In scenes like a heist movie in reverse, the priceless Medieval artwork was spirited into the British Museum on Friday in the dead of night, after a high-tech, tight-security operation where any slip-up could have spelled disaster.

On loan from its home in France, the tapestry will go on display at the London museum from Sept. 10 until July 2027. It's a public homecoming for a vivid visual record of the 1066 Norman invasion, the last successful conquest of England.

The tapestry's arrival in London has been widely anticipated, but due to security concerns all details of when and how it would arrive have been kept under wraps.

“It feels extraordinary that after so much work and planning and care and thought that it’s actually happening,” British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan said as he awaited the arrival after a secrecy-shrouded journey.

“It’s the first time in 1,000 years that such an important piece of British — French too — history is going to be on these shores,” he said. “It’s incredibly exciting.”

The 70-meter (230-foot) tapestry was folded accordion-style in a climate-controlled case that was placed inside a shock-absorbing cradle. That went into a truck that crossed from France on a vehicle shuttle train through the Channel Tunnel.

After an 11-hour, 350-mile (560-kilometer) trip, escorted by police, the truck backed slowly into a loading bay at the museum, where workers gingerly eased the container, the size of a small car, to the ground. Museum staff and British and French diplomats who had been watching in hushed silence broke into applause.

The priceless cargo will spend several days acclimatizing before it is carefully unpacked and unfolded for an exhibition that the museum expects to be one of the most popular in its history. Some 100,000 tickets were sold in their first day on sale this month.

“It was like trying to get tickets to Glastonbury,” Cullinan said. “I don’t take for granted that people care that much about a 1,000-year-old embroidery. I think that’s an amazing thing.”

The tapestry is a symbol of Anglo-French relations

Stitched in wool thread on linen fabric, the artwork depicts the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harald’s Anglo-Saxon army. The invasion ended Saxon rule and made William the Conqueror the first Norman king of England.

Historians believe the tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William’s half brother, and was probably sewn by women in England — possibly nuns — before being taken across the Channel. It has spent most of the last millennium in the town of Bayeux in northwest France, apart from two short periods at the Louvre in Paris.

The tapestry symbolizes the sometimes fractious, intertwined histories of France and Britain, and securing the loan was a high-stakes diplomatic mission. It was announced during a state visit to the U.K. by French President Emmanuel Macron in July 2025. The loan coincides with renovations at the museum in Bayeux that houses it.

In return, the British Museum will loan treasures from the Sutton Hoo hoard — artifacts from a 7th century Anglo Saxon ship burial — and other items to museums in Normandy.

Retired British diplomat Peter Ricketts, who helped secure the deal as the U.K.’s special envoy for the tapestry, said “it’s an extraordinary mark of friendship and confidence in the U.K. to entrust this object to us for a year.”

“Macron, when he offered us the tapestry, I think he understood that it would have far more impact in the U.K. than it does in France, because it’s more fundamental to our national story,” he said. Everybody (in Britain) knows 1066.”

It's a vivid record of 11th century life and death

It features 627 people and 737 animals and tells its story in 58 scenes brimming with vivid and sometimes gory detail. There are scenes of hand-to-hand combat, mutilated bodies and the unlucky Harold, felled by an arrow through his eye.

“It has an emotional richness that is really difficult to get from written sources,” said Millie Horton-Insch, project curator for the British Museum exhibition. “It just brings people closer to this history than any other object can. It’s not the same as reading a text. You are looking at something that was handled by the people who lived through it and felt compelled to record these events in this way. “

She said the document’s survival for 10 centuries despite myriad dangers — “moths, mice, mold damp, fire” — is miraculous, and may be partly due to its humble materials.

“It’s not really made of any blingy fabric,” she said. “It’s not gold, it’s not silver. There wasn’t the same temptation to cut it up and make it into vestments or repurpose it for anything.”

Some French cultural figures opposed the loan, arguing that moving the tapestry was too risky. Cullinan said the expert teams went to great lengths to ensure its safety, including making two trial runs of the journey to show it would not cause the fragile item too much stress.

“Such care has gone into it. I can’t think of a level of care for any other museum loan,” he said.

He said he understands why there are concerns.

“The tapestry arouses great interest and passion,” he said. “Which is a wonderful thing."

“Satluj” tells the true tale of a human rights activist who investigated thousands of disappearances and extrajudicial killings during a government crackdown on a separatist insurgency in India's Punjab state in the 1980s and early 1990s.

At the screening in Gurdaspur, elderly survivors of the insurgency sat beside teenagers born years after it ended. When the screen flickered to life and “Satluj” movie began, the crowd fell silent.

Originally titled “Punjab 95,” the movie was stalled for three years after India’s censor board demanded more than 120 cuts. After failing to secure a theatrical release, it debuted on the ZEE5 streaming platform last week, but was removed in India two days later.

The takedown had an unintended consequence.

Across villages in Punjab, Sikh organizations, local activists and residents have begun organizing community screenings using copies that have circulated online. The screenings have transformed Sikh temple compounds and village halls into makeshift cinemas where audiences watch not just a film but a retelling of memories of one of India’s bloodiest internal conflicts.

Spotlight on Punjab’s insurgency

“Satluj” draws on the life of rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, whose investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings exposed one of the darkest episodes of Punjab’s insurgency. The conflict pitted Sikh militant groups seeking an independent Khalistan against Indian security forces and claimed thousands of civilian, militant and police lives.

During the insurgency, rights groups documented allegations of enforced disappearances, custodial killings and secret cremations. Khalra’s investigation alleged that thousands of people who had disappeared were cremated anonymously by police without informing their families or maintaining official records.

Khalra was abducted in 1995 and later killed. Several police officers were convicted in connection with his murder.

Although the insurgency was crushed and support for Khalistan waned within Punjab, the Indian government continues to view separatist sentiment as a national security concern. It has not publicly explained why the film was removed, but officials told local media they ordered it taken down on security grounds.

Local organized screenings

The public screenings take shape through grassroots cooperation. Residents arrange for projectors, audio speakers and power generators, Sikh temples and village community spaces become open-air theaters for an evening, and volunteers spread the word from one household to the next.

Inderjeet Singh Bains, who helps coordinate screenings in Gurdaspur district, said the initiative aimed to create spaces where people can watch together and reflect on a period of Punjab’s history that continues to resonate across generations.

“When we screen the film, we see our elders and mothers, many of them 60 or 70 years old, crying because they have lost their sons. Our people have endured immense suffering,” Bains said.

Gurmukh Singh, who attended a screening, said the film gave voice to stories the young in Punjab had heard only in fragments. For families in his village, he said, the insurgency was not history but lived experience, with many losing loved ones in the violence.

“After watching the movie, there is a feeling of the grief our earlier generations had to bear,” Singh said.

Movie fuels censorship debate

The takedown of “Satluj” has reopened a debate over artistic freedom in India, where films have increasingly run into censorship battles under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. Critics have said such cases have become more frequent and accuse Modi’s government of promoting films that align with its nationalist narrative.

“Everything happened right before our eyes, so what is there to oppose? The truth is coming to light, and people should be allowed to see it,” said Balwinder Singh, a Sikh religious leader.

The government says movie certification decisions are made independently under the law.

In a statement, ZEE5 said the film would no longer be available for viewing in India “in light of current developments.” It added that it would explore “every appropriate avenue through due process” to restore it.

Audiences revisit painful memories

Diljit Dosanjh, the lead actor who plays Khalra, said he was unconcerned about whether the film remained online because once audiences had seen it, “it cannot be erased.”

That sentiment appears to be playing out in Punjab’s villages.

Inside the temple compound in Gurdaspur, the audience watched scenes of police killings, crackdowns and families searching for answers. Afterwards, many lingered in conversation, comparing the film with the real-life memories they had carried for decades.

Pawan Deep Kaur described the film as a heartbreaking portrayal of the suffering endured by the older generation.

“It made us cry endlessly,” she said.

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

Typhoon Bavi, with maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers (101 miles) per hour, was first expected to pass north of Taiwan, bringing heavy rains to the island of 23 million people from Friday night into Saturday.

Schools were closed Friday in Taipei, the island's capital, and fishing boats have been tied up close together in ports in northern Taiwan. Many flights to Japan, Hong Kong and other destinations have been canceled through Saturday, though some were still scheduled, Taiwan's Central News Agency said.

The typhoon's current northwest track would take it over some remote Japanese islands before passing to Taiwan's north on Saturday. It is forecast to make landfall Saturday night south of Shanghai, near the border between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.

More than 17,000 people have been evacuated in Zhejiang and 170,000 rescue workers placed on standby, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Fujian has suspended some ferry routes because of strong winds and rough seas and called for fishing boats to return to port.

Bavi has weakened from supertyphoon strength earlier this week, when it brought violent winds to Saipan and other U.S. territories in the Pacific.

In southern China, authorities announced Thursday that 39 people had died in flooding from Tropical Storm Maysak, which drenched parts of the Guangxi region for days with record rainfall.

The rains breached reservoirs, including the dramatic collapse of part of a dam in Hengzhou that inundated a wide area with fast-flowing muddy water. The floods stranded people on the second and higher floors of buildings for days, many without power, until rescuers could reach them.

Another 11 people died in central China when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes wreaked havoc in Hubei province on Monday night.

Separately, a landslide killed 21 forestry workers in western China's Gansu province on Tuesday in a disaster that was not storm-related.

For her, this World Cup couldn't make more sense.

Hallam is among a sizable number of English-speaking people in the U.S. who are doing something these days that might be considered a bit surprising: They're watching broadcasts of World Cup matches in Spanish on Telemundo, even though they have little idea — or in some cases, no idea — what the announcers are saying.

“I can’t really understand everything they’re saying on Telemundo because they’re speaking in Spanish,” Hallam said. “But you understand what’s going on.”

The math is simple. Census figures show that about 20% of the U.S. is Hispanic, yet Telemundo points to Nielsen ratings to show that roughly half the World Cup viewers in the U.S. have watched at least some portion of some matches in Spanish. Every match of the tournament has been available for U.S. viewers in English on Fox or FS1, on Telemundo or Universo in Spanish, and there are streaming options such as Fox One or Peacock.

Among the reasons commonly cited by viewers who spoke with The Associated Press in recent days: A fascination with famed broadcaster Andrés Cantor's “¡goooooool!” call. Telemundo doesn't cut away for commercials (as Fox does) during the much-maligned hydration breaks. The broadcasts, some simply find, are more entertaining. And in other cases, it's a cost-based decision: Peacock, which includes Telemundo, is lower-priced than Fox One.

Soccer as a global language, transcending a limited vocabulary

Jackson Braunius is a Michigan native who watched a U.S. game last week from a bar seat at a steakhouse in Miami Lakes, Florida. He said he speaks almost no Spanish — “I know ‘cerveza,’” he said, tapping his beer glass — but didn't mind watching on Telemundo whatsoever.

“I figured out the science here,” Braunius said. “When they’re not talking too loud, nothing is happening. When they get loud, there’s a chance. When they get real loud, it’s probably going to be a goal.”

Comedian Trevor Noah has been hosting World Cup watch parties on YouTube. He's made the switch to Spanish-language feeds, and the hydration break issue was a huge part of that decision.

“We’re seeing the players on the pitch discussing what’s happening. You see which coach is more stressed. Some players are tapping each other on the back. This is part of the game,” Noah said on one of his YouTube streams. “I feel like when you cut to ads, you lose this — you lose the stress, you lose the joy, the anticipation. So, shout out again, Telemundo: Really, really amazing coverage.”

Telemundo is hearing the praise, and has thanked English-speakers — as well as Noah directly — for lauding its coverage.

The good news for everyone is this: There seems to be more than enough viewers to go around right now. And the success of this tournament could lead to a bidding war for the 2030 World Cup, with some reporting the rights for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking television will be packaged together in that deal. That wasn't the case for this World Cup.

Fox Sports said that Monday night's Belgium-U.S. match saw a peak viewership total of around 41 million at one point, making it the “most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history,” the network said. In other words, the final U.S. game in this World Cup had more viewers than anything in this country since the Super Bowl — with at least 45 million viewers, on average, between Fox (33 million) and Telemundo (an estimated 12 million). The most recent Super Bowl drew an average of about 125 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.

Anglophones become hooked on Telemundo

William Kennedy of Miami is married to a Colombian woman, whose native language is Spanish. He says he knows only enough Spanish to be able to order meals in restaurants. And yet, he finds himself often watching World Cup matches on Telemundo.

If Colombia was on, the Kennedy house was watching Telemundo. If Colombia — which was ousted in penalty kicks by Switzerland on Tuesday — isn't on, Kennedy finds himself usually making his way to Telemundo anyway.

“When the American commentators are doing the game, I don’t know what game they’re watching. I just don’t,” Kennedy said. “I’d rather get the excitement in Spanish because essentially what happens is they’re talking, and then they’re talking really, really fast, and then they’re getting loud and your brain is just like, ‘Oh, something’s happening — even if I don’t know what’s happening.’”

Hallam — who finds the World Cup has been a great way to bond further with her Spanish-speaking students — only became a big soccer fan a few years ago, when her daughter decided she wanted to play in a recreational league for elementary kids. The league needed coaches, so Hallam literally checked out a “coaching for dummies” book and began teaching herself the game.

She kept coaching her daughter all the way through high school. Now, she's hooked on soccer and hooked on Spanish-speaking broadcasts — and plans to keep watching, even when the World Cup ends.

“It’s just very comforting,” Hallam said. “We're really enjoyed it and I hope we get to continue. The next World Cup, we’re going to watch it just like this.”

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Lamy reported from Indianapolis.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Harper and Walker join Boston’s Willson Contreras, Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero and the New York Yankees’ Ben Rice in the competition at Citizens Bank Park. The other two participants haven’t been announced.

Harper, hitting .261 with 20 homers and 57 RBIs, was selected for his ninth All-Star Game as a Legend Pick for baseball's midsummer showcase. The 33-year-old slugger will try to become the fifth player to win multiple derby competitions. And Harper will try to do it in front of home fans — again. He last won it in 2018 in Washington while a member of the Nationals.

The 24-year-old Walker is a first-time All-Star who is having a breakout season. He hit his 22nd homer on Thursday night. The 2020 first-round draft pick is batting .294 with an .893 OPS and an MLB-leading 73 RBIs.

He'll be the eighth Cardinals player to compete in the competition, joining Jack Clark (1985), Ray Lankford (1997), Mark McGwire (1998-99), Jim Edmonds (2003), Albert Pujols (2003, 2007, 2009, 2022), Matt Holliday (2010-11) and Carlos Beltran (2012).

A Cardinals player has never won the derby. The Phillies have had two winners: Bobby Abreu in 2005 and Ryan Howard the next year.

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

A Utah judge is deciding whether prosecutors have enough evidence to put Tyler Robinson on trial on a charge of aggravated murder. Kirk, 31, was killed as he spoke to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

One of Robinson's attorneys, Michael Burt, tried to inject uncertainty into the case Thursday by challenging the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body. Authorities sought to tie the fragment to the suspected murder weapon, but the results were inconclusive.

“Saying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate,” said Samantha Karner with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

Burt earlier in the week questioned the reliability of DNA evidence that investigators said linked Robinson to the scene. Experts say the science behind DNA testing is sound.

Robinson has not entered a plea. He turned himself in a day after the fatal shooting of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump credited with helping galvanize young voters for the Republican in the 2024 election.

The defense said it would call a final witness to testify Friday, the final day of the weeklong preliminary hearing.

However, a decision from state District Judge Tony Graf won’t come until after Sept. 1, when he scheduled oral arguments in the matter.

Prosecutors on Thursday aired portions of a recorded interview with Robinson's roommate, Lance Twiggs.

The day after Kirk was shot in the neck, Robinson allegedly told Twiggs “he wishes he hadn’t done it,” a recording played in court revealed.

Later that same day — and only about an hour before turning himself in — Robinson posted “it was me at UVU yesterday,” in a chat room on the Discord social media platform, according to investigators and messages shown by prosecutors.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully fought the public release of the statements from Twiggs and the chat room messages. They argued prosecutors would characterize the material as a confession, undermining Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on claims by prosecutors that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.

Twiggs said in the April interview with prosecutors and investigators that Robinson sometimes talked about politics, including Trump. But Twiggs said he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. The defendant also did not talk much about gender issues or LGBTQ rights, Twiggs said.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

In courthouses and public squares, they have marked the nation's 250th anniversary with a dire warning: The rule of law in America is in grave danger. They will deliver a similar message at a library in Grosse Pointe just outside Detroit — the last stop on an extraordinary tour to defend judicial independence and bolster trust in courts.

Americans' confidence in the court system and democracy has dipped in recent years. The country is more polarized, and President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the fairness of the judicial system.

Some judges on the tour said in phone interviews this week that the United States was at a precipice.

“Looking back in history, we have teetered," former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly said. "This is a moment where we can decide to reinstill those beliefs that we are a country of laws and not of men.”

Judges step off the bench

The four-day tour through the Rust Belt is a sharp departure for a typically reserved and insular branch of government. Federal judges in particular largely limit their comments to the courtroom and written decisions, focusing on the facts of individual cases.

But that restraint is loosening amid a barrage of attacks by Trump and other White House officials, the administration's rampant defiance of U.S. district court orders and its expansive view of executive power. Trump has called a district judge who ruled against one of his immigration moves “crooked” and suggested with no evidence that Supreme Court justices who struck down his tariffs were motivated by foreign interests.

More federal judges have recently begun talking about receiving death threats and profane messages, though they have not blamed Trump or any other officials. Some have blasted administration policies in sharply worded opinions that strayed beyond the legal dispute before them. Even U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has weighed in.

In an appearance in March, Roberts said personal criticism of federal judges was dangerous and had to stop. The rare rebuke from the head of the nation's top court came two days after Trump's remark about a “crooked” judge, though Roberts didn't mention Trump or anyone else by name.

The U.S. Marshals Service reported 564 threats against federal judges in the government fiscal year that ended in September, up from 509 the year before.

“I don’t want to say we have moved into an era of lawlessness, but it sometimes feels that way,” said former U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts, who was set to join the bus tour in Michigan.

Timothy Lewis, another former federal judge on the tour, said his concerns about the politicization of the judicial branch reached a tipping point a decade ago, when Senate Republicans thwarted President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Today, the rule of law is facing an "existential threat" from an ongoing breakdown of norms, according to Lewis, who spent seven years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I have fundamental concerns," he said, “about where we are headed as a nation.”

Their route has been varied

The tour started Tuesday in the western Pennsylvania town of Greensburg — once the hub of a thriving coal industry that now lures visitors from nearby Pittsburgh for highland recreation and a historic downtown.

Judges mingled with customers at a coffee shop before speaking at the domed, ornate Westmoreland County Courthouse. Then it was off to Washington, also in western Pennsylvania. The town of 13,000 people, where about 15% of the population is Black, was a key stop on the Underground Railroad and a regional base for the Civil Rights Movement.

From there, the bus headed west for events Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, and the city of Wooster in Amish country. The judges stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the way. They spent Thursday in Cleveland before circling Lake Erie north to Michigan.

The two groups that planned the tour — dubbed “Justice in Motion” — say they were inspired by a similar campaign in Poland in 2021 after that country's governing party took control of key judicial institutions.

Independent Polish judges visited scores of towns to promote the rule of law and teach voters about the country's constitution. The U.S. tour also aims to educate people.

An effort to combat misinformation about what they do

Maureen O'Connor, a former chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, said judges risk ceding the narrative about their roles and motives to “voices of misinformation” if they don't speak up.

A letter she received years ago, and still keeps, reminds her of that danger. The writer accused O'Connor, a Republican, of betraying her party when she repeatedly struck down Republican-drawn legislative maps as illegal gerrymanders. “There was just a basic misunderstanding of what my role was as a judge,” O'Connor said.

O'Connor is among roughly 30 judges, including two former federal judges and a current federal judge, who will participate in the tour. One of the federal judges was nominated by a Democrat, the other two by Republicans. The state judges, some of whom are also still on the bench, represent both parties.

They have been joined by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, former Ohio attorneys general and a few lawyers. The event was put together by the Democracy Rising Collaborative and Keep Our Republic, nonpartisan advocacy groups.

Organizers say they chose stops that would get the judges in front of as many people as possible to build connections and trust. The judges have embraced that mission.

“The lifeblood of the judiciary is public confidence,” Donnelly, the former Ohio Supreme Court justice, said. “If you lose that, it’s very difficult to get it back.”

The Democratic congresswoman, whose district includes the Houston neighborhood where the shooting occurred, said acting ICE Director David Venturella told her the agency has confirmed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo “was not a target.”

Salgado Araujo was a homebuilder who had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years, had no criminal record and was close to finishing the long process of obtaining legal status when he was killed early Tuesday morning, according to his family.

“We’ve got to do something. This is just one more death too many,” Garcia said in an interview with MS Now. “And if we’ve got to bring outside, independent folks to come in and look at it, we should do that."

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return an email seeking comment late Thursday.

DHS, which oversees ICE, previously said that federal officers were conducting a targeted operation to arrest a person in the country without legal status when they attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Salgado Araujo. The agency has said Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and that a federal officer fired a weapon in self-defense.

Asked whether ICE agents had been specifically targeting Salgado Araujo, DHS said earlier Thursday that officers had been surveilling a property where they had previously observed two white vans.

“On July 7, officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop,” the department said.

The federal agents weren't wearing body-worn cameras, DHS said, and few photos or videos surrounding the shooting have emerged publicly in the days since the encounter, unlike other deaths involving federal immigration officers.

In a statement, DHS said the agents at the scene in Houston had not yet been issued body cameras, which it blamed on Democrats and a record government shutdown that was fueled by President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, a Democrat who also represents Houston, said if the agents didn't have the devices, it was because Trump and Republican lawmakers did not want them to be carrying them.

"Houston is done accepting excuses from an agency that has more money than it knows what to do with and still can’t manage basic accountability,” he said in a statement.

The Harris County District Attorney's office said it would conduct an investigation into the shooting. The office is consulting with local prosecutors in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, to learn how they have navigated investigations into federal immigration agents, spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre said.

“Although access to key evidence remains under federal control, we are pursuing investigative avenues available to us and will conduct a review of any information we collect within our reach,” Lemaitre said in an emailed statement.

Three men, including Salgado Araujo’s brother, were detained by ICE during the fatal traffic stop, according to Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, who has been communicating with their families.

LULAC has yet to obtain video footage that clearly shows what happened during the moments of the shooting and has offered a reward of $5,000 for information from witnesses, Proaño told The Associated Press. The position of Salgado Araujo’s van and ICE vehicles has obstructed security camera footage LULAC has reviewed, he added.

“It’s going to make it even more difficult to find the truth in all this,” he said.

DHS said the ICE agents involved in the incident were expected to receive body-worn cameras in the next 60 days.

In the aftermath of the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Democrats had refused to fund ICE and the Border Patrol without changes to those operations designed to increase accountability and transparency. Republicans in Congress eventually passed legislation funding just ICE and CBP for three years.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturns a lower court decision that found the ban unconstitutional. The 2-1 appellate decision found that the Illinois law does not violate the Second Amendment, and its restrictions are “consistent with the principles that underpin our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Whether to adopt them is thus a decision reposed in our elected representatives, and we reverse,” the appeals court said.

The majority opinion also pushes back on claims made by the plaintiffs that semiautomatic weapons are not at fault for mass shootings.

“The undisputed record evidence undercuts that claim, showing that the presence of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines is strongly correlated with the severity of the societal problem,” the opinion states.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said in a post on X that the decision is “a victory in the fight to end gun violence that helps keep our communities safe.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association seeking to stop the ban, said that it is disappointed with the decision and plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

The gun trade group said it agrees with Chief Judge Michael Brennan’s dissent in which he wrote that the country prohibits governments from banning “firearms commonly owned for self-defense.”

“Because the people have overwhelmingly chosen the AR-15 rifle and its magazine as their weapon of choice, they are protected by the Second Amendment,” the judge's dissent states.

The Protect Illinois Communities Act was signed into law in 2023 by Pritzker and bans AR-15 rifles and similar guns, large-capacity magazines and an assortment of attachments.

It came six months after a 2022 shooting in which a gunman on a rooftop in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park opened fire on a parade, killing seven people and injuring more than three dozen.

The law prompted immediate pushback from county sheriffs who said they refused to enforce what they considered an unconstitutional law, while gun owners and advocates sued.

In 2024, a federal judge overturned the ban, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

The injunction was set to take effect 30 days after the judge's decision. But that same day, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a notice of appeal, which ultimately led to a stay in the injunction.

Raoul said Thursday's decision enhances public safety. “We have seen the damage that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines can inflict, and these weapons of war have no place in our communities,” he said in a statement.

Last month, the Supreme Court announced it will consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles, often called assault weapons, violate the Second Amendment. In the fall, the court, which has expanded gun rights, is expected to hear appeals challenging a ban in the Chicago area, which predates the statewide law.

But the judge’s order, issued July 3, limits what Kirsten Bridegan can be asked to seven specific topics and caps the deposition at two hours.

Jared Bridegan was killed in 2022 in what prosecutors describe as a murder-for-hire plot. His ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, are accused of orchestrating the killing.

A third defendant, Henry Tenon, previously pleaded guilty to shooting Bridegan but withdrew that plea in February. A judge decided in May that some incriminating statements he made to prosecutors cannot be used during his first-degree murder trial. But sworn statements he made as part of his previous plea deal can be used.

Why a second deposition was ordered

Court documents show Kirsten Bridegan declined to answer a series of questions during her first deposition about communications with a minor, whose name is redacted in the order. According to the order, she would not answer those questions “unless a judge makes [her] do so.”

After a break, she did return and answered some questions about her communications with the child. Because she answered some questions but not others, the court ordered the limited second deposition.

Attorney Gene Nichols, who is not associated with the case, explained why that distinction matters.

“The rules are very clear in civil cases and in criminal cases,” Nichols said. “If the deponent is not answering the questions, the door gets reopened to continue a deposition — not to go into everything all over again, but to go into those topics that we either objected to, were subsequently certified, and or what she claimed that she just did not know.”

What can be asked in the second deposition

The judge limited questioning to seven specific topics. Among them are any messages Kirsten Bridegan exchanged with the child between Dec. 25, 2025, and the date of the second deposition, as well as screenshots she took of those communications.

Attorneys can also ask about her usernames or handles on Snapchat, BeReal, and X — including when those accounts were created, deleted, deactivated, or transferred — if she used or maintained them at any point in 2025 or 2026.

Nichols said the focus on those specific platforms is telling.

“Quite frankly, I think there’ll be questions as to why she’s communicating with the child through social media platforms that in and of themselves are not keeping or recording or storing that information,” Nichols said. “So I think that’s a lot of what we’ve got going on, at least with this order.”

Nichols also noted the court’s balancing act in this case.

“There’s no question that the court is going to do everything they can to protect a victim in this case and protect the widow of the victim in this case,” he said. “But at the same time, defense counsel has the absolute right to depose that witness and has the absolute right to get answers to their questions.”

News4JAX reached out to Kirsten Bridegan’s attorney and the Bridegan Foundation for comment on the court order. Neither had responded as of publication.

Three trials on the horizon

The cases against Mario Fernandez and Shanna Gardner have been building for years.

Fernandez’s trial is the first to move forward. Jury selection is expected to begin August 10, with the trial following the next week. Gardner’s jury selection is scheduled to start August 31. Henry Tenon’s trial is set for March 29, 2027.

Nichols said the outcome of Fernandez’s trial could shape what happens in the two trials that follow.

“Mario Fernandez’s trial could have a tremendous impact on what happens with Shanna Gardner’s trial,” he said. “For Shanna Gardner, it is almost a first chance to see what a jury is going to think, what they’re going to see, what the rulings are going to be, what the testimony is going to be like.”

He added that the ripple effect could extend even further.

“It’s going to have an impact on what happens with those other two trials,” Nichols said. “Whichever way the dominoes go, it is going to have an impact no matter what.”

Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire. But Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

Sirens sounded Thursday afternoon in Jordan as well, where the U.S. has stationed troops and aircraft.

An Iranian official accused the U.S. of launching an airstrike later Thursday targeting the area around Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, and other explosions were reported elsewhere in the country during the afternoon.

Early Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad after days of public mourning. Khamenei was killed in the opening salvos of the Iran war.

The strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

In Iran, the two days of American airstrikes have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday. Most were reportedly members of the armed forces.

In Kuwait, the military said falling debris wounded one person as the nation shot down three ballistic missiles, a cruise missile and 10 drones. Bahrain said it shot down incoming fire, without elaborating, and Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said all incoming fire from Iran had been intercepted. Iranian state TV said the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan.

There was no immediate word of damage in Qatar.

US strikes hit more targets

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it hit 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

The U.S. said the strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Traffic has picked up somewhat since a tentative deal last month included opening the waterway. Maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence said Thursday that preliminary data showed at least 576 ships passed through the strait in June, compared with 233 in May. More than 3,100 transited the strait in June 2025.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ehsan Jahanian, a local official in Bushehr, as accusing the U.S. of striking near the plant around noon, hours after Central Command said it had ended its latest round of strikes. Asked for comment on Bushehr, Central Command referred to a press release that detailed targets but made no mention of the nuclear power plant.

Streets are jammed for Khamenei’s final funeral procession

For the first time since April, U.S. strikes also appeared to target Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran’s northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guard said two bridges were attacked on the route to Mashhad, where tens of thousands of mourners thronged wide boulevards during the final funeral procession for Khamenei on Thursday.

People pressed forward to touch a vehicle carrying Khamenei's body. Many carried Iranian flags and images of the late leader or banners evoking Shiite Islam’s long history of martyrs. Some signs called for the death of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Khamenei ruled Iran for nearly 37 years before being killed in the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that started the war. The funeral processions began last Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran and other cities as throngs commemorated the man who led Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West.

Trump issues another warning to Iran if attacks on shipping happen again

After leaving a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote Wednesday, a day after three tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric and desalination plants, and to seize Kharg Island, through which some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X on Thursday morning: “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you’ll get hit.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on Telegram that he spoke by phone with his Saudi, Turkish and Omani counterparts and with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been one of the main mediators in the war. The outreach suggested efforts may be underway to reduce tensions.

Talks on reaching a final deal were to begin after Khamenei's funeral

Trump said Wednesday that the interim ceasefire agreement was “over.” He said he would allow negotiations to continue but thought negotiators were “wasting their time.”

Negotiations to reach a final deal were due to start after the funeral for Khamenei.

