about $9.1 million. Loans aside, Drummond has far outraised Mazzei in campaign contributions, $7.1 million to about $1.5 million.

Trump endorsed Mazzei ahead of the primary, while also lobbing insults at Drummond. Trump’s picks overall in 2026 have had a strong record at the ballot box, but his endorsement is not a guarantee of victory, especially in gubernatorial primaries. The president’s picks for Iowa governor and Georgia governor lost their nomination bids, while his pick for South Carolina governor was forced to a runoff and ultimately lost the nomination after the president also endorsed her opponent.

The Oklahoma winner will face Democratic state House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson in the general election.

In the U.S. Senate race, nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas received about 45% of the Democratic primary vote, short of the majority required to avoid a runoff. Attorney and minister Jim Priest placed second with about 24% of the vote, despite a massive fundraising advantage. He raised almost six times more than Thomas heading into the primary and increased his advantage heading into the runoff. As of Aug. 5, the Thomas campaign reported having only $455 in the bank, compared to about $56,000 for Priest.

The winner will face Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, who won the five-way primary with about 70% of the vote. The state last elected a Democrat for U.S. Senate in 1990.

Also before voters is State Question 846, which would amend the state constitution to require voters to provide proof of identity in order to cast a ballot, which is already required under state law.

State Question 844 would affect the reimbursements that local governments receive from the state for lost property tax revenue under an incentive program for manufacturing companies.

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

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. CT, which is 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in primary runoff elections for U.S. Senate, governor, state school superintendent, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner, state Senate and state House, as well as for the two statewide ballot measures.

Who gets to vote?

Voters registered with a political party may participate only in their own party’s primary runoffs. Democrats may not vote in a Republican primary runoff or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either party’s runoff elections. All registered voters may cast ballots on the statewide ballot measures.

How many voters are there?

As of July 31, there were about 2.4 million registered voters in Oklahoma, including about 1.3 million registered Republicans, 616,000 registered Democrats and 500,000 independents not registered with any party.

How many people actually vote?

Roughly 403,000 votes were cast in the June 16 Republican primary for governor and 169,000 votes in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary.

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

In the June 16 state primaries, about 11% of Republican primary ballots and about 12% of Democratic primary ballots were cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Friday, about 32,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Almost every county in Oklahoma releases all or almost all of its results from early in-person and mail voting in the first vote update of the night, usually before any results from in-person Election Day voting are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the June 16 state primary, the AP first reported results at 8:14 p.m. ET, or 14 minutes after polls closed. By 10:19 p.m. ET, more than 90% of the vote had been counted. The last vote update of the night was at 12:14 a.m. ET with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

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

How do recounts work?

Oklahoma does not have automatic recounts for elections involving candidates, but candidates may request and pay for one regardless of the vote margin. The state does require automatic recounts for statewide ballot questions if the margin is 0.5% or less of the total votes cast. The required margin is larger for state constitutional amendments. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 70 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

But that's part of Christina Bohannan's long learning curve as a Democratic candidate for Congress.

“It’s a big district. It takes a lot of time to get around, get people to know you and trust you,” Bohannan told a couple dozen voters in the tiny Louisa County town of Columbus Junction on a recent Sunday afternoon.

She would know. It's her third crack at it.

Bohannan lost to Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa's 1st Congressional District in 2022 and 2024. Now she's banking on Trump's sagging popularity, healthcare struggles and economic concerns to put her over the top in a race that could help Democrats regain control of the U.S. House.

Miller-Meeks is digging in for a difficult campaign, describing Bohannan as a “radical progressive.” If Bohannan pulls off a victory this time, it could be the first ripple of what Democrats see as a potential national wave.

The Democrat is reaching into rural counties to shave the Republican edge

That's why Bohannan was in Louisa County, a place she did not visit in the months leading up to the 2024 election, when she lost to Miller-Meeks by only 799 votes.

It was the second-closest House race that year, and far closer than Bohannan's loss in 2022, when she fell short by 23,000 votes.

Iowa's 1st District is a microcosm of the state, largely rural with urban and suburban pockets. A geographic area larger than Massachusetts, more than half of its 20 counties have populations of less than 20,000 residents.

Cindy Starr and her husband Tim Knutson had never met Bohannan before they made the drive from nearby Wapello to see her at 92 Roadside, a Louisa County social hub named for the highway that runs past it.

“We’d never heard of any campaign event for her before,” said Starr, a 62-year-old retired social worker.

“Somebody rang our doorbell,” said Knutson, a 60-year-old retired meatpacking plant manager. “That’s never happened before.”

Two years ago, she lost the county by almost 1,400 votes.

This time, Bohannan has a more aggressive ground game, reaching out in rural counties she lost, but also beginning her canvassing in January as opposed to April. Her campaign’s door-knockers travel with a letter from Bohannan introducing herself.

Pushing against the image of a left-wing college professor

Bohannan's day job — University of Iowa law professor — can be tricky in a district where Trump won by 8.4 percentage points in 2024 and where the school is often parodied by Republicans as a haven for left-wing liberals.

“I’m not some radical,” said the 55-year-old former environmental engineer whose legal scholarship has focused on intellectual property, business innovation and copyright law.

She portrays her low-income upbringing in rural central Florida, her father’s nomadic life as a construction worker and her family’s healthcare crises during her youth as experiences that echo across the Mississippi Valley district where union manufacturing jobs have been declining for decades.

“Iowa is just a really good, common-sense state full of fair-minded, common-sense people,” she told The Associated Press. “Sometimes the Republicans have a point. I think tax dollars are precious. I think sometimes we do tend to stifle economic growth with maybe unnecessary regulation.”

Miller-Meeks did not agree to an interview.

Bohannan has been gaining ground in the district

Along with trying to shave the Republican advantage in the district's dozen-plus rural counties, Bohannan is also trying to gain a foothold in its more urban and suburban hubs.

Johnson County, with Iowa City and its teeming suburbs, and Scott County's economically diverse cities of Davenport and Bettendorf help make the district among the most competitive in the country.

Bohannan won more than 70% of the vote in Johnson County in 2022 and 2024. She also improved her performance in Scott County, losing in 2022 but winning narrowly there in 2024.

Those gains in a high-turnout presidential year, combined with the very narrow final margin — after a recount — made the decision simple for Bohannan to sign up a third time.

“That was a big part of it. That means tens of thousands of Trump voters split their ballot and voted for me,” she told The Associated Press after a stop at a Scott County Democrats’ picnic in Bettendorf. “It’s not always easy to get people, especially in this toxic political environment, from the other party to support you. But we’re taking the time. We’re going to every corner of the district.”

Now, she is trying to hold the edge in Scott County, hoping the recent move of more independent voters into the Democrats' ranks continues.

In another potential boost to Bohannan, Democratic voter registration in Iowa rose more than Republican registration ahead of the June primaries.

In Scott County, the district’s most populous, the trend has continued since the primary, said Terry Olsen, vice chairman of the Scott County Democrats and a former Republican.

“Every month it’s been moving,” Olsen said, though Democrats still narrowly trail Republicans and independent voters in the county. “But it’s a different strategy than 2024, trying to grab more of that rural vote and still boost turnout in the cities. That’s the hope, at least.”

Trump's agenda could drag down Miller-Meeks

Bohannan believes that Trump's failure to curb inflation since returning to the White House will drag down Miller-Meeks, who was first elected in 2020.

Miller-Meeks voted for measures blocking Congress from challenging Trump's emergency tariff actions, and the trade war has cut U.S. soybean sales. She has voted in support of Trump's ability to continue U.S. military operations against Iran, as drivers in her district pay nearly $4 per gallon for gas and farmers pay $5 per gallon for diesel fuel.

And Miller-Meeks last year supported Trump's signature tax-break and spending cuts bill, which is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending over the coming years. Hospitals and other healthcare providers have warned that the changes could put additional financial pressure on rural facilities that rely heavily on Medicaid reimbursements.

Miller-Meeks, a physician, defended her record in a statement by saying “I’ve spent my career on the side of patients, not the big insurance companies and bureaucrats standing between them and the care they need.”

She said the legislation included "common sense provisions the majority of Americans support," and she said Bohannan “would have kept subsidies flowing straight to big profitable insurance companies that deny claims, jack up premiums, and restrict which doctors you can see.”

Healthcare funding pressures have surfaced in Miller-Meeks’ district. MercyOne Clinton Medical Center announced it would end its obstetrics, labor and delivery services in 2026, citing rising costs, staffing shortages, inadequate reimbursement, and changes to Medicaid policy among the factors.

“In the past, when I ran the last couple of times, people weren’t entirely clear on what Miller-Meeks had been up to,” Bohannan said. “And now people know what they are paying at the grocery store. They know what they are paying at the gas pump.”

The first is the more traditional type — teams that will try to beat the Astros in key games and deny them a spot in the postseason.

The other includes individual spoilers — players who could prevent Alvarez from making history as baseball's next Triple Crown winner.

Alvarez currently leads the American League with a .320 average, 36 home runs and 90 RBIs. If he holds onto the top spot in all three categories, he'd be the first batter to win the Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. The biggest threats Alvarez faces all come from the AL East.

The next-highest batting averages in the AL both belong to Tampa Bay players — Chandler Simpson at .310 and Yandy Díaz at .306. Fortunately for Alvarez, there aren't any stealth candidates — players with high averages who don't currently have enough plate appearances to qualify, but would by the end of the season.

The home run race is currently the tightest, with Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero just one behind with 35. Ben Rice of the New York Yankees has 34. There are times when Alvarez seems like Houston's only major threat offensively, and he's been intentionally walked 28 times — way more than Caminero (10) and Rice (four). Those lost opportunities could matter in a close race.

Alvarez's closest competition in RBIs is Baltimore's Pete Alonso, who has 85. Alonso recently went on a 14-game hitting streak. Caminero is also in the mix with 83 RBIs.

When Cabrera pulled off the Triple Crown in 2012, he had to hold off Hall of Famers Joe Mauer and Adrian Beltre in batting average, as well as likely Hall of Famer Mike Trout. He finished one homer ahead of Josh Hamilton and Curtis Granderson.

Trivia time

Alvarez broke Jeff Bagwell's franchise record for intentional walks in a season. Bagwell drew 27 in 1997. Who is in third place on that list for Houston?

Performance of the week

Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and a walk-off shot in the 10th to give the Chicago Cubs a 7-5 win over the White Sox on Monday night.

The Cubs then won in walk-off fashion again a night later against the White Sox, but were beaten via the walk-off twice in a row by Seattle later in the week. The Cubs have 13 walk-off wins this year, the most in baseball, but the White Sox and Mariners aren't far behind with 11.

Comeback of the week

Philadelphia was down 4-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth Sunday before rallying for a 6-4 victory over St. Louis. Edmundo Sosa hit a three-run double, and Bryan De La Cruz hit a single that tied the game. Then Kyle Schwarber won it with his major league-leading 39th homer of the season.

It was the ninth straight victory for the Phillies, who now trail first-place Atlanta by only three games in the NL East. The Braves were 9 1/2 games up less than two weeks ago.

It's been a bizarre season for Philadelphia, which was 8-18 by late April, then went 48-27, then lost eight of its last games in July before going 16-5 so far in August.

Team of the week

Kansas City was the lone team to go 7-0 over the past week, although the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers both went 6-0. The Royals took advantage of four games against the dreadful Athletics before sweeping three in a row from a Detroit team that's chasing a playoff berth.

Last-place Kansas City is actually 36-30 at home this year but has gone 22-44 on the road.

Trivia answer

Rusty Staub drew 24 intentional walks for the Astros in 1968.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Due to the drop in water pressure, JEA has issued a precautionary boil water advisory for customers in the affected area. JEA is communicating directly with impacted customers.

Customers affected by the advisory are encouraged to boil water before drinking, cooking or making ice until the advisory is lifted. More information is available at jea.com/bwa.

Guard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli told state news agency TAP that authorities recovered two bodies and transferred them to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba. He told national radio Mosaique FM that about 15 people were believed to be aboard the boat when it took off between the cities of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.

The boat had set off early Thursday, and a commercial ship found the sole survivor Saturday in a life jacket, Mosaique reported, citing testimony from the survivor.

A helicopter and coast guard boats were then dispatched to the area in search of more survivors, according to an Associated Press photojournalist at the scene. The migrants were believed to be headed toward Italy.

Zarzis has long been a departure point for Tunisians and others from around Africa or beyond attempting to cross the Mediterranean toward Europe.

The city witnessed a similar tragedy in 2022, when a boat carrying 18 people went missing. The incident sparked weeks of protests as families accused authorities of failing to properly search for their relatives and burying some recovered bodies without identifying them or informing their families.

Migrant departures from Tunisia have fallen sharply since the European Union and Tunisia signed a sweeping agreement in 2023. It included EU funding and technical support for Tunisian border control and coast guard training to help Tunisia curb irregular migration and deter human traffickers in the Mediterranean basin. The EU allocated 105 million euros ($121 million) in migration-related support to Tunisia in 2023 alone.

The decline in migration has not ended dangerous crossings from Tunisia’s southern coast, where families in the south, particularly in Zarzis, have for years searched for relatives who disappeared at sea.

Rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU agreement, including reports of collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention and abuses against Black migrants.

In July, Amnesty International said EU support for border control in Tunisia continued to fuel serious rights violations. It said refugees and asylum seekers were being “deliberately trapped in a system that offers neither protection nor a safe way out.”

At least six people — three first responders and three civilians — were injured. Officials said the fire was “human-caused” but did not provide details on how they reached that conclusion, or whether it was intentionally set or accidental.

The Hawk Fire began Saturday and grew to more than 23 square miles (60 sq. km.) as it spread Sunday across the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest, where rugged foothills are ringed by homes and businesses near the California state line. There was zero containment.

Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the “GO NOW” zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Authorities urged people to be prepared to stay away for several days, because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable.

“Please get out if you can right now,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said.

A Sunday evening update said crews observed “extreme fire behavior” as gusts pushed flames through dry brush.

“Over the next 12 hours, the fire is expected to continue to make moderate to high intensity runs in pockets of dense fuels,” the statement said.

A family raced to grab possessions but lost their home

It wasn't known how many homes were destroyed. Cari Kieffer said a video posted on social media showed her house entirely burned down, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing.

“I woke up this morning and just started crying — all my kids, they lost everything,” Kieffer said Sunday. “We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone.”

Kieffer had been watching her son’s football game Saturday when she learned that their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An app the family used to track the fire’s progress had been lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, so they thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighborhood.

Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Ash rained down, and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighborhood, she said.

“I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” Kieffer said. “I was like, we gotta go like now.”

Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her family’s birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos.

The family drove to a friend’s home but had to evacuate again. They learned later Saturday evening that their own home was gone.

Governor declares state of emergency and mobilizes National Guard

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the Nevada National Guard to support aerial firefighting with two helicopter crews as well as 60 troops to help police safeguard evacuated neighborhoods. Also responding were 800 fire personnel.

Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Portions of U.S. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire. Reno, with more than 280,000 residents, is the largest city in Nevada outside of metro Las Vegas.

Washoe County emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to evacuees, but said they couldn’t bring their pets — small animals and large animals were to be left at two other locations. Casinos in Reno offered discounts on hotel rooms to evacuees.

