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José Suárez was the president and general manager of the Telemundo-owned stations in Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers. He was 55.

The pilot with Lady Lori Helicopters was flying a group of six tourists from the Suyian Conservancy to Mount Ololokwe when the single-engine helicopter crashed in Samburu County, according to Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority and the helicopter operator.

Kenya’s Red Cross joined the search and recovery efforts at the fiery scene near Kirish, a remote area at the foot of Ololokwe.

Authorities in Ecuador identified two of the victims as Michele Sensi-Contugi, who had served as the director of the country’s strategic intelligence center, and his wife, Stephany Hollihan.

The U.S. State Department reported that four of the six tourists were U.S. citizens.

Suárez started his career as a reporter and anchor. He was with the NBCUniversal News Group for more than two decades and also led stations in San Antonio, Sacramento, Fresno, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.

In a statement from NBCU, executives Cesar Conde, Valari Staab, and José Cancela described Suárez as ”a deeply respected leader and beloved friend and colleague” who “brought energy, humor, warmth, and a strong sense of purpose to his work.”

Suárez’s career also included programming, digital and creative leadership for the Telemundo Station Group, NBC6, and Telemundo 51 in Miami.

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7 killed in helicopter crash in Kenya; 4 were tourists from the U.S. pic.twitter.com/9RdTRp0LOK

— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) August 19, 2026

El Servicio Nacional de Aduana del Ecuador expresa sus más sentidas condolencias ante el sensible fallecimiento de Michele Sensi-Contugi y su esposa Stephany Hollihan. Paz en su tumba. pic.twitter.com/E1GWcfbgAY

— Servicio Nacional de Aduana del Ecuador (@SENAE_Aduana) August 19, 2026

View this post on Instagram

An update on the air accident in Samburu of the operator and souls on board.
Read full statement below: pic.twitter.com/WjiggB3vvo

— Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (@CAA_Kenya) August 19, 2026

Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, hampered by difficult terrain access and an active fire at the crash site.

An additional team has been dispatched from Isiolo to reinforce the operation.

More updates to follow. https://t.co/XUjWArYul3 pic.twitter.com/qSApuA1b0y

— Kenya Red Cross (@KenyaRedCross) August 19, 2026

INCIDENT UPDATE
Reference: ASCI-KE-20260819-SAMBURU-HELICOPTER-CRASH
Incident Level: CRITICAL (Level 4) – Fatal helicopter crash; all occupants deceased

UPDATE SUMMARY
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has officially confirmed a fatal helicopter accident at Mt.… pic.twitter.com/Q5ChZkMd7A

— Armistice Security Consult International® (@ASCIsecure) August 19, 2026

Read the statement

“When consumers see a listed price, they expect it to be same price that everyone else sees, not the retailer’s estimate of how much they are willing to pay based on their personal data,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

The FTC has had its eye on personalized pricing for a while. In a preliminary report filed in January 2025, the agency found that grocers, clothing companies and others were using third-party companies to help them individualize online prices based on shoppers' locations, browsing histories and how long they left items in their virtual shopping carts.

In one hypothetical example, the FTC said a consumer profiled as a new parent might be shown higher-priced baby thermometers on the first page of their search results.

Ferguson said the FTC doesn't have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances. But under the proposed policy, businesses would have to “clearly and conspicuously disclose” if they are engaging in personalized pricing and share the types of data they're using to set those prices.

The proposed policy states that companies engaged in personalized pricing without revealing the practice and the data behind it could violate the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in the marketplace, Ferguson said.

The FTC is seeking comment on the policy for 30 days.

After the bond market’s alarm bells rose in volume through the summer, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday a move that could help calm it down. The U.S. Treasury Department said it will more than double the amount of U.S. government bonds that it will buy back, and the move worked in getting longer-term yields lower, for now at least.

Yields worldwide had earlier climbed to heights not reached in years and, in some cases, decades, because of the jump in oil prices due to the war with Iran, worries about big and growing debts for governments and other concerns.

The stakes are high because high yields drag on economies and bring downward pressure on stock markets after Wall Street hit records on excitement about big corporate profits and the promise of artificial-intelligence technology.

But what's to come is still uncertain, and some analysts warn the Treasury Department's move could even ultimately backfire.

Here’s a look at what’s going on and how things got this way:

Bond yields have been rising

In the United States, the centerpiece of the bond market recently touched its highest yield in more than a year. The 10-year Treasury yield, which shows how much interest investors want the U.S. government to pay them before they’ll lend it money for a decade, topped 4.70%, before falling back to 4.65% Wednesday.

That’s up from just 3.97% before the Iran war began in late February, and it’s a significant move for the bond market.

More notably, the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield has jumped well above 5%, back to where it was in 2007, before the 2008 financial crisis sent yields crashing toward zero worldwide.

In Japan, the yield on the 10-year government bond has touched its highest level in nearly 30 years, while the German 10-year yield is back to where it was in 2011.

High yields can slow the economy

When the U.S. and other governments have to pay more in interest to borrow money, so do people and companies.

For many U.S. households, that’s most easily seen through rates for mortgages. Such rates have climbed with the 10-year Treasury yield since the Iran war began, and the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is near its highest level in a year.

Higher yields also make it more expensive for U.S. companies to borrow money to build factories and otherwise grow. That’s particularly dangerous at this moment, when big investments in data centers to power AI are a major driver of the U.S. economy’s growth.

High yields affect all kinds of investments

If high yields slow the economy, that puts pressure on the stocks. An economic slowdown would threaten how much profit companies can make, which is the lifeblood of the stock market.

High yields undercut the stock market in other ways too. When a Treasury is paying more in interest, that can draw investors away from investments that carry more risk. Why pay record prices for U.S. stocks when a U.S. government bond is paying more than before to wait in relative safety?

Gold, bitcoin and many other investments can also feel downward pressure from high yields.

Then there’s the impact on the government

When yields rise, the U.S. and other governments have to pay more in interest to cover their debts. That’s painful when debt loads for governments worldwide are ballooning as they spend far more than they’re bringing in through revenue.

And if the U.S. government is already paying this much to borrow money when the economy is growing, what will happen if it needs to borrow even more to manage the pain when the next severe recession hits?

That’s why jumps in yields can scare politicians even more than swings in the stock market.

The bond market helped make Liz Truss the United Kingdom’s shortest-serving prime minister in 2022, when it revolted against her plan to cut taxes and raise spending without a way to pay for them.

Last year, President Donald Trump said the bond market may have played a role in his decision to delay many of his proposed tariffs, saying that he noticed investors there “were getting a little queasy.”

The long-term effect of the Treasury department's move is uncertain

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's move is a high-stakes effort to contain the rise in long-term yields, and some analysts are skeptical the impact will last.

“The operation changes almost nothing in terms of the fundamentals, in particular the unchanged need to finance the tidal wave of hyperscaler debt in addition to very large government deficits,” Krishna Guha, an analyst at Evercore ISI, and colleagues wrote in a note to clients.

“Hyperscalers” refers to the Big Tech companies that are borrowing mountains of money to build AI data centers. The bonds they’re selling are competing with U.S. Treasurys for buyers, which can push bond yields higher.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, continues to run its own large deficits regardless of what the Treasury Department does with its repurchases.

“The move could even backfire if the limited firepower results in little sustained impact,” Guha said.

A rate cut by the Federal Reserve won't magically solve the problem

The Federal Reserve could always cut the federal funds rate, which affects very short-term, overnight loans.

But longer-term yields like the 10- and 30-year Treasury yields are set by investors in the bond market. And recently, they have been demanding more in interest to make up for the growing risks of high inflation, continued government deficits and other factors.

The Fed also appears more likely to raise its benchmark short-term rate than to cut it. At its last meeting in late July, three Fed policymakers voted to raise the fed funds rates even as nine voted to keep it unchanged. And Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s decision to signal little about the Fed’s next moves appeared to push longer-term Treasury yields higher amid questions about what the central bank will do to get inflation back to its 2% target.

The government’s most recent inflation data suggest inflation may be slowing, leading many on Wall Street to forecast the Fed will keep the federal funds rates steady at its next meeting in September. The next big potentially market-moving event may come on Aug. 28, when Warsh will give a speech at the Fed’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Trump gushed for several uninterrupted minutes about granite being laid and said the chopper landing area would leave visiting foreign leaders “very impressed” — including Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is coming next month.

At times, he sounded almost like a construction manager, singing the praises of granite over asphalt in painstaking detail and noting for reporters he brought out for the show that the stone could withstand 35,000 pounds per square inch of pressure.

“That's stone that, if you took a hammer and you started hammering right now — all day long — you wouldn't see a mark on it, literally, that's the kind of power it is,” Trump said, at times straining to be heard over the thrum of ongoing work behind him.

The president also revealed for the first time that he has replaced the walkway from the White House's diplomatic entrance along with a portion of the asphalt driveway around the South Lawn with white granite.

“One thing I know how to do is build,” he said, asserting that asphalt is “not appropriate for a great house, or a great place like the White House.” He said that, had he instead merely used “really powerful concrete," it would have supported ”just a tiny fraction of that in terms of strength.”

Trump relishes being the builder-in-chief

The president is called upon to fill many roles as president, but embraces none with as much zeal as managing various building projects to mold the White House and large swatches of Washington in his own image, seeming happiest recalling his days as a real estate developer.

Trump also likes to show off his handiwork and having the White House press pool on hand at all times gives him a readymade audience. Last year, he made an appearance on the roof of the briefing room to survey a future work site, and earlier this summer, he took reporters for a closer look at the ballroom construction site.

It suggests Trump remains focused on such projects, even as his war in Iran nears the six-month mark, his approval ratings sink with just 2 1/2 months to go before critical midterm elections, and as voters are increasingly worried about a weakening economy.

Trump drove home just how important the construction projects are to him, calling the work “very exciting.”

“This will be here long after we’re gone,” Trump said of the projects. “No matter what happens with the world.”

But whether it will endure after he leaves office remains to be seen. Trump once suggested that his refurbishing of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool would last a century, only for the paint to fade and its liner to peel away in chunks just days after it was laid.

Trump again says his ballroom will have security value

The president has increasingly insisted that the $400 million ballroom will add security to the White House and include things like anti-drone technology. His administration even unsuccessfully sought $1 billion in congressional funding to make military improvements to the structure.

“This will be the greatest military complex slash ballroom anywhere in the world,” he said.

Trump also scoffed at court orders seeking to block its construction without congressional approval, saying work is continuing regardless and predicting that the Supreme Court will eventually side with him and allow the project to be completed.

The president found time to talk again about one of his favorite subjects of late — grass — and praised at length Scotts-Miracle Gro. The company's former CEO is a Trump supporter, and it donated $1 million to repair the grass on the White House lawn after it was damaged by Trump's UFC fight marking his 80th birthday in June and by the helipad construction.

At one point on Wednesday, Trump signed the back of one of the granite stones that was marked “Donald Trump 45-47 president” for the occasion. Its front is shaped like an eagle and will be laid into the helipad's presidential seal once work is completed.

“I thought this would be a little different kind of a news conference,” the president said. “We were going to sign this privately and just put it in. I said, ‘This is something I think the press should see,’ and I hope you liked it.”

Trump had some of the construction workers sign the granite, too, and joked about leaving it upside-down so that his signature would be visible for future generations.

“Nice job, fellas,” he told the workers. “Does anybody know the word media?”

Trump also confirmed Wednesday that he'd delayed ongoing work on the helipad to ensure the project could be regraded to lay flatter.

He said that the granite used “has a million-year life” and predicted that it “will never break. It will never leak. It will never do anything" — which would mark a departure from the problem-plagued Reflecting Pool project.

“Nature is stronger than what the human can produce,” Trump said of the granite. “It’s really pretty amazing.”

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

The officer was informed that the Buffaloes coach was “unavailable at the time to receive receipt of the papers,” a spokesperson with the sheriff's office said Wednesday. Sanders is being subpoenaed to testify as part of a bankruptcy trial involving his son, Shilo, that begins on Aug. 31, according to USA Today.

The Colorado athletic department had no additional information. The Buffaloes open the season on Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech.

The deputy arrived on campus at 10:22 a.m. on Aug. 11 with civil papers. It was the day the Buffaloes held an open practice with specific rules in place that nothing observed could be reported, published or shared.

Carrie Haverfield, a senior communications specialist for the sheriff’s office, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that it's not uncommon for civil papers to take several attempts to serve.

“While working with university staff to find a better time to complete the process, we heard from Mr. Sanders’ legal counsel who indicated that they were able to take receipt of the papers on behalf of Mr. Sanders, however, they were not located in Boulder County, so we transferred the paperwork to Denver to be served,” Haverfield wrote. “We did not find any university staff to be attempting to block the civil service, on the contrary, they were attempting to help our deputy find a better time to do so. We do not disclose the specific contents of civil papers that we serve.”

Shilo Sanders remains in litigation over a lawsuit stemming from an incident with a security guard when he was in high school. The guard filed a lawsuit against Sanders and was issued a default judgment when Sanders didn’t show for his court date.

The hard-hitting safety who played for his dad at Colorado was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last August.

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José Suárez, presidente y gerente general de las estaciones propiedad de Telemundo en Orlando, Tampa y Fort Myers, viajaba en helicóptero hacia Loisaba Conservancy cuando este se estrelló en las estribaciones del monte Ololokwe.

Suárez, de 55 años, comenzó su carrera como reportero y presentador. Trabajó con NBCUniversal News Group durante más de dos décadas y también dirigió estaciones en San Antonio, Sacramento, Fresno, Salt Lake City y Las Vegas.

En un comunicado, Cesar Conde, Valari Staab y José Cancela describieron a Suárez como “un líder profundamente respetado y un querido amigo y colega” que “aportó energía, humor, calidez y un fuerte sentido de propósito a su trabajo”.

La carrera de Suárez también incluyó labores de programación y liderazgo digital y creativo para Telemundo Station Group, NBC6 y Telemundo 51 en Miami.

“I mean, I’d argue have they brought value to LIV?” McIlroy said at the BMW Championship.

LIV Golf's future is under scrutiny with the event this week near Indianapolis being the last one of a league that no longer gets funding from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

LIV CEO Scott O'Neil was scheduled to give an update on the future of the league that has an agreement with a lead investor and plans to reshape how it operates.

Brooks Koepka was the first player to return to the PGA Tour this year, with stipulations that he could not play $20 million signature events unless he earned his way, paid $5 million to charity and had no access to equity. The tour put the penalty value at $50 million and upward.

The tour then offered the same deal — and two weeks to decide on it — to Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, all major champions dating to the launch of LIV in 2022.

“When we talk about the best players, LIV has a few players that are really good,” Scheffler said. "I think the depth that we have on our tour is unmatched, but I think when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the tour, and guys that I love competing against as well.

“So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties.”

What those penalties are he said would be up to PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp.

McIlroy has been the biggest critic of LIV from the start. He has toned down his rhetoric over the years, though he suggested in February 2025 that players “have to get over it” when it comes to finding a way to bring defectors back.

He sounded more reluctant Wednesday, noting that top players had their chances to return at the start of the year and whatever offer likely would not be as good as it was for Koepka.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

Las autoridades arrestaron el martes al sospechoso Eddie Zewayne Bussey, de 28 años, de Yonkers, Nueva York, por casi una docena de cargos graves, incluidos secuestro y múltiples cargos de intento de asesinato y agresión sexual.

Un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Miami indica que la mujer, de 40 años, había salido de un club nocturno en el vecindario Wynwood de la ciudad entre las 3:30 y las 4:30 a.m.; su teléfono se había quedado sin batería y caminaba a casa por Biscayne Boulevard, sin poder solicitar un transporte.

Cerca de Northeast 24th Street, la policía dijo que la mujer notó a Bussey, un desconocido, “siguiéndola y gritándole comentarios no solicitados como: ‘Déjame probarte’”.

“La víctima cruzó Biscayne Boulevard tratando de alejarse de (Bussey), pero él continuó siguiéndola e imitando su mismo movimiento al cruzar la calle”, señala el informe del MPD.

La policía dijo que la mujer entró a un edificio de oficinas en 4770 Biscayne Blvd., en el vecindario Bay Point, después de “notar que estaba bien iluminado y temer por su seguridad”.

Las autoridades dijeron que ella entró al vestíbulo y subió al ascensor hasta el piso 12 para intentar encontrar a alguien que pudiera ayudarla. No pudo.

La Policía dijo que, después de regresar al vestíbulo, vio a Bussey entrar. Intentó salir por otra puerta, dijeron, pero resultó estar cerrada.

En un ataque captado por una cámara de vigilancia, Bussey se expuso, golpeó y estranguló a la mujer, luego la arrastró del cabello y la llevó a un cuarto de correo, donde continuó golpeándola, pateándola y estrangulándola mientras ella intentaba defenderse, según el informe. La Policía dijo que se escuchaba a Bussey decirle, “Pruébalo”, “Te voy a violar” y “Te voy a matar” antes de cometer múltiples actos sexuales contra ella.

Las autoridades dijeron que la víctima rompió dos de los collares de Bussey mientras intentaba quitárselo de encima. Dijeron que pudo correr hasta una farmacia CVS cercana, donde pudo llamar a la Policía.

“La víctima sufrió lesiones visibles, incluidos moretones y decoloración en el rostro, los labios, la garganta, la espalda, las costillas, la cadera y el muslo, así como una laceración en la mejilla”, señala el informe.

La Policía dijo que las pruebas de ADN de un kit de violación vincularon el crimen con Bussey y que los agentes lo encontraron el martes cerca de Northwest 36th Street y 13th Avenue, en el vecindario Allapattah de la ciudad.

Según el informe, Bussey dijo a los investigadores que llevaba aproximadamente un mes alojándose en Miami con su hermano en un alquiler de corta duración en Wynwood. El informe señala que inicialmente dijo a los agentes que había “caminado a casa y permaneció allí durante el resto de la noche”, pero luego, después de que le mostraron una imagen fija de las cámaras de vigilancia del edificio de oficinas Bay Point, “se retractó y les dijo a los detectives que estaba en el lugar del incidente para cargar su teléfono”.

La Policía dijo que afirmó que, en el edificio, la víctima hizo “comentarios racistas” y luego “le escupió, lo que provocó que perdiera el conocimiento y comenzara a golpearla”.

Pero dijeron que “negó haberla agredido sexualmente” porque “ella es una mujer y a él solo le gustan los hombres”.

Un informe de arresto separado señala que Bussey se mostró agresivo con los agentes mientras intentaban recolectar una muestra de ADN conforme a una orden judicial, escupiéndoles y forcejeando con ellos. También dijeron que “pateó repetidamente la pared y la puerta dentro del cuarto de interrogatorio”, causando daños.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, Bussey permanecía detenido en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, con una fianza que figuraba en los registros de la cárcel como “por establecerse”.

Leaving home early that day likely saved his life, he says — the two-story home he had spent years building with his modest wages collapsed during the quake.

“The house is completely destroyed,” said the 66-year-old math teacher in Quibdo, the regional capital.

At least 312 people were killed by the Aug. 10 quake, according to figures published Wednesday by the central government, and 29,000 homes were destroyed.

Recovery will be particularly challenging for Choco, which was already struggling with high poverty rates, poor infrastructure and underfunded health and education services.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 69,000 people in Choco were affected or displaced by the earthquake — about 10% of its population.

The regional government says more than 200 schools were damaged, and poor internet access will make it difficult for children to take online lessons. With around 600,000 inhabitants, mostly Afro-Colombian or Indigenous people, Choco has long been one of the country's most neglected regions.

Largely covered by mountains and rainforests, only two precarious roads connect Choco to the rest of Colombia. Many towns are only reachable by plane or boats, and the rivers can be dangerous. There are no roads linking communities along the more than 650 kilometers (406 miles) of Choco's coastline hugging the Pacific Ocean to the interior.

In large swaths of the region, rebel groups fight over the control of illegal mines and drug trafficking routes, displacing civilians or imposing lockdowns that prevent villagers from working their fields for days at a time.

“We are facing a triple crisis,” said Luis Mora, the United Nations Population Fund's representative in Colombia. “You have the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake, now joining the under development crisis and the crisis caused by armed conflict in this territory.”

The agency has been supplying kits with personal hygiene products to women affected by the earthquake and working to create safe spaces for women within shelters.

The regional capital's only public hospital is ill-equipped for the disaster

Cristian Maturana, a doctor at Quibdo’s only public hospital, said that after the earthquake hit, the emergency room overflowed with patients with broken bones and other injuries.

In the days that followed, 36 patients with multiple fractures were flown to a hospital in the city of Medellin, in the neighboring region of Antioquia — because his hospital lacked enough personnel and equipment to treat them, Maturana said.

The hospital’s only refrigerator capable of storing blood donations was also damaged by a power surge following the quake, rendering transfusions impossible. It was replaced over the weekend with a fridge donated by a group of oncologists in Bogota, the country's capital.

“These have been tough days,” Maturana said, adding that support from elsewhere in Colombia and abroad "has been crucial.”

The emergency room is currently operating at twice its capacity, with patients being treated in chairs or on stretchers in the hospital’s hallways, Maturana said.

Donations of antibiotics, bandages, blood pressure monitors and other equipment have been helpful, but the hospital still needs wheelchairs and more beds.

“These seem like basic things,” Maturana said. “But they are items we have long had shortages of.”

Camilo Prieto, a doctor with the Colombian Environmental Movement, a humanitarian group, said his organization brought in more than 2 tons of medical supplies, including electrocardiogram and ultrasound machines last week. The group also flew some of the aid to remote towns with helicopters and small planes.

“By land it would be very difficult,” Prieto said. “But some companies and owners of private planes have given us flight hours.”

The region has a history of neglect

Wiston Mosquera, the Roman Catholic bishop of the Quibdo diocese, said he hopes the quake brings attention to many of Choco’s structural problems, like poor healthcare facilities, the lack of roads or the permanent problems with the power supply.

“We are decades behind the rest of Colombia’s regions,” said Mosquera, who was born and raised in Choco.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has visited Choco twice since the earthquake, and promised a plan that will include billions of dollars in infrastructure investment and programs to generate jobs.

Choco’s unemployment rate was the highest in Colombia last year, according to DANE, the nation’s statistics agency. The region’s GDP per capita was 14.3 million Colombian pesos in 2025, or about $3,500 dollars, a quarter of Bogota’s per capita income.

De la Espriella said he will designate a government official to oversee Choco’s recovery, and provide subsidies to families left homeless by the earthquake so that they can rent new homes.

Arias, the math teacher who lost his home, said he’s skeptical of such promises because of the region's history of neglect. He said he spent around $32,000 building his home, taking out loans from banks, and will be hard pressed to raise those kinds of funds with his current teacher's salary.

“Even if I am helped, I don’t think I will get enough,” Arias said. He and his partner are for now staying at a relative's home.

“It's not the same,” he says. “You don’t have the freedom there that you get in your own house.”

That’s the word Wednesday from a pair of NASA astronauts living aboard the International Space Station for the past six months.

Astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway told The Associated Press that the space station’s position prevented them from seeing totality during last week’s solar eclipse, but they still enjoyed a partial eclipse. They said they’ll try to catch next week’s lunar eclipse, too.

“We're hoping for the best. It should be pretty awesome,” Hathaway said.

Meir said the best cosmic shows are auroras. The sun is coming off its busy season, making the northern and southern lights more dramatic and brilliant, she noted.

After one especially large blast of plasma from the sun, “the green dancing aurora” appeared right beneath them instead of off in the distance near the poles, she added.

“It looked like a snake making its way right beneath us and that was a really extraordinary one,” said Meir, the space station's commander. “You could see the green light bouncing off the white outside exterior of the space station.”

Meir has also taken special pleasure in whipping up culinary delights in orbit, donning a space cat-adorned apron while sampling some of the station-grown mustard greens and kale. She joined crewmate Anil Menon, wearing a chef's toque, for his first cooking episode of “Chez ISS” this week.

Arriving last month in a Russian capsule, Menon packed the apron and toque for his more-to-come cooking show. Meir's luggage included a piccolo: She performed John Philip Sousa's “The Stars and Stripes Forever” with the Boston Pops on July 4. Her part was prerecorded in space.

Meir also took up a fancy scarf and glittery violet bell bottoms, considerably more casual than the dress she flew on her last station trip that saw her take part in the first all-female spacewalk.

While Hathaway's culinary and musical talents may be lacking, he said he's never bored. “There's always something to do,” he said, including weekend karaoke nights featuring the guitar and other musical instruments.

Launched in February, Meir, a marine biologist, and Hathaway, a Navy captain, are due to return to Earth via SpaceX once their replacements arrive next month. The current crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one French astronaut.

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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.

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Authorities arrested suspect Eddie Zewayne Bussey, 28, of Yonkers, New York, on nearly a dozen felony charges on Tuesday, including kidnapping and multiple counts of attempted murder and sexual battery.

An arrest report from the Miami Police Department states that the 40-year-old woman had left a nightclub in the city’s Wynwood neighborhood sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.; her phone had run out of battery and she was walking home up Biscayne Boulevard, unable to request a ride.

Near Northeast 24th Street, police said the woman noticed Bussey, a stranger, “following her and yelling unsolicited remarks toward her such as, ‘Let me taste you.’”

“The victim crossed Biscayne Boulevard attempting to distance herself from (Bussey), but he continued to follow her mimicking her same movement crossing the road,” the MPD report states.

Police said the woman walked into an office building at 4770 Biscayne Blvd., in the Bay Point neighborhood, after “noticing it was well lit and fearing (for) her safety.”

Authorities said she went into the lobby and got into the elevator, going up to the 12th floor to try to find someone to help her. She couldn’t.

Police said after going back down to the lobby, she saw Bussey coming in. She tried to exit through another door, they said, but it turned out to be locked.

In an attack caught on surveillance camera, Bussey exposed himself, punched and choked the woman, then dragged her by the hair and dragged her into a mailroom, where he continued to punch, kick and choke her as she tried to fight back, the report states. Police said Bussey could be heard telling her, “Taste it,” “I’ll rape you” and “I’ll kill you” before performing multiple sex acts on her.

Authorities said the victim broke two of Bussey’s necklaces as she tried to fight him off. They said she was able to run to a nearby CVS Pharmacy, where she was able to call police.

“The victim sustained visible injuries, including bruising and discoloration to her face, lips, throat, back, ribs, hip and thigh, as well as (a) laceration to her cheek,” the report states.

DNA evidence from a rape kit tied the crime to Bussey, police said, and officers found him Tuesday near Northwest 36th Street and 13th Avenue in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood.

Bussey, according to the report, told investigators that he’s been staying in Miami with his brother for about a month at a short-term rental in Wynwood. The report states that he initially told officers he had “walked home and remained there for the rest of the night,” but then, after being shown a surveillance still from the Bay Point office building, “recanted and told detectives he was at the incident location to charge his phone.”

Police said he claimed that at the building, the victim made “racist remarks” and then “spat on him, causing him to black out and begin to beat her.”

But they said he “denied sexually assaulting” her because “she is a (woman) and he only likes (men).”

A separate arrest report states that Bussey became combative with officers as they tried to collect a DNA sample pursuant to a warrant, spitting on them and fighting them. They said he also “repeatedly kicked the wall and door inside the interview room,” causing damage.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Bussey was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond listed in jail records as “to be set.”

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Amy Arlene Baker, 43, was arrested following the incident, which authorities say happened around 8:15 p.m. Saturday on northbound I-95 near Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach.

According to an arrest report, troopers were dispatched after 911 dispatchers in Lake Worth reported a domestic incident in Broward County. Troopers were told Baker and her husband had gone to West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton after the incident.

Baker initially called 911 and reported that her husband had struck her, the report states.

When troopers spoke with her husband, they said he was wearing a white bandage around his head and had streaks of what appeared to be blood extending down the right side of his neck and onto his shirt and shorts.

The man told troopers he and his wife were coming home from a boat party in the Fort Lauderdale Port Marina area when, while heading northbound on I-95 approaching Hillsboro Boulevard, he and Baker began arguing about “past problems within their relationship,” according to the report.

The report states Baker called her husband derogatory names, including a “f--got.”

The husband then told Baker, “Who is the one with the felony?” before claiming Baker slapped him while he was driving, according to the report.

About two minutes after the first strike, Baker grabbed his face with both hands and “intentionally bit into the right side of his ear, tearing off a portion of his ear,” the report states.

The husband told troopers he never touched Baker during the altercation.

His children, 1 and 7, were also in the vehicle at the time, according to the report.

After biting off the portion of his ear, Baker laughed and did not “initially appear to take the severity of his injury seriously,” the report states.

Friends of the victim picked up his kids and transported them to a home for their safety, according to the report.

Jail records show Baker is facing one count each of aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability and two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.

She was no longer listed in the Broward County jail’s online database as of Tuesday afternoon.

The award is presented annually to the nation’s top receiver, regardless of position. Miami is one of nine programs with multiple players on this year’s watch list.

Toney, 18, is coming off a record-setting freshman season for the Hurricanes.

The Liberty City native led the nation with 109 receptions, a Miami single-season record, and set another program mark with 1,211 receiving yards. He also had 10 touchdown catches and 1,622 all-purpose yards.

