It was a period of painful rejection that is familiar to exonerees. Some see their own struggles reflected in Calvin Duncan, who won elected office in New Orleans after clearing his name but likely won't serve. Louisiana lawmakers sent a bill to the governor's desk Wednesday abolishing his job.

“We’re still kind of like looked at as an inmate that did a particular crime. It further deteriorates our ability to believe that the system can heal itself,” said Miles, who eventually found a job through a minister at his church. “When cases like in Louisiana occur, it just shows us that the system is not healing itself.”

The fight in Louisiana has touched a nerve among exonerees in the U.S. who see Duncan's plight as reflective of the biases and stigmas they have to confront as they try to rebuild their lives.

Duncan served nearly 30 years in prison before his murder conviction was vacated in 2021 after evidence emerged that police officers had lied in court. He was elected to become the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court in November, vowing to fix the system that failed him. He had been set to take office May 4.

Louisiana Republicans who want to dissolve the office say it isn't about Duncan's past but a necessary step toward government efficiency.

“Even if they are seen as somebody who is exonerated, there is still a stigma as somebody who has been in prison,” said Jon Eldan, the founder and executive director of After Innocence, a California-based nonprofit.

Nonprofits and others offer help to exonerees

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, more than 3,800 people have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989.

But unlike those released on parole or probation, exonerees don’t have access to government-provided services such as employment or housing assistance and mental health services.

“I was turned down by many prisoner reentry organizations because they said, ‘Look, you’re not on parole, you’re not on probation,'” said Jeffrey Deskovic, who was wrongly convicted of rape and murder in Peekskill, New York, and spent 16 years in prison before being freed in 2006.

Thirty-eight states have laws that compensate wrongfully convicted people. But it can be years before they receive that money.

After Innocence works to connect exonerees with organizations that help with job training, housing, medical and dental care. It also tries to clean up their records to accurately represent what happened in their criminal cases, Eldan said.

Miles, who spent more than 14 years in prison, now runs Miles of Freedom, a nonprofit in Dallas that helps formerly incarcerated individuals, including exonerees, rebuild their lives.

The challenges Miles faced as an exoneree looking for employment — including a lack of work history, viable skills and training — are not unusual, but it also appears some employers simply don't want someone who has been behind bars on their workforce.

There are no government statistics that track the employment rate of exonerees. Multiple studies have shown the unemployment rate for people who were in prison is much higher than the national rate. A 2018 study from the Prison Policy Initiative found that formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27%. A 2021 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that 33% of federal prisoners released in 2010 did not find employment for four years. Nationally, the unemployment rate in March was 4.3%.

Finding employment remains a challenge

Deskovic used the compensation he received five years after his 2006 release from prison to start the Deskovic Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit that helps free wrongfully convicted people. He later got a law degree so he could represent them in court.

Exonerees tell Deskovic little has changed since the years following his release when he applied for jobs, including as a doughnut shop worker and a weekly newspaper reporter, but could never find consistent work.

Supporters of exonerees point to Duncan as someone who has rebuilt his life and won elected office but still faces pushback about his innocence and post-incarceration accomplishments.

“If he wasn’t an exoneree, would they be doing this to him? I’m sure that they would not,” Deskovic said.

Groups push for legislative help for exonerees

Eldan's organization worked with a state senator to help write and pass a law in Delaware that provides compensation for wrongful imprisonment, as well as a stipend and help with housing, food benefits, and health and dental insurance. It also provides exonerees with a certificate from the state saying they were wrongly incarcerated and found innocent.

Eldan said his group is working with several other states, including California and New Mexico, to get laws passed to provide similar innocence certificates and update exonerees' criminal records.

More states should fund programs to help exonerees after their release, Eldan and Miles said.

“But it’s hard to write into a statute, something that actually translates into real benefit for these people,” Eldan said. “It's not because the state is bad, but because the state just is not particularly good at delivering those services.”

Ben Spencer spent 34 years in prison for a murder in Dallas he didn’t commit before being exonerated and released in 2021. He applied for jobs at an Amazon warehouse and as an airport baggage loader but failed to secure a position.

Eventually, someone who had taken an interest in his case helped get him a job as a facilities engineer, doing repairs for a company. He’s worked there five years.

“I think I’m kind of settling in a little more now. I’m still trying to figure out the cellphone and computers,” Spencer said. “When I walked out of the jail, it was like waking up out of a coma or a bad dream. And of course, I still had to try to get some financial stability. I guess I won’t say I’m there now, but I’m closer to where I wanna be now than I was.”

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70

Both Paul and her former partner, Dakota Mortensen, have asked a Utah court to turn short-term protective orders into long-term arrangements as the two have accused each other of domestic violence.

Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas said at an April 7 hearing that he had “concerns going both ways” about the competing allegations. For now, Paul cannot spend unsupervised time with her son because of a history of volatile behavior directed at Mortensen while kids were present, Minas ruled.

Paul and Mortensen, whose tumultuous relationship was featured heavily on the show, have been ordered to stay at least 100 feet (30 meters) away from each other until the hearing Thursday afternoon. Both were expected in person after attending the previous hearing virtually, a court spokesperson said.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.

___

Eleven fights between the exes were under examination in their protective order requests. A recently leaked video of one fight from 2023 prompted ABC to make the unprecedented move last month of shelving an already-filmed season of “The Bachelorette” starring Paul. Hulu also paused production of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and resumed filming last week.

In the video, Paul appeared to punch, kick and throw chairs at Mortensen while her daughter watched and cried. Paul was charged with aggravated assault and other offenses, including domestic violence in the presence of a child. The police body camera footage of her arrest was featured in the first season of the Hulu series.

Paul pleaded guilty to an assault charge, which will be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor if she stays out of legal trouble for a three-year probationary period that ends in August. The other counts were dismissed.

Earlier this month, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to file new charges against Paul in recent fights with Mortensen. Any new charges would have violated Paul's probation from the 2023 assault.

The lack of prosecution could help Paul and her attorneys make her case to the court commissioner as she fights to regain custody of her son.

A protective order in Utah can restrict or eliminate a parent’s ability to see their child. When one parent receives a protective order against the other, a court commissioner may also decide it is in the child's best interest give that parent custody. If both parents have protective orders against each other, the court relies heavily on the recommendations of an attorney appointed to investigate the child's best interests.

Paul and Mortensen's son, Ever, will have a court-appointed attorney present at Thursday’s hearing to help the commissioner determine the safest arrangement for the boy.

The lawyer, Michael McDonald, said during the April 7 hearing that he had concerns about Paul’s tendency to fight with Mortensen in front of their son.

Eric Swinyard, a lawyer for Paul, has argued that Mortensen is the aggressor in the relationship. He showed photos in court of Paul's bruises after a fight in a truck in which Paul alleges Mortensen slammed her head into the dashboard.

Daniela Diaz, a lawyer for Mortensen, described other altercations between the pair and argued that Paul uses their son “as a pawn to start fights.”

Hegseth battled with Democrats — and some Republicans — a day earlier during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war's costs in dollars, lives and the diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, will again stress the need for more drones, missile defense systems and warships.

They are now also likely to face tough questions about American troop levels in Europe after President Donald Trump on Wednesday leveled a new threat against NATO ally Germany, suggesting he could soon reduce the U.S. military presence in the country as he feuds with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

If Wednesday is any indication, Republican senators may focus on the details of military budgeting and voice support for the operation in Iran. Democrats are expected to press for answers on strategy in the conflict, now in a tenuous ceasefire, and Hegseth's firing of top military leaders.

Democrats call it a costly war of choice that lacks congressional approval or oversight. But Congress has failed to pass multiple war powers resolutions that would have required lawmakers to approve military action.

Questions that lawmakers have wanted to ask since the war began on Feb. 28 were answered — or evaded — at Wednesday's hearing.

For example, the war has cost $25 billion so far, mostly in munitions, Pentagon officials said. But Hegseth refused to answer questions about how much longer the war would last or how much more it could cost.

Hegseth also said a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 165 people, including many children, remains under investigation. The Associated Press has reported that growing evidence pointed to U.S. culpability for the strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base.

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan questioned Hegseth over whether the deaths of six American soldiers by a drone strike in Kuwait could have been prevented. Hegseth didn't answer the question directly but said the military took proactive measures to protect American forces.

In another tense exchange, Hegseth told Democratic Rep. Adam Smith that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated in U.S. strikes last June. That led Smith to question the Trump administration’s reasoning for starting the war in Iran less than a year later.

“We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,” said Smith, the ranking Democrat on the committee. “Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”

Hegseth responded by saying that the Iranians “had not given up their nuclear ambitions” and still had thousands of missiles.

Smith said the war “left us at exactly the same place we were before.”

The defense secretary also faced questions about his decision to oust the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, one of several top military officers to be dismissed since Trump returned to office.

Hegseth said “new leadership” was needed, a claim that failed to satisfy Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

“You have no way of explaining why you fired one of the most decorated and remarkable men,” Houlahan began before Hegseth interrupted her. “We needed new leadership,” he repeated.

Wednesday's decision clears the way for Republican-led states to redraw U.S. House districts without regard to race, potentially creating many more GOP-friendly seats.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters that its members and Democrats would fight the effects of the ruling.

“The Supreme Court has opened the door to a coordinated attack on Black voters across the country,” Clarke said. “This is an outright power grab.”

Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, voters could challenge electoral maps that appeared to dilute the ability of minority communities to elect representatives of their choosing. The expected wave of congressional redistricting by Republican-controlled states after Wednesday's ruling, especially for the 2028 election and beyond, is likely to result in a much smaller Black Caucus.

Changes are coming, but how quickly is unknown

Clarke was joined by over a dozen of the 60 Black Caucus members, including Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Their responses to the court's decision ranged from outrage to defiance to mourning.

It's not clear how many seats will ultimately be affected by the ruling, but redistricting experts predict that more than a dozen now held by minorities could be swept away.

Rep. Troy Carter, one of two Black Democrats from Louisiana, the state at the center of the case, called the ruling “a devastating blow to our democracy, plain and simple.”

Republican leaders in several Southern states already have been discussing how to apply the ruling and create new GOP-friendly congressional maps. In Florida, Republicans wasted no time approving a new U.S. House map, part of which redrew one district created to elect a Black representative.

“I would be surprised if we do not see former slave-holding states moving at lightning speed to target districts that provide Black voters and other voters of color an equal opportunity to elect candidates,” said Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP and the first Black woman to be assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division.

It's not clear whether state-level voting laws or constitutional prohibitions against racial discrimination will provide any protection, she added.

Republican officials and Black conservatives praised the decision as a victory against race-based mandates. Linda Lee Tarver, of the Project 21 Black Leadership Network, said in a statement civil rights laws were not intended “to institutionalize racial line-drawing as a default feature of our political system.”

Voting Rights Act expanded Black representation

The Congressional Black Caucus was formed in 1971 as court-ordered redistricting under the Voting Rights Act, passed just six years earlier, sent more minorities to Congress.

The number of Black representatives in Congress jumped from nine to 13. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, decided to expand the Democracy Select Committee created in the 1960s by Democratic Rep. Charles Diggs into the more formal Congressional Black Caucus.

The CBC raised its profile in its first year when it boycotted President Richard Nixon's State of the Union address after he refused to meet with the group. Nixon eventually acquiesced. The group created a list of over 60 recommendations to help the Black community, including counteracting racism and building adequate housing. It earned the nickname the “conscience of the Congress.”

“That caucus has had such an important voice in American politics — the things that we’ve been able to achieve together, the creation of equity and access," Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia said during a separate news conference Wednesday. “And I’m afraid that with this ruling, we could see that caucus shrink in a hugely significant way.”

What can Black constituents do

The ruling upset Thomas Johnson when he heard about it while visiting Louisiana's Capitol in Baton Rouge. Johnson, who is Black, is from New Orleans and represented by Carter. He fears Republicans could redraw the state’s congressional map in a way that dismantles predominately Black districts.

“I feel like this is an embarrassing attack upon the minorities, particularly the Black community,” Johnson said. “We have very little (voice) in Congress.”

Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who advises the Black Caucus, said he expects the group will be involved in multiple legal fights for members whose districts will be targeted after the Supreme Court ruling. He also said the ruling makes voter turnout efforts even more important "if we want to change course on some of the things that are likely to happen because of this decision.”

Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, whose state was at the center of a major Voting Rights Act case decided in favor of Black representation nearly three years ago, agreed that the party now needs to focus on getting voters motivated ahead of this year's midterm elections.

“Now more than ever, we need communities across this nation to mobilize — in state legislatures, in the courts and at the ballot box,” Sewell said. "We need to vote like we’ve never voted before." ___ Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Matt Brown and Ali Swenson in Washington and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Hitchcock was initially sentenced to death in 1977 after being convicted of first-degree murder in the July 31, 1976, killing of Cynthia Driggers. Following a series of appeals, he was resentenced to death in 1988, 1993 and 1996.

This would be Florida’s sixth execution so far this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

According to court records, Hitchcock was unemployed and had moved into his brother's Orlando home several weeks before the July 31, 1976, killing of Cynthia Driggers, the stepdaughter of Hitchcock's brother. After several hours of drinking beer and smoking marijuana with friends, Hitchcock returned to the family's home, he told police after his arrest. Hitchcock, who was 20 at the time, went to the 13-year-old girl's room and raped her, investigators said.

When the girl told Hitchcock that she had been injured and planned to tell her mother, Hitchcock tried to stop her from leaving the room and then began choking her, officials said. Hitchcock took the girl outside, where he beat and choked her until she stopped moving and then left her in some nearby bushes. Hitchcock then took a shower and went to bed.

Hitchcock later recanted during trial, testifying that his brother walked into the girl's room shortly after she and Hitchcock finished having consensual sex. Hitchcock said his brother took the girl outside and began beating and choking the girl in a fit of rage, and she was already dead by the time Hitchcock pulled his brother off the girl.

Hitchcock said he had initially taken the blame to protect his brother.

The Florida Supreme Court denied an appeal last week to halt Hitchcock's execution. His attorneys had argued that he was innocent and that the state had illegally refused to grant him access to public records related to the death penalty.

A final appeal was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.

Another execution is planned in Florida on May 21. Richard Knight, 47, is scheduled to received a lethal injection for his conviction in the fatal stabbing of his cousin's girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection if a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed a fluke goal on the day he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, the Lightning struggled to win faceoffs, lucky bounces went the other way and they lost to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Wednesday night to fall behind 3-2 in the series.

Game 6 is Friday night in Montreal. The Lightning are trying to avoid a fourth straight first-round elimination since falling two wins short of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022.

“We got to drag them back here,” forward Corey Perry said. “You know it’s going to be a hostile environment. It’s loud but block it out and just go play. We found a way last game there. We got to do it again.”

The Lightning won Game 4 in Montreal but have lost 10 of their last 12 home games in the playoffs.

Alexandre Texier scored the winning goal 1:06 into the third period on a slap shot from the left circle that bounced off Vasilevskiy’s glove and trickled behind one of the NHL’s best goaltenders.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper blamed the goal on the defense.

“It stems way before that. It doesn’t stem from when Texier gets down the ice. It stems from the change and how we went about it and the mistakes we made on the way there,” Cooper said. “Forever, all Vasy does is bail us out of those. The rare time sometimes he doesn’t. He should’ve never got that deep into our zone and he got a lot on it. It wasn’t like Vasy got beat. He had it and it took a Montreal bounce, unfortunately for us.

The Canadiens dominated the faceoff circle, winning 66%. In another tight game - all five have been decided by one goal and the first three went to overtime - every puck possession matters.

“Possession is huge,” forward Brayden Point said. “There’s not a lot of room out there. Starting with the puck is massive.”

The Lightning had 40 shots on rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes but only Dominic James and Jake Guentzel could get the puck past him.

They had shots hit the post, crossbar and Nikita Kucherov had the puck bounce over his stick with an open net.

“We need other guys to score and haven’t been able to do it,” Point said. “It is frustrating. Just got to keep doing the right things and keep working hard.”

The Lightning have lost their last two elimination games. If they can win again in Montreal, they’ll host Game 7 on Sunday.

“I understand the next game is a potential elimination game but the last game we played there, we lose that one and we’re down 3-1 (and) you’re really chasing the series,” Cooper said. “They’ve been in that building twice now and have a pretty good feeling of what to expect. How it’s going to go? I can’t say for sure but I’ll bet we play better than we did tonight.” ___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

A group of retired firefighters says the image is concerning and is now speaking out about the hiring process.

“We knew firsthand what the department can and cannot do” said William D.C. Carter, a former Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter. “We spoke directly to the fire chief and voiced our concerns. The mayor agreed. There was a lot more work to be done.”

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava acknowledged the concerns.

“We’re fully committed, and it’s a very productive conversation that we’re having,” Levine Cava said.

The department says Recruit Class 159 was selected from an expiring eligibility list, which significantly limited who could be hired.

Officials add that national recruiting challenges, a smaller applicant pool and urgent staffing needs made this class an outlier -- not a reflection of the department’s overall commitment to diversity.

“What came away from this meeting was just an ultra-positive experience -- a more strong and shared vision and partnership in the recruiting process so we can accomplish the goals that both sides wanted to get,” said Charles Francois, a captain with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

MDFR tells Local 10 News that a new class is underway and provided a breakdown of the 34 recruits.

Nine are Black, 20 are Hispanic and five are white. There is no date set for graduation yet.

Cunningham had a franchise playoff-record 45 points and the top-seeded Pistons held off the eighth-seeded Magic for a 116-109 win on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series, avoiding elimination for at least a couple of days.

“We dug ourselves a hole and now it’s time to climb our way out,” Cunningham said. “It’s possible.”

Orlando leads the series 3-2 and will get a second chance to advance at home on Friday night. If the Pistons win their first road game of the series, they will host a decisive Game 7 on Sunday.

Banchero also scored 45 points for a playoff career high — but missed 7 of 12 free throws — and fell one point short of equaling the franchise postseason record shared by Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard.

The Magic were out-rebounded by 16 and made just 16 of 30 free throws.

“We got to be better on the glass and obviously, better on the free-throw line,” said Banchero, drafted No. 1 overall by Orlando in 2022. “If we make our free throws, we got a real chance of winning the game. We lost by seven, and missed 14 free throws. That’s the game.”

Cunningham set a single-game playoff scoring record for Detroit that had stood since Dave Bing had 44 points in 1968. Isiah Thomas approached that mark with a 43-point performance in 1988.

In NBA history there was only one other playoff game with two players scoring 45 or more.

Donovan Mitchell scored 51 points for Utah in a win over Denver in 2020, while the Nuggets' Jamal Murray had 50 points.

When Detroit drafted Cunningham first overall in 2021, it was hoping he would have games like this one.

He was 13 of 23 from the field, made a playoff career-high five 3-pointers and was 14 of 14 at the line.

“We’re going to see this a long time,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He’s going to do a lot of special things.”

The 24-year-old Cunningham came up short in late-game situations with the ball earlier in the series and in last year's first-round series against the New York Knicks, but he was clutch in key moments to extend the matchup with the Magic.

The Pistons never trailed, going ahead by 17 points in the first half and by 15 early in the fourth quarter.

The Magic pulled within three points on Banchero’s sixth 3-pointer with 1:09 left.

On the ensuing possession after Ausar Thompson hustled for an offensive rebound, Cunningham made a step-back, 16-foot jumper to help seal it.

“Not everybody is blessed with those opportunities to have pressure and have things on the line like that,” Cunningham said. “I’m just thankful for it and trying to make the most out of it.

“We’ve had a great season so far and none of us want it to end.”

The Pistons are hoping to bounce back from the brink of elimination as they did against the Magic two-plus decades ago.

Detroit’s comeback in 2003 as a No. 1 seed against eighth-seeded Orlando was the first of seven times NBA teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit this century. The Nuggets were the last team to pull off the feat six years ago — in the same series that featured Mitchell and Murray each scoring 50-plus point — and they became the first team in the league to do it twice in one postseason.

“You don't want to put yourself in this situation, but this is what we expected,” Bickerstaff said. “When our backs are against the wall, we come out swinging. We come out kicking. We come out scratching, biting, clawing.”

___

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

Forget the quiet galleries -- this week, Wynwood is trading paintbrushes for Pirelli tires. The Williams Racing Fan Zone has taken over, bringing what many call the pinnacle of motorsport straight to the streets of Miami.

The main attraction is one of the team’s biggest stars, Carlos Sainz, drawing fans eager to get a closer look.

Over at Kiki Wynwood, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls unveiled this year’s car with help from DJ Khaled. Drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were also on hand, locked in and ready to get on track.

The fan zone is open through Sunday, offering a free alternative for those looking to experience the Formula One energy -- with plenty of heat, both on the track and in the South Florida humidity.

Federal investigators took over the case after Alejandro Gonzalez went missing on April 17.

Investigators say the day before his disappearance, he picked up several cars in Georgia and was headed toward Miami.

The 41-year-old was last seen at the Brevard County rest area on I-95 southbound in Grant-Valkaria, where he stayed overnight.

The FBI says GPS data from the truck shows someone drove it south one exit before turning back north. That’s when Gonzalez became unreachable.

His truck was later found in Georgia without him and without several of the vehicles he had been transporting to Miami.

The FBI says Gonzalez is originally from Cuba.

No one was at his Port St. Lucie home Wednesday evening, but neighbors say they are hoping the suspected car hauler hijacking is soon solved.

The FBI is asking for photos and video from anyone who may have been near the Brevard County rest stop on the morning of April 17.

Investigators have not released a cause of death, and no persons of interest have been identified.

A few months ago, a brand-new facility was unveiled, promising to bring recycling into the future and make the process more effective and affordable. Now, South Floridians are being urged to step up and get it right.

“Recycling really works, and recycling really is real. If you put good, clean material at your curb, it comes here,” said Dawn McCormick, communications director for Waste Management Florida.

The facility is South Florida’s latest high-tech effort to tackle a growing solid waste crisis.

“We run it through a $90 million facility. We have bales at the end that we have markets for, mostly in the United States, and those become new products,” McCormick said.

Waste Management unveiled the new, high-tech, 127,000-square-foot recycling facility in West Pembroke Pines in February. It can process 275,000 tons of material each year at a rate of 60 tons per hour.

“What we can do is recycle some additional items, which we’re excited about -- some additional types of plastics and other things that our optical sorters are able to allow us to do,” McCormick said.

The effort is critical as both Broward and Miami-Dade counties each produce more than 5 million tons of waste every year -- double the national average.

“Right now in South Florida, we have limited landfill space, and the clock is ticking,” McCormick said. “I think all of our elected officials and our counties are aware of that and trying to preserve the space that does remain.”

In Miami-Dade alone, about 36% -- or 1.8 million tons -- of materials are recycled each year. However, 39% of what enters the recycling stream is contaminated, meaning it doesn’t belong there and drives up costs.

“It just doesn’t work well in our equipment, and it ends up getting into the other bales of cardboard and other things where it doesn’t belong,” McCormick said.

Instead, plastic bags should be returned to retailers that have designated recycling bins. Recyclables should be placed loosely in the bin.

Officials also warn against putting items like garden hoses, plastic tubing, cords, electronics and batteries -- especially lithium-ion batteries -- into recycling bins.

“This is not what we want. We don’t want the tanglers and the hoses and the cords,” McCormick said. “We don’t want electronics, and we don’t want any types of batteries, especially your lithium-ion batteries, which are sparking fires in our collection trucks and facilities.”

Those items should be taken to county household hazardous waste sites.

So what can be recycled?

“We’re looking just for bottles, cups, jugs and tops,” McCormick said.

Plastic dairy tubs, like yogurt and cheese containers, can now be recycled, as long as they are rinsed out. Plastic cups are also now accepted, though plastic cutlery still belongs in the trash.

Paper and cardboard remain highly recyclable, including pizza boxes as long as there’s no food inside. Residents are reminded to break down and fold boxes and discard packaging materials.

The most valuable recyclable item remains aluminum cans.

“Recycling an aluminum can has the most environmental benefit. It also has the most economic benefit,” McCormick said. “An aluminum can can be back on your store shelf in 60 days, and it continuously can be recycled. There’s no end to it.”

To help residents recycle correctly, Miami-Dade has partnered with the Scrapp recycling app, which allows users to scan a barcode to see if an item belongs in the bin.

“Recycling works when you do it right,” McCormick said. “It’s a small effort, both at home and even on the go. Bring those materials back, recycle them curbside. You’re doing a tremendous benefit to our environment, and at the same time, you’re saving landfill space and doing the right thing.”

Waste Management is also recycling glass, but it must be shipped to another site in Central Florida, adding extra cost. Because of that, not all cities offer glass recycling.

Officials also warn against “wishcycling” -- throwing items in the bin in hopes they can be recycled. When in doubt, throw it out.

Cleveland leads the series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Toronto.

James Harden scored 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 19 for the Cavaliers.

“This was a step for us from a mental toughness point of view. I thought we showed good poise and resiliency,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “When you could have let your guard down, our guys kept with it.”

RJ Barrett led Toronto with 25 points while Ja’Kobe Walter added 20 and Jamal Shead had 18 off the bench.

The Raptors led 74-67 at halftime and scored the first five points of the third quarter. The Cavaliers slowly rallied but trailed 103-100 going into the final 12 minutes.