The fire turned destructive fast

The fire was so small Saturday morning that it wasn’t even a concern, said Tyler Duvall, who went camping over the weekend. By the next day, his house was in the evacuation zone.

“The wind really blew it up,” Duvall said.

On Saturday alone, 15 new fires popped up across Nevada. Months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter across the American West have created prime fire conditions. Earlier this month, wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area, while three wildfires north of Reno forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes.

A mountaintop home goes up in flames

Jaida Hargrove’s grandfather, Rick Arrate, lived alone on Peavine Mountain, which overlooks Reno and Sparks. Firefighters used a bulldozer, cut down trees and applied fire retardant in their attempt to contain the flames, Hargrove said.

“They all thought it would be OK,” she said. “And then, in about 30 minutes, the winds just changed and it came way too fast.”

Arrate and the firefighters were quickly forced off the mountain. “All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers,” Hargrove said.

Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargrove’s parents, his next steps unknown.

Separate GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns were set up to assist Arrate and the Kieffer family.

A Nevada transplant gets a rude welcome to Reno

Retired police officer and firefighter Ted Melden has seen his share of Mother Nature’s fury since moving to Reno with his wife earlier this month from Chapin, South Carolina. So far, he has experienced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two different power outages and, now, the second wildfire incident in the region in two weeks.

“Just another natural disaster,” Melden said.

In the two years he lived in South Carolina, Melden said Hurricane Helene knocked over trees in his yard, while a tornado did some damage in his neighborhood.

For now, Melden hasn’t been ordered to leave his home, but he has his bags packed just in case.

“You just have to roll with the flow and be ready,” he said.

David Barb returned from a weekend hunting trip to find the fire had leveled his taxidermy shop, but his house nearby appeared to have been spared thanks to workers with a landscaping company who cut a fire break, he said. His wife was home when the fire started on the other side of the mountain and later evacuated to a friend’s house.

“I’m kind of devastated, but thank God everyone’s safe,” he said Sunday.

Residents just outside the evacuation zone are keeping watch

The University of Nevada, where many of the 20,000 undergraduates moved into their housing this weekend, was just outside the evacuation zone Sunday.

Two hospitals evacuated patients and the sheriff said his office was keeping a close watch on whether to evacuate the county jail.

The fire moved exceptionally fast Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for responders to get to hot spots while residents were trying to get out, the sheriff said.

“It was extremely confusing,” Balaam said, describing how changing winds sent the flames in different directions.

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Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia, Brook from New Orleans and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. The United Nations and most of the international community consider the territory occupied Syrian land and do not recognize Israel’s annexation of it.

In 2019, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory, reversing decades of U.S. policy.

Ambassador Tom Barrack on Friday said that Israel “still” occupies the territory in an interview with Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur Mario Nawfal.

Barrack now says that was a description of the territory’s historical status, “not an endorsement of the United Nations’ position” on the Golan.

"United States policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press on Sunday.

He said he intended to explain why he does not anticipate annexation in Lebanon, where Israeli forces are occupying parts of the south after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, and to argue that negotiated agreements, rather than territorial maps, are more durable and that he had cited the Golan as an example that “territory taken by force remains contested for generations.”

In the Friday interview, Barrack had also criticized Israel’s strikes on an airbase in northern Syria earlier last week. Israeli officials said the strikes intended to prevent Turkey from establishing a presence at the base.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz defended the strikes, saying on X on Sunday that critics who initially called it “unnecessary and politically motivated” changed their position after the government said they were based on “clear intelligence” and at the recommendation of the Israeli army. He added that Israel would not allow Turkey “to establish itself in Syria and threaten Israeli security.”

The strikes last Tuesday have highlighted growing tensions between Israel and Turkey over Ankara’s increased influence in Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad. Turkey and Syria have denied that Turkish forces were due to be deployed at the Abu Duhur base.

Barrack’s comments on the Golan also sparked a backlash in Washington.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott wrote on X that the ambassador appears to have “forgotten” Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

Barrack went further on the defensive on Sunday, responding to criticism of his assessment of ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of the militant group.

He had said “there are two people missing from that (negotiating) table – Hezbollah and Iran.” That remark prompted speculation Barrack meant Tehran and Hezbollah should join the U.S.-backed negotiations.

On Sunday, Barrack stressed that the U.S. does not negotiate with Hezbollah, but said he was pointing out that “the weapons in question are supplied and financed by Iran," which complicates negotiations over their fate.

“I was describing the difficulty of the problem, not proposing a new table,” Barrack told the AP. “Hezbollah is a designated foreign terrorist organization. We do not negotiate with it, and nothing I said suggests otherwise.”

He also defended his remarks questioning who would replace Tehran’s financial support for Shiite communities in southern Lebanon, saying that raising those questions was “not conferring standing on anyone.”

The meeting, held shortly before Anutin flew north to inspect the badly flooded province of Nan, followed 51 incidents on Saturday night in the southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.

The attackers did not engage with military or police forces. Only three civilians were known to have been wounded, and they were reported to be recovering on Sunday.

The violence primarily involved small bombs, arson and other forms of property damage. The highest-profile target was a 7-Eleven convenience store in Pattani. A video circulating on social media appeared to show armed men stalking outside the store while customers and workers fled before it was set on fire.

A bomb that damaged rail tracks in Narathiwat forced the suspension of local and long-haul services. It was not clear when they would be restored due to the uncertain security situation.

As has often been the case with such incidents, no group was immediately publicly blamed or claimed responsibility for the actions.

However, such attacks are generally believed to be carried out by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani, or BRN. It is the major insurgent group in the south with the organizational means and support to stage such an action. It is also the group with which the Thai government has been holding on-again, off-again peace talks.

The three southernmost provinces are the only ones with Muslim majorities in predominantly Buddhist Thailand and the BRN has said that it is seeking self-rule for them.

Muslim residents have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens in Thailand, and separatist movements have been periodically active for decades.

Insurgent violence escalated sharply in 2004 and was met with heavy-handed crackdowns, further fueling discontent. According to Deep South Watch, a think tank based at the Prince of Songkla University’s campus in Pattani, 7,837 people have died in the violence in the past 22 years.

The last major flare-up came in July, when about 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint in Narathiwat. Five paramilitary soldiers were killed and six civilians were wounded, including a 10-year-old boy.

Don Pathan, an independent security analyst, says the BRN carries out attacks largely for leverage as it negotiates with the Thai government.

“From the ground, BRN combatants are turned off by the boasting of military officials and wanted to use the spike in violence to demonstrate their capabilities," said Pathan. "Many of the targets in these latest incidents were civilians, but BRN combatants were not after body counts. They want to send a stern message to the Thais of what they are capable of doing.”

But with a wife and a widowed mother to help support, he needed a quick solution. So the laid-off web developer turned to one of a growing number of three-year degree programs.

“I can’t afford to be out of the workforce for four years. That just seems like forever, and the three-year made it seem less daunting,” said Sims, a student at Ensign College, a private Salt Lake City school that recently changed all its bachelor’s degrees to require fewer classes than a traditional four-year degree.

The condensed programs have exploded in popularity. As of this spring, 26 U.S. states have a college that offers at least one reduced-credit, three-year bachelor's, according to the nonprofit research group RAND.

Advocates say these programs are a solution to the college affordability crisis and a godsend for non-traditional students like Sims.

Critics, however, worry that they’ll narrow too much what students learn, confuse employers, limit graduate school options and create headaches in fields that require state licenses.

The American Association of University Professors, for one, says the programs devalue the meaning of a college credential.

“This is not innovation. This is just cutting corners,” said Todd Wolfson, AAUP's president.

A new option to graduate more quickly, but with reduced credit

For decades, colleges have offered accelerated programs that let students finish faster, often by forgoing long summer breaks, maximizing transfer credits and condensing semester-long courses into shorter, five- to 10-week terms.

But those programs maintained the same course load, measured as credits. The new programs let students finish faster by completing as few as 90 credit hours. That shaves a year off the typical 120-hour bachelor’s degree.

Three-year bachelor’s degrees are common in other countries including the United Kingdom, India, France and Italy. But they can create complications for graduates seeking admission to U.S. graduate schools, which sometimes require extra coursework.

Some of the earliest colleges in colonial America, modeled after English institutions like Oxford and Cambridge, initially had three-year degrees, said John Thelin, the author of “A History of American Higher Education.” By the 19th century, the four-year format had taken hold, partly because there wasn’t an established system of public high schools to prepare students, Thelin said.

“The colleges would have to kind of start from scratch,” he said.

A change in accreditation opened the door to shorter degrees

The idea of bringing three-year degrees to the U.S. got attention in 2009 when Robert Zemsky, the founding director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, argued in a Newsweek cover story that three-year degrees could shake up a broken system.

But there was a roadblock, he recalled recently. “Accreditors said, ‘College is 120 credits, not 90 credits,’” he said.

Years passed. And in 2022, amid mounting concerns about college affordability, Zemsky helped revive the idea. The College-in-3 Exchange was born, and dozens of higher education institutions joined the network to look for ways to help students get degrees faster.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities was the first accreditor to say yes in 2023, when it approved reduced-credit programs at Ensign and Brigham Young University-Idaho. Other accreditors quickly followed.

As of May, 119 reduced-credit programs had been publicly announced, according to the RAND analysis, which was conducted to help education officials in Ohio as they weigh the feasibility of reduced-credit degrees.

It comes at a time when tuition and fees averaged $11,950 for in-state students at public schools and $45,000 at private nonprofits last school year, although many students get discounts that reduce the price, according to a report from the College Board, the nonprofit that oversees the SAT.

Some degrees are easier to compress

Private nonprofit schools offer three-quarters of the reduced-credit programs, frequently online. Typically, they compress the majors by reducing electives. Business degrees in fields such as marketing and management are the most common, followed by computer and information sciences.

Other majors, such as engineering, with its extensive math requirements, have been harder to shrink. And RAND found just six reduced-credit degrees in teacher education, which involves real-world experience requirements and state licensure.

Jill Cohen, 42, lives on a ranch in rural Yoder, Colorado, and is completing her teaching degree through one such program at Indiana Wesleyan.

She quit her old job selling life insurance and turned to teaching after a farming accident nearly claimed her life. Already, she is in the classroom, teaching middle school English, as she works on the degree through a special “Grow Your Own” program designed to address staff shortages.

Because her home is busy — she has twin 12-year-olds, along with a menagerie that includes horses, goats and chickens — she appreciates the streamlined degree.

“Why do I need to take, you know, underwater basket weaving when I could just take the evolutionary structure of the English language — what I’m going to be teaching,” she said.

However, programs with state licensing requirements are one of the biggest worries for Jenna Kramer, a policy researcher at RAND.

Indiana Wesleyan, which has a growing slate of reduced-credit offerings, said its education programs are specifically designed to meet Indiana licensing requirements. Students from elsewhere will need to check if the programs meet their state requirements, said Pam Downing, the school's director of communications, in an email.

The RAND report also found the programs are so new that there are no standard practices for admitting three-year degree recipients into graduate school.

Students acknowledge it's a gamble

Gabriella Staten, a 20-year-old student in the reduced-credit digital marketing program at Mount Mary University, a Catholic women’s institution in Milwaukee, estimates it will save her at least $20,000. While she sometimes wonders whether employers will take her degree as seriously as a four-year degree, she decided she could prove herself.

“Even if they were to look a little bit down on the three-year pathway, I can show them otherwise with the work,” she said.

Wesley Hardy, who is three semesters into a bachelor of applied science in accounting at Ensign, also sees the pros and cons. He likes that the three-year format will get him into the workforce faster.

But he noted that the requirements to become a certified public accountant — something he has considered — vary by state. Many require 120 semester hours to sit for the exam and 150 to become licensed. Graduate school often is needed.

Bruce Kusch, president of Ensign, said he has talked to multiple college presidents and doesn’t anticipate that graduate school will be a problem. But Hardy, 22, has questions about how it would work.

“Would I have to take extra classes?” he asked. “It’s definitely something I’ve thought of.”

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There were no major issues for Sophie Cunningham and DiJonai Carrington in Indiana's 113-90 victory over Chicago on Sunday night. Cunningham scored three points for the Fever in 11 minutes, and Carrington had seven points for the Sky in 18 minutes.

It was the first matchup between the teams since Cunningham was taken down by Carrington on a fast break earlier this month. Carrington was listed as questionable with a left foot injury, but she was cleared after going through warmups.

Cunningham downplayed any lingering animosity between the teams going into the game. Indiana had dropped two in a row.

“My mindset has never changed. I think it is what it is,” Cunningham said. “I’m locked in on tonight. ... I think we’re just out here trying to get the win.”

Cunningham and Carrington both checked in for the first time with 3:04 left in the first quarter. There were no disputes of note between the two players all night long.

Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he didn't have any conversations with his players before the game about the charged atmosphere for their previous matchup.

“That kind of was what it was last game and anything that came out of it kind of lasted for that time,” Marsh said. “But for us, again, it was on to the next one in front of us.”

Cunningham was going up for a layup in the first quarter of Indiana's 90-86 win on Aug. 8 when Carrington came from behind and hit her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in. Cunningham got up, charged Carrington and pushed her as she was held back by a teammate.

The play was reviewed and upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after the referee said there was windup, impact and follow-through on the foul, resulting in Carrington's ejection.

Shortly after she was thrown out, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media and tagged the Fever. Carrington is Black and Cunningham is white.

Days later, Carrington posted that she never claimed the assessment of the Flagrant 2 was the result of white privilege, but she didn't elaborate any further.

“I (couldn't) care less about what she does, what she tweets, any of that,” Cunningham said before Sunday's game. "I’m here to play basketball.

“There's going to be people who are going to talk about it ... but to me, it’s just another basketball game.”

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Freedom was sitting along the baseline. He had on a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”

The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Kanter's direction.

Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter, 34, as she approached him. A standing Kanter held his arms out and took one step on the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two.

“There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we're just going to focus on the game,” Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky's 113-90 loss.

Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the team.

“I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”

Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby.

He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena.

“I didn’t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle," Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, "so I think that’s probably a question for Chicago.”

Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with the media.

The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women — people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA.

Although the league’s collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.

Kanter joined a small rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before the game.

Asked if he had a message for Kanter, Marsh praised the league and its players.

“If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," he said, “and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too.”

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Clark made a career-high eight of Indiana's franchise-record 18 3-pointers. She also had 10 assists.

The Fever closed out a 3-2 trip with their third game in four nights. They had dropped two in a row.

Natasha Cloud had 16 points and seven assists for Chicago, which had won three in a row. Azura Stevens added 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Sky were eliminated from the playoff race with the loss and Washington's win on Sunday night.

Indiana played without center Aliyah Boston, who was sidelined by a right leg injury. Boston had 22 points and six assists in Saturday's 109-102 loss at New York.

The Fever used a 13-2 run to open a 71-60 lead in the third quarter. Clark started the spurt with a 3 and Mitchell scored eight straight points before Clark capped the run with a jumper with 4:31 left.

Lexie Hull converted a reverse layup to make it 97-82 with 4:37 left. Hull scored 14 points for the Fever, and Makayla Timpson finished with 12.