Toney was named ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2025, while also earning Football Writers Association of America Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. He was a first-team All-ACC selection and received multiple All-America honors.

Barkate, 23, enters his first season at Miami after transfering with quarterback Darian Mensah from Duke. Barkate earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2025

The Newport Beach, California, native has 185 receptions for 2,848 yards and 21 touchdowns in 37 career games. He has recorded 11 career 100-yard receiving games, including a career-high 172 yards against Georgia Tech last season.

The Hurricanes open the 2026 season Sept. 4 at Stanford. Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

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Si bien en la mayor parte del país sudamericano vivir sin electricidad supone un problema constante, una de las regiones más afectadas es el estado central de Aragua, unos 80 kilómetros al sureste de Caracas, cuyos residentes soportan cortes a diario.

A Izamala Rivera la inestabilidad de la red le dañó casi todos los electrodomésticos, entre ellos la nevera, la cocina y el horno de microondas.

Durante una entrevista con The Associated Press la mujer se encontraba de pie en la entrada de su casa cuando de repente volvió la luz.

“Esa es la otra cara de la vida de los venezolanos: nos emocionamos cuando vuelve la luz porque podemos disfrutar de un poco de frescor y hacer nuestras cosas”, dijo Rivera, una abogada que dedica sus días a cuidar de su madre, que padece de Alzheimer, y de animales de compañía.

Sus vecinos del barrio Caña de Azúcar de Maracay —la capital de Aragua— afirmaron que los cortes, que antes duraban unas pocas horas, ahora se prolongan durante gran parte del día y provocan también falta de agua.

La peluquera Roxana Páez a menudo pasa todo su turno en un salón de belleza trabajando con herramientas inalámbricas hasta que se agotan las baterías.

“Abrimos a las 9 de la mañana y cerramos a las 5 de la tarde. Se va la luz a las 10 de la mañana y vuelve a las 4 de la tarde. Es todo un día de trabajo sin electricidad", se quejó.

Qué ha hecho el gobierno

La presidenta encargada Delcy Rodríguez puso en marcha este mes un plan nacional de ahorro energético para paliar el déficit de 2.500 megavatios diarios en momentos de un alza en la demanda por el calor y el posible aumento aún más de las temperaturas por el fenómeno climático de El Niño.

La administración de Rodríguez también ha anunciado nuevas medidas para reforzar a la red eléctrica, entre ellas un acuerdo con la empresa argentina de generación eléctrica IMPSA para reanudar obras en centrales hidroeléctricas que llevan hasta 12 años paralizadas.

Rodríguez afirmó la semana pasada que la demanda de electricidad había alcanzado los 15.726 megavatios, su nivel más alto en ocho años.

Según los expertos, los cortes que se registran casi a diario en 23 estados y en Caracas son consecuencia de una administración incapaz y una falta de mantenimiento del sistema eléctrico nacional.

Las instalaciones acusan un profundo deterioro, particularmente las centrales termoeléctricas que otrora conformaban el sistema de respaldo en temporadas de sequía o en caso de una avería en la hidroeléctrica Gurí, que suministra el 60% de la energía que el país utiliza.

Perder la paciencia

Una de la quejas más frecuentes de la población es que el racionamiento suele aplicarse sin cronograma o aviso previo.

Durante el último mes en la localidad de San Mateo, en Aragua, los vecinos han organizado varias protestas nocturnas en las que recorren las calles golpeando ollas y coreando consignas.

“¿Por qué tenemos que esperar pasivamente y dejar que ocurra lo mismo todos los días? ¡No! Si no quieren escucharnos, hagámonos oír”, afirmó la profesora Ninoska Barceló en un vídeo compartido en las redes sociales.

“Ya hemos esperado bastante, llevamos 27 años (de gobiernos socialistas) esperando”, declaró Barceló a AP.

___

El periodista Jorge Rueda contribuyó en este reporte.

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Uthmeier’s office filed the lawsuits against several VGW companies, Yodlee, Trustly, Worldpay Holdco, and Stake in Hillsborough County, accusing the “illegal online casinos” of harming users and depriving the state of “licensing, taxation, and other revenues.”

VGW’s “sale and use of its Sweeps Coins currency” openly flouts Florida’s gambling laws for “ill-gotten gains from Floridians, the state’s lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit also claims the companies “deceptively” advertise “free,” “100% safe,” and “100% legal” casino games, providing easy 24/7 access, accepting credit cards and Apple Pay, and using influencers.

“If it looks like a casino, takes money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino—and it’s illegal in Florida,” Uthmeier said in a statement on X. “That’s why we’re suing predatory online gaming sites Stake and VGW to stop illegal gambling and recover money lost by Florida consumers.”

Attorneys for the companies could not be reached for comment.

Related social media post

If it looks like a casino, takes money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino—and it’s illegal in Florida.

That’s why we’re suing predatory online gaming sites Stake and VGW to stop illegal gambling and recover money lost by Florida consumers. pic.twitter.com/JMboneyvxN

— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) August 19, 2026

Democrats have hoped to mount a comeback in the diverse, populous and economically dynamic state but have struggled to craft a message that resonates with the state’s electorate. Nixon’s upset sets up a long-shot challenge to U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, a former state attorney general who Gov. Ron DeSantis selected to fill the seat after it was vacated by Marco Rubio, who Trump chose as secretary of state.

The race has already inflamed tensions within the Democratic Party over how to energize liberal voters eager for unapologetic, combative candidates while not alienating independents and moderates who have been key to winning in battlegrounds.

“If you’re surprised by tonight’s election results, you haven’t been paying enough attention to what’s happening in the South,” Britney Whaley, the southeast regional director of the Working Families Party, which backs populist candidates. “Tonight’s election results must be a wake-up call to a political establishment that believes a populist message can’t win in the South. Angie’s campaign proves voters will respond to a bold economic vision that meets their basic needs.”

A spirited progressive who had the backing of Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Nixon recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America. She championed policies like universal healthcare and childcare and has been an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and the war in Gaza.

In May, Nixon protested the Republican-controlled Florida legislature’s redistricting of the state’s congressional maps by shouting through a megaphone during a hearing. She was later reprimanded by an ethics committee but earned plaudits from Democratic allies and voting rights for her demonstration.

Vindman raised about $16 million in his race and had spent more than $9 million by the end of July. Nixon, by contrast, had raised just shy of $1 million. Progressives immediately touted her win as a sign of greater momentum for the region.

Vindman served on the White House’s National Security Council during Trump’s first term. His testimony was central to Trump’s first impeachment over a phone call in which he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his family. Vindman became a national Democratic star and target of Trump’s ire for his actions, a dynamic that garnered him millions in small-dollar donations.

His twin brother Eugene, who also served on the National Security Council, is serving as a Democratic congressman from Virginia.

“Rep. Nixon ran a strong campaign. I will be standing by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody. I hope you’ll join me,” Vindman said in a statement after he conceded the race.

Democratic leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had hoped Vindman’s reputation and campaign war chest would help turn what election analysts had considered a solidly Republican seat into a more competitive race. But Nixon’s upset victory has now buoyed already high Republican confidence in the state.

Once an archetypal political background, Florida has shifted to the right since 2016. Trump himself moved his residence to his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving the White House in 2021 following his first term.

La oficina de Uthmeier presentó las demandas contra varias empresas de VGW, Yodlee, Trustly, Worldpay Holdco y Stake en el condado de Hillsborough, acusando a los “casinos ilegales en línea” de perjudicar a los usuarios y privar al estado de “ingresos por licencias, impuestos y otros”.

La demanda del estado afirma que la “venta y uso de su moneda Sweeps Coins” por parte de VGW desafía abiertamente las leyes de juegos de azar de Florida para obtener “ganancias mal habidas de los floridanos”.

La demanda también afirma que las empresas anuncian “engañosamente” juegos de casino “gratis”, “100% seguros” y “100% legales”, ofrecen fácil acceso las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, aceptan tarjetas de crédito y Apple Pay, y utilizan influencers.

“Si parece un casino, toma dinero como un casino y paga como un casino, es un casino, y es ilegal en Florida”, dijo Uthmeier en un comunicado en X. “Por eso estamos demandando a los sitios de juegos en línea depredadores Stake y VGW para detener los juegos de azar ilegales y recuperar el dinero perdido por los consumidores de Florida”.

No fue posible contactar a los abogados de las empresas para obtener comentarios.

Publicación relacionada en redes sociales

Si parece un casino, toma dinero como un casino y paga como un casino, es un casino, y es ilegal en Florida.

Por eso estamos demandando a los sitios de juegos en línea depredadores Stake y VGW para detener los juegos de azar ilegales y recuperar el dinero perdido por los consumidores de Florida. pic.twitter.com/JMboneyvxN

— Fiscal general James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier), 19 de agosto de 2026

Afternoon thunderstorms also made a comeback this afternoon with drier weather expected after 9 p.m. and overnight. We are fully back into our rainy season pattern with daily chances of afternoon thunderstorms into the weekend. High temperatures will no longer be setting records, but highs around 93 degrees and a heat index over 105 degrees at times is still hotter than average.

Ramdin habló al concluir un viaje al atribulado país caribeño, donde se reunió con el primer ministro y otros funcionarios.

Afirmó que la nueva fuerza de supresión de pandillas respaldada por la ONU necesita más personal, equipo y financiamiento.

“Los esfuerzos de la (fuerza) son esenciales para mejorar la protección y la seguridad pública, y para crear las condiciones para un proceso electoral seguro”, señaló. “El progreso debe ser visible y medible lo antes posible”.

Ramdin indicó que las prioridades son asegurar la ruta hacia el principal aeropuerto internacional, garantizar el acceso continuo al aeropuerto y al puerto marítimo, y restablecer un acceso seguro a la región sur de Haití. Actualmente, las pandillas controlan las principales rutas de entrada y salida de la capital.

También instó a Haití a intensificar el registro y la identificación de los votantes antes de las elecciones generales del 13 de diciembre. Haití no ha tenido presidente desde que Jovenel Moïse fue asesinado en su residencia privada en julio de 2021. Desde entonces, la violencia de las pandillas no ha hecho más que aumentar, desplazando a una cifra récord de 1,5 millones de personas.

Ramdin prometió seguir “movilizando apoyo político, técnico y financiero” para el país caribeño.

Dijo que la OEA trabajará con la Organización Panamericana de la Salud para construir centros de trauma para atender a policías haitianos heridos, mientras continúan haciendo retroceder a las pandillas que controlan aproximadamente el 70% de Puerto Príncipe y amplias franjas de territorio más allá de la capital.

Ramdin señaló que también planea establecer una delegación de líderes empresariales para hablar sobre posibles proyectos de inversión en Haití, donde la pobreza, el hambre y el desempleo se están agravando.

“Haití está en un punto decisivo”, sostuvo. “El futuro de Haití pertenece ante todo al pueblo haitiano. Pero la comunidad internacional también tiene responsabilidades”.

___

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

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That means the heat index could be at or above 110° for two consecutive hours or more. This is the first Extreme Heat Warning of the season for South Florida.

During this weather, you must stay hydrated, stay in the shade or the air conditioning, or indoors as much as possible. Watch for signs of heat stress, which include feeling faint or dizzy and consider calling 911 for immediate help if your symptoms worsen.

Cooling storms are expected in a few spots toward the early evening, offering relief for some.

CLICK HERE for the latest weather updates from Local 10’s Weather Authority.

Esto significa que el índice de calor podría alcanzar o superar los 110° durante dos horas consecutivas o más. Se trata de la primera advertencia de calor extremo de la temporada para el sur de Florida.

Con estas condiciones meteorológicas, es fundamental mantenerse hidratado y permanecer a la sombra, en lugares con aire acondicionado o en interiores siempre que sea posible.

Preste atención a los signos de estrés térmico —como sensación de desmayo o mareo— y considere llamar al 911 para recibir ayuda inmediata si los síntomas empeoran.Se prevén tormentas que refrescarán el ambiente en algunas zonas hacia el atardecer, lo que brindará alivio a algunos sectores.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para consultar las últimas ctualizaciones meteorológicas de *Weather Authority* de Local 10.

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Caruso, 67, of Riviera Beach, appeared before a Palm Beach County judge in prison clothing, handcuffs and shackles. He did not speak during the brief hearing and allowed his attorney to address the court.

The judge ordered Caruso held without bond while he awaits transfer to Orange County, where he faces charges including kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child and child abuse involving mental injury.

The judge also ordered Caruso to have no contact with the alleged victim or the victim’s family.

Authorities have said the investigation remains ongoing.

An arrest warrant obtained by Local 10 News states that the victim, who is under the age of 12 and is known to Caruso, claimed that Caruso engaged in sexual activity with him on two separate occasions — once around Thanksgiving in 2024 and again during a family cruise in August 2025.

Caruso has denied the allegations, according to his arrest affidavit.

Authorities said Caruso was arrested Tuesday and immediately suspended from his position by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis’ executive order bars Caruso from performing any official duties and suspends his pay and allowances.

Shannon Ramsey-Chessman has been sworn in as clerk ad interim following Caruso’s suspension.

Caruso was appointed Palm Beach County clerk of the circuit court and comptroller by DeSantis in 2025 after serving in the Florida House of Representatives. He had been seeking reelection to the clerk’s position.

The arrest comes more than three years after Caruso backed legislation that created a capital sexual battery offense in Florida for certain sexual offenses against children. The law allows the death penalty in cases that meet its requirements.

DeSantis said Tuesday that Caruso could face severe consequences if convicted of the allegations.

Caruso, de 67 años y residente de Riviera Beach, compareció ante un juez del condado Palm Beach con ropa de prisión, esposas y grilletes. No habló durante la breve audiencia y permitió que su abogado se dirigiera al tribunal.

El juez ordenó que Caruso permaneciera detenido sin derecho a fianza mientras espera ser trasladado al condado Orange, donde enfrenta cargos que incluyen secuestro, conducta lasciva o indecente, exhibición lasciva o indecente, atraer o persuadir a un menor y abuso infantil con daño psicológico.

El juez también ordenó a Caruso no tener contacto con la presunta víctima ni con la familia de la víctima.

Las autoridades han dicho que la investigación continúa.

Una orden de arresto obtenida por Local 10 News señala que la víctima, menor de 12 años y conocida por Caruso, afirmó que Caruso tuvo actividad sexual con él en dos ocasiones distintas: una alrededor del Día de Acción de Gracias de 2024 y otra durante un crucero familiar en agosto de 2025.

Caruso ha negado las acusaciones, según su declaración jurada de arresto.

Las autoridades dijeron que Caruso fue arrestado el martes y suspendido inmediatamente de su cargo por el gobernador Ron DeSantis. La orden ejecutiva de DeSantis le prohíbe a Caruso desempeñar cualquier función oficial y suspende su salario y beneficios.

Shannon Ramsey-Chessman asumió como secretaria interina tras la suspensión de Caruso.

Caruso fue nombrado secretario de los tribunales de circuito y contralor del condado Palm Beach por DeSantis en 2025, después de haber servido en la Cámara de Representantes de Florida. Se había postulado para la reelección al cargo de secretario.

El arresto ocurre más de tres años después de que Caruso respaldara una legislación que creó en Florida un delito de agresión sexual con pena capital para ciertos delitos sexuales contra menores. La ley permite la pena de muerte en los casos que cumplen con sus requisitos.

DeSantis dijo el martes que Caruso podría enfrentar graves consecuencias si es declarado culpable de las acusaciones.

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According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, an arrest warrant was obtained for the suspect, Andres Gonzalez, and he was located in Puerto Rico with the assistance of U.S. marshals.

He is now awaiting extradition to Miami-Dade County.

According to MDSO, deputies were called to a home, located in the 26100 block of Southwest 209th Avenue, shortly after 8:30 a.m. on June 19 after receiving a report about an unconscious woman.

When deputies arrived, they found Esther Liontos, 58, lying on the ground outside the home, authorities said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel.

Deputies said they found Liontos’ partner, Roger Arredondo Gonzalez, 61, lying on the ground nearby. He too was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities have not disclosed how the two were killed and an arrest report was not immediately available for Gonzalez.

A motive for the killings remains unclear.

A relative of Liontos told Local 10 in June that the family was trying to make sense of what happened as they navigate their immense grief, confusion, anger and desire for justice.

That relative described the couple as “wonderful people who loved their family.”

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, se obtuvo una orden de arresto contra el sospechoso, Andres Gonzalez, y fue localizado en Puerto Rico con la ayuda de alguaciles federales de Estados Unidos.

Ahora espera su extradición al condado Miami-Dade.

Según MDSO, agentes acudieron a una vivienda ubicada en la cuadra 26100 de Southwest 209th Avenue poco después de las 8:30 a.m. del 19 de junio, tras recibir un reporte sobre una mujer inconsciente.

Cuando los agentes llegaron, encontraron a Esther Liontos, de 58 años, tendida en el suelo afuera de la vivienda, dijeron las autoridades.

Fue declarada muerta en el lugar por personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Los agentes dijeron que encontraron a la pareja de Liontos, Roger Arredondo Gonzalez, de 61 años, tendido en el suelo cerca del lugar. Él también fue declarado muerto en la escena.

Las autoridades no han revelado cómo fueron asesinadas las dos personas y un informe de arresto de Gonzalez no estaba disponible de inmediato.

El motivo de los asesinatos sigue sin estar claro.

Un familiar de Liontos dijo a Local 10 en junio que la familia estaba tratando de entender lo sucedido mientras afrontaba su inmenso dolor, confusión, enojo y deseo de justicia.

El familiar describió a la pareja como “personas maravillosas que amaban a su familia”.

Overton is a medical doctor and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council who has worked on several of Trump’s second-term health initiatives. She has become a trusted administration figure and a champion of the Republican president’s goals.

If confirmed by the Senate, she would have to balance a raft of competing priorities, including Trump’s fixations, the anti-regulatory interests of traditional Republicans and the anti-corporate posture of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Those challenges dogged the tenure of the previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary. He resigned in May, leaving behind unfinished projects such as work on ultraprocessed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots.

Referring to her as “Dr. Heidi” in a Truth Social post, Trump said Overton was a smart and respected “rockstar” who would deliver on his priorities of faster cures, innovation, lower drug prices and more wins for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

Kennedy posted on X that Overton has “exceptional judgment, professionalism, discipline and an unwavering commitment to the American people.”

Overton has promoted Trump’s health priorities

Overton attended medical school at the University of New Mexico and has a doctoral degree in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins University, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before joining Trump’s second administration, she was the chief policy officer at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.

In recent months, she has appeared with the president to announce major projects, including some of his “most favored nation” deals with drug companies to lower prices to those of other developed countries and his recent vaccine order that sought to split the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate immunizations — against the advice of medical groups.

At an Oval Office event to promote that order, she stood by Trump as he falsely suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder. Scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link.

Overton has been critical of abortion pills and, if confirmed, would be positioned to roll back FDA rules that made them more accessible. U.S. abortion opponents have expressed frustration that the administration has not acted to stem the flow of such pills prescribed online, a situation they view as undermining state abortion bans.

Mifepristone is typically used with misoprostol in medication abortions that make up close to two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. Medical professionals call it “among the safest medications” ever approved by the FDA.

To be confirmed, Overton must seek approval from a narrowly Republican-led Senate and face questions from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Its chair, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana, has been a vocal critic of some of Trump’s actions to sow doubt in vaccinations, including the MMR order.

Democratic senators slammed the nomination on social media.

“Heidi Overton is a far-right, anti-abortion extremist who has no business leading the FDA,” posted Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a committee member.

Makary’s replacement will face challenges he left behind

Before he left the FDA, Makary had drawn complaints from health industry executives and anti-abortion activists. The frustration with him came to a head over the agency’s lack of movement on flavored e-cigarettes. Companies such as R.J. Reynolds are seeking to market to adult smokers, but sweet-flavored vapes have long been blamed for the trend of teenage vaping. FDA scientists have hesitated to endorse those products to curb adult smoking.

Days before Makary's departure, the agency opened the door to allowing more unauthorized electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches onto the U.S. market, in a policy change that essentially bypassed FDA experts.

Pharmaceutical companies will be looking for changes at the agency, too, after rejections or reversals of biotech drugs intended for rare diseases. Complaints from biotech companies, investors and patient groups have grown and been taken up by conservative lawmakers.

Makary tried to assuage industry grievances, in part by announcing new programs designed to streamline or accelerate drug approvals. Some of those initiatives, however, have meant new headaches for the agency.

Several of Makary’s deputies also exited the agency.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, the vaccine and biotech chief, stepped down in April following intense criticism from drugmakers, patients and investors. Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, who was involved in scrutinizing the safety of antidepressants, COVID-19 vaccines and other widely used therapies, was replaced as FDA’s acting drug center director.

MAHA has high expectations of FDA's next head

Overton would also need to tend to the priorities of Kennedy’s health movement, some members of which are already skeptical of her.

Kelly Ryerson, an activist critical of pesticides who is known to her supporters as “Glyphosate Girl,” told The Associated Press that Overton parroted pesticide manufacturer Bayer's talking points in a MAHA roundtable at the White House in April.

“I was stunned by the blatant, undisguised corruption,” Ryerson said.

One major decision for the next commissioner is what to do about peptide regulation. A panel of federal health advisers selected by Kennedy recently recommended easing access to several peptides that are popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite warnings from FDA scientists that the chemicals have not been shown to be safe or effective.

The agency recently proposed a rule change that would require food manufacturers to notify regulators before introducing new ingredients or additives into processed or packaged foods. But it is still working with the White House to finalize a first-of-its-kind definition of ultraprocessed foods, which Kennedy blames for elevated rates of diabetes, obesity and other chronic conditions.

Under Kennedy, the FDA has set up extra hurdles for vaccine testing and blocked the publication of research into the effectiveness of COVID-19 shots. Kennedy stood by Trump recently as the president signed the executive order aimed at upending childhood vaccinations in the U.S. despite unprecedented financial and logistical challenges.

The FDA also has an ongoing review of widely used antidepressants, including whether they may increase the risk of autism and other disorders when used during pregnancy. The medicines have long been a target of Kennedy, who was a leader in the anti-vaccine movement before joining the government.

In recent weeks, the agency has been investigating two summertime foodborne illness outbreaks: a cyclospora outbreak linked to tainted iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands of people and a multistate salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño peppers.

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Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Laura Unger contributed from Louisville, Kentucky.

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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.

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It happened around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at The Residence at Dania Beach, located at 150 Stirling Road.

According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, Florida Power & Light responded to the facility following reports of a power outage.

Officials said power was restored around noon.

No residents were evacuated, but those who were in the impacted area of the facility were moved to a different location where the power was working, according to BSFR officials.

“It’s very, very hot,” said resident Jorge Gonzalez. “And of course, people in this residency, we have people that are on oxygen, and older people that need their air conditioner and their oxygen.”

Officials said there were no reported medical concerns.

“The patients are in an environment that is tenable for them for the short term,” said Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane.

El incidente ocurrió alrededor de las 9:45 a. m. del miércoles en The Residence at Dania Beach, ubicado en el 150 de Stirling Road.

Según el cuerpo de bomberos y rescate de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward (BSFR), la compañía Florida Power & Light acudió al centro tras recibirse informes sobre la interrupción del suministro eléctrico.

No se evacuó a ningún residente; sin embargo, aquellos que se encontraban en la zona afectada del centro fueron trasladados a otra área donde sí había electricidad, según informaron las autoridades de BSFR.

“Hace muchísimo calor”, comentó el residente Jorge González.

“Y, por supuesto, aquí hay personas que dependen de oxígeno, así como ancianos que necesitan el aire acondicionado y su oxígeno”.

Las autoridades indicaron que no se reportaron problemas médicos.“Los pacientes se encuentran en un entorno adecuado para ellos a corto plazo”, señaló Michael Kane, jefe de batallón de bomberos y rescate de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward.

Salazar, de 64 años y actual representante, ganó el martes las primarias republicanas con 81% de los votos. V. Michael Arias, un abogado de Coral Gables y su único oponente, perdió con 19% de los votos.

Rodriguez, de 69 años, ganó las primarias demócratas con 54% de los votos. Robin Peguero, ex fiscal federal y su único oponente, perdió con 46% de los votos.

La Oficina del Censo de EE. UU. reportó en 2024 que el distrito tiene alrededor de 788,713 habitantes. Abarca aproximadamente 119 millas cuadradas en el condado de Miami-Dade, según Census Reporter.

La fecha límite para registrarse para votar es el 5 de octubre. La fecha límite para solicitar una boleta para votar por correo es el 22 de octubre. La votación anticipada será del 24 al 31 de octubre. Las elecciones de medio término serán el 3 de noviembre.

Ganadora de Primarias Republicanas pronuncia discurso

Ganador de Primarias Demócratas pronuncia discurso

Resultados de elecciones

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Salazar, 64, the incumbent, won the Republican primary on Tuesday with 81% of the votes. V. Michael Arias, a Coral Gables-based attorney, lost with 19% of the votes.

According to the U.S. Federal Election Commission’s reports on campaign contributions, Salazar’s total receipts were more than $1.99 million, her total disbursements were more than $1.15 million, and her cash on hand was over $2.25 million.

Rodriguez, 69, won the Democratic primary with 54% of the votes. Robin Peguero, a former federal prosecutor, lost with 46% of the votes.

According to FEC reports on campaign contributions, Rodriguez’s total receipts were more than $661,170, his total disbursements were more than $336,000, and his cash on hand was more than $325,000.

The U.S. Census reported in 2024 that the district is home to about 788,713 people. It covers about 119 square miles in Miami-Dade County, according to the Census Reporter.

The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5th. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 22nd. Early voting is from Oct. 24th to 31st. The midterm election is on Nov. 3rd.

Republican primary’s winner delivers speech

Democratic primary’s winner delivers speech

ELECTION RESULTS

The 36-year-old eight-time All-WNBA forward announced Wednesday in an interview with Boardroom Talks that she’ll retire at the end of the season.

“I feel very fulfilled with the 15 years that I’ve been able to play and compete at such a high level,” the Los Angeles Sparks star said. “Even though I didn’t know what kind of player that I could be in this league, I never thought that I would play this long. Never thought that would be the type of player that I’d play this long.”

The No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft out of Stanford, Ogwumike earned Rookie of the Year honors that season with Los Angeles. She was voted league MVP in 2016 when she helped lead the Sparks to the WNBA championship, hitting the title-winning shot in Game 5 with 3.1 seconds left.

“Nneka will retire at the end of this season leaving the WNBA much better than she found it — a testament not only to the player she has been, but to the person and leader she is," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “I have been fortunate to work closely with Nneka over the years and have been inspired by her passion and unwavering commitment to the players.

"It has been a privilege to watch her remarkable journey, and while there is still more basketball to be played this season, we congratulate her on an extraordinary career and look forward to celebrating her in the months ahead.”

Ogwumike isn’t ending her basketball career entirely. She still plans on playing in Project B, the new basketball venture that will begin this winter and play all its games outside of the U.S. She was the first player signed with the organization that former Sparks teammate Alana Beard co-founded.

“Nneka has always led with a rare combination of strength, purpose and grace," Beard said in a statement. “For 15 seasons, we’ve watched her give everything to this game, not only as an elite competitor but as a leader who has helped shape the league and lift up the people around her.”

Ogwumike this year made the All-Star Game for an 11th time and is averaging nearly 17 points a game.

“It is a little bit my body: I still feel very good,” Ogwumike said. “But I also feel the comfort of slowing down a little bit. I just feel content. I feel very content with where I’ve left my career.”

Ogwumike expressed pride in playing at the same time as the likes of Maya Moore and Tina Thompson, as well as Angel Reese and A'ja Wilson. Along the way, she was named one of the 25 players in the first 25 years of the WNBA and was a seven-time All-Defensive Team selection.

“I just feel like I have poured as much as I could into this game, and the last bit is this year of playing,” Ogwumike said. “I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

Ogwumike in the interview also expressed contentment with the state of women's basketball. WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson credited Ogwumike for extraordinary leadership as president of the union, which earlier this year negotiated a transformative collective bargaining agreement.

“She has served this union with a level of commitment, courage, integrity and purpose that is truly unparalleled,” Carmichael Jackson said in a text message. “Nneka understood that leadership was not simply about having a seat at the table: It was about using that seat to move the game and the business of the game forward for every player — today and for generations to come.”

Ogwumike was reelected for her fourth term as president in June. It’s unclear who will succeed her after she retires.

___

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

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U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat who represented the district for about 13 years and is known for her colorful hats, announced in May that she was not seeking re-election.

Wilson, 83, endorsed Gilbert, 53, a Miami-Dade commissioner and former commission chair who served as mayor of Miami Gardens from 2012 to 2020.

With all precincts reported after the primary, 34% of Democratic voters cast their ballots for Gilbert, who grew up in Miami Gardens and earned a JD from the University of Miami.

According to the U.S. Federal Election Commission’s reports on campaign contributions, Gilbert’s total receipts were more than $812,140, his total disbursements were more than $583,000, and his cash on hand was over $229,090.