Cleveland seized control by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter. Jaylon Tyson hit a step-back 3-pointer to tie it at 103-all, and a 3 by Mobley gave the Cavaliers a 106-103 lead.

“He’s ready for those moments. He wants those moments. He works relentlessly on the 3-ball. Those were big shots for us for sure,” Mitchell said of Mobley.

Toronto missed its first 11 shots and was 7 of 28 from the field in the fourth while Cleveland made 7 of its first 11 and was 9 of 19.

“I would not just blame the fourth quarter. We cannot allow this team to score 125 points,” coach Darko Rajakovic said.

The Raptors were hobbled in the final period. Forward Brandon Ingram left the game in the second quarter with right heel inflammation. Fellow All-Star Scottie Barnes also was not at full strength after getting kneed in the quadriceps by Thomas Bryant while driving to the basket in the first half.

Barnes scored just 3 of his 17 points in the second half.

“For the most part, I thought we had this game. We played good enough to win. Just in the fourth quarter, they played a little better,” Barrett said. “What can you do? It’s the playoffs. Now, it’s do or die. Give them credit. We’ll be ready Friday.”

The Cavaliers won despite committing 15 turnovers that resulted in 28 Toronto points. They had 10 in the first half which the Raptors converted into 23 points.

“In the second half, I think ball-handling and Dennis helped relieve some of the pressure off (Mitchell) and (Harden) so I think that was part of it. If we are going to win on the road, we've got to find a way to clean that up,” Atkinson said.

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

“I live right there -- that could be me,” one neighbor said.

Sky 10 was over the scene shortly after the collapse on a block near East 63rd Street and Fourth Avenue. The boom on the heavy-duty mobile crane was fully extended when it toppled over, barely missing a home where a man’s wife and children were inside.

“It sounded very strong and I expected that something happened,” said Mayra Jimenez, who lives two doors down from where the boom came to rest.

Jimenez rushed outside after hearing the crash.

“I think everything was okay. I feel lucky, but nothing happened -- not even my car and not even my neighbors,” she said.

Police responded to the scene, roping off traffic and keeping neighbors at a distance from the situation.

Florida Power & Light crews were also spotted nearby, as the crane appeared to have taken down part of a tree and a concrete pole.

“This is crazy what we’re seeing here,” said Richard Alberto, whose home sits directly across the street.

The all-terrain crane, capable of lifting up to 800 tons, had its outriggers -- or stability plates -- extended at the time of the collapse.

Sims Crane & Equipment dispatched additional mobile cranes to help lift the overturned equipment, a delicate and dangerous operation unfolding in the middle of the residential neighborhood.

“It could be something worse, so we are grateful nothing happened,” Jimenez said.

The panel of three judges dismissed Brenton Tarrant’s claim that harsh prison conditions prompted his involuntarily admission to the terrorism, murder and attempted murder charges he faced. The Australian man, who is now 35, murdered 51 worshippers and injured dozens more in March 2019 when he drove to two Christchurch mosques and opened fire with semiautomatic weapons during Friday prayers.

Tarrant’s guilty pleas in March 2020 brought relief to bereaved families and survivors of the attack, who dreaded the prospect of a lengthy trial and feared he would use it to air his hateful views. The failure of his appeal bid — which the court noted was made 505 days after the legal deadline for it to be filed — means such a trial has again been averted.

His claim of mental illness was rejected

At the court's five-day hearing in February, the attacker argued his admissions of guilt were provoked by “irrationality” induced by poor mental health, which led him to desert his racist views for a time. The judges concluded, however, that his claims of mental illness were inconsistent and weren’t supported by prison staff, mental health professionals or lawyers who had earlier represented him.

“He was not suffering from a mental impairment or any other form of mental incapacity which rendered him unable to voluntarily change his pleas to guilty,” the judges wrote in Thursday's ruling. “He endeavoured to mislead us about his state of mind in a weak attempt to advance an appeal in circumstances where all other evidence demonstrated that he made an informed and totally rational decision to plead guilty.”

The court's ruling also revealed that Tarrant sought to abandon his appeal shortly after making his case at the hearing in February. The judges rejected that bid too, writing that the case was “of significant public interest and should be finally determined.”

They suggested that Tarrant “began to form the opinion that the hearing was not proceeding in his favour, and as a result decided to file a notice of abandonment after the hearing concluded.” New Zealand law doesn’t require judges to allow an appellant to quit an appeal bid once it’s underway.

He will remain in jail for life

Tarrant, who has since fired the lawyers acting for him in February, remains in Auckland Prison, where he was sentenced in August 2020 to spend life in prison without the chance of parole. The judges allowed him to abandon his appeal that sentence, which was scheduled to be heard later in 2026.

The Australian-born man moved to New Zealand in 2017 with a plan to commit a mass shooting. He amassed a cache of weapons and made a reconnaissance trip to the sites of his planned crimes before the attack.

The appeal court judges wrote that Tarrant had accepted the summary of facts presented to him by the police and the sentencing judge and noted that the case against him was “overwhelming.” Evidence included footage of the attack that the shooter filmed himself and livestreamed on the internet, in which he showed his own face, and a document outlining his racist views that he published online before the attacks under his real name.

York snapped the tension and a scoreless tie with the goal of the former first-round pick's career, burying the winner 17:32 into overtime that ignited a wild celebration and sent the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in six years with a 1-0 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

The Flyers are set for a second-round showdown against Carolina.

“Just tried to put it there,” York said. “We knew that it was going to be a greasy one. It felt really good to see that one go in.”

Dan Vladar was again sensational in the net and stopped all 42 shots and prevented the Penguins from playing for a shot at playoff history.

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tried to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0. They won two straight to force Game 6.

It is the Flyers who are moving on in coach Rick Tocchet's first season.

“It's been a long time,” Tocchet said. “I know there's been a lot of frustration.”

Arturs Silovs made 31 saves. Crosby skated over and consoled Silovs on the ice as the Flyers' theme song — Olivia Dean's “Man I Need” — blasted throughout the arena.

“We were a shot away from going back to Pittsburgh for Game 7,” Crosby said. "It comes down to bounces sometimes. Putting yourself in that position is tough. I think we all had a lot of belief we could dig ourselves out of it. It's just unfortunate we got behind early in the series.”

The last playoff game to head to overtime scoreless was Winnipeg and Edmonton in a 2021 first-round series. The Jets won 1-0 in the first OT.

The Flyers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they last reached the second round in the bubble season. They are in the second round in a full NHL season for the first time since 2012.

“So happy for the guys in that room,” York said. “We battled all year long for this position.”

Silovs, who allowed about four goals per game over his last 10 starts of the regular season, steadied the Penguins in place of the ineffective Stuart Skinner with wins in Games 4 and 5 and about played like a Vezina Trophy winner in Game 6.

Matvei Michkov, the Flyer's leading scorer after the Olympic break, was scratched in Game 5. He returned to the lineup determined to be a postseason difference-maker. He had a great chance in the second period on a breakaway but was stopped. The Flyers kept the puck in the offensive zone and Michkov swooped in and tried to poke the puck into the corner of the net, only for Silovs to again clamp down and deny the goal.

The Flyers, the last team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot, had 10 giveaways in the first period and made it six straight games in the series without a goal in the first period.

They can try to end that streak against a Hurricanes team that just swept the Ottawa Senators.

Kris Letang dropped Travis Konecny with a right hand as the second period ended and the long-time Penguin started the third in the penalty box. No matter. The Flyers came up empty with the man advantage — Michkov was wide on a one-timer — and they fell at that point to 2 for 17 on the power play in the series.

Vladar played like the team MVP he was in the regular season, willing the Flyers to the second round. Crosby early in the third flicked the puck from behind the net at Vladar. Perhaps auditioning for a spot in the World Cup, Vladar headed it like a soccer star over the back of the net and the game remained scoreless.

That was just one sign the night belonged to the Flyers.

“It's a lot right now,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “At no point am I expecting the season to end today.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Rookie Jakub Dobes stopped 38 shots to help Montreal move within a victory of advancing for the first time since losing to the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021.

Brendan Gallagher got his first goal in his first game this series and Kirby Dach also scored for the Canadiens.

“It's obviously exciting,” said Gallagher, who was a healthy scratch the first four games. “It's been a fun series to watch. I tried to follow their lead and find a way to contribute and I did that.”

Game 6 is Friday night in Montreal, where the teams split Games 3 and 4. All five games have been decided by one goal, including overtime in the first three.

Dominic James scored his first career playoff goal and Jake Guentzel also connected for the Lightning. They are one loss from being eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight season.

Tampa Bay has lost 10 of its last 12 home games in the postseason despite 460 consecutive sellouts.

“We got no choice now. We got to show up or we're out,” Lightning forward Brayden Point said.

Texier took a long pass from Lane Hutson, skated into the left circle and ripped a shot that bounced off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove and into the net for a 3-2 lead early in the third.

“I'm not a 50-goal scorer,” Texier said. “When I have a chance, I just try to put it on net and sometimes you're lucky it's in and sometimes not.”

The Canadiens jumped ahead three minutes into the game when Gallagher wristed in a rebound after Vasilevskiy kicked away Alex Newhook’s backhander. Gallagher, the 14-year veteran, spent time the first four games giving the young players advice.

“I was happy for him and happy for us,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said about Gallagher. “Really happy the way he's handled everything and not surprised the way he played.”

Seconds after James blasted a slap shot past Dobes on a 2-on-1 breakaway, the Canadiens regained the lead. Dach skated down the left side, went around a defender, lost the puck, kicked it from his skate to his stick in front of the net and put it in.

Dach deactivated his Instagram account after receiving online criticism because his defensive lapse led to the winning goal in overtime in Game 2. He had a goal and an assist in Montreal’s 3-2 overtime win the next game.

Guentzel fired a slap shot between Dobes’ legs on another 2-on-1 breakaway to tie it at 2 late in the second. Guentzel has the best playoff goal-scoring ratio among American-born players in NHL history with 43 goals in 79 games.

The Lightning killed off a four-minute disadvantage after Ryan McDonagh’s double minor for high-sticking in the first period. The Canadiens managed just one shot on net during the power play.

Montreal had better scoring chances on two of Tampa Bay’s power plays in the second period. Vasilevskiy stopped Jake Evans on a short-handed breakaway on one of them. ___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Orlando leads the series 3-2 and will get a second chance to advance at home on Friday night.

The Magic fell to 0-10 in franchise history on the road in a Game 5.

Detroit never trailed and went ahead by 15 early in the final quarter. The Magic made one more run, pulling within three points on Paolo Banchero's sixth 3-pointer with 1:09 left. Banchero matched Cunningham with 45 points, also a playoff career high — but he missed 7 of 12 free throws.

The Pistons are hoping to bounce back from the brink of elimination as they did against the Magic two-plus decades ago.

Detroit’s comeback in 2003 as a No. 1 seed against eighth-seeded Orlando was the first of seven times NBA teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit this century. The Denver Nuggets were the last team to pull off the feat in 2020, when they became the first franchise in the league to do it twice in one postseason.

Magic forward Franz Wagner was sidelined with a strained right calf. He had 19 points in two-plus quarters before he departed late in the third quarter on Monday night and averaged nearly 17 points and 5.5 rebounds over the first four games of the series.

Cunningham was 13 of 23 from the field, making a playoff career-high five 3-pointers, and was 14 of 14 at the line in what proved to be the difference in a duel with Banchero, also a former No. 1 overall pick.

Tobias Harris scored 23 points for the Pistons, All-Star center Jalen Duren snapped out of a slump with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Duncan Robinson also scored 12.

Anthony Black had a playoff career-high 19 points, Desmond Bane scored 18 points and Jalen Suggs added 10 for the Magic.

The Pistons played with a sense of urgency at the start after being rusty or flat early in previous games.

Detroit led by 17 in the second quarter, but the Magic cut the deficit to six points by halftime. Orlando pulled within two points early in the third and Cunningham’s fifth 3-pointer late in the quarter helped the Pistons take an 89-79 lead into the fourth.

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

Reaves had been out since April 2 with strained oblique muscles, missing the final five games of the Lakers' regular season and the first four games of the postseason. But Reaves returned to practice last week, and he warmed up for the previous two games in the series in Houston before being ruled out.

Reaves came off the bench for the Lakers in Game 5, who kept the same starting lineup that had taken them to a 3-1 series lead. Reaves immediately made an impact when he checked in midway through the first quarter, making a 3-pointer from 30 feet away on his first shot.

Reaves finished the first half with 11 points and six assists, sharing the Lakers' scoring lead with Marcus Smart. But Los Angeles trailed Houston 51-47 after committing nine turnovers.

Reaves was injured in the same game in which NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic strained his right hamstrings. Doncic doesn't yet appear to be close to a return.

The Lakers won the first three games of the series without their top two scorers, but the Rockets took Game 4 to push the series back to Los Angeles.

Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season, but played in just 51 games thanks to the oblique injury and a strained left calf that sidelined him for 19 straight games from Christmas to February.

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

Sports Business Journal cited three people briefed on the resignation. LIV Golf was planning to announce Thursday a strategy for moving forward without its primary financial backer, including a new board and plans to seek outside financial partners.

LIV Golf did not immediately comment. Any decisions involving Al-Rumayyan would likely come from the PIF, which he has governed since 2015.

Al-Rumayyan is passionate about golf and long wanted a seat at the table with the sport's leadership. He signed a framework agreement in 2023 with the PGA Tour and European tour and was set to join the PGA Tour Enterprises board if it was approved.

The deal never materialized, except for ending antitrust lawsuits. PGA Tour Enterprises instead got a minority investment from a consortium of North American sports owners.

Scott O'Neil, who replaced Greg Norman last year as CEO of LIV Golf, had told London-based TNT two weeks ago during LIV's Mexico City event that Saudi funding was good through the 2026 season and he would “work like crazy” to create a solid business plan.

That raised questions about whether LIV Golf could keep some of its top players once their lucrative contracts expired. With financial muscle from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, LIV was able to spend $1 billion to land the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and eventually Jon Rahm, the last big signing at the end of 2023.

The newsletter Money in Sport reported earlier this year that LIV Golf already had spent $5 billion since the league launched in 2022, a figure that would be $6 billion by the end of this year.

Players have been aware Saudi funding would not be available after this season. DeChambeau said in an interview with the Flushing It social media site that “as long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense.”

“There’s a lot of moving parts like in any business,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a startup, right? And so there’s going to be times where we’re squeezed and punched. This is one of those moments. But I’m going to do everything in my power to make it work and I really see the value in franchise golf.”

LIV Golf earlier this week said it was postponing its June 25-28 event in Louisiana to the fall. The next event is scheduled for May 7-10 in northern Virginia, and O'Neil had said in a memo to staff two weeks ago the season would be uninterrupted and “full throttle.”

But the league that now offers $30 million in prize money at each event already is trying to chart a course for staying solvent after this year.

LIV plans to announce a new board and share plans to reposition the league for 2027 and beyond, though that likely would be with fewer than the 14 events on this year's schedule. It also plans to lean into the concept of team franchises.

Al-Rumayyan was all about team golf when he and Norman launched the league, even though the team concept was one reason it took more than three years for LIV to get recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.

Koepka left LIV after last season and the PGA Tour granted him a path back with stipulations that included no access to equity grants for five years, a $5 million charity donation and no bonus money this year.

The tour offered it to three other LIV players who had won majors since 2022 — Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith — and gave them a Feb. 4 to accept. None did.

In an interview earlier this week with The Wall Street Journal, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said, “We’re interested in having the best players who can help our tour. Not every player can do that.”

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

Profesor de carrera, ex rector de la universidad de Sinaloa y aspirante dos veces a la gobernatura de su estado, fue un aliado histórico del expresidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) y senador de la República antes de asumir como gobernador de Sinaloa a finales de 2021, el estado del Pacífico norte mexicano cuna de los principales narcotraficantes de la historia de México y bastión de una de las organizaciones criminales más poderosas del mundo, considerada terrorista por el gobierno de Trump.

Rocha fue un firme defensor de la estrategia de “Abrazos, no balazos” ideada por López Obrador con el argumento de que había que atajar las causas de la violencia, una política muy criticada por todos los analistas por no combatir a los cárteles y que les permitió expandir su control territorial en muchas zonas del país.

Sus posibles acercamientos con miembros del Cártel de Sinaloa le persiguieron siempre en parte porque Rocha es de Badiraguato, en el mismo municipio donde nació Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, y es casi de la misma generación que los dos fundadores del cártel, Guzmán e Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, ambos actualmente en prisiones estadounidenses.

El gobernador también acompañó al expresidente en polémicas visitas como cuando saludó a la madre de “El Chapo”.

Según la acusación estadounidense, los “Chapitos” — hijos de Guzmán Loera y los narcotraficantes más buscados por Washington en estos momentos—- presuntamente le ayudaron a ganar las elecciones que le llevaron al poder, algo que él ha negado.

Pero su mayor escándalo se desencadenó en julio de 2024 tras la detención de Zambada y Joaquín Guzmán López, uno de los hijos de “El Chapo”, después de llegar a Estados Unidos en un avión privado, hecho que reavivó las sospechas de los contactos de los narcos con políticos del estado.

Zambada dijo en una carta que fue engañado por Guzmán López para acudir a una reunión en la que supuestamente iba a estar un político local y el gobernador Rocha para “ayudar a resolver diferencias" entre ellos.

Rocha negó cualquier conocimiento de esa cita y, en una extraña expresión de teatro político, publicó el plan de vuelo de un avión que, según él, lo llevó fuera del estado aquel día a pasar unas vacaciones familiares en California.

La supuesta trampa contra Zambada acabó con el capo secuestrado por Guzmán López en un operativo de película, el político local (rival de Rocha) asesinado, la fiscalía federal acusando a funcionarios estatales de encubrir ese crimen y con una crisis abierta entre México y Estados Unidos por una posible intervención estadounidense en la acción, aunque Washington siempre la negó.

Además, los arrestos detonaron una sangrienta guerra en el interior del Cártel — entre los Chapitos y los seguidores de “El Mayo”— que todavía no cesa y cuya violencia, minimizada tanto por Rocha como por López Obrador, fue el regalo envenenado que recibió Sheinbaum al llegar al poder en octubre de 2024.

Desde entonces la mandataria mantuvo el apoyo a Rocha, pero fue el gobierno federal quien recomendó a los dos últimos secretarios de seguridad —ambos militares— a la vez que se incrementaba sustancialmente las detenciones y los decomisos de armas y drogas bajo la coordinación del secretario de Seguridad federal, Omar García Harfuch.

Poco después de conocerse las acusaciones estadounidenses, Rocha las negó tajantemente, diciendo que se inscribían en una estrategia contra Morena y que no había evidencias para probarlas. Más tarde, al ser preguntado por la prensa dentro del vehículo en el que viajaba y con cara seria, dijo que se encontraba tranquilo, que no saldrá de Sinaloa aunque no ha recibido ninguna notificación formal en su contra y que ya habló con la presidenta, aunque no dio más detalles de esa conversación.

Horas después, al ser preguntado por la prensa dentro del vehículo en el que viajaba, dijo que no saldrá de Sinaloa y que ya habló con la presidenta.

Qué hará Sheinbaum ahora es la principal incógnita. “¿Tomará medidas para detener al gobernador.... e intentar extraditarlo a Estados Unidos?”, se preguntaba Vanda Felbab-Brown, especialista en crimen organizado de la Brookings Institution.

“Si no lo hace, complicará enormemente las relaciones con Estados Unidos, incluso en lo que respecta a las renegociaciones del T-MEC”, el tratado de libre comercio norteamericano ahora en revisión. “Pero si lo hace —agregó — tendrá enormes consecuencias para ella políticamente" de cara a las elecciones intermedias mexicanas de 2027.

“La afirmación de que los judíos controlaban el comercio alemán y el sistema bancario alemán, y que por lo tanto, empujaron a los alemanes a la Segunda Guerra Mundial, es absurda, históricamente insostenible y viola la memoria de millones de ciudadanos judíos alemanes asesinados por los nazis”, indicaron las dos embajadas en un comunicado conjunto.

“Cabe recordar —señalaron— que fueron Adolf Hitler y los nazis quienes iniciaron la Segunda Guerra Mundial al atacar Polonia en 1939. La ideología nazi, racista y antisemita, no sólo discriminó a sus conciudadanos judíos, sino que resultó en el asesinato de 6 millones de judíos en campos de concentración. El holocausto no puede ser trivializado bajo ninguna circunstancia”. Instaron también al mandatario interino a retractarse de esa declaración.

Más tarde, el despacho presidencial emitió un comunicado en el que indicó que Balcázar "lamenta" que sus declaraciones “hayan generado una percepción equivocada sobre el pueblo judío", y recordó que Perú ha sostenido que “el fanatismo nazi" fue la causa de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y del genocidio contra los judíos.

Balcázar acudió el martes a una ceremonia por el 138vo aniversario de la Cámara de Comercio de Lima. En su presentación de más de 20 minutos, mencionó la importancia del comercio en la sociedad a través del tiempo y dijo que la historia de los comerciantes no “había sido fácil”.

Además les recomendó a los asistentes leer la trilogía del fallecido filósofo español Antonio Escohotado (1941-2021), llamada “Los enemigos del comercio”, en la cual realiza un largo recuento histórico sobre las diversas ideas a favor y en contra del intercambio comercial y la propiedad privada.

Según Balcázar, Escohotado explica “cómo nacieron las letras de cambio, cómo se movió el comercio internacional, qué papel tuvieron los judíos en el comercio nacional e internacional en Alemania, cómo es que Alemania fue empujada a una guerra también por culpa, en parte de los judíos, en parte porque controlaban todos los bancos, todo el comercio, y hacían usura”.

Balcázar, un legislador y juez jubilado, asumió el poder el 18 de febrero en reemplazo de José Jerí (2024-2025), a quien el Congreso quitó de la la presidencia tras un escándalo desatado por sus reuniones con empresarios chinos, las cuales no hizo públicas, como obliga la ley peruana.

No es la primera controversia en la que se ve envuelto Balcázar. Cuando era legislador en 2023, durante un debate sobre el matrimonio infantil que fue prohibido ese año, declaró que, "mientras no haya violencia, las relaciones sexuales tempranas más bien ayudan al futuro psicológico de la mujer”.

En 2022, las embajadas de Israel y Alemania también criticaron al entonces primer ministro peruano, Aníbal Torres, jefe del gabinete del presidente Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), quien elogió el programa de construcción de carreteras de la Alemania nazi. Luego de la reacción de ambos gobiernos Torres se disculpó.

This year’s theme for the celebration of examples of effective altruism through community partnerships was “Catch the Spirit.”

Carolyn Stewart, the district’s community relations coordinator, said she was thrilled that WPLG-Local 10 News was the recipient of the Partner of the Year Award.

“We are just so appreciative that we recognize everything that they have done for our students and our schools,” Stewart said.

Mayte Padron Cordones, the WPLG-Local 10 News community relations director, accepted the award from Superintendent Howard Hepburn.

Some of the WPLG-Local 10 News projects with BCPS have focused on promoting literacy and addressing food insecurity.

About 800 guests, including 200 nominees, were invited to attend a 9 a.m. breakfast followed by the 10 a.m. award ceremony.

Microsoft Elevate and BrightStar Credit Union were the sponsors of the event.

More related stories

• Nominate an outstanding teacher to be featured on ‘Good News South Florida’
• Meteorologist on a mission: Local 10’s Betty Davis fundraises for cancer research
• More on community service in South Florida

SAO PAULO (AP) — La demanda civil, interpuesta ante un tribunal laboral en el estado de Pará, busca obtener unos 119 millones de reales (alrededor de 24 millones de dólares) en compensación, una cantidad que, según la fiscalía, refleja el valor total de las transacciones entre JBS y estos proveedores.

Un total de 53 trabajadores fueron rescatados de propiedades pertenecientes a siete ganaderos que abastecieron a la empacadora de carne entre 2014 y 2025, según la demanda. Los ganaderos figuraban en el registro público oficial de Brasil de empresas que se determinó que sometían a sus trabajadores a condiciones similares a la esclavitud, indicaron los fiscales.

La fiscalía indicó que JBS mostró “un patrón sistemático de negligencia”. La empresa no respondió de momento a una solicitud de comentarios.

Brasil es el mayor productor de carne de res a nivel mundial y representa alrededor del 20% de la producción global. La nación sudamericana superó recientemente a Estados Unidos, que ahora representa cerca del 19% de la producción mundial de carne de res, según el Departamento de Agricultura de Estados Unidos.

La fiscalía laboral de Brasil indicó en un comunicado que la ganadería concentra al mayor número de trabajadores rescatados en todo el país, además de ser un importante motor de la deforestación en la Amazonía. El estado de Pará forma parte de la región amazónica.

La Oficina del Representante Comercial de Estados Unidos incluyó el mes pasado a Brasil en una lista de 60 países que están siendo investigados por trabajos forzados.

JBS es la empacadora de carne más grande del mundo, con una capitalización de mercado de unos 17.000 millones de dólares. Opera plantas en Estados Unidos, incluida una en Colorado, donde los trabajadores realizaron una huelga de tres semanas a principios de este año.