It was the first game between the teams since Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham was taken down by DiJonai Carrington on a hard foul in the first quarter of the Fever's 90-86 win on Aug. 8. Cunningham scored three points while playing more than 11 minutes, and Carrington had seven points in 18 minutes for the Sky.

Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom attended the game, but he was ejected in the third quarter after he was confronted by Cloud. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.

Up next

The Fever host the Connecticut Sun on Friday night.

The Sky visit Connecticut on Tuesday night.

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The National Hurricane Center located Moke's center about 320 miles (515 kilometers) south-southwest of Hilo around midday. Top sustained winds were around 40 mph (65 kph), though the real impact was expected from rainfall in places where last weekend’s hurricane flooded communities, triggered mudslides and damaged roads and power lines. Two deaths linked to the hurricane have been reported in Hawaii.

Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda advised residents in a social media post Sunday they “should stay off the roads and shelter in place” as a precaution. He said anyone in need could take refuge at shelters that the county had opened at several locations.

Forecasters expected Moke to produce as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of total rain across the Big Island, and up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some isolated places, enough to cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides for the windward and southeast slopes, especially in steep terrain and over areas affected by Lala. The center of the storm was expected to pass south of the Big Island, then south of the smaller main islands of Hawaii.

In eastern Maui, up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain was expected, and the other islands may get an inch or two (between 2.5 and 5 centimeters), according to the hurricane center.

As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to bear the brunt of Moke's rain and winds as the storm moves westward, south of the island chain. After moving away from the islands, Lala was downgraded and remained a strong tropical storm on Sunday far out in the Central Pacific.

The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest total rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), according to the weather service.

Ahead of Moke's approach, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green urged people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials. More than 6,500 customers in the county remained without power Sunday stemming from Lala, according to poweroutage.us.

In the eastern Pacific, meanwhile, Tropical Storm Iselle formed earlier Sunday and was gaining strength, far away from Mexico's southwest coast.

Iselle had top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) on Sunday afternoon and was about 535 miles (860 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for Iselle as it moved to the northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iselle could become a hurricane in another day or two and would kick up strong ocean swells on Baja's western coastline starting Monday.

The two sides reached the deal Sunday night, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade hadn't been announced.

ESPN first reported the deal.

The trade came a week before teams are required to cut down their rosters from 90 players to 53 for the start of the season with both teams adding depth this week for players who weren't expected to make the roster.

The 31-year-old Jones had been mostly a reserve player the past two seasons in Tampa Bay seeing most of his action on special teams. He spent his first six seasons in the NFL in Atlanta, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2017 and playing on 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris' defense in 2020.

San Francisco doesn't have a glaring need at linebacker where Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are projected as two of the starters and several other players are in the running for a backup spot. But Nick Martin and Jalen Graham have been out of practice the past few days with an injury and the Niners could be looking for another body for practice this week and the final exhibition game on Thursday night against Las Vegas.

New Orleans was in need of help at running back after Alvin Kamara went down with a sprained knee this past week that could sideline him for a month.

White had 14 carries for 30 yards in two exhibition games for San Francisco but wasn't needed any more with All-Pro Christian McCaffrey and rookie Kaelon Black returning to practice this past week following injuries.

White spent his first four seasons in Las Vegas and had 198 carriers for 736 yards with his production coming late in the 2023 season.

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The 49ers got good news on the injury front 10 days before the team was set to depart for Australia for a Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 11 with Kittle and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey both back at practice.

“It definitely just gives us energy," offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. “It just changes things. You got two Hall of Fame caliber players out there who are back out there and getting their work in. They practice at a high standard, and they lift everybody up. So, it definitely changes your energy a little bit.”

The Niners are scheduled to leave for Australia on Sept. 2 and Kittle said last week that he needed to get practice time in pads before then to determine whether he would make the trip and try to play Week 1.

Kittle ruptured his Achilles on Jan. 11 in a playoff win at Philadelphia and has made an impressive recovery to get back on the field in less than eight months.

Kittle is a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who is a key part of San Francisco’s offense as a passing threat and a blocker in the run game. He had 57 catches for 628 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season.

McCaffrey had missed the past two weeks of practice with what the team had described as “tightness.” After being limited to four games because of injuries in 2024, McCaffrey was an ironman last season. He played 1,010 offensive snaps in the regular season and playoffs — just the ninth running back in the past 20 seasons to top the 1,000 mark — and became the second player in the past decade with at least 450 combined carries and catches.

The 30-year-old McCaffrey hasn’t responded well in the past following his heaviest-use seasons. The previous two times he topped 400 touches — in 2019 with Carolina and 2023 with the 49ers — he was severely hampered by injuries the following season, missing 13 games each in 2020 and 2024.

McCaffrey said the recent time off should be of no concern for the season as it was part of the protocol plan to get him ready.

“Obviously, when you don’t practice, the way the media works now is a firestorm,” he said. “But this was kind of part of the plan from the jump was to ramp up pretty big, get nine, 10 practices in, kind of come back down, and then ramp back up so we’re fresh for the duration. Our staff’s done a great job of coming up with specific plans. I feel great. I feel fresh, and it’s good to be back out there.”

Star defensive end Nick Bosa remains out of practice with soreness and tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee. Bosa tore his right ACL in Week 3 last season. He started camp on the active roster but has only participated in individual drills before being shut down nearly three weeks ago. The Niners have expressed optimism that he will be ready for Week 1.

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Zelenskyy also alluded to problematic decisions over defense spending and said that inaccurate information provided by the Defense Ministry contributed to an awkward encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of Starlink in Russia.

Zelenskyy disclosed figures showing Ukraine’s growing shortage of Patriot air-defense missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks, with deliveries from Western allies declining in the past three years even as Russian missile strikes intensified.

He highlighted battlefield gains, however, saying Ukrainian forces have almost completely recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometers (around 4 square miles) remaining under Russian control.

The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a two-hour off-the-record meeting with reporters on Saturday, with a transcript released publicly on Sunday.

Zelenskyy's first public comments on Fedorov dismissal

His comments ranged widely, covering the latest battlefield developments, efforts to counter Russian ballistic attacks, the state of peace negotiations, Ukraine’s budgetary challenges and the political turmoil surrounding Fedorov’s dismissal.

“I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things,” he said.

Fedorov, a popular minister credited with modernizing Ukraine’s armed forces and accelerating the military’s embrace of technology and drone warfare, was dismissed last month after reportedly falling out with the country’s top military commander. His removal triggered mass protests that lasted for weeks, but ultimately failed to force a reversal of the decision. Fedorov later called for an election.

Zelenskyy said that he had offered Fedorov four different options to continue working in the government. Fedorov, he said, rejected all of them.

The Ukrainian leader told journalists that he believes holding an election during the war would be a huge risk with the potential to “split Ukraine apart.”

“I believe elections during a war like this would generally pose enormous risks. Holding elections right now would be a tsunami for the state that would split Ukraine apart,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he had previously faced pressure to hold an election during the war, but no partners had come up with a plan for how a poll could be held safely, legitimately and democratically.

Inaccurate information led to uncomfortable White House encounter

Zelenskyy appeared to link Fedorov to an awkward episode involving Starlink and Elon Musk. Zelenskyy said that earlier this year, the Defense Ministry had told him that SpaceX had agreed to allow Ukraine to use Starlink over Russian territory to carry out deep strike operations, subject to political approval.

Acting on that, Zelenskyy said, he raised the issue directly with U.S. President Donald Trump. He told Trump that Musk had confirmed the proposed use. Zelenskyy said the two sides subsequently sought Musk’s confirmation and discussed financing for the project.

But at a later meeting, Zelenskyy said that Trump told him that Musk had rejected the proposal and accused him of having misled the U.S. president. Musk considered the move a dangerous escalation, according to Zelenskyy.

“He said that I had supposedly deceived him, because Musk had denied Ukraine the use of Starlink on Russian territory. I went back to our Ministry of Defense and they said that maybe it was so,” he said.

Zelenskyy didn't explicitly accuse Fedorov of lying. He said that the situation was among the reasons behind “some of the steps.”

Zelenskyy also pushed back against protesters’ vilification of former army chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who he dismissed, and current Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, saying they had gone too far.

“Maybe someone doesn’t like Syrskyi for one reason or another. But the slogans ‘Syrskyi is the devil, Khmara is the devil,'” he said. “Listen, this is too much. Do you understand? In principle, you can’t treat the military like this and tolerate it, especially when it was the military that made it possible for any peaceful protests to take place in the Ukrainian capital at all.”

Pressure on defense budget but military successes

Zelenskyy also described severe financial pressure on Ukraine’s defense effort. He said that the Defense Ministry faced a $27 billion budget shortfall after spending decisions earlier in the year brought forward funds originally intended for the second half of this year.

Touching on a corruption inquiry that led Zelenskyy to fire one of his most senior officials this week, he said that anti-corruption investigators don't believe that the president was involved. The investigators had named a deputy head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case.

“The heads of anti-corruption agencies have zero questions for me. They understand perfectly well that I am not involved in anything like that. And this is important to me,” he said.

On the battlefield, Zelenskyy was optimistic. In addition to Ukraine almost completely regaining control of the Dnipropetrovsk region, he said that another operation was underway elsewhere and that its results were expected by the end of August.

He also predicted that by the end of the year, Ukraine could reach parity between the territory occupied by Russia since the beginning of the year and the territory retaken by Ukrainian forces. Zelenskyy said that Russia had occupied about 990 square kilometers (380 square miles) since the start of the year, while Ukraine had restored control over roughly 820 square kilometers (315 square miles).

The president said that Russia’s principal objective remained the Konstantynivka-Sloviansk-Kramatorsk axis, and that Moscow was still demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region as a condition for a settlement.

Still struggling for access to Patriot missiles

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was receiving substantially fewer Patriot interceptor missiles even as Russian ballistic attacks are increasing.

He said that Ukraine received 675 Patriot missiles in 2023, compared with 364 in 2025 and an expected 264 this year. Zelenskyy said that he wanted to secure 300 additional Patriot missiles for the coming winter, while Ukraine’s air force had requested 360.

The shortfall is particularly serious, because the United States and European partners are struggling to expand production. Zelenskyy said that he hoped Ukraine could obtain even 5% or 10% of U.S. reserves and was able to pay for them.

Zelenskyy said that Russia could eventually produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles a year, compared with an estimated current capacity of 600.

He said that Ukraine was also preparing alternatives to Starlink, including a European communications project, as Russia and China work on their own competing system.

Other developments

— Debris from a Ukrainian drone hit two industrial facilities including a warehouse belonging to online retailer Ozon, local officials in Russia’s Orenburg region said Sunday.

As well as shifting the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages across Russia, Ukraine has unsettled the Russian public by striking warehouses of online retailers, including Russia's biggest one, Wildberries, and competitors such as Ozon.

— One person was killed and six wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Belgorod border region, local authorities said Sunday. A woman also died in a drone attack in the Tula region.

— Two women were killed and five other people were wounded when a Russian drone hit an electric train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian national police said Sunday.

— Leaders from Nordic and Baltic nations arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day, in a show of solidarity from some of Ukraine’s closest partners before a larger “ coalition of the willing ” meeting.

Leaders from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway attended a flag-raising ceremony, as Ukraine marked Ukraine’s National Flag Day.

“We feel we are not alone. Our allies are with us,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Sunday, noting that the leaders would hold bilateral and multilateral talks with Zelenskyy.

Thompson — who is No. 4 on the NBA's all-time 3-pointers made list — cleared waivers Sunday afternoon and wasted little time finalizing a two-year deal worth about $11.5 million. The second season of the deal is at Thompson's option.

The deal makes sense in many ways for both sides. Thompson makes no secret about how much he loves the water and boating; the Heat play their home games at the edge of Biscayne Bay. He's of Bahamian heritage; the island nation is a short flight from Miami and is home to a sizable base of Heat fans. And, perhaps most importantly, the Heat knew they wanted to add shooting to surround the newly acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo and incumbent center Bam Adebayo.

“Klay is one of the most iconic players to ever suit up in the NBA,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “A four-time battle tested World Champion who will fit perfectly into his role as an all-around player at both ends of the court. We all talk about his shooting skill, but there is so much more he brings to the game. We are blessed that Klay chose the Heat in our quest to challenge for championships.”

Thompson, a 36-year-old about to enter his 14th season (not counting two missed because of injury) fits that bill perfectly. He's a career 41% shooter from beyond the arc, and last season marked the 11th time that he's made more than 200 3-pointers in a season. For context, the Heat — in their history — have had a player makes 200 3s in a single year only seven times.

There's also the winning pedigree that Thompson brings. He paired with Stephen Curry to be part of Golden State's famed “Splash Brothers” duo that helped lead the Warriors to four NBA championships. He's a five-time All-Star, holds the league record with 14 made 3s in a game, has connected on at least 10 3s in a game nine times and will enter this season just 74 3s behind Ray Allen — a former Heat guard — for third place on the league's all-time list.

It's the latest big move for the Heat this summer. They acquired Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from Milwaukee in a deal that saw them send Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakučionis to the Bucks. They also signed another big-time 3-point threat in Tim Hardaway Jr., who grew up in Miami while his father was playing for the Heat.

Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks agreed on a contract buyout that was executed Friday, the end of his two-year run there that didn't go anywhere close to what either side originally envisioned — especially after the shocking trade of Luka Doncic by the Mavs to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thompson joined Dallas in a sign-and-trade with Golden State, giving the Mavericks one of the league’s all-time great 3-point shooters to complement Doncic and another high-scoring guard in Kyrie Irving.

But the high hopes for that threesome imploded after the Mavericks sent Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis in a deal before the trade deadline in 2025. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee a month later and hasn’t played since. Davis was traded to the Washington Wizards just before the February trade deadline last season.

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Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday but declined to provide any further details.

Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had reported a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter showed Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.

He was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison.

Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey’s killing, and his attorneys said at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs. In May, only months into his sentence, he sought medical release under an Illinois law for prisoners with terminal illnesses or serious medical conditions. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board denied his request last month.

Massey called 911 early on July 6, 2024, to report someone prowling outside her home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded.

Video showed Grayson directing Massey to remove a pot of hot water from the stove. As she held the pot, Massey told the deputies, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

Grayson threatened to shoot her, drew his handgun and ordered her to drop the pot. Massey apologized and ducked behind a kitchen counter before Grayson fired three times.

The other deputy, Dawson Farley, later testified that he did not consider Massey a threat and drew his own weapon only after Grayson did.

Grayson was fired after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Jurors convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder after Grayson argued that he feared Massey would throw the hot water at him.

Massey’s killing drew national attention and protests and raised questions about how Grayson had moved through several law enforcement agencies before being hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

Illinois lawmakers later passed the Sonya Massey Act, requiring law enforcement agencies to more closely review an applicant’s previous employment records before hiring an officer.

The Justice Department also opened a civil rights investigation after Massey’s death and later reached an agreement with Sangamon County, its sheriff’s office and other agencies requiring changes to policing and emergency response. Those changes included additional training for interactions with people with behavioral health disabilities and development of a mobile crisis response program.

Authorities said that heavy rains, which started at around 2 a.m., washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam — the largest landfill in Conakry — and triggered a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors. Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed.

The site, an open-air waste dump which is the largest in the city, had been designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.