About 32% also cast their ballots for Florida Sen. Shevrin “Shev” Jones, who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020.

According to the U.S. FEC’s reports on campaign contributions, Jones’s total receipts were more than $283,690, his total disbursements were more than $205,080, and his cash on hand was over $78,610.

Gilbert and Jones, 42, ran in a crowded race with five other candidates: Kendrick Meek Jr., Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Moise, Jean Monestime, Roderick “Rod” Vereen, and Marshal L. Davis, Sr.

Gilbert will be running against Brown, a businesswoman born in Chicago, on Nov. 3rd. Early voting is from Oct. 24th to 31st. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 22nd, and the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5th.

Gilbert delivers victory speech

Jones delivers concession speech

Wilson congratulates Gilbert

ELECTION RESULTS

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It happened around 3 p.m. on June 22 in the area of Northwest Third Avenue and 10th Street.

According to the Miami Police Department, the victim parked his vehicle near the intersection and was looking for something in his trunk when he was approached by the suspect, who has been identified as Pierre Smith.

Police said Smith came up to the victim with a gun, and after snatching $100 out of his hand, proceeded to take an additional $1,800 from his pockets, along with his car keys before getting in the car and driving off.

The car was later found unoccupied along the 400 block of Northwest 19th Street later that day.

Police said through their investigation, they were able to identify Smith as the suspect, though the specifics of that identification were not released.

Investigators obtained a warrant for cell site information and determined that Smith had been in the area of the carjacking before it occurred and was also in the area of where the car was left abandoned after the incident, according to an arrest warrant.

On Tuesday, officers went to Smith’s home and took into custody.

A confession was made while speaking with Miami police officers, but it was redacted from Smith’s arrest form.

Police said a records check indicated Smith was a felon from a 2015 case in which he was convicted for accessory after the fact to a second-degree murder.

In this case, he is facing charges of armed carjacking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

As of Wednesday morning, Smith was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”

El hecho ocurrió alrededor de las 3 p.m. del 22 de junio en el área de Northwest Third Avenue y 10th Street.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Miami, la víctima estacionó su vehículo cerca de la intersección y estaba buscando algo en su maletero cuando se le acercó el sospechoso, identificado como Pierre Smith.

La policía dijo que Smith se acercó a la víctima con un arma y, después de arrebatarle $100 de la mano, procedió a sacar otros $1,800 de sus bolsillos, junto con las llaves del vehículo, antes de subir al auto y alejarse.

El vehículo fue encontrado posteriormente desocupado ese mismo día en la cuadra 400 de Northwest 19th Street.

La policía dijo que, mediante su investigación, pudo identificar a Smith como el sospechoso, aunque no se dieron a conocer los detalles de esa identificación.

Los investigadores obtuvieron una orden judicial para obtener información de las torres de telefonía celular y determinaron que Smith había estado en el área donde ocurrió el robo del vehículo antes de que sucediera y también en el área donde el vehículo fue abandonado después del incidente, según una orden de arresto.

El martes, los agentes acudieron a la casa de Smith y lo detuvieron.

Smith hizo una confesión mientras hablaba con agentes de la policía de Miami, pero esta fue censurada en su formulario de arresto.

La policía dijo que una revisión de registros indicó que Smith era un delincuente convicto por un caso de 2015 en el que fue declarado culpable de ser cómplice después del hecho de un asesinato en segundo grado.

En este caso, enfrenta cargos de robo de vehículo a mano armada y posesión de un arma de fuego por parte de un delincuente convicto.

Hasta la mañana del miércoles, Smith permanecía detenido en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, con una fianza indicada como “por determinar”.

La representante federal Frederica Wilson, demócrata que representó al distrito durante unos 13 años y es conocida por sus coloridos sombreros, anunció en mayo que no buscaría la reelección.

Wilson, de 83 años, respaldó a Gilbert, de 53 años, comisionado de Miami-Dade y ex presidente de la comisión, quien se desempeñó como alcalde de Miami Gardens de 2012 a 2020.

Con el 99% de los precintos reportados después de las primarias, alrededor del 34% de los votantes demócratas emitieron sus votos por Gilbert, quien creció en Miami Gardens y obtuvo un título de Juris Doctor de la Universidad de Miami.

Según los informes de la Comisión Federal de Elecciones de Estados Unidos (FEC) sobre las contribuciones de campaña, los ingresos totales de Gilbert fueron de más de $812,140 USD, sus desembolsos totales fueron de más de $583,000 USD y tenía más de $229,090 USD en efectivo disponible.

Alrededor del 32% también emitió sus votos por el senador estatal de Florida Shevrin “Shev” Jones, quien se desempeñó en la Cámara de Representantes de Florida de 2012 a 2020.

Según los informes de la FEC de Estados Unidos sobre las contribuciones de campaña, los ingresos totales de Jones fueron de más de $283,690 USD, sus desembolsos totales fueron de más de $205,080 USD y tenía más de $78,610 USD en efectivo disponible.

Gilbert y Jones, de 42 años, compitieron en una contienda con otros cinco candidatos: Kendrick Meek Jr., el Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Moise, Jean Monestime, Roderick “Rod” Vereen y Marshal L. Davis, Sr.

Gilbert se enfrentará a Brown, una empresaria nacida en Chicago, el 3 de noviembre. La votación anticipada será del 24 al 31 de octubre. La fecha límite para solicitar una boleta para votar por correo es el 22 de octubre y la fecha límite para registrarse para votar es el 5 de octubre.

Gilbert da su discurso de triunfo

Jones pronuncia su discurso en reconocimiento de derrota.

Wilson felicita a Gilbert

Resultados de elecciones

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In a post on X, Uthmeier said Caruso’s arrest was made with “substantial assistance” from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and local law enforcement.

“Being in a position of public trust provides no shield from accountability,” Uthmeier said.

Authorities said Caruso, 67, of Riviera Beach, was immediately suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis following his arrest.

They said Caruso is prohibited from performing any official act or function and from receiving any pay or allowances while suspended.

Jail records show Caruso is facing charges that include kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse involving mental injury.

An arrest warrant obtained by Local 10 News states that the victim, who is under the age of 12 and is known to Caruso, claimed that Caruso engaged in sexual activity with him on two separate occasions — once around Thanksgiving in 2024 and again during a family cruise in August 2025.

Caruso was seeking re-election to remain Palm Beach County’s clerk of the circuit court and comptroller. He also formerly served on the U.S. House of Representatives for seven years before he was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Palm Beach County.

Authorities said Caruso is set to be transported to the Orange County Corrections Department and held without bond pending his first appearance, which is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Interim Clerk Shannon Ramsey-Chessman has since been sworn into his position.

“This arrest is a decisive line in the sand. When someone targets a child, they don’t just break the law — they shatter a community’s trust. We intend to make sure this survivor’s voice is heard through every step of this process,” said Lisa Haba of the Haba Law Firm, the victim’s attorney, in a statement to Local 10 News.

The Palm Beach County Clerk of Court’s Office also issued this statement to Local 10 News following Caruso’s arrest:

"This morning, our office was notified that Clerk Mike Caruso was arrested on serious criminal charges. We are awaiting additional information from the Governor’s office on next steps.

While this is surprising news for our entire team, it does not change who we are at the Clerk’s office or our commitment to the community and customers we serve.

For decades, the Clerk’s office in Palm Beach County has consistently stood for professionalism and outstanding service for our customers. That focus remains for every one of our 650 employees."

Moderna and Merck are developing a treatment using an mRNA-based cancer vaccine called intismeran that is designed to be tailored to individual patients based on unique mutations within their tumors. In current studies, they are pairing it with Keytruda, a immunotherapy drug made by Merck.

The study compared using intismeran and Keytruda together on melanoma patients against using Keytruda alone. The companies said patients who received the combination lived longer without cancer returning or metastasizing than patients who got Keytruda alone.

The companies did not say how long patients survived without cancer returning or whether patients lived longer overall. They said they plan to present the study results at an upcoming international medical meeting.

Moderna shares rose more than 120% to $140.12 a share. Merck shares rose about 11%.

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Plantation Fire Rescue officials said multiple crews responded to the fire.

They said the truck driver quickly detached the trailer from the cab and safely drove an excavator off the trailer, helping protect the heavy equipment from the spreading flames.

Authorities said crews quickly extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported, and the lanes that had been blocked were reopened.

A PFR spokesperson also recognized a Broward Sheriff’s Office detective and a Hollywood Fire Rescue deputy chief who happened to be passing by and stopped to help.

Authorities said two public safety officials used their vehicles to help block traffic and protect firefighters while crews worked to put out the fire.

Officials reminded drivers to wear seat belts, avoid using their phones while driving and obey speed limits. Fire officials also urged drivers to give emergency crews plenty of room when they are working along the roadway.

Click here to view more photos of firefighters responding to the blaze.

Funcionarios de Plantation Fire Rescue dijeron que varios equipos acudieron para responder al incendio.

Dijeron que el conductor del camión rápidamente desprendió el remolque de la cabina y sacó de manera segura una excavadora del remolque, ayudando a proteger el equipo pesado de las llamas que se propagaban.

Las autoridades dijeron que los equipos extinguieron rápidamente el incendio. No se reportaron heridos y los carriles que habían sido bloqueados fueron reabiertos.

Un portavoz de PFR también reconoció a un detective de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward y a un subjefe de Hollywood Fire Rescue que pasaban por el lugar y se detuvieron para ayudar.

Las autoridades dijeron que dos funcionarios de seguridad pública utilizaron sus vehículos para ayudar a bloquear el tráfico y proteger a los bomberos mientras los equipos trabajaban para apagar el incendio.

Las autoridades recordaron a los conductores que usen el cinturón de seguridad, eviten usar sus teléfonos mientras conducen y respeten los límites de velocidad. Los funcionarios de bomberos también instaron a los conductores a dar suficiente espacio a los equipos de emergencia cuando estén trabajando a lo largo de la vía.

Haga clic aquí para ver más fotos de los bomberos respondiendo al incendio.

The star is zipping around the black hole, reaching speeds of about 15,534 miles per second (25,000 kilometers per second). That's 100,000 times faster than a commercial plane.

“That star is really, extremely fast,” said astronomer Stefan Gillessen with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.

The newly discovered star also orbits the black hole at closer range than scientists have ever seen before, taking just 8.7 years to complete a revolution. It harnesses the black hole's gravity to fly faster without falling in.

Gillessen and colleagues uncovered the star in data collected by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

There are several hundred stars that closely orbit this giant black hole and are sensitive to its gravity. Scientists have mapped the orbits of around 50 of them. The new star is 10 times closer than the previous record holder, meaning that it also feels the effects of the black hole's rotation.

There are supermassive black holes lurking in the center of almost every large galaxy. But nothing can escape them — not even light — so it’s notoriously difficult for scientists to figure out what’s going on inside.

Studying stars like this one could help scientists measure those mysterious properties, including how fast the supermassive black hole spins. Advanced telescopes are helping to pinpoint fainter stars that previously eluded detection, so there could be even speedier ones waiting to be found.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said astronomer Tuan Do with the University of California, Los Angeles, who had no role in the study. “As we get fainter, there should be many more stars like this.”

___

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.

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According to deputies, the shooting was reported at about 1 a.m. in the 2300 block of Southwest 46^th Avenue.

A Local 10 News crew was at the scene as a body was on the ground.

Deputies confirmed that they arrived at the scene and found the victim, Zakari Christian Glass, 24, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Despite immediately administering life-saving measures, paramedics with Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue pronounced Glass dead at the scene.

“It’s not too safe around here, you know?” AC Jones, who lives in the area, said.

BSO Homicide Unit detectives are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear.

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

Both vehicles were traveling in opposite directions, authorities said. Preliminary evidence suggests that the truck, which wasn’t carrying any cargo, crossed into incoming traffic and collided with the minibus at around 3:30 a.m., Brazil’s traffic police said.

The crash happened on a highway near Ipiranga, a city of 14,000 residents in central Parana state and 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Sao Paulo.

The minibus passengers included healthcare workers, patients and a few family members, authorities said. The death toll included 21 adults and two children.

Emergency teams and local police were still working at the site hours later. Footage from TV Globo shows the truck parked on grass on the side of the road and the crushed minibus, with shattered glass and belongings of the passengers strewn on the ground.

___ EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org ___

“Say So,” with its big-hearted and hopeful chorus, is about suicide prevention. It was written in tribute to Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney's late mentor Ben Vaughn, head of Warner Chappell Music Publishing, who died by suicide a year before.

“If you’re going through hell, you’re not alone,” Mooney sings. “If you need somebody, say so.”

“For one of the first times in our career, I was like, ‘I’m not like sure if we should tackle this,’” Smyers told The Associated Press.

But in the studio, it became an inevitability — even though they were uncertain. “We were just sharing stories about our friend. And it just fell out of us. A verse and a chorus in, and I think we were all just like, ‘I don’t know, man. Is this too heavy to tackle?'” Smyers continued.

Creating the demo together, alongside co-writers David Hodges and Jimmy Robbins, became therapeutic.

“We owed it to our friend Ben,” he said. “We owe it to the community, who he meant so much to. And I feel like we owed it to ourselves to at least see that one through to the finish line.”

What they didn't realize is that the day they started work on the song was also what would've been Vaughn's 50th birthday. “It was more than a coincidence,” he said. “That was the sign that this song could help somebody.”

“Say So” may be the heaviest song off “Young,” but it is also a thematic center for the record — 10 autobiographical tracks of crossover country that reflect their lives, now, with new emotional vulnerability — what Mooney labels “a very life-giving thing.”

The heart of 'Young'

The album opens with its title track, the stripped-back acoustic arpeggio “Young,” what Smyers describes as “a message from your future self to your present and past self, about the passage of time and appreciating the moment.”

But there's an additional, gendered resonance. “Men — I just think, maybe I’m generalizing — don’t do as good of a job of sharing their feelings and emotions. And I’m saying that because that’s me,” he said.

“You’re tough. You bottle it up. But when I finally broke down that wall, it changed my life. And I think that song just talks about aging as a man.”

That's yet another difficult subject, which might also explain why, before creating the 10 songs that make up “Young,” Dan + Shay wrote and scrapped an entire album's worth of material. The tracks that made up the final collection took time, open and honest conversation, and a hearty dose of self-reflection.

It's why there may be more religiosity to this album than in the previous works — from the single “Her, The Kids and Jesus” to the album's two mentions of a King James Bible.

“'Her, the kids and Jesus,' that’s kind of a snapshot at what my life looks like right now,” Mooney said.

Growing into 'The Old Guys'

Grief — and affection — take on many forms across “Young." From the ode to a young adult's first pet (“Dogs in Our Twenties”) to a twist on the traditional love song format and praying your partner dies after you (the ‘90s country-channeling “The Old Guys"), the songs are delivered with tenderness. The latter includes the album's sole feature, Cody Johnson — a neo-traditionalist in country music that, on paper, may seem at odds with Dan + Shay's genre-hybridity. After all, these are the same guys who recorded the multiplatinum crossover hit “10,000 Hours” featuring Justin Bieber in 2019.

“We occupy a very different space in country music,” agrees Smyers. Even vocally — Mooney's got a high register, Johnson sings low, and when they're all singing together, “It's, like, perfectly meeting in the middle.”

It also highlights the range of this album. “There’s kind of a song for everybody, for whatever you’re going through,” says Mooney. “Whatever people need to get out of this album, I hope that they get that.”

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While the first Atlantic hurricane forms on average around August 11^th, the date of the first hurricane can vary wildly. In some seasons like 2016, it can happen from an initially non-tropical system in January, but in other seasons like 2002 and 2013, it doesn’t come until the second week of September.

But they do eventually come. Even in our most inactive hurricane seasons or during ones held back by El Niño – like in 1983, 1997 (very strong El Niño), 2009, 2013, and 2015 (very strong El Niño) – we had hurricanes. Multiple hurricanes. We’ve never gone through an entire hurricane season in the reliable records without a hurricane, and the last time we recorded fewer than two hurricanes in a season was over a century ago in 1925 (and that number was almost surely an undercount due to a sparse ocean observing network that relied mainly on unlucky ships).

By August 19^th, most Atlantic hurricane seasons have notched their first hurricane. In fact, in about 7 in 10 seasons, we’ve seen the first hurricane formation by today’s date. So far in 2026, though, hurricanes have been a no-show.

It’s unusual and it speaks to just how hostile the background state is this hurricane season due to the historic El Niño.

Long-range models indicate the Atlantic will remain at a standstill for another week, but as anyone whose experienced a drought knows, they always come to an end and when it eventually rains, sometimes it pours. Last year it was Category 5 Hurricane Erin that broke the dry spell around this time in August, but we can hope this season with a powerful El Niño in play, the drought doesn’t end so dramatically.

A real (rude?) Atlantic awakening on the horizon?

While we’ve seen some signs of life this August in the Atlantic, we’ve not yet seen the big awakening or storm outbreak that often accelerates us into the busiest 6-week stretch of the season. We expect that by late August and if the overnight runs of our computer models – lit up like a December Christmas tree – are any indication, we may be in store for a flurry of activity to end the month.

The signal is perhaps the strongest we’ve seen yet this season in the deep tropics across nearly all of our major global weather models (both AI and conventional models) but the question is whether it sticks and persists.

For now, the strongest signal is far away from the U.S. and still about a week out so we have plenty of time to follow the trends. It’s an important reminder, however, that hurricane season might be on hold right now, but don’t expect it’ll last into September.

The Jaguars gave up a sixth-round draft pick in 2027, according to a person with knowledge of the trade. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side announced details. Newsday first reported the agreement.

Jaguars coach Liam Coen confirmed the deal for Faalele, a 6-foot-8, 380-pound lineman, following a joint practice with Carolina.

“Just continuing to bring depth and guys that have played meaningful reps in this league," Coen said. "That’s something that you can’t have enough of. We came into camp with 16 (offensive linemen) and got down to about nine the other day.

"When you have some of those things occur, you want to continue to find guys that have done it, guys that have played in this league at a high level. He’s got some big size, and I’m looking forward to getting to know him. But the experience is really what matters.”

Jacksonville is down two starting linemen, and both could miss games early in the season.

Right guard Patrick Mekari recently had back surgery to alleviate a lingering issue and could start the season on short-term injured reserve, and starting right tackle Cole Van Lanen (knee) has missed all of training camp while on the physically unable to perform list. Backups Chuma Edoga, Walker Little and rookie Emmanuel Pregnon also have missed time recently in camp, although Pregnon has since returned to practice.

Faalele had been taking second-team snaps at Giants training camp but lost his best chance at a starting role when the team selected Francis “Sisi” Mauigoa with the 10th pick and planned to make him a guard.

Faalele, 26, started all 17 games for now-Giants coach John Harbaugh with Baltimore each of the past two seasons. He played in 71 NFL games, all with the Ravens, since debuting in 2022, and was one of several players who followed Harbaugh to New York.

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AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Aunque el primer huracán del Atlántico se forma, en promedio, alrededor del 11 de agosto, la fecha del primer huracán puede variar considerablemente. En algunas temporadas, como la de 2016, puede ocurrir a partir de un sistema inicialmente no tropical en enero, pero en otras temporadas, como 2002 y 2013, no ocurre sino hasta la segunda semana de septiembre.

Pero eventualmente llegan. Incluso en nuestras temporadas de huracanes más inactivas o durante aquellas frenadas por El Niño, como en 1983, 1997 (El Niño muy fuerte), 2009, 2013 y 2015 (El Niño muy fuerte), tuvimos huracanes. Múltiples huracanes. Nunca hemos atravesado una temporada completa de huracanes en los registros confiables sin un huracán, y la última vez que registramos menos de dos huracanes en una temporada fue hace más de un siglo, en 1925 (y esa cifra casi seguramente fue inferior a la real debido a una escasa red de observación oceánica que dependía principalmente de barcos desafortunados).

Para el 19 de agosto, la mayoría de las temporadas de huracanes del Atlántico ya han registrado su primer huracán. De hecho, en aproximadamente 7 de cada 10 temporadas, hemos visto la formación del primer huracán para esta fecha. Hasta ahora en 2026, sin embargo, los huracanes han estado ausentes.

Es algo inusual y habla de lo hostil que es el estado de fondo esta temporada de huracanes debido al histórico El Niño.

Los modelos de largo alcance indican que el Atlántico permanecerá en pausa durante otra semana, pero como sabe cualquiera que haya experimentado una sequía, siempre llegan a su fin y cuando finalmente llueve, a veces llueve a cántaros. El año pasado fue el huracán Erin, de categoría 5, el que puso fin a la sequía por estas fechas en agosto, pero podemos esperar que esta temporada, con un poderoso El Niño en juego, la sequía no termine de manera tan dramática.

¿Un verdadero (¿brusco?) despertar del Atlántico en el horizonte?

Aunque hemos visto algunas señales de vida este agosto en el Atlántico, todavía no hemos visto el gran despertar o brote de tormentas que a menudo nos lleva al tramo de seis semanas más activo de la temporada. Esperamos que ocurra a finales de agosto y, si las ejecuciones nocturnas de nuestros modelos informáticos, iluminadas como un árbol de Navidad de diciembre, son una indicación, podríamos estar ante una oleada de actividad para terminar el mes.

La señal es quizás la más fuerte que hemos visto hasta ahora esta temporada en los trópicos profundos en casi todos nuestros principales modelos meteorológicos globales (tanto modelos de IA como modelos convencionales), pero la pregunta es si se mantiene y persiste.

Por ahora, la señal más fuerte está muy lejos de Estados Unidos y todavía a aproximadamente una semana de distancia, por lo que tenemos mucho tiempo para seguir las tendencias. Sin embargo, es un recordatorio importante de que la temporada de huracanes podría estar en pausa ahora mismo, pero no esperen que esto se prolongue hasta septiembre.

In a status report filed late Tuesday, opponents of the move said members of the Kennedy Center's Trump-aligned board “seem intent” on defying an earlier court order requiring the Republican president's name to be removed from the building. The Kennedy Center said it would not move forward with the plans until after Labor Day “at the earliest” to allow time for legal arguments.

Lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is an ex officio member of the board, pressed U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper for an earlier ruling, arguing there is “every reason to believe that Defendants will attempt to effectuate some or part of this latest unlawful resolution at the earliest opportunity after September 8."

A board meeting this month that was expected to largely focus on options to close the Kennedy Center for renovations instead transformed into another push to attach Trump's name to the building, part of a broader move by the president and his supporters to leave a physical mark on the nation's capital.

The board passed a resolution to name the plaza in front of the building after Trump and add his name to the venue's facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” In the filing, Beatty said the board also agreed to add an additional reference to the president if the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million.

In that event, the facade would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The board also voted to back a two-year closure for renovations, while some of the institution's signature programming, including the Kennedy Center Honors and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, would take place at off-site locations. The National Symphony Orchestra announced this week it would split its upcoming season between six venues in and around Washington.

Cooper ruled in May that letters affixed to the building spelling out Trump’s name were added illegally and he ordered their removal, a decision that the administration failed to persuade courts to overturn. Since then, a tarp has covered the area where the letters were once installed, frustrating those who sought to remove the president's name from the building.

Kennedy Center makes no commitment to removing tarp

In the latest filing, the Kennedy Center made no commitment to remove the tarp, saying the covering was in place to facilitate the removal of Trump's name and is part of a broader system needed for “water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.”

More broadly, Beatty's lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, questioned the integrity of the board's vote this month, echoing concerns Cooper raised when he called a March vote to shutter the building “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”

Heading into the August meeting, the Kennedy Center's management said it would provide the board with three options, including a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

In Tuesday's filing, the Kennedy Center said a Delta Consulting Group analyst concluded that a partial closure that would play out over four years “would increase the length and cost of construction and lead to substantial safety concerns.”

The analyst "recommended that the Board proceed with a full closure for two years, which would minimize total cost, minimize the amount of time that programming would be subject to disruptions from construction, and best preserve the Center’s reputation as world-class performing-arts venue,” the Kennedy Center said.

Eisen and Zelinsky, however, noted that materials were provided to the board just two days before the meeting. They said some documents appeared to have been created before Cooper's May ruling and referred to the Kennedy Center's closure that was initially set to take effect on July 6.

The August vote to close the Kennedy Center, Beatty's lawyers argued, “exhibits the same flaws as the first vote.”

Cuatro republicanos buscaron la nominación en el distrito de tendencia demócrata.

La representante federal Debbie Wasserman Schultz fue declarada ganadora por el lado demócrata la noche del martes.

Poco después, Brent Andersen fue declarado ganador por el lado republicano.

Local 10 News habló con Wasserman Schultz durante su celebración de victoria el martes.

“Estoy muy agradecida y agradecida con los votantes del Distrito 20. Ellos dijeron: ‘¿Saben qué? Vamos a decidir quién queremos que esté en Washington para luchar por nosotros’, y lo hicieron con un mensaje contundente”, dijo. “Y con los resultados de estas primarias, estoy muy agradecida y estoy lista para luchar por ellos para reducir sus costos, para detener a Donald Trump por su corrupción, sus negocios para beneficio propio, por cuidar a los multimillonarios en lugar de a los trabajadores y defenderlos todos y cada uno de los días”..

Más temprano:

Entre los candidatos demócratas se encuentran el ejecutivo de música rap y activista por la libertad de expresión Luther Campbell, el ex alcalde y comisionado de Broward Dale Holness, el organizador comunitario Elijah Manley y la representante federal Debbie Wasserman Schultz, quien está cambiando de distrito tras el nuevo trazado.

Y luego está la actual representante en medio de una controversia que busca regresar al cargo —la ex representante federal Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick—, quien renunció antes de una amenaza de expulsión por parte del Comité de Ética de la Cámara de Representantes tras ser acusada formalmente de robar fondos federales. Ella niega haber cometido irregularidades.

Por el lado republicano: Brent Andersen es residente de Pompano Beach y empresario que lucha por reducir los costos y aumentar las oportunidades económicas para las familias del Distrito 20. Lateresa “La” Jones es la fundadora de “Grandmas for the Generations”, una organización comunitaria que ayuda a las familias a defender a los niños. El Dr. Rod Joseph es un veterano de combate del Ejército de Estados Unidos y condecorado con el Corazón Púrpura, con 20 años de servicio militar. Carla Spalding es una veterana de la Armada de Estados Unidos que también tiene una larga experiencia en enfermería.

Reporte 5 p.m.

But Moore could soon have company.

With Florida Republicans nominating U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds on Tuesday, there are seven Black major party gubernatorial nominees in addition to Moore — men and women, Democrats and Republicans — on November ballots.

“We do have a unique moment here,” said Moore, who recently became chair of the National Governors Association. He often says that his historic status is “not an applause line” but instead represents a bigger challenge that this country is still looking to overcome.

The Black nominees typically do not focus on the history at stake, instead emphasizing their experience and policy proposals.

“Florida is a great meritocracy in America,” Donalds told reporters Tuesday night after not mentioning his race at all in his victory speech. “I’ll let you guys write about that,” he added.

But many said that more reflective representation matters given the nation’s history, from slavery to Jim Crow and the lingering effects.

“It’s not a secret that some issues in the African American community get ignored and don’t have a voice,” said Aaron Ford, Nevada’s first Black attorney general and now the Democratic nominee for governor. Ford said he brings a focus to issues ranging from voting rights and civil rights to the economy.

Republican Lisa Demuth said she “has never led with any type of identity politics” as Minnesota's first Black House speaker and now her party's nominee for governor. “But I recognize the historic state we are in right now,” she said. Michigan Republicans also chose U.S. Rep. John James, who is Black, as their gubernatorial nominee.

Former New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat who was not elected but ascended when Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008, celebrated that the slate crosses party lines. “This is one day when maybe the Democrats and Republicans could stand in front of a statue of George Washington and let him know that we’re finally getting it right,” he said.

Democrats, meanwhile, emphasized that their Black candidates – who also include Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and David Crowley in Wisconsin – are especially important after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to redraw legislative districts that are majority or plurality nonwhite. That was compounded by President Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity initiatives and push to rewrite how the U.S. tells its history of the slave trade and Jim Crow segregation.

“Governors, in many ways, are becoming the last lines of defense against what we’re seeing in Washington,” Moore said.

A challenge for Black politicians, even more so than reaching the US Senate

Karen Finney, who helped push Democrat Joe Biden to select a Black woman as his vice presidential running mate, said Black politicians often are the first and loudest advocates on issues that acutely affect Black constituents. She and others cited health disparities such as maternal and infant mortality and sickle cell disease, and Finney noted that an inflationary economy hits harder in Black communities that, on average, have lower income and net worth than the wider population.

She said it is important for legislators to raise those matters and even more impactful when it is an executive.

“These are people who have the power to shape our lives, and they shape the agenda," Finney said.

But the governor's seat has been notoriously hard for Black politicians to reach, even more difficult than the U.S. Senate. Democrat Douglas Wilder of Virginia took office in 1990 as the nation's first elected Black governor.

“I didn’t become Maryland’s first Black governor because the Democratic Party said, ‘I think it’s time for us to put Wes Moore up in the seat’,” Moore said. “I had to run against the party.”