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La cobertura climática y ambiental de The Associated Press recibe apoyo financiero de múltiples fundaciones privadas. La AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido. Consulte las normas de la AP para trabajar con filantropías, una lista de patrocinadores y las áreas de cobertura financiadas en AP.org.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

El mandatario colombiano respondió desmintiendo el hecho e instó a su par ecuatoriano a encontrarse en la frontera.

El nuevo cruce entre Noboa y Petro se produce en medio de una profunda crisis diplomática y comercial que inició meses atrás y que mantiene a ambos países con sus embajadores ausentes tras un llamado a consultas.

Sin presentar pruebas ni dar detalles, Noboa escribió en la red social X que ha sido informado de “una incursión por la frontera norte de guerrilleros colombianos, impulsada por el Gobierno de (Gustavo) Petro”. No detalló la fecha, el lugar exacto ni qué guerrilla habría ingresado a territorio ecuatoriano, tampoco dio cuenta de la fuente.

The Associated Press solicitó información al Ministerio de Defensa, Cancillería y Ejército, sin recibir una respuesta de inmediato.

El mandatario ecuatoriano señaló que “cuidaremos de nuestra frontera” sin entregar detalles de las acciones que implicaría su afirmación y elevó el tono al increpar a Petro: “dedíquese a mejorar la vida de su gente en vez de querer exportar problemas a países vecinos”.

La respuesta del gobernante colombiano no tardó en llegar y en la misma red social dijo a Noboa: “Vaya usted a la frontera norte y se encuentra conmigo y construimos la paz de esos territorios”.

“Deje de creer mentiras", añadió.

Noboa, un conservador millonario, y Petro — primer presidente de izquierda en la historia de Colombia — se han entrampado en un cruce de acusaciones en medio de una disputa comercial que inició en febrero con la imposición de aranceles mutuos.

Ecuador dio el primer paso acusando a su vecino del norte de no controlar la frontera común por lo que fijó una tasa de seguridad que inició en 30% y subirá desde el 1 de mayo al 100%. Colombia respondió con medidas similares, aunque no en la misma proporción, y suspendió la venta de energía a Ecuador.

En uno de los últimos episodios de la discordia, Noboa acusó a Petro sin exponer pruebas de tener supuestos nexos con grupos políticos relacionados al líder narcotraficante alias “Fito”, extraditado a Estados Unidos, lo cual fue negado por el gobernante colombiano que señaló que Ecuador está pasando al fascismo por supuestos casos de tortura.

La tensión en la relación bilateral también se agudizó luego que Petro llamó “preso político” al exvicepresidente ecuatoriano Jorge Glas, quien cumple prisión por casos de corrupción y al que concedió nacionalidad colombiana. Noboa rechazó el calificativo que, dijo, atenta contra la soberanía del país.

Christopher and DeYanna Ostroushko and their daughter, Paige, were each charged by a federal grand jury with one count of assault. The indictment additionally charges Christopher and Paige each with one count of interfering with a federally protected activity.

Christopher Ostroushko also faces state charges of misdemeanor assault, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Attorneys for the Ostroushkos said they will mount a strong defense, emphasizing that an indictment doesn't mean the family has been convicted of any crime.

Community members have continued to protest in opposition to immigration enforcement efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration in the weeks since federal officers’ presence in the Twin Cities was dramatically scaled back. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling as a short-term holding facility, and the area out front has become a hub of anti-ICE activity.

Widely shared video taken by Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez outside the Whipple building on April 11 begins with Paige blowing a whistle close to Hernandez’s face. Video from other vantage points shows Hernandez with her hand protecting her face, sometimes pushing back against Paige. The two then tussle.

Hernandez says, “Get away from me.”

Paige pushes Hernandez, who falls back against a fence.

In the moments after, DeYanna and Christopher separately confront Hernandez, as does Paige again.

Christopher Ostroushko “forcefully shoved the victim in the back, head first to the ground," the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in its statement. It also said there was insufficient evidence to bring state charges against the others involved.

Throughout, others on the scene tried to de-escalate and separate them.

After the April 11 incident, Hernandez said her glasses were broken, she was concussed with a sore neck and back, and her legs were scraped, according to posts on the social platform X. She wrote that she was talking with police about pressing charges.

James Cook, an attorney representing the family, said the videos that have circulated don’t show everything, and he believes the family will be able to provide a “vigorous defense.”

“We think that there's a lot of things in the videos that provide a means to exonerate," he said.

The family was regular protesters at the Whipple building to provide “a voice and a demonstration against Metro Surge," Cook said. He added the Ostroushkos have since been threatened online, and DeYanna and Christopher have both lost their jobs.

“They wish they could turn back the clock,” Cook said. “They wish that things didn’t turn out how they did.”

The Ostroushkos were summoned to appear before a federal judge on May 12.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Wednesday that the Department of Justice will always “punish unhinged acts of political violence.”

“Hernandez was allegedly surrounded, physically assaulted, and shoved to the ground — simply because she was identified by the defendants as a conservative journalist,” Blanche said. “That is NOT ‘peaceful protest.’”

Hernandez said in a post that she was “incredibly grateful to see our justice system at work.” Hernandez did not immediately reply to a request for comment via email or direct message.

Trump made the threat after Merz earlier this week said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war. Trump has also repeatedly railed against NATO for the alliance's refusal to assist the U.S. in its two-month-old war.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post.

Merz had said earlier Wednesday that his personal relationship with Trump remained “as good as ever,” but he had “had doubts from the very beginning about what was started there with the war in Iran.”

During his first term in the White House, Trump also moved to cut U.S. troops in Germany because he said the country spent too little on defense.

In June 2020, Trump announced he was going to pull out about 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 U.S. troops who were then stationed in Germany, but the process never actually started. Democratic President Joe Biden formally stopped the planned withdrawal soon after taking office in 2021.

The U.S. has several major military facilities in the country, including the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States.

Merz met with Trump at the White House in March, just days after the U.S. and Israel began their bombardment of Iran. At the time, Merz told Trump that Germany was eager to work with the U.S. on a strategy for when the current Iranian government no longer exists. Merz also expressed concern that an extended conflict could do great damage to the global economy.

His concern, like many other European leaders, has only grown as the U.S. and Iran have yet to come to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which about 20% of the world global oil supply had flowed prior to the start of the war. It has been effectively closed since the conflict began on Feb. 28.

“We are suffering considerably in Germany and in Europe from the consequences of, for example, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Merz said Wednesday, hours before Trump posted his threat on social media. “And in that regard, I urge that this conflict be resolved.”

Merz added that his government was "on good speaking terms" with the Trump administration.

Trump, for his part, has hardly been containing his frustration with Merz.

On Tuesday, he wrote: “The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump added that it was no surprise “that Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and in other respects!”

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AP writer Pietro De Cristofaro reported from Berlin.

Los diputados reformaron el inciso primero del artículo 79 de la Constitución con el fin de abrir paso a la creación de una circunscripción electoral para los salvadoreños en el extranjero, basada en el Registro Electoral.

“Con esta reforma le estamos dando representación real a la diáspora salvadoreña”, declaró durante el debate el jefe de la bancada del partido Nuevas Ideas, Christian Guevara.

Las reformas, aprobadas con 57 votos a favor y uno en contra, pasaron a estudio de la Comisión Política, que deberá someterlas a discusión y ratificarlas en la próxima plenaria.

La solicitud del mandatario, planteada en una publicación en redes sociales, destaca que “por primera vez la diáspora contará con diputados elegidos específicamente para su representación, con voz en las decisiones que definan el rumbo del país, en lugar de ser asignados sus votos al departamento de San Salvador, como ha sido hasta ahora”.

De acuerdo con la ley vigente, los votos de los salvadoreños que tienen su Documento Único de Identidad (DUI) con domicilio en el extranjero son asignados a diputados del departamento de San Salvador automáticamente si realizan votación remota, y no al departamento de su origen.

Bukele señaló que actualmente hay tres millones de salvadoreños en el exterior, y de ellos más de 950.000 tienen domicilio registrado fuera del país. Dijo que el hecho de que tantos salvadoreños hayan registrado su domicilio en el extranjero refleja la dimensión de una comunidad que ya participa en el sistema político salvadoreño, y que “hoy merece un reconocimiento estructural, con una representación especifica por primera vez en la Asamblea Legislativa”.

En la misma jornada, los diputados de Nuevas Ideas y sus aliados reformaron la Constitución para “despartidizar” el Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE), y evitar así que los partidos políticos pueden proponer a los magistrados del máximo organismo electoral salvadoreño.

El artículo 208 de la Constitución indica que el TSE estará formado por cinco magistrados: tres de ellos de cada una de las ternas propuestas por los tres partidos políticos o coaliciones legales que hayan obtenido el mayor número de votos en la última elección presidencial, y dos magistrados restantes de dos ternas propuestas por la Corte Suprema de Justicia.

Pero con la reforma aprobada, ahora los magistrados del TSE serán electos como se hace con los funcionarios de segundo grado, donde los candidatos se postulan ante el Congreso unicameral, una comisión legislativa los entrevista y son electos por votación del pleno.

Los comicios para elegir presidente y vicepresidente de la República, diputados a la Asamblea Legislativa y consejos municipales se llevarán a cabo el 28 de febrero de 2027, según los programó el TSE.

Thomasz Szabo, 27, was a prolific participant in a dangerous form of online harassment that has become an increasingly common occupational hazard for public officials across the American political spectrum.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of nearly five years for Szabo, who pleaded guilty last June to conspiracy and threats charges. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., also sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his four-year prison term, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.

“This administration will not tolerate attacks on the institutions and individuals who serve this country,” Pirro said in a statement.

Szabo gets credit for the roughly 20 months he already has served in jail.

In 2018, from Romania, Szabo began creating chat servers for him and like-minded users to engage in internet trolling. By late 2020, he had expanded his online activities to include swatting, which involves making hoax threats to provoke emergency police responses at targets' homes. Others joined him in making the bogus threats.

“Despite (or because of) the fact that they resulted in far greater harm to the victim and society, these activities offered much more entertainment value to the defendant and his followers, since swatting and bomb threats often resulted in an observable real-world impact,” prosecutors wrote.

Szabo was charged with Nemanja Radovanovic, of Serbia, whose case hasn't been resolved.

Another Szabo associate was charged separately in Florida. Alan Filion was sentenced at age 18 in February 2025 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to making approximately 375 swatting calls between August 2022 and January 2024. Filion was a juvenile at the time of his criminal conduct but pleaded guilty as an adult.

In December 2023, Szabo told Radovanovic that they should pick targets from both the Republican and Democratic parties because “we are not on any side,” their indictment says. A day later, Radovanovic and Filion embarked on a swatting spree targeting at least 25 members of Congress or their relatives and dozens more state and federal government officials, according to prosecutors.

“Over and over, police departments and other first responders were hijacked by the defendant and deployed to fictitious emergencies,” prosecutors wrote. “As a result, fewer personnel and resources were available to respond to real emergencies.

On Jan. 19, 2024, Secret Service agents questioned Szabo after Romanian authorities searched his home. He was extradited from Romania to the U.S. in November 2024, officials said.

The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier.

The arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East — a number not seen since 2003 — during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. USS Abraham Lincoln also has been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up.

This month, the Ford broke the U.S. record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.

The ship’s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.

The Ford's long deployment has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods as well as increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, with the carrier already enduring a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.

Asked about the Ford's long deployment in a hearing Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he consulted with the Navy and those officials did mention readiness and maintenance tradeoffs.

"Multiple times the operational requirements — whether it was down in Southcom or up to Centcom — demanded additional assets in real time, which through a tough decision-making process led to an extension,” Hegseth said, referring to U.S. Southern Command, which oversees Latin America, and U.S. Central Command in the Middle East.

The Ford began its deployment by heading to the Mediterranean Sea. It was then rerouted to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation to capture Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated.

The carrier took part in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

However, a fire in one of its laundry spaces forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs, leaving hundreds of sailors without places to sleep.

The Ford’s 295-day deployment falls short of the longest deployment during the Cold War, a record held by the now-decommissioned USS Midway. It was deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973.

More recently, the crew of the USS Nimitz was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, that included extended isolation periods ashore in the U.S. meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Únicamente 34 senadores votaron a favor de la llegada de Jorge Messias, procurador general de Brasil desde 2023, al máximo tribunal. En cambio, otros 42 rechazaron su designación. Muchos de los opositores a la candidatura de Messias celebraron el resultado en el pleno, incluido el senador Flávio Bolsonaro, aspirante presidencial.

Messias, quien también trabajó para la expresidenta Dilma Rousseff, necesitaba 41 votos para su aprobación.

“Estoy agradecido por cada voto que recibí. Creo que cada uno de nosotros cumple un propósito y yo cumplí el mío”, declaró Messias a los periodistas en la capital, Brasilia, después de darse a conocer el resultado. “Así es la vida. Hay días de victorias, días de derrotas. Tenemos que aceptarlo”.

El presidente del Senado, Davi Alcolumbre, abogó abiertamente por otro candidato antes de que Lula eligiera a Messias. La prensa brasileña ha reportado desde hace meses un enfrentamiento entre el senador y Lula por no elegir al exsenador Rodrigo Pacheco.

Creomar de Souza, analista político de Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, una firma de consultoría de riesgo y estrategia política con sede en Brasilia, dijo que Lula ha tenido dificultades para trabajar con el Poder Legislativo desde que regresó al cargo, y que el rechazo a Messias es claro ejemplo.

“Esta disputa en torno a Messias implicó ponerlo en una posición difícil. El gobierno anunció que era él y luego tardó en presentar la nominación formal. Después, el proceso de votación no incluyó una coordinación real”, dijo de Souza. “Quedó demasiado expuesto, no hubo una defensa eficiente y el resultado no podía ser diferente”.

Lula, quien buscará la reelección en octubre para un cuarto mandato no consecutivo, eligió a Messias para tomar el lugar de Luís Roberto Barroso, quien renunció en noviembre. El máximo tribunal de Brasil ha funcionado con 10 integrantes desde entonces.

Flávio Bolsonaro dijo a periodistas que el rechazo a Messias también fue “una respuesta a lo que parte del Supremo Tribunal Federal estaba haciendo” al procesar indebidamente a legisladores. Su padre, el expresidente Jair Bolsonaro, fue sentenciado por el mismo tribunal a 27 años en prisión por encabezar un intento de golpe de Estado.

“No estoy celebrando, pero esto es un triunfo para la oposición”, añadió el senador. “Muchos senadores serán elegidos en octubre en función de si los votantes creen que los jueces del Supremo Tribunal Federal pueden ser destituidos”.

Messias, de 46 años, había recibido previamente la aprobación de una comisión del Senado, pero el pleno discrepó en una votación secreta. Messias fue el tercer nominado de Lula al máximo tribunal durante este mandato.

Además de Lula, otros miembros del tribunal hicieron campaña abiertamente a favor del procurador general, quien también intentó recabar votos entre legisladores de fe evangélica como él.

El juez del Supremo Tribunal Federal André Mendonca, quien fue nominado al cargo por Jair Bolsonaro por su experiencia legal y sus credenciales evangélicas, dijo en redes sociales que “Brasil ha perdido la oportunidad” de tener a Messias en el máximo tribunal.

“Es un hombre de carácter, serio y que cumple con los requisitos constitucionales para ser juez del Supremo Tribunal Federal”, dijo Mendonca. “Messias, deja esta batalla con la cabeza en alto. Diste una buena pelea”.

El presidente de Brasil tendrá que nominar a otro candidato, que deberá someterse al mismo escrutinio antes de que el Senado vuelva a votar.

La última vez que el Senado de Brasil rechazó a un nominado para el máximo tribunal fue en 1894, cuando el segundo presidente del país, Floriano Peixoto, estaba en plena disputa con los legisladores.

____

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Only 34 senators voted in favor of Jorge Messias, who has been Brazil's solicitor-general since 2023 and a close legal advisor to Lula, while another 42 rejected his appointment. Messias needed 41 votes to be approved.

Lula, who is seeking reelection in October for his fourth inconsecutive term, picked Messias to replace Luís Roberto Barroso, who resigned in November. Since then, Brazil's top court has operated with 10 members.

Earlier, 46-year-old Messias was approved by a Senate commission, but the full house disagreed in a secret vote.

Besides Lula, other members of the court were openly campaigning for the solicitor-general, who also tried to garner votes from lawmakers of Evangelical faith like him.

Brazil's president will have to nominate another person, who will have to go through the same scrutiny before the Senate votes again.

The last time Brazil's Senate rejected a Supreme Court nominee was in 1894, when the country's second ever president, Floriano Peixoto, was at odds with lawmakers.

Wednesday’s ruling significantly limits the use of race when drawing voting districts, weakening a Civil Rights-era law that has boosted minority representation in Congress.

The decision came in the midst of a special legislative session in Florida that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had called for congressional redistricting on the assumption the Supreme Court would rule as it did. Mississippi’s Republican governor also already had announced a special legislative session, contingent on the court’s ruling.

Here’s a look at how some states are responding to the ruling:

Florida

Hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, Florida’s Republican-led Legislature approved new U.S. House districts that could help the GOP win up to four additional seats in the November midterm elections.

DeSantis had called a special legislative session without knowing when the Supreme Court would issue its opinion in the Louisiana redistricting case. But DeSantis was pretty confident in how the court would rule.

He unveiled a new U.S. House map on Monday that, among other things, redraws a southeastern Florida district that DeSantis said was created to help elect a Black representative in an attempt to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.

“Properly understood, the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the government from divvying up the citizenry based in whole or in part upon race,” DeSantis wrote in letter Monday to lawmakers.

A Florida constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2010 prohibits districts from being drawn to deny or diminish the ability of racial or language minorities to elect the representatives of their choice. But DeSantis had said he considers that amendment a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Whether that’s true remains to be determined. The Supreme Court’s decision does not automatically undo state constitutional protections against racial discrimination in voting districts, said Ruth Greenwood, director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School.

Mississippi

Late last week, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, announced he would call a special legislative session to redraw voting districts for the state Supreme Court. He said it would begin 21 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Louisiana case.

A federal judge last year had ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court voting districts after finding that they violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. Mississippi lawmakers had been waiting on a decision in the Louisiana case before moving forward, but their legislative session ended earlier this month.

Reeves said in his proclamation that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision would provide guidance to lawmakers on whether “race-conscious redistricting” violates the U.S. Constitution.

Louisiana

State lawmakers last year voted to delay Louisiana’s primaries from April 18 to May 16 to allow time to respond to a Supreme Court decision on the state’s congressional districts, which were at issue in the case decided Wednesday. But it took longer for that decision to come than some lawmakers had anticipated.

Early voting is to begin Saturday. It was unclear Wednesday whether Louisiana’s Republican-led legislature could attempt to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November general election.

House Speaker Phillip DeVillier and Senate President Cameron Henry said in a statement that they are reviewing the ruling and consulting with others “to “determine next steps to be taken in the best interests of Louisiana voters and our state.” Republican Gov. Jeff Landry also said he is speaking with leaders to figure out their options.

Alabama

A federal court in 2023 ordered the creation of a new near-majority Black district, which led to the election of Alabama’s second Black representative in the U.S. House. Alabama is under a court order to use the new map until after the next census in 2030. But an appeal pending with the Supreme Court argues that the map is an illegal racial gerrymander.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall praised Wednesday’s decision in the Louisiana case. He said he will “act as quickly as possible to apply this ruling to Alabama’s redistricting efforts and ensure that our congressional maps reflect the will of the people, not a racial quota system the Constitution forbids.”

But that could still take awhile. The state’s primaries are set for May 19, and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said the state is “not in position to have a special session at this time.”

Tennessee

The Tennessee General Assembly ended its annual session last week. But Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor, said on social media Wednesday that the Republican-controlled legislature should reconvene and redraw Tennessee’s only Democratic congressional district in favor of Republicans. The district currently centers on Memphis, which is majority Black.

Tennessee’s Republican House and Senate leaders said they are discussing the possibility of redistricting. But Senate Speaker Randy McNally said there are some obstacles to changing the districts. The candidate qualifying period ended in March, and the primary is in August.

“With the filing deadline passed and qualified candidates already running for election, redistricting congressional seats at this time would present several logistical challenges,” McNally said.

Illinois

Fearing the Supreme Court would undermine the Voting Rights Act, the Democratic-led Illinois House last week approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution adding protections for race-based redistricting.

The measure would make it a priority to draw legislative districts that ensure voters have the opportunity to elect representatives of their choice “on account of race.” The creation of “racial coalition or influence districts” — where the bulk of voters are minorities — would rank higher in priority than districts that are contiguous or compact.

But Senate President Don Harmon said Wednesday the amendment won’t pass this session, to allow time for legal experts to review the court ruling.

“The last thing we want is to act in haste and risk unintended consequences down the road,” he said. ”Too much is at stake for too many.” ___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville; and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.

Pickens informed the Cowboys just hours before the start of the NFL draft last week that he intended to sign the one-year tender, which sparked trade speculation because executive vice president Stephen Jones had said a day earlier Dallas had no plans to negotiate a long-term contract with Pickens this offseason.

The 25-year-old, acquired last year in a trade with Pittsburgh, had career highs in catches (93), yards receiving (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) for one of the best offenses in the NFL last season. Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the league and finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Pickens thrived alongside Lamb, who is going into the second year of a $136 million, four-year contract that currently ranks him third among NFL receivers with an average annual value of $34 million.

There was incentive for Pickens to take the guaranteed money under the tag because it’s a huge payday compared to the total earnings of $6.8 million on his four-year rookie deal as a 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia.

By signing the contract, Pickens can participate in the voluntary offseason program that started this week.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has said throughout the offseason the club has long-term plans for Pickens. Jones said he wouldn't have made the lucrative offer under the tag without a belief that Pickens will be with the Cowboys beyond 2026.

Quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence each played a season under the franchise tag within the past eight years for Dallas before reaching long-term deals. Tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Tony Pollard also played under the tag before leaving in free agency the next year.

Stephen Jones said the “newness” of Pickens’ tenure with the Cowboys was a factor in the decision to stick with a one-year deal for now and not a longer contract.

Pickens’ talent was on display during three seasons with the Steelers, but so were enough instances of petulant or indifferent behavior for then-coach Mike Tomlin to question his maturity.

Brian Schottenheimer never took issue with Pickens publicly in his first season as a head coach after a quarter-century as an NFL assistant. But Pickens and Lamb were benched for the first series in Las Vegas after missing curfew following a casino visit the night before the game.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

That confrontation, which authorities said happened off the Newfound Harbor Channel in the Lower Keys, was caught on camera.

Investigators said John Eric Madocks, 68, of Big Pine Key, claimed he is “deputized” to pull traps out of the water and he has the paperwork to prove it.

He later admitted to removing the trap but claimed he mixed up the trap numbers, but was “unapologetic,” authorities said.

According to an arrest report, the video made the rounds online, the victim informed officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of a comment Madocks posted on Facebook saying, “I hate to say it but that is me.”

He is now facing a charge of molesting a commercial stone crab trap.

Thursday will bring plenty of sunshine and, perhaps, the hottest day of the year so far with a high of 90°F forecast for Miami.

South-southwest winds, sustained 10 to 15 mph, could direct smoke from the Highway 41 brushfire toward metro Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

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The woman was bleeding shortly after 1:35 p.m. near Northwest 22 Avenue and 90 Street, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel took the woman to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Deputies detained a man and a woman and closed Northwest 90 Street from 22nd to 21st avenues.

Within the area enclosed by crime scene tape, a yellow evidence marker was on the ground near a resin plastic high-back chair.

Residents said people had complained about crime in the area and asked for M-DSO deputies to “shut the corner down.”

Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo and Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

Crime scene area

Watch the 3 p.m. report

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The case, now in its fifth week in federal court in downtown Miami, stems from alleged conduct dating back to 2017.

Prosecutors are expected to complete their arguments by the end of the day, after which the case could be turned over to the jury.

Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer are accused of failing to register under federal foreign agent laws.

Prosecutors allege the pair conspired to profit by using political connections to advance efforts tied to Venezuela’s government, including attempts to normalize relations between Caracas and Washington.

According to prosecutors, Rivera and Nuhfer engaged in undisclosed lobbying activities that benefited Maduro’s administration while avoiding required disclosure under U.S. law.

During rebuttal arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz told jurors they could use the superseding indictment as an outline to guide their deliberations and referenced the charging document multiple times.

“Of course Rubio trusted them,” Cruz said, arguing to the jury that Rubio was “used by these two to make money.”

He also urged the 12-person jury to review an interview between Rivera and former Local 10 reporter Michael Putney that was submitted into evidence, which prosecutors have described as a key part of their case.

Defense attorneys counter that the work at issue was commercial in nature and did not require registration.

They argue the arrangement involved a U.S.-based company connected to Venezuela’s oil sector and was focused on business opportunities rather than political advocacy.

The prosecutor pushed back, telling jurors, “They wanted it for Exxon” — adding, “we agree — what we argue is the client was Nicolas Maduro.”

Exxon and Venezuela had a major legal battle after Maduro’s predecessor, former President Hugo Chávez, seized the company’s assets, according to the Miami Herald.

Attorneys for Nuhfer told jurors there is no evidence she acted in bad faith, asking during closing arguments, “Why did they charge her in the first place?” They argued that if jurors cannot answer that question, they should return a not guilty verdict.