Locals living around the landfill had been given eviction notices, which forced many to leave the area, but many others were still around at the time of the disaster, according to authorities.

"We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” Dienabou Touré, the minister of territorial administration and decentralization, said at the scene.

Guinea is mineral-rich with huge deposits of bauxite — the largest in the world — and also has iron ore, gold, diamonds and minerals. However, according to the World Bank, 43.7% of the population lives below the national poverty line.

Now the 31-year-old Spaniard and the other full-time tour players will wait to see what happens to LIV in 2027.

Rahm is ready to head home and contemplate the future.

“I’m looking forward to going home and helping my very pregnant wife with the kids,” Rahm said. “The fourth one is due in October, and I’m happy to be dad for a few days before I get back to grinding for the Irish Open, and mainly looking forward to a haircut because I need one badly.”

Rahm closed with a 7-under 63 for his second straight runner-up finish in Indy. He ended up a stroke behind 22-year-old Michael La Sasso, the 2025 NCAA individual champ at Mississippi. La Sasso finished with a 65 to get to 18 under.

Clearly, there have been troubling signs for the LIV circuit in recent months.

In April, it was announced Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund would end its investment in the league after this season. LIV spent more than $5 billion in five years, pulling some of the world’s best and most popular American and international players away from other leagues.

Organizers also canceled two events this season — New Orleans in June and next weekend's originally scheduled season-ending event in Michigan — as well the weekend entertainment.

LIV CEO Scott O’Neil told reporters Wednesday he was bullish about plans for 2027 and beyond, saying players would be equity owners and have their commercial rights restored. O’Neil said the plan was to have five team championships overseas and five individual tournaments in the United States scheduled close to the majors for those who qualify for them.

He did not name the lead investor with whom LIV has reached an agreement. Several outlets have identified him as Ted Goldthorpe of BC Partners, who met with the tour's players on Tuesday. O’Neil said there was a deadline for players to commit to LIV 2.0 without citing a specific date. He also has not mentioned the size of the proposed investment.

Though O'Neil said he has a “good level of confidence” that a “critical mass of the right players" will return. Rahm is under contract through next season. Bryson DeChambeau — the other big name — has an expiring contract this year. He tied for third with Sergio Garcia on Sunday and did not speak with reporters following Sunday's event..

But with the season now over, there are only more questions.

"There’s been a lot that’s surrounded all of us pretty much since we joined, and at the end of the day when you step on the golf course, it’s just golf,” Rahm said after bogeying his last hole to open the door for La Sasso. “So all the problems and theories go away, and you compete. It hasn’t been any harder or any easier in any way. It’s just, kind of I think, the life of a pro athlete.”

Despite the cloudy future and the historic flooding in central Indiana that forced organizers to improvise how to get spectators parked and shuttled to The Club at Chatham Hills, in many ways things went off largely as expected.

Organizers set up electronic scoreboards and video boards as well as temporary suites around the course. There were advertising signs for Riyadh Air and other sponsors, chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as La Sossa rolled in his 2-foot putt on No. 18 to secure the win and the celebratory champaign spray.

Those who attended last year's first tourney at The Club at Chatham Hills thought things went even better at the expanded four-round event.

“It was more well managed from the way they had the ropes set up, just getting in a little cleaner with the traffic so the operation itself was more smooth than last year,” Westfield resident Jacob Meyer said.

Meyer's friend, Jackson Gangwer, added: “It's just more relaxed. Last year it seemed a little more intense since it was the first year being out here.”

Last year's attendance for the three-round event drew more than 60,000 fans, an American record for a LIV event. Organizers did not announce this year's tournament.

But the tour brought top-flight men's golf back to metropolitan Indianapolis for the first time since it hosted the 2012 and 2016 BMW Championships, and it opened the door a new group of fans, some of whom had never attended a major pro event.

If this is the end of the line for LIV Golf, it came in a fitting location — about 30 miles from the arena where the Indiana Pacers closed out their time in the American Basketball Association in 1976 and that hosted Elvis Presley's final concert in 1977.

And after playing in front of the Indy fans each of the past two years, he had a message for those who came back.

“I just want to say think you. It's been incredibly fun to play in front of a crowd this enthusiastic,” Rahm said. “I'm sure everybody here has friends, family or themselves who have had to deal with some of the flooding issues and you know my heart goes out to all those people that lost their homes and lost loved. But the fact so many people came out and supported us means a lot.”

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AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson also contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

Hat racks are hard to miss in central Athens this summer. Kiosks and stores keep outdoor stands piled high as more tourists in the Greek capital seek relief from the midday heat.

The Acropolis drew about 4.6 million visitors in 2025, a record year for Greek tourism. Many spend hours in mid-30s Celsius (mid-90s Fahrenheit) temperatures with little shade. Even a carriage horse at the foot of the ancient monument has joined in, sporting a brown bucket hat with holes cut for its ears.

“You need a hat. I’m already red as it is,” said Jack Yosif, an Australian tourist wearing a black baseball cap. “It’s a bit more of a common thing nowadays, and people are a bit more aware.”

Scorching temperatures didn't deter a record 38 million visitors last year, the most recent for which there is data. The combination of extreme heat and high demand for sites — which means not everyone can visit in the morning — is adding urgency to sun protection.

Greek health campaigners have welcomed a growing awareness of the dangers of ultraviolet exposure and risk of heat stroke. Red Cross volunteers at the Acropolis hand out kits with sunscreen, water, information leaflets and red caps.

On nearby Syntagma Square, kiosk owner Konstantinos Mallios says hat sales have risen in recent years. His stylish and souvenir models run up to 20 euros ($24) while the cheapest costs 6 euros. Available elsewhere is semi-disposable headgear: mass-produced hats made using compressed paper pulp.

And there are more ostentatious options. At her basement workshop, hatmaker Lisa Sarigiannidou turns straw braids into boaters using century-old presses and molds in a matter of minutes. Her hats start at around 50 euros, with elaborate designs costing more than 100 euros.

“People’s attitudes toward hats have changed,” said Sarigiannidou, who was trained by her hatmaker father. “In the past, when a young woman tried on a hat and looked at herself in the mirror, she usually laughed. Now they try them on seriously … and they wear them straight out the door.”

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Theodora Tongas and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens contributed to this report.

• Formation chance through 48 hours: Low — 0%
• Formation chance through 7 days: Low — 0%

Disorganized system drifts near Bermuda

Satellite images indicate that showers and thunderstorms are showing some signs of organization associated with an area of low pressure located about 400 miles southeast of Bermuda. Further development of the low is possible, and this system could become a short-lived tropical depression or storm during the next couple of days while it moves northward and north-northeastward, well northeast of Bermuda.

• Formation chance through 48 hours: Medium — 50%
• Formation chance through 7 days: Medium — 50%

Tropical wave to emerge off Africa Monday

A tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa on Monday, and an area of low pressure could form in association with the wave early this week. Environmental conditions are forecast to be marginally conducive for development, and a tropical depression could form by the middle to latter portions of the week while the system moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.

• Formation chance through 48 hours: Low — near 0%
• Formation chance through 7 days: Medium— 50%

The Team Penske star just needed a moment to vent on his team radio about a pit crew blunder before charging from 17th to first for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“Whenever I say those things after something bad happens, it’s my relief valve,” Blaney said about scolding his team with an expletive. “I have to get it out in the open, or I’ll be stewing over it a while. That’s how I have to get over things. I wish I wasn’t that way, but I’d rather it be that way than have it be in the back of my mind the rest of the race, not thinking of the main goal. It takes me five or 10 seconds to move on.”

After shaking it off, Blaney recovered to lead the final 74 laps on the 1.058-mile oval, fending off runner-up Bubba Wallace by 0.586 seconds.

Josh Berry, who is trying to find a ride for the 2027 season, finished a season-best third, the fourth consecutive top 10 for the Wood Brothers Racing driver.

The top five was rounded out by Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Ryan Preece finished ninth and kept his Chase hopes alive by gaining 19 points on Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 20th and remains in the 16th and final spot for the 10-race title run.

It’s the 20th career victory and third this season for Blaney, who led a race-high 115 of 301 laps. He had cruised to a big lead when a lug nut fell off the left-front tire of his No. 12 Ford during a pit stop under caution with 111 laps remaining.

The 2023 Cup Series champion picked his way through traffic and was back up to seventh when the yellow flag flew on the 226th lap for a three-car crash. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made an aggressive strategy call for two right-side tires, and Blaney gained six spots in the pits to retake first place.

Hassler said the error “maybe was a little bit of a blessing in disguise” because Blaney emerged several spots ahead of the contenders who took four tires. Of the top 12 finishers, Blaney was the only driver who took two tires on his last stop.

His crew struggled often on stops earlier this season, losing 128 spots in the pits, but has been better with three top-five finishes in the past six races.

“It’s really competitive on pit road, and if you’re going to have any speed, you’re going to have these sort of miscues,” Hassler said. “With the speed we’ve had, our goal has certainly been to eliminate those, even if we give up a little bit of speed to do that. But it’s still going to happen to each of the best teams. We’re fortunate that we’re fast enough and up front enough that people take notice when that’s going to happen.”

NASCAR started the race on wet-weather tires after a midafternoon rain shower, but the track dried quickly, and drivers switched back to slick tires after 40 laps.

Hamlin top seed

Points leader Denny Hamlin also rebounded from a pit stop miscue that dropped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver outside the top 15 with less than 100 laps remaining. Hamlin rallied for a seventh place that clinched the top seed for the Chase.

“We were just pedestrian today,” Hamlin said. “We just didn’t quite have it, but ultimately a decent crawl back.”

Bell’s scary moment

Bell dropped to 31st on a safety violation penalty after front tire changer Blake Houston got dragged from the team’s pit stall while tightening the right-side tire. Bell said he exited the pits as the jack dropped, and Houston wasn’t able to get back across the front of the No. 20 Toyota.

“I saw him kind of flopping around in my rearview camera,” Bell said. “I didn’t feel my car jump up in the air, so I knew I didn’t run him over. It’s alarming and very eye-opening that these guys jumping across pit wall, they’re risking it. I’m super grateful for all the pit crew members, especially my team. They do a real good job. I’m glad Blake is OK.”

Chastain eliminated

A last-place finish extinguished the dim Chase hopes for Ross Chastain, whose No. 1 Chevrolet suffered a mechanical problem after only 40 laps.

“The speed has gotten better, so we’ll hopefully keep moving forward on that,” Chastain said. “That’s the important part. With the things in our control, we were able to make them better through the summer. I’ve learned that’s really tough to do in the NASCAR Cup Series. We did get better, but we’ve got a ways to go.”

Up next

The NASCAR Cup Series will conclude its regular season at Daytona International Speedway with a 160-lap race on Saturday, Aug. 29 at the 2.5-mile oval, setting the 16-driver field for the Chase.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Infantino has come under increasing pressure to step down over his plan, now aborted, to sell stakes in soccer’s biggest tournament, the World Cup, to private equity investors. Three of the sport's continental confederations accused him of “deception” and European soccer body UEFA threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions.

“One option is that he realizes that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches,” Ceferin said in an interview with “The Rest is Politics: Leading” British podcast which is set to be broadcast Monday.

“And the second option is that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who.”

Ceferin's comments were in excerpts from the podcast that were published Sunday in the British media.

November deadline

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and, until the backlash over his proposals, seemed sure to be reelected unopposed next year in Morocco. FIFA has set a Nov. 18 deadline for challengers to nominate.

Despite being widely seen as a potential challenger to Infantino, the 58-year-old Ceferin expressed his commitment to UEFA.

Ceferin told the podcast: “I’m not interested because of two reasons. One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point … it’s time to also enjoy life a bit.

“And the second point is, my credibility is much, much higher if I’m not interested in the position.”

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Monday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with highs in the low to mid 90s. Isolated showers and storms will develop in the afternoon and evening. Storm coverage will be most widespread in Georgia. These locations are closer to a stalled front.

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

A storm could become strong to severe with heavy rain, gusty wind and frequent lightning.

Isolated instances of flooding will be possible. Especially for areas that see several rounds of showers and storms.

A front across Georgia will remain stalled through the middle of the week. This will keep the highest rain and storm coverage mainly across Georgia.

Showers and storms will be possible with highs in the low to mid 90s.

Regarding the drought, the latest drought monitor reflects improvement across our area. Several areas have been downgraded to a moderate 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: Mostly Cloudy. An Isolated Storm Early. Low 74.

MONDAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 95, Low 74.

TUESDAY: Sun & Clouds. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 92, Low 73.

WEDNESDAY: Sun & Clouds. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 92, Low 73.

THURSDAY: Sun & Clouds. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 93, Low 73.

FRIDAY: Sun & Clouds. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 92, Low 73.

She died Saturday in Los Angeles, her family said in a statement to The Associated Press. No cause was given.

“To her family and friends, Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort,” her family wrote. “She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for.”

Fabares was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1944, and started acting as a young child. Her first television credit came at age 10 when she appeared on “The Loretta Young Show.” Many movies and television shows followed: She acted with Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra and Eva Marie Saint in a Producers Showcase production of “Our Town”; was in the Rosalind Russell movie “The Girl Rush” and the Rock Hudson drama “Never Say Goodbye.” Other early credits include “Annette,” “Captain Midnight” and the “Black Leather Jackets” episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

Her biggest break came when she was cast as Mary Stone on “The Donna Reed Show,” where she was a regular from 1958 through 1963. During that time she also got a recording contract and had two Top 40 hits including “Johnny Angel.” In the early 1960s, she also co-starred in three movies with Elvis Presley: “Girl Happy,” “Spinout” and “Clambake.”

“I think the years on ‘The Donna Reed Show,’ the years from 14 to 19, were so incredibly important,” Fabares told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. “Donna Reed was simply an extraordinary woman, a woman of great strength, kindness, integrity and compassion. I am not trying to make her sound like a saint, but she had the most profound influence on me. I carry her with me today.”

In the late 1970s, Fabares made an impression as Francine Webster on the CBS sitcom “One Day at a Time.” She also played James Caan’s wife in “Brian’s Song.” One of her biggest roles came when she was cast as Christine Armstrong in “Coach,” although the show took a minute to find its audience.

“I did always feel from the very beginning if they could find the right spot for us, this was a show that would last,” she said in the 1993 Los Angeles Times interview.

Fabares married twice, first to producer Lou Adler in 1964. She had been married to “M-A-S-H” actor Mike Farrell since 1984. She was also a devoted advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness, which affected her mother.

In early 1999, a visit to the emergency room for an esophageal bleed revealed that she had progressive liver failure. After spending 22 months on a waiting list, she had liver transplant surgery in October 2000.

In an interview with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles three years after the transplant, she said she'd been “changed by the experience” and was eternally grateful to Farrell who was with her “every step of the way.”

Her family, in their statement, said “we will remember Shelley for her kindness, loyalty, wit, courage, and beautiful spirit. We will miss her deeply — not only as a celebrated performer, but as the loving and extraordinary person she was in our everyday lives.”

Only when it was over Sunday at Bellerive, silver trophies of the BMW Championship and the Western Golf Association at his side, did Clark repeat what one of his friends told him.

“Darth Vader had more fun,” Clark said with a big smile.