The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

According to the Florida Department of Health’s reportable disease dashboard, 50 cases have been confirmed in Florida between May 1 and July 4. Health officials say Cyclosporiasis is a seasonal disease that affects Floridians every year.

Northeast Florida Counties with confirmed cases

Duval County

Duval County has one recorded case in a patient between the ages of 25-29. That case was acquired outside of the United States.

St. Johns County

St. Johns County now has two cases. One confirmed case involved a patient between the ages of 70 and 74, with the infection believed to have been acquired in Florida. Another involved a patient between the ages of 35 and 39, also believed to have been acquired in Florida.

Alachua County

Alachua County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 40 and 44. The source of acquisition for that case is unknown.

Columbia County

Columbia County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 40 and 44. That case was acquired outside of the United States.

Flagler County

Flagler County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 60 and 69. That case was also acquired outside of the United States.

What is cyclosporiasis?

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

Signs, symptoms of cyclosporiasis

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

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

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

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

2026 by the numbers

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

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

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

How it spreads

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

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

Who is at risk?

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

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

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

How cyclosporiasis is diagnosed

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

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

Treating cyclosporiasis

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

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

Preventing Cyclospora infection

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

Investigations ongoing

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

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

Travel-related cases also reported

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

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

What to do if you’re sick

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

A goat named Goldie — short for Golden Oreo — followed firefighters for hours as they actively engaged the Rock Creek Fire in Colorado Springs and cleared brush. She even took care of some of it on her own by chomping on leaves.

The 4-year-old Nigerian dwarf goat with a brown and white coat led firefighters down a hill and followed them to their trucks. She watched as they packed up for the day, then trailed behind one truck as it drove off, said Colorado Springs Fire Department Lt. Trevor Leland.

“I don’t know that she necessarily helped with the firefighting effort, but it’s always cool to see an animal like that who doesn’t mind us being there,” he said.

Earlier Thursday, Goldie spotted a U.S. Forest Service crew member having lunch, and tried to stick her head over his shoulder to get a bite and hang out with him for awhile, Leland said.

Goldie's owner, Lindsey Glader, says she's quite the social butterfly. Or, buttergoat?

Glader said the firefighters did a phenomenal job tackling the fire that was 50% contained late Friday. Crews hope to have it fully contained Friday, said Ashley Franco, a spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

That fire and others across the West have kept crews busy, fueled from a record lack of snow, high temperatures and erratic winds. The crew from Colorado Springs also was called to the Aspen Acres Fire southwest of Denver that forced the evacuations of thousands of residents this month.

Goldie figured they needed an “extra boost of support” and stepped in, Glader said.

“She was able to give some comedic relief and offer some necessary levity for these guys and gals who have worked really, really hard and creating a break for this fire, and keeping a lot of people and a lot of things safe,” she said.

Lance Twiggs, who was also defendant Tyler Robinson’s romantic partner, said in an interview with law enforcement that the teary interaction with Robinson happened in their apartment in southern Utah, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from where Kirk was shot.

Later that same day — and only about an hour before turning himself in — Robinson posted "it was me at UVU yesterday,” in a chat room on the Discord instant messaging platform, according to investigators and messages shown by prosecutors.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not entered a plea. He turned himself in a day after the Sept. 10 shooting of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump credited with helping galvanize young voters for the Republican in the 2024 election.

Ammunition found in the gun used to kill Kirk had engravings that included “Hey Facist! CATCH!” and “If you Read This, You Are GAY,” according to prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty.

Robinson appeared to furrow his brow and smirk when text messages he sent to Twiggs about the engraved bullets were displayed in the courtroom Thursday.

Robinson's family sat behind him, and his mom cried as the Discord messages were read aloud. She rubbed the shoulder of one of Robinson’s brothers, who listened with his head bowed.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully fought the public release of the statements from Twiggs and the chat room messages. They argued prosecutors would characterize the material as a confession, undermining Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

After prolonged debate that included an attorney for Kirk’s family arguing for the material to be publicly released, state District Judge Tony Graf allowed a redacted version of Twiggs' video interview to be played. Some parts were blacked out, with only audio.

Graf is weighing whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial. He won’t rule until after both sides present arguments on Sept. 1.

Notes and text exchanges were shown in court

Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence but have sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

Defense attorney Michael Burt tried to inject doubt into the prosecution’s case by challenging the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body. Authorities sought to tie the fragment to the suspected murder weapon, but the results were inconclusive.

“Saying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate,” said Samantha Karner with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a federal law enforcement agency.

The defense earlier in the week had questioned the reliability of DNA evidence that investigators said linked Robinson to the scene. Experts say the science behind DNA testing is sound.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a handwritten note to Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.” The note, shown in full for the first time Thursday, continued, “I wish we could have lived in a world where this did not feel necessary."

Robinson also allegedly sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis recounted the messages exchanged between Twiggs and Robinson under questioning by a prosecutor Thursday. Included were texts from Robinson worrying about leaving fingerprints on a rifle that belonged to his grandfather, which authorities believe he used to shoot Kirk.

Twiggs spoke to authorities on Sept. 12 — two days after Kirk was assassinated while speaking to a crowd of thousands — and again on April 20, Davis said. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case.

Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on claims by prosecutors that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.

Twiggs said in the April interview that Robinson sometimes talked about politics, including Trump. But Twiggs said he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. The defendant also did not talk much about LGBTQ rights, Twiggs testified.

Kirk's friends react to new evidence

Kirk’s parents and widow, Erika, sat a few rows back from Robinson's family on Thursday. U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, also was in attendance.

Brandon Tatum, a conservative media personality and close friend of Kirk, said he was “shocked at how much relevant evidence" Twiggs' shared in his interview. He left court Thursday feeling confident about prosecutors' case but had mixed feelings about the judge's decision to hold off ruling until after a September hearing.

"I think the family's waited long enough, but I'd rather it be done right and done in confidence than for it to be hastily done the next day without being thoroughly, I guess, bulletproof," Tatum said.

Another conservative activist, Jack Posobiec, said he got emotional seeing photos of the bullet fragments that hit his friend. "But you have to push through that pain and push through all of that to be able to get justice,” he said.

Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once in the neck while the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk, 31, was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Democrats need to pick a candidate to replace Platner on the ballot by July 27, according to state law. Whoever is selected will have less than four months before facing longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the general election. Potential candidates had already been teasing their interest before Platner, who denies the allegation, announced he intends to drop out. Platner is expected to file paperwork to formally withdraw on Monday, the deadline to do so.

But a growing number began formally launching their campaigns Thursday.

The Maine Democratic Party has said it will hold a nominating convention to choose the replacement. The party says the convention will involve hundreds of delegates from across the state, but how and when that’ll take place remains unknown.

Maine is considered a key state for control of the narrowly divided Senate, and Democrats are desperate for a candidate capable of defeating Collins while President Donald Trump is broadly unpopular.

Gov. Janet Mills, who sought the nomination during the primary campaign and suspended her campaign in late April, has not indicated if she's interested in running.

These are some of the people who have shown interest in the Maine Senate race:

Troy Jackson

Jackson is Maine’s former state Senate president. He unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for governor earlier this year with the backing of Platner and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shortly after Platner said he would quit the Senate race, Jackson launched his campaign, arguing that Mainers want “a progressive fighter." Our Revolution, the organization founded by Sanders, has since said it would back Jackson, 58.

Jackson released a statement with dozens of endorsements, many from current and former state and local officials, on Thursday.

Nirav Shah

Shah, former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Thursday he was vying to be the next Democratic Senate candidate. He came in second in this year’s Maine Democratic governor's primary and was seen as more of a moderate candidate compared with Jackson while running for governor. Shah held a news conference Thursday in which he encouraged Platner supporters to join him.

“You have an important place in this campaign and we welcome your voices,” Shah said. “This campaign represents the values that we all care about.”

Dan Kleban

The co-founder of Maine Beer Company, Kleban also confirmed his candidacy on Wednesday after Platner's announcement. Kleban briefly entered the Senate race last year before dropping out when Mills announced her candidacy. Kleban, 49, endorsed Mills, who later dropped out of the Democratic primary.

“I'm ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington,” Kleban said.

Shenna Bellows

Bellows is Maine's secretary of state. She announced Thursday that she's running for the seat, saying she's spent her career “taking on tough fights and doing the right thing," where she's served as a former civil liberties advocate and sparred with President-elect Donald Trump over ballot access.

This wouldn't be her first time running for political office. Bellows, 51, placed fourth in the state’s Democratic governor's primary in June. And in 2014, Bellows ran against Collins as the Senate Democratic nominee and lost in a landslide.

Jordan Wood

Wood, 36, initially attempted to run in the Maine Democratic Senate primary last year but dropped out to run in the state's 2nd District. He lost that race, coming in third to state Auditor Matt Dunlap. He's since said he's interested in running for the Senate again, and announced on Thursday.

“To beat Susan Collins, we need a candidate who can provide a true contrast and run an unapologetically progressive campaign: Passing Medicare for All. Stopping ICE terrorizing our streets,” Wood wrote on social media on Tuesday.

Paige Loud

Loud filed paperwork to run for the Senate seat earlier this week. The 29-year-old social worker also ran in the state's 2nd District Democratic primary, but came in last during the state's first round of ranked choice voting.

Valli Geiger

Geiger, a previous Platner supporter and a state Democratic lawmaker, is another potential candidate. She hasn't announced her candidacy, but in an interview with MS NOW on Wednesday, Geiger, 70, said she would hire Platner's staff, whom she described as “deeply impassioned and confident young people.”

David Costello

Costello ran in the June primary and finished third behind Platner, who won, and Mills, who was still on the ballot despite having suspended her campaign. Costello announced Thursday that he is back in the race. He said in a social media post that he believes he is the right candidate because his “lived experiences are rooted in the same challenges countless Mainers face every day.”

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Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

The new pledge builds on the $2.2 billion mobilized at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing total commitments to more than $3.1 billion, which will be used to expand access to cleaner cooking fuels, stoves and related infrastructure across the continent.

The funding was announced during a virtual meeting on clean cooking in Africa convened by IEA and Kenya, where leaders reviewed progress made since the last summit and outlined priorities ahead of the next gathering later this year.

Nearly 1 billion people across Africa still lack access to clean cooking, relying instead on charcoal, firewood and other polluting fuels that the IEA says contribute to an estimated 850,000 premature deaths each year.

The meeting brought together Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, African Union commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge and IEA executive director Fatih Birol, among others.

Clean cooking refers to the use of low-emission fuels and technologies, such as ethanol, biogas and electricity, instead of traditional fuels like charcoal and firewood. The transition reduces harmful household air pollution and improves health outcomes for millions of African households.

“Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” said Wright, adding that it directly affects the lives of billions of people, particularly women and children.

Kenya’s Ruto said financing remained the biggest obstacle to achieving universal access to clean cooking technologies across Africa. “Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment,” he said.

Birol said the IEA's latest tracking showed that $740 million, or about one-third of the commitments announced in Paris, has already been deployed across 22 African countries.

“The additional $900 million in commitments demonstrates growing momentum, with more expected before the next summit,” Birol said.

The IEA also released a report showing governments have introduced 121 new clean cooking policies across more than 30 African countries since the Paris summit. Those countries account for about 80% of Africans without access to clean cooking.

The agency said it is working with the African Union to help governments strengthen national clean cooking policies under a continentwide strategy and action plan ahead of the next summit.

It also launched a new public-private Clean Cooking Security Programme aimed at strengthening global supply chains for cooking fuels, particularly liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. The initiative follows shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year that affected about 30% of globally traded LPG, the agency said. More than 3.4 billion people worldwide depend on LPG as their primary cooking fuel.

The program will provide technical assistance to countries seeking to improve fuel security while exploring ways to strengthen international cooperation on clean cooking supply chains.

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The Associated Press’ 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.

Vincent Cicone started a GoFundMe page to help support financial challenges he has faced while trying to cope with the loss of his wife, Samantha Cicone.

“She’s a very special woman. She always loves smiling. She was always happy,” Cicone said, remembering his late wife.

“We miss her every day, and the pain of her absence is overwhelming. The aftermath has left us facing not only emotional devastation but also significant financial challenges. I have had to cover funeral costs, crime scene cleanup, and repairs to our home from the damages that occurred that morning. These expenses have added to the stress and difficulty of trying to rebuild our lives,” he wrote on the GoFundMe page.

On Sept. 15, 2025, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said 45-year-old Mauricio Vasco Lopez entered the family’s home on Pine Oaks Lane in Middleburg and began shooting before someone inside returned fire.

Deputies said Lopez shot three people: a 21-year-old woman, Cicone and his wife.

For Cicone, that day was a “typical morning” for his family.

“Get a little sleep before we go to whatever adventure leads us that day,” he told News4JAX on Thursday.

Those were his thoughts before the chaos erupted.

“When we came out, I was face to face with a guy who pointed a 10 millimeter pistol,” he said.

Cicone wrote in the GoFundMe that he was shot in the chest while trying to protect his family after Lopez forced his way into the home. Lopez then chased Cicone’s 16-year-old son and wife through the home before fatally shooting her, according to the GoFundMe page.

Cicone said his son, who is also autistic, ultimately grabbed a shotgun and shot Lopez, saving both of their lives. Lopez died from his injuries.

“He had no issue protecting his home. He had no issue with that. His only issue he had was the aftermath of it all,” Cicone said.

Nearly a year later, Cicone hopes that people remember Samantha as someone who was giving and kind.

“She’s a very special woman. I mean, she always loves smiling. She was always happy,” he said. ”I wake up a lot of mornings, and I’m looking at the couch where my wife used to sit. And I don’t see her."

Investigators said they found no evidence that Lopez knew the family. According to the investigation, Lopez’s car got a flat tire outside the home before he stormed inside and started shooting, but his motive remains unclear.

If you would like to donate, click here.

As of Thursday, the fundraiser had raised $800 toward its $11,000 goal.

The break is at the intersection of Ash Street and Plainfield Avenue. It’s unclear what caused the pipe to break, but officials for The Town of Orange Park said the main is about 20 feet underground and requires a contractor’s assistance to complete the repairs.

Traffic will be detoured around the construction areas as crews work to fix the issue.

Officials will have a better idea of the repair timeframe once they meet with the contractor.

But after hours of combing the Mediterranean seabed in search of yellow-painted mock mortar shells, the divers surfaced empty-handed.

It was the team's fifth diving trip in the yearslong experiment to help prepare Israel to clear part of the sea from unexploded grenades and other munitions in order to return beach area to residents. But on this day in June, the divers couldn't find the dummy mortar and artillery shells they'd planted months prior, foreshadowing the challenges that lie ahead.

“It’s really hard to find things in the sea,” said Roy Jaijel, a researcher in the marine geology and geophysics department at Israel’s National Institute of Oceanography, as he emerged from a dive.

Jaijel co-leads a project aimed at returning some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of shoreline to people living in Israel's central city of Rishon LeZion, an area that's been used as a firing range for decades. The initiative, the first of its kind in Israel, coincides with a global push to better protect the world's waters as demand increases for the use of seas and oceans for shipping, energy and recreation.

Experts say the clearance of underwater munitions has received more attention in recent years in part because of the boom in artificial intelligence, which requires millions of kilometers of underwater fiber-optic cables to allow for global connectivity.

Munitions can end up dumped into waters after wars, fall into seas during conflict or, in the case of Rishon LeZion, accumulate from firing practice. Erosion from seawater can lead toxic and explosive chemicals, along with heavy metals, to seep from the munitions, causing environmental contamination. There's also the risk of objects exploding if people step on them or children play with them, thinking they're toys.

Two years ago, Europe launched a project to better detect and clear non-military unexploded ordnance, such as from industrial or commercial sites. In a separate initiative in 2024, Germany piloted a program to recover and dispose of military waste from the North and Baltic Seas, where some 1.6 million tonnes of unexploded munitions from two world wars lie, according to the German government.

Still, there's been less focus on clearing waters in the Middle East, such as the Mediterranean, which historically hasn't been the site of large dumps compared with Europe.

Leaders of the Israeli project say it's one of the first to focus on clearing smaller munitions in complicated underwater terrain, which is why many countries have avoided it.

“It's like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Israel Faintuch, head of the Maritime Division at Israel's Ministry of Defense National Mine Action Authority as he checked his oxygen tank and suited up to go underwater.

Limited beach space in Israel is the driving force behind the clearing effort

The government says nearly half the country's 194-kilometer (120-mile) coastline is off limits to civilians, used for commercial ports, power plants, desalination facilities, military bases and firing zones.

Since the country's founding nearly 80 years ago, 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), nearly the entire length of Rishon LeZion's shoreline, has been used as a firing range, launching grenades as well as small and large mortars, leaving hundreds of thousands of people crammed into a narrow strip of beach.

Launched last year, the joint research project funded by Rishon LeZion's municipality is being led by Israel’s National Mine Action Authority and researchers from the National Institute of Oceanography. It aims to localize the most impacted areas, mapping the pattern of munitions to determine how far offshore and how deep to go before the clearance team steps in.

In order to gather data, divers place various sizes of fake munitions — some equipped with motion sensors — at depths of 5, 10 and 15 meters (16, 33 and 59 feet) and up to 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) offshore. After several months, they retrieve the munitions, analyze the data and plant new ones.

In June, Associated Press journalists accompanied the team underwater as they placed new munitions for the next round of tests and attempted to find ones they'd left in January. Divers descended using a string, or measuring tape, to navigate the seabed. Tapping each other under the water, they'd point in different directions to search, rubbing their hands over the seafloor.

“You have limited air supply when you go with the divers and you have limited time in the water," said Dafna Eliahu, a graduate student working on the project. "So with actual live munition I expect it to be very difficult, very hard to locate and to actually be able to find them,” she said.

While the information, including from the sensors, is still being processed, preliminary findings show that the munitions moved less than expected, which means there might be less area that needs clearing, she said.

Israel's Defense Ministry wants to have enough data to start clearing by the end of next year and expand the shoreline by an initial 150 meters (492 feet) within a few months. Completing the project will take years and cost tens of millions of dollars. It's already been delayed due to Israel's multiple wars with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran as divers can't work when missiles are falling and could land in the sea.

During the current war that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran as well as the 12-day war last June between Israel and Iran, the army said missiles aimed at larger cities like Rishon LeZion fell into the sea but wouldn’t specify how many.

Israel says no one has been injured or killed by unexploded sea ordnance, but there have been about a dozen sightings of devices in the last 20 years where the police and army were called. Most have been found on or near shore.

What's learned during the project could be useful beyond Israel

While the goal of the project is to expand parts of the shoreline, Israel also hopes its findings will yield new insights on clearing munitions from this part of the world, where there are threats but overall less is known.

According to the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, more than half of global incidents related to unexploded ordnance, such as sightings or drifting mines, were recorded in the Middle East between 2014 and 2023, with most occurring in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, largely a result of Yemen's civil war.

Pedro Basto, research and innovation program manager with the group, said it is important to keep interest high in removing underwater explosives given the increasing dependence on the seas.

“Both renewable energies based on the sea (wind turbines and harnessing water currents) and the global connectivity that most of the world relies on every minute of every day, depend massively on underwater cable laying,” he said.

As Israel's project advances, residents in Rishon LeZion say they're looking forward to being able to use more land.

Moria Malka, head spokesperson for the city's municipality, said the clearance will triple the area’s coastline and much of it will become a nature reserve as well as a residential area near the sea. For beachgoers like Mark Kostman, that is great news.

“Holidays and Saturdays, all of this place is completely crowded and too dense to even have fun,” said Kostman as he played volleyball with his children next to the firing zone. “Having it as public space for leisure and sport ... it's wonderful."

___

Associated Press reporter Natalie Melzer contributed from Nahariya, Israel.

___

The Associated Press’ 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.

But delivering soybean curd in all shapes and textures is only a small slice of her mission.

And it’s just that. A mission.

More than simply a vendor of healthy food, she’s also a social conduit who checks on elderly customers as she guides her pink cart, wearing a straw hat and tooting a small brass bugle to signal her arrival.

She knows the habits of many of her customers like family, and they know hers. She’s lost some elderly customers over the years who’ve died alone, which is becoming more common in Japan, which has one of the world's oldest populations.

“More than once I was the first one to find their bodies,” Sugaya explained, seated in a small store she also runs on a busy shopping street in Tokyo's Ojima neighborhood.

It's a largely residential area of small dwellings, layered with occasional strips of sprawling apartment blocks.

“In an area like this, some people just leave their doors unlocked," Sugaya said. “Or I can get access by asking the landlords.”

Uncollected newspapers and unattended laundry are telltale signs of trouble, easily seen in small houses on the street. But large apartment buildings hide these signs of possible distress.

Sugaya is a savior for many, and the job — she’s been at it for 23 years — has also strengthened her own self-worth. She feels that the job saved her.

She says she was bullied in school and fired from several jobs until she found that delivering high-quality, healthy food also nourished her own mental health and offered value to others.

“Selling tofu on a cart made me think I am OK to be myself," Sugaya explained. “I used to be repeatedly put down, but through cart-selling I built up my self-esteem.”

“I was still nervous with women around my ages,” she added. “But I felt safe when surrounded by the elderly whose smiles are warm and kind.”

Shinji Saito comes by Sugaya's shop daily. Saito, who has epilepsy, calls her accepting personality “magical.”

She’s also a link to a time when vendors walked through neighborhoods selling ramen, sweet potatoes, vegetables and other items.

“Delivery of newspapers or tofu, what used to be part of our daily lives, have been replaced by delivery apps or smart phones,” Sugaya said. “One can easily spend a day without having any verbal conversation with others.”

"When you go to a convenience store, you hit a button on a screen and don’t even say hello to anyone. It leaves you empty.”

Sugaya makes her rounds three days per week, a three-hour walk in the afternoon.

Her route twists through maze-like streets, and there are sporadic sales — and frequent conversations. A woman walks from her house to buy tofu, chats about her unruly cat and shows off a strand of wild vine growing in her garden. Another woman reminds Sugaya that cart-selling is a disappearing craft.

“Even when I'm in need of tofu, I tell myself I'd better wait for Ako-chan,” said customer Toshi Niiyama, using Sugaya's nickname. “We used to have someone coming to sell vegetables, but he stopped coming.”

Sugaya has no such plans to stop.

“I go this way on Mondays, that way on Saturdays and that way on Thursdays,” she explained. “I go even if it's raining because my customers expect to see me — or just because they want to have a talk."

The conceptual artist, who died at the age of 83, first created the Pindakaasvloer, or peanut butter floor, in 1969. The work was unveiled on Thursday at the Depot offshoot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam for a two-month show.

Schippers was a beloved non-conformist character in the Netherlands, where he also voiced Ernie and Kermit the Frog in the Dutch version of “Sesame Street,” and created absurdist and silly works that challenged conventional ideas about the meaning of art.

“Isn’t it fantastic that we are all standing here looking at peanut butter?” Schippers told journalists gathered at the Central Museum in Utrecht in 1997 where Pindakaasvloer was on display for the second time.

Schippers created the work as part of a Floor Covering Series, which also included floors covered with glass shards and salt.

The aroma, redolent of breakfasts and lunch boxes, is what lingers with many who experience the work first hand. Museum staff directed visitors for the opening to “follow the smell” which was wafting by the ticket counter, three floors below where the artwork is laid out.

“The thing I remember is the smell,” Mieke Weismann told The Associated Press. The food photographer and writer saw the 1997 exhibition as a teenager.

The art installation may not be for everybody. A sign at the museum's entrance warns visitors with peanut allergies that they might not want to enter the space.

It took two employees of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen several days to spread 40 buckets of peanut butter across a 25-square-meter (270-square-foot) hexagon last week.

“It was a lot of work,” Leon Duenk, one of the two men who installed the artwork, told AP.

The pair used drywall trowels to smear the peanut butter to a thickness of 2 centimeters (0.8 inch).

Prior to his death the museum and Schippers discussed how to recreate the work in the future, producing a 20-point plan that included the requirement to apply the peanut butter “as smoothly and boringly as possible” and that “no one is supposed to stand in, or lie down on the peanut butter.”

Schippers did not specify the size or shape of the work, but he did say it needed to be smooth peanut butter and that he preferred the Dutch peanut butter brand Calvé. The company donated 40 tubs of peanut butter for the work.

Multiple visitors stepped into the sticky artwork when it was on display in 2011. In 1997, the work was “vandalized” when a group of people placed 12 slices of bread and several bags of hagelslag — chocolate sprinkles commonly eaten on bread at breakfast in the Netherlands — on the floor.

“It doesn’t look bad,” Schippers told Dutch newspaper Volkskrant at the time. “The sprinkles have been applied with a sense of proportion and a skillful hand.”

———

Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.

The indictment, returned in Ohio, charges all eight in two separate conspiracies, one to provide material support to terrorists and a second to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.

It remains unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to being able to carry out the plan had it not been thwarted.

According to the new indictment, the plot began in May, when the group began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment and other items.

It was on June 10 that law enforcement officials learned about a possible threat to President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting show, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza was scheduled to take place.

The Justice Department last month announced a series of criminal complaints in different districts across the country in connection with the UFC plot, including from Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska and California.

The indictment announced Thursday represents an effort by the government to streamline the case and knit the defendants together into a single conspiracy prosecution in Ohio. Officials have said the group members harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government.

One of the defendants told investigators that they planned to fly explosive-laden drones into the event and then shoot panicked crowd members as they fled, according to a federal affidavit.

They communicated through online chat groups and forums and classified participants into tiers, with tier 1 participants committing “to put themselves in harm’s way, break the law, and potentially go into hiding," according to the federal indictment. Members of the group also engaged in marksmanship and combat training.

Tycen C. Proper 19, of Danville, Ohio, and four others were arrested and charged in Missouri, Nebraska and California the weekend of the cage-fighting event, called Freedom 250. Two more defendants were charged and arrested by the FBI about a week later in Washington and Missouri.

The Justice Department said an eighth man was charged this week. He is 21-year-old Chandler D. Scaggs, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, who was taken into custody in that state. Scaggs was allegedly assigned to be one of the snipers in the plotted attack, according to an affidavit.

The affidavit said Scaggs was apparently to be picked up by Proper and taken to Washington but lost contact with him after Proper was arrested, the same as the others. Scaggs allegedly signaled to the group that he was still willing to participate in the attack and arranged to travel to the event with another co-conspirator.

Scaggs' attorney, Eric Brehm, said his office was thoroughly reviewing the allegations and declined to comment further.

Conspiring to provide material support to terrorists is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and conspiring to commit murder carries a penalty of up to life in prison.

Federal prosecutors allege that the group planned to murder Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other federal officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trillionaire businessman Elon Musk and “other high value targets” at the event.

___

Tucker reported from Washington.

A Heat Advisory will be in effect Friday from 10 a.m. through 8 p.m. The heat wave will linger through Saturday with Heat Advisories possible Saturday. Changes are on the way Sunday with increasing widespread rain chances. Elevated rain chances continue through Tuesday next week as temperatures return to near seasonal starting Sunday.

The long-range forecast dries things out starting next Wednesday with seasonal temperatures and rain chances through the end of the week.

Tonight: Warm under partly cloudy skies.

Friday: Heat Advisory 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Hot and humid with a slight chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms, 20 percent. Morning lows in the 70s to 80s. Afternoon highs in the mid to upper 90s inland, low 90s along the beaches. Wind: SW 5-15 mph. Feels Like temperatures 102-108 degrees.

Saturday: Becoming partly cloudy and hot with a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Heat Advisories possible. Rain chances will increase to 30-50 percent with better chances across NE FL. Wind: SW 5 - 10 mph.

Looking ahead: Widespread rain chances will increase on Sunday with rain chances remaining likely through next Tuesday.

Tropics: Is it the strengthening of El Niño? No tropical activity is expected over the next 7 days in the Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean.

The updated CSU Hurricane forecast: https://www.news4jax.com/weather/2026/07/08/atlantic-storm-forecast-drops-to-9-named-storms-in-2026/

Sunrise: 6:32 p.m.

Sunset: 8:32 p.m.

Now Les Bleus have to hope he can overcome an injury that had him summoning for help and leaving the game in the 77th minute. Mbappé said the injury was minor, and he showed no ill effects while celebrating with his team after the whistle.

“I took a knock to the ankle, but I’m fine," said Mbappé, who was replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta. “At that point, JP was in better shape than I was to play the final minutes.”

The reigning Golden Boot winner and only the second teenager — after Pele — ever to score in a World Cup final, Mbappé made up for his miss on a first-half penalty by scoring in the 60th minute. It was his 20th goal in 20 World Cup games and his eighth in 2026, equaling Argentina captain Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.

Mbappé also assisted on Ousmane Dembélé’s goal six minutes later to help the two-time champions reach the semifinals, where they will play either Spain or Belgium. France has never failed to make a World Cup final in two previous tournaments with Mbappé.

“There’s only one way to relax, and that’s by winning,” Mbappé said. “Until we’ve done that, we don’t let up. We’re in the semifinals and we’re very happy, but there’s still a long way to go. We realize that what lies ahead is even tougher than what we’ve been through, but we’re ready to face anything.”

Asked if this was his strongest France team yet, Mbappé said it has the most potential — “for the time being.”

“But I always say that the strongest teams are the ones that win,” he said. "I don’t see a World Cup next to me, so for now, we’re not the strongest team.”

Mbappé gave France fans a scare when he went to the field in pain after he was stepped on by Morocco defender Issa Diop in the 63rd minute. He remained in the game until the 76th minute, when he dropped to the turf and waved to the sideline.

After the training staff checked on him, Mbappé was subbed off — waving to the Gillette Stadium crowd as he left — and watched the end of the match from the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle.

“It's a slight pain in the ankle,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “Nothing serious.”

Mbappé had a chance from the penalty spot in the first half after drawing a foul from Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui in the box in the 28th minute. But goalkeeper Yassine Bounou guessed correctly, diving to his left to stop the attempt.

Mbappé said the long delay while the play was being reviewed left him wondering if he would be attempting the shot at all.

“It’s complicated, because there’s some kind of imbroglio," he said. "I let myself be de-concentrated. That’s a scenario I hadn’t experienced yet.”

But Mbappé delivered in the second half when he dribbled into the area and let loose a rocket that went just inside the post.

Messi also has scored eight goals at the tournament and Norway forward Erling Haaland has seven heading into their quarterfinal matches on Saturday. (Mbappé technically holds the Golden Boot lead because he has more assists, which is the tiebreaker.)

Mbappé's 20th goal put him one behind Messi on the all-time World Cup scoring list. Messi has 21 goals in 31 career World Cup matches over six tournaments, breaking the record of 16 that had been held by Germany striker Miroslav Klose.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Congress is looking for answers by July 24.