“I don’t think that the party is doing enough,” Moore added, specifically bemoaning a “negligence” in Southern states where Black voters anchor Democrats' base.

Stacey Abrams, who lost two Georgia governor’s races, recalled white Democratic power players raising money for her primary opponent in 2018, although she disputed that explicit racism was the issue.

“We do what we’ve done because it’s what we did,” she said. “Black women have not been executives, and the absence of that proof point becomes a self-reinforcing philosophy.”

This time, she noted, Bottoms already has been an executive as mayor of Atlanta.

Democrats and Republicans talk about ‘identity politics’ differently

In Minnesota, history will be made in November when the state elects its first female governor as Demuth competes against Democrat Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. senator. Demuth said she looks forward to a day when such distinctions seem less notable.

"One of the things that I really do look forward to is where it’s already done, where it no longer makes history,” she said. “So I think of young women, little girls that are looking at you, could I ever be governor of Minnesota? I hope when I win, they’re able to look at, point to that and say she’s already done it.”

In Georgia, Bottoms told the National Association of Black Journalists last week that she does not “give a lot of talk … about the historical nature” of her campaign. Yet she notes her family's Georgia ties go “back at least five generations through a plantation in Crawfordville” and that her grandfather had to “walk through these back doors” when he moved to Atlanta. She never mentioned slavery or segregation but said her ancestry “is always present with me.”

Abrams, who has campaigned for Bottoms and other Democrats this year, was more direct, arguing that all politics is identity politics of some kind — and that Republicans’ version is simply more coded.

“When your Constitution specifically strips a race of its humanity, you cannot then later on say identity doesn’t matter and has no effect, and we've spent 250 years trying to reckon with that identity” with social, political and legal fights, she continued. “So, it’s deeply disingenuous, if not woefully naive, to say that identity does not matter.”

Race shapes many decisions, but not all of them

Deval Patrick, whose tenure in Massachusetts overlapped with Paterson's in New York, said his race mattered especially to his Black constituents and what they wanted from him. It was “just different than the expectations of my predecessors,” he said, recalling criticism after he did not visit a Boston neighborhood where a teenager had been killed by gun violence.

“His mother was on the news grieving, and at some point she said while the cameras were rolling, where is Gov. Patrick?” he said. “Nobody had ever asked one of my predecessors to come to a crime scene in a neighborhood. Never.”

In Nevada, Ford said being governor still means recognizing how many core issues – jobs, housing and healthcare – cross demographic lines.

“It could be a white man, a Latino woman. It could be a person urban, suburban or rural Nevada. It could be someone from northern Nevada, southern Nevada. These are the issues that are important to them,” he said.

Patrick, who talks regularly with Ford and Moore, agreed, saying that is not just how a governor does the job, but how a candidate wins it in the first place.

“The successful candidates are the ones who present themselves as candidates for everyone,” he said, “and not candidates for just some.”

___

Sloan reported from Washington.

Moody salió victoriosa en las primarias republicanas.

“Defendemos el sentido común, el compromiso con comunidades seguras, el compromiso con un gobierno responsable y receptivo, el compromiso de garantizar que el gobierno del pueblo ponga primero los intereses del pueblo, y una valoración y afirmación de los ideales de este país”, dijo Moody durante su discurso de victoria.

La representante estatal Angie Nixon ganó la nominación demócrata.

“Los floridanos merecen algo mejor, y podemos tener algo mejor, y tenemos que trabajar y votar para hacer que eso suceda”, dijo Nixon durante su discurso de victoria.

Previamente:

Moody fue fiscal general de Florida antes de ser designada para el escaño en 2025, después de que su predecesor, Marco Rubio, fuera confirmado como secretario de Estado de EE. UU.

Ella destaca logros durante su tiempo en el cargo, entre ellos la eliminación de regulaciones para ayudar a la industria de cítricos de Florida y la obtención de miles de millones de dólares en ayuda para desastres.

Enfrenta a tres rivales republicanos: Chris Gleason, veterano del Ejército de EE. UU. y experto en análisis forense de datos que dice tener experiencia “exponiendo corrupción y fraude”; la médica Neelam Taneja Perry, quien dice estar “luchando por los derechos de la gente”; y el pastor Ernie Rivera, quien dice que su experiencia en finanzas y como administrador de viviendas con licencia podría ayudar a reducir los problemas de asequibilidad del sur de Florida.

La representante estatal Angie Nixon, demócrata por Jacksonville, es legisladora estatal desde hace seis años y oriunda de Florida. Dice que luchará para hacer que la vida sea más asequible para todos los floridanos, afirmando que la economía debería funcionar para todos.

La piedra angular de su campaña es poner a las personas por encima de la política y las ganancias.

Alex Vindman, un teniente coronel retirado del Ejército, se mudó a Florida con su esposa y su hija hace tres años. Fue herido en Irak y recibió un Corazón Púrpura, y es conocido por testificar durante el primer juicio político del presidente Donald Trump.

Dijo que su campaña promete reavivar el sueño americano para los floridanos, con un enfoque en la asequibilidad, desde garantizar que comprar una vivienda sea posible hasta reducir los costos de atención médica.

Reporte 5:00 p.m.

Just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in the Gaza Strip, at least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two strikes, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn Wednesday, two witnesses and a Hamas official said.

Israel's military said one of the strikes on Wednesday, in the area of Nuseirat refugee camp, struck a Hamas commander who had participated in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 abducted. A second strike in the Tuffah area of Gaza City struck another Hamas commander planning to carry out attacks against Israeli troops, the military said.

Israel's military said a strike the day before targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants.

The commanders killed included Muhammad Hamdi Ahmad Al-Masri, Muhammad Attar and Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, all accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli troops, and Samed Samir Harb Abu Habal, who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, according to a statement from Israel's military.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the Wednesday Gaza City strike, which hit a police station, killed eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl. Two officers were women, it said. One person was killed in Nuseirat. On Tuesday evening, an Israeli strike on a busy seaside cafe killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Jared Kushner, a U.S. negotiator and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, held a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, in which he asked Israel's leader to draw down attacks on Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists.

Also on Wednesday, Israel's military said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza and would launch criminal investigations into the killings of a 5-year-old girl and her family, as well as of 15 Palestinian paramedics.

At least 17 killed in Israeli strikes

The deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday exacted more casualties even as a ceasefire that’s been in place since October has significantly diminished the fighting in the tiny enclave where more than 2 million Palestinians live. Since the ceasefire, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,273 people, according to health officials in Gaza.

The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which was part of the recently dissolved Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations. It doesn't distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the toll.

In the early hours of Wednesday, at least 15 Israeli troops entered the Muwasi coastal area, west of the city of Khan Younis, two residents and a Hamas official said.

Accompanied by armed men, the troops stormed the tent of Sabri Abdel-All, a colonel for the Hamas-led Blue Police in Khan Younis. They also detained another resident identified as Nashat Ezzat Zaarab, they said.

The two residents and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.

Latest ceasefire negotiations offer few concrete commitments

On the diplomatic front, the ceasefire also appears stalled. Trump's initial ceasefire plan laid out a broad vision for ending Hamas’ rule in Gaza and rebuilding the territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during the war.

But since last fall, major sticking points have emerged on the conditions of Hamas' disarmament and Israel's withdrawal — and which should come first.

Earlier this month, Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm. But Hamas said it would begin to disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws, adding that laying down its heavy weapons would come later and be contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state — something Israel’s government rejects.

Netanyahu also pushed back on the deal, saying Israel won't withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed.

After Wednesday's strikes, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem lashed out at the Board of Peace — the body Trump established to oversee the ceasefire — saying it has provided a "cover” for Israel to escalate its attacks in Gaza instead of pressuring it to abide by the ceasefire agreement.

___

Associated Press journalists Julia Frankel and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Jerusalem; Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel; Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip; and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

Las urnas abrieron a las 7 a.m. y cierran a las 7 p.m.

Florida es un estado con elecciones primarias cerradas, lo que significa que, por lo general, los votantes solo pueden emitir su voto por candidatos del partido político con el que están registrados. Sin embargo, todos los votantes registrados pueden participar en las contiendas no partidistas aplicables y en las contiendas de primarias universales.

Los votantes encontraron una variedad de contiendas federales, estatales y locales en sus boletas, dependiendo de dónde viven y de su afiliación partidista. Las boletas incluyeron primarias partidistas para gobernador de Florida, Senado de EE. UU., contiendas legislativas estatales y del Congreso, además de contiendas no partidistas.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para ver los resultados de las elecciones en el condado Broward.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para ver los resultados de las elecciones en el condado Miami-Dade.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para ver los resultados de las elecciones en el condado Monroe.

Los resultados a nivel estatal se pueden ver a continuación a medida que se publiquen:

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According to an arrest report, William Serrano Domenech, 49, who is currently homeless, was taken into custody Tuesday, a day after the shooting near Northwest 38th Street and Northwest 33rd Avenue.

The report states that Serrano Domenech went to the area at about 5:35 p.m. Monday, where he was socializing with a witness.

The victim arrived a short time later, and a verbal dispute broke out, investigators said.

According to the witness, Serrano Domenech began slapping and punching the victim. When the witness attempted to intervene, investigators said Serrano Domenech pulled a gun from a fanny pack and shot the victim in the abdomen.

Serrano Domenech then fled eastbound on Northwest 38th Street, according to the report.

The victim was taken to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The victim’s identity was not mentioned in the arrest report.

Investigators said the shooting followed an ongoing dispute between Serrano Domenech and the victim that stemmed from the suspect’s alleged jealousy over the victim’s relationship with the witness.

The witness told investigators that the victim was unarmed and did not initiate the physical altercation.

According to the arrest report, deputies spotted Serrano Domenech Tuesday near Northwest 32nd Street and Northwest 31st Avenue.

When deputies attempted to approach him, Serrano Domenech entered the yard of a nearby home in an apparent attempt to avoid the deputies, investigators said.

Deputies detained him, and the report states that Serrano Domenech spontaneously told them, “I’m Willy, the guy you’re looking for from yesterday.”

While attempting to retrieve his identification, deputies spotted a handgun inside a bag in his possession, according to the report.

Investigators said Serrano Domenech has previous federal felony convictions for cocaine sales and weapons offenses.

After being read his Miranda rights, Serrano Domenech admitted to shooting the victim, according to the arrest report. Investigators noted that his account of what happened was inconsistent with the witness’s version of events.

Serrano Domenech was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm and/or ammunition by a convicted felon.

As of Wednesday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Online jail records listed his bond as “to be set.”

Según un informe de arresto, William Serrano Domenech, de 49 años, quien actualmente no tiene hogar, fue detenido el martes, un día después de la balacera cerca de Northwest 38th Street y Northwest 33rd Avenue.

El informe indica que Serrano Domenech acudió al área alrededor de las 5:35 p.m. del lunes, donde estaba socializando con un testigo.

La víctima llegó poco después y se produjo una disputa verbal, dijeron los investigadores.

Según el testigo, Serrano Domenech comenzó a abofetear y golpear a la víctima. Cuando el testigo intentó intervenir, Serrano Domenech sacó un arma de una riñonera y le disparó a la víctima en el abdomen, dijeron los investigadores.

Serrano Domenech huyó hacia el este por Northwest 38th Street, según el informe.

La víctima fue trasladada al Ryder Trauma Center del Jackson Memorial Hospital, donde posteriormente murió a causa de sus heridas.

La identidad de la víctima no fue mencionada en el informe de arresto.

Los investigadores dijeron que la balacera ocurrió tras una disputa en curso entre Serrano Domenech y la víctima, derivada de los supuestos celos del sospechoso por la relación de la víctima con el testigo.

El testigo dijo a los investigadores que la víctima estaba desarmada y no inició la pelea física.

Según el informe de arresto, agentes vieron a Serrano Domenech el martes cerca de Northwest 32nd Street y Northwest 31st Avenue.

Cuando los agentes intentaron acercarse a él, Serrano Domenech ingresó al patio de una vivienda cercana en un aparente intento por evitar a los agentes, dijeron los investigadores.

Los agentes lo detuvieron y, según el informe, Serrano Domenech les dijo espontáneamente: “Soy Willy, el hombre que buscan desde ayer”.

Mientras intentaban recuperar su identificación, los agentes vieron un arma dentro de una bolsa que estaba en su poder, según el informe.

Los investigadores dijeron que Serrano Domenech tiene condenas previas por delitos graves a nivel federal por venta de cocaína y delitos relacionados con armas.

Después de que le leyeron sus derechos Miranda, Serrano Domenech admitió haberle disparado a la víctima, según el informe de arresto. Los investigadores señalaron que su versión de lo ocurrido era inconsistente con la versión de los hechos del testigo.

Serrano Domenech fue arrestado por cargos de asesinato en segundo grado y posesión de un arma de fuego y/o municiones por parte de un ex convicto.

Hasta la mañana del miércoles, permanecía detenido en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Los registros de la cárcel en línea indicaban que su fianza estaba “pendiente de ser establecida”.

The flesh-eating parasite threatens the nation's $113 billion beef industry, prompting federal officials to close the border to cattle movements. Because the screwworm also can infect pets, most states have restricted the movement of animals from infested areas of Texas, leading to crowded conditions in state shelters that rely on adoptions to other regions of the country.

“It’s thrown a wrench into things, for small rescues as well as the bigger shelters,” said Mia Bendixsen, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, which promotes animal welfare laws.

The screwworm can lay eggs that hatch into flesh-eating larvae in the wounds or mucous of any mammal, and of the dozens of infections in southern Texas and southeastern New Mexico, several have been in dogs. Forty-four states have restricted the movements of pets from infested areas, creating a hardship for shelters from Texas that typically send thousands of animals to other states each year.

In Corpus Christi, the Gulf Coast Humane Society couldn't get rescued dogs into New York state for weeks, causing the shelter's animal population to climb from around 325 to nearly 450.

The shelter, which sends about 500 dogs a year outside Texas, created more space in outdoor exercise areas until New York again allowed dogs from Texas — if a veterinarian first certified that each one wasn't infected with the screwworm.

She added that if her shelter doesn't have space to take animals from municipal shelters, “then they have to euthanize more animals.”

Texas has a surplus of dogs and cats for adoption

Moving dogs and cats from Texas to other states, particularly in the Northeast or Great Lakes region, has become crucial to saving stray and abandoned animals.

In 2025, Texas had more unadopted dogs transferred out of its shelters than any other state — nearly 89,000, according to the American Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals. Texas also euthanized about 45,000 dogs — more dogs than any other state, according to the data.

And Texas led in the number of cats transferred out of its shelters — nearly 53,000 — and was second to California in those euthanized, with almost 29,000.

Texas has more stray dogs and cats than any state other than California — about 439,000 in 2025 — largely because of its high population and size. Warm weather also allows stray animals to survive longer and breed more, said veterinarians and animal welfare advocates. They added that Texas pet owners seem less willing to spay or neuter their dogs.

“There are people with working ranch and farm dogs, both male and female, who feel like the animal will lose some of its drive," said veterinarian Lori Teller, executive director of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association.

Both shelters and animals are stressed

In Houston, Humane Society shelter Director Aaron Grady said an inability to send animals out of state has left them more stressed.

“If an adopter comes through and they’re going from kennel to kennel and they see one dog who may be sitting calmly and contentedly in one kennel and then in the next kennel, there’s one dog who’s bouncing off of the walls and barking because of how stressed they are, first one may be looking more desirable,” Grady said.

The Houston shelter has worked to keep its animal population — mostly cats and dogs — at about 200 by tapping a network of foster homes for up to 300 more and by helping pet owners keep their animals even a little longer.

Most states have tightened rules for importing animals

Restrictions on animal transports followed efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep the New World screwworm fly from crossing the border with Mexico.

Those efforts include construction of a $750 million fly factory in southern Texas that's set to open in April 2027 for breeding billions of sterile males. The U.S. had largely eradicated the fly by the early 1970s by breeding sterile males and releasing them from planes to mate with females, who laid eggs that wouldn't hatch.

Smaller facilities in Texas and southern Mexico have been dispersing sterile flies bred in Panama, and another is planned for Arizona.

Florida — where the screwworm fly can thrive — banned imports of rescued dogs and cats from Texas and New Mexico just a week after the first reported case in Texas this year. Other states required veterinarians to inspect animals and declare them free of the parasite. Many shortened the period that a certification was valid from the typical 30 days to as little as three days.

Shelters worried about space long before the return of the screwworm

State restrictions hit an animal welfare system that's long been short of the money and other resources, said Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School.

She said shelters need more money and space, but communities also should require animals to be spayed or neutered — and have programs to provide those services if people cannot afford them.

“If we could provide them just with some basic support, they might be able to keep those animals in their homes, and that’s one less animal in a shelter, one less animal being killed,” she said.

COVID-19 stressed the system, too, in part because pandemic restrictions put spaying and neutering on hold. Cost-of-living increases are another reason people turn animals over to shelters.

“A lot of them are just saying, ‘I just can’t, I just can’t do it anymore,’” said Brandon Krodle, animal control supervisor in Greenville, Texas, a fast-growing city northeast of Dallas.

A trip from Texas to Indiana saved her dog's life

Mills, the Corpus Christi shelter director, has a dog who would have died in 2015 but for a nearly 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) trip from Paris, Texas, to Angola, Indiana, where Mills was working at the time. Zuri, a young female Shepherd-pit bull mix, was on a list of dogs set to be euthanized, and Mills' counterpart in Texas asked Mills to add Zuri to a transport.

Zuri's right ear doesn't fully straighten up, and the puppy had “the cutest face,” Mills said, but she was sold on Zuri because Zuri looked as if she “was actually thinking things through” as Mills spoke to her. Mills broke a personal rule against taking her shelter's animals home.

When Mills moved to Corpus Christi in 2020, Zuri returned to Texas.

“The shelter that I was at in Indiana, we transported from Texas and Southern states every week," Mills said.

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Moody emerged victorious in the Republican primary.

“We are standing for common sense, a commitment to safe communities, a commitment to accountable and responsive government, a commitment to ensuring the people’s government puts the people’s interest first, and an appreciation and affirmance of the ideals of this country,” Moody said during her victory speech.

State Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination.

“Floridians deserve better, and we can have better, and that we have to work and vote to make that happen,” Nixon said in her victory speech.

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Moody was Florida’s attorney general before being appointed to the seat in 2025 after her predecessor, Marco Rubio, was confirmed as U.S. secretary of state.

She’s touting accomplishments during her time in the seat, including rolling back regulations to help Florida’s citrus industry and bringing in billions of dollars in disaster relief.

She is facing three Republican challengers: Chris Gleason, a U.S. Army veteran and data forensics expert who says he has experience “exposing corruption and fraud;” physician Neelam Taneja Perry, who says she’s “fighting for the rights of the people”; and Pastor Ernie Rivera, who says his background in finance and as a licensed housing manager could help curb South Florida’s affordability problems.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, is a six-year state lawmaker and a Florida native. She says she will fight to make life more affordable for all Floridians, saying the economy should work for everyone.

Her campaign cornerstone is putting people over politics and profit.

Alex Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, moved to Florida with his wife and daughter three years ago. He was wounded in Iraq and received a Purple Heart and is known for testifying during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.

He said his campaign is promising to rekindle the American dream for Floridians, with a spotlight on affordability — from making sure buying a home is attainable to driving down health care costs.

5 p.m. report:

It was a mixed bag for incumbents in the state, where Republican-led redistricting efforts scrambled congressional maps. Voters in Alaska, Wyoming and California were also choosing their nominees, sometimes considering multiple people running with matching last names.

Tuesday’s contests will help shape the midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans have a narrow edge.

Here are some takeaways from this round of primaries.

Another progressive beats a far better-funded establishment rival

Progressives notched a surprise victory as the battle between outsider and establishment candidates that has roiled the Democratic Party in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan moved to more conservative territory.

In a major upset, progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon easily defeated retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who delivered searing testimony against Trump in his 2019 impeachment trial. Vindman had outraised Nixon by more than 16-to-1, with Nixon bringing in less than $1 million.

Now she will face Sen. Ashley Moody in a campaign to fill the last two years of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s former Senate term. Moody was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Rubio stepped down.

But in another matchup in South Florida, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz won the nomination for reelection in a new Republican-friendly district against union organizer and democratic socialist Oliver Larkin.

Donalds joins historic slate of Black candidates for governor

Donalds, a rising star in the Republican Party, won his party’s nomination to succeed the term-limited DeSantis, joining a historic slate of Black gubernatorial nominees across the country as he vies to become the first Black governor of the state.

They include Republicans Rep. John James in Michigan and Lisa Demuth, who defeated pillow-selling conspiracist Mike Lindell in Minnesota. On the Democratic side, David Crowley won a razor-thin primary against a democratic socialist in Wisconsin, joining Attorney General Aaron Ford in Nevada, State Rep. Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia.

Either Bottoms or Demuth could be the country’s first Black woman governor.

There is currently only one Black governor in the nation, Democrat Wes Moore of Maryland, who is seeking reelection in November.

Donalds will face David Jolly, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

Wasserman Schultz wins diverse, redrawn Florida seat

A Republican-led redrawing scrambled Florida’s congressional map, creating some awkward matchups for Democrats.

But longtime U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz easily won the most contentious race, beating U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and three other Black candidates in a South Florida district that is a plurality-Black district. Cherfilus-McCormick had resigned earlier this year under a pending federal indictment and threat of House ethics sanctions, but wanted her seat back.

Wasserman Schultz, a former national party chair seeking a 12th term in Congress, was the only white candidate competing to represent an area of Broward County that has helped send Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.

Her decision to run had stirred deep animosity, including charges by one rival that “she stabbed us in the back.”

Trump pick loses in race featuring transplants and scandal-plagued candidates

While Trump-backed Donalds emerged victorious, the candidate Trump had endorsed to fill his seat — Catalina Lauf — lost to Jim Schwartzel, owner of conservative talk radio station 92.5 FOX News.

The race had featured a cast of characters akin to a reality show reunion, including several who had spent time in prison and a handful who had run in other states.

They included two former members of Congress mounting comeback bids after departing in scandal: Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn’stenure was marred by repeat traffic stops, guns at airport checkpoints and a claim he had been invited to a Washington orgy. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who resigned before pleading guilty to insider trading charges, served prison time before he was pardoned by Trump.

Trump-endorsed Lauf had run twice for Congress in Illinois. She lost the 2020 primary to Jim Oberweis, a former state senator, who has also decamped to Florida and ran for the seat.

Another candidate, Ola Hawatmeh, previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York, while Linda Sawyer once tried in Michigan.

Also in the race: John Strand, a former television actor, underwear model and romance novel cover model, who served prison time for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault of the U.S. Capitol.

Republicans lose an incumbent

While Democratic incumbents won their races, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his bid for a third term to Ryan Elijah, a former television reporter.

Mills faced a series of scandals, including allegations of domestic violence involving a former girlfriend, which he denies. He had also been abandoned by DeSantis and other state officials.

Trump initially backed Mills in February but did not include him in a list of endorsements on Monday.

Double-checking the name in Alaska

Will Alaska voters need to contend with two Dan Sullivans going forward? It’s too soon to tell.

The primary ballot for the state’s Senate race, which is expected to be one of the country’s most closely watched this fall, included both Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, and another candidate also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans had claimed the second Sullivan — who appeared on the ballot as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” — was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Under the state’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes move on to a ranked-vote general election. Sullivan, the incumbent senator, and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November, swiftly advanced Tuesday, but it was too early to call the other two spots on the November ballot.

Another Trump pick for governor loses their race

While he had success with Donalds, another governor candidate endorsed by Trump lost her race, this time in Wyoming. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder was defeated by state Sen. Eric Barlow, a U.S. Marine veteran and livestock veterinarian who is also a former Wyoming House Speaker.

Trump’s picks for governor have occasionally struggled in primaries this year, including Lindell in Minnesota, Randy Feenstra in Iowa, Burt Jones in Georgia and Pamela Evette in South Carolina.

Trump had better luck in the Senate race in Wyoming, where his endorsed candidate, Rep. Harriet Hageman, easily captured the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

Pro-Israel group spending in former Swalwell seat

In California’s Bay Area, voters are choosing a replacement for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose resignation amid sexual assault allegations ended his run for governor.

California’s 14th District will remain under Democratic control as state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez advanced from a special open primary.

However, the race was too early to call on Tuesday night, and California is notorious for counting slowly.

The campaign reprised a theme that dominated other Democratic primaries this year: outside spending, particularly from pro-Israel lobbying groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC spent more than $2 million against Wahab and in support of Hernandez, and another group funded by the super PAC has spent nearly $2 million in support of Hernandez.

Pro-Israel group spending seemed to backfire in Michigan’s recent Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed emerged victorious despite tens of millions of dollars backing his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

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

China kicked off the 2026 World Robot Conference on Wednesday, with companies showcasing the country’s expanding robotics industry as it looks to move the technology beyond demonstrations and into factories and other real-world applications.

Organizers say around 3,000 products will be showcased during the five-day event. Despite the conference's name, there was no sign of other countries exhibiting.

One of the main attractions on Wednesday was the booth of Unitree, one of China’s leading humanoid robot makers, where some of its models boxed and danced. One even played ping pong with a human opponent.

The opening of the conference coincided with Unitree’s stock market debut in Shanghai.

The conference comes weeks after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks, in a move targeting China. The prohibition also covers new imports of quadruped robots, often referred to as four-legged robot dogs. The agency said advanced robots could pose cybersecurity and other national security risks.

UBTECH, another of China’s leading robotics companies, brought several industrial models to the conference. Some demonstrated tasks such as moving components around as they might on a factory floor.

But among those drawing the most attention were humanoid robots with lifelike faces, promoted for emotional care.

Jiao Jichao, deputy president of UBTECH Robotics, said one of its emotional-care humanoids can talk, make various facial expressions, rotate its neck and move its hands. And it is available to individual buyers. The price: 168,000 yuan (more than $24,000).

But despite the increasingly sophisticated displays, experts say many humanoid robots remain more impressive as performers than as practical workers.

Several companies showcased helper robots equipped with mechanical arms and hands. At one booth, a robot attempted a seemingly simple household chore: folding a shirt. After several minutes of trying, it couldn’t do it.

If confirmed by the Senate, Overton will have to balance a raft of competing priorities, including Trump’s fixations, the anti-regulatory interests of traditional Republicans and the anti-corporate posture of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Those challenges dogged the tenure of the previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned in May.

Trump said he’s delaying the 50% U.S. tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports. The countries reached a deal less than two hours before the sanctions were to go into effect on Tuesday, buying time for more negotiations and avoiding, for now, another strain in already tense relations.

As the long, contentious primary season nears its end, Democratic voters elevated another progressive Senate candidate in Florida, while Trump’s chosen candidate in his adopted home state, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, won the nomination to be the state’s first Black governor.

The Latest:

Trump’s White House renovations don’t stop at driveway’s edge

Trump’s construction tour also revealed that he has replaced the walkway from the diplomatic entrance to the White House and a connecting portion of the asphalt driveway around the South Lawn with white granite.

He asserted that asphalt is “not appropriate for a great house, or a great place like the White House.”

“One thing I know how to do is build,” Trump said.

Clinton’s birthday expands the octogenarian president’s club

Clinton was the last of three Baby Boomer presidents born within 66 days of each other in 1946. But he was the first to reach the Oval Office, elected in 1992 at the age of 46.

Trump turned 80 on June 14, followed by George W. Bush on July 6. Joe Biden, the only president from the Silent Generation, is 83.

It’s the oldest group of living U.S. presidents ever, with Barack Obama as the only one under 80 — and even the 44th president has reached Medicare eligibility age. He turned 65 earlier this month.

Clinton has slowed down in recent years, more than a decade after major heart surgery that led him to adopt a mostly vegan diet.

At the 2024 Democratic convention, he told delegates, “I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to.”

Bill Clinton gets birthday wishes as he turns 80

The 42nd president is celebrating a milestone birthday Wednesday.

Hillary Clinton, the former presidential nominee, secretary of state and first lady, led birthday greetings for her husband.

“Happy birthday, dear Bill. Eighty years in to your extraordinary life, I feel very lucky to have spent over 50 of them with you,” she posted on social media. “Here’s to more dancing, talking, and laughing together in the years to come.”

The George and Barbara Bush Foundation noted Clinton and former President George H.W. Bush’s “meaningful friendship … built after their time in office — a friendship grounded in mutual respect, service and a shared commitment to helping others.”

Clinton defeated the elder Bush in 1992 but came to see him as a mentor and sort of father figure. Bush died in 2018.

‘No serious dispute’ that Comey’s seashell post could be read as a Trump threat, prosecutors say

The Justice Department is defending its prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey and says there’s “no serious dispute” that a social media post of seashells he made could be understood as a threat against Trump.

Prosecutors also called into question late Tuesday Comey’s account that he found the seashells in the numerical arrangement “86 47” while walking on a North Carolina beach. Trump is the 47th president.

Prosecutors say Comey intended a physical threat or knew that the number 86 could suggest violence. Comey’s legal team calls it a vindictive prosecution and says Comey’s post didn’t amount to a true threat.