The jury of 12 also heard testimony from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said he had no knowledge Rivera was lobbying on behalf of the Venezuelan government when they met in 2017.

“The facts in this case speaks volumes that these two defendants are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cruz said.

Jurors additionally heard from Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, who testified he was unaware Rivera’s consulting work was tied to any foreign government contract.

Cruz reiterated jurors could rely on the charging document, saying, “You can use the charging document” as a reference.

He closed by telling jurors: “Take your time, talk it over, but it is crystal clear” that the evidence stacks up against them.

Read Rivera’s indictment in the document below.

Indictment

The 6-3 ruling effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that districts be drawn to give minority voters a chance to elect representatives of their choosing. One practical effect of that requirement was the protection of reliably Democratic-voting majority-minority districts, even in solidly red states where lawmakers could otherwise favor the GOP.

With that mandate now largely gone, Republican lawmakers across the country — and especially in the South — have a freer hand to eliminate Democratic-leaning districts and pad the total number of seats they can win to hold the U.S. House. There are more than a dozen such seats in Republican-controlled states.

Shortly after the ruling, Republicans were urging a review of their congressional maps in Louisiana, Tennessee and elsewhere.

Their immediate challenge is that the ruling came down well after filing deadlines for this year’s primary elections — and in some cases, after those primary elections have been held. That means ballots are set and in some states early and absentee voting has already begun.

‘No time to waste’

The timing makes it difficult to tear up maps and draw new ones. In Louisiana, where the mandate to draw a second, Democratic-leaning majority-Black House district led to Tuesday’s decision, the primary election for federal offices is set for May 16 — and early voting is scheduled to begin Saturday. Nevertheless, the state’s governor, attorney general and legislative leaders were meeting to discuss how the state would respond.

Republicans have been scrambling to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive to redraw maps to add more winnable House seats to stave off losses in the midterms. In a sign of the pressure for Republicans to take advantage of the opportunity, multiple hopefuls running for governor in GOP primaries called for immediate redraws.

“There is no time to waste,” Rick Jackson, a businessman and GOP governor candidate in Georgia, said in urging a redraw there even as voting is underway for the May 19 primary. ”Georgia must act now to ensure secure elections in Georgia and counter the Democrats’ national assault on our elections.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, running for the GOP nomination for governor in Tennessee, called for redrawing that state’s congressional map to replace its lone, majority-Black Democratic congressional seat with one more winnable for Republicans — even though that state’s deadline for candidates to get on the ballot was March 10.

In a social media post, Trump praised the opinion by “brilliant Justice Samuel Alito” for returning “the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination.”

Primary calendar is the main obstacle to redrawing maps

Democrats have managed to largelycounter Republicans’ push to draw more winnable seats in the round of mid-decade redistricting that started last year, but there is no clear way they could match the GOP’s potential gains from the effective loss of the Voting Rights Act.

“It should not be lost on anyone that the Roberts court makes this decision at a time when Republican leaders across the country are foaming at the mouth to draw the American people out of a meaningful say in our elections,” former Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement, referring to the court’s Republican-nominated chief justice, John Roberts. “They want to retain illegitimately obtained power through the use of, among other things, now Supreme Court-sanctioned racial and partisan gerrymandering.”

Only one Republican state has a relatively clear path to gaining seats from the decision in time for the midterms — Florida. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a special session to adopt his map that could give his party four new winnable House seats. DeSantis had been counting on the Supreme Court ruling as it did Wednesday, and his state’s primary is not until August.

The Florida Legislature approved the new congressional map Wednesday.

Other states have to confront the unprecedented possibility of revising maps even as voters are casting ballots or the legal process of declaring intent to run for office has concluded.

“I don’t know what the implications are going be for the fall. It’s pretty late,” said Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He said any redistricting decisions in the weeks ahead would be up to governors and legislatures.

Voting Rights Act ‘essentially dead’

In the longer term, the ruling clears the way for a drastic reshaping of the nation’s political geography, at least by the time of the next presidential election year in 2028.

“The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie Mellon University who has worked as the court-appointed special master and mapmaker in multiple Voting Rights Act cases. “It’s hard to imagine how this decision does not lead to additional GOP districts into the future.”

Cervas noted the Voting Rights Act isn’t necessarily a partisan benefit for Democrats. Its most frequent use comes in local, nonpartisan races for offices such as school board or city council. But Republicans have long complained that Democrats have used the law to get winnable districts for their Black voters in red states that Republican-leaning white voters could never receive in blue states.

“For decades the left has spent hundreds of millions of dollars seeking to divide Americans along racial lines in a cynical pursuit of partisan power masquerading as civil rights,” Adam Kincaid, the National Republican Redistricting Trust’s executive director, said in a statement. “Today’s decision rebukes that divisive and unconstitutional effort.”

Democratic states might want to preserve minority districts

While the Voting Rights Act has helped preserve Democratic-leaning districts, those voters don’t vanish just because of Wednesday’s ruling. Republicans in some states cannot just eliminate all those districts without spreading enough Democratic voters around to jeopardize their own incumbents.

Likewise, the requirement that Democratic-leaning minority voters be concentrated in certain districts has occasionally hurt Democrats in states such as Michigan, lowering the number of swing districts they might win. The party could partly counter Republican gains by spreading minority voters wider in states it controls.

But there will be political pressure against that from some Black and Hispanic Democrats who want to ensure their communities still command the majority in certain districts. Democratic-controlled states also are more likely to have nonpartisan redistricting commissions that make their congressional maps less partisan and increasingly have adopted state-level versions of the Voting Rights Act to protect sometimes marginalized communities.

That will take time, but it all points to a far less regulated environment for mapmaking in the years to come.

That worries Thomas Johnson, a Black voter in New Orleans who was at the state Capitol to lobby on unrelated legislation Wednesday when the Supreme Court ruling came down. The majority-Black congressional district in which he lives can now be diced up by that state’s Republican legislature.

“We are going to do all we can and continue fighting so our voices are heard,” Johnson said. “That’s all we want, to be heard.”

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Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

The vote came just two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his proposal and the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The decision could make it harder for Democrats to challenge Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in ways that limit the influence of nonwhite voters.

DeSantis’ map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to 4, up from the current split of 20 to 8. The potential four-seat gain is the same as what Virginia Democrats expect from a recent redistricting referendum, which is being challenged in state court there.

Florida’s new map is certain to face lawsuits as well, especially because the state constitution prohibits redistricting for explicitly partisan purposes. DeSantis and his aides believe those provisions will not be a legal barrier because they have been weakened previously by the Florida Supreme Court and again by Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Florida Republicans, comfortable in their supermajority in both legislative chambers, said little about the new districts during the whirlwind special session. The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, limited her remarks to careful answers about an “evolving legal landscape” as Democrats’ asked her about the redistricting effort.

“I believe that there is a likelihood that that map will be upheld against legal challenge,” Persons-Mulicka said.

Democrats decried it as a partisan power play to satisfy Trump and hurt the majority of registered Florida voters who are not Republicans.

“Y’all are doing this because y’all’s daddy in the White House is injecting national political objectives into what should be a state-driven process,” Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, told her Republican colleagues.

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As fog cleared at daybreak, acres of blackened sawgrass stretched across the Everglades.

In just 24 hours, the fire expanded from about 450 acres to more than 6600 — the equivalent of nearly 5,000 football fields reduced to ash.

Fire crews have named it the Highway 41 Fire, which continues to burn a few miles west of the Miccosukee Casino.

Officials have closed a large stretch of Everglades National Park, forcing nearby businesses — including Coopertown Airboats, Safari Park and Gator Park — to shut down.

As the sun set Tuesday, crews continued working to push flames back. Helicopters dropped hundreds of gallons of water, targeting several hotspots as bright orange flames burned in the distance.

Firefighters say the flames are tearing through dry sawgrass, fueled by ongoing drought conditions and steady winds.

“This wind has been blowing more to the south, so the fire has picked up in size,” said Ezra Van, a National Weather Service storm spotter.

Van said there are several natural elements that remain the biggest factors in the fire’s behavior.

“Wind, humidity, and rain are the three biggest factor,” he said. “If the wind picks up, the fire moves faster. If humidity drops, it burns faster. And rain, if it comes, could slow it down.”

The fire, which began Saturday, remains 0% contained. No injuries or property damage have been reported, and the cause is still under investigation. Crews continue to monitor conditions from the air as the fire moves through the area.

Click here to get current status updates and statistics about the fire (to include acreage), which is updated perodically, and here to get the latest closures due to the fire.

The groups want U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to issue a preliminary injunction that would halt any construction ahead of the July 6 start date, saying they worry the president and board of trustees will flout historic preservation rules that seek to maintain the building, which draws millions of visitors every year.

The laws that govern the process “go to the very fundamental question of: Do we slow down and take stock before we make changes to properties that define the American experience?” attorney Greg Werkheiser said in an interview after the hearing.

Justice Department attorneys, representing the president and board, argued Wednesday that plans for the building are limited in scope and well within the authority of the board, not requiring extra approvals.

Since returning to office last year, Trump has taken particular interest in the Kennedy Center. He ousted its previous leadership and replaced it with a handpicked board that named him chairman, changes that prompted an outcry from many artists and exacerbated the operation’s financial challenges. Trump, whose name was later added to the building’s facade, announced the renovations earlier this year.

Besides being a premier arts and cultural destination, the Kennedy Center is considered a “living monument” to President John F. Kennedy, who raised millions to build the center but was assassinated before it opened. Perched on the Potomac River, the massive structure and gleaming white marble facade form an indelible part of the Washington, D.C., landscape.

The hearing is the second in as many days over the fate of the Kennedy Center. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, has also sued to stop renovations as an ex officio member of the board. Cooper, the judge, is also overseeing that lawsuit. For the second day in a row, the judge's evenhanded scrutiny of both sides made it difficult to discern how he might rule.

In testimony, executive director Matt Floca, a former facilities manager who was elevated by the Trump-aligned board, said the renovations planned are merely to repair decades of wear and tear, including extensive water damage to a part of the building that was nicknamed “the swamp.”

“The most efficient and effective way to complete the magnitude of projects we need to complete is to close the center,” Floca said.

Attorneys for the preservation groups raised doubts about the limited scope of the project, pointing to Trump's statements that he would “fully expose” the building's steel skeleton.

Yaakov Roth, a Justice Department attorney representing the president, said those fears are overblown.

“There’s no risk that there will be unilateral changes … that we’ll wake up and the building will be gone,” Roth said.

The lawsuits over the Kennedy Center represent another fight over Trump's efforts to leave a lasting imprint on the nation's capital. Since he took office last year, the former Manhattan construction mogul has angered preservationists by paving over the White House’s historic Rose Garden. In October, the White House tore down its East Wing to make room for a $400 million ballroom.

Besides the Kennedy Center building, the president also added his name to the United States Institute of Peace. Trump also wants to move forward with plans to build a 250-foot “triumphal arch.”

Sanoja's infield bloop hit off reliever Will Klein (1-2) scored Xavier Edwards, who singled leading off. Sanoja entered in the sixth as a defensive replacement in left field.

Liam Hicks and Esteury Ruiz hit solo homers for the Marlins, who took two of three from the Dodgers for the first time in Los Angeles since April 2018 and improved to 5-10 on the road.

The Dodgers trailed in the bottom of the ninth in all three games.

Marlins reliever Calvin Faucher opened the ninth with back-to-back walks to Hyeseong Kim and Alex Call. The runners moved up on Alex Freeland's sacrifice bunt. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play to end the game. The Dodgers challenged the out call at first, but it was upheld. Ohtani was called out at second.

Andrew Nardi (2-1) got the win with a hitless inning of relief. Faucher finished for his first save.

Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out four and walked two.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow struck out a season high-tying nine, including six in a row, leaving him one short of 1,000 for his career. The right-hander gave up two runs and three hits while walking six in 5 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers tied it at 2 on Dalton Rushing's RBI single in the sixth.

They also tied it at 1 on Alex Call's sun-aided RBI single with two outs in the second. Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez couldn't see the ball in the sun even with shades on and neither the second or third basemen were wearing sunglasses. The ball dropped near second.

Up next

After an off day, Dodgers RHP Emmet Sheehan (2-0, 4.78 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday in St. Louis against LHP Matthew Liberatore (0-1, 4.75).

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

Captain Tyler Baruch is saying the sandbar is shifting and a hazard to boaters.

Baruch said he has been a boat captain for 15 years and that one particular sandbar in the Jupiter Inlet could cause serious damage to boats and potentially even cost someone their life.

Baruch’s video has racked up more than 400,000 views, calling on elected officials to act.

He says that dredging currently happening in the inlet is actually making the problem worse, explaining that when they take the sand and put it on the beach, the second a decent swell comes, that sand is swept out and clogging up the inlet.

Baruch said he’s experienced some pretty scary situations himself while on the water.

“Don’t hit the cut perfectly and you hit the sandbar and there’s a wave, the wave can flip your boat and you can either get crushed by the boat or potentially get knocked out and drowned,” he said. “We almost flipped. We were pretty much vertical. The boat was almost, almost about to flip and I was so scared. All I think they need to do is keep a consistent dredge pumping just like we have in West Palm and other inlets, and then the inlet will stay deep and everything will be fine.”

In Baruch’s video he also called on elected officials to help.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say they’re working to get permits to help the situation, but since the inlet is not federally mandated, they have to wait for approval, adding turtle nesting season also brings complications.

In a WARN Act email on April 24, the organization said it was advised that the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Resettlement terminated its funding contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.

The email states that “Due to these unforeseen circumstances,” funding for the Refugee Resettlement Program was terminated, forcing the organization to make the “difficult decision” to close the facility at 9525 Sterling Dr. in Miami.

The closure comes after the Trump administration canceled an estimated $11 million federal contract that supported care for unaccompanied migrant children, according to the Miami Herald, which first reported details of the funding termination and resulting layoffs.

Filing documents with the Florida Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification system obtained by the Miami Herald states that Catholic Charities notified 84 employees of layoffs tied to the closure, including youth care workers, case managers, clinicians and shelter supervisors, with additional job losses expected in the coming months.

The Archdiocese of Miami also confirmed to the Miami Herald that the layoffs are the direct result of the federal government not renewing funding for the program.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Catholic Charities officials have said the decision ends a decades-long effort tied to care for “unaccompanied minors” and have urged federal officials to reconsider the funding cut.

According to the Miami Herald, a Catholic Charities spokesperson said the organization is working with employees during the transition and assisting those affected.

Uno de los pedazos de hielo --del tamaño de una pelota de sóftbol-- que cayó el martes en el área de Springfield, medía unos 12 centímetros (4,75 pulgadas). El granizo mató a un emú en el zoológico, provocó heridas en algunos conductores, causó cortes de electricidad que afectaron a miles de personas y dejó daños en vehículos e incluso en algunas aeronaves.

“Me siento bendecido de haber salido ileso”, señaló Gockel, cuyo parabrisas fue golpeado por el granizo mientras esperaba en su auto al costado de una autopista.

El clima severo de primavera está azotando el Sur y el centro-norte de Estados Unidos, mientras que funcionarios de gestión de emergencias señalaron que la tormenta de granizo fue la peor en la historia de Springfield, aunque lejos del récord estatal. Mark Burchfield, del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en Springfield, explicó que esa distinción corresponde al granizo de 15,2 centímetros (6 pulgadas) que cayó en 2004 cerca de la localidad de Maryville.

“Es muy raro”, comentó sobre la tormenta en Springfield. “Fue una tormenta eléctrica de supercélula que tuvo mucha cizalladura del viento y mucha energía”.

En el Parque Zoológico Dickerson de Springfield, el personal intentó trasladar a espacios cerrados, incluída a Adam, una emú de 21 años. Pero el comportamiento natural de un emú es echarse y cubrirse, indicó el portavoz Joey Powell en un correo electrónico a The Associated Press.

Adam murió por un traumatismo craneal. Y Oscar, ñandú de 17 años, sufrió heridas pero recibe tratamiento mientras el zoológico permanecía cerrado.

Algunos de los peores daños se registraron en el Aeropuerto Nacional Springfield-Branson, a unos 8 kilómetros (5 millas) al noroeste del centro de la ciudad.

El aeropuerto aplazó o canceló decenas de vuelos y a cientos de vehículos se les reventaron los parabrisas o los quemacocos, informó Ren Luebbering, responsable de información pública del aeropuerto.

Algunos pasajeros tuvieron que ser trasladados en autobús a unos 160 kilómetros (100 millas) hasta el aeropuerto de Bentonville, Arkansas, debido a que los autos de alquiler estaban dañados. Luebbering señaló que el personal aeroportuario pasó tres horas cubriendo con lonas los vehículos más afectados.

“Creemos que pusimos como 300 o 400 lonas sobre los autos”, manifestó Luebbering. El aeropuerto advirtió en internet: “Espere daños en su vehículo”.

Nicolette Zangara, portavoz de la Oficina de Gestión de Emergencias del condado de Springfield-Greene, dijo que desde la mañana tuvo un mal presentimiento.

“Por lo que veíamos en el radar, se notaba que el granizo estaba aumentando de tamaño”, explicó. “Y luego empezamos a recibir fotos de algunos de nuestros condados vecinos, del granizo que les estaba cayendo. Y desde ese momento supimos que iba a ser una tormenta grave”.

Añadió que algunas personas llamaron al número de emergencias 911 para reportar heridas que sufrieron cuando el granizo rompió el parabrisas de sus autos, pero no dio a conocer cifras exactas. Señaló que los vehículos aparentemente se llevaron la peor parte. Dijo que su auto está tan abollado que parece una pelota de golf.

“Parece que la última semana de abril está como maldita para nuestra zona”, expresó, al señalar las tormentas que azotaron a la región el año pasado.

Desde que pasó la tormenta, Gockel ha pasado el resto del tiempo en contacto con su seguro. Las canaletas de su casa quedaron “hechas añicos” y un equipo se dirige a evaluar su techo.

Dirige un negocio de pizzas y un camión de comida resultó dañado, así como vehículos de trabajo y el primer auto de su hija adolescente, el cual compró hace alrededor de un mes.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Instead, former Brown student Claudio Neves Valente, 48, appeared to target places and people for what they represented in his own life — institutions and individuals he associated with personal failure, missed opportunity and perceived injustice.

In a detailed behavioral assessment released Wednesday, the FBI said Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, spent years planning the attack in isolation before killing two students and wounding nine others inside an engineering building on Dec. 13. Two days later, he killed MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Neves Valente was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, ending a multistate search.

The FBI described a man who spent years in isolation, rarely staying in one place and lacking traditional support systems such as family, peers and authority figures who might have recognized warning signs and alerted law enforcement.

Over time, investigators said, he built a narrative of grievance and inadequacy, with “little to no opportunity for bystanders to observe and contextualize the significance of his behaviors.”

“He appeared to struggle with how he viewed his life achievements and felt he was considerably marginalized by others,” the FBI wrote in the report. “As his failures outweighed successes, his paranoia increased, compounding his continued inability to thrive and leading to him being mentally unwell and committed to dying.”

Authorities said the violence itself was “symbolic in nature.” Brown University and Loureiro, investigators wrote, represented to the shooter “his personal failures and injustices he perceived were inflicted by others over time.”

“By attacking them, Neves Valente was likely able to overcome his shame and envy by using violence to punish those communities that he perceived contributed to his downfall,” the FBI said.

Yet even as investigators laid out that framework, they acknowledged its limits, noting that only Neves Valente himself knew the full reason behind the attacks and that mental health stressors alone cannot fully explain them.

After the attacks, investigators said Neves Valente recorded a series of videos and audio messages in which he confessed to the shootings, expressed no remorse and voiced some of the grievances later outlined in the FBI’s assessment, but offered no clear explanation for his actions.

Investigators have said Neves Valente acted alone and that the attacks had no known connection to terrorism.

Authorities said Neves Valente briefly attended Brown as a doctoral student in the early 2000s but did not complete the program, a connection investigators say later factored into how he viewed the university. The firearms used in the attacks were legally purchased in Florida years earlier, investigators said.

The findings come as students injured in the attack filed a lawsuit earlier this week, alleging the university ignored prior warnings about the shooter and did not provide adequate security that could have prevented the tragedy.

Reginald Jackson, de 40 años, y Roderick Martin, de 39, fueron acusados en los asesinatos de Annette Anderson, de 70 años, y Tyrone Walker Jr., de 20, en Miami Gardens.

Jackson recibirá 40 años de prisión, mientras que Martin recibirá 25.

Jackson tuvo un arrebato en la corte lleno de insultos durante una audiencia previa, alegando que estaba molesto porque su familia no estaba en la sala cuando iba a aceptar el acuerdo.

El motivo del crimen sigue sin estar claro. El abogado de Jackson dijo que nunca se lo dijo.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office shared what they said the evidence in the case would show in a court filing that provided the first detailed allegations of the killing and efforts to cut apart Rivas Hernandez's body and get rid of evidence.

The court filing said D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to reveal their inappropriate relationship.

“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the filing said.

Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other counts. His lawyers have said he is innocent and did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death.

Her body was found decomposing in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills in September of last year.

Prosecutors said they had obtained text messages that showed their sexual relationship, including child sexual abuse images of her on his phone.

“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” the document says. “She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life.”

The filing said he sent a rideshare car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, from her hometown of Lake Elsinore some 80 miles (129 km) outside of Los Angeles. The two exchanged messages until she arrived at his Hollywood home, after which her phone went silent permanently.

They allege he sent her a late-night message asking where she was in an attempt to cover up the killing.

The court filing is intended to outline the evidence that prosecutors plan to present at a preliminary evidentiary hearing beginning May 26, when a judge will determine whether there is probable cause to go to trial. The defense has not publicly provided its version of events.

The document says Burke bought two chain saws online used them to cut apart her body in an inflatable pool in his garage, where the girl's DNA was later found.

“Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body,” prosecutors said in the brief.

Burke drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of his home to get rid of evidence three times, the document alleges. Her passport was found there in January.

On April 24, the day after her death, he gave a radio interview and had a record-release party promoting his debut full-length album, “Withered,” which was released the following day, prosecutors said in the filing.

Prosecutors allege he kept her body in his Tesla, and lied to friends and business associates who asked about the smell.

The body of Rivas Hernandez had so degraded that examiners couldn’t even determine her eye color. She had braces at the time of her death, and a tattoo that read “Shhh ....” on the inside of a finger as well as his name, according to the report. Two fingers were missing — as were parts of her arms and legs.

Prosecutors had not previously described how they believed Rivas Hernandez was killed or given details on their relationship. An autopsy report said she was killed by penetrating wounds.

Prosecutors said the parents of Rivas Hernandez reported her missing from her home in Lake Elsinore in February 2024. After the February report, Riverside County Sheriff’s detectives contacted Burke, but he told them he had only met her once and did not know she was a minor.

After she returned home that February, her parents took away her cellphone but Burke drove to her hometown and paid a friend of Rivas Hernandez $1,000 to give her a phone so they could communicate.

She was reported missing again in April 2024. The document said that year, she spent much of her time at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family.

The defense attorneys asked Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo at a hearing Wednesday to seal the document, but she declined. They had no comment outside court.

Burke was arrested on April 16 and pleaded to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. He is eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek it.

The singer began making music for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite when he was a teenager.

The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays. In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.

He performed at last year's Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed and his album was released. He was on tour promoting it in September when the body was discovered and his name became publicly attached to the case. It would be seven months before he was arrested.

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Officials said they were called to the Dames Point Bridge on April 12 after a man was spotted getting ready to jump and take his own life.

Video shows a number of officers surrounding the man, who was standing on the ledge of the bridge.

As the man was preparing to jump, Officer Antonio Richardson stepped in.

Richardson is seen in the video speaking to the man for a while and eventually extending out his hand, even offering to pray for him.

Other officers also kept encouraging the man, who eventually took Richardson’s hand, leading to a very emotional embrace between the two.

Jacksonville police say in that moment, their officers weren’t the police, but rather people showing how much they cared for another person, adding that they do what they do every day because they care.

If you or someone you know is struggling mentally, there is help available. Call or text 9-8-8 to reach the suicide hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Las autoridades dijeron que fueron llamados al puente Dames Point el 12 de abril después de que se viera a un hombre preparándose para saltar y quitarse la vida.

El video muestra a varios oficiales rodeando al hombre, quien estaba de pie en el borde del puente.

Mientras el hombre se preparaba para saltar, el oficial Antonio Richardson intervino.

En el video se ve a Richardson hablando con el hombre durante un tiempo y finalmente extendiendo su mano, incluso ofreciéndose a orar por él.

Otros oficiales también continuaron animando al hombre, quien finalmente tomó la mano de Richardson, lo que llevó a un abrazo muy emotivo entre ambos.

La policía de Jacksonville dijo que en ese momento, sus oficiales no eran policías, sino personas mostrando cuánto les importa otra persona, agregando que hacen lo que hacen todos los días porque les importa.

Si usted o alguien que conoce está luchando con su salud mental, hay ayuda disponible. Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 988 para comunicarse con la línea de prevención del suicidio las 24 horas del día, los siete días de la semana.

On Sunday at Haulover Park, the Miami Host Committee put on the One Game One Future youth soccer clinic.

Participants enjoyed a coach’s workshop that included all kinds of soccer drills.

Grassroot Soccer was part of the event. The health organization uses soccer to help yougsters learn more about life-saving information and how to live a healthier life.