“Millions of casual fans now tune in to watch her play,” 11 members of the House Republican Study Committee wrote in a letter sent to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert. “Unfortunately, what they too often witness is not simply aggressive competition, but repeated acts of physical hostility and violence. Clark has been hip-checked, poked in the eye and struck in the throat during games.

"These incidents go far beyond routine physical play, yet the WNBA and its officiating have too often failed to address these unacceptable incidents and hold players accountable.”

It's the latest chapter in the Clark saga about whether league officials must do more to protect one of the WNBA's top players from unnecessarily aggressive physical contact.

The letter was sent two weeks after Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas made contact with her fist to Clark’s throat in a June 24 game. Thomas was not called for a foul on the play during the game, but the league subsequently upgraded the play to a flagrant foul and suspended her one game for “recklessly making contact with her fist.”

League officials have not yet issued a statement in response to the letter.

Thomas has called the play a “complete accident," adding that she has received death threats since the incident. Clark and her coach, Stephanie White, an ardent defender of Clark, have condemned threats levied at Thomas.

Where Clark stands among her WNBA peers

The 24-year-old Iowa alum has helped increase WNBA ticket sales and driven women’s basketball television ratings to unprecedented heights with her play.

However, many conversations around her tap into a variety of combustible hot-button topics, including race, officiating, money and politics. Clark has largely managed to thrive, but can't completely escape the noise.

“I think sometimes people think I’m a robot. I’m not a robot,” she said. “It can be really frustrating to me at times. I’m 24 years old trying to navigate a lot. I’ve been in this world for four years now — and you would never change any of it — but there are times that it is hard. And there are times when it affects me a little bit more than I do put on. I think it’s important that people remember that part of it, too.”

Lawmakers also suggested in their letter that government agencies such as the Department of Justice should investigate if discrimination or retaliation are creating a hostile work environment in the WNBA.

Fever officials said in a statement that neither Clark nor team officials have been in contact with the Congressional group and that they were unaware of the letter before its release.

“We have been clear in our public comments and in our ongoing dialogue with the league about the priority of player safety,” the statement read. “Our players and our fans know where we stand on those issues, and we will continue to stick up for our team and a standard of excellence across the league.”

Clark is one of the league’s most popular players, but she’s also one of the most polarizing — even amongst her peers.

Fans made her the No. 2 vote-getter for next week’s All-Star Game while Clark’s fellow players ranked her 11th among league guards — something three-time WNBA champ and Hall of Famer Candace Parker took exception with.

“If you’re sitting down and putting Caitlin Clark as the 11th best guard ... y’all need to go to a therapist and figure out what childhood issues you have,” Parker wrote on social media.

What makes Clark so polarizing

Clark instantly became the face of the league from the moment she was drafted first overall in 2024, before ever playing a pro game and even though she had not won an NCAA championship.

To accommodate her rampant fan base, opponents moved games from home arenas to larger venues which generated more revenue. And Fever games quickly became a regular feature on national television even after Indiana missed the playoffs from 2016-23.

Clark supporters say her immediate notoriety created resentment among WNBA veterans and has led to the hard fouls that cross the line.

Opponents counter that because of Clark's ability to shoot the ball and beat opponents with her ball-handling, players defending her try to be as physical as a referee will allow to slow her down.

Following the game on June 24, Fever coach Stephanie White angrily expressed players had crossed the line multiple times and highlighted two no-calls. The 6-foot, 157-pound Clark eventually left in the second half with a back injury that kept her out of the next two games.

Clark returned to action Wednesday night but was not expected to play Thursday night at Phoenix as a precaution.

The subject of race also has been injected into the Clark debate. White and Clark are both white; Thomas is Black.

“Because the bandwagon and the fandom became so obsessed with the whole thing, it turned into a cause,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who has won a record 12 NCAA women's basketball championships. Clark, he added, “became the reason why white players get beat up in the WNBA and she became the reason why Black players don’t get the endorsements and don’t get the adulation that white players get.”

The coach noted that, "Not every foul is a good foul. Not every foul’s a bad foul, but there are fouls that are flagrant — but that’s all they are.”

What role Clark plays in debate

Clark has repeatedly attempted to downplay the noise surrounding her.

But she also has played a part in this ongoing storyline, showing her passion by throwing her arms in the air when she's unhappy with calls, exaggerating contact as a tactic to draw fouls and critiquing refs when she doesn't get one.

Clark is also among the leading trash-talkers in the WNBA. When she gets the better of an opponent, she isn’t shy about letting them know about it. Clark is averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game while ranking second in the league in assists with 7.9 — trailing only Thomas (8.3).

Part of Clark’s appeal is her antagonistic style.

However, there can be a price to pay: She has drawn five technical fouls this season, the most recent coming June 22 against Phoenix when she started clapping after a heated exchange with Mercury forward and former Fever teammate DeWanna Bonner, who also is Black. Booner and Thomas are engaged.

Players receive a one-game suspension when they reach eight technicals and Clark told reporters in that postgame news conference someone should pick a date for her suspension if clapping results in a technical foul.

All-Star center Aliyah Boston, who wants to ensure Clark stays on the court, said on her “Post Moves” podcast that she told her teammate: "We’re done. We’re done clapping. There’s no more claps. There’s nothing else to clap about."

It's more likely, though, that Clark and her fans will continue clapping — and her critics will keep clapping back.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Signs for the Palm Beach International Airport have been removed, while new signage goes up.

“Because an entire airport transformation doesn’t happen overnight, you’ll notice a combination of both our classic look and our new brand elements coexisting while traveling through the terminal over the next several weeks,” airport officials said in a Facebook post.

“Trump Force One," a Boeing 757 owned by The Trump Organization, was the first plane to arrive at the airport under its new name, shortly after 5 a.m. The president's son, Eric Trump, was one of the passengers. The Trump family regularly uses the West Palm Beach airport when they visit President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in nearby Palm Beach. A stretch of road from the airport to Trump’s estate was renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year.

“There is no person who has done more for Florida and our country, and no one more deserving of this incredible honor,” Eric Trump posted on X. “As a son, and someone who flies out of this airport nearly every day, I will forever be proud to see the initials ‘DJT’ on my boarding pass.”

While the name change took effect Thursday, the three-letter airport code will change from PBI to DJT on Aug. 18.

President Trump later praised the renaming of the airport in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

“A very big day in Palm Beach, Florida, where it was my Great Honor to have the Palm Beach International Airport be renamed, by a spectacular vote, The President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The Area is HOT, the Location is GREAT, and the Renovation will be SPECTACULAR. Thank you to all in Palm Beach for your Vote and your Confidence,” he wrote in part, calling it “one of the Greatest and Most Spectacular Airports anywhere in the World!”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation earlier this year that made the name change possible. Changing the airport’s name is expected to cost as much as $5.5 million for new signs, branding and other updates.

Keegan Collett, who was departing the airport Thursday morning on his way to Cincinnati, said he was surprised to see the new name. He said he doesn't think Trump deserves to have an airport named after him but isn't necessarily bothered by it.

“At the end of the day, it’s just the name of an airport,” Collett said. "There’s bigger things. I feel like it’s just more of a distraction. Why even worry about it?"

In Dandridge, Tennessee, on Thursday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty and Representative Tim Burchett attended a ceremony to rename the I-40 Bridge in East Tennessee to the Donald J. Trump Bridge.

Bessent said ahead of the ceremony that “no one is more deserving” of the honor of a bridge renaming than Trump.

Trump received 82% of the vote in Jefferson County, where Dandridge is located, in the 2024 general election.

Les Bleus, with a star striker who said he's fine despite a right ankle issue, are headed back to the semifinals for the third straight World Cup tournament.

Mbappé had a goal and an assist after missing a first-half penalty kick, Ousmane Dembélé also scored and two-time champion France beat Morocco 2-0 Thursday in the quarterfinals.

“There’s only one way to relax, and that’s by winning. Until we’ve done that, we don’t let up,” Mbappé said. “We’re in the semifinals and we’re very happy, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Mbappé’s goal in the 60th minute was the 20th of his World Cup career and came in his 20th match at the tournament, moving him one behind Argentina captain Lionel Messi. Dembélé scored his fifth goal of the tournament in the 66th.

Mbappé went down to the ground in the 76th minute, about 13 minutes after being hit hard by a Moroccan defender, and was taken off for a substitute a minute later. He was then shown sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle.

After the match and with both shoes on, Mbappé ran and jumped in celebration with his teammates.

“I took a knock to the ankle, but I’m fine," Mbappé said. “At that point, JP (Jean-Philippe Mateta) was in better shape than I was to play the final minutes.”

France will face either Spain or Belgium in the semifinals in Dallas on Tuesday.

France beat Morocco by the same score in the semifinals of the 2022 tournament in Qatar when the Atlas Lions became the first African team to make it that far. France now remains on track to become only the third nation to play in the final of three consecutive World Cups.

“It is a confirmation of how we’ve played so far,” said France coach Didier Deschamps, who added there is a reason for his team's success in recent World Cups.

“Having great players. Excellent players. My credit goes to the players. But maybe I do my job well," he said. "The only truth is the one on the pitch.”

Mbappé got his goal with a perfectly placed shot just inside the far post after Morocco failed to clear the ball. He received the ball just outside the area, took a couple steps forward and then sent his shot sailing into the net. He extended both arms and ran to the sideline to celebrate with his teammates.

France's second goal came after Mbappé took a pass and tapped it back for Dembélé. Mbappé kept running forward and took defenders with him, opening space for Dembélé's shot.

Dembélé said he wasn't surprised with how Mbappé stepped up after his penalty miss in the first half.

“He's our captain and he has an incredible mentality,” Dembélé said. “We're expecting even more goals from him.”

France held a 21-4 advantage in shots on goal and 8-1 edge in shots on target for the game.

“We are very disappointed. We wanted to go on,” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. “When we had ball possession, our transitions were not great and we had to run a little more. Their players were in their comfort zone.”

Mbappé also had the first shot on goal of the game, just missing wide right in the fourth minute. Then, in the 25th, he was running up the left side when he was chopped down in the box by Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui. Referee Facundo Tello quickly pointed to the penalty spot.

Mbappé lined up waiting for his attempt but was held up by a lengthy video review. He was finally cleared to shoot in the 28th minute, but after a hesitation, Mbappé’s shot toward the right corner was corralled by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who guessed the direction of the shot correctly.

Deschamps said the long review also included a review for another foul.

Mbappé made his only other penalty attempt at this year's World Cup in France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the round of 16.

Still, France was by far the more active team offensively in the first half, holding a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Morocco’s best opportunity came just before the halftime whistle when Achraf Hakimi sent a free kick from just outside the box past the right post.

France now has a chance to emulate Brazil and West Germany in reaching three straight World Cup finals.

“We realize that what lies ahead is even tougher than what we’ve been through," Mbappé said, "but we’re ready to face anything.”

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Stephen Perez-Guerra was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of 49-year-old Mickey Jo Guile.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, officers with the Atlantic Beach Police Department responded just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, to Rose Avenue near Mayport Road. There, they found Guile lying in a back bedroom. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.

JSO’s Homicide and Crime Scene Unit detectives launched an investigation in cooperation with Atlantic Beach Police Department and the State Attorney’s Office. Through that investigation, detectives say they identified Perez-Guerra as the suspect.

Perez-Guerra is currently being held at the Duval County jail.

JSO extended its condolences to Guile’s family and friends.

Despite overwhelming public opposition, the National Capital Planning Commission voted to approve preliminary site and building plans for the 250-foot (76-meter) arch the Republican president wants to build on a traffic circle at the Virginia end of the Memorial Bridge from Washington.

The project, one of several being pursued by Trump in his quest to reshape parts of the nation’s capital to his liking, moved a step closer to reality with the vote.

Staff had recommended in its report on the project that the commission grant such approval and request a series of changes so the arch would comply with the Height of Buildings Act. The suggested changes included redistributing the heights among the main structure of the arch, the habitable roof, where an observation deck is planned, and the statues that would top it.

But commissioners, led by chairman Will Scharf, voted to continue deliberations on whether the law indeed applies.

The staff report said the commission has long applied the law in its approval process. Scharf said the applicant, which is the Interior Department, had, as requested, provided a legal analysis that he said makes a “compelling argument" that the law "is not binding on the federal government." The Interior Department oversees the federal land where the arch would be built.

“My view is that, today, we are just considering this project for preliminary approval and that, as a result, it’s not necessary for us to take up this broader issue of the applicability of the Height of Buildings Act to federal construction until our next meeting at the earliest,” Scharf said.

Arch is one of Trump's many construction projects

Eight of the 12 commissioners, including Scharf and two others appointed by Trump, voted for preliminary approval. One was against, and the remaining three commissioners voted present.

“This is a complex project,” Scharf said before the vote. He said a vote on final approval could come at the agency's next meeting, in September.

All 12 commissioners listened to a summary of the staff report and its recommendations, and heard from several dozen people who had signed up to testify about the project.

As the commissioners met, construction continued at the White House on a $400 million ballroom Trump is building there and crews draped tarps over the stone columns at the north entrance to the mansion, where work is being done to scrape off layers of paint.

Various reasons cited in opposition

Some of those who testified against Trump's project opposed building a celebratory arch so close to the solemn burial ground of Arlington National Cemetery. Others suggested it would be more appropriate for a neighborhood near the Capitol and sporting venues.

Michael Lemmon, who is among three Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian who have sued in federal court to stop the arch construction at Memorial Circle, said the arch would disrespect the memory of those laid to rest at the revered burial ground. Trump has said the arch will celebrate 250 years of America's independence.

“As a combat veteran, I feel a duty to protect the memory and honor the sacrifice of my comrades and all those buried there,” Lemmon said. "This vainglorious monumental arch does neither.”

Others noted that memorials to Vietnam veterans, those who fought in World War II and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were built after much debate and years after they were first proposed, and pleaded with the commission for a more deliberative process for the arch.

Opponents say the arch is too big and would disrupt the carefully designed view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery that was meant to symbolize the reunification of the North and the South after the Civil War.

The arch would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters) tall, and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet (169 meters) tall.

Concerns about vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety also were expressed on Thursday. Others insisted that Congress must approve the arch — a position Trump disagrees with.

No cost estimate yet for the arch

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a separate federal agency, approved the design for the arch in May. The National Capital Planning Commission oversees construction on federal land in the city and began reviewing the arch plan in June.

Trump had said last year that the arch could be paid for with unused funds from the hundreds of millions of dollars he said he has raised from corporations, donors and other wealthy people to pay to build a new $400 million ballroom at the White House.

But, as it turns out, some public money will be used for the ballroom project, as well as the arch. The White House has not released a cost estimate for the arch.

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This story has been corrected to show that the arch's height is planned for 250 feet, not 260 feet.

The U.S. launched new airstrikes against Iran hours after Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of the ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn’t stop. Iran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the U.S. of striking near its sole nuclear power plant.

Back-and-forth attacks have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around. And Trump’s mixed messaging — approving back-to-back military strikes while insisting they don’t mean a return to full-scale war — is fueling uncertainty about what comes next.

Whether it’s a negotiation tactic or a signal of further escalation, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal. The inflamed tensions could also spell trouble for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high.

Here's the latest:

The final funeral procession for Iran’s late supreme leader

People pressed forward to touch the vehicle carrying Ali Khamenei’s body.

Many carried Iranian flags, images of Khamanei or banners evoking Shiite Islam’s long history of martyrs.

Some signs called for the death of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been laid to rest months after being killed in Iran war

Khamenei ruled Iran for nearly 37 years before dying in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that started the war Feb. 28. He was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad early Friday after days of public mourning.

Khamenei is only the second ruler of the nation to be buried in the city. In 1747, Nader Shah was buried there after he was assassinated following nearly 11 years in power.

The funeral processions began Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran and other cities, as throngs commemorated the man who led Iran with an iron fist for decades while confronting the West.

A bitterly divided Iran grapples with Khamenei’s legacy as he is laid to rest

The funeral for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was designed to showcase unity in a country that is bitterly split over his decades-long rule. Supporters thronged the streets for a leader they view as a martyr who defied the West and Israel.

But Khamenei’s long rule left large sectors of Iranian society disillusioned as he oversaw increasingly bloody crackdowns, economic stagnation and the empowerment of the Revolutionary Guard. Anger and despair run deep after a January crackdown killed thousands.

The war launched by the United States and Israel brought more suffering while leaving the government intact, deepening the feeling of hopelessness among its opponents.

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How a push to disarm Hezbollah is deepening divisions in Lebanon and raising fears of civil war

A deal between Lebanon and Israel was billed as paving the way for peace. But in Lebanon, it is deepening longtime divisions and raising fears of political paralysis or even a return to civil war.

The U.S.-brokered deal envisions an Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon and an eventual peace agreement between the two countries — which technically remain in a state of war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment. But the agreement says a full Israeli withdrawal will happen only after Hezbollah is disarmed, infuriating the Iran-backed militant group.

The tensions have stirred up memories of Lebanon’s devastating 1975-1990 civil war and reminded many of more recent clashes between Hezbollah gunmen and pro-government fighters in 2008. They also have raised deep questions over whether the U.S.-brokered deal will be able to get off the ground.

A resumption of the war between the U.S. and Iran would further complicate the deal’s prospects and raise the risk of renewed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

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Stocks recover losses, and oil prices ease as calm returns to financial markets worldwide

Stocks rose, and oil prices eased Thursday as financial markets calmed in the wait to see what will come next after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the temporary truce in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and more than recovered its loss from the day before, even though the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran, which responded by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%.

In the oil market, prices gave back much of their jumps from the day before. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.2% to $76.30. That’s down from $78.02 the day before though still above its $71.80 price from the end of last week.

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Trump speaks with Netanyahu, and raises ‘security concerns’ about Turkey

The Israeli prime minister’s office posted on the social platform X that the pair spoke on Thursday and that Netanyahu “raised the severity of the statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his people against the existence of the State of Israel.”

After this week’s NATO summit in Turkey, Trump indicated he may be ready to have the U.S. sell F-35 fighter jets to Erdogan’s country -- but he also says he’s not yet fully made up his mind.

Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Netanyahu has urged Trump not to sell the jets to Turkey, saying it would put Israel in danger.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office also said Trump had updated the prime minister on American moves in the Persian Gulf.

South Florida’s Palm Beach airport renamed President Donald J. Trump International

A South Florida airport has officially changed its name to the President Donald J. Trump International Airport.

Signs for the Palm Beach International Airport have been removed, while new signs were unveiled Thursday.

“Trump Force One,” a Boeing 757 owned by The Trump Organization, was the first plane to arrive at the airport under its new name, shortly after 5 a.m. The president’s son, Eric Trump, was one of the passengers.

The Trump family regularly uses the West Palm Beach airport when they visit Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in nearby Palm Beach. A stretch of road from the airport to Trump’s estate was renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year.

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Deal between Israel and Lebanon is moving forward, US official says

After weeks of stagnation, an American official said Thursday that the U.S.-brokered framework agreement soon will shift to technical discussions in Rome.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic details, said “pilot zones” that both sides had agreed to will launch in the coming days while additional zones are mapped out and planned.

The zones will be where the Israeli military is to turn over control to the Lebanese army after clearing the areas of any Hezbollah presence. U.S. Central Command is coordinating with Israel and Lebanon on the zones, the official said.

The dates of the meetings and the location of the zones were not yet clear. A State Department spokesperson said they were not previewing those details yet.

— Farnoush Amiri

Iran’s foreign minister speaks to regional leaders about the escalating tensions with the US

Abbas Araghchi said on his Telegram channel on Thursday that he spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Oman. He also spoke with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been one of the main mediators in the war.

Araghchi repeated Iran’s assertion that the U.S. has violated the interim peace deal reached last month. The U.S. says Iran violated the deal by firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The diplomatic outreach suggested efforts may be underway to reduce tensions.

Tarps go up as part of Trump’s restoration project to the front of the White House

Crews have draped tarps over the towering stone columns on the north side of the White House, where work is underway to scrape away decades of paint.

The new tarps on the building’s façade are partially see-through. They feature images of columns designed to cover the actual ornate stone columns beneath.

Scaffolding went up several days ago for work on the columns. It is the latest in dozens of projects Trump has led to remake the White House to his own tastes – including a massive ballroom and helipad on the South Lawn.

The White House hasn’t provided details on what is being done to the columns or how much it will cost. But Trump said on Monday: “We’ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns” and added that, “If you don’t strip the paint off, it gets worse and worse and worse.”

Ships are still going through the Strait of Hormuz but the situation remains volatile

Bridget Diakun, senior risk and compliance analyst for maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, said in a news briefing that ships were still passing through the strait as of Wednesday, but Lloyd’s is still reviewing the numbers since some passages are “dark,” when ships stop broadcasting signals that show their location.

“The situation does remain really volatile,” she said.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence said preliminary data shows there were at least 576 transits in June, up from 233 in May, but down from 3,131 in June 2025.

Non-Iranian traffic in June included 264 outbound vessels and 137 inbound ships.

Outbound ships included bulkers, crude oil tankers and product tankers. Inbound ships included crude oil tankers, product tankers, bulk carriers and gas carriers.

In June, there was an even split between “dark” transits and online transits that broadcast their locations.

Germany reaches a deal with the US to buy long-range Tomahawk missiles, Merz says

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the agreement on the long-range cruise missiles, which are used to strike targets deep inside enemy territory, was reached this week on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.

“This will close an important strategic gap in our defense, and at the same time, we will work to develop our own European systems and station them in Europe,” Merz told parliament after returning from the two-day summit.

The deal struck with the Trump administration amounts to broader export of American know-how to some of its major allies in Europe, whose security posture has been upended by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in Reflecting Pool damage case after Trump alleged vandalism

The former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.

David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.

Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.

Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter.

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Ukraine says its Patriot production will take months

During Wednesday’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said the U.S. will meet a longstanding request from Ukraine and give it a license to make the Patriot air defense systems. He also praised Zelenskyy for doing “an amazing job” — a sharp change in tone from past criticisms of the Ukrainian leader.

But setting up domestic production of the mobile, surface-to-air systems will take many months, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister.

A production license would typically come with technical process documentation, training for specialists, supplier contacts and foreign consultants to help launch manufacturing, Beskrestnov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The main obstacle would be time, rather than Ukraine’s technical or organizational capacity, he added.

Eswatini receives 11 people deported from the US as part of migration crackdown

The southern African kingdom of Eswatini has accepted a fourth group of people deported from the United States under a bilateral agreement to host third-country nationals, with 11 people arriving this week, the government said Thursday.

Acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said the group, predominantly from African countries, would remain in the kingdom temporarily while their rights were protected.

“The government reaffirms that, during their temporary stay in the Kingdom, the fundamental rights of the third-country nationals will be respected and protected in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Kingdom’s international obligations,” Mdluli said in a statement.

Under a series of often-secret agreements that are part of a broad U.S. crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say.

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Global markets are mixed and oil prices rise as Iran and US launch new attacks

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% before the opening bell Thursday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%. Nasdaq futures were up 0.5%.

Oil prices inched up again Thursday, with Brent crude, the international standard, rising 64 cents to to $78.66 per barrel. It briefly topped $80 on Wednesday. Before the Iran war began, Brent oil was trading at around $72 a barrel. Earlier optimism over an interim peace deal recently brought it back to prewar levels.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 54 cents to $74.06 a barrel.

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New attacks raise questions about what comes next in the Iran war

President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists continued attacks don’t mean a return to war or long-term action.

The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries.

The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it’s a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions.

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Faggart was taken from the jail to the hospital on April 7, 2025, following an incident inside the facility. He died three days later. Eight corrections officers and one sergeant involved in the incident were reassigned to positions in the courthouse, Records Unit, and Property and Evidence Unit as the investigation continues.

What the lawsuit seeks

The lawsuit, filed against Sheriff T.K. Waters and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, seeks to compel the agency to comply with Florida’s Public Records Act. According to the family’s attorney, JSO has failed to turn over records related to Faggart’s death — including surveillance video, incident reports, investigative records and other evidence — despite requests made more than a year ago.

The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, at 9 a.m. at the Duval County Courthouse. The family’s attorney tells us the court will consider testimony and evidence regarding whether the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office improperly withheld public records — meaning records the law requires be made public — and whether those materials must now be released.

Mother vows to keep fighting

Faggart’s mother, Tracey Karpas, has been vocal about the toll the unanswered questions have taken on her.

“I’m still waiting to hear anything about my son, so we’re just praying that we get the rest of the stuff,” Karpas said in April.

“I will go to my grave fighting. I will. I don’t think there’s any harder fight,” she added.

The Faggart family said it remains committed to pursuing every legal avenue available to uncover the truth about what happened to Charles and will continue seeking answers, transparency and accountability until justice is achieved.

The victim’s mother contacted law enforcement on Tuesday after her 13-year-old son received a photo of the teen holding a handgun and a written death threat, investigators said.

The teen who was arrested told deputies he and the victim had once been friends before the relationship soured. According to investigators, the two had been messaging the day of the incident and had planned to fight.

Sheriff Rick Staly reminded parents how serious online threats can be. He is urging them to stay actively involved in their children’s online activity — including monitoring who their kids are communicating with.

No deaths have been reported and the source of the cyclospora infections hasn't been identified. Meanwhile, investigations into similar illnesses have been going on in 28 other states, including in Ohio, where people just across the Michigan border are also becoming sick.

Michigan officials first announced the outbreak last week, when they were aware of more than 170 cases — all in the southeastern corner of the state — since June 22. Michigan usually identifies only about 50 cases each year.

On Wednesday, the state reported the number had grown to 992, including about 40 hospitalizations. Just across the state line, Lucas County, Ohio, reported 306 cases as of Wednesday. Northwest Ohio has seen more than 500 cases.

Cyclospora surges can be tricky to investigate, and food poisoning sources can be hard to establish. But “there is clearly a linked outbreak happening right now,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Here's what to know about the current situation:

What is cyclospora?

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

It’s less common than a number of other kinds of foodborne illnesses, including salmonella and E. coli. For years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported each year. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019. Experts attribute the increases to climate change and better detection.

How does this outbreak compare to previous ones in the US?

Comprehensive data on cyclospora outbreaks is lacking. But available information shows only a small number of documented outbreaks in the last 20 years have surpassed 1,000 cases. That short list includes a 1997 outbreak tied to Guatemalan raspberries that sickened more than 1,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and a 2019 outbreak linked to Mexican basil that sickened more than 2,400.

There are several reasons it's challenging to know the exact toll, said Melanie Firestone, a University of Minnesota foodborne illness researcher. Some tests used to check for types of food poisoning are not geared to detect cyclospora, “so there is a lot of underreporting when it comes to this,” she said.

Other challenges: Technicians aren't able to grow the parasite in labs, making it hard to draw evidence from contaminated produce. And it can be hard to figure out what food sick people had in common, because sometimes it’s a single ingredient that might be common in multiple recipes — like basil or cilantro.

Also, it's possible that food distributors may channel contaminated foods to both grocery stores and restaurants, making it hard to discern where tainted food came from. Investigations can take months and sometimes never find a clear source.

What's the current situation?

Cases seem to be surging in and around southeastern Michigan. But it's not considered a national health emergency.

There's no evidence that the parasite has evolved to become more infectious, said Dianna Blau, the CDC's acting parasitic diseases branch chief.

Thousands of cyclospora illnesses are reported in the U.S. each year and it's not yet clear how unusual this year will be, she added. That said, the case total so far is four times higher than at the same point last year, according to current CDC national data, which lags dramatically from what's being reported by the states.

Michigan appears to be suffering the worst of it, but the state's aggressiveness in investigating and reporting cases may be “part of the reason why this looks like a Michigan problem,” Bagdasarian said.

How can you protect yourself from cyclospora?

People who have diarrhea that hasn’t gone away on its own within a few days should see a health provider and discuss the possibility of cyclospora, officials say.

The best way to prevent infection with a parasite is to avoid food or water that may have been contaminated.

Fresh produce should be thoroughly washed before being eaten. But be aware that cyclospora can really stick to some foods, so washing may not eliminate the risk of infection.

As Michigan officials investigate the potential source, they recommend consumers purchase whole heads of lettuce rather than prewashed, bagged lettuce or salad mixes, and to remove the outer two to three leaves before washing the remaining leaves under running water.

They also say to cook vegetables when possible.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Mark Bond, 22, was arrested July 1 on charges stemming from an incident that happened in February. Court records show a trail of digital evidence and recorded interviews helped investigators build their case.

What the police report says

A sexual battery was reported March 1, accusing Bond — who goes by his middle name “Peyton” — of committing the crime on Feb. 26 at a Red Roof Inn in Jacksonville.

According to the police report, the woman told Bond she was “not interested in rekindling the relationship with him.” She said no to his advances at least 10 times. She was afraid to leave at 2 a.m. because she did not have a car.

The report states Bond forced her to have sex and “bear hugged her to pin her arms down.” The woman said she escaped at 5 a.m. once she knew he was asleep. A sexual assault kit was processed the next day, and results are still pending.

Snapchat thread becomes key evidence

Investigators uncovered a Snapchat thread showing a conversation between the victim and Bond after the incident. In it, the victim wrote: “Why didn’t you listen when I said no?! I don’t even feel human anymore?” Bond responded: “Because I’m in love and thought with my heart and [expletive] instead of my brain.”

Local attorney Shannon Schott, a partner at Plata Schott Law, reviewed the arrest affidavit. She is not affiliated with the case.

Schott said DNA results were not yet back when the arrest was made — but investigators had enough to move forward.

“An officer needs probable cause to ask for a warrant to arrest somebody, and even though they don’t have DNA, there is enough testimonial evidence based on the interviews in order to have the narrative and the affidavit needed in order to establish that there is a nexus between the allegation and the person in order to have them arrested,” Schott said.

Controlled call, suspect interview bolstered case

Detectives also conducted a controlled call — recorded without Bond’s knowledge — and later interviewed him directly.

“Based on the suspect’s own admissions made in the interview as well as a controlled call where he was being recorded by detectives, that helped bolster the allegations made by the victim in this case,” Schott said.

Police concluded in the affidavit that the victim was “in fear of retaliation and or physical injury (coerced submission).”

Schott explained what that means legally.

“The situation in this case is that you have a friendly acquaintance relationship where this might have started as a consensual encounter, however it turned into a coerced encounter — that’s what the detective means in the affidavit,” she said. “Although it started as consensual, it turned into something that was very much coerced and non-consensual at that point.”