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Trump picks Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, to lead FDA

Overton is a deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and a trusted figure in the administration. She has worked on several of Trump’s health initiatives.

But the new Food and Drug Administration commissioner will face challenges balancing Trump’s priorities, traditional Republican interests, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-corporate stance. Overton will need Senate confirmation and face questions from the Senate health committee.

The previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned in May, leaving unfinished projects like work on ultra-processed foods, antidepressants, and COVID-19 shots.

Referring to a “Dr. Heidi” in a Truth Social post, Trump called Overton a smart and respected “rockstar” who would deliver on his priorities of faster cures, innovation, lower drug prices and more wins for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement.

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Trump walks and waxes on white granite and grass

It was planned as a private event, but the president decided otherwise. He wanted the reporters to see him sign a massive stone, which would become part of the new helipad under construction.

So, a gaggle of reporters tailed Trump outside the White House as he noted the prior state of disrepair and now, “look at the columns, how perfect they are.” As for the grass, which he said, “has life like humans have life,” it will now “look so beautiful.” And the white granite, which is a “powerful stone” that “you’ll never see a crack in.”

Trump came to a stop, flanked by construction workers in hi-vis vests, hard hats, and sunglasses, who stood silently as the president complimented them and answered a few questions from reporters about the day’s news. The president signed the stone in sweeping strokes.

“I hope you liked it,” he told the assembled reporters.

Trump says underground portion of ballroom will be 5 stories deep

Trump complained that the lawsuit against his White House ballroom was “very unfortunate” because the filings in the case have made public details that might have been kept secret.

But Trump has also been talking about components of the portion of the ballroom that will be underground. And he has taken to referring to the structure as a “military complex” instead of a ballroom.

Trump said during the press tour that the part of the ballroom will be five stories deep underground. The precise depth of some structures, like the ballroom, is usually treated as a closely guarded secret.

Trump said he may reopen negotiations with Iran ‘at some point’

When asked by a reporter at the White House on Wednesday when he would plan to resume talks with Iran, Trump said, “Right now, I think the situation is so good, but maybe at some point.”

He reiterated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon but didn’t offer any other details on his thinking.

Trump says he’s going to meet with North Korea’s leader

“Yeah, I will be,” Trump said to reporters on Wednesday when asked if he will meet with Kim Jong Un this year.

The president wouldn’t answer a question about whether he is exchanging letters with Kim but said he gets along with him.

Trump didn’t include any other details about a potential meeting.

He met with Kim several times during his first term and said that they “fell in love” while exchanging letters that he described as “excellent” and “beautiful.”

Over the weekend, he called for the Pentagon to scale back annual joint

Trump praises deal to stave off Canada tariffs

The U.S. president, after last-minute negotiations with the Canadian government, said the talks yielded a “very fair deal for both” sides.

“Our farmers are going to be thrilled, our manufacturers are going to be thrilled,” Trump said in an impromptu gaggle during a tour of South Lawn construction.

Trump noted that the agreement is all subject to the “finalization of documents” and that the tariffs, scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, were paused for three days to allow for that.

Trump also said he had a “very good conversation” with Carney, with whom he has clashed in the past.

Trump hopes Supreme Court sides with him on White House ballroom

Trump said, “I can’t imagine” the high court would rule against the ballroom he’s building after he was asked about a continuing court fight to block it.

Trump criticized the lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which seeks to halt construction until Congress approves the project.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to build the ballroom and that the work should be halted until Congress can weigh in.

The Trump administration argues that previous presidents made changes to the historic property and that Trump doesn’t need permission from Congress.

The Supreme Court has not yet announced whether it will hear the president’s appeal.

“Hopefully we’ll do very well,” with the justices, Trump said.

Norman says Senate no place for ‘training on the job’ after Graham’s misstep

Asked by reporters to respond to Graham’s stumble over the South China Sea question, Rep. Ralph Norman — her opponent in next week’s GOP runoff — said her lack of experience was apparent.

“You need to get fully versed in what issues you’re going to be dealing with,” he said.

Graham said “I’m not that informed on national security” — one of her late brother Lindsey Graham’s signature issues — when asked a question about Taiwan in their debate on Tuesday.

Asked afterward if she wanted to try again, she doubled down, saying she’s more focused on South Carolinians’ everyday concerns.

“They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly,” Graham said. “So that’s going to be my biggest focus.”

Trump takes the press on a tour of helipad

The White House suddenly summoned the press corps Wednesday morning for a surprise look at the helipad being constructed on the South Lawn.

“We are building a great heliport,” Trump said.

The president showed off the “flawless granite” and boasted of his construction and real estate acumen.

Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The helipad has been under construction for several weeks. It is being built because the new helicopters used as Marine One are so powerful that they can rip out the grass.

The president showed off the landing pad around the same that he was supposed to have a “policy meeting,” according to the schedule released by the White House.

Israel strikes on Gaza cast more doubt on ceasefire progress

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 17 more people since Jared Kushner reportedly asked Israel to draw down its attacks in Gaza, casting doubt on new U.S. peace efforts.

Israel’s military said Wednesday’s strikes targeted a Hamas commander in Nuseirat who participated in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and another planning to attack Israeli troops. Palestinians said one person was killed in Nuseirat and at least nine in the strike on a Gaza City police station.

Israel’s military said Tuesday’s strike targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants, including one who participated in the 2023 attack. That strike, on a busy seaside cafe, killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to hospitals, the Palestinian Red Crescent and Gaza’s Health Ministry.

More than 73,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, including at least 1,273 people killed by Israel since the October ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

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Trump calls Alex Vindman’s loss ‘the most gratifying’ of Tuesday’s primary results

That’s because the retired Army lieutenant colonel and former National Security Council staffer had delivered searing testimony against Trump during the president’s 2019 impeachment trial.

Vindman had testified about a telephone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

In a social media post, Trump disparaged Vindman as a “real treasonous creep.”

Vindman lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida to progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon. Trump predicted she will lose the general election to Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.

Democrats file Supreme Court brief to stop Trump’s ballroom

More than a dozen senators and representatives signed onto the amicus brief challenging what they said is Trump’s illegal demolition of the White House East Wing and plans to build a new ballroom without congressional authorization.

“The Constitution deems Congress the landlord of the White House and all federal property — presidents are only temporary tenants in the People’s House,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

He said Trump’s “ballroom stunt is plainly illegal, and the Supreme Court should put a stop to it.”

“Congress has not provided funding or authorization for Trump’s ridiculous vanity project, making this project an unconstitutional abuse of power,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “We will continue fighting to stop this illegal use of taxpayer dollars.”

The administration has appealed challenges to the ballroom project to the Supreme Court.

North Korea shrugs off Trump’s scaled-back drills with South Korea

North Korea says a U.S. decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea doesn’t change anything.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country’s first reaction to Trump’s drastic reduction of the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Kim Yo Jong says it’s not even worth commenting on Trump’s move and that she has no interest in the matter.

She said “the provocative, aggressive nature” of the U.S.-South Korean drills won’t change even though their duration and size have been reduced.

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Trump says he told Mills to end reelection bid

The president, who prides himself as the GOP’s political kingmaker, said Wednesday that he had asked scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills to abandon his reelection attempt.

But “he wouldn’t listen,” Trump said in a social media post. “He thought he could win, so who can blame him?”

Mills lost the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top Florida Republicans amid allegations of domestic violence against a former girlfriend, which Mills denied.

Trump had backed Mills earlier this year, but Mills was conspicuously missing when the president’s social media account re-upped his endorsements ahead of Tuesday’s primaries. Republicans nominated former television correspondent Ryan Elijah instead.

“We now have a great candidate, Ryan Elijah, running in his place!” Trump wrote. “Ryan stands for EVERYTHING MAGA, and is respected by ALL. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Americans have elected just 3 Black governors. That could change this year

Across 250 years, only three of the thousands of elected U.S. governors have been Black — all of them Democrats and men, including current Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

With Florida Republicans nominating U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds on Tuesday, there are now seven Black major party gubernatorial nominees in addition to Moore — men and women, Democrats and Republicans — on November ballots.

“We do have a unique moment here,” said Moore, who chairs the National Governors Association.

The Black nominees typically emphasize their experience and policy proposals, not the history at stake.

“Florida is a great meritocracy in America,” Donalds told reporters after not mentioning his race at all in his Tuesday night victory speech. “I’ll let you guys write about that.”

The other nominees are Republicans Lisa Demuth in Minnesota and John James in Michigan; and Democrats Aaron Ford in Nevada, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and David Crowley in Wisconsin.

▶ Read more

Sen. Darline Graham in debate: ‘I’m not that informed on national security’

The recently appointed senator stumbled over a foreign policy question in a debate Tuesday night as she competes in next week’s Republican primary runoff in South Carolina.

“Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States and if so, why or how?” a moderator asked.

Graham started her answer by saying, “I’m just going to be honest here.”

“I’m not a polished politician up here, national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military,” she said moments later.

Graham’s brother, Lindsey, died unexpectedly on July 11. She was appointed to fill his seat temporarily and Trump has endorsed her against Rep. Ralph Norman in the special election for her own term.

Prosecutors also called into question Comey's account that he had found the seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47” while walking on a beach in North Carolina and suggested that his May 2025 post on Instagram was an effort to generate attention for a forthcoming novel about a social media personality whose words inspire his fans to attack his foes.

The arguments in motions late Tuesday represent the government's most detailed explanation of its indictment and were filed in response to wide-ranging defense efforts to dismiss the case on grounds including that it constitutes a vindictive prosecution and that Comey's post did not amount to a true threat. Comey's lawyers contend that investigators in the case misled judges, submitted documents containing false statements, withheld key facts and repeatedly came up empty in their efforts to prove that Comey intended a physical threat or knew that the number 86 could suggest violence.

The entry for “86” from Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says its meaning is “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to.” Trump, a Republican, is the 47th president.

The Justice Department maintains that the post constituted a real threat

Federal prosecutors maintain that the photo of the seashells, which Comey said he found on the beach, constituted a threat against Trump. Comey deleted the post shortly after he put it up, saying he did not know that anyone interpreted the numbers as a call to violence. His lawyers have said that the slogan has long meant to “get rid of” or “eject” and has been featured on thousands of items sold online and regularly displayed at protests.

But the department sought in its filings to place the post against the backdrop of assassination plots or attempts against Trump in the months before and after Comey's post. Prosecutors say that two minutes before the post was made, Comey's wife texted him a screenshot of a definition of “86” that said "to get rid of or refuse service.”

"There is no serious dispute that an objective viewer of Comey’s post could read it to mean ‘Kill President Trump,’” prosecutors wrote.

The photo was posted days before Comey was set to release a novel he wrote titled “FDR Drive,” in which a prosecutor pursues a far-right social media personality who has called out his adversaries by name and inspired violence against them by his fans, the department said.

After the Instagram post provoked an outcry, according to the government's filings, Comey's publishing agent observed in a text message to him that he had “gone viral.” Comey responded that that was “not my intention, but I’ll be OK if it sells books.” The agent replied, ”Music to an agent's ears."

Prosecutors also asserted there was “reason to doubt” Comey’s account of having come upon the seashells while on a walk, saying they were located 4 miles (6 kilometers) “down from the beach from beachfront property where Comey was staying, in an area separated from the ocean by a sand dune.” They said there was "no evidence that anyone else arranged, photographed, or even saw the shells.”

Comey has called the case vindictive, but prosecutors deny that

Comey's lawyers have called the indictment, which was filed months after an earlier and unrelated case against him was dismissed, part of a Trump retribution campaign targeting one of the president’s vocal critics. Trump fired Comey as head of the FBI in 2017 as Comey was overseeing an investigation into potential ties between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Trump since then has called for him and other perceived adversaries to be jailed.

But the Justice Department denied allegations of vindictiveness, saying the decision to indict Comey was made by the U.S. attorney in the area and did not stem from a directive from the president or the attorney general.

To bolster their claims that Comey was unjustly targeted, defense team argued that investigators struggled to develop compelling evidence from witnesses that Comey had intended the post as a threat, but they concealed that from federal magistrates as they applied for warrants to search digital accounts associated with Comey and his wife

For instance, defense lawyers have said, the FBI searched an internal database of information about open and closed investigations for any indication of an association between Comey and the term “86” but found inconclusive results. An FBI agent also requested a review of the FBI file for the case against reputed mobster John Gambino, which Comey worked on as a young prosecutor, but found no references to the term “86.”

Investigators also interviewed a key government cooperator in the case, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, who said he did not recall ever discussing the term “86” with Comey or hearing it in connection with the trial.

The latest filings made clear that the administration was standing behind the premise of the case.

“No Government theory was disproved at that time, or now. No intentionally false omission exists, much less one made with reckless disregard for the truth,” prosecutors wrote. “The evidence still supports that Defendant acted at least recklessly by consciously disregarding a substantial risk that his coded message of “8647” that he sent to his 200,000 or so Instagram followers, and the millions of secondary social media users who would view this as threatening violence against the President of the United States.”

Rodri officially signed with Madrid rival Barcelona after a transfer from Manchester City on Tuesday.

Mourinho, back with Madrid for a second stint, said he spoke twice with Rodri as Madrid considered adding the World Cup's best player to its squad, but felt the midfielder didn't seem certain about his future.

“The club contacted him but he had some doubts,” Mourinho said in an interview to TV show ”El Chiringuito" late Tuesday. "What I think happened is that his doubts have created doubts for me. He’s an extraordinary player and was very correct with us. But I think Real Madrid is of such a stature that it can’t have players who think twice about being with the club.”

Just hours before Rodri's signing was made official by Barcelona on Tuesday, Mourinho was officially presented by Madrid in an unusual ceremony closed to the media and fans.

Mourinho, who was hired in June and took over in July at the start of the preseason, downplayed the importance of Rodri to Madrid.

“I don't need Rodri. We have solutions, quality players," Mourinho said, adding that he didn't think Barcelona got the best of Madrid by signing the midfielder. “Victories are won on the field, they are won with titles.”

After a second consecutive season without a major title, the club has bought players such as Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konaté, Denzel Dumfries, Bernardo Silva and Yan Diomande.

Mourinho said the club does not intend to make new signings.

“I’m not saying there won’t be any more signings because the market is still open, but if you ask me directly if it's closed (for Madrid), yes, it’s closed,” he said.

Madrid opens in La Liga on Saturday at Espanyol.

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty — or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table.

The prosecution and defense have filed dueling documents focused on whether the crime included aggravating factors that would make Robinson eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Those include political targeting and whether the shooting endangered thousands of others who attended Kirk’s Sept. 10 event at Utah Valley University.

Robinson is charged with crimes including aggravated murder and has not yet entered a plea. The 23-year-old defendant turned himself in a day after the shooting.

The latest batch of court documents follows a five-day preliminary hearing in July, when prosecutors presented what they said was “overwhelming” evidence against Robinson, while defense attorneys worked to sow doubt about analysts’ findings.

Judge Tony Graf said he will decide if the case should advance to trial after he hears again from both sides on Sept. 1.

In a document filed late Tuesday, prosecutors argued the engraved bullet found in the suspected murder weapon was an “overt political reference.” They also noted that Robinson allegedly wrote in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Robinson’s attorneys have argued that the text message is not strong enough evidence to prove a political motivation. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on prosecutors’ new filing.

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

Prosecutors contend that Kirk’s opposition to same-sex marriage and gender-affirming care stood in sharp contrast to Robinson, who was reportedly in a romantic relationship with his roommate, Lance Twiggs. Twiggs told investigators he had considered a gender transition around the time of Kirk’s killing, according to prosecutors.

A handwritten note that prosecutors allege Robinson left for Twiggs read in part, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”

In a recorded interview shown in court last month, Twiggs said he had never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. Robinson also did not talk much about gender issues or LGBTQ+ rights, but he did sometimes talk about politics, including Trump, Twiggs told investigators.

The Associated Press emailed Twiggs’ attorney seeking comment.

During the July hearing, investigators presented DNA analyses that they said linked Robinson to both the suspected murder weapon and a tool he allegedly used to engrave the bullet cartridges. Robinson’s attorneys repeatedly questioned the reliability of DNA tests and other evidence.

Defense attorneys also have argued against a possible sentence enhancement for endangering others, saying the shooter “hit the intended target.” Prosecutors said numerous people were within a “zone of danger” around Kirk when he was shot from a rooftop.

To create this list of the best used 3-year-old hybrids, Edmunds examined fuel economy ratings, brand-level reliability, crash test scores, and overall appeal as a daily driver. Any one of these five hybrids from the 2023 model year will likely serve you well while saving you money. The prices listed below are what you can expect to pay at nationwide dealerships such as CarMax or Carvana.

Small car: 2023 Toyota Prius

Toyota redesigned the Prius for the 2023 model year, keeping its traditional aerodynamic hatchback shape while adding rakishly attractive styling. For the first time, the new design made the Prius a car you might want for its looks as much as for its fuel efficiency. Toyota also dramatically improved the car’s performance without reducing fuel economy. Open the rear hatch, and the Prius has a roomy trunk that expands with the back seat folded down. The downsides to this version of the Prius include a cramped interior and poor outward visibility, but you might decide those are small prices to pay for one of the most fuel-efficient hybrids that money can buy.

2023 Prius average price: approximately $30,000

EPA-estimated fuel economy: up to 57 mpg combined

Midsize car: 2023 Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is about as roomy as you can get for a midsize sedan. There’s plenty of rear legroom for adults, and there is an abundance of room in the trunk for all of your things. For the redesigned 2023 Accord, Honda installed its latest hybrid powertrain, which delivers satisfying acceleration and impressive fuel economy. It also made the hybrid powertrain standard on most of the Accord’s available trim levels. The main issue with the Accord is that you must buy the top Touring trim to get the hybrid powertrain and the most desirable technology features. Also, make sure to choose one equipped with blind-spot warning, an important safety feature.

2023 Accord Hybrid average price: approximately $28,500

EPA-estimated fuel economy: up to 48 mpg combined

Small SUV: 2023 Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V is a longtime favorite for small SUV shoppers, and there are plenty of reasons why. The CR-V offers roomy seating, a smooth ride over bumps, and plenty of cargo space. As with the Accord, Honda redesigned the CR-V for the 2023 model year and equipped it with its latest hybrid powertrain. The Sport and Sport Touring trims come with the hybrid as standard. As with the Accord, the CR-V’s best infotainment tech features are available only on the top trim level. Blind-spot warning is not standard, so select accordingly.

2023 CR-V Hybrid average price: approximately $33,000

EPA-estimated fuel economy: up to 40 mpg combined

Midsize SUV: 2023 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

It wasn’t long ago that the idea of an eight-passenger, three-row midsize SUV offering fuel economy estimates in the mid-30s would have been considered an impossibility, but the Highlander Hybrid makes it a reality. This is a sensible SUV that’s easy to drive and can seat up to eight people with its third-row seat raised. That third-row seat is pretty small, though, so it’s best to think of it for occasional use only. The 2023 Highlander Hybrid received some tech upgrades, so look for one with the big 12.3-inch center touchscreen.

2023 Highlander Hybrid average price: approximately $44,000

EPA-estimated fuel economy: up to 36 mpg combined

Luxury vehicle: 2023 Lexus RX

When Americans decide to upgrade to a luxury car, they often pick this luxury SUV: the Lexus RX. It received a complete redesign for the 2023 model year and came in two hybrid flavors. The RX 350h is the more efficient and affordable one, while the RX 500h emphasizes power and performance over fuel economy. The RX is a midsize SUV seating five people, and both hybrid versions include standard all-wheel drive. For trim level and equipment variety, choose the RX 350h since the RX 500h is only available with the F Sport Performance trim.

2023 RX average price: approximately $49,000

EPA-estimated fuel economy: 36 mpg combined

Edmunds says

Affordability is a concern for most car buyers. If saving money is important to you, buying a used vehicle instead of a new one can save you thousands. Make it a fuel-efficient hybrid, and the savings will continue for years after the purchase.

____________

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Christian Wardlaw is a contributor at Edmunds.

The military said it would not probe three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. It said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct in Gaza and made decisions on the five cases.

Chef José Andrés, founder of U.S.-based World Central Kitchen, condemned the decision on X as “wrong and painful.”

The investigations involve killings that drew a heavy international outcry. Hind was trapped in a vehicle with her slain relatives, pleading for help by phone before she too was killed in February 2024. After the shooting of the 15 medics in March 2025, troops then bulldozed their bodies into a mass grave.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 people, including tens of thousands of women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Rights groups and U.N. commissions have said the campaign amounts to genocide and that Israeli forces have committed a litany of war crimes, including indiscriminate use of force and deliberate killings of civilians.

Israel denies accusations of genocide and war crimes and says it is targeting Hamas after its October 2023 attack on southern Israel. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group operates in populated areas in the tiny, overcrowded strip.

Israeli officials contend its justice system can address any violations by its troops, but rights groups say soldiers are almost never held accountable.

Wednesday's statement did not mention many other high-profile killings that Israel has pledged to investigate, such as its strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025, including Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news organizations.

The 5-year-old was the last alive in a stranded car

Hind's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, told the AP by phone that the Israeli investigation into her killing is not enough.

“An international investigation is required to uncover the truth and hold all those responsible accountable,” she said. “We call for justice, not only for Hind, but for all Gaza children.”

The military in Wednesday's statement admitted to firing at the car carrying the 5-year-old, four of her cousins and her aunt and uncle as they fled an Israeli invasion of Gaza City.

As gunfire sprayed around them, the girl's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic center, telling them her family had been killed. Seconds later, more gunshots were heard, and Layan’s screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call.

Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue Hind and stayed on the line with her until contact was lost. Hind, her five relatives and two medics from the ambulance were found dead 12 days later.

The military admitted Wednesday that troops had fired toward that ambulance, killing the two medics.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, director of the Belgium-based Hind Rajab foundation, told Al-Jazeera he considered the military investigations a “charade meant to whitewash the culprits instead of convicting them.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent also insists on an international investigation, said Raed al-Nims, a spokesman for the organization in Gaza. “Israeli measures are not enough,” he told the AP.

A movie docudrama about Hind's death, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” won international awards and was nominated for an Oscar.

The 15 medics had been trying to reach casualties

In the paramedics' killing, Israeli troops fired on an ambulance driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah, then fired on other emergency vehicles that came looking for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings. Fifteen medics and emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Gaza's Civil Defense were killed.

Troops then bulldozed over the bodies and vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The Israeli military initially said it opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on troops without headlights or emergency signals. But it backtracked after the footage emerged, showing the teams driving slowly with their emergency lights flashing and logos visible. A deputy commander was directed to step down over the killings.

“We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world,” Eid Azizi, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson, told the AP in a phone call. “We shouldn’t have reached this point if they respected and followed the international humanitarian law.”

Israel will not criminally probe World Central Kitchen strike

The military said it had decided against a criminal investigation into April 2024 airstrikes that hit a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven staffers.

The aid group, which distributes food in Gaza, said at the time it had coordinated with the military over the convoy's movement. The vehicles, which had the group’s logo on their roofs visible from the air, were left incinerated and mangled.

Wednesday's military statement said individuals in the vehicles were mistakenly identified as armed Hamas operatives. But it concluded that the commanders' decisions "did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.” At the time, two officers were removed from their positions and three others reprimanded.

World Central Kitchen responded in a statement saying the military’s account of the strike was untrue, “conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame.” It called for an independent investigation.

The military also decided not to take criminal action over the killings of four staffers from Doctors Without Borders in two separate instances in November 2023 and February 2024.

What happens next?

Military investigators will now take up the probes and present their findings to military prosecutors. The military advocate general can then decide to keep investigating, indict any soldiers involved or decline to charge them.

Any action will take a long time, if it comes at all, said Tal Steiner, head of the Israeli rights group HaMoked.

Indictments are very uncommon and convictions even more so, she said, recalling only one soldier who had spent time behind bars since Oct. 7, 2023, for alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners. That soldier was imprisoned for seven months under a June 2025 plea bargain.

“It’s very rare that soldiers accused of harming Palestinians even go to court ... and even rarer that they get a severe punishment,” Steiner said.

Just 0.17% of all military investigations launched during three Gaza operations from 2014 to 2022 led to prosecution, according to an analysis by Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

The war's toll keeps growing

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and abducted 251 others.

Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza since a ceasefire deal came into effect in October, killing at least 1,270 people, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children constitute about half of the dead. ___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Erin Cunningham in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide warnings Tuesday night for UAE residents to seek shelter, the first time in weeks such an alarm had sounded.

Early in the conflict, the UAE regularly came under intense fire from Iran, and most trade between the countries, which had once been important trading partners, ground to a halt. In late June, as hostilities eased, some maritime trade resumed, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Beyond the trade in domestically produced goods, “the UAE has been very important for Iran as a re-export hub and has helped the country absorb some of the shocks caused by sanctions,” Mohammad Farzanegan, a professor of Middle Eastern economics at Germany’s University of Marburg, told The Associated Press.

“Iran therefore depends heavily on the UAE, not because the UAE itself produces one-third of Iran’s imports, but because it serves as a major gateway for Iran to access third-country goods and commercial infrastructure.”

The UAE accuses Iran of firing missiles. Tehran denies it

Following the announcement that two ballistic missiles had been fired toward the UAE, both of which splashed down in the Persian Gulf late Tuesday, the Emirati Foreign Ministry said it decided to impose the punitive measures, while also saying it remained committed to “dialogue, cooperation and regional integration.”

The step halted all trade and financial transactions “until further notice,” the ministry said in a statement.

The UAE Defense Ministry said assessments showed that the missiles targeted maritime traffic. It was not clear whether they targeted Emirati ships or the country’s territorial waters.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei denied that Iran had launched any missiles toward the UAE.

As part of Iran's efforts to maintain a stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, it has regularly attacked ships attempting to use the waterway, including four tankers owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC oil and gas company over the past two weeks. None of the attacks caused injuries, but they brought harsh condemnation from the UAE and others in the region, including Kuwait and Bahrain.

Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly 20 ADNOC vessels have been attacked by missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one person and wounding another 20.

Iran's ability to control traffic through the strait, through which a fifth of traded oil and natural gas passed during peacetime, has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war. While the U.S. and Israel — which launched the war on Feb. 28 — have given various aims, including toppling Tehran's government and ending its nuclear program, the conflict has devolved into a fight over the strait.

U.S. President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that the strait was “open and operating” and posted a map depicting it as a U.S. territory. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi called him a “deluded man.”

Ten vessels transited the strait Tuesday, according to the MarineTraffic website, fewer than a tenth the number that typically sailed through before the war began, when there were no restrictions.

During the war, Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones in strikes that Tehran said were targeting U.S. assets but hit buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s commercial airport, ports and energy infrastructure.

Iran has accused the UAE and other U.S. allies in the Gulf of facilitating American military attacks on Iran, and Iran's chief of staff, Gen. Ali Abdollahi, issued a new warning Wednesday to “countries on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.”

“Any assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressor U.S. military amounts to participation alongside U.S. military forces,” he said in a statement distributed by Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency.

The UAE embargo could put new pressure on Iran

Before the war, the UAE was one of Iran's biggest trade partners, providing more than 30% of its imports valued at some $21 billion, according to the World Trade Organization's latest figures from 2024. It was the destination for nearly 13% of its exports worth some $7 billion.

The embargo carries its own risks, however, Farzanegan said.

“As a relatively small country seeking to remain a regional hub for business and finance while attracting tourists and investors, the UAE depends heavily on regional stability,” he said. “Any major conflict with Iran can therefore cause substantial damage to its economy.”

The Emirati announcement comes as the U.S. prepares to apply new economic pressure on Iran. Speaking last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measures would be a combination of economic isolation and the continued blockade of Iranian ports.

The economic pressure follows the intense bombing campaign that targeted industrial and civilian infrastructure in addition to military targets. Already the International Monetary Fund forecasts inflation of nearly 70% this year in Iran and an economic contraction of 5.4%. Meanwhile, its rial currency has hit record lows.

The helicopter crashed at 9:13 a.m. while flying from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which said in a statement that an investigation was underway. Six passengers and the pilot were on the helicopter.

David Nkoroi, the police commander for Samburu, told reporters that all seven people on board had died but did not reveal their identities.

Later Wednesday, NBCUniversal said its journalist José Alberto Suárez — president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49, and Telemundo Ft. Myers–Naples — was among those killed in the crash.

The helicopter crashed in a rugged area in the foothills of Mount Ololokwe, a popular tourist destination in the country, local media reported. The helicopter, owned by local company Lady Lori Helicopters, was carrying guests with travel company &Beyond. Lady Lori Helicopters said in a statement that the aircraft was operating a charter flight when it crashed.

Tropic Air Kenya, a local safari operator, said in a statement that it dispatched two of its helicopters to aid search and rescue operations.

The aviation authority said the aircraft was a Eurocopter EC130 B4.

The Kenya Red Cross said that its emergency response teams were “participating in a multiagency response effort as rescue teams work to access the crash site.”

Helicopter crashes have happened with increasing regularity in Kenya, which has a vibrant tourism industry that depends on domestic carriers to ferry visitors to distant places like Mount Ololokwe.