The organization says today their focus was mental health and, of course, soccer.

“We are so excited to be involved with FIFA and the Miami Host Committee to run some mental health soccer programs here called ‘MindSKILLZ,’” said Grassroot Soccer co-founder Ethan Zohn. “We’re using metaphors from the sport of soccer to deliver some really important health information to protect these kids and make them aware about mental health and the dangers and issues around mental health.

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It was shortly after 11:50 p.m. on Monday. Bell, 23, had allegedly used a 7-foot metal pole as a weapon at Taboo Miami by G5ive, an adult entertainment club.

Bell’s questions for NMB police officers before she took off running included, “Why are you guys walking up on me?”

Police officers reported running after Bell from the Shell gas station at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 171st Street to the westbound ramp of State Road 826.

“I have a heart problem ... I have asthma,” Bell said, as police officers ordered her to stand up. “I am telling you, I can’t ... I am scared.”

Bell, of Detroit, worked as a stripper at Taboo Miami by G5ive and was terminated over alleged “bizarre behavior,” according to the arrest report.

The video shows that Bell told the arresting NMB police officers that she was the real victim.

“They just literally put their hands on me and pushed my head against the ground,” Bell said. “You all can watch the cameras.”

On Monday, Bell appeared before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer, facing seven charges: Aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, providing a false name or ID after arrest, and four counts of resisting arrest without violence.

Glazer learned that there was a warrant out of Georgia for her arrest for failure to appear in court over a robbery case.

Related report: Police: Fugitive working as stripper turns pole into weapon at North Miami Beach adult club

Videos de cámaras corporales de oficiales de la policía de North Miami Beach muestran a Princess Bell en una gasolinera antes de que decidiera huir, según la policía.

Era poco después de las 11:50 p.m. del lunes. Bell, de 23 años, presuntamente utilizó un tubo metálico de 7 pies como arma en Taboo Miami by G5ive, un club de entretenimiento para adultos.

Las preguntas de Bell a los oficiales antes de salir corriendo incluyeron: “¿Por qué ustedes se me están acercando?”

Los oficiales reportaron que corrieron tras Bell desde la gasolinera Shell en Northwest Seventh Avenue y 171st Street hasta la rampa oeste de la State Road 826.

“Tengo un problema del corazón… tengo asma”, dijo Bell mientras los oficiales le ordenaban que se levantara. “Les digo que no puedo… tengo miedo”.

Bell, de Detroit, trabajaba como stripper en Taboo Miami by G5ive y fue despedida por presunto “comportamiento extraño”, según el informe de arresto.

El video muestra que Bell dijo a los oficiales que la arrestaron que ella era la verdadera víctima.

“Ellos literalmente me pusieron las manos encima y empujaron mi cabeza contra el suelo”, dijo Bell. “Ustedes pueden ver las cámaras”.

El lunes, Bell compareció ante la jueza del circuito del condado Miami-Dade Mindy Glazer, enfrentando siete cargos: agresión agravada, asalto agravado con arma mortal, proporcionar un nombre o identificación falsa tras el arresto y cuatro cargos de resistirse al arresto sin violencia.

Glazer supo que había una orden de arresto en Georgia por no comparecer ante la corte en un caso de robo.

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Reginald Jackson, 40, and Roderick Martin, 39, were charged in the murders of 70-year-old Annette Anderson and 20-year-old Tyrone Walker Jr. in Miami Gardens.

Jackson will get 40 years in prison, while Martin will get 25.

Jackson had had an expletive-laden outburst in court during a previous hearing, claiming he was upset that his family wasn’t in the courtroom for him to accept the plea deal.

A motive for the crime remains unclear. Jackson’s attorney, Jimmy Dellafera, said he never told him.

“It’s difficult to pose any questions, as a defense lawyer, to a defendant and many times you don’t know,” Dellafera said. “You don’t really want to be in a position as a defense counsel to have your client confess to you”

The victims’ loved ones declined to comment.

The company earned $26.77 billion, or $10.44 per share, in the January-March period, up about 61% from $16.64 billion, or $6.43 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 33% from last year to $56.31 billion. Meta was expected to earn $6.67 per share on revenue of $55.6 billion, per the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

“We had a milestone quarter with strong momentum across our apps and the release of our first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “We’re on track to deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people.”

About 3.56 billion people used at least one of Meta's apps on a daily basis in March, which declined slightly from December. That decline is due to internet disruptions in Iran and the restriction on access to WhatsApp in Russia, company leaders said in a post-earnings call.

Meta expects total revenue for the second and current quarter to be in the range of $58 billion to $61 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $59.48 billion.

The company also updated its projected capital expenditures for the year to be in the range of $125 billion to $145 billion, increased from the previously announced range of $115 billion to 4135 billion. Meta said the change reflects its expectations of higher component pricing and, “to a lesser extent,” additional data center costs.

Meta’s stock price was down more than 6% in extended trading after the numbers came out.

When Meta posted its initial forecast for 2026 spending at the close of last year, it said the year-over-year growth was driven by increased investment to support Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts. Since then, the company has said it is laying off about 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 workers, as it continues to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and highly paid AI-expert hires.

“Investments in data centers are part of a massive gamble by Big Tech firms to win the AI race, to develop artificial general intelligence and to drive massive revenue and profits in the future," said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, in a statement. “But the risks associated with alienating the top-tier human workforce that took years to build too often goes unnoticed.”

Meta ended March with nearly 78,000 workers, up 1% year over year.

While speaking on a post-earnings call about AI agents and AI-powered products Meta is developing, Zuckerberg said he doesn't believe AI will replace people, as many workers fear. “Instead, I think that AI is going to amplify people’s ability to do what you want, whether that’s to improve your health, your learning, your relationships, your ability to achieve your personal career goals and more,” he said.

Susan Li, Meta’s CFO, said on the same call that the first quarter showed strong execution across its core ads and engagement initiative, but also noted that legal and regulatory matters, could make a dent in progress moving forward.

The company is monitoring “ headwinds in the EU and the US that could significantly impact our business and financial results,” Li said as she noted that there has been increased scrutiny as of late on “youth-related issues.”

The jury in a landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles recently found the company liable for harms to a young woman who began using Meta’s platforms — as well as Alphabet's YouTube — as a child. Additional trials scheduled for this year and beyond “may ultimately result in a material loss,” Li said.

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Daytona Beach police pulled over a car they say was involved in a shooting on Saturday, but it quickly turned into a chaotic chase.

Officers started to question the driver, identified as Cory Acree, when they noticed a small baggie between the door and the driver’s seat.

Authorities said the officer picked up the bag and asked Acree to get out of the car, and that’s when he took off.

Officers were able to find Arcee’s young daughter a short distance away from where they took him into custody after they said he ditched her in the woods to try and run away faster.

As they put handcuffs on and detained Acree, officers said they immediately got his daughter out of the woods.

They placed her away from the arrest and did everything to comfort her, handing her stickers and toys.

Acree faces multiple charges including fleeing from officers, drug trafficking and child abuse.

He is being held behind bars on no bond.

La policía de Daytona Beach detuvo un auto que, según dijeron, estaba involucrado en una balacera el sábado, pero rápidamente se convirtió en una persecución caótica.

Los oficiales comenzaron a interrogar al conductor, identificado como Cory Acree, cuando notaron una pequeña bolsa entre la puerta y el asiento del conductor.

Las autoridades dijeron que el oficial recogió la bolsa y le pidió a Acree que saliera del auto, y fue entonces cuando salió corriendo.

Los oficiales lograron encontrar a la hija pequeña de Acree a poca distancia de donde lo detuvieron, después de que, según dijeron, la abandonó en el bosque para intentar huir más rápido.

Mientras le colocaban las esposas y lo detenían, los oficiales dijeron que de inmediato sacaron a la niña del bosque.

La colocaron lejos del arresto e hicieron todo lo posible por consolarla, dándole calcomanías y juguetes.

Acree enfrenta múltiples cargos, incluidos huir de los oficiales, tráfico de drogas y abuso infantil.

Permanece detenido sin derecho a fianza.

Sawe, the first person to break the fabled two-hour barrier in the marathon, was welcomed back to his country by his parents and Sports Minister Salim Mvurya, who hailed the runner's accomplishment at the London Marathon as “a win for Kenya.”

Sawe pulled off the feat, which was long considered unthinkable, on Sunday when he won in a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds. He bettered the previous men’s world record by 65 seconds.

Before disembarking upon arrival Wednesday at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Sawe told The Associated Press he was proud to have “made a great achievement in life” and was planning to “try and lower the record further.”

He was adorned with a traditional wreath made from twigs to symbolize victory.

Traditional dancers sang his praises as he then climbed into a luxury government vehicle as part of the “heroic welcome” hailed by the sports minister, who said Sawe would be feted on Thursday.

His parents told The AP they knew their son was destined for greatness even as a child, and his mother recounted how he sprinted during bath time.

“He would run too fast. So, I would say to myself, this boy will shine for me one day,” Emily Sawe said.

His father recounted watching Sunday’s marathon at his brother’s house because his television lacked a clear signal.

“The moment my son pulled in front, I walked out and didn’t see him finish the race. I watched the replay afterwards. I was so happy, extremely happy. We screamed so much that now it is hard to swallow anything,” Simion Kiplagat Sawe said.

Sabastian Sawe was introduced to professional running by his uncle, Abraham Chepkirwok, who ran the 800 meters for Uganda at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Saw won the Valencia Marathon in 2024, clocking 2:02:05. He went into Sunday's race in London as the defending champion.

His father says Sawe is disciplined and determined: “Even now, he still says that record was not enough; he wants to lower it further."

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Back-to-back losses have the Atlanta Hawks looking into their arsenal of defensive schemes and bench rotations as they search for an answer to defending a high-powered Knicks offense. Karl-Anthony Towns posted a triple-double on Saturday night as Atlanta sealed off Jalen Brunson. The roles were reversed on Tuesday night when a freed-up Brunson scored 39 points.

“Everyone's going to make adjustments," Towns said. “So just being prepared for whatever the defense throws at us and being able to react accordingly.”

Defensively, the Knicks have found a solution for CJ McCollum, who stole Games 2 and 3 with clutch offensive performances. The Hawks' top scorers, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, have struggled to replicate their regular-season success.

“Their defense never really let us establish consistently how we need to play to beat them,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after Tuesday's 126-97 loss. “We need to execute on who we are and what we've done to be a good team, and like I said, that's hard against a team of their caliber.”

Meanwhile in Boston, 76ers' center Joel Embiid proved he'd been what the team was missing in just his second game back after an appendectomy. The former league MVP paced Philadelphia with 33 points and led the team to a 113-97 road win.

“He (Embiid) was dominant, especially in the second half,” Tyrese Maxey said after the game. “He did a really good job of just inserting himself, and you know, I was proud of him tonight, man.”

The Sixers, with newfound momentum, will try to tie the series at home while the Celtics hope to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“It’ll take everything we’ve got,” Maxey said Tuesday. “It’ll take even more of an effort than it did tonight.”

The Timberwolves might not have lost their confidence or swagger with the injuries to star Anthony Edwards and sparkplug Donte DiVincenzo, but their discipline and focus sure disappeared in the Game 5 defeat in Denver where they fell behind by as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter, with 25 turnovers the most glaring problem.

Though Edwards and DiVincenzo are their two best 3-point shooters and offensive creators, a revival of the smothering defense that fueled the rally in Game 2 and blowout wins in Games 3 and 4 will be the biggest key to the Timberwolves taking the series.

“There’s no doubt that we miss Donte and Ant and all the things they do offensively and defensively, but we played a large part of Game 4 without those guys, so we still have really good defenders elsewhere,” coach Chris Finch said. “I didn’t like our attack mindset the other day. I thought we kind of waited on our heels a little bit too much. We’ve just got to be better getting back to what we know will work for us better.”

New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks

When/Where to Watch: Game 6, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: New York leads 3-2.

Betting line: Knicks by 2.5.

What to Know: The Knicks rank second in postseason scoring, averaging 113.2 points per game while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.4% from 3-point range. Atlanta trails in all three categories, averaging 102.6 points per game on 44.8% shooting from the field and 32.2% from beyond the arc. Brunson is coming off his best offensive performance of the series with 39 points. His 22 career playoff games with 30 or more points are the most in franchise history. Towns has found a rhythm as a passer, recording 16 assists over the past two games and averaging 2.2 more assists per game than he did in the regular season. Hawks' Alexander-Walker is averaging 14.2 points per game this postseason, down 6.8 from his regular-season average.

Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers

When/Where to Watch: Game 6, 8 p.m. EDT (Peacock)

Series: Boston leads 3-2.

Betting line: Celtics by 6.5.

What to Know: The Celtics top the NBA in postseason three-pointers made (84) and rebounds per game (47.6). Jaylen Brown has been Boston’s top scorer, averaging 25.8 points per game in the playoffs. Jayson Tatum leads in nearly every other category, averaging 10.6 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Payton Pritchard had a postseason career-high 32 points vs. Philadelphia on Sunday night. In two playoff games vs. Boston, Embiid has averaged 29.5 points almost exclusively from the field and free-throw line. Embiid is 1 for 11 on 3-pointers this series and 21 for 44 from the field. Maxey is averaging over 40 minutes per game in the playoffs with 25.6 points per game, 6.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds.

Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves

When/Where to Watch: Game 6, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Minnesota leads 3-2.

Betting line: Nuggets by 5.5.

What to Know: Ayo Dosunmu and Mike Conley Jr. earned their first starts of the series for Minnesota with Edwards and DiVincenzo sidelined with injuries. Dosunmu leads the team with 21.8 points per game in the postseason, seven more than his regular-season average. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are both averaging over 25 points per game for the Nuggets, with Jokic also contributing a team-high 14 rebounds per game and 9.4 assists. He has two triple-doubles in the series.

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AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward, el choque con fuga fue reportado poco antes de las 10 p.m. cerca de la cuadra 4900 de West Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

Los momentos previos al choque fueron captados en video por el cercano Koinonia Worship Center.

Kyra Budgett dijo a Local 10 News que su tío, Derrick Sheffield, fue quien murió en el choque con fuga.

“Golpeaste a alguien”, dijo. “Un padre, un tío, un primo, que era querido”.

Ella creó un memorial a lo largo de West Hallandale Beach Boulevard la tarde del miércoles para el hombre de 60 años.

“Duele en este momento porque la persona que lo atropelló, lo atropelló y siguió”, dijo. “Como si fuera un pedazo de basura”.

Un equipo de Local 10 News estuvo en el área más tarde el lunes por la noche mientras una lona cubría el cuerpo de la víctima. Se vio a detectives hablando con testigos en la lavandería en la esquina donde ocurrió el choque.

También se observaron escombros y guantes de los investigadores en el suelo, junto con la bicicleta de la víctima.

“Él recorrió estas calles por años y nunca le pasó nada”, dijo Budgett. “Simplemente esa noche, alguien le quitó la vida”.

Los agentes dijeron que la policía de Pembroke Park respondió inicialmente al incidente y que la víctima fue declarada muerta en el lugar.

El departamento de policía luego solicitó que la Unidad de Homicidios de Tránsito de BSO investigara las circunstancias del choque fatal, informó BSO.

“Pudiste haberte detenido, pudo haber sido un accidente, estaba oscuro, era de noche”, dijo Budgett. “Pudiste haberte detenido y no lo hiciste”.

Cualquier persona con información sobre el choque con fuga debe llamar a Broward Crime Stoppers al 954-493-8477.

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Authorities said the dog’s owner left him in the care of Gongtao Sun, 37, on April 18 while she worked. The two appeared to have been living together with the dog at an apartment in the 5500 block of North University Drive.

According to an arrest report from the Lauderhill Police Department, the woman was working that afternoon but had a video feed of her dog, named Chepe, in his crate. Detectives said the camera fell over and Sun sent the woman a photo of Chepe, in which he “looked normal,” and fixed the camera, but it “fell over again.”

Police said Sun let the owner know that Chepe had “bumped his head” but was OK. The report states, “She was not getting any answers as to why Sun was not answering her calls and why the camera was not positioned correctly.”

Police said at around 4:30 p.m., the woman spoke to Sun on the phone and “asked him to bring Chepe to the vet.”

“Sun sent (the woman) a video holding Chepe, but Chepe was not moving,” the report states. “Chepe’s head was swollen.”

The woman wasn’t able to get home from work until 8 p.m. and saw Chepe still home, injured.

Police said Sun claimed that he had gone to the bathroom and found Chepe “underneath the computer monitor having a seizure.” Police said he claimed that the dog “got tangled in the computer wires,” causing it to fall on his head.

They said the woman asked Sun to take the dog to the veterinarian.

“He just needs to rest,” police said he told her. “Hopefully he will learn his lesson. I don’t have money to take him to the vet.”

Police said the woman took Chepe to the veterinarian, who documented severe head trauma, seizures, neck bruising, eye hemorrhaging and abdominal injuries inconsistent with that of a falling computer monitor.

“The injuries are more consistent with a blunt force trauma to the head that was inflicted repeated times and the swelling around his neck can indicate choking,” the report states.

The dog’s owner later told detectives that veterinary staff told her Chepe was “a vegetable” with a 10% chance of survival, according to the report. Veterinarians had recommended euthanasia, but Chepe “was able to stand” but not “able to fully walk” at a veterinary appointment on Monday.

“It is possible that Chepe will have neurological deficits in the future as a result of this incident,” LPD Detective Alexandra Johnson wrote. “At this time, it is unclear if he will return to a normal functioning dog like he was before.”

With the dog “still recovering” and facing “a long road ahead,” the woman began staying somewhere else, the report states.

Police arrested Sun on Tuesday and he appeared in Broward bond court on Wednesday, where a judge ordered he be held on a $20,000 bond, receive a mental health evaluation and not possess any animals or have contact with Chepe’s owner.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he remained in the Broward Main Jail.

Las autoridades dijeron que la dueña del perro lo dejó al cuidado de Gongtao Sun, de 37 años, el 18 de abril mientras trabajaba. Ambos aparentemente vivían juntos con el perro en un apartamento en la cuadra 5500 de North University Drive.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Lauderhill, la mujer estaba trabajando esa tarde, pero tenía una transmisión de video de su perro, llamado Chepe, en su jaula. Los detectives dijeron que la cámara se cayó y Sun le envió una foto de Chepe, en la que “se veía normal”, y acomodó la cámara, pero “se volvió a caer”.

La policía dijo que Sun le informó a la dueña que Chepe “se había golpeado la cabeza”, pero que estaba bien. El informe indica: “Ella no estaba recibiendo respuestas sobre por qué Sun no contestaba sus llamadas y por qué la cámara no estaba colocada correctamente”.

La policía dijo que alrededor de las 4:30 p.m., la mujer habló con Sun por teléfono y “le pidió que llevara a Chepe al veterinario”.

“Sun le envió un video sosteniendo a Chepe, pero Chepe no se movía”, señala el informe. “La cabeza de Chepe estaba hinchada”.

La mujer no pudo regresar a casa del trabajo hasta las 8 p.m. y vio a Chepe aún en la vivienda, herido.

La policía dijo que Sun afirmó que había ido al baño y encontró a Chepe “debajo del monitor de computadora teniendo una convulsión”. También dijo que el perro “se enredó en los cables de la computadora”, lo que provocó que el monitor le cayera en la cabeza.

Indicaron que la mujer le pidió a Sun que llevara al perro al veterinario.

“Solo necesita descansar”, dijeron que él le respondió. “Ojalá aprenda la lección. No tengo dinero para llevarlo al veterinario”.

La policía dijo que la mujer llevó a Chepe al veterinario, quien documentó trauma severo en la cabeza, convulsiones, moretones en el cuello, hemorragia en los ojos y lesiones abdominales que no coinciden con la caída de un monitor de computadora.

“Las lesiones son más consistentes con trauma contundente en la cabeza infligido repetidas veces y la hinchazón alrededor del cuello puede indicar asfixia”, indica el informe.

La dueña del perro dijo posteriormente a los detectives que el personal veterinario le indicó que Chepe estaba “como un vegetal” con un 10% de probabilidad de sobrevivir, según el informe. Los veterinarios habían recomendado la eutanasia, pero Chepe “podía ponerse de pie”, aunque no “caminar completamente”, en una cita veterinaria el lunes.

“Es posible que Chepe tenga déficits neurológicos en el futuro como resultado de este incidente”, escribió la detective de LPD Alexandra Johnson. “En este momento, no está claro si volverá a ser un perro con funcionamiento normal como antes”.

Con el perro “aún recuperándose” y enfrentando “un largo camino por delante”, la mujer comenzó a quedarse en otro lugar, indica el informe.

La policía arrestó a Sun el martes y compareció el miércoles ante un tribunal de fianzas en Broward, donde un juez ordenó que permaneciera detenido con una fianza de $20,000 USD, que reciba una evaluación de salud mental y que no posea animales ni tenga contacto con la dueña de Chepe.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, permanecía en la cárcel principal de Broward.

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According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the hit-and-run crash was reported shortly before 10 p.m. near the 4900 block of West Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The moments before the crash were captured on video by the nearby Koinonia Worship Center.

Kyra Budgett told Local 10 News it was her uncle, Derrick Sheffield, who was killed in the hit-and-run crash.

“You hit someone,” she said. “A father, uncle, a cousin, that was loved.”

She created a memorial along West Hallandale Beach Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon for the 60-year-old.

“Hurt right now because the person that hit him, they hit him and kept going,” she said. “Like he was a piece of trash.”

A Local 10 News crew was in the area later Monday evening as a tarp covered the victim’s body. Detectives were seen speaking with witnesses at the laundromat on the corner of where the crash occurred.

Debris and gloves from investigators were also spotted on the ground, along with the victim’s bicycle.

“He road these streets for years and nothing ever happened to him,” said Budgett. “It just so happened that night, somebody took his life.”

Deputies said Pembroke Park police initially responded to the crash and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police department then requested that BSO’s Traffic Homicide Unit investigate the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash, BSO said.

“You could have stopped, it could have been an accident, it was dark, it was night,” said Budgett. “You could have stopped and didn’t.”

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

Gun control activists slammed the moves as dangerous and irresponsible just days after authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill the Republican president.

Among the more than 30 changes announced Wednesday is the proposed repeal of a 2024 Biden administration rule that sought to force thousands more firearms dealers across the U.S. to run background checks on buyers at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores.

That rule aimed to close what is sometimes called the “gun show loophole,” which allowed guns to be sold by unlicensed dealers who do not perform background checks to ensure the potential buyer is not legally prohibited from having a firearm. Gun rights groups and Republican-led states had challenged the rule in court, arguing it violated the Second Amendment and that Biden didn't have the authority to implement it.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the slate of revisions the “most comprehensive regulatory reform package in the history" of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Blanche said the changes bring gun regulations in line with Supreme Court precedent while cutting down on unnecessary burdens on firearms sellers and lawful gun owners.

“For too long, regulations were written without any real understanding of how firearms businesses operate, how lawful gun owners handle their firearms, or what truly improves public safety,” Blanche said.

Gun control groups accused the administration of catering to gun rights activists with loosened regulations they said would make the country less safe.

“Four days after the nation watched gunfire break out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the Trump administration’s answer is to gut commonsense gun safety laws and sabotage the only federal agency dedicated to keeping guns out of criminal hands,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement.

The changes were signed shortly after Robert Cekada, a longtime law enforcement officer, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the ATF, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the country's gun laws. Cekada, who joined the ATF in 2005, has been been running the day-to-day operations of the agency for the last year as its deputy director.

Cekada is only the third person to be confirmed to lead the agency since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. The agency has mostly been led by acting directors, with both Republican and Democratic administrations failing to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process.

The ATF has long been the target of conservatives for its role in role in gun regulation, but Trump's Justice Department has touted the agency's role in taking illegal guns off the street and stopping violent crime.

“Rob is exactly the right person to lead the ATF at this moment,” Blanche said.

Alphabet earned $62.6 billion, or $5.11 per share, during the January-March period, an 81% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 22% from last year to $109.9 billion. Both numbers easily surpassed the analyst projections that steer investors.

Alphabet's stock price rose more than 6% in extended trading after the numbers came out, setting up the shares to hit a new high during Thursday's regular session. The company's market value currently stands at $4.2 trillion, up from $1.9 trillion just a year ago. If the stock trades in a similar trajectory Thursday, Alphabet's market value could approach $4.5 trillion while creating more than $250 billion in additional shareholder wealth in a single day.

The stock market gains that Alphabet is producing are not being matched by other big AI spenders such as Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms, whose stock price plunged by about 6% in extended trading after disclosing an investment strategy being second guessed by investors. Meanwhile, Microsoft's shares also dipped, despite posting quarterly results that topped analyst forecasts.

Alphabet's performance in the past quarter CEO Sundar Pichai to celebrate the huge bets that the company has been placing on AI technology during the past three years. Those investments, Pichai said, “are lighting up every part of the business.”

As usual, digital ads fueled by Google’s dominant search engine propelled the growth as revenue from those operations shot up 16% from last year’s first quarter. It marked the fourth straight quarter that Google's ad sales increased by more than 10% from the previous year.

Google’s fastest growing division remains its Cloud division, which has been riding the AI boom to sell more products and services to corporate customers and government agencies such as the deal that it just struck with the U.S. military. Google Cloud’s revenue surged 63% from last year to $20 billion.