Bond remains in jail as of July 9th. His arraignment is scheduled for July 22.

Bond is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

After nearly an hour of discussion, the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning board voted unanimously to deny the proposal, dealing another setback to First Coast Energy’s decade-long effort to develop the property as a gas station.

Residents said the project would dramatically increase traffic and pose safety risks to the community. First Coast Energy purchased the property in 2016 and has made repeated attempts to develop it. A previous Daily’s proposal for the site was rejected by county commissioners in 2019.

The board’s consideration of the item was complicated further when First Coast Energy failed to submit a complete traffic study ahead of the meeting, a point that drew sharp criticism from residents and board members alike.

“The plans project nearly 5,500 daily trips of traffic in and out of this gas station,” said Michael Dunlop, Fruit Cove Estates HOA president, drawing applause from the packed room. Neighbors say the only community entrance, Otoe’s Place, and a nearby school bus stop would be endangered by the additional traffic.

All 44 homes in Fruit Cove Estates oppose the current proposal.

“With Daily’s, this is a pattern,” Dunlop said. “They’ve had seven months to prepare for this. I implore you to not fall for this.”

Neighbor Keith Dube echoed that sentiment. “Third time isn’t a charm. It’s already been ruled twice and denied twice that this is not an appropriate spot for a 24-pump gas station.”

Another resident, Chris Hewitt, pointed to an increase in crashes near the intersection over the past two years. “If you look at traffic over the last two years, it’s significantly increased — accidents here at the same intersection. To believe that there’s not a safety risk from Daily’s coming in, adding all of that traffic, large trucks — it’s nonsense.”

When reached previously, First Coast Energy declined to provide a public statement. Company representatives did not address questions at Thursday’s meeting.

Some monthly bills can be negotiated, and local experts say even small changes can make payments more manageable.

Personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer with NerdWallet says it’s worth calling your service providers to ask about a lower rate or a better plan—especially for services that are more “wants” than “needs.”

Strategies for negotiating

Palmer says mentioning you might cancel can be a “red flag” that prompts a customer service representative to transfer you to someone with more authority to offer discounts or other options.

Another approach: Point out the competition. If you’ve researched a competitor’s offer, Palmer suggests telling your provider exactly what you found and asking if they can match it.

And don’t underestimate the value of loyalty. Palmer recommends reminding the company if you’ve paid on time for years, because keeping a long-time customer can matter.

If you’re still not getting anywhere, she says you can ask for a one-time credit. Palmer says that’s something many customer service reps have the power to approve.

Which bills are easiest to negotiate?

Palmer says utilities can be harder to negotiate because they’re basic necessities.

But you may have more flexibility with “luxury” services—like cable and phone—where companies are competing for customers.

Important note: Negotiating doesn’t erase the bill—you still have to pay it—but it can potentially lower the amount, get you a credit, or help you find a plan that fits your budget better.

Watch the extended interview below with more negotiation tips, including whether bill-negotiation services are worth it and how long the process can take.

Waters said investigators believe Gary Edward Glowacz was the man responsible for taking the life of 20-year-old Melissa Ellison, who was found beaten to death in her home just three days after Christmas in 1987.

Ellison’s daughter, Casie, who was just 13 months old at the time, thankfully wasn’t hurt. She was found on the couch by a roommate around 4 a.m., when she discovered Ellison had been beaten to death with a charred log that came from inside her fireplace.

Casie says the long-awaited announcement is now making her “see the world differently.”

“I know that it’s never going to bring my mom back, but it does have a ridiculous release of closure,” Casie said.

Waters said Ellison, who many people called Missy Taylor, was killed during a home burglary, and that the burglar who committed the “heinous act of violence” has been identified by the Cold Case Unit as Glowacz, who is now 70 years old.

“This case was investigated continuously, re-investigated, and ultimately solved by dedicated detectives,” Waters said. “They will always keep digging. They will always keep investigating, and they will consider new and innovative technologies and investigative practices so that loved ones of those taken from our community can get the answers and accountability that they justly deserve.”

First Coast Crime Stoppers held an online news conference in mid-January, asking for anyone with information in Ellison’s case to come forward.

Without providing details, leaders from Crime Stoppers did confirm Thursday that information that came to light after that news conference “played a pivotal role” in this arrest.

Waters called the arrest of Glowacz “a shining symbol of our agency’s commitment” to seeking justice no matter how long it takes.

“These investigations can take months. They can take years. They require both an unwavering heart and acute attention to detail,” Waters said, adding that he spent 10 years in the JSO homicide unit himself.

He said detectives always remember their homicide investigations.

“We drive around the city, and we can tell you exactly where particular homicides have taken place and the facts and circumstances surrounding those cases,” Waters said. “These cases shattered the loved ones left behind, and they also weigh heavily on those of us charged with bringing these murderers to justice.”

Waters acknowledged that Glowacz’s arrest does not fill the void left in the lives of Ellison’s family, but he hopes that it’s another step in their healing process.

Gardner and Fernandez are accused of orchestrating the murder of Gardner’s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, who was gunned down in an ambush shooting in February 2022. Prosecutors say the accused gunman is Henry Tenon, a former tenant of Fernandez.

Gardner, Fernandez and Tenon are all under indictment for first-degree murder and other charges and have each pleaded not guilty.

Judge London Kite said during Thursday’s hearing that the final pretrial for Fernandez will be July 27.

Both defense teams were told to return to court on July 13 for a motions hearing.

After initially planning to try Gardner and Fernandez at the same time, defense attorneys and state prosecutors have since agreed that they should face separate trials, with two separate jury selection periods.

Fernandez will go on trial first, with jury selection slated for Aug. 10-14, and his trial scheduled for Aug. 17-28.

Gardner will go on trial after Fernandez, with jury selection from Aug. 31-Sept. 4, and the trial from Sept. 8-25.

Tenon will go on trial in March.

Ahead of Gardner’s trial, her attorneys will be allowed to compel Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten Bridegan, to sit for a second deposition, but Judge London Kite said the focus and length of the questioning will be narrow.

The judge’s order, issued July 3, limits what Kirsten Bridegan can be asked to seven specific topics and caps the deposition at two hours.

Kite previously denied a motion from Gardner’s attorneys to throw out two court-authorized wiretaps placed on her cellphone, Apple Watch and her sister’s cellphone, arguing that police lacked the legal basis to capture the conversations in the first place.

That means the prosecution will be allowed to share evidence in court that was obtained from Gardner’s electronics through those court-authorized wiretaps.

Timeline: How we got here

More than four years ago, Jared Bridegan dropped his then-9-year-old twin children off at the home of his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, after a “date night” with their dad.

He left Gardner’s Jacksonville Beach home on Feb. 16, 2022, with his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, strapped in her car seat in the back of his dark-colored SUV. They were headed back to St. Augustine.

But the 33-year-old Microsoft executive never made it home.

Following his normal route through the Sanctuary neighborhood, Bridegan suddenly had to stop in the area of Jacksonville Drive, America Avenue and Sanctuary Boulevard.

A tire was in the road.

When Bridegan stepped out of his SUV, he was ambushed by gunfire. At least one bullet missed Bexley by mere inches in her car seat.

RELATED | Murder-for-hire plot included practice run along Jared Bridegan’s normal route home: prosecutors

Bridegan was left lying in the street next to the SUV with the door wide open, and the shooter seemed to melt into the shadows just as quickly as he had launched his ambush attack.

None of the 911 callers that night mentioned seeing a shooter or a vehicle leaving the scene.

LISTEN: Press play below to hear 911 calls from night of Jared Bridegan’s murder (WARNING: May include graphic content)

But eventually, detectives tracked down the man they say pulled the trigger.

Investigators say that it was all part of a murder-for-hire plot set in motion by Gardner and her new husband, Mario Fernandez. It was a conspiracy that began in November of 2021, according to court documents.

Interactive Timeline

Alleged murder-for-hire scheme

According to detectives, Gardner was tired of sharing custody of her twin children with Bridegan.

Fernandez, she knew, could “take care of him” because of his military background, Gardner told a friend. At least that’s what the friend told investigators as she detailed the strained marriage between Gardner and Fernandez and the contentious ongoing custody battle between Gardner and Bridegan.

RELATED: A friend of Shanna Gardner said she could help in Jared Bridegan’s murder case. Here’s what she told investigators | How investigators say they untangled conspiracy to kill Jared Bridegan

Investigators say that’s exactly what Fernandez did, hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant at one of his properties, to kill Bridegan.

In his initial interview with police in July 2022, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville’s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.

Tenon’s original court records said he became involved in the conspiracy on Jan. 4, 2022 -- just over a month before Bridegan was killed.

Investigators said when Tenon was arrested on an unrelated felony driving charge in August 2022, they questioned him about Bridegan’s murder and a Ford F-150 truck they had been searching for since the shooting.

RELATED | Follow the money: Checks written to Jared Bridegan’s admitted killer connect him to 2 accused in ‘murder-for-hire plot’ | Jared Bridegan’s wife files wrongful death lawsuit against 3 accused in his murder

Tenon was later arrested in Bridegan’s murder, and investigators said the single link between Tenon and Bridegan was Fernandez.

In 2023, Tenon pleaded guilty and admitted to being the gunman who killed Bridegan, but he has since backtracked, and a judge granted his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

State prosecutors initially said they would be seeking the death penalty against Gardner and Fernandez if they were convicted, but they have since taken the death penalty off the table, with the support of Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, and his family.

RELATED | Former Oceanway Church leaders say arrested former volunteer coached, mentored children, contrary to church’s statement | Former Oceanway Church volunteer arrested in child sex predator sting was previously reported to DCF, church says

The church previously told News4JAX that an allegation involving Goodman was reported to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), though the church did not specify when the report was made. During his Sunday remarks, Force said the incident was brought to the church’s attention roughly six and a half years ago. The church has said the incident did not occur on church property or during a church event, and that Goodman was eventually asked to leave.

Force addressed the congregation Sunday, acknowledging the board’s decision.

“The board has asked me to take a few weeks and just process, and rest, and recoup,” Force said.

Force spoke directly about the earlier incident during his remarks.

“Six and a half years ago, we never dreamed a serious allegation would be brought to us — brought to our attention by family in the church. The concerns were actually reported to the appropriate authorities, and we were shortly informed afterward,” Force said.

Force added that the church acted once it became aware of the situation.

“Once we became aware of the situation, we did take steps within the church. The individual was asked to step down from serving and leave the church,” Force said.

That earlier case was brought back into focus after Goodman was arrested in June in Marion County during a child predator sting.

Goodman faces multiple charges, including using a computer to solicit a parent or guardian for consent to engage in sexual activity with a minor, traveling to meet a minor after using a computer to solicit a guardian, unlawful use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, and evidence tampering. Investigators say he showed up to meet someone he believed was willing to allow him to have sex with a 7-year-old girl — that person turned out to be an undercover detective.

Since News4JAX first began reporting on Goodman’s arrest, former Oceanway youth leaders Luis and Larissa Peña have disputed key parts of the church’s account — specifically the church’s claim that Goodman did not volunteer with youth or children’s ministry. The Peñas told News4JAX that Goodman was regularly present with the youth.

Luis Peña said the pastor’s recent remarks did little to satisfy how the earlier case was handled.

“Where was this energy six and a half years ago? Why are you saying we had to come as a family together now?” Peña said.

After the Peñas first spoke out, News4JAX went back to the church for clarification and provided photos appearing to show Goodman with youth. The church, responding through an attorney, issued an updated statement saying its records do not reflect Goodman serving as a coach, mentor or instructor of students. The church did acknowledge, however, that Goodman attended at least one youth event — describing him as a “caregiving parent.”

Peña said the church’s decision to respond through legal counsel has only deepened his frustration.

“I think he’s actually made it worse by having his attorney speak,” Peña said.

A former pastoral staff member, speaking anonymously to News4JAX, said Goodman was involved with youth at the church. He gave News4Jax a statement that reads,

“John Goodman along with his entire family were involved with both youth and children and adult ministry during my duration on staff at the church. I am always thankful for anytime of reflection in such a serious matter. I think that is the appropriate response for anyone. They should take time to reflect on their response and actions to something of this severity. As being involved with the family that reported the case and issue, I only see it right to respond to the severity of this matter and now hearing that the current pastor is taking time to reflect on this issue bring me reassurance that justice will be served correctly.”

Despite the criticism, Force insisted Sunday that the church’s commitment to its community has not wavered.

“My commitment is to continue leading with transparency, accountability and diligence,” he said.

But Peña said those words ring hollow.

“None of that is actually happening. No transparency. It’s all protection,” Peña said.

News4JAX is continuing to work to learn more about the previous alleged abuse reported to DCF.

We reached back out to Oceanway asking about Pastor Al Force’s announcement to his congregation Sunday; they sent us this statement:

“Thank you for reaching out and for giving the church the opportunity to respond. We want to offer some context around Pastor Al Force’s remarks this past Sunday.

The board asked Pastor Force to take a temporary period of rest and reflection following recent events and the significant demands they have placed on him, his family, and the church. We believe this time gives both Pastor Force and the congregation a chance to pause while the church continues its ministry. It is simply an intentional season for him to rest, focus on his family, and let things settle while the church keeps moving forward.

While Pastor Force is away, his day-to-day pastoral responsibilities have been temporarily delegated to other leaders. The board and Pastor Force have put leadership plans in place so that the church’s ministries continue without interruption. He remains our pastor, and we value his leadership. Even as he steps back from the daily work for a season, he will continue to provide guidance and support as needed while taking this time to care for himself and his family.

Pastor Force is always welcome at Oceanway Church. This is his church family, and there are no restrictions keeping him from being on church property. Any adjustments during this season are meant only to give him the space to rest and focus on his family while staying connected to the community here.

As for timing, the board has asked Pastor Force to take the month of July for rest, family, and personal renewal. We fully expect him to return to his regular pastoral responsibilities after July. This is a temporary season, and we look forward to welcoming him back as he continues to lead and serve our congregation.

Regarding the matter from several years ago, the church took the concerns seriously and responded promptly and in accordance with the church’s understanding of its responsibilities. Above all, the safety and well-being of children remains our highest priority. Oceanway Church continues to maintain and strengthen policies designed to protect children, including volunteer screening, required training, and established reporting procedures. We remain committed to continually reviewing and improving these safeguards.

We appreciate the chance to provide this context and are grateful for the continued support of our church family and community."

More Coverage: Security company claims Eastside apartment complex is ‘one of the most dangerous properties’ it ever worked

Long associated with crime and deteriorating living conditions, the Jacksonville City Council has approved a $1 million loan to help demolish the deteriorating downtown complex, with housing officials now pursuing a $50 million redevelopment that would create 130 affordable apartments for seniors.

The Jacksonville Housing Authority plans to replace the aging 98-unit complex with a new affordable housing community for residents age 55 and older. The project is expected to cost about $50 million and will require a mix of public and private financing before construction can begin.

The property, located in Jacksonville’s Downtown East neighborhood, was declared a public nuisance in 2022 because of unsafe conditions, including mold, rodent infestations and violent crime. In 2023, the Jacksonville Housing Authority purchased the complex for $8 million with plans to renovate it.

Under the agency’s current leadership, however, those plans have changed.

“We’re going to be doing demolition early fall of 2026,” Jacksonville Housing Authority CEO Cheron Corbett said. “We’re really excited about this.”

Corbett said an architectural assessment determined it no longer made financial sense to renovate the aging buildings.

“When the asset was purchased historically, it made sense at that time to potentially rehab the entire asset,” Corbett said. “But now we’re in 2026 and we recognize that labor costs have increased, also material costs have increased. Those dynamics have changed, so it’s more advantageous for us to demolish the entire structure and redevelop.”

The redevelopment would increase the number of apartments from 98 to 130 while creating housing designed specifically for seniors.

“We want to be able to bring a structure here that allows individuals to age in place,” Corbett said. “That’s one of the key things that’s really missing here on the Eastside.”

The project comes as demand for affordable housing continues to outpace supply across Jacksonville. Corbett said thousands of people remain on the Jacksonville Housing Authority’s waiting list for housing assistance.

“We need more affordable units, but there’s just not enough supply and so much demand,” she said.

While the City Council’s $1 million loan will help move the project forward, it represents only a small portion of the overall cost.

Corbett said the housing authority plans to assemble financing through several sources, including 4% low-income housing tax credit bonds, financial institutions, local government funding and other gap financing.

“It’s going to be a lot of partners that are going to be in play in regards to making this a total success from a financial standpoint,” she said.

Before construction can begin, the project must receive rezoning approval. The first public hearing is scheduled for July 23 before the Jacksonville Planning Commission.

Corbett said community response has largely been positive.

“Franklin Arms has had so much negative history historically,” she said. “This is just an opportunity to pretty much reboot.”

She added that redeveloping Franklin Arms is only the beginning of the housing authority’s broader plans.

“This is just phase one for us,” Corbett said. “We’re serious about this. We purchased this asset many years ago, been here for a year, and we’re moving this initiative forward as we’re going to do with so many more initiatives here in the city of Jacksonville.”

Upcoming public hearings

• Planning Commission: July 23, 2026, at 1 p.m., Ed Ball Building, 214 N. Hogan St., Room 1002
• City Council first public hearing: July 28, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.
• Land Use and Zoning Committee: Aug. 4, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.
• City Council final public hearing: Aug. 11, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.

Saderria Johnson, 34, was taken into custody on July 3 after a traffic stop on Arlington Road, according to arrest report documents.

Officers stopped the vehicle because a front-seat passenger was not wearing a seatbelt. The report said an officer recognized the passenger as Johnson, asked her name, and she confirmed she was Saderria. Johnson was detained without incident and transported to the Pretrial Detention Facility on active warrants that stemmed from at least four separate incidents dating back to April 2023.

According to the arrest reports, Johnson posed as a landlord or property manager and advertised rental homes on Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Messenger — properties she did not own or have the authority to lease.

Pattern of alleged fraud

In the first reported incident in April 2023, a woman said she found a home at 8822 Dandy Ave. listed for rent online and contacted Johnson — who went by the Facebook name “Puu Glitz” — about leasing it. The report said she paid Johnson and moved in with her children and the children’s father. A representative from JWB Rental Homes later told Smith that the property was not under any lease and that her family was trespassing, according to the report. Smith requested her money back from Johnson. Authorities listed $665 as evidence in that case.

A second incident, dated April 20, 2023, involved a woman who contacted Johnson through Facebook Marketplace about an apartment at 909 Bert St. According to the arrest report, Hughes agreed to lease the apartment after Johnson showed it to her virtually. When Hughes arrived at the property later that evening, she found two men outside smoking crack. She was later contacted by the landlord and told the lease was a scam. More than $1,154 was listed as stolen in connection with that case. Johnson was charged with conspiracy to commit organized fraud and obtaining personal property with intent to defraud in connection with that incident.

A third case, from May 2023, involved a vacant home at 3531 Cesery Blvd. Officers responding to a burglary-in-progress call found two men inside the residence who said they had been paying rent to Johnson, the report said. The homeowner told officers the home had been vacant for about two years and was undergoing renovation. A man identified Johnson as his cousin and led investigators to a Patriot Plaza apartment complex where he believed she lived, but officers were unable to locate Johnson there, according to the report. A subpoena of CashApp records later linked Johnson to payments sent to her account, listed as “$envypuu,” the report said.

In a fourth and more recent case, filed in 2026, a victim said she was scammed out of $1,150 — $750 and an additional $400, both sent via Zelle — after Saderria Johnson allegedly posed as an employee of “B G Realty” and offered her a rental property at 5433 Sanders Road. According to the arrest report, the victim later received an eviction notice addressed to a different name and contacted Johnson, who was unresponsive. The report notes that B G Realty is also the subject of a separate fraud investigation being handled by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

Johnson faces several felony and misdemeanor charges across the four cases, including:

• Hiring or leasing property with intent to defraud (F3) — multiple counts
• Conspiracy to commit organized fraud ($20,000 or less) (F3)
• Obtaining personal property with intent to defraud (under $300) (M2)
• Communications fraud (F3)

A lease or rental manager for JWB Real Estate Capital is listed as a witness across multiple cases.

Fuller told investigators he was familiar with Johnson from prior similar incidents and confirmed that access to the company’s rental properties is electronically controlled through a platform called ShowMojo, where prospective tenants submit a photo ID and phone number to schedule viewings.

It was Smith's first time on the LA Metro in a decade, and the experience exceeded his expectations.

“Seems like a very functioning transit system, which is somewhat surprising given its reputation,” he said.

That is the reaction Metro officials were hoping for as they used the 2026 FIFA World Cup's eight LA games to introduce — or reintroduce — people to the region's public transit system, often an afterthought in car-centric Los Angeles. It is an early test run of sorts for the 2028 Olympics, which organizers have billed as a “no car” Games where there will be no parking for attendees at any of the venues. Spectators will have to rely on transit and shuttles to get to events.

Nearly 50,000 rides were taken on rail lines for the July 2 Spain-Austria game that Smith and his son attended. There is no train that runs directly to SoFi Stadium in the LA suburb of Inglewood, but Metro has added 15 shuttle lines to transport people there from major rail stations and transit centers — the farthest route taking one hour and 15 minutes. More than 30,000 rides were taken on those shuttles for that game alone, the agency said.

The Metro will take a similar approach for the Olympics because many venues don't connect directly to the system. For the World Cup, the agency borrowed about 200 buses to meet the increased demand. Officials have said they will need to borrow 3,000 buses for the Olympics.

Officials work to overcome safety fears

For many residents, public transit isn't baked into everyday life in Los Angeles, the nation's second most-populous city, quite the same way it is in other major urban centers like New York and Chicago. LA Metro estimates the system provides about 1 million rides each day — roughly the same as Chicago, a smaller city. In New York, meanwhile, it is well over 3 million on the average weekday.

Many view LA's rail and bus system as unreliable at best and unsafe at worse. Certain high-profile violent incidents, such as a 67-year-old woman who died from being stabbed on a Metro train in 2024, have driven those perceptions. Some riders are also concerned about drug use, cleanliness and the presence of homeless people.

In June, Metro opened applications for its police force, which it hopes to have fully deployed by 2029 to replace the LAPD. The agency hopes having its own sworn officers working along with homeless outreach and crisis response teams will help riders feel safer on its trains and buses.

Metro has also touted data that showed a decline in violent crime over the past two years, with a 13.6% decrease in overall crime in March 2026 compared to a year before.

Martha Banuelos used the transit system sporadically before but generally preferred to “avoid it like the plague.” She started riding the trains again recently to get into the city from North Hollywood for World Cup watch parties.

“It’s a lot cleaner and smells way better,” she said.

Officials see World Cup as an opportunity

Metro has partnered with FIFA to host fan zones and watch parties at key transit hubs — where thousands of fans from around the region gathered to drink, dance to DJ sets, and cheer for their favorite teams. Metro has advertised limited edition tap cards for different countries and leaned into social media to promote public transit during the games.

The system also upgraded its payment options before the World Cup to allow riders to pay directly with a credit card like other cities that have done away with tap cards.

Those efforts worked to draw in new riders like Yasmin Cortez, a 32-year-old who took the train for the first time ever to attend the official FIFA Fan Festival at the LA Memorial Coliseum to watch matches, volunteer for FIFA, and soak in the World Cup spirit. A week later, she took the rail again to root for Uruguay at the Union Station Fan Zone, from Cerritos about 16 miles (26 kilometers) southwest of LA.

“Especially with gas prices now, yeah I should be taking the Metro,” she said. “There’s a lot to explore, and I bought some new walking shoes.”

Looking ahead to 2028 Olympics

During the last Summer Games, Paris was lauded for how accessible the Games were, with nearly every venue reachable by Metro, commuter train, tram or bus.

LA, long known for congested roadways, is hard at work to expand its own transit options as the Games quickly approach.

Transit enthusiasts rejoiced at the long-awaited extension of the D line in May, which runs east-west connecting downtown LA to Koreatown, and now further west, where popular tourist attractions like the Grove shopping mall, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the La Brea Tar Pits are.

It marked the first opening of a heavy rail expansion project in the U.S. since 2020. Four more stations are under construction to extend the line to the University of California, Los Angeles campus, which will serve as the official Athlete Village for the 2028 games.

“LA is a transit city,” said Jennifer Vides, Metro's chief customer experience officer. “People want to try to say that it’s not. Obviously we have a lot more expansion to do and we’re working on it. But people really want transit.”

David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.

Before the country's 250th independence celebrations, President Donald Trump launched a multimillion dollar renovation project for the Reflecting Pool, which was plagued by problems, including damage to its new coating. Trump, without providing evidence, has alleged the damage was caused by vandals.

Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker. He is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage.

“Every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,” defense attorney Norm Eisen said after the hearing. “It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool.”

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool, according to online court records. All three pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances Wednesday, records show.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said vandalizing the nation's monuments and public spaces is “an affront to our shared history.”

“The law applies equally to everyone, and when it is broken, there are consequences," she said in a statement on Thursday.

Defense says prosecutors' evidence is ‘weak’

In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.

A prosecutor, Kevin Reddington, said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.

Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”

“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.

Supporters cheered after the hearing

Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and chanted “Davey!” as Hearn left after the hearing. Hearn joined his attorneys in front of a bank of cameras and smiled to supporters but did not speak. He raised his right hand and pumped his fist as he left.

Adam Van Grack, who chaired the U.S. Olympic national governing body for canoe and kayak sports, joined the throng of supporters who cheered for Hearn after the hearing. Van Grack said Hearn has spent decades voluntarily maintaining National Park Service property that the canoeists used as a training course along the Potomac River.

“This is a person who has devoted his life to representing the United States on an international stage, caring for the community and protecting and caring for National Park Service property,” Van Grack said. “So the idea that he is a malicious destroyer of federal property shocks the conscience and makes no sense to anybody who’s ever known Davey Hearn.”

Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile (103 kilometer) bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Pool project has been plagued by problems

The pool's renovation has been riddled with problems. Workers have used devices called nanobubblers to curtail an algae bloom. The devices infuse ozone into the water to kill algae and bacteria. Officials have said the pool most likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.

Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. Pirro, a former Fox News host who was appointed by Trump, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.

Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”

“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly and AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.

The demand for help comes as the United Nations launched an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in urgent need of aid in the South American country where nongovernmental organizations until recently were targets of government repression. Mobile kitchens and clinics as well as field hospitals now dot public spaces in the northern state of La Guaira, where most of the devastation occurred.

“It is clear at displacement sites that, particularly after two weeks, that people are turning up because they haven’t been able to get their other treatments,” U.N. relief chief Tom Fletcher told The Associated Press during his visit to Venezuela. “So, they’re not turning up with just the fractures now, they’re turning up with those longer-term health needs. And it’s vital that we’re there for them.”

Doctors treating people in that state’s Catia La Mar community on Thursday reported an increase in skin conditions and diarrheal diseases, as well as of requests for medications for the treatment of chronic illnesses, including diabetes and high blood pressure. The emerging diseases can be tied to crowded living spaces and poor water and sanitation conditions, which in many communities predate the earthquakes.

Irma Echarri showed up at a mobile unit on a sidewalk across the street from a church with the boxes of the eyedrops and pain reliever she usually takes, hoping that doctors there could give her new ones. She also wanted to be seen for the pain she developed in her nose after the June 24 earthquakes.

“It hurts a lot,” Echarri, 67, said while waiting to be seen. “It hurts because it hurts.”

Echarri’s home was not damaged, but many of her neighbors are living in temporary shelters or outdoors after 190 buildings collapsed and 856 others were damaged, according to Venezuelan officials, in the back-to-back earthquakes that killed 3,889 people.

The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez has estimated that the earthquakes left about 18,000 people without a home. The displaced are now living in schools, sidewalks, parks, plazas and other public spaces.

Fletcher, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AP the United States has so far provided most of the earthquake-response aid. Much of the assistance on the ground is being delivered by local groups that have partnered with global humanitarian organizations.

Among the displaced is Zulbey Reyes, who went to the clinic ran by the Venezuela-based organization Paluz in partnership with the global relief agency International Rescue Committee. Reyes, who was also robbed by the earthquakes of her job as a nanny, sought treatment for the onset of chest pain.

“I thought it was my heart that was sick,” Reyes, 41, said after being diagnosed and receiving medication. “But it’s a nerve that became inflamed after the screams that day.”

Armando Denegri, representative in Venezuela of the Pan-American Health Organization told reporters Thursday that “50% of the health professionals in La Guaira were directly affected" by the earthquakes.

"Some disappeared, some died, others were severely affected by the crisis, impacting their families,” Denegri said without giving further details.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure around $37 billion.

The widespread presence of nongovernmental organizations in the country and the freedom with which the government is allowing them to operate contrasts with the repression and persecution to which they were subjected in recent years. While Rodríguez served as vice president to former President Nicolás Maduro, organizations were repeatedly accused of anti-government activities and the U.N. local human rights office expelled.

“When you have a crisis of this magnitude, people put the politics to one side and are able to focus on saving as many lives as possible, and that’s what I’m seeing so far in this response,” Fletcher said.

Murakami made two rehab appearances with Triple-A Charlotte, going 2 for 7 with a double. Following Chicago's 2-1 loss to Boston on Thursday, White Sox manager Will Venable said Murakami would be in the starting lineup for the opener of the team's weekend series against the Athletics.

“He’s ready to go,” Venable said. “He was challenged running the bases, defensively, had a really long game yesterday. So feel good about the workload, recovered well today so he’s ready to go.”

Murakami got hurt during a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on May 29, grabbing his right hamstring after beating a throw to first on a fielder’s choice in the third inning. At the time of the injury, the Japanese rookie ranked among the major league leaders with 20 homers, 41 RBIs, 43 runs and a .947 OPS.

Chicago (47-45) is in a virtual tie with Cleveland (48-46) for the lead in the sluggish AL Central. But the White Sox have dropped three in a row and six of eight overall. They managed just two runs and 15 hits in the three-game set against the Red Sox.

White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi said getting Murakami back right now is huge.

“Obviously, he’s a presence in the lineup,” he said. "He’ll bring the energy, I think. It seems like the vibe in here is kind of down right now but I’m sure seeing him tomorrow will spark it back up.”

The 26-year-old Murakami signed a $34 million, two-year contract with Chicago in December. The White Sox went 17-18 while he was on the injured list.

“We understand the impact he makes on the field and in the clubhouse so to activate him is going to mean a lot for our group,” Venable said. “Really excited about him.”

___

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

Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell said Thursday. O'Dell, who described herself as Funk's caregiver, said she was by Funk's side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.

“It took its toll,” O'Dell said in a phone interview.

Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s but never made it into space with that agency. In 2021, she got her chance aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.

At the time, the 82-year-old was the oldest person to go into space, though the record was later broken by “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate. They were both 90.

Bezos chose Funk as an “honored guest” to ride alongside him and two others on an up-and-down hop from West Texas.

In a post on X, Blue Origin said Funk was a “pioneer in every sense of the word.”

“We were humbled to be part of her journey,” the post said.

O’Dell said Funk was the “most eternally optimistic person” she had ever met.

“She was told by many, many, many men, ‘No, you can’t do this. No you can’t do that,’ ” O’Dell said. “And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined.”

Funk was the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, according to a brief biography released by the City of Grapevine.

In the 1960s, she and other female pilots went through astronaut training in the Mercury 13 program, but they were not allowed to become astronauts.

“Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space. Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted Thursday on X.

Justice Department prosecutors said they learned Thursday morning that Rahmanullah Lakanwal was rushed to a hospital overnight “for medical treatment necessary to preserve his life.” The U.S. Marshals Service notified prosecutors last month of concerns that Lakanwal was at risk of long-term health consequences, including death, due to his “refusal to consume adequate nutrition for an extended period,” the filing says.

The filing doesn’t elaborate on the circumstances of Lakanwal’s refusal to eat, but prosecutors noted that courts have held that prison officials can involuntary feed “hunger-striking prisoners” to save their lives.

The judge presiding over Lakanwal's case convened an emergency hearing related to the defendant's medical condition while he remains in federal custody. At the end of the hearing, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta instructed prosecutors to submit a proposed order that would give them access to Lakanwal's recent medical records.

Defense attorney Shelli Peterson and a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office declined to comment after the hearing.

Lakanwal, an Afghan national, has pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder in the November 2025 shooting that killed West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe.

Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were deployed from West Virginia to Washington, D.C., for the surge of federal law-enforcement patrols that began last summer in the nation's capital at President Donald Trump’s direction.

Lakanwal is accused of driving to the nation’s capital from Bellingham, Washington, while in possession of a stolen firearm and ambushing the two Guard members outside a subway station three blocks from the White House. Another National Guard member heard gunshots and saw Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground as Lakanwal fired a gun and screamed, “Allahu Akbar!” according to a police report.

Lakanwal was shot during the confrontation and appeared remotely by video from a hospital bed in December for his first hearing before a judge. A trial date for his case hasn’t been scheduled yet.

St. Johns County Fire Rescue confirmed that crews were responding to a vehicle vs. scooter crash at SR-16 and North Ponce de Leon Boulevard around 7:30 p.m.

The report said a 59-year-old man who was driving a Tesla was speeding down SR-16 when he hit the woman on the motorized scooter and continued driving before hitting a camera pole and overturning into the parking lot of Flagler Inn.

The person on the scooter died on the scene, according to SJCFR. Another was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The intersections of SR-16 and US-1 and SR-16 and Lewis Speedway were shut down in all directions.

A video that was captured by one of Black Diamond Coach & Limousine’s company vehicles was sent to News4JAX and showed what appeared to be an unmarked patrol car with its emergency lights activated following the Tesla after it overturned and crashed into the Flagler Inn.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating what caused the crash.

On Thursday, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement about the incident:

“On July 8, 2026, just before 7:30 p.m., an SJSO deputy who stopped at the Circle K gas station on SR 16 and Masters Drive, was notified by a business employee about a suspicious individual in a black Tesla. When the deputy walked up to the vehicle to make contact with the subject, the driver exited the parking lot at a high rate of speed. The deputy reported the reckless driver over the radio to nearby units.

As the Tesla traveled eastbound on SR 16, it struck an individual on a motorized scooter. With complete disregard to public safety, the driver continued traveling towards the intersection of SR 16 and US-1, where he passed a second SJSO deputy. Once that deputy had a visual on the Tesla, the deputy activated the emergency lights to safely u-turn at the railroad tracks. Just seconds later, the Tesla struck a pole, traveled across all lanes of US-1 and into the parking lot of the Flagler Inn, where it overturned.

The crash occurred before the deputy had time to initiate a traffic stop. Deputies arrived on scene immediately due to the information about a reckless driver in the area. Law enforcement was not in pursuit of the black Tesla and the chain of events were captured on the deputy’s dash camera. The driver of the motorized scooter was pronounced deceased on scene and the driver of the Tesla was transported to the hospital with serious injuries."

It does not necessarily mean that the trade is off. The Raptors said they still want Leonard, and the Clippers, in a statement sent to multiple outlets including The Associated Press, again insisted that they are not guilty of any wrongdoing related to an endorsement contract between Leonard and a now-bankrupt California-based digital bank that touted itself as environmentally friendly.

But the probe, as detailed by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, could lead to penalties that include a substantial fine, the loss of draft capital — and, potentially, even the voiding of a player contract — if the league finds there was a deliberate circumvention of cap rules.

“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the Raptors said. “In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”

There is no timetable for the conclusion of the NBA's probe, which is being performed by outside counsel — Wachtell Lipton, a New York-based firm. Commissioner Adam Silver said in recent weeks that he'd like to see a conclusion.

“My instruction to them is we can’t be investigating forever. At some point you have to wrap it up,” Silver said last month at the NBA Finals. “But at the same time, the most important thing is that we get it right."

Through a spokesman, the NBA said Thursday that it doesn't “have a specific timeline for the conclusion of the investigation but expect the firm to finalize its work in the coming weeks”

The NBA opened an investigation back in September into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC — a company that filed for bankruptcy in 2025 — broke league rules, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. Last month, Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.

“At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration,” the Clippers said Thursday in a statement. "We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“We recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues. We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.”

For its part, Toronto reaffirmed that it still wants to acquire Leonard.

“The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization, and our fans,” the Raptors said.

The Raptors and Clippers struck a deal on June 30 on a trade that would send Leonard back to the city that helped win the 2019 NBA championship.

The Raptors agreed to send Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and pick swaps to the Clippers for Leonard — who spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won their lone title.

He turned 35 earlier this month but is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.

Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion (also winning in 2014 with San Antonio) and is generally considered one of the game’s top defensive players. He has said there was no wrongdoing.

___

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

The 37-year-old Irishman is also convinced he'll have his way with Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

The two will meet in a welterweight bout, as McGregor will compete for the first time in more than five years.

“Hallelujah!” McGregor exclaimed on Wednesday. “The Mac is back.”

McGregor earned a unanimous decision over Holloway in a featherweight clash in 2013, when neither was an MMA megastar.

In the blink of an eye, McGregor’s star rose.

On Wednesday, he admitted he got caught up in his own stardom after winning UFC belts in two weight classes and becoming one of the biggest names in combat sports.

“I launched an Irish whiskey,” McGregor said. “I didn’t drink heavily, if at all, at that time of my life. I was an athlete at the top of my game. Next thing you know, thousands upon thousands of bottles (are) in my garage.

”‘Sell this, Conor.’ OK, I’d leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught. And I wasn’t used to it. And that’s it. God gave me these lessons. That’s it. I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is.”

Easier said than done, perhaps, as the controversial former champion has navigated in and out of multiple controversies and legal issues over the past several years, including a rape case in which he was found civilly liable in 2024.

Prosecutors declined to charge him criminally, and McGregor doubled down on Wednesday that he will be vindicated.

“I’m an innocent man, and I’ll stand for my innocence until the day I go out,” he said. “That is still a situation where I fight. There’s a reason it didn’t go where it went and went to a civil trial. It is what it is. It stings deep. I continue to fight.”

Saturday, McGregor (22-6) will face his biggest fight in years against a vengeful Holloway (27-9), whose last fight ended with a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Charles Oliveira on March 7.

McGregor, who last fought on July 10, 2021, spoke confidently about his comeback.

“Weight’s on point, body’s on point, mind’s sharper than ever, plan is laid set, and I’m ready to go to war,” he said. “I plan to contort Max’s body into such uncomfortable positions and have my way with him.”

McGregor suffered a horrific broken leg in his last match, his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, and then withdrew from his scheduled fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 due to a broken pinky toe.

Meanwhile, Holloway has fought eight times since McGregor’s last fight, is out to avenge his loss to Oliveira, and is still thinking about exacting revenge from 2013.

“I’m going to go in there and put paws on him,” the 34-year-old Holloway said. “I’m going to make him wish that he didn’t come back.

"Actually, no. I’m not going to make him wish that. I’m going to make him think he can do it one more time, so we can rematch at the end of the year.”

Co-headlining the card is Benoit Saint Denis (17-3-0) and Paddy Pimblett (23-4-0) in a battle of top-10 lightweights, both of whom are hoping to position themselves for a title shot.

Saint Denis, 30, has turned in consecutive stoppage wins over Kyle Prepolec, Mauricio Ruffy, Beneil Dariush and Dan Hooker. The Frenchman is 9-2 in the UFC lightweight division. Pimblett, meanwhile, opened 2026 with a loss to new champion Justin Gaethje in their interim title clash that headlined UFC 324 in January. It brought an end to the 31-year-old Liverpool native’s nine-fight winning streak.

The main card will get underway in the lightweight division with King Green (35-17) facing Terrance McKinney (18-8). Former title challenger Brandon Royval (17-9) will meet Lone’er Kavanagh (10-1) in a flyweight match. Cory Sandhagen (18-6) and Mario Bautista (17-3) will be a battle of top-10 bantamweights.

___

AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

Lawrence Donald, 38, was arrested July 3, on charges of DUI manslaughter and DUI with property damage. He was booked into the Duval County jail, with bond set at $160,006 — a combined total across both charges.

Fatal crash kills teen driver

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest report, the crash happened just after 3 a.m. on May 2 on Merrill Road. Investigators say Donald was driving a gold 2010 Toyota Camry eastbound on Merrill Road when he slammed into the back of a silver 2006 Toyota Solara stopped at a red light at the intersection of Wedgefield Boulevard.

The impact pushed the Solara into a utility pole. The driver, Mark Fraley Jr., 19, of Jacksonville, was pronounced dead at the scene by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue.

Suspect tells police he came from gentlemen’s club

After the crash, investigators interviewed Donald at the scene. According to the arrest report, Donald said he had been at a Gentlemen’s Club on Beach Boulevard and left around 2 a.m. He told officers he was heading to the Waffle House on Merrill Road but missed the turn and was looking to turn around.

Donald told police that as he approached the intersection at Wedgefield Boulevard, he saw the Solara but said it did not have any lights activated. He said he attempted to avoid the collision but was unable to. Donald estimated he was traveling approximately 40 mph before the crash.

Impairment indicators noted at scene: report

When investigators spoke with Donald at the scene, they noted several indicators of impairment. According to the report, officers observed Donald swaying back and forth, speaking in a slow and lethargic manner, and emitting the odor of alcohol.

A JSO DUI investigator and Drug Recognition Expert also noted droopy eyelids and bloodshot, watery and glassy eyes. Based on those observations, Donald was asked to consent to a blood draw — and he agreed. The draw was conducted by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for analysis.

Data recorder, lab results detail speed, substance levels

A search warrant was obtained on May 14 for the Camry’s event data recorder (EDR). Investigators say that data showed Donald’s vehicle was traveling 62.1 mph and accelerating roughly 4.6 seconds before impact — reaching 65.9 mph just before the crash. Investigators noted no signs of emergency braking, such as skid marks, in the 167 feet prior to the crash site.

According to his arrest report, lab results returned by FDLE on May 22 showed a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .083 g/100mL — above Florida’s legal limit of .08.

A drug analysis completed June 5, found 12 +/- 4 ng/mL of methamphetamine in Donald’s system, as well as MDMA detected above the quantitation range of 10–200 ng/mL, according to his arrest report.

Arrest made on active warrant

Donald was arrested July 3, after detectives located him at his home on University Blvd. N.

As of his first court appearance on July 4, 2026, Donald was found indigent and appointed a public defender. His case was continued to July 27.

Organizers moved the event to Clanzel T. Brown Park last year after the city denied permits for its longtime home on Myrtle Avenue, saying the celebration had simply outgrown that space.

Rapper and comedian Lil Duval said the change has given Duval Day more room to expand, and organizers say the new site has allowed the event to grow.

“It was actually great,” he said. “It was a blessing in disguise cause I really didn’t want to go over there cause I like to keep it authentic to what it’s started at, but I guess God wanted bigger plans so we moved over there and now we’re bigger and better.”

Attendees can expect a mix of a family reunion, cookout and concert, with an emphasis on Jacksonville talent from local artists to surprise guests.

“It’s just to see the economic power in our own community,” he said. “We don’t need other people we have our own stuff. That’s why even though I fund it, it’s really funded for everybody else to make money to keep the dollar circulating in our community and that dollar would grow big and hopefully that influenced the next generation.”

Because July temperatures in Florida can top 100 degrees, organizers will set up cooling areas and distribute water around the park so people can take breaks and return to the festivities.

Heat, not traffic, is the primary concern for public safety officials. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department urged attendees to stay hydrated, watch children closely, use crosswalks and follow directions from first responders if storms roll in.

“The biggest challenge this year is trying to figure out the heat,” he said.

JSO said about 120 personnel will be assigned to the event, including traffic, security and specialized units. Public parking is available at A. Philip Randolph Academy, and no road closures are planned.

JFRD said EMS, rescue trucks and foot and bike teams will be on site, with fire prevention and emergency preparedness resources available and extra resources ready if needed.

“[Duval Day] is going to stay here and it’s going to make us look great as a city,” he said.

Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been applied to 2022 high school graduates in an arbitrary and capricious manner, adding the plaintiffs would suffer “irreparable injury” without an injunction.

“We hope the NCAA reconsiders its position and allows all other similarly situated athletes from the high school class of 2022 to compete for remaining roster spots in all sports,” attorney Ryan Downton said.

Wagner's ruling allows the athletes in the lawsuit an opportunity to enter the transfer portal. He scheduled a conference for Aug. 4 to prepare for a trial.

“While we will seek to overturn this ruling, it is now apparent that Congress must act swiftly to restore stability, uniformity, and fair competition in college athletics,” the NCAA said in a statement.

The Protect College Sports Act has moved forward with Senate committee approval in June. However, the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences oppose the bill designed to stabilize college sports and are seeking revisions.

Downton has filed similar lawsuits against the NCAA on behalf of nearly 30 men's and women's basketball players.

The lawsuit in Cincinnati was filed shortly after the NCAA Division I Cabinet approved a monumental change in eligibility rules last month.

“When each plaintiff completed their fourth season of competition during the 2025-26 academic year, they had every reason to know it was the end of the line and time to make way for the next generation of college athletes,” the NCAA wrote in a filing.

The plaintiffs are seeking to be eligible to play a fifth year during the upcoming season, representing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and began their college sports careers that autumn and never redshirted.

“Each plaintiff was harmed each time he or she competed in a basketball game against a fifth or sixth-year player without being offered the same opportunity to compete in a fifth season themselves,” Downtown wrote in a filing.

The NCAA now allows athletes five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.

The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy or active-duty military service. Extensions will no longer be considered for athletes who are injured.

Athletes whose eligibility expired by spring 2026 under the traditional model — four years of competition over five years — will not be allowed a fifth year of competition under the new rules that go into effect this fall.

The Division I Cabinet has said in a statement posted on X that it was aware of legal action challenging its decision and that “we do not intend to change course.”

Three basketball players, including Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin of Serbia, and three coaches, including Xavier coach Richard Pitino, along with an agent testified at a hearing in Cincinnati earlier this month, while the NCAA did not call any witnesses.

Wagner appeared to be critical of the NCAA in his written ruling, saying the governing body resembles “a highly profitable professional sports league," more than its argument of being a voluntary association.

“The court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury if the preliminary injunction is not granted,” Wagner said.

The NCAA said the decision was wrong.

“We will immediately seek all avenues for reversal, including a stay of the court’s order pending appeal,” the NCAA said. “The court disregarded over a century of precedent and substituted its own judgment, on a limited factual record, for the collective expertise of the nation’s leading higher education institutions.”

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and more than recovered its loss from the day before, even though the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran, which responded by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%.

In the oil market, prices gave back much of their jumps from the day before. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.2% to $76.30. That’s down from $78.02 the day before though still above its $71.80 price from the end of last week.

The worry is that a return to full-blown war will block oil tankers from the Strait of Hormuz and prevent the delivery of crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That could worsen inflation, which economists expected would ease with oil prices, and in turn force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

But Trump also said Wednesday that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in “long-term” military action, raising uncertainty about just what will happen.

The swings for oil prices halted what had been a steady decline in gasoline prices, and the cost for a gallon climbed a nickel overnight, according to motor club AAA. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.85 Thursday, up 68 cents from a year earlier.

In the meantime, renewed strength for makers of computer chips and other winners of the boom around artificial-intelligence technology helped to support stock markets worldwide.

In South Korea, whose stock market is dominated by two companies that make semiconductors, the Kospi index rose 0.6% after tumbling 5.3% the day before. SK Hynix, which is preparing to sell shares of its stock that will trade in the United States, jumped 5.3% in Seoul.

On Wall Street, Micron Technology’s climb of 4.5% was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Micron cited “surging demand for memory in the AI era” as it gave a progress update on construction in central New York of what it says is the largest semiconductor manufacturing site in U.S. history.

Such stocks have become some of Wall Street’s most influential after growing so big in the euphoria around AI. But AI stocks have also come under pressure recently because of worries their prices shot too high and that AI may not create enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 60.93 points to 7,543.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 139.02 to 52,487.41, and the Nasdaq composite rose 336.24 to 26,206.89.

Stocks broadly got some help from falling yields in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.54% from 4.56% late Wednesday.

It had been climbing on worries about high oil prices and the potential for higher interest rates, which cranked up the pressure on stocks and prices for other investments.

Besides the war with Iran, another big event for Wall Street is the upcoming start of earnings reporting season for companies. Next week, the biggest banks are set to unveil how much profit they made from April through June. Companies across industries will need to report strong growth to justify the big moves their stock prices have made.

PepsiCo fell 3.3% even though it reported slightly better revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Numbers released by the company behind Gatorade and Doritos showed weakening trends in its North American food and drinks businesses.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Besides Seoul’s climb, stock indexes rose 1.7% in Shanghai and 0.9% in Paris.

On the losing end was Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which slipped 0.7% as shares of Apple supplier Luxshare fell 1.5% in its trading debut.

___

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

According to investigators, Gary Glowacz, of Middleburg, Florida, called Clay County Sheriff’s Office dispatch on Wednesday and told them he wanted to provide information about the 1987 death of Melissa Ellison.

Glowacz was taken into custody a few hours later by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit and charged with murder and burglary with a battery. He was booked into the Duval County jail with no bond.

Criminal background

Glowacz has a criminal history spanning multiple counties and several decades.

Duval County

He was found guilty of purchasing cocaine in both 1989 and 1996, and in 1998 was convicted of burglary. In 1986, adjudication was withheld on a separate burglary charge — a legal outcome in which the court does not formally enter a conviction.

Clay County

More recently, Glowacz was charged with DUI in Clay County in 2016 and later pleaded guilty.

Victim found dead in her home

On Dec. 28, 1987, at approximately 4:40 a.m., Jacksonville patrol officers responded to a call for a dead person at a home on Colejean Road. When they arrived, officers found 20-year-old Melissa Ellison lying in her bed, suffering from blunt force trauma.

Ellison’s two roommates told officers they went to check on her after finding Ellison’s toddler crying alone on the living room couch.

Ellison’s daughter, who is now in her early 40s, said the long-awaited announcement of an arrest is making her “see the world differently.”

“I know that it’s never going to bring my mom back, but it does have a ridiculous release of closure,” she said.

The Duval County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death a homicide, with the cause of death determined to be blunt force trauma to the head. JSO’s Homicide Unit and Crime Scene Unit detectives launched an investigation, reviewing all available evidence and conducting multiple interviews. No arrests were made at the time, and the case eventually went cold.

Phone call cracks cold case nearly 40 years later

Thirty-nine years later, on July 8, Glowacz called Clay County Sheriff’s Office dispatch and advised he wanted to provide information about the death of Ellison, according to his arrest report.

What he told investigators is redacted in his arrest report, but after talking with Cold Case detectives, he was informed that he was being arrested for murder and burglary with assault/battery.

Glowacz was transported to JSO headquarters, where he was interviewed by detectives. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued. He was 31 years old at the time of the 1987 killing.

“We are thankful to our community partners — First Coast Crime Stoppers, State Attorney’s Office, Project Cold Case, and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office — who all helped keep this case at the forefront and renewed the call for information,” JSO said in a statement.

“We’re also incredibly proud of our Cold Case Unit detectives for their hard work in this case.”

JSO added that it will continue to work alongside the State Attorney’s Office to ensure Glowacz faces the consequences of his actions.

Road Dogg with WWE and Billy Gunn with Jacksonville-based AEW. Road Dogg recently left WWE and they reunited on Going Ringside.

Don’t miss this fun interview that pushes some envelopes at times.

There is a “continual battle” against threats online, said Vicki Evans, a senior national coordinator for counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police, and police need help from technology companies because “it's not something we can do alone.”

Islamic extremism remains the biggest threat but over the past five years, threats from far-right groups and hostile states have significantly grown, said Laurence Taylor, head of counterterrorism police.

According to Evans, the threat from hostile states is the “most rapidly escalating mission” for counterterrorism police.

Threats from hostile countries are increasing

In July, two Romanian men were jailed over the stabbing of a journalist from a Persian-language television station, which the judge said was carried out on behalf of Iran's government.

In June, a Ukrainian man and Romanian man were jailed for their role in setting fire to property linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer — a plot which fits the description of Russian state-backed sabotage. And in May, a U.K. border official and former Hong Kong police officer were convicted of spying for China.

Evans said that in 2025, there were more than 20 Iranian-backed plots, including assassinations, kidnappings and other serious crimes against the U.K. Additionally, police are still investigating whether arson attacks against Jewish sites earlier in the year have a link to Iran.

Russia has been organizing a “constant stream of surveillance plots” against people and institutions in Britain, aiming to target people Russian officials believe are enemies, “infiltrate” ordinary life and identify people who will “peddle” Russian narratives or carry out proxy work on behalf of the Russian state, she added.

Across Europe, Russia has recruited dozens of people on apps like Telegram to carry out vandalism or set fires — including at a warehouse in London that stored communications equipment meant for Ukraine.

Dylan Earl, the ringleader of that plot, was recruited on Telegram by the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization acting on behalf of Moscow that has been designated a terrorist group by the U.K. government.

Evans also said that teenagers as young as 15 have been arrested by police in relation to proxy plots. The challenge for law enforcement, she added, is that “anyone could be targeted,” especially online.

"This isn’t something that’s happening elsewhere,” Evans said, speaking to journalists at New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police headquarters. “It’s happening here. This risk is in our neighborhoods, in our online spaces and in our workplaces.”

The threat of far-right extremism is rising

Taylor said that the threat level in the U.K. was raised in April from “substantial” to “severe,” partly because cases linked to extreme far right ideologies are “growing substantially.”

Police have noted an increase in “vile” content, particularly online, which creates a “cocktail of racism, misogyny and extreme homophobia,” he said.

Extreme views, he said, appear to be being challenged less and less and so conditions have been created where previously unacceptable views are now more prevalent.

As an example, he gave the case of an 18-year-old woman, Alina Burns, who was imprisoned for almost 20 years in May after attacking a stranger with an ax — an attack that Taylor said was motivated by her extreme right-wing mindset.

Children are increasingly radicalized online

Alfie Coleman — a 22-year-old sentenced on Wednesday for 13.5 years for trying to buy a gun from an undercover MI5 officer — was radicalized online from the age of 14, Taylor said.

Evans said that those behind the exploitation are specifically designing online content to attract young people by blending it with propaganda and gaming footage, historical images and music. The young are then prompted to carry out violent acts — such as being asked to “recreate” in real life horrific attacks from video games, she said.

In some cases, Evans said, “sadistic online groups,” ask people to compete against each other to cause harm online and offline — by using cyberattacks, extremism, serious violence or even child sexual abuse or terrorism.

The extent of “lawful but awful” content online, including extreme violence and gore, she said means that some people now have a skewed sense of what is normal or acceptable. Those people are particularly vulnerable to manipulation, including by state actors, she said.

Although the government has said that Britain will ban social media for those under 16, that is not enough, said Evans, adding that pressure needs to be put on technology companies to help curb harmful content online.

Laws and policies regulating harmful content online quickly go out of date while social platforms have powerful mechanisms to push content to young people, she said.

“The tipping point is very swift and steep,” for some people who are drawn into harmful content online, she said.

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The scene is just west of I-295 near the cruise terminal. A section of the roadway is blocked.

The Florida Highway Patrol tells News4JAX a semi-truck and pickup truck collided and the driver up the pickup was killed.

Drivers are urged to avoid the area and seek an alternate route.

This is a developing story.

Seven years after her breakthrough at Wimbledon, the American player was on the verge of reaching her first final at the All England Club.

All she needed to do was execute what appeared to be a manageable put-away on her first match point.

The thing is, it's never that simple in a Grand Slam semifinal, especially toward the end of a decisive super tiebreaker on Centre Court — the sport's most hallowed venue.

Gauff fluffed a forehand drop-shot attempt into the net and her opponent Karolina Muchova went on to see out a drama-filled tiebreaker to win 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) on Thursday.

On the match point, Gauff hit a well-placed serve down the T on the ad court and Muchova’s weak forehand return bounced before the service line — right in Gauff's attack zone. But Muchova’s shot had some topspin on it and kicked up higher than Gauff was anticipating.

“The bounce kind of caught me off guard,” Gauff said. “I just panicked a little bit.”

After the miss, Gauff ran her non-hitting hand over her face and practiced a full-swing forehand that perhaps she would have preferred in hindsight.

“People who don’t watch tennis are going to be like, ’Why did you do that?” Gauff said. “At the end of the day, that’s the choice I made. Was it the right one in that moment? Maybe not. But then also, if I make it, everyone’s going to say how clutch of a shot that was.

“That’s just tennis. You lose some points off margins.”

A ‘roller coaster’ for Muchova

Muchova also lost a match point before she came out on top when Gauff hit a forehand into the net.

“It was such a big fight,” Muchova said. “It was a roller coaster.”

Muchova will meet Linda Noskova in an all-Czech final on Saturday after Noskova beat Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.

Clearly flustered after her miss, Gauff called for a ball to serve again before she realized it was time to change ends since it was 9-9.

“I’m going to think about it tonight,” Gauff said.

“I look at Roger (Federer, in the 2019 final) lost match points here, Jannik (Sinner) obviously at Roland Garros (in last year’s final). Every great champion has this happen in their career," Gauff added. "Maybe this is something I need to be on their level.”

Tracy Austin suggested on the BBC that Gauff looked like “she changed her mind three times as to where to hit that ball.”

But Gauff said, “Honestly, I didn’t change my mind too much. I feel like if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone for a slice forehand down the line.

“It’s a learning experience,” Gauff added. “I know I can do better and improve on that, and going with a higher-margin shot in a pressure moment, for sure.”

Diving like Boris Becker

On the point after Gauff's miss, Muchova produced a lob winner to set up her first match point, which she lost when she slipped to the grass and a passing shot from Gauff sailed by her.

But Muchova quickly set up another match point and produced a series of shots to the corners. Gauff, on the full run, reached the last ball but her forehand response landed in the net and Muchova covered her hands in disbelief.

“You’re up and down in 10 seconds. You have a match point, then match point down. It’s no time to think, but very nerve-wracking,” Muchova said. “I’m really kind of shaking and trying to sink it in.”

Earlier in the tiebreaker, Muchova produced a diving forehand volley winner at full stretch that brought back memories of the way three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker used to play. She ended up face down on the grass, her racket lying next to her, as the crowd roared.

There will be a third Czech champion in four years after Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.

Gauff's Wimbledon history

For Gauff, it was still her most successful Wimbledon. Previously, the seventh-ranked American had gone only as far as the fourth round three times – including as a 15-year-old in 2019 in her Grand Slam debut.

Gauff had had won six of her seven previous matches against Muchova.

But Muchova has been nearly unbeatable on grass this year and extended her record this season on the surface to 11-1 after a title in Bad Homburg, Germany. Her only loss on grass this year came against Madison Keys in the Berlin Open round of 16.

Muchova beat Gauff for the first time in April on clay in Stuttgart, Germany.

It was another hot day in London with the temperature soaring to 91 degrees Fahreinheit (33 Celsius), prompting spectators to fan themselves in the stands in an attempt to keep cool.

Muchova appeared to be struggling physically as the match wore on, bending over in exhaustion after one long rally and holding her abdomen in apparent pain during the final game.

“I’m OK,” Muchova said. “I just was trying to catch a breath.”

The men’s semifinals on Friday feature top-ranked and defending champion Jannik Sinner against seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic and French Open champion Alexander Zverev against British wild card Arthur Fery.

Mixed doubles

In the mixed doubles final, second-seeded Marcelo Arevalo and Jelena Ostapenko beat Marc Polmans and Storm Hunter 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

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Associated Press writer Mattias Karén contributed to this report.

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

The Ducks announced their decision Thursday on the 21-year-old Carlsson, who is now the NHL's highest-paid player under the five-year, $90 million deal extended by the Flyers one week ago.

“It’s going to be a special feeling, having this pressure,” said Carlsson, who wasn’t told the Ducks were matching the offer sheet until shortly before the decision was made public. “I always wanted to be a Duck. It’s my home, too. I’m just super excited to be back.”

Carlsson signed the Flyers' offer sheet as a restricted free agent after a year of fruitless negotiations with Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek, whose hardline approach in contract talks with his restricted free agents backfired tremendously this time.

Carlsson's new contract is worth much more than the league expected the Swedish youngster would get as a restricted free agent, and the $18 million average annual value is significantly more than he had already indicated he would accept. The deal surpasses the salary of Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov, who would have been the NHL's highest-paid player at $17 million.

Verbeek acknowledged he was shocked by the Flyers' aggressiveness, and he admitted the entire experience could change the way he conducts business.

“Did we expect the offer sheet to be this high? No. We did not see that one coming,” Verbeek said. “But we’re very confident in the sense that with the cap going up and the ability of Leo to make great strides of improvement and become an elite player, we feel confident that this contract will be a good one in the end.”

Carlsson's first significant contract negotiations landed him a record payday — and he might have affected the NHL's entire salary structure going forward with this new benchmark for young talent amid a rising salary cap. Carlsson emerged from the experience with excitement and no hard feelings toward Anaheim about the way everything went down.