In February, a legislator was among six people who died after a helicopter crash in a hilly area of western Kenya.

___

This story has been corrected after a previous version erroneously said that local safari company Tropic Air operated the helicopter.

Meanwhile, France announced it will expel two Iranian diplomats in response to the expulsion of French diplomats from the Islamic Republic this week. And the Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator landed in neighboring Iraq for a three-day visit.

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

Israel's military plans criminal investigation into Gaza attacks

The Israeli military said it would investigate the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family members in February 2024, and the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in March 2025. Both drew international attention.

The announcement followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza. The military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.

Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle that also was carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive.

The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then bulldozed over the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Troops first shot at an ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 10 as ceasefire is in doubt

At least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two airstrikes in Gaza, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The attacks cast further doubt on whether new U.S. efforts can advance a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in Gaza, Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn, two witnesses and a Hamas official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.

— Samy Magdy and Wafaa Shurafa

Iran's parliament speaker and top negotiator visits Iraq

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in Iraq for a three-day visit where he will meet with Iraqi officials and leaders of an Iran-backed political coalition.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched drone attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets both within Iraq and abroad, piling pressure on Baghdad, which for years has delicately tried to maintain strong ties with both Washington and Tehran.

Qalibaf praised the country’s Tehran-backed militias, which he called the “resistance in Iraq," describing them as a “key component of the country’s national power.”

Iraq is asking Iran to grant special status to Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz because the country has been affected greatly by Iran's war with the U.S. and needs to guard its economic interests, according to a statement from Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi.

Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the strait. Since the war erupted and Iran asserted control over the strait, halting most shipping traffic, Iraq has turned to alternate routes, including sending oil over land to Syria, which is less efficient and more expensive.

France and Iran expel diplomats

France announced it will expel two staff members of the Iranian Embassy in France, in response to what the French Foreign Ministry described as an assault by Iranian security forces against two French diplomatic staff in the Islamic Republic last month.

Iran accused the French pair of taking part in a secret meeting with “suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The French diplomats were expelled on Monday.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot slammed the Iranian authorities for not investigating what he called a “premeditated and deliberate attack.” He called the allegations fabricated and said the two Iranians will leave Paris in the coming days.

___

Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

The retailer also benefited from a tariff refund of $994 million after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this year that the Trump administration had overstepped its authority when the tariffs were implemented.

There is a lot of interest in how tariff refunds from the U.S. government will impact retailers and whether those refunds will be used to lower prices for customers.

Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee, when asked about tariff refunds this week, said the company continues to invest in lowering prices. Target reduced the prices of more than 10,000 items over the past year and “there’s more to come even as we’re facing headwinds overall,” Lee said.

Comparable sales, those coming from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months, rose 3.8% in the second quarter. The company also upgraded its annual profit and sales outlook, citing the solid performance during the first half of the year.

Target is emerging from more than a year of weak comparable sales. A 5.6% jump in the first quarter offset a 3.8% decline in 2025. The second-quarter gain followed a 1.9% drop a year ago.

Target CEO Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran who became chief executive in February, said the latest quarter was “an important step forward in the plan we laid out earlier this year to open a new chapter of growth for Target.”

Target also reported an increase in the number of customers going to its stores and shopping on its website from May through July.

“We’re encouraged by the progress made so far, and we’re also clear-eyed about the important work still ahead,” Fiddelke said.

In March, Fiddelke unveiled a $6 billion plan to reverse Target’s sales slump and to reclaim the retailer’s reputation as a place to go for affordable yet stylish apparel and home goods.

More than half of Target’s back-to-school merchandise is new, the company said.

That includes a limited-time collection of teen and tween clothes, school supplies and accessories in pastel colors and floral prints from the women’s lifestyle brand LoveShack Fancy. Target also collaborated with Hollister on a dorm decor collection.

Target recruited fashion designer and TV personality Isaac Mizrahi this summer to fill the newly created role of creative director at large. Mizrahi has been brought in to mentor Target designers, advise on product design and innovation, and forge new partnerships.

It is Mizrahi's second partnership with Target. He became the first major fashion designer to collaborate with the retailer in 2002 for a successful run.

Fiddelke is also remodeling Target stores and improving staffing. The company has more than 100 full-scale remodels underway, with a goal of reaching 130 this year, Fiddelke said Tuesday.

During the second quarter, comparable store sales — sales from established physical stores — increased 2.7%, while increased same-day deliveries pushed digital comparable sales up 8.7%.

Target is one of the first big retailers to report second-quarter financial results, which could give industry analysts and economists another read on whether ongoing price pressures from the conflict in Iran impacted consumer behavior.

The Commerce Department released a report Friday showing weak retail sales in July. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, also released Friday, showed greater pessimism about the economy this month, likely driven by stubbornly high prices.

Target's overall sales increased in all six of its main merchandising categories, led by double-digit growth in what the company calls Fun 101 — a division that includes consumer electronics, toys, trading cards, sports paraphernalia, books and gaming items.

Target's beauty and food and beverage sales were also standouts. Target plans to roll out a new Target Beauty Studio concept next month in more than 600 locations. The new area, which will offer upscale beauty products and enhanced product expertise from staff, will partly replace its shops with Ulta, which is ending its partnership with the retailer in August, the company said.

On the other side, business in clothing and home goods hardly grew. Target executives said the work to improve these areas is ongoing.

Net income was $1.87 billion, or $4.11 per share, for the three months ended Aug. 1, easily beating the $2.34 per share that Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by FactSet. It also outpaced last year's $935 million, or $2.05 per share. Yet this year also included millions from tariff refunds, which amounted to $1.65 in earnings per share, Target said.

Net sales rose 5.3% to $26.54 billion for the period.

Target now expects sales to increase 5%, up from its earlier predictions for a 4% gain. It also expects earnings per share for the full year to be in the range of $9.90 to $10.90. Analysts expect $8.52 per share for the year, according to FactSet.

In May, Target reiterated its guidance from March for earnings per share to be near the high end of $7.50 to $8.50.

Customers could receive the drone deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes, Amazon said in a news release. The drones can carry packages up to 5 pounds.

The plan will intensify the battle between Amazon and Walmart to provide consumers with the fastest delivery times. Both giants rely on a mix of drones and drivers to deliver everything consumers have ordered.

The goal is not necessarily about cutting costs by replacing drivers and trucks — and drones that can only carry one package at a time would have a hard time doing that. But instead, these companies are using drones as one tool to help keep customers happy with quicker deliveries, banking on a faster delivery system attracting more shoppers.

Amazon’s plan would expand its drone delivery operation more than sixfold nationwide into hundreds of new communities, including the Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland and Boise metro areas. The drones will primarily fly in the suburbs well away from skyscrapers and major airports that could cause problems. Each drone site serves multiple cities in a metro area, and Amazon would not say exactly how many new sites it is planning to begin flying from.

Drone delivery is growing fast but remains a small factor

Hundreds of thousands of packages have already been delivered by Amazon drones this year, but even after this expansion drones will still only handle a fraction of the hundreds of millions of package deliveries each year. In addition to only being able to carry 5 pounds, the drones Amazon builds face countless challenges from tree cover to landscaping and inflatable pools that can make it hard to find a good drop zone.

There are also regulatory hurdles to overcome in every community where Amazon wants to set up operations. Noise concerns also pose a potential challenge.

“It’s still an experiment. It’s still in test and learn mode,” said Sucharita Kodali, who is a retail analyst with Forrester.

More than two decades have passed since Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first described his vision for drone deliveries in an interview on “60 Minutes,” which shows how hard it has been to develop the service, get all the needed approvals and prove the concept works.

Kodali said Amazon's expansion plan “does seem aggressive but remember that lots of the 500 may be small towns located in close proximity to one another. The coming soon list is actually only a handful of metro areas. Also ‘launching’ in a town doesn’t mean they are getting any meaningful sales.”

Walmart also uses drones in some locations as part of its delivery service, but the core part of its network relies on drivers to bring orders directly from its stores to customers. Walmart didn't immediately respond Wednesday to Amazon's announcement, but the retail giant said early this year that it planned to expand drone delivery service to 150 more stores in partnership with Wing, a division of Alphabet, to give it 270 drone delivery locations by 2027.

The novelty of drone delivery may attract orders at first

Initially, consumers might order something delivered by drone because they are curious about it, but it’s not clear how often they will continue to use the service, and Amazon is still working out the economics, Kodali said.

The service will be free for Amazon Prime members who are ordering more than $50 worth of goods, but smaller orders will cost members $2.99. Non-members will pay $4.99 for drone delivery.

Prime members get free deliveries while non-members pay a flat fee if the shipment is under $35 for standard delivery or up to $12.99 for same‑day shipments when available.

Kodali said drones could prove more useful for certain lightweight deliveries that are needed urgently like prescription medications.

DoorDash and other delivery companies also are experimenting with using drones to deliver foods and other goods.

Amazon CEO believes drone delivery will be part of the mix

Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy told shareholders in his annual letter in April that the company has learned a great deal by flying drones in 11 sites across Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas. In each location, the drones launch from an Amazon warehouse and cover about 175 square miles, so it takes multiple drone launching locations to serve a large metro area.

“Prime Air now has a design that’ll scale, plans to serve communities with 30 million customers by year-end, and expects to deliver half a billion packages by the end of this decade (with an aim to deliver inside 30 minutes),” Jassy wrote.

Amazon is also continuing to invest in its warehouses, smaller fulfillment centers closer to customers and its fleet of trucks as the company competes to deliver packages within minutes or hours instead of just days.

It's not clear that drone delivery is cheaper than trucks at this point because a team of people is needed to make drone delivery possible and those people might even earn more than a truck driver since they may have to be licensed drone pilots.

Amazon is already certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and the company has been awarded waivers to fly drones beyond the line of sight of the pilots. Amazon has invested in safety measures to help drones avoid collisions with anything else in the sky while they are making deliveries.

The federal government has proposed a rule that would allow more drone operators to fly beyond the horizon, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.

King Charles III announced on Feb. 5, 2024, that he was being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, breaking with the royal family’s tradition of keeping health concerns private. The king’s openness in talking about his diagnosis has been credited with persuading more men to be tested for prostate cancer and other forms of the disease.

The queen said she was “longing” to talk about Charles’ diagnosis when she opened a Maggie’s cancer support center at the Royal Free Hospital in London a week before the announcement but knew she couldn’t. Camilla has been president of Maggie’s, which runs cancer centers at 27 hospitals around the U.K., since 2008.

“Nobody could say anything at that time. That was quite difficult,” Camilla said in a video released Wednesday to mark the charity’s 30th anniversary. “I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn’t the time say.”

Recent updates on the king say his health is moving in a positive direction as he continues to receive cancer treatment.

Camilla’s eight-minute video is based on a conversation between the queen and Maggie’s Chief Executive Laura Lee, who said the number of men who visit the charity’s centers has risen 12% since the king announced his diagnosis.

Maggie’s provides information, counseling and other forms of support to help cancer patients overcome their fears and continue living while undergoing treatment.

Camilla said she better understood the need for such services after Charles’ diagnosis.

“Look at my husband, nothing stopped him,” she said. “He just said, ‘This is my way. I’m going to cope with it.’”

The German prosecutors said that the suspect was a “trained scuba diver” who belonged to a group of people who “planted explosives” on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm.

The undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged the pipelines, which had been built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

The suspect was “strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destruction of buildings and structures," the prosecutors' statement said. It said he was arrested in the Croatian seaside city of Pula and would be brought before an investigating judge at Germany’s federal court of justice after his extradition.

The German prosecutor's office identified the suspect only as Vladimir Z. in its statement announcing his arrest. A spokesperson, however, confirmed to The Associated Press that it was the same man who was arrested in Poland last year but was later released when a Polish court refused to extradite him to Germany. Polish authorities identified him as Volodymyr Zhuravlov.

Poland has long opposed the Nord Stream pipelines, viewing them as an attempt by Russia to use its vast energy resources to gain leverage across Europe. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time of Zhuravlov's extradition hearing that it would not be in Poland’s interest to hand him over.

It was not immediately clear why Zhuravlov left Poland given the arrest warrant that was out for him.

“Volodymyr knew that the ruling applies only on the territory of Poland,” his Polish lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, told the AP, adding that Zhuravlov's wife was also surprised that her husband was detained in Croatia.

The German government welcomed the arrest on Wednesday.

“We’re simply glad that the federal prosecutor’s office is making progress in these investigations, because it’s important that the bombing of the pipelines be clarified as well,” Justice Ministry spokesman Nicholas Limmer told reporters in Berlin.

Last month, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer in connection with the same explosions.

The suspect, identified only as Serhii K., faces charges of causing an explosion, damaging property, disrupting public service and being an “accomplice to war crimes” by attacking civilian objects.

Serhii K. was detained in August 2025 in an Italian village, where officers raided a bungalow where he was staying with his family. Police said he surrendered without resistance. He was extradited to Germany in November.

The suspects allegedly used a yacht that set off from the German port of Rostock. The yacht had been rented from a German company using forged IDs and intermediaries.

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies in August 2022. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia’s invasion.

Initially some officials in the West suspected that Russia might have carried out the explosions. But German investigators later pointed to suspected Ukrainian involvement.

Russia has accused the U.S. of staging the explosions, a charge Washington has denied. The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, which warned that they increased dependence on Russian gas.

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Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, and Fanny Brodersen in Berlin contributed reporting.

The State Department announced Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the move “very unfortunate” when asked about the sanctions by a reporter. “Japan will respond as we continue to maintain communication with related countries including the United States,” she added.

The Trump administration has now slapped sanctions on nine of the ICC's 18 judges, both of its deputy prosecutors, its former chief prosecutor and one other prosecution office staffer, the court said. The U.S. accuses the court of overstepping its mandate by investigating and seeking to prosecute senior military and political officials from countries, such as Israel and the United States, that are not members of the court.

In a statement, the court said that when “judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.” It said the court “will continue to fully discharge its mandate with independence and impartiality.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday branded the ICC “a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate.”

The move came weeks after Rubio announced that the U.S. was launching a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty.”

Rubio said he will pressure the court’s 125 member states to withdraw from the institution, sanction organizations that work with the court and ban staff from traveling to the United States.

Since then, Venezuela and Chad have announced they plan to leave the court, bringing the number of countries to pull out of the court in the past year to five. It takes a year for a country's decision to quit the court to be formalized.

The sanctions can impact the daily lives of court officials. They prevent the ICC officials and their families from entering the United States, block their access to even basic financial services making even going to a grocery store difficult.

Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who was sanctioned last year, lost access to her credit cards, and Amazon’s Alexa stopped responding to her. “Your whole world is restricted,” she told The Associated Press after she was targeted.

The court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, called the sanctions an “escalation” that “risks undermining ongoing investigations and impeding global efforts” to ensure justice reaches victims of global atrocities.

While Japan calls its alliance with the United States the cornerstone of its postwar foreign and security policies, Tokyo has had difficulty managing the relationship under Trump’s trade and security policies. Takaichi has been portrayed as weak for avoiding any criticism of Trump as her administration navigates weakened U.S. commitment in the region and deteriorating ties with China.

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Japanese opposition Democratic Party for the People, wrote on X that Trump’s sanctions were “outrageous and intolerable.” He urged Takaichi’s government to show its support for the ICC and reach out to the U.S. government to “have it retract this unjust sanction.”

ICC host nation the Netherlands and European powerhouse Germany both threw their weight behind the court.

German foreign office spokesman Martin Giese told reporters in Berlin that the ICC is “fulfilling its mission exactly as intended,” by holding to account perpetrators of grave crimes. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said he had invited Akane for talks “to discuss our continued support.”

Balkees Jarrah, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, called the sanctions “the latest example of the Trump administration’s utter contempt for international law and a naked attempt to shield American and Israeli officials implicated in serious crimes from justice.”

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration in a New York court last week to challenge its campaign against the ICC.

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Associated Press journalists Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C., Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

The 31-year-old Australian with a checkered disciplinary record was provisionally suspended after playing just 10 singles matches on the ATP tour, winning only two, since his peak season of 2022. Then, he reached the final at the grass-court Grand Slam and lost to Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios is now ranked 919th. He tested positive in June for the party drug during a lower-tier grass court event in Spain.

“I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for cocaine,” he wrote on his Instagram account. “I made a huge mistake and take full responsibility for it.”

It is the latest negative headline in the career of a talented though fiery personality, whose highest profile action on court in recent years was a curious “Battle of the Sexes” win over Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai last December.

Kyrgios faces a ban of up to four years, though a lighter sanction can be expected. Cocaine is banned as a doping substance during competitions, with lower sanctions applied when used away from events.

In a similar case in 2017, British player Dan Evans served a one-year ban imposed by the International Tennis Federation for testing positive for cocaine at the Barcelona Open.

Struggling with injuries

Kyrgios said he had difficulties coming to terms with being near the end of his career after two years of injuries.

“At times I’ve felt helpless and alone. None of that excuses what I did,” he said. He added the injuries "have taken a huge toll on me, both physically and mentally. My body hasn't been able to do what my mind expects it to do.”

Kyrgios has a 1-3 record in singles this year and got a wild card to play doubles at Wimbledon last month. He lost in the first round with partner Alexander Bublik.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency will prosecute the case and said the player's sample was taken on June 22 and the positive test was confirmed on July 17, after Kyrgios played at Wimbledon.

A mandatory provisional suspension was applied on Aug. 4 and has not been appealed by Kyrgios, the ITIA added.

Kyrgios sees a way back

“However, the good news is that this has given me a wake up call,” Kyrgios wrote, signaling his career is not over.

“For the next 28 days I'll be stepping away from social media and public life while I focus on getting myself right.”

Career decline since 2022

The most recent of Kyrgios' seven career singles titles was won in his first tournament after the Wimbledon final. He beat Yoshihito Nishioka in the final of the hard-court event in Washington, D.C., in August 2022.

Weeks later he reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals, losing to Karen Khachanov.

After a knee injury in Tokyo in October 2022, Kyrgios played just once in the next two years, citing a wrist injury to miss Wimbledon in 2023.

Kyrgios had a meager 1-4 record in the 2025 season, losing a first-round match in the Australian Open then skipping the next three Grand Slams.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

With control of the chamber on the line, Sullivan stepped up his attack against Peltola in the days leading to the primary, questioning her effectiveness while in Congress and seeking to align her with Lower 48 “liberals.” Peltola positioned herself as someone who would represent “regular” people and push back against special interests and wealthy politicians.

Both are seen as the leading candidates in November because of their fundraising and name recognition.

The Senate race was one of several being decided in Tuesday's primary, which also featured Alaska's only U.S. House seat and a wide open governor's race. Under the state’s open primary system, all candidates appeared on the same ballot. The four top vote-getters qualify for the ranked vote general election, but it was too early to call all candidates advancing in the top races.

In the House race, Republican Rep. Nick Begich advanced, along with independent Bill Hill. Two Democrats, former lawmakers Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, Nick Begich's uncle, advanced in the race for governor.

Voters Tuesday also approved a ballot measure that would reimpose campaign contribution limits, five years after a divided federal appeals court struck down a number of caps.

Senate race features 2 widely known candidates

Sullivan and Peltola were the highest-profile candidates among a field of 16 and vastly outraised the other competitors. The race, among a handful that could help determine control of the Senate, has drawn significant attention from outside groups, with Republican and Democratic campaign organizations identifying it as a top target.

Peltola, who in 2022 became the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, has tried to steer a centrist path and revived the “fish, family, freedom” slogan that first propelled her to office. But in the days before the primary, she shook up her campaign leadership. The campaign described the changes as “staffing updates as we transition into the general election.”

Sullivan, a veteran and ally of President Donald Trump who is seeking a third term, campaigned on supporting the military, opening more land for oil and gas extraction, and voting for Trump’s signature tax and spending law. He told supporters Tuesday that his office is “getting big things done.”

He said “D.C. Democrats” don't have a vision for the state but instead have placed a target on Alaska, such as opposing opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

He criticized Peltola as ineffective during her time in Congress. She lost reelection in 2024.

Peltola said she worked well with Sullivan as part of the state's three-person congressional delegation. But she said the Trump administration has brought challenges to Alaska, including cuts to the federal workforce, and she blasted Sullivan for his support of Trump’s tax and spending bill. She said the bill has not brought opportunity to Alaskans and accused Sullivan of voting for “corporate greed.”

“We’ve got to get working people — regular people — in” office, she told supporters.

A second Dan Sullivan garnered attention

A third candidate, a Republican also named Dan Sullivan, stole much of the attention ahead of the primary.

Dan J. Sullivan won a legal fight to appear on the ballot despite claims by the senator and GOP allies that he was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats with the intent of causing confusion. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, denied that and said frustration with the incumbent prompted him to run.

He appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation — a decision that a state elections official said was intended to minimize possible confusion. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent.

It was too early to determine whether he would be among the four Senate candidates in the general election.

Matchups in House, governor's races still taking shape

Nick Begich, who was endorsed by Trump, cast himself as hardworking and effective in his role in the U.S. House. He said results from the primary show that Alaskans are ready to return him to Congress.

Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small southwestern village, has made affordability a key issue in his campaign. He said Alaskans are tired of paying high costs for healthcare, gas and groceries.

“Begich and his buddies think they can play by a different set of rules than we do,” he said after advancing Tuesday. “The Alaskans I know don’t think that’s right.”

The governor's race was wide open with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive stint. The crowded field was mostly led by Republican tickets. A Democrat hasn't served as governor in Alaska since Tony Knowles left office in 2002.

Republicans in the race included Bernadette Wilson, a businessperson and conservative activist; Click Bishop, a former lawmaker; Dave Bronson, a former mayor of Anchorage; and Adam Crum and Treg Taylor, two former members of Dunleavy’s Cabinet.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage contributed to this report.

For months, the two countries have traded fire sporadically across their long, mountainous border, leaving hundreds of people dead. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan — a charge Kabul denies.

With the fighting have come border closures, severing a critical trade route and preventing Afghan producers from reaching what is the primary export market for many goods.

Unable to export their fresh fruit, Afghan grape producers have turned to the domestic market, where the increased supply has sent prices tumbling. To adapt, many producers are now drying their grapes and turning them into raisins — a cheaper product that sells for less.

In a long warehouse in Kandahar’s Zhari district, fans whirl overhead, stirring the hot summer air around bunches of plump, green grapes draped over sticks set up in rows to dry.

But even for raisins, prices have tanked.

Sakhi Jan, who owns a grape orchard in Zhari, says that with 10 people in his household to feed, he's barely getting by. Seven kilograms (15.5 pounds) of raisins used to sell for around 1,000 to 1,200 afghanis ($13 to $16), he says. Now, the same amount sells for just 400-450 afghanis ($5-$6).

In a country where poverty is rife and malnutrition strikes the most vulnerable, such income losses can be critical.

“We are grateful, but things aren’t like they used to be, the struggle is much harder now,” Jan said. “In the past, work was steady, we used to sell some grapes, and people generally had good work but now the hardship is immense.”

Opening the border crossings and allowing trade to flow once more is critical, he stressed.

“We urge both our government and Pakistan to open these routes and reach an agreement,” he said. “The current situation is causing great hardship.”

Abdul Baqi Bina, the deputy director of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said the border closure has dealt a severe blow to Afghanistan's fruit exports — not just grapes, but also pomegranates.

In 2025, five southern Afghan provinces that make up the country’s main grape-producing region exported 44,225 tons — $13.8 million worth of grapes. Nearly all — 43,000 tons — went to Pakistan and the remainder headed to Bangladesh, Iraq and India, Bina said. So far this year, only 256 tons have been exported, at a value of $100,000.

For grape exporter Haji Abdul Hai, it has been a disaster.

“In my 50 years of life, I have never seen these roads closed to the extent they are now,” he said, adding that previous border closures would usually last for a few days, or one crossing would close while another remained open.

“But now, we are facing truly major difficulties,” he said.

Last year, the orchard where Qudratullah Popal worked picking grapes employed about 1,500 workers. This year, Popal said the number has plummeted to around 15.

“There have been good harvests. Grapes turned out well, but the issue is they cannot be exported to other countries. They are being sent to domestic locations … where there is already an abundance of grapes,” he said.

“When routes are blocked and trade halts, everyone’s livelihood is paralyzed, traders, laborers and orchard owners alike,” Popal said.

Data from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed the outbreak had so far recorded 5,021 cases, including 2,378 deaths as of Sunday, as it rages in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable fueled by insecurity, displacement and intense population movements.

The outbreak has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other outbreak in history. The World Health Organization estimates it will likely surpass the outbreak of 2014 to 2016 across West Africa, which was the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

Starting from the first detected case, the current outbreak has spread about three times faster than the deadliest on record.

The outbreak “has spread rapidly and the risk of further national and international spread remains high,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday at a meeting convened by the agency.

“We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” he said.

Thérèse Anyiya, a nurse working in Ituri’s capital Bunia, said she is exhausted by the work demands and poor working conditions. Some health workers have gone on strike after not being paid.

“If the managers don’t take things seriously, we too will end up withdrawing. The way this epidemic is being managed is exhausting,” Anyiya told The Associated Press.

A key challenge has been the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak. Most new cases are being reported outside of the people being monitored, showing it has spread quickly and left surveillance teams racing to catch up.

Lack of information in Ituri causes attacks on health workers

Ituri, the province that has been hit the worst by the outbreak, has become a primary location for violence that has limited the response as health workers are targeted.

Residents on Monday attacked a health team in the territory of Aru after a suspected case was reported there. A mob set fire to an ambulance and damaged two other vehicles, according to Michael Wani, president of the Union of Cultural Associations for the Development of Ituri.

Dr. Martin Cwinyay, who is involved in the Ituri response efforts, explained it is “essential to bring the response closer to the people, particularly in rural, mining and displacement areas.”

Trish Newport, an emergency coordinator with Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said not all the people in the impacted areas have the essential information they need.

“The community needs to be aware about the outbreak. They need to be involved in the response. They need to know what the signs and symptoms are and what to do if they get sick,” Newport said.

Limited care is resulting in more deaths

Experts believe the virus began spreading from the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February, months before authorities declared the outbreak on May 15.

Responders racing to catch up are also battling several other challenges including threats by rebel groups, anger from communities that have been traumatized for years and bad roads into the affected territories.

Although the 2014-2016 outbreak is considered the deadliest among the virus types that causes Ebola disease, government data shows this Bundibugyo outbreak has killed a higher percentage of people as care and support are not getting to patients quickly enough, while many are not reporting symptoms or doing so late.

The situation also varies across the six affected provinces. While the case fatality rate is so far 47.4%, it is far worse in some places where response efforts are more challenging, such as in North Kivu province where the fatality rate is 70%.

The stunning developments came a day after Ukraine’s recently fired defense minister demanded national elections, despite Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

Although Zelenskyy was not implicated in the graft investigation, it threatened to pull him into another political crisis and provide another test of his resilience.

Investigators gave few details of the probe. It has identified a group of people alleged to have laundered 150 million hryvnias ($3.4 million) to pay bail for a defendant in a major graft case last year, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said.

That case, involving the state-owned nuclear power company, brought the resignations of Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers.

The latest suspects include a former lawmaker, the chairperson of a state bank’s board and the head of the bank’s supervisory board, as well as a deputy head of the presidential office, the agency said.

Zelenskyy made no public comment on the investigation but issued a decree dismissing Iryna Mudra as deputy head of the Office of the President. Investigators have not named her as a suspect.

Investigators searched Mudra’s office Wednesday, said lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko.

Zelenskyy remains dogged by high-level graft investigations, although he has never been named as a suspect even as the probes have engulfed officials close to him. Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and later was named as a suspect in a major graft probe involving a luxury construction project in the biggest threat to Zelenskyy’s government since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The European Union has identified deep-seated corruption as one of the major hurdles to Ukraine's desired membership in the bloc.

Zelenskyy's former aide wants a wartime election

Zelenskyy is already under pressure over his firing last month of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the longest-standing members of his team and a close ally since helping him win the 2019 presidential election.

Zelenskyy, seeking to reconcile tensions between the Defense Ministry's young and tech-savvy innovators and Ukraine's seasoned, Soviet-trained battlefield leaders, risked angering both sides by reshuffling his wartime leadership. He ousted both Fedorov, whose changes to military procurement aimed to stamp out corruption, and commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

That sparked sustained street protests supporting Fedorov. For Zelenskyy, it was the second time in a year that a move triggered a strong public backlash, after he tried to curb the powers of anti-corruption agencies in 2025.

Fedorov, in an address posted to YouTube late Tuesday, called for elections — appearing to directly confront Zelenskyy, whose term expired in 2024. Ukraine's constitution prohibits such a vote under martial law.

“We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war,” Fedorov said.

He said Ukraine faces a crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine’s ability to fight.

Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately comment on Fedorov’s address. It was not immediately clear whether Fedorov's appeal would resonate with Ukrainians.

Also on Wednesday, lawmakers approved Zelenskyy's candidate, Maj. Gen. Yevhenii Khmara, as the new defense minister, a move that effectively closes the door to Fedorov’s return to the post, which he has sought, anytime soon.

Lawmakers also gave their consent for Andrii Sybiha to stay on as foreign minister after serving in an interim role.