That growth is a sign that Alphabet’s spending spree on AI is producing dividends so far, although investors continue to worry that the Mountain View, California, company and its Big Tech peers are pouring too much money into a still-nascent and unproven technology.

Alphabet, though, is betting that it’s better to overspend on AI than being too stingy and risk behind left behind.

In a previous quarterly update released in February, Alphabet disclosed that it’s earmarking $175 billion to $185 billion for capital expenditures this year that will largely be devoted to building AI data centers and other tools tied to the technology.

In a reflection of management’s confidence in its strategy, Alphabet’s top finance executive Anat Ashkenazi told analysts on a conference call that this year’s capital expenditures may climb as high as $190 billion. And even if the spending runs that high, Askkenazi said it will “significantly increase” again next year.

All of that would be on top of $91 billion in capital expenditures during 2025.

“The key message is that Alphabet is no longer asking investors to underwrite AI spending on faith,” said Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro.

La mujer estaba sangrando poco después de la 1:35 p.m. cerca de Northwest 22 Avenue y 90 Street, según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade.

Personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladó a la mujer al Ryder Trauma Center del Hospital Jackson Memorial. Su condición era crítica, según los agentes.

Los agentes detuvieron a un hombre y a una mujer mientras la investigación continuaba. También cerraron Northwest 90 Street desde la avenida 22 hasta la 21.

Los detectives pidieron a cualquier persona con información sobre este u otros casos que llame a Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477 para permanecer en el anonimato.

El editor de asignaciones de Local 10 News Carson Merlo y la editora senior de asignaciones Frine Gomez contribuyeron a este informe.

Área de la escena del crimen

Hisham Abugharbieh was delusional at the time, stating “I am son of Mary” and “I created my brother. I am his god.” He was taken to jail under the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows for involuntary, emergency mental health observation for 72 hours, according to an incident report made public Wednesday about the May 2023 misdemeanor battery arrest from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

“HIsham used to be a cool guy, a supportive and helpful eldest son, until he started smoking cannabis, especially medical marijuana,” a relative whose name was redacted wrote in a victim impact statement more than a week after Abugharbieh’s May 2023 arrest. “It turned him mentally ill, with hurtful behavior and anger problems which is affecting the family life. We lost Hisham as a normal family member.”

At the time, Abugharbieh told deputies that he was acting in self-defense because his brother was threatening him. Abugharbieh’s relatives didn’t want him to face prosecution but asked that he receive substance abuse treatment. He entered into a diversion program for first-time offenders.

Last week, Abugharbieh, 26, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of two doctoral students studying at the University of South Florida. He was being held without bond.

The remains of Abugharbieh’s roommate, Zamil Limon, were found in a trash bag on the Howard Frankland bridge last Friday. On Sunday, the sheriff’s office announced that a body had been found in a waterway near the bridge, but the local medical examiner’s office hasn’t publicly confirmed it to be Limon’s girlfriend, Nahida Bristy.

They disappeared April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh, and Bristy at a campus science building. Limon was studying geography, environmental science and policy, and Bristy was studying chemical engineering.

Reached by email earlier this week, Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the public defender’s office in Tampa, said the office wouldn’t comment on Abugharbieh’s case.

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

The e-commerce and technology company said that sales in its cloud computing unit were up 28% in the January-March period, the fastest increase in 15 quarters. Amazon Web Services had 24% sales growth in the fourth quarter, which followed the division's 20% growth in the third quarter.

The Seattle-based company also offered a bullish outlook for net sales in the current quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates. However, shares slid nearly 2% in after-hours trading before rising about 3%.

Investors were closely watching Amazon’s quarterly earnings to see if the company’s $200 billion investment in artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors and satellites is starting to pay off. The planned expenditure for the year marked a 60% increase from Amazon’s $128 billion in capital spending last year and spooked investors, sending the stock down 11% in after-hours trading when it was announced in February.

CEO Andy Jassy defended the spending during the previous quarterly earnings call, saying Amazon expected long-term returns on its invested capital.

The results from the latest quarter underscored that demand keeps growing for Amazon's services and technology.

“We’re in the middle of some of the biggest inflections of our lifetime, we’re well positioned to lead, and I’m very optimistic about what’s ahead for our customers and Amazon,” Jassy said in a release Wednesday.

Amazon came out with its first-quarter earnings the same day as three other tech giants — Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet — were reporting theirs, giving investors a read on AI spending and cloud growth across the industry.

Big deals that Amazon signed with OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta this month gave the company solid momentum.

Amazon announced what it called a “major expansion” of its partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Tuesday, a day after the artificial intelligence company said it was loosening its ties to longtime backer Microsoft.

Last week, Anthropic agreed to commit more than $100 billion to Amazon’s AWS cloud platform over the next 10 years to train and run the artificial intelligence company’s Claude chatbot. The partnership will allow Anthropic to secure up to 5 gigawatts of Amazon’s Trainium chips to train and power their artificial intelligence models, Amazon said.

Also last week, Amazon said that Meta, which owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, signed an agreement to power agentic AI on AWS’ Graviton chips.

Like other retailers, however, Amazon is experiencing higher tariff costs because of President Donald Trump’s foreign trade policies. Rising shipping costs as the Iran war affects oil and fuel prices also could cut into the company's e-commerce revenue.

Amazon this month said it would impose a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on some third-party sellers using its platform. The temporary charge was effective April 17 for many of the sellers that use Amazon’s fulfillment services, the company confirmed to The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Amazon has been speeding up order delivery times through a combination of robotics, AI technology and more efficient warehousing. In fact, speedier delivery helped Amazon dethrone Walmart in February from its status as the nation’s largest company by revenue, according to Fortune, which compiles a ranking of the top 500 U.S. corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years.

A new ultra-fast service called Amazon Now offers deliveries of orders from a selection of thousands of items in 30 minutes or less. The service is now available in various cities in India, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates and is being tested in several communities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, the company said in February.

The company said on Wednesday that the service has expanded to parts of Tokyo and eight major cities in Brazil, bringing the total availability of Amazon Now to tens of millions of customers across nine countries. It plans to continue expanding the service in the U.S. and around the world this year, Amazon noted.

Amazon reported earnings of $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share, for the three-month period ended March 31. That compared with $17.1 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-ago period.

Net sales rose 17% to $181.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $155.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts were expecting $1.63 per share on sales of $177.28 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue from Amazon Web Services reached $37.58 billion. Analysts were expecting $36.6 billion, according to FactSet.

For the current quarter, Amazon said it expected net sales will be in the range of $194 billion to $199 billion.

That would mean an increase of between 16% to 19% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting $188.96 billion in the current period, according to FactSet.

Funcionarios locales manifestaron que temieron lo peor cuando vieron el martes cómo varios edificios se derrumbaban mientras una poderosa tormenta azotaba Mineral Wells, hogar de unas 15.000 personas al oeste de Dallas.

“Estamos muy agradecidos de que no haya habido pérdida de vidas en el suceso de ayer”, declaró el alcalde Regan Johnson el miércoles en una conferencia de prensa. “Cuando ves la destrucción que hay aquí, te das cuenta de que eso es realmente asombroso”.

Allison Prater, meteoróloga del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en Fort Worth, indicó que el tornado tocó tierra en Mineral Wells con vientos de al menos 193 kilómetros por hora (120 millas por hora). El servicio meteorológico envió un equipo el miércoles para evaluar la destrucción en la localidad, ubicada a unos 130 kilómetros (80 millas) al oeste de Dallas.

El clima violento ha afectado a varias partes del sur y de la región centro-norte de Estados Unidos durante la última semana. Dos personas murieron en el norte de Texas el fin de semana pasado cuando varias tormentas eléctricas generaron tornados destructivos, y un hombre de Michigan falleció el lunes por la caída de un árbol que se desplomó durante una tormenta.

El martes, una tormenta de granizo dañó techos, tragaluces y vehículos estacionados en un zoológico de Springfield, Missouri, y también mató a una de sus grandes aves. Una emú hembra llamada Adam murió por un traumatismo craneal mientras caía granizo en el Zoológico Dickerson Park, informó el miércoles el portavoz Joey Powell.

Podían registrarse tormentas más severas el miércoles en el Sur y en varias partes del Atlántico medio. El servicio meteorológico señaló que había una ligera probabilidad de vientos dañinos y granizo de gran tamaño en distintas zonas de Texas, Luisiana, Mississippi y Alabama.

En Mineral Wells, funcionarios locales hablaron con reporteros el miércoles frente a restos de madera astillada, árboles caídos y otros escombros esparcidos por una subdivisión residencial.

El jefe de bomberos Ryan Dunn informó que cinco personas heridas en la tormenta acudieron a un hospital para recibir tratamiento. Otras fueron atendidas por los equipos de primera respuesta por lesiones menores.

“Cuando llegamos al lugar, notamos que había muchos escombros, muchos techos arrancados”. relató Dunn, “Y luego empezamos a ver cómo los edificios se derrumbaban”.

Dunn señaló que la mayor parte del área alcanzada por el tornado se utiliza con fines comerciales e industriales, aunque algunas viviendas también resultaron dañadas. Autoridades locales indicaron que al menos dos fabricantes sufrieron daños considerables.

Uno de ellos fue Ventamatic, que fabrica grandes ventiladores y otros equipos de ventilación en Mineral Wells. La empresa indicó en su sitio web que los empleados evacuaron antes de la tormenta y que ninguno resultó herido. Las operaciones se suspendieron el miércoles “debido a daños severos y riesgos de seguridad en curso”, señaló la compañía.

Más de 9.000 viviendas y negocios estaban sin electricidad en todo Texas la tarde del miércoles, según el sitio de seguimiento PowerOutage.us. Cerca de 230 de esos cortes se registraban en el área de Mineral Wells.

Las autoridades de Mineral Wells declararon un estado local de desastre e impusieron un toque de queda nocturno que seguirá vigente el miércoles, informó el jefe de policía Tim Denison.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

A large group of Democrats joined most Republicans in passing the bill by a 235-191 vote. The law's renewal still faces an uncertain path to passage, with a sign-off needed from the Senate and President Donald Trump.

While the Senate could eventually be amenable to oversight measures added by the House, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Wednesday that another short-term extension will likely be needed ahead of the Friday deadline. House leaders added separate legislation banning a central bank digital currency to win more votes, and Thune said that part of the bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

Still, the passage in the House was a breakthrough for Republican leaders after Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day secured the support of several Republican holdouts to advance the bill to a final vote. The chamber had been unable to pass a long-term extension since Republican leaders earlier this month staged a hectic late-night effort to extend the surveillance program, only to see multiple bills fail on the floor.

“Two-thirds of the president’s daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute,” Johnson said about the program. “We cannot allow it to go dark.”

Warrants remain central to the fight

The debate centers on a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that allows the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze communications from foreign targets without a warrant. In doing so, the agencies can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets, an element of the program many lawmakers find unacceptable.

“The intel community always just comes in and says, ‘People will die if you do this,’” Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Tuesday, arguing in favor of a warrant requirement. “Well, I’m sorry. A lot of Americans died to give us and protect that Fourth Amendment right that we don’t have government looking at our stuff.”

The House bill does not include the warrant requirement. Instead, it would impose new oversight measures, including a monthly civil liberties review of U.S. person queries by an official within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with any violations referred to the Intelligence Community’s inspector general.

The bill would also create criminal penalties for officials who knowingly misuse the system or falsify compliance, order a government audit of targeting practices and require new procedures to expand congressional access to FISA court proceedings.

House Democrats took turns criticizing the extension on the floor ahead of Wednesday evening’s planned final vote. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, derided the measure as a “three-year blank check” that comes “without any meaningful guardrails.”

“Under this bill, FBI agents will still collect, search and review Americans' communications without any review from a judge,” said Raskin.

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, spoke in favor of the extension, calling the program “without question, the most important foreign intelligence tool." Himes, who voted for the extension, said the bill makes guardrails on the program "marginally and modestly stronger.”

There are hurdles ahead in the Senate

Both chambers are expected to scramble Thursday to pass a short-term extension of the law ahead of the Friday deadline — even as they continue to negotiate the longer-term renewal.

Thune said Wednesday afternoon that the Senate would try to quickly pass a 45-day extension. But any one senator can hold that up, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has already indicated he won't go along. Wyden, who has long pushed to reform the law, will instead seek to pass a three-week extension with some additional provisions, according to his office.

Another obstacle in the Senate is that the House linked the surveillance renewal with the separate digital currency legislation — a proposal Thune has said would be “very, very hard to pass."

Senators from both parties said they were committed, though, to ensuring that the law doesn't expire.

“There is clear consensus in the Senate as to how important it is,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

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Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump's state dinner guest list Tuesday night was heavy on business leaders, tech CEOs and friends from Palm Beach, Florida.

All six conservative Supreme Court justices made the list — even those whom Trump has criticized for voting to strike down his signature tariffs. The three liberals on the bench were not at the dinner.

A slew of stars from Fox News, Trump’s favorite cable network, and two other conservative outlets attended the dinner. Three of the president’s five children were in the room with their spouses, as was his father-in-law. A couple of big sports names made the list, as did a number of lawmakers, including the leaders of the House and Senate.

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The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected Kotecha Brothers on Thursday and said conditions inside the warehouse posed a risk of foodborne illness.

Kotecha Brothers is a family-owned company founded in 2008 that operates as a major food distributor and produce wholesaler. The business handles and distributes bulk food products such as rice, lentils, tea, and packaged dessert mixes, and has expanded its operations to include distribution centers in Texas and Los Angeles. The facility, located at 17425 SW 172nd St. in the rural Redland area, serves as a key hub for storage and distribution.

During the inspection, regulators reported finding what they described as “too numerous to count” rodent droppings throughout the dry storage warehouse. Inspectors documented droppings scattered across the floor, including around and between pallets used to store food. Rodent droppings were also found in the narrow spaces between vertically stacked pallets holding multiple types of 10-pound bags of rice.

In some cases, droppings were observed directly on food products, including on individual bags of rice and on the exterior of boxes containing packaged dry dessert mixes such as basmati rice kheer, rasmalai, sweet pretzel mix, and green lentil fritter mix. Inspectors also found rodent droppings on the second floor of the warehouse in the area where cardboard boxes and other packaging materials used for food distribution are stored.

According to the report, employees began moving pallets and cleaning during the inspection and voluntarily discarded some of the affected food. Despite those efforts, the extent of the contamination led the state to take enforcement action. The Department of Agriculture issued a Stop Use Order covering the dry storage warehouse, including the second-floor packaging area, citing conditions that rendered food and materials adulterated and insanitary under Florida law. The order prohibits the movement, sale, or use of affected food and equipment until the facility is brought into compliance and cleared by inspectors.

Inspectors also found that the facility lacked adequate protections to prevent pest entry and harborage. There were visible gaps underneath roll-up doors leading into the warehouse, which could allow rodents and other pests to enter. The inspection noted accumulations of debris and waste materials on the floors and the presence of old equipment stored outside near the building, both of which can attract and harbor pests.

Pallets of food products were stored too close to walls, limiting the ability to properly clean and monitor those areas for pest activity. Inspectors concluded that effective measures were not being taken to keep pests out of food storage and handling areas.

In addition to the rodent activity, inspectors documented multiple unsanitary conditions inside the facility. A black, mold-like substance was observed on fan covers of refrigeration units inside walk-in coolers and on walls near cooler doors. There was standing and pooling water in several areas, including under pallets and along aisles inside the coolers.

Inspectors also found water accumulating and overflowing from a floor drain in an area where employees were manually sorting raw vegetables. Such conditions can contribute to bacterial growth and increase the risk of contamination.

The report also cited structural problems within the building. Inspectors observed large holes in the floors of both a walk-in cooler and the dry storage warehouse. These openings contained accumulations of debris and old food, creating areas that are difficult to clean and that can serve as harborage for pests. Food storage practices were also found to be inadequate, with bags of rice and boxes of coconut products stored directly on the floor in some areas. Some of these items were discarded during the inspection.

Additional violations included the facility’s failure to provide records showing that employees had been trained in food safety, hygiene, and health practices. Inspectors also noted missing handwashing signage in employee restrooms and deficiencies in the facility’s drainage systems.

The report further indicated that the business had not registered with the Food and Drug Administration as required for facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food.

The Department of Agriculture has scheduled a follow-up inspection on or about May 12 to verify that the violations have been corrected. If the company fails to comply, it could face administrative fines or the suspension or revocation of its permit to operate.

The stop-use order will remain in effect until regulators determine that the affected areas and products no longer pose a risk to public health.

El Departamento de Agricultura y Servicios al Consumidor de Florida inspeccionó a Kotecha Brothers el jueves y dijo que las condiciones dentro del almacén representaban un riesgo de enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos.

Kotecha Brothers es una empresa familiar fundada en 2008 que opera como un importante distribuidor de alimentos y mayorista de productos agrícolas. El negocio maneja y distribuye productos alimenticios a granel como arroz, lentejas, té y mezclas de postres empaquetadas, y ha expandido sus operaciones para incluir centros de distribución en Texas y Los Ángeles. La instalación, ubicada en 17425 SW 172nd St. en el área rural de Redland, sirve como un centro clave para almacenamiento y distribución.

Durante la inspección, los reguladores reportaron encontrar lo que describieron como “demasiados para contarlos” excrementos de roedores en todo el almacén de almacenamiento en seco. Los inspectores documentaron excrementos esparcidos por el piso, incluso alrededor y entre paletas utilizadas para almacenar alimentos. También se encontraron excrementos de roedores en los espacios estrechos entre paletas apiladas verticalmente que contenían múltiples tipos de bolsas de arroz de 10 libras.

En algunos casos, los excrementos se observaron directamente sobre productos alimenticios, incluyendo bolsas individuales de arroz y en el exterior de cajas que contenían mezclas de postres secos empaquetados como kheer de arroz basmati, rasmalai, mezcla de pretzel dulce y mezcla de frituras de lentejas verdes. Los inspectores también encontraron excrementos de roedores en el segundo piso del almacén en el área donde se almacenan cajas de cartón y otros materiales de empaque utilizados para la distribución de alimentos.

Según el informe, los empleados comenzaron a mover paletas y limpiar durante la inspección y descartaron voluntariamente parte de los alimentos afectados. A pesar de esos esfuerzos, la magnitud de la contaminación llevó al estado a tomar medidas de cumplimiento. El Departamento de Agricultura emitió una orden de suspensión de uso que cubre el almacén de almacenamiento en seco, incluida el área de empaque del segundo piso, citando condiciones que hacían que los alimentos y materiales estuvieran adulterados e insalubres bajo la ley de Florida. La orden prohíbe el movimiento, venta o uso de los alimentos y equipos afectados hasta que la instalación cumpla con las normas y sea autorizada por los inspectores.

Los inspectores también encontraron que la instalación carecía de protecciones adecuadas para prevenir la entrada y proliferación de plagas. Había espacios visibles debajo de puertas enrollables que conducen al almacén, lo que podría permitir la entrada de roedores y otras plagas. La inspección señaló acumulaciones de escombros y materiales de desecho en los pisos y la presencia de equipos viejos almacenados fuera del edificio, ambos factores que pueden atraer y albergar plagas.

Las paletas de productos alimenticios estaban almacenadas demasiado cerca de las paredes, lo que limitaba la capacidad de limpiar adecuadamente y monitorear esas áreas para detectar actividad de plagas. Los inspectores concluyeron que no se estaban tomando medidas efectivas para mantener las plagas fuera de las áreas de almacenamiento y manejo de alimentos.

Además de la actividad de roedores, los inspectores documentaron múltiples condiciones insalubres dentro de la instalación. Se observó una sustancia negra similar al moho en las cubiertas de ventiladores de unidades de refrigeración dentro de los cuartos fríos y en paredes cercanas a las puertas de estos. También había agua estancada y acumulada en varias áreas, incluso debajo de paletas y a lo largo de los pasillos dentro de los refrigeradores.

Los inspectores también encontraron agua acumulándose y desbordándose de un desagüe en el piso en un área donde los empleados clasificaban manualmente vegetales crudos. Tales condiciones pueden contribuir al crecimiento bacteriano y aumentar el riesgo de contaminación.

El informe también citó problemas estructurales dentro del edificio. Los inspectores observaron grandes agujeros en los pisos tanto de un cuarto frío como del almacén de almacenamiento en seco. Estas aberturas contenían acumulaciones de escombros y alimentos viejos, creando áreas difíciles de limpiar y que pueden servir como refugio para plagas. Las prácticas de almacenamiento de alimentos también fueron consideradas inadecuadas, con bolsas de arroz y cajas de productos de coco almacenadas directamente en el piso en algunas áreas. Algunos de estos artículos fueron descartados durante la inspección.

Otras violaciones incluyeron la falta de registros que demostraran que los empleados habían sido capacitados en seguridad alimentaria, higiene y prácticas de salud. Los inspectores también señalaron la ausencia de señalización de lavado de manos en los baños de empleados y deficiencias en los sistemas de drenaje de la instalación.

El informe también indicó que el negocio no se había registrado ante la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos (FDA) como se requiere para instalaciones que fabrican, procesan, empacan o almacenan alimentos.

El Departamento de Agricultura ha programado una inspección de seguimiento alrededor del 12 de mayo para verificar que las violaciones hayan sido corregidas. Si la empresa no cumple, podría enfrentar multas administrativas o la suspensión o revocación de su permiso de operación.

La orden de suspensión de uso permanecerá en efecto hasta que los reguladores determinen que las áreas y productos afectados ya no representan un riesgo para la salud pública.

Some officials were members of Mexico's progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration. Some of those politicians called the indictment a political attack on their party.

U.S. federal officials announced the charges in a news release. None of the defendants were in custody, but Mexico's government said shortly afterward that it had received multiple extradition requests from the U.S. without identifying those requested. It did not say how it would respond.

Morena party members indicted

The 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court are current and former government or law enforcement officials in Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, who has been governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state since November 2021.

Charges against Moya included narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, he could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.

Rocha was a staunch ally of Sheinbaum's mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The governor enthusiastically backed the ex-president's “Hugs, Not Bullets” policy, which involved avoiding direct confrontation with powerful drug cartels. López Obrador built a political platform by railing against endemic corruption plaguing Mexican politics.

Rocha, the highest profile official charged, said he “categorically and completely rejects” the accusations as baseless and called them an “attack” on Mexico’s ruling party and its leaders.

“It is part of a perverse strategy to violate (Mexico’s) constitutional order, specifically on national sovereignty, ” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday afternoon. “We will show them that this slander doesn’t have any sort of foundation.”

Later in the day, he told reporters that he planned to stay in Sinaloa and wasn’t worried.

Ties to Sinaloa Cartel

Some of those named, according to the indictment, have themselves participated in the Sinaloa Cartel's campaign of violence and retribution.

Those charged included a Mexican senator, a Sinaloa state deputy attorney general, a former Sinaloa secretary of public security, a former deputy director of the Sinaloa State Police and the mayor of Culiacan.

According to the indictment, the defendants shielded cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution, fed the cartel with sensitive law enforcement and military information, directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies to protect drug loads and let the cartel commit brutal drug-related violence without consequence. In return, it said, the defendants received millions of dollars in drug money.

The indictment alleged that they were closely aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos,” which is run by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the ex-cartel leader now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

Authorities said the defendants played critical roles in helping the cartel ship fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. The Sinaloa Cartel is among eight Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release.

The indictment of Rocha, who was born in the same town as “El Chapo,” was particularly notable because the governor was embroiled in a scandal in 2023 involving the Sinaloa Cartel. His name was published in a letter written by a then-Sinaloa Cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction of the cartel and handed off to law enforcement in the U.S. In the letter, the capo said that when he was kidnapped he believed he was on his way to meet with Rocha.

In the years since, the cartel's two warring factions have ravaged the northern Mexican state in their struggle for territorial control.

Among those indicted, at least three officials — Rocha, the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital, and a senator — were affiliated with Sheinbaum’s party, Morena. A number of other officials held positions unaffiliated with Mexican parties.

It's not the first time the U.S. has brought drug trafficking charges against ranking Mexican officials. Genaro García Luna — a former Mexican public security secretary under former President Felipe Calderón — was convicted by a U.S. court and sentenced to 38 years in prison after he was accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. He denied the allegations and is appealing his conviction.

Another balancing act for Sheinbaum

The indictment unsealed Wednesday come after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson last week said that the U.S. administration would launch an anti-corruption campaign targeting Mexican officials he said were linked to organized crime.

"Corruption not only hinders progress, it distorts it. It increases costs, weakens competition, and erodes the trust upon which markets depend. It is not a problem without victims,” Johnson said.

Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying her government has not seen “any evidence” of the charges of corruption.

“Any investigation in the United States against any person in Mexico must have evidence reviewed by the (Mexican) Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum’s government has already detained several local officials across Mexico in its ongoing crackdown against the cartels, fueled by pressure by the Trump administration.

The indictment has once again forced the Mexican leader to walk a political tightrope, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution who specializes in organized crime.

If Sheinbaum doesn’t go after Rocha, it will put strain on relations with the U.S. ahead of renegotiations of a free-trade agreement with the U.S. crucial to the Mexican economy, the analyst said. If she does arrest him, “it carries tremendous consequences for her politically” ahead of next year’s midterm elections in Mexico.