“It’s a lot of business in hockey,” Carlsson said. “I knew it, obviously, but it’s more business than I thought. (The details are) something for my agent to answer more on, but (the offer sheet) was just too good to pass on. I think everybody understands that. I talked to my teammates a lot, and everybody was just happy for me and super-supportive with the decision I made.”

The Flyers failed to land their long-sought No. 1 center by swiping Carlsson, but the attempt showed general manager Danny Briere’s determination to improve his roster at all costs. The Ducks would have received four first-round draft picks from Philadelphia if they hadn’t matched.

Future negotiations will reveal whether Briere forever altered the hockey talent market. The structure of Philadelphia’s offer sheet also front-loaded Carlsson’s contract with enormous signing bonuses in another departure from most NHL contracts.

Fortunately for the Ducks, billionaire owner Henry Samueli eagerly made that hefty financial commitment, calling it “an easy decision” in a statement issued by the team.

Still, that decision wouldn't have been necessary if Verbeek had done a deal at any point in the previous year. The general manager claimed he made “serious and fair” offers last September to young cornerstones Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who took an eight-year, $72 million deal.

Verbeek continued negotiations with Carlsson's agent this spring, but felt he was “getting slow-walked to July 1," when the offer sheet could be signed.

“It was surprising, to say the least,” Verbeek said. “I actually feel flattered in a sense that Philadelphia wanted such a great player. It means we’re doing a good job on our end. ... Players like Leo don't come along very often.”

Although the Ducks retained their most important young player, Verbeek’s inability to get a deal done before he was forced into it by Philadelphia seems almost certain to compromise Anaheim’s roster-building efforts for years to come. The Ducks are having a rough summer after ending their seven-season playoff drought with a second-round run that stamped them as a future contender.

Along with losing four veteran defensemen and hoping to replace them from within, Verbeek still hasn’t re-signed 41-goal scorer Gauthier, who isn't eligible to receive an offer sheet. Anaheim signed Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year, $36 million deal last week, again going well over the expected market rate for a defenseman who isn’t on Carlsson’s level of talent, but was widely rumored to be on the verge of signing an offer sheet.

This pricey deal for Carlsson is the latest chapter in Verbeek's history of antagonistic negotiations with Anaheim's free agents. Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and Mason McTavish all held out of training camp in recent years when they couldn’t get a deal done with Verbeek, who eventually traded all three.

Verbeek said he has “2 1/2 months to figure out” how to fit Gauthier under the cap, possibly by dumping a veteran's salary.

“Certainly we are going to have to do business in a different type of manner moving forward, and so we will make the adjustments that we have to make,” Verbeek said.

Carlsson was the No. 2 choice in the 2023 draft behind Connor Bedard, and he has emerged as one of the NHL’s top young playmakers. Although he didn’t produce points at a rate commensurate with his new salary during his first three seasons, almost everyone believes Carlsson can become one of the best centers in hockey, so Verbeek might be correct that this deal will eventually look reasonable on paper.

Carlsson scored 67 points in 70 games last season despite being limited for a lengthy stretch by a leg injury that kept him out of the Olympics. He added 11 points in 12 games during his first postseason experience.

“I’m going to grow as a player, too,” Carlsson said. “I’ve done that every year so far. Trying to get away from these slumps I’ve been having during seasons. Trying to stay at the highest level I can all season long.”

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

That means Quansah will miss England's quarterfinal match against Norway in Miami Gardens on Saturday and also the semifinals if Thomas Tuchel's team advances.

Quansah was sent off in the second half of England's 3-2 victory against Mexico on Sunday for a dangerous foul on Jesus Gallardo.

FIFA confirmed the two-match suspension for serious foul play.

England forward Bukayo Saka said the decision was “incredibly frustrating.”

FIFA’s handling of red card punishments has come under intense scrutiny after its disciplinary committee suspended the one-game penalty of star United States striker Folarin Balogun after President Donald Trump intervened and contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Infantino defended the independence of FIFA’s disciplinary committee and insisted the Balogun case was properly handled.

“We’re not here to complain, we just need to adapt and pick a team that’s ready to beat Norway,” Saka said.

Right back saga continues

Quansah’s prolonged extension is the latest issue for Tuchel to contend with at right back.

First choice Reece James has not played since England’s second game of the tournament against Ghana due to a hamstring injury.

His backup Tino Livramento was sent home before England even kicked off its campaign after injuring his calf. Tuchel opted to call up a center back in Trevoh Chalobah as his replacement, rather than going for a specialist right back.

It meant Quansah, who usually plays in central defense, has taken on the role of deputy to James.

Tuchel faced questions before the World Cup for leaving out Real Madrid right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is widely regarded as one of the top players in Europe.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

They are among the co-leaders of five different task forces announced by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh last month. The other leaders are a mix of public officials and business leaders.

Warsh called for “regime change” at the Fed last year while he was under consideration by the Trump administration to replace former chair Jerome Powell. Warsh has sought to communicate less about the Fed's thinking on interest rates and has said he wants to reduce the central bank's roughly $6.7 trillion in holdings of government bonds.

Yet it's not yet clear how transformative the task forces will be. Most of the directors announced Thursday are leading figures in economics and business, rather than longtime Fed critics. Warsh's use of task forces, Fed-watchers say, suggest he wants to persuade his fellow Fed officials of any changes rather than impose them.

“The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now,” Warsh said in a written statement. “Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon.”

The five task forces will each have three co-leaders and will be supported by Fed staff, the central bank said.

One of the task forces will focus on how artificial intelligence and other new technologies will affect productivity and jobs. Warsh has repeatedly said he expects AI to bring about fundamental changes to the U.S. economy.

To oversee that task force, Warsh has turned to executives from firms developing AI, including Marc Andreessen, a major investor in crypto firms and AI technology. Asha Sharma, an executive vice president at Microsoft and CEO of its Xbox unit will also co-lead that task force. Charles Jones, an economist at Stanford currently on leave with Anthropic, will act as the third co-chair.

Chetty, a Harvard economist, will co-lead a task force on evaluating the data sources used by the Fed. Chetty has broken ground by using huge data sets to track families' economic fortunes over decades and evaluate which areas of the country have seen the most economic mobility.

Doug McMillon, the former president and CEO of Walmart, and Kevin Murphy, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, will co-lead the data task force.

A third task force will examine the Fed's balance sheet, which has ballooned in size since the Great Recession in 2008-2009. Raghuram Rajan, a former leader of the Reserve Bank of India, and Harvard economist and former Treasury official Karen Dynan will co-lead the task force, along with Jeremy Stein, a former Fed governor.

Greg Mankiw, a top economist in the George W. Bush administration and Thomas Sargent, a Nobel laureate at New York University, will co-lead a task force on inflation frameworks. King, the former Bank of England governor, will be one of the leaders of the task force on communications.

Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded “an all-out search and rescue effort," urging a swift investigation of the incident and “strictly hold those responsible accountable.”

The blaze started in a factory at Huiteng shoe company in the city of Jinjiang, the city’s fire department said in a statement. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Jinjiang is a major manufacturing hub for sports shoes.

There were 237 factory workers and two visitors in the building when the fire broke out. Authorities pulled out 213 people, two of whom were pronounced dead after being taken to hospital. Another 26 missing people were later confirmed dead, according to the state broadcaster CCTV.

Xinhua said the factory’s owner and others in charge have been taken into custody and the company’s accounts have been frozen.

Video by CCTV shows the facade of a building of several floors charred black and covered in white smoke. Earlier footage shows fires were burning on multiple floors and the building shrouded in thick, black smoke.

The fire started on the first level of a five-floor concrete-structured building, where a workshop and a warehouse were located. The burning materials included shoe components, which are highly flammable and helped the fire spread quickly, according to CCTV.

A local fire department official said in an interview with the state broadcaster that sole material piled up in stairwells made it much harder for the firefighters to reach the flames and put them out.

CCTV also said the fire department sent 183 people and 35 vehicles to the factory and that open flames were extinguished after about four hours. Xinhua later said more than 500 people joined the rescue and search operation.

Work safety has been a persistent problem in China. In May, an explosion at a fireworks plant in the city of Changsha in the central province of Hunan killed at least 37 people. In 2024, a fire at a refrigeration facility under construction killed 39 people in the city of Xinyu in the southeastern Jiangxi province.

Authorities have repeatedly ordered businesses to screen for workplace hazards. Official data show that 18,261 people died in nearly 20,000 workplace accidents across the country in 2025, down from the previous year.

All Nolan films are epics in their own ways. But for “The Odyssey,” he knew he had to do something fitting of the Homeric poem and its foundational place in Western culture, something worthy of the biggest screens and the resources it would require. The goal was to make something accessible and realistic, which meant going to far flung locations, using real ships on real seas, and taking audiences into the cave with the Cyclops, inside the Trojan Horse and to the bleak expanse of Hades. Opening in theaters worldwide on July 17, it’s also the first feature to be shot entirely on IMAX film.

“We all know the title, we all know what it means, we know what it promises and hopefully for the audience coming to see the film, they’ll feel we made good on that promise because that’s the fun of ‘The Odyssey,’” Nolan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It’s the ultimate adventure story.”

“This is going to be really hard”

The journey would require a deep dive into Greek mythology, Bronze Age scholarship and many translations, a monthslong scouting expedition and a 91-day shoot spanning six months and six countries during which the cast and crew endured all manner of challenging weather, landscapes and the treachery of the open seas.

“The Odyssey” was an epic undertaking — the hardest film anyone involved had ever made. Matt Damon, who stars as Odysseus, said that Nolan warned him as much before they started filming.

“He told me it was going to be hard, which I kind of, I blew off at first. I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s going to be hard. And he said ‘no, no, this is going to be really hard,'” Damon said. “He did not disappoint.”

That was by design.

“I mean, it’s ‘The Odyssey,’” Nolan said. “This should be a difficult film to make, and it was.”

Unlike Odysseus’s extended journey home, the production was also efficient: They finished nine days early.

Making ‘The Odyssey’ relatable, and rejecting Hollywood tropes

When Hollywood movies take on the ancient world, they often fall back on familiar tropes — using accents, elevated language, 19th century orchestral scores and neoclassical touchstones to convey antiquity. Nolan wanted to do something different and found inspiration in the text of the poem, in which he observed an earthy sensibility that stood in contrast to the grandeur of the story.

“You want to question people’s assumptions about how things should be portrayed in movies and what those are based on,” Nolan said. “There’s a challenge to that and a risk to that.”

That meant making some bold choices, including colloquial language, American accents, and blending elements from various stories, including “The Iliad,” “The Aeneid” and “Agamemnon,” to give the audience more clarity. His Trojan Horse, which he’s been thinking about since he was briefly attached to direct “Troy” over 20 years ago, does not have wheels.

For the score, he challenged composer Ludwig Göransson to use bronze gongs, aulos and the lyre to create a new kind of soundscape, and to come up with a four-note theme where the last would be the pluck of a bow.

And paramount to this story of homecoming and coming-of-age, his characters needed to be relatable.

“The movie has so much scale,” said Tom Holland, who plays Odysseus’s son Telemachus. “There are times where it feels like you’re on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn’t sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters.”

Among the large ensemble cast are many famous names: Anne Hathaway is Odysseus’s wife Penelope, Zendaya is the goddess Athena, Charlize Theron is the nymph Calypso and Lupita Nyong’o is Helen, and her twin sister.

Robert Pattinson, Nolan said, is “unleashing his inner Alan Rickman” as the villainous suitor Antinous.

“He’s continually saying to Telemachus, ‘I’m going to be your stepdad, I’ll be your daddy,’” Nolan said. “It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy.”

Leading the charge was Damon, an actor Nolan knew he liked working with after “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer. ”

“You need somebody who will take the audience on this journey,” Nolan said. “With Matt, he’s able to combine that iconic sort of superhero thing with a very, very emotionally accessible and comprehensible person.”

Finding the real; Grounding the fantastical

The film begins with the words “a time of apparent magic,” a promise of what’s to come in this mythical world of gods, monsters, superstitions and natural phenomena. The pursuit of the real led them all over the world. Troy was constructed in Morocco, the cave of the Cyclops was found in foothills of Greece, Iceland’s black sands, shot in the midnight sun, are used for Hades and the island of Favignana, near Sicily, played Ithaca, where much of the cast and crew hiked 45 minutes every day before work to reach a 15th-century castle, 1,030 feet (313.9 meters) above sea level.

On the seas, they used a real ship, the Draken, a reconstruction of a 1,000-year-old Viking ship that production modified slightly to make it look more of the Mycenaean era. The actors learned to row. The ship’s crew played extras.

But Nolan’s love of in-camera effects doesn’t mean he rejects other kinds. “Tenet,” “Interstellar” and “Inception” all won Oscars for visual effects, after all. And in “The Odyssey” there are things that can’t be found in the natural world, from the six-headed Scylla to the Cyclops, the design of which was inspired by the Francisco Goya painting “Saturn Devouring His Son.” Bill Irwin, who brought the robots to life in “Interstellar,” delivered the performance.

“We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics,” Nolan said. “But I knew I needed a performer … He doesn’t treat the Cyclops as just a monster.”

What it adds up to is something that, miraculously for a 3,000-year-old tale, feels fresh.

“Chris has created something that’s totally new,” said Hathaway. “That’s a remarkable achievement.”

Odyssey-fever

Nolan productions always inspire a certain amount of hysteria, but excitement for “The Odyssey” reached a fever pitch. Initial screenings for the 70 mm IMAX showings — his favorite format — sold out in under an hour a year in advance. When all showtimes went on sale last month, ticketing sites crashed. High profile locations like the AMC Lincoln Square in New York and AMC CityWalk in Los Angeles are virtually sold out for weeks, and scalpers on eBay are attempting to sell tickets for more than $500. But the 70 mm IMAX screens account for only about 32 theaters out of thousands in North America — there are other ways to see the film, including 70 mm, digital IMAX and other large format presentations.

For Nolan, the audience is the north star; Entertaining is a responsibility he takes seriously. In fact, he said, a film isn’t really done until it reaches the audience: They’re the ones who finish the piece.

“The audience tells you what it is,” Nolan said. “And that means that for us, this is an exciting moment, but a very frightening moment, because it’s real. There’s nothing to hide behind. We made this film for a theatrical audience, and it goes out in the world as that. And we’ll see what the world makes of it.”

In his first Balenciaga couture show — and the fashion house's biggest statement since it revived its haute couture line in 2020 — Piccioli sent out ballooning gowns and hooded feather cocoons on Wednesday, then closed with model Gigi Hadid engulfed in rooster feathers.

For his bow, he walked out flanked by his entire atelier in white coats, to a standing ovation.

The debut capped a four-day season ending Thursday that came down to three things: flesh, fantasy and the machine.

Across 30 houses, five showing for the first time, designers bared the body and made it vanish, fled into make-believe as a heat wave gripped the city, and reached for particle accelerators and lab-grown silk while insisting couture still belongs to the human hand.

Couture — handmade, made-to-measure clothing that can cost as much as a house and reaches only a few hundred clients worldwide — is the industry’s laboratory and its loudest advertisement, a halo for the perfumes, handbags and ready-to-wear that pay the bills.

It matters more than usual this year: Luxury is clawing out of a two-year slump, and major houses are betting on newly installed designers — Piccioli, Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and Silvana Armani at Armani Privé — to re-energize it.

Cate Blanchett opened the celebrity run at Armani Privé, while Pedro Pascal and Tilda Swinton sat front row at Chanel.

Bodies are covered, armored or erased

The first question was what couture could do to the figure: expose it, armor it, inflate it or make it disappear.

Silvana Armani, showing her second Armani Privé collection since her uncle Giorgio died last September, titled the show “Boudoir” but sidestepped the obvious.

Rather than join the sheer-everything trend, she played cover against reveal: embroidered teddies under tuxedo jackets, a bomber unzipping from the hem to expose a strip of midriff, animal prints muted until they read as texture.

At 57 looks — about half the founder’s usual count — it was the week’s most restrained take on skin. Blanchett signaled it on arrival, in a plunging velvet suit beside Lou Doillon, Rosamund Pike and Anna Wintour.

Daniel Roseberry pushed further at Schiaparelli at the Petit Palais under the title “The Call of the Void.”

He treated flesh as raw material: corsets molded into lifelike torsos, silicone gills up a bare back, a latex jacket rigged with inflating tentacles.

The techniques came from a workshop that makes lifelike silicone infants for films barred from using real newborns.

Models walked a runway where even the prettiest look, a prom dress beaded in putty-pink pearls, carried an edge of menace.

Piccioli and Iris van Herpen went furthest, erasing the body outright.

At Balenciaga, it meant 3D body scans to build new mannequins, leather and cashmere molded by hand, volume inflated until the wearer became pure outline, from balloon-hemmed gazar to a strapless gown carrying 24,150 shreds of gazar.

Van Herpen dissolved the figure into some 30,000 hand-blown glass beads on sheer tulle.

Fairy tales in a heat wave

The second fixation was make-believe. The shows unfolded against a Middle East conflict, jittery markets and the heat wave outside.

Elie Saab staged a masked ball, drawing on Truman Capote’s 1966 black-and-white bash and the old-Hollywood glamour of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

As luxury shoppers drift toward casual clothes, Saab pushed the other way with velvet corseted gowns, New Look waists, and tuxedos and capes cut for women as well as men, part of a menswear line the house is expanding.

Zuhair Murad took fantasy into a darker garden, with velvet roses, night larks, butterflies and feathered capes moving through deep green, burgundy and black.

Stéphane Rolland turned the mood to mourning.

He staged his show at the Olympia, the Paris hall where Dalida performed, and dressed the collection almost entirely in white in tribute to the singer nearly four decades after her death — satin macramé, ostrich feathers, agate and diamonds.

At Chanel, Blazy turned the Grand Palais into a fairy tale: beanstalks rising through the floor, heels shaped like pea pods and golden eggs.

At Dior, Anderson built a sculptural fantasy around American artist Lynda Benglis: crushed pleated hats, sheer tasseled fans and a wedding-gown finale trailing feathery fronds.

Hand versus machine

The third preoccupation was technology — and what survives of the handmade in an era when software can generate any image.

Schiaparelli made the case in the materials themselves: baked fish scales, pools of paint set into sheets and silicone shaped by hand, a collection that read as an argument for the made-by-hand against the machine-made.

Van Herpen went literal. She sent a dress through a particle accelerator, froze it and planned for the model to discharge lightning on the runway.

The charge escaped early, burning branching channels through the fabric before the show.

Balenciaga paired lab-grown Amsilk silk, which the house says is stronger than steel, with its all-human, white-coated bow to end the show.

By Thursday, the pattern was clear: couture in 2026 wanted the impossible — a body without a body, fantasy with commercial purpose, and machines that still bowed to the hand.

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco's announcement Thursday morning further escalated tensions with the United States, as Mexico's government has sharply criticized the treatment of its citizens under U.S. President Donald Trump's push to increase deportations.

The request, which carries no legal weight, will be submitted to state prosecutors’ offices and the U.S. Department of Justice, asking them to consider criminal charges against those responsible for the deaths.

It will be accompanied by civil lawsuits against the companies that operate the detention centers in an effort to put an end to human rights violations in those facilities, Velasco said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico decided to “move beyond diplomatic channels” and escalate its complaints after an ICE agent killed Mexican citizen Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston this week. Sheinbaum said the killing “is not only sad and regrettable, but also appears to have been targeted.”

“We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent” in the face of the deaths of Mexicans “whose only crime is working honestly in the United States,” Sheinbaum said.

Salgado Araujo had been living in the country for decades. He was transporting a work crew to a housing construction site when he was shot. His family demanded a thorough investigation into what happened.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, agents were pursuing him because he was living in the country without legal authorization. Salgado Araujo, the department added, was shot after disregarding orders and attempting to ram an agent, who fired his weapon in self-defense.

According to the Mexican government, 14 Mexicans have died while in ICE custody and 3 during ICE operations.

Until now, the Mexican government had supported the victims’ families, sent diplomatic notes to Washington demanding investigations, and raised the issue with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Sheinbaum earlier this year ordered consulates to regularly check in with ICE detainees, and her government even lodged a complaint with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mexico's latest request adds to an already strained relationship with the Trump administration. Sheinbaum has cracked down more fiercely than her predecessors on organized crime in the wake of mounting threats by Trump to take military action against cartels. She has also sought to keep an amicable relationship with her U.S. counterpart as the countries renegotiate the decades-old free trade agreement. At the same time, she's taken a strong stance on immigration enforcement and the rights of Mexican citizens in U.S. custody.

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

“It’s actually quite difficult to find out the root cause because unlike the bacteria that infect the gut, such as E. coli or salmonella, this is a parasite. So, it mutates quite quickly and it is very hard to trace back to the original source,” explained Neha Vyas, MD, family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Vyas said the parasite, officially known as Cyclospora, has previously been found in berries, bagged salad mix, pre-cut vegetables, and fresh herbs, such as basil and cilantro.

While anyone is at risk for getting sick, those who are immunocompromised are especially vulnerable.

It can take up to a week for symptoms to develop, which can include diarrhea, severe cramping, bloating, nausea and fatigue.

In severe cases, a person may need antibiotics.

However, most people can recover at home with plenty of rest and water.

“If your symptoms are not getting better, if you feel worse, if you’re unable to keep down any fluids, if you have severe abdominal pain, your fever doesn’t go away, or you’re vomiting, you should seek medical attention,” she advised.

Dr. Vyas said the best thing you can do for prevention is to thoroughly wash your fruits and vegetables under running water before eating.

You should also wash your hands before and after preparing any food.

Northeast Florida Counties with confirmed cases

Duval County

Duval County has one recorded case in a patient between the ages of 25-29. That case was acquired outside of the United States.

St. Johns County

St. Johns County now has two cases. One confirmed case involved a patient between the ages of 70 and 74, with the infection believed to have been acquired in Florida. Another involved a patient between the ages of 35 and 39, also believed to have been acquired in Florida.

Alachua County

Alachua County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 40 and 44. The source of acquisition for that case is unknown.

Columbia County

Columbia County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 40 and 44. That case was acquired outside of the United States.

Flagler County

Flagler County recorded one confirmed case in a patient between the ages of 60 and 69. That case was also acquired outside of the United States.

Judge has not played since May 31 and went on the injured list June 5 with a stress fracture of his right rib after a CT scan, an MRI and a meeting with a specialist.

“I don’t think we want to put him at risk of coming back while still injured,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters on Thursday. “He should be asymptomatic before we turn him loose. If he’s asymptomatic and not feeling anything and (medical images) are showing healing, then it’s probably appropriate to get him going again. But we don’t want to, because the schedule is what it is, put him in a position where we’re putting him in jeopardy where it somehow gets worse.”

The Yankees were 14-19 without Judge entering their series finale against the AL-East leading Tampa Bay Rays.

Cashman said the injury has restricted Judge’s ability to work out his upper body because he can’t put stress on his rib cage. The new images will give a better understanding of where he stands in his rehab process.

Cashman said slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hasn't played since April 24 because of a right calf injury, injured the calf again, setting back his return. Cashman said the injury was a new strain to the calf. Stanton has resumed running.

Infielder George Lombard Jr., the Yankees' top prospect, is hitting and throwing again after spraining two fingers on his left hand last month. He's expected to resume playing in the minors around the All-Star break.

Right-hander Carlos Lagrange, another top prospect, will not throw for six weeks after suffering a right capsule strain. The team was getting Lagrange ready for a relief role before the injury.

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

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.49% from 6.43% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.72%.

When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.

Mortgage rates have remained elevated after the average rate on a 30-year loan briefly dropped below 6% in February for the first time since late 2022. It then climbed in May to its highest level in nine months. The uptick in mortgage rates has weighed on home sales this year.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate increased to 5.82% from 5.79% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.86%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Expectations of hotter inflation amid higher crude oil prices have pushed up long-term bond yields relative to where they were before the war with Iran began in late February, causing mortgage rates to trend higher.

The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.55% at midday Thursday on the bond market, up from 4.49% a week ago. It was just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now back to where it was two weeks ago.

While average long-term mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year, uncertainty about their trajectory amid the war with Iran has kept many would-be homebuyers on the sideline.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes declined in the first three months of the year compared to a year earlier, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Through the first half of this year, seasonally adjusted sales of existing U.S. homes are up only 0.7% compared to the same period in 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Still, sales of existing U.S. homes continue to hover close to a 4-million annual pace, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million.

Co-owner Denny Rodriguez said he found out about the fire the way only a tight-knit community can deliver bad news — neighbors frantically calling him.

“I even had people go to my house. I live five minutes away from here,” Rodriguez said.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) crews responded to the structure fire just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Nobody was hurt, but JFRD says the State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause.

Rodriguez and his uncle, Gabriel Peralta, took over Dinsmore Meats nearly three years ago after relocating from New York. For them, the shop was more than a business.

“When you do good, you give people at least love and respect, that’s what you get back at the end of the day,” Rodriguez said.

For neighbors like Kevin Lumpkins, the loss is deeply personal.

“I’m 28. My mom is almost 50 years old. We’ve been coming here our whole lives. This store is a part of Jacksonville’s history, and it’s been here forever,” Lumpkins said.

He lives directly across the street and watched the fire break out from his bedroom window.

“I look out and all I see is fire that’s like high as the trees here,” Lumpkins said.

Lumpkins was one of several neighbors who stopped by to console the owners, mentioning how much the community is supporting them through this difficult time.

“Great people, just plain and simple,” he said.

Despite the devastation, Rodriguez said the outpouring of support from neighbors is what’s keeping him going.

“The only thing that has my head up right now are these people. They went over, they called me,” Rodriguez said. “I know if somebody could’ve tried to stop it, they would’ve stopped it.”

If you would like to donate to the store’s recovery efforts, you can contribute to the GoFundMe found here.

“I found that in the previous iteration of the shell, I was having to wear protective earplugs quite a lot,” the cellist said. “There was a desire to make the stage clearer and a bit softer for us.”

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's summer home, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the city, starts its season Saturday night with chief conductor Marin Alsop leading a program with pianist Yunchan Lim and flutist Lizzo. A crowd of up to 12,758 can fill the pavilion and lawn in Highland Park, Illinois.

Venue has hosted music for more than a century

Ravinia opened in 1904 and its first pavilion was built the following year. That one burned down in 1949 and was replaced the following year by a structure used through 2024 with only modest modifications.

A geometric Arts and Crafts style pattern found in the windows of the Martin Theatre, which dates to Ravinia’s opening, inspired the design of the stage ceiling and walls made of rigid foam clad with 3M vinyl. Threshold Acoustics consulted with Taylor and flute and piccolo player Jennifer Gunn.

“The 1950 pavilion is iconic, particularly the roof line,” Ravinia president Jeffrey Haydon said. “And so we want to have audiences return to the renovated pavilion feeling like it’s the new model version of the classic pavilion that they love.”

A total of 335,500 tickets for all events were sold for the 2025 season and 94 programs are scheduled for this summer.

The pavilion's capacity was lowered from 3,350 to 2,840 as wider seats were installed and made compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. LED lights have lowered the stage temperature, and nine ventilation fans were installed to push hot air through the ceiling.

Alsop also hoped for a cooler sound.

“The amplitude — is that the right word? — of sound on stage can get very, very hot. It’s really loud sometimes and it’s especially loud in the area of the brass,” she said. “One of the big acoustical improvements that I hope they’ve addressed is trying to spread out that.”

Alsop first conducted at Ravinia in 2002 and became chief conductor in 2020. At the first rehearsal Wednesday, she led Mahler's Sixth Symphony, a work the CSO will perform on July 23. Acoustical panels over the stage were folded up midway through the practice session, softening the brass. Overall sounds were more diffused than before, when there were hot and cold spots.

“Ravinia Festival offers their patrons many different kinds of performances from classical music to big rock bands, recitals, occasionally movie nights with the orchestra playing along,” said Michael Barnes of Lohan Architecture, the design architect for the pavilion renovation. “The stage has to be very flexible in terms of how it is configured for those different kinds of performances. So the stage walls, some of them move.”

Outdoor venues have a more relaxed atmosphere

Haydon, who became Ravinia's president in 2020, planned the reconstruction with ideas he learned from previous outdoor venues where he worked, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Ojai Music Festival and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. A women's locker room was built for the orchestra along with piano storage, practice rooms, offices and a new music library.

“We actually dug underground,” he said. “We expanded underneath the audience area, and we also dug out the crawl space of the adjoining administrative building to grab more space.”

A private concert was scheduled for this Friday for an audience of construction workers, the design team, elected officials, donors and staff of the festival and the CSO.

Ensconced in auditoriums for much of the year, orchestras experience a different vibe when they head outdoors for the summer.

“It’s more family oriented,” Alsop said. “People come with their picnics and a lot of the musicians bring their families with them to picnic. So I think it’s a much more relaxed and receptive attitude.”

On the day nominations opened in the election to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Burnham secured the support of 322 of the 403 Labour members of Parliament, far exceeding the 81 needed to run.

That makes it almost impossible for another legislator to get enough support to challenge him, a prospect that was already unlikely.

Burnham said on social media that he was “deeply grateful” for the support of Labour MPs, which “reflects a shared belief that Britain needs a new approach to politics.”

Throughout the day, lawmakers trudged up a narrow staircase to a Labour office in the Parliament building to sign nomination papers for Burnham, who has gone from being mayor of Greater Manchester to leader-in-waiting in the space of a few weeks.

“It's all starting to feel very real,” Burnham said in a social media video, confirming that he had nominated himself.

Nominations remain open until July 16. Burnham is highly likely to be announced as Labour's new leader the following day, and become prime minister after a meeting with King Charles III on July 20.

Britain's parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national election does not have to be held until 2029.

Other potential contenders have all ruled themselves out. Former Defense Minister Al Carns, who had been considering a run, confirmed late Wednesday that he will not challenge Burnham.

“I’d hoped a leadership contest would give us the opportunity for a proper debate,” Carns said in a statement. “But months of internal Labour politics isn’t what the country needs right now. We’ve got to get on with the job. Andy Burnham’s earned this and he’s got my full backing.”

Starmer announced last month that he would resign as soon as his center-left party chose a successor. He was elected in a landslide in July 2024, but quit after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham spent almost a decade running Greater Manchester, in northwest England, before returning to Parliament by winning a special election last month.

He’s promising sweeping change, vowing to reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure.

But he will face many of the same political and economic challenges as Starmer, including a sluggish economy, overstretched health care and welfare systems and a cost-of-living squeeze.