Clark embraced the pressure of a tense back nine at Bellerive and accepted what his place in the game — “I’ve kind of been the underdog in all of my wins,” he said — by delivering a 5-iron that set up the go-ahead birdie and two more birdies that salvaged an even-par 70 and a three-shot victory, his third of the year.

“I know everyone maybe gives me a hard time and roots for other people,” he said. “But I feel like I’ve kind of come into my own. Three wins in one season is my best year yet —coming off my worst year ever. I’m just really pleased where I’m at right now.”

This puts him squarely in the conversation for PGA Tour player of the year considering one was a major and the other was a FedEx Cup playoff event.

But just like at Shinnecock Hills, it wasn't easy.

He lost his five-shot lead to McIlroy in 11 holes and it was tense the last hour until Clark — without a birdie all day — followed McIlroy's great tee shot on the par-3 16th with a 5-iron just as good. Clark made his from just outside 15 feet. McIlroy's putt from 15 feet to stay tied missed.

“I always felt like I needed to just get my nose ahead to really try to put the pressure on Wyndham, and I couldn’t,” McIlroy said after a 69 to finish third.

Patrick Cantlay comes through to advance

Clark wasn't the only one with cause to celebrate.

Patrick Cantlay, who came in at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup, showed plenty of moxie. Four times he bounced back from a bogey with a birdie, closing with three birdies in a row for a 68 to finish runner-up and be among the top 30 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the Tour Championship.

The winner next week at East Lake captures the FedEx Cup.

“I’m coming to a golf course that I played really well at next week,” said Cantlay, who won at East Lake in 2021 to claim the FedEx Cup. “So I’m really pleased with where my game is at and I think I’m trending in the right direction.”

Woodland's big year to continue

Also moving into the top 30 was Gary Woodland, who pulled within one shot of the lead until topping his tee shot into a creek on the ninth hole on his way to a double bogey. He closed with nine straight pars and fought back tears as he returns to the Tour Championship for the first time since 2019 while recovering from brain surgery three years ago.

He said Saturday, when he was in the final group, took a lot out of him with the noise, the energy and the drones that triggered the kind of brain activity he tries to calm. On Sunday, he tried to embrace it and pulled through with a 69 to tie for fourth.

“I tried to enjoy it," he said. “Outside of topping a ball — I haven't done that for a long time — I'm just really proud.”

Robert MacIntyre closed with a 65 and tied for seventh, enough to move him into the top 30 for a return to East Lake. Those falling out of the top 30 were Rickie Fowler, Bud Cauley and Kurt Kitayama. British Open champion Ryan Fox nailed down the final spot.

Clark's big finish at Bellerive

Clark didn't face near the vitriol he did at Shinnecock Hills, when the New York crowd went from pulling for Scottie Scheffler in his bid for the career Grand Slam to openly rooting against Clark. There was one voice that shouted, “Get in the bunker!” when Clark hit to the par-3 13th. Otherwise, it was a clear pro-McIlroy crowd.

That was OK with Clark. He overcame three bogeys and a state of mind where he felt like he couldn't hit the right shot or make any putt. And then he delivered his best swing — and best putt — on a 232-yard par 3 that yielded only five birdies all day.

“I wasn't really nervous. I was kind of like ... out of it,” Clark said. “I was making dumb bogeys. I didn't make anything on the greens. When I made the putt on the par 3, it got me back. As much as I would have loved to run away with it, it was fun to get the juices going.

“I'm really proud of myself that I didn't let it get away.”

Clark also moved into the top six automatic spots who qualified for the Presidents Cup, joining Scheffler, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa. U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker will have six picks after the Tour Championship. Cantlay surely got his attention.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

The trip is the most recent example of how the president blurs the line between official business and travel in ways that can benefit his family business. His sons have taken over day-to-day control of the Trump Organization, but the September trip once again lays bare how Trump has leveraged his second term to pad his family’s profits in a variety of ways.

Trump is scheduled to be in Ireland on Sept. 12 and 13 and will join an event with U.S. embassy workers and business officials before attending the golf tournament at Trump International Golf Links Ireland in Doonbeg, according to the White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump's course in Bedminster, New Jersey, hosted a LIV golf tournament in August. Another Trump course at Doral in South Florida is scheduled to host a PGA event, the Cadillac Championship, in March 2028, and Trump has talked about his course in Turnberry, Scotland, hosting the British Open, which it last did in 2009, before Trump bought the resort. A return of the British Open to that property continues to face major logistical hurdles.

Last summer, Trump went to Scotland for five days to golf at Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. The White House refused to call that midsummer jaunt a vacation, but insisted it was a working trip — and Trump found time between games to talk about trade with then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Trump frequently travels to golf courses he owns in Florida and New Jersey, as well as a course in Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. But he is not known to take lengthy holidays.

“Don’t take vacations. What’s the point?” he wrote in his 2004 book, “Think Like a Billionaire.”

Trump’s trip to Ireland will have him leaving the country right after he tries to rally support for Republicans in the November elections as the GOP holds its first-ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections. The unusual event, scheduled in Dallas on Sept. 9-10, was Trump’s idea to try to galvanize support by staging something similar to the conventions both parties normally have before presidential elections.

As recently as last summer, Trump derided Barack Obama for flying long distances for golf as president — something Trump himself is now doing.

“They talked about the carbon footprint and then Obama hops onto a 747, Air Force One, and flies to Hawaii to play a round of golf and comes back,” Trump said last year.

Aside from the Scotland getaway, the longest stretch of downtime Trump took last year was when he went to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in early December and stayed past Christmas — though even that trip featured visits by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The trip was first confirmed by the New York Post.

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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

The Phillies had pieced together an unlikely rally from a four-run deficit in the home half of the ninth and Schwarber was stepping in against St. Louis Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien.

It was at that point that Schwarber shot a grinning glance at teammate Trea Turner.

“I’m just there chuckling, laughing and smiling with Trea (about) how we got to that point,” Schwarber said.

Schwarber then did his part.

“Then when the ball came off the bat, I stood there and watched. It was a little bit of a shock that we were able to do that in that fashion,” Schwarber said. “But that’s why you keep playing. That’s why you play all the outs. Never give up, and keep fighting until the end.”

The slugger fought to a 2-2 count, then took a swing that even he couldn’t downplay.

“It was awesome,” he said with a shrug. “Just a little bit of disbelief.”

The shot over the Citizens Bank Park “batter’s eye” traveled an estimated 459 feet, good for his major league-leading 39th home run, and a rather incredible 6-4 Phillies victory, their ninth straight.

It was the Phillies’ first walk-off win by home run since Schwarber accomplished the feat on July 9, 2023, against the Dodgers.

And, it was the most resounding blow during an August rebirth. In a few weeks’ time they’ve gone from falling behind in the wild-card race to erasing much of what seemed like an insurmountable Atlanta lead in the NL East. Pending the Braves’ game with Milwaukee Sunday night, the Phillies were 2 1/2 games back in the division.

To that end, there is no disbelief on Schwarber’s part. He pointed out that he and four teammates all had two strikes on them during their two-out at-bats in the ninth.

“I feel like it’s a lot of really good baseball, complete baseball,” he said. “It’s not like we’re out there just hitting homers and relying on that. I feel like there’s a lot of things we’re doing really well.”

Harper, who has reached base safely in 25 straight games, had led off the ninth with a double, but two quick outs later the fans started packing up. But J.T. Realmuto singled, Justin Crawford walked, and utility man Edmundo Sosa hit a three-run double. Then came a game-tying single by seldom-used Bryan De La Cruz, followed by the winning stroke by Schwarber.

All of that off O’Brien, who had stayed in the game even after mound visit by manager Oli Marmot as Schwarber waited to hit.

“We’re a winning team,” Sosa said. “We’re the Phillies. I can say we’re really surprised, but when we’re late in the game we never stop fighting.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.

“He dedicates himself only to work so he can put food on the table at home. He is a good father. He loves his children with all his soul,” said Argelia, 47.

Aviles’ arrest comes as the Trump administration rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda, detaining at least dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops.

At least six family members have been deported and one self-deported, the AP found in the first accounting of such detentions, which the government does not track. One spouse, the wife of a U.S. soldier who spent more than a month in federal immigration detention, was removed from a deportation flight to Brazil after the AP’s reporting.

One of the military’s most highly advertised immigration benefits is “military parole-in-place,” which allows the spouses, children and parents of active-duty service members and veterans to obtain legal immigration status from within the country. Not everyone qualifies: those who overstayed visas or who already applied for legal status at the border, for example.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol agents arrested Luis Aviles on Saturday in Key West and that he will remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him.

“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the department said Sunday, adding that the Trump administration “does not pick and choose which laws to enforce.”

Aviles' son said in a Facebook post that he has been working 12-hour work shifts for more than 250 days without a break on the USS Lincoln, which is deployed in the Middle East. The deployment has raised widespread concerns about the impact on service members who are away from land for long periods, food shortages, as well as the increasing strain on the ship and its equipment.

The Pentagon referred all questions to the Navy. The Navy didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Sunday afternoon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously called conditions aboard the Lincoln “completely misrepresented.”

Joshua Aviles wrote in his post on Saturday that he was still on the USS Lincoln “fighting for a country that has given me everything” when he got a call about his father's detention on Saturday morning.

“This is heartbreaking for me. I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly treated like a criminal,” Joshua Aviles wrote.

Katherine Delgado, 28, Joshua Aviles' sister, said that Joshua joined the military in part because he thought it would improve his father's chances of getting citizenship and so that he would “no longer be living in fear of being arrested.”

She said being apart from Joshua, who she calls her “best friend” and her “ride-or-die,” has been devastating.

“I spent weeks without knowing where he was,” Delgado said. Once she heard from him, and was told that he wasn't getting enough food, she said, she has spent hundreds of dollars to send him care packages with food and hygiene products — some of which never arrived.

Joshua is “supposed to come home soon,” Delgado said, referring to news that the ship her brother is on will soon be brought out of service in the Middle East. “And he’s gonna come home without his father.”

The son’s lengthy deployment has been challenging for Luis Aviles, according to his wife. He told her that he was looking forward to the deployment finally coming to an end. When six months passed and his son didn’t come back, Aviles was distraught, she said.

“He was excited,” she said. “He wanted to hug his son, as he hadn’t seen him for nine months.”

For Enzo Maresca, it was the "perfect day" as he earned his first victory as Manchester City manager.

City produced a stirring late rally in Maresca's first Premier League game in charge, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to grab a 2-1 win at home to Bournemouth on Sunday.

Josko Gvardiol placed a finish into the bottom corner in the first minute of added-on time for the winner, which was initially given offside before being awarded following a video review. Marc Guehi had equalized with a 84th-minute header from a corner to start the comeback.

Maresca, the successor to Pep Guardiola, punched the air when Gvardiol’s goal was awarded and went onto the field after the final whistle to hug his players.

A huge banner, reading “Welcome back Enzo,” had been held aloft by City fans as the Italian — Guardiola’s assistant in City’s treble-winning 2022-23 season — emerged from the tunnel before kickoff

Wearing a sharp black suit, Maresca certainly looked the part on the touchline but the slickness synonymous with City’s play under Guardiola down the years wasn’t quite there until the late comeback sparked by substitute Rayan Cherki, who set up both goals.

“It is the perfect day, to be honest,” Maresca said. "I was very pleased when the game started to see the banner on the other side. And I was pleased because we give them the joy of the three points.

“It was quite emotional and the perfect day.”

Maresca throws curveball with Guehi in midfield

Maresca began his time as Guardiola's replacement with a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield last weekend and has had to deal with the departure of star midfielder Rodri to Barcelona.

City might have found a long-term replacement for Rodri in 18-year-old Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is set to join from Lille for 100 million euros ($117 million) according to French media, but Maresca opted against Bournemouth to deploy Guehi — a center back — as a holding midfielder instead.

It was a contentious decision given there were other midfield options on the bench, and it might prove to be a one-off, but Guehi grew into the role.

City striker Erling Haaland wasn't on the scoresheet in the first league game of the season for the first time since joining the club in 2022. He sported a new hairstyle — a buzz cut that went viral on social media ahead of kickoff — and wasted a couple of great chances to score with it.

Szoboszlai's late equalizer for Liverpool at Newcastle after Keegan tribute

Dominik Szoboszlai converted a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw for Liverpool at Newcastle in a match overseen by two new managers.

Before kickoff, the teams united to pay tribute to Kevin Keegan — a star player for both clubs — following his death last month at age 75. Players from Newcastle and Liverpool wore shirts with “Keegan” and the number 7 on the back in the warmup at St. James' Park, while there was a mosaic in the center circle, a tribute video and a huge tifo in the stands dedicated to the former England star.

Szoboszlai smashed an unstoppable spot kick into the top corner after debutant Victor Munoz was fouled in the area in a dramatic finish. There was a 3 1/2-minute wait for a video review of the decision.

“I really hit it good,” the Hungary captain said. “I love the pressure.”

Joe Willock looked to have scored a 57th-minute winner for Newcastle, one minute after coming on as a substitute and two minutes after Cody Gakpo had equalized for Liverpool. Anthony Elanga put Newcastle ahead in the fifth minute.

Liverpool striker Alexander Isak was jeered by Newcastle fans when he came off the team coach and then every time he touched the ball, a hangover from his switch of clubs at the start of last season.

Matthias Jaissle was taking charge of Newcastle for first time, while Andoni Iraola is Liverpool's new manager as Arne Slot's replacement.

Brighton destroys Villa

Brighton scored four goals in the opening 31 minutes and also missed a slew of great chances in a 4-0 hammering of Aston Villa in the other early game.

To make matters worse for Villa, Joao Gomes was sent off for kicking out at Brighton’s Georginio Rutter in the 40th but the visitors somehow didn’t concede any more goals.

It has been a tough offseason for Villa, with key players Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa leaving and speculation surrounding the future of Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez at the club.

Brighton was sharper, having been in European qualifying action in midweek.

Fan dies

A Brighton fan died after falling ill as he was leaving the Amex stadium following the win over Villa.

The 72-year-old man became unwell as he was leaving to board a supporters’ club bus.

Brighton said that, despite the best efforts of emergency services and club staff, the medical team could not save him.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said “we are all shocked and saddened by the loss of one of our supporters.”

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The Boston Musicians’ Association said Saturday it had authorized a strike ahead of the expiration of the union’s three-year contract at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The BSO and the musicians said Sunday the contract had been extended to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

BSO CEO Chad Smith said Sunday that the extension had been agreed to pending a ratification vote by the BMA and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Players’ Committee.

The orchestra and management have had strained relations since BSO decided in March to force out music director Andris Nelsons next summer after 13 seasons.

The orchestra’s season is scheduled to open Sept. 17.

Kyle Kirkwood raced to his second victory of the IndyCar season Sunday, dominating the Freedom 250 in his No. 27 Honda. Kirkwood crossed the finish line in front of the U.S. Capitol 3.09 seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard, after leading for 128 of a possible 147 laps.

“This likely is the most satisfying win that I’ve had, just the magnitude of it. This one and my first are pretty similar,” said Kirkwood, who now has seven career IndyCar victories. “When you think about the magnitude, what this means, having this race here in D.C., being the Freedom 250, as an American, it might top the first win for me.”