“Is she going to move to arrest Gov. Rocha and the other eight indicted politicians and attempt to extradite him to the United States? This is certainly what the United States wants,” Felbab-Brown said.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers María Verza and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed.

The vote came just two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his proposal and the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The decision could make it harder for Democrats to challenge Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in ways that limit the influence of nonwhite voters.

DeSantis’ map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to 4, up from the current split of 20 to 8. The potential four-seat gain is the same as what Virginia Democrats expect from a recent redistricting referendum, which is being challenged in state court there.

Florida's new districts are certain to face lawsuits as well, especially because the state constitution prohibits redistricting for explicitly partisan purposes. DeSantis and his aides believe those provisions will not be a legal barrier because they have been weakened previously by the Florida Supreme Court and again by Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Florida Republicans, comfortable in their supermajority in both legislative chambers, said little about the new districts during the whirlwind special session. The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, limited her remarks to careful answers about an “evolving legal landscape” as Democrats’ asked her about the redistricting effort.

“I believe that there is a likelihood that that map will be upheld against legal challenge,” Persons-Mulicka said.

Opposition was vocal but futile

Democrats, activists and some citizens to decried the process as a partisan power play to satisfy Trump, boost DeSantis’ future ambitions and hurt the majority of registered Florida voters who are not Republicans.

“Y’all are doing this because y’all’s daddy in the White House is injecting national political objectives into what should be a state-driven process,” Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, told her Republican colleagues before an 83-28 vote in favor of the measure.

The Florida Senate later approved the plan in a 21-17 vote.

Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, chided Republicans for yielding the redistricting process to DeSantis, whose second term expires in January.

“Last time I checked, we’re the ones who were supposed to be drawing the map,” she said, “and yet we are allowing y’all to continue to hold the water of the governor, who is a lame duck and just trying to figure out what his next job is going to be.”

Democrats diminished in metro areas

The new map reshapes districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and in south Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The changes could cost Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.

DeSantis and his aides said before and during the session that new map is necessary to account for population growth in suburban and exurban areas since the 2020 census and to ensure Florida has a “race-neutral” congressional plan.

The proposal presumed the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision, which specifically struck down a Louisiana congressional district drawn for the electorate to be majority Black. Historically, Black voters have aligned more with Democrats, while a majority of white voters lean toward Republicans.

The changes in Florida include the effective elimination of one nearly majority Black south Florida district that was represented by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Black Democrat, until her resignation earlier this month.

Lawmakers fast-tracked the measures

From the session’s opening bell Tuesday morning, Republican leaders moved swiftly.

In one of just two committee hearings, Senate Rules Chair Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she wanted “everybody who has taken the time and effort to come to Capitol to have an opportunity to speak.” Then she declared each speaker would have 30 seconds.

“I know that doesn’t seem like a lot but it actually is, uh, if you’re concise,” she said.

Deborah Courtney drove more than two hours from from Jacksonville and noted that all citizen speakers expressed opposition.

“Why are you doing this redistricting now?” she asked senators. “I doubt that your phone have been ringing off the hook from your constituents going, hey, we need some new maps.”

Rob Woods came from the Tampa area, which under the new map could have no Democratic representation in the U.S. House. A Black man, Wood told senators he was a veteran who said he "bought in from elementary school” on notions of the U.S. as an equal-opportunity democracy.

Now, he said, “it seems as if we are back in that period of Reconstruction, moving back to Jim Crow.”

On the House floor, Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, sidestepped specifics about what factors went into the map. She repeatedly called it “race-neutral,” citing testimony from DeSantis aide Jason Poreda, who took sole credit for the map during the session and did not disclose the names of any architects. But asked about Poreda’s admission that he examined party affiliation and voting patterns, Persons-Mulicka balked.

“I cannot speak to the intent of the map drawer,” she said.

DeSantis unveiled the map on Fox News

Persons-Mulicka and Sen. Don Gaetz, who sponsored the map in the Senate, deflected questions about why DeSantis unveiled the plan on Fox News.

Gaetz, a Crestview Republican, confirmed he had no part in drafting the map and forwarded the governor’s proposal to other senators as soon as he received it late Monday morning.

There’s no guarantee that new maps across the country will play out the way two parties hope. For example, Texas based its revised lines largely on Trump’s performance in 2024, redistributing the president’s voters across more districts to pull them into the Republican column. But Trump’s popularity has waned since his reelection, including among Latino voters who figure prominently in the state.

Florida could face a similar conundrum. Creating more majority-Republican districts could leave margins thin enough to allow for Democratic victories, especially if there’s an anti-Trump backlash at the polls this year.

Some Republicans have expressed worry about that possibility, and a handful voted against the measure in the Florida legislature.

The governor already took a hit because of the session. He had wanted lawmakers to adopt state regulations on artificial intelligence, ostensibly protecting minors from harmful material, while rolling back vaccine mandates for students in Florida’s public schools. House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Republican but not a DeSantis ally, spiked both ideas.

DeSantis called it “political shenanigans.”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, lamented that Republicans still delivered DeSantis the big-ticket item that he wanted.

“On destroying our democracy, they’ve been aligned,” she said, “and that’s what we did here today.”

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to reject a so-called “en banc” hearing comes several months after Trump appealed to the Supreme Court another jury’s decision to grant $5 million the writer, E. Jean Carroll, after concluding that he had sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in 1996 and later defamed her. The high court has not yet decided whether to hear the case.

Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement that her client was "eager for this case, originally filed in 2019, to be over so that she can finally obtain justice.”

After a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel rejected Trump's appeal of the $83 million verdict in September, an appeals judge asked the other Manhattan appeals jurists to hear the case.

The 2nd Circuit said Wednesday that five judges voted against a rehearing before all the judges while three judges voted in favor of the en banc.

Judge Denny Chin wrote that it was the fourth time the 2nd Circuit had denied a request for all judges to hear an appeal in the case.

He noted that Carroll first publicly asserted in 2019 in a memoir that Trump had sexually abused her in the 1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman store's dressing room.

Trump then claimed he had never met her, called it a false accusation and said “she's not my type” in an interview. Carroll sued him for defamation in November 2019.

Trump did not attend a May 2023 trial when a jury found that he had sexually abused Carroll and later defamed her. But he briefly testified at a second trial in January 2024 when a jury awarded Carroll $83 million for defamation.

Chin defended the appeals court's decision to uphold the large defamation award.

“The record showed that Trump made multiple statements over many years accusing Carroll of lying for political and financial gain, and suggesting that Carroll was too unattractive for Trump to have sexually assaulted her,” he wrote.

“As a result of Trump’s statements, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years. 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,’” Chin said.

Three circuit judges — Steven J. Menashi, Michael H. Park and Debra Ann Livingston — voted for the full 2nd Circuit to hear the appeal.

In a dissent written by Menashi, they agreed that the appeals panel that heard the case should have let the United States be substituted for Trump as the defendant after the attorney general certified that he was acting in the “scope of his office or employment” when the claim arose.

And they said Trump should have been able to argue that he was protected by presidential immunity.

They also agreed that Trump should be granted a new trial and concluded that the size of the award for defamation was “grossly excessive.”

“Put together, these proceedings represent a manifest miscarriage of justice,” Menashi wrote.

The review was conducted as part of the Food and Drug Administration’s Operation Stork Speed project — billed as the “largest and most rigorous” to date. It found that the infant formula supply is safe, agency officials and outside experts said.

“There’s no reason not to use any available formula” in the U.S., said Dr. Steven Abrams, a pediatrics professor at the University of Texas at Austin who reviewed the findings.

FDA officials tested more than 300 samples of commercial infant formula between 2023 and 2025 for heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. They also tested for pesticides, chemicals found in plastics known as phthalates, and PFAS, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, sometimes called “forever chemicals.”

Levels of all the contaminants were undetectable or very low, the agency reported. The heavy metals detected were well below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits for drinking water, the agency reported. No pesticides were detected in 99% of samples. The FDA found no detections for 25 of the 30 PFAS compounds tested.

Outside experts generally agreed with the government’s assessment, noting that small amounts of substances such as heavy metals are naturally occurring in the environment. But others, such as phthalates and PFAS, are not.

“These chemicals are completely synthetic,” said Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a pediatrics professor at UW Medicine and the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “The detection of some of these compounds at all is concerning.”

It points to the need for further monitoring of formula — and of the larger U.S. food supply, she added.

The Trump administration launched Operation Stork Speed in March 2025, promising to review safety and quality standards for infant formula in the U.S. for the first time in decades.

It built on previous FDA efforts to review substances like heavy metals in infant foods, which can cause problems with brain development, learning and behavior in children, Abrams said.

To date, the FDA does not have enforceable limits for heavy metals in infant formulas, unlike the European Union, Canada and Australia.

Some consumer advocacy groups have called on the FDA for years to establish firm limits for contaminants. Last year, Consumer Reports published an analysis of 41 U.S. infant formulas with results suggesting that many had worrisome levels of heavy metals and other contaminants.

However, that analysis used its own level of concern, setting it far below European Union standards. That report garnered wide public attention and prompted some parents to stop using commercial formula, even when it was necessary, Abrams noted.

Abrams called for the FDA to continue monitoring infant formula for contaminants and to share the results.

Abbott, one of the nation's largest formula makers, urged the FDA to set scientific standards for contaminants in infant formula.

“We believe that producing infant formula at scale in the U.S. is a matter of national security,” Abbott spokesman John Koval said in an email. “These results affirm the safety of our current domestic supply.”

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

The trackers will be put on fire trucks and other rescue vehicles, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Tuesday. The transponders can provide air traffic controllers with more precise information about the vehicles and their locations by constantly sending signals to the control tower.

The National Transportation Safety Board noted the lack of transponders in a preliminary report it issued last week about the March 22 accident at LaGuardia Airport. An Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck on the runway, killing two pilots and injuring several other people.

An air traffic controller had cleared the vehicle to cross the runway. According to the report, the truck drove past red warning lights. There was also extra heavy air traffic and an emergency involving another plane at the time.

LaGuardia is one of 35 airports that have Airport Surface Detection Systems, known as ASDE-X. They combine radar data with information from transponders inside planes and ground vehicles along with other data to create a display in the tower showing controllers where every plane and vehicle is. The system will also sound an alarm in the tower when it anticipates a potential collision.

The Federal Aviation Administration has recommended that major airports nationwide install the transponders and has offered to help pay for them. Many airports have followed the guidance.

James Allen, the Port Authority's chief communications officer, said the agency has made “targeted investments in safety technology” for its airfield vehicles, including systems designed to track vehicle movements and support operator awareness across the airfield. Besides LaGuardia, the authority operates Kennedy Airport in New York and Newark Liberty Airport in northern New Jersey.

“We recognize that transponder technology can provide an additional layer of visibility on top of existing surface-surveillance systems that already track ground movements," Allen said. ”We will continue to work closely with the NTSB as its investigation proceeds and remain focused on working with the FAA to strengthen safety across our airfield operations.”

“Esas declaraciones son completamente infundadas y distorsionan la realidad”, dijo el portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Lin Jian, durante una conferencia de prensa.

El martes, el Departamento de Estado emitió un comunicado en el que Estados Unidos, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay y Trinidad y Tobago afirmaron que "la libertad de nuestra región no es negociable” y que las acciones recientes de China que han afectado a embarcaciones panameñas "son un intento flagrante de politizar el comercio marítimo e infringir la soberanía de las naciones de nuestro hemisferio”.

El pasado 29 de enero la Corte Suprema de Panamá declaró inconstitucional la concesión de dos puertos a orillas del Canal de Panamá que eran operados por la empresa hongkonesa CK Hutchinson.

El gobierno de Panamá tomó el control de los puertos de Balboa y Cristóbal en febrero y permitió que filiales de Maersk y Mediterranean Shipping Company asumieran las operaciones en esas terminales.

Desde febrero —y con mayor intensidad en abril— se ha observado un incremento en las retenciones de buques de bandera panameña que son sometidos a inspección en los puertos de China.

De los 124 barcos detenidos en puertos chinos para inspección en marzo 92 —casi el 75%— tenían bandera panameña, según datos públicos del MOU de Tokio, una organización regional de control del Estado rector del puerto que agrupa a 22 autoridades miembros en la región Asia-Pacífico.

El canciller de Panamá, Javier Martínez Hacha, dijo a The Associated Press que se están haciendo todos los esfuerzos para defender la competitividad de la bandera panameña.

Esta no es la primera vez que Estados Unidos aborda el tema. El 2 de abril el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, manifestó su apoyo a Panamá y dijo que las retenciones, retrasos y otros obstáculos a la circulación de buques socavan la estabilidad de las cadenas de suministro mundiales, aumentan los costos para las empresas y consumidores y erosionan la confianza en el sistema comercial internacional.

El portavoz de la cancillería china se preguntó el miércoles "¿quién ocupaba durante mucho tiempo el Canal de Panamá, invadió armadamente Panamá y pisoteaba arbitrariamente su soberanía y dignidad?” en alusión a Washington, defendió las inspecciones a los buques como acciones normales, y pidió a los países firmantes del comunicado que “no se dejen engañar ni utilizar por fuerzas con intenciones ocultas”.

A principios de este mes Panama Ports Company, que forma parte de CK Hutchison, inició un procedimiento de arbitraje contra Maersk tras acusarla de alinearse con Panamá en un plan para hacerse con el control de las operaciones portuarias en el crucial canal del país centroamericano.

The most recent spat was triggered in early April when Rubio accused China of “bullying” by detaining or holding up dozens of Panama-flagged ships — though for a short period of time — after the Central American country seized control of two critical ports on the canal earlier this year from a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company. China denied the allegations.

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department released a joint statement with a handful of smaller U.S. allies in the region — Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago — saying that the action was a “blatant attempt to politicize maritime trade” and that they “stand in solidarity with Panama.”

The comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a more aggressive stance on Latin America than administrations in past decades, capturing Venezuela's president in an overnight raid and pushing massive reforms in Venezuela, imposing an oil blockade on Cuba, meddling in elections and threatening military action on Mexican cartels.

“The sovereignty of our hemisphere is non-negotiable,” wrote U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a social media post on Tuesday night.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry in a news conference Wednesday said the statements “are completely unfounded and distort reality.”

“Who occupied the Panama Canal for a long time, invaded Panama with its military, and arbitrarily trampled on its sovereignty and dignity? Who covets the Panama Canal, seeks to turn this international waterway — meant to remain permanently neutral — into its own territory, and disregards the sovereignty of regional countries? The answer is self-evident,” Jian said.

"The one who has politicized and securitized the issue of ports is the United States," he added.

Shortly after, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino wrote in a statement that he appreciated the “solidarity of friendly countries” over the Panamanian-flagged vessels in Chinese ports, but appeared to try and diffuse mounting tensions.

“We do not wish to engage in controversy, as we value respectful relations with all nations,” he said.

The U.S. has long sought to offset China’s growing presence in Latin America. Panama, in part due to its crucial role in international trade with the Panama Canal, has been particularly caught in a broader rivalry between the two superpowers after Trump accused Beijing last year of running the international waterway.

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

El testigo informó que Steven Goldman, quien vive donde trabajan los empleados de valet en el vecindario Mid-Beach de la ciudad, guardaba las armas en una caja fuerte y que “se había vuelto cada vez más inestable”.

El viernes, agentes de la policía de Miami Beach respondieron al área de valet en Seacoast, una comunidad frente al mar en 5151 Collins Ave., según un informe de arresto.

Goldman había estacionado su Hyundai Sonata plateado durante más de 40 minutos frente al área de valet, bloqueando el paso de vehículos, y estaba molesto por una multa de estacionamiento en su ventana, según la policía.

Testigos en el área de valet y en la oficina informaron que Goldman estaba gritando, lanzó la multa, empujó a un empleado, regresó al Hyundai y tomó un arma, según la policía.

Goldman levantó el arma y la apuntó a una de las víctimas mientras gritaba una grosería varias veces antes de irse en el Hyundai, según el informe policial.

Agentes de Surfside detuvieron a Goldman en Collins Avenue y la calle 93. Uno de los agentes reportó que Goldman tenía “ojos enrojecidos, habla arrastrada” y “un fuerte olor a alcohol” en el aliento cuando dijo: “Probablemente les dijeron que saqué un arma contra alguien”.

Los agentes también reportaron que Goldman tenía dos armas —una Smith & Wesson M&P Shield negra y una pistola Springfield XD de 9 mm en negro y plata— en una maleta en el maletero del vehículo.

Los registros muestran que la policía arrestó a Goldman el viernes por la noche, fue ingresado en el sistema correccional de Miami-Dade la madrugada del sábado y compareció ante el tribunal el domingo y el lunes.

Goldman enfrenta cargos de robo con agresión o agresión física y asalto agravado con arma de fuego. También tenía un caso pendiente por conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol.

Según los registros judiciales, la jueza del circuito del condado Miami-Dade Mindy Glazer ordenó que Goldman se mantenga alejado de las dos víctimas, del área de valet y de las armas. Pagó una fianza de $5,000 USD el martes.

El juez del circuito del condado Miami-Dade Richard Hersch estaba programado para presidir el caso grave.

El editor de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Carson Merlo, contribuyó a este informe.

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Goldman, 53, parked his silver Hyundai Sonata for about 40 minutes in the valet area, a worker placed a parking violation sticker, and this prompted him to push a man and threaten another at gunpoint, according to police.

Goldman drove away, and police officers reported finding him with “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech,” ”a heavy odor of alcohol," and two guns — a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield and a Springfield XD 9mm handgun.

“They probably told you I pulled a firearm on someone,” Goldman told a Surfside police officer during his arrest on Friday afternoon at Collins Avenue and 93 Street, according to a police officer’s body cam video.

In Miami Beach’s Mid-Beach neighborhood, Goldman’s wife asked police officers to impound about 10 firearms that he was keeping in a safe at their apartment at the Seacoast, at 5151 Collins Ave., according to police.

His wife warned police officers that Goldman “had become increasingly unwell,” according to a Miami Beach police officer’s report.

Witnesses in the valet area and valet office reported he was screaming, threw the parking violation sticker, pushed an employee, and pointed a gun while shouting the same expletive several times, according to police.

After his arrest, Miami-Dade corrections booked Goldman early Saturday morning, and he appeared in bond court on Sunday and Monday, facing charges of burglary with assault or battery and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Records show Goldman also has the DUI warrant case. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Richard Hersch was set to preside over the felony case.

Related story: Miami Beach drunk driver arrested after pulling firearm at valets over violation sticker, police say

Local 10 News Reporter Rosh Lowe and Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

El caso, ahora en su quinta semana en un tribunal federal en el centro de Miami, se deriva de presunta conducta que se remonta a 2017.

Se espera que los fiscales concluyan sus argumentos al final del día, tras lo cual el caso podría pasar al jurado.

Rivera y la coacusada Esther Nuhfer están acusados de no registrarse conforme a las leyes federales de agentes extranjeros.

Los fiscales alegan que ambos conspiraron para obtener ganancias utilizando conexiones políticas para impulsar esfuerzos vinculados al gobierno de Venezuela, incluidos intentos de normalizar relaciones entre Caracas y Washington.

Según los fiscales, Rivera y Nuhfer realizaron actividades de cabildeo no reveladas que beneficiaron a la administración de Maduro mientras evitaban la divulgación requerida por la ley estadounidense.

Los abogados defensores sostienen que el trabajo en cuestión era de naturaleza comercial y no requería registro.

Argumentan que el acuerdo involucraba a una empresa con sede en Estados Unidos vinculada al sector petrolero de Venezuela y estaba enfocado en oportunidades de negocio, no en defensa política.

Exxon y Venezuela tuvieron una importante batalla legal después de que el predecesor de Maduro, el ex presidente Hugo Chávez, incautara los activos de la compañía, según el Miami Herald.

Los abogados de Nuhfer dijeron al jurado que no hay evidencia de que ella actuara de mala fe, preguntando durante los argumentos finales: “¿Por qué la acusaron en primer lugar?”. Argumentaron que si los jurados no pueden responder a esa pregunta, deberían emitir un veredicto de no culpable.

El jurado de 12 personas también escuchó el testimonio del secretario de Estado Marco Rubio, quien dijo que no tenía conocimiento de que Rivera estuviera cabildeando en nombre del gobierno venezolano cuando se reunieron en 2017.

Los jurados también escucharon al representante de Texas Pete Sessions, quien testificó que desconocía que el trabajo de consultoría de Rivera estuviera vinculado a algún contrato con un gobierno extranjero.

Lea la acusación contra Rivera en el documento a continuación.

Indictment

The trial centers on the 2015 birth of the ChatGPT maker as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.

Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, gave his account of OpenAI’s early years, recounting how he lost confidence that Altman would keep it a nonprofit. Questioned by his lawyer Steven Molo, Musk said by late 2022 he was concerned Altman was trying to “steal the charity.”

"It turned out to be true,” Musk said on the witness stand, wearing his usual courtroom attire of a black suit and tie.

Altman, OpenAI's CEO, was in attendance at the federal courthouse in Oakland, California, although he was not scheduled to testify on Wednesday. The trial started Monday and is expected to last about four weeks.

Lawyers for OpenAI have rejected the allegations brought in Musk's civil lawsuit and said there were never promises that the company would remain a nonprofit forever. The company has argued Musk's legal challenge is aimed at undercutting OpenAI's rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

During cross-examination, Musk repeatedly pushed back on questions. OpenAI lawyer William Savitt was asking about emails Musk wrote before OpenAI's founding in 2015 on whether it would be better to make it a standard for-profit company and about tax deductions from his donations to the nonprofit.

“Your questions are not simple,” Musk said. “They are designed to trick me essentially.” Any simple answer, he said, would be misleading the jury.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stepped in, asking Musk to answer whether it's true or false that OpenAI was formed as a nonprofit in December 2015. Musk said in that case, the answer was yes, but added that it is not always simple, comparing it to asking “have you stopped beating your wife?”

“We are not going to go there,” the judge replied, to laughs in the courtroom.

Despite moments of levity, the stakes are high at the trial, which could sway the balance of power in artificial intelligence. Musk’s lawsuit seeks Altman’s ouster from OpenAI’s board. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI's plans for an initial public offering of its shares.

Musk’s decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter falling out between the former allies that's been evident throughout the trial. On Wednesday, Musk said his views on Altman and his OpenAI cofounders had three phases — from initial excitement to losing confidence to a period in late 2022 when he thought “wait a second, these guys are betraying their promise.”

Lawyers for OpenAI have said Musk sought to control the company for himself.

Musk repeatedly testified that while he initially sought a majority stake in OpenAI and control of four out of seven board seats, this would eventually be diluted when OpenAI grew and gained more shareholders. He compared it to his stake in Tesla, which he said is now around 15% after he initially had a majority stake when the electric car maker was founded over two decades ago.

OpenAI, however, claims there were no assurances that he would eventually relinquish his board majority.

Según la policía de Miami Gardens, el accidente fue reportado a las 7:53 a.m. del martes en la cuadra 1200 de Northwest 188th Street.

Un informe de arresto indica que Jalen Darius Forbes, de 23 años y residente de Miami Gardens, conducía hacia el sur por Northwest 12th Street, intentando evitar el tráfico en una zona escolar cuando se subió al derecho de vía, perdió el control de su Ford Fusion y golpeó a la víctima.

La víctima fue identificada como Johnny Baptiste Jr., de 11 años.

“Lo veo todo golpeado y se supone que debe estar en casa conmigo”, dijo Shakera Rolle, madre del niño. “Cuando escuché por primera vez que lo había atropellado un auto, inmediatamente pensé lo peor”.

Rose Emine, cuyo cercado presuntamente fue impactado por el vehículo de Forbes, dijo a Local 10 News que el niño no respondía después de ser atropellado.

“Dije, ‘Ahh’ porque pensé que el niño había muerto”, dijo Emine.

“Le estaban echando agua en la cabeza. Tenía una gran herida en la cabeza”, dijo otro testigo, Orlando Lawrence.

La policía dijo que personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladó en helicóptero a la víctima al Ryder Trauma Center del Hospital Jackson Memorial con lesiones graves en la cabeza, pero estables.

Mientras tanto, Forbes fue arrestado por cargos de conducción imprudente y conducción imprudente causando lesiones corporales graves.

“Solo desearía que hubiera sido un poco más cuidadoso o que hubiera prestado más atención a la carretera por donde conducía”, dijo Rolle.

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According to FBI agents, the body of Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez, 41, who is originally from Cuba, was discovered in coastal Georgia.

A cause of death has not been released.

According to the FBI, prior to his body being found, Gonzalez had last been seen on April 17 at the Brevard County Rest Area on Interstate 95 southbound in Grant-Valkaria. He arrived at the rest stop at about 1:21 a.m. and rested there for several hours, authorities said.

Agents said Gonzalez was transporting vehicles from the Port of Brunswick in Georgia, which he picked up the day prior, to Miami when he vanished.

According to the FBI, GPS from the truck shows that someone drove the truck south one exit before turning north toward Jacksonville at 7:49 a.m. after leaving the rest stop.

“Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing,” the FBI said in a news release.

According to agents, the truck was located later that day in Port Wentworth, Georgia, however Gonzalez was not found with it and several vehicles were missing from the hauler.

“Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida. Others are still missing,” the FBI said.

Agents are now seeking photos and video footage from anyone who was in or around the Brevard County rest stop between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on April 17, “specifically focusing on the southern portion of the rest area near the ramp that enters back onto I-95 South.”

Anyone who has information about what agents are calling the “Brevard County Car Hauler Hijacking,” or would like to submit photos or video, is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or click here.

Mohammad Sharifullah faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after his one-count conviction in an international terrorism case that President Donald Trump heralded last year during a speech to a joint session of Congress. Sharifullah didn’t testify at his weeklong trial.

Approximately 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, attack at the airport, where U.S. troops were conducting an evacuation operation when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near an entry point known as Abbey Gate.

A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah of providing material support to an Islamic State regional branch known as ISIS-K. But the jurors deadlocked on whether any deaths at the airport “resulted from” that conspiracy. Sharifullah could have faced a possible life sentence if the jury had unanimously decided that question.

Sharifullah didn't appear to have any visible reaction to the verdict. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga didn't immediately set a date for Sharifullah's sentencing.

The jury deliberated for roughly eight hours over two days. In a note to the judge, jurors indicated that they quickly reached a unanimous decision to convict Sharifullah of conspiracy but couldn’t agree on the element that could have significantly enhanced the severity of his sentence. The judge rejected a prosecutor’s request to give them more time to deliberate.

Defense attorney Lauren Rosen argued that prosecutors failed to present any evidence tying Sharifullah to the bombing besides his own words during hours of FBI questioning. Rosen said Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, possibly because he was afraid of being tortured in Pakistani custody before he was brought to the U.S.

“The problem was, he didn’t know much about what actually happened that day,” Rosen told jurors during the trial’s closing arguments. “The government has told you nothing about how this attack actually happened.”

Justice Department prosecutor Ryan White said Sharifullah played a crucial role in planning the Abbey Gate bombing and was involved in several other attacks by ISIS-K, including its March 2024 attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed roughly 140 people.

“The defendant thought nothing of killing,” White said. “For him, it was just another day at the office.”

A review by U.S. Central Command found that the Abbey Gate bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State group militant who had been released from an Afghan prison by the Taliban. Sharifullah recognized the alleged bomber as an operative he had known while incarcerated, according to an FBI affidavit.

A former Marine testified to Congress that he and others had spotted two possible suspects behaving suspiciously on the morning of the bombing but didn’t get permission to act. However, the Central Command review concluded that the snipers hadn’t seen the actual bomber and that the attack was not preventable.

A prosecutor assigned to the Abbey Gate case was fired last year after a right-wing commentator publicly criticized him over his work during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. Michael Ben’Ary’s ouster was part of a broader purge of Justice Department veterans deemed to be insufficiently loyal to Trump, a Republican.

During his most recent presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly condemned Biden for his role in the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and blamed him for the Abbey Gate attack.

Biden’s White House was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the first Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban takeover.

White, the prosecutor, said Sharifullah told a journalist that he wanted to “catch and kill the crusaders” from the U.S. for invading his country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“This case is not complicated,” White said. “The defendant told you everything you need to know.”

Rosen said U.S. authorities accepted ISIS propaganda at face value when the group took responsibility for the airport bombing. She suggested that militants from a Taliban offshoot were manning Abbey Gate and could have been involved in the attack.

“You can’t base your verdict on mere conjecture and speculation,” Rosen said. “That’s what the prosecution is asking you to do.”

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According to the FBI, Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez, 41, who is originally from Cuba, was last seen on April 17 at the Brevard County Rest Area on Interstate 95 southbound in Grant-Valkaria. He arrived at the rest stop at about 1:21 a.m. and rested there for several hours, authorities said.

Agents said Gonzalez was transporting vehicles from the Port of Brunswick in Georgia to Miami when he vanished.

“The truck and some of the cars have been recovered, but Gonzalez is still missing,” the FBI posted on social media.

According to the FBI, GPS from the truck shows that someone drove the truck south one exit before turning north toward Jacksonville at 7:49 a.m. after leaving the rest stop.

“Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing,” the FBI said in a news release.

According to agents, the truck was located later that day in Port Wentworth, Georgia, however Gonzalez was not found with it and several vehicles were missing from the hauler.

“Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida. Others are still missing, along with Gonzalez,” the FBI said.

Agents are now seeking photos and video footage from anyone who was in or around the Brevard County rest stop between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on April 17, “specifically focusing on the southern portion of the rest area near the ramp that enters back onto I-95 South.”

Anyone who has information about what agents are calling the “Brevard County Car Hauler Hijacking,” or would like to submit photos or video, is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or click here.

Según el FBI, Alejandro Jacomino González, de 41 años y originario de Cuba, fue visto por última vez el 17 de abril en el área de descanso del condado Brevard en la Interestatal 95 en dirección sur en Grant-Valkaria. Llegó al área de descanso alrededor de la 1:21 a.m. y permaneció allí durante varias horas, dijeron las autoridades.

Los agentes indicaron que González transportaba vehículos desde el Puerto de Brunswick en Georgia hacia Miami cuando desapareció.

“El camión y algunos de los vehículos han sido recuperados, pero González sigue desaparecido”, publicó el FBI en redes sociales.

Según el FBI, el GPS del camión muestra que alguien condujo el camión hacia el sur una salida antes de girar hacia el norte en dirección a Jacksonville a las 7:49 a.m., después de salir del área de descanso.

“Poco después, González se volvió inlocalizable y el camión fue reportado como desaparecido”, dijo el FBI en un comunicado de prensa.

Según los agentes, el camión fue localizado más tarde ese mismo día en Port Wentworth, Georgia; sin embargo, González no fue encontrado con él y varios vehículos faltaban del transporte.

“Desde el hallazgo del camión, tres vehículos han sido localizados en Florida. Otros aún están desaparecidos, junto con González”, indicó el FBI.

Los agentes ahora buscan fotos y videos de cualquier persona que haya estado en o cerca del área de descanso del condado Brevard entre la 1 a.m. y las 8 a.m. del 17 de abril, “enfocándose específicamente en la parte sur del área de descanso cerca de la rampa que conecta nuevamente con la I-95 Sur”.

Cualquier persona que tenga información sobre lo que los agentes llaman el “secuestro de transporte de vehículos del condado Brevard”, o que desee enviar fotos o videos, debe llamar al FBI al 1-800-225-5324 o hacer clic aquí.

The Broncos announced Simmons' retirement on Wednesday and noted the news came exactly 10 years after the team selected the safety in the third round from Boston College in 2016.

Though Simmons started 16 games for the Atlanta Falcons in his final season in 2024, when he had two interceptions, he enjoyed most of his success with Denver. Each of his two Pro Bowl seasons came with the Broncos. He also was a four-time second-team All-Pro for Denver.

“Being a Denver Bronco was more than just a team,” Simmons said in the Broncos' announcement on social media. “It was my heart, my home and my story.”

Added Simmons: “I'm always going to be a Bronco, and I'm always going to be a Broncos fan. They took a chance on me, extended me. This is my home.”

Simmons intercepted at least two passes in each of his nine seasons and finished his career with 32, including an NFL-leading six in 2022. He started in 124 of 134 games in his career.

The Falcons also offered congratulations to Simmons on social media.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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The Coral Terrace neighborhood resident reported that Yamilet Alfonso returned to the home on Saturday, along Southwest 57 Court, near Coral Way, according to a deputy’s arrest report.

“The victim observed [Alfonso] approaching her residence as she was attempting to retrieve another package from the front of the residence and confronted [her],” the deputy wrote, adding that Alfonso fled.

Miami-Dade deputies tracked and arrested Alfonso on Tuesday, and corrections booked her early Wednesday morning at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, records show.

The victim submitted three videos of Alfonso: One shows her stealing $1,000 in Amazon packages on April 13, another $900 in Amazon packages on April 20, and another a $300 Amazon package on April 22, according to deputies.

Alfonso arrived at the victim’s home in Coral Terrace, near Coral Gables, either in a red Nissan sports utility vehicle or a white Honda Accord, according to the deputy’s arrest report.

Court records showed Alfonso faced four charges in two pending criminal cases. One was for three counts of grand theft, and the other for cocaine possession. Her bond was $5,000.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Michelle Delancy was set to preside over the two new cases.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Alfonso was last released from prison on Feb. 18, 2017, after a Miami-Dade judge sentenced her to a year and a day in prison on May 9, 2016, for a burglary of an occupied dwelling and grand theft on July 6, 2015.

Alfonso’s arrest record in Miami-Dade includes cocaine possession in 2012 and possession of a controlled substance in 2014 and 2019. It also includes arrests for burglary and grand theft in 2014, 2015, and 2021.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

Sheinbaum dijo durante su conferencia de prensa matutina que con el acuerdo se busca reducir las importaciones de acero y que la mayor parte de ese material que emplea el gobierno federal para la construcción de carreteras, trenes e infraestructura sea producido en México.

El convenio, que forma parte del llamado “Plan México” que lanzó el gobierno de Sheinbaum el año pasado para fortalecer la producción local, también prevé medidas para enfrentar las prácticas desleales y promover a los proveedores nacionales.

Los representantes de las industrias de la construcción y la vivienda también se sumaron al acuerdo de compromiso para aumentar las compras de acero local.

Sobre los beneficios que traerá el acuerdo, Sergio de la Maza Jiménez, presidente de la Cámara Nacional de la Industria del Hierro y del Acero, aseguró que será “clave” para respaldar cerca de 90.000 empleos directos, dar certidumbre a inversiones en curso por más de 8.000 millones de dólares, y fortalecer la competitividad y la sustentabilidad de la industria mexicana.

De la Maza Jiménez expresó en un acto en el palacio de gobierno donde se firmó el documento que la producción del sector se redujo el año pasado como consecuencia del arancel que comenzó a aplicar la administración del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, que ocasionó una merma en las exportaciones. Los principales mercados del acero mexicano son Estados Unidos, que compra más del 70%, Canadá, Arabia Saudita y Guatemala, entre otros.

El año pasado México tuvo una demanda de acero del orden de los 28 millones de toneladas, pero la industria mexicana sólo logró generar 14 millones de toneladas. En 2024 la producción mexicana de acero fue de 18 millones de toneladas, mientras que en 2023 alcanzó casi 20 millones de toneladas.

Para suplir el déficit local de acero, México ha recurrido a importaciones provenientes de China, Corea del Sur, Japón y Estados Unidos.

De la Maza Jiménez aseguró que la industria mexicana está en capacidad de elevar este año su producción para atender la demanda local.

El gobierno mexicano ha proyectado que en 2026 empleará alrededor de 200.000 toneladas de acero en diversas construcciones, informó el secretario de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes, Jesús Antonio Esteva.

La residente del vecindario Coral Terrace reportó que Yamilet Alfonso regresó a la vivienda el sábado, en Southwest 57 Court, cerca de Coral Way, según el informe de arresto.

“La víctima observó a [Alfonso] acercarse a su residencia mientras intentaba recoger otro paquete del frente de la casa y la confrontó”, escribió el agente, agregando que Alfonso huyó.

Agentes de Miami-Dade rastrearon y arrestaron a Alfonso el martes, y fue ingresada la madrugada del miércoles en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, según registros.

La víctima entregó tres videos de Alfonso: uno muestra el robo de paquetes de Amazon por $1,000 USD el 13 de abril, otro por $900 USD el 20 de abril y otro por $300 USD el 22 de abril, según los agentes.

Alfonso llegó a la casa de la víctima en Coral Terrace en una SUV Nissan roja o un Honda Accord blanco, según el informe de arresto.

Registros judiciales muestran que Alfonso enfrentaba cuatro cargos en dos casos penales pendientes: uno por tres cargos de hurto mayor y otro por posesión de cocaína. Su fianza fue fijada en $5,000 USD.

La jueza del circuito del condado Miami-Dade, Michelle Delancy, estaba programada para presidir los dos nuevos casos.

Según el Departamento de Correcciones de Florida, Alfonso fue liberada por última vez de prisión el 18 de febrero de 2017, después de que un juez de Miami-Dade la sentenciara a un año y un día de prisión el 9 de mayo de 2016 por robo en vivienda ocupada y hurto mayor ocurrido el 6 de julio de 2015.

El historial de arrestos de Alfonso en Miami-Dade incluye posesión de cocaína en 2012, posesión de sustancia controlada en 2014 y 2019, así como arrestos por robo en vivienda y hurto mayor en 2014, 2015 y 2021.

“This was what he lived for,” said Todd Pletcher, now an accomplished trainer himself after working for Lukas beginning in 1989.

Lukas' eternal optimism about the future was an annual tradition that lasted until June, when the Hall of Fame trainer was hospitalized with a severe blood infection and died at age 89. The horse racing community gathers this week for the first Kentucky Derby without Lukas, though his presence lingers over everything around the biggest event in horse racing.

"I miss Wayne. I miss talking to him," two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and longtime friend Bob Baffert said. “The thing is, without him here, it’s a different little vibe.”

His name remains a part of Churchill Downs, with a sign marking the “Lukas Gap” impossible to miss on the way between the fabled track and barn 44, which he occupied for more than four decades. Baffert wanted it badly, he said, but it's now where Mike Maker's horses are.

It's fitting because Maker is one of countless horsemen now thriving after learning under Lukas. Pletcher, who has won the Derby twice and has the favorite this year in Renegade, is one of the strongest branches on Lukas' racing version of a coaching tree.

“It’s an incredible tree, really, when you look at all the different branches and how many people are currently training that either worked for Wayne or worked for me or worked for one of the other assistants (who worked) for Wayne,” Pletcher said. “It just shows you how many lives Wayne directly or indirectly touched.”

Among them is now-retired jockey Jerry Bailey, whose second of two Derby victories came aboard Lukas-trained Grindstone in 1996. Their connection traced back to Lukas' days training quarter horses in New Mexico before getting into thoroughbreds and becoming one of the faces of the sport.

Bailey recalled once riding a horse for Lukas that finished up the track, nowhere close to winning, and thinking afterward he never would get aboard again. Lukas changed his mind in their conversation on the way back to the jockeys' room.

"He was such a glass-half-full, positive guy," Bailey said. “He had me believing this horse was the next coming of Secretariat by the time I got back. ... And that’s really who Wayne Lukas was: always Mr. Positive. And I think the game was better off for him.”

Lukas was still riding his pony himself into his late 80s, showing no signs of slowing down the get-up-early work ethic that made him successful. Still, Bailey made it a point to visit every time he got the chance, not knowing when it would be the last time they got to talk.

Fellow jockey-turned-NBC Sports analyst Donna Brothers, who rode for Lukas in the '90s, also was a regular visitor, eager to get his perspective on not just his horse and stable but any number of things leading up to a big race. Working her final Derby, she doesn't get that chance.

“It’s quite a void to walk by Wayne’s barn and not see Wayne’s pony sitting out there and know that you’re not going to be able to go by Wayne’s barn and talk to him about who he likes for this year’s Derby and why,” Brothers said. “He was a consummate horseman, knew his horses well, but he also knew the competition pretty well also, so it was always nice to go by his barn and pick his brain about who he likes and why. Beyond that, he’s just a legend.”

Lukas won the Kentucky Derby four times, trailing only Baffert and Ben Jones for the most victories. He saddled 51 horses in the race from 1981 through last year, second only to Pletcher.

“He recognized very early in his career that the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup races were what drives the industry and draws the owners to the game,” Pletcher said. “It won’t be the same without him, for sure.”

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

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According to Miami Gardens police, the crash was reported at 7:53 a.m. in the 1200 block of Northwest 188^th Street.

Police said the driver of a black Ford Fusion was heading south on Northwest 12^th Avenue at a high rate of speed when they tried to bypass slow-moving traffic by driving onto the swale.

The driver, identified by police as 23-year-old Darius Forbes, then crashed the car into a tree and then struck the child, police said.

The victim has been identified as Johnny Baptiste Jr.

“I’m looking at him all banged up and he’s supposed to be home with me,” said Shakera Rolle, the boy’s mother. “When I first heard he was hit by a car, I instantly thought the worst.”

Rose Emine, whose fence was crashed in by the driver, told Local 10 News that the boy was unresponsive after being struck by the car.

“I said, ‘Ahh’ because I thought the boy has died,” Emine said.

“They was just throwing water on his head. Big gash on his head,” another witness, Orlando Lawrence, said.

Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel airlifted the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with serious but stable head injuries.

“We need to pray for that child and family,” Emine said.

Police confirmed that Forbes was arrested on reckless driving charges.

“I just wish he was a little more careful or paid more attention to the road where he was riding,” said Rolle.

A medida que la niebla se disipaba al amanecer, acres de pasto serrado carbonizado se extendían por los Everglades.

En solo 24 horas, el incendio se expandió de unas 450 acres a más de 6,600, el equivalente a casi 5,000 campos de fútbol reducidos a cenizas.

Los equipos de bomberos lo han denominado el incendio de Highway 41, que continúa ardiendo a unas pocas millas al oeste del Miccosukee Casino.

Los funcionarios han cerrado una gran parte del Parque Nacional Everglades, obligando a negocios cercanos — incluyendo Coopertown Airboats, Safari Park y Gator Park — a cerrar.

Al caer la tarde del martes, los equipos continuaban trabajando para contener las llamas. Helicópteros arrojaron cientos de galones de agua, apuntando a varios focos mientras brillantes llamas anaranjadas ardían en la distancia.

Los bomberos dicen que el fuego está avanzando rápidamente a través del pasto seco, alimentado por condiciones de sequía y vientos constantes.

“Este viento ha estado soplando más hacia el sur, por lo que el incendio ha aumentado de tamaño”, dijo Ezra Van, observador de tormentas del Servicio Nacional de Meteorología.

Van dijo que hay varios elementos naturales que siguen siendo los factores más importantes en el comportamiento del incendio.

“El viento, la humedad y la lluvia son los tres factores más importantes”, dijo. “Si el viento aumenta, el fuego se mueve más rápido. Si la humedad baja, arde más rápido. Y la lluvia, si llega, podría frenarlo”.

El incendio, que comenzó el sábado, permanece contenido en un 0%. No se han reportado heridos ni daños a propiedades, y la causa aún está bajo investigación. Los equipos continúan monitoreando las condiciones desde el aire mientras el incendio se mueve por el área.

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According to Miami Gardens police, the crash was reported at 7:53 a.m. Tuesday in the 1200 block of Northwest 188^th Street.

An arrest report states that Jalen Darius Forbes, 23, of Miami Gardens, was driving south on Northwest 12^th Street, trying to avoid traffic in a school zone when he drove onto the right of way, lost control of his Ford Fusion and struck the victim.

The victim was identified as 11-year-old Johnny Baptiste Jr.

Surveillance video in the area first shows the suspect driving at a high rate of speed, appearing to attempt to bypass traffic, before the sound of impact is heard.

Another angle shows Johnny walking with his cousin and the car jumping a sidewalk and mowing down the child.

“I’m looking at him all banged up and he’s supposed to be home with me,” Shakera Rolle, the boy’s mother, said. “When I first heard he was hit by a car, I instantly thought the worst.”

Rose Emine, whose fence Forbes’ allegedly crashed into with his car, told Local 10 News that the boy was unresponsive after being struck by the vehicle.

“I said, ‘Ahh’ because I thought the boy has died,” Emine said.

“They was just throwing water on his head. Big gash on his head,” another witness, Orlando Lawrence, said.

Police said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel airlifted the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with serious but stable head injuries.

Forbes, meanwhile, was arrested on charges of reckless driving and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury.

“I just wish he was a little more careful or paid more attention to the road where he was riding,” Rolle said.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help Johnny’s family with his medical bills.

Crist, 69, has been a Republican, a Democrat and an independent during his political career. He served as a Republican governor from 2007 to 2011 and was a Democratic member of the U.S. House for three terms, ending in 2022. He also unsuccessfully ran against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 and previously challenged then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014, as a Democrat in both races.

Now Crist has his sights set on St. Petersburg City Hall and filed election paperwork this week.

The current mayor, Ken Welch, is the first Black person in the job and is running for reelection. Crist endorsed him in his earlier campaign. The St. Petersburg mayor’s office is a nonpartisan election, and around a half dozen other candidates are in the race.

St. Petersburg, across the bay from Tampa, is one of Florida’s more progressive cities and has regularly elected Democrats to various offices. In an interview last fall, Crist pointed out his ties to the area, including his graduation from St. Petersburg High School and his service in Congress representing the area.

“St. Petersburg is a very special place to me. It’s home,” Crist said.

Crist has a long and colorful history in Florida politics. Earlier in his career, Crist was a state senator, education commissioner and Florida’s attorney general, all as a Republican. He also unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate multiple times, including in 2010 as an independent against Marco Rubio, now the U.S. Secretary of State. And he was once known as “chain-gang Charlie” for having inmates clean highways.

While in Congress, Crist voted twice to impeach President Donald Trump during Trump’s first term. In his most recent race, DeSantis defeated Crist with about 59% of the vote for governor.

For his part, Welch has said that he is focused on his job as mayor. St. Petersburg has lately endured much tumult, with twin Hurricanes Helene and Milton striking in 2024, uncertainty following the sale of the city’s Tampa Bay Rays baseball team and a continuing issue with high water bills.

El incidente ocurrió el martes alrededor de las 6:20 p.m. en el Sierra Lakes Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, ubicado en 220 Sierra Drive, justo al exterior de Miami Gardens.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, los agentes respondieron a la instalación de tres pisos tras recibir un reporte de una paciente que había prendido fuego a su cama.

Cuando los agentes llegaron, indicaron que equipos de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trabajaban para extinguir el incendio y ventilar el pasillo fuera de la unidad donde se originó el fuego, mientras los pacientes del tercer piso eran evacuados.

Los agentes dijeron que luego entrevistaron a la sospechosa, identificada como Lourdes Espinal, de 55 años.

Según el informe de arresto, Espinal dijo a los investigadores: “Inició el incendio al prender un encendedor a su colchón porque estaba molesta porque no estaba recibiendo su medicamento a tiempo”.

Además, los agentes indicaron que Espinal admitió haber provocado el incendio mientras su compañera de cuarto, quien está postrada en cama y requiere una máscara de oxígeno, también estaba dentro de la habitación.

Al hablar con la enfermera de Espinal, los investigadores fueron informados de que después de recibir sus medicamentos de la tarde, Espinal solicitó medicamentos adicionales que no estaban recetados por su médico.

Cuando la enfermera le dijo a Espinal que contactaría a su médico para ver si podía recetar el medicamento adicional, las autoridades dijeron que la enfermera indicó que Espinal se volvió “más furiosa y volcó su bandeja de comida” mientras insultaba a la enfermera, quien luego contactó a un supervisor.

Según el informe de arresto, luego intentó encender un cigarrillo en su habitación, momento en el que el supervisor le informó que no estaba permitido dentro de la instalación y le retiró el cigarrillo de la boca, lo que provocó que Espinal lanzara su encendedor al supervisor mientras gritaba: “Voy a quemar el lugar, demasiadas malas b—–s, tienen que sacar su t— de aquí”.

Poco después, el personal del centro dijo que Espinal salió de su habitación y dijo: “Puse fuego en la habitación, mejor saquen a la residente”, lo que llevó al personal a correr hacia la habitación y desconectar de inmediato a la compañera de cuarto de su tanque de oxígeno y sacarla en silla de ruedas.

Espinal fue detenida y enfrenta cargos de intento de asesinato, incendio provocado en primer grado y agresión.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, permanecía detenida en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con fianza “por determinar”.

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The incident occurred on Tuesday around 6:20 p.m. at the Sierra Lakes Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, located at 220 Sierra Drive, just outside of Miami Gardens.

According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the three-story facility after receiving a report of a patient who had set her bed on fire.

When deputies arrived, they said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews were working to extinguish the blaze and ventilate the hallway outside of the unit where the fire was set while patients on the third floor were evacuated.

Deputies said they then interviewed the suspect, identified as Lourdes Espinal, 55.

According to an arrest form, Espinal told investigators, “She started the fire by setting a lighter to her mattress because she was upset that she was not getting her medication on time.”

Additionally, deputies said that Espinal admitted to setting the fire while her roommate, who is bedridden and requires an oxygen mask, was also inside the room.

While speaking with Espinal’s nurse, investigators were told that after she received her afternoon medications, Espinal had requested additional medication that was not prescribed by her doctor.

When the nurse told Espinal she would reach out to her doctor to see if he would prescribe the additional medication, authorities said the nurse told them Espinal became “more furious and knocked over her tray of food” while cursing at the nurse, who then contacted a supervisor.

According to Espinal’s arrest form, she then attempted to light a cigarette in her room, at which time the supervisor informed her that was not permitted inside the facility and removed the cigarette from Espinal’s mouth, prompting her to throw her lighter at the supervisor while yelling, “I’m gonna burn the place out, (too) many bad b-----s, they have to keep they a-- out.”

Shortly after, facility staff said Espinal exited her room and said, “I put fire in the room, y’all better take out the resident,” prompting staff to run into the room and immediately disconnect Espinal’s roommate from her oxygen tank and wheel her out of the room.

Espinal was taken into custody and is facing charges of attempted murder, first-degree arson and battery.

As of Wednesday afternoon, she remained behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”