Political disarray follows Ukrainian wartime successes

The political disarray follows recent successes for Ukraine in the war. Using innovative drone technology, it has repeatedly hit Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages. It has also shocked the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, and stalled front-line advances by Moscow's bigger army.

But Zelenskyy has been unable to get traction in U.S.-led peace efforts, and Ukraine is at the mercy of Russia's ballistic missiles because more U.S.-made Patriot interceptors aren't available due to low international stockpiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has balked at negotiating a peace deal directly with Zelenskyy.

In its latest attack, a Ukrainian drone hit an oil refinery in Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan, its Gov. Radiy Khabirov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. There are three oil refineries in Ufa, and all have been attacked.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 453 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, as well as Russian-held Crimea and the Black Sea.

It said Russian forces on Tuesday hit a bulk carrier in the Black Sea, southeast of Odesa, that was carrying military equipment. On Wednesday, the Russian military struck what it said were fuel and lubricant storage tanks for the Ukrainian armed forces in the southern port of Chornomorsk.

A Russian drone struck a minibus in Kherson in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing four people, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration, adding that four women were wounded. Another Russian drone struck a civilian car in the regional capital, killing a woman, he said.

Amid the fighting, Russia and Ukraine swapped 103 prisoners of war, according to Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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

Three years later, after weeks of news stories presenting evidence that he was a plagiarist and fabulist, Arday, 41, was found dead on Friday at his apartment in south London.

His death quickly led to a blame game. Cambridge has been criticized for elevating Arday in a rush to promote diversity, despite red flags about his qualifications, and the news media has been targeted for driving him to despair when his credentials and life story began to unravel under intense scrutiny.

Universities are being criticized over ‘due diligence’

James Cleverly, a Black member of Parliament and former Cabinet minister, said some universities “failed to do the proper due diligence.”

“We see now that he was not completely honest and he clearly did have frailties and failings,” Cleverly told Times Radio. “But he was teed up by a number of academic institutions because they desperately wanted a wunderkind. They desperately wanted to play on the fact he was young and Black and good-looking, and they wanted him to be their poster child.”

But Patrick Vernon, who was recently knighted for his work on racial equality, focused on the media.

Coverage of the Arday story was out of proportion to his position in society, reflecting a higher standard for people of color, Vernon said.

“He’s not the prime minister of this country. He’s not a current secretary of the civil service or local government or the (National Health Service) or a chief executive of a major PLC. … But he was treated at the same standard, which is outrageous,” Vernon said.

Cambridge trumpeted Arday's arrival in 2023

Cambridge hired Arday as a professor of sociology of education in February 2023, when he was 37.

In announcing the appointment, Cambridge highlighted his place as the youngest Black professor in the university’s history and described him as a “respected scholar” focused on increasing the representation of Black, Asian and other minorities in higher education. Arday achieved this stature, the university said, even though he was born with a form of autism spectrum disorder that left him unable to speak until he was 11 and unable to read or write until his late teens — aspects of his biography that have since been questioned in news stories.

British universities have been working to hire more academics from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds so that their faculties better reflect the broader society.

There were 270 Black professors at U.K. universities during the 2024-25 academic year, up from 120 in 2016-17, according to data published by the Society for Research into Higher Education. Black scholars still represent just 1% of all U.K. professors, even though Black people make up about 4% of the working age population, the data shows.

Questions about Arday's qualifications became public last month

Nathan Cofnas, a one-time Cambridge researcher who left the university after his vitriolic comments about diversity programs and minorities sparked widespread protests, said he had found evidence of plagiarism in Arday’s Ph.D. thesis. The Times of London and other newspapers picked up the story, publishing an analysis of the thesis and highlighting multiple passages they said were “identical or near-identical” to an earlier paper by another academic.

The news media also questioned Arday’s claims about astounding personal accomplishments, such as running 30 marathons in 35 days, and raising 5.5 million pounds ($7.4 million) for charity.

The public scrutiny was partly fueled by the impending publication of Arday’s memoir, “Great and Unfortunate Things.” Simon & Schuster published the book last week in the U.S., and it is scheduled to be published in the U.K. on Aug. 27.

Cambridge initially stood by Arday

After initially standing by Arday, Cambridge said Aug. 5 that it was opening an investigation after receiving “new information” about his qualifications. Arday resigned later that day.

The ceremonial head of Cambridge on Sunday defended the university’s decision and criticized media coverage of Arday.

“I do believe it is possible to hold to two principles at the same time: To believe in the importance of academic integrity, and, where criticisms of plagiarism arise about any academic, whoever they are, ensure that they are rigorously investigated, and also to refuse to join in a racist feeding frenzy over a particular academic,” Chancellor Chris Smith told the BBC.

An open letter demands an investigation of media coverage

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 120,668 people had signed an open letter calling on the government to commission a public inquiry into media coverage of Arday.

The letter alleges that media organizations kept up their coverage of Arday even after Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre, publicly warned that their focus on a “vulnerable autistic man” raised “safeguarding issues.” Circulated by the Good Law Project, a campaign group, the letter says Arday and other prominent Black people have been subject to “press harassment with racist overtones.”

Steven Barnett, a professor of communications at the University of Westminster, put the onus on British newspapers, not social media. The mainstream press published 289 stories about Arday in 22 days, almost two-thirds of them after he resigned, he said.

No one should doubt that he was overwhelmed by the scrutiny because Arday himself said it was more than anyone could bear, Barnett said. “I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate the impact that those newspapers, those publishers, have had in this particular case,” he said.

The news media reject criticism of the Arday story

Charles Moore, a former editor of the Daily Telegraph who writes about education, rejected that criticism in a column on Monday.

If Cambridge had properly investigated concerns about Arday that surfaced as early as 2023, he wouldn’t have suffered the shame caused by widespread media coverage, Moore wrote.

Rather than trumpeting Arday’s position as the university’s youngest ever Black professor, Cambridge “could quietly have nurtured his talents and sorted out his problems, which were surely those of a young man out of his depth rather than a brazen impostor,” he said.

“It was the university, not the press, which was obsessed with the color of Dr. Arday’s skin,” Moore wrote.

Columnist Sarah Ditum, writing in the Times of London, said Arday was a legitimate news story because his actions hurt the academics he plagiarized, public confidence in the rigor of his discipline and other early-career lecturers against whom he competed. But she acknowledged that the story was given extra oxygen because it broke during the summer, when Parliament is closed and journalists are desperate for something to write about.

“Academic plagiarists don’t usually make headlines, but Arday was not any old academic,” Ditum wrote.

“He was publishing a high-profile memoir with celebrity blurbs,” she added. “He had chosen the spotlight.”

Vernon, meanwhile, encouraged people to remember there was a man, a husband and father behind the headlines. He has created a GoFundMe campaign to help Arday’s family that has already raised more than 211,805 pounds ($288,489).

“This tells you that Britain still cares about justice, they care about inequalities,” he said. “And more importantly they really want to support Jason and his family in their hour of need.”

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This story has been updated to correct that Wednesday was the most recent tally of signatures on an open letter calling for the government to look into media coverage of Arday.

Graham, a political novice, was asked whether the U.S. has a national security interest in Taiwan and the South China Sea — a longstanding contention of both Democratic and Republican administrations. She struggled to answer before admitting “national security is not my thing.”

“I’m not that informed on national security,” she added.

Her rival in next week's runoff for the GOP nomination, Rep. Ralph Norman, suggested the answer showed Graham was unqualified for the role.

“By her choice, she’s running for the United States Senate. It’s a six-year term,” Norman said. “You need to get fully versed in what issues you’re going to be dealing with. This isn’t a get training on the job, you can’t do that.”

It was a moment that drew a stark contrast to Graham’s brother, Lindsey, who died unexpectedly on July 11. It also gave Norman, an established conservative politician, a fresh avenue of attack as he tries to overcome President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Graham in her first campaign. The Republican president is set to visit South Carolina on Friday to campaign for her.

During his decades in the Senate, Lindsey Graham was known for his foreign policy involvement, making countless foreign trips, sometimes as part of a group of U.S. lawmakers meeting with international leaders and observing contentious areas firsthand.

There were multiple trips to Taiwan, including in 2022, when he led a delegation for a two-day visit that included meetings with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the island’s defense minister.

Darline Graham had been asked, “Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States and if so, why or how?”

Graham avoided a direct response, and instead mentioned her brother's wealth of experience and her desire to lead differently.

“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military,” said Graham, who often read from a legal pad on which she had notes, its pages draped over the front of her lectern. “My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here; national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”

Candidates were not allowed to bring notes into the debate, but Graham spent several minutes before the broadcast began copiously writing on her legal pad. Norman wrote down a few things but not as extensively.

As interim senator, Graham is surrounded by many of her brother's Capitol Hill staff, many of whom worked with him for years on issues foreign and domestic. She's repeatedly thanked them for getting her up to speed on legislative issues and has pointed to her several weeks on the job as a productive time in which she's gotten legislation passed, including a Russia sanctions bill named for her brother.

In the wake of her brother’s death, Graham has been asked multiple times about how she would either further or shift away from his intense focus on national security, an attitude that was at the essence of his Senate portfolio.

Asked after the debate by reporters if she wanted another crack at her answer to moderators' question, she doubled down, saying she was more focused on South Carolinians' everyday concerns.

“They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly,” Graham said. “So that’s going to be my biggest focus.”

Graham added that she had spoken multiple times during the debate about the overall national security threat posed by China.

“I realize national security is very important,” Graham said. “I probably said 10 times up there tonight how bad China is, how they’re a national threat to us.”

Taiwan has often been a flashpoint for aggression from China and international efforts to support its right to self-rule. The U.S. maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity over whether it would defend Taiwan militarily if the mainland invaded, but has committed to bolstering the island's defense for generations.

Claimed by China as part of its territory, Taiwan sits along a South China Sea global trade route, virtually all of which China claims despite a 2016 arbitration ruling based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims.

During a visit to Manila this week, Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, said that American special operations forces are ready to step up warfighting-readiness exercises with counterparts in the Philippines and other countries in Asia to further strengthen a security alliance and help deter a major conflict in the region.

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

They are growing in numbers and in political and cultural clout. That’s bringing their vision of faith, Jewish identity and civic practices into conflict with other Israelis, both religious and secular. Distrust spirals on all sides.

Mass protests over proposed changes to the exemption from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men highlight the most contentious issue as the country approaches three years of war on multiple fronts — and national elections where ultra-Orthodox parties are likely to be kingmakers.

At the core of ultra-Orthodox doctrine is the belief that studying scripture — and teaching it to family and community — is the highest duty, above working or joining the armed forces even in wartime.

Judith Rosenblum, who has seven sons and one daughter, believes that ultra-Orthodox practice is under threat from secular culture, and that conscripting young men into the military can “compromise” their religious practice.

But when she ran into an acquaintance whose grandson lost two legs and an arm in the war in Gaza, she was proud to relay that three of her sons also signed up to serve after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

“If all my kids were cut out for full-time Torah learning and had the money to support themselves doing so, for sure that would be a preference,” Rosenblum said. “But my kids who left full-time Torah study are amazing human beings. And I believe that they did the right thing by going into the army and participating in the defense of the country.”

Full-time Torah study anchors ultra-Orthodox beliefs

In Hebrew, the ultra-Orthodox are called Haredim. The term was first used in the late 19th century by several rabbis and is derived from the Prophet Isaiah’s description of being “fearful or astounded by the word of God,” according to Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld.

"God’s word is not supposed to be intuitive; you have to look deeply,” said Gershenfeld, who grew up in Philadelphia but has lived in Israel, studying and teaching the Torah, for half a century. “Understanding the Torah is the crucial mission of life.”

He runs two Jerusalem yeshivas — or seminaries — for ultra-Orthodox boys and men.

Such institutions are “the beating heart of the community,” said Rabbi Heshy Grossman, an administrator at a prominent yeshiva in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot.

Inside the residential yeshiva, students aged 17-22 in white shirts and black pants spend long days praying, studying and discussing sacred texts and commentaries. Etl Lovy, 22, is completing his five years of study at the age when families start matchmaking for marriage.

“We have a lot of belief in what we’re learning,” he said a day before the start of summer break.

The Torah guides every moment of daily life

Lovy enthusiastically described how days begin at 7 a.m. with a prayer and continue with Talmud studies until late evening, learning “all commands from God and how to get close to him.”

As he took a sip of water on the hot day, he whispered a prayer. “Everything comes from the one above,” he explained with a smile.

For the ultra-Orthodox, each commandment and each good deed is not just a God-given obligation, but a way to find fulfillment and holiness.

And the highest one is studying God’s word — especially for men. Women receive a broader education in secular subjects like math, and they are expected to work while also raising large families. Ultra-Orthodox Jews believe many forms of birth control are opposed to God’s will, a view held by other conservative faiths but not all branches of Judaism.

“My life is not about making money, or building a nice house,” said Lovy, who plans to continue to study the Torah while his future wife works.

For the ultra-Orthodox, “every second of life is devoted to God,” said Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, adding that other Jews will either follow suit or “disappear into the mainstream.”

“The Orthodox are fighting assimilation,” said Feldman, who in his late 90s has witnessed the growth of the practice and still writes columns for a popular Haredi weekly magazine. “If you don’t study Torah and observe the commands, you become like any other Mediterranean country.”

He added that the ultra-Orthodox follow civil law so long as it doesn’t interfere with religious belief, such as forbidding or “affecting” the study of the Torah.

The ultra-Orthodox Jews’ complicated relationship with Israel

Much of the Torah studies tradition was lost during the Holocaust. When the state of Israel was founded shortly after, it gave ultra-Orthodox scholars special rights so they could rebuild, said Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, director of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Religion and State Program.

That included an exemption from the military draft, originally for a few hundred scholars and in later decades broadened by conservative governments to everyone who wanted to engage in Torah learning full-time, she said. The same body of men was also largely outside the workforce.

But the ultra-Orthodox have grown rapidly, outpacing other Israelis. Ravitsky Tur-Paz estimates they will be about 25% of the population by 2050, and about 40% of the potential army draft.

“Israelis aren’t concerned about the Haredi way of life; they’re concerned about their way of life,” she said, adding that includes everything from welfare tax impacts to how much time non-Haredi Israelis might need to serve in the reserves. “The question is, who’s paying the price for your choice of life? This has become the issue everyone is talking about.”

For many ultra-Orthodox, there’s no debate — they’re fulfilling their individual obligation to God, and nothing else matters more.

“The importance of the Torah is a genuine feeling, and not just an escape, not just an excuse,” Rosenblum said. “Haredi world will put Torah first, and then Israel.”

Fewer than 10% of ultra-Orthodox men reaching the conscription age of 18 enlist, according to a parliamentary committee, and they usually join separate units accommodating their religious practices. Reacting to a recent bill protecting the ultra-Orthodox from draft evasion prosecution, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, called such exemptions "inconceivable” while troops are being asked for “unprecedented sacrifice.”

But most ultra-Orthodox rabbis are adamant about their youths' exemption from the draft, to avoid “diluting their piety” at a critical age. Other Jewish men in Israel are required to serve for nearly three years, and women for two years.

“Studying the Torah is itself a spiritual protection,” Feldman added — an argument wearing thin with many Israelis, especially since about 1,000 troops have been killed fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon since the 2023 attack.

Asked if he had any qualms about his peers serving as soldiers while he devotes his life to studies, Lovy, the yeshiva student, said he prays “all the time” for soldiers.

“But we think because we believe in the Bible, we believe this is the right way to live. We don’t apologize,” he said. “I’m doing what God wants.”

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Africa's most populous country will hold the election against a backdrop of worsening economic and security crises that have caused anger among voters against Tinubu's government.

The presidential vote will be held Jan. 16 alongside parliamentary elections, while gubernatorial elections will be held Feb. 6.

Tinubu is challenged by 18 opposition candidates but analysts predict a three-man race, including the two top contenders that he defeated in 2023. They are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, a serial presidential candidate, and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, a former state governor who blew the last race wide open with his mass appeal to Nigeria’s youth.

Historically, the ruling party in Nigeria's presidential elections usually has a higher chance of winning when the race features more than one prominent opposition candidate.

Tinubu unpopular among young voters

Tinubu was elected president in 2023 after campaigning on promises to build on his predecessor's efforts to deliver democratic dividends to citizens in a country grappling with deadly security crises, corruption in the government, and widespread poverty and hunger.

But critics say the president has not met those expectations and has become unpopular among many of Nigeria's mostly young voters. His massive economic reforms and their poor implementation has had a knock-on effect on the price of just about everything, resulting in the country's worst economic hardship in a generation.

Nigeria's challenges, notwithstanding, analysts say the split opposition could give Tinubu a higher chance of winning as was the case in 2023. In that year's election, Tinubu emerged ahead of multiple prominent opposition candidates but recorded one of the lowest vote percentages ever for an elected president, showing how unpopular he was.

An opposition coalition formed by Atiku and Obi among others in 2025 to unseat Tinubu collapsed before it took off.

“Voters are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the administration’s handling of inflation, insecurity and unemployment but because the anti-incumbent vote is split, the president has the edge,” said Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based risk advisory firm.

The president has solidified his base

Tinubu has also shored up his support base through the defections of erstwhile opposition figures, with 31 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors now members of his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The defections had prompted fears of a one-party state, which the national government denied.

In a country where current and former governors command massive grassroots support and are often accused of working with local electoral officials to manipulate election results, analysts say the defections could work in Tinubu’s favor.

The Nigerian leader began his administration with centerpiece economic reforms. At his inauguration in May 2023, he announced the removal of the decades-long fuel subsidy and later floated the local naira currency by ending its distorted foreign exchange rate, which caused a major devaluation.

The bold reforms, which Tinubu’s government argues saved the economy and handed the government more money, were cheered by investors but resulted in soaring inflation.

Nigeria's security woes have also persisted in recent years with more mass kidnappings and killings, and have further spread to regions that were once spared the violence.

“No matter how bad things are, Tinubu will still win because they are not working together,” said Juliet Onah, a resident in the capital of Abuja, referring to the opposition candidates not uniting as one front.

The company, founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Wang Xingxing in the eastern Chinese technology hub of Hangzhou, raised around 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style STAR market. The shares were priced at 150.80 yuan ($22.36) a share. Its shares closed 460% higher at 845 yuan ($125.31).

Advanced robotics, often referred to as “embodied” artificial intelligence, is a key sector in the heated technology rivalry between China and the U.S. China leads the U.S. in terms of production capacity of humanoid robots and the ability to scale up manufacturing.

Last year, of the roughly 15,000 humanoid robots shipped globally, Unitree and AGIBOT, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, each shipped more than 5,000, according to technology research and advisory group Omdia, way ahead of their U.S. counterparts. For the first half of 2026, Omdia’s estimates put Chinese humanoid robot makers’ total global shipments at around 18,500 units.

But analysts say for now, many of these humanoid robots are still mainly used for demonstrations, performances and research rather than real-world applications. Unitree's humanoid robots, for example, dazzled audiences at China's annual Spring Festival gala by performing backflips and martial arts.

“The real competitive test will be whether companies – Chinese or American – can achieve reliable performance and attractive returns on investment in large-scale industrial and commercial deployments,” analyst Kangyuxiao Li at investment research firm Morningstar said in a commentary.

Unitree said proceeds from the IPO will be used for advanced robot research and development and development of its robot manufacturing base.

The company is the first publicly traded humanoid robotics maker in mainland China. Analysts believe the IPO could set a precedent for valuations of other robotic company stock offerings.

It “gives mainland investors direct exposure to one of the sector’s leading companies,” said Li at Morningstar.

Unitree's debut coincided with the World Robot Conference in Beijing, featuring more than 300 exhibitors. Chinese leaders made robots a development priority.

UBTech, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, has shares traded in Hong Kong. Its shares fell more than 10% on Wednesday.

Unitree reported about 1.7 billion yuan (about $250 million) in revenue in 2025, mainly from sales of its humanoid robots and quadruped robots, often referring to four-legged robot dogs. More than 40% of that revenue was from overseas.

Last year, the U.S. accounted for roughly 13% of Unitree’s revenue, the company said. But that was before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission banned imports of new foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots in July on national security grounds.

Unitree cautioned that the U.S. ban, which it said applies to its new models, could affect its future sales in the U.S. market. Existing models of its advanced robots can still be sold, but Unitree faces the risk that the U.S. could further expand its restrictions.

Lian Jye Su of Omdia said Chinese robot makers will likely seek to expand in major markets outside of the U.S., such as Europe.

Carson Kelly led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left off Trevor Richards (0-1). The White Sox intentionally walked Crow-Armstrong before Bregman delivered the Cubs' MLB-leading 13th walk-off win of the season.

Bregman singled in pinch-runner Kevin Alcantara off Grant Taylor in the seventh to tie the score.

Crow-Armstrong led off with a home run, his 31st, for the second straight game and sixth time this season. He homered in consecutive at-bats after his first career walk-off shot Monday.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Crow-Armstrong is the first player in MLB history with two leadoff home runs and a walk-off in a two-game span, and the 13th since 1900 to follow a walk-off homer with a leadoff shot.

Crow-Armstrong also hit leadoff home runs in back-to-back games June 15-16 against Colorado.

Jacob Webb (6-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win, the Cubs' eighth straight over the White Sox at Wrigley Field.

Colson Montgomery had three hits for the White Sox, who saw their AL Central lead shrink to four games over the Minnesota Twins. The Cubs remained 4 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

The game was delayed 88 minutes by rain in the eighth inning.

After White Sox opener Bryan Hudson gave up first-inning solo home runs to Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, Erick Fedde worked 4 2/3 shutout innings.

The Cubs' Kevin Gausman gave up three runs on seven hits before exiting the game in the fifth with a left (non-throwing) hand cramp.

After Drew Romo's RBI single in the second, Munetaka Murakami hit his 29th home run in the third. Tristan Peters put the White Sox ahead in the fourth with an RBI double.

Up next

The White Sox have not named a starter for Wednesday's series finale against Cubs RHP Clay Holmes (5-5, 2.56 ERA).

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Brewers equaled baseball’s modern-era record for the biggest shutout with a power surge that included three-run homers from Christian Yelich, David Hamilton and Luis Lara and a two-run shot by Jake Bauers.

The Brewers have 117 home runs this season, the fewest in baseball, but as was pointed out by Seattle manager Dan Wilson, they have multiple players with the ability to go deep.

“They’ll put bunts down and put pressure on the bases and steal bags,” Wilson said before the game. “They also have the ability to hit the home run. You kind of have to prepare for all areas of the game.”

The Brewers also generated offense doing what they do best, pulling off a double steal in a five-run fifth inning that helped break open a tight game.

The 78-48 Brewers matched a franchise record for runs in a game, tying the 22 runs they scored at the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 28, 1992. The Brewers also had a season-high 22 hits.

“It’s one game but a pretty darn good performance,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’d like to order that every night.”

The only other 22-0 victories since 1901 were by Pittsburgh over the host Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975 and by Cleveland at the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004.

Yelich connected for his ninth homer of the season, a three-run shot off Bryce Miller in the fifth. The Brewers tacked on five more runs in the sixth.

“It’s kind of crazy. It happened fast,” Yelich said. “It’s always fun to be on this side.”

Bauers smiled as he struggled to find words to describe the Brewers offensive outburst.

“I’ve got nothing for you on that one,” Bauers said. “It was just good performance all around. Just good at-bats all night up and down the lineup.”

Bauers hit his team-leading 22nd home run of the season in the sixth inning and he’s now reached base safely in 20 consecutive games.

The Brewers tagged Mariners infielder Leo Rivas, who came on to pitch in the eighth, for nine runs, which included a three-run home run from 21-year-old rookie Lara, his first career homer.

Lara took some good-natured ribbing about whether the homer counted since he hit it off a position player, but he was in a celebratory mood.

“For me, it all counts,” Lara said through an interpreter. “But I understand that it may not be common to get your first (home run) against a position player.”

Bauers and Yelich backed their young teammate.

“It’s a hard game. Every bloop single, dribbler single, home run off a position player, they all count,” he said.

Yelich urged Lara to embrace the moment.

“The first career homer is always cool,” he said. “Anytime you get to jog around the bases in a major league game is always special. It was cool for him to get his first one and smile and laugh about it.”

The Brewers also used a position player on the mound, veteran catcher/first baseman Gary Sanchez, with a much different result. Sanchez pitched a scoreless ninth with many in the announced crowd of 36,870 standing and cheering.

It was the third career pitching appearance for Sanchez and second this season. He has tossed two scoreless innings in the pair of outings the season.

“He did great. He was a showman as always,” Bauers said. “The crowd was involved. They loved it. He loved it. We loved it. But I still think he’s a better catcher than a pitcher.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

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The races voters see on their ballot will depend on their party affiliation and where they live in Monroe County.

Florida is a closed-primary state, meaning voters generally may vote only in the primary of the political party with which they are registered. Nonpartisan races are open to all eligible voters.

Unlike some other South Florida counties, Monroe County does not have a contested congressional primary this year.

In Congressional District 28 -- which covers Monroe County along with the southwest portion of Miami-Dade County, including Homestead and Cutler Bay -- Republican incumbent Carlos Gimenez and Democrat Phil “Felipe” Ehr are each unopposed in their respective party primaries. Eddy Rojas is running without party affiliation in the general election.

The state legislative races affecting Monroe County also have no contested party primaries. Republican Ana Maria Rodriguez and Democrat Jose Antonio Stoute are unopposed for their respective nominations in Florida Senate District 40.

Republican incumbent Jim Mooney is unopposed in Florida House District 120.

Monroe County races

Several local contests, however, give Keys voters choices in the primary.

The Republican primary for Monroe County Commission District 2 features Michelle Lincoln and George Lopez.

Republican voters will also decide the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District 2 race between Phillip L. Goodman and Alex Osborn.

School Board races

Because School Board elections are nonpartisan, eligible voters can participate regardless of political party.

In School Board District 1, Theresa Axford and Darren Horan are competing for the seat.

In District 5, incumbent Sue Woltanski faces challenger Chelyn Shaw. Woltanski is seeking a third term after first winning election in 2018, while Shaw is making her first run for public office.

Monroe County voters also have a nonpartisan judicial contest on the ballot.

Key West races

In Key West, residents will be selecting their choice for mayor, along with several commission seats and a couple utility board member seats.

CLICK HERE to view all election results in South Florida.

View Monroe County results below:

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Florida is a closed-primary state, meaning voters generally receive the primary ballot for the political party with which they are registered. All registered voters can participate in nonpartisan contests and any universal primary contests that appear on their ballot.

Congressional races

Several congressional races affecting Broward County have drawn crowded fields, including District 20, District 24, District 25 and District 22.

Statewide races

Broward voters also helped choose their parties’ nominees for several statewide offices, including governor and U.S. Senate.

Contested races for chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner also appeared on the ballot.

Broward County and School Board races

At the county level, the District 6 County Commission Democratic primary included Eugen Bold, Jeffery Jones, A.J. Ryan and Caryl Shuham.

Several nonpartisan Broward County School Board races were also decided by voters, including for Districts 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8.

Judicial races included a three-way contest for 17th Judicial Circuit Judge, Group 52, between David Andrew Fry, Tamar Hamilton and Kathleen O’Brien “Katie” Hinkle. Debi Gheorge Alten and Veronica N. Walker competed for County Court Judge, Group 11.

CLICK HERE to view all election results in South Florida.

View Broward County results below:

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Broward County has 346 precincts, and more than 1.35 million registered voters. As of about 6:45 p.m., 217,520 had cast ballots in Broward.

Nearly 35% voted by mail, about 28% voted early, and about 36.6% voted on Election Day, according to data released by Scott before the polls closed.

The polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m.

Related link: VIEW RESULTS TONIGHT

Tatis' glove and bat were on display Tuesday night in a 5-2 win over the Mets as the 27-year-old robbed New York's Francisco Lindor of a grand slam in between hitting two homers.

“Tough challenge,” Tatis said following his 14th career two-homer game, which ties him for second in franchise history. “But robbery today was more fun.”

Tatis hit the first pitch from New York's Zac Thornton 452 feet into the second deck in left field before adding a two-run homer off Thornton in the fifth. He has 15 homers after opening the season without a longball in his first 238 at-bats.

But Tatis’ biggest contribution in the game came in the field in the second inning, when reached over the wall in in right field and pulled back Lindor’s potential slam.

“It’s amazing — he’s seriously one of the most athletic fielders I’ve ever seen,” said Padres pitcher Robbie Ray, who loaded the bases with three walks. “What he’s able to do out there, just to be able to be in that spot to make that catch, was incredible.”

Tatis, Ray and manager Craig Stammen were all surprised as Lindor’s fly drifted toward the wall on an night with minimal wind.

“I knew it was going to be a play at the wall,” Tatis said. “Just great timing — prepare myself to launch and go for it.”

Tatis was one step from the wall when he jumped and grabbed the ball just as it began to clear the wall. The converted shortstop used his hands to break his fall as his hat fell off and bounced behind him.

Tatis stood straight up and stared toward the infield, which left everyone on the field and the crowd of 35,508 wondering if he’d made the catch.