The race was set up as part of the country’s 250th birthday celebration. President Donald Trump gave drivers the green flag at the start and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser served as grand marshal.

Organizers could hardly have asked for better weather, with plenty of sun but not so much heat that fans would stay away. The area was awash in red, white and blue. Even the Canadian flags on that country's embassy — located along the track's Pennsylvania Avenue straightaway — featured two of those three colors.

“This was not a race. It was an event," race chair Bud Denker said.

Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, Kirkwood's teammates with Andretti Global, finished third and fourth. Pole winner Alex Palou, who had a chance to clinch the series title, finished 20th in his second-worst showing of the year.

After several prerace flyovers and Trump’s green flag, the field quickly went under caution because of debris on the track. The first big wreck came when David Malukas went into the wall and Sting Ray Robb could do little to avoid crashing into him coming around a turn. Just like that, two of the race’s eight American drivers were out.

Several cars went onto pit road, and that’s when the day started to fall apart for Palou. He appeared to hit a tire in someone else’s area while exiting, and he was assessed a drive-through penalty.

On a subsequent pit stop, one of Palou’s tires was loose when he started driving. That caused another delay, and he ended up off the lead lap. Palou later spun coming through a turn. His lead in the standings dropped from 133 points over second-place Kirkwood to 91 with three races to go.

“Things happen. I'm at least kind of happy that everything happened at the same day instead of spreading out throughout different races," Palou said. “We had some issues in pit lane — one my fault, one out of my control.”

Kirkwood had a commanding lead before Palou’s spin caused a caution. On a restart with 19 laps remaining, Scott McLaughlin tried to pass Kirkwood and went into a tire barrier.

“Quite honestly, I thought he was going to make it stick initially,” Kirkwood said. “Once he got alongside me, there’s no way he’s stopping.”

After another caution, Kirkwood pulled off a strong restart with 13 laps to go and Lundgaard didn’t mount much of a threat as the 250-mile race wound down. Nicknamed the “King of the Streets” because of his success on tracks like this, Kirkwood looked right at home on the 1.7-mile circuit that was being used this weekend for the first time.

Misplaced blame?

Marcus Armstrong was penalized for avoidable contact when he sent Christian Rasmussen into a spin. Rinus VeeKay went into the wall during that incident but appeared unaware of Armstrong’s culpability when he went on TV for an interview.

“If Rasmussen’s around, you know you’re going to crash. Either he does or you do,” VeeKay said. “It sucks. It’s stupid. It’s a long race, and some people seemingly don’t know that.”

The race's future

Denker had plenty of impressive stats ready for his postrace news conference: over 215,000 people attending over the last two days, and over $969,000 in merchandise sold Saturday.

As for whether the race will continue in the future, Denker said he'll discuss it with series owner Roger Penske.

“Mr. Trump hit me 15 times today about having to have this," Denker said. “'Let’s do it for five years,' is what he’s saying, ‘because that guarantees you’re going to be here through my term, then two more years for whoever is in office next.’”

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

Manchester City left it late to win in its first Premier League match under Enzo Maresca and Mohamed Salah scored his first goals for Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Julián Álvarez heard boos from the Atletico Madrid crowd in his return to action in the Spanish league after asking to leave the club, and both Juventus and AC Milan won in the Italian league.

Feyenoord's game in the Dutch league was disrupted by fireworks.

Torres' dream start with PSG in France

Torres, who joined PSG from Barcelona after scoring Spain's World Cup winning goal last month, came off the bench to score in the 71st and 82nd minutes, helping his new club avoid a second consecutive loss after a penalty shootout loss to Lens in the French Super Cup.

Both goals were assisted by Torres' Spain teammate Fabian Ruiz.

Sebastian Szymanski and Esteban Lepaul had put host Rennes ahead with first-half goals.

Earlier, Olivier Giroud, who turns 40 next month, scored from about 20 meters (yards) out as Lille won 2-0 at Angers. Midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi was left out of Lille’s squad amid reports of an imminent big-money move to Man City.

Easy win for Barcelona in La Liga

Raphinha and Fermín López scored two goals each as Barcelona cruised to a 5-0 victory at Elche.

Newcomer Karim Adeyemi also scored for Hansi Flick's team, which is looking to win a third straight La Liga title.

It was the biggest win so far in the competition this season.

Lamine Yamal appeared to be upset when he was replaced in the second half.

Maresca wins with City in Premier League

Enzo Maresca enjoyed what he called a “perfect day” as Man City rallied late to defeat Bournemouth 2-1 in its Premier League opener.

City scored twice in the final 10 minutes to grab the victory at home as Maresca debuted as Pep Guardiola's successor.

Liverpool salvaged a 2-2 draw at Newcastle thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s penalty kick in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

Brighton scored four goals in the opening 31 minutes in a 4-0 trashing of Aston Villa.

Salah gets his first goals in Turkish league

Salah scored twice as Trabzonspor beat Başakşehir 2-1.

The Egypt forward scored in the eighth and 48th minutes.

Salah signed a two-year contract with the Turkish club after a long and successful stint with Liverpool.

Fireworks interrupt Dutch league game

Feyenoord’s 5-2 win at Cambuur had to be interrupted after away fans set off fireworks that reportedly caused minor injuries to some supporters.

The Dutch soccer federation released a statement condemning the incident and saying it is “doing everything we can to track down the perpetrators and punish them severely. They can expect, among other things, a nationwide stadium ban for setting off fireworks.”

Álvarez booed by Atletico fans

Álvarez was booed by Atletico fans upset with his request to leave the club.

Álvarez came off the bench in the 67th minute of Atletico’s 2-2 draw against Villarreal at the Metropolitano stadium.

Álvarez had not played in Atletico’s first game. The club said it does not intend to sell the Argentina forward.

Giuliano Simeone scored an 85th-minute equalizer for Atletico, which played a man down from the 76th because of a red card for Robin Le Normand.

Villarreal finished third last season, just ahead of Atletico, the perennial challenger to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Juve and Milan get off to winning starts in Italy

AC Milan opened its Serie A campaign with a 2-1 win at Torino with goals three minutes apart from Alphadjo Cisse and Adrien Rabiot in the second half.

Milan will be trying to improve from a fifth-place finish last season.

Gleison Bremer scored in the first half to give Juventus — sixth last season — an opening 1-0 win at Frosinone.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

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Williams and Alcaraz were drawn Sunday to face one of the teams that advances from the eight-team qualifying tournament that will be played Monday.

Williams will be returning to the U.S. Open for the first time since 2022. The six-time singles champion and Alcaraz, who has won the men's title twice, were awarded a wild card into the 16-team tournament Saturday.

The first round and quarterfinals of the mixed doubles are Tuesday, with the semifinals and final on Wednesday. The winning team shares $1 million.

Facing one of the qualifiers will be a tough assignment, because most of the players in the qualifying tournament are doubles specialists. The qualifying tournament was added this year to give those types of players a chance to compete after they were almost entirely shut out last year when the U.S. Tennis Association, seeking more star power, revamped the mixed doubles and based direct entry on the players' rankings in singles.

Two-time defending women's champion Aryna Sabalenka and 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic earned the No. 1 seed after having the lowest combined singles ranking among the teams. They will face the pair of Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe in their first match.

Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz are seeded No. 2 and will open against Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud. Ruud was scheduled to play again with Iga Swiatek, after they reached the final in 2025. But Swiatek withdrew and Schnaider needed a partner after Daniil Medvedev pulled out.

The other first-round matches: Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who are married, vs. Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime; Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli vs. Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev; Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik vs. the other team from the qualifying tournament; Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul vs. Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev vs. two-time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori; and Shnaider and Ruud vs. Pegula and Fritz.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

The supplement glutathione, given through an IV or an inhaler-like machine called a nebulizer, has not been proven to be safe or effective and could expose firefighters to illness if there is contamination while it's produced, experts say.

At least two pharmacies recalled the supplement in August due to bacterial contamination found during testing at their labs, with one saying it had received reports of people suffering from fever, chills, severe headache and other symptoms.

“Because glutathione is not an FDA-approved drug, consumers should be cautious about product safety and claims that glutathione can treat or prevent diseases,” said a safety advisory issued last week by the International Association of Firefighters, a labor union representing some 360,000 first responders.

Warning followed supplement's use during Spokane wildfires

Glutathione was offered to firefighters during recent blazes that destroyed hundreds of buildings in and around Spokane, Washington. During morning briefings, medical unit leaders on scene from California urged crews to check out a tent where a nonprofit run by licensed naturopathic doctors offered the supplement.

A group of naturopaths called The Integrative Health Action Network had previously provided the supplement to firefighters during the January 2025 wildfires that tore through Los Angeles County. The group’s work with firefighters began following a 2017 blaze that destroyed thousands of homes in California’s wine country.

Though there is no evidence to back its use, some firefighters have said the supplement helped them feel better after breathing toxic smoke and they have urged California pharmacy officials not to restrict access.

The supplement's promotion in Spokane prompted physicians and some members to contact the IAFF with concerns about health claims despite no research proving those claims or showing the supplement's safety, said Sean DeCrane, IAFF assistant to the general president for health and safety. Some doctors have warned of adverse effects.

The IAFF also received reports saying some firefighters felt worse or became sick after getting treated. Medical treatments being marketed to firefighters should be evaluated and tested to make sure there are no unintended consequences, DeCrane said.

In response to the safety advisory, Jen Riegle, a naturopathic doctor and co-founder of The Integrative Health Action Network, said the organization recognizes the need for peer-reviewed research on whether glutathione can reduce chemical burdens in firefighters and is “actively exploring partnerships to that end.”

How inhaling wildfire smoke harms the body

More studies are showing the wide-ranging negative health impacts of inhaling wildfire smoke, which is especially toxic when blazes tear through urban areas and burn up household appliances, batteries and chemicals. Tens of thousands of people die annually in the U.S. from long-term impacts of wildfire smoke.

Firefighters work in extreme conditions that make it impractical to use a respirator with an air tank. That means they are exposed to a “slew of chemicals” that have short- and long-term impacts on their health, DeCrane said.

Pasadena Fire Captain Matt Caffey, also a paramedic for 28 years, helped fight last year’s Eaton fire in Southern California and said the smoke exposure from burning neighborhoods brings on coughing, vomiting and brain fog.

“You can’t remember things. You’re just so behind the eight ball. You can’t catch up. You’re not recovering,” he said.

Caffey is among the firefighters who say glutathione helps, and he urged Integrative Health Action Network providers to come to Spokane. The California Board of Pharmacy in 2025 reversed course on regulations that would have made the supplement more difficult to acquire after pushback from some firefighters.

Experts say health claims are not backed by evidence

Experts warn anecdotal claims of relief are not proof.

Such claims are “interesting and provocative and deserve further study,” said Dr. Cora Sack, a pulmonary specialist with expertise in environmental and occupational lung disease at the University of Washington School of Medicine. But “we lack clinical evidence of its efficacy.”

Glutathione is an antioxidant made primarily in the liver that neutralizes other unstable molecules that attack the body and cause cellular damage. Wildfire smoke creates oxidative stress in the body, and there is an “interesting biological plausibility” to think antioxidants could impact that, Sack said. But she does not endorse glutathione’s use without clear evidence.

Taking glutathione through a nebulizer may constrict the airways of people who have asthma or chronic lung conditions. Glutathione is processed in sterile compounding pharmacies, and there have been cases of people getting poisoned due to contamination at these facilities, Sack said.

Injecting a contaminated product “could cause significant medical events including fevers, hypotension, inflammatory reactions, anaphylactic shock and death,” according to the recent pharmacy recalls.

Luke Montrose, a professor at Colorado State University whose research focuses in part on the impact of wildfire smoke on disease risk, said glutathione has anti-inflammatory properties.

“But because it hasn’t been studied, I’m hesitant,” he said.

For the first time in the festival’s history, the Local Artist Showcases and the marquee Francis Field weekend will take place in separate months, with the Francis Field weekend moving to May 2027. That gives each chapter of the festival its own moment — and gives music fans even more to look forward to.

Since its launch in 2016, Sing Out Loud has featured more than 1,700 national, regional and local musicians and welcomed more than 360,000 live music enthusiasts from around the world. For its 10th anniversary, the festival is placing Northeast Florida’s creative community front and center.

More than 160 acts. 17 venues. Three weekends. All free.

The full schedule for the 2026 Local Artist Showcases is now available at singoutloudfestival.com and through the official Sing Out Loud Festival app.

More than 160 acts will perform free at 17 venues throughout St. Augustine across three weekends: Sept. 4-6, Sept. 11-13 and Sept. 18-20. The lineup spans indie rock, jazz, bluegrass, country, comedy, spoken word and more — reflecting the depth and variety of talent found throughout Northeast Florida.

Local showcases: The heart of Sing Out Loud

The Local Artist Showcases have been a cornerstone of the Sing Out Loud experience since the festival launched in 2016. Each September, the showcases give music fans the chance to discover established and emerging artists while exploring St. Augustine’s independent venues.

A decade later, that spirit remains at the heart of the festival — celebrating the artists, venues and music community that make Northeast Florida unique.

Surprise appearances continue a Sing Out Loud tradition

Surprise artist appearances have long been part of the Sing Out Loud experience, and the 10th anniversary keeps that tradition alive — this time in partnership with St. Johns Cultural Council.

On Friday, Sept. 11, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Aoife O’Donovan will perform with the St. Augustine Bluegrass Unit and Eowyn Sage at Spinster Abbott’s. The event is free and open to the public.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, the improvisational ensemble Sam Grisman Project will perform alongside a screening of the poetic documentary Summer Tour at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall.

A community celebration — and a taste of it, too

Community collaboration has always been part of the Sing Out Loud identity, and 2026 brings a sweet one. The festival is partnering with local favorite Mayday Handcrafted Ice Cream on a limited-edition flavor: Spoonbill Guava Cheesecake — a bright, creamy guava-lime ice cream with crumbles of Mayday’s handcrafted cookies studded throughout.

Named for the iconic pink-and-white spoonbill that calls the region home, the flavor pays tribute to the area’s unique flora and fauna, with tropical guava bringing a taste of Old Florida to every scoop. It will be available exclusively at Mayday’s St. Johns County locations throughout September — a delicious way to celebrate music, creativity and community.

All local artist showcase events are free. For showtimes, tickets and additional details, visit singoutloudfestival.com.

Officers Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez were arrested on charges including aggravated assault and kidnapping, police chief Matt Giordano said at a news conference Saturday.

“Detectives have confirmed that the two former officers physically assaulted both the man and woman during the traffic stop,” Giordano said. “The investigation also shows that a Taser was used on the victims during the stop.”

The officers did not report the Aug. 5 traffic stop and did not activate their body-worn cameras, police said.

“There is no video evidence, but we established what we believe is probable cause that these crimes were committed,” Giordano said, adding there was no indication that the officers knew the victims.

Dave Evans, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said Sunday that Vasquez had been released from custody while Felix remained incarcerated at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix.

Attempts by The Associated Press to determine who their defense attorneys were to request comment were unsuccessful.

During the late-night traffic stop in Phoenix, the male driver and woman passenger reported that the officers smashed the car window, according to a statement from Phoenix police. Vasquez punched the man and threatened to shoot him, while the woman was removed from the vehicle and handcuffed.