He also promised continuity in foreign policy, and that the government’s “commitment to NATO and the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent will remain absolute.” Writing in The Times of London on Thursday, he said Britain will remain a firm ally of the United States and a strong supporter of Ukraine.

But in an implicit criticism of Starmer, Burnham later said Labour “didn’t get it right” at the start of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. In a video message, Burnham condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants, who killed around 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

Burnham also said the British government had been “too slow to call for a ceasefire” in the conflict that has left 73,110 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. The ministry is staffed by medical professionals who maintain detailed records viewed as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.

He said the U.K. would consider “further sanctions, both on those involved in the violence in Gaza, but also looking at measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements.”

Dozens of Santas, Mrs. Clauses and elves from around the world have descended on Denmark's fourth-largest city for the Nordic nation’s annual World Santa Claus Congress, a colorful midsummer tradition for decades.

First staged at an amusement park near Copenhagen in 1957, the congress moved to Aalborg on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula two years ago. This year, the Santa suits looked a little stifling under the Danish summer sun.

The event, which marks its 70th anniversary next year, was created to entertain children, but became a popular gathering for Santas who appear in stores and shopping malls during the Yuletide season.

The gathering offers a chance for professional Santas — not the real one, of course! — to swap stories, compare beards, sharpen their craft and compete in lighthearted contests months before anyone checks naughty-or-nice lists for the Christmas rush.

The packed agenda features events like gingerbread eating, gift wrapping, balloon modeling, and several noisy parades.

“The grandmas say: ‘Oh, it’s too early to come here’," said organizer Peter Gislund, himself a Santa Claus in Aalborg during the Christmas season. “The kids say: 'Hooray! Santa’s here already'.”

Christmas as a state of mind, not just a season

Over the years, the annual four-day gathering has attracted Santas and Mrs. Clauses from as far away as Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States.

Most of the three dozen or so Santas and Mrs. Clauses at the congress this week hail from Scandinavia, but some flew in — like Paradise Yamamoto from Tokyo.

“This is very fun, so many children … Ho, ho, ho!” said Yamamoto with a laugh after parading through Aalborg waving a Japanese flag and dancing to the song "Feliz Navidad” — one of many Christmas classics played during the event.

Robert Hercz, a 64-year-old Norwegian Santa from Oslo, said that despite their different nationalities, all Santas on hand share “a gene” — for generosity and spreading joy.

“You have it or you don’t,” said Hercz, who was attending the congress for the first time. “We have the true Santa spirit. And it’s all about giving, sharing, and putting a little bit of joy in people’s hearts.”

It’s not all ho-ho-ing and belly rubs.

“When Santas are together, they always mingle and talk a little bit,” said Gislund. “Maybe I put a little bit of sparkle in the beard and so on. That’s the good part of meeting some Santas from all over the world.”

For Simon Brøns, a 33-year-old Danish Santa, the event is proof that the festive spirit isn’t just for Christmas.

“Christmas is not a season. It’s a feeling you have in your stomach," he said with a smile. "So if you want, you can have Christmas the whole year.”

The newspapers allege the ChatGPT maker is hiding evidence important to what could be a landmark copyright infringement trial over how OpenAI and its business partner, Microsoft, built their AI technologies using millions of news articles. At issue is whether AI chatbots are unfairly competing as an information source, siphoning off web traffic without doing the journalistic work involved in gathering the news.

A filing Thursday in a Manhattan federal courthouse alleges OpenAI “chose obstruction” over releasing datasets and ChatGPT logs that could show how the AI system used copyrighted news content. The plaintiffs are asking the judge to penalize the company for "discovery misconduct” that could distort evidence, saying the recent deposition of an OpenAI employee contradicts the company's earlier claims.

New York Daily News attorney Steven Lieberman said OpenAI has been "making misrepresentations" for two years about its ability to search for copyrighted content in its AI training datasets and logs.

“This motion asks the court to punish OpenAI for hiding and destroying evidence showing how ChatGPT was trained on stolen journalism,” said Lieberman, who represents the Daily News and seven of its sister papers.

OpenAI has described its limitations in sharing ChatGPT logs as a measure to protect user privacy.

“As the Times’ case weakens and they’ve been forced to drop claims against us, they’re persisting with their efforts to invade the privacy of people who have nothing to do with this case, including by making these blatantly false allegations,” said a statement Thursday from OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri. "We’ll continue defending our users’ privacy and the long-established principles of fair use.”

The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023, about a year after ChatGPT's debut sparked a commercial AI boom and began changing the way people search for information online. The threat to news publications became even more apparent when Google in 2024 introduced AI-generated summaries at the top of online search results, cutting off the advertising dollars that come when people click a link to the information's original source.

The Times has since been joined by other news organizations, including MediaNews Group-owned newspapers the Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, digital media publisher Ziff Davis and the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.

OpenAI and other tech companies have argued the process of training their AI systems on digitized books, online articles and other writings found on the internet is protected by the “fair use” doctrine of U.S. copyright law. It's a theory being tested in dozens of lawsuits as visual artists, novelists, music record labels and other creative industries take AI companies to court, with mixed results.

In the case involving the biggest copyright settlement so far, OpenAI rival Anthropic agreed to pay book authors $1.5 billion for training its chatbot Claude on their pirated works — an amount that represents a small fraction of Anthropic's $965 billion market valuation as it prepares to become publicly traded.

The New York Times' arguments are different from those brought by book authors. In its original lawsuit and an amended complaint filed last month, it focused on the unfair competition of companies that “seek to free-ride on The Times’s massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment.”

The Times has already spent more than $28 million on fighting AI companies in court, according to filings with financial regulators that disclose its litigation costs. The costs include another lawsuit the newspaper filed last year against AI company Perplexity. Among the sanctions sought by the newspapers Thursday are attorney fees that would pay for the efforts to secure “improperly withheld” evidence.

The mounting costs come as a growing number of media organizations have signed licensing deals with OpenAI and other AI companies such as Google and Facebook parent Meta that typically pay the outlet a fee to be able to train AI systems on their news feeds or archives. The Associated Press was the first to announce such a deal with OpenAI in 2023.

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O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

The incident happened at an airstrip located at 5353 Air Park Loop W.

The plane can be seen upside down.

Sheriff Michelle Cook said deputies responded to a call about a potentially armed person and found the vehicle backed into a roadway and a person sitting inside. As a deputy approached, the person displayed a weapon and the deputy retreated, Cook said. A perimeter was then established.

SWAT and negotiator teams were at the scene attempting to persuade the person to surrender peacefully, the sheriff’s office said.

Oakleaf Baptist Church was placed on lockdown and people inside — including a small number of children at an on-site daycare — were sheltering in place while deputies remain on site and families were notified.

Officials said only a few people were asked to leave the immediate area and there were no widespread evacuations.

Oakleaf Plantation Parkway is closed between Ivory Crossing and Eagle Landing Parkway because of the police activity; drivers are asked to avoid the area.

“We are going to bring this to a successful resolution,” Cook, and asked residents to avoid the area and to follow deputies’ instructions if contacted.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

United said the new stadium would be situated around 350 meters northwest of its existing Old Trafford stadium.

As part of a wider stadium district, the Premier League club said the entire project would create 48,000 local jobs, 15,000 new homes and potentially generate 7.3 billion pounds ($9.8 billion) a year for the UK economy.

“Together with our partners, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a destination that creates lasting benefits for supporters, local communities and the wider region for decades to come,” Collette Roche, CEO of United’s new stadium development, said. “We are committed to building a world-class stadium with our supporters, not simply for them.”

United's part owner Jim Ratcliffe has made it a mission to deliver the “world’s greatest” soccer stadium.

When plans were first unveiled last year it was estimated it would cost around 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) to build a stadium to surpass Wembley as the biggest in the United Kingdom, with completion in time for the 2030-31 season.

Initial stadium drawings included a structure with three spires. The final design has not been determined.

Wembley is currently the biggest stadium in the U.K., with a capacity of 90,000, and is home to England’s national soccer teams.

Old Trafford is the country’s biggest dedicated soccer stadium with a capacity of just over 74,000, but is dated in comparison to the likes of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, which regularly hosts NFL games.

Old Trafford, which was bombed during World War II, has been home to United since 1910.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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

A top Ukrainian official, meanwhile, cautioned that it could take a year or more for the country to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.

The Kremlin said the license deal reflected what it called Washington's “ambivalence” but noted it appreciated Trump’s efforts to help broker a peace deal to end the war, which Russia launched over four years ago.

Ukraine's drone strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure across Russia have triggered a widespread fuel crisis with gasoline shortages and rationing in multiple regions and motorists waiting for hours to fill their tanks. Moscow has responded by intensifying its bombardment on Kyiv and other cities, exposing Ukraine's vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the latest strikes on Russia's infrastructure as part of Kyiv’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” carried out in response to Moscow's refusal to halt the fighting.

“We have long proposed that Russia end this war, and every day of delay should bring the feeling of war to where it all began — to Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine hits oil depots in western Russia and tankers at sea

A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in the western Russian city of Tver, according to acting Gov. Vitaly Korolyov. Oil reservoirs also were set ablaze by drones in Vyazniki, in the southern Stavropol region, said Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov, forcing the evacuation of nearby apartment buildings.

In the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian drones set two oil tankers on fire, according to Rostov Gov. Yuri Slusar, who said one of the ships was still burning and its crew evacuated.

It was the latest in a series of strikes on oil tankers in recent days, part of Ukrainian efforts to cut fuel supplies to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

In addition to the Stavropol and Tver facilities, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces hit fuel infrastructure deep inside Russia, including one in Ufa, as well as an oil-loading terminal in the Rostov region closer to Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its defenses downed 73 Ukrainian drones from late Wednesday into early Thursday.

Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 94 long-range strike drones and two ballistic missiles. While 72 drones were jammed or intercepted, 19 drones and both missiles damaged 13 locations, it said.

Ukraine says its Patriot production will take months

During Wednesday’s meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said the U.S. will meet a longstanding request from Ukraine and give it a license to make the Patriot air defense systems. He also praised Zelenskyy for doing "an amazing job” — a sharp change in tone from past criticisms of the Ukrainian leader.

But setting up domestic production of the mobile, surface-to-air systems will take many months, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister.

A production license would typically come with technical process documentation, training for specialists, supplier contacts and foreign consultants to help launch manufacturing, Beskrestnov wrote on his Telegram channel.

The main obstacle would be time, rather than Ukraine’s technical or organizational capacity, he added.

Recent media reports pointed to two likely bottlenecks: the long production cycle for some subcontracted components, which could take 12 to 24 months, and limited global output of key parts, including components from Boeing and L3Harris, Beskrestnov added.

The Pentagon had signed contracts to expand production capacity, he said, but added that the timeline for those contracts to translate into increased output remained unclear.

“America has recognized Ukraine as a country that is ready to do this,” Zelenskyy said Thursday, answering reporters' questions on WhatsApp. "Now, after our agreement with the president, our teams, our diplomats, the foreign ministries and defense ministries need to agree on all the remaining technical details. The sooner we reach those agreements, the sooner we will be able to produce Patriots.”

Germany also has a license to produce Patriot systems, and in 2022, Raytheon and MBDA Deutschland announced they planned to manufacture Patriot GEM-T missiles in the country, according to a news release at the time. The goal was to produce them in a German facility and ultimately provide them to other European allies.

The facility is expected to open in September with its first missiles scheduled to be delivered next year, with Ukraine as the first recipient, according to Defense Express, an online Ukrainian military-oriented publication.

The Kremlin says Ukrainian strikes won't hasten peace

Commenting on Trump’s statement about the Patriot licenses, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered a vague response, saying Moscow is aware of the U.S. military support for Ukraine but appreciates Washington’s declared commitment to help achieve peace.

“The U.S. position is somewhat ambivalent,” Peskov said in a call with reporters. “Still, unlike the Europeans, the United States maintains a desire to facilitate a move toward a peace process. They may be misguided or mistaken at times, but we see that desire as sincere. We welcome it, and we hope that once the Americans manage to resolve the situation regarding Iran despite the significant complications involved their efforts on the Ukrainian track will resume.”

Asked about Trump’s comment that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia could hasten a peace settlement, Peskov reaffirmed that the more strikes Kyiv launches, the broader “security zone” Moscow will seek to carve out in Ukraine via what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation.”

“It’s a mistake to think that escalation and military pressure could pave the way to a peaceful settlement,” he said. “Further escalation may prolong the special military operation, we can’t say precisely to what extent, but it will force us to create a larger security zone, a larger buffer zone.”

Ukraine has urged the U.S. and other allies to provide binding security guarantees as part of any prospective peace deal, including the deployment of NATO forces. Russia has strongly warned against the presence of any NATO troops in Ukraine, saying it would view them as legitimate targets.

Asked Wednesday if he would be ready to enact a no-fly zone over Ukraine as part of security guarantees, Trump responded by saying “if it’s necessary, yeah,” but he argued it might not be needed if a peace deal is reached.

“When we have a deal, we’re going to have a deal, security guarantee or no security guarantee,” Trump said as he sat next to Zelenskyy.

Commenting on the issue, Peskov warned that an attempt to establish a no-fly zone would amount to “NATO military forces being active on the territory of Ukraine -- exactly what the special military operation is being waged against.”

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin is “open to dialogue” and ready for another phone call with Trump.

That absence fueled a final season for the books for the Ponte Vedra senior midfielder and Varsity 4 All-News4JAX boys lacrosse player of the year. Vu squeezed every bit of joy he could from a sensational final season, capped by a starring role in just the second boys championship ever for an area team. Vu loved lacrosse before this year but felt far more pull for it after spending a year away from it.

A torn knee ligament before his junior season ended Vu’s year before it even began. It was the first significant injury of his varsity career, and Vu was devastated. The worst part about the injury was feeling like a bystander and not being able to contribute.

“Just normal coming off a pick, made contact with my buddy Carson and just felt my knee pop,” Vu said. “Ten months of recovery.”

Vu had to watch from the sidelines as the Sharks reached the state championship game. Vu said head coach Chris Polanski allowed him to stay involved, letting him run segments of drills in practice. As much as that allowed Vu to be around the team, not being on the field and in action was the worst lacrosse experience of his life.

“It was very hard to sit on the sideline. And as much as I was trying to help in the box … it felt like I couldn’t help on the field,” he said. “So being able to actually contribute to the team on the field and make a difference with the ball in my hand, it meant a lot. It meant a lot, especially after coming off that injury.”

Off to the side, Vu was determined to return and make up for lost time. He spent time during his injured season shooting at goalies Charlie Nolan and Jackson Hume, picking his spots and working on his placement.

“When you sit there and all you can do is just stick tricks and shoot on your goalies, it was good training,” he said.

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX boys lacrosse top players

Once Vu returned to action, he was elite.

The velocity on Vu’s shots from sophomore season to his senior year was turned up to another level. He cut sharper and passed quicker. Vu racked up 61 goals against elite state and national competition, the biggest coming against Winter Park in the state semifinals. Vu had the winner in a 6-5 slugfest. One game later, the Sharks clipped St. Thomas Aquinas 9-8 for just the second state championship in area boys lacrosse history.

“It’s a feeling I’ve never felt before. To actually make it there, it truly felt surreal,” Vu said. “It felt like a dream. But then as we, when that final clock rang, when the game was over, it was like, we just won. Like it was unbelievable. I don’t know, but there’s no words I can describe to be honest. I felt like I was going to throw up. I’m at a loss for words right now because of how special that moment was.”

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX boys lacrosse team

Player, school, class, notable

Robert Adams, Episcopal, Sr.

Attacker is a two-time All-News4JAX selection. Had 38 goals and eight assists in his final season for 12-5 Eagles. Scored 108 goals over final two seasons.

Austin Azotea, Nease, Jr.

Mentioned by three coaches as best goalie in the area and could come out of the net and contribute on defense, too. Helped Panthers go 13-5, with only local losses coming to Bolles and Ponte Vedra. Committed to Florida Tech.

William Barakat, Bolles, Sr.

Defender and LSM is headed to Sewanee after helping Bulldogs post 23-1 season.

Greer Boree, Bolles, Sr.

Foundational player for the 23-1 Bulldogs. The FOGO set a state record for career face-off wins (1,298). Added eight goals in final season. Two-time All-News4JAX selection. Headed to Yale.

JP Dolan, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Mid is in the conversation as the area’s best player. Had 42 goals, 21 assists in helping push to elite status outside of Florida. Two-time All-News4JAX selection.

Sean Doyle, Bolles, Sr.

USA Lacrosse Academic All-American mid had 21 goals and 11 assists in final season for final four Bulldogs. Scored 34 goals in past two seasons.

Carson Gunnell, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

LSM had a goal in his final season. Forced 57 groundballs for Class 2A state champs.

Preston Hager, Bolles, So.

Attacker was leading scorer for the final four Bulldogs. Had 54 goals and 10 assists. Up to 92 career goals.

Hudson Hauseman, Ponte Vedra, So.

Attacking underclassmen had 35 goals and 23 assists for Class 2A state champions.

Charlie Nolan, Ponte Vedra, Jr.

Made 90 saves and had 54% save percentage for Committed to Salisbury University.

Matthias Schulz, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Attacker had 44 goals, 22. assists against elite schedule packed with heavyweight teams.

Tate Smith, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Stout defensive player and Jacksonville University signee. Forced 49 groundballs and had five assists for state champion Sharks.

Baylor Vu, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Varsity 4 All-News4JAX player of the year. Elite final season included 61 goals and 14 assists to lead Sharks to 21-2 mark and Class 2A state championship.

Cam Zielinski, Bolles, Sr.

Defender and LSM is headed to Embry-Riddle. Had career-best 17 goals and six assists. On defense, forced 72 ground balls.

Honorable mention

Player, school, class

Barrett Brown, Bolles, So.

Myles Buckley, Ponte Vedra, Jr.

Aiden Commendatore, Flagler Palm Coast, Sr.

Bennett Cornelison, Menendez, Sr.

Max Coulter, Bolles, Jr.

Brody Gotham, Nease, Sr.

Luke Greco, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Mason Gridley, Creekside, Jr.

Liam Hladun, Bartram Trail, Jr.

Jaden Jablonski, Providence, Sr.

Jude Kobrin, Episcopal, Sr.

Will Larkin, Fleming Island, Sr.

Gunner Lee, Creekside, So.

Caden Lopez, Fleming Island, Jr.

Will Martell, Bolles, Sr.

Cooper Matson, Bolles, Sr.

Jake McAlister, Fletcher, Sr.

Ben McGuire, Menendez, Sr.

Connor Murkerson, Fleming Island, Sr.

Wilder Naughton, St. Augustine, So.

Sam Ogletree, Episcopal, Sr.

Roman Penland, Episcopal, Sr.

Nolan Preston, Bolles, Jr.

Rylan Provenzo, Bartram Trail, Jr.

Carter Schultz, Nease, Sr.

Braydon Scott, Creekside, Jr.

Brayden Sims, Menendez, Jr.

Dominik Szuksztul, Creekside, Sr.

Bennett Speeg, Fletcher, Fr.

Bryden Speeg, Fletcher, Sr.

Carson Stoudt, Ponte Vedra, Sr.

Ty Teschner, Bolles, Sr.

Tucker Thompson, Episcopal, Sr.

Matthew Weidle, Fletcher, Sr.

Teddy Wingard, Episcopal, Sr.

Pulisic has a bone bruise and a microfracture of his tibia and fibula, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Thursday. The diagnosis was made after an X-ray and MRI on Tuesday.

He would not have been able to play during the remainder of the tournament had the U.S. advanced.

Pulisic is expected to resume training before AC Milan's Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23.

Pulisic hit a leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot in the 52nd minute of Monday's 4-1 round-of-16 loss at Seattle. He remained in the game but was hobbling and Sebastian Berhalter replaced him in the 59th minute.

Pulisic failed to score in the World Cup, missing one of the Americans' five matches because of a calf injury and leaving two other games early. He has 30 goals in 90 international appearances.

Pulisic, who turns 28 in September, is entering his fourth season with Milan.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Premium cabins have become airlines’ most valuable real estate

The premium playbook didn’t emerge overnight.

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

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

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

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

Premium demand is now a fixture of investor calls, with airline executives regularly touting premium revenue as they compete for higher-spending travelers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

American has partnered with the James Beard Foundation to refresh its lounge menus. For long-haul international flights, the airline redesigned its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners around business-class compartments featuring sliding privacy doors, lie-flat seats longer than a standard twin mattress and amenity kits that can include a celebrity facialist’s brand of sheet masks and under-eye patches.

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

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

Air travel is getting more stratified as fuel costs increase fares

As airlines look for more ways to make money from premium cabins, their push to attract higher-paying passengers shows no loss of momentum. On board Delta’s next-generation Airbus A350-1000 aircraft arriving in 2027, nearly half the cabin will be devoted to premium seating. American has said it plans to expand premium cabins by 50% by the end of the decade.

That push is also changing how airlines sell those seats. Delta announced Wednesday new “basic” fares for its premium cabins that offer a lower-priced way into the front of a plane but require travelers to forgo perks like seat selection and lounge access. United rolled out similar tiered fares in its premium cabins earlier this year.

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

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

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

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

Add-on costs fall heaviest on economy travelers, McGee said. For wealthier travelers, those fees may amount to little more than an inconvenience. For others, they can determine whether a trip happens at all.

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

Speaking in Yulee alongside Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly and local officials, DeSantis said the state will direct $6.25 million from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to Nassau County to build a new roadway network and industrial park near the U.S. 301–Interstate 10 interchange, along U.S. 90 and the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad mainline. The site is envisioned as a logistics and manufacturing hub and is expected to create about 1,250 direct jobs, with local officials projecting room for up to 6.3 million square feet of industrial and commercial space and more than 2,300 jobs over time.

DeSantis also announced a $3 million award to the Bradford County School District to construct a new commercial driver’s license training facility operated through North Florida Technical College. The project is designed to mirror an existing CDL program at nearby Camp Blanding and would allow enrollment to double to about 60 students per year as the state tries to replenish an aging truck driver workforce.

“The logistics is very important. We’re a big logistics state,” DeSantis said, noting that entry-level long-haul drivers can earn six-figure salaries. He said expanding CDL training has been a priority of his administration and argued that Florida is now among the top states for producing new commercial drivers.

Watch the entire news conference below:

The governor cast the awards as part of a broader strategy to elevate workforce education and attract industry without relying solely on traditional four-year degrees. He touted Florida’s designation as No. 1 in the nation for workforce education several years ahead of a 2030 goal he set when he took office, and criticized what he described as “worthless degrees” from expensive universities that leave graduates in debt.

“We want people to know there’s other pathways where you can be successful — and really seriously successful,” DeSantis said, pointing to trades such as air-conditioning repair, electrical work and aviation maintenance that can lead to high-wage jobs or small business ownership.

Since 2019, Florida has awarded nearly $330 million through the Job Growth Grant Fund, which DeSantis said has helped facilitate about 43,000 jobs and 33,000 new workforce training slots statewide. Kelly said roughly 430,000 Floridians work directly in manufacturing and support an additional 2.8 million jobs tied to shipping, logistics, sales and marketing of goods made in the state.

Local officials in Nassau County said the new four-lane roadway and related improvements at U.S. 90 will provide the infrastructure foundation for long-term growth near the rural interchange.

“This project represents a strong partnership between public and private sectors,” a Nassau County representative said, calling the announcement “monumental” and saying the new jobs will provide “meaningful career paths for our residents.”

DeSantis said the state will also amend the North Florida Rural Area of Opportunity designation to add Nassau County, a status that Kelly said gives rural communities access to expedited permitting and flexibility on local matching requirements for grants. About 30 rural counties and several small cities benefit from the designation, which Kelly said is worth “tens of millions of dollars annually” in value for each participating area.

DeSantis, who frequently highlights population and business migration to Florida, said rural awards often deliver more visible impact than similar spending in large metro areas, arguing that “the money goes farther” and is more deeply appreciated in small communities.

Noting that some relocating firms primarily import high-paid workers rather than hiring locally, DeSantis said the state seeks projects that build a workforce pipeline and create jobs for residents in communities like Nassau and Bradford counties.

“We don’t run these businesses as state government,” he said. “But [our role is] to create the necessary infrastructure so that these things can come to fruition.”

DeSantis closed by promising to return to the region to announce a hoped-for expansion of the Atlantic red snapper recreational fishing season, echoing his frequent focus on fishing and tourism in Northeast Florida, where he praised Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island as examples of the area’s appeal.

“We’ve got more that we’ll be doing throughout the rest of the year to really bring it full circle,” he said.

Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs.

A new bipartisan nonprofit hopes to ensure that America can realize the economic gains promised by AI without its workers suffering.

RAISE US is starting with more than $500 million to deploy on new forms of education and training, putting a focus on partnering with states and major employers rather than the federal government.

Founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, the group aims to pilot programs and incentives to help American workers pivot to new careers in an economy that will increasingly be automated by artificial intelligence.

“We’re talking about a certain level of unemployment that could destabilize our country and our democracy,” Raimondo said in an interview. “If you want to lead the world in AI, you have to take action to make sure our democracy doesn’t crumble.”

The programs will first start in Arkansas, Maryland, Utah and Connecticut

The nonprofit is initially partnering with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, along with several of America’s largest companies and charitable organizations. The group intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, so that layoffs can be replaced by the potential for new jobs with higher incomes. They also are exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives with the goal of keeping people working.

“Good things tend to happen when you convert have-nots into haves,” Holcomb said.

Among the companies serving as anchor partners with RAISE US are Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation and Bank of America. Other employers involved in the project include UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, chipmaker AMD, Cisco and IBM.

Raimondo, the former Democratic governor of Rhode Island who played a formative role in setting AI policy as the Biden administration’s commerce secretary, will be the nonprofit’s CEO.

The advisory board includes former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, billionaire investment manager Stephen Schwarzman, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and the economists David Autor, Erik Brynjolfsson and Raj Chetty.

AI has the potential to displace human workers from factories to offices

An April analysis by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that roughly half of U.S. jobs will be reshaped by AI over the next few years. The analysis said that as many as 25 million jobs could be eliminated in the U.S. over the next five years. Goldman Sachs, in March, separately released an estimate that a quarter of U.S. work hours could be automated by AI.

More than just a glorified search engine or a generator of video clips and novelty images, AI could fill roads with driverless trucks, create factories staffed by robots and supplant office workers, lawyers and doctors.

President Donald Trump has expressed little anxiety about the possibility of AI displacing human workers.

Asked on Tuesday ahead of touring a Mack Trucks factory in Pennsylvania if AI could cause truckers to lose their jobs, Trump told a reporter, “Right now, they’re not.”

The president has been banking on the buildout of AI data centers and power plants to drive hiring and overall economic growth. While AI-related investments have helped the economy, manufacturing has shed 68,000 jobs and the trucking transportation sector has cut 28,300 jobs since the start of Trump’s second term, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We have, right now, so many jobs that are going to be available and the biggest problem we have is getting the people,” Trump said. “So we’re really doing spectacular.”

Experts say education systems and labor policies aren’t built for an AI economy

AI experts have warned of gaps between the transformations that AI could create and a 20th century social safety net of unemployment insurance and four-year college that seems ill-prepared for the scope, scale and speed of the change.

“AI is now disrupting multiple sectors simultaneously, faster than any institution can respond,” said Vivienne Ming, a neuroscientist who has written the book, “Robot-Proof: When Machines Have all the Answers, Build Better People.”

Ming said that she agrees with an argument by economists that the wealth generated by AI could create demand for more workers that could offset any job losses. But she said the skills that matter in an AI economy go beyond professions such as plumbing or construction and involve curiosity and intellectual flexibility.

“Neither our education system nor our labor policies are building the foundational human capital that AI-era work actually requires,” she said.

Raimondo said the new nonprofit wants to use states as a vehicle for testing ideas that Congress can later embrace as policies, paving the way for the possibility of more profound changes to both the tax code and the educational system.

“I don’t have a lot of hope for bold action by Congress in the next few years on this issue, and I don’t think we can wait a few years,” she said. “I also think there are many examples in history that when the federal government does take action, they will look around at what has been working in states. I feel pretty confident that they will look at the work that we’ve done.”

You’ve sent resume, after resume, after resume. Gone on interview, after interview, after interview, yet the job offer remains elusive.

“So, you have the hard skill sets, obviously the skills that you go to school for and everything else, but those other needs of communication, a lot of that has been lost recently,” said Michael Forster, President & COO of Visium Resources.

Communication skills that are used in office settings are in high demand.

“Having strong communication skills can set yourself apart from all of the other candidates that are looking for work,” said Forster.

Hiring managers are also looking for soft skills like project management, conflict mitigation, public speaking, and customer service.

“There’s a lot of opportunities available now that weren’t available in the past,” said Forster

Websites like Coursera, edX, and even LinkedIn Learning have free audit options or affordable individual courses that can lead to valuable microcredentials.

Organizations like the National Education Association even offer free microcredentials to members, and low-cost options for non-members, often focusing on professional growth.

Now, many Gen Zers wonder, Do you still need a four-year degree? Yes!

“It’s more of what, of the dedication to have a goal and to get through that whole four-year career,” explained Forster.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that college grads make, on average, almost $600 more per week. But times are changing, and skilled laborers are beginning to close that gap.

AI skills are also in high demand right now. Since AI is still new, any experience is better than none.

However, Forster warns about using AI as a crutch instead of a tool, so don’t replace all of your skills with it.

And by the way, make sure you add your microcredentials to your resume. List the name of the microcredential, the issuing organization, and the date of completion under a “professional development” or “certifications and training” section.

If you have a digital badge, consider linking to it in a digital resume.

Click here for more Addressing A4dability coverage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

During a news conference at Titusville High School, DeSantis said Florida was ranked No. 1 in the country in workforce education — a goal that was achieved five years ahead of schedule.

“We had a very ambitious goal. We recognized that Florida was lagging in workforce education,” DeSantis said. “We were in the bottom half states at the time, and we would set a goal to make Florida number one in America in workforce education by the year 2030.”

DeSantis said Florida has ranked No. 1 in talent attraction for three consecutive years, No. 1 in public higher education for nine consecutive years, and has earned several other top national rankings in education-related categories.

DeSantis said the state has committed more than $12 billion in workforce education, including apprenticeship programs.

“This allows our students to actually get on the job, training and learn,” DeSantis said.

Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released.

Johnson and his late wife and high school sweetheart, Joan, started Johnson Products Company in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.

People who remember Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen in their heyday also remember the brands’ marketing campaigns and their association with the “Black is Beautiful” movement, which promoted cultural and racial pride among Black people. The iconic 1970s commercials, which featured variations of the “Watu Wazuri” (“Beautiful People”) jingle, have enjoyed a resurgence on social media in recent years.