“Just taking off a grand slam right there, that’s a game changer,” Tatis said.

Tatis then raised his glove, after which Ray raised his arms and put his glove on his head.

“He does it with a flair,” Stammen said. “And that’s who makes Fernando who he is and why we love watching him.”

Ray walked a few more steps with his glove on his hat, grinning in disbelief as he gazed at Tatis, who jogged in with his mouth agape before he exchanged low fives with centerfielder Jackson Merrill.

“I kind of blacked out in the moment,” Ray said with a grin. “Just a really cool — it was just an incredible play.”

Ray allowed just two baserunners over his final four innings.

“It’s up there as one of the most impactful games he’s had as a Padre, for sure,” Stammen said. “You look at how many runs he created and then how many runs he took away. That’s a pretty big number.

“They talk about plus/minus in the NBA and hockey and stuff like that. That was a big plus/minus game for ‘Tati’ tonight.”

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El condado Broward cuenta con 346 precintos y más de 1.35 millones de votantes registrados. Hasta aproximadamente las 6:45 p.m., 217,520 habían emitido su voto en Broward.

Casi 35% votó por correo, alrededor de 28% votó de manera anticipada y aproximadamente 36.6% votó el día de las elecciones, según datos publicados por Scott antes del cierre de las urnas.

Las urnas abrieron a las 7 a.m. y cerraron a las 7 p.m.

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The regular school board term is four years.

DISTRICT 1

Maura McCarthy Bulman is the incumbent seeking reelection after assuming office in November 2024.

She received over 70% of the ballots cast, winning the race in a landslide.

Her campaign website describes Bulman as “a dedicated mother of four sons who have attended Broward County Public Schools in District 1” and whose “experience as a local attorney, community volunteer, and a long-time Hollywood resident inspired her to run for office.”

Running against Bulman was Carmen Gimenez.

According to her campaign website, Gimenez is a “Venezuelan-American-Latina.

The website describes her as a “statist” who is “known in international circles, United Nations (U.N.), The Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassadors, Countries, Refugees, congressmen, senators, counties, cities, national and international entrepreneurs, and officers.”

She previously ran for mayor of Hallandale Beach in 2024, losing to Joy Cooper who received 68.4% of ballots cast.

DISTRICT 4

Nicole Morst defeated Sharry Kimmel in the race for District 4, receiving 60% of the vote.

Morst is a mother of three children who have all attended Broward County Public Schools.

According to her campaign website, she became involved in school advocacy after she “saw firsthand the security gaps” at her daughter’s school, successfully “advocating with district staff and the School Board to implement security updates.”

Morst says she is running “because after years of serving in our schools and on district advisories, I’ve seen the gaps, inequities, and disparities impacting our students and schools.”

Kimmel’s campaign website describes her as a “distinguished educator and community leader whose career spans over three decades, marked by a commitment to innovative teaching and public service.”

She is a previous recipient of the Broward County Teacher of the Year award (1996) for her work as an educator before transitioning into administrative roles, which includes serving as the founding assistant principal at Sagemont School.

Kimmel has served as a professor of teacher education at Broward College for the past 22 years.

DISTRICT 6

This race will head to a runoff between Adam Cervera, the incumbent seeking to retain his position after being appointed to the seat by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024, and Roberto Fernandez.

Cervera received 38% of the vote while Fernandez received 26%.

According to his campaign website, Cervera is an “accomplished attorney where he practices business litigation and represents clients in administrative proceedings” who came up and graduated through Broward County Public Schools before attending the University of Central Florida and then law school at Florida International University.

Fernandez has worked in Broward County education for over 20 years, “as a teacher, instructional leader, and community advocate,” according to his campaign website.

He said he is running because he wants to remove politics from decisions that impact students, families and educators in Broward County. Fernandez is also a U.S. Army Reserve veteran.

Jessie Bastos came in third in the primary with 22% of the ballots cast. She is a native of Davie, and she and her children are all products of Broward County Public Schools.

According to her campaign website, Bastos has “more than 20 years of experience building relationships and driving millions in revenue within Fortune 500 accounts at Samsung and leading diverse, high-performing teams at T-Mobile.”

If elected to the school board, Bastos says she “will champion higher teacher pay, responsible budgeting, and stronger partnerships with families and local organizations.”

Makai Aline Henry describes himself as a son of Broward County.

He is a product of Broward County schools and is currently a substitute teacher and debate coach, according to his campaign website.

Henry is running on a platform that features “Four Pillars for Broward’s Future” that include Literacy First, Smaller Classes, Fair Teacher Pay and Against Unregulated AI in Schools.

Lester L. Wilks Jr. joins the race for District 6 “to bring real-world insight and results-driven leadership to our schools,” according to his campaign website, which indicates that he is “already actively involved in school communities, speaking with parents, working alongside staff.”

His platform has four “key priorities” that are listed as “district accountability, parent trust and transparent communication, consistency across schools and student support needs.”

DISTRICT 7

Cynthia Alceus Dominique defeated Rochelle Soffer in the race for the District 7 seat, receiving around 60% of the vote.

Dominique describes herself as “a wife, nurse practitioner, nurse educator, Army veteran with 23 years of service, and the proud mother of four amazing children who attend Broward County Public Schools.”

A Broward County native and graduate of Coconut Creek High School, Dominique has been an active volunteer within the schools and district.

According to her campaign website, Dominique’s vision for Broward schools include “safe and supportive schools, student success and wellness, accountability and transparency and community engagement and partnerships.”

Rochelle Soffer is a longtime educator, who says she is running for the Broward County School Board “because our schools deserve leadership that has been earned in the classroom.”

According to Soffer’s campaign website, she lists four commitments to students, teachers and families in District 7, should she be elected: “student success, teacher support, school safety and accountability.”

The Broward Teachers Union is listed among Soffer’s endorsements.

DISTRICT 8

Allen Zeman will retain his District 8 seat, defeating Azim with 55% of the ballots cast on Tuesday.

Zeman was the incumbent after winning a close race in 2022, receiving 51.4% of the 477,828 ballots cast.

He is the CRO of data analytics company CHCI and has worked for U.S. presidents and government leaders, both foreign and domestic.

Zeman is also a product of Broward County Public Schools from grades K through 12 and has endorsements from the Broward Teachers Union and current board members Sarah Leonardi, Jeff Holness, Debbi Hixon and Rebecca Thompson.

For the past two decades, Zeman’s opponent Sonja Azim has worked in classrooms as a special education teacher, ESE specialist, student services coordinator, Dean of Students and as a district trainer.

Her two daughters have both been students with Broward County Public Schools.

According to her campaign website, Azim believes more accountability is paramount, and also stresses the importance of equitable treatment, teacher support and overall school safety.

El período regular de los miembros de la junta escolar es de cuatro años.

DISTRITO 1

Maura McCarthy Bulman es la titular que busca la reelección después de asumir el cargo en noviembre de 2024.

Recibió más del 70% de los votos emitidos, ganando la contienda por amplio margen.

El sitio web de su campaña describe a Bulman como “una madre dedicada de cuatro hijos que han asistido a las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward en el Distrito 1” y cuya “experiencia como abogada local, voluntaria comunitaria y residente de Hollywood desde hace mucho tiempo la inspiró a postularse para el cargo”.

La candidata que compitió contra Bulman fue Carmen Gimenez.

Según su sitio web de campaña, Gimenez es una “venezolana-estadounidense-latina”.

El sitio web la describe como una “estadista” que es “conocida en círculos internacionales, las Naciones Unidas (ONU), la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA), embajadores, países, refugiados, congresistas, senadores, condados, ciudades, empresarios nacionales e internacionales y oficiales”.

Anteriormente se postuló para alcaldesa de Hallandale Beach en 2024, pero perdió ante Joy Cooper, quien recibió el 68.4% de los votos emitidos.

DISTRITO 4

Nicole Morst derrotó a Sharry Kimmel en la contienda por el Distrito 4, al recibir el 60% de los votos.

Morst es madre de tres hijos que han asistido a las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward.

Según su sitio web de campaña, se involucró en la defensa de las escuelas después de que “vio de primera mano las brechas de seguridad” en la escuela de su hija, y logró “abogar ante el personal del distrito y la Junta Escolar para implementar actualizaciones de seguridad”.

Morst dice que se postula “porque después de años de servir en nuestras escuelas y en los comités asesores del distrito, he visto las brechas, desigualdades y disparidades que afectan a nuestros estudiantes y escuelas”.

El sitio web de campaña de Kimmel la describe como una “educadora distinguida y líder comunitaria cuya carrera abarca más de tres décadas, marcada por un compromiso con la enseñanza innovadora y el servicio público”.

Es una ex ganadora del premio Maestra del Año del Condado Broward (1996) por su trabajo como educadora antes de pasar a puestos administrativos, lo que incluye desempeñarse como subdirectora fundadora de Sagemont School.

Kimmel se ha desempeñado como profesora de formación docente en Broward College durante los últimos 22 años.

DISTRITO 6

Esta contienda irá a una segunda vuelta entre Adam Cervera, el titular que busca conservar su puesto después de ser designado para el cargo por el gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, en 2024, y Roberto Fernandez.

Cervera recibió el 38% de los votos, mientras que Fernandez recibió el 26%.

Según su sitio web de campaña, Cervera es un “abogado destacado que ejerce en litigios comerciales y representa a clientes en procedimientos administrativos”, quien creció y se graduó en las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward antes de asistir a la Universidad de Florida Central y luego estudiar Derecho en la Universidad Internacional de Florida.

Fernandez ha trabajado en la educación del condado Broward durante más de 20 años, “como maestro, líder de instrucción y defensor comunitario”, según su sitio web de campaña.

Dijo que se postula porque quiere eliminar la política de las decisiones que afectan a estudiantes, familias y educadores en el condado Broward. Fernandez también es un ex veterano de la Reserva del Ejército de EE. UU.

Jessie Bastos quedó en tercer lugar en las primarias con el 22% de los votos emitidos. Es nativa de Davie, y tanto ella como sus hijos son egresados de las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward.

Según su sitio web de campaña, Bastos tiene “más de 20 años de experiencia construyendo relaciones y generando millones en ingresos dentro de cuentas de Fortune 500 en Samsung y liderando equipos diversos y de alto desempeño en T-Mobile”.

Si es elegida para la junta escolar, Bastos dice que “defenderá salarios más altos para los maestros, una elaboración responsable del presupuesto y alianzas más sólidas con las familias y organizaciones locales”.

Makai Aline Henry se describe a sí mismo como un hijo del condado Broward.

Es egresado de las escuelas del condado Broward y actualmente es maestro sustituto y entrenador de debate, según su sitio web de campaña.

Henry se postula con una plataforma que presenta “Cuatro pilares para el futuro de Broward”, que incluyen Alfabetización primero, Clases más pequeñas, Salarios justos para los maestros y En contra de la IA no regulada en las escuelas.

Lester L. Wilks Jr. entra en la contienda por el Distrito 6 “para aportar una perspectiva del mundo real y un liderazgo orientado a resultados a nuestras escuelas”, según su sitio web de campaña, que indica que “ya participa activamente en las comunidades escolares, hablando con padres y trabajando junto al personal”.

Su plataforma tiene cuatro “prioridades clave”, que se enumeran como “rendición de cuentas del distrito, confianza de los padres y comunicación transparente, consistencia entre las escuelas y necesidades de apoyo de los estudiantes”.

DISTRITO 7

Cynthia Alceus Dominique derrotó a Rochelle Soffer en la contienda por el puesto del Distrito 7, al recibir alrededor del 60% de los votos.

Dominique se describe como “esposa, enfermera especializada, educadora de enfermería, veterana del Ejército con 23 años de servicio y orgullosa madre de cuatro hijos increíbles que asisten a las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward”.

Nativa del condado Broward y graduada de Coconut Creek High School, Dominique ha sido una voluntaria activa dentro de las escuelas y el distrito.

Según su sitio web de campaña, la visión de Dominique para las escuelas de Broward incluye “escuelas seguras y de apoyo, éxito y bienestar estudiantil, rendición de cuentas y transparencia, y participación comunitaria y alianzas”.

Rochelle Soffer es una educadora de larga trayectoria, quien dice que se postula para la Junta Escolar del Condado Broward “porque nuestras escuelas merecen un liderazgo que se haya ganado en el salón de clases”.

Según el sitio web de campaña de Soffer, enumera cuatro compromisos con los estudiantes, maestros y familias del Distrito 7, si es elegida: “éxito estudiantil, apoyo a los maestros, seguridad escolar y rendición de cuentas”.

La Unión de Maestros de Broward figura entre los respaldos de Soffer.

DISTRITO 8

Allen Zeman conservará su puesto en el Distrito 8, al derrotar a Azim con el 55% de los votos emitidos el martes.

Zeman era el titular después de ganar una contienda cerrada en 2022, al recibir el 51.4% de los 477,828 votos emitidos.

Es el director de ingresos (CRO) de la empresa de análisis de datos CHCI y ha trabajado para presidentes de Estados Unidos y líderes gubernamentales, tanto extranjeros como nacionales.

Zeman también es egresado de las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward desde kindergarten hasta el grado 12 y cuenta con el respaldo de la Unión de Maestros de Broward y de los actuales miembros de la junta Sarah Leonardi, Jeff Holness, Debbi Hixon y Rebecca Thompson.

Durante las últimas dos décadas, la oponente de Zeman, Sonja Azim, ha trabajado en salones de clases como maestra de educación especial, especialista en ESE, coordinadora de servicios estudiantiles, decana de estudiantes y capacitadora del distrito.

Sus dos hijas han sido estudiantes de las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward.

Según su sitio web de campaña, Azim considera que una mayor rendición de cuentas es primordial y también enfatiza la importancia del trato equitativo, el apoyo a los maestros y la seguridad escolar en general.

Karmelo Anthony, now 19, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison after a suburban Dallas jury in June rejected his claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year.

The case attracted national attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors the tragedy had nothing to do with race.

Dozens of Anthony supporters gathered inside and outside the Collin County courtroom for Wednesday's hearing, and some chanted “Free Karmelo!” in the parking lot after visiting Judge Sid Harle's order to remove state District Judge John Roach as Anthony seeks a retrial.

A new judge will be assigned for Thursday’s hearing on Anthony's request for a retrial.

Anthony’s legal team argued Wednesday that a retrial is needed in part because Roach enforced overly strict courtroom rules and gave an interview after the trial was over.

In the interview that was played as Wednesday's hearing began, Roach was asked if the jury got “it right.”

“Yeah, they did,” Roach said, adding: “Whatever they say, they got it right.”

Harle said he did not know Roach and he believed Roach would be fair in a hearing for a retrial. But Harle agreed to Anthony's request to remove him because of the way it might look to a third party.

Anthony attended the hearing wearing a green jumpsuit. His parents and Metcalf’s parents also were in the courtroom. Attorneys for Anthony's and Metcalf's families did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Anthony did not testify during the trial where students described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team. The teens went to different high schools.

Several schools were competing when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent that was perched in the bleachers. Austin Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.

Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.

Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

The private Jellyfish Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale, is believed to be the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to the translucent invertebrates, and one of the few such spaces in the world, according to the city and the museum’s founders.

It was created by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who previously developed successful aquariums in Ukraine, including their first jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The couple left those facilities behind when they fled Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion, operations manager Jessica Eisenbarth said.

The space, which opened this past spring, is the couple's first aquatic attraction since immigrating to the U.S., but they'd like to expand.

“When they left Ukraine, they moved to Florida, and then they immediately wanted to share their passion here,” Eisenbarth said.

Jellyfish have survived for over 500 million years, making them older than dinosaurs and even trees. Their ancient origins are part of their allure, along with their hypnotic, pulsing movements. They have no heart or brain, and are made up primarily of water, giving them a translucent look.

Yana Yanovsky came up with the idea for the jellyfish museum after noticing how popular the jellyfish were at their other aquariums.

“Jellyfish are some of the most resilient creatures on Earth. While they lack a brain, they maintain a simple nerve net that allows them to respond to their environment,” Yana said in a statement provided by the city. “Their movement is mesmerizing, almost meditative, and they play an important role in marine ecosystems.”

Monty Graham, director of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, said he’s not surprised someone made a space dedicated specifically to jellyfish. He credits the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California with kicking off the popularity of jellyfish exhibits at aquariums all over the world. Monterey Bay Aquarium began displaying jellyfish in temporary exhibits in 1985 and opened a permanent gallery in 1996.

“Jellyfish are cool, they’re things that people don’t get to see up close unless they’re scuba diving,” Graham said. “So here was this opportunity, in a controlled environment, very beautiful settings. It clicked all the buttons and checked all the boxes, and it was a very good, positive thing.”

The nearly 10,000-square-foot (900 square meters) Jellyfish Museum houses roughly 20 unique species of jellyfish found in Florida waters and other parts of the world. Different species can be rotated through the museum's 21 tanks. Some current occupants include Japanese sea nettles, moon jellyfish, spotted jellies and upside-down jellyfish, the last of which can be found among Florida's mangrove swamps.

The jellyfish are acquired through licensed aquaculture partners, according to the city.

The space is designed to exude calm and tranquility, general manager Iryna Pelypkanych said. It was converted from a former Wells Fargo bank branch with about $100,000 in community redevelopment grants from the city of Pompano Beach. Guides teach people about the role jellyfish play in marine ecosystems and the importance of protecting them.

“The biggest idea here is to leave people with the feeling that they know something more about the population of jellyfish,” Pelypkanych said. “Because so far, we know around 4,000 different species that can be called jellyfish.”

Las contiendas que los votantes verán en su boleta dependerán de su afiliación partidista y de dónde vivan en el condado Monroe.

Florida es un estado con elecciones primarias cerradas, lo que significa que los votantes generalmente solo pueden votar en las primarias del partido político en el que están registrados. Las contiendas no partidistas están abiertas a todos los votantes elegibles.

A diferencia de algunos otros condados del sur de Florida, el condado Monroe no tiene una primaria congresional disputada este año.

En el Distrito Congresional 28, que cubre el condado Monroe junto con la parte suroeste del condado Miami-Dade, incluyendo Homestead y Cutler Bay, el republicano titular Carlos Gimenez y el demócrata Phil “Felipe” Ehr no tienen oposición en sus respectivas primarias partidistas. Eddy Rojas se postula sin afiliación partidista en las elecciones generales.

Las contiendas legislativas estatales que afectan al condado Monroe tampoco tienen primarias partidistas disputadas. La republicana Ana Maria Rodriguez y el demócrata Jose Antonio Stoute no tienen oposición para sus respectivas nominaciones en el Distrito Senatorial 40 de Florida.

El republicano titular Jim Mooney no tiene oposición en el Distrito 120 de la Cámara de Representantes de Florida.

Contiendas del condado Monroe

Sin embargo, varias contiendas locales ofrecen opciones a los votantes de los Cayos en las primarias.

La primaria republicana para el Distrito 2 de la Comisión del Condado Monroe incluye a Michelle Lincoln y George Lopez.

Los votantes republicanos también decidirán la contienda del Distrito 2 del Distrito de Control de Mosquitos de los Cayos de Florida entre Phillip L. Goodman y Alex Osborn.

Contiendas de la Junta Escolar

Debido a que las elecciones de la Junta Escolar son no partidistas, los votantes elegibles pueden participar independientemente de su partido político.

En el Distrito 1 de la Junta Escolar, Theresa Axford y Darren Horan compiten por el puesto.

En el Distrito 5, la titular Sue Woltanski enfrenta a la retadora Chelyn Shaw. Woltanski busca un tercer mandato después de ganar por primera vez la elección en 2018, mientras que Shaw se postula por primera vez para un cargo público.

Los votantes del condado Monroe también tienen una contienda judicial no partidista en la boleta.

Contiendas de Key West

En Key West, los residentes elegirán su candidato a alcalde, junto con varios puestos de la comisión y un par de puestos de miembros de la junta de servicios públicos.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para ver todos los resultados de las elecciones en el sur de Florida.

Consulte los resultados del condado de Monroe a continuación:

Hundreds of miles away, Ukrainian drone crews had barely paused after the night’s work before starting to prepare for another attack.

A small group of soldiers quickly assembled in a sunflower field in southern Ukraine, gathering around 20 small planelike drones laden with explosives, before launching them toward Russia.

The launch by the Ukrainian 413th “Raid” Unmanned Systems Regiment on Sunday morning was observed by a team of Associated Press journalists — a rare glimpse into a rapidly expanding part of Ukraine’s war effort.

It's Ukraine's latest tactic — long-range drones designed to carry the war deep inside Russia, striking military, industrial and logistical sites far from the front line.

Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries and energy facilities. It has also increasingly pummeled giant Wildberries depots, burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise belonging to the Russian online retail giant.

Those attacks have brought the war home to the Russian public, nearly 4½ years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The scale of the attacks has also forced Russia’s military to stretch air defenses over a larger area, disrupted airports, sparked fuel shortages and undermined morale in Russia.

The regiment's commander, Yevhen Karas, said his unit had also taken part hours earlier in the strike on the Wildberries warehouse, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Moscow, during one of Ukraine’s largest attacks on Russia to date.

Ukraine will need to punish the Kremlin “if we want to get a stable and long period of peace, and normal peace,” Karas said.

“The bigger casualties they have,” the sooner they will go for peace, he added.

Kyiv officials aim to make the Russian public feel the war’s consequences and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace settlement. Putin has so far shown no sign he intends to end the war.

Karas, however, believes the impact of Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign on Russia’s economy is bringing home the cost of the war to ordinary Russians and hopes this will drive Moscow back to the negotiating table after months of U.S.-brokered talks between the two sides stalled.

On Sunday morning, before the drones took to the skies, Karas took out a black marker and wrote a message on the fuselage: “Moscow burns under the sky, red flame rises so warm and high, dark smoke moves above the town, fire lights the night all around.”

Like the majority of Ukraine’s serving military, Karas had a very different life before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

But on that day, the 38-year-old who majored in philosophy in his university studies and his brother Volodymyr both volunteered for the front. His brother was killed while defending the Kyiv region. In the months that followed, Karas rose through the ranks to become an officer in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.

In 2024, Karas was appointed commander of the newly-formed 413th Raid Unmanned Systems Regiment, which began as a unit using drones for reconnaissance and other battlefield tasks.

As drone technology developed and flight range increased from hundreds to over a thousand miles, his unit was tasked with mounting long-range operations using Ukraine’s domestically produced FP-1 drones against targets deep inside Russia.

Others in the unit include a former opera singer, a computer programmer, a rapper and a cellist. Their routine now focuses on a very simple sequence of tasks: prepare the drone, check the systems, move it into position and launch.

Wait for the result, then repeat.

The unit's medallion — something militaries across the world refer to as a “challenge coin” — carries the troops' insignia on one side, a stylized, three-prong arrow. On the other is a relief depiction of a Kremlin in flames, with a drone flying over it.

Karas said that in this phase of the war, Moscow should fear the skies.

“Muscovites should spend their nights in their wonderful metro, just as residents of Kyiv have spent years going underground to escape Russian missile and drone attacks,” Karas said.

Back in the sunflower field, once the drones were airborne, the soldiers packed up their equipment and drove away, leaving hardly any traces of their activity.

They were on to the next launch site.

Teoscar Hernandez had a triple and double, and Tommy Edman doubled twice as the Dodgers broke out of an offensive slump in Denver.

Los Angeles scored 10 runs in the four-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend. Against Colorado, the Dodgers have scored 18 runs on 24 hits with four homers, including three by Ohtani, in the first two games of the three-game set.

Ohtani’s 30th homer traveled 448 feet into the Los Angeles bullpen off Ryan Feltner (5-7) and gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The Rockies tied it in the bottom of the inning before Los Angeles went ahead again in the fourth.

Edman, Kyle Tucker and Hernandez doubled in the inning to make it 5-3, and Hernandez scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Eric Lauer (8-6) allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings. The 31-yeare-old left-hander has been one of the best starters for Los Angeles since coming over from Toronto on May 17. He went 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his first 11 starts with the Dodgers.

Before the game, Los Angeles placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with neck inflammation and recalled righty Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A. Tanner Scott, elevated to the closer role, earned his 17th save when he got TJ Rumfield to pop out to short with the tying run on.

Colorado's Will Castro hit his 14th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning.

Up next

Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.46 ERA) faces Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.27) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Florida es un estado con elecciones primarias cerradas, lo que significa que los votantes generalmente reciben la boleta de las primarias del partido político con el que están registrados. Todos los votantes registrados pueden participar en contiendas no partidistas y en cualquier contienda de primaria universal que aparezca en su boleta.

Contiendas para el Congreso

Varias contiendas para el Congreso que afectan al condado Broward han atraído a numerosos candidatos, incluidos los Distritos 20, 24, 25 y 22.

Contiendas estatales

Los votantes de Broward también ayudarán a elegir a los nominados de sus partidos para varios cargos estatales, incluidos gobernador y Senado de Estados Unidos.

En la boleta también aparecen contiendas disputadas para director financiero y comisionado de Agricultura.

Contiendas de la Comisión del Condado Broward y la Junta Escolar

A nivel del condado, las primarias demócratas para la Comisión del Condado por el Distrito 6 incluyen a Eugen Bold, Jeffery Jones, A.J. Ryan y Caryl Shuham.

Los votantes también decidirán varias contiendas no partidistas para la Junta Escolar del condado Broward, incluidos los Distritos 1, 4, 6, 7 y 8.

Las contiendas judiciales incluyen una competencia entre tres candidatos para juez del 17.º Circuito Judicial, Grupo 52, entre David Andrew Fry, Tamar Hamilton y Kathleen O’Brien “Katie” Hinkle. Debi Gheorge Alten y Veronica N. Walker compiten por el puesto de juez del Tribunal del Condado, Grupo 11.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para ver todos los resultados electorales en el sur de Florida.

Vea los resultados del condado Broward a continuación:

Cuatro abogados de derechos civiles del Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos monitorearon los centros de votación durante las elecciones primarias en el condado Miami-Dade.

“Estamos muy seguros de que todo va a estar bien”, dijo Garcia sobre el anuncio del Departamento de Justicia que informó que la “iniciativa de monitoreo” tenía como objetivo “promover la transparencia y un flujo abierto de comunicación entre los observadores electorales y los monitores electorales”.

Según datos no oficiales de participación electoral, 243,225 personas emitieron sus votos, incluidas 106,278 que votaron por correo, 78,483 que votaron el día de las elecciones y 58,364 que votaron anticipadamente.

El condado Miami-Dade tiene 772 precintos que abrieron a las 7 a.m. y cerraron a las 7 p.m.

El condado Miami-Dade tiene más de 1.28 millones de votantes registrados, incluidos aproximadamente 455,470 republicanos y 407,910 demócratas, según los datos más recientes publicados por Garcia.

• Participación electoral no oficial en las primarias de Florida
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DISTRICT 2

There are three candidates seeking to be Miami-Dade County’s District 2 commissioner.

Running for the seat are incumbent Commissioner Marleine Bastien, trapeze artist Miguel “Skip” Quintero and newcomer Ernst Jean Louis.

Receiving 78% of the ballots cast, Bastien retained her seat in a landslide.

Bastien, a nonprofit founder and executive who won the seat in 2022, says her priorities include investing in infrastructure like the 27th Avenue corridor and added that the county needs to make budget cuts.

Quintero is a South Florida native who made an unsuccessful run for Miami-Dade County mayor in 2024.

He describes himself as a First Amendment advocate who lists transparency as a main priority while adding that he also wants universal basic income.

Records show Jean Louis lists his primary source of income as Allied Universal Services. He does not appear to have a campaign website, but the Miami Herald reported that he founded a Creole-language newspaper.

DISTRICT 5

There are three candidates running for the District 5 seat in Miami-Dade County.

The district encompasses parts of Miami Beach, Brickell and The Roads.

Candidates are incumbent Commissioner Vicki Lopez, former Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Sanchez and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Rob Piper.

Ultimately, the race is heading for a runoff.

Once all of Tuesday’s ballots were counted, the top two candidates were Lopez, with 42% of the vote, and Piper, with 29% of the vote.

Lopez was appointed to the seat after Eileen Higgins was elected City of Miami mayor. She said her experience as a member of the Florida House of Representatives makes her qualified to tighten the budget.

Sanchez highlights his career in law enforcement and as a veteran and says safety and quality of life are key.

Piper, who moved to Miami in 2012, thinks a task force ought to analyze the county’s true fiscal situation.

DISTRICT 8

The county’s eighth district encompasses a big portion of southern Miami-Dade, including Homestead and Palmetto Bay.

Incumbent Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins is running against nonprofit CEO Martha “Vega” Hero and former Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor John DuBois.

Once the ballots were cast and counted, it was Cohen Higgins who kept her seat, receiving approximately 55% of the votes in the race.

Cohen Higgins, who is a trial lawyer by trade, says her experience looking at details makes her an effective leader, especially when it comes to the budget.

Hero believes government and organizations working together is key, as well as transparency in balancing a budget.

DuBois, the former vice mayor of Palmetto Bay, is running to bring accountable, resident-focused leadership to Miami-Dade County, according to his campaign website.