The man managed to drive away and abandoned the car in neighboring Tempe, while the woman was released at the scene, the statement said.

A police officer in neighboring Tempe who responded to the abandoned car asked over dispatch whether it had fled from any neighboring police agencies and was told it had not, according to a Tempe police report.

The Tempe officer called the car's registered owner, the mother of the male driver, and through her was able to connect with the woman passenger and eventually the male driver. The woman passenger told the officer that both of them had been shocked with a Taser, while the man later told the officer that he had been punched in the face multiple times and that they had repeatedly asked why they had been stopped.

The Tempe officer wrote in the report that he believed they were victims of an attempted carjacking by people impersonating police officers.

Giordano, the Phoenix police chief, said he had a similar reaction when he initially learned of the incident as it was “so far outside the bounds of our policies.” But when detectives started looking into it, they realized Phoenix officers might be involved and transitioned the case to a special investigations detail, he said.

“That's when they started putting evidence together, including the automatic vehicle locator that did put a vehicle at that location about the time that the victims reported it occurred," Giordano said, referring to the location technology in city vehicles.

Vasquez and Felix had served eight and nine years with Phoenix police, respectively. Giordano, without elaborating, said both had previously violated department policy but that it was “nothing of this nature.”

The Phoenix department's investigation and audit are ongoing. The officers have a scheduled court date on Friday.

Click through the images above to check out action from the game.

“I'm sick,” Scheffler said while turning down an interview request Thursday.

After he closed with a 2-under 68 on Sunday, Scheffler offered a few more details. He said he was dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease that causes blisters.

“So to start the week it was pretty painful to grip the club,” he said. “If I was smarter maybe I would have pulled out, but I was playing so good I felt like if I could knock it out quickly and just get through the first couple rounds I would still have a chance.”

Scheffler was coming off an eight-shot victory in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and appeared to be hitting his stride at just the right time for the three-week conclusion to the PGA Tour season.

In hindsight, Scheffler said it would have been prudent to pull out with so little at stake. He already was assured of being No. 1 in the FedEx Cup through the BMW Championship, which earned him a $23 million bonus. Seeds don't even matter next week at the Tour Championship because all 30 players who advance only have to win at East Lake to capture the FedEx Cup.

“I think that’s part of my stubbornness, probably. That’s probably a strength of mine and a weakness at times,” Scheffler said. "I’ve never been one to ever pull out of a tournament, especially in the middle of it. That’s really frustrating for me.

“But I’m proud of how I fought,” he said. “Feel like I’m starting to heal up. My throat is still bugging me pretty good. But my hands feel normal today.”

His only mistake — aside from three bogeys — was nearly shaking hands with Cameron Young when they finished because he was feeling back to normal.

Scheffler had with three straight birdies that briefly got him inside the top 10, but he closed with a bogey from the fairway bunker. Scheffler hit only 65% of his greens this week.

“I felt better as the week went on,” he said. "I got sick Monday night. That was probably the most frustrating part. Playing really good golf, and you come out of the heat and get a little adrenaline, sometimes your body kind of crashes. Then it hit me pretty good all week.

“I’m still not 100% now, but I’ll get some rest now and hopefully that will help.”

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday is expected to announce the new measures after the U.S. vowed to impose an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on a country that has lived for decades under sanctions. Also Monday, Pakistan’s army chief is expected to visit Iran as mediators try to revive talks.

Meanwhile, attacks calmed on the Strait of Hormuz but posturing did not, as a recently created Iranian authority listed dozens of vessels it said will face restrictions on future transits.

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

Iran’s security chief sharpens warning to neighbors

The hard-line leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, issued his latest warning on X, with the comments quickly shared by Iranian state media.

It came a day after Rezaei's most extensive public comments since being named to the post this month.

“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” he had told the state broadcaster in an interview that aired late Saturday. He said Iran would target other oil-shipping routes from the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard commander and military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance.

Iranian president wants to move past ‘neither war nor peace’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier Sunday said the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June was the best way to move beyond a situation of “neither war nor peace," adding that Tehran can’t attract investment nearly six months after the war began.

“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said in a speech published by state-run IRNA. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”

The interim deal opened a 60-day period for talks aimed at ending the war and reaching an accord on Iran's nuclear program. That period ended last week with no signs of compromise or extension.

No attacks confirmed on the strait, but new restrictions

There were no confirmed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 48 hours, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, with shipping traffic still at reduced levels. The U.S. military said its blockade of Iranian ports had redirected 70 commercial ships and disabled three as of Sunday.

Iran's recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority, sanctioned by the U.S., published a list of dozens of ships it said had violated arrangements for transiting the strait and would face future restrictions like fines or seizures. The strait had been considered an international waterway before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

Iran and Oman, on the strait's other side, are now discussing management of it, which likely will include ships paying fees.

Pakistan's army chief will visit Tehran

Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir will lead a delegation to Tehran on Monday, Iranian state television reported, citing Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei.

Two regional officials said the visit was part of Islamabad’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran and urge them to return to the negotiating table. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

— By Munir Ahmed in Islamabad

Iran executes man arrested during January protests

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the latest execution connected to nationwide protests early this year, saying Majid Adineh was arrested Jan. 9 in Mohammadshahr, west of Tehran.

The judiciary said forensic examinations indicated the handgun found on him had been fired on Jan. 8 and 9. Mizan said Adineh had joined the unrest following calls by groups opposed to Iran’s government and alleged that he had received training from groups outside the country. He was convicted under Iran’s law imposing harsher penalties for espionage and cooperation with hostile states.

Israeli settler arrested in beating of Palestinian amputee

Police arrested a 16-year-old boy from the Israeli settlement of Avigayil in the beating of a 61-year-old Palestinian, Saeed Muhammad Ibrahim Rabah, outside his home in the occupied West Bank, a year after he lost a leg after being shot by a settler.

Rabah told The Associated Press that the violence at his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez on Saturday was an effort to make families leave, but “we will remain, no matter what happens.”

Separately, the West Bank Health Ministry said a 14-year-old in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus was shot dead by Israeli forces, who did not immediately comment. The uncle of Islam Maher Ajouri, Nehad Ajouri, called the shooting indiscriminate.

And Israel's military said it detained a suspect in a stabbing attack that wounded a 24-year-old Israeli man in the area of al-Auja in the West Bank. Israel's emergency services said the man was in moderate condition.

Airstrike in Gaza kills a 4-year-old child

Four-year-old Mohammed Taha died after an Israeli airstrike hit a central Gaza house on Sunday and wounded at least five others, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties.

Israel's military later said it struck and killed a Hamas commander in central Gaza. The hospital confirmed that the man named, Ismail Abu Ful, was killed.

An Israeli strike in southern Gaza wounded at least seven people, including three children, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital. The military did not immediately comment.

And Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement said he instructed the military to “act immediately and forcefully” to prevent launches of balloons, kites or drones from Gaza toward nearby Israeli communities.

Before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel — when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage — burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza into southern Israel, causing fires and other damage.

Hamas in a statement Sunday accused Israel of “using children’s toys as a pretext” for attacks and further displacement of Gaza residents.

Tensions escalated late Friday when Canada walked away from negotiations after Carney concluded the United States was demanding too much in exchange for tariff relief. The U.S. imposed 50% duties Saturday on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Carney announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning Sept. 8.

“We’re going to hit back,” Carney said.

Carney is doing what many other American allies have so far avoided: risking economic pain rather than yielding to tariff pressure.

For Carney, the showdown is the clearest test yet of his argument that middle powers must stand up to economic pressure from great powers such as the United States and China, even when it comes at a cost. Canada’s response could show how countries navigate a world in which long-standing alliances offer less protection and economic ties themselves become sources of leverage.

It could also shape how Carney is viewed at home and abroad, and how other U.S. allies respond to the Republican president.

The trade dispute also has become a test of sovereignty.

Carney said Washington introduced language in the final hours of negotiations that would have restricted Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries. He said that demand was “unacceptable” and “a question of sovereignty.”

British Columbia Premier David Eby said accepting such a condition would have reduced Canada “to the economic equivalent of the 51st state” — a status Trump has mused about often.

Canada becomes a test case for the world Carney warned about

Carney’s message resonated in January when he addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as Europe braced for Trump’s threats over Greenland and new tariffs.

Carney said the international order was undergoing “a rupture, not a transition.” He argued that sovereignty would depend increasingly on a country’s ability to “withstand pressure” and warned that middle powers negotiating alone with great powers do so from weakness.

Trump responded a day later by stressing Canada’s dependence on the United States. “ Canada lives because of the United States,” he said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

The president has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st U.S. state and dismissed the allies' border as artificial. On Sunday, Trump returned to that theme, writing on Truth Social that “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” and accusing Canada of charging U.S. farmers “massive amounts” of tariffs for years. “No more!!!” he wrote.

Seven months since Davos, Canada has become a test case for the world Carney described.

“Our government understood, before many, that America would transform all its commercial relationships,” Carney said Saturday. He accused Washington of using “economic integration as a weapon” and said its “signature was written in pencil.”

The price of resistance and will Canada show the way?

Historian Robert Bothwell said Canada is uniquely vulnerable to U.S. pressure.

“No country is more exposed than Canada,” Bothwell said. “Other countries have to fear American misbehavior, but none as much as Canada.”

Bothwell said success ultimately means Canada retaining its independence “in the face of Trump’s desire to subordinate it and absorb it.” He said Carney "sees that very well.”

But Canada’s dependence on the U.S. market makes that difficult.

Nearly three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the United States, whose economy is roughly 10 times larger. Canada can sign new trade agreements, but replacing customers and supply chains built around the enormous U.S. market over decades is considerably harder.

Carney acknowledged retaliation would “raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians.”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer rejected Canada’s account of the breakdown in talks, saying Ottawa introduced new demands and backed away from commitments even after Washington offered to reduce tariffs on steel, autos, lumber and other goods.

He said the United States was moving ahead with additional measures in response to Canada’s retaliation, raising the prospect of further escalation.

The European Union prepared retaliatory tariffs against the United States last year but repeatedly suspended them while negotiating with Washington.

Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, said Canada is providing the biggest test yet of whether Carney’s strategy can work and whether resistance by one middle power could change the calculations of others.

“Will there be a domino effect? We’ll see,” Wiseman said.

Carney’s defiance also drew notice in Europe. Former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who later served as the European Union’s economy commissioner, shared video of Carney’s Saturday remarks on social media and wrote, “Here is a speech I would like to hear in Europe.”

Carney tries to hold the line as anger grows among Canadians toward Trump

Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, said Americans underestimate how angry Canadians are with the Trump administration.

“Taking a hard line in response to U.S. policy perceived as predatory — even with major economic cost to Canada — is popular among most Canadians,” he said in a social media post.

The confrontation is also reviving calls to shun U.S. goods. Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette urged residents to buy local, calling it “a nationalistic action” and “an action of solidarity.”

That anger again spilled into sports over the weekend. Fans in Vancouver and Montreal booed the U.S. national anthem before Major League Soccer matches Saturday, echoing similar scenes early in the trade war last year.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canadians should be prepared for a prolonged confrontation and that Trump could emerge weaker after the U.S. midterm elections in November.

“He’s got two more years left in office. We should be prepared to duke it out for two years, and then hopefully, sanity will return,” Kinew said.

Carney has framed the confrontation as a test of whether Canada can preserve its independence under U.S. pressure.

“Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so that they can own us,” Carney said Saturday. “And I promised: ‘That will never, ever happen.’ We are keeping that promise.”

Indonesia has been battling fires driven by an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season, generating dense smoke that crossed into Malaysia, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB.

Fires are a regular problem in the country and often strain relations with neighbors.

Plantation owners and traditional farmers often start fires to clear land for farming, said Mohammad Irhamni, director of special crimes at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency.

The arson suspects were being investigated in connection with 89 forest and land fire cases across five provinces on the island of Borneo and four on Sumatra, Irhamni said.

He said most of the suspects were accused of deliberately burning land to clear areas for plantations at lower cost. Investigators were still tracing financial records to determine whether companies financed or ordered the land clearing, signaling the probe could expand beyond those arrested.

“We will not stop at the perpetrators on the ground,” Irhami said in a news conference Sunday in the capital, Jakarta. “We will determine who benefited from these activities and who was ultimately behind them.”

The suspects face charges that carry penalties ranging from hefty fines to prison terms of up to 15 years, he said.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto flew on Saturday to Central Kalimantan province, where more than 7,600 hectares (18,700 acres) have burned, to encourage authorities to get the haze cloud under control.

Prabowo promised government resources required to contain the fires, including helicopters and water pumps, and vowed to hold accountable any companies found to have contributed to the fires.

“I hope we can control this soon,” Prabowo said during the visit. “We have experienced worse forest and land fires in the past, and we were able to overcome them.”

Accompanying the president was Prasetyo Hadi, the head of State Secretariat. He said at least four companies in West Kalimantan province are under investigation for allegedly using fire to clear land. If they are proven to have intentionally set the fires, they could face sanctions, including the revocation of their operating permits, he added.

Smoke from the fires on Sunday blanketed parts of Borneo, the world’s third-largest island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia administers about three-quarters of the island, where the country’s Environment Ministry recorded more than 3,700 hot spots on Sunday.

BNPB chief Suharyanto said fire activity had increased in West, Central and South Kalimantan provinces on Borneo, where many blazes worsen due to peatlands, prolonging the dangerous haze in several areas.

Fires that appear "extinguished on the surface may still contain embers underneath, so sufficient rainfall is crucial to rewet the peat and fully suppress the fires,” said Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name.

The western island of South Sumatra also battled fires, with more than 1,700 hot spots detected on Sunday, causing a choked haze cloud and reducing visibility to only 10 meters (33 feet) in some areas, the ministry said.

Cloud-seeding resumed over Kalimantan on Sunday, with 30 helicopters for water-bombing and aerial patrol missions, and another 22 helicopters covering Sumatra.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has suffered severe smoke from the fires, with its eastern state of Sarawak among the hardest hit. One district recorded “very unhealthy” air quality on Friday, while eight others posted unhealthy readings, prompting the closure of nearly 600 schools and affecting about 200,000 students, the Sarawak government said.

State lawmakers were expected Sunday to approve Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya’s request for an indefinite leave of absence, about a day and a half after he announced his return by claiming Mexican prosecutors had cleared him of the drug trafficking charges leveled against him by the U.S. Department of Justice in late April.

The rapid reversal demonstrated the authority Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wields over her Morena party as she walks a fine line between placating U.S. President Donald Trump, who says cartels control Mexico and has repeatedly offered U.S. military help to fight them, and her progressive movement deeply wary of U.S. intervention.

After nearly four months on leave, Rocha Moya announced Friday that he was returning to office, claiming Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office had found “no evidence to support our participation in any criminal conduct.” He declared that he was back “as governor of Sinaloa with my head held high.”

That defiance lasted barely a day, as his return unleashed a torrent of criticism from governors, senators and other prominent figures in Morena, including Sheinbaum.

“No personal interest can ever come before the interests of the people and the nation,” she wrote Saturday in an apparent rebuke of Rocha Moya, without mentioning him by name. “Mexico deserves public servants who understand that positions are temporary, but responsibility to the nation is eternal.”