The commercials aired primarily during the hit music-and-dance television show “Soul Train," which his company was a national sponsor of and once owned.

“It was just a wonderful opportunity for Don Cornelius to be able to go national. He wouldn’t have been able to do that without George Johnson’s partnership,” said John W. Rogers, the founder of Chicago-based Ariel Investments who was a mentee of Johnson. “And so, to see it work out for everyone and for our community all together was part of his genius.”

A legacy worth celebrating

During its annual gala in November, the Chicago Urban League celebrated Johnson as the Edwin C. “Bill” Berry Civil Rights Award honoree, named for the League’s iconic leader. Berry joined Johnson Products when he left the organization, according to Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. She said the honor was a full-circle moment for Johnson, who was a longtime board member.

"Just 12 or 14 days ago, he was standing with Barack Obama in the presidential library, dedicating a room for he and my mother," Eric George Johnson, the eldest of Johnson's four children, told The Associated Press. “It's a wonderful life to celebrate.”

Johnson's trajectory started from humble beginnings.

He was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi. Johnson’s mother, Priscilla Dean Johnson, was just 18 when she left her husband, took her children to Chicago and found a job at a local hospital, said Hilary Beard, a Philadelphia-based author who worked with Johnson on his memoir.

Their move occurred during what’s known as the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Black people moved to northern and Midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.

“There was just enough money for food, clothing and shelter, but not for anything extra,” Beard said.

Johnson and his older brother, John, would collect cigarette packages, peel out the aluminum linings, roll them into balls and sell them to people who collected junk for resale, Beard said. Johnson also shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.

A source of pride and inspiration

As an adult, Johnson worked for the Black-owned Fuller Products Co. in Chicago. Beard said Johnson met a barber who was distraught because he couldn't convince Fuller to back a product he was developing that straightened men's hair. The drawback was the product burned the scalp.

Johnson worked with Fuller's chemist to revamp the barber's formula and started his business after ultimately convincing a bank he needed a $250 loan to take his wife on a vacation, Beard said. That business would become Johnson Products.

Johnson's company offered above-market salaries, profit-sharing for its workers, healthcare and other benefits at a time when many companies didn’t provide such perks, Beard added. Johnson Products was sold in 1993 to a pharmaceutical firm in a deal worth more than $60 million.

Johnson later founded Independence Bank and became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.

Rogers remembers his father taking him to Independence Bank to open a checking account and being awed that Johnson owned it.

“That was just so impressive to me that he would start the largest Black bank in the country" which helped Black entrepreneurs, homeowners and anyone who needed assistance as they were building their lives, Rogers said.

The Golden Rule

Though Johnson is gone, the lessons he imparted continue to shape the family’s future.

Eric Johnson, who served as CEO, left Johnson Products Company in 1992. He said he purchased Baldwin Ice Cream in 1997, intending to keep the company in the family for generations to come. Eric Johnson officially retired from Baldwin Richardson Foods on May 9 after successfully transitioning ownership to his daughters, Erin Tolefree and Cara Hughes.

“He saw his children come along and be successful, and now his grandchildren being successful,” Eric Johnson said.

Eric Johnson isn't the only one who sees that legacy continuing. Rogers points to the company’s third generation of leadership as evidence.

“Eric’s positioned his kids who are now running the business day-to-day. So it’s a third generation, which is remarkable. They’re doing so well," Rogers said.

Johnson’s memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in 2024.

Being fair and treating people the way you want to be treated was Johnson's golden rule, according to his son. And it's a cherished piece of advice that Eric Johnson said his father instilled in him.

"And it’s a foundation that was established in him as a child by his mother, that he established in all of us,” he said.

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This story has been updated to restore the first reference to John W. Rogers.

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Williams reported from Detroit.

Troopers said the crash occurred about 4:53 a.m. on the flyover ramp. A pickup truck moved to the right into the path of the motorcycle. The motorcyclist lost control, struck a concrete barrier, then went over the barrier onto a grass shoulder and an exit that leads to the I‑295 northbound entrance ramp.

The pickup continued southbound on I‑295 and did not stop, officials said. The Florida Highway Patrol asked anyone with information about the vehicle or its location to contact the agency.

No further details about the motorcyclist’s identity or condition beyond “critical” were released in the crash report.

The 24th-ranked Iwai had eight birdies and no dropped shots in the sun-splashed lakeside town that three weeks ago hosted the G7 summit of world leaders.

Japan's Iwai made birdies at three of the last four holes, including the par-5 18th, and led by two shots from Perrine Delacour, whose 6-under 65 included an eagle at the par-5 15th and a pair of bogeys toward the end of her round.

A group of five players with 5-under 66s included the winner of the Women’s PGA Championship two weeks ago, Haeran Ryu, and world No. 5 Charley Hull, who started the week as a guest in the Royal Box at Wimbledon.

Hull had two early bogeys before making the turn at level par, then came home in just 31 shots capped by an eagle at the par-5 18th. Also on 5 under were Mao Saigo, Maja Stark and Jin Hee Im.

Korda struggles

It was a tough day at Evian Resort Golf Club for Korda, who won the first two majors this season — the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.

Korda was 11 shots back with a 3-over 74, including a doubly bogey six at the first hole, which she played as her 10th.

Celine Boutier, the 2023 champion at Evian, had a bigger problem at No. 1. She started with a triple bogey 7 and later made back-to-back double bogey 6s on Nos. 10 and 11. Boutier birdied the 18th to card a 5-over 76.

The Evian Championship has been the fifth women's major since the 2013 edition and now has a $9.1 million prize money fund.

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

Arthur Fery honed his game by playing three years of college tennis for Stanford University, where he was a two-time All-American.

Now he's the first former Stanford player to reach the last four at Wimbledon since John McEnroe's eighth and final Wimbledon semifinal in 1992, when McEnroe was beaten by eventual champion Andre Agassi.

Stanford University coach Paul Goldstein flew in for the occasion and was watching inside Centre Court when Fery eliminated French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in straight sets in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

“Arthur always displayed an emotional maturity and a wisdom beyond his years,” Goldstein told The Associated Press. “When I worked with him at school, it always felt like it was as much of a peer-to-peer relationship as it was coach-to-student relationship with a 25-year age gap between us.”

As a sophomore in 2021-22, Fery became Stanford’s first No. 1 ranked singles player since Bob Bryan nearly quarter century before him.

Before Fery signed for Stanford, Goldstein came over to see him play in the Wimbledon junior tournament in 2019. Fery reached the third round in singles and the semifinals in doubles.

“Just a highly intelligent person, certainly plays the game with a high tennis IQ as well,” Goldstein added. “His game was at an elite level from an early age. A very independent thinker, he just approached the game with a high level of professionalism from the time he got to school.”

Still, Fery’s 58-16 singles record over his three years at Stanford didn’t make anyone think he would make the jump to a Grand Slam contender.

In what has been labeled a “Ferytale,” Fery faces French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Friday for a spot in the championship match — with Sunday’s final to be played on Fery's 24th birthday.

Ranked No. 114, Fery is the outlier in the semifinals among No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner — who will meet seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic (No. 8) in the other semifinal — and No. 3 Zverev.

“What you’re seeing on display this week is a level of poise and composure that is beyond words,” Goldstein said. “Pick your superlative and multiply it by 100.”

Fery is now coached by Jeroen Benard and Benoit Foucher.

“Full credit to Arthur and his team for what they are accomplishing this year,” Goldstein said. “I am privileged to be an observer. And supporter.”

Academics led Fery to Stanford

Fery, who was also an Academic All-American at Stanford, said he selected the school in Palo Alto, California, because of the academics.

“Because it was going to give me a great backup plan if tennis didn’t work out,” Fery said. “It was just a great mix between academics and a super-strong tennis program.”

Fery majored in science, technology and society at Stanford.

“It helped me mature, gave me a bit of time without too much pressure," Fery said. "Just develop personally more than tennis-wise."

Fery doesn’t need to worry about his tennis career fizzing out anymore. He's the first wild card to reach the men’s singles semifinals at the All England Club since Goran Ivanisevic’s run to the Wimbledon title in 2001.

Bryan brothers

Bryan and his identical twin brother, Mike, developed into the sport’s best doubles team after their time at Stanford during the late 1990s. They credit Stanford with preparing Fery to handle the pressures of playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

“When we went to the University of Georgia, there were 6,500 barking dogs eating us alive,” Bob Bryan said. “We went to Spain (for Davis Cup) and played in front of 30,000 in a soccer stadium, it wasn’t that bad. So college tennis prepares you for these environments.”

The Bryans and Goldstein were teammates at Stanford as players, winning two national championships together. Bob Bryan beat Goldstein in the 1998 NCAA singles final.

The Bryans — who have a total of four Wimbledon titles between them — got Goldstein a last-minute pass into Wimbledon when he came over.

“We’ve met Arthur a few times in Palo Alto,” Bob Bryan said. “We compared him a little bit to (former U.S. Open finalist Kei) Nishikori: Same build, beautiful backhand, can change direction. He was a quiet leader at Stanford. But all the players really respected him and they knew his ability. I don’t think it’s a big surprise to anyone that knows Arthur."

Critical time for college tennis

Fery’s breakthrough coincides with several college tennis programs being cut in recent months as Division I schools choose to redirect resources to fund direct payments to athletes in football and basketball.

With elite D1 tennis programs populated by foreigners, there’s also a debate about introducing regulations to reserve spots on teams for American players.

There were 36 players in this year's men’s and women’s singles at Wimbledon with college experience.

“This is another validation and example of how college tennis is being played at the highest level,” Goldtsein said. “More and young people are globally seeing this as a viable pathway towards making an impact at the professional game.”

Added Bob Bryan, “The level is off the charts. There’s definitely a place for college in between the (World Tennis) juniors and pro tennis. I think anyone coming out of the juniors should go test their level collegiately and to see if they’re ready for the pros.”

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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed.

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This story has been corrected to show that Fery's quarterfinal opponent was Flavio Cobolli.

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

Trump deposited the money in an account shortly after a jury ruled against him in 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money. The initial $5 million award has grown with interest.

The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she described it publicly in a 2019 memoir, during his first term as president. Trump called her allegations false and said “ she’s not my type ” in an interview.

Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they would continue to appeal and accused his political opponents of using the legal system against him. They argued in appellate papers that Kaplan’s decision shouldn't be allowed to take effect because Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.

Late Wednesday, Judge Eunice C. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request to stop the money from being transferred to Carroll.

“It is time for this case to come to an end,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in a filing with the appellate court.

“Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid,” they wrote. “She should not have to wait any longer.”

The jury had reached its verdict — in a trial that Trump did not attend — after Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent.

Trump insisted he never knew Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. He accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and of having political motives.

Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past.

Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” Kaplan wrote in a memorandum detailing his decision. “It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”

Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified.

At that trial, Kaplan required the jury to accept the findings of the previous jury and only determine how much money, if any, Trump owed Carroll for comments he made about her while he was president.

Trump's lawyers complained that the judge, in setting rules for the damages trial, had barred Trump and his defense team from telling the jury that the encounter with Carroll never happened.

When the 2nd Circuit declined to let all of its judges rehear an appeal of the $83 million award, Circuit Judge Denny Chin wrote that Trump had said multiple times over many years that Carroll lied for political and financial gain and had suggested she was too unattractive for Trump to have sexually assaulted her.

“As a result of Trump’s statements, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years,” Chin said.

“And Trump showed no remorse, continuing his attacks against Carroll during and after two federal trials, and even proclaiming two days into the Carroll I trial that he would continue to defame her ‘a thousand times.’”

Humidity will make it feel even hotter, with heat index values potentially reaching 105–110°F, and a Heat Advisory is in effect for much of the area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

While sunshine will dominate, there is a very very small chance of an isolated thunderstorm developing during the afternoon or early evening.

Winds will be light from the southwest, and temperatures will remain warm tonight, only dropping to the mid-70s.

Anyone spending extended time outdoors should stay hydrated, take frequent breaks in the shade or air conditioning, and avoid strenuous activities during the hottest part of the afternoon.

The singer, best-known for her chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” died unexpectedly in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said Thursday. She was hospitalized in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency intestinal surgery. She had been placed in an induced coma for a period but was reportedly improving last month.

Some notable reaction:

Catherine Zeta-Jones

“My heart is broken with the news that our dearest Bonnie Tyler has passed away. Bonnie was married to my cousin and has been such a part of my life. We are photographed here together the night before my wedding. So sang and rocked it at my wedding. An extraordinary woman with vocals to match. A one of kind artist, who so easily could have been a comedian because she was one of the funniest people I ever met. Thank you Bonnie for the joy you brought so many. Sleep tight beautiful lady. We shall forever ‘Keep A Welcome In The Hillsides’ of Wales for you. Sending my love to Robert and the family. God Bless” — on Instagram

Rod Stewart

“We shared similar styles of vocalizing. She was a good pal, a true soul stirrer. I sing ‘It’s A Heartache’ every night on tour. I’ll miss you darling Bonnie.” — on Instagram

Bryan Adams

“Dear Bonnie Tyler passed today, she had such a great voice and I’ll always be grateful of her beautiful version of Straight From The Heart. Thanks Bonnie. RIP” — on X

Katrina Leskanich of Katrina and the Waves

“I'm so sad for Robert, Bonnie's extended family and the whole world who loved Bonnie Tyler. She was incredibly fun to tour with, always laughing, warm hearted and effervescent. There will never be a voice so instantly recognisable and distinctive. She will be so missed but like Bonnie, her iconic sons will be in our hearts forever.” — on Instagram

Kevin Bacon

“One of the great voices of rock. … I could not imagine chicken racing a tractor to any other song. RIP” — in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, referencing the use of Tyler's “Holding Out For a Hero” in his iconic 1984 film, “Footloose”

Tony Hadley

“So sad to hear about Bonnie Tyler. She was an incredible woman, so kind and friendly to me as a young artist. Over the years, we met several times and she was always the same Bonnie. Her voice was truly amazing and standing next to her you really got to feel her power. A beautiful legend. My sincere condolences to her lovely husband Bob, her family and her wonderful band at this very sad time.” — on Instagram

Sir Cliff Richard

“Another wonderful friend gone too soon. Bonnie’s infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world, and to be a good friend to all, including me. It is shocking news to wake up to you this morning and I send my love to her family at this very sad time. RIP Bonnie…. Cliff xx” — on Facebook

The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries.

The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it is a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions — which could spell problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high.

Trump warned Wednesday that a new round of U.S. attacks was coming, even as he attempted to shrug off suggestions of a return to full-scale war. Hours later, the military announced it was carrying out new attacks on Iran that were meant to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said earlier. “We’re not looking for a long time.”

Officials rush to save the ceasefire

A regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts said the conflict had reached a critical stage as mutual mistrust rises. But high-level communications are happening around the clock to salvage the ceasefire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Qatar, as well as Egypt’s intelligence chief, are leading the efforts, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — whose country hosted the NATO summit that wrapped Wednesday — and leaders from Saudi Arabia are also involved, the official said.

The U.S. is upset about ships being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and accuses Iran of slow-playing discussions on curtailing its nuclear program, the official said. Nuclear talks were a major next step to try to turn the interim deal announced last month into a lasting end to the war.

Tehran, meanwhile, says Washington is the one violating the agreement regarding the strait and failing to ensure that a ceasefire in Lebanon, including an Israeli withdrawal, is being implemented, the official said.

Michael Eisenstadt, a former U.S. military analyst who now directs the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that “we’re still in negotiating mode, no matter what the president says."

"This is part of negotiating, and declaring that the MOU is over is part of the negotiation as well,” Eisenstadt said, referring to the memorandum of understanding that the ceasefire was built on.

Trump, though, has been explicit in public comments, saying he's lost interest in preserving the ceasefire: “I think it's over.”

“We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal,” he said during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, adding that the U.S. military might “just finish the job.”

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator, said the Trump administration had repeatedly violated the terms of the initial pact, forcing the country to respond appropriately.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over," Qalibaf posted on X. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

Trump says ‘we’ll probably hit them hard again'

Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, said renewed conflict is in "no one’s interest” and urged both sides to uphold their commitments.

“There is no alternative to continued engagement, dialogue and diplomacy to achieve shared goal of peace in the region,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Trump, nonetheless, dismissed Tehran's leaders, calling them “scum" and “sick people." Just last month, Trump said Iran’s leadership was “very rational” and "nice to deal with,” while also calling the country's leaders “smart people.”

Speaking at an event in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance, who led U.S. efforts to reach the initial deal with Tehran, said Iran was “well behaved for about a week.” He added that lately the country had begun attacking the strait and said, “If they shoot at ships, we’re going to knock the hell out of them.”

Could this be another negotiating tactic?

Before the U.S. and Iran reached their first, two-week ceasefire in April, Trump intensified his threats, pledging that American forces would bomb Iranian bridges, roads and power plants. He even posted online, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

He repeated dire threats before the tentative 60-day deal to end the war was reached last month.

Trump likes to seek ways to negotiate from a position of strength, and he could be looking for more leverage with new strikes. But being unequivocal about the end of the ceasefire also could free up Iran militarily — which could again roil oil prices and financial markets.

Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, argued that escalating threats may be a riskier maneuver this time around, given the domestic and international stakes for the U.S.

“It certainly looks like an effort to turn up the military heat without yet closing the diplomatic door," Vaez said. “But coercive bargaining is a dangerous game: At some point, a pressure campaign can acquire a momentum of its own and become the war it was ostensibly meant to avoid.”

He added, however, that Iran still has every reason to return to the table because it desperately needs the economic relief that was promised under the interim deal.

Trump also has sent mixed signals about the fallout.

He long insisted that rising gas prices for Americans didn't factor into his calculations on Iran — only to say that part of the reason he agreed to the interim deal was to avoid an “economic catastrophe." He has since touted the falling price of oil after the deal was reached.

Elections ahead could scramble Trump's political calculus

The president again resumed his past threats to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, possibly including electric plants and desalinization plants, and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.

“We may take over Kharg Island," he said. "There’s not a thing they could do about it.”

Still, the midterm elections — when Republicans hope to retain control of the House and Senate — are now less than four months away. Oil prices rising again amid greater uncertainty about the war means Americans will likely continue to see higher prices at the pump.

The president tried to play down such concerns, saying, “Any time we hit them, it goes up a little bit — $2.” In fact, U.S. oil futures jumped far higher and may keep climbing — even as Trump acknowledged, "As oil goes, so goes everything else.”

He argued that an increase in oil prices was worth it to bar Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “It's all right.”

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Amiri reported from New York and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Jason Goodrich started an online petition calling for expanded trade programs in Duval County schools.

District leaders have since invited News4JX to tour their career and technology campuses for a firsthand look at what is already available to students.

District opens doors

Goodrich, who first reached out to News4JAX about the issue weeks earlier, was not able to attend the tour in person. However, district leaders and students walked the News4JAX team through several programs at A. Philip Randolph Career Academies, with a special focus on welding and carpentry — the areas Goodrich is most passionate about.

Charles Lyles, of A. Philip Randolph Career Academies, described how the district is working to ensure Career and Technical Education, or CTE, is accessible at every high school.

“No matter which school you go to, they all have at least a few CTE offerings there. And if the CTE offering that the student is interested in is not necessarily at their neighborhood high school, they can then decide that they want to become a magnet student and come either here to A. Philip Randolph Career Academies,” Lyles said. “We take students from all over the district, or to our sister school, Frank H. Peterson.”

Lyles says there are currently 21,000 students enrolled in CTE programs across Duval County.

Students put skills to work

Inside the carpentry program, students are already doing hands-on construction work. CTE carpentry student Joseph Bernier showed off the progress his class has made.

CTE programs available countywide include cosmetology, aviation and fire rescue, among others. For CTE firefighting student Rashad Brewster, the program has already given him a head start.

CTE cosmetology instructor Toya Alston says the program gives students a direct path to a career — and a license to go with their diploma.

“My favorite part is the fact that we can impart the information that we know as professionals into the students, and then they can go out into society and become a productive citizen,” Alston said. “They don’t have to leave here and just wander. They can leave here with not only their diploma, but they can also apply their licensure.”

Finding common ground

Duval County CTE Director Jill Fierle says the conversation with Goodrich helped illustrate both the progress that has been made and the work still ahead.

Goodrich joined the tour via video call and said he felt encouraged — and ready to help spread the word.

“Well, I’m going to do my part to help get it out there to people that don’t understand,” Goodrich said.

Fierle made clear the partnership is just getting started.

“We will be in touch. This isn’t over,” she said.

District leaders say they will continue to adjust programs based on community feedback and workforce needs.

On “This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition,” Dr. Ronetta Wards of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) said “financial literacy” should feel personal and practical for teenagers who are just months away from adult decisions.

“I would say it means, how do I think about money from a personal standpoint? How does money impact my life?”

PREVIOUS EPISODE | Former Jags linebacker helps athletes translate sports skills to business

Wards said that includes real-world topics students will quickly face: credit, debt, taxes—and even retirement.

“So when we think about financial literacy from a personal perspective, we’re talking about credit… We’re talking about debt. We’re talking about taxes… We’re also thinking about retirement.”

Justice pressed the point: Do high school students really need to know about retirement?

“Yes, they need to. They need to know that what they do in their 20s could really impact them 20 years down the line.”

The conversation highlighted JPEF’s recent review of Florida’s new requirement and what could limit its impact—especially if instruction becomes a box-checking exercise. Wards said the course has to go beyond worksheets and definitions, with students practicing real decisions and seeing consequences.

“It has to be more than just checking the box.”

Howard Dale, representing the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, said juniors and seniors are at a key crossroads because the next steps—college, trade school, the military, apprenticeships—come with costs that can follow students for years.

“We believe in Rotary that students… are at a key point in their lives.”

Dale said too often, teenagers accept a plan without understanding long-term debt, including student loans.

“They have to make a career choice, and then how do I pay for it?”

“We all know that federal student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.”

Dale also emphasized basics that apply to every path.

“Live within your means.”

“Certainly, budgeting is key. Everything you do is budgeting.”

Rotary recently hosted its second annual Financial Literacy Summit for Duval County high school juniors and seniors, bringing in speakers focused on career planning and post-high-school options.

“It was full of energy. It was amazing.”

But both guests said the success of the new requirement will depend on what happens across the community—especially for students in lower-income schools that may not be able to afford the same supplemental tools.

“We have to make sure that all students, regardless of their zip code, have access to the resources and the tools.”

Dale argued the state should also standardize how outcomes are measured so districts can compare results fairly.

“One way we make it more effective is to have a standardized statewide assessment of the course.”

In the end, both guests said improving financial literacy is bigger than a single class—it takes a citywide effort.

Pogacar, who first wore the yellow jersey after winning at Les Angles earlier this week, made the most of the first big mountain trek of this year's Tour in the Pyrenees to stamp his authority, sending a clear message to his rivals that he remains in a class of his own.

The two-time world champion covered the final 43 kilometers (around 27 miles) alone, crossed the Stage 6 finish line 2 minutes, 38 seconds ahead of his main challenger, Jonas Vingegaard, and reclaimed the coveted jersey.

“I would say this one goes in the top five of my Tour de France victories," Pogacar said. “This is an incredible victory, and one of the sweetest for sure. I was not calculating seconds or minutes, I just wanted to go full gas all the way to the finish.”

Pogacar's teammate, Isaac del Toro, was third, 2:57 off the pace, ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas. Overall, Vingegaard lags 2:42 behind Pogacar, with del Toro in third place.

With his latest show of force, the UAE Emirates-XRG leader took a big step toward a record-equaling fifth Tour victory. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have won five Tours.

Scorching heat and iconic ascents

The stage started in scorching heat and was marked by several unsuccessful attempts of breakaways early on. Pogacar's teammates, along with those of Vingegaard in Visma-Lease a Bike, set a fast tempo even before the day’s biggest climbs.

The last stage in the Pyrenees took riders through two iconic ascents, the Col d’Aspin and the Tourmalet.

Once Ben O’Connor managed to get away, he was allowed some freedom because he was not a threat in the general classification. He was first at the foot of Aspin and was caught with about 5 kilometers of the climb left.

Riders then tackled the grueling 17.1 kilometer ascent up the Tourmalet, the first HC climb of the 2026 Tour — which means Hors Catégorie (beyond classification), because it is the hardest level.

Overnight leader Torstein Træen was dropped before del Toro accelerated with his leader on his wheel about 4.5 kilometers from the summit. Træen later crashed on the descent and was assessed by the race's medical team before resuming his effort.

Pogacar then went solo, with Vingegaard digging deep to limit his losses. Pogacar reached the summit first, and Vingegaard tried to claw back his 30-second deficit in the downhill. But tucked into an aerodynamic position, his rival took the same risks and was even faster.

Pogacar had a lead of more than a minute as he tackled the final climb up to the finish line in the town of Gavarnie-Gedre. He never looked back and the gap kept increasing.

“I woke up at 7 this morning and my mind was going crazy,” Pogacar said. “I was really excited for today. I knew it was going to be a good day.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

But the way popular AI notetakers accomplish those tasks makes some people avoid using them. The technology turns everything said during meetings into data. Confidential personnel information, corporate strategies, trade secrets and remarks that could later be seen as incriminating — all of it could end up in the wrong hands.

“There are huge risks to the organization on AI notetakers,” Amy Dufrane, the chief executive of human resources training and certification provider HRCI, said. “I don’t think companies should use it at all.”

An AI notetaker is a software application or device that uses artificial intelligence, speech recognition and large language models to record, transcribe and summarize conversations. The tools are intended to save time and improve participation, but professionals in a number of fields say there are reasons to be wary.

Chief among them is uncertainty about where the collected data is stored and for how long. Privacy advocates worry the companies behind the AI notetakers are creating voiceprints without consent. Voiceprints — a type of biometric profile similar to a fingerprint but tuned to the unique intonations and characteristics of one’s voice — can be used to access restricted or confidential information, including the contents of bank accounts.

Some tech companies resell data from the notetaking tools they created or use confidential meeting transcripts and recordings to train their AI models. There’s also the risk that conversations between an attorney and client could become fair game in legal proceedings; a New York federal judge in February ordered a criminal defendant to provide prosecutors with documents he created for his lawyers because it already had been shared with a third party, which was Anthropic's Claude.

“People who use AI notetakers, they don’t always know where the data goes,” said Justin Daniels, an Atlanta-based corporate attorney at law firm Baker Donelson. “And in my context, if the data goes anywhere else and they’re not aware of it, that attorney-client-privileged conversation may not be attorney-client-privileged anymore.”

Here are some tips on the etiquette of kicking an AI notetaker out of a meeting, the risks of using one and how to protect yourself.

The first step when you join a meeting is check for bots

When you join a meeting, make it a habit to check whether an AI notetaker is present. It might appear as a meeting attendee, often labeled as an AI notetaker, or a pop-up message on the screen informing participants the meeting is being recorded. The latter could signal the presence of an AI notetaker.

Virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet let users know when recording is underway, but some meeting software does not make it clear when a notetaker is present, according to Thorin Klosowski, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's senior security and privacy analyst.

Participants also may use personal notetaking devices that are separate from the meeting platform, in which case the other attendees wouldn’t necessarily know a discussion was being recorded and transcribed.

“You hope the other person would tell you that they’re doing that,” Klosowski said. “Asking everyone for consent before doing a sensitive meeting would be the most polite approach to take.”

If you're unsure whether someone has deployed an AI notetaker, you can ask. You can also state at the beginning that a meeting is not authorized for recording.

A polite way to establish such a boundary is to say, “Our company policy is that this meeting cannot be recorded," Dufrane suggested. This relieves the employee, such as a salesperson who wants to make a good impression, of having to be the “bad guy,” putting the onus on the company instead, she said.

Another option is to allow the notetaker for part of the gathering but turn if off at the end to dedicate time for more delicate topics.

“I won’t start talking about anything substantive until it’s shut off, because I just don’t want to take the risk,” Daniels said.

Assert your privacy rights to protect voiceprints

Many AI notetakers determine unique acoustic signatures, or voiceprints, for each speaker in the room, said Chris Pluymers, associate attorney at The Dillon Law Group in East Lansing, Michigan. That’s how the companies distinguish one speaker from another, labeling them with monikers “Speaker 1” or “Speaker 2.”

One way voiceprints are used is to verify the identities of bank account holders over the phone. If bad actors got ahold of a person’s vocal signature, they could use it to access files, commit fraud or take over accounts, he said.

Laws in some states govern how voiceprints can be created and stored and provide rights that individuals can assert to object to the use of an AI notetaker during meetings they attend.

In Illinois, voiceprints are considered biometric identifiers, similar to fingerprints, and are covered under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, which requires written notice and informed consent before an AI notetaker or other agent collects voiceprints. The law also mandates a documented data retention schedule and destruction policy, Pluymers said. But most companies using the tools have none of those systems in place, Pluymers said.

“In the world of AI, the world of data and privacy, the world of biometric identification, I don’t think you can have such a lax approach to it,” Pluymers said. “I think getting out ahead of it is crucial.”

Under the Illinois law, employees can say they don't want to attend a meeting with an AI notetaker until they have assurances of where and why the data is being stored, and when it will be deleted, Pluymers said. They can also ask if there is a policy and written consent form to sign.

If an AI notetaker shows up at a meeting unexpectedly, a participant could say, “I prefer we keep this meeting without AI recording or transcript tools and I’d be happy to take my own notes and share a recap if that’s helpful,” Pluymers suggested. “Just being warm and genuine about it and asking them to respect your wishes.”

Know where your data goes

When working with AI notetaking apps, find out whether the companies that built them retain recordings, transcripts or metadata indefinitely or use them to train AI models, said Danielle Kays, a partner at Fisher Phillips who represents businesses on privacy and employment law matters.

“If there is some sort of speaker ID or voice recognition, really understand what that is and how it works,” Kays said.

Even when content is deleted, metadata about meetings can remain stored with the vendor, meaning sensitive business information could influence how the model behaves and in some cases could be memorized or reproduced, she said.

AI notetakers generate text, and that’s easier for outsiders to search through than video or audio files, according to EFF.

“Storing a bunch of video isn’t easy, it’s costly and hard to look through, but text is much easier to search and cheaper to store,” said Klosowski of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

On July 11th, at Ribault High School, adult city celebrities and local high school basketball players will go take it to the hoops to raise funds for homeless students.

The Celebrity Basketball Classic is a fun event for the entire family and a tremendous benefit to homeless students. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children under 10

www.imastarfoundation.org