Morena said its national leadership had no prior knowledge of Rocha Moya’s return, calling it his “personal decision.” The party’s Senate bloc urged respect for the ongoing investigation, while Morena governors declared in a joint statement that “personal or group political projects have no place” when the country’s interests are at stake.

Ricardo Monreal, Morena’s leader in the lower house of Congress, publicly urged Rocha Moya, his longtime ally, to reconsider and remain on leave.

The coordinated response left Rocha Moya isolated. He announced later Saturday that he had asked the state legislature to allow him to step aside indefinitely. “Sinaloa, the nation and the transformation movement come first,” he wrote.

Rocha Moya had been on leave since early May, days after federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a bombshell indictment accusing him and nine other current and former Mexican officials of protecting Sinaloa cartel members in exchange for bribes as they trafficked fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S.

The indictment marked the Trump administration’s most significant public action against what it calls official corruption enabling Mexico’s cartels, fueling new tension between the U.S. and Mexican governments. Sheinbaum has denied shielding Rocha Moya but rejected Washington’s request to arrest and extradite the defendants without credible evidence, insisting that any prosecution take place in Mexico.

Rocha Moya, 77, a staunch ally of Sheinbaum’s mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, denied wrongdoing and described the charges as a politically motivated attack. He initially stepped aside so he could cooperate with the Mexican investigation without relying on the constitutional immunity attached to his office. Whether taking leave stripped him of that protection — and whether his latest request to step aside indefinitely would do so again — remains disputed among Mexican legal scholars.

After the indictment, the mayor of Culiacán, Sinaloa’s capital, and the state’s deputy attorney general also stepped down from their posts, while two former senior state officials surrendered to U.S. authorities.

Sinaloa has been engulfed for nearly two years in a bloody conflict between rival factions of the cartel that bears the state’s name.

The meeting, first reported Sunday by The New York Times, touched on issues ranging from housing, immigration to the high costs of living. People in the United States are struggling under inflationary prices that Democrats blame on Republicans, alongside Trump, for failing to get under control.

Kushner suggested that Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats regain power in November, meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles as a follow-up.

Jeffries, in a statement Sunday, did not mention the private conversation but said the Republican administration needed to drop the GOP's “my-way-or-the-highway” approach that “has failed the American people.”

“To stop the madness, we have repeatedly made clear that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition," the New York congressman said. "The question is whether Republicans will join us.”

The meeting shows the depth of Republican Party angst over losing their congressional majority, particularly the House, and the need to make inroads with the opposing party as the White House seeks to stem any potential political fallout on the president.

If Democrats retake power, the White House can expect an aggressive oversight agenda into what Jeffries has called the “crooks” in the administration, with the threat of impeachment among the many tools at the party's disposal.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close ally of Trump, bristled Sunday when asked about the meeting. He minimized the role that Kushner, who he said “hedges his bets,” plays in the White House.

“I’m telling you what, you better not bet against the House Republicans,” Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing."

“I don’t know what that’s about," Johnson said. "I know Jared has interests in lots of other things going on. He’s not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day in the White House.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Kushner also did not respond.

Kushner is a familiar Trump emissary to Democrats

Jeffries and Kushner are not strangers.

The New Yorkers allied during the first Trump administration on landmark legislation to allow sentencing flexibility for certain drug offenses as a way to curtail lengthy terms in the federal prison system.

While not necessarily close, the two have maintained a relationship despite the repeated attacks Trump has leveled against Jeffries and the Democratic leader's responses. In Trump's second term, Kushner has an oversize role despite having no formal position in the White House. He serves as an outside adviser and envoy, particularly shuttling to foreign diplomatic missions as the U.S. war against Iran drags into its sixth month.

Trump has only met with Jeffries once since the president returned to the White House, taunting the House leader and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York with red “Make America Great Again” 2028 caps on the desk in front of them in the Oval Office — a nod to Trump's toying with an unconstitutional third term in office.

After that fall meeting, Trump posted a fake image of Schumer with Jeffries wearing a sombrero with a handlebar mustache in what was widely viewed as a racist trope as he mocked the Democrats before what became the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

Trump has been able to alternately ignore the Congress as he relies on the sheer force of executive power to implement his priorities or to pressure the Republicans in the House and Senate, when needed, to fall in line behind the White House, particularly to confirm controversial Cabinet nominees.

All that is likely to change if Democrats control either chamber, with lawmakers eager for Congress to flex their own power as a coequal branch of government more willing to hold the White House in check.

Republicans and Democrats race for power in midterms

House Republicans are counting on Trump's popularity among their core voters as they struggle to hold onto majority control, with Johnson believing the GOP will defy history that tends to reward the challengers in midterms and punish the party in power.

The House GOP has a slim majority. Control will likely be won — or lost — in a handful of battleground districts as Democrats put forward candidates in what they hope will be something of a repeat of 2018, when they swept to power riding a wave of voter unrest during Trump's first term.

While the House is most at risk for Republicans this year, he narrowly split Senate is also increasingly in play. GOP strategists worry about an enthusiasm gap on their side as Democrats appear more eager to head to the polls.

At the same time, Democrats are nominating outsider candidates, some aligned with socialist agendas over establishment backed candidates, in a sign of voter unrest with the status quo.

__

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Washington was hosting an IndyCar race through its streets Sunday, with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump kicking off the Freedom 250 Grand Prix by leading a slow lap in the presidential limousine through the course. Soon after, the president waved the green flag to start the race and drivers began whipping through downtown, including a stretch along Pennsylvania Avenue not too far from the White House.

“I’m going to make a little circle in a nice, secure car, slightly slower than the ones we’re going to witness, but we’re going to have fun,” Trump said in an interview on Fox shortly before the ride.

The open-wheel race, with cars whizzing past Washington’s monuments at speeds approaching 200 mph, is the latest of Trump’s celebrations this year to mark America’s 250th birthday.

Trump’s other events to mark the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence’s signing have included a UFC fight on the White House lawn, military aircraft flyovers, a massive July Fourth fireworks show on the National Mall and a Great American State Fair that the president headlined after scores of ’90s-era musical acts dropped out. The events have all had a Trumpian flair, featuring appearances from his friends and the aim of showcasing spectacle, Americana and power.

In this latest case, it was be horsepower.

Racing day brings out some of Trump's favorites

Sunday included some of Trump's favorite flourishes. One of his favorite singers, tenor Christopher Macchio, performed, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” A trained bald eagle was dramatically released near the start line, and it swooped and flew overhead before returning to its handler.

There were flyovers of military aircraft, which have boomed over the city during the July Fourth celebrations, among other events. One flyover Sunday involved a formation featuring a B-2 stealth bomber, which Trump frequently boasts about for its role in dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities last year.

Air Force One, escorted by four fighter jets, flew overhead as Trump did his lap. The jet was the Qatar-gifted aircraft that the president has been using as Air Force One, which has attracted scrutiny not only for Trump’s acceptance of the luxury gift but because it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems found on older presidential jets.

The IndyCar race took place Trump has struggled to resolve the war he started nearly six months ago with Iran, a conflict that has driven up gasoline prices and exacerbated worries from officials in his Republican Party that voters in this November’s midterm elections see the president as distracted and not focused enough on cost-of-living concerns.

Trump in his second term has increasingly seemed to focus on relishing the presidency’s ceremonial aspects. That's included a healthy dose of visits to sporting events — including an appearance last month at the World Cup final, where he presented the trophy to winner Spain and lingered onstage with the team as its members jumped in a hail of confetti.

Bringing Indy to DC was a longtime quest for racing series owner

From his viewing box, Trump had the honor of waving the green flag to kick off the race.

Before the race, Trump and his wife met and chatted with some of the race drivers. They then took a slow drive through the course in a small motorcade and could be seen waving at the crowd as a Marine Corps band played “Stars and Stripes Forever."

IndyCar series owner Roger Penske, a longtime friend of Trump’s who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from him in 2019, helped lead the effort to bring the race to Washington.

Trump told Fox on Sunday that Penske told him that he had been trying to bring the race to Washington for 20 years.

“When he came to see Trump it got done in about 15 minutes and it’s turned out to be much bigger than we ever even thought possible,” the president said, referring to himself in the third person.

Penske met Trump when he arrived at the course and later joined him in his viewing box, as did the president’s friend and UFC CEO Dana White, who helped put on the fight at the White House in June.

An executive order Trump signed earlier this year calling for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix declared that the “cars and drivers inspire awe and respect in all who watch this quintessentially American sport,” and the event will “showcase the majesty of our great city as drivers navigate a track around our iconic national monuments in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Channel that he wants to push to bring the event back next year and make it an annual event.

Trump wanted to hear ‘freedom roar’ from the powerful racing machines

“Their beautiful cars are going to make freedom roar. This will be a freedom that’s roaring like never before,” Trump said at the White House earlier this month as he promoted the event.

Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation and the race’s chair, said that Penske is paying for the “vast majority” of the race, including building the track and road improvements, while the District of Columbia handled some repaving.

Among the changes needed on the city’s streets for the Indycar race was the welding of more than 200 maintenance hole covers to ensure the race cars don’t suck them up off the road.

Sunday’s festivities were also the latest opportunity for Trump to revel in the way he’s putting his mark on the nation’s capital, including large banners showing his face on government buildings, the construction of a massive White House ballroom, a gold-adorned Oval Office and botched repairs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Georgia weekly schedules

Week 0

Friday, Aug. 14

Bethesda Academy at Frederica Academy

Brantley County at Alamo vs. Wheeler/Butler

Camden County at Bolles

Week 1

Thursday, Aug. 20

Calvary Day 49, Glynn Academy 22

Friday, Aug. 21

Bacon County 20, Brantley County 0

Camden County 35, Brunswick 21, postponed

Charlton County 14, West Nassau 14 (tie, called due to weather)

Frederica Academy 42, Pinewood Christian 6

Pierce County 23, Coosa Christian, Alabama 0

Ware County 22, Bainbridge 21

Week 2

Friday, Aug. 28

Charlton County (0-0-1) at McIntosh County Academy (0-0), 7:30 p.m.

Deerfield-Windsor (0-1) at Frederica Academy (1-1), 7:30 p.m.

Glynn Academy (0-1) at Camden County (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Groves (0-1) at Brunswick (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

Lanier County (0-0) at Brantley County (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

Pierce County (1-0) at Brooks County (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

Ware County (1-0) at Coffee (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Week 3

Thursday, Sept. 3

Frederica Academy at Valwood, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 4

Brantley County at Claxton, 7:30 p.m.

Camden County at Benedictine, 7:30 p.m.

Charlton County at Berrien, 7:30 p.m.

Savannah Christian at Glynn Academy, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Brunswick, Pierce County, Ware County

Week 4

Friday, Sept. 11

Frederica Academy at Charlton County, 7:30 p.m.

Godby at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

Grayson at Brunswick, 7:30 p.m.

Richmond Hill at Ware County, 7:30 p.m.

Swainsboro at Pierce County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Brantley County, Glynn Academy.

Week 5

Friday, Sept. 18

Bradwell Institute at Glynn Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Brunswick at Grovetown, 7:30 p.m.

Ed White at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

Early County at Charlton County, 7:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Day at Frederica Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Groves at Ware County, 7:30 p.m.

Islands at Brantley County, 7:30 p.m.

Johnson at Pierce County, 7:30 p.m.

Week 6

Friday, Sept. 25

Brantley County at Appling County, 7:30 p.m.

Glynn Academy at Lakeside, 7:30 p.m.

Greenbrier at Brunswick, 7:30 p.m.

Pierce County at Toombs County, 7:30 p.m.

Ware County at Statesboro, 7:30 p.m.

West Broward at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Charlton County, Frederica Academy.

Week 7

Friday, Oct. 2

Beach at Pierce County, 7:30 p.m.

Brunswick at Bradwell, 7:30 p.m.

Effingham County at Glynn Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Frederica Academy at Stratford Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Lanier County at Charlton County, 7:30 p.m.

Richmond Academy at Ware County, 7:30 p.m.

Toombs County at Brantley County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Camden County.

Week 8

Friday, Oct. 9

Brantley County at Johnson, 7:30 p.m.

Camden County at Lowndes, 7:30 p.m.

Charlton County at Atkinson County, 7:30 p.m.

St. Andrew’s at Frederica Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Tattnall County at Pierce County, 7:30 p.m.

Ware County at Evans, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Brunswick, Glynn Academy.

Week 9

Friday, Oct. 16

Frederica Academy at Savannah Country Day, 7:30 p.m.

Glynn Academy vs. Brunswick, 7:40 p.m.

Richmond Hill at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Brantley County, Charlton County, Pierce County, Ware County.

Week 10

Friday, Oct. 23

Brunswick at South Effingham, 7:30 p.m.

Camden County at Valdosta, 7:30 p.m.

Frederica Academy at Bulloch Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Glynn Academy at Greenbrier, 7:30 p.m.

Jenkins at Ware County, 7:30 p.m.

Mitchell County at Charlton County, 7:30 p.m.

Pierce County at Brantley County, 7:30 p.m.

Week 11

Friday, Oct. 30

Charlton County at Clinch County, 7:30 p.m.

Colquitt County at Camden County, 7:30 p.m.

Effingham at Brunswick, 7:30 p.m.

Glynn Academy at South Effingham, 7:30 p.m.

Islands at Pierce County, 7:30 p.m.

Tattnall County at Brantley County, 7:30 p.m.

Ware County at Wayne County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Frederica Academy.

Week 12

Friday, Nov. 6

Benedictine at Ware County, 7:30 p.m.

Brantley County at Beach, 7:30 p.m.

Brunswick at Lakeside, 7:30 p.m.

Charlton County at Irwin County, 7:30 p.m.

Grovetown at Glynn Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Pierce County at Appling County, 7:30 p.m.

OFF: Camden County, Glynn Academy.

QB tracker:

Trevor Lawrence: 8 for 17.

Nick Mullens: 3 for 9.

RB tracker:

Bhayshul Tuten: Three carries all with Lawrence.

Chris Rodriguez: Five carries all with Lawrence.

J’Mari Taylor: Five carries all with Nick Mullens.

Notebook

• Jakobi Meyers missed practice.
• Cole Van Lanen was back at practice.
• Parker Washington was back at practice.
• Looks to me like the Jaguars have figured out who their starting O-line will be in Week 1. They are just waiting for Cole Van Lanen to get back ready and he will slide in at right tackle next to Ezra Cleveland and Emmanuel Pregnon will be there left guard.
• With Meyers sidelined that opens up reps in three receiver sets. Looks to me like the rookies CJ Williams and Josh Cameron will split those. Both rookies have been spectacular throughout camp. They play the game very differently but if Meyers misses time it wouldn’t surprise me to see those guys make some plays. The one thing I don’t think will happen is I don’t believe this will change the calculus on how they use Travis Hunter.
• J’Mari Taylor looks like he has really climbed the depth chart. Taylor came in as an undrafted free agent but now is working ahead of some of his veteran counterparts. With LeQuint Allen still sidelined it would not shock me to see Taylor make it on the Jags 53.
• Jags defense was fiery during some redzone work early in practice. Jourdan Lewis and Parker Washington had a little back and forth in the end zone that had to be separated.
• Monday is a low intensity type of day as they get ready for two days of joint practices with the Bucs.